People

Question 1

Organisational chart

Answer 1

A diagram that represents the job titles and formal structure of authority and responsibility in an organisation

Question 2

Organisational structure

Answer 2

The way that the roles and responsibilities within an organisation are structured

Question 3

Levels of hierarchy

Answer 3

The number of layers of authority within an organisation. That is, how many levels exist between the chief executive and a shop-floor employee

Question 4

Tall hierarchy

Answer 4

An organisation with many layers of hierarchy (tends to have narrower spans of control)

Question 5

Flat hierarchy

Answer 5

An organisation with fewer layers of hierarchy (tends to have wider spans of control)

Question 6

Chain of Command

Answer 6

The line of communication and authority existing within a business. Thus, a shop floor worker reports to a supervisor, who is responsible to a departmental manager, and so on.

Question 7

Communication Flows (vertical v horizontal)

Answer 7

This is the exchange of information between two or more parties. In an organisation, can flow up and down or across.

Question 8

Accountability

Answer 8

Where an employee is responsible for the success or failure of a project, investment or policy

Question 9

Authority v responsibility

Answer 9

It is possible for a manager to delegate authority to a subordinate. However, responsibility must remain with the manager

Question 10

Delegation

Answer 10

Is the passing of authority (but not responsibility) down the organisational structure. E.g, a junior manager might be given the authority to conduct a market research campaign, but responsibility for the overall success of the campaign remains with the senior employee.

Question 11

Workload/job allocation

Answer 11

How much work a person can take on/ what jobs they are expected to do within their role

Question 12

Span of control (think narrow span of control v

wide span of control)

Answer 12

The number of subordinates directly responsible to a manager. The wider the span of control, the more subordinates there are. (TAKE NOTE, an organisation with a wide span of control with have relatively few levels of hierarchy – ie it will be a ‘flat’ organisation rather than a ‘tall’ organisation

Question 13

Centralised structure

Answer 13

A business where the majority of decisions are taken by senior managers at the top or centre) of the business. Can provide for rapid decision-making, as few people are consulted.

Question 14

Decentralised structure

Answer 14

A decentralised structure will give greater authority to employees lower down the organisational structure

Question 15

Director

Answer 15

The role of directors is largely strategic – they set and oversee the achievement of long-term goals of the business. Directors can be executive or non-executive. They may sometimes have responsibility for a specific function of the business, such as marketing.

Question 16

Manager

Answer 16

Managers carry out a range of duties, including planning, organising, motivating and controlling. Managers normally have authority over a number of junior employees and plan and monitor short- and medium-term strategies for the business

Question 17

Supervisor

Answer 17

Supervisors represent a link between managers and the business’s shop-floor workers. They are the first rung of management and are delegated some authority by managers to take decisions on day-t-day issues such as staffing

Question 18

Shop Floor worker

Answer 18

These are the workers who work at the lowest level in an organisational structure. For example, in retail they would be the shop assistants.

Question 19

Team leaders

Answer 19

Team leaders carry out many of the same functions in organisations as supervisors. However, they tend to make less use of authority than supervisors and are used in a role that supports shop-floor employees. Their role is to facilitate the work of more junior employees and to help them to attain the business’s objectives.

Question 20

Labour productivity

Answer 20

This measures the relationship between the amount of labour used in production and the quantity of outputs of goods or services produced.
CALCULATION: Labour productivity = output per period/number of employees at work

Question 21

Labour turnover

Answer 21

This is the percentage of a business’s employees who leave the business over a period of time (usually a year).
CALCULATION: (number of staff leaving during the year/average number of staff) x 100

Question 22

Motivation

Answer 22

This describes the factors within individuals that arouse, maintain and channel behaviour towards a goal. More simply, it is the will to work

Question 23

Productivity

Answer 23

This measures the relationship between the resources put into an activity and the resulting output. (TAKE NOTE, IT IS NOT THE SAME AS LABOUR PRODUCTIVITY, WHICH IS SPECIFIC TO LABOUR!!) CALCULATION: (output per period/resources put in)

Question 24

Schools of Thought

Answer 24

These are individual and groups who hold similar views on a particular matter – in this case, on what motivates employees

Question 25

School of Scientific Management

Answer 25

This School of Thought on the financial aspects of motivation, and that the workforce required close supervision.

Question 26

Taylor and his theory of motivation

Answer 26

Taylor believed that people were motivated solely by money. He introduced work-studies, timing people; he decided upon ‘normal times’ for a given task; he ensured employees were provided with the right equipment, and he implemented a system of piece-rate pay

Question 27

Division of Labour

Answer 27

This is the breaking down of production into a series of small tasks carried out repetitively by relatively unskilled employees

Question 28

Time and Motion Studies

Answer 28

These measure and analyse the ways in which jobs are completed, with a view to improving these methods. The technique is also sometimes call ‘work-study’

Question 29

Piece-rate pay

Answer 29

This is where employees are paid directly according to the number of items that they produce.

Question 30

Human Relations School of Thought

Answer 30

This School of Thought concentrated on the sociological aspects of work – it recognises social environments at work and informal working groups as having a positive influence upon productivity

Question 31

Mayo and his theory of motivation

Answer 31

Mayo conducted experiments at the Hawthorne plant. From these it became apparent that employees were responding to the level of attention they were receiving as part of the investigations and because they were working together as a group. This became known as the ‘Hawthorne Effect’.

Question 32

Neo-Human Relations School of Thought

Answer 32

The School of Thought considered the psychological aspects of employment. It argued that motivation lies within each individual employee – managers merely need the key to unlock the motivation force. It saw employees as individuals, with different needs and aspirations. This meant that effective motivational techniques will vary between individuals.

Question 33

Maslow and his Hierarchy of Needs

Answer 33

Maslow believed that employees have a series of needs they seek to fulfil at work. Once a lower level need is satisfied, individuals strive to satisfy needs further up the hierarchy. His needs were: physiological, security, social, esteem and self-actualisation.

Question 34

Herzberg and his two factor theory

Answer 34

Herzberg believed that you needed to distinguish between the environment of the job (his dissatisfiers or hygiene factors) and those factors with the ability to motivate – his motivators. He believed that dissatisfiers do not lead to motivation, but without them employees become dissatisfied. Key to this is that PAY was a dissatisfier.

Question 35

Herzberg’s Motivators

Answer 35

Herzberg’s motivators (INTRINSIC FACTORS) were: responsibility, Interest in the job, growth, achievement and recognition.

Question 36

Dissatisfiers/Hygiene factors

Answer 36

PAY, Company policies, supervision, working conditions and relationship with fellow workers at the same level

Question 37

Intrinsic factors

Answer 37

Intrinsic factors are factors that motivate from WITHIN (e.g. a sense of pride, responsibility etc)

Question 38

Extrinsic factors

Answer 38

Extrinsic factors are factors that motivate from WITHOUT (e.g. pay, social scene, working conditions etc)

Question 39

Costs per unit

Answer 39

The amount it costs a business to produce one unit

Question 40

Fringe benefits

Answer 40

These are rewards received by employees in addition to their wages or salary. Common examples include company cars and private healthcare.

Question 41

Salary

Answer 41

A salary is a form of periodic payment from an employer to an employee, which may be specified in an employment contract. It is a fixed amount of money or compensation paid to an employee by an employer in return for work performed. Salary is commonly paid in fixed intervals, for example, monthly payments of one-twelfth of the annual salary. It is generally viewed as a fixed cost.

Question 42

Wage

Answer 42

A wage is monetary compensation (or remuneration) paid by an employer to an employee in exchange for work done. Payment may be calculated as a fixed amount for each task completed or at an hourly or daily rate, or based on an easily measured quantity of work done. It can be a fixed or variable cost.

Question 43

PRP (Performance Related Pay)

Answer 43

This exists where some part of an employee’s pay is linked to the achievement of targets at work. These targets might include sales figures or achieving certain grades I his or her annual appraisal.

Question 44

Share ownership

Answer 44

The ownership of shares of the business. Some businesses pay their employees a share of the profits in the form of company shares. It can be a development of a profit sharing scheme. It can take the form of share options – where employees can buy shares at an agreed date in the future at the current share price.

Question 45

Profit Sharing

Answer 45

This is a system whereby employees receive some of the business’s profits. It is a type of performance-related pay, but one that may not discriminate between the performances of individual members of staff.

Question 46

Commission

Answer 46

The payment of commission as remuneration for services rendered or products sold is a common way to reward sales people. Payments often will be calculated on the basis of a percentage of the goods sold. This is a way for firms to try to realign employees’ interests with those of the firm.

Question 47

Employee Appraisal Schemes

Answer 47

These assess and evaluate the performance of workers over a period of time with the intention of improving their performance.

Question 48

Job enrichment (‘vertical loading’)

Answer 48

This occurs when employees’ jobs are redesigned to provide them with more challenging and complex tasks

Question 49

Job enlargement (‘horizontal loading’)

Answer 49

This entails giving employees more duties of a similar level of complexity

Question 50

Employee empowerment

Answer 50

This involves redesigning employees’ jobs to allow them greater control over their working lives. It gives them the opportunity to decide how to carry out their duties and how to organise their work.

Question 51

Teamworking

Answer 51

This exists when an organisation breaks down its production processes into large units instead of relying upon the use of the division of labour. Teams are then given responsibility for completing the large unit of work. Team members carry out a variety of duties including planning, problem solving and target setting.

Question 52

Workforce plan (incl the key information you would include in it)

Answer 52

This is the process that identifies what the labour requirements of a business are – how many people; what skills and experience they need to have; where they are located etc. It will use things like sales forecasts, labour turnover, expected wage rises, productivity levels/changes and technological developments.

Question 53

Recruitment and Selection

Answer 53

This is the process of filling an organisations’ job vacancies by appointing new staff. (TAKE NOTE – it can be INTERNAL or EXTERNAL – this is KEY to remember when answering questions on recruitment)

Question 54

Job description

Answer 54

These list the duties and responsibilities associated with a particular job

Question 55

Person specification

Answer 55

This outlines the skills, knowledge and experience necessary to fill a given position successfully. These are also termed job specifications

Question 56

Internal recruitment

Answer 56

This takes place when a business looks to fill a vacancy from within the existing workforce

Question 57

External recruitment

Answer 57

This occurs when a business invites applications for vacant posts from any suitably qualified candidates

Question 58

Training

Answer 58

Is the process whereby an individual acquires job related skills and knowledge

Question 59

On the job training

Answer 59

This does not require the employee to leave the workplace. He or she learns from experienced employees through observation and work shadowing. The trainee may work through instruction manuals or receive guidance from senior employees.

Question 60

Off the job training

Answer 60

This involves training outside the workplace, either at a college, university or some other training agency. External courses may take the form of lectures and seminars, self-study or open learning.

Question 61

Interviews

Answer 61

This is part of the recruitment process where a candidate is met face to face

Question 62

Psychometric Tests

Answer 62

These are designed to reveal the personality of a candidate. Questions are used to assess candidates honesty, commitment or ability to fulfil a particular role.

Question 63

Employer Branding

Answer 63

This can be defined as creating a perception of the business as a really good place in which to work in the minds of current employees and key stakeholders such as customers and shareholders. It can be used as a USP.