intro to business ch 6-10

entrepreneurship

accepting the risk of starting and running a business

entrepreneurial team

a group of experienced people from different areas of business who join together to form a managerial team with the skills needed to develop, make and market a new product

intrapreneurs

creative people who work as entrepreneurs within corporations

micropreneurs

entrepreneurs willing to accept the risk of starting and magian the type of business that remains small, lets them do the kind of work they want to do and offers them a balanced lifestyle

enterprise zones

specific geographic areas to which governments try to attract private business investment by offering lower taxes and other government support

incubators

centers that offer new businesses low-cost offices with basic business services

small business

a business that is independently owned and operated, is not dominant in its field of operation and meets certain standards of size (set by the Small Business Administration) in terms of employees or annual receipts

business plan

a detailed written statement that describes the nature of the business, the target market, the advantages the business will have in relation to competition and the resources and qualifications of the owner(s)

venture capitalists

individuals or companies that invest in new businesses in exchange for partial ownership of those businesses

SBA (small business administration)

a US government agency that advises and assists small businesses by providing management training and financial advice and loans

SBIC program (small business investment company)

a program through which private investment companies licensed by the small business administration lend money to small businesses

market

people with unsatisfied wants and needs who have both the resources and the willingness to buy

service corps of retired executives (SCORE)

a SBA office with volunteers from industry, trade associations, and education who counsel small businesses at no cost (except expenses)

management

the process used to accomplish organizational goals through planning, organizing, leading and controlling people and other organizational resources

planning

a management function that includes anticipating trends and determining the best strategies and tactics to achieve organizational goals and objectives

organizing

a management function that includes designing the structure of the organization and creating conditions and systems in which everyone and everything work together to achieve the organization’s goals and objectives

leading

creating a vision for the organization and guiding, training and coaching and motivating others to work effectively to achieve the organization’s goals and objectives in a timely manner

controlling

a management function that involves establishing clear standards to determine whether or not an organization is progressing towards its goals and objectives, rewarding people for doing a good job and taking corrective action if they are not

mission statement

an outline of the fundamental purposes of an organization

goals

the broad, long-term accomplishments an organization wishes to attain

objectives

specific, short-term statements detailing how to achieve the organization’s goals

SWOT analysis

a planning tool used to analyze an organization’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats

strategic planning

the process of determining the major goals of the organization and the policies and the strategies for obtaining and using resources to achieve those goals

tactical planning

the process of developing detailed, short term statements about what is to be done, who is to do it and how it has to be done

operational planning

the process of setting work standard and schedules necessary to implement the company’s tactical objectives

contingency planning

the process of preparing alternative course of action that may be used if the primary plans don’t achieve the organization’s objectives

PMI

listing all the pulses for a solution in one column, all the minutes in another and the implications in a third column

top management

highest level of management, consisting of the president and other key company executives who develop strategic plans

middle management

the level of management that includes general managers, division managers and branch and plant managers who are responsible for tactical planning and controlling

supervisory management

managers who are directly responsible for supervising workers and evaluating their daily performance

technical skills

skills that involve the ability to perform tasks in a specific discipline or department

human relations skills

skills that involve communication and motivation, they enable managers to work through and with the people

conceptual skills

skills that involve the ability to picture the organization as a whole and the relationships among its various parts

staffing

a management function that includes hiring, motivating, and retaining the best people available to accomplish the company’s objectives

transparency

the presentation of a company’s facts and figures in a way that is clear and apparent to all stakeholders

autocratic relationship

leadership style that involves making managerial decisions without consulting others

participative (democratic) leadership

leadership styles that consist of managers and employees working together to make decisions

free-reign leadership

leadership style that involves managers settling objectives and employees being relatively free to do whatever it takes to accomplish those objectives

enabling

giving workers the education and tools they need to make decisions

knowledge management

finding the right information, keeping the information in a readily accessible place, and making the information known to everyone in the firm

external customers

dealers, who buy products to sell to others, and ultimate customers (or end users) who buy products for their own personal use

internal customers

individuals and units within the firm that receive services from other individuals or units

economies of scale

the situation in which companies can reduce their production costs if they can purchase raw materials in bulk; the average cost of goods goes down as production levels increase

hierarchy

a system in which one person is at the top of an organization and there is a ranked or sequential ordering from the top down of managers who are responsible to that person

chain of command

the line of authority that moves from the top of a hierarchy to the lowest level

organization chart

a visual device that shows relationships among people and divides the organization’s work; it shows who is accountable for the completion of specific work and who reports to whom

bureaucracy

an organization with many layers of managers who set rules and regulations and oversee all decisions

centralized authority

an organizational structure in which decision-making authority is maintained at the top level of management at the company’s headquarters

decentralized authority

an organizational structure in which decision-making authority is delegated to lower-level managers more familiar with local conditions than headquarters management could be

span of control

the optimum number of subordinates a manager supervises or should supervise

tall organizational structure

an organizational structure in which pyramidal organization chart would be quite tall because of the various levels of management

flat organizational structure

an organizational structure that has few layers of management and a broad span of control

departmentalization

the dividing of organizational functions into separate units

line organization

an organization that has two direct two-way lines of responsibility, authority and communication running from the top to the bottom of the organization, with all people reporting to only one supervisor

line personnel

employees who are part of the chain of command that is responsible for achieving organizational goals

staff personnel

employees who advise and assist line personnel in meeting their goals

matrix organization

an organization in which specialists from different parts of the organization are brought together to work on specific projects but still remain part of a line and staff structure

cross-functional self-managed teams

groups of employees from different departments who work together on a long-term basis

networking

the process of establishing and maintaining contacts with key managers in one’s own organization and other organizations and using those contacts to weave strong relationships that serve as informal development systems

virtual corporation

a temporary networked organization made up of replaceable firms that going and leave as needed

benchmarking

comparing an organization’s practices, processes and products against the world’s best

core competencies

those functions that the organization can do as well as or better than any other organization in the world

digital natives

young people who have grown up using the Internet and social networking

restructuring

redesigning an organization so that if can more effectively and efficiently serve its customers

inverted organization

an organization that has contact people at the top and the chief executive officer at the bottom of the organizational chart

organizational (or corporate) culture

widely shared values within an organization that provide unity and cooperation to achieve common goals

formal organization

the structure that details lines of responsibility, authority and position; that is, the structure shown on organizational charts

informal organization

the system that develops spontaneously as employees meet and form cliques, relationships, and lines of authority outside the formal organization; that is, the human side of organization does not appear on any organizational chart

production

the creation of finished goods and services using the factors of production: land, labor, capital, entrepreneurship and knowledge

production management

the term used to describe all the activities managers do to help their firms create goods

operations management

a specialized area in management that converts or transforms resources (including human resources) into goods and services

form utility

the value producers add to materials in the creation of finished goods and services

process manufacturing

that part of the production that physically or chemically change materials

assembly process

that part of the production process that puts together components

continuous process

a production process in which long production runs turn out finished goods over time

intermittent process

a production process in which the production run is short and the machines are changed frequently to make different products

computer-aided manufacturing (CAM)

the use of computers in the manufacturing process of products

computer-aided design (CAD)

the use of computers in the design of products

computer-integrated manufacturing (CIM)

the uniting of computer-aided design with computer-aided manufacturing

flexible manufacturing

designing machines to do with multiple tasks so that they can produce a variety of products

lean manufacturing

the production of goods using less of everything compared to mass production

mass customization

tailoring products to meet the needs of a large number of individual customers

facility locaation

the process of selecting a geographic location for a company’s operations

telecommuting

working from home via computer and modem

facility layout

the physical arrangement of resources (including people) in the production process

materials requirement planning (MRP)

a computer-based operations management system that uses sale forecasts to make sure that needed parts and materials are available at the right time and place

enterprise resource planning (ERP)

a newer version of materials requirement planning (MRP) that combines the computerized functions of all the divisions and subsidiaries of the firm - such as finance, Human Resources, and order fulfillment - into a single integrated software program that uses a single database

purchasing

the function in a firm that searches for quality material resources, finds the best suppliers, and negotiates the best prices for goods and services

just-in-time (JIT) inventory control

a production process in which a minimum of inventory is kept on the premises and parts, supplies and other needs are delivered just in time to go on the assembly line

quality

consistently producing what the customer wants while reducing errors before and after delivery to the customer

six sigma quality

a quality measure that allows only 3.4 defects per million opportunities

statistical quality control (SQC)

the process some managers use to continually monitor all phases of production process to ensure that quality is being built into the product from the beginning

statistical process control (SPC)

the process of taking statistical samples oof product components at each stage of the production process and plotting those results on a graph. any variances from quality standards are recognized and can be corrected if beyond the set standards

ISO 9001

the common name given to quality managements and assurance standards

ISO 14001

a collection of the best practices for managing a organization’s impact on the environment

program evaluation and review technique (PERT)

a method for analyzing the tasks involved in completing a given project, estimating the time needed to complete each task, and identifying the minimum time needed to complete the total project

critical path

in a PERT network, the sequence of tasks that takes the longest time to complete