CHAPTER THREE Flashcards
Explain the two views of management
Omnipotent view of management → where managers are seen to be directly responsible for an organization’s success or failure
Stereotypical picture of the take-charge business executive who overcomes any obstacle in seeing that the organization achieves its goals
Someone must be held accountable when organizations perform poorly regardless of the reasons and that “someone” is the manager
Symbolic view of management → where an organization’s success or failure is due to external forces outside managers’ control
Managers ability to affect performance outcomes is influenced and constrained by external factors over which it has little or no control
Unreasonable to expect managers to significantly affect an organization’s performance
Instead performance is influenced by factors such as the economy, customers, governmental policies etc
Define environmnet:
Environment → refers to institutions or forces that are outside the organization and potentially affect the organizations performance
Define and explain the environmental uncertainty matrix:
Environmental uncertainty matrix → the degree of change and complexity in an organization’s environment
Degree of change → if the components in an organization’s environment change frequently, its a DYNAMIC environment. If the components in an organization’s environment are minimal it’s a STABLE one.
Degree of complexity → number of components in an organization environment and the extent of the knowledge that the organization has about those components
Explain the general environment:
Everything outside the organization;
The economic component encompasses factors such as interest rates, inflation etc
The demographic component is concerned with trends in population characteristics such as age, race, gender, education level etc
The political/legal component looks at federal, state, and local laws as well as global laws and the laws of other countries
The sociocultural component is concerned with societal and cultural factors such as values, attitudes, trends, traditions, lifestyles etc
The technological component is concerned with scientific or industrial innovations.
The global component encompasses those issues associated with globalization and a world economy.
Explain the specific environment:
Directly relevant to the achievement of an organization’s goals, consists of stakeholders that can positively or negatively influence an organization’s effectiveness. It includes; suppliers, customers, competitors, government, and pressure groups
Suppliers → entity that provides organization with labor, materials, and equipment, it is important because it ensures a steady flow of needed inputs at the lowest price possible, unavailability or delay can significantly reduce the organization’s effectiveness
Customers → its the customer or client who absorbs the organization’s output, exist to provide services, they represent potential uncertainty due to many factors such as a change in taste preferences and change in consumer buying preferences (prices)
Competitors → All organizations have one or more competitors, manager cannot ignore competition as it causes many payments, management must monitor and to which it must be prepared to respond
Government → Federal, state, and local governments influence what organizations can and cannot do, organizations spend a great deal of time and money to meet government regulations, limit choices available to managers, reduces managerial discretion
Pressure Groups → Managers must recognize the pressure groups that attempt to influence the actions of organizations (Black Lives Matter protestors attacked Starbucks and demanded changes in policies)
What is organisational culture?
The shared values, principles, traditions, and ways of doing things that influence the way organizational members act and that distinguish the organization from other organizations.
Definition of culture implies three things;
Culture is perception, not something that can be physically touched or seen, but employees perceive it on the basis of what they experience within the organization
Culture is descriptive, concerned with how members perceive the culture and describe it NOT whether they like it
Culture is shared, even though individuals may have different backgrounds or work at different organizational levels, they tend to describe the organization’s culture in similar terms
What are the 6 dimensions that appears to capture the essence of an organizations culture?
ADAPTABILITY—The degree to which employees are encouraged to be innovative and flexible and to take risks and experiment.
ATTENTION TO DETAIL—The degree to which employees are expected to exhibit precision, analysis, and focus on details.
OUTCOME ORIENTATION—The degree to which management emphasizes results rather than on the techniques and processes used to achieve them.
PEOPLE ORIENTATION—The degree to which management decisions consider the effect of outcomes on people within and outside the organization.
TEAM ORIENTATION—The degree to which collaboration is encouraged and work activities are organized around teams rather than individuals.
INTEGRITY—The degree to which people exhibit honesty and high ethical principles in their work.
What are strong cultures?
Those in which the key values are intensely held and widely shared, have greater influence on employers than weaker cultures. The more employees accept the organization’s key values and the greater their commitment to those values, the stronger the culture.
How do employees learn culture?
Employees “learn” an organization’s culture in a number of ways, the most common are stories, rituals, material artifacts and symbols, and language.
Stories → Organizational “stories” typically contain a narrative of significant events or people, including such things as the organization’s founders, rule breaking, reactions to past mistakes etc
Rituals → Repetitive sequences of activities that express and reinforce the key values and goals of the organization
Material Artifacts and Symbols → When you walk into different businesses, do you get a “feel” for what type of work environment it is—uptight, casual, fun, serious, and so forth? These material symbols convey to employees who is important, what is important, and the kinds of behavior that are expected and appropriate
Language → Many organizations and subunits within organizations use language as a way to identify and unite members of a culture. By learning this language, members attest to their acceptance of the culture and their willingness to help preserve it
