FSOT Pq - Management

Flextime is the program adopted by many U.S. companies as they recognize that making allowances for employees' schedule increases employee morale and productivity. Double time and part time are not correct. Job sharing is not correct, but is a useful management tool that occurs when two people share a job. This allows the employee to keep a job without losing income and yet being able to spend time on personal priorities.

Customer Service Officer is a front-line staffer.

Motivation affects an employee's attitude toward his or her job, employer, and colleagues. Low morale can contribute to high levels of dissatisfaction, absenteeism, and turnover.

Affirmative action programs are legally mandated plans that try to increase job opportunities for minority groups by analyzing the current pool of workers, identifying areas where women and minorities are underrepresented, and establishing specific hiring and promotion goals, with target dates, for addressing the discrepancy.

Raw materials are natural products taken from the earth, oceans, and recycled solid waste. It is usually the starting phase of any products or business products. Convenience products are frequently purchased products, while shopping products are products in which consumers compare and contrast the benefits and costs. Specialty products are products such as fusion food or designer clothing.

Economes are not stagnant. They expand and contract. Expansion could result in inflation. Contraction, on the other hand, may lead to recession and rising unemployment. A severe recession will lead to a depression.

Operations management refers to the process of planning, organizing, and controlling the activities involved in transforming resources into goods and services. It includes managing production, inventory, quality control, and supply chain management. This function is responsible for ensuring that the organization's operations are efficient, effective, and aligned with its overall goals and objectives. Operations management plays a crucial role in improving productivity, reducing costs, and delivering high-quality products and services to customers. Therefore, operations management is the correct answer in this context.

Managers plan, organize, staff, and direct. They have to play the strategic role and have to be free from day-to-day operations. On the other hand, customer service is an operational part of the organization and is for front-line staff.

Financial managers work with funds that make the company operational and profitable.

An income statement is a financial report that shows an organization's profitability over a period of time, while a balance sheet is a snapshot of an organization's financial strength. A cash flow statement reflects the current assets and liquidity of the firm. An inventory sheet keeps track of inventory, which is not part of financial accounting.

In organizations, groups are formed to perform specific tasks and achieve common goals. Committees are formal groups that are established to make decisions or take actions on behalf of the organization. Task forces are temporary groups formed to address specific issues or solve particular problems. Self-directed work teams are groups of employees who have the autonomy to manage their own work and make decisions collectively. These forms of groups are commonly found in firms as they help in improving collaboration, decision-making, and overall performance.

Answer A is customer departmentalization, answer B is geographical, and C is production departmentalization.

Although teams bring with them benefits, they sometimes also create problems. Sometimes, personal conflicts can occur and hamper group productivity. Different groups can also refuse to share information and resources. But generally, the benefits outweigh the problems.

Job rotation is the movement of employees from one job to another in an effort to relieve the boredom often associated with job specialization. Job enlargement is the addition of more tasks to a job instead of treating each task as separate. Job enrichment is the incorporation of motivational factors, such as opportunity for achievement, recognition, responsibility, and advancement. Job reduction, on the other hand, implies that the employee is not able to take up more responsibility and is, therefore, bad.

Performance varies across individuals and as such different wages should be applied. Although people in different locations get different gross wages, that approach is still based on the same base wage with different location allowance. National origin and religion are not relevant.

Productivity, leadership, and adaptability are very important in evaluating employee performance. Productivity is the rate at which work is regularly produced and determines the effectiveness of the firm. A firm needs good leadership to grow. Employees that are potential good leaders should be groomed to top management roles. Adaptability is the ability to be comfortable with change. The only thing that is constant in a firm is usually change. Thus employees need to be able to adapt relatively quickly to changes.

The board of directors is a group of individuals elected by the stockholders to oversee the general operations of the corporation and who set the corporation's long range objectives. Directors can be employees of the company or people unaffiliated with the company. Inside directors are usually the officers responsible for running the company. Outside directors are often top executives from other companies, lawyers, bankers, or professors.

The ways to compensate the workforce include providing a salary, commission, profit sharing, and benefits. A salary is a fixed amount of money paid to an employee on a regular basis. Commission is a percentage of sales or profits that an employee receives as compensation. Profit sharing involves distributing a portion of the company's profits among the employees. Benefits are additional perks or advantages provided to employees, such as health insurance or retirement plans. These forms of compensation help to motivate and reward employees for their work.

A lockout is the management's version of a strike, wherein a work site is closed so that employees cannot go to work. A strike is a walkout by employees, one of the most effective weapons employees have for collective bargaining. A boycott is an attempt to keep people from buying the products of the company, while picketing is a public protest against management practices that involves union members marching and carrying anti-management signs at the employer's plant.

Branding is the process of naming and identifying products. A brand is a name, term, symbol, design, or combination that identifies a product and distinguishes it from other products. A trademark needs to be registered with the U.S. patent and trademark office. It is legally protected.

Primary data is marketing information that is observed, recorded, or collected directly from respondents, while secondary data is market information that is compiled inside or outside an organization for some purpose other than changing the current situation.

The correct sequence for the six-step process of personal selling is prospecting, approaching, presenting, handling objections, closing, and following up. This sequence ensures that the salesperson identifies potential customers, initiates contact, delivers a sales pitch, addresses any concerns or objections, secures the sale, and maintains a relationship with the customer after the sale.

Leadership is the most important asset for top management because it involves the ability to guide and inspire a team towards achieving organizational goals. Effective leadership enables managers to make informed decisions, delegate tasks, provide guidance, and motivate employees. It also involves the ability to communicate effectively, build relationships, and resolve conflicts. Without strong leadership skills, top management may struggle to effectively lead and manage their teams, resulting in a lack of direction and cohesion within the organization.

The primary characteristics of diversity in the U.S. workforce include age, gender, ethnicity, and race. These factors contribute to the variety and representation of different groups within the workforce, promoting a more inclusive and equitable environment. Age diversity ensures a mix of experience levels and perspectives, while gender diversity ensures equal representation and opportunities for both men and women. Ethnicity and race diversity acknowledges and values the different cultural backgrounds and experiences individuals bring to the workplace.

Employees all have emotional, psychological, and domestic problems. Having health plans, child-care facilities, and counseling services are just some examples. Increasing salary is a short-term incentive; employees will quickly adjust to the new salary and morale will drop back down again. The other two choices have smaller effects but not as great as the programs cited in answer B.

Medical conditions change with time and location; although it is technically possible to segment based on medical condition, it will be trivial and a secondary finding compared to the first three answers.

Receivables turnover is an asset utilization ratio. The first three answers are all profitability ratio -- ratios that measure the amount of operating income or net income an organization is able to generate relative to its assets, owners' equity, and sales.

The objective of the collective bargaining is to reach a labor contract. In collective bargaining each side tries to reach an agreement that meets its demands. Sometimes, if this is not resolved amicably, it will lead to strikes and picketing.

ISO stands for International Organization for Standardization, which determines a series of quality standards internationally to ensure consistent product quality under many conditions.

Money, and before it, bartering, has always been used as a medium of exchange. It is also a measure of value because more of it means one can obtain better goods and services. It also acts as a common denomination in which people can compare the value of the products or services. It also allows people to keep some of their wealth and use it when needed in the future.

For bonds, the buyer loan the issuer of the bond cash in exchange for regular interest payments until the loan is repaid on or before the specified maturity date. A bond is like an IOU.

Consumers are very heterogeneous. By segmenting, firms are able to better target the specific groups and then apply a concentration marketing mix effort on the segment. This way, the consumers have a better product or service that they need and will be more satisfied. Marketing mix for mass marketing is also possible; thus, D is not an answer.

Direct channel occurs when there is no middleman.

Imagination is the irrelevant answer. Perception is the process by which a person selects, organizes, and interprets information received from his or her senses. Attitude is both knowledge and positive or negative feelings about something. Personality is the organization of an individual's distinguishing character traits, attitudes, or habits. These three psychological factors affect a consumer's buying behavior, so firms need to be aware of them.

SWOT analysis has proven to be the most widely used and enduring analytical technique in strategic management. It allows the firm to be aware of its internal environment (strength and weaknesses) and its external environment (opportunity and threats).

Maslow's hierarchy of needs is a theory that categorizes human needs into different levels. The highest level of this hierarchy is self-actualization needs. These needs refer to a person's desire to reach their full potential and achieve personal growth. It involves fulfilling one's own aspirations, pursuing meaningful goals, and finding a sense of purpose and fulfillment in life. Self-actualization needs go beyond basic physiological and social needs, and they are considered the pinnacle of human motivation and development.

A product line is a group of closely related products that are treated as a unit because of similar marketing strategy, production, or end-use considerations. A product mix refers to all the products offered by an organization. Depth refers to the many modifications of the same product.

JIT inventory management is a popular technique that eliminates waste by using smaller quantities of materials that arrive just in time for use in the transformation process and, therefore, requires less storage space and other inventory management expenses.

Ships are the cheapest international transportation means because they have lower fuel and maintenance costs compared to planes or trucks. Ships can carry large quantities of goods at once, making their transportation costs per unit lower. Additionally, ships have a lower carbon footprint compared to other modes of transportation, making them a more cost-effective and environmentally friendly option.

At the heart of operations management is the transformation process through which inputs are converted into outputs.

Penetration pricing is a low price designed to help a product enter the market and gain market share rapidly.

The marketing mix comprises price, product, promotion, and place. The consumer is never part of the marketing mix. A marketing firm needs to target the consumer and then apply the appropriate marketing mix to that targeted consumer group.

Very few products, out of thousands that are introduced, succeed. It is critical that firms conduct the appropriate steps to ensure the product will be successful. Idea development and screening is the first phase to get feasible ideas on the drawing board. The prototype is then developed before a sample market is tested with that product. When the test market feedback is good, full commercialization is possible.

During the introduction phase, the sales volume is low and the cost of product development is high.

Although counterfeits are used unknowingly, they are not a form of money. Checking accounts, savings accounts, money market, credit cards, and CDs are all forms of money. There is no far money, only near money, which refers to assets that can be turned into cash easily.

Customer value means that the firm must make a disproportionate contribution to customer perceived value. Competitor unique means the firm has unique and superior features to competitors' capabilities. Extendibility means the firm has a product that can be used to develop new products/services or enter new markets.

Reengineering is a process that involves making significant changes to an organization's systems, processes, and procedures in order to improve performance and achieve strategic goals. The principles of reengineering include organizing around outcomes, not tasks, having those who use the output of the process perform the process, and treating geographically dispersed resources as though they were centralized. However, adopting the status quo for some areas goes against the idea of reengineering, as it implies maintaining the current practices and not making any significant changes.

Behavior modification involves changing behavior and encouraging appropriate actions by relating the consequences of behavior to the behavior itself. Job design itself to motivate and improve employee motivation. This can be done through job rotation, enlargement, and so on. Answers B, C, and D are all useful, but less effective.

The awarding of a manufacturer to an intermediary of the sole right to sell a product in a defined geographic territory is exclusive distribution. Such exclusivity provides an incentive for a dealer to handle a product that has a limited market.

Diagonal communication occurs when managers and co-workers from different departments communicate. There is no reverse communication.