Chapter Three: Foundations of PlanningMultiple Choice Questions1. Which of the following is not included in the definition of planning?a. Define the organization’s objectives or goals.b. Establish an overall strategy for achieving these objectives or goals.c. Allocate resources and develop a chain of communication.d. Develop a hierarchy of plans to integrate and coordinate activities.2. Which of the following is an argument against formal planning?a. Planning focuses on the future.b. Planning may create rigidity.c. Planning replaces creativity.d. Planning ignores prior successes.3. Which of following is not one of the reasons why managers should engage inplanning as that was stated in the text?a. Planning reduces cost.b. Planning minimizes waste and redundancy.c. Planning provides direction.d. Planning facilitates control.4. Plans that determine specific details about organizational objectives that areto be achieved are calleda. strategic plans.b. tactical plans.c. long-term plans.d. detailed plans.5. Successful plans may providea. a false sense of security.b. only success.c. increased awareness of the environment.d. increased awareness of change.6. Which of the following statements is MOST accurate?a. Many studies confirm the positive relationship between planning andperformance.b. All organizations that plan extensively outperform those that plan lessformally.c. All organizations that plan outperform those that do not.d. Many studies confirm that planning does not lead to greater performancebecause labor unions are weak.7. _____ plans are differentiated by their breadth.a. Directional and specificb. Single use and standingc. Strategic and tacticald. Long-term and short-term8. Which of the following is not a popular way to describe plans?a. breadthb. time framec. specificityd. length9. Tactical and strategic plans differ in all of the following ways excepta. time frame.b. scope.c. known set of organizational objectives.d. environmental effects.10. The greater the uncertainty, the more plans should be of the _____ variety.a. long-termb. short-termc. intermediate in lengthd. rigid11. When uncertainty is high and management must maintain flexibility, which ofthe following types of plans are preferable?a. long-term plansb. no plansc. directional plansd. specific plans12. Which type of plan is used to meet a particular or unique situation?a. tactical planb. operational planc. single-use pland. standing plan13. Which of the following is not a step in objective setting?a. Specify deadlines.b. Allow the employee to actively participate.c. Link rewards to effort.d. Prioritize goals.14. Each MBO objective must havea. a percentage change specified.b. a concise time period.c. a reference to quality.d. a specified dollar amount.15. MBO advocates participative goal setting. Research comparing participativeset and assigned goals on performancea. shows consistently higher performance with participatively set goals.b. shows consistently lower performance with participatively set goals.c. has not shown any strong or consistent relationships.d. has been biased by the researchers.16. Which of the following is not an ingredient in MBO programs?a. goal specificityb. participative decision makingc. performance feedbackd. general time period17. According to the philosophy of MBO,a. Feedback occurs at the annual performance reviewb. Goals follow a top-down approachc. Goals typically are broad, general statements of intentd. Constant feedback is provided18. MBO assists in answering "What's in it for me as an employee" bya. Linking rewards to goal attainmentb. Identifying employees' key job tasksc. Allowing employees to participate activelyd. Prioritizing goals19. Managers can overcome the criticisms of management by objectives bya. ensuring that employees have multiple goals.b. treating MBO as a single-event activity.c. punishing employees who fail to achieve goals.d. rewarding employees for setting easy goals.20. Which of the following is not a component of the MBO process?a. Objectives are determined jointly by subordinates and supervisorb. Progress towards objectives is reviewed every three months.c. Employees are given ratings based on reaching specific targetsd. Rewards are based on progress towards achieving objectives.21. Which of the following is a nine-step process that involves strategic planning,implementation, and evaluation?a. decision-making processb. strategic management processc. tactical management processd. long-range planning process22. In environmental SWOT analysis, the external organizational position isanalyzed according to itsa. strengths and weaknesses.b. opportunities and weaknesses.c. strengths and threats.d. opportunities and threats.23. The starting point in strategic management process is usuallya. analyzing current mission, strategies and objectives.b. identifying opportunities and threats.c. conducting an environmental scan.d. identifying opportunities and weaknesses.24. After analyzing and learning about the environment, management needs toevaluate opportunities and threats. Opportunities area. internal resources.b. unmet needs.c. positive external environmental factors.d. internal competitive strategies.25. Which of the following is NOT a grand strategy that an organization can usefor defining its all-encompassing focus?a. Stability strategyb. Market gain strategyc. Growth strategyd. Combination strategy26. Tim's Company is analyzing the technology that allows it to produce wirelesscommunication equipment for less money. This technological breakthrough for Tim's Company is which of the following?a. strengthb. weaknessc. opportunityd. threat27. SWOT analysisa. Matches the organization's competencies with its environmental forcesb. Sometimes involves industrial espionage tacticsc. Occurs during the mission statement formulationd. Is most useful for helping an organization sustain its competitive28. The type of organizational strategy that emphasized increasing market shareor the level of an organization's operations is calleda. Stability Strategyb. Combination strategyc. Market gain strategyd. None of the above29. When Northwest Airlines began serving its own in-flight meals, which of thefollowing strategies was it pursuing?a. growthb. stabilityc. retrenchmentd. combination30. Larry's Company is in the process of buying a smaller competitor andincorporating that company's resources into his business. This is an example of which of the following types of strategies?a. mergerb. stabilityc. retrenchmentd. acquisition31. Strategy formulation involves__________.a. developing and evaluating a set of alternative strategiesb. evaluating a set of alternative strategies and selecting the best for eachlevelc. selecting a strategy that will increase the level of operationsd. completing a SWOT analysis32. Susan's Ceramics is expanding the size of its unfinished products whiledecreasing the amount of firing and finishing of products it does. This is known as which of the following strategies?a. growthb. stabilityc. retrenchmentd. combination33. A company states that its product is reliable, even to the extent of neverneeding a service call, such as Maytag, is practicing which of the following competitive strategies?a. cost-leadership strategyb. differentiation strategyc. focus strategyd. retrenchment strategy34. Lila's Luscious Lips produces a cherry flavored lipstick and is targeting the"teen" girl who is between 12 and 14 years old. The strategy pursued isa. cost leadership.b differentiation.c. focus.d. segmentation.35. The premise behind _____ is to design in quality as the product is beingmade.a. six sigmab. TQMc. reengineeringd. benchmarking36. A large discount store, like Wal-Mart, whose primary goal is to have the lowestprices in the industry, is using which of the following strategies to maintain a competitive advantage?a. cost-leadership strategyb. differentiation strategyc. focus strategyd. retrenchment strategy37. According to Michael Porter, the goal of the focus strategy is toa. exploit a narrow segment of the market.b. seek competitive advantages in large market segments.c. use technological innovation to target customers more accurately.d. bring suppliers and distributors together and combine efforts.38. Who determines employee goals in MBO?a. employeesb. managersc. managers and employeesd. managers and the CEO39. The basic idea in _____ is that management can improve quality by analyzingand copying the methods of the leaders in the field.a. reengineeringb. benchmarkingc. TQMd. six sigma40. Which of the following is not a competitive strategy that a business may use inorder to gain a distinct advantage, according to Michael Portera. retrenchmentb. cost-leadershipc. focusd. differentiation。