E2 Managing Performance Questions and Answers

According to Belbin the success of a group can depend significantly upon the balance of individual skills and personality types within the group. A well balanced group should contain eight main character types.

Which THREE of the following are character types as identified by Belbin?

Which of the following are examples of problems associated with group working?

(i) The Abilene paradox

(ii) Synergy

(iii) Risky Shift

(iv) Groupthink

(v) Conformity

Which of the following are classed as part of the move stage of Lewin's model of change?

Select ALL that apply.

A company has a number of Strategic Business Units (SBUs), one of which operates in a market that is experiencing high growth. The SBU has only been in operation for a short while and therefore its market share relative to its competitors is small.

Which of the following is the most appropriate term for the SBU according to the Boston Consulting Group model?

A Company is undertaking a project for the first time and has given the Finance Manager the task of managing the project. He has been advised to use PERT, as it will help him with his Critical Path Analysis (CPA).

What information will the calculation using PERT provide the Finance Manager with to use in his CPA?

An organisation undertakes a planned strategy and it is currently at the stage of completing a strategic analysis.

It has defined what it is seeking to achieve, identified the strengths and weaknesses of the company and has undertaken a corporate appraisal.

What stage of its strategic analysis has the organisation failed to carry out?

According to Kurt Lewin, which of the following leadership styles was thought to result in the highest level of productivity and satisfaction?

In preparation for listing on the UK stock market a company has started to set up the various committees needed to comply with the UK Corporate Governance Code.

It has identified the need for an Audit Committee and has listed the characteristics below but are not sure if they are all correct.

Which of the options below is NOT a characteristic of the Audit Committee?

W is the supervisor of the house-keeping team in a large hotel. X, a member of the team, is consistently late to work which means that other team members have to perform extra work. A number of team members have also complained to W about X's aggressive behaviour. Two months ago W spoke to X informally about these issues and for a short period things improved.

But it is now clear that X is again displaying unacceptable behaviour and upsetting colleagues. W knows further action must now be taken to deal with the situation.

With reference to the disciplinary process, which is the best course of action for W to take?

A, the Project Manager of Team Y, is frustrated at the lack of progress in the implementation of the new IT system. The team has the required skills and working conditions are good.

Which THREE of the following factors can A usefully manipulate to motivate the team to greater effort?

According to Kotter's process of change, what is the purpose of building a guiding coalition?

A large department store currently employs a total of 110 staff, of whom 72 are part-time hourly paid employees. The part-time employees generally work the same number of hours every week and have a stable pattern of work and regular income. During busy periods there is the opportunity for over-time, which is payable at 50% more than the normal hourly rate.

A new chief executive is aware that some part-time staff work much harder than others and intends to address the situation by moving all part-time staff onto zero hours contracts where no paid hours are guaranteed and the personal workload of each employee is notified in advance each week. Overtime should be eliminated. In return, the basic hourly rate will be increased by 20% and there will be opportunities for promotion and new responsibilities.

News of these changes has caused considerable unrest. The HR Director knows that resistance to change will have to be managed very carefully and is using Lewin's force field model as the framework for analysis. Which restraining forces are present in the scenario?

Select ALL that apply.

 Which of the following does NOT describe the theory of the transformational super-leader?

The means by which competitive advantage might be gained differs, depending on whether a resource based approach or a positioning approach is adopted.

Which of the following options characterises the resource based approach?

Select ALL that apply:

An insurance group is contemplating a proposal to outsource its customer call centre. The centre is currently managed as an internal function. Before taking a strategic decision, the group directors are assessing not only the long term operating costs but all the transaction costs associated with a change to an external provider.

In the context of this proposal, what are the transaction costs that would need to be considered by the directors?

Select ALL that apply.

Many analysts and researchers have written about understanding resistance in order to bring about successful and enduring changes in an organisation.

One writer wrote that "An issue is held in balance by the interaction of two opposing sets of forces - those seeking to promote change (driving forces) and those attempting to maintain the status quo (restraining forces)".

Select this writer.

Which of the following are influential drivers of outsourcing?

Select ALL that apply.

The new Chief Executive of P Company has recently announced that there will be significant changes made to how the company operates. He has stated that his vision for the company cannot be achieved within the existing organisational paradigm.

Although the changes are significant, due to increased competitive pressures, the Chief Executive has commented that changes will need to be made quickly.

Which of the following types of change will occur in P Company?

Identify the benefit of using PRINCE2:

What event occurs between the second and third stages of Gido and Clement's Project Life Cycle?

John is a young management accountant who, after completing his examinations recently, was put in charge of a small established accounts department.

At his first progress review with his superior, he was very confident and enthusiastic about numerous initiatives. John expressed disappointment that his staff were so reactionary and uncooperative.

It would seem most of the staff reporting to John are dissatisfied about his leadership. The younger ones are frightened of him and they say he his always in a hurry. The older ones who have worked in the department for years are worried about John's risky decisions. Others resent him and are frustrated that John never listens to their ideas.

Which behaviour should John adopt to improve motivation in the department?

KK manufactures mobile phones and it possesses an inimitable resource in the mobile phone market in which it currently competes.

Which of the following  best describes this type of resource?

A company has used the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) matrix to plot the position of its products according to their relative market share and the growth of the market.

It has identified that it has several products under the heading of star.

Which of the following best describes its likely cash position? 

University Z is about to take on a major project of changing from traditional written examinations to computer-based objective test questons.

Y is the systems manager at the university and has been appointed as the Project Manager. The university is very traditional in its management structure, whereby functional specialists manage each department.  However, for this project, Y considers that a matrix structure would be required. The Vice Chancellor is not convinced that a matrix structure would be appropriate.

There are a number of advantages of a matrix structure. Which of the following should Y use in his argument to convince the Vice Chancellor that a matrix structure is appropriate?

Select ALL that apply. 

The ability to negotiate is an important management skill. Which approach to negotiation is less likely to result in future further conflict?

Which of the following options contains the four criteria of a unique resource identified by Barney (1991) ?

An employee of a company has been asked to explain the difference between a Grievance and Disciplinary Action. The employee knows the definitions of both and, whilst they have two examples of actions which would result in Disciplinary Action, they can only think of one circumstance which may result in a Grievance, and this is Discrimination.

Which of the following could the employee use as an additional example of a Grievance? 

A mission statement describes the organisation's basic function in society. Which of the following is NOT an element of a mission statement?