How good is your Management Knowledge (Business Management Quiz - 76)

1. With respect to strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of the competitive environment in which a company operates, which of the following constitute ‘potential opportunities’ for an organization?
I. A widely recognized market leader and an attractive customer base.
II. Alliances/joint ventures that provide access to valuable technology, competencies etc.
III. Integrating forward or backward.
IV. Alliances/joint ventures that expand the company’s market coverage.
V. Expanding the company’s product line to meet a broader range of customer needs.
[A]Both (I) and (II) above
[B]Both (III) and (IV) above
[C](I), (II) and (V) above
[D](III), (IV) and (V) above


2. Practicing ethical guidelines enables managers to become followers of moral management approach. One such ethical guideline is ‘primum non-nocere’, which means
[A]Telling the truth
[B]Above all, doing no harm
[C]Always acting when one has responsibility
[D]Obeying the law


3. Which of the following is not one of the steps in strategic planning?
[A]Strategy formulation
[B]Strategy implementation
[C]Review of strategy
[D]Portfolio Analysis


4. Which of the following are subsystems that are frequently an integral part of ‘Management By Objectives (MBO)’?
I. Manpower planning.
II. Compensation.
III. Organization design.
IV. Operations research.
[A]Only (III) above
[B]Both (I) and (II) above
[C]Both (III) and (IV) above
[D](I), (II) and (III) above


5. As per Frederick Winslow Taylor, which of the following is/are the main reasons for workers indulging in soldiering?
I. Workers feared that if they increased their productivity, other workers would lose their jobs.
II. Faulty wage systems employed by the organization encouraged them to work at a slow pace.
III. Outdated methods of working handed down from generation to generation led to a great deal of wasted efforts.
IV. Lack of training forced employees to perform poorly.
[A]Only (I) above
[B]Both (I) and (II) above
[C]Both (III) and (IV) above
[D](I), (II) and (III) above


6. Which of the following is not a situational variable on which an organization’s position on the decentralization-centralization continuum depends?
[A]Size of the organization
[B]Line-staff conflict
[C]Geographical dispersion
[D]Technical complexity of tasks


7. Which of the following is not a factor that would make Management by Objectives (MBO) more effective?
[A]Emphasis on short-term goals
[B]Top management support
[C]Formulating clear objectives
[D]Training for MBO


8. Managers making ethical decisions may belong to any of the three levels of moral development. Which of the following stages describes the conventional level of moral development?
[A]Following rules only when it is in one’s immediate interest
[B]Valuing rights of others and upholding absolute values and rights, regardless of the majority's opinion
[C]Sticking to rules to avoid physical punishment
[D]Living up to what is expected by people who are close to oneself


9. As per Henry Mintzberg, which of the following roles constitute the decisional role?
I. Disturbance handler.
II. Resource allocator.
III. Negotiator.
IV. Figurehead.
V. Liaison.
[A]Both (I) and (II) above
[B]Both (III) and (V) above
[C](I), (II) and (III) above
[D](II), (III) and (IV) above


10. Every decision-making situation falls into one of the three categories: (i) certainty, (ii) risk and (iii) uncertainty. Which of the following is a characteristic of decision-making under risk?
[A]The decision-maker has complete information about available alternatives, and has a good idea of the probability of particular outcomes for each alternative
[B]The decision-maker has complete information about available alternatives, but has no idea of the probability of particular outcomes for each alternative
[C]The decision-maker has incomplete information about available alternatives, but has a good idea of the probability of particular outcomes for each alternative
[D]Future environment is unpredictable and everything is in a state of flux


11. Companies identify their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats in the business environment through SWOT analysis. Which of the following constitutes ‘potential resource weaknesses’ for an organization?
I. A weak balance sheet burdened with too much debt.
II. Loss of sales to substitute products.
III. Sub par e-commerce systems and capabilities relative to rivals.
IV. Costly new regulatory requirements.
V. Not attracting customers as rapidly as rivals due to ho-hum product attributes.
[A]Both (I) and (II) above
[B]Both (IV) and (V) above
[C](I), (III) and (V) above
[D](II), (III) and (IV) above


12. Which of the following refers to the use of an open system of rating an employee’s work on a daily basis, recommended by Robert Owen?
[A]Silent monitor
[B]Accomplishment monitor
[C]Piece-rate incentive system
[D]Therbligs


13. Which of the following is not a contingency variable that determines the appropriate span of control for managers?
[A]Employee training
[B]Task complexity
[C]Management style preferences
[D]Expenses


14. Which of the following statements about grapevine are true?
I. At times information shared through the grapevine may only be gossip.
II. It is bound by the authority relationships defined by the organization.
III. It weakens the cohesiveness of a formal organization.
IV. It survives on information that is not available to the entire group.
V. It facilitates quick and effective communication.
[A]Both (I) and (II) above
[B]Both (II) and (III) above
[C]Both (IV) and (V) above
[D](I), (IV) and (V) above


15. Which of the following statement is incorrect with respect to functional authority?
[A]Managing functional authority relationships is similar to managing dual-boss relationships
[B]It should be restricted to the procedural aspects of a function
[C]It is similar to line authority except that staff personnel with functional authority do not have a right to punish violations from the intended course of action
[D]If unity of command were to be applied without exception, functional authority would be exercised only by staff managers