BA316 Final Exam

Corporate Level Strategy

focuses on the organization as a whole

Business Level Strategy

focuses on the individual business units or product and service line

Functional Level Strategy

plan of action by each functional area of the organization to support higher level strategies

SWOT Analysis

internal: strengths and weaknesses

external: opportunities and threats

PESTEL

a tool used to analyze macro external opportunities and threats

PESTEL P

political: tax policies, government incentives, corruption, and trade tariffs.

PESTEL E1

Economic: inflation, exchange rates, interest rates, unemployment

PESTEL S

social: population demographics, cultural norms career attitudes, and lifestyle

PESTEL E2

Environmental: climate, geographic resources, and environmental policies.

PESTEL L

legal: employment laws. antitrust laws, and intellectual property laws

VRIO Framework

a framework used for analyzing a resource or capability to determine its competitive strategic potential by answering four questions (VRIO)

VRIO V

Value: is the resource or capability valuable?

VRIO R

Rarity: is the resource or capability currency controlled by only a few forms or no other firms?

VRIO I

Imitability: is the resource or capability costly for other firms to imitate?

VRIO O

Organization: is the firm organized to exploit the resource or capability?

Growth Grand Strategy

expansion; as in sales revenues, market share, number of employees, or number of customers (or for non-profits: the number of clients served).

Stability Grand Strategy

involves little to no significant change

Defensive Grand Strategy

aka the retrenchment strategy, involbes reduction in the organization’s efforts

Porter’s Five Forces

used to analyze the competitive intensity and attractiveness of an indutry by examining the forces.

P5F: Threat of New Entrants

the likelihood of new competitors affecting the industry immediately

P5F: Bargaining Power of Suppliers

some companies are readily able to switch suppliers in order to get components or services, while others are not.

P5F: Bargaining Power of Buyers

informed buyers are better negotiators

P5F: Threat of Substitutes

customers must prefer what you offer over the other options

P5F: Rivalry Among Competitors

the extent of competition between existing firms

P4CS: Cost Leadership Strategy

keeping the costs, and prices of a product or service below those of competitors and to target a wide market

P4CS: Differentiation Strategy

offering products or services that are of unique and superior value compared with those of competitors but to target a wide market

P4CS: Cost Focus Strategy

keeping the costs and prices of a product or service below those of competitors and to target a narrow market.

P4CS: Focused Differentiation Strategy

offering products or services that are of unique and superior value compared to those of competitors and to target a narrow market

Symbols

an object or action that represents an idea or a quality

Stories

a narrative based on true events

Heroes

a person whose accomplishments embody the values of the organization

Rites & Rituals

are the activities and ceremonies, planned and unplanned, that celebrate important occasions and accomplishments in organizational life.

Organizational Socialization

the process by which people learn the values, norms, and required behaviors that permit them to participate as members of an organization.

Observable Artifact

physical manifestations such as a manner of dress, awards, myths, and stories about the company, ritual and ceremonies, decorations and visble behavior exhibited by managers and employees.

Espoused Values

the explicitly stated values and norms preferred by an organization as may be put forth by the firm’s founders or top managers

Basic Assumptions

represent the unobservable yet core values of an organization’s culture that are often taken for granted. they have a profound effect on employee behaviors because they have informed every decision in the organization’s past and are intertwined with its identity.

Common Purpose

the means for unifying members

coordinated effort

together for a common purpose; the coordination of individual efforts into a group or organization wide effort

division of labor

work specialization or greater efficiency; the arrangement of having discrete parts of a task done by different people

hierarchy of authority

the chain of command; a control mechanism for making sure the right people do the right things at the right time.

spans of control

span of management; refers to the number of people reporting directly to a given manager. narrow means the manager has a limited number of people reporting. wide means the manager has several people reporting to them.

authority

the rights inherent in a managerial position to make decisions, give orders, and utilize resources.

authority: accountability

managers must report and justify work results to the manager above them

authority: responsibility

the obligation you have to perform the tasks assigned to you

authority: delegation

the process of assigning managerial authority and responsibility to manager and employees lower in the hierarchy.

Centralization vs Decentralization

a feature used to describe organizations is the extent to which authority is centralized versus decentralized the feature is concerned with who makes the important decisions in an organization.

centralized authority

organizational structure in which important decisions are made by upper managers - power is concerned at the top.

decentralized authority

organizational structure in which important decisions are made by middle level and supervisory level managers. power is delegated throughout the organization.

simple structure

for the smaller firms. whereby an organization has authority centralized in a single person as well as a flat hierarchy, few rules, and low work specialization.

functional structure

people with similar occupational specialties are put together in formal groups.

divisional structure

diverse occupational specialties are put together

product division

divisional structures in which activities are grouped around common products or services

customer division

divisional structures in which activities are grouped around in common customers or clients

geographic division

Divisional structures in which activities are grouped around defined regional locations

matrix structure

combines functional and divisional chains of common in a grid so that there are two command structures; vertical and horizontal

horizontal designs

designs that open boundaries between organizations

hollow structure

the network structure, structure in which the organization has a central core of key functions and outsources other functions to vendors who can do them cheaper or faster

modular structure

firms assemble product chunks, or modules, provided by outside contractors.

virtual structure

members are geographically apart, usually working with email, collaborative computing, and other computer connections.

internal HR fit

when all of the organization’s HR policies and practices reinforce one another. when the practices work together as a unified system.

external HR fit

when the organization’s HR system, as a whole, aligns with ts culture and structure in a way that supports firm-level strategy. when the set of HR practices work in concert with its culture and structure to drive the performance goals the firm wants to achieve.

talent management

approach to strategic HRM that matches high potential employees with an organization’s most strategically valuable positions

high performance work system (HPWS)

approach to strategic HRM deploys bundles of internally consistent HR practices in order to improve employee ability, motivation, and opportunities across the entire organization

internal recruiting

making people already employed by the organization aware of job openings. internal job postings, informal nominations, or employee profiles.

external recruiting

attracting job applicants from outside the organization. attract by using social media, online job postings, school partnerships.

selection

the process of screening job applicants and choosing the best candidate for a position

unstructured interviews

gather information about job candidates without the use of a fixed set of questions or a systematic scoring procedure

structured interview

involves asking each applicant the same questions and comparing their responses to a standardized set of answers

situational interviews

structured interviews during which raters ask applicants how they would behave in hypothetical job situations

behavioral description interviews

are structured interviews during which raters explore applicants’ job related past behaviors

onboarding

consists of the programs designed to integrate and transition employees into new jobs and organizations through familiarization with corporate policies

onboarding best practices: involve a team

help new employees build relationships with all the stakeholders who will be a part of their organizational life

onboarding best practices: clarify expectations

identify reporting relationships and clearly communicates role expectations. show employees what good performance looks like as well as how it will be evaluated

onboarding best practices: put the pieces together

have conversations with new employees about hw their role relates to the organization’s larger purpose

onboarding best practices: give it time

integration happens through onboarding can take up to one year or more. it can be confusing and pressure to check all the boxes.

objective performance appraisals

based on facts and are often numerical. keep track of the number of products the employees sell in a given time frame, customer complaints filed against an employee, miles of freight hauled, etc.

subjective performance appraisals

based on the managers perceptions of an employees traits or behaviors. traits are subjective attributes like attitude or initiative, while behavioral measure specific aspects of work, like being on time

360 degree assessment

a performance appraisal in which employees are appraised not only by their managerial superiors but also by peers, subordinates, and sometimes clients

forced ranking

all employees within a business unit are ranked against one another and grades are distributed along some sort of bell curve, top performers are rewarded with bonuses and promotions and the worst are given warnings or are dismissed

Legal Requirements of HRM: labor relations

the processes, policies, and practices that govern interactions between employers, employees, and labor unions, focusing on collective bargaining, contract administration, grievance resolution, and compliance with labor laws

Legal Requirements of HRM: compensation and benefits

the money and perks that employees receive in exchange for their work; minimum wage and overtime pay

Legal Requirements of HRM: health and safety

organizations must provide employees with non-hazardous working conditions, health coverage like insurance or pay penalty

Legal Requirements of HRM: equal employment opportunity

the principe that all individuals should have equal access to employment opportunities, regardless of protected characteristics like race, ethnicity, religion, sex, origins, age, disability, genetics, etc.

forces for change: outside forces

demographics, technological advancements, shareholder & customer concerns, domestic & international competition, mergers & acquisitions, social & political pressures

forces for change: inside forces

human resource concerns and manager’s behaviors

two types of change: proactive

planned change; making carefully thought-out changes in anticipation of possible or expected problems or opportunities

two types of change: reactive

change made in response to problems or opportunities as they arise

three forms of change: adaptive

the reintroduction of a familiar practice - the implementation of a form of change that has already been experienced within the same organization; easiest to implement and the least threatening

three forms of change: innovative

the introduction of a practice that is new to the organization; moderately difficult and threatening

three forms of change: radically

introduces a practice that is new to the industry; very difficult to implement and highly threatening

Lewin’s Change Model: Unfreezing

managers try to instill in employees the motivation to change, encouraging them to let go of attitudes and behaviors that are resistant to innovation. employees need to become dissatisfied with the old way of doing things and managers miust lower barriers to change in order for this to work

Lewin’s Change Model: Changing

employees need to be given the tools for change; new information, perspectives, models of behavior, etc.

Lewin’s Change Model: Refreezing

employees need to be helped to integrate the changed attitudes and behavior into their normal ways of doing things

A Systems Approach to Change: inputs

“why should we change, and how willing and able are we to change?”

mission and vision statements, strategic plan, analysis of orgs readiness.

A Systems Approach to Change: targeting elements of change

“which levers can we pull that will produce the change we want?”

people, organizational arrangements, methods, and social factors.

A Systems Approach to Change: outputs

“what do we want to learn from the change?”

change may incur at the level of the organization, the group, the individual.

Types of Innovation: product innovation

a change in the appearance or the performance of a product or a service or the creation of a new one

Types of Innovation: process innovation

a change in the way a product or service is conceived, manufactured, or disseminated

the focus of the innovation

the focus continuum measures the scope of the innovation.

the focus of the innovation: improvement innovations

enhance or upgrade an existing product, service, or process