Theme 1.4

Question 1

Outsourcing

Answer 1

Taking a task traditionally run by your own staff and putting it out to tender, with the lowest bid winning the contract

Question 2

Redeployment

Answer 2

Retraining a staff member to give the skills required to take on a new job role

Question 3

Zero hour contracts

Answer 3

Employment contracts that agree employee duties and hourly pay rates, yet offer no guarantee of any work in any specific week

Question 4

Core workers

Answer 4

Employees who are essential to the operations of a business, supporting whatever makes it distinctive or unique. Such workers are likely to receive attractive salaries and working conditions, and enjoy a high degree of job security

Question 5

Flexible approach

Answer 5

An approach to operations that implies a move away from mass production to batch production, the use of machinery that can be quickly reprogrammed to carry out a range of tasks, and the creation of a multi-skilled and flexible workforce that can quickly adapt to meet a firm’s changing requirements

Question 6

Hot desk

Answer 6

An approach that provides a temporary desk for home-workers to use when they come to the main office; they are not allowed to leave any of their own possessions there

Question 7

Peripheral workers

Answer 7

Those workers who are not seen as being central to a firm’s operations. They may carry out necessary tasks, but may be required only on a temporary basis and may be easily replaced

Question 8

Subcontracting

Answer 8

Where another business is used to perform or supply certain aspects of a firms operations

Question 9

Induction training

Answer 9

Familiarizes newly appointed workers with key aspects of their jobs and their employer, such as health and safety policies, holiday entitlement and payment arrangements. The aim is to make employees fully productive as soon as possible

Question 10

Labour turnover

Answer 10

The number of staff leaving a company as a percentage of the number employed

Question 11

Off the job training

Answer 11

Where employees leave their normal place of work in order to receive instruction, either within the firm or by using an external organisation such as college or university

Question 12

On the job training

Answer 12

Where employees acquire or develop skills without leaving their usual workplace, perhaps by being guided through an activity by a more experienced member of staff

Question 13

Cross Functional

Answer 13

‘Across the functions’, it draws from all the functions instead of just one

Question 14

Delayering

Answer 14

Removing a management layer from the organisational structure

Question 15

Line manager

Answer 15

A manager responsible for meeting specific business targets and responsible for specific staff

Question 16

Matrix Structure

Answer 16

Where staff work in project teams in addition to their responsibilities within their own department. Therefore, staff can be answerable to more than one boss

Question 17

Span of control

Answer 17

The number of staff who are answerable directly to a manager

Question 18

Division of labour

Answer 18

Subdividing a task into a number of activities, enabling workers to specialise and therefore become very efficient at completing what may be a small, competitive task

Question 19

Hygiene factors

Answer 19

‘Everything that surrounds what you do in your job’, such as pay, working conditions and social status; all are potential causes of dissatisfaction according to Herzberg

Question 20

Job satisfaction

Answer 20

The sense of well being and achievement that stems from a satisfying job

Question 21

Piece rate

Answer 21

Paying workers per piece they produce

Question 22

Productivity

Answer 22

Output per person

Question 23

Trade union

Answer 23

An organisation that represents the interests of staff at the workplace

Question 24

Flexitime

Answer 24

Giving staff flexibility over their arrival and leaving times as long as the right numbers of hours are completed

Question 25

Kaizen

Answer 25

Continuous improvement usually achieved by workforce engagement and involvement

Question 26

Motivation

Answer 26

It means doing something because you want to do it; most business leaders think of it as prompting people to work hard

Question 27

Quality circles

Answer 27

Discussion groups in which staff discuss an operational problem with a view to recommending a solution to management

Question 28

Remuneration

Answer 28

All the financial rewards received by an employee: pay, pension contributions, bonuses and any fringe benefits, such as a company car

Question 29

Autocratic manager

Answer 29

Autocratic managers keep most of the authority to themselves; they do not delegate much or share information with employees. Autocratic or authoritarian, managers tend to tell employees what to do

Question 30

Democratic manager

Answer 30

Democratic managers take the views of their subordinates into account when making decisions. Managers discuss what needs to be done and employees are involved in the decision

Question 31

Hubris

Answer 31

Overweening arrogance leading to excessive self confidence and therefore blindness to the risks being taken

Question 32

Nemesis

Answer 32

Divine punishment for wrongdoing or presumption; in other words the fall that comes after pride

Question 33

Labour turnover

Answer 33

The number of staff leaving a company as a percentage of the number employed

Question 34

Paternalistic manager

Answer 34

Believes they know best for employees. Tend to tell employees what to do but often explain their decisions. Concerned about the social needs of employees