Management (10-12)
Organization Structure
1. The set of formal tasks assigned to individuals and departments. 2. Formal reporting relationships, including lines of authority, decision responsibility, number of hierarchical levels, and span of managers' control. 3. The design of systems to ensure effective coordination of employees across departments. (262)
Job Description
A clear and concise summary of specific tasks, duties, and responsibilities. (334)
Need for Change
A disparity between existing and desired performance levels. (312)
Halo Effect
A manager gives an employee the same rating on all dimensions even if his or her performance is good on some dimensions and poor on others. (345)
Modular Approach
A manufacturing company uses outside suppliers to provide entire chunks of a product, which are then assembled into a final product by a handful of workers. (278)
Coaching
A method of directing, instructing, and training a person with the goal to develop specific management skills. (344)
Fast-Cycle Team
A multifunctional, and sometimes multinational, team that works under stringent timelines and is provided with high levels of resources and empowerment to accomplish an accelerated product development project. (303)
Project Manager
A person who is responsible for coordinating the activities of several departments for the completion of a specific project. (283)
Idea Champion
A person who sees the need for and champions productive change within the organization. (304)
Organization Development (OD)
A planned, systematic process of change that uses behavioral science knowledge and techniques to improve an organization's health and effectiveness through its ability to adapt to the environment, improve internal relationships, and increase learning and problem-solving capacities. (307)
360-Degree Feedback
A process that uses multiple raters, including self-rating, as a way to increase awareness of strengths and weaknesses and guide employee development. (345)
Stereotyping
A rater places an employee into a class or category based on one or a few traits or characteristics—for example, stereotyping an older worker as slower and more difficult to train. (345)
Skunkworks
A separate small, informal, highly autonomous, and often secretive group that focuses on breakthrough ideas for the business. (305)
Job Analysis
A systematic process of gathering and interpreting information about the essential duties, tasks, and responsibilities of a job, as well as about the context within which the job is performed. (334)
New-Venture Team
A unit separate from the rest of the organization that is responsible for developing and initiating a major innovation. (305)
Matrix Structure
A way to improve horizontal coordination and information sharing with dual lines of authority. (273)
Flat Structure
A wide span, horizontally dispersed, fewer hierarchical levels. (267)
Recruiting
Activities or practices that define the characteristics of applicants to whom selection procedures are ultimately applied. (334)
Compensation
All monetary payments and all goods or commodities used in lieu of money to reward employees. (347)
Nondirective Interviews
Allow the applicant a great deal of freedom in determining the course of the conversation, with the interviewer taking care not to influence the person's remarks. (340)
Change Agent
An OD specialist who performs a systematic diagnosis of the organization and identifies work-related problems. (310)
Mentoring
An experienced employee guides and supports a newcomer or less-experienced employee. (344)
On-The-Job-Training (OJT)
An experienced employee is asked to take a new employee "under his wing" and show the newcomer how to perform job duties. (344)
Corporate University
An in-house training and education facility that offers broad-based learning opportunities for employees—and frequently for customers, suppliers, and strategic partners as well—throughout their careers. (344)
Exit Interview
An interview conducted with departing employees to determine why they are leaving. (349)
Tall Structure
An overall narrow span and more hierarchical levels. (267)
Chain of Command
An unbroken line of authority that links all employees in an organization and shows who reports to whom. (264)
Survey Feedback
Begins with a questionnaire distributed to employees on values, climate, participation, leadership, and group cohesion within their organization. After the survey is completed, an OD consultant meets with groups of employees to provide feedback. (308)
Large-Group Intervention
Bring together participants from all parts of the organization—often including key stakeholders from outside the organization as well—to discuss problems or opportunities and plan for change. (309)
Product Change
Change in the organization's product or service outputs. (297)
Technology Change
Change in the organization's production process—how the organization does its work. (298)
People Change
Concerns just a few employees, such as sending a handful of middle managers to a training course to improve their leadership skills. (307)
Centralization
Decision authority is located near the top of the organization. (268)
Decentralization
Decision authority is pushed downward to lower organization levels. (268)
Divisional Structure
Departments are grouped together based on similar organizational outputs. (270)
Behaviorally Anchored Rating Scale (BARS)
Developed from critical incidents pertaining to job performance. Each job performance scale is anchored with specific behavioral statements that describe varying degrees of performance. (346)
Unity of Command
Each employee is held accountable to only one supervisor. (264)
Cross-Functional Teams
Employees from various functional departments who are responsible to meet as a team and resolve mutual problems. (276)
Team Building
Enhances the cohesiveness and success of organizational groups and teams. (308)
Open Innovation
Extending the search for and commercialization of new ideas beyond the boundaries of the organization and even beyond the boundaries of the industry. (303)
Small-Batch Production
Firms produce goods in batches of one or a few products designed to customer specification. (287)
Cross-Functional Teams
Furthers horizontal coordination because participants from several departments meet regularly to solve ongoing problems of common interest. (283)
Realistic Job Preview (RJP)
Gives applicants all pertinent and realistic information—positive and negative—about the job and the organization. (334)
Force-Field Analysis
Grew from the work of Kurt Lewin, who proposed that change was a result of the competition between driving and restraining forces. (314)
Permanent Teams
Groups of employees who are organized in a way similar to a formal department. Each team brings together employees from all functional areas focused on a specific task or project; emphasis is on horizontal communication and information sharing. (276)
Staff Departments
Include all those that provide specialized skills in support of line departments. (265)
Employment Tests
Include cognitive ability tests, physical ability tests, personality inventories, and other assessments. (340)
Ambidextrous Approach
Incorporating structures and processes that are appropriate for both the creative impulse and for the systematic implementation of innovations. (297)
Disruptive Innovation
Innovations in products, services, or processes that radically change an industry's rules of the game for producers and consumers. (296)
Service Technology
Intangible output; direct interaction between employees and customers to provide and purchase the service. (289)
Rightsizing
Intentionally reducing the company's workforce to the point where the number of employees is deemed to be right for the company's current situation. (349)
Participation
Involves users and potential resisters in designing the change. (316)
Coercion
Managers use formal power to force employees to change. (316)
Staff Authority
Narrower than line authority; includes the right to advise, recommend, and counsel in the staff specialists' area of expertise. (265)
Job Specification
Outlines the knowledge, skills, education, physical abilities, and other characteristics needed to adequately perform the job. (334)
Top Leader
Oversees both the product and functional chains of command. (274)
Line Authority
People in management positions have formal authority to direct and control immediate subordinates. (265)
Contingent Workers
People who work for an organization, but not on a permanent basis. (331)
Line Departments
Perform tasks that reflect the organization's primary goal and mission. (265)
Culture Change
Pertains to the organization as a whole, such as when the IRS shifted its basic mind-set from an organization focused on collection and compliance to one dedicated to informing, educating, and serving customers (taxpayers). (307)
Assessment Centers
Present a series of managerial situations to groups of applicants over a two- or three-day period. (341)
Idea Incubator
Provides a safe harbor where ideas from employees throughout the company can be developed without interference from company bureaucracy or politics. (300)
New-Venture Fund
Provides resources from which individuals and groups can draw to develop new ideas, products, or businesses. (306)
E-cruiting
Recruiting job applicants online. (335)
Scalar Principle
Refers to a clearly defined line of authority in the organization that includes all employees. (264)
Job Evaluation
Refers to the process of determining the value or worth of jobs within an organization through an examination of job content. (348)
Work Sample Tests
Require an applicant to complete simulated tasks that are a part of the desired job. (341)
Affirmative Action
Requires that an employer take positive steps to guarantee equal employment opportunities for people within protected groups. (327)
Wage and Salary Surveys
Show what other organizations pay incumbents in jobs that match a sample of "key" jobs selected by the organization. (348)
Discrimination
Some applicants are hired or promoted based on criteria that are not job relevant; for example, refusing to hire a black applicant for a job he is qualified to fill or paying a woman a lower wage than am an for the same work. (327)
Mass Production
Standardized product runs that produce a large volume of products. (287)
Task Force
Temporary team or committee designed to solve a short-term problem involving several departments. (283)
Organizational Change
The adoption of a new idea or behavior by an organization. (296)
Departmentalization
The basis for grouping positions into departments and departments into the total organization. (270)
Panel Interviews
The candidate meets with several interviewers who take turns asking questions. (340)
Technical Complexity
The degree to which machinery is involved in the production to the exclusion of people. (288)
Work Specialization/Division of Labor
The degree to which organizational tasks are subdivided into separate jobs. (262)
Organizing
The deployment of organization resources to achieve strategic goals. (262)
Human Resource Management (HRM)
The design and application of formal systems in an organization to ensure the effective and efficient use of human talent to accomplish organizational goals. (324)
Responsibility
The duty to perform the task or activity assigned. (264)
Human Capital
The economic value of the combined knowledge, experience, skills, and capabilities of employees. (325)
Team-Based Structure
The entire organization is made up of horizontal teams that coordinate their work and work directly with customers to accomplish the organization's goals. (276)
Continuous Process Production
The entire work flow is mechanized in a sophisticated and complex form of production technology. (288)
Virtual Network Structure
The firm subcontracts most of its major functions to separate companies and coordinates their activities from a small headquarters organization. (276)
Unfreezing
The first OD step. Makes people throughout the organization aware of problems and the need for change. (310)
Human Resource Planning
The forecasting of human resource needs and the projected matching of individuals with expected vacancies. (333)
Authority
The formal and legitimate right of a manager to make decisions, issue orders, and allocate resources to achieve organizationally desired outcomes. (264)
Creativity
The generation of novel ideas that might meet perceived needs or respond to opportunities for the organization. (298)
Functional Structure
The grouping of positions into departments based on similar skills, expertise, work activities, and resource use. (270)
Uncertainty
The lack of information about future events. (313)
Accountabilty
The mechanism through which authority and responsibility are brought into alignment. The people with authority and responsibility are subject to reporting and justifying task outcomes to those above them in the chain of command. (264)
Horizontal Linkage Model
The model shows that the research, manufacturing, and sales and marketing departments within an organization simultaneously contribute to new products and technologies. (302)
Span of Management/Span of Control
The number of employees reporting to a supervisor. (267)
Matching Model
The organization and the individual attempt to match the needs, interests, and values that they offer each other. (333)
Delegation
The process mangers use to transfer authority and responsibility to positions below them in the hierarchy. (264)
Matrix Boss
The product or functional boss who is responsible for one side of the matrix. (274)
Coordination
The quality of collaboration across departments. (281)
Reengineering
The radical redesign of business processes to achieve dramatic improvements in cost, quality, service, and speed. (282)
Changing
The second OD step. Occurs when individuals acquire new attitudes or values and are rewarded for them by the organization. (310)
Performance Appraisal
The steps of observing and assessing employee performance, recording the assessment, and providing feedback to the employee. (345)
Refreezing
The third OD step. Occurs when individuals acquire new attitudes or values and are rewarded for them by the organization. (310)
Organization Chart
The visual representation of an organization's structure. (262)
Two-Boss Employees
Those who report to two supervisors simultaneously and must resolve conflicting demands from the matrix bosses. (274)
Pay-For-Performance
Tying at least part of compensation to employee effort and performance, whether it be through merit-based pay, bonuses, team incentives, or various gain-sharing or profit-sharing plans. (348)
Structured Interviews
Use a set of standardized questions that are asked of every applicant so comparisons can easily be made. (340)
Digital Technology
Use of the Internet and other digital processes to conduct or support business online. (289)
Interview
Used as a selection technique in almost every job category in nearly every organization. (338)
Application Form
Used to collect information about the applicant's education, previous job experience, and other background characteristics. (338)
Negotiation
Uses formal bargaining to win acceptance and approval of a desired change. (316)
Telecommuting
Using computers and telecommunications equipment to do work without going to an office. (332)
