Exercise Overview Diagnostic skills help managers visualize and understand the most appropriate response to a situation. Technical skills are used to accomplish or understand the specific kind of work done in an organization. Both diagnostic and technical skills play a role in effective control. The purpose of this exercise is to demonstrate the relationships among diagnostic skills, technical skills, and the process of controlling workplace activities. Exercise Background In recent months you have become aware of three troubling developments. First, your costs have been increasing steadily. Food costs have been going up, and there appears to be more waste and spoiled food each month than the month before. Second, customer complaints have also been going up. You have never gotten many complaints (often averaging only one or two a month), but you are now getting four or five each month. You know that your competitors often get more than that, but, nevertheless, your numbers are rising. Finally, turnover among your employees has been increasing. Turnover is common in the restaurant business, but you do clearly see increasing numbers. What purposes would control play in your efforts to address the three issues noted? Check all that apply. Control can help you better assess and potentially reduce employee turnover. Control has no relevance to any of the three issues noted. Control can help you better assess and potentially reduce your food costs. Control can help you reduce food costs and customer complaints with certainty but has no role in employee turnover. Control can help you better assess and potentially reduce customer complaints. In what way might the three areas of concern be related to one another? New employees eat more than old employees, so your food costs have gone up because of employee turnover. Employee turnover results in less experienced employees who may not have strong customer service skills. O Customer complaints have caused you to order more food. Which of these would make a relatively effective control standard? Check all that apply. Reduce food waste by a substantial amount Cut employee turnover by half Reduce turnover to zero Reduce customer complaints from the current level of five per month (on average) to two per month (on average) B