DECA Business Management and Administration Career Cluster - Performance Indicators

Describe factors affecting the settlement of legal matters.

A settlement is a set of terms that the parties agree to fulfill within a certain timeframe after conclusion of the trial.

Some factors are:

Extent of Injury - how bad the damages are

Potential Damages Caused by Trial - legal costs, etc.

Publicity Concerns - unwanted media coverage, etc.

Arbitration/Mediation - cheaper than formal litigation

Describe the litigation process.

The litigation process describes how a civil suit proceeds. It consists of a pre-trial stage (complaint filed by the plaintiff, an answer statement provided by the defendant, investigation of information pertaining to the case, expert witness accounts, and motions to the court), followed by the trial, post-verdict, and wage garnishment.

Discuss the arbitration/mediation process.

Arbitration is when a plaintiff "sues" a defendant out of court with a middleman (known as the arbitrator) presiding over the "lawsuit." Mediation is similar, except the two parties attempt to reach a mutual settlement with a middleman (known as the mediator) facilitating negotiations.

Write analytical reports (i.e., reports that examine a problem/issue and recommend an action).

An analytical report is a thorough analysis of a business situation, as well as a recommendation of action.

One must analyze the situation by stating the problem and purpose of analysis, gather/organize information, and convey the report through an appropriate medium.

Write research reports.

A research report is a collection of data that does not include recommendation, but it can be used to make one.

One must define the topic, research the scenario, make a thesis, and support the claim with evidence.

Interpret cash-flow statements.

Cash flow statements show inflows and outflows of currency, divided into operating, investing, and financing activities. The net income for the timeframe can be calculated by subtracting cash outflowed from cash inflowed.

Utilize project-management software.

Project management software has the capacity to help plan, organize, and manage resource tools and develop resource estimates for project planning and facilitation.

Adhere to data change best practices.

Data change best practices are processes of modifying procedures and policies of a business to improve its productivity and profit.

Some practices include:

Early and Consistent Communication

Relevant and Desirable Benefits

Appropriate Timing

Monitoring the Change

Discuss legal considerations in operations.

Legislation is imposed on business operations for the sake of the protection of consumers, businesses, and investors.

Key categories of this legislation include:

Marketing/Advertising Law

Labor/Employment Law

Finance Law

Intellectual Property Law

Environmental Regulations

Privacy Law

Workplace Health/Safety Law

Comply with strategies for protecting business' digital assets (e.g., website, social media, email,

etc.).

Businesses should identify and prioritize confidential information, perform assessment of risk, determine appropriate information-management policies, and implement a monitoring and enforcement system to ensure protection from data theft.

Comply with strategies to protect digital customer data (e.g., information about customers, customers' credit-card numbers, passwords, customer transactions).

The FTC (Federal Trade Commission) mandates the confidentiality of customer information. Some steps businesses can take to comply include: requiring authentication to access data, encrypting data, segmenting and monitoring the network, and securing remote access.

Describe types of purchase orders.

A purchase order is an agreement in which a business purchases a good or service from a vendor.

Types of Purchase Orders:

Standard - specific item, quantity, price, delivery schedule and payment terms of the product or service are known

Planned - exact quantity is known, but delivery schedule is unknown (serves as a long-term agreement)

Blanket - quantity, price, and/or the delivery schedule are unknown and decided throughout the process

Contract - established for a specific period of time, when the item is undetermined; formed in advance of establishing which goods are going to be purchased

Discuss types of inventory.

Inventory is a business' storage of goods and services sold to consumers or used to sell to the consumers.

Types of Inventory:

Raw Material - comes from suppliers, used in production

Work in Progress - currently in production

Finished Goods - completed products

Service Inventory - used to operate facility

Transportation - means of distributing goods (supply chain)

Discuss the nature of business analysis.

Identifying business needs and determining solutions to business problems

Discuss business process thinking and its impact.

-Creates value to customers and shareholders

-The customer is in focus, a horizontal thinking is applied, value adding activities are focused and process responsibility is made clear. -A business process consists of activities that are performed during business, implying the operative business.

-Refers to the process of originating and developing a plan for a product, service or process. Is any part of an organization which takes a set of input resources which are then used to transform something into outputs of products or services.

Describe the factors that influence business process design.

Technology, human factors (stress, fatigue, employee morale), regulatory environment (government regulations/policies/laws)

Explain the causes of business process changes.

Crisis (9/11 major crisis led to changes), performance gaps (goals not being met), new technology, new opportunities, internal/external pressures, merging of organizations, follow other organizations

Explain the impact of supply chain on business performance (e.g., value, customer satisfaction,

business design, sustainability).

strategy used must support overall strategy of business in order to achieve commercial goals, achieve customer satisfaction, the design in the most important aspect

Describe the impact of technology on supply chain management.

greater efficiency, lessen costs, stronger communication = tighter community

Describe supply chain networks.

Supply chain networks allow us to look at the big picture; giving us a better understanding of the flow of materials and information, describe the flow and movement of materials & information, by linking organizations together to serve the end-customer.

Discuss global supply chain issues.

quality levels, defects, time zones, shipping delays, accountability, language barriers

Discuss the nature of supply chain management.

It's the system that connects and integrates the links of sourcing, procurement, conversion, and logistics management

Organize and prioritize work.

ABCDE system is one method of organizing and prioritizing work. It is as follows:

A - urgent, severe consequences for failure to complete

B - imminent, moderate consequences for failure to complete

C - noncritical, little to no consequences for failure to complete

D - can be delegated to others

E - unnecessary, only for leisure

Coordinate work with that of team members.

time management, more productive, efficient by splitting work

Monitor and ensure completion of delegated tasks.

list of tasks, split tasks, time line, leaders checking up on progress

Streamline work processes.

A streamlined process means fewer errors and delays, more efficient and effective by employing faster or simpler working methods.

Maintain vendor/supplier relationships.

both parties need to receive mutual benefit, respect, trust, fairness, honesty, communication

Negotiate terms with vendors in business.

solid communication, research actual costs, think from their perspective, find areas of mutual gain, let them know of at least 3 other suppliers, show you will give them lots of business, talk to more than one

Discuss employment opportunities in business management and administration .

Accountant, job analysis specialist, training manager, interviewer

Discuss the nature of managerial planning.

Basic process of setting up goals to be reached and course of action to be followed.

Explain managerial considerations in organizing.

culture, strengths and weaknesses, competitive advantages, financial considerations

Describe managerial considerations in staffing.

skill gaps, internal considerations (if the business is expanding internationally, then employ multiculturally), external factors (economic/government policies), hire from within

Describe the nature of managerial control (control process, types of control, what is controlled).

involves setting performance standards, measuring performance and taking corrective actions when necessary.

Describe relationship among innovation, learning, and change.

as people learn more and there are more innovations/technology introduced, there will be change/development within the business

Explain the nature of change management.

Change management is the process of implementing new policies and procedures in a business environment to improve its productivity and profit.

Explain the change-management lifecycle.

1. Identify the Change - get people's attention and align disturbances, meaning create agreement between people with own mental model.

2. Engage the People - plan organization's response to change

3. Implement the change

Explain the nature of knowledge management.

efficient handling of information and resources within a commercial organization, systematic management of an organization's knowledge assets for the purpose of creating value and meeting tactical & strategic requirements; it consists of the initiatives, processes, strategies, and systems that sustain and enhance the storage, assessment, sharing, refinement, and creation of knowledge.

Discuss the role of ethics in knowledge management.

In concern to business perspective the ethical issues that has to be considered in managing knowledge are firstly the failure in identifying the hidden knowledge with evident that could be helpful for the individual or organisation or to the society. The next one is the implementation of knowledge in wrong time and in wrong place.

Explain the use of technology in knowledge management.

information technologies that can be used to facilitate knowledge management, artificial intelligence (used for knowledge acquisition and other databases)

Explain legal considerations for knowledge management.

liability issues, intellectual property issues, privacy, accuracy, accessibility

Identify techniques that can be used to capture and transfer knowledge in an organization.

make the process formal (not just chit chat), create duplication (more than one person knows info), train, use systems, create opportunities to exchange information, use consultants (for expert advice)

Apply knowledge management processes.

establish objectives, prepare for change, detailed procedures, determine technology needs, assess current state, implementation

Initiate project.

create a roadmap, plan, assign tasks, introduce why and what the project aims to do.

Prepare work breakdown structure (WBS).

key project deliverable that organizes the team's work into manageable sections, manager assigns tasks

Execute and control projects.

follow plans, check up

Manage project team.

staying on task

Manage project schedule.

checking up

Close project.

reach end goal

Explain the nature of quality management.

is the act of overseeing all activities and tasks needed to maintain a desired level of excellence.

Describe the nature of quality management frameworks (e.g., Six Sigma, ITIL, CMMI).

Six Sigma - Use of teams that are assigned well-defined projects that have direct impact on the organization's bottom line, DMAIC approach to problem solving: define, measure, analyze, improve, and control

ITIL - in order to learn from past successes and failures

CMMI - is to provide staff and management with objective insight into processes and associated work products.

Discuss the need for continuous improvement of the quality process.

customer satisfaction, new innovation, improving technology

Explain the role of ethics in risk management.

Ethics gives guidelines for appropriate actions between persons and groups in given situations—actions that are appropriate because they show respect for others' rights and privileges, actions that safeguard others from embarrassment or other harm, or actions that empower others with freedom to act independently.

Risk management is based on respect for others rights and freedoms: rights to be safe from preventable danger or harm, freedoms to act as they choose without undue restrictions.

Both ethics and risk management foster respect for others, be they neighbors, employees, customers, fellow users of a good or service, or simply fellow occupants of our planet—all sharing the same rights to be safe, independent, and hopefully happy and productive.

Describe the use of technology in risk management.

Risk management is a process for making and carrying out decisions designed to minimize the adverse effects of accidental or business losses on an organization, technology may leak this information or make help secure and protect company info

Discuss legal considerations affecting risk management.

must protect company and draws upon the disciplines of law

Describe international considerations affecting risk management.

safe location, background checks, language barriers, time zones