E2 Sample Questions Answers

A fundamental concept of the successful use of a Balanced Scorecard is:

The role of competitor analysis, according to Wilson and Gilligan is threefold.

Which of the following does NOT apply?

KK manufactures mobile phones and it possesses an inimitable resource in the mobile phone market in which it currently competes.

Which of the following  best describes this type of resource?

FR Company is undertaking analysis of its competitors. One part of its analysis will investigate its supplier whose products satisfy the same customer needs, but are technically quite different. Which of the following levels of competitors does this relate to?

With respect to the management of quality on projects, which of the following statements is true?

DD organisation is a management consultancy company. Currently, although it has some clients in other countries, the activities of DD are mainly domestic. However the directors are keen to develop the business internationally.

The strengths of DD are recognised as it has a well-motivated team of professional consultants, and a very powerful analytical model for developing business solutions.

Which of the following best describes how this company can develop its business strategy to gain a competitive advantage?

An organisation manufacturing cosmetics was set up five years ago and has since grown considerably.

The organisation did not have clear strategies and as such any approaches emerged. The directors feel a new way to strategy setting would be more appropriate; one that could offer a more thorough, intended, deliberate approach.

Which of the following is a suitable approach to developing strategy for this organisation?

Which of the models below identifies triggers for change from the macro environment?

Negotiation is an important skill for managers and their relationships with subordinates, stakeholders and suppliers. The negotiation process can be divided into four disctinct stages.

Place the following stages in the correct order:

Which of the following is NOT a benefit of a good audit system?

There are many implications for an organisation when using PRINCE 2 for managing projects. Which of the following statements are correct?

The Project Management Institute's 5 project management process areas identifies that five stages apply in project management. Place the relevant stage against the appropriate description.

The Board of organisation Y has authorised an upgrade to its computerised finance system.

The Finance Director, X, has been tasked with managing this project.  X has been requested to consult with stakeholders, in order that a Project Initiation Document (PID) may be produced.

What are the TWO main uses of a PID?

Under UK Law it is an employer's duty to protect the health, safety and welfare of the employees and other people who may be affected by their business. In what manner must employers act?

Select the THREE that apply.

Projects carried out using the PRINCE2 methodology are always set out in a series of distinct and sequential stages. Which of the following is NOT a valid reason for a planned break between stages?

The advantages of embedding the finance function within the business unit include which THREE of the following?

FF Ltd was established three years ago. Since then the company, which provides online financial advice, has experienced rapid growth and the management team has not really had the time to put management systems and procedures into place.

The organisation has asked you to look at the way in which the company deals with its disciplinary problems and procedures.

Choose from the following ALL that apply as recommended guidelines for drawing up a disciplinary procedure:

An organisation undertakes a planned strategy and it is currently at the stage of completing a strategic analysis.

It has defined what it is seeking to achieve, identified the strengths and weaknesses of the company and has undertaken a corporate appraisal.

What stage of its strategic analysis has the organisation failed to carry out?

Based on the Tuckman model of team development, identify the stage when team relationships should start to harmonise and the team agrees on normal work patterns and the best way to tackle the work ahead of them. Job roles and relationships within the team are also agreed.

What are the disadvantages of a divisional organisational structure? Select ALL that apply.

X is a major energy company and has discovered substantial onshore shale gas reserves in a rural part of the country. With new "fracking" technology, underground gas production could be profitable, provide jobs for local people and boost the local economy. This would require the purchase of large areas of land, without which the projects could not proceed.

Although local landowners were generally pleased to sell land to X at high prices, the reactions of local residents were less favourable as they were very concerned about the environmental impact.

Although their powers were limited, their influence on local councils was more significant. Every new fracking site was subject to strict planning controls and local councils controlled this process.

Using Mendelow's stakeholder management theory, which stakeholder group should be categorised as high interest/low power - with a strategy of "keep informed" (unless their power and influence start to increase)?

According to Mintzberg, a manager must exhibit which of the following skills in order to create the conditions for new ideas to flourish and strategies to emerge?

Select ALL that apply.

According to Kotter's process of change, what is the purpose of building a guiding coalition?

Which of the following is NOT designed to deal with risk and uncertainty when planning for time?

Objectives generally possess characteristics which set them apart from mission statements. Which THREE of the following apply?

According to Belbin, winning teams display which THREE of the following characteristics?

The Thomas-Kilmann model suggests five conflict handling strategies. Which THREE of the following are part of the model?

A company displaying creativity in its workforce, and an ability to react to the dynamic environment in which it operates, is most likely to avoid which of the approaches to strategy formulation listed below?

University Z is about to take on a major project of changing from traditional written examinations to computer-based objective test questons.

Y is the systems manager at the university and has been appointed as the Project Manager. The university is very traditional in its management structure, whereby functional specialists manage each department.  However, for this project, Y considers that a matrix structure would be required. The Vice Chancellor is not convinced that a matrix structure would be appropriate.

There are a number of advantages of a matrix structure. Which of the following should Y use in his argument to convince the Vice Chancellor that a matrix structure is appropriate?

Select ALL that apply. 

X Company's Board of Directors uses its expertise to develop future strategies. The Board defines objectives that need to be achieved and then, through formal proactive planning and careful analysis, it selects the most appropriate means to achieve them.

Which method of strategy formulation is the Board using?

A Company achieves its competitive advantage by adopting a positioning view to strategy setting.

Which TWO of the technical models below are most suited to this approach?

An employee of a company has been asked to explain the difference between a Grievance and Disciplinary Action. The employee knows the definitions of both and, whilst they have two examples of actions which would result in Disciplinary Action, they can only think of one circumstance which may result in a Grievance, and this is Discrimination.

Which of the following could the employee use as an additional example of a Grievance? 

Which of the following are classed as part of the move stage of Lewin's model of change?

Select ALL that apply.

Setting a mission is the first stage of the rational approach to strategy setting. According to David, which THREE of the following are useful areas to include in an organisation's mission statement?

Which THREE of the following would be considered as reasonable expectations of the mentoring process, for the mentee?

Kotter and Schlesinger devised a theoretical framework which set out six inter-related approaches to deal with resistance to organisational change.

One approach involves management taking a simplistic and authoritarian approach by instructing staff to comply with changes. This compulsory method is derived from the formal authority that senior management possesses. Senior managers often have the right to do this based on employment laws and regulations.

Select this type of approach as identified by Kotter and Schlesinger.

Which of the following statements does NOT help characterise Quinn's notion of logical incrementalism?

While initiating a project to relocate to a larger site, a company looked at how the project proposal fits with the current set up of the business. The premises are only 20 miles away and it is feasible that the current staff would travel to the new factory to work.

As part of the feasibility considerations, this represents which type of feasibility?

Kumari is about to start her new roie in the secretarial function of a law firm.

Which of the following is likely to be key part of her job?

According to Kurt Lewin, which of the following leadership styles was thought to result in the highest level of productivity and satisfaction?

Many companies use Critical Path Analysis (CPA) to manage projects.

Which TWO of the options below could be identified from a CPA diagram? 

When comparing a resource based approach with a positioning based approach, which of the following are statements are true about the positioning based approach?

Select ALL that apply.

Porter's Value Chain model is divided into two main categories. From the choices below identify the TWO categories:

The B Car Company is considering a joint venture with a company in Country X. It is undertaking a political risk analysis at both a micro and macro level. Which of the following is a micro level risk?

PRINCE2 clearly defines a set of roles for every active participant on a project. What is the role described below?

This is the person ultimately responsible for the business success of the entire project. They must ensure the project gives value for money and balance the demands of business user and supplier.

This person is also the ultimate decision-maker in the project. For this reason they are appointed before the project starts. As the person is directly responsible for the project business case, it is expected that in most instances they are appointed from the customer side of the organisation.

Which of the following statements relate to the 'hard Ss' in Mckinsy's model?

Select ALL that apply.

WBS organisation has recruited a new project manager to manage the implementation of a new accounting package for its UK division.

The previous project manager created a hostile environment for the team involved in developing the new system.

How could the new project manager foster a more motivated team environment?

A project manager is calculating the budget cost of a single project task called "Server Configuration".

This task is estimated to last 8 weeks and requires the full-time services of two software consultants, both for the entire duration of the task.

One consultant commands an inclusive rate of $400/day and the other $40/hour based on an eight hour day. Fixed hardware costs of $12,000 have also been estimated for the task.

Calculate the total budget cost for the task (ignoring any other resources or costs) - assuming a five day working week.

Give your answer as a whole number.

The total cost is $    .

For complex projects, Gantt charts have limitations.

Which THREE of the following apply?

Barney (1991) identified four criteria necessary for a resource to be classed as unique and thus give competitive advantage. One of these is that it shouldn't be substitutable and another is that it should be rare.

Which TWO of the options below make up the list of four?

Because of the severity of actions of the employer an employee takes the decision to resign. This could be classed as which of the following?

Which of the following statements are not true based on Stalk, Evans and Schulman's principles of capability-based competition?

Select ALL that apply.

The purpose of PEST analysis is described by which of the following?

Which type of culture, according to Charles Handy, is identified by an individual's tasks being clearly defined and their power coming from their position in the hierarchy? 

According to the Project Management Body of Knowledge as outlined by the Project Management Institute, there are nine key areas of project management. Which of the following are areas identified by the PMI?

Select ALL that apply.

Which of the following best describes generic competitors?

U is a retail chain of fashion outlets. It has invested in a new logistics system to control the movement of stock between its warehouses and high street retail outlets.

The project to develop and install the new system was significantly over budget and very late. Now, only three months after the new system has been installed, it is apparent that the project has not delivered its objectives. Many retail managers are complaining that they are not receiving the correct stock to sell. A meeting between the project team and project sponsor ended with everyone blaming each other.

Which of the following statements show how the use of PRINCE2 might have reduced the problems encountered?

Select ALL that apply.

An experienced IT project manager provides the following advice about planning a new project:

"The project should start with a Requirements Analysis which should take 10 days.  When this is finished Detailed Design (10 days) and Interface studies (15 days) can start at the same time. As soon as they are both complete Prototyping can start (30 days).

Prototyping is the predecessor of both Implementation (10 days) and Data Conversion (20 days).

Go-Live is the final activity (5 days) and follows when Implementation and Data Conversion are both complete."

Using critical path analysis which statements are correct.

Select ALL that apply.

JJ is the project manager implementing a new software system in the customer services department of a large manufacturing organisation.

As part of the new ways of working, JJ is introducing changes to the working hours of the customer services team.

The customer services team is not happy with the changes and is complaining that it does not report to JJ, so why should it have to adapt its working hours.

This is an example of:

Which TWO of the planning tools listed below show the minimum completion time of a project?