Supervision Key Link to Productivity Leslie Rue 11e

Supervision Key Link to Productivity Leslie Rue 11e

Chapter 07

Supervisory Planning

True / False Questions

1.

Once specific plans for the different parts of an organization are developed, the strategic plans can be derived from them.

True False

2.

Successful strategic management involves many different levels in the organization, including supervisors.

True False

3.

One of the benefits of strategic management is more exposure of managers at all levels to the “big picture.”

True False

4.

A benefit of supervisor’s involvement in the strategic management is that it fosters a long-range orientation.

True False

5.

Planning is basically concerned with future decisions.

True False

6.

Objectives must be established before deciding what must be done to achieve them.

True False

7.

At the supervisory level, objectives typically deal with quality, quantity, cost, personnel, and safety.

True False

8.

Objectives should always be set slightly higher than what can be attained.

True False

9.

Strategic planning gets the supervisor in the habit of being prepared and knowing what to do if something does not go as expected.

True False

10.

Policies usually dictate exactly how something should be done.

True False

11.

Policies define the limits within which supervisors must operate.

True False

12.

Rules leave room for interpretation of what is to be done or not done, whereas policies do not.

True False

13.

Cost-reduction programs are improvement programs that involve supervisors.

True False

14.

Routing involves determining the best sequence of operations.

True False

15.

Anticipating lost time is a requirement of scheduling.

True False

16.

Gantt charts can be used to give a scheduler a visual picture showing when to schedule specific activities.

True False

17.

For an MBO system to be successful, individual objectives must solely be set by the supervisor.

True False

18.

When using MBOs, supervisors should formally provide feedback to each employee only once a year.

True False

19.

MBO requires that employees be rewarded on the basis of subjective evaluations of their accomplishments against goals.

True False

20.

Balanced scorecard is a relative new performance measurement system that is based on the statistical process control concept.

True False

Multiple Choice Questions

21.

Which of the following is NOT a factor that typically affects the planning needs of an organization?

A.

Identifiable process

B.

The environment

C.

Its size

D.

The type of business

22.

Strategic management:

A.

is the process of formulating short-term plans.

B.

is based on level-specific planning.

C.

ensures coordination of plans made at different organizational levels.

D.

is based on plans developed by individual supervisors.

23.

The part of strategic management that focuses on identifying areas needing improvement is:

A.

action planning.

B.

gap analysis.

C.

objective setting.

D.

goal setting.

24.

Planning is generally concerned with:

A.

future decisions.

B.

future and past decisions.

C.

the future impact of today’s decisions.

D.

analyzing past decisions that were wrong.

25.

Which of the following statements about planning is true?

A.

Planning is concerned with the future changes that will occur in an organization.

B.

Successful planning for the entire organization involves gathering only corporate level information.

C.

Objectives must be established before the planning process can be completed.

D.

Planning requires that specific and definite actions be taken or not taken with respect to given situations.

26.

Objectives should be:

A.

ambiguous.

B.

detailed.

C.

quantifiable.

D.

undetermined.

27.

Which of the following is NOT appropriate for an objective?

A.

It should be specific

B.

It should be assigned a priority

C.

It should be unattainable for employee motivation

D.

It should be measurable and understandable

28.

When assigning priorities to objectives, you must determine:

A.

which is most important and which is least important.

B.

how the objective will be achieved.

C.

who originally created the objective.

D.

their relative importance.

29.

Action planning answers all the following questions EXCEPT:

A.

when should it be done.

B.

why must it be done.

C.

what to do if something goes wrong.

D.

how should it be done.

30.

At the supervisory level, objectives basically deal with all of the following EXCEPT:

A.

production quotas.

B.

quality.

C.

costs.

D.

total organizational sales.

31.

Which of the following is an example of a “how to improve work” objective?

A.

Minimizing production

B.

Reducing absenteeism

C.

Maximizing waste

D.

Minimizing product quality

32.

________________ plans address the “what-ifs” of the supervisor’s job.

A.

Contingency

B.

Supervisory

C.

Action

D.

Corporate

33.

________________ are broad, general guidelines to action and their major purpose is to ensure consistency in the decisions and actions taken throughout the organization.

A.

Rules

B.

Policies

C.

Procedures

D.

Goals

34.

A ________________ is a series of related steps or tasks performed in sequential order to achieve a specific purpose.

A.

rule

B.

policy

C.

procedure

D.

goal

35.

________________ require that specific and definite actions be taken or not taken with regard to given situations.

A.

Goals

B.

Policies

C.

Rules

D.

Procedures

36.

Resource allocation:

A.

involves determining not how long a job will take but when the work will be performed.

B.

involves determining the best sequence of operations and how it can be executed within a specified time limit.

C.

involves ensuring that the work is synchronized and completed within certain time limits.

D.

involves appropriation of people, materials, and equipment so as to successfully meet the objectives that have been established.

37.

Routing involves:

A.

determining the best sequence of operations.

B.

efficient allocation of organizational resources.

C.

developing precise timetables.

D.

developing a statement of expected numerical results.

38.

Most of the tools used today to visualize and simplify scheduling are based on:

A.

MBOs.

B.

Gantt charts.

C.

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.

D.

corporate objectives.

39.

For an MBO system to succeed, all of the following requirements must be met except:

A.

objectives must be jointly set by the supervisor and the employee.

B.

subordinates must be regularly evaluated.

C.

subordinates must be rewarded based on objective attainment.

D.

all pay raises must be done equally across-the-board.

40.

Under the ________________ system, a cause-and-effect relationship between day-to-day business operations and strategic objectives is established to determine if an organization is on track or not.

A.

applied information economics

B.

cost-benefit analysis

C.

balanced scorecard

D.

key performance indicators

Short Answer Questions

41.

What time span do most supervisory plans cover?

42.

List six questions that are answered when a supervisor goes through the planning process.

43.

Elaborate the concept of SMART criteria stated for objectives.

44.

List three typical areas of supervisory objectives.

45.

Explain what contingency plans are.

46.

What are the major advantages of procedures?

47.

List five common supervisory planning activities.

48.

What is the purpose of scheduling?

49.

What are the basic elements of an MBO system?

50.

What is a balanced scorecard?

Chapter 07 Supervisory Planning Answer Key

True / False Questions

1.
(p. 133)

Once specific plans for the different parts of an organization are developed, the strategic plans can be derived from them.

FALSE

Difficulty: 2 Medium

2.
(p. 134)

Successful strategic management involves many different levels in the organization, including supervisors.

TRUE

Difficulty: 2 Medium

3.
(p. 134)

One of the benefits of strategic management is more exposure of managers at all levels to the “big picture.”

TRUE

Difficulty: 2 Medium

4.
(p. 134)

A benefit of supervisor’s involvement in the strategic management is that it fosters a long-range orientation.

TRUE

Difficulty: 2 Medium

5.
(p. 135)

Planning is basically concerned with future decisions.

FALSE

Difficulty: 2 Medium

6.
(p. 136)

Objectives must be established before deciding what must be done to achieve them.

TRUE

Difficulty: 1 Easy

7.
(p. 137)

At the supervisory level, objectives typically deal with quality, quantity, cost, personnel, and safety.

TRUE

Difficulty: 2 Medium

8.
(p. 138)

Objectives should always be set slightly higher than what can be attained.

FALSE

Difficulty: 2 Medium

9.
(p. 141)

Strategic planning gets the supervisor in the habit of being prepared and knowing what to do if something does not go as expected.

FALSE

Difficulty: 2 Medium

10.
(p. 141)

Policies usually dictate exactly how something should be done.

FALSE

Difficulty: 2 Medium

11.
(p. 142)

Policies define the limits within which supervisors must operate.

TRUE

Difficulty: 1 Easy

12.
(p. 142)

Rules leave room for interpretation of what is to be done or not done, whereas policies do not.

FALSE

Difficulty: 2 Medium

13.
(p. 143)

Cost-reduction programs are improvement programs that involve supervisors.

TRUE

Difficulty: 1 Easy

14.
(p. 143)

Routing involves determining the best sequence of operations.

TRUE

Difficulty: 1 Easy

15.
(p. 144)

Anticipating lost time is a requirement of scheduling.

TRUE

Difficulty: 1 Easy

16.
(p. 144)

Gantt charts can be used to give a scheduler a visual picture showing when to schedule specific activities.

TRUE

Difficulty: 2 Medium

17.
(p. 147)

For an MBO system to be successful, individual objectives must solely be set by the supervisor.

FALSE

Difficulty: 2 Medium

18.
(p. 147)

When using MBOs, supervisors should formally provide feedback to each employee only once a year.

FALSE

Difficulty: 1 Easy

19.
(p. 147)

MBO requires that employees be rewarded on the basis of subjective evaluations of their accomplishments against goals.

FALSE

Difficulty: 2 Medium

20.
(p. 147)

Balanced scorecard is a relative new performance measurement system that is based on the statistical process control concept.

FALSE

Difficulty: 2 Medium

Multiple Choice Questions

21.
(p. 133)

Which of the following is NOT a factor that typically affects the planning needs of an organization?

A.

Identifiable process

B.

The environment

C.

Its size

D.

The type of business

Difficulty: 2 Medium

22.
(p. 134)

Strategic management:

A.

is the process of formulating short-term plans.

B.

is based on level-specific planning.

C.

ensures coordination of plans made at different organizational levels.

D.

is based on plans developed by individual supervisors.

Difficulty: 2 Medium

23.
(p. 134)

The part of strategic management that focuses on identifying areas needing improvement is:

A.

action planning.

B.

gap analysis.

C.

objective setting.

D.

goal setting.

Difficulty: 2 Medium

24.
(p. 135)

Planning is generally concerned with:

A.

future decisions.

B.

future and past decisions.

C.

the future impact of today’s decisions.

D.

analyzing past decisions that were wrong.

Difficulty: 2 Medium

25.
(p. 136)

Which of the following statements about planning is true?

A.

Planning is concerned with the future changes that will occur in an organization.

B.

Successful planning for the entire organization involves gathering only corporate level information.

C.

Objectives must be established before the planning process can be completed.

D.

Planning requires that specific and definite actions be taken or not taken with respect to given situations.

Difficulty: 2 Medium

26.
(p. 137)

Objectives should be:

A.

ambiguous.

B.

detailed.

C.

quantifiable.

D.

undetermined.

Difficulty: 1 Easy

27.
(p. 138)

Which of the following is NOT appropriate for an objective?

A.

It should be specific

B.

It should be assigned a priority

C.

It should be unattainable for employee motivation

D.

It should be measurable and understandable

Difficulty: 2 Medium

28.
(p. 138)

When assigning priorities to objectives, you must determine:

A.

which is most important and which is least important.

B.

how the objective will be achieved.

C.

who originally created the objective.

D.

their relative importance.

Difficulty: 2 Medium

29.
(p. 139)

Action planning answers all the following questions EXCEPT:

A.

when should it be done.

B.

why must it be done.

C.

what to do if something goes wrong.

D.

how should it be done.

Difficulty: 1 Easy

30.
(p. 139)

At the supervisory level, objectives basically deal with all of the following EXCEPT:

A.

production quotas.

B.

quality.

C.

costs.

D.

total organizational sales.

Difficulty: 1 Easy

31.
(p. 139 Fig 7.4)

Which of the following is an example of a “how to improve work” objective?

A.

Minimizing production

B.

Reducing absenteeism

C.

Maximizing waste

D.

Minimizing product quality

Difficulty: 1 Easy

32.
(p. 140-141)

________________ plans address the “what-ifs” of the supervisor’s job.

A.

Contingency

B.

Supervisory

C.

Action

D.

Corporate

Difficulty: 1 Easy

33.
(p. 141)

________________ are broad, general guidelines to action and their major purpose is to ensure consistency in the decisions and actions taken throughout the organization.

A.

Rules

B.

Policies

C.

Procedures

D.

Goals

Difficulty: 2 Medium

34.
(p. 142)

A ________________ is a series of related steps or tasks performed in sequential order to achieve a specific purpose.

A.

rule

B.

policy

C.

procedure

D.

goal

Difficulty: 2 Medium

35.
(p. 142)

________________ require that specific and definite actions be taken or not taken with regard to given situations.

A.

Goals

B.

Policies

C.

Rules

D.

Procedures

Difficulty: 1 Easy

36.
(p. 143)

Resource allocation:

A.

involves determining not how long a job will take but when the work will be performed.

B.

involves determining the best sequence of operations and how it can be executed within a specified time limit.

C.

involves ensuring that the work is synchronized and completed within certain time limits.

D.

involves appropriation of people, materials, and equipment so as to successfully meet the objectives that have been established.

Difficulty: 2 Medium

37.
(p. 143)

Routing involves:

A.

determining the best sequence of operations.

B.

efficient allocation of organizational resources.

C.

developing precise timetables.

D.

developing a statement of expected numerical results.

Difficulty: 2 Medium

38.
(p. 144)

Most of the tools used today to visualize and simplify scheduling are based on:

A.

MBOs.

B.

Gantt charts.

C.

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.

D.

corporate objectives.

Difficulty: 2 Medium

39.
(p. 147)

For an MBO system to succeed, all of the following requirements must be met except:

A.

objectives must be jointly set by the supervisor and the employee.

B.

subordinates must be regularly evaluated.

C.

subordinates must be rewarded based on objective attainment.

D.

all pay raises must be done equally across-the-board.

Difficulty: 2 Medium

40.
(p. 147)

Under the ________________ system, a cause-and-effect relationship between day-to-day business operations and strategic objectives is established to determine if an organization is on track or not.

A.

applied information economics

B.

cost-benefit analysis

C.

balanced scorecard

D.

key performance indicators

Difficulty: 2 Medium

Short Answer Questions

41.
(p. 133)

What time span do most supervisory plans cover?

Most supervisory plans deal with only a short range of time, often a month or less.

Difficulty: 1 Easy

42.
(p. 136 Fig 7.2)

List six questions that are answered when a supervisor goes through the planning process.

A supervisor must answer the following six questions when he or she is involved in the planning process:

▪ What must be done to attain objectives?
▪ Why should it be done?
▪ When should it be done?
▪ Who should do it?
▪ Where should it be done?
▪ How should it be done?

Difficulty: 2 Medium

43.
(p. 138)

Elaborate the concept of SMART criteria stated for objectives.

SMART stands for specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-based. The specific criterion in this context means that an observable action, behavior, or achievement is described and linked to a rate, number, percentage, or frequency. The measurable criterion refers to a system, method, or procedure that must exist which allows the tracking and recording of the specific action, behavior, or achievement upon which the objective is focused. The achievable criterion states that objectives should be set so that people are capable of achieving them. The relevant criterion means the objective is viewed by affected employees as being important to the organization and as something that they can impact or change. The time-based criterion means that in the stated objective there should be a specific date (day/month/year) or time frame for reaching or achieving the objective.

Difficulty: 2 Medium

44.
(p. 139 Fig 7.5)

List three typical areas of supervisory objectives.

The first typical area of supervisory objective is production or output that is usually expressed as number of units per time period. The second area is quality that is usually expressed as number of rejects, number of customer complaints, and amount of scrap. The third area is human resources usually expressed in terms of turnover, absenteeism, and tardiness.

Difficulty: 2 Medium

45.
(p. 140-141)

Explain what contingency plans are.

Contingency plans are also known as backup plans. They address the “what-ifs” of the supervisor’s job. Contingency planning gets the supervisor in the habit of being prepared and knowing what to do if something does not go as expected.

Difficulty: 2 Medium

46.
(p. 142)

What are the major advantages of procedures?

The major advantages of procedures are that they achieve a degree of uniformity in how things are done and lessen the need for decisions.

Difficulty: 2 Medium

47.
(p. 142-143)

List five common supervisory planning activities.

Some of the common supervisory planning activities are providing information for high-level planning, developing a budget, developing improvement programs, assessing human resource needs, and production planning.

Difficulty: 2 Medium

48.
(p. 143)

What is the purpose of scheduling?

The purpose of scheduling is to help ensure that the work is synchronized and completed within certain time limits.

Difficulty: 2 Medium

49.
(p. 147 Fig 7.11)

What are the basic elements of an MBO system?

The basic elements of an MBO system are as follows:

1. Individual objectives are set jointly by the employee and the supervisor.
2. Individual employees are periodically evaluated and receive feedback from the supervisor concerning their performance.
3. Individual employees are evaluated and rewarded by the supervisor on the basis of objective attainment.

Difficulty: 2 Medium

50.
(p. 147)

What is a balanced scorecard?

Balanced scorecard is a performance measurement framework through which organizations define strategic objectives at every level in the organization. It is a relatively new performance measurement system that is based on the MBO concept.

Difficulty: 2 Medium