What managers do (8,9,10,11)

Question 1

What is data in a decision-making context?

Answer 1

Quantifiable, measurable information collected to help make decisions.

Question 2

What makes data useful?

Answer 2

Timeliness, quality, completeness, relevance, and understandability.

Question 3

How does Netflix use data?

Answer 3

Tracks watch habits, pauses, and stops to decide what shows to create.

Question 4

How does Spotify use data?

Answer 4

Tracks listens and skips to promote artists and plan tours.

Question 5

How does TikTok use data?

Answer 5

Tracks views and scroll speed to generate addictive content feeds.

Question 6

What are the two types of decisions?

Answer 6

Programmed (routine problems) and Non-programmed (unique problems).

Question 7

What are the three decision conditions?

Answer 7

Certainty, risk, and uncertainty.

Question 8

What is the New Coke example used to illustrate?

Answer 8

A real-world failure due to flawed decision-making under risk/uncertainty.

Question 9

What is planning?

Answer 9

The process of setting objectives and determining how to accomplish them.

Question 10

What are the five steps in the planning process?

Answer 10

1. Set objectives 2. Assess current position 3. Consider future conditions 4. Explore actions 5. Implement and evaluate.

Question 11

What is a plan?

Answer 11

A document that outlines how goals will be achieved.

Question 12

What is strategy compared to planning?

Answer 12

Strategy defines what the organization is about and how it will succeed compared to competitors, while planning details actions within a time period.

Question 13

What is strategic management?

Answer 13

The ongoing process of formulating and implementing strategies to achieve long-term goals and sustain competitive advantage.

Question 14

What are examples of sustainable competitive advantages?

Answer 14

Knowledgeable teams, strong structures, innovation capabilities, unique culture.

Question 15

What is SWOT analysis?

Answer 15

A tool to assess Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats.

Question 16

What are the four strategy styles from “Your Strategy Needs a Strategy”?

Answer 16

Classic, Adaptive, Shaping, Visionary.

Question 17

When is the classic strategy style best used?

Answer 17

In predictable environments where the organization has little power to change the industry.

Question 18

What is the adaptive strategy style?

Answer 18

A responsive strategy used in unpredictable environments with limited control.

Question 19

What is the shaping strategy style?

Answer 19

Used when the organization can influence an uncertain environment.

Question 20

What is the visionary strategy style?

Answer 20

Used when the organization can anticipate and influence the future environment.

Question 21

What is Porter’s Generic Strategies framework used for?

Answer 21

To define how a business can gain a competitive edge (e.g. cost leadership, differentiation, focus).

Question 22

What is an emergent strategy?

Answer 22

A strategy that evolves over time from a series of small decisions and responses to change.

Question 23

What is bounded rationality?

Answer 23

The idea that decision-makers operate within limits of information and cognitive capacity, often “muddling through.”

Question 24

What are heuristics?

Answer 24

Mental shortcuts used in decision-making that can introduce bias.

Question 25

What is group decision-making influenced by?

Answer 25

Dynamics like groupthink, social pressure, and shared biases.

Question 26

How can future managers apply today’s content?

Answer 26

Using data analytics, avoiding decision traps, applying SWOT, and strategic frameworks like Porter's.

Question 27

What’s the key difference between strategy and planning?

Answer 27

Strategy is long-term and competitive; planning is short-term and operational.

Question 28

Give a success story linked to good strategy.

Answer 28

Netflix: embraced streaming early and changed the entertainment industry.

Question 29

Give a cautionary tale of failed strategy.

Answer 29

Companies that didn’t adapt, failed to understand customers, or lost competitive focus.

Question 30

Why critique formulaic strategies?

Answer 30

Because they often ignore the value of incremental, emergent decision-making and learning.

Question 31

What is organisational control?

Answer 31

A systematic process of regulating organisational activities to align with plans, targets, and performance standards.

Question 32

What is the main purpose of control in management?

Answer 32

To measure performance and take corrective action to ensure planned outcomes are achieved.

Question 33

How does control link to strategy?

Answer 33

It keeps daily actions aligned with strategic goals, providing feedback on the strategy’s effectiveness.

Question 34

What are the steps in the control process?

Answer 34

1) Set performance standards, 2) Measure actual performance, 3) Compare actual vs expected, 4) Take corrective action.

Question 35

What is corrective action?

Answer 35

Managerial steps taken to realign performance with set standards.

Question 36

What happens when there is too much control?

Answer 36

It leads to micromanagement.

Question 37

What happens when there is too little control?

Answer 37

It leads to chaos.

Question 38

What is the ideal balance?

Answer 38

Enough control to ensure alignment, but enough autonomy to empower employees.

Question 39

What is feedforward (preventive) control?

Answer 39

Control before work begins – e.g., training, policies.

Question 40

What is concurrent (steering) control?

Answer 40

Control during work – e.g., real-time monitoring, supervision.

Question 41

What is feedback (detective) control?

Answer 41

Control after work is completed – e.g., audits, performance reviews.

Question 42

How do habits and routines relate to control?

Answer 42

In individuals: daily practices; in organisations: SOPs and workflows.

Question 43

How is accountability maintained personally vs organisationally?

Answer 43

Personally: self-discipline; organisationally: oversight and incentives.

Question 44

What is Taylor’s control theory?

Answer 44

Focused on micro-tasks, time-tracking, and tight supervision (Scientific Management).

Question 45

What is Weber’s approach?

Answer 45

Emphasises formal hierarchy, rules, and procedures (Bureaucracy).

Question 46

What is the Human Relations approach?

Answer 46

Focuses on motivation, teamwork, and relationships in control.

Question 47

What characterises classical control?

Answer 47

Top-down, rule-driven hierarchy.

Question 48

What characterises modern (decentralised) control?

Answer 48

Value-driven, team-based culture and self-management.

Question 49

What is a blended control strategy?

Answer 49

Combines hierarchical and decentralised control (e.g., structure + culture).

Question 50

What is Total Quality Management (TQM)?

Answer 50

A blended approach combining standardisation and continuous improvement, often associated with Toyota.

Question 51

What are Simons’ four levers of control?

Answer 51

Diagnostic, Boundary, Belief Systems, and Interactive Controls.

Question 52

What is diagnostic control?

Answer 52

Uses KPIs, budgets, dashboards to track performance and stay on course.

Question 53

What is boundary control?

Answer 53

Sets limits via codes of conduct or rules to guide behaviour.

Question 54

What is a belief system?

Answer 54

Communicates mission and values to inspire and align actions.

Question 55

What is interactive control?

Answer 55

Engages employees in dialogue about strategy and change.

Question 56

How is control applied in gig work?

Answer 56

Via algorithmic management and app-based surveillance.

Question 57

What is panoptic control?

Answer 57

Tech-driven monitoring resembling a surveillance state (digital panopticon).

Question 58

What is information asymmetry in gig work?

Answer 58

The platform holds more information than workers, creating power imbalance.

Question 59

What are black box metrics?

Answer 59

Evaluation systems where criteria are not fully disclosed to workers.

Question 60

What is a challenge with remote work?

Answer 60

Maintaining control without micromanaging; ensuring productivity.

Question 61

What did COVID-19 reveal about supply chains?

Answer 61

Lean systems are fragile; control mechanisms were insufficient in crises.

Question 62

What is strategic intent?

Answer 62

The overall aim and direction of an organisation.

Question 63

What is execution?

Answer 63

The implementation of strategies and plans.

Question 64

What are performance standards?

Answer 64

Benchmarks set to evaluate actual organisational performance.

Question 65

What is the purpose of corrective action?

Answer 65

To fix deviations between actual and expected performance.