Exam 1

Question 1

• Resources

Answer 1

o Include assets such as:
o People and their skills, know-how, and experience
o Machinery
o Raw materials
o Computers and information technology
o Patents, financial capital, and loyal customers and employees

Question 2

• Efficiency

Answer 2

o A measure of how well or how productively resources are used to achieve a goal

Question 3

• Effectiveness

Answer 3

measure of the appropriateness of the goals an organization is pursuing and the degree to which the organization achieves those goals
o How good were the goals, were they effective?

Question 4

 Conceptual skills

Answer 4

o The ability to analyze and diagnose a situation and distinguish between cause and effect

Question 5

 Human skills

Answer 5

o The ability to understand, alter, lead, and control the behavior of other individuals and groups

Question 6

 Technical skills

Answer 6

o Job-specific skills required to perform a particular type of work or occupation at a high level

Question 7

 Core competency

Answer 7

o Specific set of departmental skills, abilities, knowledge and experience that allows one organization to outperform its competitors
o Skills for a competitive advantage

Question 8

 Competitive advantage

Answer 8

o Ability of one organization to outperform other organizations because it produces desired

Question 9

 Empowerment

Answer 9

o Giving employees more authority and responsibility over how they perform their work activities

Question 10

 Innovation

Answer 10

o The process of creating new or improved goods and services or developing better ways to produce or provide them

Question 11

 Job Specialization

Answer 11

o Process by which a division of labor occurs as different workers specialize in different tasks over time
o Increasing job specialization increases efficiency and leads to higher organizational performance

Question 12

 Scientific management

Answer 12

o The study of how to create an organizational structure and control system that leads to high efficiency and effectiveness
o Organizational structure – system of task and authority relationships that control how employees use resources to achieve the organization’s goals

Question 13

 Behavioral management

Answer 13

o The study of how managers should personally behave to motivate employees and encourage them to perform at high levels and be committed to the achievement of organizational goals
o Concerned that Taylor ignored the human side of the organization
o Suggested workers help in analyzing their jobs
o If workers have relevant knowledge of the task, then they should be in
control of the work process itself

Question 14

 The Hawthorne Studies and Human Relations

Answer 14

o Studies of how characteristics of the work setting affected worker fatigue and performance at the Hawthorne Works of the Western Electric Company from 1924-1932
o Worker productivity was measured at various levels of light illumination
Researchers found that regardless of whether the light levels were raised or lowered, worker productivity increased.
o Essentially, workers performance changes when they’re being watched

Question 15

 Theory X

Answer 15

o A set of negative assumptions about workers that leads to the conclusion that a manager’s task is to supervise workers closely and control their behavior
Very hierarchical
Belief that employees are inherently lazy
Managers should manage closely
Strict work rules

Question 16

 Theory Y

Answer 16

o A set of positive assumptions about workers that leads to the conclusion that a manager’s task is to create a work setting that encourages commitment to organizational goals and provides opportunities for workers to be imaginative and to exercise initiative and self-direction
Belief that employees are not inherently lazy
Allow employees some room to do their job
Managers should decentralize authority

Question 17

 Management science theory

Answer 17

o Contemporary approach to management that focuses on the use of rigorous quantitative techniques to help managers make maximum use of organizational resources to produce goods and services

Question 18

 Quantitative management

Answer 18

o Utilizes mathematical techniques, like linear programming, modeling, simulation, and chaos theory

Question 19

 Operations management

Answer 19

o Gives managers a set of techniques they can use to analyze any aspect of an organization’s production system to increase efficiency

Question 20

 Total quality management

Answer 20

o Focuses on analyzing an organization’s input, conversion, and output activities to increase product quality

Question 21

 Management information systems

Answer 21

o Give managers information about events occurring inside the organization as well as in its external environment—information that is vital for effective decision making

Question 22

 Open system

Answer 22

o A system that takes resources from its external environment and transforms them into goods and services that are then sent back to that environment where they are bought by customers

Question 23

 Closed system

Answer 23

o A self-contained system that is not affected by changes in its external environment
o Likely to experience entropy (tunnel vision) and lose its ability to control itself
o Example: Government

Question 24

 Synergy

Answer 24

o The performance gains that result from the combined actions of individuals and departments
o Possible only in an organized system

Question 25

 Contingency theory

Answer 25

o The idea that the organizational structures and control systems managers choose depend on (are contingent on) characteristics of the external environment in which the organization operates
o “There is no one best way to organize”

Question 26

 Extraversion

Answer 26

o Tendency to experience positive emotions and moods and feel good about oneself and the rest of the world

Question 27

 Negative affectivity

Answer 27

o Tendency to experience negative emotions and moods, feel distressed, and be critical of oneself and others (pessimist)

Question 28

 Agreeableness

Answer 28

o Tendency to get along well with others

Question 29

 Conscientiousness

Answer 29

o Tendency to be careful, scrupulous, and persevering

Question 30

 Openness to experience

Answer 30

o Tendency to be original, have broad interests, be open to a wide range of stimuli, be daring and take risks

Question 31

 Internal locus of control

Answer 31

o Belief that you are responsible for your own fate

o Own actions and behaviors are major and decisive determinants of job outcomes

Question 32

 External locus of control

Answer 32

o The tendency to locate responsibility for one’s fate in outside forces and to believe one’s own behavior has little impact on outcomes

Question 33

 Need for affiliation

Answer 33

o The extent to which an individual is concerned about establishing and maintaining good interpersonal relations, being liked, and having other people get along

Question 34

 Terminal values

Answer 34

o A lifelong goal or objective that an individual seeks to achieve

Question 35

 Instrumental values

Answer 35

o A mode of conduct that an individual seeks to follow

Question 36

 Organizational commitment

Answer 36

o Believe in what their orgs are doing
o Proud of what their orgs stand for
o More likely to go above and beyond the call of duty
o Less likely to quit

Question 37

 Emotional intelligence

Answer 37

o The ability to understand and manage one’s own moods and emotions and the moods and emotions of other people
o Helps managers carry out their interpersonal roles of figurehead, leader, and liaison
o Managers with a high level of emotional intelligence are more likely to understand how they are feeling and why
o More able to effectively manage their feelings so that they do not get in the way of effective decision making
This is perhaps the MOST difficult attribute for managers to master

Question 38

 Ethics

Answer 38

o The inner-guiding moral principles, values, and beliefs that people use to analyze or interpret a situation and then decide what is the right or appropriate way to behave

Question 39

 Utilitarian rule

Answer 39

o An ethical decision should produce the greatest amount of good for the greatest number of people

Question 40

 Justice rule

Answer 40

o An ethical decision should distribute benefits and harm among people in a fair, equitable, and impartial manner

Question 41

 Practical rule

Answer 41

o An ethical decision should be one that a manager has no hesitation about communicating to people outside the company because the typical person in a society would think the decision is acceptable

Question 42

 Moral rights rule

Answer 42

o An ethical decision should maintain and protect the fundamental rights and privileges of people

Question 43

 Sources of ethics

Answer 43

o Individual
o Organizational
o Occupational
o Societal

Question 44

 Obstructionist approach

Answer 44

o Companies and their managers choose not to behave in a socially responsible way and instead behave unethically and illegally

Question 45

 Defensive approach

Answer 45

o Companies and their managers behave ethically to the degree that they stay within the law and strictly abide by legal requirements

Question 46

 Accommodative approach

Answer 46

o Companies and their managers behave legally and ethically and try to balance the interests of different stakeholders as the need arises

Question 47

 Proactive approach

Answer 47

o Companies and their managers actively embrace socially responsible behavior, going out of their way to learn about the needs of different stakeholder groups and using organizational resources to promote the interests of all stakeholders

Question 48

Four tasks of management

Answer 48

Planning, organizing, leading, and controlling

Question 49

Planning

Answer 49

Choose appropriate organizational goals and courses of action to best achieve those goals

Question 50

Organizing

Answer 50

Establish task and authority relationships that allow people to work together to achieve organization goals

Question 51

Leading

Answer 51

Motivate, coordinate, and energize individuals and groups to work together to achieve organizational goals

Question 52

Controlling

Answer 52

Establish accurate measuring and monitoring systems to evaluate how well the organization has achieved its goals

Question 53

Four levels of management

Answer 53

1. CEO
2. Top managers
3. Middle managers
4. First-line managers