23 April 2011 
MGT 323 Practice Final Exam, The Catholic University of America
Final exam review for management, MGT 323, from the test, class notes and outside sources.
This is only a review of possible questions that were included on past exams.
Printable document here.MGT 323 final exam review.doc
Management in one word
Management in a short sentence
The four functions of management
Why is a team leader or a first line supervisor position so difficult?
Efficiency
Effectiveness
Frederick Taylor
Frank Gilbreth
Benefits of Bureaucracies
Contingency Management
Time and Motion Studies
SWOT
MBO
Uncertainty in Business/management
Supplier Dependence
Public communications
Life lie – Business Lie
SMART Goals
Group Think
Brainstorming list one Rule
Competitive Advantage
SWOT
Purpose of Business
Manager’s Formula
Staff’s Formula
Tariff
GATT
WTO
NAFTA
Licensing
Chain of command
Matrix
Authority
Responsibility
Delegation
Departmentalization
Core vs Critical Functions
The customer is NOT always right. But the customer must always be___________.
In your job search, what does PASS stand for?
In a job interview, or business case study, what does PSR stand for?
What is the first law in dealing with Bureaucrats?
What is HRM?
In HRM, what are KSA’s?
Does your manager have to buy your ideas? Why or Why not?
In selling, what does PAM stand for?
According to President John Adams, “I [the manager] must control events or events ______ _________ ___.”
Cross Functional team
Virtual Team
Cohesiveness
Stages of Team development
Name three of the top ten problems reported by team leaders
BFOQ
Recruiting, internal; external
What are three questions not to ask in an interview of applicants?
360 degree feedback
ESOP
Employee turnover
Diversity
_______________ + _______________________ = Motivation
Equity theory
Goal setting theory
Leadership
Communication
Perception
Noise/signal
Formal communication channel
Grapevine
Control
Standards
Benchmarking
Feedback control
Nordstrom Rule #1
What suffers when only costs are controlled?
Cash flow analysis
What are three measures of quality?
Moore’s Law
Communication cost
Data cluster
EDI
Where does knowledge reside?
Productivity = _________________ divided by ____________________.
ISO 9000
Baldrige National Quality Award
Manufacturing flexibility
Inventory
JIT
________ is the number of nonstandard parts per million when a company reaches Six Sigma.
Short answer 1 point each 5 points (10 extra points possible) please write about your personal experience
What is the hardest management job?
Why would a manager micro-manage a staffer?
Who is the most important person in a staffer’s life and why?
How does a staffer get promoted?
In business, what is a monkey and why is the analogy important?
1. ____ is the process of finding, developing, and keeping the right people to form a qualified work force.
a. Functional resource planning
b. Human resource management
c. Work force forecasting
d. Recruiting
e. Human resource implementation
2. Which of the following statements about federal employment law is true?
a. This body of law has not changed during the last two decades.
b. The intent of anti-discrimination law is to make factors such as gender, race, or age irrelevant in employment decisions.
c. Federal law prohibits the use of gender, race, and age as the basis for employment decisions under all circumstances.
d. All federal laws are administered by the Department of Labor.
e. Federal employment laws do not deal with training and development activities.
3. To which of the following aspects of the human resource management process does federal employment law apply?
a. selection decisions
b. compensation decisions
c. performance appraisals
d. training and development activities
e. all of these
4. The fact that a 98-pound job candidate is not hired as a dock worker to move 60-pound boxes of produce is legal as a result of ____.
a. the four-fifths rule
b. adverse impact rulings
c. bona fide occupational qualifications (BFOQs)
d. gender selectivity
e. benefits and features for occupational quality (BFOQs)
1. Diversity ____.
a. exists in all organizations
b. is used to create affirmative action
c. is federally mandated
d. can exist in an organization’s employees and its customers
e. is accurately described by all of these
2. A modem factory owned by 3Com in Morton Grove, Illinois, has 1,200 workers who speak 20 different languages. This factory illustrates ____.
a. Acculturation
b. Diversity
c. affirmative action
d. cultural organization
e. organizational plurality
3. In order to achieve diversity, organizations must have variety among their employees and their ____.
a. regulatory agencies’ inspectors
b. Customers
c. external environments
d. shareholders/investors
e. all of these
1. According to the text, ____ is the set of forces that initiates, directs, and makes people persist in their efforts to accomplish a goal.
a. Attitude
b. self-management
c. Persistence
d. Motivation
e. Compliance
2. The three components of ____ are initiation of effort, direction of effort, and persistence of effort.
a. Compliance
b. self-management
c. Motivation
d. Performance
e. Efficiency
3. According to some industrial psychologists, ____ is a function of motivation times ability times situational constraints.
a. leadership skill
b. Creativity
c. job performance
d. performance valence
e. Compliance
4. According to some industrial psychologists, job performance is a(n) ____ function of motivation, ability, and situational constraints.
a. Circular
b. Multiplicative
c. Nonlinear
d. Additive
e. Corollary
5. Asa and Ruby both sell insurance. Asa is married, has three children, and a new house. Ruby is single and has recently purchased a new Lexus. According to some industrial psychologists ____.
a. they will be motivated by the same needs
b. Asa can be motivated through need, and Ruby cannot
c. Ruby has no needs
d. how well their employer motivates them relates directly to their individual needs
e. none of these is true
6. A sales manager has carefully selected the members of two sales teams so that they have, as nearly as possible, identical skills and abilities. Both are assigned potential customers in the same industry. Both groups are offered the same rewards. One team makes the sale, and the other does not. This information tells you that ____.
a. performance and motivation are unrelated
b. the concept of synergy is faulty
c. one of the components that leads to job performance was weak
d. nothing motivates some people
e. all of these are true
1. Effective managers define ____ as the process of influencing others to achieve group or organizational goals.
a. Management
b. Leadership
c. interpersonal influence
d. Supervision
e. Autonomy
2. Which of the following is a major concern of managers (as opposed to leaders)?
a. maintaining the status quo
b. inspiring and motivating others
c. taking a long-term view
d. promoting change
e. organizational improvements
3. One of the criticisms of the television industry is the networks’ desire to maintain ratings by thinking in terms of next week’s programming. The networks are also more concerned with how to get high program ratings quickly than achieving the ratings through giving viewers time to become acquainted with high-quality programs. Problem solving in terms of show placement or guest stars seems to be more important than inspiring great television innovations. This criticism assumes ____.
a. doing the right things is more important than doing things right in the television industry
b. the television industry benefits from strong leadership
c. long-term strategy is more important than tactics in the television industry
d. the television industry has a shortage of effective leadership
e. the television industry attracts more architects than builders
4. Which of the following is a major concern of leaders (as opposed to managers)?
a. controlling and limiting the choices of others
b. solving problems so that work can be done
c. preserving the status quo
d. inspiring and motivating others
e. a focus on productivity and efficiency
5. Ford Motor Company has always attracted and nurtured capable managers, but it has failed to do the same for leaders. So, as part of an overhaul of the automaker’s organizational culture, Ford is embarking on a sweeping attempt to mass-manufacture leaders. It wants to build an army of “warrior-entrepreneurs.” Ford’s “warrior-entrepreneurs” will be expected to ____.
a. take a long-term perspective
b. inspire and motivate employees to embrace change
c. realize that results are more important than processes
d. be architects rather than builders
e. do all of these things
6. Airline companies have blamed their recent financial problems on labor unions, the events of September 11, and a weak economy. Those airlines in financial difficulties have tried to solve the problem through short-term price reductions, firings and early retirements, and asking for employees to take pay cuts. The CEOs of these companies have not tried to motivate employees to create long-term solutions to the problems facing the companies. The CEOs of these troubled companies ____.
a. are true leaders
b. are more interested in doing the right thing than doing things right
c. are promoting long-term change
d. tend to focus on organizational visions, missions, goals, and objectives rather than organizational efficiency and productivity
e. are more than likely managers rather than leaders
7. When Jack Welch went to work for General Electric, he immediately began to make drastic changes in the company’s structure and product lines. He envisioned a bloated, inefficient General Electric becoming an efficient, profitable organization over time. He inspired and motivated his employees to change. Jack Welch ____.
a. would be characterized as a leader
b. had a short-term perspective
c. emphasized means rather than ends
d. acted as a builder rather than an architect
e. would be characterized as a manager
1. Which of the following statements about the importance of communication is true?
a. Many of the basic management processes cannot be performed without effective communication.
b. Oral communication is the most important skill for college graduates who are entering the work force.
c. Poor communication skill is the single most important reason that people do not advance in their careers.
d. Communication is especially important for top managers.
e. All of these statements about the importance of communication are true.
2. The last step in the perceptual process is ____.
a. Interpretation
b. Retention
c. Attention
d. Organization
e. Action
3. In the perceptual process, ____ is the process of noticing or becoming aware of particular stimuli.
a. Retention
b. Organization
c. Interpretation
d. Attention
e. Activation
4. In the perceptual process, ____ is the process of remembering interpreted information.
a. Apprehension
b. Organization
c. Interpretation
d. Retention
e. Activation
5. Which of the following statements about perception and perceptual filters is true?
a. People pay attention to similar things.
b. People organize and interpret what they pay attention to similarly.
c. People remember things similarly.
d. People are unaffected by differences in stimuli.
e. People perceive according to personality-, psychology-, and experience-based filters.
6. ____ is the process by which individuals attend to, organize, interpret, and retain information from their environments.
a. Active hearing
b. Passive listening
c. Perception
d. Apprehension
e. Participative communication
7. Because of ____, people exposed to the same information will often disagree about what they saw or heard.
a. defensive biases
b. feedback variables
c. differences in communication media
d. perceptual filters
e. communications deviations
8. Perceptual filters may occur as the result of ____.
a. stimulus-based differences
b. physiology-based differences
c. situation-contextual differences
d. personality-based differences
e. all of these
9. The steps in the basic perception process include all of the following EXCEPT ____.
a. attention
b. organization
c. analysis
d. interpretation
e. retention
10. The steps in the perceptual process in order are ____.
a. interpretation, attention, organization, action
b. organization, attention, interpretation, retention
c. attention, organization, interpretation, retention
d. attention, interpretation, organization, retention
e. attention, decision, intention, and action
1. The basic control process begins with ____.
a. either benchmarking or keystoning
b. the establishment of clear standards of performance
c. the comparison of actual performance to expected performance
d. problem identification
e. determining what corrective action will be if actual performance does not equal or exceed expected performance
2. ____ is the regulatory process of establishing standards that will achieve organizational goals, comparing actual performance to those standards, and then, if necessary, taking corrective action to restore performance to those standards.
a. Implementation
b. Goal-setting
c. Control
d. Suboptimization
e. Benchmarking
3. ____ are a basis of comparison for measuring the extent to which organizational performance is satisfactory or unsatisfactory.
a. Standards
b. Potentials
c. Autonomous goals
d. Degrees of centralization
e. Resource goals
4. The objective of the company that manufactures Jägermeister liqueur is to grow its international business. It determined its success in the international market in 2005 by comparing its annual exporting data for that year with the data gathered in 1998, the first year it had double digit growth in exports. For this company, the 1998 exporting data provide a(n) ____.
a. autonomous measurement
b. standard
c. value ratio
d. dependence measurement
e. performance predictor
5. In October 2005, Cadbury Schweppes said higher commodity prices and the bankruptcy of one of its U.S. bottling plants had increased its production costs and led it to scale back its financial projections for the remainder of the year. These financial projections were ____ for the beverage company.
a. autonomous measurements
b. standards
c. value ratios
d. dependence measurements
e. performance charts
6. Companies may determine standards by ____.
a. benchmarking other companies
b. implementing vertical loading
c. using outsourcing
d. taking corrective action
e. doing all of these
7. Ford Motor Company has been attacked by its own sustainability committee for failing to do enough to cut vehicular greenhouse gas emissions. According to the committee’s 2005 report, “Ford has failed to define a goal for reducing global emissions from the company’s products.” The report called for the company to set clear targets to improve fuel economy and to cut factory emissions. This committee wants Ford to establish emission control ____.
a. autonomous measurements
b. standards
c. value ratios
d. dependence measurements
e. performance predictors
8. ____ allows a trucking company not only to compare its safety performance with other companies but to also adopt those practices found to be superior. A trucking company can gather data on how its competitors deal with total accidents per million miles, numbers of high severity accidents by type, missed deliveries, spills, driver out-of-service by type, and vehicle out-of-service by type and use this information to improve its own safety record.
a. Benchmarking
b. Data decentralization
c. Information processing
d. Mirroring
e. Comparative criterion
9. When Marriott decided to improve the quality of service it offered its customers, it asked special corporate guests to comment on the good and bad issues of their stay and also to tell what the competition is doing that is better than Marriott. The Marriott acted accordingly. In other words, it used ____.
a. benchmarking
b. data decentralization
c. information processing
d. mirroring
e. comparative criterion
1. According to ____, the cost of computing will drop by 50 percent as computer-processing power doubles every 18 months.
a. Moore’s law
b. Gordon’s law
c. the Peter principle
d. the rule of e-commerce
e. Gresham’s Law
2. The term ____ refers to facts and figures depicted in a manner that is not usable.
a. nonspecific information
b. processed data
c. raw data
d. perceived knowledge
e. relevant information
3. The first company to use new information technology to substantially lower costs or differentiate products or services often gains ____.
a. first-mover advantage
b. lower profits
c. less market adaptability
d. increased synergy
e. all of these
4. According to the text, ____ is derived from ____.
a. information; raw data
b. raw data; perceived knowledge
c. perceived knowledge; raw data
d. raw data; information
e. influential knowledge; perceived knowledge
5. Pages listing all of the felony crimes perpetrated in New York during the last decade would be an example of ____.
a. a resource allocation table
b. traditional knowledge
c. raw data
d. perceived knowledge
e. information
6. Why is information strategically important for organizations?
a. Information can be used to obtain first-mover advantage.
b. Information is derived from perceived knowledge, which limits its availability.
c. Information cannot be used as a medium of exchange.
d. Information creates suboptimization opportunities.
e. All of these are examples of why information is strategically important for organizations.
7. A table showing the order frequencies as well as the average dollar value of the orders of different segments of a catalog retailer’s market would be an example of ____.
a. an MIS
b. perceived knowledge
c. raw data
d. information
e. influential knowledge
8. In 1921, realtor Billy Ingram closed his real estate company and opened White Castle restaurants to sell hamburgers. In 1921, hamburgers were thought to be made from rotten beef and not fit for human consumption. Ingram ground fresh beef in front of customers to prove it was safe and was the first to successfully sell hamburgers to the middle class. Today Ingram is credited as the founder of the fast-food industry. Understanding that Midwesterners wanted clean, convenient food when they were away from home was the information Ingram used to ____.
a. acquire a source of perceived knowledge
b. create a tactical advantage
c. create a first-mover advantage
d. pioneer sales in the consumer food industry
e. sustain a competitive advantage
9. Which of the following is one of the critical issues companies need to address in order to sustain a competitive advantage through information technology?
a. Who will have access to the information technology?
b. Will the purchase of the information technology be viewed as an expense or as an investment?
c. Does the firm’s use of the information technology violate any ethical standards?
d. Is the firm’s use of information technology difficult for another company to create or buy?
e. What government regulations may influence the company’s use of information technology?
10. The key to sustaining competitive advantage is ____.
a. faster computers with more memory
b. using information technology to continuously improve and support the core functions of a business
c. the Internet
d. the ability of the managers to delegate
e. how important the company’s culture perceives conceptual skills
11. In 1921, realtor Billy Ingram closed his real estate company and opened White Castle restaurants to sell hamburgers. In 1921, hamburgers were thought to be made from rotten beef and not fit for human consumption. Ingram ground fresh beef in front of customers to prove it was safe and was the first to successfully sell hamburgers to the middle class. Today Ingram is credited as the founder of the fast-food industry. Yet, today White Castle has 330 locations, and McDonald’s has 25,000 stores. From this information, you know ____.
a. tactics are more influential than strategies
b. the competitive advantage White Castle achieved from being first was not sustainable
c. White Castle lost its pioneering differential
d. product diffusion rates were slow
e. none of these
1. ____ is a measure of performance that indicates how many inputs it takes to produce or create an output.
a. Reliability
b. Performance accountability
c. Productivity
d. TQM
e. Effectiveness
2. At their core, companies are ____ systems that combine inputs such as labor, raw materials, capital, and knowledge to produce finished products and other types of output.
a. organizational
b. production
c. social
d. predictable
e. sociocultural
3. Which of the following shows the correct relationship for productivity, outputs, and inputs?
a. productivity = (inputs/outputs)
b. productivity = [(inputs outputs)/100]
c. outputs = (productivity/inputs)
d. productivity = (outputs/inputs)
e. inputs = (productivity/outputs)
ANS: D PTS: 1 DIF: Moderate REF: 327
TOP: AACSB Analytic KEY: Operations Management
4. Which of the following statements about productivity is true?
a. Productivity is a ratio of benefits to costs (i.e., benefits divided by costs).
b. For companies, higher productivity can lead to lower costs.
c. For countries, higher productivity produces a lower standard of living.
d. Productivity decreases make products more affordable.
e. All of the statements about productivity are true.
5. Why is productivity important to countries?
a. Productivity matters because it produces a higher standard of living.
b. Greater productivity results in lower wages.
c. Productivity increases supply and reduces demand for products.
d. Productivity reduces taxation.
e. None of these statements explains why productivity is important to countries.
e
6. ____ productivity is a measure of performance that indicates how much of a particular kind of input it takes to produce an output.
a. Breakdown
b. Segregated
c. Unifactor
d. Partial
e. Fractional
7. The CEO of a company that manufactures maple wooden cutting boards has determined that it takes a piece of maple lumber 18 inches square and two inches thick, 2 hours of labor, a planer, a sander, an electric saw, and $5.67 to make one maple cutting board. The CEO has determined the ____ productivity of his company so he can compare its operation with that of its competition.
a. Integrated
b. Multifactor
c. Segregated
d. Functional
e. Breakdown
8. ____ productivity shows how much labor, capital, materials, and energy it takes to create an output.
a. Temporal
b. Multifactor
c. Functional
d. Continuous
e. Quantitative
9. If the manager of a company that manufactures signs was interested in how much glass tubing was needed to produce a Las Vegas casino neon sign, the manager would be interested in ____ productivity.
a. Composite
b. Multifactor
c. Partial
d. Breakdown
e. Fractional
10. In general, managers should use ____ to directly compare their overall level of productivity to that of their competitors, and ____ to analyze the contributions of individual components to that overall productivity.
a. efficiency measures; a productivity analysis
b. partial productivity; multifactor productivity
c. integrated productivity; segregated productivity
d. fragmented productivity; complete productivity
e. multifactor productivity; partial productivity
11. The American Society for Quality defines quality as ____.
a. a product free of deficiencies, or the characteristics of a product or service that satisfy customers’ needs
b. a product that customers perceive as free of deficiencies
c. any product made from error-free components
d. a product produced according to a sacrificing design plan
e. none of these
22 April 2011
How To Write A Letter Of Recommendation Or An Endorsement From A Third Party
Your Business Blogger(R), also known as Your Business Professor has written dozens of recommendations for hundreds of students, clients, friends, vendors.
Question: If I wrote dozens of letters, then how did hundreds of people get a written recommendation from this very generous, very perceptive and very busy business consultant?
Answer: I didn’t write them.
***
I used to write recommendations all the time.
Before I got smart. (This took a long time…)
Linked here is a glowing recommendation from a United States Congressman for Your Business Professor for a presidential appointment. Note the glowing language. The detailed biography. The compelling argument.
Wow! That Congressman must really know Jack! Were they roommates in college? Are they cousins? Did they serve jail time together?
Nope.
The Good Congressman hardly knows me to send me anything other than a Christmas card.
No, the Good Congressman didn’t actually write my recommendation.
I did.
***
Why did a Very Busy Big Boss sign-off on a letter to Your (unknown) Business Professor?
Thomas Phillip “Tip” O’Neill, Jr., the late Speaker of the House during Reagan’s presidency, directed his staff to, don’t take nobody that nobody brought. That the Speaker would only use his resources for someone who was sponsored by a trusted adviser.
A trusted third party –
To get a recommendation from a Very Busy Big Boss, find a friend who the Boss trusts. A trusted staffer.
With input from the trusted staffer, I composed a draft of my recommendation, which was, of course, fact checked, spell checked and signature ready for the Big Endorser’s OK.
This is important: Very Important Busy People don’t have time to write anything. They have speech writers.
If you want an endorsement or a recommendation, you will need to become a speech writer.
For your own content.
This is the first lesson in Completed Staff Work for subordinates. The Big Boss should only make decisions and sign his name.
The Boss does not do any work.
“Work” in the form that the individual contributor or staffer would recognized.
So. I tell Interested Parties if they want a written recommendation from me on why someone should hire them — the Interested Party must first draft the letter so that I would know why I would make such suggestion.
Some one is going to have to do the thinking and the work for me.
This is how senior management works.
Some Interested Parties might suggest that Your Business Blogger(R) is not very bright and certainly very lazy.
Perhaps so. But.
This is how senior management works.
***
Now that the Alert Reader understands who really does the thinking and the working, let’s review what should go into the writing of the recommendation as my students at The Catholic University of America and Northern Virginia Community College know well.
Symmetry and Chemistry
The letter is written for a Big Boss to be read by another Big Boss. Well, OK, maybe not. Maybe your letter will be signed by an auto-pen (or secretary) and read by a trust adviser (or secretary).
The Letter of Recommendation has two purposes,
1) To assure the gate-keeper that your criminal record is irrelevant or that those tattoos are not visible with modest clothing (noticeable only in that YouTube video that you can’t get deleted). And,
2) To get you a face-to-face appointment for the interview.
The Big Boss probably will not see your letter and/or resume until you walk in his office. (Remember, he’s got staff to work and to think for him.)
The Hiring Manager is looking to answer two questions with Symmetry and Chemistry:
- Do we have the same values?
- Will we all get along?
Your Letter of Recommendation gets you two together. So what should it look like?
Personnel is Policy
The wife of Your Business Professor, Charmaine, worked in the Office of Presidential Personnel for Ronald Reagan who often said, “Personnel is Policy.” No President or senior leader can make every decision at every level but he can have have trusted deputies who can act in the president’s best interest — making decisions that the president would make if he had enough time.
Your Letter of Recommendation should indicate that you will make recommendations and think and act just as The Boss would think and act.
Academics, journalists, consultants and even real managers will tell you that they are looking for independent, free-thinking individuals who advance independent thought and action.
This, of course, is a lie.
Managers want subordinates who will offer well thought-out recommendations and work to persuade The Boss — But once The Boss makes a decision, the subordinate will implement the decision as if the decision were the subordinate’s.
You will be hired for your wisdom and judgment.
Problem, Solution, Result
Give a short example of a problem you faced, a solution you devised and the result of your initiative.
“[Problem] When faced with a sudden snow storm, Mr. Jones rented a snow plow [solution] and cleared the parking lot assuring that customers could get to the store front where he worked as a cashier. His initiative not only provided a customer service and safety but increased the store’s daily sales [results].”
Atta-Boys and Girls
What actions won you what awards? What superlative? All-American? Honor Roll?
“Mr. Jones never missed a session in my Business 100 class.”
“Miss Jones volunteered as a researcher to find a solution to a BlackBoard software problem I was having.”
“Mr. Jones would bring guests to my open lectures.”
“Miss Jones got an “A” in my class and regularly contributed to the discussion.”
“Mr. Jones was consistently on time.”
“Miss Jones worked part-time while attending and completing her undergraduate course work.”
Look and Feel
The letter should be a single page, single spaced, 12 point type, on 8-1/2 X 11 inch, with a conventional front like Times New Roman.
Your draft should allow space for the Big Boss letter head and signature block.
If there is an address to a third party, provide it in the body.
Be sure to (gently) alert the Big Boss of any deadlines or suspense dates.
If the letter is to be mailed directly from the Big Boss to a third party, request a blind copy to be mailed to you. We want to know how the Big Boss Staff may have modified your draft.
Ask someone to preview your social networking pages. Not sure about that bikini picture on Facebook? Take it down. Never have a picture taken with any, ANY kind of beverage in your hand — alcohol or not. Water looks like vodka.
So, put the drink down and take your name tag off when the cameras are close. Including cell phone cameras — especially cell phone cameras.
Do not use your too-familiar nick-name, Corky. Change your too-familiar email address, hotstuff@hotmail.
…So What?
Your reference letter or letter of recommendation is a one-page sales sheet; a marketing campaign to get you hired.
If you have had a real problem in your past, like that really interesting YouTube, email me for a consult. (Hint: I was young and needed the money is not a defense.)
Your Business Blogger(R) was still able to get a job after that unfortunate bar fight, street racing and other assorted events in his wasted youth. (No, no, not THAT wasted…)
And no, I do not need to see that video. Really.
###
Helping sentences for employee evaluations.
Examples done for (by!) recent students and forwarded on NOVA letterhead:
George Mason University
Office of Admissions
4400 University Drive, MSN 3A4
Fairfax, Virginia 22030 March 30, 2009To Whom It May Concern:
This is a letter of recommendation for Miss xxx xx xxx. She is currently one of the best students in my Business 100 class at the Northern Virginia Community College in Alexandria, Virginia. She is earning top grades and consistently contributes to the class.
She attended Yonsei University and University of Akron and will be applying to George Mason University to study commerce. (She knows that her business professor earned his MBA from George Mason.)
She has a demonstrated track record in her desire to learn more about business.
In the summer of 2007 she took an internship in a small accounting office in South Korea. In the summer 2008 she was an intern at the information center of the Korean Embassy in Washington D.C. which was a great motivator for her to begin to build toward her career goal as a marketing manager.
As an intern in the Embassy, she was the lead on two research projects. On one project she conducted a survey on improving Korean cultural events and on another project she studied the habits of listeners of Korean Radio broadcasting.
She began her management training as a vice president in her high school and as a leader of
English Discussion Group in Yonsei University.After watching her bring these experiences to my classroom, I believe she would make a terrific addition to my alma mater GMU.
Jack Yoest
Adjunct Professor
Business and Technology Division***
Undergraduate Admissions
University of Idaho
PO BOX 444264
Moscow, ID 83844-4264April 29, 2009
Dear Admissions Committee at the University of Idaho,
I teach at Northern Virginia Community College and I am writing to strongly recommend xxxxx xxxxx for admittance to the University of Idaho. He has proven himself this semester to be well suited for a rigorous intellectual environment in terms of academic skills, maturity, and motivation.
Mr. xxxxx has been an industrious student in my Intro to Business class. With only a few weeks remaining in the semester, he has a strong “A” average. This grade in my class suggests that he has both the intellectual capacity and diligence to participate in higher education. He thinks and communicates clearly and creatively, actively contributes to class discussions, writes fluently, and interacts well with both students and teachers.
Mr. xxxxx has shown himself to be a mature and motivated student throughout this semester. He is well-prepared for classes and excels on my assignments, projects, and tests. He is committed to excellence as a college student and is highly motivated to contribute and succeed.
I strongly recommend xxxx to you. He will be a positive addition to the University of Idaho student body and I expect will continue to excel academically.
Please do not hesitate to contact me if you desire further information.
Sincerely,
John Yoest
Adjunct Professor, Business
Cell: 202.215.2434***
May 12, 2008
Robert xxx
xxx Recruiting Coordinator
Six Metro Tech Center
Brooklyn, NY 11201
Dear Mr. xxx,This is a letter of recommendation for Mr. xxx xxxx xxxx. He is a remarkable young man and an outstanding student who earned an “A” in my Introduction to Business class. I am very pleased to recommend him for admission to your program.
I have been impressed by his commitment to continuous learning, attention to detail and follow-up. Mr. xxxxx has outstanding organizational skills and was able to complete multiple tasks on time successfully.
He prepared and delivered a compelling presentation on the condition of the real estate market in the United States as part of a semester project. His work ethic combined with his interest in business and the construction sciences would make him a desirable candidate for your construction management program.
Mr. xxxx xxxx xxxx is a diligent student who seldom missed a class. Cultivated and highly motivated, Mr. xxxx xxxx xxxxx speaks fluent French, Russian and, of course, English. He actively participated in leading class discussions.
If you have any questions regarding his abilities or this recommendation, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Sincerely,
Jack
Adjunct Professor
Northern Virginia Community College, Alexandria Campus
202.215.2434***
Office of Undergraduate Admissions September 8, 2009
James Madison UniversitySonner Hall, MSC 0101
481 Bluestone Dr.
Harrisonburg, VA 22807
Dear Admission Committee at James Madison University,This is a letter of recommendation for xxxx xxx xxx. I teach at the Northern Virginia Community College and I am writing to strongly recommend xxxx xxx xxx for admittance to James Madison University. He had proven himself last semester to be well suited for a rigorous intellectual environment in terms of academic skills, maturity, and motivation.
Mr. xxxx xxx xxx was an industrious student in my Intro to Business class. He never missed a section of my class and always on time. He earned top scores for all of my tests and was awarded an “A.” His extra effort in my class suggests that he has both the intellectual capacity and diligence to participate in higher education. He thinks and communicates clearly and creatively, actively contributes to class discussions, writes fluently, and interacts well with both students and faculty.
Mr. xxxx xxx xxx had shown himself to be a mature and motivated student throughout the semester. He is well-prepared for classes and excelled on assignments, projects, and tests. He is committed to outstanding performance as a college student and is highly motivated to contribute and succeed.
I strongly recommend xxxx xxx xxx to James Madison University. He will be a positive addition to JMU’s student body and I expect that he will continue to excel academically.
Please contact me if you would like further information.
Sincerely,
John Yoest
Adjunct Professor, Business & Technology, Alexandria Campus
Cell: 202.215.2434
Follow me on Twitter: @JackYoest
20 April 2011
Basic Business 100 Vocabulary
Vocabulary and Business Terms
Business 100 Northern Virginia Community College
Pages may not accurate
1. Free Enterprise, p. 4.
2. One question to ask in a job interview, p.6.
3. One reason to study business, p.7.
4. The purpose of Business is to create a ________ and make a ________.
5. Name the four resources needed for business, p. 9.
6. ___________ – ______________ = Profit, p. 11.
7. Capitalism, p. 12.
8. Command Economy, p. 15.
9.Productivity, p. 16.
10. GDP, p. 17.
11. Deflation, p. 17.
12. Recession, p. 19.
13. Unemployment rate, p.19.
14. National Debt, p. 20.
15. Market Price, p. 21.
16. Specialization, p. 25.
17. Microeconomics, p. 11
18. Ethics, p. 37.
19. Trade Association, p. 41.
20.Caveat Emptor, p. 50.
21. Name one right of the consumer, p.53.
22. Comparative Advantage, p. 74.
23. ___________ – ___________ = Balance of Trade, p. 74.
24. Import Duty, p. 76.
25. NAFTA, p. 85.
26. Licensing, p. 87.
27. Letter of Credit, p. 88.
28. Bill of Lading, p. 88.
29. Strategic Alliance, p. 90.
30. Sole Proprietorship, p. 108.
31. Partnership, p. 110.
32. Corporation, p. 116.
33. Stockholder, p. 116.
34. Dividend, p. 118.
35. Board of Directors, p. 118.
36. S-Corporation, p. 122.
37. LLC, p. 122.
38. Non-Profit, p. 124.
39. Small Business, p. 136.
40. Distribution Industry, p. 139.
41. Service Industry, p. 139.
42. Production Industry, p. 139.
42. Entrepreneur Spirit, p. 140.
43. Business Plan, p. 147.
44. Franchise, p. 152.
Understanding Money, Banking & Credit Quiz
1) Discuss the importance of credit and and credit management.
Credit is the immediate purchasing power that is exchanged for the promise to repay borrowed money at a later date.
2) What are the five Cs of credit?
character
capacity
capital
collateral
conditions
3) What does the Federal Reserve System do? .
The Federal Reserve System is responsible for regulating the U.S. banking industry and maintaining a sound economic environment through controlling the money supply.
4) What are three tools the Federal Reserve uses to influence monetary policy?
1) To control the supply of money, the Federal Reserve System regulates the reserve requirement — the percentage of deposits a bank must keep on hand.
2) The Federal Reserve regulates the discount rate — the interest rate the Fed charges member banks for loans from the Federal Reserve.
3) The Fed engages in open-market operations — where it buys and sells government securities — to affect the federal funds rate.
5) How does deposit insurance protect customers?
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation FDIC and the National Credit Union Association NCUA insure accounts in member commercial banks. Typically accounts are insured up to $100,000.
Business Basics, BUSiness 100, Chapters 12 to 15
Define, explain, expand. The more words you use, the better: I might find the answer somewhere in all the verbiage.
1. Marketing
2. Name one of the functions of marketing
3. CRM
4. Lifetime value of a customer
5. Marketing mix
6. Market segment
7. What kind of income is of interest to marketers
8. Line extension
9. Brand
10. ROI
11. Market Share
12. Retailer
13. Wholesaler
14. Broker
15. Promotion Mix (Four Parts)
16. Product Placement
17. MAP
Chapters 12 to 20. Fifteen points total.
Define
1. Marketing
2. CRM
3. Customer lifetime value
4. Utility
5. Target market
6. Market segment
7. SWOT
8. Discretionary income
9. Product
10. Product line
11. Brand
12. Trademark
13. Supply
14. Demand
15. Breakeven
16. Price Strategy
17. Channel of distribution
18. Retailer
19. Wholesaler
20. Supply-chain management
21. Materials handling
22. Promotion
23. Advertising
24. Public relations
25. Personal Selling
26. Order getter
27. Premium
28. Point-of-purchase
29. Trade show
30. Data
31. MIS
32. IT
33. Statistic
34. ISP
35. Internet
36. Outsourcing
37. B2B
38. Accounting
39. GAAP
40. Accounting equation
41. CPA
42. Income statement
43. Statement of Cash Flows
44. Balance Sheet
45. Intangible assets
46. Functions of money
47. Characteristics of money
48. FED
49. Discount rate
50. Check
51. Line of credit
52. Letter of credit
53. Cash flow
54. CFO
55. Equity capital
56. Liquidity
57. Rate of return
58. Account executive
59. Market value
60. Nasdaq