Exam 1 - Ch. 11 and 12

Question 1

How does good communication help with decision making in an organization?

Answer 1

• Promotes balance
• Organizational stability related to effective decision making and communication
• Leads to more people, more money, and more outputs
• Management asking employee inputs for decision making

Question 2

Describe the effect of time and knowledge on decision making

Answer 2

Depends on the type of decision being made

• programmed decisions: routine/repetitive decisions, require less thought/knowledge and made in shorter amount of time
• nonprogrammed decisions: require more knowledge and take longer to make
• informal communication: good for speed but not accuracy

Question 3

When would group decision making be beneficial to use?

Answer 3

• To promote new ideas and understanding
• when starting a new foodservice organization
• when 2 or more organizational units will be affected by the decisions
• nonprogrammed decisions often not made alone

Question 4

When would group decision making not be beneficial to use?

Answer 4

• If limited time
• Expensive/hard to find experts
• May prevent full discussion of facts and alternatives
• Group norms, member roles, communication patterns, cohesiveness (things that can negatively impact decision)

Question 5

Conditions of Risk

Answer 5

• Decisions are made when results are uncertain
• Probability techniques are necessary for estimating the likelihood of events occurring in the future (ex: estimating to prevent over/under production during bad weather; likely have to check records of previous rainy days)
• risk and uncertainty increase as timeframe for making the decision is farther in the future

Question 6

Decision making

Answer 6

selection of a course of action from a variety of alternatives

Question 7

Steps in the decision making process

Answer 7

1. recognize and define problem
2. identify alternatives
3. evaluate alternatives
4. select best alternative
5. implement chosen alternative
6. Evaluate outcome

Question 8

programmed decisions

Answer 8

• routine/repetitive decisions, made by employees/lower management
• decision made by following established policies/procedures
• concrete, quantitative
• takes less time

Question 9

nonprogrammed decisions

Answer 9

• relatively unstructured decision that takes a higher degree of judgment, made by upper management/supervisors
• unique, little/no precedent
• take longer

Question 10

4 methods for group decision making

Answer 10

1. interacting groups
2. delphi groups
3. nominal groups
4. focus groups

Question 11

interacting group

Answer 11

• decision making group in which members discuss, argue, and agree upon the best alternative
• promotes new ideas and understanding
  ex: departments, work groups, committees

Question 12

delphi group

Answer 12

• used for developing a consensus of expert opinion
• make individual predictions about a problem, come together to review
• takes too much time, too expensive for every day actions

Question 13

nominal group

Answer 13

• structured technique for generating creative and innovative ideas
• group members presented w/ a problem; write down as many alternatives as possible (without talking) and discuss/rank them in order

Question 14

focus group

Answer 14

• qualitative information gathering method
• used by large chains desiring customer feedback
• consists of 10-20 people, meet for 2 hrs to discuss predetermined aspect of a particular establishment (and compare to competition)

Question 15

barriers to communication

Answer 15

• hearing an expected message
• inference
• ignoring conflicting info
• differing perceptions
• evaluating the source
• ignoring nonverbal cues (tone of voice, facial expressions)
• becoming emotional
• cultural/language differences

Question 16

feedback

Answer 16

-technique for improved communication; two way communication

Question 17

downward communication

Answer 17

individuals at higher levels of the organization communicate downward to those lower levels

ex: job instructions, emails, memos, policy statements

Question 18

upward communication

Answer 18

provides employees with the opportunity to have a say in what happens in the organization

ex: special meetings, suggestion boxes, questionnaires, open door policy

Question 19

horizontal communication

Answer 19

enhances organizational effectiveness; critical to ensure food is available in the right time at the right place

ex: department head meetings

Question 20

diagonal communication

Answer 20

way of minimizing time and effort expended in an organization; reports/other info may flow directly between departments –> more effective flow of info

ex: ordering clerk sending requests directly to the purchasing dept (rather than ordering clerk –> manager –> purchasing department)

Question 21

job analysis

Answer 21

gathers information for the job description and specification

Question 22

job description

Answer 22

tasks, duties, responsibilities

job title

Question 23

job specification

Answer 23

• human qualities; capabilities the job holders should possess (traits, skills, background, education, experience)
• contains statement of job conditions related to health and safety of employee

Question 24

Job design

Answer 24

• outgrowth of job analysis

- concerned w/ structuring jobs to improve organization efficiency and employee job satisfaction

Question 25

Quality of work life (QWL)

Answer 25

- Consideration of job design | - job enlargement, job enrichment, job characteristics, and employee work teams all increase QWL

Question 26

Job enlargement

Answer 26

- Increase in total number of tasks employees perform | - prevents boredom from doing same tasks every day

Question 27

Job enrichment

Answer 27

- Increase in opportunities for responsibility, achievement, growth and recognition; increases decision making power - increased responsibility makes employees feel important and more involved w/ their own work

Question 28

Performance standards

Answer 28

- Desired results at a defined level of quality - Productivity standards, safety/sanitation - Based on work-related behaviors; way to evaluate employees (leads to personnel actions)

Question 29

3 types of information included in employee orientation

Answer 29

1. review of the organization, how employee's job contributes to the organization's objectives 2. specific info on policies, work rules and benefits 3. General information about daily work routine

Question 30

Orientation

Answer 30

formal process of familiarizing new employees to the organization, job and work unit

Question 31

Training

Answer 31

ongoing process of updating skills of employees; teaching of technical skills (on the job and off the job)

Question 32

Development

Answer 32

programs designed to improve technical, human and conceptual skills; usually for managers

Question 33

Information that cannot be requested on a job application

Answer 33

- Age - Gender - Nationality - Family status (pregnant, married) - Medical conditions

Question 34

Advantages of hiring within

Answer 34

- positive employee morale - improves return investment on employees - usually less expensive than outside hiring - individuals already familiar w/ organization's goals

Question 35

Limitations of hiring within

Answer 35

- Lack of new ideas - person may have experience to back up their promotion but not necessarily have the skills needed for a higher level position

Question 36

Benefit of hiring from outside

Answer 36

Fresh new ideas

Question 37

Limitations of hiring from outside

Answer 37

- differing methods/opinions - bad habits/set in their ways - more expensive, more training involved

Question 38

Steps in disciplinary process

Answer 38

1. Unrecorded oral warning 2. Oral warning w/ notation in employee file 3. Written reprimand 4. Suspension 5. Discharge

Question 39

Legally required benefits

Answer 39

- Social security - Worker's comp - FMLA

Question 40

Social Security Act

Answer 40

Established insurance programs to cover employees against loss of earnings

Question 41

Worker's compensation

Answer 41

assistance when hurt on the job; income/medical benefits vary by state

Question 42

Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA)

Answer 42

gives employees up to 12 weeks unpaid, job protected leave per year for personal illness, birth/adoption of child, to care for ill parent/spouse/child

Question 43

COBRA

Answer 43

gives employees right to continue their health insurance coverage after employment has ended (for 18-36 months)

Question 44

Effective human resources management leads to

Answer 44

achieving outputs to the system (including employee satisfaction)

Question 45

HR management is a function of the ________ process in the foodservice model

Answer 45

transformation

Question 46

How to calculate FTE

Answer 46

of total hours worked in a week divided by 40

Question 47

1.55

Answer 47

amount of FTE's needed to fill a full time position