BUSA Business Fundamentals Comprehensive Study Flashcards (Chapters 9 – 13)

This set of vocabulary flashcards covers essential concepts from Chapters 9 through 13 of the BUSA Business Fundamentals course, focusing on controlling, strategic management, organizing, organizational culture, change, and human resource management.

Controlling

The process of measuring performance and taking corrective action as needed to ensure desired results.

Step 1 of the Control Process

Establish performance objectives and standards that create targets against which later performance can be evaluated.

Step 2 of the Control Process

Measure actual performance and specifically identify what results are being achieved.

Step 3 of the Control Process

Compare performance results with objectives to determine if things are going according to plans.

Step 4 of the Control Process

Take action to resolve problems or explore opportunities that are identified when results are compared with objectives.

Feedforward controls

Controls accomplished before a work activity begins, ensuring directions are clear and right resources are available.

Concurrent controls

Controls that focus on what happens during the work process, making sure things are being done correctly.

Feedback controls

Controls that take place after an action is completed, focusing on the quality of end results.

Internal control

Self-control that occurs when people take personal responsibility for their work.

External control

The use of bureaucratic, clan, and market control systems by managers.

Bureaucratic control

The influence of behaviour through authority, policies, procedures, job descriptions, budgets, and day-to-day supervision.

Clan control

The influence of behaviour through norms and expectations set by the organizational culture.

Market control

The influence of market competition on the behaviour of organizations and their members.

Project

A unique one-time event with many component tasks that must be completed by a specified date and according to budget.

Project management

The responsibility for overall planning, supervision, and control of projects to ensure they are completed on time and on budget.

Gantt chart

A graphical display of the scheduling of tasks required to complete a project.

CPM/PERT

A project management tool that combines the critical path method and the program evaluation and review technique to map complex task sequences.

Critical path

The longest pathway in a CPM/PERT network.

Economic order quantity

A method of inventory control that places new orders automatically when inventory levels fall to predetermined points.

Just-in-time scheduling

A method of minimizing inventory by routing materials to workstations just in time for use.

Break-even equation

$$\text{Break-even Point} = \frac{\text{Fixed Costs}}{\text{Price} - \text{Variable Costs}}$$

Break-even analysis

Identifying the point where revenues will equal costs under different pricing and cost conditions.

Financial ratios

Tools used to facilitate financial control of business performance in areas such as liquidity, leverage, assets, and profitability.

Balanced scorecard

A tool that measures overall organizational performance in four areas: financial, customers, internal processes, and innovation and learning.

Management by exception

The practice of giving attention to substantial differences between actual and desired performance.

After-action review

A systematic assessment of lessons learned and results accomplished in a completed project.

Input standard

A measure of work efforts that go into a performance task.

Output standard

A measure of performance results in terms of quantity, quality, cost, or time.

Control equation

$$\text{Need for Action} = \text{Desired Performance} - \text{Actual Performance}$$

Strategic control (Controlling)

Assessing whether the original strategy is being implemented as planned.

Competitive advantage

Describes an organization’s ability to use resources in such a way that it performs better than the competition.

Sustainable competitive advantage

A competitive advantage that is enduring and difficult or costly for others to copy or imitate.

Strategy

A comprehensive action plan that identifies the long-term direction for an organization and guides resource utilization to achieve sustainable competitive advantage.

Strategic intent

Focuses and directs all organizational energies toward accomplishing a long-term target or goal.

Corporate strategy

Directs the organization as a whole toward sustainable competitive advantage by asking "In what industries and markets should we compete?"

Business strategy

Sets the direction for a single business unit or product line by asking "How are we going to compete for customers?"

Functional strategy

Guides the use of organizational resources to implement business strategy within a specific area like marketing or manufacturing.

Strategic management

The process of formulating and implementing strategies to accomplish long-term goals and sustain competitive advantage.

Three phases of strategic management

1. Strategic Analysis (assessing organization/environment). 2. Strategy Formulation (developing strategy). 3. Strategy Implementation (putting strategies into action).

Mission

The purpose of an organization describing its reason for existence.

Operating objectives

Specific results or desired outcomes that direct activities toward key performance areas such as profitability, market share, or cost efficiency.

SWOT analysis

A systematic evaluation of an organization's internal Strengths and Weaknesses, as well as external environmental Opportunities and Threats.

Core competencies

Things that the organization does exceptionally well in comparison with competitors; potential sources of competitive advantage.

Porter's Five Forces

A model for analyzing industry attractiveness consisting of: 1. Industry competition, 2. Threat of new entrants, 3. Threat of substitute products/services, 4. Bargaining power of suppliers, 5. Bargaining power of customers.

Stars (BCG Matrix)

High market share, high-growth market; Strategy: Growth.

Cash Cows (BCG Matrix)

High market share, low-growth market; Strategy: Stability/Milk.

Question Marks (BCG Matrix)

Low market share, high-growth market; Strategy: Grow or Retrench.

Dogs (BCG Matrix)

Low market share, low-growth market; Strategy: Retrenchment.

Growth strategy through concentration

Expanding within the same business area.

Related diversification

Pursuing growth by entering business areas similar to what the firm already does.

Unrelated diversification

Pursuing growth by entering business areas entirely different from current operations.

Vertical integration

Growing by acquiring suppliers (backward) or by acquiring distributors (forward).

Retrenchment and restructuring strategies

Strategies that pursue radical changes to solve problems; examples include bankruptcy, liquidation, downsizing, rightsizing, divestiture, and turnaround strategies.

Divestiture

Restructuring by selling off parts of the organization to refocus attention on core business areas, cut costs, and improve operating efficiency.

Globalization strategy

Views the world as one integrated market and standardizes products.

Multidomestic strategy

Customizes products and advertising to fit local preferences.

Transnational strategy

Operates without a strong national identity, utilizing resources and manufacturing globally at the lowest cost.

Co-opetition

A cooperative strategy where competitors form strategic alliances to work together for mutual benefit.

Differentiation

A competitive strategy of making products that are unique and different.

Cost Leadership

A competitive strategy of producing at lower cost and selling at lower prices.

Focused Differentiation

Offering a unique product to a special market segment or niche.

Focused Cost Leadership

Offering low prices to a special market segment or niche.

Stuck-in-the-middle

A generally unsuccessful strategy that attempts to combine cost leadership and differentiation.

Lack-of-participation error

A failure where there is a lack of commitment to action because key individuals were excluded from the strategic planning process.

Strategic control (Management)

The process by which top managers ensure strategies are well implemented and that poor strategies are scrapped or modified quickly.

Corporate governance

The system of control and monitoring of top management performance exercised by boards of directors or trustees.

Strategic leadership

The capability to inspire people to successfully engage in a process of continuous change, performance enhancement, and strategy implementation.

Organizing

The process of arranging, connecting, and integrating people and resources to accomplish a common purpose.

Organization Structure

A system of tasks, reporting relationships, and communication linkages that connect the work of diverse individuals and groups.

Organization Chart

A diagram describing the arrangement of work positions within an organization; it depicts the formal structure.

Formal Structure

The official structure of the organization, detailing how it is intended to function.

Informal Structure

The set of social networks found in unofficial relationships among organization members; the "shadow" organization.

Social Network Analysis

A tool that identifies the informal structures and their embedded social relationships active in an organization; also known as Sociometrics.

Functional Structure

An organization structure that groups together people with similar skills who perform similar tasks.

Functional Chimneys Problem

Also called Silos; a lack of communication, coordination, and problem-solving across functions.

Divisional Structure

An organization structure that groups together people working on the same product, area, same customers, or same processes.

Product Structure

A divisional structure that groups together people and jobs focused on a single product or service.

Geographical Structure

A divisional structure that groups together people and jobs performed in the same location.

Customer Structure

A divisional structure that groups together people and jobs that serve the same customers or clients.

Process Structure

A divisional structure that groups jobs and activities that are part of the same work process.

Work Process

A group of related tasks that collectively creates a valuable work product.

Matrix Structure

An organization structure that combines functional and divisional approaches to create permanent cross-functional project teams.

Two-boss system disadvantage

A key disadvantage of Matrix Structures leading to power struggles, confusion, and conflicting priorities.

Team Structure

A structure that uses permanent and temporary cross-functional teams to improve lateral relations.

Cross-Functional Team

A team that brings together members from different functional departments to work on common goals.

Project Teams

Teams that are convened for a particular task or project and disband once it is completed.

Network Structure

An organization structure that uses information technologies to link a central core of employees with outside suppliers and service contractors.

Strategic Alliance

A cooperation agreement with another organization to jointly pursue activities of mutual interest, such as outsourcing.

Boundaryless Organization

An organization that eliminates internal boundaries among subsystems and external boundaries with the environment.

Virtual Organization

An organization that uses mobile IT to engage a shifting network of strategic alliances without face-to-face contact.

Latent Organization

A project-based structure based on independent contractors willing to work in a flexible environment for specific projects.

Organizational Design

The process of creating structures that accomplish mission and objectives by choosing between mechanistic and organic designs.

Bureaucracy

A form of organization that emphasizes formal authority, order, fairness, and efficiency.

Mechanistic Design

A centralized structure with many rules, clear division of labour, and narrow spans of control; best for stable environments.

Organic Design

A decentralized structure with fewer rules, open divisions of labour, and wide spans of control; best for dynamic environments.

Adaptive Organization

An organization that operates with a minimum of bureaucratic features and encourages worker empowerment.

Agile Organization

A structure designed to be fast-moving, open to change, and internally connected top to bottom and side to side.

Chain of Command

The linking of all employees with successively higher levels of authority.

Span of Control

The number of subordinates directly reporting to a manager.

Tall Structure

A structure that has narrow spans of control and many hierarchical levels.