Deck 10: Managerial Controls

Question 1

Controls provide a critical link back to what organisational function?

A)manufacturing design
B)directing
C)employee selection
D)organisational culture
E)planning

Answer 1

E

Question 2

The control process is a three-step process that includes unfreezing the system, changing the system and refreezing the system.

Answer 2

False

Question 3

The first step in the control process is comparing actual performance against a standard.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

Standards are created during the organising process.

Question 5

In the control process, to what factor is actual performance compared in order to properly assess the situation?

A)desired standards
B)competitors' outcomes
C)last month's efforts
D)last year's performance
E)management opinion

Question 6

Controlling assures that goals and plans are on target.

Question 7

Of the following, which is NOT a reason why control systems are important?

A)Controlling activities provide the critical link back to planning
B)Control mechanisms support employee empowerment
C)Controls help protect the organisation against threats
D)Controls guarantee goal attainment.
E)Controls provide a way to compare current status with goals and objectives.

Question 8

Measurements are part of controlling.

Question 9

Which of the following activities is part of controlling?

A)defining standards
B)setting objectives
C)developing an effective structure
D)diagnosing individual and group behaviour
E)detailing communication measures

Question 10

In reality, management is an ongoing process and controlling activities provide the critical link back to planning.

Question 11

Leadership is one of the functions of controlling.

Question 12

Structure is part of controlling.

Question 13

Managers should be involved in the control function even if things are going as planned.

Question 14

An effective control system will ensure that activities lead to attainment of the organisation's goals.

Question 15

Objectives are set as part of the controlling process.

Question 16

What managers should be involved in the control process?

A)all managers
B)upper management
C)systems managers
D)first-line managers
E)middle managers

Question 17

Standards are created during the ________ process.

A)leading
B)measuring
C)planning
D)controlling
E)organising

Question 18

How do control systems support delegating?

A)They enable greater task clarity.
B)They motivate employees.
C)They lead to greater managerial authority.
D)They enable effective feedback regarding employee performance.
E)all the above

Question 19

Which of the following terms is associated with the definition of control?

A)communication
B)motivation
C)personality
D)high tech
E)monitoring

Question 20

In a short essay, discuss the reasons that control is important in the planning process.

Question 21

What source of information used to measure performance provides information that is NOT filtered through others?

A)statistical reports
B)oral reports
C)personal observation
D)standardised tests
E)written reports

Question 22

Deviations that exceed the range of variation need the manager's attention.

Question 23

What we measure tends to be more critical to the control process than how we measure.

Question 24

What is the final step in the control process?

A)benchmarking standards with a competitor
B)rewarding/punishing employee performance
C)adjusting measurement standards
D)re-engineering the process
E)taking managerial action

Question 25

The range of variation is the acceptable parameters of variance between actual performance and the ideal.

Question 26

All of the following control measures would come from statistical reports EXCEPT ________.

A)percentage of market held
B)average dollar per sale
C)salespersons ability to put themselves in the customers shoes
D)number of customer visits per salesperson
E)number of customer impressions per advertising medium

Question 27

Of the following, which is NOT a common source of information used by managers to measure performance?

A)standardised tests
B)statistical reports
C)oral reports
D)personal observation
E)written reports

Question 28

________ is (are)considered slow, are easy to file and reference, and provide greater comprehensiveness and conciseness than oral reports.

A)Statistical reports
B)Written reports
C)Personal observation
D)Word-of-mouth reports
E)Standardised tests

Question 29

In the control process, which step follows 'measuring actual performance'?

A)comparing actual performance against a standard
B)logging actual performance
C)obtaining employee input to performance gaps
D)checking performance measurement for reliability
E)establishing standards

Question 30

Doing nothing is NOT an acceptable managerial action in the control process.

Question 31

Which of the following is the best way to allow for verbal and non-verbal feedback?

A)statistical reports
B)personal observation
C)oral reports
D)written reports
E)standardised tests

Question 32

The control process is essentially a continuous flow between measuring, comparing and managerial action.

Question 33

According to the textbook, which of the following is the first step in control?

A)measuring actual performance
B)taking managerial action
C)comparing actual against the standard
D)changing the standard
E)measuring employee satisfaction

Question 34

Personal observation is one method for measuring actual performance.

Question 35

Basic corrective action is correcting an activity at once in order to get performance back on track.

Question 36

Revising unrealistically high standards is one method of managerial action in the control process.

Question 37

What information source used to measure performance has the disadvantages of being subject to personal bias and consuming a lot of time?

A)written reports
B)standardised tests
C)personal observation
D)statistical reports
E)oral reports

Question 38

To get first hand, intimate knowledge of actual work activities, managers might use ________.

A)oral reports
B)statistical reports
C)written reports
D)personal observation
E)media reports

Question 39

What type of information source allows for feedback and is fast, but historically has a problem of being unable to document information for later reference?

A)written reports
B)standardised tests
C)statistical reports
D)personal observation
E)oral reports

Question 40

________ is (are)an effective information source for showing relationships, but may ignore subjective factors.

A)Statistical reports
B)Oral reports
C)Management by walking around
D)Written reports
E)Personal observation

Question 41

The easiest way to increase the ratio of outputs to inputs would be to ________.

A)decrease the selling price of outputs
B)increase the selling price of outputs
C)decrease the amount of inputs
D)increase the cost of the input
E)hire additional employees

Question 42

________ is a measure of how appropriate organisational goals are and how well an organisation is achieving those goals.

A)Situational effectiveness
B)Organisational effectiveness
C)Competitor analysis
D)Organisational strategy
E)Environmental scanning

Question 43

Regarding the control process, what is measured is ________ than how we measure it.

A)equally important
B)much less important
C)usually more important
D)less important
E)five times more important

Question 44

The ________ step determines the degree of variation between actual performance and the standard.

A)directing
B)objective
C)validity
D)reliability
E)comparing

Question 45

Which of the following is an accurate statement concerning utilisation of different sources of information for performance measurement?

A)Managers should use as many as three different methods when possible.
B)Statistical reports are the single most effective method.
C)It is not advised to utilise oral reports and personal observation as dual methods.
D)In combination, personal observation and written reports are considered superior to other methods.
E)Managers use a combination of approaches because it increases the probability of getting reliable information.

Question 46

In the control process, if employees are constantly NOT meeting their sales quotas, what managerial action may be warranted?

A)take immediate corrective action
B)lower the standard
C)fire the employees
D)increase the range of variation
E)retrain the employees, but never lower the standard

Question 47

The accumulated end results of all the organisation's work activities are called ________.

A)organisational performance
B)organisational planning
C)environmental scanning
D)goal attainment
E)scenario planning

Question 48

If the source of performance variation is unsatisfactory work, according to the textbook, which of the following is NOT considered a corrective action?

A)changing the payment structure
B)reprehending employees
C)disciplinary action
D)keeping the status quo
E)training programs

Question 49

In the control process, when a manager cannot find an objective and measurable performance indicator he/she should ________.

A)use the most appropriate objective indicator
B)use an objective indicator, but measure it several times to ensure reliability
C)use a subjective indicator
D)ignore the control function all together
E)not measure the factor

Question 50

________ is measured by the costs of acquiring and transforming the organisational resources into the outputs.

A)Input
B)Variable costs
C)Quality
D)Effectiveness
E)Efficiency

Question 51

________ is measured by the sales revenue an organisation receives when goods or services are sold.

A)Input
B)Output
C)Surplus
D)Quality
E)Effectiveness

Question 52

In order to increase the ratio of outputs to inputs, a manager would have to ________.

A)decrease the selling price
B)increase productivity
C)review the organisations goals
D)increase the cost of the input
E)hire additional employees

Question 53

Performance is the end result of an activity.

Question 54

________ is the overall output of goods or services produced divided by the inputs needed to generate that output.

A)Factoring
B)Forfeiting
C)Correlation
D)Productivity
E)Output index

Question 55

In the control process, what type of corrective action asks questions of 'why' and 'how' performance has deviated?

A)basic corrective action
B)planned corrective action
C)cognitive corrective action
D)strategic corrective action
E)immediate corrective action

Question 56

Which of the following is NOT an example of what can be measured in the control process?

A)personal observation
B)defects
C)absenteeism
D)employee satisfaction
E)turnover

Question 57

What guides managerial decisions in designing strategies and work activities and in coordinating the work of employees is how well the organisation meets its goals.

Question 58

What is the risk in taking immediate corrective action?

A)It lowers the standards.
B)It does not affect performance.
C)It is time consuming.
D)It does not pinpoint and correct the causes of variance.
E)It prevents managers from perpetually 'putting out fires.'

Question 59

The most frequently used organisational performance measures include liquidity, profitability, leverage and activity ratios.

Question 60

In the control process, if Bega were consistently selling more cheese than was predicted, what type of managerial action would be warranted?

A)decrease the range of variation
B)revise the standard
C)immediate corrective action
D)increase the range of variation
E)basic corrective action

Question 61

The Australian Business Review Weekly: BRW 1000 Top Performing organisations are determined by ________.

A)customer service
B)employee satisfaction
C)biggest listed by revenue
D)product quality
E)fastest growing by revenue growth

Question 62

________ management is the process of acquiring, managing, renewing and disposing of assets as needed.

A)Sales
B)Debt
C)Liability
D)Asset
E)Capital

Question 63

The most frequently used organisational performance measures include all of the following EXCEPT ________.

A)situational analysis
B)organisational productivity
C)organisational effectiveness
D)industry rankings
E)both A and C

Question 64

Which of the following is NOT mentioned in the textbook as a type of control?

A)feedforward control
B)concurrent control
C)cross-sectional control
D)feedback control
E)both A and B

Question 65

The most desirable type of control is concurrent control.

Question 66

The Fortune 500 companies are determined by ________.

A)answers of randomly selected employees
B)biggest listed enterprises
C)financial results
D)fastest-growing small and medium-size businesses
E)top 15 franchise companies based on an annual survey of franchisees

Question 67

________ is a control technique in which the manager is out in the work area, interacting directly with employees and exchanging information.

A)Management by objectives
B)Management by walking around
C)Feedback control
D)Feedforward control
E)Leadership by example

Question 68

The key to feedback control is taking managerial action before a problem occurs.

Question 69

Concurrent control takes place after an activity has been completed.

Question 70

Which of the following statements is NOT correct about organisational performance?

A)It compares actual performance to standards.
B)It guides managerial decisions in designing strategies.
C)It measures the appropriateness of organisational goals.
D)It measures how well the organisation is achieving its goals.
E)It is the bottom line for managers.

Question 71

________ is a measure of how appropriate organisational goals are and how well an organisation is achieving those goals.

A)Operational analysis
B)Competitor analysis
C)Environmental scanning
D)Organisational effectiveness
E)Situational effectiveness

Question 72

Feedforward control prevents anticipated problems.

Question 73

Which of the following is NOT part of the five-point bottom line?

A)economic prosperity
B)environmental sustainability
C)cultural harmony
D)social responsibility
E)spiritual validity

Question 74

What type of control prevents anticipated problems?

A)projected control
B)feedforward control
C)concurrent control
D)definitional control
E)feedback control

Question 75

Financial statements are an example of concurrent controls.

Question 76

Which of the following is NOT mentioned in the text as an important reason for measuring organisational performance?

A)increased ability to capture customer value
B)better asset management
C)impact on organisational reputation
D)higher debt/equity ratios
E)improved measures of organisational knowledge

Question 77

In a short essay, discuss the common measures of organisational performance.

Question 78

The most popular type of control relies on feedback.

Question 79

The most well-known form of concurrent control is direct supervision.

Question 80

Managers measure and control organisation performance because it leads to ________.

A)better asset management
B)improved organisation knowledge
C)better customer value
D)both A and B
E)all of the above