Prelim Business Studies Revision

Internal recruitment

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Post-maturity stage

By this stage, the business can head in one of three different directions; It can continue on in a steady state, it can go through renewal, and it can go into decline and final closure.

Time-saving products

Domestic appliances and services that save time e.g. dishwashers, fast-food home cleaning, lawn mowing.

Growth stage

During this stage, a business has an initial time of negative profit until it breaks even and begins to show increased revenues that allow it to truly grow. This is also the stage that the real test of a business comes into play.

Businesses make a major contribution to society by:

Employing people, generating wealth, engaging in technological change, giving people choice in what they buy and where they work, creating a place for social interaction, giving a sense of purpose and achievement to people's lives

Coordination of business functions

Includes the process of planning, the division of labour, the overall functional structure, the span of control of managers and the chain of command in the business.

Life cycle

Life cycle is the stages that a business will move through from its establishment to its closure. Each stage has its own characteristics and challenges. The life cycle of a business consists of four stages: establishment, growth, maturity, and post-maturity, which can include cessation or renewal

Main aim of most businesses

Maximize profits

Businesses also aim to:

Maximize sales, increase market share and achieve other personal or group goals. Businesses may have social goals (e.g. providing specific needs of people in the community)

Small businesses

Non-manufacturing businesses: less than 20 employees. Maufacturing businesses: less than 100 employees

Inventory

Stock, the items yet to be sold by the business.

Value chain

The concept that value is added at each stage of production, as inputs are transformed into final products

Chain of command

The formal structure of employees within a business, which determines the flow of information and decision making.

Prime function

The main task of the business, generally expressed in a very brief form. The individual functions of the business are coordinated in order to achieve the prime function.

Maturity stage

The third stage of small business is about expansion. This is the point at which a business gets to the point where there is sufficient revenue being brought in so that there are no doubts of its survival and it can expand its horizons.

Staffing

a group of persons, as employees, charged with carrying out the work of an establishment or executing some undertaking.

Substitutes

a product that can be used instead of another one e.g. butter and margarine.

Prevention

aims to address likely problems before they arise

Equal employment epportunity (EEO)

all people should have equal access to jobs, pay and promotions on the basis of merit, without being affected by irrelevant personal characteristics

Budgeting

an estimate, often itemized, of expected income and expense for a given period in the future.

Competitors

businesses that offer the same or similar product's as your business

Feedback

comes at some point after the process is complete

Diversity in production

companies needs a range of products to satisfy a diverse range of consumers.

Computer Aided Manufacturing (CAM)

gives control over the production process, which can help to create consistency and make it possible for minor adjustments to be made.

Employment relations

important part of business operations. It can be used to gain a competitive edge over othe firms and avoid conflict between employers and employees

Training and development

important part of managing staff, given the rapid changes occuring in the business environment. This may include internal training programs or external courses such as those available through TAFE system

Two-bin approach

in which ordered are filled using the stock drawn from one bin until it is exhausted and then it is re-filled while production inputs are drawn from the other bin.

Just-In-Time (JIT) Approach

in which warehousing is no longer necessary because inputs are delivered immediately when needed

Employment contracts

individual contracts or enterprise agreements that cover a number of employees

External recruitment

involve reducing the job specification to a few main points and advertising the position

Rostering

involves organizing the availability and use of labour most efficiently according to business requirements

Scheduling

involves organizing the flow of work within a business.

Computer Aided Design (CAD)

involves software that makes it possible for designers to visualize their output and have specific information about some features such as weight and strength.

Inventory Control

involves the management of the inputs to the production process or the finished goods for sale

Technology

is a major factor behind lowering costs, lifting quality and creating a competitive advantage. Information technology has revolutionized many aspects of business in the past two decades.

Quality control

is concerned with aspects of business operations that can ensure consistence, achieving benchmarks and exceeding customer expectations.

Total Quality Management (TQM)

is one of the best examples of quality control, is widely used throughout larger organizations. It requires quality assurance in each stage of production, multi-skilled teams that manage themselves, and using techniques such as JIT inventory management.

Concurrent control

monitors processes in action

Affirmative action

policies involve companies taking steps to positively discriminate in favour of members of groups who might normally be the victims of discrimination

Anti-discrimination laws

prevent discrimination against a person on basis of gener, ethnic background., sexual preference, disability or age in a business

Business functions

refer to the wide range of tasks that a business must perform in order to reach its goals. Each plays a role in the value chain of the business.

Functional structure

refers to how business functions are organised. Generally, businesses are structured according to functions or according to products.

Division of labour

refers to how employee responsibilities are organised in a business and, in particular, the extent to which employees specialise in their role or undertake a wide range of tasks.

Span of control

refers to the management structures of a business and how many employees each manager is responsible for.

Value-added management/Kaizen

similar to TQM but emphasizing the elimination of waste

v On-costs

the additional costs that businesses must pay for employing labour, in addition to wages paid to workers. These include such costs as maternity, holiday and sick leave payments

Establishment stage

the business is being created, planned and the early days of its operations take place. For some, this is the only stage that a small business may see, as it is by far one of the most difficult to survive. Many things can go wrong at this stage; thus, good business planning a crucial and necessary part of it.

Human resource management

the management if the employee function of the organization to ensure that appropriate staff are hired, trained, remunerated and replaced when necessary

Control Functions

there are 3 control functions available to management, these are; prevention, concurrent control and feedback or output control.

Diversity

variety; range of factors.

Voluntary separation

when an employee resigns for their own reasons

Involuntary separation

when an employees position is terminated not from their own choice