Question 1

From the standpoint of promoting successful strategy execution,it is important that the firm's motivation and reward system:

Accepted Answer

A)  be completely free of such elements as tension,pressure,anxiety,job insecurity,and tight deadlines-a no-pressure/no-adverse-consequences work environment is essential. 
B)  emphasize only positive types of rewards. 
C)  accentuate positive rewards but also carry out the "up-or-out" policy for performance that does not meet expectations. 
D)  not deny rewards to employees who put forth good effort and try hard,though performance is subpar. 
E)  reduce job insecurity and give employees an incentive to stay busy and work hard.

Question 2

Focusing jobholders' attention and energy on what to do as opposed to what to achieve makes the work environment results-oriented.True or false? Explain your answer.

Accepted Answer

The answer of Focusing jobholders' attention and energy on what...

Question 3

With an example,explain how the Six Sigma process of define,measure,analyze,improve,and control (DMAIC)works.

Accepted Answer

The answer of With an example,explain how the Six Sigma...

Question 4

Enlisting employees' sustained and energetic commitment to good strategy execution and achievement of the strategic priorities and financial objectives is best done by:

Accepted Answer

A)  having top executives commit to making employees the company's most valuable competitive asset. 
B)  developing core competencies in the use of TQM,Six Sigma programs,and business process reengineering. 
C)  resourceful and effective use of motivational incentives,both monetary and nonmonetary. 
D)  clever and innovative use of benchmarking and best practices. 
E)  providing employees with a high degree of job security and attractive perks.

Question 5

Company strategies cannot be implemented or executed well without a number of real-time state-of-the-art support and control information systems to carry out business operations.Discuss the benefits of real-time systems by industry.

Accepted Answer

The answer of Company strategies cannot be implemented or executed...

Question 6

Prescribing policies and operating procedures aids the task of implementing strategy by:

Accepted Answer

A)  helping ensure that worker eligibility for incentive bonuses is measured consistently and awarded fairly. 
B)  fostering the use of best practices,TQM,Six Sigma,and continuous improvement efforts. 
C)  acting as a powerful lever for changing employee attitudes about the need for a different incentive and reward system. 
D)  helping build employee commitment to strengthening the company's core competencies and competitive capabilities. 
E)  placing limits on ineffective independent action and channelling efforts of individuals along a path more conducive to good strategy execution and operating excellence.

Question 7

A company's ability to marshal adequate resources in support of new strategic initiatives and steer them to the appropriate organizational units is important to the strategy execution process because:

Accepted Answer

A)  changes in strategy often require resource reallocation,and organizational units need the proper funding to carry out their part of the strategic plan effectively and efficiently. 
B)  accurate budgets are the key to exercising tight financial controls over what organization units can and cannot do in carrying out management's directives to execute the chosen strategy proficiently. 
C)  tight budget control is management's most powerful tool for first-rate strategy execution. 
D)  lean,carefully managed budgets protect the company's financial condition and eliminate the wasteful use of cash. 
E)  lean,strictly enforced budgets are management's best and most used means of getting organizational units to exercise the fiscal discipline needed to execute the chosen strategy in a cost-efficient manner.

Question 8

While Six Sigma programs often improve the efficiency of many operating activities and processes,there is evidence that innovation can be stifled by Six Sigma programs.True or false? Explain.

Accepted Answer

The answer of While Six Sigma programs often improve the...

Question 9

A useful guideline in designing strategy-facilitating policies and operating procedures is:

Accepted Answer

A)  to prescribe enough policies to give organizational members clear direction in implementing strategy and to place reasonable boundaries on their actions.This then empowers them to act within these boundaries in pursuit of company goals. 
B)  that strictly enforced policies work better than loosely enforced policies. 
C)  that more policies/procedures work better than fewer policies/procedures,and that strict enforcement always beats lax enforcement. 
D)  to let individuals act in an empowered and self-directed way,subject only to the constraint that their actions and behavior be ethical and in step with the corporate culture. 
E)  to prescribe enough policies and procedures that little is left to chance in performing value chain activities,and employees should have no leeway to do things in a manner that deviates from the company's best-practices standard.

Question 10

Which of the following is NOT integral to superior strategy execution and operating excellence?

Accepted Answer

A)  Having real-time information systems that permit company managers to stay on top of implementation initiatives and daily operations and to intervene if things seem to be drifting off course 
B)  Having state-of-the-art operating systems,information systems,and real-time data 
C)  Having access to online systems that provide statistical information about operating activities 
D)  Having the systems capability to identify and diagnose problems,so as to take corrective actions 
E)  Having access to employee data of competitors

Question 11

Management's most powerful tool for mobilizing organizational commitment to competent strategy execution and operating excellence is the:

Accepted Answer

A)  diligent and persistent use of benchmarking and best practices. 
B)  proper use of a reward structure with motivational incentives. 
C)  implementation of TQM and/or Six Sigma programs. 
D)  periodic giving of inspirational speeches aimed at arousing employees' emotional energy. 
E)  process of providing employees with a high degree of job security (ideally,via a no-layoff policy).

Question 12

Discuss control mechanisms that managers can use to monitor the performance of empowered employees.

Accepted Answer

The answer of Discuss control mechanisms that managers can use...

Question 13

What three principles underlie the statistical thinking of Six Sigma quality control programs?

Accepted Answer

The answer of What three principles underlie the statistical thinking...

Question 14

Which of the following does NOT exemplify business process reengineering?

Accepted Answer

A)  Blue Mountain creates teams of mixed-occupation freelancers to design Christmas cards. 
B)  Speedmore integrates three distribution units to form a consolidated zonal distribution center. 
C)  Bank of America automates global transaction services in a quest for operational efficiencies. 
D)  PayPal segregates payment notification operations from mobile transfer operations to expand its customer base. 
E)  Florida Power eliminates work depots,entrusting the task of repair to crew members in a mobile van.

Question 15

Give any three nonmonetary examples of motivation and rewards practices that have the capability to foster good strategy execution and explain how they act to produce such a result.

Accepted Answer

The answer of Give any three nonmonetary examples of motivation...

Question 16

Reward and incentive systems serve as a(n):

Accepted Answer

A)  direct stimulus for satisfying the basic expectations of the standard job and mechanisms. 
B)  indirect motivational tool designed to convert employee commitment into high-powered incentives. 
C)  indirect type of control mechanism that conserves on more costly control mechanisms of supervisory oversight. 
D)  direct base-pay financial compensation mechanism that competes with rival companies' salary bands for similar work efforts. 
E)  negative motivational element.

Question 17

Information systems provide managers with a means for monitoring all of the following EXCEPT:

Accepted Answer

A)  the results that flow from the actions of subordinates. 
B)  the performance of empowered workers. 
C)  weekly operating statistics. 
D)  employees with over-the-shoulder supervision. 
E)  daily operating statistics.

Question 18

Six Sigma quality control:

Accepted Answer

A)  is a strategy implementer's best,most reliable tool for simultaneously achieving top-notch product quality and low manufacturing costs. 
B)  consists of a disciplined,statistics-based system aimed at producing not more than 2.5 defects per million iterations for a manufacturing or assembly process. 
C)  consists of a disciplined,statistics-based system aimed at producing not more than 3.4 defects per million iterations for any business process. 
D)  consists of a disciplined,statistics-based system aimed at fewer than 5.0 complaints per million customer transactions. 
E)  is a powerful tool for companies whose customers are very picky about product quality and product performance and who can't afford for the product they use to break down and require repairs.

Question 19

The statistical thinking underlying Six Sigma is based on which of the following three principles?

Accepted Answer

A)  All activities can be controlled,employee empowerment is the best control tool,and 100 percent control is possible. 
B)  All work is a process,all processes have variability,and all processes create data that explains variability. 
C)  All work activities can be done accurately most of the time,empowered employees are necessary for effective control,and good statistical data is an empowered employee's best control tool. 
D)  All work is a statistically controllable process,100percent control is possible,and every well-controlled process is defect-free. 
E)  Most business processes are subject to control,Six Sigma can totally remove variability in how processes are performed,and most defects can be eliminated.

Exam 11: Managing Internal Operations