Business Management Quiz - 73

1. The two managerial practices that emerged from Taylor's scientific management are piece-rate incentive system and
[A]Time and motion study
[B]Work study
[C]Fatigue study
[D]Organization study


2. Strategic planning provides direction to an organization's mission, objectives and strategies, facilitating the development of plans for each of the organization's functional areas. So, right quality should be instilled in the strategic planning process. Which of the following could be the first step in incorporating quality into strategic planning?
[A]Environmental analysis
[B]Strategy formulation
[C]Strategic control
[D]Establishment of an organizational direction


3. Which of the following is not an advantage of the functional structure?
[A]Economies of scale
[B]Minimization of duplication
[C]Employee satisfaction
[D]Pursuit of functional goals


4. Which of the following statements is/are true about the satisficing decision model?
I. Managers seek alternatives only until they identify one that looks satisfactory.
II. Managers search for the perfect or ideal decision.
III. It is appropriate when the cost of searching for a better alternative exceeds the potential gain that is likely by following the satisficing approach.
[A]Only (I) above
[B]Only (II) above
[C]Only (III) above
[D]Both (I) and (III) above


5. Major decisions in organizations are most often made by groups rather than a single individual. One of the techniques for group decision-making that involves questionnaires is
[A]Brainstorming
[B]Nominal group technique
[C]Delphi technique
[D]Interacting group


6. Span of control refers to the number of subordinates a superior can supervise efficiently and effectively. It is an important factor which is to be taken into account when undertaking organizational design. Which of the following is not true about span of control?
[A]Wide spans of control empower employees
[B]Wide spans of control speed up decision-making
[C]Wide spans decrease flexibility
[D]Wide spans are related to a flat organization structure


7. Which of the following is not a limitation of rational decision making?
[A]It is difficult to determine all alternative courses of action that might be followed to accomplish a goal
[B]All possible alternatives cannot be thoroughly analyzed even with the most sophisticated techniques
[C]It becomes an impossible task when one has to explore areas which have never been ventured into before
[D]High quality solutions are not attainable due to goals being unclear


8. ‘Many aspects of management cannot be explained in terms of models.’ This is a limitation of which of the following approaches to management?
[A]Contingency approach
[B]Management science approach
[C]McKinseys’ 7-s framework
[D]Operational approach


9. Which of the following decision-making models implies that “the ability of managers to be completely rational in making decisions is limited by certain factors”?
[A]Rational model
[B]Satisficing model
[C]Incremental model
[D]Garbage-can model


10. Span of control an important factor which is to be taken into account when undertaking organizational design. Maintaining a large span of control within an organization is most effective in all except which of the following situations?
[A]When subordinates prefer autonomy
[B]When tasks are routine
[C]When jobs are similar but have varying performance measures
[D]When subordinates are highly trained


11. Tina is the department chair of a local college. She is preparing the 2006 schedule of classes. She knows approximately how many students will be in the classes from the pre-registration that is required. She also knows how many faculty members are available and which classes they can teach. As she prepares the 2006 schedule of classes, unless something extraordinary occurs, she is operating under the condition of
[A]Uncertainty
[B]Certainty
[C]Risk
[D]Probability


12. As a practice, though not documented, a brokerage house tries to promote its own employees into a broker's slot whenever one becomes available. This is an example of a (n)
[A]Rule
[B]Procedure
[C]Policy
[D]Norm


13. Decision-making is a systematic process and involves a series of stages. Scanning, categorization and diagnosis are involved in which of the following stages of the decision-making process?
[A]Generating alternative solutions
[B]Identifying resource and constraints
[C]Determining the problem
[D]Implementing the decision


14. Which of the following statements is/are true about preference or utility theory?
I. It is an approach to decision-making under uncertainty.
II. It holds that individual attitudes towards risk vary with situations.
III. When stakes are low, most managers tend to be risk averters; when stakes are high they tend to be gamblers.
[A]Only (I) above
[B]Only (II) above
[C]Only (III) above
[D]Both (I) and (II) above


15. The efficiency with which an organization accomplishes its goals and objectives is largely dependent on the structure it adopts. Which of the following organizational structures violates the 'unity of command' principle?
[A]Functional
[B]Matrix
[C]Geographic
[D]Divisional