Date: Thu, 07 Nov 1996 18:25:01 -0500
From: Anne Parker <asparker@email.unc.edu>
Subject: Fwd: Fwd: Study Questions for 131 Exam
To: INLS131-1@listserv.unc.edu
Dr. Daniel tried to post this earlier this week, but for some
reason it
never made it to any of us. If you don't have a printed copy of
the
questions in your folders, you will shortly. I'll also post the
questions
from the class web page
http://www.ils.unc.edu/daniel/131syl96.html
Remember that lecture notes from several sessions are available
from the
web version of the course syllabus. Some of the questions are
drawn from
those notes. The remainder are drawn from the readings.
--Anne
===================
Dear 131 Students,
Attached is a long list of study questions for the 131 exam. I
hope many
of them (if not most) will look familiar to you. Anne and I will
select
a subset from this long list for the exam questions. There will
be no
surprises on the exam.
Please come to the exam with paper (notebook paper will be fine).
Expect
to write for most of the hour and fifteen minute duration of the
class.
The test will be, in part, a power test. That is, your ability
to
respond rapidly to the questions posed will be an important aspect
in
doing well.
Anne will put the study questions up as a web document attached
to the
class outline in addition to the attachment you have here, but
the
documents will be the same.
Evelyn Daniel
-----End Of Forwarded Message -----
What is a modern definition of management ?
What is the difference between managerial and technical activities? Give some examples of each.
Describe some of the common sources of tension between a manager's view of his/ her role and that of a subordinate.
What was the classical approach to management and how does it differ from Theory Y? management?
Match these people to a term or phrase which applies to them: Douglas McGregor, Frederick Taylor, Henry Gantt, Herbert Simon, Frederick Herzberg, Abraham Maslow, David McClelland, W. Edwards Deming, Tom Peters, Henry Mintzberg.
Describe a case, hypothetical or real, which demonstrates the Hawthorne effect.
What are Mintzberg's coordinating principles?
How does Mintzberg describe the key components of an organization?
A business exists within a complex external environment which consists of economic, political, social and technological factors. For an organization of your choice, as a manager list a few examples of each of these factors that you would need to be knowledgeable about.
The internal environment of a business is defined by human, financial, physical and technological resources. Show how these resources are used and transformed in an open systems model of an organization.
The four major activities in the management process are feedback, controlling, evaluation, and planning. What is the sequence of these activities? What is the purpose and outcome of each?
Hill describes some of the changes in perceptions, relative importance of aspects of the job, and relationships with fellow workers --peers, subordinates, superiors. Select one of these areas and indicate what kind of changes new managers typically move through during their first year on the job.
Why is it important to develop standards of performance?
In the continuum of participative to authoritative management styles, what are the advantages and disadvantages of each?
What are some of the common pitfalls encountered by new managers?
What are the differences between strategic, administrative, and operational decision-making and what levels of management are typically associated with each?
What is the basic question of planning at the strategic level? Give a one or two sentence example of a strategic planning situation.
For long-range planning?
For operational planning?
Who is typically involved in each type of planning?
What are the outputs of each?
The five components in determining strategy are determining opportunity, capability, values, and obligations, then matching these factors at an acceptable risk level to a statement of purpose. Describe the SWOT approach and its relationship to these components.
What are three of the key questions to ask in evaluating a strategy?
What is the definition of management by objectives? What are the characteristics of an objective? When might MBO not be applicable?
List three examples of objectives for a library or information agency.
Jobs are defined by statements of responsibility and standards of performance for each. Assume you are the head of reference in a library or the help desk manager in a computing center. List 3 statements of responsibility for your position. For each responsibility list an example objective performance standard and a subjective performance standard. Be sure each performance standard meets the criteria for performance standards given in Montana and Chernov (related to one responsibility, be specific, have a target date, be attainable, if possible, if possible, be a result rather than an activity).
1. Statement of responsibility:
Example objective standard:
Example subjective standard:
2. Statement of responsibility:
Example objective standard:
Example subjective standard:
3. Statement of responsibility:
Example objective standard:
Example subjective standard:
Why is it important to involve subordinates in drafting responsibilities and performance standards?
When and why does organizing occur?
Define the key characteristics of Mintzberg's structural configurations for organizations:
Simple Structure
Machine Bureaucracy
Professional Bureaucracy
Divisionalized
Adhocracy
Define unity of command, state why it is important, and why it is sometimes not possible.
Organizing involves grouping related functions into manageable units for efficiency and effectiveness. Grouping by specialized function is the most common criteria for grouping. List four other ways and indicate in a phrase when each might be better than using function as the basis of the organizing scheme.
Delegation makes management possible. What are some key principles involved?
Discuss the relationship between risk and trust in delegation and in negotiations. What can the manager do to create conditions under which trust can exist?
Draw a simple (no more than 6 "boxes") organization chart for a line organization. For a line and staff organization. For a matrix organization.
Mintzberg defines various parts of the organization and asserts that each of them exerts a characteristic pull. For example, the operational level of an organization exerts a pull towards professionalism and participative management. For two other parts of the organization, indicate what kind of "pull" might be expected.
The job interview is the major process by which an organization evaluates the fit between the organization and the prospective employee. Why is it important to take the time to interview thoroughly.
What are some of the forbidden questions that violate EEO (Equal Employment Opportunity) guidelines?
From the perspective of the interviewer, list 3 "Do's" and 3 "Don'ts" in job interviewing.
Compensation may be monetary or non-monetary compensation. What are the factors which impact the level of compensation?
In a rapidly changing field such as information services, continued employee development is critical. List six different ways employees can develop new skills on the job.
Why is performance review a critical management function?
What steps should a manager follow to increase the likelihood of a successful performance review?
Herb White says that subordinates want to be evaluated and that they understand the need for it. He discusses five aspects of the process of evaluation: job description, delegation, mentoring or role modeling, performance evaluation, and reward mechanisms. Select one of these aspects and describe what constitutes good management practice in it.
Match the common motivating factors listed in Montana and Chernov
to Mazlow's five level Hierarchy of Needs:
Motivating factor Hierarchy level
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
(1) respect for me as a person
(2) Good pay
(3) Opportunity to do interesting work
(4) Feeling my job is important
McClelland's theory of human motives concerns how motives of achievement, power, and affiliation affect behavior in the work environment. Give two examples of strategies you might use as a manager to motivate people who are strongly associated with each of McClelland's categories.
Other theories of human motivation that we read about include Vroom's notion of expectancy, Skinner's reinforcement theory, and Herzberg's notion of satisfiers and dissatisfiers. Select one of these and describe the basic tenets of the theory. How might you use the theory to motivate workers?
What are the sources of individual power within the organization? Give an example of each. Indicate whether or not these are associated with formal or informal leadership.
The behavioral approach to leadership emphasizes that leadership incorporates two basic dimensions, employee orientation and task orientation which can be emphasized depending on the situation. Describe the four "environmental" factors which influence leadership effectiveness in contingency theories of leadership.
Fiedler in developing a contingency leadership theory identifies three factors that affect the leader's effectiveness: the leader-member relations, the task structure, and the leader's position power. For these three elements, describe the situations when, according to Fiedler, the leader should adopt a more directive style and when he/she should adopt a more permissive approach.
There are many theories of leadership. Many of them deal with the leader's relationship to the task and to people. They often employ a contingency or situational approach. Describe your understanding of these aspects of leadership.
Management: The Control Function
The control function of management involves setting performance standards, measuring performance, using feedback effectively,and taking corrective action, if necessary. Specify an important task and determine an appropriate performance standard for it. Then describe how performance might be measured, telling when and how frequently the measurement would take place. Indicate what is an acceptable level of performance based on your measure. Describe the feedback you might give an employee on the results of your measure, when and how frequently, and what kind of corrective action you might take if the level of performance is not at the acceptable level.
Assume you are responsible for setting up and managing an information support service. You will have two employees, one on salary for $32,000 per year and the other on hourly wage at $10 an hour for 20 hours a week. Both employees will require work stations at a cost of $2500 each. Maintenance cost is expected to be 10% of the cost. Your employees will be provided with office furniture and space. For the use of these and utilities, you will be charged 20% of your operational budget. Supplies are estimated at $300 per year per employee. Estimated telephone charges are $60 per month. Additional expenses will include $3000 for training and development, $500 for travel, $150 for memberships in professional associations, $300 for online charges and journals, and $250 for miscellaneous expenses. Calculate the budget and present your budget in a standard form. In a second column, show where you would reduce your expenses if you were asked to take a 10% cut in the budget. Write a brief explanation for your cuts.
Work Groups:
Provide brief definitions of the following terms: span of control, unofficial organization, group norms, organizational climate.
What is the difference between teams, task forces and committees?
Describe the typical stages a group goes through. At what point can a group be charged with more complex tasks?
Describe some of the techniques for introducing change and creative thinking in organizations. - quality circle, brainstorming, nominal groups, Delphi, focus groups.
What are some of the differences between formal and informal groups?
What are some ways groups can develop new ideas?
Communication Skills
Draw the basic communication model and label its parts.
Discuss filtering as both a physiological and a psychological process.
Describe some of the communication filtering that takes place in organizations, in particular as one considers upward and downward communication.
Conflict:
Five strategies for dealing with organizations conflicts are discussed: avoidance, smoothing, dominance, compromise, confrontation. For any two, what are some of the expected outcomes of using these strategies? Under what conditions, might the strategies you selected be advantageous?
What are some sources of conflict that managers might have to deal with?
Quality Movement:
Identify five possible dimensions of service quality (we considered 10). What observations might one make or what questions might one ask to determine whether an organization, department or individual showed positive evidence on this dimension?
What special contribution to the quality movement did Deming make?
Production and Operations Management
What is the difference between a balance sheet, a cash flow statement, and an income and expense (sometimes called profit and loss) statement.
Define PERT and CPM. Why and under what circumstances might a manager make use of these techniques?
As a project, you have been given a team of four people and asked to analyze a serial control system and to design a more efficient method. From your preliminary inspection you have determined that the following tasks ;need to be accomplished and you have developed a preliminary estimate of the time involved to complete each one. From the list of tasks and time, construct a PERT chart and determine the critical path. If the project begins on January 1, what is your estimated completion date?
Time Management
Describe Stephen Covey's general approach toward time management.
Identify 4-5 of the suggestions various writers have put forward for good time management. Which of these do you think could be most helpful to you? Why?
Negotiations
What are some typical behaviors that people entering a situation of unequal power often exhibit? What advice might you have for them?
What conditions can you create that will foster trust?
What are some good rules of thumb to use in a negotiation situation?
Define "principled negotiations."
International Management
What are some of the effects of global marketing? What are some of the reasons why a company might turn to the international arena?
What kinds of information might an organization seeking to become
an international company need?