CHAP 5 EXAM 2 Management

What is planning

Choosing a goal and developing a strategy to achieve that goal.

What are the five benefits of planning

Intensifies efforts, leads to persistence, provides direction, encourages task strategies, and works for companies and individuals.

What are the pitfalls of planning

Impedes change, slows needed adaptation, creates a false sense of certainty, and leads to detachment of planners.

What are the five steps of effective planning

Set goals, develop commitment, develop effective action plans, track progress, and maintain flexibility.

What does SMART stand for

Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Timely.

What is goal commitment

The determination to achieve a goal.

How can managers increase goal commitment

Set goals participatively, make goals public, and obtain top management support.

What is an action plan

A plan listing the specific steps, people, resources, and time period needed to attain a goal.

What are proximal goals

Short-term goals or subgoals.

What are distal goals

Long-term or primary goals.

What is the difference between proximal and distal goals

Proximal goals are short-term milestones; distal goals are long-term primary goals.

What are two ways to track progress

Set proximal and distal goals; gather and provide performance feedback.

What is options-based planning

Maintaining flexibility by making small, simultaneous investments in alternative plans.

What are slack resources

Extra resources that help a company adapt to unexpected changes, problems, or opportunities.

What type of planning does top management perform

Long-term strategic planning.

What are strategic plans

Overall company plans for serving customers and positioning against competitors over the next two to five years.

What is a purpose statement

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

What is a strategic objective

A specific goal that unifies company-wide efforts, challenges the organization, and has a finish line and time frame.

What type of planning does middle management perform

Tactical planning.

What are tactical plans

Plans developed by middle managers that direct efforts over the next six months to two years.

What is management by objectives (MBO)

A four-step process in which managers and employees discuss goals, select goals, develop tactical plans, and regularly review progress.

What type of planning does first-line management perform

Operational planning.

What are operational plans

Day-to-day plans developed by lower-level managers for a 30-day to six-month period.

What are the three types of operational plans

Single-use plans, standing plans, and budgets.

What are single-use plans

Plans for unique, one-time events.

What are standing plans

Plans used repeatedly for recurring events.

What are policies

Standing plans indicating the general course of action for a situation.

What are procedures

Standing plans specifying the steps to take in response to an event.

What are rules and regulations

Standing plans specifying how actions must be performed or what must or must not happen.

What is budgeting

Quantitative planning that allocates available money to activities.

What is decision-making

Choosing a solution from available alternatives.

What is rational decision-making

A systematic process of defining problems, evaluating alternatives, and choosing optimal solutions.

What are the six steps in rational decision-making

Define the problem, identify decision criteria, weigh criteria, generate alternatives, evaluate alternatives, and compute the optimal decision.

What is a problem

A gap between a desired state and an existing state.

What are decision criteria

Standards used to guide judgments and decisions.

What are absolute comparisons

Evaluating each decision criterion against a standard or on its own merits.

What are relative comparisons

Comparing each decision criterion directly with every other criterion.

How is an optimal decision computed

Multiply each alternative's criterion rating by its criterion weight, then sum the weighted scores.

What limits rational decision-making

Resource constraints and limits in attention, memory, and expertise.

What is maximizing

Choosing the best alternative.

What is satisficing

Choosing a good-enough alternative.

What is groupthink

Pressure within a group to agree, creating a barrier to good decision-making.

What is C-type conflict

Cognitive disagreement about problems or issues that helps evaluate solutions.

What is A-type conflict

Affective disagreement about personal issues that creates hostility and reduces effectiveness.

What is devil's advocacy

Assigning a person or subgroup to criticize a proposed decision.

What is dialectical inquiry

Comparing a proposed solution with an opposing solution.

What is nominal group technique

Group members privately write and evaluate ideas before and after discussion.

What is Delphi technique

Experts respond to questions and to one another until agreement is reached.

What is electronic brainstorming

Using computers to build on others' ideas and generate solutions.

What is production blocking

Having to wait to share an idea while another group member is speaking.

What is evaluation apprehension

Fear of what others will think about your ideas.

Completing one apartment floor each week toward a yearly deadline is what kind of goal

Proximal goal.

A manager choosing a good-enough solution instead of the best possible solution is using what

Satisficing.