英文版管理学练习题经典之作.doc

Chapter 1 Introduction to Management and OrganizationsEssay QuestionsIn a short essay, discuss the difference between efficiency and effectiveness and include a specific example to support each concept.Answera. Efficiency refers to getting the most output from the least amount of inputs. Because managers deal with scarce inputsincluding resources such as people, money, and equipmentthey are concerned with the efficient use of resources. For instance, at the Beiersdorf Inc. factory in Cincinnati, where employees make body braces and supports, canes, walkers, crutches, and other medical assistance products, efficient manufacturing techniques were implemented by doing things such as cutting inventory levels, decreasing the amount of time to manufacture products, and lowering product reject rates. From this perspective, efficiency is often referred to as “doing things right”that is, not wasting resources. b. Effectiveness is often described as “doing the right things”that is, those work activities that will help the organization reach its goals. For instance, at the Biersdorf factory, goals included open communication between managers and employees, and cutting costs. Through various work programs, these goals were pursued and achieved. Whereas efficiency is concerned with the means of getting things done, effectiveness is concerned with the ends, or attainment of organizational goals.(moderate)In a short essay, list and explain the four basic functions of management.Answera. Planning involves the process of defining goals, establishing strategies for achieving those goals, and developing plans to integrate and coordinate activities.b. Organizing involves the process of determining what tasks are to be done, who is to do them, how the tasks are to be grouped, who reports to whom, and where decisions are to be made.c. Leading when managers motivate subordinates, influence individuals or teams as they work, select the most effective communication channel, or deal in any way with employee behavior issues, they are leading.d. Controlling to ensure that work is going as it should, managers must monitor and evaluate performance. The process of monitoring, comparing, and correcting is what is meant by the controlling function.(moderate)In a short essay, list and discuss the three essential skills according to Katz that managers need to perform the duties and activities associated with being a manager.Answera. Technical skills include knowledge of an proficiency in a certain specialized field, such as engineering, computers, accounting, or manufacturing. These skills are more important at lower levels of management since these managers are dealing directly with employees doing the organizations work.b. Human skills involve the ability to work well with other people both individually and in a group. Managers with good human skills are able to get the best out of their people. They know how to communicate, motivate, lead, and inspire enthusiasm and trust. These skills are equally important at all levels of management.c. Conceptual skills these are the skill that managers must have to think and to conceptualize about abstract and complex situations. Using these skills, managers must be able to see the organization as a whole, understand the relationships among various subunits, and visualize how the organization fits into its broader environment. These skills are most important at the top management levels.(moderate)Chapter 2 Management Yesterday and TodayEssay QuestionsSCIENTIFIC MANAGEMENTIn a short essay, discuss Frederick Taylors work in scientific management. Next, list Taylors four principles of management.AnswerFrederick Taylor did most of his work at the Midvale and Bethlehem Steel Companies in Pennsylvania. As a mechanical engineer with a Quaker and Puritan background, he was continually appalled by workers inefficiencies. Employees used vastly different techniques to do the same job. They were inclined to “take it easy” on the job, and Taylor believed that worker output was only about one-third of what was possible. Virtually no work standards existed. Workers were placed in jobs with little or no concern for matching their abilities and aptitudes with the tasks they were required to do. Managers and workers were in continual conflict. Taylor set out to correct the situation by applying the scientific method to shop floor jobs. He spent more than two decades passionately pursuing the “one best way” for each job to be done.Taylors Four Principles of Managementa. Develop a science for each element of an individuals work, which will replace the old rule-of-thumb method.b. Scientifically select and then train, teach, and develop the worker.c. Heartily cooperate with the workers so as to ensure that al work is done in accordance with the principles of the science that has been developed.d. Divide work and responsibility almost equally between management and workers. Management takes over all work for which it is better fitted than the workers.(difficult)122.In a short essay, discuss the work in scientific management by Frank and Lillian Gilbreth.AnswerFrank Gilbreth is probably best known for his experiments in bricklaying. By carefully analyzing the bricklayers job, he reduced the number of motions in laying exterior brick from 18 to about 5, and on laying interior brick the motions were reduced from 18 to 2. Using the Gilbreths techniques, the bricklayer could be more productive and less fatigued at the end of the day. The Gilbreths were among the first researchers to use motion pictures to study hand-and-body motions and the amount of time spent doing each motion. Wasted motions missed by the naked eye could be identified and eliminated. The Gilbreths also devised a classification scheme to label 17 basic hand motions, which they called therbligs. This scheme allowed the Gilbreths a more precise way of analyzing a workers exact hand movements.(moderate)GENERAL ADMINISTRATIVE THEORISTS123.In a short essay, discuss the work of Henri Fayol as it relates to the general administrative approach to management. Next list and discuss seven of Fayols fourteen principles of management.AnswerFayol described the practice of management as something distinct from accounting, finance, production, distribution, and other typical business functions. He argued that management was an activity common to all human endeavors in business, government, and even in the home. He then proceeded to state 14 principles of managementfundamental rules of management that could be taught in schools and applied in all organizational situations.Fayols Fourteen Principles of Managementa. Division of work. specialization increases output by making employees more efficient.b. Authority managers must be able to give orders. Authority gives them this right. Along with authority, however, goes responsibility.c. Discipline employees must obey and respect the rules that govern the organization.d. Unity of command every employee should receive orders from only one superior.e. Unity of direction the organization should have a single plan of action to guide managers and workers.f. Subordination of individual interests to the general interest the interests of any one employee or group of employees should not take precedence over the interests of the organization as a whole.g. Remuneration workers must be paid a fair wage for their services.h. Centralization this term refers to the degree to which subordinates are involved in decision making.i. Scalar chain the line of authority from top management to the lowest ranks in the scalar chain.j. Order people and materials should be in the right place at the right time.k. Equity managers should be kind and fair to their subordinates.l. Stability of tenure of personnel management should provide orderly personal planning and ensure that replacements are available to fill vacancies.m. Initiative employees who are allowed to originate and carry out plans will exert high levels of effort.n. Esprit de corps promoting team spirit will build harmony and unity within the organization.(difficult)124.In a short essay, discuss Max Webers contribution to the general administrative approach to management.AnswerMax Weber was a German sociologist who studied organizational activity. Writing in the early 1900s, he developed a theory of authority structures and relations. Weber describes an ideal type of organization he called a bureaucracya form or organization characterized by division of labor, a clearly defined hierarchy, detailed rules and regulations, and impersonal relationships. Weber recognized that this “ideal bureaucracy” didnt exist in reality. Instead he intended it as a basis for theorizing about work and how work could be done in large groups. His theory became the model structural design for many or todays large organizations. (easy)TOWARD UNDERSTANDING ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR125.In a short essay, describe the Hawthorne Studies. Next, discuss the role of Elton Mayo in these studies and some of the findings of his research.AnswerWithout question, the most important contribution to the developing OB field came out of the Hawthorne Studies, a series of studies conducted at the Western Electric Company Works in Cicero, Illinois. These studies were initially designed by Western Electric industrial engineers as a scientific management experiment. They wanted to examine the effect of various illumination levels on worker productivity. Based on their research, it was concluded that illumination intensity was not directly related to group productivity. In 1927, the Western Electric engineers asked Harvard professor Elton Mayo and his associates to join the study as consultants. Through additional research, Elton Mayo concluded that behavior affected individual behavior, that group standards establish individual worker output, and that money is less a factor in determining output than are group standards, group sentiments, and security. These conclusions led to a new emphasis on the human behavior factor in the functioning of organizations and the attainment of their goals.(difficult)CURRENT TRENDS AND ISSUES126.In a short essay, define entrepreneurship and discuss the three import themes that stick out in this definition of entrepreneurship.AnswerEntrepreneurship is the process whereby an individual or a group of individuals uses organized efforts and means to pursue opportunities to create value and grow by fulfilling wants and needs through innovation and uniqueness, no matter what resources are currently controlled. It involves the discovery of opportunities and the resources to exploit them. Three important themes stick out in this definition of entrepreneurship. First, is the pursuit of opportunities. Entrepreneurship is about pursuing environmental trends and changes that no one else has seen or paid attention to. The second important theme in entrepreneurship is innovation. Entrepreneurship involves changing, revolutionizing, transforming, and introducing new approachesthat is, new products or services of new ways of doing business. The final important theme in entrepreneurship is growth. Entrepreneurs pursue growth. They are not content to stay small or to stay the same in size. Entrepreneurs want their businesses to grow and work very hard to pursue growth as they continually look for trends and continue to innovate new products and new approaches.(moderate)127.In a short essay, define e-business and e-commerce. Next discuss the three categories of e-business involvement.AnswerE-business (electronic business) is a comprehensive term describing the way an organization does its work by using electronic Internet-based) linkages with its key constituencies (employees, managers, customers, suppliers, and partners) in order to efficiently and effectively achieve its goals. Its more than e-commerce, although e-business can include e-commerce. E-commerce (electronic commerce) is any form of business exchange or transaction in which the parties interact electronically. The first category of e-business involvement an e-business enhanced organization, a traditional organization that sets up e-business capabilities, usually e-commerce, while maintaining its traditional structure. Many Fortune 500 type organizations are evolving into e-businesses using this approach. They use the Internet to enhance (not to replace) their traditional ways of doing business. Another category of e-business involvement is an e-business enabled organization. In this type of e-business, an organization uses the Internet to perform its traditional business functions better, but not to sell anything. In other words, the Internet enables organizational members to do their work more efficiently and effectively. There are numerous organizations using electronic linkages to communicate with employees, customers, or suppliers and to support them with information. The last category of e-business involvement is when an organization becomes a total e-business. Their whole existence is made possible by and revolves around the Internet. (moderate)128.In a short essay, discuss the need for innovation and flexibility as it relates to the survival of todays organizations.AnswerInnovation has been called the most precious capability that any organization in todays economy must have and nurture. Without a constant flow of new ideas, an organization is doomed to obsolescence of even worse, failure. In a survey about what makes an organization valuable, innovation showed up at the top of the list. There is absolutely no doubt that innovation is crucial. Another demand facing todays organizations and managers is the need for flexibility. In a context where customers needs may change overnight, where new competitors come and go at breathtaking speed, and where employees and their skills are shifted as needed from project to project, one can see how flexibility might be valuable. (easy)129.In a short essay, discuss the concept of total quality management and the six characteristics that describe this important concept.AnswerA quality revolution swept through both the business and public sectors during the 1980s and 1990s. The generic term used to describe this revolution was total quality management, or TQM for short. It was inspired by a small group of quality experts, the most famous being W. Edwards Deming and Joseph M. Juran. TQM is a philosophy of management driven by continual improvement and responding to customer needs and expectations. The objective is to create an organization committed to continuous improvement in work processes. TQM is a departure from earlier management theories that were based on the belief that low costs were the only road to increased productivity. The Six Characteristics of Total Quality Managementa. Intense Focus on the customer the customer includes not only outsiders who buy the organizations products or services but also internal customers (such as shipping or accounts payable personnel) who interact with and serve others in the organization.b. Concern for continual improvement TQM is a commitment to never being satisfied. “Very good” is not good enough. Quality can always be improved.c. Process-focused TQM focuses on work processes as the quality of goods and services is continually improved.d. Improvement in the quality of everything the organization does TQM uses a very broad definition of quality. It relates not only to the final product but also to how the organization handles deliveries, how rapidly it responds to complaints, and how politely the phones are answered.e. Accurate measurement TQM uses statistical techniques to measure every critical variable in the organizations operations. These are compared against standards or benchmarks to identify problems, trace them to their roots, and eliminate their causes.f. Empowerment of employees TQM involves the people on the line in the improvement process. Teams are widely used in TQM programs as empowerment vehicles for finding and solving problems.(difficult)130.In a short essay, describe the learning organization and discuss the concept of knowledge management.AnswerTodays managers confront an environment where change takes place at an unprecedented rate. Constant innovations in information and computer technologies combined with the globalization of markets have created a chaotic world. As a result, many of the past management guidelines and principles no longer apply. Successful organizations of the twenty-first century must be able to learn and respond quickly, and will be led by managers who can effectively challenge conventional wisdom, manage the organizations knowledge base, and make needed changes. In other words, these organizations will need to be learning organizations. A learning organization is one that has developed the capacity to continuously learn, adapt, and change. Part of a managers responsibility in fostering an environment conducing to learning is to create learning capabilities throughout the organizationfrom lowest level to highest level and in all areas. Knowledge management involves cultivating a learning culture where organizational members systematically gather knowledge and share it with others in the organization so as to achieve better performance.(moderate)Chapter 3 Organizational Culture Essay Questions123.In a short essay, identify and define the seven dimensions that make up an organizations culture.Answera. Innovation and risk t