Business Exam <3

Intrinsic Rewards

Valued outcomes that comes from within as a person works on a task.

Extrinsic Rewards

Valued outcomes given to someone by another person.

Hoteling

"Work From Home" - Providing office space to employees on an as-needed basis rather than the traditional, constantly reserved basis.

Corporate Social Responsibility

The way companies combine social, environmental, and economic concerns into their values and operations in a transparent and accountable manner.

Cultural Relativism

The belief that behaviour should be governed by what will bring about the greatest good for the greatest number of people.

Transparency

State in which a company enables investors, consumers etc. to have access to important information that prevents corruption.

Whistleblower

Persons who expose the misdeeds of others in order to preserve ethical standards & protect against wasteful, harmful or illegal acts.

Contingency Planning

A plan that waits in the wings in case of an unforeseen event. It covers a range of possible scenarios that could negatively impact the business. Example: response to a natural disaster.

Just-In-Time Scheduling/Purchasing (JIT)

Made popular by the Japanese - purchasing of materials to arrive at a warehouse "just in time" to be used in the factory. No extra inventory is kept on hand - ordered only when needed.

Break Even Point

The point (in terms of the \# of units) at which financial losses end and the company starts to make a profit. The lower the break-even point (units) the better! Means you don't have to sell as many units in order to start making a profit.

Fixed Costs

Costs that do not change often i.e. how much to print packaging, labour rate, hydro, etc.

Variable Costs

Costs that do change often i.e. sales commission, price of gas, etc.

Strategic Plans

The company's big picture. Review your mission, vision, and values. Gather data about your company, like performance-indicating metrics from your sales department. Perform a SWOT analysis; take stock of your company's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. Set big picture goals that take your mission, vision, values, data, and SWOT analysis into account.

Tactical Plans

Describes how a company will implement its strategic plan. A tactical plan is composed of several short-term goals, typically carried out within one year, that support the strategic plan. Generally, it's the responsibility of middle managers to set and oversee tactical strategies, like planning and executing a marketing campaign.

Progressive Discipline

Gradually increases the penalty with each occurrence.

Post Action Controls

Occur after the work has taken place, provide information for the future, and determine rewards.

Preliminary Controls

Occur prior to work, provide correct instructions & training for employees, provide the correct resources and require proactive management.

Concurrent Controls

Happen while work is occurring, mistakes are fixed continuously, avoids wasted resources.

Hot Stove Rule

This rule draws an analogy between touching a hot stove, and undergoing discipline. When you touch a hot stove, your discipline is immediate, with warning, consistent, and impersonal.

Management By Objectives (MBO)

A process in which a manager and an employee agree on specific performance goals and then develop a plan to reach them.

Business Continuity Planning (BCP)

Concerned with keeping business operations running - perhaps in another location or by using different tools and processes - after a disaster has struck.

Transactional Leadership

Someone who is methodical (step-by-step) as a leader, usually offers rewards for a job well done, Influences people by setting an example.

Transformational Leadership

Truly inspirational and can arouse others to seek extraordinary performance (visionary), usually have great deal of charisma (charm, personality, magnetism or special appeal), practices empowerment and delegation.

Autocratic Leadership

When managers make decisions and simply tell team members what to do, the word "autocratic" suggests being dictatorial, used when time is of the essence, when employees don't know what to do, or they are not motivated.

Participative Leadership

Employees are involved in making the decision rather than simply being told what to do, consultative leaders gather input from subordinates but still make the decision themselves, mgmt and team members make decisions together.

Multidimensional Thinkers

Businesses need both types of thinkers and people who can think both ways (Systematic and Intuitive).

Human Skill

The ability to work well in cooperation with others.

Stress

A state of tension experienced by individuals facing extraordinary demands, constraints, or opportunities. Job-related stress goes hand-in-hand with the dynamic (changing) and sometimes uncertain nature of managerial work.

SWOT

To evaluate a business's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. Identifies external influences that could negatively impact the success of your organization such as: Political instability in the country where you have invested, Value of the Canadian dollar, Lack of competitors in the market (or too many).

Systemic Thinker

Classical decision maker. Make a step-by-step plan for solving problems. Detail oriented. Define the problem early. Discard alternatives only after careful analysis. Work as accountants, engineers, etc.

Intuitive Thinker

Behavioral decision maker. See the big picture. Rely on hunches (gut feeling). Consider a number of ideas simultaneously. Jump around in their reasoning. Explore and reject ideas quickly. Tend to work as marketers, strategic planners, etc.

Intellectual Captial

Collective brainpower or shared knowledge that can create value for an organization. Combining the talents of many people to achieve significant results.

Manager/Management Roles

Information roles (giving, receiving, and analyzing information), Interpersonal roles (interactions with persons inside and outside work unit), and decisional roles (using information to make decisions in order to solve problems or address opportunities.

Empowerment

Authority or power given to someone to do something. Westjet focused a lot on empowering their workers in the workplace.

Work-Life Balance

The state of equilibrium where a person equally prioritizes the demands of one's career and the demands of one's personal life.

Total Quality Management (TQM)

A management approach that seeks to provide long-term success by providing unparalleled customer satisfaction through the constant delivery of quality IT services.

Mantra

A single phrase that defines a business. Guy Kawasaki, author of Art of the Start, recommends mantra instead of mission. A vision statement projects forward into time three or five years and presents a picture, like a dream, of how things should be. 3-4 words.

Constructive Stress

Acts as a positive influence and can be energizing and performance enhancing.

Destructive Stress

Acts as a negative influence, breaks down a person's physical and mental systems, can lead to job burnout and/or workplace rage.

Why Do People Resist Change?

Inertia. Change interferes with autonomy and can make people feel that they've lost control over their territory. It's not just political, as in who has the power.

Apollo 13

Jim Lovell the commander of Apollo 13 and Gene Kranz the flight director of the mission individual demonstrated the importance of calm in chaos. One man was in space and the other man was at mission control. When the chaos struck both individuals led their teams by keeping calm and asking for the facts. “The Successful Failure”

Erin Brockovich

An American legal clerk, consumer advocate, and environmental activist who, despite her lack of education in the law, was instrumental in building a case against Pacific Gas & Electric Company involving groundwater contamination in Hinkley, California with the help of attorney Ed Masry in 1993.

Coach Carter

In 1999, Ken Carter returns to his old high school in Richmond, California, to get the basketball team into shape. With tough rules and academic discipline, he succeeds in setting the players on a winning streak. But when their grades start to suffer, Carter locks them out of the gym and shuts down their championship season. When he is criticized by the players and their parents, he sticks to his guns, determined that they excel in class as well as on the court.

The Perceptual Process

Perception is the process of selecting, organizing, and interpreting information. This process includes the perception of select stimuli that pass through our perceptual filters , are organized into our existing structures and patterns, and are then interpreted based on previous experiences. Errors include: stereotyping, attribution, primacy (first impressions), recency, halo, and projection.

Who Should Be Involved In An Employee's Performance Appraisal?

Employee and Their Supervisor.

Workplace Culture

Provides the org. with stability, gives employees clear understanding of the "way things are done around here" Sets the tone for how orgs. operate (i.e. pace of work, is it team-oriented, do people stay late to get things done, etc.)

Problem Avoiders

Managers ignore data that indicate a problem may occur. Inactive.

Problem Solvers

Managers who resolve problems when they occur. Reactive.

Problem Seekers

Managers who actively search for problems. See problems as opportunities. Proactive.

Mission Statement

Your mission statement drives the company. t is what you do/the core of the business, and from it come the objectives and finally, what it takes to reach those objectives. It also shapes your company's culture.

Vision Statement

Your vision statement gives the company direction. It is the future of the business, which then provides the purpose. The vision statement is about what you want to become. It's aspirational.

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)

Business ethics, Sustainability, Corporate Citizenship, "the right thing to do", Strategic differentiator for a company.

Conceptual Skills

The ability to think critically and analytically to solve complex problems.