Page 303 - Business Principles and Management

C HAPTER 11 A SSESSMENT

21. Why would large companies need mid-managers who spend most of
their time on one management function, such as controlling?
22. What are some reasons the best employee in a job may not make the
best supervisor for other people in that job?
23. Why are most supervisors required to divide their time between su-
pervisory responsibilities and other work?
24. Of the five areas of responsibility of supervisors, which do you be-
lieve is the most important to the success of the company, and why?
25. What are some ways that supervisors can help employees manage
their time better?
26. What skills do supervisors and other managers need in order to
manage business information effectively?

MAKE CONNECTIONS

27. Math During one month, three managers recorded the number
of hours they spent on each of the four management functions.
Ms. Perez spent 42 hours on planning activities, 26 on organiz-
ing activities, 83 on implementing activities, and 57 on control-
ling activities. Mr. Patton used 65 hours on planning, 24 hours
on organizing, 36 hours on implementing, and 59 hours on con-
trolling. Ms. Matsumi spent 18 hours planning, 40 hours orga-
nizing, 60 hours implementing, and 74 hours controlling. For
each manager, determine the total hours worked during the month
and the percentage of time devoted to each management function.
Then determine the total percentage of time spent by the three
managers on each of the functions. Develop a chart to illustrate
the results. What conclusions would you draw from the informa-
tion in the chart?
28. Writing Keep a record of how you spend your time for two days.
Record your activities every half hour. Then review how you used
your time. Identify the times when you believe you were using time
effectively and the times you were not. Prepare written recommen-
dations on how you could more effectively manage your time in the
future.
29. Critical Thinking A list of symptoms of business problems follows.
For each symptom, write a question that could be used to help
identify the actual problem.
a. The number of products returned by customers has increased
greatly in the last six months for an e-commerce company.
b. Three employees who have worked for the company less than
a month quit without giving notice.
c. Advertising costs have increased by 10 percent this year.
d. The number of customers who have overdue credit accounts
has doubled in the past six months.
e. Employees have been given the authority to stop the assembly
line anytime they notice a defective product. Since that decision
was made, work stoppages have increased by four per week.

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