Exam 17: Evidence-Based Decision Making

AirCargo is a regional airline that ships freight between communities in the four western provinces and the northern territories. Company president Mick Ward has asked his team of managers to investigate several complaints he has received about the company's services. Mick is particularly concerned about complaints that the company is not achieving its service commitment to customers. AirCargo promises delivery within 24 to 48 hours between larger centres, and 48 to 96 hours between smaller communities. Unfortunately, Mick has learned that the company is not achieving this standard, particularly in some northern communities, where shipments are often delayed by more than a week. Mick has made it clear to his managers that the status quo is not an option; either delivery times must be improved or their service promise must be adjusted. Ultimately, Mick would like to see AirCargo achieve the same standard as industry leader FastFreight, who promise 48-hour delivery service between any two communities anywhere across Canada! -The complaints from the customers are a form of ________.

Which common source of information for measuring performance is obtrusive,time consuming,and most subject to personal biases?

When a performance indicator cannot be stated in quantifiable terms,managers should look for and use subjective measures.

________ ratios assess how efficiently the firm is using its assets to generate profits.

Feedforward control takes place while a work activity is in progress.

Organizational effectiveness is a measure of how appropriate organizational goals are and how well those goals are being met.

A dashboard presents managers with a real-time interface to view data and to enable informed decisions.

________ is critically important to everything an organization does and must have comprehensive protection and security in place to protect it.

When employers establish specific policies defining theft and fraud and discipline procedures,this is an example of a concurrent control measure to control employee theft.

Jan was in a big hurry. She had just been given the assignment of reporting on the financial health of her company to the new divisional vice-president, Donna. Donna had asked Jan to provide several calculations to help her gain an understanding of the company's financial shape. Jan realized that this was a great career opportunity—one that could make or break her reputation with the new vice-president. She quickly pulled out her old financial management textbook and turned to the chapter on financial ratios to review the required calculations. -Donna asked Jan to provide her with an estimate of how efficiently the firm is using its assets.Therefore,Jan calculated a(n)________ ratio called total asset turnover.

Sam has not been receiving the information that he needs from his current control system. By the time Sam receives his reports, the activity has been completed and mistakes have already been made. Direct supervision is used extensively on the production floor now, so some activities are corrected before they become costly mistakes. But Sam would like to do better. Ideally, he would like to fix mistakes before they happen and anticipate more of the problems before they occur. -The type of control used on the production floor is ________ control.

The first step in the control process is ________.

Jan was in a big hurry. She had just been given the assignment of reporting on the financial health of her company to the new divisional vice-president, Donna. Donna had asked Jan to provide several calculations to help her gain an understanding of the company's financial shape. Jan realized that this was a great career opportunity—one that could make or break her reputation with the new vice-president. She quickly pulled out her old financial management textbook and turned to the chapter on financial ratios to review the required calculations. -Finally,as the hour dragged to midnight,Jan finished calculating the ________ ratios because Donna wanted to know how efficiently and effectively management is using its assets to generate profits.

Organizational governance is ________.

Computing Solutions Inc. is a high-tech consulting firm that focuses on helping companies to implement and adapt new technological developments in daily operations. Ted is the department head and needs to train John and Kelly, both project managers, on the proper applications of technological solutions for businesses. -Ted also informs John and Kelly that the term ________ in MIS implies order,arrangement,and purpose.

George has been asked to investigate last month's production shortfall and correct the problem.This is the third shortfall this year,and this time George wants to get to the source of the problem and fix it for good.George will take ________ corrective action.

The accumulated end results of all the organization's work processes and activities are called ________.

In the control process,when a manager cannot find a quantifiable performance indicator,he or she should ________.

The criterion that determines the effectiveness of a control system is how well it reduces unnecessary costs.

Which of the following is a performance measurement tool that looks at four areas that contribute to a company's performance?