Introduction To Management (Possible Exam Questions)

Front 1

Define management and what managers do. (4)

Back 1

Management is the attainment of organisational goals through planning, organising, leading and controlling. Managers have to get things done through people and resources and provide leadership and direction.

Front 2

Describe two external environments, the general environment and the task/competitive environment. (4)

Back 2

The general environment contains several areas including politics and laws, the economy, socio-cultural factors e.g., values and beliefs and technological advantages.

The task environment contains competitors within the industry, customers, suppliers and the labour market to supply employees.

Front 3

What is stakeholder analysis? (4)

Back 3

Stakeholders have a stake in the organisation and can be internal or external. Therefore by using stakeholder analysis decisions can be improved by identifying and considering stakeholders. This can be done by stakeholder mapping as seen in figure 1.

Front 4

Explain PEST analysis and give an example for each area. (4)

Back 4

PEST analysis considers four factors Political, Environmental, Social and Technological and tries to understand how each factor impacts the business. An example of each includes political tax policy or employment laws, economic growth or interest rates, social factors such as population growth rate and health and technological such as R&D and rate of technological change.

Front 5

Outline the stages of the planning process. (4)

Back 5

Define goals which can be monitored, set the goals, make action plans, review how things are going, appraise appropriately.

Front 6

What is organisational planning. (4)

Back 6

Organisation planning starts with a mission statement in which a broad definition of the businesses scope and operations is set out. Then long term plans are made with professional and personal objectives. After that short term plans are made in order to account for the available resources and man power. Finally plans for day to day operations are made in order to help things run smoothly.

Front 7

Explain the difference between Herzberg's hygiene and motivation factors and give three examples. (4)

Back 7

Motivators influences level of satisfaction whereas hygiene factors influence level of dissatisfaction.

Motivators - achievement, recognition, responsibility and personal growth.

Hygiene factors - working conditions, pay and security, company policies and interpersonal relationships.

Front 8

List Maslow's needs in descending order. (6)

Back 8

Physiological needs e.g., food, water, warmth and rest.

Safety needs e.g., security.

Belongingness and love needs e.g., intimate relationships and friends.

Esteem needs e.g., prestige and feeling accomplishment.

Self actualization e.g., achieving ones full potential, including creative activities.

Front 9

Motivation theories based on contemporary approaches are classified into three groups content theories, process theories and reinforcement theories. For each outline the main idea and name two examples. (8)

Back 9

Reinforcement theories aim to show the relationship between behaviour and consequences e.g., use of rewards and punishment. One can use positive reinforcement, punishment and extinction to implement these. Process theories include goal setting theory which increases motivation by setting goals, this can be achieved by setting difficult goals and getting feedback. Content theories conclude that if managers want to understand employees needs that need to have appropriate reward systems which motivate people. Such as Maslow's hierarchy of needs which shows that as you achieve more you move up the pyramid until you reach self-actualisation.

Front 10

With reference to the BCG matrix explain 'star', 'cash cow', 'question mark' and 'dog'. (4)

Back 10

The BCG matrix is an example of corporate level strategy that determine what a company should or wants to be in.

Star - Ensure growth exceeds required investment for growth. Usually at growth stage of life cycle.

Question mark - Invest heavily to increase market share or liquidate. Usually at the product stage of its life cycle.

Cash cow - Foundation of a company; high profits, low investment. Usually at maturity stage of its life cycle.

Dog - Ensure cashflow or liquidate. Usually at the end of the product life cycle.

Front 11

How can one develop an effective workforce? (2)

Back 11

Train them through on the job training, mentoring, classroom training or self-directed learning or give the performance appraisals such as employee feed back or employer feedback.

Front 12

What is the purpose of a budget? (2)

Back 12

An estimate of costs, revenues and resources over a specific period which reflects the future financial conditions and goals of the business.

Front 13

Define financial analysis. (2)

Back 13

Using analysis on finances to determine how well a business is doing and if it can improve or increase its profit. It can use break-even analysis or marginal analysis.

Front 14

What are the stages of team development? (3)

Back 14

A team is two or more people who work together and have regular interaction while working towards a shared goal. There are four stages of team development, forming - storming - norming and performing.

Front 15

What are the advantages of decentralisation? (2)

Back 15

It can help make operations more efficient as a manager can make a decision rather than waiting for it to go up the chain of command, employees can feel empowered as they have more autonomy over there own decisions.

Front 16

What information do financial statements show? (3)

Back 16

They show the finances of the business and contain the balance sheets, income statement, cash flow statement and statement of changes in owners equity or stakeholders equity.

Front 17

What information do budgets show? (2)

Back 17

They show how much money is allocated to each section of a business or each task and how much is spent.