Economic Indicators Quiz

Companies whose shares aren't traded on a stock exchange.

Part of the economy where organizations aim for purposes beyond profit (e.g., charity, services).

These include planning, organizing, leading, and controlling.

Defining goals, creating a strategy, and planning for their achievement.

Determining tasks, who does them, and how to group them for efficient operation.

Motivating staff, directing their work, and resolving issues.

Monitoring performance, comparing it to targets, and rectifying any issues.

Essential abilities for managers: conceptual, interpersonal, technical, and political.

The total market value of all goods and services produced within a country's borders during a specific period, usually a year.

A measure of the average change over time in prices paid by urban consumers for a basket of consumer goods and services.

The percentage of the labor force that is unemployed and actively seeking work.

An economic system where individuals share assets (like cars, homes, or tools) through peer-to-peer services for a fee.

Economic factors like interest rates, inflation, and changes in disposable income influence management decisions in Canada.

Purchasing materials or labor from around the world, often from locations with the lowest costs.

A company that decentralizes management and decisions to local countries, tailoring strategies to each location's unique characteristics.

Companies go global to tap into new markets, access cheaper resources, or gain a competitive edge by expanding their operations.

A company that centralizes management and decisions in the home country, treating the world market as a single entity.

A company that eliminates artificial geographical boundaries, making country of origin irrelevant for its business.

A company obtains financial resources (money) from countries other than its own.

A company hires employees from different countries to leverage their skills and expertise.

A broad term for any international company operating in multiple countries.

By coordinating work activities beforehand, planning helps identify and eliminate unnecessary tasks, improving efficiency and time management.

Planning establishes clear goals and standards for work, making it easier to measure progress, identify deviations, and take corrective action.

Studies generally show a positive link between formal planning and organizational performance, although it's not guaranteed that planning alone will lead to superior results.

A critique of formal planning is that it can lead to rigidity, making organizations inflexible to change in a dynamic environment.

While formal plans are important, they shouldn't replace intuition and creativity in organizations. Both are crucial for success.

A policy sets guidelines for decision-making, allowing flexibility in application, while a rule dictates specific actions.

A unique, non-recurring decision that requires a custom-made solution for a problem with no established solution.

Managers face three decision-making conditions: certainty, risk, and uncertainty.

A condition where the outcome of every alternative is known, allowing for accurate decisions.

A condition where the decision-maker can estimate the likelihood of different outcomes, based on past experience or data.

A condition where decision outcomes are unknown and even probability estimations are impossible.

An optimistic decision strategy in uncertainty, aiming to maximize the maximum possible payoff.

A pessimistic decision strategy in uncertainty, aiming to maximize the minimum possible payoff.

A decision strategy in uncertainty that minimizes the maximum regret, aiming to avoid significant post-decision disappointment.

Group decisions offer advantages like comprehensive information, varied alternatives, increased acceptance, and legitimacy over individual decisions.

A structured approach to defining goals, creating action plans, and communicating them to organization members. It involves written goals, shared objectives, and a defined path for achieving them.

A less structured approach to planning where goals aren't written, shared, or systematically pursued. It relies on informal agreements and ad-hoc decisions.

Planning lays the foundation for all other management functions by providing direction, reducing uncertainty, and helping managers anticipate change effectively.

Planning helps align managers and employees by clearly defining goals, ensuring coordinated actions, and promoting cooperation to achieve objectives.

Planning encourages managers to anticipate change, evaluate its potential impact, and develop strategies to mitigate risks. This proactive approach enhances the organization's flexibility and adaptability to changing environments.

By forcing managers to think ahead and plan for future scenarios, planning prepares them to handle change more effectively. This proactive approach helps develop managerial skills and fosters adaptability within the organization.

Effective plans need to be ongoing, meaning they must be constantly reviewed and updated. They also need to be accurate, based on reliable data and realistic assumptions. Finally, they need to be flexible, allowing for adjustments based on unforeseen circumstances.

Planning is considered the primary management function because it establishes the foundation for all other functions (organizing, leading, and controlling). Without a clear plan, managers lack the framework to organize resources, motivate employees, or monitor performance effectively.