Management Chapter 7 Foundations of Planning - Test Bank

Chapter 7 Foundations of Planning

TRUE/FALSE QUESTIONS

WHAT IS PLANNING?

1. Planning is concerned with how objectives are to be accomplished, not what is to be accomplished.

(False; easy; p. 184)

2. If a manager refuses to write anything down or share his plans with others in the organization, he is

not truly planning.

(False; moderate; p. 184)

WHY DO MANAGERS PLAN?

3. Planning provides direction to managers and nonmanagers alike.

(True; easy; p. 185)

4. Even without planning, departments and individuals always work together, allowing organizations to

move efficiently toward its goals.

(False; moderate; p. 185)

5. Research indicates that nonplanning organizations always outperform planning organizations.

(False; moderate; p. 185)

HOW DO MANAGERS PLAN?

6. Goals are the foundation of organizational planning.

(True; moderate; p. 186)

7. Most businesses have only one objective: to make a profit.

(False; easy; p. 186)

8. Most companies' goals can be classified as either strategic or financial.

(True; moderate; p. 187)

9. Strategic goals are related to the financial performance of the organization.

(False; moderate; p. 187)

10. An organization's real goals are often quite irrelevant to what actually goes on.

(False; easy; p. 189)

11.Operational plans specify the details of how the achievement of the overall objectives is to be

obtained.

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(True; moderate; p. 189)

12. Long term used to mean anything over three years, but now it means anything over one year.

(False; easy; p. 189)

13. Short-term plans are those covering one year or less.

(True; easy; p. 189)

14. Directional plans have clearly defined objectives.

(False; moderate; p. 190)

ESTABLISHING GOALS AND DEVELOPING PLANS

15. An integrated network of goals is sometimes called a means-end chain.

(True; moderate; p. 192)

16.In MBO, or management by objectives, goals are often less well-defined, giving managers and

employees more flexibility to respond to changing conditions.

(False; moderate; p. 192)

17. In a typical MBO program, successful achievement of objectives is reinforced by performance-based

rewards.

(True; moderate; p. 193)

18. An MBO program consists of four elements: loose goals, participative decision making, an explicit

time period, and performance feedback.

(False; difficult; p. 193)

19.Studies of actual MBO programs find mixed results in terms of its effects on overall employee

performance and organizational productivity.

(False; difficult; p. 193)

20.In times of dynamic environmental change, well-defined and precisely developed action plans

enhance organizational performance.

(False; moderate; p. 193)

21. A well-designed goal should be measurable and quantifiable.

(True; easy; p. 194)

22. Goals that are too easy to accomplish are not motivating and neither are goals that are not attainable

even with exceptional effort.

(True; moderate; p. 194)

23. The second step in goal setting is to determine the goals individually or with input from others.

(False; moderate; p. 195)

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24. The more the current plans affect future commitments, the longer the time frame for which managers

should plan.

(True; difficult; p. 196)

CONTEMPORARY ISSUES IN PLANNING

25. Planning is a waste of time in a volatile environment.

(False; easy; p. 198)

26. A major argument against formal plans can't replace intuition and creativity.

(True; easy; p. 198)

27. It's not enough for managers just to plan. They have to start setting goals.

(False; moderate; p. 199)

28.In today's dynamic business environment, successful firms recognize that planning is an ongoing

process, not a tablet of rules cast in stone.

(True; moderate; p. 200)

29. Managers must be able to follow through with plans even if conditions change.

(False; moderate; p. 200)

30. Effective planning in dynamic environments means flattening the organizational hierarchy.