Deck 4: Planning and Decision Making

Question 1

S.M.A.R.T. goals are Specific, Meaningful, Active, Reachable, and Timely.

Answer 1

False

Question 2

Management by objectives is a two-step process in which managers and their employees discuss possible goals and then meet regularly to review progress toward the accomplishment of those goals.

Answer 2

False

Question 3

Developing a purpose statement is the sole responsibility of middle management.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

Planning is one of the best ways to improve organizational and individual performance.

Question 5

The three kinds of operational plans are single-use plans, standing plans, and budgets.

Question 6

On average, companies that create plans have larger profits and grow much faster than companies that don't.

Question 7

Encouraging worker participation in goal setting, making goals public, and getting top management's support are all recommended ways to increase goal commitment in a company.

Question 8

The two approaches to maintaining flexibility in organizations while they plan are outcome-based planning and change-based planning.

Question 9

Tactical plans and objectives are used to direct behavior, efforts, and attention over the next six months to two years.

Question 10

Both proximal and distal goals are used to provide additional motivation and rewards for employees.

Question 11

Creating and executing a plan is one of the most important tasks of a manager.

Question 12

Tactical plans specify how a company will use its resources, budgets, and people to accomplish specific goals within its mission.

Question 13

For planning to be effective, workers need a specific, challenging goal as well as regular feedback to track their progress.

Question 14

Planning works best when the goals and action plans at the bottom and middle of the organization supports the goals and action plans at the top of the organization.

Question 15

The three kinds of standing plans are policies, procedures, and rules and regulations.

Question 16

Planning is a three-step process which involves setting goals, then next developing effective action plans, and finally tracking progress toward goal achievement.

Question 17

Planning can impede change, create a false sense of certainty, and lead to the detachment of planners.

Question 18

A strategic objective is a statement of a company's purpose or reason for existing.

Question 19

Standing plans deal with unique, one-time-only events.

Question 20

An organization's purpose must regularly change to adapt to changes in the environment over time.

Question 21

One of the benefits of planning is how it ____.

A)improves vertical integration of departments
B)encourages people to engage in behaviors directly related to goal accomplishment
C)encourages people to remain with the company, rather than go to work for the competition
D)eliminates the need for change agents
E)makes a long-term mission statement redundant

Question 22

The process of rational decision making emphasizes the use of systematic procedures to arrive at optimal solutions. Not all processes of decision making follow suit.

Question 23

Planning is ultimately based upon ____.

A)how a planner deals with bounded rationality
B)choosing a goal and developing a method or strategy to achieve that goal
C)the relationship between organizational line and staff personnel
D)whether the mission statement is internally or externally oriented
E)the personality type of the individual engaged in planning

Question 24

Which of the following is a possible outcome of planning?

A)Planning may lead to a mechanistic organizational chart.
B)Planning may harm individual and organizational performance.
C)Planning can eliminate the need for formalization.
D)Planning will allow the company to know about all changes in its external environment before they occur.
E)All of these are possible outcomes of planning

Question 25

One of the benefits of planning is how it ____.

A)encourages people to work harder for extended periods
B)encourages people to try a variety of different ways to do others' jobs
C)reduces employee turnover
D)creates a mechanistic environment
E)does none of these

Question 26

The six steps in the rational decision-making process are as follows: (1)frame the problem, (2)identify decision criteria, (3)weight the criteria, (4)generate alternative courses of action, (5)evaluate each alternative, and (6)compute the optimal decision.

Question 27

All decision making by management is rational.

Question 28

Both absolute comparisons and relative comparisons are methods for identifying decision criteria.

Question 29

How does a company benefit from planning?

A)increased use of groupthink
B)less solidified group cohesion
C)more compliance with organizational culture
D)intensified effort, persistence, direction, and creation of task strategies
E)the ability to make greater use of devil's advocacy

Question 30

The last step in effective planning is to ____.

A)maintain flexibility in planning
B)develop long-term action plans
C)develop goal commitment
D)acculturate the employees
E)track progress toward goal achievement

Question 31

Groupthink is more likely to occur in a highly cohesive group that is insulated from others and has no established procedure for systematically defining problems and exploring alternatives.

Question 32

The term decision making is used to refer to the process of choosing a solution from available alternatives.

Question 33

Budgeting is a critical management task, one that most managers could do better.

Question 34

One of the benefits of planning is how it ____.

A)encourages people to work faster
B)encourages people to try a variety of different ways to do others' jobs
C)reduces employee turnover
D)eliminates all discriminatory practices
E)does none of these

Question 35

According to the S.M.A.R.T. guidelines, goals should be ____.

A)Synergistic
B)Maximized
C)Accelerated
D)Role-related
E)none of these

Question 36

According to the S.M.A.R.T. guidelines, goals should be ____.

A)Service-oriented
B)Measurable
C)Rational
D)Tactical
E)Actionable

Question 37

According to the text, which of the following is a pitfall of planning?

A)the acceptance of sacrificing solutions
B)a false sense of certainty based on faulty assumptions
C)the inability of organizational line personnel to accept the long-term benefit of planning
D)the requirement for expensive employee training before plans can be effectively implemented
E)outsourcing

Question 38

After earning $8 billion in profit, Royal Dutch/Shell decided to strive to double its profits within the next five years. Which classical management function would be instrumental in achieving this goal?

A)motivating
B)research and development
C)planning
D)marketing
E)optimizing

Question 39

The use of ____ in planning produces a false sense of certainty and is often cited as one of the major pitfalls of planning.

A)assumptions
B)commitment
C)detachment
D)tactics
E)benchmarking

Question 40

According to the S.M.A.R.T. guidelines, goals should be ____.

A)Aggregated
B)Reliable
C)Timely
D)Motivated
E)all of these

Question 41

A department store is experiencing greater than usual losses due to theft and management wants it stopped. Middle management decided to hire a security company to study the problem and develop the best plan for dealing with it. Middle management have implemented a(n)____ plan.

A)contingency
B)strategic
C)operational
D)visionary
E)tactical

Question 42

Top management is responsible for developing long-term ____ that make clear how the company will serve customers and position itself against competitors in the next two to five years.

A)standing plans
B)tactical plans
C)operational plans
D)strategic plans
E)mission statements

Question 43

A manufacturer of suntan lotion could set a(n)____ goal to increase revenues by 8 percent over the next five years and a(n)____ goal to increase sales next June in the Miami Beach area by 3 percent.

A)tactical; strategic
B)operational; tactical
C)distal; proximal
D)operational; strategic
E)proximal; distal

Question 44

The most popular approach to increasing goal commitment is ____.

A)encouraging workers' participation in goal setting
B)making goals public
C)getting top management's support
D)assigning realistic and attainable goals
E)management by mentoring

Question 45

An Australian manufacturer of surfboards wants to increase awareness of its brand in the U.S. market. A ____ plan to accomplish this objective might be to host a series of surfboard competitions in California .

A)contingency
B)single-use
C)standing
D)visionary
E)tactical

Question 46

The basic purpose of ____ planning is to leave commitments open by maintaining slack resources.

A)options-based planning
B)learning-based planning
C)traditional planning
D)operant planning
E)the establishment of planning windows

Question 47

Planning works best when the goals and action plans at the ____ of the organization support the goals and action plans at the ____ of the organization.

A)bottom and top; middle
B)top and middle; bottom
C)bottom and middle; top
D)group level; individual level
E)staff level; line level

Question 48

____ is responsible for developing strategic plans that make clear how the company will serve customers and position itself against competitors in the next two to five years.

A)An action team
B)Middle management
C)Planning staff
D)A change agent
E)Top management

Question 49

Who is responsible for the creation of tactical plans?

A)team leaders
B)lower-level managers
C)middle managers
D)top managers
E)staff advisors

Question 50

For options-based planning to work, the organization must ____.

A)have slack resources
B)use cross-functional teams
C)have broad spans of management
D)have tall organizational structures
E)use decentralization

Question 51

The goal of a company was to reduce the expenses incurred by the sales force. A manager examining weekly expense sheets would be using which of the accepted methods for tracking progress toward goal achievement?

A)setting realistic and attainable goals
B)gathering and providing performance feedback
C)developing concrete action plans
D)making sure goals are measurable
E)comparing dynamic with mechanistic goals

Question 52

Which of the following is a commonly used method for increasing goal commitment?

A)reward whistleblowing
B)make goals public
C)get the union's support
D)use the equity theory
E)establish a median goal for all employees

Question 53

Which of the following is a commonly used method for increasing goal commitment?

A)encouraging worker participation in goal setting
B)keeping goals private
C)setting ethical goals
D)using ombudsman to set goals
E)all of these

Question 54

____ plans are plans that specify how a company will use resources, budgets, and people to accomplish specific goals within its mission.

A)Strategic
B)Tactical
C)Operational
D)Single-use
E)Dialectical

Question 55

What type of planning would be used to create the festivities necessary to celebrate the 100-year anniversary of a furniture manufacturer?

A)single-use plan
B)contingency plan
C)scenario plan
D)standing plan
E)role-model plan

Question 56

Which of the following is an accepted method for tracking progress toward goal achievement?

A)setting response and stimulus goals
B)gathering and providing performance feedback
C)using operant and classical conditioning
D)mechanistic and dynamic feedback
E)data warehousing and data mining

Question 57

____ planning keeps options open by making small, simultaneous investments in many alternative plans.

A)Learning-based
B)Options-based
C)Conditioned
D)Functional
E)Operant

Question 58

Which of the following is NOT one of the characteristics of S.M.A.R.T. goals?

A)Synergistic
B)Measurable
C)Timely
D)Attainable
E)Realistic

Question 59

____ can help organizations to maintain flexibility as they plan.

A)Environmental munificence
B)Options-based planning
C)Formalization
D)Liaisons
E)Group cohesiveness

Question 60

A(n)____ lists the specific steps, people, resources, and time period for accomplishing a goal.

A)strategy
B)proximal goal
C)distal goal
D)action plan
E)subordinate objective

Question 61

When done correctly, management by objectives (MBO)is an extremely effective method for ____.

A)brainstorming
B)developing policies and procedures
C)broadening the span of transformation
D)problem framing
E)tactical planning

Question 62

At a canning factory, new employees were instructed never to wear loose-fitting clothes when working around the canning machine. What kind of a standing plan is described in this example?

A)rules and regulations
B)procedures
C)policies
D)organizational norms
E)security governances

Question 63

____ are types of standing plans.

A)Policies and procedures
B)Targeted plans
C)Long-term tactical strategies
D)MBO guidelines
E)Transformational plans

Question 64

____ is the process of choosing a solution from available alternatives.

A)Decision making
B)Problem identification
C)Heuristics
D)Multivariable selection
E)Problem solving

Question 65

In case of a fire, most organizations have a series of actions that must take place beginning with notifying the fire department and include evacuating buildings. What kind of a standing plan is described in this example?

A)rules and regulations
B)procedures
C)policies
D)organizational norms
E)security governances

Question 66

Budgets are an example of ____ planning.

A)strategic
B)tactical
C)operational
D)actionable
E)single-use

Question 67

Management by objectives (MBO)is a management technique often used to develop and carry out ____.

A)single-use plans
B)standing plans
C)operational plans
D)tactical plans
E)hierarchical plans

Question 68

Neither Chile nor Peru has a mass-market café culture, but that fact has not stopped Starbucks from trying to determine what can be done to make its coffee houses successful in those markets. By recognizing that people in these two South American countries do not drink coffee like people in the United States and that they should change this habit, Starbucks has begun a ____ process with problem identification.

A)rational decision making
B)trend analysis
C)sacrificing
D)selection of optimal solutions
E)framing constraints

Question 69

____ are standing plans that indicate the specific steps that should be taken in response to a particular event.

A)Policies
B)Procedures
C)Actionable plans
D)Options-based plans
E)Single-use plans

Question 70

There are three kinds of ____ plans. They are single-use plans, standing plans, and budgets.

A)strategic
B)tactical
C)operational
D)MBO
E)actionable

Question 71

Neither Chile nor Peru have a mass-market café culture, but that fact has not stopped Starbucks from engaging in ____ to determine how best to expand into those markets.

A)intuitive conditioning
B)benchmarking
C)decision making
D)organizational design
E)conditioned learning

Question 72

____ are a type of operational plan.

A)Single-use plans
B)Contingency plans
C)Short-term strategies
D)Mission modifications
E)Benchmarks

Question 73

____ plans direct the behavior, efforts, and priorities of operative employees for periods ranging from one to six months.

A)Strategic
B)Tactical
C)Operational
D)Standing
E)Procedural

Question 74

Which of the following is NOT a step in the management by objectives (MBO)process?

A)jointly discuss possible goals
B)participatively select goals that are challenging
C)jointly develop operational plans
D)meet regularly to review progress toward goal accomplishment
E)participate in the selection of goals that are consistent with the company's overall goals

Question 75

The European Union encourages companies to abandon national boundaries and offer the same products to all of the member countries. Allianz, Germany's largest insurance group, is considering converting from a German company to a European company. If it makes this decision rationally, it will first ____.

A)create decision criteria based on national GNPs
B)identify problems arising from tax and regulatory issues
C)decide whether to expand to one nation at a time
D)create a committee to make the final decision
E)avoid the use of bounded rationality

Question 76

A(n)____ is a standing plan that indicates the general course of action that should be taken in response to a particular event or situation.

A)policy
B)procedure
C)rule
D)regulation
E)heuristic

Question 77

Which of the following is the most specific type of standing plan?

A)policies
B)procedures
C)rules and regulations
D)forecasts
E)MBO plans

Question 78

____ is a systematic process of defining problems, evaluating alternatives, and choosing optimal solutions.

A)Problem identification
B)Rational decision making
C)Benchmarking
D)Multivariable selection
E)Keystoning

Question 79

The ____ is a type of operational plan that saves managers time because it is created once and then used repeatedly to handle frequently recurring events.

A)standing plan
B)budget
C)multiple-use plan
D)options-based plan
E)forecast

Question 80

Who is primarily responsible for developing operational plans?

A)lower-level managers
B)middle managers
C)top managers
D)staff advisors
E)any of these