Deck 7: Foundations of Planning

Question 1

Goals are the foundation of organizational planning.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

When uncertainty is high and managers must be flexible in order to respond to unexpected changes, directional plans are preferable.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

Most businesses have only one objective: to make a profit.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

'Short-term' plans are those covering one year or less.

Question 5

Planning is concerned with how objectives are to be accomplished, not what is to be accomplished.

Question 6

Research indicates that nonplanning organizations always outperform planning organizations.

Question 7

In MBO, or 'management by objectives', goals are often less well-defined, giving managers and employees more flexibility to respond to changing conditions.

Question 8

Strategic goals are related to the financial performance of the organization.

Question 9

Directional plans have clearly defined objectives.

Question 10

An organization's real goals are often quite irrelevant to what actually goes on.

Question 11

Fatalistic attitudes have never been displayed in Arab societies.

Question 12

Most companies' goals can be classified as either strategic or financial.

Question 13

Planning provides direction to managers and nonmanagers alike.

Question 14

Strategic plans can be categorized as long term, directional, and single use.

Question 15

Operational plans encompass a particular operational area of the organization.

Question 16

Goals and objectives are two terms used interchangeably in the planning process.

Question 17

An integrated network of goals is sometimes called a means-end chain.

Question 18

A good understanding of the concept of "Qadar" should lead to no planning for the future.

Question 19

'Long-term' used to mean anything over three years, but now it means anything over one year.

Question 20

Even without planning, departments and individuals always work together, allowing organizations to move efficiently toward their goals.

Question 21

In formal planning, ________.

A) specific goals covering a period of years are defined
B) general goals are developed and not written
C) general goals covering an unspecified period of years are defined
D) specific goals are developed and not written

Question 22

In times of dynamic environmental change, well-defined and precisely developed action plans enhance organizational performance.

Question 23

A major argument against formal plans is that they can't replace intuition and creativity.

Question 24

Planning can't eliminate change. Managers plan in order to ________.

A) be prepared for when changes in management at the top occurs
B) decide what needs to be done when a change in environments happen
C) anticipate changes and develop the most effective response to changes
D) have the appropriate materials available when the demand for them comes about

Question 25

In today's dynamic business environment, successful firms recognize that planning is an ongoing process, not a tablet of rules cast in stone.

Question 26

A well-designed goal should be measurable and quantifiable.

Question 27

Planning involves defining the organization's goals, establishing an overall strategy for achieving those goals, and developing a comprehensive set of plans ________.

A) to determine which manager will be in charge of which department
B) for organizational work activities
C) to establish the quality and quantity of work to be accomplished
D) as to which shift will perform what work functions

Question 28

Managers must be able to follow through with plans even if conditions change.

Question 29

The more the current plans affect future commitments, the longer the time frame for which managers should plan.

Question 30

Planning is a waste of time in a volatile environment.

Question 31

An MBO program consists of four elements: loose goals, participative decision making, an explicit time period, and performance feedback.

Question 32

The effect of planning on managers is that it forces them to ________.

A) respond indiscriminately
B) consider the impact of change
C) develop bureaucratic response models
D) react to change

Question 33

Studies of actual MBO programs find mixed results in terms of its effects on overall employee performance and organizational productivity.

Question 34

Formal planning involves which of the following aspects?

A) writing objectives
B) distributing the plan to all managerial employees
C) planning for up to one year
D) developing general objectives

Question 35

Goals that are too easy to accomplish are not motivating and neither are goals that are not attainable even with exceptional effort.

Question 36

The second step in goal setting is to determine the goals individually or with input from others.

Question 37

In a typical MBO program, successful achievement of objectives is reinforced by performance-based rewards.

Question 38

Planning gives direction, reduces the impact of change, minimizes waste and redundancy, and ________.

A) sets the basis used for promotion of individuals within the organization
B) eliminates departments that are not needed within the plan
C) establishes the workloads for each of the departments
D) sets the standards used in controlling

Question 39

Effective planning in dynamic environments means flattening the organizational hierarchy.

Question 40

One criticism of planning is that it's not enough for managers just to plan.

Question 41

Studies of performance in organizations that plan have reached ________.

A) generally positive conclusions regarding the benefits of planning
B) somewhat negative conclusions regarding the benefits of planning
C) generally negative conclusions regarding the benefits of planning
D) generally mixed conclusions regarding the benefits of planning

Question 42

Goals are objectives, ________.

A) but goals are used in reference to profits, and objectives are used in reference to production output
B) but goals are used by top management, and objectives are used by first-level management
C) and we use the two terms interchangeably
D) but goals are long term, and objectives are short term

Question 43

Planning is often called the primary management function because it ________.

A) establishes the basis for all the other functions
B) sets the tone for the organizational culture
C) creates the vision for the organizational members to work toward
D) offers some basis for future decision making

Question 44

To encourage proper planning in Arab societies, Arab managers need to ________.

A) rely less on their intuition
B) develop a proper understanding of the concept of Qadar
C) cautiously implement modern technology
D) decrease their exposure to the world

Question 45

Governmental regulations, powerful labor unions, and other critical environmental forces constrain managers' options and ________ the impact of planning on an organization's performance.

A) reduce
B) neutralize
C) increase
D) don't affect

Question 46

Using a single objective can result in unethical practices because managers ________.

A) will ignore other important parts of their jobs in order to look good on that one measure
B) will use overtime to accomplish that single objective without reporting it
C) will manipulate the outcomes reported to assure that the one objective is achieved
D) want to satisfy the stockholders of the organization

Question 47

Which of the following is true concerning an organization's stated objectives?

A) Organizations typically have internal and external sets of objectives.
B) Stated objectives are usually in line with short-term actions.
C) Organizations may issue different objectives to stockholders, customers, employees, and the public.
D) Organizations issue identical objectives to all constituents.

Question 48

When managers emphasize one goal, they ________.

A) ignore other goals that must also be reached if long-term success is to achieved
B) make the goal easier to be accomplished by all organizational members
C) assure that the one goal will be accomplished even above the established level
D) deny the organizational members the opportunity to grow and develop

Question 49

The conflict in stated goals exists because organizations respond to a variety of ________.

A) stakeholders
B) governmental regulations
C) external environments
D) stockholders

Question 50

In studies in which formal planning did not lead to higher performance, ________.

A) employees' implementation of the plans was the primary reason for failure
B) the external environment often was the reason
C) lack of communication was most often the reason for failure
D) management's execution of the plans was most often the reason for failure

Question 51

When we categorize plans as being directional versus specific, we are categorizing them by ________.

A) breadth
B) frequency of use
C) specificity
D) depth

Question 52

Official statements of what an organization says and what it wants its various stakeholders to believe are referred to as ________.

A) real goals
B) comprehensive goals
C) committed goals
D) stated goals

Question 53

One charge against Arab culture in relation to planning relates to the concept of ________.

A) fundamentalism
B) fatalism
C) determinism
D) consumerism

Question 54

The quality of the planning process and the appropriate implementation of the plans probably ________.

A) should be studied more to factually determine which contributes the most
B) contribute more to high performance than does the extent of planning
C) don't contribute to high performance nearly as much as the extent of planning
D) contribute less to high performance than does the extent of planning

Question 55

What should a person do to understand what the real objectives of the organization are?

A) Read their annual report.
B) Attend a stockholders' annual meeting.
C) Observe organizational members' actions.
D) Watch television news reports.

Question 56

Planning involves two important elements: ________.

A) plans and decisions
B) goals and actions
C) goals and plans
D) goals and decisions

Question 57

________ can evaluate whether an organization is successful.

A) No single measure
B) Stakeholders are the only groups that
C) Plans are also a measure that
D) A goal is the only measure that

Question 58

The most common ways to describe organizational plans are by their frequency of use, time frame, specificity, and ________.

A) quantifiability
B) attainability
C) breadth
D) flexibility

Question 59

Plans are documents that outline how goals are going to be met and ________.

A) identify how much capital is required to complete the goals
B) tell what materials and processes are necessary to fulfill the goals
C) describe resource allocations, schedules, and other necessary actions to accomplish the goals
D) define which department has what responsibilities needed to accomplish the goals

Question 60

When we categorize plans as being single-use versus standing, we categorize them by ________.

A) specificity
B) time frame
C) breadth
D) frequency of use

Question 61

What is the first step in a typical MBO program?

A) Action plans are specified and agreed upon by managers and employees.
B) Unit managers collaboratively set specific objectives for their units with their managers.
C) The organization's overall objectives and strategies are formulated.
D) Major objectives are allocated among divisional and departmental units.

Question 62

A legislative plan that calls for a 2.45 percent increase in property tax for the next 2 years would be considered what type of plan?

A) Strategic
B) Directional
C) Operational
D) Specific

Question 63

Goals provide the direction for all management decisions and actions and form the ________.

A) criteria against which actual accomplishments are measured
B) profit basis that the organizations will accomplish for stockholders
C) desired outcomes that the organizational members will achieve
D) basis for the sharing of profits with the employees at the end

Question 64

Specific plans are clearly defined and ________.

A) leave no room for interpretation
B) give the managers authority to interpret the plans for their area of responsibility
C) allow managers to interpret their "flexibility" on their own
D) keep the stakeholders informed of the organization's objectives

Question 65

What happens to traditional goals as they make their way down from top management to lower levels?

A) Lower-level managers must continually revise and correct them.
B) They unite the workforce.
C) They purposely remain vague and nonspecific.
D) They lose clarity and unity.

Question 66

Standing plans are ongoing plans that provide ________.

A) stakeholders with identifiable goals that the organization will always strive to achieve
B) general directions on how to accomplish an identifiable task
C) the stockholders with identifiable goals that the organization will always strive to achieve
D) guidance for activities performed repeatedly

Question 67

With traditional goal setting, employees' work efforts at their respective levels and work areas are geared to meet goals ________.

A) within the shortest amount of time possible
B) so that their immediate supervisors will be retained in their position
C) that have been assigned in their specific areas of responsibility
D) so that the top management will be retained in their position

Question 68

Management by objectives (MBO) is a management system in which the first step is setting specific performance goals that are ________.

A) established and that can be easily accomplished
B) jointly determined by employees and their managers
C) developed in such a manner that the employees are self-directed and do not need supervision
D) determined by top management with clarity so that the objectives are clear to even the most incompetent employee

Question 69

A city's policy concerning smoking in public buildings that provides guidance for police action would be considered what type of plan?

A) Standing
B) Single-use
C) Contingency
D) Directional

Question 70

When the hierarchy of organizational goals is clearly defined, it forms a ________.

A) weakest-link chain
B) level-level chain
C) hierarchical-link chain
D) means-ends chain

Question 71

The flexibility inherent in directional plans must be weighed against the ________.

A) loss of a shorter planning period provided by specific plans
B) loss of clarity provided by specific plans
C) gain of a shorter planning period provided by specific plans
D) gain of a longer planning period provided by specific plans

Question 72

A well-designed goal should be ________.

A) identifiable to even the first-line supervisors
B) specific and within a manageable time frame
C) short and very specific about expected outcomes
D) written in terms of outcomes rather than actions

Question 73

A well-designed goal should be ________.

A) discussed at orientation
B) clear as to a time frame
C) easy to achieve
D) nearly unattainable, so that even if the unit or employee misses the goal, performance is still very high

Question 74

________ is a one-time plan specifically designed to meet the needs of a unique situation.

A) A strategic plan
B) A single-use plan
C) A multipurpose plan
D) An operational plan

Question 75

With traditional goal setting, the assumption is that ________.

A) top managers are unfamiliar with setting goals, so lower-level managers are assigned to do the task
B) lower-level managers are incapable of setting goals
C) top managers know what is best because they see the "big picture"
D) lower-level managers understand more of what needs to be accomplished

Question 76

As organizational environments have become more uncertain, ________.

A) organizations are having to make longer term plans
B) organizations have to request that the government pass more legislation restricting the amount of uncertainty
C) the definition of long term has changed
D) organizations have to resist the uncertainties to keep the plans moving toward the objectives

Question 77

In the MBO system, ________.

A) objectives are determined by management
B) progress toward objectives is periodically reviewed
C) goals are used as controls
D) goals are only reviewed at the time of completion

Question 78

With traditional goal setting, the goals are set at the top level of management and ________.

A) then they are broken down into subgoals for each level of the organization
B) then they are delegated to the next lower level to be achieved
C) all the efforts to achieve those goals are directed by top management, to ensure that they are achieved
D) then it becomes the responsibility of first-line management to achieve those goals

Question 79

Directional plans ________.

A) last for 3-5 years
B) meet the needs of a unique situation
C) identify general guidelines
D) have clearly defined objectives

Question 80

Strategic plans tend to cover a longer period of time than operational goals and also ________.

A) cover a more narrow view of the organization
B) cover a broader view of the organization
C) include an estimate of the profits that the stockholder can anticipate as dividends
D) cover the financial projections of the planning period