PHR Exam: Business Management Flashcards
Strategic Management
Ongoing process of innovation, advantage, value creation, and reassessment
External Business Environment
Organizational changes occur as the result of forces outside an organization’s control. These external forces that can affect the competition are:
Technological Developments
Industry Changes
Economic Environment
Labor Pool
Legal and Regulatory Activity
Internal Business Operations
HR professionals who are focused on strategic contributions to their organizations must understand how organizations function. Every business has common components under organization functions:
Production and operations
Sales and marketing
Research and development
Finance and accounting
Information Technology
Production
The process by which businesses create the product or service they offer to customers.
Operations
Encompasses all the activities necessary to produce the goods or services of the business. These can include the following activities:
Capacity
Production Layout
Scheduling
Quality Management
Inventory Management
Technology
Facility Location
Cost Control
Capacity
Determining how much of a product or service is able to be produced with the available materials, labor, and equipment (known as inputs) as well as what changes in inputs are required by fluctuating customer demands.
Production Layout
This is the way in which the goods or service will be produced: for example, the design of an assembly line or, in the case of a service, the process to be used in providing it, such as a model plan or protocol for a financial audit.
Scheduling
scheduling activities make sure the products or services are available at times of peak customer demand.
Quality Management
QA ensures that the product or service meets acceptable standards
Inventory Management
Operations managers must balance two conflicting needs related to inventory: the cost of maintaining a large inventory and the need to satisfy customers by filling orders promptly. (Refer to Just-in-time (JIT))
Technology
Increasing the use of technology can improve product quality and the amounts that are produced.
Facility Location
Evaluating the best places to locate production facilities involves many considerations: the cost of labor, distribution systems, and government regulations, to name a few.
Cost Control
Operations must provide products or services that meet the quality standards set by the organization at the lowest possible cost.
Just-in-time (JIT)
inventory-management systems attempt to fill orders promptly by purchasing smaller amounts of supplies more frequently to reduce inventories and ensure a steady supply of products for distribution.
