E2 Managing Performance Question and Answers

Porter's Diamond model suggests that there are four factors which determine national competitive advantage.  The four are listed below. Which has the incorrect definition?

Porter's Value Chain model is divided into two main categories. From the choices below identify the TWO categories:

In terms of Porter's Diamond model, a DEMAND condition as applied to the brewing industry in Germany would be which of the following?

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

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

Select ALL that apply.

Which of the following best describes the resource based view of strategy?

A number of managers in an organisation approach change using a variety of techniques. Manager A focuses on staff training. Manager B provides large bonuses for effective project management. Manager C

restructures his team to reduce headcount. Manager D lays out the financial problems in the business and why change is unavoidable. Manager E calls his team together to openly discuss the issues. Manager F calls

for ideas from his team to make the change happen.

Based on Beer and Nohria's change theory, which of these managers can be described as Theory 0 managers?

Select ALL that apply.

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

When comparing a resource based approach with a positioning based approach, which of the following are statements are true about the positioning based approach?

Select ALL that apply.

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

Z is an entrepreneur that has just bought a chain of 10 prestigious restaurants. Z has decided that there is an urgent need for cost savings and plans to install state-of-the-art computer systems to make each restaurant more efficient and less dependent on manual processes. This means that every employee must be trained to operate the new systems and there will be changes in roles and responsibilities.

 

Z has decided to use the biggest restaurant as a training centre, where the new systems will first be installed. Staff from the other restaurants will then train at the biggest restaurant for a week while new systems are installed at their own restaurant.  Z has told the staff that no one will be dismissed because of the changes. The planned opening of a new restaurant will absorb any employees displaced due to the efficiency of the new systems.

 

Z is concerned about staff resistance. Which approach will be most effective in these circumstances?

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

Third party consultants, Member rotation, Confrontation, and Super-ordinate goals are examples of which of the following?

A large medical practice has decided to switch from using hand-written medical records to electronic ones. All 32 staff at the practice use hand-written medical records when performing their jobs and have expressed concerns about switching to the new electronic format. The practice manager has decided to firstly spend time unfreezing the employees' belief that the old way of recording patient records is adequate.

 

The manager will then need to manage the transition by implementing the new electronic recording system. Finally, the manager will need to refreeze the new method of working into the culture of the practice and embed it as the normal way of working.

 

Which analyst developed this three stage approach to change management?

Which of the following is the concept whereby a manager has a right to exercise power on behalf the organisation?

Because of the severity of actions of the employer an employee takes the decision to resign. This could be classed as which of the following?

Which of the following statements relate to the 'hard Ss' in Mckinsy's model?

Select ALL that apply.

After undertaking competitive analysis, a company has assembled the information and is now in a position to benchmark its performance against that of its competitor. A manager has been asked to carry out strategic benchmarking, but he is unsure of what information he should use.

 

Which TWO of the options below could be used to undertake Strategic Benchmarking?

FF Ltd was established three years ago. Since then the company, which provides online financial advice, has experienced rapid growth and the management team has not really had the time to put management systems and procedures into place.

 

The organisation has asked you to look at the way in which the company deals with its disciplinary problems and procedures.

 

Choose from the following ALL that apply as recommended guidelines for drawing up a disciplinary procedure:

Harvey Maylor created a project life cycle model based on four discrete and sequential stages. This is known as the 4D model. One of the stages involves the following activities:

 

- Documentation must be completed. Contracts, letters, accounting records etc. must be filed properly.

- Project systems must be closed down, including accounting systems - only after all costs have been settled.

- Handover to the client/end users must take place, and where appropriate obtain sign-off to signify that the contract is complete.

- Review the project to provide project staff with immediate feedback on performance.

 

To which stage of the 4D model do these activities apply?

Which THREE of the following are determinants of national competitive advantage outlined in Porter's Diamond?

A project team is engaged in a risk assessment process prior to the execution of a major project. One risk is assessed to be of low impact but medium likelihood (probability). In these circumstances the appropriate response is:

A project manager is calculating the budget cost of a single project task called "Server Configuration".

 

This task is estimated to last 8 weeks and requires the full-time services of two software consultants, both for the entire duration of the task.

One consultant commands an inclusive rate of $400/day and the other $40/hour based on an eight hour day. Fixed hardware costs of $12,000 have also been estimated for the task.

 

Calculate the total budget cost for the task (ignoring any other resources or costs) - assuming a five day working week.

 

Give your answer as a whole number.

 

The total cost is $    .

Which TWO of the planning tools listed below show the minimum completion time of a project?

During the early part of the twenty first century, B enjoyed considerable success by providing a large selection of popular movies to rent on DVD, from convenient high street retail stores. Unfortunately, B was slow to adapt to the switch from "bricks" (i.e. stores) to "clicks" (i.e. internet-based services) and  was rapidly overtaken by D and other internet-based movie services.

 

This is an example of a firm that enjoyed considerable success in the past, responds too slowly to changes in the external environment and perseveres for too long with the strategy that once served it very well.

 

Which of the following best defines this practice?

Several researchers have identified strong connections between corporate culture and resistance to organisational change.

 

Which TWO of the following are likely to be most resistant to organisational change:

Which of the following statements are not true based on Stalk, Evans and Schulman's principles of capability-based competition?

Select ALL that apply.

In the model of the organisational iceberg, which of the following is NOT one of the hidden elements?