1.4 Managing People Flashcards

1
Q

What does staff being a cost mean??

A

Employees get remuneration and therefore cost the business money

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2
Q

What are 4 features associated with staff being a cost??

A
  • Short-term changes in numbers of employees
  • Minimal communication
  • Little empowerment
  • Tall organisational structure
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3
Q

What does staff being an asset mean??

A

Employees have something that is valuable to the business.
Skills & abilities mean they can add value to the product

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4
Q

What are 4 features associated with staff being an asset??

A
  • Strong & regular two-way communication
  • Competitive pay structure
  • Flatter organisational structure
  • Suits democratic leadership style
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5
Q

What is a flexible workforce??

A

Where workers are equipped to do different roles or where they work in a range of employment (part time, full time, work from home, etc)

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6
Q

What’s the difference between dismissal and redundancy??

A

Dismissal is when an employee breaches their contract so they’re fired.
Redundancy is when the employee’s job role is no longer required

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7
Q

What are the benefits of permanent working and part time work??

A

Permanent -> More financial security & motivation
Part-time -> Beneficial for covering absent workers

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8
Q

What’s the difference between outsourcing and offshoring??

A

Outsourcing -> Including external business in production process
Offshoring -> Producing products overseas

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9
Q

What are 3 benefits of outsourcing??

A
  • Supplier may be specialist with better equipment
  • Supplier likely to get economies of scale
  • Supplier likely to have greater capacity & flexibility
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10
Q

What are the benefits of sourcing in-house??

A
  • Easier to ensure quality and trace problems
  • Easier communication & individual departments don’t need to make profit
  • Easier to schedule work or production to fit business needs
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11
Q

What’s an individual employee-employer relationship??

A

Employee is treated as an individual & negotiates with employer about pay & working conditions

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12
Q

What are Trade Unions and what are the 4 positives of them for employees??

A

External organisations that act on behalf of their members
Positives:
- Collective bargaining power
- Improved job security
- Protection (from mistreatment, discrimination & unfair dismissal)
- Representation

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13
Q

What are the 2 benefits of Trade Unions to the organisation???

A
  • Better & formal communication
  • More productive than individual negotiation
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14
Q

What are 3 reasons that Union Membership is declining??

A
  • Decline in manufacturing employment
  • Increased employment in service sectors
  • Significant growth in flexible working
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15
Q

What are Work Councils and what are 3 examples of their typical agendas??

A

Employees & managers come together to discuss factors that may impact the business.
- Business objectives & performance
- Employee welfare issues
- Training & development programmes

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16
Q

What are the 4 reasons for recruitment??

A
  • Business expansion
  • Existing employees leaving
  • Business needs employees with new skills
  • Business is relocating
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17
Q

What are 3 positives and 3 negatives of internal recruitment??

A

Pros:
- Motivation for promotions
- Employees familiar with business
- Cheaper & quicker
Cons:
- Leaves a vacancy
- Resentment among colleagues
- No new ideas

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18
Q

What are 3 positives and 2 negatives of external recruitment??

A

Pros:
- New ideas
- Wider range of experience
- Larger number of applicants
Cons:
- Long & expensive
- Selection process may not reveal how candidates perform at work

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19
Q

What are 3 costs involved in recruitment and training??

A
  • Cost of advertising
  • Cost of specialist recruitment agencies??
  • Shortlisting & assessing may be done by existing staff (lowers output of business)
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20
Q

What’s the average cost of recruitment??

A

3000 pounds

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21
Q

What happens if induction training is ineffective??

A
  • Low productivity
  • Low quality work
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22
Q

What are 3 pros and 3 cons of on-the-job training??

A

Pros:
- Lower cost
- Train alongside colleagues
- Job-specific
Cons:
- Trainers not fully productive during
- Bad habits passed on
- Lack of new ideas

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23
Q

What are 3 pros and 3 cons of off-the-job training??

A

Pros:
- Trainers are specialists
- New ideas brought to business
- No job distractions
Cons:
- Expensive
- No benefit to business whilst training
- Less job-specific

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24
Q

What 4 things do organisational structures determine??

A

-Authority
- Job roles
- People to whom others are accountable
- Formal routes of communication

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25
Q

What’s a span of control??

A

Number of employees for whom a manager is responsible

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26
Q

What are the 4 features of a narrow span of control??

A
  • Closer supervision
  • More levels of hierarchy required
  • More effective communication
  • Demotivating if employees feel they’re being micromanaged
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27
Q

What are the 3 features of a wide span of control??

A
  • Employee independence
  • Less labour costs
  • Demotivating if managers struggle to manage efficiently
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28
Q

What are the 4 features of a tall organisational structure??

A
  • More levels of hierarchy
  • Negative communication & efficiency
  • Decisions take longer
  • Motivating for employees (promotions)
29
Q

What are the 3 features of flat organisational structures??

A
  • Less levels of hierarchy
  • Motivation (more responsibility and freedom)
  • Slow horizontal communication
30
Q

What are the 3 things that span of control depends on??

A
  • Experience of the manager
  • Size & complexity of the business
  • If business is centralised or decentralised
31
Q

What are chains of command??

A

Lines of authority within a business

32
Q

What is a centralised structure??

A

Senior managers have authority over decisions at the top of the business

33
Q

What is a decentralised structure??

A

Authority is more shared out to junior employees

34
Q

What are 3 advantages of a centralised structure??

A
  • Managers have experience of decision-making
  • Not biased to one department
  • Quicker decision-making
35
Q

What are 3 disadvantages of a centralised structure??

A
  • Not all expert enough to make decisions on all aspects of the business
  • Demotivating
  • Slow reaction to change (managers don’t know what’s happening with consumers -> gives competition an advantage)
36
Q

What are 3 advantages of a decentralised structure??

A
  • Motivating
  • Employees have expert knowledge of their sector
  • Quick day-to-day decisions
37
Q

What are 3 disadvantages of a decentralised structure??

A
  • Employees may not have enough experience to make decisions
  • Inconsistencies may occur between divisions
  • Junior managers are unable to see the overall situation of the business
38
Q

What are matrix structures??

A

Where employees report to one or more supervisor or leader

39
Q

What are 3 benefits of matrix structures??

A
  • Encourages departments to build relationships
  • Increases flexibility of business
  • Increases efficiency of business
40
Q

What are 3 negatives of matrix structures??

A
  • May lead to conflict
  • Employees unclear who or what priority is
  • Lacks proper chain of command
41
Q

What’s Intrinsic Motivation??

A

Comes from within (values, beliefs, etc)

42
Q

What’s Extrinsic Motivation??

A

Comes from external factors (rewards, punishments, etc)

43
Q

What’s are 3 advantages of motivation??

A
  • Increased productivity
  • Increased product quality
  • Lower levels of absenteeism
44
Q

What are the 4 motivation theories??

A
  • Taylor’s scientific Management
  • Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
  • Herzberg’s Two-Factor Theory
  • Mayo’s Human Relations Theory
45
Q

What is Taylor’s Scientific Management theory??

A

Workers are motivated by money
- Mcgregor’s Theory X approach to workers
- Identify most efficient way of work and ensure all workers do that
- Piece-rate pay

46
Q

What are 2 drawbacks of Taylor’s Scientific Management Theory??

A
  • Decreased quality
  • Demotivating
47
Q

What is Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs??

A

Start by meeting needs at bottom of pyramid and go upwards once they’re met:
Top - Self-actualisation
Self-esteem
Social needs
Safety
Bottom - Basic physical needs

48
Q

What’s a drawback of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs??

A

Some workers may value higher or lower parts than where they are

49
Q

What’s Herzberg’s Two-Factor Theory??

A
  1. Hygiene factors (good company policy, supervision, work conditions, pay & relations) don’t really motivate but can de-motivate if not present
  2. Motivating factors (Interesting work, personal achievement, recognition & personal development)
50
Q

What’s a drawback of Herzberg’s Two-Factor Theory??

A

Doesn’t consider people have different hygiene and motivation needs

51
Q

What’s Mayo’s Human Relations Theory??

A

Workers benefit from informal social interaction & working in groups
Meeting social needs improves motivation

52
Q

What are Mcgregor’s 2 theories??

A

Theory X - Workers are unmotivated and dislike work. Need constant direction and control. Usually tall organisational structure

Theory Y - Decentralised management, employees have greater responsibility, they’re self-motivated

53
Q

What are 5 methods of non-financial motivation??

A
  • Job enlargement
  • Job enrichment
  • Job rotation
  • Delegation
  • Team working
54
Q

What’s Delegation??

A

Giving responsibility to employees for certain tasks

55
Q

What are 5 financial methods of motivation??

A
  • Piece-rate
  • Commission
  • Performance-related pay
  • Bonus schemes
  • Profit sharing
56
Q

What’s Commission??

A

Money paid for doing specific tasks

57
Q

What’s profit sharing??

A

If firms meet profit targets, workers get proportion of profit

58
Q

What’s the difference between leaders and managers??

A

Leaders have a vision and think in long-term
Managers make day-to-day decisions and set objectives for their departments

59
Q

What are the 4 types of leadership??

A
  • Autocratic
  • Paternalistic
  • Democratic
  • Laissez-faire
60
Q

What’s autocratic leadership??

A

Leader makes decisions on their own, say exactly how objectives will be achieved, requires lots of supervision

61
Q

What are 2 pros and 2 cons of autocratic leadership??

A

Cons:
- Demotivating
- Less creativity

Pros:
- More productivity
- Efficient decision-making

62
Q

What is paternalistic leadership style??

A

Treating employees like family. Focus on employee wellbeing and motivation

63
Q

What is 1 pro and 1 con of paternalistic leadership??

A

Pro: More loyalty
Con: Micromanagement (Demotivating)

64
Q

What is democratic leadership??

A

Employees participate in decision-making
Discuss issues, delegate responsibility & listen to advice

65
Q

What are 2 pros and 1 con of democratic decision-making??

A

Pros:
- Increased motivation
- Less weight of decision-making on leader
Con:
- Longer decision-making

66
Q

What is laissez-faire leadership??

A

Hands-off leadership that rarely interferes with running business

67
Q

What are 2 pros and 2 cons of laissez-faire leadership??

A

Pros:
- High creativity
- High morale
Cons:
- Lack of direction
- Accountability issues

68
Q

What are the 3 levels of management??

A

Senior, middle, junior

69
Q

What are 3 factors affecting leadership??

A
  • Manager’s experience
  • Skills & experience of subordinates
  • Feelings of security