MGMT 310 FULL Notes PDF

Title MGMT 310 FULL Notes
Course Management 310
Institution Virginia Commonwealth University
Pages 36
File Size 468 KB
File Type PDF
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FULL CLASS notes all in one document, entire year questions/answers for everything ...


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Management 310 Final Exam Review

MGMT 310 Class notes - All classes before final Chapter 1: 1. What are the pillars of management? -Strategic Position -Organizational Design -Individual Leadership 2.

What is the difference between leadership and management?

-Management: Working with and through a group of people to accomplish a desired goal or objective, and doing it in an efficient and effective manner -Leadership: The ability to drive and change innovation through inspiring and motivating your employees Managers plan and budget, organize and staff, and control and problem solve. Leaders set direction, align people, and motivate and inspire them. 3.

What are the differences between common organizational structures?

-Bureaucratic organization structure -- Max Weber (1900s) -A clear differentiation of tasks and responsibilities -Coordination through strict hierarchy of authority and decision rights -Standardization of rules and procedures -Vertical separation of planning and execution -Plans made in upper ranks of an organization, executed in the lower ranks Theories of Management -Scientific Management (1910s) -- a focus on how jobs, work, and incentive schemes could be designed to improve productivity using industrial engineering methods -Human Relations Movement (1930s) -- organizations are systems of interdependent people who all have a common interest in the survival of the business -Contingent View -- (1950s-1960s) organizations should be structured with fits/alignments between them and different aspects of their environments, fit contextual factors 4.

How has the purpose of a business changed across time (think Al Dunlap)?

-Business environment -- the combination of all contextual forces and elements in the internal/external environments of a business Theories of Business -Managerial view (up to 1960s) -- PRODUCTION -- the business is a mechanism for making raw materials into products to sell -Shareholder view (1969s-1980s) -- FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE -- the business is a framework and managers have to produce the highest stock market valuation of its assets -Stakeholder view (since 1990s) -- SERVING MULTIPLE CONSTITUENTS -- the business is a framework that needs to organize and analyze different groups interacting with it Stakeholder Management Process -- Strategic Review (senior leaders meet with managers to review progress), Environmental Scanning (managers scan business horizon for trends in the future), Scenario building (forecasting results that could occur when specific events happen to stakeholders) -Contingency Planning -- systematically assessing external environment to prepare for a range of possibilities -Trend Analysis -- variables are monitored and modeled to help predict changes -Contextual Intelligence -- the ability to understand the impact of environmental factors and how to influence them

Chapter 2: 1. What are the components of a firm’s business environment? -General environment -- technological, economic, political/legal, socio-cultural dimensions affecting firm’s external environments -Task environment -- directly affect firm on a constant basis including competitors, suppliers, and customers 2. What is globalization and comparative advantage? -Globalization -- Integration and interdependence of economic, technological, etc. systems across diverse geographic regions (advocated by economists after WWII, led to international trade agreements) -Comparative Advantage -- Countries should specialize in what they’re good at that have lowest opportunity costs (free trade leads to more efficient distribution of world resources, all countries benefit)

3. What are Hofstede’s Social Dimensions? -Individualism/collectivism -- strength between individuals and rest of society, how much they have to depend on themselves -Power distance -- how a culture deals with unequal distribution of power -Uncertainty avoidance -- how to handle unpredictable future -Masculinity/femininity -- gender roles in society -Long/short-term orientation -- whether society focuses on present or future -Social values -- the deeply rooted system of principles that guide individuals in everyday choices and interactions -Internal environment -- owners, employees, directors, culture

Chapter 3: 1. What is corporate social responsibility (CSR)? -Corporate Social Responsibility -- business obligation to pursue policies that align with the objectives and values of society -Ethics -- moral standards and effect on behaviors -Morality -- standards people use to judge right from wrong -Justice -- framework for society to judge what is right or wrong and establishes ways to evaluate or punish people based on those rules 2. What are distributive and procedural justice? -Distributive -- distribution of wealth -Procedural -- rules should be enforced 3.

What ethical dilemmas are faced by organizations and individuals in organizations?

Organizations -Environmental -- increasing pollution and depleting natural resources -How much should managers conserve -Privacy -- a person’s right to determine how much info is disclosed about them -Managers have to strike balance between respecting privacy and knowing their employees Individuals -Conflicts of interest -- employees or managers do things on behalf of the company and have personal interest in their outcomes -Trade secret -- info used for business that’s not commonly known by others (strategic advantage) -Bribery -- offering someone something to act the way you want them to, unfair advantage -Whistle-blowing -- release of info by employee showing illegal or immoral conduct

4. Can you describe the three main ethical frameworks we discussed in class (Kantianism, Egoism, and Utilitarianism)? -Kantianism -- motives are important in judging what is right and wrong (good intentions, bad output, vice versa) -Egoism -- self-interest is the foundation of morality -Utilitarianism -- behaviors are moral if they produce the greatest good for the greatest number of people

Chapter 4: 1. What is corporate and business-level strategy? -Strategy -- pursuing activities that provide value to your customers, figuring out what to produce and who to serve, aligning resources to achieve organizational objectives -Conglomeration -- growing through unrelated diversification, like by acquiring companies in different industries 2. What is the strategic framework? -Strategy -- viewed as a framework or tool (rather than a fixed plan) for managers to give out resources and evaluate resources 3. What are the three components of strategy? -Vision -- a concept of what you want to achieve and how -Mission -- activities a firm performs for its customers -Objective -- milestones to assess progress with 4. What is a mission statement and what are the benefits of having a mission statement? -Mission Statement -- a statement that defines a firm’s reasons for existence -Define purpose of the firm -Build motivation and commitment among employees -Provide direction and inspiration -Serve as a focal point -Assist in making strategic trade-offs 5. What strategies exist for going global and, separately, entering markets? -Multinational -- parent company has local subsidiaries that are allowed to tailor the product to local tastes -Global -- overall efficiency and overall scale economies

-International -- combines multinational and global, foreign subsidiaries get to produce and distribute products -Transnational -- balances a firm’s international activities among efficiency, local responsiveness, and organizational learning Market Entry -Exporting -- shipping your products to global markets -Licensing -- letting others use your technology and patents to others for fee of the license -Franchising -- sharing management and marketing with the owner in exchange for a fee and a percent of the store’s revenues -Joint Venture -- two firms come together to form a new company -Alliance -- partners come together by contract to engage in joint activities together -Wholly owned subsidiary -- fully operational but independent entity set up in a foreign country

Chapter 5: 1. What are the three components of business strategy? -What (products and services), How (process/approach), Who   (customers)

2. Can you describe Porter’s 5-forces model and how it impacts organizational decision making? -Center: Rivalry among existing competitors. This is impacted by all four branches: -Threat of new entrants -Bargaining power of suppliers -Bargaining power of customers -Threat of substitutes Threat of new entrants -- competition, but barriers to entry Bargaining power of suppliers -- supplier power occurs when there are no substitutes for supplier’s products, the supplier limits production, or the supplier doesn’t consider the business one of its major customers -Supplier is more concentrated than industry it sells to (more buyers than suppliers) -Buyers would face costs to switch -Can integrate forward into the buyer’s industry Bargaining power of customers -- group is concentrated in large volumes compared to supplier, does not face switching costs, customer could integrate backwards to supplier of product, actual product is undifferentiated (plenty more out there like it) Threat of substitutes -- limit an industry’s profit by placing a ceiling on the prices it can charge

3. What is a SWOT analysis and why do organizations do them? -SWOT Analysis -- allows managers to take a snapshot of their firm’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats 4. What is competitive advantage and what are the generic business strategies? -Competitive Advantage -- ability to create value for its customers that exceeds the cost of producing the product -Value -- amount consumers are willing to pay -- have lower price than competitors, have unique product whose benefits outweigh potential higher cost Strategies -Cost leadership -- have the lowest cost to the broadest audience -Economies of scale -- cost savings achieved when you produce/sell so much of a product that you can sell it at a lower cost -Differentiation -- have a unique product in your industry along a dimension that your consumers value -Focus -- a company “focuses” its sales efforts on a specific geographical region, a specific group of purchasers, or a specific product type

5. What is the firm’s value chain? -Value chain analysis -- way of examining all the activities a business performs and determining how they interact to get a competitive advantage -Primary activities -- activities involved in the physical creation of the product and its sale/transfer to the buyer (inbound logistics, operations, marketing/sales, service) -Support activities -- activities that provide the support necessary for the primary activities to occur (procurement, technological development, human resource management, firm infrastructure)

Chapter 6: 1.

How does corporate strategy relate to diversification?

-Corporate-level strategy -- creating value through the configuration and coordination of multimarket activities -Corporate advantage -- occurs when a firm maximizes resources to build competitive advantage across all business units Corporate strategy types -Scope -- the markets and businesses the firm will operate in

-Organizational design -- the manner activities will be coordinated in -Ownership -- the relationship between business units 2. What do organizations diversify (e.g. synergies)? -Synergy -- created when a firm generates sustainable cost savings by combining duplicate activities or deploying underutilized assets across multiple businesses 3. What types of integration are there and what are the advantages and disadvantages of each? -Vertical Integration -- occurs when one corporation owns business units that make inputs for other business units in the same corporation -Forward integration -- owning the distribution channels for your products (ex. Owning the stores you sell them in, owning the advertising companies you would normally have to pay to advertise them in) -Backward integration -- owning the inputs for your product (ex. Owning the companies where you get your resources or raw materials to make the product) -Vertical integration has administrative costs (cost of coordinating activities between businesses) and transaction costs (costs of getting products or services from contractors/suppliers) -Advantages -- potential cost reductions in production, improved coordination and quality control, protection of technology and processes, reduction in marketing costs -Disadvantages -- higher administrative costs for internal coordination, potential for becoming obsolete in technology process, tendency for complacency/lack of efficiency, lack of strategic flexibility (harder to change course when you’re that invested) 4.

What is outsourcing and what the advantages and disadvantages of doing it?

Alternatives to Vertical Integration -Spot contracts -- allow a buyer to purchase a commodity at a specific price for a certain time -Outsourcing -- contracting with firms outside yours to perform tasks that you used to do inside your own firm -Advantages -- Reduces firm’s cost for non-core value chain activities -Allows you to focus on core functions in your value chain -Disadvantages -- Outsourcing too much can damage your capabilities -Outsourcing may isolate you from your external market 5.

What are the strategies for going global and entering markets, respectively?

Diversification Strategies -Single-product strategy -- a firm focuses on one product in one market -Horizontal (related) diversification -- a firm pursues businesses with similar products or resources

-Sharing sales forces, advertising expenses, distribution channels. -Leveraging a firm’s strong brand name across multiple product lines -Unrelated diversification -- a firm manages several businesses not related to each other

-Cost savings a firm achieves through distributing money through multiple businesses -Purchase business, restructure its assets and sell back to market at higher price -Advantage of not having all your money in one product or “eggs in one basket” -Economies of scope -- exists when costs of operating two or more businesses (or making two or more products) under one corporate structure is cheaper than operating them or making them separately Diversification Tests -Attractiveness Test -- Is the industry profitable or capable of being profitable? -Cost of Entry Test -- How costly is it to enter the new industry and are costs worth it? -Better-Off Test -- Will the new industry provide the firm with a competitive advantage it doesn’t already have? -Ownership Test (global) -- Does owning a global business provide the best competitive advantage?

Management Exam 2 Review There will be approximately 65 questions on the exam and you will have 1.5 hours to complete the test. Please note that this document is only a guide and there will be questions not included in this guide regarding other topics discussed in your book and in class.

Chapter 7 (Organizational Design): Organizational Design -- The formal systems, levers and decisions an organization adopts or employs in pursuit of its strategy

1. What are the advantages and disadvantages of the division of labor? Division of Labor -- The manner in which work in a firm is divided among employees -Vertical Specialization -- How much an employee creates, executes and administers activities in a certain area of the firm -Horizontal Specialization -- The breadth of activities that are performed in a certain job Advantages -Creation of highly specialized jobs can help develop expertise or competency in a certain skill or function -Repetitive and specialized nature of jobs helps in quick and efficient training of new resources Disadvantages -Extreme specialization resulting in tedious repetitive work can lead to low job satisfaction -Due to high levels of job specialization, firms are unable to prevent turnover

2. What are the differences between the coordinating mechanisms of “organizers” and “behaviorists” and when might these approaches be most appropriate? Organizers -- Those who believe that more control is warranted in organizational design to ensure that jobs are performed satisfactorily and efficiently (Greater job standardization, specific definitions of roles and responsibilities, more hierarchical leadership) Bureaucratic Approach -- An extreme form of organizational control in which systems are highly formalized and are characterized by extensive rules, procedures, policies, and instructions (Close personal surveillance of superiors over subordinates, not useful in creative environments)

-Good for: Large, complex organizations. Measurable tasks. Price-competitive and cost-sensitive industries. Behaviorists -- Those who support a more open organizational structure where roles and responsibilities are loosely defined Clan Approach -- A type of organizational control that includes self-supervising teams that are responsible for a set of tasks -Good for: Uncertain conditions. Quickly changing industries. Work activities that are difficult to measure

3. What are the various organizational structures and when might they be most appropriate (e.g. when is a matrix structure appropriate)? Organizational Structure -- The pattern of organizational roles, relationships and procedures that enable coordinated action among employees Types Functional Structure -- Organizes a firm in terms of the main activities that need to be performed, such as production, marketing, sales and accounting -Each functional department conducts its own budgeting and planning -Works for small businesses and businesses with limited number of products/services -Easy communication, straightforward supervision -For competitive situations that require efficiency of production or functional expertise. Divisional Structure -- Groups diverse functions into separate divisions -Can be organized around products, geographies, or clients -Each division is accountable for its own profit and loss -Employees are more loyal towards division than function Matrix Structure -- Both divisional and functional managers have equal authority in the organization -Combines positive elements from others to cope with strong environmental pressures, assist complex interrelationships, facilitate sharing and optimization of resources -Uses technological expertise and horizontal coordination in functions to optimize performance -Assigns equal authority to both divisional and functional managers Network Structure -- Knowledge workers are organized to work as individual contributors or to be a part of a work cluster that provides a certain expertise for the organization -Uses cross-functional teams and technology to coordinate the work of geographically-dispersed work groups

-Emphasizes the informal structure of the firm (informal relationships between clusters of workers and cross-functional teams dominate the action of the firm) -Allows firms to quickly adapt to changes or respond to competitors Three Functions of an Organization -Defines the roles of the labor force -Coordinates activities between members -Identifies the borders of the firm and external relationships

4. What are the organizational design levers and what do they influence in the organization? Organizational Design Levers -- Are concerned with how decisions are made (how information should flow through the organization, who should make decisions about it) Decision Rights Centralized Organization -- An organizational structure characterized by formal structures that control employee behavior by concentrating decisions in a top-down, hierarchical fashion Decentralized Organization -- An organizational structure where key decisions are made at all levels of the firm, not mandated from the top Informal Structures -Contribute in definin...


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