CH 8 Flashcards
1) Effective strategy formulation can usually guarantee successful strategy implementation.
F
Strategy formulation is the managing of forces during the action, whereas strategy
implementation is the positioning of forces before the action.
F
Strategy formulation requires coordination among a few individuals, but strategy
implementation requires coordination among many.
T
It is always easier to say you are going to do something (strategy formulation) than to actually do it (strategy implementation).
T
Unlike strategy formulation, strategy implementation varies considerably among different types
and sizes of organizations.
T
6) A bottom-up flow of communication is essential for developing top-down support.
F
Annual objectives are key components in the strategic-management process because they dictate
how resources will be allocated.
T
Horizontal consistency is more important than vertical consistency in developing annual
objectives.
F
Undesirable conduct such as distorting the record can be a result of overemphasis on achieving
objectives.
T
Policies refer to specific guidelines, methods, procedures, rules, forms, and administrative
practices established to support and encourage work toward stated goals.
T
Strategies clarify what can and cannot be done in pursuit of an organization’s objectives.
F
) Not allocating resources according to the priorities indicated by approved objectives is
detrimental to the strategic-management process.
T
Four types of resources that can be used to achieve desired objectives are financial, physical,
human and technological.
T
Avoidance, infusion and confrontation are the classifications for the various approaches for minimizing and resolving conflict.
F
15) Conflict of any kind is avoidable in organizations.
F
Concerning managing and resolving conflict, defusion includes such actions as ignoring the
problem in the hope that the conflict will resolve itself.
F
Holding a meeting at which conflicting parties present their views and work through their differences is part of the defusion strategy of managing conflict.
F
Exchanging members of conflicting parties so each can gain an appreciation of the other’s point
of view exemplifies a confrontation approach
T
Medium-sized firms tend to be divisionally structured, whereas large firms tend to use an SBU
(strategic business unit) or matrix structure.
T
Tasks and activities are grouped together by business function in a divisional organizational
structure.
F
21) A functional structure can be effective at limiting short-term and narrow thinking.
F
Most large companies have abandoned the functional structure in favor of decentralization.
T
With a divisional structure, it is possible that competition between divisions may become so
intense that it leads to the improved sharing of ideas and resources for the common good of the
firm.
F
When an organization has a divisional structure by customer, it can effectively cater to the
requirements of clearly defined customer groups.
T
Because activities are organized according to the way work is actually performed, a divisional
structure by process is similar to the matrix structure.
F
26) The most complex of all designs is a matrix structure.
T
27) With the matrix structure it is common for functional resources to be duplicated.
F
When developing an organizational chart, the top executive of the firm should be reserved for
the President.
F
When developing an organizational chart, it is not wise to recommend a dual title for just one
executive.
T
In developing an organizational chart, avoid having a particular person reporting to more than one person above them in the chain of command.
T
31) Restructuring is also called rightsizing.
T
32) In terms of number of employees, restructuring usually involves increasing the size of the firm.
F
Reengineering does not usually affect the organizational structure or chart, nor does it imply job
loss or employee layoffs.
T
35) The focus of restructuring is changing the way work is actually carried out.
F
Cornerstones of reengineering are decentralization, reciprocal interdependence and information
sharing.
T
An effective bonus system should be based on two key factors: annual objectives and long-term
objectives.
T
People’s anxieties are raised with the thought of change because they fear economic loss,
inconvenience, uncertainty and a break in normal social patterns.
T
Resistance to change can be considered the single greatest threat to successful strategy
implementation
T
40) A rational change strategy means giving orders and enforcing those orders.
F
41) Ideally, the rational type change strategy is the most desirable.
T
42) The fastest of all approaches to implement change is the rational change strategy.
F
The rational change strategy is one that presents information to convince people of the need for
change.
F
Recently, an increasing number of companies have been implementing less rigorous environmental policies.
F
Managing as if the earth matters requires an understanding of how international trade,
competitiveness and global resources are connected.
T
Managing environmental affairs is primarily a technical function performed by specialists in a
firm.
F
47) Production processes typically constitute less than 50 percent of a firm’s total assets.
F
Besides reducing worker alienation and stimulating productivity, employee stock-ownership
plans allow firms other benefits, such as substantial depreciation savings.
F
51) Work/family issues are typically focused on the benefit to working women.
F
52) In recent years, powerful Arab businesswomen have made their mark on the international scene.
T
Strategy formulation
A) focuses on effectiveness.
B) is primarily an operational process.
C) requires coordination among many people.
D) is managing forces during the action.
E) all of the above
A
Which of these is true about strategy implementation?
A) It is primarily an operational process.
B) It focuses on effectiveness.
C) It is primarily an intellectual process.
D) It is positioning forces before the action.
E) It requires intuitive skills.
A
How are objectives in the areas of profitability, growth and market share commonly established?
A) Geographic location
B) Customer groups
C) Business segment
D) Product
E) all of the above
E
Establishing objectives is a
A) top-level activity.
B) command-and-control activity.
C) centralized activity.
D) decentralized activity.
E) centralized-decentralized activity.
D
Considerable time and effort should be devoted to assuring objectives are well conceived
because they represent the basis for
A) establishing divisional priorities.
B) monitoring processes.
C) evaluating managers.
D) allocating resources.
E) all of the above
E
Which of the following is not true about objectives?
A) They should be measurable.
B) They should be communicated throughout the organization.
C) They should have an appropriate time dimension.
D) They should incorporate policies.
E) They should be consistent.
D
Which term would most likely be incorporated into written objective statements?
A) all of the above
B) Maximize
C) Adequate
D) 10% increase
E) Minimize
D
What are guidelines, methods, procedures, rules, forms and administrative practices known as?
A) Strategies
B) Annual objectives
C) Long-term objectives
D) Goals
E) Policies
E
Which of the following issues may not require a management policy?
A) To increase motivation
B) To establish a high- or low-safety stock of inventory
C) To discourage insider trading
D) To offer numerous or few employee benefits
E) To promote from within to or to hire from the outside
A
Which term is best defined as a central management activity that allows for strategy execution?
A) Conflict
B) Establishing annual objectives
C) Policy-making
D) Goal-setting
E) Resource allocation
E
________ is not a major factor in prohibiting effective resource allocation.
A) Vague strategy targets
B) Lack of sufficient knowledge
C) Reluctance to take risks
D) Underprotection of resources
E) Organizational politics
D
A disagreement between two or more parties on one or more issues is called a(n)
A) compromise.
B) diffusion.
C) conflict.
D) integrated solution.
E) avoidance
C
Conflict in an organization is
A) always bad.
B) sometimes good and sometimes bad.
C) avoidable.
D) a sign of bankruptcy.
E) always good.
B
What are three categories for approaches to managing and resolving conflict?
A) Avoidance, defusion and confrontation
B) Avoidance, payoff and defusion
C) There are no good ways to manage conflict.
D) Confrontation, ignorance and objectivity
E) Buy, sell and hold
A
Which approach for managing and resolving conflict involves exchanging members of
conflicting parties of that each can gain an appreciation of the others point of view?
A) Resistance
B) Avoidance
C) Defusion
D) Compliance
E) Confrontation
E
Which approach for managing and resolving conflict involves ignoring the problem in hopes
that the conflict will resolve itself?
A) Compliance
B) Avoidance
C) Resistance
D) Confrontation
E) Defusion
B
Which approach for managing and resolving conflict involves playing down differences between
conflicting parties while accentuating similarities and common interests?
A) Avoidance
B) Defusion
C) Resistance
D) Confrontation
B
Why do changes in company strategy often require changes in the way an organization is
structured?
A) Structure dictates authority over projects.
B) Structure dictates strategy.
C) Structure dictates how resources will be obtained.
D) Structure dictates how goals and objectives will be established.
E) Structure dictates how money is spent.
D
What type of organizational structure do most small businesses follow?
A) Divisional structure by customer
B) Functional structure
C) Process type structure
D) Divisional structure by product
E) Matrix structurE
B
Which organizational structure is the most simple and inexpensive?
A) Departmental
B) Decentralized
C) Functional
D) Strategic business unit
E) Process
C
Medium-sized firms are more likely to use which type of structure?
A) Matrix
B) Functional
C) Divisional
D) SBU
E) Process
C
What is not one of the basic ways a divisional structure can be organized?
A) By product or service
B) By cost
C) By customer
D) By process
E) By geographic area
B
A divisional structure by product is most effective when
A) special emphasis needs to be placed on specific products.
B) an organization’s products or services differ substantially.
C) an organization offers few products.
D) special emphasis needs to be placed on specific services.
E) all of the above
E
How would Hershey’s current divisional structure most likely be classified?
A) By geographic area
B) By service
C) By customer
D) By product
A
A divisional structure by geographic area is most appropriate when
A) strict control and attention to product lines are needed.
B) an organization offers only a limited number of products or services.
C) organizations have similar branch facilities located in widely dispersed areas.
D) an organization has many skilled managers.
E) the firm serves one geographic area.
C
What is the best divisional structure when a few major customers are of paramount importance
and many different services are provided to these customers?
A) By customer
B) By cost
C) By product
D) By geographic area
E) By process
A
Which organizational structure has ambiguous roles for senior executives as a major
disadvantage?
A) Strategic business unit (SBU)
B) Functional
C) Matrix
D) Divisional
E) Process
A
What is the most complex form of organizational structure?
A) Divisional
B) Matrix
C) Geographic
D) Functional
E) Strategic business unit (SBU)
B
When developing an organizational chart, you should
A) Make sure that the chief financial officer is not at the same level as the chief operating
officer.
B) Use the title “president” for the top person.
C) Have division presidents report to a chief operating officer.
D) Recommend dual titles for executives.
E) Have the controller or treasurer report directly to the president.
C
Restructuring is also referred to as
A) integrating.
B) job security.
C) starting over.
D) diversifying.
E) delayering.
E
Which term is most often associated primarily with shareholder well-being rather than employee
well-being?
A) Restructuring
B) Reengineering
C) Benchmarking
D) Process management
E) Product redesign
A
Which of these involves comparing a firm against the best firms in the industry on a wide
variety of performance-related criteria?
A) Process redesign
B) Benchmarking
C) Reengineering
D) Restructuring
E) Delayering
B
The primary benefit sought from restructuring is
A) increased number of hierarchical levels in the organization.
B) increased innovation.
C) increased morale.
D) employee involvement.
E) cost reduction.
E
86) What action involves reconfiguring or redesigning work, jobs and processes for the purpose of
improving costs, quality, service and speed?
A) Reengineering
B) Downsizing
C) Restructuring
D) Delayering
E) Benchmarking
A
A firm uses information technology to break down functional barriers and to create a work
system based on business processes, products, or outputs rather than on functions or inputs in
A) restructuring.
B) benchmarking.
C) reengineering.
D) delayering.
E) decentralization.
C
Which pay strategy is not a form of incentive compensation?
A) Bonus system
B) Hourly wage
C) Profit sharing
D) All of these are forms of incentive compensation.
E) Gain sharing
B
Which of these is not one of the tests used to determine whether a performance-pay plan will
benefit an organization?
A) Does the plan pay out when it should?
B) Do employees understand the plan?
C) Does the plan reduce management layers?
D) Does the plan capture attention?
E) Is the plan improving communications?
C
What change strategy involves giving orders and enforcing those orders?
A) Self-interest
B) Educative
C) Rational
D) Defusion
E) Force
E
Resistance to change can manifest itself through
A) sabotaging production machines.
B) unwillingness to cooperate.
C) absenteeism.
D) filing unfounded grievances.
E) all of the above
E
) A change strategy that attempts to convince people that the planned change is to their personal
advantage is
A) diffusion.
B) force.
C) compromise.
D) rational.
E) educative.
D
What challenge facing all organizations requires managers to formulate strategies that preserve
and conserve natural resources and control pollution?
A) Economic
B) Benchmarking
C) Global
D) Compensational
E) Ecological
E
Just-in-time describes
A) a scheduling method for meetings.
B) a personnel planning method.
C) implementing strategies just before bankruptcy.
D) delivering materials just as they are needed.
E) a process for improving quality.
d
A concern in matching managers with strategy is that jobs have relatively ________
responsibilities, while people are ________ in their development.
A) quick; slow
B) exciting; dull
C) dynamic; static
D) static; dynamic
E) dull; exciting
d
There are now several Arab companies with female CEOs, some of which have appeared in
Forbes’ list of
A) the 500 Most Powerful Women in the World.
B) the 100 Most Powerful Women in the World.
C) the 1000 Most Powerful Women in the World.
D) the 10 Most Powerful Women in the World.
E) the 50 Most Powerful Women in the World.
b
Among the Arab states, there is ________ awareness of the need to balance work and family
affairs.
A) stable
B) decresing
C) reducing
D) diminishing
E) increasing
e
What is not a major benefit of having a diverse workforce?
A) An increase in productivity
B) An increase in training costs
C) Improvement of the bottom line
D) Higher retention of employees
E) A decrease in complaints and litigation
b
