Exam 6: Managing the Business Enterprise

What is crisis management?

Mega Computer has decided that within the next five years it wants to become an industry leader in disk drive technology, a technology that has little existing support inside the company at this time. This goal will help assess performance. help make decisions. help allocate resources. provide direction. help define corporate culture.

Top managers depend on conceptual skills the most, while first-line supervisors depend on these skills the least.

An example of a business that must follow a differentiation strategy is a fashion designer. a resource-industry business. an aluminum siding installer. a discount retailer. a local trucking company.

Kohler makes and markets familiar kitchen and bathroom fixtures. But Kohler also offers a breadth of other products and services, including furniture, tile and stone, and even small engines and backup power systems. It also owns resorts and spas. Kohler ties this diverse product portfolio together under the mission of "contributing to a higher level of gracious living for those who are touched by our products and services." Kohler's overall objective is to build profitable customer relationships by developing efficient yet beautiful products that embrace the "essence of gracious living." If Kohler became known as a provider of products and services that embrace the "essence of gracious living," which of the following would be the MOST likely result? Kohler would feel pressure to expand its business to include a wider range of products and services. Customers who had a positive experience with some of Kohler's products would be more interested in trying other Kohler products. Kohler's divisions would be more likely to create their own individual mission statements. Sales of higher-priced goods and services would increase less than sales of lower-priced goods and services. Kohler's customers would be more likely to focus on price and less likely to focus on customer service.

Briefly describe the general planning process. Indicate the kinds of things that can go wrong at each step in the process.

In a SWOT analysis, strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats are factors external to the firm that must be considered.

What are the three types of time-based goals?

Scott, the manager of a Computers R Us store, in reviewing the sales results from last week noticed that all but one employee was on target. As he contemplated how to fix the problem, he was engaged in the management process of controlling. organizing. planning. directing. staffing.

A study by Google found that technical expertise ranked last among a list of eight "Habits of Highly Effective Google Managers." What was at the top of the list? Bosses who had a strong concern for social responsibility and ethics. Bosses who completed their work in a timely fashion. Bosses who did what they promised. Bosses who were even-tempered who made time for one-on-one meetings, and who helped subordinates work through problems. Bosses who protected their employees from harassment by managers in other divisions.

"Excuse me," the secretary began. "Don't you have a 3:30 appointment to present a gold watch to Mr. Chung?" The manager froze in her tracks, realized the secretary was correct, and immediately began preparing herself to fulfill the managerial role identified by Mintzberg as figurehead. leader. disseminator. liaison. entrepreneur.

The shared experiences, stories, beliefs, and norms that characterize an organization are referred to as organizational structure.

Setting strategic goals is the first step in strategy formulation. What is the next step? Analyzing the company and its environment Segmenting the markets the company wants to penetrate Preparing an organizational plan Matching company strengths with environmental characteristics Developing a mission statement

Ronald Koslowsky, a marketing manager at Wintron Co., receives a telephone call from LeRoy Shelton, a marketing manager at Young-Times Inc. The two chat socially, occasionally talking about different parts of their work. This is an example of a manager operating in Mintzberg's ________ role. disseminator spokesperson liaison negotiator resource allocator

Environmental analysis is the process of analyzing a firm's strengths and weaknesses as they relate to the external environment of the organization.

The post-project review of the Alpha Supplement project is complete. It found failures in planning. Too much time was budgeted to market research, leaving not enough time for product development and quality assurance. As a result, the project could not have succeeded even if the project had been run perfectly. But there were other problems as well. Constant conflicts between team members demonstrated a failure of leadership. Finally, there were failures in controlling. When component providers failed to deliver, project leaders did not locate and train new providers in time. Which of the following, if true, would most strongly suggest that the problems attributed to controlling were actually caused by planning failures? The team assignments in the project plan placed two employees on the Quality Control team despite their long history of hostility toward each other. The problems attributed to controlling were typical of the problems experienced by other project leaders in the industry. The project plan called for all possible component providers to produce components at their maximum capacity. The list of problems attributed to controlling also included the failure to adequately monitor production output. Even the most effective planning would not have made the project a success given the failures attributed to controlling.

When Bell Canada diversified by forming BCE, it acquired interests in businesses like trust companies, pipelines, and real estate. This is an example of vertical integration. cooperative diversification. concentric diversification. cost leadership. conglomerate diversification.

Which of the following outlines how an organization intends to meet its mission statement goals and includes the firm's responsiveness to new challenges and needs? Goal setting Controlling Strategy Tactics Research and development

Vertical integration means acquiring control of competitors in the same or similar markets with the same or similar products.

To effectively use the corporate culture, managers need all the following except a clear understanding of the culture. to reward and promote those who support the culture. to be tied into the informal networks. a clear and meaningful mission statement. to transmit the culture to others in the firm.