MGMT Test 2 chapters 5, 7, 8, 9
Explain the concept of contingency organization design and distinguish between mechanistic and organic organizations
Contingency organization design structures the organization to fit situational demands. Mechanistic (rigid) organizations are effective when the environment is stable, and organic (flexible) organizations are best when unstable conditions occur.
Define the term delegation and list at least 5 common barriers to delegation
Delegation is the process of assigning various degrees of decision-making authority to lower-level employees. 1. doing everything yourself 2. lack of confidence and trust in others 3. fear of competition 4. reluctance to risk depending on others 5. poor role models who don't delegate
Describe the three types of forecasts
Event outcome, event timing, and time series forecasts help strategic planners anticipate and prepare for future environmental circumstances. Event outcome forecasts are used when strategists want to predict the outcome of highly probable future events. Event timing forecasts predict when given events will occur. Time series forecasts seek to estimate future values in a sequence of periodically recorded statistics.
Describe Porter's model of generic competitive strategies
Porter's model of generic competitive strategies includes cost leadership, differentiation, cost focus, and focused differentiation. Porter's model helps managers create a profitable fit between the organization and its environment
Define the term strategic management and explain its relationship to strategic planning, implementation, and control
Strategic management is the ongoing process of ensuring a competitively superior fit between the organization and its ever-changing environment. It effectively merges strategic planning, implementation, and control.
Explain the nature and purpose of a SWOT analysis
Strategists formulate the organization's grand strategy after conducting a SWOT analysis. The organization's key capabilities and marketplace niche become apparent when the organization's Strengths and Weaknesses are cross-referenced with its environmental Opportunities and Threats.
Explain the concept of synergy, and identify four kinds of synergy
Synergy focuses on situations where the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. 1+1=3. Four kinds of synergy are market synergy, cost synergy, technological synergy, and management synergy
Identify and describe 5/10 mental locks that can inhibit creativity
1. Looking for the right answer: A given problem may have several right answers, depending on perspective 2. Always trying to be logical: logic does not always prevail, given human emotions and organizational inconsistencies and ambiguity 3. Strictly following the rules: if things are to be improved, arbitrary limits on thinking and behavior need to be questioned 4. Insisting on being practical: impractical answers can become steppingstones to creative insights 5. Avoiding ambiguity: creativity can be stunted by too much objectivity and specificity
Summarize the four practical lessons from business ethics research
1. 48% of surveyed workers reported engaging in illegal or unethical practices 2. perceived pressure from above can erode ethics 3. employees desire clear ethical standards in ambiguous situations 4. rationalization sometimes enables good people to do bad things
Identify and briefly describe the five basic departmentalization formats
1. Functional departmentalization - jobs by activity performed 2. Product-service - by its type of product or service, unifying theme 3. Geographic location - dispersion of resources, facilities, and customers encourages a geographic format to put administrators closer to action 4. Customer classification - focuses on various customer cateogries 5. Work flow process - reengineering for lower costs, better quality, greater speed, better use of modern technology, improved customer satisfaction
Identify and explain the major contribution the business ecosystems model makes to strategic thinking
The business ecosystems model emphasizes that organizations need to be as good at cooperating as they are at competing. By balancing cooperation and competition, competitors can coevolve into a dominant economic community
Identify seven basic Internet business models and discuss the strategic significance of social media
1. commision-based 2. advertising-based 3. markup-based 4. production-based 5. referral-based 6. subscription-based 7. fee-for-service-based The strategic significance of social media is that websites are needed to build customer loyalty, but you also need to "soft-sell". All businesses must regularly monitor social media and respond quickly and constructively to postings that threaten the company's reputation
List and explain the four basic steps in the creative problem-solving process
1. identifying the problem 2. generating alternative solutions 3. selecting a solution 4. implementing and evaluating a solution
Describe how the causes of problems can be tracked down with fishbone diagrams
A clear statement forms the "head" of the fishbone skeleton. Each of the bones represents a possible cause to the problem. More likely causes are located closer to the head. Possible explanations are attached to each bone.
Explain what a condition of risk is and what managers can do to cope with it
A condition of risk is incomplete but reliable factual information. Managers can cope with it by calculating objective or subjective probabilities
Identify and describe four characteristics common to all organizations and distinguish between line and staff positions
All organizations have a coordination of effort, a common goal or purpose, a division of labor, and hierarchy of authority. If one of these characteristics is absent, an organization does not exist. Line managers are in the formal chain of command and have decision-making authority. Staff personnel provide advice and support.
Define the term corporate social responsibility and specify the four levels in Carroll's global CSR pyramid
CSR is the idea that management has broader responsibilities than just making a profit. A strict interpretation holds that an action must be VOLUNTARY to qualify as socially responsible. Carroll's global CSR pyramid's levels are economic, legal, ethical, and philanthropic
Describe how a highly centralized organization differs from a highly decentralized one
Centralized: top management retains all major decison-making authority and checks up a lot on subordinates Decentralization: delegation of decision authority to lower-level managers, praised as democratic, criticized for reducing top management control
Define and discuss the three decision traps: framing, escalation of commitment, and over-confidence
Framing error occurs when people let labels and frames of reference sway their interpretations. Escalation of commitment effects people when they get locked into losing propositions for fear of quitting and looking bad. Over-confidence grows with the difficulty of the task
Describe a business organization in terms of the open-system model, and explain the term learning organization
In an open-system model, a business is dependent on its environment and has inputs and outputs. They are made up of interdependent technical and boundary-spanning and managerial subsystems. A learning organization is one that is capable of turning new ideas into improved performance through problem solving, experimentation, learning from history and others, and transferring and implementing knowledge
Distinguish between instrumental and terminal values, and explain their relationship to business ethics
Instrumental values are related to DESIRED BEHAVIOR, whereas terminal values involve DESIRED END STATES. Values provide an anchor for one's ethical beliefs and conduct
Specify at least 5 sources of decision complexity for modern managers
Multiple criteria, intangibles, risk and uncertainty, unintended consequences, value judgments
Describe at least 3 characteristics of organizational cultures and explain the cultural significance of stories
Organizational cultures can be collective, emotionally charged, and historically based. The cultural significance of stories is that they help unify people within cultures and they are powerful and lasting socialization techniques.
Contrast the classical economic and socioeconomic models of business, and summarize the arguments for and against CSR
People who embrace the classical economic model believe that business's social responsibility is to maximize profits for stockholders. People believing in the socioeconomic model disagree, saying that business has responsibilities beyond making a profit to improve the quality of life. The arguments for CSR say that businesses are members of society with the resources and motivation to improve society and avoid government regulation. People arguing AGAINST CSR call for profit maximization because businesses are economic institutions run by unelected officials who have enough power already
Discuss why programmed and nonprogrammed decisions require different decision-making procedures, and distinguish between the two types of knowledge in knowledge management
Programmed decisions are relatively clear-cut and routine, allowing them to have fixed decision ruled. Nonprogrammed decisions require creative problem solving because they are novel and unfamiliar. The two types of knowledge are tacit (personal, intuitive, nondocumented) and explicit (documented and shareable).
Identify and describe at least four of the ten general ethical principles
Self-interest Personal virtues Government requirements Universal rules
Explain the need for a contingency approach to group-aided decision making
Sometimes in groups, personal accountability becomes lost. A contingency approach to group-aided decision making is essential because group performance does not always exceed individual performance
Identify and describe the four social responsibility strategies, and explain the concept of enlightened self-interest
The four social responsibility strategies are reaction, defense, accommodation, and proaction. Reaction involves denying social responsibility and defense involves fighting additional responsibilities with political and PR tactics. Accommodation occurs when a company is pressured into assuming additional responsibilities. Proaction happens when a business takes the initiative and becomes a positive model for its industry. The concept of enlightened self-interest shares that proactive social responsibility will benefit both society and the company in the long run, although costing the firm money
Identify and describe the four steps in the strategic management process
The strategic management process consists of: 1. formulation of a grand strategy 2. formulation of a strategic plan 3. implementation of strategic plans 4. strategic control.
Explain how the traditional pyramid organization is being reshaped
The traditional pyramid is being reshaped to have fewer layers, extensive use of teams, and manageably small subunits.
Describe the time dimension of organizational effectiveness
There is no single criteria for organizational effectiveness; so both for- and non-profit organizations need to satisfy different effectiveness criteria in the near, intermediate, and distant future. In near terms, effective orgs accomplish their purposes efficiently and are a source of satisfaction to stakeholders. In the intermediate term, they are adaptive and developing. In the long term, effective organizations survive.
Discuss what management can do to improve business ethics
To improve business ethics, management can conduct ethics training, use ethical advocates in high-level decision making, formulate/disseminate/consistently enforce codes of ethics, and create an open climate for dissent in which whistle-blowing becomes y
