Chapter 14 - Managing Change

Question 1

What is change management?

Answer 1

The process used to identify and adapt to change in the business environment

Question 2

Name 5 reasons for change.

Answer 2

1. Technology
2. Employees
3. Consumers
4. Laws
5. Competitors

Question 3

Explain how technology causes change in a business

Answer 3

CAD, CAM, CIM increased speed and quality of products
E- Commerce and Social Media enables firms to promote and sell their goods online
Email and video conferencing increased speed of communication between business and their stakeholders

Question 4

What does CAD mean?

Answer 4

Computer aided design

Question 5

What does CIM mean?

Answer 5

Computer integrated manufacturing.

Question 6

What does CAM mean?

Answer 6

Computer aided manufacturing

Question 7

Explain how employees causes change in a business

Answer 7

Changes in education and skill level has created a need for:
Greater flexibility in the workplace
More varied rewards
Interesting and challenging work

Question 8

Explain how consumers causes change in a business

Answer 8

Consumers have more complex demands than consumers in the past. A business needs to be able to react to:
Changes in consumer taste
Demand for greater choice of goods and services
Growth in demand for environmentally friendly and ethical products

Question 9

Explain how law causes change in a business

Answer 9

New national and eu laws can change the way businesses operate

Question 10

Explain how competitors causes change in a business

Answer 10

Businesses must monitor changes introduced by competitors including:
Launch of new product
Methods used to reduce costs
Growth of competitors through mergers and acquisitions

Question 11

What are 5 reasons for resistance to change?

Answer 11

fear of failure
redundancy 
loss of control
lack of rewards
laziness

Question 12

What are 5 ways to overcome resistance to change?

Answer 12

open communication 
employee involvement
leading by example
rewards
training

Question 13

When changing from a controller manager to a facilitator manager what 5 things to we look at?

Answer 13

authority 
motivation 
training and development
management supervision 
decision making

Question 14

In terms of authority how can a controller manager change to a facilitator manager?

Answer 14

controller manager - gives orders and expects employees to obey without questions
facilitator manager - authority is shared between management and employees. staff are delegated responsibility

Question 15

In terms of motivation how can a controller manager change to a facilitator manager?

Answer 15

controller - staff are viewed as lazy and unmotivated. money is used to try motivate them
facilitator - employees are offered a range of financial and non financial rewards

Question 16

In terms of training and development how can a controller manager change to a facilitator manager?

Answer 16

controller - employees are trained only to perform their duties. managers believe employees do not want more responsibility and do not invest in further training and development
facilitator - management invests in training and development to improve the skills and experience of employees

Question 17

In terms of management supervision how can a controller manager change to a facilitator manager?

Answer 17

controller - managers closely supervise employees

facilitator - delegate tasks to employees, they are trusted to perform their duties without constant supervision

Question 18

In terms of decision making how can a controller manager change to a facilitator manager?

Answer 18

controller - managers make all decisions and dont consult staff
facilitator - employees are empowered to make decisions on behalf of the firm without needing to consult management

Question 19

What is employee empowerment?

Answer 19

managers give employees a certain amount of independence and responsibility for decision making in the business

Question 20

How can managers encourage employee empowerment?

Answer 20

invest in training
reward
trusting employees
control mechanism (be able to identify and fix mistakes quickly)

Question 21

What are 4 benefits of employee empowerment?

Answer 21

decision making
employee motivation
management time
better customer service

Question 22

What are 4 risks of employee empowerment?

Answer 22

employee training (may not be adequate)
managerial control (managers unhappy with loss of control)
lower motivation
less managerial supervision (unnecessary risks taken)

Question 23

What is employee participation?

Answer 23

relates to management encouraging staff to actively take part in running and improving the business

Question 24

What 3 ways can management encourage employee participation?

Answer 24

employee works council
worker directors
employee share purchase plan

Question 25

What is an employee works council?

Answer 25

employees of businesses with 1,000 staff or more across europe have the right to set up works councils
employees elect representatives for the works council and gives staff a direct line of communication with the senior management

Question 26

What is a worker director?

Answer 26

employees who have been elected by colleagues to sit on the board of directors of a business, they participate in decision making at a senior level

Question 27

What is an employee purchase plan?

Answer 27

employees can buy shares at a reduced price or may receive shares as part of their reward package
employees become owners of the business and can vote at the agm

Question 28

What is teamwork?

Answer 28

a group of people who work together to achieve a common goal or complete a task

Question 29

What are the 4 stages of teamwork?

Answer 29

stage 1: forming - team members come together for the first time. try to build trust and good relationships
stage 2: storming - conflict can occur between the members over different opinions
stage 3: norming - greater trust between members, ground rules are set
stage 4: performing - the team focuses on achieving its goal

Question 30

What are 4 benefits of teamwork?

Answer 30

greater employee motivation
improved communication skill
better decision making
faster task completion

Question 31

What is tqm?

Answer 31

total quality management - a commitment by the managers and employees to continuously promote and encourage quality in all aspects of the firms operations

Question 32

What are the 5 principles of tqm?

Answer 32

focus on consumer - conduct market research
continuous improvements - every person aims to improve quality of goods and services
employee empowerment - employees make decisions on behalf of the business
quality assurance - the business focuses on incorporation quality in all stages of design process
teamwork - employees work in teams to find ways to improve the quality

Question 33

What are 4 benefits of tqm?

Answer 33

improved quality
lower costs
employee motivation
increased sales

Question 34

What are 4 risks of tqm?

Answer 34

slow process
pressure on staff
high costs
staff resistance

Question 35

What does CAD do?

Answer 35

creates 2d and 3d models of new products

Question 36

What does CAM do?

Answer 36

control and monitor machinery

Question 37

What does CIM do?

Answer 37

using computers for every part of the production process

Question 38

What does voice recognition do?

Answer 38

recognizes human voices and can command to perform a task

Question 39

In what 5 ways does technology impact management?

Answer 39

wider span of control 
faster communication 
may cause more stress
improved decision making 
improved production efficiency

Question 40

How can technology reduce and increase business costs?

Answer 40

reduce - improved quality (less refunds), less staff

increase - large capital costs, employee training

Question 41

How does technology impact business personnel? (4 ways)

Answer 41

teleworking - work from home
staff training - more training is needed
staff qualifications and skills - employees need higher qualifications and skills
efficiency - helps to improve efficiency of tasks

Question 42

How does technology impact business opportunities? (4 ways)

Answer 42

new products/services
faster production
e-commerce (online shopping)
improved decision making (more information available to make informed decisions)