EXAM Flashcards
PASS LOL
1
Q
role of supervisor
A
Supervisors oversee operative employees.
2
Q
Middle manager role
A
manage other managers, responsible for meeting department specific goals.
3
Q
top manager role
A
responsible for an organization’s overall goals
4
Q
management process
A
Planning, organizing, leading and controlling
5
Q
Planning
A
Defining an organizations goals, establishing a strategy to achieve these goals, developing a hierarchy of plans to integrate and coordinate activities.
6
Q
Organizing
A
Arranging and grouping jobs, allocating ressources, assigning work so activities can be accomplished as planned. Determining which tasks should be done and who to do them
7
Q
Leading
A
Motivating employees, directing, selecting the most effective communication channel. Resolving conflicts
8
Q
Controlling
A
monitoring an organizations performance, and comparing performance with previosuy set goals. If significant deviations exist, getting them back on track.
9
Q
Debate the benefits and disadvantages of being a supervisor.
A
+ higher pay, more authority to make decisions, more recognition
- have to manage conflicts, possibly a lot more workload, pressure.
10
Q
challenges that supervisors are likely to face while moving from an operative employee’s role to that of a supervisor.
A
view of supervisor from an employee perspective looks more glorious than it may be, You aren’t just a boss but have to solve difficult problems now and have to solve them. Have a lot more demands, you aren’t just doing technical skills anymore and are more organizing people to have them finish the tasks
11
Q
competencies needed by a supervisor in an increasingly complex world.
A
Technical competence, Interpersonal competence, conceptual competence, political competence
12
Q
Technical competence
A
ability to apply specialized knowledge and expertise. Its difficult to manage employees who are doing different technical tasks if you don’t know how to do them yourself.
13
Q
interpersonal competence
A
the ability to work with, understand, communicate with, and motivate other people. Both individually and in groups. Being able to listen well to others and have easy communication, motivate.
14
Q
Conceptual competence
A
The mental ability to analyze and diagnose complex situations. Making good decisions
15
Q
political competence
A
Supervisors ability to enhance their power, build a power base, and establish the right connections in the organization.
16
Q
Explain planning and different levels of planning in organizations.
A
Formulating specific goals, and making a plan to achieve the goals.
- Strategic planning
- tactical planning
17
Q
Strategic planning
A
covers entire organization, establishing overall goals and positioning products or services against competition. - more by top level managers
18
Q
Tactical planning
A
the specific details on how overall goals are going to be achieved. - done more by supervisors
19
Q
supervisor’s role in planning.
A
Supervisors are more focused on tactical planning for short term goals and for smaller tasks to be able to achieve the overall goals of a company.
20
Q
standing plans and single-use plans.
A
Standing plan - a plan that can be used over and over again when managers are faced with the same situations
Single-use plan - A detailed course of action used once or only occasionally to deal with a problem that doesn’t occur repeatedly.
21
Q
Discuss issues related to goal setting.
A
It is easy to make goals that aren’t SMART goals, for example if a goal isn’t measurable how will you know when it is achieved.
22
Q
Discuss how entrepreneurs compare with traditional supervisors
A
Most entrepreneurs manage their business and supervise their employees, traditional supervisors, the rewards are more incentives where they could get promotions or corporate rewards. Traditional supervisors emphasize short term goal achievements whereas entrepreneurs look at long term goal achievements. Low risk propensity for sueprvisors but high for entrepreneurs.
23
Q
Discuss the need for controls and the control process.
A
Provides information to know if your plans are working.
The control process involves - measuring actual performance, comparing the results with standards, taking corrective action
24
Q
Different types of controls
A
Preventative, Concurrent, Corrective
25
Preventative control
A type of control that anticipates and prevents undesirable outcomes
26
Concurrent control
A type of control that takes place while an activity is in progress
27
Corrective control
A type of control that provides feed-back after an activity is finished to prevent future deviations.
28
Identify the five areas of focus of control
Timeliness: provides information quickly, Economy: must be worth the cost, Flexibility: must be able to adjust to adverse change or opportunities, Understandability: can be understood by those that need to use them. Reasonable criteria: enforce standards that are reasonable. Critical Placement: placing the controls on areas that are most important, Emphasis on exception: call attention only to exceptions, dont give way too much information.
29
Explain the steps involved in the decision-making process.
1. Identify the problem, 2. Collect relevant information, 3. Develop alternatives, 4. Evaluate each alternative, 5. Select the best alternative, 6. Implement the decision, 7. Follow up and evaluate.
30
Describe some of the tools that can help support decision making.
Expected value analysis, Decision trees, marginal analysis
31
Expected value analysis
- A procedure that permits decision makers to place a monetary value on various consequences likely to result from the selection of a particular course of action
32
Decision trees
a decision support hierarchical model that uses a tree-like model of decisions and their possible consequences, including chance event outcomes, resource costs, and utility.
33
Marginal analysis
an examination of the associated costs and potential benefits of specific business activities or financial decisions.
what additional revenue would be generated by this particular order and at what addi-tional cost.
34
Differentiate between problems and decisions.
problem solving is when you look for possible solutions or ways to fix what is wrong; decision making is when you choose a best solution or course of action.
35
Discuss different decision-making styles.
Directive: efficient and logical, focus on making decisions quickly and what will happen short term, Analytic: desire more info and consider more alternatives than directive, able to adapt., Conceptual: broad outlook and consider many alternatives, focus is long range., Bahavioural: work well with others and are receptive to suggestions, tries to avoid conflict and seek acceptance.
36
Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of group decision making
+ Provides more information, lots of diverse outlooks, generartes more alternatives, increases acceptance of solutions, increases legitimacy.
- Time consuming, minority domination, pressure to conform, ambiguous responsibility.
37
techniques to make group decision making better
Brainstorming, Nominal group technique: A technique that restricts discussion during the decision-making process, electronic meeting: A group decision-making technique in which participants are positioned in front of computer terminals as issues are presented. Participants type responses onto computer screens as their anonymous comments and aggre-gate votes are displayed on a projec-tion screen in th
38
Define organizing, and explain the concepts behind the process of organizing.
arranging and grouping jobs, allocating resources, and assigning work in a department so that activities can be accomplished as planned.
39
Explain span of control and unity of command.
Span of control is how many employees a supervisor can oversee effectively and efficiently.
Unity of command is the principle that an employee should only have one supervisor
40
Distinguish between line, staff, and functional authority.
Line: The authority that entitles a supervisor to direct the work of his or her employ-ees and to make certain decisions without consulting others.
Staff: A limited authority that supports line authority by advising, servicing, and assisting
Functional: Control over individuals outside one’s own direct areas of responsibility.
41
Explain various ways of departmentalization.
Functional - Grouping activities into independent units based on functions performed.
Product: Grouping activities into independent units based on problems or issues relating to a product
Customer: Grouping activities around common customer categories.
Geographic: Grouping activities into independent units based on geography or territory
Process: Grouping activities around a process; this method provides a basis for the homogeneous categorizing of activities
42
different organizational structures.
Simple, Functional, Divisional, Matrix, Project, Team based, boundaryless, learning
43
Divisional structure
groups business activities based on products, services, geographical locations, or markets.
44
Functional structure
organizes a company based on different functions, such as marketing, finance, and operations
45
Matrix Structure:
a company structure where teams report to multiple leaders. The matrix design keeps open communication between teams and can help companies create more innovative products and services.
46
Project structure:
employees continuously work on projects. -no formal departments where employees return at the completion of a project. +flexible - complexity of assigning people to projects along with the inevitable task of dealing with personality conflicts
47
Team based structure
An organization that consists entirely of workgroups, or teams. +can work well to brainstorm and work together, -can be difficult to work together, people need to be trained in team work
48
Learning structure
An organization that has developed the capacity to adapt and change continuously
49
Explain the importance of job descriptions.
Provides a formal document describing the jobs duties, Provides a standard on that can be referred back to on how an employee is performing, helps employees learn their job duties, clarifies the results that you expect them to achieve.
50
Discuss the process of delegation.
Allocation of duties, assignment of authority, assignment of responsibility, and creation of accountability - delegating is allocating tasks/ assigning tasks to people.
51
Describe employment planning for the department.
assessing the current workforce availability and future requirements to meet the growth in terms of type of people (skills) needed, and numbers. The aim is to achieve the required levels of staffing at the right cost and right time.
52
Describe the process of recruitment.
Recruitment is the process of locating, identifying, and attracting capable applicants.
53
Explain how to conduct effective interviews.
1. Review job description and job specification, 2. Prepare a structured set of questions to ask all applicants for the job, 3. Prior to meeting a candidate, review his or her application form and resume. 4. Open the interview by putting the applicant at ease and providing a brief preview of the topics to be discussed, 5. Ask your questions and listen carefully to the applicant's answers. 6. Close the interview by telling the applicant what's going to happen next. 7. Write your evaluation of the applicant while the interview is still fresh in your mind.
54
Discuss training and development.
training is for the present and relates to the skills employees need to do their current job; development is for the future and relates to the higher-level skills and knowledge required for promoting an employee into a higher level or new position.
55
Explain leadership.
The ability an individual demonstrates to influence others to act in a particular way through direction, encouragement, sensitivity, consideration, and support.
56
Types of leaders
Autocratic, participative, free rein
57
autocratic leaders
control is firmly and unquestionably in the hands of the leader. Autocratic leadership is appropriate for critical situations such as an emergency. Autocratic leadership has a task-centred focus.
58
participative leadership
ranges from a consultative to democratic style. Though the leader remains in full control, the decision making is shared. Asks for input,
59
free rein leadership
employees control their own work, and the leader negotiates work objectives. Free-reign leadership is appropriate with workers who are fairly independent due to the nature of their jobs
60
Describe the skills needed to be a leader.
*technical skills: (leader’s ability to use tools, techniques and procedures that relate to his/her particular situation), *conceptual understanding: ( the ability to coordinate various interests, analyze information and make linkages about it, and make sense of ambiguous situations.), *networking skills (ability to socialize and interact with others outside of your department.) and, most importantly, *human relations skills (communicate with, motivate, and coach those individuals around you.).
61
Compare task-centred and people-centred leadership styles.
-People-oriented leaders often act as "one of the group" with little or no autocratic decision-making.
- A task-oriented leader is agile and quick to adjust to new pressures because they have a keen understanding of their team and situation and can make immediate decisions.
62
Explain the situational leadership model.
The model moves from Q1 to Q4 where an entry level employee would begin at Q1 (TELLING), you would tell them and show them what to do (task centered), then to Q2 (SELLING) where you would mix task centered and people centered, more motivational and coaching tequniques, Q3 (PARTICIPATING) you become more of a facilitator and more people centered, support employees and make sure they have the ressources they need, Q4 (DELEGATING) Delegating leadership style emerges when the employee has fully developed. She has your trust and can carry out her duties with little, if any, direction (R4). She basically needs to be left alone, and you simply assign the tasks and let her do her job.
63
Discuss contemporary leadership roles and leadership issues of today.
Transformational leadership - A leader who inspires followers to transcend self-interests for the good of the organization and who is capable of having a profound and extraordinary effect on followers
Transactional leadership- A leader who guides or motivates employees in the direction of estab-lished goals by clarifying role and task requirement
64
Explain motivation and identify personality characteristics that have a bearing on motivation.
Motivation:The willingness to do something conditioned on the action’s ability to satisfy some need for the individual.
OCEAN
-Openness
-concientiousness
- extraversion
- agreeableness
-neurotisim(emotional stability)
65
three early theories of motivation.
hierarchy-of-needs theory, Theory X–Theory Y, motivation-hygiene theory
66
Hierarchy of human needs theory
hierarchy-of-needs theory: A theory of Abraham Maslow that states that a satisfied need no longer creates tension and therefore doesn’t motivate. Maslow believed that the key to motivation is to determine where an individual is along the needs hierarchy and to focus motivation efforts at the point where needs become essentially unfulfilled. (needs are: 1. Physiological ie hunger, 2. Safety, 3. Social, 4. Esteem, 5. Self Actualization
67
Theory X and Theory Y
Theory X is based on the assumptions that employees don't really want to work, lack ambition, only work to collect a paycheck, and need constant supervision. Theory Y is based on the assumptions that employees want to work, want to take responsibility, and do not need much supervision.
68
Motivation-hygiene theory
employee satisfaction has two dimensions: “hygiene” and motivation. Hygiene issues, such as salary and supervision, decrease employees' dissatisfaction with the work environment. Motivators, such as recognition and achievement, make workers more productive, creative and committed.The reverse of job satisfaction is a lack of job satisfaction. The reverse of job dissatisfaction is a lack of job dissatisfaction.
69
contemporary theories of motivation.
Need for achievement, equity theory, expectancy theory,
70
Expectancy theory
A theory that individuals analyze effort–performance, performance–rewards, and rewards–personal goals relationships, and their level of effort depends on the strengths of their expectations that these relationships can be achieved.
71
equity theory
equity theory: The concept that employees perceive what they can get from a job situation (outcomes) in relation to what they put into it (inputs), then compare their input–outcome ratio with the input–outcome ratio of others
72
Explain how to design motivating jobs.
Recognize Individual Differences, Match People to Jobs, Set Challenging Goals, Encourage Participation, Individualize Rewards, Link Rewards to Performance, Check for Equity, Don’t Ignore Money!
Have skill variety, task identity, task significance, autonomy, feedback.
73
communication process and its seven parts.
the sender, encoding, the message, the channel, decoding, the receiver, and feedback.
74
Discuss different methods of communication.
Formal communication: Communication that addresses task-related issues and tends to follow the organization’s authority chain.
informal communication:
Communication that moves in any direction, skips authority levels, and is as likely to satisfy social needs as it is to facilitate task accomplishments
75
Explain the barriers to effective communication.
Language, Listening habits, lack of feedback, perception, role requirements, information medium, lack of honesty, emotions.
76
Explain the main purposes of performance appraisal.
The main function of the supervisor’s job is to ensure that the employees perform their jobs effectively, and the objective of this process is to align employee performance with the organization’s (department’s) objectives.
77
Discuss the role of the supervisor in performance appraisal.
Supervisors are the ones doing the performance appraisals, Supervisors must do everything they can to provide the feedback that will facilitate effective, positive performances from all employees.
78
Actual Performance appraisal methods
Written essays, Critical inceidents, Checklist, adjective rating scale, Behaviourally anchored rating scale
79
Written essays
A written narrative describing an employee’s strengths, weaknesses, past performance, potential, and sug-gestions for improveme
80
Critical incidents
Incidents that focus attention on employee behaviours that are key in making the difference between execut-ing a job effectively and executing it ineffectively.
81
Checklist
A list of behavioral descriptions that are checked off when they apply to an employee.
82
Adjective rating scale
A method of appraisal that uses a scale or continuum that best describes the employee using factors such as quan-tity and quality of work, job knowledge, cooperation, loyalty, dependability, attendance, honesty, integrity, atti-tudes, and initiative.(general not job specific items)
83
behaviorally anchored rating scale (BARS
A scale that helps a supervisor rate an employee based on items along a con-tinuum; points are examples of actual behavior on a given job rather than general descriptions or traits.
combine major elements from the critical incident and adjective rating scale a
84
Relative standards appraisals
Group-ordered ranking, inidvidual ranking, and paired comparison.
85
Group ordered ranking
Placing employees into classifications, such as “top one-fifth” or “second one-fifth.” This method prevents a supervisor from inflating or equalizing employee evaluations.
86
Individual ranking
A method that requires supervisors to list all employees in order from the highest to lowest performer.
87
Paired comparison
An approach in which each employee is compared with every other employee in the comparison group and rated as either the superior or weaker member of the pair.
88
steps in the counselling process.
1. Listen, 2. Identify the problem, 3. Clarify alternatives, 4. Come to a resolution, 5. Agree on an action plan.
89
leniency error
Positive or negative leniency that overstates or understates performance, giving an individual a higher or lower appraisal than deserved.
90
halo error:
A tendency to rate an individual high or low on all factors as a result of the impression of a high or low rating on some specific factor.
91
central tendency:
error Appraisers’ tendency to avoid the“excellent” category as well as the “unacceptable” category and assign all ratings around the “average” or midpoint range
92
how to do better performance appraisals
Continually Document Employee Performance, Use Behaviorally Based Measures, Combine Absolute and Relative Standards, Use Multiple Raters, Rate Selectively, Participate in Appraisal Training, Conduct Performance Appraisals of Teams
93
discuss the three sources of conflict.
*Communication differences - due to misunderstandings in the communication process, including attaching different meanings to words., *Structural differentiation - develops due to the structure of the organization and often involves the allocation of scarce resources. , *Personal differences - develops due to different personality types and different value systems.
94
different approaches used to resolve conflicts.
Accommodation, Collaboration, Avoidance, Forcing and Compromise
95
importance of politics in an organization
behaviors that are designed to influence others with the goal of helping both the organization and the person playing the politics. Examples of positive politics include portraying a professional image, publicizing one's accomplishments, volunteering, and complimenting others.
96
Disciplinary process and progressive discipline
Action that begins with a verbal warn-ing, and then proceeds through written reprimands, suspension, and finally, in the most serious cases, dismissa
97
Explain internal and external forces of change.
Internal: Long range goals, new equipment, workforce, compensation and benefits, employee attitudes.
External: marketplace, government regulations, technology, economic forces
98
Describe traditional and contemporary views of change.
the traditional view: (calm waters) looks at change as an occasional disturbance that can be planned and managed by the organization without any significant problems.
The contemporary view: (white water rapids) takes the opposite stance and views an organization’s environment as one which leads to continuous demands for change.
99
Discuss why employees resist change
Threat to established power relationships, threat to interpersonal relationships, habit, fear of the unknown, selective perception, threat to expertise.
100
techniques to reduce resistance to change.
Build trust, open channels of communication, involve your employees, provide incentives, deal with employees feelings,
101
Differentiate between creativity and innovation, and explain how supervisors can foster innovation.
creativity: The ability to combine ideas in a unique way or to make unusual associations between ideas.
Innovation: The process of turning a creative idea into a useful product, service, or method of operation.
Creativity involves generating original and unique ideas, while innovation is about implementing those ideas to create value.
102
personality characteristics that are bearing on motivations
(1) locus of control (2) Machiavellianism (3) self-esteem (4) self-monitoring (5) risk propensity
103
