3.2 MANAGERS, LEADERSHIP AND DECISION MAKING Flashcards

1
Q

State the five key tasks of a manager

A
  1. Planning
  2. Organising
  3. Commanding
  4. Coordinating
  5. Controlling
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2
Q

State the three levels of management

A
  1. Senior Management
  2. Middle Management
  3. Junior Management
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3
Q

Define Senior Management

A

Set corporate objectives & strategic direction

E.g. Board of Directors

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4
Q

Define Middle Management

A

Run business functions and departments

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5
Q

Define Junior Management

A

Supervisory role

Monitor & control day-to-day tasks, and manage teams of workers

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6
Q

Name the stages of the Tannenbaum and Schmidt Continuum

A

Tell, sell, consult, join

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7
Q

Explain the Tannenbaum and Schmidt Continuum

A

Left = more autocratic

Right = more democratic

Illustrates a range of potential management and leadership styles

Degree of authority vs. Area of freedom

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8
Q

Advantages of Tannenbaum and Schmidt Continuum

A
  • Gives you a range of ways in which to involve and interact with your team, allowing you to adapt leadership ways to become more democratic
  • Allows you to understand how your approach should change over time as the situation changes.
  • Provides an incremental way to increase or reduce your team’s involvement in decision making.
  • Recognises that the chosen leadership style depends on a variety of factors such as leader’s personality
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9
Q

Disadvantages of Tannenbaum and Schmidt Continuum

A
  • Only examines the process of giving a task to your team, not what happens next- DOESNT show full picture
  • Down to opinion of which is the best approach to take, no mechanism is provided
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10
Q

Name all the different leadership styles of Blake Mouton Grid (with positioning)

A
  • Country club (Top Left)
  • Impoverished (Bottom Left)
  • Authoritarian (Bottom Right)
  • Team leader (Top Right)
  • Middle of the road (Middle)
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11
Q

Name the axis on the Blake Mouton Grid

A

Y Axis - Concern for people

X Axis - Concern for task

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12
Q

Define scientific decision making

A

Using calculations and quantitative data to make a decision

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13
Q

What sort of decision making is decision trees?

A

Scientific decision making

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14
Q

Define Hunch and Intuition Decision Making

A

GUT FEELING

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15
Q

Advantages of Hunch and Intuition Decision Making

A

Speedy, based on personal experience

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16
Q

Disadvantages of Hunch and Intuition Decision Making

A

Can be unsuitable for important decisions

May be too hasty, more susceptible to making the wrong decision

Could be unreliable, depending on who is making the decision

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17
Q

Equation for Net Gain (Decision Trees)

A

Expected value - initial cost of decision

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18
Q

How to you find the net gain on a decision tree?

(STEP BY STEP)

A
  1. Multiply probability by outtake (ending bit) on both high and low sales
  2. Add the answers of both these together to find the expected value
  3. Subtract this answer from cost of the option to find the net gain
  4. DO THE SAME FOR OPTION 2
  5. Compare both net gains and see which one is higher to find the better option
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19
Q

What would be best if both options’ net gains were negative numbers? (Decision trees)

A

‘Do nothing’

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20
Q

Advantages of decision trees

A
  • Logical format
  • Use of probability enables the ‘risk option’ to be addressed
  • Easy to understand / easy layout
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21
Q

Disadvantages of decision trees

A
  • Probabilities = estimates, allows for error
  • Prone to bias, opinions on the probability
  • Decision making doesnt necessarily reduce risk
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22
Q

Influences on decision making

A
  • Objectives
  • Budget
  • Organisational structure
  • Attitude to taking risks
  • Availability of data
  • External environment
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23
Q

Define Stakeholder Mapping

A
  • How a business should respond to different stakeholder powers
  • Which stakeholders need to be considered in decision making
  • Businesses use them to help inform decision making
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24
Q

What two factors are concerned when making a market map?

A
  1. Power of stakeholders
  2. Interest of stakeholders
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25
Q

Suggest how a business should react to levels of power and influence of stakeholders

A

{High Interest} {Low Interest}

{High Power} Engage regularly Keep satisfied

{Low Power} Talk regularly Communicate
when necessary

26
Q

What may cause stakeholder conflicts?

A
  • Cut jobs to reduce costs
  • Adds extra shifts
  • New machinery that replaces manual workers
  • Increase in selling price (customers unhappy)
27
Q

Define Autocratic Management

A

Leader makes all decisions, no reference to anyone

28
Q

Disadvantages of Autocratic Management

A
  • Can create demotivation and alienation of staff as they don’t get a say
29
Q

Advantages of Autocratic Management

A
  • Decisions can be more reliable, more expertise behind them
  • Faster decision making, improved productivity
  • Reduces stress and pressure on employees
30
Q

Define Democratic Management

A

Consultative, leader consults before decisions are made

31
Q

Advantages of Democratic Management

A
  • May help motivation
  • Workers feel ownership of ideas
  • Improves sharing of ideas (team work)
32
Q

Disadvantages of Democratic Management

A

Can slow down decision making

33
Q

Define Paternalistic Management

A

Employees consult the leader, but leader makes all decisions

Leader acts as a father figure

34
Q

Advantages of Paternalistic Management

A
  • Focuses on employee welfare
  • Close supervision over staff, but attempts to gain respect of staff
  • Feedback is invited and encouraged, which improves morale and makes employees feel important.
  • High loyalty/motivation due to employees feeling like they are being heard and their needs are met.
35
Q

Disadvantages of Paternalistic Management

A
  • May frustrate employees as they can’t influence the final decision
  • Bad decisions from above cause major employee dissatisfaction.
36
Q

Define Laissez-Faire

A
  • ‘Let it be’
  • Employees have control over their work
37
Q

Advantages of Laissez-Faire Management

A
  • Promotes creative ideas
  • Motivational: control over own working lives, FREEDOM
  • Improves team work
38
Q

Disadvantages of Laissez-Faire Management

A
  • Relies on interpersonal relationships and how self-motivated an employee is
  • Can easily cause lack of motivation, especially if the employee has fixed pay
  • Unstructured decision making could be disastrous
39
Q

Advantages of the Blake Mouton Grid

A
  • Help leaders understand their natural leadership style
  • Businesses can see if they need to adjust leadership style
40
Q

Disadvantages of the Blake Mouton Grid

A
  • Too simple
  • Can be bias as based off opinions
  • Focused on the leader and doesn’t pay attention to other factors, such as the development level of your team
41
Q

Define ‘opportunity cost’

A

Cost on missing out on the next best alternative.

Represents the benefits that could have been gained by taking a different decision

All decisions have an opportunity cost

42
Q

Define ‘interest rates’

A

The price you pay to borrow money

%%%

43
Q

Give examples of decisions a business may take

A
  • Employment
  • New projects / innovation
  • Relocation to a new premises
  • Promotion
44
Q

List ways that make it hard to assess the opportunity cost of a decision

A
  • Lack of information
  • Lack of guarantee - uncertainty
  • Timescale
  • Accuracy of estimates
45
Q

What may make making a decision risky?

A
  • Outdated data
  • Uncertainty
  • Haste / rushing to make the decision
  • Lack of consultation
46
Q

Equation for expected value (Decision Trees)

A

Probability x Revenue

47
Q

Suggest step-by-step how to use a decision tree

A
  1. Complete all probabilities
  2. Work out expected value (Probability x Revenue)
  3. Work out net gain (Expected value - cost)
48
Q

How should a business interact with stakeholders of…

Low power, Low interest

A

Monitor: minimum amount of effort

49
Q

How should a business interact with stakeholders of…

High power, Low interest

A

Keeps satisfied

Consult with them and try to increase their level of interest

50
Q

How should a business interact with stakeholders of…

Low power, High interest

A

Keep informed

(e.g.) the community

Keep up-to-date with developments can build good relations

51
Q

How should a business interact with stakeholders of…

High power, High interest

A

Manage closely

  • Most important
  • Seek to involve them in decision making

(e.g.) majority shareholders

52
Q

Why may a shareholder invest?

A
  • Take-over
  • Personal income: make money from dividends
  • Want to be involved
  • Help the business grow
  • Have control in the company
  • Fun / leisure
  • Insight into the companies plans
53
Q

Role of managers

A

To supervise and lead a company’s operations and employees.

Perform a range of tasks to ensure company productivity and efficiency.

54
Q

What is the Blake Mouton Grid used for?

A

A tool used to analyse the behaviors of managers and leaders, which is judged based on two criteria; their concern for people and their concern for production

55
Q

What are some of the likely impacts for an impoverished leader (low, low) people, prod

A
  1. Demotivated Staff, which leads to an increase in absenteeism, which leads to an increase in staff turnover…
  2. Risk Averse meaning you are less likely to take a risk on innovating which makes you less efficient, which makes ur production decreasing lowering output quality….

LEAST EFFECTIVE.

56
Q

What are some of the likely impacts for a produce or perish leader (low, high) people, prod

A
  1. Demotivated Staff, which leads to an increase in absenteeism, which leads to an increase in staff turnover…

INSPIRES short term productivity increases

Long run (1)

57
Q

What are some of the likely impacts for a country club management (high, low) people, prod

A
  1. Seen as an overly friendly style which decreases productivity which leads to failure.
  2. Lacks co-ordination, organisation, and control as there isn’t concern for the production

NOT EFFECTIVE

58
Q

What are some of the likely impacts for a team leader management style (high, high) people, prod

A

MOST EFFECTIVE
1. Employee needs are being met —> Theory Y —-> Productivity goes up —-> Output increases —–> Long term because of the concern of people.

59
Q

What are some of the likely impacts for middle of the road management style (mid, mid) people, prod

A
  1. A comprimise, in the long run leads to demotivation, which lowers output, which leads to average quality going down.
60
Q

Name the axis on Stakeholder Mapping

A

Y Axis - Power (Influence of Stakeholder) Low to High

X Axis - Intrest of stakeholder Low to High

61
Q

Name all the different quadrants on a Stakeholder Map (with positioning and factors)

A

Keep Satisfied - Top Left (High Power, Low Intrest)
- No Impact
- No Resistance

Key Players - Top Right (High Power, High Intrest)
- Most effort
- Manage closely
- Stakeholder vital to business success

Minimal Effort - Bottom Left (Low Power, Low Intrest)
- Least effort

Keep Informed - Bottom Right (Low Power, High Intrest)
- Perhaps consult