Kafli 7 Flashcards
Chae-won, a project manager in a company, is allocating people and resources to various tasks within a new project. She is also in the process of setting deadlines for these tasks. In the context of the five generic elements in planning, which of the following elements does this scenario exemplify?
A.
Acting
B.
Organising
C.
Monitoring
D.
Controlling
B.
Organising
Identify the element in planning that connects all the other elements throughout the repetitive cycle of planning.
A.
Gathering and disseminating information
B.
Controlling and monitoring progress
C.
Setting objectives and the scope of work
D.
Organising people and resources
A.
Gathering and disseminating information
Identify a true statement about planning:
A.
Informal, unwritten plans are likely to work only in situations that involve a large number of people.
B.
Setting objectives is the central element of planning that links all the other elements together.
C.
Developing a plan involves following a linear process that begins with organising.
D.
The processes involved in developing and implementing a plan shape its quality.
D.
The processes involved in developing and implementing a plan shape its quality.
A large apparel manufacturing company recently published its plan to switch to eco-friendly resources for producing its goods and double its sales by 2025. The company aims to achieve these goals by adopting sustainable ways of production, restructuring its supply chain, using global suppliers, investing in marketing and purchasing and/or investing in companies that provide eco-friendly resources and clean energy. Which of the following types of plans does this scenario exemplify?
A.
A business plan
B.
An activity plan
C.
A strategic plan
D.
An operational plan
C.
A strategic plan
Grasshoppers, a publishing company, is structured in such a manner that it has five functional departments—marketing, editorial, sales, finance and human resources. When Amir, the head of the marketing department, requires financial resources from the management for a new marketing campaign, he prepares a comprehensive plan stating the objectives of the campaign, the ways in which the department will achieve those objectives and the criteria against which the results of the campaign will be evaluated. The aim of his plan is to convince senior management to provide him with the necessary capital. Which of the following plans does Amir create in this scenario?
A.
An activity plan
B.
A business plan
C.
A strategic plan
D.
An operational plan
D.
An operational plan
Kevin’s team recently received a math project, and his manager assigned specific tasks to each team member. When Kevin was assigned the task of creating algorithms for the math problems created by his colleague, Kevin created a plan specifying what he needed to do and how he will go about completing his part of the project to ensure timely completion of the entire project. Which of the following plans did Kevin create in this scenario?
A.
An activity plan
B.
An operational plan
C.
A business plan
D.
A strategic plan
A.
An activity plan
Which of the following is a method of summarising a company’s strengths and limitations relative to external opportunities and threats?
A.
A sensitivity analysis
B.
A SWOT analysis
C.
Porter’s Five Forces analysis
D.
PESTEL analysis
B.
A SWOT analysis
In the context of planning, which of the following statements is true of people who are affected by optimism bias and strategic misrepresentation?
A.
When formulating a plan, they tend to focus solely on the constituents of their plan.
B.
When formulating a plan, they tend to underestimate the benefits involved.
C.
When formulating a plan, they tend to take an outside view rather than an inside view.
D.
When formulating a plan, they tend to overestimate the costs involved.
A.
When formulating a plan, they tend to focus solely on the constituents of their plan.
Ruben, the head of the product development department of a mobile phone manufacturing firm, has developed a plan for the creation of a low-cost smartphone with high-end specifications. According to his plan, the new smartphone will gain around 15% of market share within nine months of its launch and increase the firm’s revenue by 25%. Lin, the operations manager of the firm, tests this assumption by calculating the effect on returns if the new product manages to gain only 5% or 10% of market share or surpasses expectations and gains 20% of market share. Which of the following statements is most likely true in this context?
A.
Lin conducts a SWOT analysis.
B.
Lin conducts a sensitivity analysis.
C.
Lin shows prior hypothesis bias.
D.
Lin shows optimism bias.
B.
Lin conducts a sensitivity analysis.
Which of the following statements is true of the importance of goals in successful planning and decision-making?
A.
Setting goals allows planners to establish a single important measure to indicate the success or failure of their plans
B.
Setting goals is the only generic element in planning that links all the other elements in and informs choices throughout the planning process.
C.
Goals allow planners to estimate the financial outcomes of their plans, which is of utmost importance because quantitative goals are essentially more useful than qualitative ones.
D.
Goals provide the point of reference for other decisions related to a plan, and they establish the standards against which to measure outcomes.
D.
Goals provide the point of reference for other decisions related to a plan, and they establish the standards against which to measure outcomes.
A software management company plans to expand and increase its market share by setting up a new office. This organisational objective is transformed into specific objectives for various functional departments, such as human resources, finance and operations. Managers of these departments develop various plans specifying the tasks their departments need to accomplish to achieve the overall organisational objective. The members of these departments then develop activity plans defining their tasks and objectives, which will enable the company to meet the objective of expansion and increased market share. Which of the following concepts does this scenario most likely exemplify?
A.
Performing a SWOT analysis
B.
Performing a sensitivity analysis
C.
Developing a hierarchy of goals
D.
Developing a decision tree
C.
Developing a hierarchy of goals
If Alice, the sales manager of a magazine publishing company, is using the SMART criteria for setting goals for a plan to increase the sales of the magazine, which of the following goals is she most likely to set?
A.
Increase subscriptions of the magazine by 25%.
B.
Increase sales by the next quarter.
C.
Increase subscriptions of the magazine by 8% a year over the next two years.
D.
Increase sales by creating a positive working environment.
C.
Increase subscriptions of the magazine by 8% a year over the next two years.
Which of the following scenarios describes a project manager engaged in the organising aspect of planning?
A.
Kevin, a project manager, is in discussion with a new client about a prospective project that will fetch Kevin’s company an estimated revenue of £150 million.
B.
Hiba, a project manager, has specified the tasks involved in a new project, assigned these tasks to specific team members and set deadlines for them.
C.
Lionel, a project manager, monitors the progress of a large project on a daily basis to ensure its timely completion.
D.
Shayla, a project manager, has received a new project and is understanding its scope of work before setting the objectives of the project.
B.
Hiba, a project manager, has specified the tasks involved in a new project, assigned these tasks to specific team members and set deadlines for them.
When an automobile manufacturing company decided to replace its existing assembly unit with a new unit that was time-efficient and used the latest technology, the planners focused too much on the finance and technology aspect of the company’s internal environment and failed to focus on how the change will affect the company’s structure, people and business processes. As a result, the implementation of the plan was marred by uncertainty and ambiguity regarding the people responsible for the different tasks. In the context of this scenario, identify the aspect of planning that the company most likely failed to perform satisfactorily.
A.
Controlling and monitoring progress to eliminate optimism bias
B.
Systematically specifying the tasks that needed to be accomplished
C.
Performing sensitivity and SWOT analyses
D.
Setting objectives
B.
Systematically specifying the tasks that needed to be accomplished
Managers in large companies take considerable time to communicate the objectives of and the tasks involved in a plan to everyone who will be affected by the plan. Which of the following is a reason why managers invest so much time?
A.
To ensure coordination of activities throughout the company both in practice and on paper
B.
To ensure that people have time to transform qualitative organisational goals into quantitative goals as quantitative goals are inherently more useful than qualitative ones
C.
To ensure that people who do not agree with or accept parts of the plan are excluded from the implementation process to avoid conflicts
D.
To ensure that all affected employees have time to conduct a sensitivity analysis to understand external threats and opportunities
A.
To ensure coordination of activities throughout the company both in practice and on paper
