CHAPTER 2
PIONEERING IDEAS IN MANAGEMENT
Question 1. While the practice of management goes back several thousands of years, the development of management as
a field of knowledge and a profession started in the:
A: 1500s with the Reformation.
B: 1600s and the colonisation of the western hemisphere.
C: 1700s and the writings of Adam Smith.
D*: 1800s with the industrial revolution.
With the development and growth of factories in the early 1800s came the need to co-ordinate the activities of large numbers of people producing goods, leading to the need to be knowledgable about management.
Question 2. Which of the following is NOT one of the four major viewpoints or schools of management?
A: contemporary
B: quantitative
C*: administrative
D: behavioural
The major viewpoints or schools of management are classical, behavioural, quantitative and contemporary.
Question 3. To which viewpoint or school of management did Henry Towne, Robert Owen, and Charles Babbage contribute?
A: administrative
B: behavioural
C*: preclassical
D: quantitative
Towne, Owen and Babbage were principal contributors to the preclassical period of management thought. Their ideas provided the basis for the later, far broader inquiries into the nature of management.
Question 4. Robert Owen, an early contributor to management theory, was most associated with his work concerning
A: the specialisation of work into its physical and its mental components.
B*: improving the living conditions of workers.
C: the development of management as a separate field of study.
D: the implementation of the first successful‑profit
sharing plan.
Robert Owen was a reformer, particularly focussing on the need to improve living conditions of workers who had been forced to move to the new industrial towns and work in the new factories.
Question 5. The classical viewpoint or school of management is made up of three different but related approaches. Which of the following is NOT one of them?
A: administrative management
B: bureaucratic management
C*: operations research
D: scientific management
The classical viewpoint or school of management is made up of the scientific management, administrative management and bureaucratic management approaches.
Question 6. "The father of scientific management" is considered to be
A: Lillian Gilbreth.
B*: Fred Taylor.
C: Frank Gilbreth.
D: Charles Babbage.
It was Fred Taylor who first studying work tasks, searched for the ‘one best way’ to do a task and developed the ideas of scientific management.
Question 7. Frederick Taylor developed his principles of scientific management largely to tackle what he saw as a major problem in industry. This was
A: lack of incentives for workers
B: low productivity
C: poor tools for workers
D*: soldiering
Taylor saw soldiering, or the deliberate working at less than full capacity, as a serious problem for industry.
Question 8. The key concept in Fred Taylor's four principles of scientific management was the notion that management:
A*: must use scientific means to determine the best way to perform each task.
B: needed to carefully select workers and train them to do the work in the manner management wanted the work done.
C: should be responsible for planning and the workers for executing the work.
D: needed better controls if soldiering was to ever be reduced:
Taylor believed that scientific methods would allow the identification of the best way to perform each task and eliminate problems that were occurring in industrial workplaces at the time.
Question 9. Taylor’s four principles of scientific management do NOT include:
A*: dividing workers into work groups to get the job done
B: scientifically studying each task and developing the best way to do it.
C: carefully selecting the workers and training them for the job
D: co-operating fully with workers to ensure they use the correct method
Taylor concentrated on the work done by each individual worker and did not consider work groups.
Question 10. The use of motion picture technology to study jobs was pioneered by:
A*: Frank and Lillian Gilbreth.
B: Fred Taylor.
C: Henry Towne.
D: Henry Gantt.
Frank and Lillian Gilbreth used the new technology of motion pictures to study the mechanical aspects of jobs.
Question 11. The branch of the classical viewpoint or school of management that emphasises the need for organisations to operate in a rational manner is called:
A: operations research.
B*: bureaucratic management.
C: operations management.
D: systems theory.
The bureaucratic management viewpoint suggests that organisations need to operate rationally rather than relying on arbitrary whims of owners and managers.
Question 12. Which of the following was one of the major characteristics of Max Weber's "ideal bureaucracy"?
A: Discipline is absolutely necessary for the smooth
running of an organisation, but the state of discipline depends essentially on the worthiness of its leaders.
B: A scalar chain of authority extends from the top to the bottom of the organisation and defines the communication path.
C: Managers carefully select workers and train them to perform the task by using the scientifically developed method:
D*: Selection and promotion are based on the qualifications and performance of organisation members.
Along with specialisation of labour, formal rules and procedures, impersonality and a well-defined hierarchy, the need for selection and promotion to be based on qualifications and performance, is a major characteristic of Weber’s bureaucracy.
Question 13. The two best-known contributors to the classical viewpoint (or school) of management theory in the area now called "administrative management" were Chester Barnard and:
A*: Henri Fayol.
B: Abraham Maslow.
C: Mary Parker Follett.
D: Max Weber.
It was Henri Fayol who, along with Chester Barnard, have become the two best-know contributors to the classical viewpoint of management. It was Fayol who first identified the functions of management.
Question 14. The functional approach to management used today - plan, organise, lead, and control - can be traced most directly back to the writings of:
A: Max Weber.
B*: Henri Fayol.
C: Fred Taylor.
D: Peter Drucker.
Henri Fayol identified five major functions: planning, organising, commanding, co-ordinating and controlling. His work provided the roots for today’s four functions of management.
Question 15. Which of the following of Fayol's general principles of management is correctly described as the notion that an employee should receive orders from one and only one supervisor?
A: division of work
B: unity of directing
C*: unity of command
D: scalar chain
Fayol’s 14 general principles of management include unity of command, which states that an employee should have only one supervisor.
Question 16. Subordination of individual interest to the general interest, discipline, initiative, and esprit de corps were all part of:
A: Fred Taylor's principles of scientific management.
B*: Henri Fayol's general principles of management.
C: Max Weber's "ideal bureaucracy".
D: the recommendations from the Hawthorne studies.
These are all part of Fayol’s 14 general principles of management, together with division of work, authority, unity of command, unity of direction, remuneration, centralisation, scalar chain, order, equity and stability of personnel tenure.
Question 17. Chester Barnard's acceptance theory basically says that:
A: work will not be performed until workers accept it as being "their" work to do.
B: organisations must accept all job applications equally with no prejudices.
C*: authority does not exist until the "receiver" decides to accept orders from above.
D: the only acceptable level of quality of production is defect‑free quality.
One of Barnard’s contributions is his acceptance theory of authority which argues that authorities does not depend on ‘persons of authority’ who give orders, but on the willingness of those who receive the orders to obey them.
Question 18. The belief that no authority exists unless subordinates agree to let supervisors "boss them around" describes Chester Barnard's:
A: zone of indifference.
B*: acceptance theory.
C: ideal bureaucracy.
D: reverse hierarchy theory.
Barnard’s acceptance theory of authority suggests that subordinates must agree to be directed by their supervisors.
Question 19. The early behaviourist who set the stage for what ultimately became the field of industrial psychology was:
A: Max Weber.
B: Mary Parker Follett.
C: Elton Mayo.
D*: Hugo Munsterberg.
The ideas of Munsterberg lead to the establishment of the field of industrial psychology, or the study of human behaviour in a work setting.
Question 20. The early behaviourist who argued for the importance of groups, thought power should be jointly developed, and suggested that conflicts could best be resolved through integration was:
A*: Mary Parker Follett.
B: Fritz Roethlisberger.
C: Max Weber.
D: Hugo Munsterberg.
Mary Parker Follett was an early behaviourist. She was a social worker interested in employment and workplace issues and was ahead of her time in her ideas of behaviour in the workplace.
Question 21. Mary Parker Follett proposed that organisations would operate as a functional whole ‑ a concept she called "integrative unity". This work was an early anticipation of:
A: the administrative management theory.
B*: systems theory.
C: operations research.
D: the classical viewpoint.
Mary Parker Follett saw this organisations as a functional whole and dynamic because of changes necessitated by changes in the environmental factors. These are ideas reflected in systems theory.
Question 22. The Hawthorne experiments were originally begun in order to test:
A: the effects group membership had on individual performance.
B: the Hawthorne effect.
C: participative management options.
D*: a "scientific management" concept of improving productivity through better lighting.
The Hawthorne studies reflected scientific management’s tradition of seeking greater efficiency by improving the tools and methods of work.
Question 23. The "Hawthorne effect" refers to the concept that:
A: higher productivity is linked to better lighting.
B: rest breaks and free lunches are the key to higher productivity.
C*: higher work productivity is often found in those people being used in an experiment.
D: groups set productivity quotas for all group members.
An interesting result of the Hawthorne studies was the recognition that people used in experiments were likely to like the attention they were receiving and respond positively by, for example, being more productive in the workplace.
Question 24. By and large, the major contributions of the Hawthorne experiments were that they helped bring about the human relations movement of management and that they showed:
A: the importance of participative leadership styles.
B: how work can be broken into smaller and smaller pieces that are more easily learned:
C: that Barnard's zone of indifference was wider than previously thought.
D*: the impact that social aspects of the job had on productivity.
The Hawthorne studies were a major contribution to the development of the human relations movement which studies the social aspects of a workplace and the impact they might have on productivity.
Question 25. As a major contributor in the human relations movement, Abraham Maslow developed a theory of motivation that was based on three assumptions about human nature. Which of the following was NOT one of them?
A: Human needs are never completely satisfied:
B: Human needs fit into a somewhat predictable hierarchy.
C*: Group needs take precedence over individual needs.
D: Behaviour is directed at fulfilling currently
unsatisfied needs.
Maslow’s well-known theory of motivation was based on the needs of individuals, and did not include any notion about groups’ needs.
Question 26. McGregor's Theory X managers would, more than likely:
A: treat workers as equals.
B*: try to motivate strictly through economic incentives.
C: encourage innovation and creativity among their workers.
D: do all of the above.
McGregor would suggest that Theory X managers would be more likely to motivate by using incentives than by treating workers as equals or encourging innovation and creativity.
Question 27. McGregor's Theory X and Theory Y were basically:
A: descriptions of the two classifications of workers employed by most businesses.
B: proposals for managerial behaviour.
C: used to illustrate both the physical side of work (the
X) and the mental side (the Y).
D*: assumptions managers could have about people.
McGregor based his Theory X and Theory Y ideas on managers and their assumptions about people.
Question 28. While the human relations viewpoint was a great change from the classical school of management, it still did not explain work situations enough to help managers understand workers. A new approach which helped give manager practical guidelines about people is:
A*: behavioural science
B: Quantitative management
C: Management science
D: Operations management
The behavioural science approach using scientific research to develop theories about human behaviour in organisations and these gave manager some practical guidelines in their dealings with workers.
Question 29. The quantitative viewpoint or school of management emerged as a major force in management theory as a result of
A: the Hawthorne experiments.
B: Abraham Maslow's work.
C*: the success of quantitative models during World War II.
D: the growing dissatisfaction with the behavioural science approach.
Following success with quantitative models during World War II, there was a focus on mathematics, statistics and information aids to support managerial decision making and organisational effectiveness.
Question 30. Operations management is that part of management theory that focuses primarily on:
A*: the management of production and delivery of products
and services.
B: the use of mathematical and statistical tools to
increase decision effectiveness.
C: the design and use of computer‑based systems for better information.
D: integrating the components of the organisation with the environment.
Operations management is responsible for managing production and delivery of an organisation’s products and services using such methods as inventory management and work scheduling, production planning.
Question 31. One of the most important branches of the contemporary viewpoint of management theory is:
A: behavioural science.
B: administrative management.
C: management information science.
D*: contingency theory.
Contingency theory is a contemporary view of management which is of considerable importance in understanding management. The view basically suggests that the situation is vital in determining appropriate behaviour.
Question 32. Viewing an organisation as consisting of a set of interrelated parts operating together in pursuit of common goals is a working definition of:
A: today's contingency theory.
B: the administrative management model.
C*: systems theory.
D: bureaucracy.
Systems theory views the organisation as a system based on the biological and physical sciences view of the world.
Question 33. The systems theory approach suggests there are four major components in an organisation. Which of the following is NOT one of them?
A: inputs
B: transformation processes
C: outputs
D*: management information systems
According to systems theory, an organisation system has four major components: inputs, transformation processes, outputs and feedback.
Question 34. Whether or not an organisation is considered to be "open" or "closed" depends primarily on its:
A: rate of change.
B: use of data and information.
C*: interaction with its environment.
D: rate of turnover and replacement of personnel.
An open system continually interacts with its environment, whereas a closed system does not interact with its environment, receiving little feedback.