Core Activity B Flashcards
What is the difference between groups and teams?
Groups are collections of individuals without shared goals, while teams work collaboratively toward a common objective with mutual accountability.
What are the 5 stages of team development?
- Forming – team meets and learns about tasks
- Storming – conflicts arise over roles and expectations
- Norming – cooperation develops, norms established
- Performing – team works effectively and efficiently
- Adjourning – project ends, team disbands
What are Belbin’s 9 team roles?
- Coordinator – clarifies goals, promotes decision-making
- Shaper – drives progress, challenges others
- Plant – creative problem solver
- Monitor Evaluator – logical, impartial analyser
- Resource Investigator – explores opportunities
- Implementer – practical organiser
- Team Worker – helps cohesion
- Completer Finisher – detail-focused
- Specialist – expert knowledge provider
What are traits of high-performing teams (Vaul model)?
Clear shared purpose, trust, commitment, open communication, and ability to adapt and innovate.
Peters and Waterman’s characteristics of successful teams?
Small size, short-term focus, voluntary participation, informal communication, and action-oriented mindset.
What are key skills in managing team relationships?
Effective communication, active listening, conflict resolution, emotional intelligence, and negotiation.
What is Yield to Maturity (YTM)?
The total return expected on a bond if held to maturity, considering interest payments and gain/loss on principal.
What are benefits of long-term debt finance?
Lower cost (interest tax-deductible), predictable repayments, does not dilute ownership, matches asset lives.
Why is WACC easier to calculate for listed companies?
Because share prices and market capitalisation data are readily available, making equity valuation more accurate.
What are characteristics of equity finance?
Permanent capital, no repayment obligation, dividends are discretionary, higher investor risk, possible dilution of control.
What are pros and cons of issuing equity?
Pros: no interest, long-term stability. Cons: higher cost of capital, shareholder pressure, diluted control.
Advantages of debt vs equity financing?
Debt is cheaper due to tax relief and does not dilute ownership, but too much increases risk (gearing).
What are alternative sources of finance?
Leasing, bank loans, venture capital, private equity, government grants or subsidised loans.
What are the 4 stages of the risk management process?
- Identify risks 2. Assess impact and likelihood 3. Respond with strategies (TARA) 4. Monitor and review regularly
What is the TARA framework for managing risk?
Transfer (e.g., insurance), Accept (tolerate low risk), Reduce (implement controls), Avoid (discontinue risky activity).
What is contingency planning?
Preparing fallback actions and resources for unexpected events (e.g., disaster recovery plans).
What is scenario planning?
Creating and analysing multiple hypothetical future environments to test strategy resilience.
What is sensitivity analysis?
A technique to assess how sensitive a project is to changes in key assumptions (e.g., sales volume, cost).
What are probabilities and expected values in decision-making?
Use likelihood of outcomes to calculate average expected return: EV = Sum of (Probability × Outcome).
Name common types of business risk.
Strategic, product failure, commodity price swings, operational breakdown, tech failures, legal compliance, political instability.
What are key IT and Big Data risks?
Cyber threats, data loss, data privacy breaches, system outages, regulatory non-compliance (e.g., GDPR).
What are common organisational risk attitudes?
Risk-averse (minimise risk), risk-neutral (focus on outcome), risk-seeking (accept higher risk for greater reward).
How do you identify project stakeholders?
Analyse who is affected or has influence, map by power/interest, and understand expectations.
How to manage stakeholder relationships?
Regular communication, manage expectations, align interests, and resolve conflicts constructively.
