EXAM Revision Flashcards
Characteristics of an LSO:
Has 200+ employees
Assists over $200 million
Revenue in the millions
Transnational
Government Business Enterprise (GBE):
aim to provide a service or product to the public and make a profit.
Owned by the Government and Shareholders
(AUS POST)
Government Department:
Aim to provide a service to the community and satisfy social and political objectives
Owned by the government
(Department of Education)
Marketing:
promotion of organisation and its products
Finance:
Managing the money and admin activities
Research and Technology:
Develops new products to meet consumer demands as well as new ways of producing.
Research and Development:
LSOs often have a larger budget to spend on R&D. This helps create new products and new ways of producing things which can then flow through the entire industry.
Internal Environment:
Processes People (employees) Resources (land) Policies Corporate Culture
External (operating) environment:
Customers
Suppliers
Competitors
Special Interest Groups
External (macro) environment:
Economic Technological Legal and Political Environmental Globalisation Social
Functional Structure:
Work is divided into similar tasks based on departments.
Divisional Structure:
Labour is divided into different divisions based on product, customer, geographical location and processes.
Matrix Structure:
Brings together specialists to work in teams on particular projects or problems.
Strengths and Weaknesses of Matrix Structure:
+ increased flexibility
+ enhanced teamwork and communication
+ pooled expertise = improved problem solving
- dual chain of command
- duplication of resources
- overall objectives can be lost
Elements of Corporate Culture:
Heroes Rites, rituals and Celebrations Symbols Dress code Values
Levels of Planning:
Strategic - (3-5 years) by Senior Managers, expanding into new areas over the next 5 years
Tactical - (1-2 years) by Middle Managers, increase sales by 10% over next 18 months
Operational - (day-to-day) by Lower Management, planning a daily roster
Planning Process:
Define the Objective Analyse the Environment (SWOT) Develop alternatives Implement the Plan Monitor Results
Organising:
the process of coordinating an organisations resources to achieve objectives.
Organising Process:
Determine the work that needs to be done
Group the activities to ensure efficient use of resources
Allocate the tasks by deciding on who has the responsibility to carry out the tasks.
Allocating tasks may be done by:
All authority and decision making given to experienced team members
Authority and decision making spread
Authority is given to less experienced team members with a mentor .
Interpersonal leader:
Ability to actively listen and communicate with a wide range of people from varying backgrounds and abilities.
Informational leader:
manager that deals with the gathering and sharing of information about the company with staff and other key stakeholders.
Decision making:
look at a range of alternatives and select the most appropriate alternative that reflects the organisational goals/values.
Controlling:
where a manager evaluates actual performance against preferred performance.
Controlling process:
Establish benchmark Determine best method of measuring performance Measure Performance Compare result against benchmark Take corrective action where necessary
Policy Process:
Identify the Problem Research business environments Consult with stakeholders Draft a policy Review the policy Approve the police Monster results
Negotiation:
is the process of two or more parties reaching an agreement through discussion and compromise.
- Prepare ands set limits
- Negotiate in good faith
- Listen actively
- Record Information and give feedback
Decision Making:
making choices from a range of alternatives.
- identify the problem
- gather information
- develop alternatives
- analyse alternatives
- choose alternative and implement
- evaluate
Delegation:
is the process of handing over authority from manager to employee.
+develop skills/expertise
+ increased motivation
+ less stress
+ focus on higher level tasks
Time management:
is the ability to prioritise tasks, set deadlines and delegate.
Difference between Manufacturing and Service:
Manufacturing: Transfroms inputs into tangible items.
Products can be stored.
Very little customer involvement in production.
Service: Transforms inputs into intangible items.
Services cannot be stored.
Often high level of customer involvement when service is delivered.
Product Layout:
where goods are moved from workstation to workstation in sequential order along an assembly line. Mass volume with minimal variation.
+ Increased productivity
+ Reduced prices for consumers
- Lowe level of variety
- Employees can be bored performing same task
Processes Layout:
where equipment and work centres are arranged into similarity of function. Large degree of variety produced in small volumes.
+great amount of variety
+ greater flexibility
- longer production time
- Work can be monotonous for staff if they involved in one area
Fixed Postion layout:
where the product remains stationary while material and about are taken to the product. High Variety with low volume
+ Allows for high variety
+ High quality finishing
- Not suitable for smaller products
- Large investment required
Operations Management:
is the management of resources to efficiently produce goods and/or services.
Master Productions Schedule:
a detailed outline of what is to be produced and when.
Materials Requirement Planning:
an itemised list of the materials required to meet the MPS.
Inventory Control:
aims to keep material costs to a minimum while ensuring that there are enough materials on hand when required.
Quality Control:
proceeder that ensure that a manufactured good or service adheres to a set of quality criteria by using checks at regular intervals.
- Identify standard
- Determine how it’ll be tested
- Collect data and compare results against standard
- Take any corrective action necessary
Quality Assurance is
a system where the organisation meets a set of predetermined quality standards.
Robotics:
highly specialised form of technology that are capable of automated,complex tasks
Computer Aided Design:
software that created product possibilities from a series of parameters.
Computer Aided Manufacture:
Software that designs and control the manufacturing process
Computer Integrated Manufacturing:
Method were the entire manufacturing process is controlled by computer systems.
Human Resource Management is the
management of the relationship between the organisation and the employees.
Conditions of employment
are what an employee receives in return for the work they agree to complete.
- Number of expected hours
- Leave entitlements
- Redundancy Pay
Flexible working conditions are
conditions that allow employees to balance work and family responsibilities
- flexible hours
- patterns of work
- location
Occupational Health & Safety
is the responsibility an organisation has to ensure the workplace is safe for employees.
Maslow believed
that all people have need to be satisfied and will work towards satisfying those needs, and assumed that these needs could be arranged according to their importance.
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs:
Physiological - basic pay and conditions Safety - job security and safe workplace Social - strong working relationships Esteem - recognition, responsibility Self-Actualisation - achievement, opportunity for personal development
Herzberg’s motivation-hygiene theory is the
idea that satisfaction and dissatisfaction are caused by separate sets of factors.
Herzberg’s factors:
Hygiene factors - extrinsic factors that will provide either dissatisfaction or no dissatisfaction, but will not motivate an employee (pay,job security, basic conditions)
Motivation factors- intrinsic factors that provide high levels of motivation. (recognition, achievement, responsibility)
Similarities between Herzberg and Maslow:
- Both theories attempt to explain how to motivate through a series of stages.
- Both theories have higher-level and lower-level needs: Herzberg’s hygiene factors such as pay are similar to Maslow’s lower order needs of physiological and safety needs.
Differences between Herzberg and Maslow:
- Herzberg has 2 factors (hygeine and motivational) whereas Maslow has 5 steps (physiological, safety, social, esteem and self-actualisation).
- In regards to lower order needs, Maslow states that these will motivate, however, Herzberg claims that hygiene factors cause dissatisfaction or no dissatisfaction and will not motivate in the long term.
Dr Edwin Locke concluded that:
- employees were motivated by clear goals and appropriate feedback regarding their achievement.
working towards a goal provided the motivation to reach that goal and this, therefore, improved performance. - specific and difficult goals led to better performance than vague goals or goals that were easy to achieve.
- in order to motivate, goals must be clear and specific and provide a challenge for employees.
Locke’s Goal setting theory:
The goal must be specific - Employees will know exactly what is expected of them.
Locke found that goals must be clear and specific and provide a challenge for employees.
The goal must be challenging - Challenging goals will prompt employees to feel more committed; this stimulates the employee’s desire to achieve their goal.
The employee must be committed to meet the challenge and it also helps if feedback is given that provides clarification and adjustment of the goal.
Appropriate feedback is given - Appropriate, positive feedback allows employees to feel a high sense of accomplishment and will motivate them for a sustained period of time. Positive feedback from managers to employees will allow the employees to feel valued by the organisation and feel a high sense of accomplishment, which will motivate them to improve their job performance standards for a sustained period of time.
Advantages of Locke goal setting theory:
- The employee has clear goals to achieve and the manager has a clear way of measuring the employee’s performance against these goals.
- By ensuring that goals set are specific and challenging, human resource managers may be able to better motivate them.
- Locke’s goal-setting theory allows for employee feedback and may improve the manager/employee relationship.
Disadvantages of Locke goal setting theory:
- Time-consuming process, as the manager would need to discuss and negotiate the goals with employees.
- May be difficult to align individual/team goals with organisational goals/objectives.
Ethical management:
abiding by moral standards and doing the ‘right’ thing in all interests of all stakeholders.
Social Responsibility:
the obligations a business has over and above its legal responsibilities to the wellbeing of employees and customers, shareholder sand the community as well as the environment.
Establishment phase includes
all the activities involved in beginning a relationship wiht an employee.
HR planning is
focused on getting the right people in the right jobs at the ring time by looking at future human resource needs of the organisation.
Job Analysis:
gathers knowledge on what tasks,duties and responsibilities involved a job.
- where the job is performed?
- why does the job exist?
- the type of duties to be performed?
Job Design:
Deciding on what duties, tasks and responsibilities the job will consist of. Its important to consider job satisfaction and motivation when designing a job. (responsibility, varying tasks)
Job Description:
A summary of the duties,tasks and responsibilities and employee will need to perform the job.
Job Specification:
A list of the key qualifications, skills, experience and knowledge required to perform the job.
Recruitment:
is the process of finding the best qualified pool of applicants for a job.
Selection:
involves chosen the candidate that best matches the organisations requirements.
Selection Process:
- Screening
Comparing applications against selection criteria and narrowing down a shortlist - Interview
Asking a series of Qs to gather more information about the employee - Background checks
Contacting references and past employment - Any other tests
(medicals) - Notify remaining applicants
Employment arrangements
are the type of employment, pay and working conditions an employee has.
Types of employment arrangements:
Full time - Ongoing employment (35-38 hrs)
Part time - Employees are entitled to pay and conditions based on pro rate basis
Casual - Employed on an hourly basis
Fixed term contract - employed for a specific amount of time
Renumeration is
the financial payment the employee receives for the work they do.
Renumeration types:
Wage - paid for the hours worked
Salary - Paid an annual amount
Superannuation - Minimum 9.5%
Other benefits: car, laptop, phone, childcare
Maintenance phase involves
managing the relationship while the employee is working at the organisation.
Induction is the
process of familiarising new employees with the organisation.
Training refers to
improving an employees skills and knowledge to help them perform their job more effectively.
Development is
the actives that prepare employees to take on greater responsibility within the organisation.
- mentoring
- job rotation
delegation
Recognitions and Rewards Program:
aim at giving employees positive reinforcement by procuring them with an incentive or benefit for a job well done.
Financial rewards:
Extra Salary
Trips
Bonuses
Non-financial rewards:
Flexible hours
Training opportunities
Challenging work
Performance Management:
Improving both organisation and individual performance through relating organisational performance objectives to individual employee performance objectives.
Performance Appraisal:
formal assessment of how efficiently and effectively an employee is performing their role.
360 Degree Feedback:
Seeking feedback from the people who work with the employee (managers,peers,customers)
+ gives a rounded view on employee performance
+ less bias
- Time Consuming
Essay Method:
Manager describes the employee performance in their own words
+ far less structured
+ open-ended and flexible
- time consuming
- subjective and can lead to bias
Termination is
the ending of the employment of an employee.
Retirement:
Retirement occurs when an employee decides to give up full-time or part time work and no longer be part of the labour force.
It is important for an organisation to keep track of the number of employees they have that are close to retirement age. HR planning is important here.
Resignation:
Resignation is the voluntary ending of employment by the employee ‘quitting’ their job.
People resign for a variety of reasons, including:
the offer of a promotion with another business.
to start their own business.
boredom with their present job.
a change of lifestyle.
The employee usually needs to give the employer sufficient notice of his or her intention to resign.
Redundancy occurs
when a persons job no longer exists, usually due to technological changes, an organisational restructure or a merger or acquisition.
Voluntary Redundancy:
Occurs when the organisation wishes to decrease the size of its workforce and notifying employees of job cuts.
Employees are given the opportunity to nominate if they would like to leave the organisation with a redundancy package.
This could be an attractive proposition for someone who is close to retirement or has another job already lined up.
Involuntary Redundancy:
Occurs when an employee is asked to leave the organisation against their will.
However, the employee is not at fault in any way; the decision to make an employee redundant is based on the ongoing needs of the organisation.
Retrenchment:
Retrenchment occurs when a business dismisses an employee because there is not enough work to justify paying them.
Where redundancy and retrenchment differ is in that redundancy occurs due to the elimination of one jobs because of organisational and technological changes, removing the need for those skills, whereas retrenchment is terminating an employee due to lack of sufficient work for the employee.
Dismissal:
Dismissal occurs when the behaviour of an employee is unacceptable and an organisation terminates their employment.
Summary Dismissal:
When an employee commits serious breach of their contract. If an employee is given a summary dismissal, no notice is required and they can be dismissed immediately. For example, an employee who is drunk at work or is found to have engaged in criminal activity may be summarily dismissed. If an employee is given a summary dismissal, no notice is required.
Dismissal on noticeL
When an employee is not performing the job satisfactorily. Poor performance may be identified during an appraisal or performance process. For notice to take effect, paperwork such as written warnings need to be in place.
Unfair Dismissal:
Occurs when an employer dismisses an employee for discriminatory reasons.
Some examples of discrimination under Commonwealth workplace relations laws include dismissal on the basis of:
Absence from work due to illness or injury.
Either belonging or not belonging to a trade union
Race, sex, sexual preference, age, gender, disability etc.
Employee Relations:
refers to the interaction between the employer and employees (and their representatives =) in regards to wages and working conditions.
Industrial Relations:
Industrial relations refers to the resolution of conflict between employees and employers, whereas
Role of Fair Work Australia:
provide information, advice and assistance on workplace issues.
resolve industrial disputes between an employer and employees when no agreement can be reached.
Approve agreements between employers and employees.
An award is
a legally binding agreement that sets out minimum wages and conditions for a group of employees.
The Centralised System:
A centralised approach is where the government and their tribunals set the wages and working conditions for an entire industry. They were formalised in using awards. An award was determined as a result of unions and employer organisations presenting submissions to Conciliation and Arbitration.
Strengths of Centralised System:
- Stability and Predictability are enhanced as one set of rules and procedures applies to all industries and organisations.
EG: Fewer industrial disputes - Workers lacking bargaining power, such as the unskilled or migrants, are better off.
- Industrial disputes within individual businesses can be reduced because Awards can cover entire industries.
Disadvantages of Centralised System:
- The system is inflexible as it does not consider an individual’s business size or capacity to pay.
EG: The same wages and conditions would be applied to a large organisation in a capital city and a small business in a country town. - Does not provide enough opportunities for individual businesses to provide improvements in employment conditions in return for productivity gains.
EG: Less opportunity to negotiate higher wages in return for productivity gains.
Decentralised System:
A decentralised approach is where agreements are negotiated directly between employer and employees at workplace level. These negotiations were conducted using enterprise bargaining, which is where the employer and employees are able to negotiate their wages and conditions.
Advantages of Decentralised System:
- More flexibility for organisations, as they can take into consideration the characteristics of an individuals of each workplace. Empowers employees and employers.
- Productivity improvements by the employees can be rewarded with higher pay and better working conditions as wages can be tied to productivity.
- Enhanced communication between the employer and employees, as employees have more of a say in determine wages and conditions (negotiation)
Disadvantages of Decentralised System:
- Greater inequality of wages between skilled and unskilled workers, as unskilled workers have less bargaining powers.
- Government has less control over wages and therefore has less control over the economy.
Both the centralised and decentralised wage fixing systems …
- are concerned with determining appropriate terms and conditions of employment for employees.
- Decision legally binding
The difference between Centralised and Decentralised System:
- centralised system the terms were formalised in Awards for an entire industry with little attention paid to efficiency and productivity, and disputes were referred to a third party for arbitration.
The decentralised system, however, is based at the workplace level and encourages employers and unions to negotiate their own wage agreements known as enterprise or workplace bargaining. The employment conditions are usually linked to employee improvements in productivity and efficiency. - Centralised disputes solved externally whereas decentralised they were solved internally.
Collective Agreements:
are a contact between an employer and a group of employees. They cannot go below the award for that industry.
They must contain:
a nominal expiry date
proceeds fro dispute resolution
terms that allow for individual flexibility.
Individual Agreement:
Individual contracts of employment are made under common law between the employer and employee, and are therefore enforceable through the courts. They cannot exclude the minimum conditions stipulated under the Fair Work Act. (Except those earning over $133 000)
NES:
Long service leave
Public Holidays
Annual Leave
Parental Leave
Negotiating (HR MANAGER):
HRM will represent the employer in negotiations of a new agreement. It is important to bargain in good faith to ensure relationships are maintained.
Implementation (HR MANAGER):
Planning and organising are important here.
Industry Wide Awards:
Industry-wide awards set out the wages and working conditions for an industry as a whole. industry-wide awards arise from submissions made by employers, unions and other peak bodies and are made by Fair Work Australia, which results in a legally binding agreement that covers the whole of the respective industry.
Strike:
A strike occurs when employees withdraw their labour for a period of time in pursuit of improvements in their employment conditions.
Lockout:
A lockout occurs when employers close the workplace for a period of time as a means of applying pressure to employees during a period of industrial conflict.
Picketing Lines:
Picketing lines (also called blockades) are protests that take place outside the workplace, generally associated with a strike. Unionists stop the delivery of goods and try to stop the entry of non-union labour into the workplace.
Work bans:
A ban is a refusal to work overtime, handle a product, piece of equipment, process, or even a refusal to work with particular individuals.
Work-to-rule:
In this action, employees refuse to perform any duties that are additional to the work they normally are required to perform.
Absenteeism, vandalism and sabotage:
These concealed (convert), unofficial expressions of conflict may be vine more costly to organisations than open (overt) official industrial disputes.
Protected Industrial Action:
Protected Industrial Action refers to action taken by either party to a dispute that has been approved by Fair Work Australia. For Industrial action to be protected, the Union involved must conduct a secret ballot of members and the majority must be in favour of the action. Also, the employer must be informed of the proposed action at least 3 working days in advance.
Unprotected Civil Action:
Unprotected Civil Action refers to action that has not been approved by the Fair Work Commission.
This action is considered to be unlawful and images can be sought.
Grievance Procedure:
Grievance procedures are a formalised set of steps whereby the employee and the employer can resolve matters relating to complaints about wages, hours, working conditions or disciplinary action.
Kotters 8 Step Theory:
Create a sense of Urgency Form a powerful Coalition Create a vision Communicate the Vision Remove Obstacles Celebrate Short-term wins Build on the change Anchor the change in Corporate Culture
Low Risk Strategies (Support, Communication):
Two-way communication: Being open and honest about the change so that employees understand it and its impact by asserting Qs.
Support: Those that are affected by the change need to be supported (finding new employment, counselling)
High-Risk Strategies:
Manipulation: Gaining support from employees by the use of selective facts or deception.
Threats: Forcing employees to embrace the change or receive retribution (loss of promotion, demotion,retrenchment)
Cooptation: involves selection of an influential person amongst the potential resistors to be involved in the development and implementation of the change process. (role is symbolic and carries very little authority)
Globalisation:
Globalisation is the movement towards the expansion of economic and social ties between countries through the spread of corporate institutions.
The 4 Globalisation Drivers are Trade, Communication and Technology, Migration and Culture.
Driving Forces Myer:
Globalisation of the fashion industry, the rise of digital and change in traditional demographics were a driving force for the implementation of New Myer.
Good customer base can act as a driving force which provides and environment for change to occur. Understand their customers wants though through there ability to capture a profile of the 3 most important customers to its brand.
Lack of competition in the domestic market as Myer is the last domestically run traditional department store.
Sales (cost) have been increased by 1.85% through the implementation of Topshop and Topman, where the cost of the change may be within the budget, allowing the organisation to run at a reduced cost.
Restraining Forces Myer:
Employees can be fearing their job security with the closure of 4 stores in Sydney and Brisbane, as well as cutting 80 staff from head office.
Competitors through the increase in the digital world meaning their were more competitors Myer had to compete with. ‘Myer had an inability to do anything right in the digital space 18 months ago’.
Cost as Myer’s net profit fell 21.3% from the previous year, which may have impacted their ability to change.
Time as Myer’s last restructure was 2010, since then has lost customers, indicated with their 18% profit fall in 2014.
Pressure from Macro & Operating Environments Myer:
Through globalisation, in order for Myer to compete, they need to implement technology (macro) such as online shopping as there was a very rapid growth in digital retail sales. They have now accelerated there online presence by making the website easier to navigate and citing delay times through streamlining the supply chain.
Due to Global forces (macro) overseas competition (Ralph Lauren, Unico, H&M) has increased through online shopping. Global forces has resulted in omni channel shopping (not just in store).
Competitors (operating) through the increase in the digital world meaning their were more competitors Myer had to compete with. Thus allowing their website being easier to navigate and ramping up its “click and collect”.
Through globalisation and Economic forces (macro), International online retailers are struggling to maintain sales growth wiht the Australian dollar failing. Myer can thus reap the benefits and gain a competitive edge over competitors.
During times of change, a successful leader will need to:
market and promote the change in a manner that will achieve cooperation and acceptance
resolve conflicts, which often arise when change is implemented
show confidence in people, share credit and recognition
keep an open mind, seek out new ideas and freely share information.
Structural Change - Outsourcing:
Outsourcing is the contracting of some organisational operations to outside suppliers.
Many LSOs outsource to keep labour costs at a minimum, contain its cost and survive in a global marketplace.
Outsourcing may mean that local jobs will go; however, the positive impact is that the organisation may be able to produce goods and/or supply services more efficiently than before.
Structural Change - Flat Structures:
In more common and recent times, middle management positions are abolished and therefore, greater levels of accountability and responsibility are transferred to frontline (lower) staff.
These organisations are characterised by fewer formal reporting controls, sharing of best practice methods, learning focused on the organisation’s needs, a supportive learning environment and a focus on continuous improvement.
Structural Change - Work Teams:
Teamwork involves people who interact regularly and coordinate their work towards a common goal.
Allows organisations to be more flexible and responsive.
This helps motivate employees and generate more creativity, resulting in a broader view of goals and greater contribution across the entire organisation.
Change Impact on HRM:
- Recruitment and selection must be altered to reflect the need for individuals who possess the knowledge and skills required to handle the changing circumstances.
Appropriate termination procedures being established if employees are made redundant.
Training must be offered to existing employees in the areas of teamwork, problem solving, decision making and change management.
Change impact on Operations Management:
- Organisations refitting and reorganising their factories to take advantage of improvements in technology. They are also pursuing efficiencies in process design and materials management.
- Flexible Manufacturing: production by computer-controlled machines that can adapt to various versions of the same operations. This allows production plants to be smaller, more specialised, and closer to important markets.
Offical Culture
is stated in the company motto or mission statement where objects are written down.
Real Culture
reflects how things actually operate, how people in the organisation behave, the way staff dress and language used by employees.
Mission Statement
expresses why an organisation exits, its purpose and how it will operate.
Vision Statement
states what the organisation aspires to become
Shareholders
invest money into the business in the interest of getting dividends and earning profit off their investment.
Benchmarking occurs when
an organisation measures its own performance against their competitors.
Policy Process:
Identify the Problem Research business environments Consult with stakeholders Draft a policy Review the policy Approve the police Monster results
