MAN3025 Assessment #2- Planning & Strategic Management

The Whole Foods chain of supermarkets has stated, "With great courage, integrity, and love, we embrace our responsibility to co-create a world where each of us, our communities, and our planet can flourish. All the while, celebrating the sheer love and joy of food." This proclamation is Whole Foods’

NOT VISION STATEMENT, BUT VALUES STATEMENT

When Marcos, the sales manager, is deciding on who will train the new sales trainee, he tries not to look at just the recent sales numbers but also checks past sales reports to determine who is the most productive salesperson. By using this method he is not affected by the ______ bias.

availability bias

Roberta, the computer department manager at IT Mart, is considering whether to use a group to develop a plan to help employees sell extended warranties on technology sales. Roberta should consider having the group make this decision if

Multiple Choice
the decision making group is exceptionally large.
time is of the essence.
group members are not knowledgeable and need to learn more.
it will increase acceptance of the plan.
group members are overly confident about decision making.

it will increase acceptance of the plan.

The upper management of a large national retail grocery store has passed along the new goals of improving customer service to the district managers. At this point, the district managers need to determine how the stores in their district will achieve top management’s goal with the given resources during the next 6 to 24 months. The district managers are developing ______ planning.

tactical

Item 5 Item 5
You have an idea for a company that sources fruits from local farms and makes fresh juices on a daily basis. You want to start a subscription-based service in which households within a 100-mile radius subscribe to your plan and receive two gallons of freshly squeezed juice (for example, cherry juice, apple juice, lemonade) twice a week. As you think about starting your business, you ask yourself: How rare is the service I am offering? How valuable is it? Can I organize the company to maximize my advantages in the marketplace? After asking these questions, review and identify which question from VRIO did you forget to ask?

Is the resource or capability costly for other firms to imitate?

John, the owner of a lawn care service, likes to meet with his employees six months after their yearly evaluation to discuss how they are progressing on suggestions on and plans to improve their yearly job evaluation. At this point, by comparing the six-month results with the past evaluation, John is in the ______ steps of the planning/control cycle.

control

Republic advertisements about Representative Joe Smith, the Democratic candidate, portray him as lazy, dishonest, and poor at his job. At the same time, the Democratic ads for Joe Smith describe him as a caring, honest, hard worker. The sponsors of these advertisements know that ads can affect whom voters choose on Election Day. The tendency of decision makers (the voters in this example) to be influenced by how a situation or problem is presented to them is an example of

framing bias

Which of the following is an example of a rule?
"Sexual harassment will not be condoned in this organization."
"We believe that the customer comes first."
"An employee who comes to work intoxicated will be terminated immediately."
"At their discretion, department managers can offer summer working hours to their employees."
"We are committed to hiring a workforce whose diversity mirrors our customers."

"An employee who comes to work intoxicated will be terminated immediately."

José, the sales manager for a software development firm, is working on the problem of increasing sales by using the rational model of decision making. In the first step he identified the problem of his employees needing more training. In the second step he thought of alternative solutions; and in the third step he evaluated alternatives and selected a solution. José needs to _____ in the fourth and final step.

implement and evaluate the training program chosen

BP and Halliburton executives made the decision not to invest in the oil well blowout preventer that experts believe would have prevented the Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion and fire off the coast of Louisiana. The executives made their decision based on their belief that their decision would have no great negative consequences. Their decision is an example of

relaxed avoidance

The Human Resources department of French Quarter Seafood conducted a training workshop on setting and achieving organization goals. Alex, the store manager of the New Orleans location, has been working with his managers to set objectives that are clearly defined, focused on achieving specific results, and can be accomplished with a given amount of resources. Which aspect of SMART goals is missing?

Goals should specify the target dates or deadline dates when they are to be attained.

Item12
Item 12 Item 12
Fast Delivery trains its truck loaders how to set the packages in the delivery vehicles, so that when delivery drivers are pulling packages off their trucks, they are organized in a specific order and with the label facing forward to reduce errors and save time. A(n) _______ is being implemented when directing that the trucks be loaded in this specific manner.

procedure

Debbie likes working in the banking industry because it has a lot of structure and certainty, and the daily work is routine. Debbie probably

has a low tolerance for ambiguity

Which family business decision-making process will be most affected by bounded rationality?

autocratic

Which decision-making style listed in the text most aligns with an autocratic process?

directive style

…
Which of the following would not be considered by a family owned business in their process of deciding to decide?

how many people are involved

Which decision-making bias is most likely to plague consensus decision making?

confirmation bias

What would not be considered an advantage of including all family members in the decision-making process?

groupthink

Susanne, the CEO of national IT manufacturer, was approached by Simple Phones, a new company that is marketing a new type of phone, to partner with the company on a project. The partnership is uncertain since the company and technology are new. Susanne is uncertain what to do because she is limited by numerous constraints, such as the uncertainty and complexity of the technology, the management success of Simple Phones, and time, since other companies are interested in the partnership. This is an example of _____.

bounded rationality

Which of the following is an example of the "curse of knowledge"?

A writer with a large vocabulary writers a novel using many words that the average reader cannot understand.

The McCloskeys started Fair Oaks with a plan to see how the farm could convert 430,000 gallons of daily manure into a sustainable asset. This is known as

strategic planning

The 21-day process used to break down the manure into "compost-like material while releasing biogas, which is captured in pipes" is part of a(n)

operating plan

Based on the case, which of the following has not resulted from the McCloskeys’s planning and strategic management processes?

higher employee satisfaction

The McCloskeys developed an ultra-filtration process for a new milk drink. Based on the case and VRIO framework, which of the following is surely true?

The McCloskeys have at least a temporary competitive advantage.

Marie is a small-business owner who loves to take risks. She also enjoys going out and meeting customers and potential clients—the social aspect of her job. Marie relies on intuition and discussions with others to acquire information. As an interior decorator, Marie utilizes her imaginative strengths, taking a broad perspective to problem solving, and she likes to consider many options and future possibilities. Marie’s decision-making style is best described as

conceptual

Zara’s identification of customer needs can be categorized as which planning and strategic management step?

assess the current reality

Why did Zara choose to take a chance and pre-order much less of the coming season’s designs than its competitors?

It provided opportunities for the company to develop a competitive advantage.

Decisions that retail managers make on which products to pull from the floor and which products to order more inventory are considered as

operational planning

Zara’s goals should have all of the following characteristics except

being differentiated

Making periodic deliveries of products to each Zara store is an example of

carrying out the plan

Suppose you manage an upscale restaurant in New York City. __________ would involve writing employee schedules and a list of things to do for the chef and other kitchen staff.

operational planning