ADMN 232

Administrative Principles
Sample Midterm Questions

NOTE TO STUDENTS: This sample midterm examination is representative of the

TYPES of questions you will encounter on the actual midterm. However, it is NOT
representative of the NUMBER of questions you can expect—the actual midterm will
have many more questions.

Answers are provided at the end of this document.

Section 1: Multiple Choice Questions

1. The term ________ refers to a study of studies that often shows the conditions
under which management techniques may work better or worse in the real world.

a. technical analysis
b. meta-analysis
c. effectiveness analysis
d. probability of success

2. The traditional management function of ________ refers to inspiring and

motivating workers to work hard to achieve organizational goals.

a. project management
b. organizing
c. leading
d. conniving

3. Which of the following is one of the four different kinds of managers (with
different jobs and responsibilities) identified in the textbook?

a. top managers
b. middling managers
c. administrative managers
d. first-time managers

4. Which of the following is a responsibility of first-line managers?

a. managing the performance of managerial employees

b. developing the structure of groups and departments
c. teaching senior managers how to do their jobs
 d. making detailed schedules and operating plans from information provided
to them

5. In the ________ role, managers decide who will get what resources and how
many resources they will get.

a. resource allocator
b. entrepreneur
c. disturbance handler
d. liaison

6. In studies regarding what distinguishes managers who fail from managers who
succeed in climbing the organizational hierarchy, which of the following was the
number one mistake made by “derailers”?

a. They have a “warm and fuzzy” manner.

b. They were insensitive to others.
c. They were unable to develop trust.
d. They were not at all ambitious.

7. According to ________theory, companies go through long, simple periods of

environmental stability, followed by short, complex periods of dynamic,
fundamental environmental change, finishing with a return to environmental
stability.

a. environmental development
b. dynamite environment
c. punctuated equilibrium
d. The Boston Consulting Group

8. Which of the following is not considered a component of the general environment

that indirectly affects all organizations?

a. customers
b. economy
c. technology
d. political/legal trends

9. The term ________ is used to refer to a company’s practice of identifying and

addressing customer trends and problems after they occur.

a. consumer development
 b. competitive development
c. reactive customer monitoring
d. prolific customer monitoring

10. The ________ approach to advocacy is a tactic in which an advocacy group

actively tries to convince consumers to not purchase a company’s product or
service.

a. customer reactive
b. supplier reactive
c. media development
d. product boycott

11. Which of the following is not a component of organizational culture?

a. values
b. beliefs
c. strategy
d. attitudes

12. Which of the following is a recommended strategy for changing organizational

culture?

a. buy new pictures and furniture

b. do not encourage employee behaviour change.
c. non-discriminate selection of job applicants
d. none of the above

13. Spreading rumours about co-workers is an example of

a. personal aggression.
b. production deviance.
c. property deviance.
d. political deviance.

14. The two general categories of stakeholders are ________ stakeholders and
________ stakeholders.

a. primary; secondary
b. profit; non-profit
c. business; nonbusiness
d. relevant; irrelevant
15. Which of the following is not an example of a secondary stakeholder?

a. advocacy groups
b. newspapers
c. television stations
d. employees

16. The term ________ refers to choosing a goal and developing a method or strategy
to achieve that goal.

a. goal-setting
b. planning
c. strategizing
d. benchmarking

17. Planning has been proven effective for

a. companies.
b. individual managers.
c. employees.
d. all of the above

18. Which of the following is one of the characteristics of S.M.A.R.T. goals?

a. specific
b. smart
c. active
d. thematic

19. An organization’s ________ does not change over time.

a. mission
b. vision
c. strategy
d. operational plan

20. According to the steps in the process of management by objectives, managers and
employees should do all of the following, except which one?

a. jointly discuss possible goals

b. participatively select goals
c. change the corporate mission
d. meet regularly to review progress toward goal accomplishment
21. The types of operational plans include

a. special plans.
b. product development plans.
c. binary plans.
d. none of the above are examples of operational plans
22. Budgets are an example of ________ planning.

a. strategic
b. tactical
c. operational
d. single-use

23. Which of the following is not part of the definition of rational decision making?

a. intuitive process
b. defining problems
c. evaluating alternatives
d. choosing optimal solutions

24. The first step in the rational decision-making process is to

a. identify decision criteria.

b. frame the problem.
c. define the problem.
d. generate alternative courses of action.

25. The term ________ refers to a process in which each decision criterion is
compared to a standard or ranked on its own merits.

a. absolute comparisons
b. duplicate comparisons
c. exclusive rule
d. maximum threshold rule

26. The three basic control methods include

a. feedforward control.
b. feedback control.
c. concurrent control.
d. all of the above

27. Which of the following would not be considered a resource for a company?

a. capital
b. company debt
c. space
d. employee skills
28. The term ________ refers to the extent to which it is possible to implement each
step in the control process.

a. control feasibility
b. quasi-control assessment
c. balanced scorecard assessment
d. none of the above

29. When it is difficult to create good measures of worker behaviour and output, and
workers are intrinsically motivated to do their jobs well and have self-leadership
skills, then it is probably appropriate to use ________ control.

a. bureaucratic
b. normalcy
c. team
d. self

30. In using the balanced scorecard approach to control, which of the following
would be an example of a goal from the innovation and learning perspective?

a. survive
b. profit ratios
c. debt ratios
d. time to market

Section 2: Written Response Questions

1. Identify the four different kinds of managers, and list at least one of the basic
responsibilities for each of these four different types.

2. Identify and briefly describe the four areas of corporate social responsibility that are
most relevant to stakeholders.

3. List and briefly describe the three kinds of operational plans.

Answer Key for Sample Midterm Examination

Section 1: Multiple Choice Questions

1. B 7. C 13. D 19. B 25. A
2. C 8. A 14. A 20. C 26. D
3. A 9. C 15. D 21. D 27. B
4. D 10. D 16. B 22. C 28. D
5. A 11. C 17. D 23. A 29. D
6. B 12. D 18. A 24. C 30. D

Section 2: Written Response Questions

1. There are four different kinds of managers. Top managers are responsible for creating
a context for change, developing attitudes of commitment and ownership, creating a
positive organizational culture through words and actions, and monitoring their
company's business environments. Middle managers are responsible for planning and
allocating resources, coordinating and linking groups and departments, monitoring
and managing the performance of subunits and managers, and implementing the
changes or strategies generated by top managers. First-line managers are responsible
for managing the performance of non-managerial employees, teaching direct reports
how to do their jobs, and making detailed schedules and operating plans based on
middle management's intermediate-range plans. Team leaders are responsible for
facilitating team performance, managing external relationships, and facilitating
internal team relationships.

2. Companies can best benefit their stakeholders by fulfilling their economic, legal,
ethical, and discretionary responsibilities. Being profitable, or meeting one's
economic responsibility, is a business's most basic social responsibility. Legal
responsibility consists of following a society's laws and regulations. Ethical
responsibility means not violating accepted principles of right and wrong when doing
business. Because different stakeholders may disagree about what is or is not ethical,
meeting ethical responsibilities is more difficult than meeting economic or legal
responsibilities. Discretionary responsibilities are social responsibilities beyond basic
economic, legal, and ethical responsibilities. Companies will not be considered
unethical if they do not perform these.

3. The three kinds of operational plans are: (a) single-use plans, which cover unique,
one-time-only events; (b) standing plans, which save managers time, because they are
created once and then used repeatedly to handle frequently recurring events; and (c)
budgets, which are quantitative plans through which managers decide how to allocate
available money to best accomplish company goals.