key theories

Question 1

tannenbaum schmidt continuum

Answer 1

• places mangers on a scale from autocratic through increasing levels of participation in decision making
• tells, sells, suggests, consults, joins, delegates, abdicates

Question 2

the marketing mix

Answer 2

• factors that firms consider when marketing a product
• price, product, place, promotion, people, physical environment, process
• market research helps companies get the right mix, dynamic markets and have to adapt to changes

Question 3

boston matrix

Answer 3

• compares the market growth with the market share, shows position of products, the bigger the circle the more revenue from the products
• question marks, small market share and high market growth, new products, need heavy marketing
• stars, high market growth and high market share, most potential, profitable growth phrase, future cash cows meaning competition takes advantage
• cash cows, high market share but low market growth, maturity phase, bring in lots of money
• dogs, low market share and low market growth, lost cause, sold off or harvest profit short term

Question 4

herzbergs hygiene and motivating factors

Answer 4

• looks at what influences the motivation of workers, individuals needs
• hygiene factors, good company policy, supervision, working conditions, pay and relations with fellow employees, if not good workers are dissatisfied
• motivating factors, interesting work, personal achievements, recognition, scope for more responsibilities and personal development, positively motivates
• provides clear solutions for businesses, critised for small sample, doesn’t consider individual differences

Question 5

maslows hierarchy of needs

Answer 5

• motivating factors, meet needs at the bottom and then work the way up the pyramid, different workers put their needs in different orders
• basic physical needs, safety, social needs, self esteem, self actualisation

Question 6

taylor and scientific management

Answer 6

• thought workers were motivated by money, would do minimum amount
• find most efficient way to do a job, each task done by the right worker, scientific management
• favoured division of labour, small repetitive tasks, managers make responsibility
• believed in paying workers according to quantity produced, financial incentives as motivation to raise productivity
• as a result fewer workers were needed, lost jobs, reduction in quality, supervisors needed
• doesn’t work for modern businesses, exploitation, ignored demotivating effect of repetitive tasks
• parts have survived, piece pay rate and supervisor roles

Question 7

elkingtons triple bottom line model

Answer 7

• judges overall performance, spilts performance into overlapping areas
• profit, impact on people, impact on planet, middle area is sustainability, the ideal balance in performance areas
• performance is assessed and reported back to stakeholders, triple bottom line reporting
• businesses are responsible to all the stakeholders and to the planet, can only be sustainable if it balances all three

Question 8

carroll’s pyramid of corporate social responsibility

Answer 8

• shows what society expects from a business, used to analyse business decisions, assess whether made of necessity, economic and legal, or in voluntary capacity, ethical and philanthropic
• businesses have four types of CSR responsibilities in a pyramid, shouldn’t be separated, treated as a whole
• from top to bottom, philanthropic, ethical, legal, economic

Question 9

porters five process model

Answer 9

• shows industry influenced by five competitive forces, analyses state of market, helps managers find best strategy to gain competitive advantage, decision making tool, shows how profitable market is likely to be
• barriers to entry, how easy it is, high start up costs might defer new firms
• buyer power, buyer wants lowest possible price
• supplier power, suppliers want as high as possible price
• threat of substitutes, buying an alternative
• rivalry within the industry, how much competition there is

Question 10

ansoffs matrix

Answer 10

• compares level of risk with different growth strategies, helps to decide on strategic growth direction
• fails to show that market development and diversification require significant changes
• market development, new market, existing product
• diversification, new product, new market
• market penetration, least risky, existing market, existing product
• product development, works best for firms that have strong competitive advantage, new product - higher risk, existing market - lower risk
• said to be oversimplified

Question 11

porters generic strategies

Answer 11

• to gain an advantage, based on low costs and differentiation
• cost leadership, lowest cost of production
• differentiation, product with unique attributes that customers value
• focus, niche market segments to achieve cost advantage or differentiation

Question 12

porters strategic matrix

Answer 12

• helps to decide on a competitive strategy, based on competitive advantage and market scope
• place themselves based on broad or narrow market, and cheap or quality, unique products
• cost leadership, broad, cost advantage
• cost, focus, narrow, cost advantage
• differentiation, broad, differentiation advantage
• differentiation, focus, narrow, differentiation advantage

Question 13

kotter and schlesinger resistance to change

Answer 13

• have to consider which is most relevant to the specific change
• self interest, want to know how it directly benefits them
• misunderstanding, resist change when don’t fully understand due to poor communication and incorrect information
• low tolerance to change, get used to doing things a certain way, have to learn new skills
• different assessments of the situation, may not be able to see advantages, have strong disagreements or have a better idea of what needs to be changed

Question 14

kotter and schlesingers six ways of overcoming resistance to change

Answer 14

• education and communication, discussions, presentations, reports, explain reasons and benefits
• participation and involvement, if involved, harder to resist
• facilitation and support, listen to concerns, support groups, training
• negotiation and agreement, financial and non financial incentives, can offer voluntary redundancy or retirement
• manipulation and cooption, can be risky, exaggerate extent of risk, can lose trust
• explicit and implicit coercion, threats, lose out on promotion, made redundant

Question 15

handys model of organised culture

Answer 15

• organisational culture has big impact on handling change
• power culture, decisions made by a select few, employees more resistant to change
• role culture, employees given specific roles and responsibilities, bureaucratic firms, decisions come from senior managers, poor communication, respond slowly to change
• person culture, employees act independently, objectives defined by personal ambitions, have to ensure common goals, decisions made jointly
• task culture, focus on tasks and projects, based around products, less resistant to change