Business Leadership - Quiz 2

Ford Pinto

A cheap, faulty car that would leak gas and engulf the car in flames

Stages of Group Dynamics

Phenomenon that occurs in groups based upon their interactions and relations, individual behaviours may differ from their behaviour in a group, depending on the individuals connection to the group

Forming

1st stage of group dynamics, a stage of initial orientation and interpersonal testing, first entry of individual members into team

Storming

2nd stage of group dynamics, a stage of conflict over tasks and working as a team, tensions may emerge over tasks/interpersonal concerns, outright hostility and infighting possible, stage of high emotion, coalations/cliques may form around personalities, views, or interests

Norming

3rd stage of group dynamics, A stage of consolidation around operating agendas, team becomes coordinated as a working unit, operates with shared rules of conduct, harmony is emphasized, but minority viewpoints may be discouraged, feelings of closeness, sense of shared expectations protects team from disintegration

Performing

4th stage of group dynamics, A stage of teamwork and focus task performance, team operates in clear and stable structure, members are motivated by team goals

Adjourning

A stage of task completion and disengagement, team members prepare to achieve closure, disband from each other, ideally, teams disband with a sense that important goals have been accomplished, teams like to disband with members feeling they would work with one another again (does not always happen), members acknowledged for contributions and groups success (Follow up)

Shared norms

a factor that contributes to the success or failure of a team, expectations of one another and relates to performance, timeliness, and quality

Cohesiveness

a factor that contributes to the success or failure of a team, the degree of motivation to remain a part of the team

Diversity

a factor that contributes to the success or failure of a team, refers to differing opinions, conflict, ideas can sometimes have a harder time working well together and struggle more in the group development phases, culturally diverse teams can provide more perspective and experience

Social Loafing

a factor that contributes to the success or failure of a team, the tendency of some people to avoid responsibility by ‘free-riding’ in groups

Quiet quitting

doing the minimum requirements of one's job and putting in no more time, effort, or enthusiasm than absolutely necessary

Total integration

members deal in creative ways with complex tasks and interpersonal conflicts

Planning

Process of setting objectives and determining how to best accomplish them

Objectives

identifying the specific results or desired outcomes that one intends to achieve

1st step of planning

Define your objectives (using SMART criteria)

2nd step of planning

Determine where you stand today with regards to the objectives, SWOT analysis

3rd step of planning

Try to anticipate future events, generate alternative “scenarios” for what may happen in the future, how will these “scenarios” help or hinder your progress

4th step of planning

Analyze & choose among action themselves, list & carefully evaluate the possible actions that may be taken, choose the alternative most likely to accomplish your objective

5th step of planning

implement the plan & evaluate results, follow up

Benefits of planning

Focus, ability to adapt, increased coordination, motivates staff

short range plans

less than one year

long range plan

greater than one year

Operational Plans

What needs to be done in specific areas to implement the strategic plan

Single-Use Plans

used only once, created for unique stations

Standing use Plan

Designed to be used again and again, ex. polices, rules, budgets

Participative Planning

include all the people impacted by a decision in the planning process, increases understanding commitment, and creativity

Benchmarking

using external comparisons to understanding what is occurring in your company

Contingency Planning

planning for alternative courses of action should your plan fail or situations change, worst case scenario planning

Setting Timelines

Establish when each phase is to be completed and evaluated

Forecasting

Predicting what future conditions will be like

SMART Goals

Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, Timely

Specific

Goals must be well defined, they must be clear and unambiguous

Attainable

Goals must be achievable, the best goals require you to stretch a bit to achieve them but they are not impossible

Realistic

you truly believe that it can be accomplished

Timely

does your goal have a deadline, Goals must have a clearly defined time frame including a start date

plan

a statement or action

Directing

Managers focus employees on achieving their objectives and motivates their staff to accomplish these objectives, also known as leading

Autocratic

does not allow employees to make decisions, manager retains as decisions making authority as possible and doesn’t consult employees, employees are expected to obey orders without feedback from employees

Democratic

employees are part of the decision making and are kept informed about everything that affects their work, leader is a coach who has final say but gathers information from employees

motivating

makes workers more productive

communicating

explanation of directions, urgency, corporate values, plans and goals clearly

Encouraging participation

Managers today are allowing employees to direct (manage) the training, promotion, and dismissal of other employees in the department.

Controlling

This is the method managers use to increase, maintain, or decrease the resources they are allocated, Managers need to be in control of inventory, sales, expenses, employees and production

Staffing

• Hire slowly, fire quickly, The process of hiring the right people for the right job at the right time, Large companies have a department for it

Organizing

Refers to how managers arrange people and tasks to ensure that they are meeting the business’s plans

white collar mangers

top managers, middle manager

blue collar manager

first-line manager, non-management