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Of the several uses of standard costing, one of the mostcontroversial is using these standards for performance evaluationof an individual, team, or unit. Consider the labor efficiencyvariance and assume it is one of the measures for a company’sperformance evaluation of a business unit. When might or might notvariance from such a standard be an appropriate measure? How wouldthis metric’s effectiveness as a performance measure be affected bya decrease in demand or changes in production volume? Would itseffectiveness be different for a service unit than a manufacturingunit? In the event that it is not effective as a performancemeasure, does it have a strong purpose? How does this compare withother variances from standard?

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Deanna Hettinger
Deanna HettingerLv2
28 Sep 2019

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Q1. Members are most likely to experience role conflict and divided loyalties in:
a. a cross-functional project team
b. a self-managed operational team
c. a traditional work team
d. an executive team

Q2. Which of the following was not mentioned as a primary determinant of performance for a functional team?
a. how long the current leader has been in that position
b. trust and cooperation among the team members
c. the organization and coordination of activities
d. member agreement about objectives and strategies

Q3. Which is not likely to improve the effectiveness of a self-managed team?
a. let members share in financial gains from improved performance
b. change the membership frequently to give the team fresh ideas
c. provide accurate, timely information relevant to team activities
d. give members training in interpersonal and problem solving skills

Q4. Which process is most likely to occur in an after-activity review?
a. determination of responsibility for errors and mistakes
b. recognition of members for their contributions to the team
c. analysis of what was done well and what needs to be changed
d. selection of the most qualified team leader for the next activity

Q5. Which type of activity is least likely to be delegated to a self-managed team?
a. evaluating each team member's task performance
b. firing a team member who has unsatisfactory performance
c. determining the work procedures to be used by the team
d. determining which team member will carry out each task

Q6. The primary responsibility of the leader of a decision group is to:
a. suggest good ideas for solving the problem
b. ensure that everybody has equal influence
c. encourage group members to reach an agreement quickly
d. structure the discussion in a systematic manner

Q7. The primary purpose of a dialogue session is to:
a. debate competing proposals and identify the best one for the team
b. help members learn more about each other's interests and aspirations
c. encourage members to express their dissatisfaction with each other openly
d. increase understanding of implicit assumptions and mental models

Q8. What was found in research on the effectiveness of self-managed teams?
a. productivity and quality improved substantially
b. organizational commitment usually increased
c. turnover and absenteeism were lower
d. the results were inconsistent across studies

Q9. Which condition is least important for the success of a new strategy?
a. it is based on the core competencies of the organization
b. it is compatible with significant changes in the external environment
c. it has a few clear themes relevant to the shared values of the members
d. it is similar to a strategy that was previously successful

Q10. Which of the following actions by the CEO is not likely to improve the effectiveness of an executive team?
a. clearly define objectives consistent with shared values of team members
b. talk with individuals whenever possible to reduce time in meetings
c. give the team considerable discretion but specify limits of team authority
d. rely more on advice from members with the most expertise

Q11. Which statement about institutionalization in organizations is most accurate?
a. it describes how subunits with expertise gain power in organizations
b. it makes it easier for organizations to adapt to a changing environment
c. it describes how people use power to gain more power
d. it demonstrates why political tactics are unnecessary to maintain power

Q12. What is the best summary of findings in research on leadership succession?
a. chief executives have little influence on organization performance due to the overwhelming influence of economic and market conditions
b. chief executives have a strong impact on organization performance and are the primary determinant of whether the organization prospers or declines
c. chief executives have a moderate impact on organizational performance when measured over a period of several years
d. chief executives influence stock prices but have little or no influence on the firm's actual economic performance

Q13. What pattern of behavior is least likely during the first few months on the job for the new CEO in an organization that is prosperous?
a. the CEO will quickly select a new strategy and make major changes in the organization to look like a confident and dynamic leader
b. the CEO will make changes in the functional areas in which he or she has the most prior experience
c. the CEO will attempt to demonstrate some small successes in dealing with immediate problems to build a favorable image and gain more discretion
d. the CEO will gather and analyze information about the organization and environment in order to determine an appropriate strategy

Q14. Which of the following was not given as a guideline for external monitoring?
a. examine a wide range of developments and trends in the environment
b. make an extra effort to learn what clients and customers want and need
c. identify both the strengths and weaknesses of competing products
d. rely primarily on your own intuition to analyze the environment

Q15. In what situation are executive teams least likely to be useful?
a. the organization includes several business units with diverse products
b. there is intense competition among executives to become the next CEO
c. the organization has a complex and turbulent environment
d. the executives in the team have very diverse backgrounds and perspectives

Q16. Which is not a core performance determinant in the flexible leadership theory?
a. process reliability and efficiency
b. leader experience and technical skills
c. human resources and relations
d. innovation and adaptation

Q17. Research at CCL indicates that the least amount of learning occurred for managers who had:
a. assignments for which they were well prepared
b. challenges they had to face alone
c. opportunities to make mistakes
d. diverse experiences with different types of challenges

Q18. Which statement about leadership development in organizations is least likely to be accurate:
a. leadership development should be consistent with organization strategy
b. developmental activities should be coordinated with formal training
c. self development activities should be maximized to reduce costs
d. leadership development should be integrated with succession planning

Q19. Which of the following usually includes a mix of formal training and learning from experience working on management projects?
a. mentoring
b. job rotation programs
c. action learning
d. behavior modeling

Q20. Which developmental method is most useful for helping managers to understand their inner feelings and values?
a. outdoor challenge programs
b. personal growth programs
c. mentoring programs
d. multisource feedback workshops

Q21. Which approach is used most often for improving leadership?
a. multi-source feedback workshops
b. formal mentoring programs
c. job rotation programs
d. formal training programs

Q22. What two methods are most useful for improving conceptual skills?
a. case analysis and behavior role modeling
b. feedback workshops and simulations
c. simulations and case analysis
d. behavior role modeling and feedback workshops

Q23. In most feedback workshops for management development, the primary source of information about a manager's behavior is:
a. other managers in the workshop who fill out a checklist
b. observers who record the person's behavior during a simulation
c. observation of a videotape taken of the manager doing regular work
d. questionnaires filled out by people with whom the manager works

Q24. Training programs to enhance leadership skills:
a. are widely used for managers in organizations
b. are seldom used for effective managers
c. are used mostly for department supervisors
d. are used mostly for top executives in large organizations

Q25. Which is least likely to be a reason for the "glass ceiling" in large organizations?
a. differences in leadership behavior displayed by men and women
b. implicit theories about the attributes required for effective leadership
c. popular stereotypes about the skills and traits of men and women
d. less encouragement and developmental opportunities for women

22jul15

Q1. Which is not likely to improve the effectiveness of a self-managed team?
a. let members share in financial gains from improved performance
b. change the membership frequently to give the team fresh ideas
c. provide accurate, timely information relevant to team activities
d. give members training in interpersonal and problem solving skills

Q2. Which type of activity is least likely to be delegated to a self-managed team?
a. evaluating each team member's task performance
b. firing a team member who has unsatisfactory performance
c. determining the work procedures to be used by the team
d. determining which team member will carry out each task

Q3. The primary purpose of a dialogue session is to:
a. debate competing proposals and identify the best one for the team
b. help members learn more about each other's interests and aspirations
c. encourage members to express their dissatisfaction with each other openly
d. increase understanding of implicit assumptions and mental models

Q4. Members are most likely to experience role conflict and divided loyalties in:
a. a cross-functional project team
b. a self-managed operational team
c. a traditional work team
d. an executive team

Q5. What is the most useful role for the external leader of a self-managed group?
a. select new members of the group when they are needed
b. mediate internal conflicts and encourage cooperation
c. monitor the group to ensure it does not become a social club
d. serve as a coach, facilitator, and advocate for the group

Q6. Which is not characteristic of Bradford's group-centered leadership?
a. the leader should emphasize group maintenance behavior as much as task oriented behavior
b. the leader should encourage members to share the responsibility for performing leadership functions
c. the leader should strive to maintain a rational discussion without emotional outbursts or expression of feelings
d. the leader should allow the group to make the final choice

Q7. What was found in research on the effectiveness of self-managed teams?
a. productivity and quality improved substantially
b. organizational commitment usually increased
c. turnover and absenteeism were lower
d. the results were inconsistent across studies

Q8. Which leadership function is especially important when a cross-functional team is initially formed to carry out a project?
a. planning and scheduling team activities to meet project deadlines
b. influencing outsiders to provide adequate resources, approvals, and assistance
c. articulating a vision or objective that inspires commitment by team members
d. mediating conflicts among members and helping them find integrative solutions

Q9. Which of the following is least likely to be a reason for an organization's failure to adapt to a changing environment?
a. leaders with a long-term perspective
b. highly specialized subunits
c. declining financial performance
d. institutionalization of power

Q10. Which condition is least important for the success of a new strategy?
a. it is based on the core competencies of the organization
b. it is compatible with significant changes in the external environment
c. it has a few clear themes relevant to the shared values of the members
d. it is similar to a strategy that was previously successful

Q11. What pattern of behavior is most likely for a CEO who has been in office for 3-4 years?
a. after the CEO consolidates power, he or she becomes more willing to experiment with innovative strategies
b. as the CEO gains confidence with a strategy that is working, he or she becomes more excited about gathering information to improve it
c. after the CEO selects a strategy and implements it, he or she becomes complacent and inflexible about changing it
d. after the CEO institutionalizes power, he or she becomes more willing to allow others to participate in making major decisions

Q12. Which condition does not limit a chief executive's discretion to make major changes in the strategy of an organization?
a. the organization has a few major clients who account for most sales
b. the organization has ample financial reserves
c. the culture of the organization is strong
d. the organization has a strong board of directors

Q13. When the competition is intense and the environment is changing rapidly, it is especially important to:
a. maintain a high level of external monitoring
b. have detailed plans and operating procedures
c. increase the power of the chief executive
d. strengthen the organization culture

Q14. When an organization has declining performance, a CEO who has been in office for several years is least likely to:
a. look for ways to improve implementation of the existing strategy
b. make small, incremental changes in the strategy
c. give a pep talk and urge people to redouble their effort
d. make major changes in the organization's strategy

Q15. Which of the following was not given as a guideline for external monitoring?
a. examine a wide range of developments and trends in the environment
b. make an extra effort to learn what clients and customers want and need
c. identify both the strengths and weaknesses of competing products
d. rely primarily on your own intuition to analyze the environment

Q16. Which statement about institutionalization in organizations is most accurate?
a. it describes how subunits with expertise gain power in organizations
b. it makes it easier for organizations to adapt to a changing environment
c. it describes how people use power to gain more power
d. it demonstrates why political tactics are unnecessary to maintain power

Q17. Which of the following usually includes a mix of formal training and learning from experience working on management projects?
a. mentoring
b. job rotation programs
c. action learning
d. behavior modeling

Q18. What training method is most useful for improving interpersonal skills?
a. computer simulations
b. behavior role modeling
c. large scale simulations
d. analysis of short cases

Q19. Which of the following was not recommended for effective training?
a. use concrete examples, diagrams, and mnemonics in explanations
b. relate training objectives to the person's interests and career ambitions
c. integrate complex material into longer learning modules
d. allow ample opportunity for practice with feedback

Q20. Which developmental method is most useful for helping managers to understand their inner feelings and values?
a. outdoor challenge programs
b. personal growth programs
c. mentoring programs
d. multisource feedback workshops

Question:

Identify the ethical dilemma in this scenario:

Comment 1:

Sarah Potterman- Accepting a grant to research the company to which you are evaluating is a conflict of interest. It is difficult to be impartial toward the company that is paying the bills.

Jim Hopler- Changing the rules and omitting the facts to fit the desired outcome is essentially lying no matter how unintentional.

What are the undesirable consequences?

Sarah Potterman- Sarah may feel compelled to do less rigorous research, spin the results to look better for the software company, or just not publish the results if they reflected poorly on the software company. Even if her research was impeccable, she may be accused of partiality by the software company's competitors.

Jim Hopler- If Jim's leaders or customers found that he had skewed the data to improve his results, he could lose face, lose the company customers, or he could lose his job. Additionally, the company would not be making the necessary improvements to reach the goals they set.

Propose an ethical solution that considers the welfare of all the stakeholders.

Sarah Potterman- Ideally, her research would be funded by a non-benefiting party. She could also request the backing of all areas of intervention to see if there would be a way for the funding to be made across the different interventions so as to give the same advantage to all. This would have to be an all or none though.

Jim Hopler- Though the findings that Jim presented to his corporate office were not accurate, they were not using the same criteria to make the evaluation, and they did not meet the goals set by the company, they were still positive findings. Jim would have demonstrated better judgment and integrity by presenting the whole truth. Though the percent of "outstanding" did go down, the rating of "poor" had a significant improvement from 20% down to just 5%. Presenting that the "outstanding" percent went down but overall customer service rating went up would have been honest and potentially impressive enough.

Comment 2:

For the Sarah Potterman case and questions, the ethical dilemma is that Sarah's results may be biased because one firm is giving funds for her to compare it with other firms. The pay, whether or not it could be seen as a gift or not, is still a benefit to Sarah, and could be viewed as bias if she reviews RSPT Inc. more favorably than the other companies. Even if Sarah attempts to not be bias, she may still, unconsciously, choose RSPT Inc. over their competitor. The undesired consequences may be that RSPT Inc. receives an unfair advantage over the competitors and/or the competitors argue that Sarah's review is bias and cause her research to become rejected. Sarah should deny the gift/offer of funding and or request the same amount of funding from the competitors to make sure that the review is fair across the board.

For the Jim Hopler case and questions, the ethical dilemma lies with the changing of facts and numbers. If the company wanted to reduce the number of options, then it would have to reevaluate the initial score keeping procedure, or start from the beginning and scrap the old evaluations. By shrinking the chart, it skewed the information in the favor of the company, but it did not improve overall performance. The inaccuracy that the new numbers negate the reason for creating the survey in the first place. The undesirable effects are that the survey is not compatible with the previous surveys, which should have been kept consistent or re-evaluated accurately. Since it is difficult to go back and re-evaluate accurately, it would be highly recommended to stay with the original survey. By staying with the original survey, the company will be able to change and improve their customer relationships. If the company has decided that they do not want to change any further, than a survey will not make a difference.

Comment 3:

Sarah is researching the effectiveness of various intervention methods, one of which is the interactive system from RSPT. However, different from her sources for the other methods she is researching, RSPT is offering to fund her entire research as well as offering her an unsolicited grant for her data collection expenses. This creates an ethical dilemma as none of her sources for her research should receive any ‘different’ treatment from the others. All sources should feel that they are being treated equally. Even though Sarah might have good intentions and use the money without warranting any favors to RSPT, the credibility of her results might be questionable. Also, if she uses the funds from RSPT Sarah might find herself being biased in her approach and this might affect her results. A suggested ethical approach could be that Sarah does not accept any funding from all of her sources for her research, or she requires each source to contribute the same amount towards her research. At least either way no one source seems to be getting any preferential treatment and Sarah’s research is convincingly transparent to all parties involved.

Part 2

The ethical dilemma that is presented in Jim’s case is that Jim’s team decided to select the statistical analysis that gave them their ‘expected’ results. Submitting the results to corporate portrays success of the changes implemented by Jim and his team, however it is not an accurate representation of the achievement of the goal the team had initially set out to attain. Ignoring the initially computed results prevents Jim’s team from further analyzing their data to obtain a clearer representation of the situation at hand and the problem to be solved. A suggested more ethical approach would be for Jim’s team to adjust their goal so that they aim to improve the ratings of each category, that is, decrease ratings in less favorable categories and increase ratings in more favorable categories. Since the number of ratings for each of the categories are dependent on each other, decreasing the less favorable categories would inherently increase ratings in the more favorable categories.

Comment 4:

In the first scenario the ethical dilemma is that RSPT is going to fund the expenses Sarah’s research. Since RSPT is funding the research project, the consequences could be that there is some bias when it comes to the data that is revealed. Another consequence could be possible manipulation being that they are funding the research. This consequence creates the question of RSPT being allowed to manipulate the data in favor of their product and strategy. My proposal for an ethical solution would be to accept the free software, which Sarah was originally requesting and deny the offer for the funding for the research. That way any possible negative consequences are removed regarding possible bias coming from Sarah or misreporting of the data and if RSPT’s software is the best strategy.

In the second scenario the ethical dilemma scenario is that Jim changed the way the data was calculated in order to make it more favorable for his office’s stats. The consequences are that if the company sees the raw data and how Jim manipulated the data for his benefit, he could be fired. Another consequence could be if there is a problem area that the original data is showing, then that problem will not get solved to increase the numbers, instead Jim will have to continue to figure out ways to manipulate the numbers.

My proposal is to combine poor and below average as below average and then combine above average and outstanding as above average and see the how the numbers have changed from there. If you do that you’ll receive this:

1st survey – Below Average – 25%, Average – 15%, Above Average – 60%

2nd survey – Below Average – 10%, Average – 20%, Above Average – 70%

Now you can see from the changes that Jim has implemented that he has made improvements without unethically manipulating the data.

PLEASE GIVE YOUR VIEW ON BOTH SCENARIOS BASED ON THE COMMENT POSTED ABOVE

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