Question 1

The classical viewpoint of management emphasized ways to

Accepted Answer

The classical viewpoint emphasized finding ways to manage work more efficiently.

Question 2

The Best Fit Office Supplier continually talks with customers after they purchase their products, and The Best Fit managers regularly visit customers to gather feedback on new products, product improvements, and how The Best Fit can better serve its customers. This is an example of an open system.

Accepted Answer

An open system continually interacts with its environment, getting feedback from the outside. A closed system has little interaction with its environment, getting little feedback from the outside.

Question 3

Sari, a movie theater manager, recently implemented a policy stating that workers who are willing to work a double shift on Friday or Saturday nights will earn a bonus on top of their regular pay. What is Sari implementing?

Accepted Answer

Taylor based his system on motion studies, in which he broke down each worker's job-moving pig iron at a steel company, say-into basic physical motions and then trained workers to use the methods of their best-performing coworkers. He suggested employers institute a differential rate system, in which more efficient workers earned higher rates of pay.

Question 4

Within his company, Vernon has set up a system with inputs, outputs, transformation processes, and feedback. He utilizes a management style that varies according to the individual and environmental situation, with a strategy for minimizing errors by managing each stage of production. Vernon is utilizing a ________ perspective.

Accepted Answer

The contemporary perspective includes three viewpoints: systems, contingency, and quality management. The systems viewpoint sees organizations as a system, either open or closed, with inputs, outputs, transformation processes, and feedback. The contingency viewpoint emphasizes that a manager's approach should vary according to the individual and environmental situation. The quality-management viewpoint has two traditional approaches: quality control, the strategy for minimizing errors by managing each stage of production, and quality assurance, which focuses on the performance of workers, urging employees to strive for zero defects.

Question 5

When faced with a business problem, Lauren, a young shoe store owner, discusses business problems with Kurt, the assistant manager and an employee for over 30 years. Lauren believes Kurt "has seen it all" and knows there are few really new ideas; plus the business has done many simple things, such as offering friendly service, to create and maintain a competitive edge. Lauren's management style is best described as

Accepted Answer

Evidence-based management means translating principles based on best evidence into organizational practice, bringing rationality to the decision-making process.

Question 6

________ is based on the belief that facing the hard facts about what works and what doesn't will help organizations perform better.

Accepted Answer

As its two principal proponents, Stanford business scholars Jeffrey Pfeffer and Robert Sutton, put it, evidence-based management is based on the belief that "facing the hard facts about what works and what doesn't, understanding the dangerous half-truths that constitute so much conventional wisdom about management, and rejecting the total nonsense that too often passes for sound advice will help organizations perform better."

Question 7

Arthur, a production manager, knows that some of his employees are upset with a new corporate policy that eliminates a tuition reimbursement program. As a result, some of these employees are reducing their productivity. To eliminate this behavior, Sal should

Accepted Answer

Taylor believed that managers could improve workers' productivity by applying four principles of science: (1) evaluate a task by scientifically studying each part of the task (not use old rule-of-thumb methods); (2) carefully select workers with the right abilities for the task; (3) give workers the training and incentives to do the task with the proper work methods; and (4) use scientific principles to plan the work methods and ease the way for workers to do their jobs.

Question 8

Jeffrey Pfeffer and Robert Sutton believed that evidence-based management is founded on the belief that facing the hard facts about what works and accepting the nonsense that passes for sound advice will help organizations perform better.

Accepted Answer

Stanford business scholars Jeffrey Pfeffer and Robert Sutton stated that evidence-based management is founded on the belief that "facing the hard facts about what works and what doesn't, understanding the dangerous half-truths that constitute so much conventional wisdom about management, and rejecting (not accepting) the total nonsense that too often passes for sound advice will help organizations perform better."

Question 9

A local grocer routinely develops and acquires new knowledge, and the employees communicate what they learn to other employees, so the company is able to modify its behavior to reflect what they have learned. This organization is an example of a learning organization.

Accepted Answer

A learning organization is an organization that actively creates, acquires, and transfers knowledge within itself and is able to modify its behavior to reflect new knowledge.

Question 10

Which three approaches to management are considered historical perspectives?

Accepted Answer

The historical perspective on management includes three distinct viewpoints: classical, behavioral, and quantitative.

Question 11

When Mr. Anderson, the owner of a local hardware store, asks one of his paint suppliers about the total ability of their product to meet customer needs, he is questioning the quality of that paint.

Accepted Answer

Quality refers to the total ability of a product or service to meet customer needs.

Question 12

Designer Manufacturing has a policy of using statistical sampling to locate errors by testing just some (rather than all) of the items in a particular production run. This strategy of minimizing errors is known as synergy.

Accepted Answer

Quality control is a strategy for minimizing errors by managing each state of production. Statistical sampling can locate errors by testing just some (rather than all) of the items in a particular production run.

Question 13

Frank and Lillian Gilbreth identified 17 basic units of motion that they called

Accepted Answer

A made-up word you won't find in most dictionaries, therblig was coined by Frank Gilbreth and is, in fact, Gilbreth spelled backward, with the t and the h reversed. It refers to 1 of 17 basic motions. By identifying the therbligs in a job, Frank and his wife, Lillian, were able to eliminate motions while simultaneously reducing fatigue.

Question 14

Ron, a plant manager, wants to institute a compensation system in which more efficient workers earn higher wages. Ron is proposing to institute a differential rate system.

Accepted Answer

Frederick Taylor suggested employers institute a differential rate system, in which more efficient workers earn higher wages.

Question 15

Peter Drucker was a 20th-century socialist, opposed capitalism and believed that managers were more of a hindrance than a help to most organizations.

Accepted Answer

Peter Drucker "was the creator and inventor of modern management," says management guru Tom Peters. In 1954, Drucker published his famous text, The Practice of Management.

Question 16

Chenglei, an IT manager, has been studying the actions that his workers perform in an attempt to improve their productivity. Chenglei is utilizing

Accepted Answer

Scientific management applied the scientific study of work methods to improving the productivity of individual workers.

Question 17

The idea that two or more forces combined create an effect that is greater than the sum of their individual effects is called syncretism.

Accepted Answer

Synergy is the idea that two or more forces combined create an effect that is greater than the sum of their individual effects.

Question 18

Adrianne is a package delivery service manager. She is interested in implementing ________, the management philosophy pioneered by Frederick W. Taylor and Frank and Lillian Gilbreth, which scientifically studies work methods to improve the productivity of individual workers. In this particular case, Adrianne will study the routes that drivers take through a congested to city in order to identify ways that delivery staff can make the most deliveries in each two-hour period.

Accepted Answer

Scientific management emphasized the scientific study of work methods to improve the productivity of individual workers. Two of its chief proponents were Frederick W. Taylor and the team of Frank and Lillian Gilbreth.

Question 19

Which of the following is a key benefit of studying theoretical perspectives on management?

Accepted Answer

Studying management theory provides an understanding of the present, a guide to action, a source of new ideas, clues to the meaning of your managers' decisions, clues to the meaning of outside events, and positive results.

Question 20

Boltz Manufacturing, a parts supplier to the auto industry, has been using the behavioral approach to management for over 100 years. However, since that method of management is too simplistic for practical use, Boltz should begin implementing the newer and more sophisticated human relations movement approach to management, which is the most contemporary approach to management.

Accepted Answer

The human relations movement was a necessary correction to the sterile approach used within scientific management, but its optimism came to be considered too simplistic for practical use. More recently, the human relations view has been superseded by the behavioral science approach to management.

Quiz 2: Management Theory: Essential Background for the Successful Manager