Chapter 7 Flashcards
(33 cards)
Annual Objectives
serve as guidelines for action, directing and channeling efforts and activities of oganization members. They are essential to strategy implementation because they 1) represent the basis for allocating resources, 2) are a primary mechanism for evaluating managers, 3) are a major insturment for monitoring progress toward achieving long term objectives, 4) establish organizational, divisional, and departmental priorities
Avoidance
a conflict strategy that includes such actions as ignoring the problem in hopes the conflict will resolve itself for physically separating the conflicting individuals or groups
Benchmarking
comparing a firm against the best firms in the industry on a wide variety of perfomance-related criteria
Bonus System
if an organization meets certain understood, agreed upon profit objectives, every member of the enterprise should share in the harvest; this can be an effective tool for motivating individuals to support strategy-implementation efforts
Conflict
a disagreement between two or more parties on one or more issues; this often arises when establishing annual objectives because individuals have different expectations and perceptions, schedules create pressure, personalites are incompatible and misunderstandings between line managers and staff managers occur
Confrontation
exemplified by exchanging members of conflicting parties so that each can gain an appreciation of the other’s point of view or holding a meeting at which conflicting parties present their views and work through their differences
Decentralized Stucture
also known as divisional structure; it is the second most common type of structure use by U.S. Businesses. Can be organized in four ways: by geographic area, by product or service, by customer, or by process. Functional activities are performed both centrally and in each separate division
Defusion
a conflict strategy that can include playing down differences between conflicting parties while accentuating similarities and common interests, compromising so that there is neither a clear winner nor loser, resorting to majority rule, appealing to higher authority, or redesigning present positions.
Delayering
same as restructuring
Divisional Structure by Geographic Area
appropriate for organizations whose strategies need to be tailored to fit the particular needs and charactersitics of customers in different geopgraphic areas; most appropriate for ogranizations that have similar branch facilities located in widely dispersed areas
Divisional Structure by Products/Services
most effective for implementing strategies when specific products or services need special emphasis; this type of structure is widely used when an organization offers only a few products or services or when an organization’s product or services differ substantially
Divisional Structure by Customer
this structure can be the most effective way to implement strategies when a few major customers are of paramount importance and many different services are provided to these customers. This structure allows an organization to cater effectively to the requirements of clearly defined customer groups
Divisional Structure by Process
this is similar to a functional structure, because activities are organized according to the way work is actually performed. This structure can be particularly effective in achieving objectives when distinct production processes represent the thrust of competitiveness in an industry.
Downsizing
type of restructuring
Educative Change Strategy
a strategy that presents information to convince people of the need for change; the disadvantage of this strategy is the implementation becomes slow and difficult. However, this strategy evokes greate commitment and less resistance than the force strategy does.
Establishing Annual Objectives
a decentralized activity that directly invovles all managers in an organization. Active participation in establishing these objectives can lead to acceptance and commitment of said objectives
Force Change Strategy
involves giving orders and enforcing those orders; this strategy has the advantage of being fast, but is plagued by low commitment and high resistence
Functional Structure
groups tasks and activites by business fucntion, such as production/operations, marketing, finance/accoutning, research and development, and management information systems. Besides being simple and inexpensive, this structure also promotes specialization of labor, encourages efficient use of managerial and technical talent, minimizes the need for an elaborate control system, and allows rapid decision making. Disadvantages include: leads to short term and narrow thinking that may undermine what is best for the whole firm, it forces accountability at the top, minimizes career development opportunities, and is sometimes characterized by low employee morale, line/staff conflicts, poor delegation or authority, and inadequate planning for products and markets
Gain Sharing
Requires employees or departmentst to establish performance targets; if actual results exceed objectives, all members get bonuses
Glass Ceiling
refers to the invisible in many firms that bars women and minorities from top-level management positions
Horizontal consistency of objectives
objectives should be consistent across hierarchical levels and form a network of supportive aims
Matrix Structure
the most complex of all designs because it depends upon both vertical and horizontal flows of authority and communication. Disadvantages: Can result in higher overhead because it creates more management positions, contributes to overall complexity include duals lines of budget authority, dual sources of reward and punishment, shared authority, dual reporting channels, and a need for an extensive and effective communication system. For this structure to be effective, organizations need participative planning, training, clear mutual understanding of roles and responsibilities, excellent internal communication, and mutual trust and confidence
Policy
refers to specific guidelines, methods, procedures, rules, forms, and administrative practices established to support and encourage work towards stated goals. Policies are instruments of strategy implementation
Profit Sharing
widely used form of incentive compensation
