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A-Level Business > unit 10 > Flashcards

unit 10 Flashcards

1
Q

what is a flexable organisation

A

is one that is able to adapt and respond relatively quickly to changes in its external enviornment in order to gain advanatge and sustain its competitive position

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2
Q

benefits of being a flexable organisation

A
  • more likely to be efficient and responsive
  • more likely to respond to and meet changing customer needs and wants
  • improved decision making
  • a more attractive place to work for the best people
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3
Q

whats restructuring

A
  • involves changing the orgnisational structure ie. delayering
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4
Q

what is delayering

A

removing layers of management from the hierarchy of the organisation

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5
Q

levels of hierarchy

A

the number of layers of management or supervision in the organisation strucutre

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6
Q

whats flexible employment contracts

A

flexible working involves arrangements where there are a variety of options offered to employees in terms of working time, working location and the pattern of working

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7
Q

benefitrs of a flexible workforce

A
  • savings on costs, many businesses saved on office rent during pandemic and continued with greater home working
  • aids recruitment and staff retention
  • to take advantage of devlopments in technology, allowing for secure home working
  • to be able to deliver services to customers on 24/7 basis
  • to meet employment legislation, increasingly the law allows certain groups of employees the legal right to request flexible working
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8
Q

drawbacks of flexible working

A
  • administrative work and ‘red-tape’ involved in setting up, running and managing flexable working
  • potential loss of customers if key employees reduce their working hours
  • lower employee producitvity (potentially)
  • inability to substitute for certain skills if certain employees are absent
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9
Q

0 hour contract

A
  • allow employers to hire staff with no guarantee of work
  • employers work only when they are needed by employers often at short notice. Employee pay depends on how many hours they work.
  • some zero hours contracts require employees to take the shifts are offered, while others do not
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10
Q

organic structures

A
  • informal
  • flexible and fluid
  • favours verbal communication
  • associated with decentralised decision making and empowerment
  • find change easier to handle
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11
Q

mechanistic structures

A
  • more formal and bureaucartic
  • associated with centralised decision making and supervision
  • formal communication methods
  • favours standardised policies and procedures
  • little percived need to change
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12
Q

what did kurt lewin argue

A

that successful businesses tend to be constantly adapting to thier enviornment and changing rather than being flexible

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13
Q

explain force field analysis

A
  • there are driving change and forces restraining it
  • where there is an equilibrium between the two sets of forces there will be no change
  • in order for change to occur the driving force must exceed the restraining force
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14
Q

examples of interal forces for driving change

A
  • need for higher profits
  • poor producitivty
  • lack of innovation
  • need to change culture
  • change of leadership
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15
Q

examples of external forces for driving change

A
  • customer demand
  • competiton
  • legislation and taxes
  • political enviornment
  • economic conditions
  • ethics and social values
  • technological change
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16
Q

why is change resisted

A
  • self interest
  • misunderstanding
  • low tolerence of change
  • different assessment of the situation
17
Q

kotter and Schlesinger suggest that there are 4 main reasons why change is resisted

A
  • self interest
  • different assessment
  • low tolerance for change and inertia
  • misinformation and misunderstanding
18
Q

reasons for resistance to change self interest

A
  • self moti is a powerful motivator
  • arises from a percived threat to job security, status and financial posistion
  • individuals often place their own interests ahead of those of their organisation, particualry if they dont feel a strong loyalty to it
19
Q

reasons for resistance to change, different assessment of the situation

A
  • here there is disafreement about the need for change or what that change needs to be
  • some people may simply disagree with the change proposed, or they may feel they have a better solution
  • this is different from ‘self interest’, the resistance here is based on disagreement about what is best for the business
20
Q

resistance to change, low tolerance and inertia

A
  • many people suffer from inertia or reluctance to change, preferring things to stay ‘the way they are’
  • many people need security, prediciatbility and stability in thier work
  • if there is low tolerance of change (perhaps arising from past expiernces) then resistance to change may grow
21
Q

resistance to change: misinformation and misunderstanding

A
  • people dont understand why change is needed, perhaps because they are misinformed about the real strategic position of the business
  • perception may be widespread that there is no compelling reason for change
  • perhaps even an element of people fooling themselves that things are better than they really are
22
Q

mnemonic for resistance to change

A
  • S elf interest
  • A ssessment issues
  • L ow
  • T olerance
  • M isunderstanding
  • M isinformation
23
Q

Kotter and Schlesinger suggest that there are six ways of overcoming resistance to change

A
  • education and communication
  • particpation and involvement
  • faciliation and support
  • manipulation and co option
  • negotiation and bargaining
  • explicit and implicit coercion
24
Q

Overcoming resistance to change: education and commuication

A
  • honest communcation about the issue and the proposed action helps people see the logic of change
  • effective education helps address misconceptions about the change, including misinformation or inaccuracies
  • education and communcation are unlikely to achieve very short term effects. they need to be delivered consistently and over a long period of time for maximum impact
25
Q

overcoming resistance to change: participation and involvment

A
  • involvement in change programme can be an effecitve way of bringing ‘on board’ people who would otherwise resist
  • particaption often leads to commitment, not just compliance
  • must weigh up how much involvement is needed, being mindful to always avoid obstacles and delays
26
Q

overcoming resistance to change: facilitation and support

A
  • kotter and schlesinger indentified what they called ‘adjustment problems’ during change programmes.
  • most people (though not all) will need support to help them cope with change
  • support might include additional training and conselling and mentoring as well as simply listening to the concerns of people affected.
  • if fear and anxiety is at heart of resistance to change, then faciltation and support become particalary important
27
Q

overcoming resistance to change, manipulation and co-option

A
  • co option involves bringing specific individuals into toles and posistions thast are part of change management
  • manipulation involves the selctive use of information to encourage people to behave in a particular way
  • may be deemed to be unethical but perhaps only option if other methods of overcoming resistance to change prove ineffective
28
Q

overcoming resistance to change: negotiation and barganing

A
  • the idea here is to give people who resist an incentive to change - or leave
  • the negotiation and bargining might involve offering better financial rewards for those who accept the requirments of the change programme
  • alternatively enhanced rewards for leaving might also be offered
  • this approach is commonly used when a business to restrucutre the organisation
29
Q

overcoming resistance to change, explicit and implicit coercion

A
  • this approach is very much the ‘last resort’ if other methods of overcoming resistance to change fail
  • explicit coercion involves people been told exactly what the implications of resistaning change will be ie. job losses
  • implicit coecion involves suggesting the likely negtaive consequences for the bussiness of failing to change without making explict threats.

A-Level Business (22 decks)

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