BUSINESS STRATEGY AND ETHICS Flashcards
Human Resources Management is
the activities essential to managing an organizations employees or it’s human capital.
HR Management Strategizes
how to allocate staff appropriately, maintain regulatory compliance, and prevent risk.
HR Aligns _ Needs with _ Needs
People, Business
HR functions include
recruitment, health and safety, employee relations, comp., benefits, and compliance.
Talent Acquisition/Recruitment incudes
advertising and posting jobs, sources resumes, screen candidates, conduct first round interviews, and coordinate with hiring manager or team.
Recruiter success is measured by
the time taken to fill job openings (reqs.) (TTF)
Employee safety is mandated through …
the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (OSHA)
What is HR’s role in health and safety?
To oversee health and safety training and maintain federally mandated logs for workplace injuries and fatalities reported to the government.
5 years is …
the length of time employers must keep record of on the job illnesses, accidents and injuries.
30 years is …
the length of times employers must keep medical records of injuries or illness.
This strengthens the employer-employee relationship through measuring job satisfaction, maintaining employee engagement, and resolving workplace conflicts or grievances. Includes coaching employees and managers to handle difficult situations, investigating sexual harassment and discrimination claims, placing employees on PIP’s.
What is Employee relations
Labor relations in unionized work environments may include …
negotiating collective bargaining agreements, facilitating grievance process, and interpreting union contracts.
_____ is a essential function of HR.
Compliance
This can result in litigation, governmental complaints of unfair employment practices, unsafe working conditions, fines from the government, and overall dissatisfaction of employees.
Noncompliance
Compensation and benefits duties of the HR professional may include:
- setting compensation and evaluating pay practices.
- negotiating group health care coverage rates with insurers.
- coordinate with the retirement savings fund administrator.
Employers must provide employees ….
training and the necessary tools for their success.
All employees should attend …
orientation to help with the transition, as part of the onboarding process, as well as adequate training for their job.
Clear, well-communicated __________________ ensure consistent messages and administration throughout the organization.
human resources policies and procedures
This helps protect the organization in case of lawsuits or complaints.
What are documented policies
____________ should be reviewed carefully and updated regularly because they may create an enforceable contract. Organizations also empower employees with information which helps them better understand their own responsibilities.
Handbooks
Employee handbooks are an example of how…
the organization administers policies consistently and fairly.
Business Acumen is
speaking the language of business, understanding the multiple functions of an organization, and being able to show the value of HR to the organization.
Ongoing process of creation, research, reassessment, and development is called ….
Strategic management
Strategic Management is critical to human resources professionals because it
affects how HR adds value to the organization through policies, procedures, and programs.
______________ balances business strategies with the needs of the employees and the requirements of law and legislation.
Strategic alignment
The 5 critical components of strategic alignment are:
workforce planning, organizational capability assessment, organizational development and structure, diversity and inclusion, and change management.
HR uses _______ and _______ tools.
analytics, business intelligence.
Regular monitoring and responding to the ___________ is critical to the organizations successs.
external environment
External Factors include:
- Economy
- Consumer Demand
- Laws and Regulations
- Labor Force
What is PESTLE?
Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Legal, and Environmental factors that impact an organization.
PESTLE: P examples
policies, foreign relations, taxes
PESTLE: E examples
inflation, interest rates, unemployment
PESTLE: S examples
public health, population growth, culture
PESTLE: T examples
innovation, automation, access to technology
PESTLE: L examples
consumer protection laws, copyright laws, antitrust laws
PESTLE: E examples
climate change, weather events, natural disasters
Michael ________, ________ Five Forces
Porter, Porter
Porter’s Five Forces Include:
1.) Competition
2.) Potential threat of new entrants to an industry
3.) Power of Suppliers
4.) Power of Consumers
5.) Threat of Substitute Products
Porter’s Six Barriers to Enrty
1.) Economies of Scale
2.) Product Differentiation
3.) Capital Requirements
4.) Cost Disadvantages Relative to Size
5.) Access to Distribution Channels
6.) Government Policy
Competition refers to….
competition within an industry.
New entrants …..
new competition.
Bargaining power of both refers to…
the power of suppliers and the power of consumers (buyers).
This controls a product by reducing supply or raising prices
The strong bargaining power of suppliers
These people are powerful when they demand higher quality or service.
Consumers
SWOT Analysis, statistical models, and environmental scans are examples of …
business analysis tools.
___________ analyze data to uncover trends affecting an organization.
Statistical models
An __________ analyzes external and internal conditions that impact the organization.
environmental scan
SWOT stands for……
Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats
KPI’s are
key performance indicators.
What can HR use to track outcomes, costs, and ROI of HR initiatives?
business analysis tools.
What is an HRIS and how can organizations benefit from there use?
Human Resources Information System
Benefit: data entry, tracking, and reporting of human resources information.
These items are housed within an HRIS system:
static employee information such as address, SSN, tax withholdings, job and pay information, benefit elections.
Additional HRIS capabilities include:
- turnover and headcount reports
- collecting HR documents such as handbooks, procedures, and forms
- Potential for employees to update their own basic information
- Potential for performance reviews
ATS is also known as
an Applicant Tracking System
Applicant tracking systems allow for
job postings, candidate repository, assessment development and tracking, and sharing capability with stakeholders.
The process of defining an organizations overall purpose, goals, and how goals will be achieved is known as….
strategic planning.
Strategic planning allows organizations to determine
current status, direction, approach, and how it will measure its success.
_________, __________, and __________ are all approaches to strategic planning.
Goals-based planning, issues-based planning, and organic planning.
Goals-based planning focuses on
goals needed to achieve the org’s mission, vision, and values, and steps needed to achieve those goals.
Issues-based planning focuses on
issues facing the organization and determines steps to address those issues.
Organic planning focuses on
a common vision, common values, identifies best practices and methodologies for the organization.
Step 1 of Strategic Planning:
Plan the Process
- decide on process, participants, and time frame.
- pre-planning reduces errors in the planning process
- gains commitment from leaders
Step 2 of Strategic Planning:
Study the Environment
- using business and statistical tools, determine org’s present state
Step 3 of Strategic Planning:
Formulate a Strategy
- stakeholders develop organizations mission, vision, values, goals, and objectives
- focusing primarily on the future, direction/destination of the org
Step 4 of Strategic Planning:
Implement the Strategy
- stakeholders articulate goals, develop budgets, create action plans, and execute plans
Step 5 of Strategic Planning:
Evaluate the Strategy
- stakeholders evaluate the strategy periodically and make adjustments as needed
What is a mission statement?
(Think missions trip)
It defines the org’s purpose, what it offers, whom it serves, and where it operates.
What is a vision statement?
(Think vision board)
It outlines the organizations goals
What are core values?
(Think someone’s core values)
They frame it’s perspective and guide its actions.
Goals should be __________
SMART
The acronym SMART means:
S - Specific goals
- must be clear and detailed
M - Measurable
- should require metrics to determine progress
A - Action-oriented
- describe actions needed to accomplish goals
R - Realistic
- goals should be achievable
T - Time-based
- should have a time-frame for completion
What is a human capital plan?
A strategic HR plan that addresses the same questions raised during the larger strategic planning process. However, it will differ from the org’s.
Define Restructuring
AKA reengineering, the process of evaluating an organization, certain teams or departments for process redundancies.
Define Expansion of Force
organization growth by creating new positions and hiring additional personnel.
What (2) terms refer to the decrease of personnel expense by eliminating positions or departments?
reduction in force/downsizing
Difference between a merger’s & acquisitions
A merger is the combining of two organizations to leverage assets and forming a stronger corporate identity.
An acquisition is when one company purchases another company - combining culture and operations.
A divestiture is …
the division of a company through a product line, service, or business unit.
____________ is when an organization uses external service providers to handle certain business functions.
Outsourcing
_____________ refers to the act of moving jobs or functions to other countries where labor is cheaper.
Offshoring
(4) Basic Structures of Organizations
Sole Proprietorship
Partnership
Corporation
LLC (Limited-Liability) Company
This is the most basic business structure and the business owner has complete responsibility for business and financial decisions.
Sole Proprietorship
This structure is comprised of (2) or more people with shared ownership of a business. Can come in various forms.
Partnership
___________ is a legal entity owned by shareholders in the form of stock or equity. Most common business structure for large businesses and owns liability of debt and actions.
Corporation
__________ is a hybrid partnership and corporation. This business structure offers liability protections
LLC or Limited-Liability Company
What are two types of corps? And what is different between the two of them?
S-Corp (status that identifies when the entity will be taxed as a partnership and therefore avoid double taxation)
and
C-Corp (status that identifies when are taxed separately from the owners or shareholders)
Core functions of an organization include:
- Procurement, logistics, distribution
- Product or Service Development
- Operations
- Marketing and Sales
- Customer Service
Support functions include:
General Management, Human Resources, Information Technology
What are the (5) structures of organizational design?
1.) Functional Structure
2.) Divisional Structure
3.) Matrix Structure
4.) Team Structure
5.) Network Structure
___________ groups position into department or united with similar tasks, expertise, skills, etc.
Examples: accounting, finance, etc.
Functional structure
___________ groups business units according to a type of output (such as product, client, topic/subject).
Divisional structure
___________ combines functional and divisional. People work in teams based on expertise.
Examples: project or product team
Matrix structure
___________ groups separate functions together based on particular goal or objective. This fosters collaboration, cooperation, problem-solving, etc.
Team structure
___________ groups external entities performing certain functions on a temporary or contractual basis.
Examples: accounting, finance, etc.
Network structure
___________ and ____________ are two forms of decision-making.
Centralized and Decentralized
Centralized organizational structures depend on ….
one individual or group of executives to make decisions and provide direction. Common for smaller organizations and offer quick, efficient decision-making.
Decentralized organizational structures depend on ….
several individuals for management decisions and rely on teams at different levels of the business to make decisions. Can slow the progress of the organization in achieving objectives or harm productivity.
This refers to the distribution of work into separate jobs that are performed by different people.
Division of labor
Division of labor leads to _______________ as workers focus on one or a few tasks now essential to their positions. Additionally, this increased work efficiency.
Job specialization
Span of control is
the extent of a manager’s authority -e number of employees reporting to him/her.
Birth, Youth, Mid-Life, and Maturity are ….
life-cycles of a business.
Characteristics of the “Birth” life-cycle
Small size, one person doing many jobs, single leader, informal environment, no rules.
Characteristics of the “Youth” life-cycle
Medium size, basic departments, a few leaders, some rules, some basic processes.
Characteristics of the “Mid-Life” life-cycle
Large size, many departments, departmental leaders, many formal rules, complex processes & systems.
Characteristics of the “Maturity” life-cycle
Very large size, very specific jobs, many middle managers, detailed rules and procedures, focus on future needs.
(5) Growth Phases of an organization are
Growth through creativity
Growth through direction
Growth through delegation
Growth through coordination
Growth through collaboration
What growth phase is composed of crisis of leadership, formalized management practices, and results in adapted practices or HM to assume authority?
Growth through creativity
What growth phase is composed of crisis of autonomy, lower level managers needing more authority, and results in leaders delegating authority?
Growth through direction
What growth phase is composed of crisis of control, employees needing more autonomy to do jobs while leaders need to feel control, and results in leaders developing a system of checks and balances?
Growth through delegation
What growth phase is composed of crisis of bureaucracy, harnesses focus groups, planning processes, staff causing delays in decision making resulting in innovation suffering, and results in management developing collaborative teams and break down silos?
Growth through coordination
What growth phase is has no formal indicating crisis and one where employees may grow tired by teamwork and pressure?
Growth through collaboration
HR must conduct it’s ____ _____ when evaluating a potential M & A. They should also conduct a _____ ______ assessment to identify possible conflicts.
due diligence
risk assessment
Through what process does HR acquire information regarding company culture, how well the culture should integrate together, processes, and other differences. (Think legal)
Discovery processes
________ _______ helps alleviate some of the anxiety behind a M & A.
Communicating regularly
The process of maximizing an organizations resources to achieve optimum performance is known as ________ and it typically occurs after a ________.
Workforce optimization; merger
What is corporate governance?
A set of systems, principles, and processes that guide everything a company does; including the relationships between it’s stakeholders (board of directors, management, and others).
Stakeholders have _______ ______ for the decisions made in the organization.
Fiduciary responsibility.
Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) of 2002 addresses ….
unethical practices in public corporations and enforces penalties for violations.
This acts provisions include:
- all public accounting firms must register with the board, which could audit the company’s records for compliance
- standards to protect independent nature of audits
- standards for corporate responsibility; chief executive are held accountable to the SEC filings
- CEO and CFO are required to forfeit bonuses or gains through shares of stock for one-year when restatements are submitted due to misconduct
- prohibiting of insider trading during pension fund blackout periods
- CFO’s must satisfy certain ethical requirements
- criminal penalties for management officials who commit fraud or obstruct justice
- Whistleblowers protection
SOX act of 2002 (Sarbanes-Oxley)
An organizations _____ of ______ are their ideals; what it wants to do when conducting business.
code, ethics
An organizations ____ of _____ is what an organization expects from employees; lays out how those who violate this code will be disciplined.
code, conduct
_____ of _____ arise when an employee might personally benefit from the action of the organization.
Conflicts, interest
Whistleblowers are
people who, in good faith, report suspected or witnessed wrongdoing; they report violations, assist those reporting violations, and help with investigations.
