Management And Decision Making

Question 1

What role does a manager play?

Answer 1

• Sets objectives
• Sorts what resources and work needs to be done to achieve the objectives
• Analyse and interpret data
• Make decisions
• Review effectiveness of decisions
• Appraise employees

Question 2

What is the difference between a manager and a leader?

Answer 2

A manager tells people what to do, they organise resources whereas leader motivate and inspire people to achieve goals

Question 3

What are the different leadership and management styles?

Answer 3

Authoritarian
Paternalistic
Democratic
Laisezz- Faire

Question 4

Describe an authoritarian role?

Answer 4

They make decisions on their own
They identify the objectives of the business and plan how to achieve this
Staff require a lot of supervision as this style may demotivate employees

Question 5

Describe the paternalistic role of management/leadership?

Answer 5

They consult employees when making decisions
They are able to persuade employees
They care about staff and get involved
They’re positive motivators

Question 6

Describe a democratic style?

Answer 6

They encourage employees to partake in decision making
They delegate responsibility and listen to advice
They are confident in their ability to communicate with employees

Question 7

Describe the laissez faire style?

Answer 7

This is the weakest form of leadership/management
They rarely offer coaching and support
They rarely get involved with the runnings of the business

Question 8

When is Laissez-Faire appropriate?

Answer 8

A small, highly motivated workforce

Question 9

What internal factors influence management and leadership styles?

Answer 9

Urgent tasks requires an authoritarian style
A large, unskilled workforce
A small, skilled workforce

Question 10

A large, unskilled workforce requires what type of management/leadership style?

Answer 10

Authoritarian style

Question 11

A small, skilled workforce requires what type of management/leadership style?

Answer 11

Democratic style

Question 12

What external factors affect leadership/management style?

Answer 12

Recession
Economic growth
Increased competition

Question 13

What is the tannenbeum- schmidt continuum?

Answer 13

It puts managers on a scale ranging from autocratic management through increasing levels of participation in decision making by the workforce.

Question 14

How many types of management styles does the Tannenbaum - Schmidt continuum identify?

Answer 14

7

Question 15

What does left 1 state?

Answer 15

Manager makes decisions and announces it

Question 16

What does left 2 identify?

Answer 16

Manager sells decision but the workforce does not have any influence

Question 17

What does left 3 state?

Answer 17

Managers present ideas and invite questions

Question 18

What does left 4 identify?

Answer 18

Manager proposes a problem and discusses it with workforce

Question 19

State what left 5 says?

Answer 19

Proposes problem, discusses it, however manager still makes the decision

Question 20

What does left 6 say?

Answer 20

They outline the problem, sets constraints and lets workforce deal with it

Question 21

What does left 7 say?

Answer 21

The is the ultimate level of freedom, the team define and solve the problem themselves

Question 22

Describe the Blake Mouton Grid?

Answer 22

It assesses managers based on how much they care about employees and how much they care about production

Question 23

Explain what impoverished style is?

Answer 23

The manager/leader has low concern for people and low concern for production

Question 24

Describe what the produce or perish style is?

Answer 24

The manager/leader has a high level of concern for production, they neglect workers

Question 25

What is the country club style?

Answer 25

The manager/leader has a high concern for the workforce, but a low concern for the production

Question 26

What is the middle of the road style?

Answer 26

The manager/leader has a average concern for both production and workers

Question 27

What is team style?

Answer 27

The manager/leader has a high concern for both workers and production

Question 28

Explain what scientific decision making is?

Answer 28

Decisions based on data outcomes compared to initial objectives

Question 29

Name the six components of the scientific decision making process?

Answer 29

``` Set objectives Collect data Analyse data Review decision Implement decision Make the decision ```

Question 30

Describe what intuitive decision making is?

Answer 30

Making decision based on a hunch or instinct. Managers with extensive experience are able to make them successfully. These type of decisions can be made quickly, in situations that are new or unfamiliar

Question 31

What influence does risk have on decision making?

Answer 31

All businesses need to take risks at some point, however it is important they identify whether it will reap high or low rewards for the level of risk they’re taking

Question 32

How does reward influence decision making?

Answer 32

Managers expect rewards from decisions, if they are expecting bigger rewards they’re more likely to be taking more of a risk in terms of their decision

Question 33

How does uncertainty affect decision making?

Answer 33

All decisions involve uncertainty, however to ease this, scientific decision making is appropriate. When there is more uncertainty, a manager is likely to make a decision with low risk

Question 34

What is opportunity cost mean?

Answer 34

The benefit that’s given up in order to do something else, it’s the cost of the choice that’s made.

Question 35

Give three external factors that could influence a decision?

Answer 35

Ethics - moral and social values Resource constraints - resource availability is also a factor (money, time, people and raw materials) Objectives - medium to long term targets that help a business achieve its mission External environment - competition, trends etc Mission statement

Question 36

What is decision tree analysis?

Answer 36

It combines probability and expected pay off to show which course of action is probably the best to take

Question 37

What are the advantages of using decision trees to make decisions?

Answer 37

Makes managers work out and think about the probability and the potential pay off of each outcome of their chosen action They are a visual representation Allow managers to compare options quantitatively and objectively

Question 38

What are the disadvantages of using decision trees to choose a course of action?

Answer 38

They are quantitative - they ignore qualitative data like employee opinions Probabilities are hard to predict accurately