BUSİNESS MANAGEMENT - Deneme Sınavı - 7

Management is the act of getting people work together to achieve organizational goals through effective and efficient use of resources. Management is essentially needed in all types of organizations regardless of the size and scope of operations at all organizational levels. Setting the organizational goals and strategies, building an organizational structure to enable organization to effectively and efficiently achieving these goals, motivating the members of the organization and leading people to achieve organizational goals, and finally monitoring and evaluating the organizational performance are the main activities within the boundaries of management. The answer is C.

Effectiveness and efficiency are the key concepts almost in all definitions of management. In brief, effectiveness is about making the right decisions and it also involves successful implementation of these decisions. Effectiveness basically shows an organization’s performance in achieving pre-set goals. On the other hand, efficiency is mainly about how organization uses its valuable resources. Efficiency refers to not wasting resources when achieving organizational goals. If an organization is wasting its resources when trying to achieve its goals, then the value of achieving the goals would be diminished. Both effectiveness and efficiency are the key concepts of management and successful organizations are those concurrently effective and efficient in their operations. The answer is C.

Management functions are not a random listing. Planning, organizing, leading/directing and controlling are listed in an order. Each function is followed by the next one. However, execution of management functions is not a linear process. All functions are interrelated and execution of all functions is a cyclical (continuous) process. The answer is D.

Planning is the first function of management. Planning requires an organization to perform certain tasks. First of these tasks is establishing the organizational goals. Others involve determining the steps necessary to achieve intended goals, identifying and acquiring the necessary resources required by the organization, setting up rules, policies, and procedures that regulate the organizational activities, developing solid plans, and making meaningful estimations regarding the future of the organization. The answer is D.

The leading function refers to mobilizing and directing people toward organizational goals. Motivating the members of the organization, building a shared vision, communicating organizational goals to employees, and dealing with the possible conflicts within the organization are the main issues covered by the leading function. The answer is B.

Organizational control mechanisms can focus on issues before, during and/or after a process. These different approaches are known as feedforward controls, concurrent controls and feedback controls accordingly. The answer is E.

All organizations have goals and business managers allocate and utilize the organizational resources effectively and efficiently to achieve these goals. These organizational resources can be classified into four groups:

1. Human resources

2. Monetary resources

3. Raw materials

4. Capital resources

The answer is B.

Although there are different approaches to classifying managers, common approaches classify managers
in two categories as vertical classification and lateral classification. Lateral classification of managerial positions are subdivided into two subcategories known as functional and general managers. At vertical classification there are three main hierarchical levels of management: top management, middle  management, and first-line management. The answer is C.

Although these three types of managers are categorized under the vertical classification of managers, it is important to mention a change that has been observed in the last three decades. In recent years, the fourth type of manager has emerged in the vertical classification of managers. This fourth type of managers is generally titled as team leaders. The main reason behind the emergence of team leaders is that organizations are now working more with autonomous and self-managing teams in which no formal managers are needed. Team leaders are mainly responsible for coordinating the work of a small group of people while acting as a catalyst or facilitator. Project managers, program managers, process managers, and task force leaders are among the titles used for team leader positions. The answer is A.

Human skills refer to a manager’s ability to communicate with other people, develop healthy relationships, support employee development, manage conflicts, and enhance motivation. Human skills are crucial skills for all managers since they achieve organizational goals through joint efforts of the people. A manager who lacks human skills will most likely to fail in getting people to work together for meeting the organizational goals. The answer is D.

Social forces refer to macro factors within social, cultural, and historical context. All these macro factors have a direct impact on organizations. Values, attitudes, beliefs, and all requirements of the people within the society in which the organization operates can be considered as the elements of social forces. Furthermore, social forces are important for the organizations since they regulate the relations between individuals in a society. The answer is A.

Managerial practices can be traced throughout the history of humankind. The oldest known practices date back to 8,000-3,000 BCE. The extant ancient Sumerian documents contain commercial records and they also prove that the Sumerians used these records to manage information as we do today. Similarly, construction of the pyramids in Egypt required effective execution of all management functions. The answer is B.

The classical period extended from the midst of the 19th century through the early 1950s. The classical management theory involves several approaches: systematic management, scientific management, bureaucracy, and general administrative management. The answer is D.

The roots of the scientific management approach can be traced back to the early 20th century. Increasing number of factories and growing industries led to the emergence of important managerial problems. Productivity was the major issue brought about by the industrialization. The answer is C.

Henri Fayol (1841-1925) was the leading name in the general administrative management approach. Fayol played an important role in the history of management thought. He identified five managerial functions namely, planning, organizing, commanding, coordinating, and controlling. According to Fayol, there are six activities directly involved with industrial projects.

1. Technical: Activities related to production,

2. Commercial: Activities related to buying, selling, and exchange,

3. Financial: Activities related to search for, and optimum use of capital,

4. Security: Activities related to securing property and individuals,

5. Accounting: Activities related to quantitative/statistical analysis,

6. Managerial: Activities related to planning, organizing, commanding, coordinating, and controlling.

The answer is B.

Bureaucracy approach was introduced by the German sociologist Max Weber (1864-1920). Although Weber lived and worked at the same time as Fayol and Taylor, his contributions to the management thought were not recognized until some years had passed. Weber’s most important work was not translated into English until 1947. Weber’s ideal bureaucracy laid the foundations for contemporary organization theory. Bureaucracy refers to a rational set of principles for structuring organization in the most effective and efficient manner. Weber identified the basic principles of his theory of ideal bureaucracy as well as the advantages of these principles for the organization. The answer is E.

The Hawthorne studies revealed the significance of psychological and social factors in the workplace. Findings of the Hawthorne studies had a major impact on the management studies. The answer is D.

Formation of operations research teams to solve sophisticated military problems during the World War II and their solutions to these problems paved the way for the quantitative approach to management after the war. The quantitative approach to management refers to a perspective on management that emphasizes use of a group of methods in managerial decision making, based on the scientific method. Today, quantitative approach is mainly represented by management science and operations research. Statistics, linear programming, network analysis, decision trees, and computer simulations are among the quantitative tools and methods adopted by the quantitative management approach. Decisions regarding inventory control, plant-site locations, quality control, and many other decisions require objective information. Quantitative tools and methods can be used effectively in making such decisions. The answer is A.

A system basically refers to a structure of interrelated parts. Systems transform inputs into outputs to achieve specific goals. All open systems have five main aspects: inputs, transforming process, outputs, environment, and feedback. From the organizational standpoint, raw materials, human resources, financial resources, and information resources are a few examples of inputs. These inputs are used by the organization to produce outputs (products and services). The answer is C.

Entropy is a common quality of both open and closed systems. Entropy refers to the system’s tendency
to go into a decline and die. No system is capable of stopping entropy. In other words, entropy can be slowed down but can never be stopped completely. Organizations are open systems and managers strive to resist entropy by establishing an effective and efficient management system. All attempts and efforts to slow entropy down are known as negative entropy. Negative entropy is very important for business survival. The answer is B.