MGMT EXAM PREP Questions VERY USEFUL PDF

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Question 1 (Chapter 5 + 6)List the four benefits of planning?Planning is recognised as the initial function in the management process, that enables managers to cope with uncertainty, thinking ahead and devising future courses of action. By establishing goals and objectives with a clear approach on a...

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Question 1 (Chapter 5 + 6) List the four benefits of planning? Planning is recognised as the initial function in the management process, that enables managers to cope with uncertainty, thinking ahead and devising future courses of action. By establishing goals and objectives with a clear approach on achieving them, restricting the challenge of uncertainty. Thus, planning has various advantages, that ultimately guides the organization to achieve their objectives. Firstly, planning helps you check on your progress and keep activity under control , with one such method of checking progress involving the benchmarking technique, that many organizations utilize. For example, Qantas as an Australian airline ensures external auditors benchmark metrics such as customer satisfaction regarding meal services, Wi-Fi and comfortability of seats inflight against competitors such as Virgin Australia and Singapore Airlines to ensure they are on track of achieving their objectives such as profit maximization, as customer satisfaction is integral for the organization to constantly check and compare against competitors to ensure they remain competitive amongst other international and domestic airline companies In addition, planning helps management coordinate activities, such as Apple’s rollout of the Apple iPhone 11 in September 2019 that required their marketing management department to significantly plan on globally coordinating their logistics and distribution to Australia and USA that exhibited significant demands from both countries. Helping management to coordinate their activities of efficiently distributing the new product to consumers globally with appropriate supply chain intermediaries, to ensure they maximize sales and efficiently distribute products to their diverse international markets amongst others. Furthermore, planning provides direction and momentum as it enables management to analyse problems and opportunities, where the plan helps the organization to function efficiently and effectively with a sense of direction towards achieving their objectives. For example, Kodak’s product range identifying a significant decrease in sales with the introduction of digital cameras and other efficient technological alternatives such as smartphones. Thus, their organizational planning identifies such competitive threats allowing their product range to be altered to ensure their more profitable product range is displayed to customers. Lastly, planning encourages new ideas, cultivating innovation within organization where it paves a path to build a competitive advantage for example, Samsung’s new smart watch 3 that provided waterproof features that competing offerings did not. Thus, planning can help the organization follow a rigid path but provides the organization the leeway to expand their creative brainstorming to introduce either new approaches to their activities or develop new product or services that can benefit their market segments. In general, planning has many benefits. However, planning also has two cautions of which one must be aware. Discuss these: Planning is recognised as the initial function in the management process, that enables managers to cope with uncertainty, thinking ahead and devising future courses of action. By establishing goals and objectives with a clear approach on achieving them, restricting the challenge of uncertainty. Thus, planning has various advantages, that ultimately guides the organization to achieve their objectives. But planning, by an organization’s management must be aware of two integral cautions involving the significant amount of time that planning takes, together with the important decisions may still need to be taken without a plan.

Organization’s management although recognizing planning as an important initial phase of the management process, it takes up time to develop. Primarily requiring middle to top managers to balance their tasks and activities alongside developing a comprehensive of plan that formulates the organization’s future course of actions and in line with achieving their objectives. Thus, managers within an organization must ensure they utilize their time management skills and allocate the necessary time to develop a plan that encompasses the organization’s operational, tactical and strategic goals, together with necessary resources that are required, and identifying opportunities that the company can act to maximize returns. Ultimately, guiding their activities and efforts towards achieving these objectives efficiently and effectively ensuring their sustenance as an organization amongst competitors. For example, Microsoft constantly develop strategic plans that support their consistent objectives of market penetration and significantly selling their products to the demanding international markets, with their plans that incorporates tactics such as altering the product range of their laptop and computer devices at offer in Australia. Thus, management within Microsoft a transnational company must prioritize planning as an integral component for organizational success and drive towards their objectives, even if the function is time consuming. In addition, organization’s management may be forced to make important decisions without a plan. Although planning in the management process, involves formulating a course of actions by foreseeing the conditions in the future, in line with effectively achieving their objectives, certain events during an organization’s operations and functionality can arise. Where the plan would not have taken the situation or circumstances into consideration requiring organization management to importantly make decisions for the organization’s betterment or good in the long-term where the plan cannot be relied upon. Essentially organization’s may encounter problems that may require timely decision-making without the reliance on a plan such as tailoring marketing efforts when a new competitors from overseas expands into a profitable market with a highly desired product together if a supplier of a company terminates their relationship where the inputs of resources may be restricted impacting their total manufacturing output. For instance, McDonalds relies on the just-in-time system within their inventory management where if their current supplier of French Fries being McCain terminates their supplier relationship, where their inflow of resources can impact the organization’s profitability and reduce their sales of burger combos and loose change menu products. Thus, must alternatively make important decisions to source their products from an alternative supplier that provides quality French fries efficiently. Thus, organization’s must equip themselves to make important decisions without a plan, by making appropriate decisions considering the situational circumstances to further drive organizational progression and achieving objectives. List the three levels of management in the traditional organisational hierarchy. Give an example of a task that a manager at each level might perform. (LECTURE 1) Tradition management pyramid: levels and areas (which is classified into three levels - top, middle and first line) - Top managers tend to have titles of chief executive office, chief operating office, or president and vice-president. o Make long term decisions about the overall direction of the organization o Establish the objectives, policies and strategies o Need to pay a lot of attention to the environment outside the organization o Executives must be future oriented, dealing with uncertain, highly competitive conditions.

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Middle managers implement the policies and plans of the top managers above them and supervise and coordinate the activities of the first line managers below them. Titles include plant manager, district manager and regional manager o Middle managers are critical for organizational success because they implement the strategic plans created by CEOs and top managers. First-line managers make short term operating decisions, directing the daily tasks of nonmanagerial personnel, who people who directly at their jobs but don’t oversee the work of others. o You are expected to be skilled at both supervising work and doing it as you may be required to fill-in when and where needed in order to keep work on time. o It may come only after you have first worked in a specialist role.

Explain the different types of planning for the different levels of management, include the typical time frame for which each plan is created. Organizations establishing their mission, vision and values statements provides a focus towards the entire planning process where it enables organization’s three levels of management to each participate in a different type of planning: strategic planning, tactical planning and operational planning. These three types of planning cascade downwards in the management hierarchy. Firstly, strategic planning is completed by the top management in the management hierarchy composing of individuals in managerial positions such as chief executive office, president, vicepresident and general managers etc, where the typical time frame for this type of planning being 1-5 years in duration where it specifically focuses on the long term decisions regarding the organization’s direction and progression towards achieving their objectives and goals. Specifically, this type of planning is attentive towards the general environment surrounding the organization and must ensure their strategic planning copes with uncertainty from the external environment, regarding the competitiveness. Furthermore, must adopt a more future oriented approach in

formulating a course of action for the organization in the long-term effectively and efficiently achieving their set goals and objectives. For example, in Amazon their strategic planning by top management highlights CEO Jeff Bezos expands to a seven-year horizon where he is able to gradually experience sales growth by building automated systems in refunding customers, to ultimately earn trust that maximizes returns for the business. Secondly, tactical planning is completed by the middle management in the management hierarchy composing of individuals in managerial positions such as functional managers, product-line managers and department managers, where the typical time frame for this type of planning being 6-24 months in duration where it focuses on the implementation of policies and plans passed down by top management. Middle management supervising and coordinating the activities of the first line managers with their responsibilities in line with the objectives that is prioritized by the top management. Thus, middle management must adhere to the management hierarchy and ensure their appropriate departments can cost-efficiently and effectively utilize the allocated resources over the time window supporting and consistent with the strategic plan that is developed by the top management. For example, Apple’s rollout of the Apple iPhone 11 in September 2019 required their marketing management department to ensure their billboard advertising was strategically placed in populous and high traffic locations in the major shopping centres across Queensland and NSW, with the product image focused, to ensure returns. Thirdly, operational planning is completed by the first-line management in the management hierarchy composing of individuals in managerial positions such as unit managers, team leaders and first line supervisors, where the typical time frame for this type of planning being 1-52 weeks in duration, where it directs the daily operational tasks on the floor by non-managerial personnel with their decisions following a clear set of routine actions and procedures within a year. For example, when first-line supervisors coordinate non-managerial personnel along the assembly line of Toyota car manufacturing in their Indiana manufacturing plant, where some personnel will be designated and rearranged to different stations along the line such as the paint and touch up station if necessary to assist in the monitoring and checking. Thus, this management level is in direct contact with the operations of the business, ensuring manufacturing and other activities are directed and take place smoothly.

Planning Sample Exam Question Give examples of what managers might look at in performing each element of a SWOT analysis.

Congratulations, you have been short listed for a prestigious internship at Cromulons Consulting. Before they hire you, they want to see what you’ve got. They have asked you to complete a SWOT analysis of the transport company Uber. Most importantly they do not want a list of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats – this isn’t an analysis. Instead, Cromulons has asked you to determine with Uber’s current strategy of simplicity and convenience is consistent with your SWOT analysis. They also want to know if future plans to move to autonomous transport conflict with what they are currently doing. So now is your chance to get Schwifty and show Cromulons Consulting what you got. Make sure you don’t just list facts under a SWOT. (maximum of 400 words) Uber is an organization founded in 2009, being an American technology company, drawing a bridge between the transportation and technology industries. Where customers are alternatively provided the convenient and easy option for transportation from location to location, via the ride sharing app. The organization reflects a 48+ billion dollar valuation, with employees contracted to act as ‘partners’ to assist in the efficient transportation service, that is convenient, reliable and ultimately costefficient. The organization’s change in management from Kalanick to Khosrowshahi, enabled the shift in focus towards financial stability, with the strategic planning formulating long term goals in 2019 for Uber to raise funds via an IPO, together with the desire of dominating self-driving vehicle space. Consequently, in line with their short term operational and tactical goals of freeing the company from legal disputes and leaving unprofitable markets such as Southeast Asia. The strength of Uber involves that the organization has established a reputable and recognizable brand globally from 2009, emulating convenience, reliability and cost-efficiency characteristics. This in turn has resonated with their customer globally, ensuring significant profitability and growth of the organization internationally, reflected through their total company valuation being greater than 48

billion dollars AUD. Although the brand is competing against other companies across the globe such as Lyft and Grab, the brand of Uber is distinguished and emulates reputable characteristics with their sustenance in the global markets through bringing transportation to everyone and everywhere. Another strength is the adopted three-pronged leadership model, that manages Uber drivers in each country and city the organization transitions into consisting of a general manager, community manager and driver operations manager, that can be advantageous in ensuring the quality of drivers are maintained, and operations are administrated in accordance with the needs of each city. Unlike competitors such as Lyft that adopt a holistic model that does not tend to the market conditions. A controversial strength of Uber is that the organization’s drivers and employees are recognised as independent contractors or ‘partners’, these drivers serving Uber’s transportation services do not receive legal protections and cannot unionize. Where other companies are bound by certain regulations of legal protection for employees, unlike Uber that has no responsibilities to employees, where extra monetary benefits can be avoided maximizing Uber’s net profits for stakeholders. But this can be recognised as a weakness as no legal protection for these drivers globally, can increase the risk of lawsuits regarding incorrect compensation and treatment conditions by the organization to these employees/drivers. Furthermore, the organization continues to have a prevailing negative reputation regarding several scandals that can be a major weakness for Uber’s growth, where there was significant regulatory breaches across operating countries, for example in New Delhi, India where Uber was not operating in accordance with the New Delhi’s Radio Taxi Scheme, 2006 in 2014, together with other allegations regarding theft of intellectual property in comparison to competitors. Thus, impacting the organization in reducing their reputation amongst customers globally, reducing sales growth and in turn lessening their prospective opportunities of expansion into profitable markets. Uber has certain opportunities, with the establishment of long term goals regarding their efforts to raise funds via an IPO and desire to dominate the self-driving vehicle space, their entrance into the self-driving vehicles is opportunistic, cementing their objective of expanding in their innovation sector. Consequently, this goal is in line with their efforts of settling the self-driving car trade secrets lawsuits with Waymo and providing the Alphabet parent company of Waymo a $245 equity settlement, can make it a potential investor into Uber’s progression to success. Hence, broadening their focus towards the innovative self-driving vehicle prospects can increase their chances of gaining a competitive advantage, by a greater number of customers being enticed in divulging in the Uber services. Essentially their focus towards self-driving technology reflected through strategic planning by leaving unprofitable markets such as Southeast Asian markets, will ensure they do not conflict with the autonomous transportation future that is planned, and are in parallel enabling their progression in achieving these objectives efficiently and effectively. In addition, Uber leaving unprofitable markets can in turn increase further increase their total company valuation and prospectively increase their growth as a company, further accumulating their assets and increasing liquidity, enabling their expansion into more demanding international markets by financing this task. In contrast Uber’s autonomous transportation future that is planned can be threatened with selfdriving vehicles not perfected on the innovation front where there have been deaths regarding the vehicles automated functionality, powered by artificial intelligence. Thus, their objective of desiring in dominating the self-driving vehicle industry can be threatened by the unsafety associated to the new innovate strategy and concept that can in turn impact the organization’s long term goals and may require to prioritize through their strategic planning to ensure they devise a course of action and goals that are viable and achievable by the organization. Furthermore, the organization’s significant total valuation can be threatened, impacting their profitability and sale growth as there is an

enforcement of new legal regulations such as China that are strictly and rigidly regulated with policies and laws in a frequent regime that can restrict Uber’s operations as an efficient transportation ride sharing service, that conveniently and reliably transports customers from location to location. For example, the new regulating impacting their acquisition of independent contractors in the specific country of operation where this can reduce the number of drivers, and consequently impact sales and profitability.

Question 2 (Chapter 14) Explain the six areas of organizational control. Organizational management that utilizes controls being the last function of the management process as it involves monitoring performance, with comparison to goals and corrective actions being taken when necessary. Primarily the function assists in the organization to maximize their performance in order to achieve their objectives, where management can minimize or counter problems or threats to the organization ensuring their sustenance. Organizations apply the various steps of the control process to each of their management areas where they must consider; the level of management being operated at, the areas that is drawn for resources, and the control philosophy’s style. The six areas o...