Deck 13: Foundations of Control

Question 1

A disadvantage of a statistical report is that it may leave out _________ measurements of performance.

A)negative
B)objective
C)subjective
D)positive

Answer 1

subjective

Question 2

Which of the following is an advantage of personal observation?

A)It eliminates perceptual biases
B)It is unobtrusive
C)It identifies factual admissions
D)It is time efficient

Answer 2

C

Question 3

The first step in the control process is to _________.

A)correct deviations
B)implement concurrent control
C)compare performance against a standard
D)measure actual performance

Answer 3

measure actual performance

Question 4

The value of the controlling function is seen in three specific areas: planning, _________.

A)protecting employees and protecting the workplace
B)protecting employees and empowering the workplace
C)organising and leading
D)empowering employees and protecting the workplace

Question 5

Protecting the workplace is important because organisations face threats from natural disasters and workplace violence.

Question 6

Control is the only managerial function that allows managers to make sure that organisational goals are being met.

Question 7

This is the most formal type of performance measurement.

A)Industry reports
B)Oral reports
C)Written reports
D)Personal observation

Question 8

A manager measuring actual performance is like a teacher _________.

A)supervising a test
B)helping a student study for a test
C)returning assignment grades back to students
D)grading a test

Question 9

Controlling compares _________ to see if goals are being achieved.

A)standard performance to ideal performance
B)actual performance to planned performance
C)actual performance to competitor performance
D)planned performance to standard performance

Question 10

The more a control system helps an organisation _________, the more successful it is judged to be.

A)help employees achieve job satisfaction
B)meet its goals
C)help employees be productive
D)expand and profit

Question 11

The control function is intended to protect the organisation from threats.

Question 12

Effective controlling can help managers who are afraid to delegate authority _________.

A)empower their employees
B)set their goals
C)discourage employee participation
D)manipulate the organisation's structure

Question 13

Control is the process of monitoring and evaluating activities to ensure that they are being accomplished as planned.

Question 14

The controlling function helps managers protect an organisation's _________.

A)good will
B)assets
C)integrity
D)external environment

Question 15

Motivation and leadership are primary parts of the control function.

Question 16

In a brief essay, define and describe the management function of control.

Question 17

The control management function ensures that _________ in an organisation.

A)goals are set
B)plans are realistic
C)plans are made
D)goals are met

Question 18

A major part of the controlling function of management is to _________.

A)inspire employees to achieve goals
B)correct performance problems
C)formulate strategies
D)hire the best employees

Question 19

MBWA stands for management by _________.

A)watching around
B)walking around
C)work action
D)written action

Question 20

An effective control system reduces managers' need to empower employees.

Question 21

In general, _________ that falls outside of an acceptable range of variation must be dealt with by a manager.

A)an underperformance
B)a small overperformance or a large underperformance
C)any deviation
D)an overperformance

Question 22

After an extended period of unseasonably warm and sunny weather, revenues are down sharply during the month of July at an indoor tennis club.The best strategy for the club manager is to _________.

A)run a sale on hourly rates
B)do nothing
C)raise hourly rates to increase revenue
D)change her monthly goals for December

Question 23

Jessie is a manager who assessed Dragonfly Designs and determined that the company has hard-working employees who are creative, compatible and meet performance goals.Jessie is likely using a(n) _________.

A)oral report
B)MBWA
C)statistical report
D)written report

Question 24

This type of performance measurement format would be most likely to include graphs, tables and computer outputs.

A)Statistical report
B)Written report
C)MBWA
D)Oral report

Question 25

When actual performance falls outside of an acceptable range of variation, it is termed a(n) _________.

A)large deviation
B)acceptable deviation
C)insignificant deviation
D)significant deviation

Question 26

Immediate corrective action is designed to _________.

A)discourage and punish employees for poor performance
B)provide an explanation for the problem
C)implement structural changes
D)get performance back on track

Question 27

Which of the following performance measurement categories must be measured subjectively rather than in objective or quantifiable terms?

A)Job satisfaction
B)Productivity
C)Profit
D)Turnover

Question 28

A car company that puts more effort into measuring quality than total units sold most likely wants to excel at _________.

A)customer satisfaction
B)employee satisfaction
C)efficiency
D)cost per unit

Question 29

When correcting performance, putting out fires is synonymous with _________.

A)immediate corrective action
B)basic corrective action
C)doing nothing
D)revising standards

Question 30

This kind of performance measurement method is fast and is a good platform for feedback, yet it can be private and scheduled for a single employee ahead of time.

A)MBWA
B)Statistical report
C)Oral report
D)Written report

Question 31

To carry out the second step of the control process, managers at an electric shaver company need to compare the number of actual shavers sold to _________.

A)sales totals from last year
B)planning goals for sales totals
C)the number of possible shaver customers
D)a competitor's sales totals

Question 32

Due to a recent construction of an upscale housing community near a tennis club, customer use has skyrocketed during the year and the club is operating at all-time high levels, far beyond the goals set the previous year.The best strategy for the manager is to _________.

A)change goals for the following year
B)do nothing
C)advertise
D)run a sale to increase customers

Question 33

In the second step of the control process, actual performance can be considered acceptable as long as the performance doesn't fall _________.

A)inside of an acceptable range of variation
B)short of goals by more than 15 per cent
C)short of goals by more than 30 per cent
D)outside of an acceptable range of variation

Question 34

If a manager of a tennis store sees sales totals for a particular racquet significantly exceeding goals and deviating from acceptable range of variation, she might _________.

A)inquire about ordering more racquets
B)run a sale on the racquet
C)run a sale on other products
D)do nothing since sales exceeded goals

Question 35

Which method of acquiring information is often the best way to keep tabs on work performance in small organisations?

A)MBWA
B)Oral report
C)Written report
D)Statistical report

Question 36

Which of the following would constitute basic corrective action for employees whose production has dropped?

A)Changing how the work is carried out
B)Taking away employee privileges
C)Looking for causes of the production drop
D)Changing the pay scale

Question 37

A software company that puts almost all of its performance measurement effort into measuring the total number of units that the company and its competitors sell most likely wants to excel at _________.

A)market share
B)cost per unit
C)labour per unit
D)efficiency

Question 38

These forms of performance measurement provide the best and most immediate forms of feedback.

A)MBWA and oral report
B)Statistical report and MBWA
C)Oral report and written report
D)Statistical report and oral report

Question 39

A basic corrective action for addressing unemployment is _________.

A)government pensions
B)a task force to see why jobs were lost
C)a job training program
D)unemployment fines

Question 40

In many cases, immediate corrective action rather than basic corrective action is taken by managers because they _________.

A)don't have enough information
B)are afraid of being wrong
C)are not experts in managerial action
D)don't have the time

Question 41

When might a manager be justified in revising a standard rather than taking corrective action to remedy a significant performance deviation?

A)When the standard is unrealistic
B)When performance falls far short of the standard
C)When performance falls slightly short of the standard
D)When performance exceeds the standard

Question 42

Identify and briefly describe two formal sources of information available to managers.

Question 43

A single business can experience both underperformance and overperformance at the same time.

Question 44

Some control criteria, such as employee satisfaction or absenteeism, are applicable to only some management situations.

Question 45

Basic corrective action focuses on identifying the cause of a performance deviation.

Question 46

What are the disadvantages of an oral report as a method of information collection for controlling purposes?

Question 47

When should a manager choose not to revise a standard?

A)If the employees complain
B)If the goals are too easy
C)If the standard is realistic and achievable
D)If performance is not up to par

Question 48

Identify the non-formal sources of information available to managers.

Question 49

A law firm manager finds that one lawyer constitutes a significant deviation because she consistently outperforms other lawyers at the firm.Which immediate corrective action should the manager take?

A)Make a compensation change
B)Disciplinary action
C)Study to see why she outperformed others
D)None

Question 50

What is measured in the control process is often less critical than how it is measured.

Question 51

Define the control process.

Question 52

Immediate corrective action might include changing the way employees are paid for their work.

Question 53

An example of revising a standard is a teacher who changes a grading scale because students do poorly on an exam.

Question 54

MBWA can pick up moods and attitudes that other forms of measurement miss.

Question 55

Explain why what managers choose to measure can be more important than how they measure.

Question 56

A gap between actual performance and planned goals that falls within an acceptable range of variation usually does not require managerial action.

Question 57

The control process is a two-step process that measures and compares.

Question 58

Personal observation as a form of control measurement is time-consuming.

Question 59

A major drawback of an oral report is that there is no way to store the information in the report for later reference.

Question 60

A professor gives a new test to an otherwise normal class and finds that only 10 per cent of the students get grades of C or above.What is the most appropriate and fair response?

A)Revise the grading curve downward
B)Do nothing
C)Revise the grading curve upward
D)Revise the test itself

Question 61

When a budget is formulated, it is being used as a(n) _________ tool.

A)organising
B)leadership
C)controlling
D)planning

Question 62

Compare and contrast immediate corrective action and basic corrective action.

Question 63

Which type of control enhances motivation?

A)Management information system
B)Balanced scorecard
C)Feedforward control
D)Feedback control

Question 64

What is the third step in the control process?

Question 65

An executive chef who conducts a survey to find out which types of salads customers want added to her restaurant menu is using which type of control?

A)Concurrent control
B)Feedback control
C)Feedforward control
D)Anticipation control

Question 66

A household that cuts back on supermarket spending after going over-budget on its food budget is using the budget as a(n) _________.

A)controlling tool
B)planning tool
C)leading tool
D)organising tool

Question 67

Direct supervision of employees is a form of _________ control.

A)feedforward
B)feedback
C)direct
D)concurrent

Question 68

A soccer coach showing players how to position themselves on the field during practice is carrying out _________, a form of concurrent control.

A)indirect supervision
B)direct supervision
C)unstructured supervision
D)feedback supervision

Question 69

All of the following are important in efforts to protect information in an organisation except _________.

A)firewalls
B)data backups
C)search engines
D)encryption

Question 70

A management information system (MIS) provides managers with _________ data.

A)numerical
B)unanalysed
C)analysed and processed
D)raw

Question 71

A family that is using a budget mobile app to create a formal household budget is using the budget as a(n) _________.

A)organising tool
B)controlling tool
C)leading tool
D)planning tool

Question 72

A mobile phone maker tests its new model with a sample audience when it is fully operational.What kind of control is this?

A)Feedforward control
B)Pre-market control
C)Concurrent control
D)Feedback control

Question 73

Sam is implementing a new program in which employees are involved in providing feedback and asking questions throughout the execution of the program.What kind of control is being used?

A)Spontaneous control
B)Concurrent control
C)Feedforward control
D)Feedback control

Question 74

Which kind of control takes place while the actual work is carried out?

A)Concurrent
B)Feedforward
C)Reverse
D)Feedback

Question 75

How do managers compare actual performance to planned goals?

Question 76

Which kind of control takes place after the actual work has been carried out?

A)Feedforward
B)Forward
C)Concurrent
D)Feedback

Question 77

_________ is a measure of an organisation's use of debt to finance its assets.

A)Liquidity
B)Leverage
C)Activity
D)Profitability

Question 78

_________ is a measure of how readily a company can use its assets to generate profits.

A)Leverage
B)Activity
C)Liquidity
D)Profitability

Question 79

_________ is a measure of an organisation's ability to meet its current debt obligations.

A)Leverage
B)Profitability
C)Liquidity
D)Return on investment

Question 80

One advantage of feedback control over other forms of control is that it lets managers focus on _________.

A)how on-target their planning efforts were
B)how effective their organising efforts were
C)what is about to take place
D)the task as it is being carried out