MGMT 303 Midterm Exam - Latest

MGMT 303 Midterm Exam - Latest


Question 1.1. (TCO 1) One example of a firm studying its ____ is an annual assessment of the labor supply available to the company. (Points : 5)

      
1
 organizational culture
      
2
 internal environment
      
3
 external environment
      
4
 organizational mission

 

Question 2.2. (TCO 2) Various social networks have enabled people to stay in contact with each other. It also hurts relationships when too much information is shared. This reflects the _____ element of the general environment. (Points : 5)

      
1
 economic
      
2
 task
      
3
 political/legal
      
4
 sociocultural
      
5
 technological

 

Question 3.3. (TCO 3) The United Nations says that companies should have core values that include all EXCEPT (Points : 5)

      
1
 anti-corruption
      
2
 concern for stockholders
      
3
 human rights
      
4
 labor standards
      
5
 the environment 

 

Question 4.4. (TCO 4) With whom is the United States involved in an agreement which creates a vast economic bloc? (Points : 5)

      
1
 The African Union
      
2
 The Latin American Integration Association
      
3
 The Caribbean Common Market
      
4
 Canada and Mexico
      
5
 Pacific Asia

 

Question 5.5. (TCO 5) You have decided to become a small business owner. On your business plan, you state that the business will offer exceptional customer service while providing locally grown vegetables and fruits that are organically grown. What part of the business plan does this represent? (Points : 5)

      
1
 A strategic goal
      
2
 An operational plan
      
3
 A mission statement
      
4
 A strategic plan
      
5
 A tactical plan

 

Question 6.6. (TCO 6) An organization or an entrepreneur can look for opportunities in different external areas according to Peter Drucker. When the opportunity is due to a change by altering the types and quantities of products and services desired and cutomers' buying power, this is _______. (Points : 5)

      
1
 industry and market structure changes.
      
2
 demographics changes.
      
3
 perception change.
      
4
 the unexpected or unanticipated change.
      
5
 none of the above.

Question 7.7. (TCO 1) Mintzberg studied managerial roles and created a model with managerial roles. What are those roles? What does each role require? (Points : 10)

According to our text, Henry Mintzberg created three managerial roles. These roles include interpersonal, information, and decisions roles. The interpersonal role requires a figurehead, leader, and a liaison. Informational roles require monitor, disseminator, and a spokesperson. Or in other words, informational roles involve "collecting, receiving, and disseminating information" (Pg 11). Decision roles need an entrepreneur, disturbance handler, resource allocator, and negotiators. According to Mintzberg, decisional roles should involve thinking and doing.

Question 8.8. (TCO 2) Explain the differences between global sourcing, strategic alliance, and foreign subsidiary. (Points : 10)

According to our textbook, global sourcing is the practice of purchasing goods and services from the around the world wherever it is least costly (Pg 82). A strategic alliance is a partnership between two entities in which they both share their resources and knowledge with each other in order to develop and design new products and/or building production facilities. Oftentimes organizations are partnered with other foreign companies to make this strategic alliance (Pg 83). A foreign subsidiary is when a company or organization directly invests into a foreign country by setting up independent offices or production facilities (Pg 83).

Question 9.9. (TCO 3) Give five arguments for and five against a company being socially responsible. (Points : 10)

The arguments for and against being socially responsible are as follows:

 

For:

1) Public expectations

2) Ethical obligation

3) Long-run profits

4) Better environment

5) Balance of responsibility and power

 

Against:

1) Violation of profit maximization

2)Dilution of purpose

3) Costs

4) Lack of skills

5) Too much power

 

Our text actually lists several more examples of for and against a company being socially responsible on page 132.

Question 10.10. (TCO 4) What is the World Trade Organization and why is it important to the global environment? (Points : 10)

"The World Trade Organization is a worldwide organization of 155 countries that deals with the rules of trade among nations" (Pg 80). The WTO is important to the global environment because for instance, the major goal of the WTO is to help these selected countries conduct trade through set rules in order to prevent inconsistent trading. During global economic crisis, the World Trade Organization has helped all the partnered nations stay active in trading. WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy said, "During these difficult times, the multilateral trading system has once again proven its value. WTO rules and principles have assisted governments in keeping markets open and they now provide a platform from which trade can grow as the global economy improves."

Question 11.11. (TCO 7) Briefly describe the bureaucratic model of organizational design. (Points : 10)

The bureaucratic model of organizational design involves six key elements in order for organizational design to be successful. The first element is organizing. Organizing involves arranging and structuring work to accomplish the organization's goals. The second element is organizational structure. This includes the formal arrangement of jobs within a specific organization. The organizational chart is another key factor in organizational design. The chart helps give visual representation of an organizations structure and design. The last element would be organizational design itself. This element involves creating or changing an organization's structure completely (Pgs 332-333).

 

In summary, the bureaucratic model of organizational design includes reports that consist of financial activities pertaining to expenses and revenues of the organization. This model also outlines the procedure each company has in order to accomplish their mission and to assist their customers.

Question 12.12. (TCO 4) Describe three environmental challenges of international management. (Points : 15)

Three of the most important environmental challenges of international management include economic, political/legal, and cultural challenges. The economic environment has three aspects  of its own that contribute into the challenges of international management and those are the economic system, natural resources, and infrastructure. Each one of these I have mentioned has their own elements that are extremely important for management to consider.

 

The political/legal environment has four different components such as: government stability, incentives for international trade, controls on international trade, and economic communities. All of these are just as important to consider before entering into an international business.

 

The cultural environment includes values, symbols, beliefs, language, and individual behaviors across culture. The cultural environment appears to be the most challenging one because it requires management to learn and deal with all of the issues that I previously stated, while at the same time considering their economic environment, as well as their political/legal environment. It takes a high level of skills to be able to perform as a management internationally.

Question 13.13. (TCO 5) Identify a company and write a brief SWOT analysis for that company. (Points : 15)

The company that I did my SWOT analysis on was Visa Credit Card. Here is a brief SWOT Analysis for them.

 

Strength:

The VisaNet.  The backbone of Visa is its VisaNet, which provides real-time global networks.  It enables about 40,000 transactions to be authorized, cleared, and settled per second, and claimed to be fully operational 99.99999% of the time.  Through this system, Visa is able to support and advance financial inclusion around the world -for emerging, developed and developing markets.  It gives the company the confidence that it has the infrastructure, the products, and expertise to secure and foster its relationship to its clients by offering secure and reliable tools (Visa Inc., 2013).

 

Weakness:

Weak Presence in China.  While Visa is strong in Western countries and other developing countries, its presence is considered weak in China. China, being one of the world- biggest and growing markets for payment cards, provides great opportunities for expansion.  However, China is currently dominated by UnionPay mainly due to its government- prolonged protectionism policy.  With the country- adherence to WTO and direction to allow foreign providers to issue credit cards, there is a huge potential market that Visa has yet to explore (Gentili, N., et.al, 2013).

 

Opportunity:

Continued Growth in Global Economy.  Visa- business grows as world economy grows with personal consumption expenditure as the main driver.  This year, OECD reported that although the annual global economic may have decelerated to 3.2%, it continues to pick up.  This is primarily brought by US economy- bouncing back from its last financial crisis dilemma (Hannon, 2014).  This poses a healthy opportunity for Visa to grow.

 

Threat:

Evolving Technologies for Network Access and Partnerships.  While this may pose as opportunities, it can also bring challenges to Visa at the same time.  If Visa does not keep pace with improvement in technology, other rival payment networks can grab its share of the market. Investing in technology meant continuous innovation and capital requirement.  It can be challenging in Visa- business environment that is becoming heavily regulated (Visa Inc, 2013).

 

Visa Inc. (2013). Annual Report; Retrieved from

http://investor.visa.com/files/doc_downloads/annual%20meeting/Visa%20Annual%20Report%202013%20final%20website.pdf

 

Gentili, N, Rojo, A and Shain, B (Apr 2013). Visa Strategy Report.Bridges Consulting.

Retrieved from http://economics-files.pomona.edu/jlikens/SeniorSeminars/Likens2013/reports/visa.pdf

 

Hannon, P (Sep 2014). Global Economic Growth Picked up in Second Quarter Says OECD. The

Wall Street Journal. Retrieved from http://online.wsj.com/articles/global-economic-growth-picked-up-in-second-quarter-1410429823

 

SWOT—acronym that stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats.

The best strategies are (1) exploit opportunities and strengths, (2) neutralize threats, and (3) avoid (or correct) weaknesses.

Question 14.14. (TCO 6) Describe three major important roles of entrepreneurship in the American economy. (Points : 15)

The three major important roles of entrepreneurship in the American economy would be the following:

 

1) Employment

2) Research and Development

3) Wealth

 

When people become entrepreneurs, they become self-supporting citizens while at the same time, helping other people acquire employment, which in return helps the economy grow. Each entrepreneur has their own goals, ideas, opportunities, and visions, which is unique even though the type of business might be located down the block. Almost all of the innovations made today are done by entrepreneurs. If there wasn't any entrepreneurs or inventors, there wouldn't be as much global development. Finally, wealth is a large factor in entrepreneurship in the American economy, not only for individual entrepreneurs, but for the nation as a whole. The larger the entrepreneurship, the larger the contribution to the nation is, by both employment as well as taxation.

Question 15.15. (TCO 7) In what ways are virtual and learning organizations different from the typical organization? (Points : 15)

Virtual and learning organizations consist of a small amount of full time employees and outside contractors hired when they are needed to work on projects. Most typical organizations are companies that manufacture goods or provide services. The main difference between these two types of organizations is that virtual and learning organizations usually have less amount of employees than typical organizations. Most virtual and learning organizations have a strong internal organizational culture that allows all of the employees to have the same mindset and willingness to work mutually. In typical organizations, like manufacturing organizations, this isn't usually the case.

 

A virtual organization is one with little or no formal structure. A virtual organization tends to conduct most, if not all, of its business online. This organization usually has few permanent workers, a small staff, and an administrative facility. Depending on the needs, temporary workers can be brought in as needed and facilities can be leased when there is a need. A virtual organization tends to outsource much of the basic services. A virtual organization exists in response to its specific needs.

A learning organization is one that works to facilitate the lifelong learning and personal development of all of its employees while continually transforming itself to respond to changing demands and needs. The focus of the learning organization is improved quality, continuous improvement, and the measurement of performance. The thought is that by constantly enhancing and upgrading the talents, skills, and knowledge of employees, the organization will be strategically positioned to take advantage of emerging trends or changes in the economy, thus creating a competitive advantage for the organization.