1. Chelsi works as a salon and spa coordinator, checking guests in…

1. Chelsi works as a salon and spa coordinator, checking guests in and out and assisting with hair and skin product sales and inventory. The general manager has asked the coordinators to promote a line of products that hasn’t been selling very well. Chelsi observes that those products are all on the bottom shelf of the display and thinks that product placement could be the issue.

Which of the following research questions might help Chelsi investigate her theory that product placement is contributing to low product sales?

A) Will the product sell better if the coordinators give customers coupons for 10% off?

B) Will the product sell better if it’s displayed on a more visible shelf for two weeks?

C) Will the product sell better if the stylists discuss the products occasionally?

D) Will the product sell better if all the other products are removed from the display?

2. Which of the following is NOT an important question to consider when thinking critically about data?

A) Who is the source of the data, and are they trustworthy?

B) What question is the data attempting to answer?

C) What data is left out or missing that could add more context?

D) How much engagement will this data receive if posted on social media?

3. Chen has recently not been achieving the results he wants in his work. After making a costly mistake, he stopped to ask himself what he learned from the situation and what he would do differently next time.

A) wasted time thinking about the past.

B) Chen began a cycle of inquiry with some thoughtful questions.

C) conducted a time-consuming exercise.

D) didn’t care about his mistake that much.

4. Ricardo recently experienced some difficulties with a project he was managing and the client asked for another project manager to take over. When Ricardo’s boss spoke with him to point out the mistakes he had made, Ricardo was careful to not lose his temper and to listen carefully. Ricardo showed his resilience by:

1. messing up on the project.
2. not caring about the project.
3. keeping an open mind.
4. finding mistakes in the next project manager’s work.

5.  The Monte Carlo fallacy would most likely lead you to:

• A) Make the wrong decision based on faulty reasoning
• B) Make the right decision based on strong data
• C) Make the right decision based on illogical reasoning
• D) Make the wrong decision based on an obvious mistake

6. Which of these examples shows reasoning based on fact, not assumption?

A) I always greet customers at the front entrance, so anyone who doesn’t is just rude.

B) Aram doesn’t like filing, so he probably doesn’t like making copies either.

c) Nile overheard two of his coworkers calling in sick, so he offered to stay and work a double shift to help his manager.

D) Lindsey notices that her boss leaves early when all the work is done, so she does the same.

7. Nadia notices that sales have gradually decreased over the past two years. The sales team has not changed, nor have the products. What should Nadia do next?

Read the following possible courses of action and decide which is the BEST way to handle the situation and which

is the WORST way to handle the situation.

1. Discontinue all products and offer new products to meet the changing marketplace.

2.Meet with the sales team and brainstorm reasons for declining sales.

3.Ask the sales team to research, evaluate, and test new sales strategies.

4. Conduct a customer survey to find out what customers are saying.

Which is the BEST way to handle the situation?

Option 1

Option 2

Option 3

Option 4

Which is the WORST way to handle the situation?

Option 1

Option 2

Option 3

Option 4

8. Kings Catering will need a bigger kitchen to support plans to cater weddings on the other side of the city. Mr. King needs to decide how he will pay for the expansion. He has begun researching loans for small businesses. What part of the decision-making process is Mr. King currently in?

A) Analyze possible actions.

B) Collect information.

C) Implement a solution.

D) Identify the problem.

9. Which statement is true about adaptable workers?

A) They adjust to changes in the workplace easily.

 B) They know ways to manage stressful situations.

C) They apply the cycle of inquiry to solve problems.

D) They make decisions with logic and reason.

10. Which statement shows reasoning that is based on assumption, not fact?

A) Kim does not like doing data entry, and neither do I.

B) Many of my friends like to drink iced tea in the summer, so I will buy some for the party.

c) Allerosect managers have college degrees. Sonya is a project manager, so she has 

D) I always round the numbers when making a budget, so everyone must round numbers to make a budget.

11. Which conclusion is supported by the graph?

Food Spending and Percent of Income

Spent on Food

A) People in the highest quintile spend about $4,000 on food or about 30% of their income.

B) People in the low best quintile se incheat untile.

C) As their incomes rise, people spend a greater portion of their total income on food.

D) As their incomes rise, people spend more on food, but it represents a smaller portion of their income.

12. The print shop where Carl works is under new ownership. The new owner plans to make changes to the way work is performed. Carl is worried about the changes. Carl should

 A) accept the changes and perform his work as best as he is able.

B) look for ways to continue to use the old procedures without upsetting the new owner.

C. consider whether a different position in the shop would be better for him.

D. assume the changes will be hegative so he will be prepared for whatever happens.

13. To cut costs, the Rose City school board has decided to eliminate art and music courses. Isabella’s daughter plans to go to art school after high school and needs access to art courses.

Which action shows that Isabella understands the importance of root cause analysis when wanting to effect change?

A) She meets with the school principal to express her concerns about the decision.

B) She makes a list of why the school board may have decided to drop art and music classes.

c) She asks teachers, students; and parents to sign a petition in favor of keeping art and

music classes.

D. She uses social media to boycott the school if the school board does not change its decision.

14. What is the best way to manage adversity in the workplace?

 A) Look for the root cause of the problem.

 B) Brainstorm ways the problem can be overcome.

C) Consider the causes and effects of the problem.

D) View the problem as an opportunity to make changes.

15. Jason notices that the architects at his company spend a lot of time making photocopies. To cut costs and increase efficiency, Jason hires an assistant to do all the copying. When workers need copies, they submit a request to the assistant. The architects are now more efficient and costs are down, but the contract manager is often late processing contracts because he is waiting for copies.

What principle of systems thinking does this illustrate?

A) Everything is interconnected.

B) Simple solutions are often the best solutions.

C) Root causes may seem unrelated to the problem.

D) One must look for leverage points to change a system.

16. About how much did the percent of working women with some college or an associate degree change from 1996 to 2016?

Use the graph to answer the question.

force by educational attainment

• A) 0%
• B) 8%
• c) 12%
• D) 70%

I Less than a high school diploma

High school graduates. no college

•Some college or associate degree
Bachelor’s dearee and higher

0%

2006

2016

17. A large car dealership is receiving more customer complaints than usual. Bea wants to use a cycle of inquiry to investigate what is going on. 

After gathering some initial data, Bea finds that more than half. of the complaints are related to repairs made at the body shop. Now that she has determined that the body shop is a problem area, what should Bea do next?

Read the following possible courses of action and decide which is the BEST next step and which is the WORST hext step.

1. Look closely at the body shop to clarify the problem.
2. Ask the body shop workers to find a solution to the problem.
3. Notify the body shop workers that they may lose their jobs.
4. Brainstorm ideas to improve the work done in the body shop.

Which is the BEST way to handle the situation?

Option 1

Option 2

Option 3

Option 4

Which is the WORST way to handle the situation?

Option 1

Option 2

Option 3

Option 4

18.  Lyle’s weekly staff meetings have been poorly attended, and those who do attend are often multi-tasking rather than paying attention. Using the cycle of inquiry, Lyle discovered that the problem is the staff meeting time coincides with when weekly finance reports are due.

Read the following possible courses of action and decide which is the BEST way for Lyle to handle the situation and which is the WORST way for him to handle the situation.

1. Inform the staff that his meeting is higher priority than the finance department’s reports.
2. Move the staff meeting time to after the weekly reports are due and see if attendance and focus improve.
3. Cancel the staff meetings so the, team can focus on completing their finance reports.
4. Allow the staff to continue multi-tasking so that they can attend his meeting and get the finance reports done.

Which is the BEST way to handle the situation?

Option 1

Option 2

Option 3

Option 4

Which is the WORST way to handle the situation?

Option 1

Option 2

Option 3

Option 4

19. Which step comes first in the decision making process?

A) Analyze the actions.

 B) Collect information.

C) List all possible actions.

 D) Identify the problem.

20.  In case of an emergency, the receptionist at Leading Edge needs to know who is in the office building.

Therefore, the employees are required to sign in and out when they enter or leave the building. It was clear during the last two fire drills that many employees are not signing in and out.

Which question demonstrate a systems thinking approach to solving this problem? 

1. What incentive would encourage workers to sign in and out?
2. Should employees get docked pay for not signing in and out?
3. Should Leading Edge have a reminder to sign in and out on every door?
4. Why do some workers fail to’ sign in and out?

21. Which survey question would most likely produce categorical data if administered to 100 customers?

• A) How much profit does the company make on each of its products?
• B) Which of the company’s services do you use the most
• C) About how many times each year do you purchase our products?
• D) What price are you willing to pay for this product?

22. Shyla is the top salesperson in her company. Her team leader tells everyone on the team to learn and implement a new sales strategy. Shyla knows that her strategies are working well, so she is reluctant to try something different.

What should she do?

A) Prepare the team for decreased sales since the new strategy will be less effective.

 B) Learn the new strategy but continue use the strategies that work best for her 

C) Accept the change and apply the new strategy as best as she is able. 

D) Explore whether she should transfer to a different sales team to avoid the change.

23. The number of accidents at a manufacturing facility has been increasing every year. Most of the accidents are because employees do not follow standard procedures. The company’s leaders want to apply systems thinking to find solutions.

Which is the BEST first step when applying systems thinking and which is the WORST first step?

1. Identify which teams should be evaluated to determine their role in causing the accidents.
2. Identify and evaluate all the potential consequences for each possible solution.
3. Identify patterns of employee behavior and examine what influences the patterns.
4. Identify solutions to solve smaller problems while studying the larger problem.

Which is the BEST way to handle the situation?

Option 1

Option 2

Option 3

Option 4

Which is the WORST way to handle the situation?

Option 1

Option 2

Option 3

Option 4

24. You are the manager of a retail store. Shipments of the products you sell arrive once a week from the central warehouse and you need to pull a couple of your workers from inside the store to unload the shipments quickly from the truck. The problem is that the truck may arrive any time during the day, and sometimes you end up short of workers inside the store.

Read the following possible actions and decide which is the BEST way to handle the situation and which is the

WORST way to handle the situation.

1. Hire more workers so you are prepared when the deliveries arrive.
2. Work with the central warehouse to arrange a predictable delivery time.
3. Change the delivery system so that the goods are delivered only once a month.
4. Ask the truck drivers to call you when they are 30 minutes away from your store

Which is the BEST way to handle the situation?

Option 1

Option 2

Option 3

Option 4.

Which is the WORST way to handle the situation?

Option 1

Option 2

Option 3

Option 4

25. This graph, which combines the characteristics of a stacked bar chart and a line chart, shows changes in car/truck production. Which conclusion is best supported by the data in the chart?

A) Consumers have always preferred trucks to cars

B) Manufacturers think sedans and wagons are growing market

C) Truck SUVs have become an important part of the market.

 D) Track manufacturers make more money than car manufacturers