Deck 9: Control Processes and Systems

Question 1

The feedback provided by the control process about mistakes already made may not be able to correct them, but it can help improve things in the future.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

Internal control occurs when motivated individuals and groups exercise self-discipline in fulfilling job requirements.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

The central question of concurrent control is: "What needs to be done before we initiate a new process?"

Answer 3

False

Question 4

The central question of feedforward control is: "What can be done to improve things right now?"

Question 5

Controlling is the process of setting directions and allocating resources in an organization.

Question 6

Concurrent controls, or steering controls, focus on the end results of an activity rather than the inputs or the activities.

Question 7

Concurrent control focuses on what happens during the work process.

Question 8

Planning ensures that performance is consistent with plans, and that accomplishments throughout an organization are coordinated in a means-ends fashion.

Question 9

Effective control typically involves some combination of internal and external control.

Question 10

The central question of feedback control is: "Now that we have completed our process, how did we do?"

Question 11

External control occurs when managers use personal supervision or formal administrative systems.

Question 12

Controlling makes sure that individual and group performance is consistent with plans and employees comply with organizational policies and procedures.

Question 13

Feedforward control focuses on what happens during the work process.

Question 14

Feedforward controls, also known as preliminary controls, are intended to ensure that objectives are clear, that proper directions are established, and that the right resources are available to accomplish objectives.

Question 15

An after-action review is a structured review of lessons learned and results accomplished on a completed project.

Question 16

The purpose of controlling is to make sure plans are achieved and that actual performance meets or surpasses objectives.

Question 17

An internal control strategy requires a high degree of trust.

Question 18

Feedback controls, or post-action controls, monitor ongoing operations and activities to make sure things are being done according to plan.

Question 19

Feedforward, concurrent, and feedback controls are relevant to different phases of the organization's input-throughput-output cycle.

Question 20

Controlling ensures that the right things happen, in the right way, at the right time.

Question 21

There are no laws that govern the behaviour of top executives.

Question 22

Clan control represents the power of collective identity.

Question 23

Bureaucratic control influences behaviour through authority, policies, procedures, job descriptions, budgets, and day-to-day supervision.

Question 24

The goal of the policies and procedures regarding sexual harassment is to make sure that members behave toward one another respectfully and in ways that offer no suggestion of sexual pressures or improprieties in the workplace.

Question 25

Budgets do not provide points of control. They are merely estimates of expenses.

Question 26

The best example of laws governing the behaviour of top executives is the Tavares-Moxley Act of 2004.

Question 27

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act was passed in response to major corporate failures regarding the accuracy of reported financial information, such as with Enron and WorldCom, that raised serious questions regarding top management behaviour and the accuracy of financial reports provided by the firms.

Question 28

A CEO and a CFO may be put in jail and pay personal fines if they misstate their company's financial records.

Question 29

Clan control flows through an organization's hierarchy of authority.

Question 30

Under Sarbanes-Oxley, chief executives and chief financial officers must sign off on financial reports and certify their accuracy under penalty of jail and/or personal fines.

Question 31

Organizations typically operate within the limitations set by the budget.

Question 32

The bureaucratic control system influences behaviour through norms and expectations set by the organizational culture.

Question 33

The potential for self-control is increased when people have a clear sense of organizational mission, know their performance goals, have the necessary resources to do their jobs well, treat each other with respect and consideration, and work in a participative organizational culture.

Question 34

Market control is essentially the influence of market competition on the behaviour or organizations and their members.

Question 35

The best example of a law which governs the behaviour of top executives is the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.

Question 36

Clan control influences behaviour through norms and expectations set by the organizational culture.

Question 37

The Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) Act that establishes procedures to regulate financial reporting and governance in publicly traded companies was passed in response to major corporate failures such as WorldCom and Enron.

Question 38

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act establishes procedures to regulate financial reporting and governance in publicly traded corporations.

Question 39

There are laws that govern the behaviour of top executives.

Question 40

Control that flows through the organizations hierarchy of authority is called Autocratic control.

Question 41

Dealing with an identified need can point toward performance threat or deficiency - when actual performance is more than desired.

Question 42

Input standards measure performance results in terms of quantity, quality, cost, or time of accomplished work.

Question 43

Desired performance and actual performance can be compared from historical, relative, or engineering perspectives.

Question 44

Earnings per share, sales growth, and market share are the input standards used by businesses.

Question 45

Planning is the beginning step of the control process when performance objectives and standards for measuring them are set.

Question 46

The problem with performance measurement is that the things that get measured don't often happen.

Question 47

Output standards measure effort in terms of the amount work expended in task performance.

Question 48

In utilizing a relative approach to compare desired and actual performance, a manager will use the organization's objectives to set the standard.

Question 49

Business firms show the influence of market control in the way that they adjust products, pricing, promotions, and other practices in response to customer feedback and what competitors are doing.

Question 50

When performance results compared to objectives are less than desired, a performance opportunity exists.

Question 51

Without some form of measurement of results, effective control is not possible.

Question 52

"Keeping up with the competition" is another way of expressing the dynamics of market controls in operation.

Question 53

Historical comparisons benchmark performance against that being achieved by other people, work units, or organizations.

Question 54

A problem situation is one that must be understood so corrective action can restore performance to the desired level.

Question 55

In utilizing a historical approach for comparing desired and actual performance, a manager will use past performance as a benchmark.

Question 56

The second step in the control process is to set the performance objectives and standards.

Question 57

Controlling is a four-step process that includes establishing objectives, measuring actual performance, comparing results with objectives and standards, and taking corrective action as needed.

Question 58

Management by exception is the technique of focusing managerial attention on situations where the difference between actual and desired performance is greatest.

Question 59

In the control process, measurement must be accurate enough to identify significant differences between what is really taking place and what was originally planned.

Question 60

Quality of production and error rates are output standards used by businesses.

Question 61

CPM/PERT graphically displays the scheduling of tasks required to complete a project.

Question 62

Management by exception is the practice of giving attention to situations that show the greatest need for action.

Question 63

A CPM/PERT is a combination of the critical path method and the program evaluation and review technique.

Question 64

A graphic display of task scheduling required to complete a project is called a Gantt chart.

Question 65

Projects are unique one-time events that occur within a defined time period.

Question 66

The beginning and end points, known as nodes, in a series of sub-activities on a CPM/PERT often have arrows between them to indicate what order tasks must be completed.

Question 67

A firm's analysis of financial performance is an important aspect of managerial control.

Question 68

The activities listed on the arrows of a CPM/PERT analysis are known as AOA diagram or activities-on-nodes.

Question 69

In exercising financial control over organizations, managers should consider liquidity, leverage, asset management, and profitability.

Question 70

Breakeven point can also be thought as the point where losses end and profits begin.

Question 71

Just-in-time scheduling automatically orders a fixed number of items every time an inventory level falls to a predetermined point.

Question 72

The goal of an opportunity situation is to increase or to continue the high level of accomplishment in the future.

Question 73

Inventory turnover is one method for determining the company's financial liquidity.

Question 74

A project manager's job is to ensure that a project is completed on time, within budget, and consistent with the project's objectives.

Question 75

Inventory control by economic order quantity orders replacements whenever inventory level falls to a predetermined point.

Question 76

The critical path is the pathway from project start to conclusion that involves activities with the longest completion times.

Question 77

Liquidity ratios use information about current assets and current liabilities.

Question 78

Asset management ratios focus on the relationship between profits and either average inventory or total assets.

Question 79

Breakeven analysis calculates the point at which revenues cover costs under different "what-if" conditions.

Question 80

Gantt charts are useful only for long-term, very complex projects.