EGEL Plus Administración common mistakes
EGEL Plus Administración · Understand the traps and how to avoid them.
When asked to identify the primary function of management in a scenario, the candidate selects 'planning' by default because it is listed first, without checking whether the scenario describes organizing, directing, or controlling.
Candidates memorize the four functions in order and treat the first as the most important; they also confuse the everyday meaning of 'plan' with the technical definition of planning.
What to do instead
For each scenario, underline the verb that describes what the manager is doing (setting objectives, grouping tasks, influencing people, comparing results) and match it to the definition of the function before looking at the options.
Classifies an organization as mechanistic or organic (or as functional vs. divisional) based on its industry or size alone, ignoring the scenario's description of decision-making authority and coordination mechanisms.
Candidates rely on stereotypes (e.g., 'manufacturing = mechanistic') instead of the structural dimensions the question actually describes, such as centralization, formalization, and span of control.
What to do instead
Extract the structural clues explicitly: who makes decisions, how many rules exist, how departments are grouped, and how wide the span of control is; then map those clues to the structure type.
Chooses a motivation theory (Maslow, Herzberg, McClelland, Vroom) by name familiarity rather than by matching the theory's core mechanism to the scenario's described behavior.
Theories share vocabulary (needs, motivators, expectations), and candidates remember labels without their distinguishing logic, so they pick the most famous theory rather than the one that explains the case.
What to do instead
Write a one-line mechanism for each theory before answering (e.g., Herzberg: hygiene prevents dissatisfaction but only motivators create satisfaction; Vroom: effort→performance→outcome expectancies), then test the scenario against those lines.
In HR planning questions, confuses job analysis with job description and job specification, or confuses recruitment with selection, and answers with the wrong process stage.
The terms are taught together and overlap in practice; candidates memorize definitions but not the sequence of the staffing process.
What to do instead
Memorize the sequence (job analysis → description/specification → recruitment → selection → onboarding) and for each question identify which stage the scenario is in before evaluating the options.
Applies the wrong element of the marketing mix (product, price, place, promotion) to a scenario, for example treating a distribution decision as a promotion decision.
Candidates focus on the most salient word in the scenario (e.g., 'advertising budget') and ignore the actual decision being described (e.g., channel conflict).
What to do instead
Restate the scenario's decision in one sentence ('the company must decide how to get the product to retailers') and assign it to a mix element before reading the options.
Confuses market segmentation with targeting and positioning, or selects a segmentation base that the scenario does not support (e.g., choosing demographic when the data are behavioral).
The STP steps are often memorized as a list without clear operational boundaries, and segmentation bases overlap in examples.
What to do instead
For each question, label the step being asked (dividing the market = segmentation; choosing segments = targeting; creating a distinct image = positioning) and verify that the chosen base is the one the data describe.
In ratio analysis, uses the wrong denominator (e.g., average vs. ending inventory, sales vs. cost of goods sold) or misclassifies a ratio as liquidity, solvency, or profitability.
Formulas are memorized loosely, and candidates do not check which figures the problem provides or what the ratio is intended to measure.
What to do instead
Write the formula with its exact components before computing, and classify each ratio by the question it answers (can we pay short-term bills? how much debt? how profitable?).
Mixes up the components of the accounting equation or the direction of debits and credits when analyzing a transaction, producing an incorrect effect on assets, liabilities, or equity.
Candidates memorize 'debit = left' without linking accounts to their normal balances, and they fail to check that the equation stays balanced after the transaction.
What to do instead
For each transaction, state the accounts affected, their normal balance, and whether each increases or decreases; then verify that assets = liabilities + equity still holds.
Calculates break-even or productivity using total costs instead of separating fixed and variable costs, or uses units and currency interchangeably.
Candidates plug numbers into a memorized formula without checking which cost is fixed and which varies with volume, and they ignore unit consistency.
What to do instead
Before computing, build a small table classifying each cost as fixed or variable and label all quantities with units; then apply the formula and check that the result's unit matches what is asked.
Confuses quality control with quality assurance, or confuses inspection with prevention, when answering questions about quality management approaches.
The terms are used loosely in practice, and candidates do not distinguish detecting defects from preventing them.
What to do instead
Memorize the distinction (control/inspection detects defects after the fact; assurance/prevention builds quality into the process) and classify the scenario's activity as detection or prevention before choosing.