1.4 Flashcards
flexible workforce
employees have a choice over how/when they work by agreement with the company. may be ms, part time, temp, flex hours.
adv: demand varies through week/season/year, so can be useful to respond with appropriate level of staffing when unpredictable high demand and cost efficient when low demand, allows easier management and adapt to changes in demand. peak periods, seasonal fluctuations.
greater flexibility in the way they deploy their staff ability whilst controlling costs. some staff can work from home, makes more productive as they don’t have top waste time travelling.
multi skilling
When workers are given the scope and ability to carry out a variety of tasks, rather than specialising in completion of one particular area. This can be encouraged through the use of job rotation, in which workers carry out an increased number of tasks at the same level of difficulty
Adv equips skills needed to cover for staff absences, minimising any disruption or loss of production that this may otherwise have caused, greater utilisation of employees.
respond positively to the increased variety and new challenges provided, improving motivation and productivity.
loss of production as workers switch between tasks.
greater training requirements because wider skills, increased costs
reluctant to acquire new skills esp if no increase in pay.
temporary work
giving staff short-term contracts making it easy for the company to cut staff without getting criticism; all they need to do is allow the contract to lapse.
full time vs part time
flexible hours
Greater flexibility can also be created by moving away from the traditional 9–5 working day, in order to respond more effectively to customer demands.
annualised: employee works certain amount of hours, flex when they can work them.
flexitime: employee chooses when to start and end work.
compressed: full time hours, but fewer days.
job share: two+ employees share work and pay
ADV: improve recruitment, increase motivation and reduce labour turnover, leading to reduced costs and boosts to productivity.
provide 24-hour employee cover via the telephone and internet, in order to provide customers with greater convenience, respond more effectively to customer demands.
flexibility to meet family, lowers stress, general well being improves, more control over working lives so increases motivation’ performance.
increased staff retention, lower absenteeism
Zero hour contact
A contract that does not guarantee any particular number of hours’ work.
ADV: gives employees flexibility in their working lives, cuts the wage costs, flexibility in staffing.
DIS: pressured to work hours when offered, struggle to pay day to day bills no regular income, low staff retention rates as less motivation.
Home worker
People who undertake their regular work from home
ways to work flexible hours
Outsourcing
Outsourcing involves a firm finding an external business to carry out part of the production process, to cut costs or achieve a better level of service.
Dismissal Vs Redundancy
Permanent contracts
ADV and DIS to flexible working
Trade unions
Works council
methods of bargaining
Recruitment
Induction training
On the job training
Generally most cost-effective
Employees are actually productive | Opportunity to learn whilst doing
Training alongside real colleagues
Disadvantages
Quality depends on ability of trainer and time available
Bad habits might be passed on
Learning environment may not be conducive
Potential disruption to production
Off the job training
A wider range of skills or qualifications can be obtained
Can learn from outside specialists or experts
Employees can be more confident when starting job
Disadvantages
More expensive - e.g. transport and accommodation
Lost working time and potential output from employee
New employees may still need some induction training
Employees now have new skills/qualifications and may leave for better jobs
Training adv
Authority
Span of control
The number of employees who are directly supervised by a manager
Chain of command
Organisational chart
Hierarchy
The structure and number of layers of management and supervision in an organisation
Centralised Vs Decentralised
Adv: increase in motivation and decisions more likely to reflect local needs, local demographics- using market orientation to meet customer needs more.
Less bureaucracy, benefits or training and development
Additional responsibility and increase in stress
Hierarchical/Tall Organisations
Flat Organisations
Matrix structures
Help to breaks down traditional department barriers, improving communication
Individuals get to use their skills within a variety of contexts
Likely to result in greater motivation amongst the team members
Encourages sharing of good practice and ideas across departments
A good way of sharing resources across departments
Disadvantages of a Matrix Structure
Members of project teams may have divided loyalties as they report to two line managers
May not be a clear line of accountability for project teams
Difficult to co-ordinate
Team members may neglect their functional responsibilities
It takes time for matrix team members to get used to working in this kind of structure
Delayering
The process of removing one or more layers from the organisational structure
Adv: fewer management costs
Shorter communication paths so quicker decision making
Dis:wider span or control
Loss of management expertise
Delegation
Where responsibility for carrying out a task or role is passed onto someone else in the business.
Reduces management stress and workload, allowing senior management to focus on key tasks
Subordinates are empowered and motivated
Better decisions or use of resources
Good method of on the job training
DIS:
Cannot / should not delegate responsibility
Depends on quality / experience of subordinates
Harder in a smaller firm
May increase workload and stress of subordinates
Motivation
Taylor (Scientific Management)
Elton Mayo (Human Relations Theory
Maslow (Hierarchy of Needs)
Herzberg (Two Factor Theory)
Job Enrichment
ADV and DIS of job sharing
employees as assets and costs
employee committee
financial methods of motivation
non financial methods of motivation
leadership styles
staff as an asset
treats employees as the most important resource and source of CA, treated as individ and their needs are planned accordingly.
strategic focus on longer-term workforce, avoids redundancies and reduces labour turnover. less costly as less recruitment needed.
strong two way communication, better performance due to rewards and empowerment. have more responsibility so more purpose.
But may be too soft and costs may leads to CD.
staff as cost
treats employees simply as resource, focus on identifying workforce needs.
short term changes in employee so recruitment and redundancy
minimum wage, more cost effective.
quicker decision making as its made by senior managers up, less delegation.
high absenteeism and staff turnover, less successful recruitment.
Decen
An organisational structure where authority is delegated further down the hierarchy, away from the centre Decisions are made closer to the customer
Better able to respond to local circumstances
Improved level of customer service
Consistent with aiming for a flatter hierarchy
Good way of training and developing junior management
Should improve staff motivation
Disadvantages of Decentralisation
Decision-making is not necessarily
“strategic”
Harder to ensure consistent practices and policies at each location
May be some diseconomies of scale - e.g. duplication of roles
Who provides strong leadership when needed (e.g. in a crisis)?
Harder to achieve tight financial control - risk of cost-overruns
Promethean
Cent
An organisational structure where authority rests with senior management at the centre of the business
Easier to implement common policies and practices for the whole business
Prevents other parts of the business from becoming too independent
Easier to co-ordinate and control from the centre - e.g. with budgets
Economies of scale and overhead savings easier to achieve
Quicker decision-making (usually) - easier to show strong leadership
Disadvantages of Centralisation
More bureaucratic - often extra layers in the hierarchy
Local or junior managers are likely to much closer to customer needs
Lack of authority down the hierarchy may reduce manager motivation
Customer service does misses flexibility and speed of local decision-making
Internal recur
Cheaper and quicker to recruit
People already familiar with business and how it operates
• Provides opportunities for promotion with in business
Drawbacks of Internal Recruitment
Business already knows strengths and weaknesses of candidates
Limits number of potential applicants
No new ideas can be introduced from outside
• May cause resentment amongst candidates not appointed
Creates another vacancy which needs to be
External rec
Outside people bring in new ideas
• Longer process
• Larger pool of workers from which to
• More expensive process due to
find best candidate
advertisements and interviews
• People have a wider range of
required
experience
• Selection process may not be effective enough to reveal best candidate
