oDesk Management Skills Test 2013


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Management Skills Test


Which motivation strategy is characterized by a high emphasis on performance and a low emphasis on satisfaction?

a. Indulging

b. Imposing

c. Integrating

d. Ignoring
Which of the following is neither a cash in-flow nor cash out-flow?

a. Rents received

b. Payments from debtors

c. Payments to creditors

d. Mortgage repayments

e. Depreciation

Which of the following best completes the sentence: "Repetitive decisions are known as _________ ."

a. operational decisions

b. programmed decisions

c. routine decisions

d. standard decisions

Mary Parker Follett defined management as: "the art of getting things done through __________."

a. money

b. influence

c. coercion

d. people

A Mission Statement: ____________.

a. provides information as to what the organization is trying to achieve.

b. outlines a task to be undertaken by a team.

c. summarizes the outcome of a project.

d. sets out the high-level structure of the organization.

Self-regulation, one of the characteristics of an effective leader, is defined as the ability to __________ .

a. understand one's own reactions and the effect of one's behavior on other team members.

b. control oneself and to reflect in complex situations.

c. maintain an ongoing commitment to a goal in often turbulent and chaotic times.

d. understand the complexities of other people's situations.

e. maintain teamwork in situations where uncertainty can isolate and drive people apart.

In which context are the terms Unfreezing and Refreezing used?

a. Management of Change

b. Management of Order

c. Dimensions of Order

d. Resistance to Change

e. Dimensions of Control

A manager is seeking to introduce new working conditions. Which of the following is the best way to gain employees' cooperation?

a. Send an email to the entire staff informing them of the new conditions.

b. Post the new instructions on a notice board.

c. Organize a briefing for the entire staff.

d. Discuss the proposals with staff representatives.



Which of the following characterise a 'differentiation'-based business model? 1.High sales volume
2.High profit margin
3.Well-regarded brand
4.High-quality manufacture

a. 1,2 and 4

b. 2, 3 and 4

c. 1, 3 and 4

d. 1, 2 and 3

e. All of the above

In which of the following circumstances is the directive method of introducing planned change inappropriate?

a. When the manager enjoys sufficient position power (e.g.: he/she has significant control over rewards and punishments).

b. When the employees are achievement-motivated and willing to accept the change.

c. If organization communication pattern is 'star-type', which favors the change agent as a leader over his subordinates.

d. When the driving forces far outweigh the restraining forces.

If the financial year starts in January, the Fixed Budget will be prepared ___________.

a. a month or two earlier

b. in January

c. at the end of that year

d. as and when the Financial Manager decides

Which of the following statements is false?

a. Decision-making should be based on evidence.

b. Decision-making should take into account a range of factors.

c. Decision-making should involve key stakeholders.

d. Decision-making should be rapid.

Which of the following types of costs is not typically 'variable':

a. Cost of raw materials

b. Cost of marketing

c. Cost of lighting

d. Cost of transportation

What is the main advantage of employing staff on a temporary basis?

a. Greater flexibility in responding to customer requirements

b. Improved productivity

c. Enhanced customer satisfaction

d. Lower staff turnover

Which of the following reveals whether or not a company is earning a profit?��

a. Income statement

b. Statement of cash reconciliation

c. Balance statement

d. Statement of cash flows

e. Statement of owners' equity

Which of the following can be used as a term for Supervisor?

a. Area manager

b. Specialty manager

c. Front-line manager

d. Technical manager

Which of the following represents the implementation of a 'Just-in-Time' production approach?

a. The installation of a new computer system.

b. Receiving materials as and when they are required for production.

c. Having a large supply of materials ready to be processed.

d. Implementing process controls to improve quality.

e. Introducing monitoring tools to assess efficiency

There are some important measures which a company can use to determine the effects of training. Which of the following is not one of them?

a. Production

b. Changes in specific results, such as turnover

c. Job applications

d. Profit of the company

e. Overall growth

The 'Principle of Order' applies to ______________.

a. one head and one plan

b. right person in right job

c. issuing instructions

d. justice and kindness

Which of the following is not a financial statement?

a. Statement of Financial Loss

b. Income Statement

c. Balance Sheet

d. Statement of Retained Earnings

e. Statement of Cash Flow

Which one of the following is another term for the Scalar Principle?

a. Span of Control

b. Unity of Direction

c. Unity of Command

d. Chain of Command

e. Personal ability

If a subordinate is having difficulty carrying out a delegated task, what should a manager do?

a. Take over the task for the employee so he or she will not become demoralized.

b. Be available as a role model and resource in identifying alternative solutions.

c. Give the employee a written warning.

d. Give the employee a second delegated task so he or she has another opportunity to prove his worth.

Which of the following constitutes a fixed asset in a business?

a. Creditors

b. Debtors

c. Stock

d. Fixtures and fittings

What is a 'stakeholder map'?

a. A means of plotting the location of customers.

b. A means of identifying all those affected by the organization.

c. A means of targeting your intended market.

d. A means of predicting sales growth.

Which one of the following best completes the sentence: "Division of work promotes ____________."

a. Effective management

b. Efficiency

c. Experience

d. Equality

Which of the listed management functions involves creating an environment where everyone works together to achieve the common goals of the organization?

a. Planning

b. Controlling

c. Leading

d. Recruiting

e. Organizing

Which one of the following best completes the sentence: The principle of 'Unity of Command' is concerned with __________.

a. activities

b. persons

c. remuneration

d. respect of authority

If a manager is attempting to establish motivational goals for his employees, which of the following should he do?

a. Involve subordinates in the goal-setting process

b. Set goals that are stated in very general terms

c. Set conflicting goals so employees can accomplish one goal or another as they choose

d. Set goals that are easy to achieve

What does the term 'Unity of Control' stand for under Principles of Organizing?

a. That there should be a limit to the number of persons that can be supervised effectively by one boss.

b. That each subordinate should have only one superior whose orders he has to obey.

c. That the line of authority from the chief executive at the top to the first line supervisor at the bottom must be clearly defined.

d. That the activities of the enterprise should be divided according to functions and assigned to persons according to their specialization.

In the 'situational' leadership style, the manager is concerned with ___________.

a. task accomplishment

b. human relations and teamwork

c. giving free rein to his/her staff

d. prompt, orderly performance

e. growth for staff and himself/herself

Long-term budgets are useful for those industries where the gestation period is long. Which of the following is not relevant to the above statement?

a. Machinery

b. Electricity

c. Textile

d. Engineering

In which order would the following strategic planning activities take place?



1.Evaluating performance
2.Devising strategy
3.Documenting plans
4.Executing plans

a. 2, 4, 3, 1

b. 4, 3, 1, 2

c. 3, 2, 1, 4

d. 4, 1, 3, 2

e. 2, 3, 4, 1

Why do businesses use cash-flow forecasts as part of the internal planning process?

a. To estimate the value of their assets at the year end.

b. To assess potential profit or loss.

c. To allocate the marketing budget.

d. To predict future borrowing requirements.

Which of the following is an external source of recruitment?

a. Promotion from within

b. Transfer of employees

c. Unsolicited applicants

d. Staff returning from maternity leave

An employee's desire and commitment to perform that is manifested in job related effort defines his/her _____________ .

a. aptitude

b. motivation

c. performance

d. ability

A tool for evaluating organizational performance across the full range of a business is known as a 'balanced __________'.

a. scorecard.

b. ledger.

c. matrix.

d. healthcheck.

The degree to which a company owns its upstream suppliers and its downstream buyers is known as _____________.

a. monopolization

b. vertical integration

c. specialization

d. diversification

Which term refers to a document that sets out an organization's 'rules' regarding a particular issue?

a. Process

b. Policy

c. Procedure

d. Practice

e. Paradigm

Which of the following is correctly ordered as a Management Process?

a. Staffing, Planning, Organizing, Directing, Co-ordinating, Controlling

b. Planning, Staffing, Organizing, Directing, Co-ordinating, Controlling

c. Planning, Organizing, Staffing, Directing, Co-ordinating, Controlling

d. Planning, Organizing, Staffing, Directing, Controlling, Co-ordinating

Which of the following reveals whether or not a company is earning a profit?  

a. Income statement

b. Statement of cash reconciliation

c. Balance statement

d. Statement of cash flows

e. Statement of owners' equity

Which of the following is not a feature of a good organizational structure?

a. Clear line of authority

b. Adequate delegation of authority

c. Proper span of control

d. More managerial levels

e. Simple and flexible structure

Operations can be classified according to their volume and variety of production, as well as the degree of variation and visibility. Which of the following operations would be classified as high-volume, low-variety?  

a. A cashier's

b. A carpenter's

c. A family doctor's

d. A front-office bank's

Why does a business analyze its financial accounts to assess its solvency?

a. To check whether it can meet its current financial obligations.

b. To monitor depreciation.

c. To confirm customers are making prompt payments.

d. To assess the efficiency of the manufacturing process.

Which one of the following is not the purpose of Performance Appraisal?

a. It can serve as a basis for job change or promotion.

b. It serves as a guide for formulating a suitable training and development program.

c. It provides the rational foundation for the payment of piece work, wages, bonuses, etc.

d. It makes the worker committed and loyal to the organization.

e. It serves as feedback to the employee.

Which of the following are not legitimate risk management options?



1.Terminate
2.Turn
3.Tolerate
4.Treat
5.Test
6.Transfer.

a. 1 and 4

b. 2 and 3

c. 5 and 6

d. 2 and 5

e. 1 and 6

f. 3 and 4

Which of the following would help a company manufacture products to the standard required by the customer?

a. Performance appraisal

b. Stock control

c. Quality control

d. Strategic planning approach

In decentralization, subordinates __________ .

a. enjoy significant powers

b. are permitted limited powers

c. Do not get any powers

d. work unsupervised

e. are no longer managed

Which of the following is not included in calculating working capital?

a. Stock of work in progress

b. Plant

c. Debtors

d. Creditors

Which term refers to an internal framework for ensuring that an organization behaves responsibly?

a. Performance monitoring

b. Governance

c. Strategy

d. Watchdog

e. Stakeholder

Which two factors are combined to evaluate the size of risks facing an organization?

a. Probability and Scale.

b. Impact and Importance

c. Probability and Impact

d. Scale and Importance.

Which term refers to an activity or a series of activities that transform inputs into outputs?

a. Process

b. Policy

c. Practice

d. Paradigm

Which of the following is incorrect?

a. Because errors creep in more easily when decisions are made on the basis of subjective judgment or past experience, using Operations Research Techniques improves the likelihood of a good decision.

b. Operations Research Techniques make it possible to break down a complex large-scale problem into smaller parts that can be more easily diagnosed and manipulated.

c. Operations Research Techniques permit experimentation to take place without interfering with actual operations.

d. Operations Research Techniques can be effectively applied in many situations where the underlying variables cannot be quantified, e.g. situations involving human qualities and interpersonal relations.

'Span of Control' relates to the ____________.

a. division of responsibility

b. delegation of authority

c. number of persons to be supervised

d. the physical area managed by a person

Delegation takes place when ______________.

a. a superior abrogates responsibility for a task.

b. one person gives another the right to do a piece of work.

c. a subordinate is given orders.

d. the manager closely monitors the subordinate's execution of a task.

Which of the following statements regarding the five core job dimensions is true?

a. The less feedback individuals receive, the more autonomy they feel and the more committed they will be to the job.

b. The less variety in the skills a person can use in performing work, the more the person perceives the task as meaningful or worthwhile.

c. The more the work has a direct effect on the work or lives of other people, the less the employee will view the job as meaningful.

d. The more autonomy in the work, the more responsibility the workers feel for their success and failures and the more committed they are to their work.

Which of the following is generally an inappropriate reason for delegation?

a. It relieves the manager of his/her heavy workload.

b. It frees the manager to address more complex, higher-level needs.

c. Someone else is better qualified to do the task that needs to be done.

d. It helps create a formal organizational structure.

Which one of the following is not the function of Personnel Management?

a. Procurement of the right kind and number of persons.

b. Training and development of employees.

c. Integration of the interests of the personnel with that of the enterprise.

d. Management of customer requirements

A member of the Board of Directors of a company who is not an employee of the company is called a _____________.

a. consultant

b. inside director

c. non-executive director

d. corporate officer

Which of the following statements is not likely to characterize a planning approach to strategy development?

a. Strategies are the outcome of rational, sequential, and methodical practices

b. Definite and precise objectives are set

c. Strategies are developed by negotiation and bargaining between interest groups

d. Defined procedures for the implementation and achievement of strategic objectives are developed

e. None of the above

Which of the following are incorrect?

1.Policies are established after a thorough study and analysis of work. Procedures are often established without any study and analysis.
2.Policies help us in fulfilling the objectives of the enterprise. Procedures show us the way to implement policies.
3.Policies are specific and lay down the sequence of definite acts. Procedures are generally broad and allow some discretion.
4.Policies are general guides to both thinking and action of people at higher levels. Procedures are general guides to action only, usually at lower levels.

a. 1 and 2

b. 1 and 3

c. 2 and 3

d. 2 and 4

e. 3 and 4

f. 1 and 4

Selling stock not actually owned in the expectation that the price will fall is known as _____________.

a.going long

b.flotation

c.short-selling

d.divestment

Which one the following is not a function of a 'transactional' leader?

a. Moving resources from areas of lesser productivity to areas of greater productivity.

b. Working within a culture and competently supervising and coordinating the day-to-day management.

c. Maintaining the system through control of current procedures.

d. Recognizing and clarifying roles and task requirements.

e. Maintaining an organization's operation rather than changing it.

According to the team roles identified by Belbin, a 'plant' is someone who is _________.

a. highly-specialized

b. good at turning ideas into action

c. creative and unorthodox

d. adept at handling inter-personal relationships

A tool to plot the duration of activities in a project and its dependencies is named after:

a. Robert George

b. Toby Williams

c. Henry Gantt

d. Samuel Edwards

Which of the following is not a key function of leadership?

a. Enthusing and inspiring staff.

b. Setting strategic direction.

c. Being accountable for performance.

d. Closely monitoring the execution of tasks.

If a company's productivity is rising, it means ___________ .

a. costs are rising at a faster rate than output.

b. output is rising at a faster rate than costs.

c. output and costs are increasing at the same rate.

d. output and costs are decreasing at the same rate.

Which of the following activities should not be outsourced?

a. Core business

b. Project management

c. Human Resources

d. Marketing

e. Sales

Which ratio shows an organization's effectiveness in minimizing production costs?

a. Gross profit ratio

b. Current ratio

c. Efficiency ratio

d. Selling ratio

Set-up costs that make it difficult for new companies to enter a particular market are known as ___________.

a. hurdles to entry

b. barriers to entry

c. obstacles to entry

d. impediments to entry

Which item appears in both the balance sheet and the profit and loss account?

a. Suppliers

b. Heating

c. Sales

d. Closing stock