Managerial roles will continue to emphasize the team approach in working and solving problems. Contemporary managers will have an eye on “green” business—using green products in their operations and producing green products and services for others. They will also continue to have a global business focus, and be skilled in areas that serve a global business such as knowledge of foreign languages.

Contemporary managers ___________.

Managers are educated to guide, train, support, motivate, and coach employees rather than to tell them what to do. Today, there is more emphasis on working in teams and team building. Most modern managers emphasize teamwork and cooperation rather than discipline and order giving.

The recent financial crisis created problems for companies because:

The financial crisis forced many leading firms to fire managers and lower-level workers.

Cara started a small business a little less than 10 years ago. The business employed several social workers and nurses that visited and cared for persons who had left hospital care, but were not quite ready to be on their own at home. As the CEO of the firm, Cara decided it was time to hire a business operations manager and a marketing manager to handle the details of the business. Which of the following functions of management was Cara primarily performing?

Cara was performing the organizing function of management. By hiring additional employees, she was designing the structure of the organization.

A mobile veterinary business, Preferred Pet Care, Inc., created a mission statement long before it opened its doors for business. The mission statement referred to the unique characteristic of the business: a traveling pet unit whose veterinarians went to the home of the pet owner, rather than the pet owner bringing the pet to the clinic. What other criteria should be considered for the mission statement?

The mission statement should describe the main product or service that the firm offers. It should describe the customer market it serves. It can also include the company philosophy (value statement) and social responsibility statement.

“We believe in creating loyal customers by providing a superior experience at a great value. We are committed to direct relationships, providing the best products and services based on standards-based technology, and outperforming the competition with value and a superior customer experience.” This statement is a part of Dell’s:

The mission statement outlines the organization’s fundamental purpose. It should address: (1) the organization’s self-concept, (2) its philosophy, (3) long-term survival needs, (4) customer needs, (5) social responsibilities, and (6) nature of the product/service.

Most businesses follow a logical process when performing the planning function. It is important to understand ______________________, before embarking upon creating future long-term goals, objectives, and strategies.

Before proceeding to write long-term goals, objectives, strategies, and tactics, managers must understand the current situation—in other words, things like the strengths and skill of employees, the firm’s financial position, the current economic situation, the competitive situation, and any new technology that may serve the firm as it plans for growth.

A traditional tool that serves as a way of evaluating a company’s current business situation is called the SWOT Analysis. This is an acronym for ___________.

SWOT is an acronym for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. This is a type of analysis performed during the preliminary steps of the planning process.

After 8 years of working for a company that installed underground sprinkling systems for golf courses, Jake was ready to venture into his own business. As he prepared his SWOT analysis, he evaluated where he stood at this time. He was fortunate to have $100,000 financing to get the business under way. He knew of three skilled installers who were willing and interested to work for him, and he was aware that new construction was at an all-time low, with several residential properties being foreclosed. In reviewing his list, you would categorize these events as __________.

Jake had two strengths (these are internal to the operation): (1) $100,000 financing, (2) three skilled installers. He had one threat (external to the operation): (1) poor economy evidenced by very little new construction and property foreclosures.

All managers do planning. Allison is a general manager for a large toy store. Each day she plans the number of employees she will have in each department, including the number of cashiers. She plans the break schedules and the freight delivery schedules. In the business world, we refer to this type of planning as ___________.

Allison is performing operational planning, where work schedules and assignments are planned. Operational planning focuses on the planning performed by supervisors and the kinds of activities that employees would perform.

Sergey Brin and Larry Page are the founders of Google. Most would agree that they have a superb product, but in order to grow, the company needed more structure. Together, they agreed to hire Eric Schmidt to join the executive team as the executive chairman. Schmidt quickly began performing the ________ function, where he created well-structured departments and hired skilled people to perform the various functions of the business.

When performing the organizing function, management will hire and train other managers to perform the managerial functions at various levels of the organization. Top management, middle managers, and supervisory managers are typically needed in most businesses. The structure is visible in the firm’s organization chart.

Which of the following is a false statement?

Smaller companies are more responsive to customer needs and dedicate more time to personal interaction.

Technical skills that apply to the business at hand are most often necessary at __________.

Lower-level and supervisory-level management require more technical skills. Technical skills are the ability to perform very specific tasks for a business. These are technical skills such as a programming supervisor, a scheduling manager, or a first-line supervisor.

Which of the following is not characteristic of a leader?

Leaders: (1) communicate a vision and rally others around it, (2) establish corporate values, (3) promote corporate ethics, (4) embrace change, and (5) stress accountability and responsibility.

Which of the following leadership styles focuses on making decisions without consulting others?

Autocratic leadership involves making managerial decisions without consulting others. Such a style is effective in emergencies and when absolute followership is needed—for example, when fighting fires.

At Schwinn, managers of various new departments in the company were told, “Go out and shape the department the way you feel is best. You have total freedom and support.” Schwinn’s managers operate under a system of:

Free-rein leadership is a style that involves managers setting objectives and being relatively free to do whatever they feel it takes to accomplish those objectives.

Dave facilitated a hiring committee for his advertising company. Six employees (including two managers) met together to discuss applicants and select the finalists for a copywriter position in the public relations department. Although the head of public relations would have the final nod on the candidate that would ultimately be hired, the evaluative work of the committee was very important because this group would send forward those persons they believed would be good work colleagues. In setting up this type of hiring process, the head of public relations was utilizing a(n) __________ style of leadership.

The manager utilized a participative (democratic) style of leadership by soliciting the opinions of several employees who might directly or indirectly work with the person ultimately selected for this position. All committee members had the opportunity to bring forth their perceptions of each candidate and to articulate their selection preference, even though the department head made the final decision. The department head was interested in and influenced by their input.

Measuring performance relative to objectives and standards is part of ___________.

The control function measures performance relative to the planned objectives and standards, rewards people for work well done, and takes corrective action when needed.

Which of the following control standards is stated most effectively?

Standards must be specific, attainable and measurable.

The controlling function closes the loop for managers. It answers the question: “Did we succeed in what we set out to do?” Which of the following business departments has a very important role in the controlling function?

The controlling function measures performance. The accounting department provides the financial numbers, which assists management in measuring how well the firm has performed. Management relies on accounting and finance in order to evaluate progress.