Kafli 2 Flashcards
Which of the following terms represents a complex phenomenon by recognising major elements and the relationships among those elements?
A.
A competency.
B.
A system.
C.
A theory.
D.
A process.
C.
A theory.
Victoria, a manager in an information technology firm, recently completed a project. She is currently comparing the actual results with the objectives set at the beginning of the project. She is also analysing the discrepancies, if any, between the target performance and the actual performance of the employees who worked on the project. In the context of the tasks of managing, which of the following tasks is Victoria engaged in?
A.
Planning.
B.
Organising.
C.
Controlling.
D.
Leading
C.
Controlling.
While deciding how to allocate resources to different projects, Simone, the manager of the content team in a publishing company, had to persuade the manager of the graphics team to lend her two resources to ensure that her projects were completed on time. In this scenario, which of the following is true of Simone?
A.
She engaged in the process of influencing and motivating while completing the task of organising.
B.
She engaged in the process of scanning the general environment while completing the task of controlling.
C.
She engaged in the process of analysing the micro-environment to complete the task of planning.
D.
She engaged in the process of delegation to complete the task of monitoring.
A.
She engaged in the process of influencing and motivating while completing the task of organising.
In the context of the competing values framework, who among the following is most likely to use the open systems model?
A.
Caleb, a first-line manager in a car assembly plant, who wants to maximise his team members’ productivity.
B.
Jennifer, the head of the graphics department in a publishing company, who wants to expand her department and change some of the work processes to increase efficiency.
C.
Heena, a manager in a technology firm, who wants to enhance the skills of her team members and develop their potential.
D.
Brandon, an HR manager of an organisation, who wants to establish rules and regulations to ensure uniform procedures and bring stability to the organisation.
B.
Jennifer, the head of the graphics department in a publishing company, who wants to expand her department and change some of the work processes to increase efficiency.
Amanda, a manager, is using the rational goal model to maximise the output of her team. In the context of the competing values framework, which of the following is she likely to focus on to achieve her goal?
A.
Commitment, morale, participation and openness.
B.
Innovation, adaptation, growth and resource acquisition.
C.
Documentation, information management, stability and control.
D.
Direction, clarity of objectives, productivity and accomplishment.
D.
Direction, clarity of objectives, productivity and accomplishment.
In the context of the rational goal model, identify a principle of scientific management.
A.
Selecting the best people to do a job by evaluating their physical and mental qualities.
B.
Ensuring decentralisation of planning and control to increase the autonomy of workers.
C.
Providing intrinsic rewards rather than extrinsic rewards to motivate workers.
D.
Shifting the responsibility for planning and organising from managers to workers.
A.
Selecting the best people to do a job by evaluating their physical and mental qualities.
A transnational organisation that provides financial services to global firms wants to balance the need to know what customers want with the need to create a system to meet those requirements efficiently and consistently. Which of the following strategies is most likely to help the organisation achieve this balance?
A.
Shifting the responsibility for organising tasks and resources from managers to employees.
B.
Cross-training employees to eliminate the division of labour and ensuring that all employees are equipped to handle all tasks.
C.
Establishing systematic work procedures with precise specifications that are followed in all branches of the organisation,
D.
Decentralising the tasks of planning and controlling to provide autonomy to all employees.
C.
Establishing systematic work procedures with precise specifications that are followed in all branches of the organisation,
Which of the following companies uses the rational goal model?
A.
A company that fosters a high-involvement employee relationship, employing a large proportion of permanent employees
B.
A company in which the process engineering department develops detailed and clear specifications for processes
C.
A company that uses systems and procedures that enable the decentralised control of individual operations
D.
A company in which each employee performs a wide variety of tasks and switches between different job roles
B.
A company in which the process engineering department develops detailed and clear specifications for processes
Which of the following organisations most likely uses the internal process model?
A.
An information technology company with a flat organisational structure that encourages employee engagement in decision-making.
B.
An e-learning organisation where performance appraisals are based on objective measures of performance that limit favouritism.
C.
A global firm that has different codes of ethics for top managers, first-line and middle managers and employees.
D.
A multinational firm where regional managers have complete control of finance, recruitment and planning.
B.
An e-learning organisation where performance appraisals are based on objective measures of performance that limit favouritism.
Identify a way in which the internal process model and the rational goal model complement each other.
A.
Both consider the impact of human factors on productivity.
B.
Both emphasise teamwork and employee participation in decision-making.
C.
Both focus on the organisation rather than on the individual worker.
D.
Both focus on an organisation’s ability to innovate and adapt to change.
C.
Both focus on the organisation rather than on the individual worker.
Which of the following was a result of the Hawthorne studies?
A.
They revealed that employees work better if managers are interested in their well-being and supervise them with compassion.
B.
They revealed that organisations with a bureaucratic structure are more likely to succeed than organisations with a flat structure.
C.
They revealed that the social factors at work are insignificant compared with the technical aspects of work.
D.
They revealed that competition is the most important factor in the effective management of human resources.
A.
They revealed that employees work better if managers are interested in their well-being and supervise them with compassion.
According to Mayo (1949), which of the following was found to be true of work output based on relay-assembly test room experiments?
A.
An increase in output was related to changes in the social situation.
B.
An increase in output was related to physical changes in the environment.
C.
As light in the work setting rose, output rose significantly.
D.
The length of breaks did not have any effect on output.
A.
An increase in output was related to changes in the social situation.
Who among the following managers is most likely to be using the human relations approach to management?
A.
Fiona, who focuses on increasing productivity and thereby focuses on the technical aspects of work.
B.
Rebecca, who makes decisions on her own and expects her team members to follow them without questions.
C.
Andrew, who encourages employee participation, collaboration and teamwork among his team members.
D.
Timothy, who establishes rules and regulations to control his team members and ensure uniform procedures and operations.
C.
Andrew, who encourages employee participation, collaboration and teamwork among his team members.
Anna, a contingency theorist, is having a discussion with Dave, a senior manager in an organisation, about ways to improve the performance of his organisation. Which of the following is Anna most likely to suggest?
A.
The performance of an organisation is best when all functions within the organisation work in a stable, predictable way; managers in Dave’s organisation can achieve this stability by using the open systems model.
B.
The performance of an organisation is best when all functions within the organisation are continuously evolving; managers in Dave’s organisation can promote innovation and evolution by using the internal process model.
C.
The performance of an organisation depends on having a structure that is appropriate to its environment; managers in Dave’s organisation should be aware of all four models in the competing values framework to enhance performance.
D.
The performance of an organisation is dependent on the entire organisation consistently following one of the four models in the competing values framework; managers in Dave’s organisation should restrict themselves to using one model in all contexts.
C.
The performance of an organisation depends on having a structure that is appropriate to its environment; managers in Dave’s organisation should be aware of all four models in the competing values framework to enhance performance.
Samantha is a manager who is using the open systems model. Which of the following is she most likely to focus on?
A.
Clarifying goals, providing direction and maximising productivity.
B.
Establishing rules, maintaining authority and resolving conflicts.
C.
Innovation, creative problem-solving and acquiring and retaining support from customers.
D.
Establishing systematic work processes, encouraging collaboration and promoting cohesion.
C.
Innovation, creative problem-solving and acquiring and retaining support from customers.
