Lesson 3.2.1

3.2.1 Understanding management, leadership and decision making Quiz: AQA Business, Unit 2

20 questions

Written by Revision Ninja · Last reviewed 11 October 2026

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Lesson 3.2.1, Understanding management, leadership and decision making: 20 multiple choice questions for the AQA Business (7132), Unit 2: Managers, leadership and decision making, written with Revision Ninja.

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The 20 questions

  1. Which statement best distinguishes management from leadership?

    • Leadership sets budgets, while management designs the mission
    • Management plans, organises and controls resources, while leadership inspires and motivates people towards a vision
    • Leadership is a legal role, while management is an informal role
    • Management applies only in large firms, while leadership applies only in small firms

  2. Autocratic leadership is best described as:

    • Managers making decisions alone and expecting employees to follow instructions without consultation
    • Managers giving staff full freedom with minimal supervision
    • Managers taking a caring, fatherly role and deciding for staff's benefit
    • Managers inviting all staff to vote on every decision before acting

  3. Paternalistic leadership involves:

    • Managers making decisions only after consulting a regulator
    • Staff voting on decisions and managers following the majority
    • Managers making decisions for employees' benefit and providing welfare, while expecting loyalty in return
    • Managers giving workers complete freedom to set their own targets

  4. Laissez-faire leadership is most likely to be effective when:

    • Decisions must be made within minutes under strict deadlines
    • Employees are new and need detailed training
    • Tasks are dangerous and require immediate instructions
    • Employees are highly skilled and self-motivated and need little direction

  5. On the Tannenbaum and Schmidt continuum, moving from left to right means:

    • The manager's decision-making authority decreases while subordinates' freedom increases
    • The manager's authority increases while subordinates' freedom decreases
    • Both the manager's authority and subordinates' freedom stay unchanged
    • Both the manager's authority and subordinates' freedom increase

  6. Which factor is an influence on a leader's style?

    • The age of the business's head office building
    • The nature of the task and the skills and attitudes of the team
    • The colour of the company logo
    • The number of shares the business has issued

  7. Democratic leadership is characterised by:

    • Managers delegating all decisions with no final authority retained
    • Employees being consulted and involved in decisions, though the manager may keep the final say
    • Managers using fear of punishment to secure obedience
    • Managers making all decisions without consultation

  8. A restaurant manager tells kitchen staff exactly what to do during the rush, with no discussion. Which style is this?

    • Autocratic
    • Paternalistic
    • Laissez-faire
    • Democratic

  9. A software company's senior developers set their own deadlines and work largely unsupervised. Which style is the company using?

    • Democratic
    • Autocratic
    • Paternalistic
    • Laissez-faire

  10. A manager provides free health insurance and training, decides all policy herself and expects staff loyalty in return. Which style does this show?

    • Autocratic
    • Democratic
    • Paternalistic
    • Laissez-faire

  11. An employee-owned cooperative lets its staff vote on the pay policy. Which leadership style is most evident?

    • Democratic
    • Laissez-faire
    • Paternalistic
    • Autocratic

  12. A firm with a highly motivated, skilled workforce faces a complex and fast-changing task. Which style is most likely to be effective?

    • A paternalistic style that restricts staff decisions
    • A democratic style that draws on employees' knowledge
    • An autocratic style with strict instructions
    • A laissez-faire style with no guidance at all

  13. Which of these is a management function rather than a leadership function?

    • Building trust with employees during change
    • Inspiring staff to commit to a shared vision
    • Motivating a team through personal example
    • Setting a budget and monitoring spending against it

  14. A leader who never delegates may find that:

    • Staff become more motivated because all decisions are central
    • Costs fall because fewer managers are needed
    • Decision making becomes faster because the leader has more information
    • Staff motivation falls and the leader becomes a bottleneck for decisions

  15. Evaluate: which argument best shows that the effectiveness of a leadership style depends on context?

    • Effectiveness is measured solely by the number of meetings held
    • A style that suits experienced staff on routine tasks may fail with inexperienced staff in a crisis
    • One style always works best in every business
    • Leadership style matters only for large multinational companies

  16. A manager accepts that autocratic style gives speed in an emergency but damages morale over time. Which judgement is best?

    • Use autocracy permanently because it always achieves the fastest results
    • Avoid autocracy entirely because it is illegal in the UK
    • Use laissez-faire in emergencies because it gives staff the most freedom
    • Use autocracy briefly in emergencies, because prolonged use can reduce commitment and creativity

  17. A leader changes from paternalistic to laissez-faire and productivity falls. Which explanation is most plausible?

    • Staff lack the skills or guidance to work without direction, so the style does not fit the workforce
    • Laissez-faire styles always reduce productivity in every case
    • The fall proves paternalism is always more effective than laissez-faire
    • Productivity falls whenever a leader is democratic

  18. Why might an overly autocratic leader reduce long-term innovation?

    • Autocratic leaders ban all new technology by law
    • Employees are less likely to share ideas or challenge decisions, so fewer new ideas reach the leader
    • Employees are paid more under autocracy, so they have no reason to innovate
    • Innovation depends only on the number of shareholders

  19. A manager uses different leadership styles for different tasks and teams. Which term best describes this approach?

    • Pure laissez-faire leadership applied to avoid conflict
    • Pure autocratic leadership applied consistently to all tasks
    • Situational or contingency leadership, adapting style to the task and team
    • A style defined entirely by the company's legal structure

  20. Which factor makes a democratic leadership style harder to use effectively?

    • Decisions take longer when many people must be consulted, especially under time pressure
    • Democratic leadership is illegal in private firms
    • Democratic leaders cannot delegate any tasks
    • Staff never have any ideas worth considering

All AQA Business quizzes