Exam 2: The Evolution of Management Thought

Inspired by Frederick W. Taylor's time studies and motivated by a desire to expand human potential, Frank and Lillian Gilbreth turned ____ into an exact science.

The contingency approach to management amounts to a purely situational view.

Chester Barnard's systems perspective has encouraged management and organization theorists to study organizations as complex and dynamic wholes instead of piece by piece.

Harriet and Ben Harriet and Ben recently went to a management conference where they attended sessions on total quality control, production-oriented management, and employee involvement and employee needs. Both Harriet and Ben agree on the quality and production-oriented issues; however, they disagree on employee-related issues. Harriet believes that her employees are responsible and capable of self-direction and self-control. Ben disagrees with Harriet about her assumptions and argues that most people prefer to be directed and they avoid responsibility. Both have decided to apply the new lessons learned from the conference. -Refer to Harriet and Ben. Ben's argument that most people prefer to be directed would be classified by McGregor as which of these?

How would you suggest that managers avoid the quick-fix mentality that makes management by best-seller so tempting.

Douglas McGregor's Theory Y assumes that most will only do as their told and that employees prefer to be directed.

The universal process approach assumes that

Chey, a district manager at Direct Divisions Inc., remarks that "my employees are creative, imaginative, and capable of self-direction and self-control." What label would McGregor have applied to Chey's management style?

_________ is involved when performance standards are developed on the basis of systematic observation and experimentation.

Where did the pioneering contributors to management theory and practice come from?

Which of the following best describes the contingency approach?

The most significant contribution of contingency theory has been the identification of the one best way to manage.

In the Hawthorne studies, what variable was found to be the most significant relative to worker productivity?

Management has been practiced for thousands of years.

The performance of a select group of employees in the Hawthorne studies tended to improve, no matter how the physical surroundings were manipulated.

Advocates of the behavioral approach to management argue that profits must be the central focus of organized activity, since without profits the organization cannot exist.

Business management courses were not taught in the U.S. until the end of World War II.

Imagine that you work for Laura Rice. She believes that you will be a devoted and loyal employee if she treats you with a combination of kindliness and justice. This belief refers to which of Henry Fayol's principles of management?

A commonality between chaos theory and organizational learning is the concept that systems are influenced by feedback.

Which of these is also known as the 80/20 rule?