Principles of Management live inclass EXAM
nimab8
ExamReview2.ppt
Exam Review #2
Includes Chapters 4, 5 and 6
- Don’t audiotape, videotape, or take photo of my lectures, slides, exercises, and other class materials.
- The class materials can be used for this class only and for this semester only.
The content coverage for exams
- The textbook
- PPT slides with notes on Bb
- No audio reviews for exams.
You are not allowed to audiotape, videotape, or take photo of my lectures, slides, exercises and other class materials.
The class materials can be used for this class only and for this quarter only.
If you have any copyright issues or any concerns about the class, please feel free to contact the instructor promptly.
This Exam Review #2 will go over the exam coverage, exam rules and protocols, and study guide.
Exam #2 includes five chapters: chapters 4, 8, 9, 12, and 16. There will be 60 multiple choice questions.
When preparing for an exam, you need to read the textbook and go over the Power Point slides with notes on Bb.
The first 4 slides in this exam review are about the exam coverage and rules/protocols. From slide 5 to the end are study guide for midterm #2.
Types of Exam Questions
- There are factual questions, application questions, and mixed questions in the exams.
- Factual Questions focus on definitions, concepts, principles, and key facts.
- Pay attention to concepts in bold or in italic in the textbook, especially on the sides of the pages in the text.
- Application questions usually describe a situation or a behavior and asks you to decide which concept best applies or explains the situation.
- Mixed questions combine both concepts and situation description.
- Remember and understand the concepts clearly.
- The ability to apply concepts is also important.
Types of exam questions.
We usually have three types of exam questions: factual questions, application questions, and mixed questions.
There are many mixed and application questions in exams.
Factual questions are mainly about definitions, concepts, basic principles, or key facts, which tests how well you grasp fundamental concepts.
Concepts in bold, in italic, or on the sides of the pages in the textbook are all important and deserve more attention.
Application questions usually give you a situation or describe a behavior, and then ask you to decide which concept best explains the situation or applies to the behavior.
Mixed questions combine both concepts and situation description.
While factual questions requires memorization, application questions demand you to really understand the concepts.
For mixed questions, you shall remember the concepts clearly and also be able to apply the concepts.
The ability to apply concepts is the key for application and mixed questions.
There are many cases and examples in the textbook and in my lectures. You are not expected to memorize them. However, it is strongly recommended that you read and understand those cases and examples because this would help you understand and answer application and mixed questions.
Exam Rules and Protocols
- Exams are closed book and closed notes.
- Exams include all multiple choice questions.
- 60 minutes for each exam.
- Late turn-in is not accepted.
- Exam days count as attendance, please come on time.
- No make-up exam unless it is in an extreme case with proper document upon the instructor’s approval.
- A make-up exam will have different questions and you will lose 4 points when taking a make up exam.
Rules and protocols – about the exam
The exams are closed books and closed notes. All exam questions are multiple choice questions.
You are given 100 minutes for each exam.
Late turn-in is not accepted.
Exam days count as attendance, please come on time.
If you miss an exam, it counts as an absence.
Final is used as a make-up exam.
Exam Rules and Protocols (continue)
- Cheating will result in a “0” point for the exam and may become an issue with the Judicial Affairs Department.
- Usually one or two days after each exam, your grades will be available on Bb and you may also review exam questions and answers in next class time.
- Inform the professor immediately by email if you have any questions and concerns about your grade.
Exam rules and protocols (continue)
It is university policy that no cheating is allowed. Cheating will result in a “0” point for the exam and may become an issue with the Judicial Affairs Department.
Usually two days after each exam, your grades will be available on Bb and you may also review exam questions and answers online within three days after grade posting.
If you have any questions or concerns about your exam grades, or you find any errors and discrepancies, you shall email to the instructor immediately.
If you think there may be a typo or an error in an exam question, you may let the instructor know right after the exam.
Study Guide for Exam 2
- The study guide is used as a general guide.
- The exams may include everything we covered.
- Exam 2 (Ch 4, 5 and 6)
- Chapter 4 Ethics and Social Responsibility
- Ethics, ethical behavior
- Three domains of human actions, Ethical dilemma
- Workplace deviance: production, property, political deviances, and personal aggression
- US Sentencing Commission Guidelines for organizations: who, what, why, How, examples of offenses
- Seven principles for ethical decision making.
Study Guide for Exam #2
Since you have already taken Exam #1, you are familiar with the exam format and question style.
We have the same rules for the second midterm as for the first midterm.
This study guide can be used as a general guide.
Chapter 4 Ethics and Social Responsibility.
We have covered broad topics in this chapter and some are not in the textbook but in the slides on Bb.
Understand some basic terms about ethics and ethical behavior.
We have done a number of case studies about ethical dilemma and three domains of human actions – free choice, legal domain, and ethical domain.
You also need to understand four types of workplace deviance – production, property, political deviances, and personal aggression.
Production and property deviance are organizational while political deviances and personal aggression are interpersonal.
For US Sentencing Commission Guidelines, you should understand 3W (who, what, why), How, and some examples of offenses.
Understand all seven principles of ethical decision making – long-term self-interest, personal virtue, religions injunctions, government requirements, utilitarian benefits, individual rights, and distributive justice.
Chapter 4 Ethics and Social Responsibility (continue)
- Overt integrity test, personality-based integrity test
- Code of ethics, Sources of an organization’s code of ethics, ethics training, avoid the rationalizations for unethical behavior, ethical climate, whistle-blowing
- Social responsibility, shareholder model, stakeholder model
- Stakeholders, primary stakeholders, secondary stakeholders
- Social responsibility, economic, legal, ethical, and discretionary responsibilities
- Social responsiveness, reactive, defensive, accommodative, and proactive strategies
- Social responsibility and economic performance
This slide continues on study guide for Chapter 4 Ethics and Social Responsibility.
Some organizations use overt integrity test or personality-based integrity test to evaluate their employees.
These are two different tests.
Many firms offer ethical training to enhance ethical standards and aovid rationalizations (or excuses) for their unethical behavior. But those excuses don’t make unethical behavior ethical.
Another main topic in this chapter is about social responsibility. You need to know the two models toward social responsibility: shareholder model, and stakeholder model. Shareholders are one of the stakeholder groups.
Stakeholders can be divided into primary stakeholders, and secondary stakeholders.
There are four levels of social responsibility – economic, legal, ethical, and discretionary responsibilities.
Accordingly, organizations can have four different social responsiveness (or strategies) toward social responsibilities – reactive, defensive, accommodative, and proactive strategies.
About the relationship between social responsibility and economic performance, recent research results show that there is not trade off between these two; it usually pays to be socially responsible; and it does not guarantee that socially responsible companies will be profitable.
Chapter 5 Planning and Decision Making
- Planning, good planning, benefits and pitfalls of planning
- How to make a plan that works: five steps
- Vision, mission, goals/objectives
- Strategic plan, tactical plans, operational plans.
- Management by objectives.
- Single-use plans, standing plans, policies, procedures, rules.
- Decision making, rational decision making
- Programmed vs. non-programmed decision making
- Six steps of rational decision making
- Problem, decision criteria, absolute comparisons, relative comparisons, bounded rationality.
- Why information is incomplete, Maximizing, satisficing
Chapter 5 planning and decision making.
Planning involves setting goals and developing means. Firms need to do a good planning in order to reap the benefits of planning, and avoid pitfalls of planning.
There are five steps to make a plan work. It is important to understand several terms in these five steps, such as S.M.A.R.T. goals, goal commitment, action plan, performance feedback, proximal goals, distal goals, options-based planning, slack resources, and learning-based planning.
There is a hierarchy of goals: vision, mission, goals/objectives. Make clear of the difference between vision and mission.
There are three levels of plans: strategic plans, tactical plans, and operational plans, depending on which level of management developed them, and how long the plan duration is.
Management by objectives (MBO) is often used to develop and carry out tactical plans.
MBO emphasizes the joint goal setting and controlling process by both managers and employees.
Single-use plans and standing plans are used as operational plans.
Budget, programs, and projects are examples of single use plans.
Policies, procedures, and rules are examples of standing plans.
Policies tend to be broad in scope with general application and common deviations from the standards.
Rules are narrow in scope with specific application and few deviation from the standards.
Another major topic in Chapter 5 is about decision making.
There are programmed and non-programmed decision making.
There are six steps in the rational decision making process, including defining the problem, identifying decision criteria, weighing the criteria, generating alternative courses of action, evaluating each alternative, and computing the optimal decision.
It takes awareness, motivation, and KSAs and resources to solve a problem.
When weighting decision criteria, absolute comparisons and relative comparisons can be used.
There is incomplete information and bounded rationality, so we often make satisficing decisions (imperfect, good enough decisions) instead of maximizing decisions (optimal decisions).
Information is often incomplete because of risk, uncertainty, ambiguity, and limited time and resources.
Uncertainty is riskier than risk because uncertainty means unpredictability.
Chapter 6 Organizational Strategy
- Resources, Competitive advantage, sustainable competitive advantage.
- Valuable resources, rare resources, imperfectly imitable resources, non-substitutable resources.
- Assessing the need for strategic change: competitive inertia, strategic dissonance .
- Situational (SWOT) analysis, distinctive competence, core capabilities.
- Strategic group, core firms, secondary firms, transient firms, shadow-strategy task force.
- Strategic reference points, risk-avoiding strategy, risk-taking strategy.
Chapter 6 Organizational Strategy.
This is the last chapter for Exam #1. Both Chapter 5 and Chapter 6 are about planning function.
The first pair of terms are competitive advantage and sustainable competitive advantage.
To achieve sustainable competitive advantage, firms need to possess four types of resources: valuable resources, rare resources, imperfectly imitable resources, and non-substitutable resources.
There are three steps in the strategy-making process:
The first step is assessing the need for strategic change.
In this step, firms should avoid competitive inertia and detect strategic dissonance.
The second step is conducting situational analysis, also known as SWOT analysis, that is to address a company’s internal strengths and weaknesses and its external opportunities and threats.
Distinctive competence is doing better than competitors and is produced by core capabilities.
In strategic groups, there are core firms, secondary firms, and transient firms.
Shadow-strategy task force is a committee in a firm that analyzes the firm’s own weaknesses.
The third step in the strategy-making process is choosing strategic alternatives: risk-avoiding strategy and risk-taking strategy. Selecting appropriate strategic reference points are important for managers to choose their strategic alternatives.
Chapter 6 Organizational Strategy (continue)
- Key question for corporate-level strategy – what businesses we are in or we should be in.
- Corporate-level strategy, portfolio strategy, acquisition
- Diversification, related diversification, unrelated diversification, single business, and their risk levels.
- Grand strategy, growth strategy, stability strategy, retrenchment strategy, recovery
- Industry-level strategy – how should we compete in this industry? Five industry forces.
- Positioning strategies: cost leadership, differentiation, focus strategy
- Firm-level strategy – how should we compete against a particular firm, direct competition, market commonality, resource similarity.
This slide is still about Chapter 6 Organizational strategy.
For corporate-level strategy, a key question to address is what businesses we are in or we should be in.
Corporate level strategy includes portfolio strategy, acquisitions, single business strategy, diversification strategy, and grand strategy.
Diversification can be related or unrelated diversification. Unrelated diversification is most risky while related diversification is least risky.
The risk level for single business is between unrelated diversification and related diversification.
Grand strategies include growth strategy, stability strategy, retrenchment strategy, and recovery.
Diversification is about the area of business a firm wants to do while grand strategy is about the pace of development for a firm.
For industry-level strategies, the key question to address is how should we compete in this industry?
Five industry forces framework helps managers understand an industry environment: character of the rivalry (existing competition), threat of new entrants (potential competition), threat of substitute products or services (competition from substitute products), bargaining power of suppliers, and bargaining power of buyers.
There are three positioning strategies: cost leadership, differentiation, and focus strategy.
For firm-level strategies, the key question to address is how should we compete against a particular firm.
Two factors determine the extent to which firms will be in direct competition with each other: market commonality, resource similarity.
