Managing people

Question 1

How might a business treat staff like an asset?

Answer 1

• Reasonable holidays, sick leave, maternity leave and pensions
• a safe and comfortable working environment
• Training
• Job security
• Chances for promotion

Question 2

Why might a business want to treat staff like an asset?

Answer 2

To help recruit, retain and motivate high-quality staff.

Question 3

How might a business treat staff like a cost?

Answer 3

• Paying just the legal national minimum wage
• zero-hour contracts
• neglecting investment in training
• using financial incentives to raise productivity

Question 4

What might happen to staff if a business treats them like a cost?

Answer 4

Low productivity due to poor motivation. High levels of staff turnover and absenteeism. More conflict between staff and management.

Question 5

What is a flexible workforce?

Answer 5

A workforce that can respond, in quantity and type, to change in market demand.

Question 6

How might a business make their workforce more flexible?

Answer 6

• Multi-skilling
• Part-time and temporary staff (peak hours)
• Flexible hours and home working (zero-hour contracts)
• Outsourcing (others to carry out tasks originally to be carried out by people employed by the business)

Question 7

What are the advantages of a flexible workforce?

Answer 7

• Business can expand and contract quickly in response to changes in demand
• Specialist jobs done rather than employing a permanent worker to do it
• Cheaper than permanent staff
• Outsourcing means no training costs
• More efficiency

Question 8

What are the disadvantages of a flexible workforce?

Answer 8

• less loyalty
• poor quality, damaging reputation
• communication problems
• costly process to employ
• too many peripheral workers employed alongside core workers can cause demotivation amongst the core workers.

Question 9

What is dismissal?

Answer 9

To dismiss an employee due to misconduct.

Question 10

What is a redundancy?

Answer 10

To dismiss an employee due to no work or insufficient work available for the employee to do.

Question 11

What does it mean to take an individual approach to employee and employer relations?

Answer 11

When the terms of employment and disagreements are settled through negotiation between an individual employee and representative of the employer.

Question 12

What is collective bargaining as an approach to employee and employer relations?

Answer 12

To determine terms of employment through a negotiation process between employers and employee representatives, such as trade union representatives.

Question 13

What are the advantages of collective bargaining?

Answer 13

• Agreements are transparent and binding
• More cost-effective to have one set of negotiations
• Rules and terms are more respected by both parties
• More equitable as power is equal on both sides

Question 14

What are the disadvantages of collective bargaining?

Answer 14

• Views of individuals are not always reflected by unions
• high negotiation costs
• failure to agree can have serious consequences
• owners freedom to manage is compromised

Question 15

Why might a business recruit internally?

Answer 15

• cheaper
• already familiar with the procedures and working environment, therefore, no induction training costs
• motivating to staff

Question 16

Why might a business recruit externally?

Answer 16

• New ideas

- More choice of applicants

Question 17

What types of training are there?

Answer 17

• Induction training (new employees settle quickly into business)
• On-the-job training (training given by an employer)
• Off-the-job training (external training provider trains)

Question 18

What benefits does training provide to:

• managers
• owners
• employees
• customers

Answer 18

• Managers ; flexible and motivated workforce
• Owners ; high productivity and low costs
• Employees ; efficiency and feeling motivated
• Customers ; better quality products and outcomes

Question 19

What is the chain of command?

Answer 19

The way authority and power is organised

Question 20

What is centralisation?

Answer 20

A type of business organisation where major decisions are made at the centre or core of the organisation and then passed down the chain of command

Question 21

What is decentralisation?

Answer 21

A type of business organisation where decision making is pushed down the chain of command and away from the centre of the organisation

Question 22

What are the advantages of centralisation?

Answer 22

• Senior management has more control
• Procedures can be standardised throughout the organisation (economies of scale + low costs)
• Senior management can make decisions from the point of view of the business as a whole
• Communication may be improved with less decision makers

Question 23

What are the advantages of decentralisation?

Answer 23

• Empowering and motivating for workers
• Reduces stress for senior management
• Subordinates might have better local knowledge
• Quicker solutions

Question 24

What are features and implications for tall structures?

Answer 24

Features: Small span of control / clear management
Implications: high management costs / poor communication (long chain of command)

Question 25

What are features and implication for flat structures?

Answer 25

Features: short chain of command
Implications: managers lose control of the workforce / coordination problems

Question 26

What are features and implications for matrix structures?

Answer 26

Features: based on the expertise and skills of employees
Implications: problems with coordinating a team from different departments and speed of decision making

Question 27

What was Taylors approach to motivation?

Answer 27

People are only motivated by pay

Question 28

What was Mayo’s approach to motivation?

Answer 28

People should have personal satisfaction by working and communicating together

Question 29

What was Maslow’s approach to motivation?

Answer 29

The hierarchy of needs:

1. Self-actualisation
2. Esteem Needs
3. Love and belonging
4. Safety Needs
5. Physiological needs

Question 30

What was Herzberg’s approach to motivation?

Answer 30

The two-factor theory:
Motivators (sense of achievement, promotion, responsibility)
Hygiene (factors which need to be met to prevent dissatisfaction.) (pay, conditions, treatment)

Question 31

What kinds of financial incentives can a business use to improve staff performance?

Answer 31

• Piecework (payment for each unit produced)
• Commission (payment for achieving a target)
• Bonus (targets met along side wage)
• Profit sharing (profits distributed to workers)

Question 32

What kinds of non-financial incentives can a business use to improve staff performance?

Answer 32

• Delegation
• Job enrichment (Herzberg - challenge employee)
• Job rotation (changing jobs)
• Job enlargement (do more work of a similar nature)

Question 33

What are the types of leadership styles?

Answer 33

• Autocratic (allocated tasks and insists on obedience)
• Paternalistic (makes decisions but cares on welfare)
• Democratic (encourages participation in decision making)
• Laissez-faire (provides tools and gives freedom)