Effective Supervision
Name:______________________________________
Date:_______________________________________
Test 2
Part I
Chapters 7 and 8
Open Book
True/False (15%)
Indicate whether the sentence or statement is true or false.
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1. When planning for the future, one should simply leave the past behind as it is no longer relevant.
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2. The resources needed for goal accomplishment constitute the foundation of an effective MBO system.
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3. MBOs emphasize an employee's personal characteristics as a major part of the employee's
performance evaluation.
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4. Single-use plans are no longer needed once the objective is accomplished.
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5. The purpose of a safety committee is to help a supervisor develop safer work areas and enforce safety
regulations.
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6. According to the unity-of-command principle, supervisors should make decisions together so their
orders are not contradictory.
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7. The number of employees a supervisor can manage is dependent in part on the level of employees'
competence and abilities.
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8. During the past decade, the number of middle management and supervisory positions in the United
States has declined only slightly.
____
9. One way the principle of specialization can be put into practice is through departmentation.
____ 10. Alice supervises a group of employees in the shipping department. She is probably a line supervisor.
____ 11. An organizational manual is a graphic portrayal of a company's authority and responsibility
relationships.
____ 12. "Must be able to lift 50 pound boxes overhead" is an example of a job specification.
____ 13. The span of management usually widens for supervisors who survive a downsizing.
____ 14. Reengineering involves restructuring based more on process than on function or department.
____ 15. One concern of a virtual corporation is that a firm might lose control over its own operations.
Multiple Choice (30%)
Identify the letter of the choice that best completes the statement or answers the question.
____ 16. All of the following are part of the planning function EXCEPT:
a. analyzing a situation.
b. establishing objectives.
c. checking to determine whether operations are adhering to established plans.
d. deciding which actions to take to achieve objectives.
____ 17. Which of the following statements concerning planning is INCORRECT?
a. Planning should come before all other managerial functions.
b. Good plans guarantee good results.
c. Supervisors should conduct planning activities every day.
d. Planning involves anticipating future problems and opportunities.
____ 18. In most organizations, responsibility for developing long-term plans falls primarily to:
a. top-level managers.
b. middle managers.
c. supervisors.
d. all of the above must be involved in strategic planning.
____ 19. A mission statement:
a. reflects management's view of what an organization should become.
b. outlines an organization's basic philosophy and purpose.
c. establishes goals and makes decisions that allow an organization to achieve its
long- and short-term obligations.
d. is more wide ranging than a vision statement.
____ 20. The first step in managerial planning should be to:
a. gather all facts.
b. gather a crew of subordinates.
c. develop goals and objectives.
d. set down rules and procedures for the organization.
____ 21. Beatriz has been asked to create specific objectives for the quality-control department she supervises.
Her company has received a number of complaints from customers who have found broken or ill-fitting
parts in the products they have purchased. Which of the following would be a well-stated objective?
a. Reduce the number of defective products that leave the factory by 50% over the
next four months.
b. Work smarter not harder.
c. Get it right the first time.
d. Strive for customer satisfaction at all times.
____ 22. Which of the following is NOT a major element of a management by objectives (MBO) system?
a. The inputs needed for goal accomplishment.
b. The activities and processes that must be carried out to accomplish the goals.
c. The results, which are evaluated against the objectives.
d. Tight control of employees by management.
____ 23. Which types of objectives do employees typically NOT develop as part of an MBO program?
a. Routine objectives for their normal areas of responsibility.
b. Objectives involving creative elements.
c. Objectives that promote personal growth.
d. Broad corporate objectives for the coming period.
____ 24. Which of the following statements about MBO programs is NOT true?
a. The MBO process will be hampered if supervisors do not give employees the
resources needed to achieve the agreed-upon objectives.
____ 25.
____ 26.
____ 27.
____ 28.
____ 29.
____ 30.
____ 31.
b. In MBO, the ends are more important than the means.
c. The major weakness of MBO programs is that there is no way to tie employee
performance to salary adjustments.
d. The objectives employees specify are sometimes more challenging than those
proposed by their supervisors.
Which of the following is NOT a standing plan?
a. Budgets.
b. Rules.
c. Methods.
d. Procedures.
Guido suspects that one of his subordinates is smoking marijuana behind the factory at breaktime and
returning to work under the influence. He wants to know what to do under these circumstances. Guido
should consult the relevant:
a. single-use plan.
b. company procedure.
c. company policy.
d. rule.
About how many American workers are injured on the job annually?
a. 6,000
b. 6 million
c. 35 million
d. 60 million
Which of the following statements about employee work schedules is TRUE?
a. Work schedules should be based on maximum output.
b. Supervisors must plan for all employee absences.
c. Supervisors should expect all employees to work at their top speed at all times.
d. Employees tend to be a bit less productive when they are working overtime.
Inspecting a small amount of work from a job to determine areas for improvement is called:
a. benchmarking.
b. knowledge management.
c. work sampling.
d. job sharing.
Knowledge management involves all of the following EXCEPT:
a. retrieving information.
b. sharing information.
c. memorizing information.
d. storing information.
The first step involved in benchmarking is to:
a. determine what to benchmark.
b. identify performance gaps.
c. determine the causes of the differences in performance.
d. discover the management practices of the best.
____ 32. Supervisors cannot eliminate an informal organization:
a. because the grapevine will always alert group members of the supervisors'
intention to do so.
____ 33.
____ 34.
____ 35.
____ 36.
____ 37.
____ 38.
b. unless they befriend the group's leader, which will cause the group to turn on the
leader and then disband.
c. because they did not establish the organization.
d. until they create jobs for their employees that meet all of the employees' social
and security needs.
Which of the following statements about informal work groups is NOT true?
a. Supervisors should avoid antagonizing informal groups whose behavior patterns
support the department's overall objectives.
b. Supervisors should group employees so that those most likely to form effective
teams work on the same assignments.
c. Informal work groups usually make a supervisor's job more difficult.
d. Informal work group leaders can exert an enormous influence on the operation of
a department.
The span-of-management principle states that:
a. there is a set number of employees a supervisor can manage effectively.
b. there is an upper limit on the number of employees a supervisor can mange
effectively.
c. there is no limit on the number of employees a supervisor can manage effectively.
d. both a and b but not c.
Which of the following is NOT a factor that influences the span of management?
a. Employee status (temporary, part-time, full-time).
b. Employee abilities.
c. Location of employees.
d. The complexity of the tasks employees perform.
Fewer levels of management tend to exist in organizations where managers:
a. all supervise the same number of employees.
b. have authority over an appropriate number of employees.
c. supervise large numbers of employees.
d. oversee few employees.
An employee who manages other employees and performs limited managerial functions, but is not
considered part of management, is called a(n):
a. temporary employee.
b. supervisor.
c. understudy.
d. lead person.
Dividing work into components and specialized tasks to improve efficiency and output is called:
a. departmentation.
b. specialization.
c. classification.
d. organization.
____ 39. Which of the following is the BEST example of the principle of organizational stability?
a. Everyone who is hired at Fremont Industries eventually learns how to operate
____ 40.
____ 41.
____ 42.
____ 43.
____ 44.
____ 45.
every machine on the shop floor.
b. Darren is the only person in charge of ordering equipment for A-Z Lamp
Company.
c. In the payroll department, Pete processes all employee paychecks in evennumbered months; Janiyah processes all paychecks in odd-numbered months.
d. All new employees at the Tipton Box Company must have at least an associate's
degree in their field of expertise.
Which of the following statements is TRUE?
a. Line departments are vital and indispensable; staff departments are generally
nonproductive and easily eliminated.
b. Staff supervisors usually have authority over line employees.
c. Line and staff relationships define authority relationships.
d. Line authority is superior to line authority.
Samuel supervises ten employees the personnel department. Within his department, Samuel has:
a. line and staff authority.
b. staff authority.
c. line authority.
d. it is impossible to tell.
Which of the following statements about matrix-type organizational structures is NOT true?
a. The matrix arrangement adds horizontal dimensions to the typical vertical
orientation of the organizational structure.
b. The matrix arrangement allows managers to work on several projects at once.
c. Employees who are assigned to work on projects under this structure typically
come from staff departments within the organization.
d. The matrix structure allows organizations to coordinate activities across
departments.
Concerning the "ideal" departmental structure:
a. reorganization decisions should be based on which employees are left after a
downsizing has occurred.
b. supervisors should design structures that best serve department objectives; then,
employees can be best matched with tasks.
c. most structural problems can be eradicated if the organization is planned primarily
to accommodate current employees.
d. when departments are organized according to function, it is difficult to
subsequently match qualified employees with tasks.
Which of the following is NOT identified in a typical job description?
a. The skills needed to perform the job.
b. The principle elements of the job.
c. The job duties.
d. The job's scope of authority.
All of the following are typical reasons why management restructures an organization EXCEPT:
a. to reduce costs.
b. to narrow the span of management.
c. to streamline operations.
d. to become more competitive.
Short Answer (5%)
46. What are externally imposed policies? Identify some sources of externally imposed policies and tell who
in an organization must comply with them.