Competencies Flashcards
Accounts Payable
Money an organization owes its vendors and suppliers.
Accounts receivable
Money an organization’s customers owe the organization.
Active listening
Communication technique to increase the engagement between communicators and their audiences. It involves two-way communication and attention to nonverbal signs that indicate interest and reactions to the message and speaker.
Affinity diagramming
Data-sorting technique in which a group categorizes and subcategorizes data until relationships are clearly drawn.
Analytical processing
Applications that can analyze data faster and in more ways than traditional relational databases, offering a multidimensional analysis of business data.
Assets
Financial, physical, and sometimes intangible properties an organization owns.
Balance sheet
Statement of an organization’s financial position at a specific point in time, showing assets, liabilities, and shareholder equity.
Balanced scorecard
Performance management tool that depicts an organization’s overall performance, as measured against goals, lagging indicators, and leading indicators.
Bribery
Exchange of anything of value to gain greater influence or preference.
Business case
Presentation to management that establishes that a specific problem exists and argues for a proposed solution.
Business intelligence
Ability to use information to gain a deeper understanding of an organization and make sound business decisions.
Cash flow statement
Statement of an organization’s ability to meet its current and short-term obligations, showing incoming and outgoing cash and cash reserves in operations, investments, and financing.
Civil law
Legal system based on written codes (laws, rules, or regulations).
Code of conduct
Principles that guide decision making and behavior in an organization.
Common law
Legal system in which each case is considered in terms of how it relates to legal decisions that have already been made; evolves through judicial decisions over time.
Confidentiality
Treatment of personal information that has been disclosed to another person or organization.
Conflict of interest
Situation in which a person or organization may potentially benefit from undue influence due to involvement in outside activities, relationships, or investments that conflict with or have an impact on the employment relationship or its outcomes.
covering
Defensive behavior that occurs when an organization recruits a diverse workforce but, consciously or otherwise, promotes assimilation rather than inclusion.
cultural intelligence
Capacity to recognize, interpret, and behaviorally adapt to multicultural situations and contexts.
cultural taxaction
Additional workload that is generated for members of an underrepresented group due to their requested participation in DE&I efforts.
culture
Basic beliefs, attitudes, values, behaviors, and customs shared and followed by members of a group, which give rise to the group’s sense of identity.
delphi technique
Technique that progressively collects information from a group of anonymous respondents.
diversity
The similarities and differences between individuals, accounting for all aspects of one’s personality and individual identity.
due process
Concept that laws are enforced only through accepted, codified procedures.
emotional intelligence (EI)
Ability to be sensitive to and understand one’s own and others’ emotions and impulses.
Employee resource group (ERG)
Voluntary group for employees who share a particular diversity dimension (race, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, etc.); also known as affinity group or network group.
Enterprise resource planning (ERP)
Business management software, usually a suite of integrated applications, that a company can use to collect, store, manage, and interpret data from many business activities.
equity
Amount of owners’ or shareholders’ portion of a business.
focus group
Small group of invited persons (typically six to twelve) who actively participate in a structured discussion, led by a facilitator, for the purpose of eliciting their input.
framing
Process of constructing a message so that an audience sees communicated facts in a certain way and is persuaded to take a certain action.
global mindset
Ability to take an international perspective, inclusive of other cultures’ views.
gross profit margin
Ratio of gross profit to net sales.
High context cultures
Societies or groups characterized by complex, usually long-standing networks of relationships; members share a rich history of common experience, so the way they interact and interpret events is often not apparent to outsiders.
Imposter syndrome
A feeling that one’s success is due to luck, not hard work or skill; can lead individuals to feeling unfit for their current role.
Inclusion
Extent to which each person in an organization feels welcomed, respected, supported, and valued as a team member.
Income statement
Statement that reports revenues, expenses, and profits for a specified period of time, for example, quarterly or annually.
J curve
Visualization of the impact of change on productivity. When change is introduced, there is typically a decrease in productivity and then a gradual return to or, ideally, a surpassing of previous levels of productivity.
Jurisdiction
Right of a legal body to exert authority over a given geographical territory, subject matter, or persons or institutions.
Liabilities
Organization’s debts and other financial obligations.
Low context cultures
Societies in which relationships have less history; individuals know each other less well and don’t share a common database of experience, so communication must be very explicit.
Mean
Average score or value.
Median
Middle value in a range of values.
Mind mapping
Data-sorting technique in which group members add related ideas and indicate logical connections, eventually grouping similar ideas.
Mode
Value that occurs most frequently in a set of data.
Motivation
Factors that initiate, direct, and sustain human behavior over time.
Negotiation
Process by which two or more parties work together to reach agreement on a matter.
Net profit margin
Ratio of net income (gross sales minus expenses and taxes) to net sales.
Networking
Process of developing mutually beneficial contacts through the exchange of information.
Neurodiversity
Refers to a workforce that approaches problems using different conceptual thought approaches that may stem from atypical brain structure, for example, attention deficit disorder (ADD), attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and anything categorized as existing on the autism spectrum (autism spectrum disorder, or ASD).
Noise
In communication, any factor that can disrupt the sending and receipt of a message—for example, physical factors such as loud environments, cultural factors such as a distinctive accent, or cognitive factors such as the use of unfamiliar jargon.
Nominal group technique (NGT)
Technique in which participants each suggest ideas through a series of rounds and then discuss the items, eliminate redundancies and irrelevancies, and agree on the importance of the remaining items.
Nonverbals
Components of a message apart from its words. This could include physical gestures and posture and vocal tones, volume, and speed.
Principled negotiation
Process in which negotiators aim for mutual gain, emphasizing the need to focus on the problem instead of personal differences and on mutually beneficial outcomes.
Qualitative data
Subjective evaluation of actions, feelings, or behaviors.
quantitative data
Objective measurements that can be verified and used in statistical analysis.
Ratio analysis
Comparing the sizes of two variables to produce an index or percentage; commonly used to analyze financial statements.
regression analysis
Statistical method used to determine whether a relationship exists between variables and the strength of the relationship.
reliabiltiy
Extent to which a measurement instrument provides consistent results.
root-cause analysis
Type of analysis that starts with a result and then works backward to identify fundamental cause.
rule of law
Concept that stipulates that no individual is beyond the reach of the law and that authority is exercised only in accordance with written and publicly disclosed laws.
scenario/what if analysis
Statistical method used to test the possible effects of altering the details of a strategy to see if the likely outcome can be improved.
service level agreement
Document that defines the output customers can expect.
stakeholder concept
Concept that proposes that any organization operates within a complex environment in which it affects and is affected by a variety of forces or stakeholders who all share in the value of the organization and its activities.
standard deviation
Distance of any data point from the center of a distribution when data is distributed in a “normal” or expected pattern.
transparency
Extent to which an organization’s agreements, dealings, information, practices, and transactions are open to disclosure and review by relevant persons.
trend analysis
Statistical method that examines data from different points in time to determine if a variance is an isolated event or if it is part of a longer trend.
unweighted mean
Raw average of data that gives equal weight to all values, with no regard for other factors.
validity
Extent to which a measurement instrument measures what it is intended to measure.
value
The benefit created when an organization meets its strategic goals; measure of usefulness, worth, or importance.
value chain
The process by which an organization creates the product or service it offers to the customer.
variance analysis
Statistical method for identifying the degree of difference between planned and actual performance or outcomes.
weighted mean
Average of data that adds factors to reflect the importance of different values.
coercive leadership approach
Leadership approach in which the leader imposes a vision or solution on the team and demands that the team follow this directive.
authoritative leadership approach
Leadership approach in which the leader proposes a bold vision or solution and invites the team to join this challenge.
affiliative leadership approach
Leadership approach in which the leader creates strong relationships with and inside the team; team members are motivated by loyalty.
democratic leadership approach
Leadership approach in which the leader invites followers to collaborate and commits to acting by consensus.
pacesetting leadership approach
Leadership approach in which the leader sets a model for high performance standards and challenges followers to meet these expectations.
coaching leadership approach
Leadership approach in which the leader focuses on developing team members’ skills, believing that success comes from aligning the organization’s goals with employees’ personal and professional goals.
trait theory
Leadership theory that states that leaders possess certain innate characteristics that followers do not possess (and probably cannot acquire), such as physical characteristics and personality traits.
behavioral theories
Category of leadership theories that states that leaders influence group members through certain behaviors; includes Blake-Mouton theory.
situational theories
Category of leadership theories that states that leaders can flex their behaviors to meet the needs of unique situations, employing both task or directive behaviors and relationship or supportive behaviors; includes Hersey-Blanchard situational leadership, Fiedler’s contingency theory, and path-goal theory.
emergent theory
Leadership theory that states that leaders are not appointed but emerge from the group, which chooses the leader based on interactions.
transactional leadership
Leadership theory that emphasizes a leader’s preference for order and structure; focuses on control and short-term planning.
transformational leadership
Leadership theory that emphasizes a leader’s ability to inspire employees to embrace change; leaders encourage and motivate employees to innovate and seek out changes that can add value and growth to the organization.
leader-member exchange theory
Leadership theory that focuses on a two-way relationship between leaders and chosen employees; the leader mentors selected team members and gives them access to more information and resources in order to strengthen levels of trust and support.
servant leadership
Leadership theory in which the leaders’ goal is to serve the needs of their employees; emphasizes the sharing of power.
legitimate power
Power that is created formally, through a title or position in the hierarchy that is associated with the rights of leadership.
reward power
Power that is created when the leader can offer followers something they value in exchange for their commitment.
expert power
Power that is created when a leader is recognized as possessing great intelligence, insight, or experience.
referent power
Power that is created by the force of the leader’s personality.
coercive power
Power that is created when the leader can punish those who do not follow.
theory x/theory y
Motivation theories dealing with the amount of control in the workplace; motivation is seen as either absolutely irrelevant or absolutely critical.
needs theory
Motivation theory that states that individuals are motivated by a desire to satisfy certain needs and that understanding these needs allows leaders to offer the right incentives and create the most motivational external environments; includes selfdetermination and theories of Maslow, Herzberg, and McClelland.
expectancy theory
Motivation theory that states that effort increases in relation to one’s confidence that the behavior will result in a positive outcome and reward; includes Vroom’s theory.
attribution theory
Motivation theory that states that the way a person interprets the causes for past success or failure is related to the present level of motivation; includes theories of Heider and Weiner.
goal-setting theory
Theory that states that motivation can be increased by providing employees with goals against which they can assess their achievement.
equity theory
Theory that states that motivation is based on an employee’s sense of fairness; the individual compares their perceived value with that of others in similar roles and makes a calculation based on their inputs and outputs.
Conflict of interest
Situation in which a person or organization may benefit from undue influence due to involvement in outside activities, relationships, or investments that conflict with or have an impact on the employment relationship or its outcomes.
autheticity
Ability to stay true to values and maintain integrity in both personal and professional lives and, from an organizational perspective, approach to forming and maintaining relationships with colleagues and others in the org
integrity
Maintaining consistency between one’s values and one’s actions.
privacy
An individual’s right to freedom from intrusion (by viewing, monitoring, reading, etc.) into matters, actions, or information that is personal.
consultation
Providing guidance to organizational stakeholders; involves diagnosing problems or identifying opportunities, developing effective solutions, winning support for solutions, and implementing them effectively.
SOAR analysis
Type of analysis in which a group identifies strengths, opportunities, aspirations, and results; a framework that combines fact finding with an organization’s goals and desires, presenting an analysis of the organization’s actual state and how it will measure achievement.
Multi criteria decision analysis (MCDA)
Type of analysis in which a team determines critical characteristics of a successful decision and then uses a matrix to score each alternative and compare results.
force field analysis
Tool designed to analyze the forces favoring and opposing a particular change; a group identifies and weights factors that could influence an outcome in either a negative or positive manner according to their possible impact and then uses these factors to score different opportunities.
