Cork Institute of Technology Bachelor of Business Studies (Honours) in Information Systems - Stage 1 Answer All Questions from Section A and THREE out of Five Questions in Section B. Use attached answer sheet for Section A. (NFQ Level 8) Summer 2006 Business Management (Time: 3 Hours) Examiners: Mr. D. Crowley Mr. Declan Forde Section A (40 marks) 1. is NOT one of the five competitive forces Michael Porter identified as having an impact on the interaction between an organization and its environment. a. Power of suppliers b. Threat of increased regulation c. Competitive rivalry d. Power of buyers e. Threat of new entrants 2. An organisation must establish its before any planning can take place. a. plan b. premise c. mission d. goal e. purpose 1
3. A manager must first develop a to pursue organisational goals. a. plan b. premise c. purpose d. mission e. value 4. Which of the following statements most correctly reflects the relationship between goal setting and planning? a. Goal setting enhances planning. b. Planning facilitates goal setting. c. The two processes are independent. d. Each process enhances the other. e. The two processes are the same thing. 5. Goals set for and by top managers are called a. tactical. b. strategic. c. operational. d. developmental. e. imposed. 6. Goals set for and by lower-level managers are called a. imposed. b. developmental. c. strategic. d. operational. e. tactical. 2
7. set strategic goals. a. Top managers b. Middle managers c. First-line managers d. Stockholders e. All of these 8. After top management developed a plan to produce a new product line in newly constructed facilities, top and middle managers wrote a second plan to get the new plant built within two years. What kind of plan is the second plan? a. Departmental b. Operational c. Strategic d. Functional e. Tactical 9. The starting point for all job-design activities is determining the level of desired a. specialisation. b. departmentalization c. delegation. d. authority. e. responsibility. 10. Which of the following is characteristic of job rotation? a. The jobs themselves remain the same. b. As a training device it reduces flexibility and worker skills. c. The jobs involved are usually difficult and complex. d. It tends to significantly enhance employee motivation. e. It requires no additional training. 3
11. Which of the following is characteristic of situations in which management has adopted job enlargement? a. Workers have more control and authority over their work. b. It is quite effective in reducing worker boredom. c. It significantly reduces training costs. d. It provides task identity for workers. e. Unions feel that employees should be paid more for enlarged jobs. 12. While a pay increase would be useful when a change in the design of a job is made, for which of the following would it be expected? a. Job rotation b. Job enlargement c. Job enrichment d. Work team e. Specialisation 13. Which of these refers to grouping jobs into logical sets? a. Departmentalisation b. Specialisation c. Delegation d. Job rotation e. Job design 14. Nina Natale has decided to reorganize her company by putting all the production people in one department, the marketers in another, and so on. What form of departmentalisation is she using? a. Functional b. Product c. Location d. Customer e. Sequence 4
15. All but which of the following are advantages of product departmentalisation? a. All activities for one product can be kept together. b. Decision making is faster. c. Administrative costs are lower. d. Monitoring the performance of individual product groups is easier. e. All of these are advantages of product departmentalisation. 16. The Lonestar Bank has consumer, agricultural, and commercial loan departments. Based on this information, we can surmise that the bank is organized by a. function b. product. c. customer. d. location. e. divisions. 17. What is the first step in rational decision making? a. Develop a set of rational alternatives b. Evaluate the possible alternatives c. Decide which alternative to implement d. Evaluate decision effectiveness e. Recognize and define the decision situation 18. Your assistant comes to you with the feasibility evaluation of a decision alternative. What should she be describing to you? a. How well the alternative will satisfy the conditions of the problem situation b. How the alternative will affect the various parts of the organization c. The consequences of the alternative d. Whether the alternative is within the realm of probability and practicality for the organization e. The affordability of the consequences 5
19. When the manager is assumed to have imperfect information, this is known as a. satisficing. b. the rational model of decision making. c. the behavioral model of decision making. d. bounded rationality. e. None of these. 20. You need a psychology course for graduation. There are five different courses you could take. You look at the schedule of courses and choose the first course you come to that will fit your personal class schedule. This is an example of a. bounded rationality. b. irrational decision making. c. optimization. d. satisficing. e. means-end inversion. 21. When a manager evaluates alternatives until she comes to one that meets some minimum standard of sufficiency, selects it, and then goes on to other problems without considering the remaining rational alternatives, she has engaged in a. bounded rationality. b. satisficing. c. irrational decision making. d. means-end inversion. e. classical decision making. 22. The organisational position, in environmental SWOT analysis, is analysed according to its a. opportunities and threats. b. opportunities and weaknesses. c. strengths and threats. d. strengths and weaknesses. e. return on investment. 6
23. After General Electric wrote a long-range plan designed to reduce the number of different businesses the company was in, another plan was written that dealt specifically with selling the small-appliance division to Black and Decker. What kind of plan is the second plan? a. Strategic b. Departmental c. Functional d. Operational e. Tactical 24. Which of the following best reflects the proper approach to setting goals? a. Top executives set goals for everyone in the organization. b. Goals should be set starting from the bottom of the organization. c. Individual goals should be set first and then organizational goals. d. Managers should set goals for their own level in the organization. e. All of these. 25. are the broad plans developed by top managers to guide the general direction of the organisation. a. Tactical plans b. Strategic plans c. Operational plans d. Contingency plans e. Single-use plans 26. You have decided to open an auto parts store that will specialize in parts for foreign cars. This decision represents a a. mission statement. b. statement of purpose. c. statement of objectives. d. business posture. e. tactic. 7
27. The Japanese government has declared that there is a safety problem with aluminium baseball bats manufactured in the United States and requires every bat to be inspected. This raises the cost of the imported bats to the point that Japanese manufacturers can successfully compete on the basis of price. Such actions are part of the a. economic environment. b. political/legal environment. c. cultural environment. d. nation's infrastructure. e. economic community. 28. The government most often attempts to influence business by a. lobbying. b. social pressure. c. cultural influence. d. regulation. e. personal contacts. 29. Which of the following is NOT a way that organizations can directly influence the environment? a. Lobbying b. Signing long-term contracts with suppliers c. Lowering prices d. Bargaining with a labour union e. All of these are ways that organizations can directly influence the environment. 30. To determine how well an organization is responding to and shaping its environment, we should measure the organization's a. efficiency. b. effectiveness. c. reactivity. d. transformation index. e. output ratio. 8
31. The least environmental uncertainty is faced by organisations with environments. a. complex and stable b. stable and simple c. simple and homogeneous d. stable and dynamic e. None of these. 32. The extent to which the environment is relatively stable or dynamic is referred to as the degree of a. change. b. uncertainty. c. environmental turbulence. d. homogeneity. e. None of these. 33. Which of the following is part of an organisation's general environment? a. Its customers, competitors, suppliers, and unions b. Its international competitors c. Its members' perceptions concerning its nature, norms, values, style, and character d. The specific organizations that influence it e. Nonspecific elements that interact among themselves and also affect the organization 34. developed the area of time and motion study. a. Henry Gantt b. Frederick Taylor c. Frank Gilbreth d. Harrington Emerson e. Morris Cooke 9
35. Frank and Lillian Gilbreth's work emphasized a. paying workers a minimum wage plus bonuses. b. clearly defined line and staff roles. c. the importance of the social aspects of the workplace. d. the use of mathematical models for analyzing tasks. e. efficient positioning of workers and materials. 36. Who was the first person to describe the concept of bureaucracy? a. Lyndall Urwick b. Henri Fayol c. Max Weber d. Robert Owen e. Chester Barnard 37. In small businesses as opposed to larger ones, a. effective management is more important. b. management is better. c. management is used rather than leadership. d. a totally different set of managerial skills is required. e. All of these. 38. Marion Munroe has been watching some of the workers on her shift sort and put inventory in storage bins. It appears that much time and effort are being wasted. Marion decides to analyse the workers' overall task and then select and train workers for specific parts of the job so as to increase worker productivity. Marion is applying the principles of a. scientific management. b. organizational behaviour. c. management science. d. contingency theory. e. administrative management. 10
39. All of the following are techniques Frederick Taylor used to enhance worker productivity EXCEPT a. study and time each element of the job. b. design the most efficient way of doing each part of a job. c. place both workers and managers on salary to reduce friction between the two groups. d. supervise workers and managers to make sure they follow procedures and only rest when told to. e. have managers continue planning the work to be done. 40. Paul Patterson is often heard saying that the way to motivate workers is to provide them with attractive wage and benefit packages. What school of thought does his view reflect? a. Quantitative b. Behavioural c. Classical d. Contingency e. Systems 11
Section B (Answer 3 questions all questions carry equal marks) Q2. (a) Discuss the nature of motivation. (4 marks) (b) Discuss the importance of employee motivation. (4 marks) (c) Discuss Maslow s Hierarchy of Needs theory of motivation. (12 marks) Q3. (a) Describe the essential characteristics of the classical school and the human relations school. (12 marks) (b) Identify the main contributors to each school. (8 marks) Q4. (a) Explain the elements which make up an organisations external environment and explain how each of these may effect the company. (10 marks) (b) Explain why it is important to consider the external environment when carrying out a SWOT Analysis. (10 marks) Q5 (a) What was the objective of Scientific Management? (2 marks) (b) What methods were used to achieve this objective? (6 marks) (c) Describe two of the experiments which were carried out as part of the Hawthorne Studies and state the conclusions which were drawn from these experiments. (12 marks) Q6. (a) Describe using an example, the elements in a communication system. (6 marks) (b) Discuss the factors which may act as barriers to effective communication in an organisation. (7 marks) (c) Explain why a company s employees may resist change. (7 marks) 12