Test Prep - WGU - Principles of Management - C483

Delivery of products or services

A value chain is the sequence of activities that begins with raw materials.

What result does a value chain end with?

Choose 1 answer

Supply and demand

Operations and logistics

Outsourcing or insourcing

Delivery of products or services

Profit margins are increased.

What happens when an effective value chain is created?

Choose 1 answer

Profit margins are increased.

A mission statement is developed.

Customized products are standardized.

Total quality management is not required.

Analysis of external opportunities and threats

Industry and market analysis, competitor analysis, and social analysis are examples of which step in the strategic planning process?

Analysis of mission, vision, and goals

Analysis of management implementation

Analysis of external opportunities and threats

Analysis of internal strengths and weaknesses

Strengths

Skilled management, positive cash flow, and well-known brands are examples of which component of the SWOT analysis?

Threats

Strengths

Weaknesses

Opportunities

Core competencies

What denotes skills or expertise in an activity that constitutes the roots of competitiveness in an organization?

Choose 1 answer

Strategic values

Core competencies

Products and services

Opportunities and threats

Suppliers can reduce manufacturing time and increase product quality.

According to Michael Porter's competitive environment model, how can suppliers influence strategic planning?

Suppliers can reduce the threat from substitute products.

Suppliers can reduce the numbers of new entrants in the market.

Suppliers can reduce manufacturing time and increase product quality.

Suppliers can reduce technological, demographic, and legal threats in the environment.

Differentiation

A company offers unique products in its industry to create a competitive advantage.

Which type of strategy is the company using?

Valorization

Differentiation

Customization

Standardization

Vertical integration

Happy Inc. is a leading provider of family entertainment and BCD is a broadcasting company with news, cable, and entertainment networks. Happy Inc. recently acquired BCD in hopes of boosting its primary business of family entertainment.

Which type of corporate strategy is represented by Happy Inc.'s purchase of their distribution network?

Choose 1 answer

Vertical integration

Strategic alliances

Networking

Horizontal benchmarking

Strategic vision

A local business has provided services to its customers for 40 years. The business's mission is "To give our customers the best service in town." The owner of the business has had a long-standing dream to franchise the business and become the best provider of its service in the United States.

What describes the owner's dream?

Choose 1 answer

Strategic vision

Strategic mission

Strategic planning

Strategic management

Developing a strategic mission

What is the first step of organizational strategic planning?

Choose 1 answer

Developing operational goals

Developing internal strengths

Developing a strategic mission

Developing external opportunities

Six Sigma

The introduction of statistical tools to analyze the causes of product defects is associated with which quality improvement approach?

Six Sigma

Flexible Process

Customer Process

Quality Customization

To revolutionize key organizational systems and processes

What is the principal idea of reengineering?

Choose 1 answer

To analyze system failures

To focus on creating two-way exchanges with customers

To revolutionize key organizational systems and processes

To improve total quality in all businesses for the benefit of producers and consumers

Less than 3.4

How many defects per million are there at Six Sigma, assuming a product or process is defect-free 99.99966% of the time?

Choose 1 answer

Less than 3.4

Less than 4.4

Less than 5.3

Less than 6.6

To take action to accomplish the transformation

What is the last step to Deming's 14 points of quality management?

To cease dependence on mass inspection

To break down barriers among departments

To evaluate options provided by management

To take action to accomplish the transformation

Quality Assurance

Process checklists and project audits are components of which management process?

Choose 1 answer

Quality Control

Quality Assurance

Quality Cooperative

Quality Collaboration

To measure effectiveness of an organization's quality management system

What is the main objective of an internal quality audit?

To gauge the quality of human resources

To assess the quality of control process failures

To determine the quality of an organization's executive management

To measure effectiveness of an organization's quality management system

Six Sigma

A company is trying to systematically improve processes by eliminating nonconformity of their products to product specifications. The company believes their continuous effort to reduce variation in their process outputs is key to their business success.

Which quality process is the company utilizing?

ISO 9000

Six Sigma

Reengineering

Continuous processing

Customer relationship management

Which concept entails all aspects of interaction a company has with its customers in both sales and service-related environments?

Customer connection society

Customer liaison administration

Customer association organization

Customer relationship management

Sustained competitive advantage

Dr. Ohmae indicates that customer, corporation, and competitors should be integrated in a strategic triangle.

What does Dr. Ohmae indicate that an organization can obtain by doing this?

Time-based competition

Sustained competitive advantage

Coordination of mutual adjustment

Decentralization of the organization

Intrapreneur

What designates those who take hands-on responsibility for creating innovation such as new ideas, products, or methods within an organization?

Franchiser

Pacesetter

Intrapreneur

Controller

Creates unique and different products or services

Why is innovation an important element of entrepreneurship?

Allows the company to meet industry benchmarks

Creates unique and different products or services

Reduces marketing costs for the company

Buffers the impact of changes in the legal environment

Creativity, self-reliance, and ability to adapt

Most successful entrepreneurs exhibit certain characteristics. Some entrepreneurs are open-minded, able to learn quickly, and skilled at conceptualizing.

Which entrepreneurial personality trait is this?

Choose 1 answer

Opportunity obsession

Competitive intelligence

Creativity, self-reliance, and ability to adapt

Tolerance of risk, ambiguity, and uncertainty

Determination

Which personality characteristics are believed to contribute to an entrepreneur's success?

Risk aversion

Determination

Status quo obsession

Motivation to delegate

To maintain control

Why would an entrepreneurial business choose to use its own resources versus seeking outside resources in financing a business venture?

To go public

To spread the risk

To maintain control

To fuel large growth

Encourage employees to work on informal job assignments

Which activity should management use to encourage intrapreneurship within an organization?

Allow employees to form a union

Motivate employees by giving extra time off

Provide employees extra training opportunities

Encourage employees to work on informal job assignments

Provide a devil's advocate

What can managers do to encourage useful conflict during a meeting to lessen inhibition about disagreeing and make the conflict less personal?

Evaluate leadership style

Promote affective conflict

Provide a devil's advocate

Involve others in collaboration

People respond based on their interpretation of others' intentions.

Why is consideration of intentions important in conflict situations?

People tend to think before they act in some situations.

People have habitual patterns of response to conflict situations.

Selfish intentions of people often leads to poor decision making.

People respond based on their interpretation of others' intentions.

Cooperativeness and assertiveness

What describes dimensions of conflict-handling intentions?

Comparativity and associativity

Collaboration and aggressiveness

Competitiveness and acquiescence

Cooperativeness and assertiveness

Expansion of resources

A supervisor assigned office space to three new employees. The employees were upset by the offices they were given. The first had a large office but wanted a window, the second had a new computer but wanted room for some plants, and the third had a window but needed high-speed computing to perform the job well.

Which conflict resolution technique can the supervisor use to create a win-win solution for these employees?

Problem solving

Authoritative command

Expansion of resources

Altering the human variables

Restructuring the organization

A corporation is experiencing dysfunction in their work teams. The team leader plans to realign work groups based on employees' work locations, and also to alter rules and regulations in the groups and make additional changes to "shake things up a bit."

Which conflict-stimulation technique is the team leader applying?

Avoidance

Communication

Knowledge management

Restructuring the organization

Market control

Which type of control system is being implemented when management uses prices, profit centers, and exchange relationships as a control?

Choose 1 answer

Clan control

Market control

Dynamic control

Bureaucratic control

Taking corrective action

What is the fourth step of the control process which ensures that operations are adjusted to achieve planned results?

Choose 1 answer

Measuring performance

Taking corrective action

Setting performance standards

Comparing performance against standards

Peer pressure

A corporation recently disbanded its flex time schedule for employees and now requires that all employees work 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Monday through Friday. The employees banded together in opposition of the change.

What were the employees of the corporation experiencing?

Apathy

Timing

Peer pressure

Abilene paradox

Negotiation and reward

The manager of the human resources department at a corporation agreed to authorize one-hour lunch breaks for all employees of the organization as long as the production manager agreed to shorten the morning and afternoon breaks of all employees to 15 minutes.

Which approach were the managers using to enlist cooperation for the change?

Facilitation and support

Negotiation and reward

Participation and involvement

Education and communication

Negotiation and reward

A corporation offers concrete incentives such as higher wages for cooperation with change.

Which strategy is the corporation using to overcome resistance to change?

Choose 1 answer

Facilitation and support

Negotiation and reward

Participation and involvement

Education and communication

Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO)

During a final job interview, the hiring manager asks candidates about age and national origin. Some of the rejected candidates suspect they did not get the job because of their age.

Which law covers this type of discrimination?

Fair Hiring of Employees Act (FHEA)

Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA)

Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO)

Employment Without Boundaries (EWB)

By organizing staffing needs and looking for people with the right skills

After a major budget increase, a company finds itself in a position to hire 50 new employees.

How can strategic human resource planning benefit the company in this situation?

Choose 1 answer

By providing annual reviews of staff performances

By coordinating companywide continuing education

By initiating termination interviews to release unproductive employees

By organizing staffing needs and looking for people with the right skills

Independence and discretion in making decisions

In the five dimensions of Hackman and Oldham's model of job design, what does autonomy describe?

Choose 1 answer

Information about job performance

Independence and discretion in making decisions

Important and positive impact on the lives of others

Different job activities involving several skills and talents

Integrity test

A store that has had a high rate of employee theft wants to use an employee selection technique to hire new employees who are less likely to steal from them.

Which type of employee selection instrument is most appropriate in this situation?

Choose 1 answer

Validity test

Integrity test

Reliability test

Personality test

Differentiation and integration

When selecting an organizational structure, which key elements should be considered?

Choose 1 answer

Economics and ethics

Diversity and dynamics

Differentiation and integration

Job specification and segmentation

Collaboration

What is the best way to succeed in a matrix organizational structure?

Choose 1 answer

Collaboration

Unity of command

Top-down communication

Centralized decision making

To make information available as needed

What is a reason to create a boundaryless organizational structure?

Choose 1 answer

To differentiate position titles

To allow for the delegation of tasks

To limit the amount of collaboration

To make information available as needed

Virtual organization

Four small, independent organizations, each with its own type of expertise, plan to work together for six months for the sole purpose of developing a new product that will help each of them improve their ability to compete with larger organizations.

Which type of organization does their relationship characterize?

Matrix organization

Virtual organization

Functional organization

Bureaucratic organization

Organic

Which formal structure allows job holders to have broad responsibilities, accommodates decentralized and informal decision making, and values expertise?

Modern

Flexible

Organic

Mechanistic

Divisional

One manager is responsible for all functional areas allowing the company to sell Product A, and another manager is responsible for all functional areas that allow the company to sell Product B.

Which type of design does this corporation use?

Choose 1 answer

Virtual

Network

Divisional

Horizontal

Equal Employment Opportunity and Affirmative Action

Which entities protect the rights of employees and potential employees from discrimination in the workplace?

Equal Employment Opportunity and Affirmative Action

National Labor Relations and Labor Management Relations

Fair Labor Standards and Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification

Labor Management Reporting and Disclosure and Labor Management Relations

Barrier caused by word association

During an international executive meeting, an executive used a word that did not translate into English.

What type of cross-cultural communication barrier is this?

Barrier caused by semantics

Barrier caused by tone differences

Barrier caused by word association

Barrier caused by differences among perceptions

Personal variables

A younger employee becomes irritated by the sound of an older employee's voice and finds it difficult to work on projects with the older employee. This has caused conflict in the department.

What is the source of conflict between the older and younger employees?

Choose 1 answer

Structure

Differing values

Communication

Personal variables

A publicly-held company has a policy limiting financial donations to one religious group.

In which situation does religious preference inappropriately affect decision making?

A publicly-held company has a policy limiting financial donations to one religious group.

Management approves a religious endorsement that makes claims the company supports.

A member of a particular religion starts a business that benefits members of the religion in the area.

Management provides two religious holidays per year for every employee regardless of religious affiliation.

The company will purchase a large computer screen and a Braille keyboard

A visually-impaired person has been hired to work in the human resources department of a small company.

Which workplace accommodations would be reasonable in this situation?

The company will provide an interpreter for all face-to-face interviews.

The company will purchase a large computer screen and a Braille keyboard.

The company will hire a person to read all documents for the visually-impaired person.

The company will purchase a Braille reader and convert company documents to Braille.

Building awareness

What is a common component of effective diversity training programs?

Building awareness

Revealing concerns

Completing a skills inventory

Identifying informal networks

people have conscious goals that energize them and direct their thoughts and behaviors toward a particular end.

The goal-setting theory states that:

people will behave based on their perceived likelihood that performance will be followed by a particular outcome.

people have conscious goals that energize them and direct their thoughts and behaviors toward a particular end.

behavior that is followed by positive consequences will likely be repeated.

people assess how fairly they have been treated according to two key factors, outcomes, and inputs.

people will behave based on their perceived likelihood that their effort will enable them to attain their performance goals.

a set of perceptions of what employees owe their employers, and what their employers owe them.

A psychological contract is described as:

a set of perceptions of what employees owe their employers, and what their employers owe them.

an agreement implying fair treatment of employees without any discrimination in terms of race or gender.

a set of conditions of non-disclosure signed by an employee on joining the organization.

a set of conditions to ensure the fairness of decisions made by employers.

the legal concept that an employee may be terminated for any reason.

Physiological

According to Maslow's hierarchy of needs, which of the following needs would one seek to satisfy first?

Self-actualization

Physiological

Social

Safety

Ego

job design

Following Herzberg's model, Hackman and Oldham proposed a more complete model of _____.

empowerment

expectancy

reinforcement

job design

self-actualization

intrinsic and extrinsic rewards.

Herzberg's two-factor theory highlights the distinction between:

positive and negative reinforcement.

valence and instrumentality.

intrinsic and extrinsic rewards.

job enlargement and job enrichment.

socialized power and personalized power.

instrumentality

According to the expectancy theory, _____ is the link between performance and outcome.

expectancy

reinforcement

equity

instrumentality

relatedness

It refers to withdrawing or failing to provide a reinforcing consequence.

Which of the following best describes extinction?

It involves the aggressive manipulation and exploitation of others.

It involves removing or withholding an undesirable consequence.

It refers to administering an aversive consequence.

It refers to withdrawing or failing to provide a reinforcing consequence.

It is the perceived outlook that performance may be followed by a negative outcome.

organizational behavior modification.

The use of reinforcement or punishment in organizational settings is an integral part of:

organizational behavior modification.

management by objectives.

employee empowerment programs.

organizational change management.

quality of work life programs.

instrumentality

Key beliefs in the expectancy theory include expectancy and _____.

inputs

relatedness

outcomes

affiliation

instrumentality

affiliation

According to McClelland's needs theory, the need for _____ involves a strong desire to be liked by other people.

socialized power

achievement

personalized power

affiliation

association

existence

Alderfer's ERG theory postulates that people have three basic sets of needs: _____, relatedness, and growth, which can operate

simultaneously.

ego

effectiveness

expectancy

effort

existence

Forces that energize, direct, and sustain a person's efforts

Which of the following best describes motivation?

Forces that energize, direct, and sustain a person's efforts

A consequence of a person's performance

Withdrawing or failing to provide a reinforcing consequence

The perceived likelihood that performance will be followed by a particular outcome

A person's work efforts that lead to some level of performance

Fair compensation

Which of the following is one of the eight categories of quality of work life programs?

Profit sharing

On-site wellness center

Fair compensation

Family medical leave of absence

Sales incentives

negative valence

Harry has been promoted because of his hard work. Judy, his colleague, feels that it is unfair and that he does not deserve the promotion.

In this case, Judy illustrates _____.

low instrumentality

negative valence

high expectancy

low valence

negative instrumentality

intrinsic rewards.

Motivation for employees can come from an interesting project, a completed sale, or the discovery of a perfect solution, all of which

are examples of:

extrinsic rewards.

negative reinforcers.

positive reinforcers.

hygiene factors.

intrinsic rewards.

equity

A person can restore _____ in a number of ways by behaviorally or perceptually changing inputs and outcomes.

power

autonomy

valence

loyalty

equity

stretch

Targets that are particularly demanding and sometime even thought to be impossible are known as _____ goals.

affiliate

extrinsic

stretch

intrinsic

strategic

high growth need strength.

Job enrichment would be more successful for people with:

positive instrumentality.

negative instrumentality.

low valence.

low growth need strength.

high growth need strength.

positive

achel has been exceeding her targets for the past two months, and therefore her boss decided to give her a bonus. This is an example

of _____ reinforcement.

positive

authoritative

negative

affiliative

cognitive

Individual

_____ performance goals can be dysfunctional when people work in a group if the goals create competition among team members.

Team

Fixed

Socialized

Individual

Integrated

Force-field analysis

Which of the following helps managers to manage the change process by investigating specific factors that prevent people from changing

and those that drive people toward change?

Force-field analysis

Situational analysis

Six-sigma analysis

Trend analysis

SWOT analysis

unfreezing

Realizing that current practices are inappropriate and that new behavior must be enacted is a required stage for managing resistance called ____.

moving

unfreezing

storming

norming

stabilizing

It occurs when people not only support a change but also help implement it.

Which of the following is true of shared leadership in change efforts?

It often escalates with growth of the company and over time.

It occurs when people not only support a change but also help implement it.

The traditional corporate structure is ideal for creating it.

It is improved when organizations maintain rigid, bureaucratic environments.

It is rare in start-ups and very small organizations.

Misunderstanding

Which of the following is a change-specific reason for resistance to change?

Timing

Peer pressure

Inertia

Surprise

Misunderstanding

culture

According to a study, the four key factors that lead to sustained, superior performance of companies include strategy, execution,

structure, and _____.

motivation

capital

change

culture

knowledge

Moving

Which of the following steps of motivating people to change begins with establishing a vision of where the company is heading?

Unfreezing

Leading

Moving

Refreezing

Freezing

Unfreezing, moving to institute the change, and refreezing

Which of the following best indicates the three basic stages of managing resistance and motivating change within an organization?

Determining the need for change, mobilizing, and locking

Determining new values, evaluating, and performing

Planning, implementing the change, and evaluating

Unfreezing, moving to institute the change, and refreezing

Mobilizing, implementing the change, and evaluating

a sense of complacency.

Too much happy talk from senior management, an absence of a major crisis, many visible resources, and low overall performance standards

often lead to:

anchoring new approaches.

generating long-term wins.

a sense of urgency.

a sense of complacency.

consolidating gains and producing more change.

Negotiation and rewards

Which of the following methods for managing resistance to change is relatively easy but has a drawback of being too expensive in many

cases?

Education and communication

Negotiation and rewards

Explicit and implicit coercion

Participation and involvement

Manipulation and cooptation

Education and communication

Which of the following methods for managing resistance to change is most likely to work best when there is a lack of information or

inaccurate information and analysis about the change?

Facilitation and support

Negotiation and awards

Education and communication

Explicit and implicit coercion

Manipulation and cooptation

Organization development

Which of the following refers to a systemwide application of behavioral science knowledge to improve and reinforce the strategies,

structures, and processes that lead to organization effectiveness?

Organizational refreezing

Organization positioning

Organization development

Organizational orientation

Organizational integration

Self-interest

Which of the following change-specific reasons for resistance is likely to occur when people think a change will cause them to lose something of value?

Surprise

Misunderstanding

Different assessments

Self-interest

Management tactics

refreezing

The final step in managing resistance involves strengthening new behaviors that support a change and is referred to as ____.

refreezing

moving

enforcing

solidifying

stabilizing

creating a guiding coalition

In leading change in an organization, _____ refers to putting together a group with enough power to lead a change.

empowering broad-based action

consolidating gains

communicating the change vision

anchoring new approaches

creating a guiding coalition

Reactive change involves responding to a problem, whereas proactive change involves preparing for an uncertain future.

Which of the following is a difference between reactive and proactive changes?

Proactive change implies being a follower, whereas reactive change implies being a leader.

Proactive change is initiated after a performance gap has occurred, whereas reactive change takes place before a performance

gap has occurred.

Reactive change involves responding to a problem, whereas proactive change involves preparing for an uncertain future.

Reactive change is often more effective than proactive change.

Reactive change focuses on long-term goals, whereas proactive change focuses on short-term goals.

use the best and latest knowledge and ideas.

To be world class, an organization should:

solely focus on beating the competition.

strive for a controlled improvement.

be driven by business-as-usual goals.

use the best and latest knowledge and ideas.

continue to use the methods, systems, and cultures of the past.

people are resisting because of adjustment problems.

In managing resistance to organizational changes, facilitation and support method is most likely to be used when:

the initiators do not have all the information they need to design the change.

people are resisting because of adjustment problems.

the group has considerable power to resist.

there is a lack of information or inaccurate information and analysis.

speed is essential, and the change initiators possess considerable power.

People at all levels of their organizations, from entry-level to executives, resist change.

Which of the following is true about resistance to change?

All employees of an organization often tend to show the same level of resistance to change.

Change-specific reasons for resistance to change include peer pressure, surprise, and timing.

People at all levels of their organizations, from entry-level to executives, resist change.

General reasons for resistance to change include self-interest, misunderstanding, and management tactics.

Usually managers tend to overestimate the amount of resistance they will encounter.

organization development interventions.

Strategic, technostructural, human resources management, and human process are types of:

total quality management systems.

organization behavior modification approaches.

organization development interventions.

affirmative action programs.

awareness building techniques.

weakness.

In a SWOT analysis, the absence of reliable suppliers would be considered as a(n):

strength.

weakness.

threat.

weakness and a threat.

opportunity.

Contingency plans

_____ include sets of actions to be taken when a company's initial plans have not worked well or if events in the external environment require

a sudden change.

Differentiation strategies

Business incubators

Functional plans

Strategic maps

Contingency plans

strategy map

A(n) _____ illustrates the four key drivers of a firm's long-term success, and shows how goals in each area are linked to others.

strategy map

objective script

GANTT chart

PERT chart

decision tree

SWOT analysis

Which of the following is one among the six components of the strategic management process?

Skill improvement plan

Stockholder reporting

Technology assessment

Stakeholder analysis

SWOT analysis

differentiation

The strategy an organization uses to build competitive advantage by being unique in its industry or market segment along one or more

dimensions is known as a(n) _____ strategy.

concentration

low-cost

functional

differentiation

integrated

Strategy implementation

Which of the following takes place after a firm formulates its strategy?

Analysis of external opportunities and threats

SWOT analysis

Analysis of internal strengths and weaknesses

Strategy implementation

Establishment of mission, vision, and goals

those of another company.

Benchmarking is the process of assessing how well one company's basic functions and skills compare with:

customer expectations.

supplier and distributor requirements.

those of another company.

government standards.

stockholder demands.

strategic control

A _____ system is a component of the strategic management process designed to support managers in evaluating the organization's progress

with its strategy and, when discrepancies exist, taking corrective action.

strategic support

strategic control

dynamic network

span of control

strategic integration

decision-making

The planning process is similar to the _____ process in that both have a series of steps that are typically repeated in a cycle.

decision-making

tactical alignment

goal-setting

environmental analysis

strategy-mapping

Planning

_____ provides individuals and work units with a clear map to follow in future activities.

A BCG matrix

Staffing

A mission statement

Planning

Charting