Managing a business

Question 1

What are the types of power?

Answer 1

Coercive - disciplinary
Reward/resource - access/control over valued resources
Legitimate - authority, job title
Expert - qualifications
Referent - personality
Negative - disruptions

Question 2

What are the 4 types of manager?

Answer 2

Line - authority over workers
Staff - specialist advice even for another department
Functional - control performance in another department
Project - one off output

Question 3

What are the 4 parts of the management process?

Answer 3

Planning - plans to direct work, specific aims
Organising - making sure objectives met
Controlling - monitoring events
Leading - generate effort/motivate staff

Question 4

What are the 3 managerial roles?

Answer 4

Informational - checking data, passing on to relevant people
Interpersonal - leading and representing team
Decisional - allocating, negotiating, solving problems

Question 5

What are the 4 types of culture and what are they?

Answer 5

Internal process - looks inward, goals unchanged and known, security, stability and order motivate staff
Rational goal - goal-oriented, competition and achievement of goals motivate staff
Open systems - highly flexible, adaptable, staff motivated by growth and creativity
Human relations - staff motivated by sense of belonging

Question 6

What are the processes in an internal process model?

Answer 6

Rationality
Hierarchal lines of authority
Detailed rules and procedure
Division of labour
Impersonality
Centralisation

Question 7

What is marketing?

Answer 7

Management process which identifies, anticipates and supplies customer requirements efficiently and profitably

Question 8

What is the difference between customer and consumer?

Answer 8

Customer purchases and pays
Consumer uses

Question 9

What are the 2 consumer markets?

Answer 9

Fast-moving Consumer Goods - high volume, fast repurchase
Consumer durables - white, brown and soft goods

Question 10

What are the main goods and services covered by industrial markets?

Answer 10

Raw materials
Processed materials and components
Capital goods
Supplies
Services

Question 11

What are the 7 P’s of the marketing mix?

Answer 11

Product
Price
Place
Promotion
People
Processes
Physical evidence

Question 12

What is market segmentation?

Answer 12

Splitting up the market into homogeneous groups of potential customers

Question 13

What are the 3 main elements of a product?

Answer 13

Core product
Actual product
Augmented product

Question 14

What influences a business’ pricing policy?

Answer 14

Costs
Competitors
Customers
Corporate objectives - maximise profits, target, market share, match competition, predation

Question 15

What are the advantages of direct selling and using intermediaries?

Answer 15

Not sharing profit margins, control over sale, speed of delivery quicker

More efficient, lower cost, choice at sale, producers may not have resources to sell direct

Question 16

What are the 4 types of promotion?

Answer 16

Advertising
Sales promotions
Public relations
Personal selling

Question 17

What are the 2 elements of promotion?

Answer 17

Push - ensuring available
Pull - persuading to buy

Question 18

What are the 4 V’s of operations?

Answer 18

Volume
Variety
Variation in demand (Volatility)
Visibility

Question 19

What is procurement and what is in the procurement mix?

Answer 19

Acquisition of goods/ services at the best possible total cost of ownership

Quantity, quality, Price, Lead-time

Question 20

What are the 5 rights of procurement?

Answer 20

Right quality
Right quantity
Right price
Right place
Right time

Question 21

What is human resources management?

Answer 21

Creation, development and maintenance of an effective work force, matching the requirements of the business and responding to the environment

Question 22

What are the hard and soft approaches to human resources management?

Answer 22

Hard - emphasises resources, maximises employee effectiveness and control staff costs
Soft - emphasises human element

Question 23

What are the 4 C’s of human resources management (Harvard)?

Answer 23

Commitment
Competence
Congruence
Cost-effectiveness

Question 24

What is organisational behaviour?

Answer 24

Individual and group behaviour in an organisational setting to improve performance and effectiveness

Question 25

What is above the waterline in the organisational iceberg?

Answer 25

Formal aspects
Customers, technology, facilities, organisational design, rules and regs, surface competencies

Question 26

What is below the waterline in the organisational iceberg?

Answer 26

Behavioural aspects
Attitudes, communication patterns, informal processes, personality, conflict, politics, underlying competencies

Question 27

How are motivated works characterised?

Answer 27

Higher productivity
Better quality of work, less waste
Greater sense of urgency
More feedback and suggestions
More feedback from superiors

Question 28

What is the hierarchy of needs?

Answer 28

Self-actualisation
Status/ego
Social
Safety/security
Basic/physiological

Question 29

What are the stages of group development?

Answer 29

Forming - defining purpose
Storming - conflict stage, roles chosen
Norming - establishes norms
Performing - operating at full potential

Question 30

What are the team roles?

Answer 30

Leader - co-ordinating through others
Shaper - aggressive, challenging, promote activity
Plant - generates ideas
Evaluator - criticises others ideas
Resource-investigator - adds to other ideas
Company worker - administrator
Team worker - supportive and defuses conflict
Finisher - deadline pusher
Specialist - outside team

Question 31

What affects the effectiveness of leadership?

Answer 31

Authority
Autonomy
Leadership

Question 32

What are the 4 basic leadership styles?

Answer 32

Exploitative authoritative
Benevolent authoritative
Consultative
Participative

Question 33

What are the 4 characteristics of effective managers?

Answer 33

Employee-centred
Set high standards but flexible in methods
Natural delegator with high trust
Encourage participative management