AQA A Level Business - Unit 10

Internal causes of change

staff, culture, leadership, poor performance, growth

External causes of change

political, economic, social, technological, environmental, legislation, competition

Incremental change

small changes made over a long period of time.

Disruptive change

change is caused by shift in the industry which managers do not see coming

Lewin's force field analysis

methods of identifying driving forces and retraining forces

Driving forces

what is the cause of a change

Retraining forces

what will stop the change occurring

Advantage of Lewin's force field

simple, quick, shows main arguments

Disadvantages of Lewin's force field

managers create own values, may miss vital forces

Kotter and Schlesinger barriers to change

parochial self interest, misunderstanding, low tolerance to change, different assessment of the situation

Reasons employees resist change

habit, economic, fear of unknown

Organisational barriers to change

existing power structures, resistance from work groups, failure of previous changes

Reasons why change fails

employee understanding, lack of planning, insufficient training, resources, inadequate reward

Kotter and Schlesinger approaches to overcome resistance

education and communication, participation and involvement, facilitation and support, negotiation and agreement, manipulation and co-option, explicit or implicit coercion

Restructuring

fundamental internal change to the organisational structure or systems of a business

Methods of restructuring

dismissal, eliminate whole departments, close retail or factory locations, outsource manufacturing

Delayering

removal of one or more levels of hierarchy within an organisation

Flexible working contracts

giving employees a choice over the actual times they are contracted to work

Organic structures

highly adapted, flexible forms of organisation structure.

Mechanistic structures

traditional form of structure which are highly inflexible

Knowledge management

the process of capturing, developing, sharing and effectively using organisational knowledge

Organisational culture

behaviour of people within an organisation and meaning they attach to those behaviours.

Where organisational culture comes from

behaviour of leaders, organisational practices, shared beliefs, ways of working, behaviour of individuals or groups

Source of culture

company routines, formal controls, organisational structure, power structure, symbols, rituals and myths

Handy types of organisational culture

power culture, role culture, task culture, person culture

Handy power culture

fast paces or changeable work

Handy task culture

high-paced work of a unique or complex nature

Handy role culture

steady, relatively unchanging or patterned work of a predictable nature

Handy person culture

steady work of a unique nature of a micro level

Hofstede national culture

culture is a collective programming of the mind distinguishing the members of one group from others

Hofstede 4 national cultures

power distance, individualism vs collectivism, masculinity vs femininity, uncertainty avoidance

Power distance

degree of inequality between people with and without power

High power distance

centralised structures with strong hierarchies

Low power distance

flat organisations where supervisors and employees are considered equals

Individualism

the strength of ties people have with other in the community

High individualism

high valuation of people's time, enjoyment of challenges, respect for privacy

Low individualism

emphasis on building skills and becoming masters of something, work for intrinsic rewards

Masculinity

how much society sticks with and values traditional male and female roles

High masculinity

defined distinction between men's and women's work

Low masculinity

powerful and successful women are admired as much as men

Uncertainty avoidance

dress of anxiety that society members feel when in uncertain situations

High uncertainty avoidance

very formal with lots of rules and policies

Low uncertainty avoidance

accepting of change and risk

Reasons for changing culture

declining profits, inadequate returns on investments, low customer service standards

Problems with changing culture

overuse of power tools, vision but not tools, beginning with power tools

Leadership tools

persuasion, vision, storytelling, role-modelling, conversations

Management tools

tradition, measurements systems, ritual

Power tools

coercion, threats, punishments

Strategic implementation

the process of allocating resources to support the chosen strategies

Corporate planning process

mission, objectives, internal and external environment, SWOT, strategic choice, strategic implementation, control and evaluation

Elements for implementing successful strategy

motivational leadership, turning strategy into action, performance management

McGregor X leadership

workers are lazy and need close supervision

McGregor Y leadership

workers self-motivated and as such can solve problems

Authoritarian leadership

close controls, direct supervision

Laissez-faire leadership

power to make decisions given to subordinates

Paternalistic leadership

parental figure caring for workforce

Democratic leadership

sharing decision making through groups

Bureaucratic leadership

must follow rules and procedures

Tannenbaum Schmidt continuum

boss or worker centred

Black Mouton Grid

greater concern for people or the production

Turning strategy into action

clear intent, develop action plans, cascade work plans to team

Emotional contracts

link between what the organisation wants to achieve and the motivations of the workforce

Key performance indicators

key measure that enable a business to know how effective it is at achieving its objectives

Kotter's eight steps of change

increase urgency, build guiding teams, get the vision right, communication for buy-in, create short-term wins, don't let up, make it stick

Functional structure

consists of activities like coordination, supervision and task allocation

Product structure

build around the product portfolio of each business

Regional structure

allows the business to organise itself into different regions of a country

Matrix structure

allows for a horizontal flow of skills and expertise to facilitate a project or implement a plan

Network analysis

project management tool to aid the implementation of a strategic plan

Planned strategy

more appropriate in a traditional style business

Emergent strategy

more appropriate in a fast moving industry where customer tastes can change quickly

Strategic drift

when a strategy is not changed quickly enough and there is a distance between where a business should be and where it is

Corporate governance

the mechanisms, processes and relations which are used to control and direct a corporation

Porter strategic plan

company strengths and weaknesses, personal values of the management, industry opportunities and threats, bread societal expectations

Contingency planning

plan devised for an unexpected outcome other than the expected plan.