MGT 521 FINAL EXAM STUDY GUIDE

1) When a manager makes use of a SWOT analysis, one of his or her objectives is to
A. identify the best employees to fill each position in the organization
B. formulate appropriate strategies to exploit strengths, protect against threats, and correct weaknesses
C. set specific short-term performance standards for each department
D. evaluate the desirability of issuing stocks or bonds in the current financial climate
2) A company that wants to distinguish itself from the competition in the marketplace is most likely using which of the following strategies?
A. Focus strategy
B. Differentiation strategy
C. Functional strategy
D. Generic strategy
3) An organization’s ________ goals are official statements of what an organization says its goals are.
A. stated
B. real
C. implicit
D. synthetic
4) When planning for unexpected events, a company is using which of the following techniques?
A. SWOT analysis
B. Benchmarking
D. Financial forecasting
5) The ________ determines the number of levels and managers in an organization.
A. delegation of authority
B. unity of command
C. chain of command
D. span of control
6) Which of the following is a characteristic of an organic organization?
A. High specialization
B. Cross-functional teams
C. Rigid departmentalization
D. Narrow span of controls
7) Which of the following is a characteristic of a matrix organization?
A. It conforms to the unity of command principle.
B. It has a single chain of command for functional managers to report to.
C. It has formal departments to which employees return after completing a project.
D. It is free of internal and external boundaries.
8) Searching for new ideas beyond an organization’s boundaries and allowing changes to easily transfer inward and outward is known as ________.
A. strategic partnering
B. knowledge management
C. organizational osmosis
D. open innovation
9) Which of the following stages is when the group structure is in place and accepted by the group members?
A. Performing
B. Norming
C. Storming
D. Adjourning
10) Conflicts can be resolved by satisfying one’s own needs at the expense of others. This conflict- management technique is known as ________.
A. collaborating
B. Compromising
C. Avoiding
D. Forcing
11) Which of the following statements is true about group decision making?
A. It generates more complete information and knowledge.
B. It takes less time to reach a solution than it would an individual.
C. It prevents any one minority from dominating or influencing the final decision.
D. It is most suitable for matters that must be critically evaluated.
12) According to the Ohio State studies, which of the following dimensions of leader behavior refers to the extent to which a leader is likely to define and structure his or her role and the roles of group members to meet goals?
A. Intelligence structure
B. Psychological structure
C. Initiating structure
D. Consideration structure
13) Which leadership theory is derived from the belief that a leader’s job is to remove pitfalls and roadblocks so followers can achieve their work goals?
A. Fiedler’s theory
B. Contingency theory
C. Leader participation model
D. Path-goal theory
14) If Carol Reece is a charismatic leader, which of the following characteristics is she most likely to possess?
A. A strong need to be in control
B. A fear of taking risks
C. An external locus of control
D.A sensitivity to environmental constraints and follower needs
15) Indira Patel has been working in her organization’s computer security department for the past 10 years. If another employee follows Indira’s recommendations in a given situation, based on her expertise in computer security, which source of power is Indira using?
A. Coercive power
B. Legitimate power
C. Referent power
D. Expert power
16) Melvin manages a team of 10 employees, including Jane and Jared. Jared is leaving the organization to find a job as a manager in another field. Meanwhile, due to performance issues, Melvin terminates Jane’s employment with the company. Both of these are examples of what type of employee behavior?
A. Absenteeism
B. Employee productivity
C. Job satisfaction
D. Turnover
17) Thomas often annoys his coworkers with his talkativeness and assertive personality. According to the Big Five Model of personality, Thomas would be described as high in the trait of ________.
A. conscientiousness
B. agreeableness
C. openness to experience
D. extraversion
18) Kelly is interviewing candidates to fill a vacancy on her team. One candidate has a degree from a prestigious university, and Kelly is impressed. In speaking with her fellow members of the interview panel, however, Kelly finds that no one else enjoyed the interview with the candidate, finding her to be pompous, aggressive, and self-serving. In her focus on only the candidate’s education, Kelly may have fallen victim to _______.
A. stereotyping
B. selectivity
C. the halo effect
D. assumed similarity
19) It is crucial to determine an acceptable _____ during the comparing step in the control process.
A. ideal standard
B. written report
C. measure of organizational performance
D. range of variation
20) If a manager rationalizes that he or she does not have time to investigate the source of a problem and instead resorts to putting out fires, the manager is missing the use of ________.
A. bureaucratic control
B. immediate corrective action
C. basic corrective action
D. concurrent control
21) Why are feedforward controls more rarely implemented as compared to other types of controls?
A. Feedforward controls are time-consuming for managers because they must continually monitor progress.
B. Feedforward controls result in wasted time and money.
C. Feedforward controls require managers to interact directly with employees.
D. Feedforward controls require timely and accurate information that is hard to obtain.
22) On Monday, Jim’s Taco Shop identified a problem with tainted ground beef that was used to make tacos and nacho platters for its lunch customers. If the staff at Jim’s did not identify the problem until after the lunch rush, what type of control would this demonstrate?
A. Feedforward control
B. Concurrent control
C. Proactive control
D. Feedback control
23) If a firm wanted to identify how much money was being made for each sale of a given product (above and beyond the costs associated with making that product), what type of ratio would it use?
A. Liquidity ratios
B. Leverage ratios
C. Activity ratios
D. Profitability ratios
24) Budgets can be used as tools within which two functions of management?
A. Organizing and leading
B. Controlling and organizing
C. Planning and leading
D. Controlling and planning
25) The balanced scorecard measures organizational performance against previously established standards. Which of the four functions of management relates most closely to setting these standards?
A. Controlling
B. Leading
C. Organizing
D. Planning
26) During benchmarking, an organization can compare its processes and products to competitors in its own industry and to noncompetitors outside the industry. What is a main benefit of comparing a firm’s performance against an organization it does not consider a competitor?
A. A noncompetitor may allow an organization to see its practices more readily than a competitor in the same industry.
B. There is no benefit to benchmarking a firm against a noncompetitor.
C. A noncompetitor may be easier to find and benchmark, because the top firms in the world are so diverse.
D. A noncompetitor may be the world leader in a specific process or practice, and an organization can learn from it.
27) ________ is defined as a business firm’s intention, beyond its legal and economic obligations, to do the right things and act in ways that are good for society.
A. Social obligation
B. Social responsibility
C. Social screening
D. Values-based management
28) In the ________ approach of going green, organizations respond to the environmental preferences of customers.
A. legal
B. market
C. stakeholder
D. activist
29) What can be said about a manager who believes she worked hard and met her organization’s productivity goals despite unfavorable conditions?
A. She has an external locus of control.
B. She has a high ego strength.
C. She has a low ego strength.
D. She has an internal locus of control.
30) Which business practice would likely encourage ethical behavior?
A. Strong emphasis on individual productivity
B. Strong emphasis on leading by example
C. Cultural values for obedience to authority
D. Intense competition for valued rewards