Deck 13: Foundations of Control

Question 1

A major part of the controlling function of management is to ________.

A)inspire employees to achieve goals
B)correct performance problems
C)formulate strategies
D)hire the best employees

Answer 1

B

Question 2

MBWA stands for management by ________.

A)work area
B)walking around
C)work action
D)written action

Answer 2

B

Question 3

The first step in the control process is to ________.

A)implement feedforward control
B)implement concurrent control
C)compare performance against a standard
D)measure actual performance

Answer 3

D

Question 4

Control is NOT the only managerial function that allows managers to make sure that organisational goals are being met.

Question 5

A manager measuring actual performance is like a teacher ________.

A)supervising a test
B)helping a student study for a test
C)returning assignment grades back to students
D)grading a test

Question 6

In a brief essay,define and describe the management function of control.

Question 7

An advantage of management by walking around is ________.

A)subjectivity
B)personal contact
C)objectivity
D)pressure

Question 8

Controlling provides a critical link back to planning that compares actual outcomes to planned outcomes.

Question 9

Effective controlling can help managers who are afraid to delegate authority ________.

A)empower their employees
B)set their goals
C)discourage employee participation
D)manipulate the organisation's structure

Question 10

This is the most formal type of performance measurement.

A)Industry reports.
B)Oral reports.
C)Written reports.
D)Personal observation.

Question 11

Motivation and leadership are NOT primary parts of the control function.

Question 12

An effective control system reduces managers' need to empower employees.

Question 13

The controlling function helps managers protect an organisation's ________.

A)good will
B)assets
C)integrity
D)external environment

Question 14

Control is the process of monitoring and evaluating activities to ensure that they are being accomplished as planned.

Question 15

The value of the controlling function is seen in three specific areas: planning,________.

A)protecting employees and protecting the workplace
B)protecting employees and empowering the workplace
C)organising and leading
D)empowering employees and protecting the workplace

Question 16

A disadvantage of a statistical report is that it may leave out ________ measurements of performance.

A)negative
B)objective
C)subjective
D)positive

Question 17

The more a control system helps an organisation ________,the more successful it is judged to be.

A)help employees achieve job satisfaction
B)meet its goals
C)help employees be productive
D)expand and profit

Question 18

The control management function ensures that ________ in an organisation.

A)goals are set
B)plans are realistic
C)plans are made
D)goals are met

Question 19

Controlling compares ________ to see if goals are being achieved.

A)standard performance to ideal performance
B)actual performance to planned performance
C)actual performance to competitor performance
D)planned performance to standard performance

Question 20

The control function is intended to protect the organisation from threats.

Question 21

A software company that puts almost all of its performance measurement effort into measuring the total number of units that the company and its competitors sell most likely wants to excel at ________.

A)market share
B)cost per unit
C)labour per unit
D)efficiency

Question 22

Jessie's whole work section that consists of three work groups was assessed by this method of performance measurement and informally judged to be 'creative,innovative,hard-working and fun-loving'.

A)Oral report.
B)MBWA.
C)Statistical report.
D)Written report.

Question 23

This type of performance measurement format would be most likely to include graphs,tables and computer outputs.

A)Statistical report.
B)Written report.
C)MBWA.
D)Oral report.

Question 24

After an extended period of unseasonably warm and sunny weather,revenues are down sharply during the month of July at an indoor tennis club.The best strategy for the club manager is to ________.

A)run a sale on hourly rates
B)do nothing
C)raise hourly rates to increase revenue
D)change her monthly goals for December

Question 25

When actual performance falls outside of an acceptable range of variation,it is termed a(n)________.

A)large deviation
B)acceptable deviation
C)insignificant deviation
D)significant deviation

Question 26

Which of the following is NOT a recognised possible course of action for managers to take when actual performance falls outside of an acceptable range of variation?

A)Change the standards.
B)Take corrective action.
C)Ignore the performance data.
D)Do nothing.

Question 27

In general,________ that falls outside of an acceptable range of variation must be dealt with by a manager.

A)an underperformance
B)a small overperformance or a large underperformance
C)any deviation
D)an overperformance

Question 28

Immediate corrective action is designed to ________.

A)discourage and punish employees for poor performance
B)provide an explanation for the problem
C)implement structural changes
D)get performance back on track

Question 29

For addressing unemployment,this is an example of basic corrective action.

A)Government pensions.
B)A task force to see why jobs were lost.
C)A job training program.
D)Unemployment fines.

Question 30

These forms of performance measurement provide the best and most immediate forms of feedback.

A)MBWA and oral report.
B)Statistical report and MBWA.
C)Oral report and written report.
D)Statistical report and oral report.

Question 31

Due to a recent construction of an upscale housing community near a tennis club,customer use has skyrocketed during the year and the club is operating at all-time high levels,far beyond the goals set the previous year.The best strategy for the manager is to ________.

A)change goals for the following year
B)do nothing
C)advertise
D)run a sale to increase customers

Question 32

If a manager of a tennis store sees sales totals for a particular racquet significantly exceeding goals and deviating from acceptable range of variation,she might ________.

A)inquire about ordering more racquets
B)run a sale on the racquet
C)run a sale on other products
D)do nothing since sales exceeded goals

Question 33

Which of the following performance measurement categories must be measured subjectively rather than in objective or quantifiable terms?

A)Job satisfaction.
B)Productivity.
C)Profit.
D)Turnover.

Question 34

Which of the following would constitute basic corrective action for employees whose production has dropped?

A)Changing how the work is carried out.
B)Taking away employee privileges.
C)Looking for causes of the production drop.
D)Changing the pay scale.

Question 35

This kind of performance measurement method is fast and is a good platform for feedback,yet it can be private and scheduled for a single employee ahead of time.

A)MBWA.
B)Statistical report.
C)Oral report.
D)Written report.

Question 36

In the second step of the control process,actual performance can be considered acceptable as long as the performance doesn't fall ________.

A)inside of an acceptable range of variation
B)short of goals by more than 15 per cent
C)short of goals by more than 30 per cent
D)outside of an acceptable range of variation

Question 37

A car company that puts more effort into measuring quality than total units sold most likely wants to excel at ________.

A)customer satisfaction
B)employee satisfaction
C)efficiency
D)cost per unit

Question 38

In many cases,immediate corrective action rather than basic corrective action is taken by managers because they ________.

A)lack information
B)are afraid of being wrong
C)lack the expertise
D)lack time

Question 39

To carry out the second step of the control process,managers at an electric shaver company need to compare the number of actual shavers sold to ________.

A)sales totals from last year
B)planning goals for sales totals
C)the number of possible shaver customers
D)a competitor's sales totals

Question 40

Steve has a taped record of this one-on-one meeting with his boss.

A)MBWA.
B)Oral report.
C)Written report.
D)Statistical report.

Question 41

MBWA can pick up moods and attitudes that other forms of measurement miss.

Question 42

Some control criteria,such as employee satisfaction or absenteeism,are applicable to only some management situations.

Question 43

In a short essay,explain why what managers choose to measure can be more important than how they measure.

Question 44

The control process is a two-step process that measures and compares.

Question 45

Immediate corrective action might include changing the way employees are paid for their work.

Question 46

In a short essay,discuss the non-formal sources of information available to managers.

Question 47

Basic corrective action focuses on identifying the cause of a performance deviation.

Question 48

In a short essay,discuss the formal sources of information available to managers.

Question 49

Define the control process.

Question 50

A gap between actual performance and planned goals that falls within an acceptable range of variation usually does not require managerial action.

Question 51

When might a manager be justified in revising a standard rather than taking corrective action to remedy a significant performance deviation?

A)When the standard is unrealistic.
B)When performance falls far short of the standard.
C)When performance falls slightly short of the standard.
D)When performance exceeds the standard.

Question 52

A single business can experience both underperformance and overperformance at the same time.

Question 53

All of the following are dangers of revising production goals downward EXCEPT ________.

A)it gives employees an excuse to be less productive
B)it increases incentive to work harder
C)it destroys incentive to work harder
D)it gives employees something to blame for their lack of effort

Question 54

What is measured in the control process is often less critical than how it is measured.

Question 55

Personal observation as a form of control measurement is time consuming.

Question 56

An example of revising a standard is a teacher who changes a grading scale because students do poorly on an exam.

Question 57

A professor gives a new test to an otherwise normal class and finds that only 10 per cent of the students get grades of C or above.What is the most appropriate and fair response?

A)Revise the grading curve downward.
B)Do nothing.
C)Revise the grading curve upward.
D)Revise the test itself.

Question 58

A major drawback of an oral report is that there is no way to store the information in the report for later reference.

Question 59

A law firm manager finds that one lawyer constitutes a significant deviation because she consistently outperforms other lawyers at the firm.Which immediate corrective action should the manager take?

A)Make a compensation change.
B)Disciplinary action.
C)Study to see why she outperformed others.
D)None.

Question 60

What are the disadvantages of an oral report as a method of information collection for controlling purposes?

Question 61

A fast-food restaurant is querying prospective customers about the features they would like to see in a new panini sandwich.What kind of control is being used?

A)Concurrent control.
B)Feedback control.
C)Feedforward control.
D)Anticipation control.

Question 62

A management information system (MIS)provides managers with ________ data.

A)numerical
B)unanalysed
C)analysed and processed
D)raw

Question 63

All of the following are important in efforts to protect information in an organisation EXCEPT ________.

A)firewalls
B)data backups
C)search engines
D)encryption

Question 64

A basketball coach showing players how to position themselves on the court during practice is carrying out ________,a form of concurrent control.

A)indirect supervision
B)direct supervision
C)unstructured supervision
D)feedback supervision

Question 65

A comedy show producer has a read-through of a half-written show in which actors,writers,producers and the director are free to make comments and changes as the show progresses.What kind of control is being used?

A)Spontaneous control.
B)Concurrent control.
C)Feedforward control.
D)Feedback control.

Question 66

When a budget is formulated,it is being used as a(n)________ tool.

A)organising
B)leadership
C)controlling
D)planning

Question 67

Direct supervision of employees is a form of ________ control.

A)feedforward
B)feedback
C)direct
D)concurrent

Question 68

________ is a measure of an organisation's ability to meet its current debt obligations.

A)Leverage
B)Profitability
C)Liquidity
D)Return on investment

Question 69

In a short essay,explain how managers compare actual performance to planned goals.

Question 70

An advantage of feedback control is that it improves ________.

A)employee-employee relations
B)motivation
C)employee-manager relations
D)productivity

Question 71

A household that cuts back on supermarket spending after going over-budget on its food budget is using the budget as a(n)________.

A)controlling tool
B)planning tool
C)leading tool
D)organising tool

Question 72

One advantage of feedback control over other forms of control is that it lets managers focus on ________.

A)how on-target their planning efforts were
B)how effective their organising efforts were
C)what is about to take place
D)the task as it is being carried out

Question 73

Which kind of control takes place while the actual work is carried out?

A)Concurrent.
B)Feedforward.
C)Reverse.
D)Feedback.

Question 74

A mobile phone maker tests its new model with a sample audience when it is fully operational.What kind of control is this?

A)Feedforward control.
B)Pre-market control.
C)Concurrent control.
D)Feedback control.

Question 75

A family that is using a computer program to create a formal household budget is using the budget as a(n)________.

A)organising tool
B)controlling tool
C)leading tool
D)planning tool

Question 76

________ is a measure of how readily a company can use its assets to generate profits.

A)Leverage
B)Activity
C)Liquidity
D)Profitability

Question 77

________ is a measure of an organisation's use of debt to finance its assets.

A)Liquidity
B)Leverage
C)Activity
D)Profitability

Question 78

Which kind of control takes place after the actual work has been carried out?

A)Feedforward.
B)Forward.
C)Concurrent.
D)Feedback.

Question 79

In a short essay,describe the third step in the control process.

Question 80

In a short essay,explain the difference between immediate corrective action and basic corrective action.