Deck 17: Introduction to Controlling

Question 1

The value of the control function lies in its relation to organizational structure.

Answer 1

False

Question 2

In feedback control, the control takes place after the activity is done.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

Performance is the end result of an activity.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

The key to feedforward controls is taking action while the problem is occurring.

Question 5

Managers need to control to protect the organization and its assets.

Question 6

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

Question 7

Basic corrective action is aimed at correcting more generalized problems as quickly as possible, leaving more detailed action for later.

Question 8

Effective managers analyze deviations and, when the benefits justify it, take the time to pinpoint and correct the causes of variance.

Question 9

Direct supervision is the best-known form of concurrent control.

Question 10

There are no company rankings in the Arab world similar to Fortune's "Best Companies to Work For".

Question 11

Control is the process of monitoring, comparing, and correcting work performance.

Question 12

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

Question 13

Concurrent control prevents anticipated problems since it takes place before the actual activity.

Question 14

Feedforward provides managers with meaningful information on how effective their planning efforts were.

Question 15

Some control criteria, such as employee satisfaction, are applicable to any management situation.

Question 16

Deviations that exceed the acceptable range of variation become significant and need the manager's attention.

Question 17

Understating sales is not nearly as troublesome as overstating them.

Question 18

Concurrent control relies on feedback.

Question 19

In taking managerial actions, managers must correct actual performance, as it is the only choice.

Question 20

The control process is a two-step process that compares actual performance against a standard and takes managerial action to correct deviations or inadequate standards.

Question 21

In the third and final step in the control process, managers can choose between ________ possible courses of action in taking managerial action.

A) five
B) two
C) three
D) four

Question 22

Managers can focus on measuring only one performance area because it presents them with the big picture.

Question 23

What corrects problems at once to get performance back on track?

A) standard revision
B) immediate corrective action
C) basic corrective action
D) range of variation

Question 24

External controls have been enacted to address some of the problems that have occurred because of "managed" earnings.

Question 25

Hawkamah, the Corporate Governance Institute, was established to endorse corporate sector reform and good governance.

Question 26

What common source of information for measuring performance has the advantages of being easy to visualize and effective for showing relationships?

A) statistical reports
B) personal observations
C) written reports
D) oral reports

Question 27

The control process assumes that ________.

A) performance standards must be created
B) employees require constant direction from management
C) performance standards are already in place
D) employee monitoring costs are part and parcel of doing business

Question 28

What common source of information for measuring performance has the disadvantages of being subject to personal biases, time consuming, and obtrusive?

A) oral reports
B) statistical reports
C) written reports
D) personal observations

Question 29

Many managers are tempted to do things themselves and avoid ________.

A) leading
B) controlling
C) planning
D) empowering

Question 30

Some control criteria need to recognize ________.

A) the diversity of activities that managers do
B) and reward exceptional employee performance
C) employees' rights to privacy
D) the costs of monitoring and measuring performance

Question 31

What common source of information for measuring performance has the disadvantage of being provided with filtered information that can't be documented?

A) oral reports
B) written reports
C) personal observations
D) statistical reports

Question 32

What is defined as the acceptable parameters of variance between actual performance and the standard?

A) basic corrective action
B) range of variation
C) productivity
D) performance

Question 33

What is the final step in the management process?

A) controlling
B) planning
C) leading
D) organizing

Question 34

What common source of information for measuring performance has the advantages of being comprehensive, formal, and easy to file and retrieve?

A) personal observations
B) written reports
C) oral reports
D) statistical reports

Question 35

When organizations "manage" earnings, they "time" income and expenses to enhance current financial performance.

Question 36

Employers are allowed by law to tap your work telephone without your knowledge.

Question 37

When a performance indicator can't be stated in quantifiable terms, managers should ________.

A) have no standards at all
B) use objective measures
C) ignore the control function
D) use subjective measures

Question 38

Managers of foreign companies tend to be less controlled directly by the home office.

Question 39

The first step in the control process is ________.

A) taking managerial action
B) setting standards
C) measuring performance
D) comparing performance against expectations

Question 40

An example of feedback control is management by walking around.

Question 41

The ________ ratios measure how efficiently a firm is using its assets.

A) conformance
B) activity
C) liquidity
D) leverage

Question 42

When should a manager's course of action be to do nothing?

A) When the variance is acceptable.
B) When the cause of the variation has been identified.
C) When the standard is acceptable.
D) When the standard is not acceptable.

Question 43

The Qatar Financial Markets Authority puts certain requirements on listed companies regarding what they need to disclose in their financial statements. This highlights any problems which the company needs to fix in the future. This describes what type of control?

A) Feedforward control
B) Fast-forward control
C) Feedback control
D) Concurrent control

Question 44

Fortune's 100 Best Companies to Work For are chosen by answers given by thousands of randomly selected employees on a questionnaire called the ________.

A) Economic Analysis Survey
B) American Customer Satisfaction Index (ASCI)
C) Great Place to Work® Trust Index®
D) Kiersey Temperament Sorter

Question 45

The most popular type of control is ________ control.

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

Question 46

Which of the following ratios measures how efficiently and effectively a firm is using its assets to generate profits?

A) liquidity ratios
B) conformance ratios
C) leverage ratios
D) profitability ratios

Question 47

________ is a term used to describe when a manager is out in the work area interacting directly with employees.

A) Concurrent control
B) Direct interaction
C) Work area management
D) Management by walking around

Question 48

If employees or managers don't meet the standard, the first thing they're likely to accuse is ________.

A) their performance
B) the standard
C) the organization
D) their coworkers

Question 49

What is the most desirable type of control that prevents anticipated problems?

A) fast-forward control
B) feedback control
C) concurrent control
D) feedforward control

Question 50

Rotana Hotels implements centralization of recruitment; paying special attention to recruitment prevents the company from hiring the wrong people and thus prevents mistakes being made in the future. This describes which type of control?

A) Concurrent control.
B) Feedforward control.
C) Feedback control.
D) Fast-forward control.

Question 51

If a manager investigates how and why performance has deviated beyond the acceptable range of variation, and then corrects the source of the deviation, she is using ________.

A) basic corrective action
B) immediate corrective action
C) remedial corrective action
D) bureaucratic control

Question 52

When should the manager's course of action be to revise the standard?

A) When the cause of the variation has been identified
B) When the variance is acceptable
C) When the standard is not acceptable
D) When the standard is acceptable

Question 53

An organization that hires additional personnel as soon as a major contract has been awarded is using which control system?

A) management control
B) concurrent control
C) feedback control
D) feedforward control

Question 54

Which of the following ratios examines an organization's use of debt to finance its assets and its ability to meet the interest payments on the debt?

A) leverage ratios
B) conformance ratios
C) liquidity ratios
D) activity ratios

Question 55

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

A) scenario planning
B) environmental scanning
C) organizational planning
D) organizational performance

Question 56

The Emirates Group reports that it has a diverse workforce comprised of over ________ nationalities.

A) 100
B) 150
C) 175
D) 125

Question 57

All of the following are popular company rankings in the Arab world except ________.

A) "Top 50 GCC Companies"
B) "Top 100 Arab Workplaces That You Can Trust"
C) "Top 500 Arab Companies"
D) "50 Most Admired Arab Companies"

Question 58

________ is a measure of how appropriate organizational goals are and how well an organization is achieving those goals.

A) Competitor analysis
B) Environmental scanning
C) Situational effectiveness
D) Organizational effectiveness

Question 59

The ________ ratios measure an organization's ability to meet its current debt obligations.

A) leverage
B) conformance
C) activity
D) liquidity

Question 60

Control that takes place while an activity is in progress is known as which of the following?

A) management control
B) concurrent control
C) feedback control
D) feedforward control

Question 61

Up to ________ of all theft and fraud is committed by firm employees, not outsiders.

A) 50 percent
B) 33 percent
C) 85 percent
D) 75 percent

Question 62

The laws in some countries can constrain organizational control by not allowing organizations to ________.

A) bring money into the country
B) bring in a new management team from outside the country
C) open facilities
D) hire employees

Question 63

________ provides managers with quantitative standards against which to measure and compare resource allocation.

A) TQM
B) Reengineering
C) A budget
D) An organization chart

Question 64

Which of the following is a performance measurement tool that looks at four areas that contribute to a company's performance?

A) information control
B) economic value added
C) market value added
D) balanced scorecard

Question 65

Which of following terms would be associated with data and not with information?

A) raw
B) ordered
C) analyzed
D) processed

Question 66

The ________ is the standard of excellence against which to measure and compare.

A) benchmark
B) Good Housekeeping Seal
C) market leader
D) service excellence award

Question 67

Managers monitor electronic mail because ________.

A) they are nosy
B) they want to be sure that employees don't spread rumors about the company
C) they are not concerned about employee privacy
D) it helps ensure that company trade secrets are not being leaked

Question 68

Managers need ________ to monitor organizational performance and to control organizational activities.

A) time
B) information
C) data
D) control analysis systems

Question 69

TNC refers to ________.

A) Time, Numbers, and Chaos
B) Time, Neglect, and Crises
C) Time, Numbers, and Crises
D) Time, Neglect, and Chaos

Question 70

________ is the search for the best practices among competitors or noncompetitors that lead to their superior performance.

A) Correlating
B) Benchmarking
C) Factoring
D) Situating

Question 71

The ________ approach to performance measurement was introduced as a way to evaluate organizational performance from more than just the financial perspective.

A) information control
B) market value added
C) economic valued added
D) balanced scorecard

Question 72

When data are analyzed and processed, they become ________.

A) economically viable
B) a system
C) factual
D) information

Question 73

Research suggests that best practices frequently already exist within an organization, ________.

A) making formalized benchmarking a redundant and costly task
B) but various managerial biases prevent them from being enacted
C) and are being used
D) but often go unidentified

Question 74

A(n) ________ is defined as a system used to provide management with needed information on a regular basis.

A) management information system
B) artificial intelligence system
C) data entry system
D) expert system

Question 75

Factors that have been found to be linked to workplace violence include ________.

A) poor personal hygiene
B) poor diet
C) employee stress
D) too much caffeine

Question 76

Clinical psychologists argue that employee theft ________.

A) happens because many people can find ways to rationalize this behavior
B) is a symptom of deeper control issues and is not the real problem
C) occurs primarily when there are poor management-labor relations
D) reflects deep problems in the greater society

Question 77

The differences seen in organizational control systems of global organizations are primarily in the ________.

A) measurement and comparison steps of the control process
B) measurement and corrective action steps of the control process
C) corrective action step of the control process
D) comparison step of the control process

Question 78

One reason why it might be hard for a company to compare the labor costs of its facility in Jordan with the labor costs of its facility in Algeria is that ________.

A) educational levels of the Jordanian employees may be different to those of the Algerian employees
B) the Jordanian facility might be more labor intensive than its Algerian counterpart.
C) Jordanian employees display different behavior and attitudes to Algerian employees
D) inflation rates in Jordan are different to those found in Algeria

Question 79

Which of the following is not related to the meaning of management information systems?

A) It provides managerial information on a regular basis.
B) It provides data and information.
C) The word "system" implies order, arrangement, and purpose.
D) To be considered a system, it needs to be on a computer and not manually regulated.

Question 80

The balanced scorecard is an approach that looks at four areas in the organization, financial, customer, internal processes, and ________ that contribute to a company's performance.

A) debt
B) shareholder value
C) people/innovation/growth assets
D) managerial decision making