Chapter 4: Planning

________ involves defining the organization's goals, establishing strategies for achieving those goals, and developing plans to integrate and coordinate work activities.

• Execution

• Logistics

• Planning

• Operations

Which one of the following is among the reasons why managers should plan?

• When work activities are coordinated around plans, inefficiencies become obvious.

• Uncertainty can be eliminated and the organization can be insulated from change with

  planning.

• Planning eliminates the need to set goals

• Planning eliminates the need to measure work effort.

Which one of the following is true of the impact of formal planning on organizational performance?

• Formal planning is associated with positive financial results.

• Organizations that formally plan invariably outperform those that don't plan.

• The amount of planning done is more important to high performance than the quality of

  planning and implementation.

• Companies can start seeing the impact of formal planning on performance about a year after

  starting the planning process.

When formal planning fails to lead to higher performance, which one of the following is most likely to be the reason for the failure?

• A participative style of planning was used.

• Managers were allowed too much autonomy.

• The company emphasized the control function over other functions.

• External forces constrain managers' options.

Which aspect of planning refers to documents that outline how results are to be achieved?

• goals

• plans

• objectives

• performance guidelines

Goals are different from plans because ________.

• goals identify specific steps that the organization needs to achieve, and plans identify the

  overall mission of the organization

• goals describe financial objectives, and plans describe objectives related to social

  responsibility

• goals are important only for small companies, and plans are important only for large

  companies

• goals are desired outcomes, and plans describe how those outcomes will be accomplished

Robert Downs, owner of a new community newspaper in his home town of Corning, New York, has set the following goal for his company: "To be a champion for free speech and for the development of the community." This goal constitutes the ________ goal of the company.

• informal

• operational

• financial

• strategic

When making editorial decisions for his newspaper, the owner/editor mostly picks issues that are in line with his political beliefs and those that his advertisers approve of despite his publicly stated goal "to be a champion for free speech and for the development of the community." This indicates that ________.

• the company's strategic goals do not leave any room for interpretation

• the company's stated goals are not its real goals

• the company's goals are directional in natur

• the company's financial goals derive from its strategic goals

Operational plans are usually ________.

• short term, directional, and standing

• short term, specific, and standing

• long term, directional, and single use

• long term, specific, and standing

Mr. Slabaugh wants to formulate a plan that lays out general guidelines for his employees and leaves room for interpretation. Which one of the following types of plans would best suit his requirement?

• informal

• specific

• directional

• standing