HR 2201-01

Prof. L. Jordan

Final Study Topics

College

St. Francis

Fall 2015

Chaps. 4-15

Decision Making Process

Identifying a Decision Problem
Identifying Decision Criteria
Weighting Criteria
Developing Alternatives
Analyzing Alternatives
Implementing the Decision
Evaluating the Decision
Heuristic
enabling a person to discover or learn something for themselves.
"a hands-on or interactive heuristic approach to learning
proceeding to a solution by trial and error or by rules that are only loosely defined.
Recruitment-7
Satisficing decision
In a structured problem, the goal of the decision maker is clear, the problem familiar, and
information about the problem easily defined and complete. Examples include a customer
who wants to return an online purchase or a TV news team that has to respond to a fastbreaking event. These situations are called structured problems because they align closely
with the assumptions that underlie perfect rationality.
Function of Planning
The primary management function., Planning establishes the basis for all the other
things managers do as they organize, lead, and control.
Informal Planning
Smaller businesses often use informal planning where little is verbalized or written down
and the planning is general and lacks continuity.
Formal Planning
Planning may create rigidity with goals and a timetable that are set under the assumption
that the environment wont change. Managers need to remain flexible and not be tied to a
course
of action simply because its the plan
1. Formal plans cannot replace intuition and creativity. Planning should enhance
and support intuition and creativity, not replace it.
2. Planning focuses managers attention on todays competition, not on
tomorrows survival. Formal planning tends to focus on how best to capitalize

on existing business opportunities instead of ways to reinvent the industry.

Instead of focusing on today, managers should plan with an eye to untapped
opportunities.
3. Formal planning reinforces success, which may lead to failure. Its difficult to
shift from the comfort of what works to the uncertainty of the unknown.
However, managers may need to face that unknown and do things in new ways
to be even more successful.
Strategic Management process
The strategic management process, seen here in Exhibit 5-2, is a six-step process that
encompasses:
Strategy planning
Implementation, and
Evaluation
Mission statement
The mission is a statement of the organizations purpose
SWOT analysis is a structured planning method used to evaluate the strengths, weaknesses,
opportunities and threats involved in a project or in a business venture
Stability Organization continues to do what its doing
Renewal Organization addresses declining organizational performance
Retrenchment
Turnaround
Geographic Departmentalization
Org. Structural Change-8
The three kinds of organizational change are shown in Exhibit 8-1.
1. Changes in structure
2. Changing technology
3. Changes in people
The calm waters metaphor envisions the organization as a large ship crossing a calm sea.
Change appears as the occasional storm, a brief distraction in an otherwise calm and
predictable trip.
In the white-water rapids metaphor, the organization is seen as a small raft navigating a
raging river with uninterrupted white-water rapids. Aboard the raft are half a dozen people
who have never worked together before, who are totally unfamiliar with the river, and who
are unsure of their eventual destination. In this metaphor, change is the status quo and
managing change is a continual process.

Lewins Change Process-8 Lewins process treats change as a break in the equilibrium
state. This view is an increasingly inaccurate description of the kinds of seas that current
managers have to navigate.
Org. Behavior-9 is the study of the actions of people at work.
Visible: Strategies, Objectives, Policies and procedures, Structure, Technology, Formal
authority, Chains of command
Hidden: Attitudes, preceptions, group norms, informal interactions, interpersonal and
intergroup conflicts.
Goals of OB-9
The goals of OB are to explain, predict, and influence behavior. Managers need to be able
to:
Explain why employees engage in some behaviors rather than others.
Predict how employees will respond to various actions and decisions,
and
Influence how employees behave.
Cross-functional Group-10 The third type of team is the cross-functional team, defined as
a work team composed of individuals from various specialties. For example, ArcelorMittal,
the worlds largest steel company, uses cross-functional teams of scientists, plant managers,
and salespeople to review and monitor product innovations.
Group development Steps-10
forming stage
storming stage
norming stage
performing stage
adjourning stage
Problem Solving Team-10 are teams from the same department or functional area involved
in efforts to improve work activities or to solve specific problems. Members share ideas or
offer suggestions on how work processes and methods can be improved, but theyre rarely
given the authority to implement any of their suggested actions.
Virtual team-10 The final type of team is the virtual team. In a virtual team, members
collaborate online with tools such as wide-area networks, videoconferencing, fax, email, or
websites where the team can hold online conferences.
Self-managed team-10 The need to get employees involved in work-related decisions and
processes led to the development of the self-managed work team, which is a formal group of
employees who operate without a manager and are responsible for a complete work process
or segment. A self-managed team is responsible for getting the work done and for managing
itself, which usually includes planning and scheduling work, assigning tasks to members,

collective control over the pace of work, making operating decisions, and taking action on
problems.
Maslows Theory-11
Abraham Maslows Hierarchy of Needs theory, seen here in Exhibit 11-1, is one of the most
widely known theories of motivation. Maslow was a psychologist who proposed that within
every person is a hierarchy of five needs:
1. Physiological needs such as food, drink, shelter, sex, sleep, and other
physical requirements
2. Safety needs such as security and protection from harm as well as
assurance that physical needs will continue to be met
3. Social needs including affection, belongingness, acceptance, and
friendship
4. Esteem needs, which include internal esteem factors such as selfrespect, autonomy, and achievement, and external esteem factors such
as status, recognition, and attention; and
5. Self-actualization needs that include growth and achieving ones
potential.
McGregors X and Y Theory Theory X and Theory Y. Simply put Theory X is a negative
view of people Little ambition Dislike work Avoid responsibility Must be closely controlled
and
Theory Y is a positive view, Enjoy work Seek and accept responsibility Exercise selfdirection
Herzbergs Motivation-Hygiene Theory
Frederick Herzbergs two-factor theory (or motivation-hygiene theory) proposes that
intrinsic factors are related to job satisfaction while extrinsic factors are associated with job
dissatisfaction. It was popular from the 1960s to the early 1980s, but its criticized for being
too simplistic. However, it did influence todays approach to job design.
Mcclellands 3 needs theory
David McClelland and his associates proposed the three-needs theory, which says three
acquired (not innate) needs are major motives in work.
These three needs include:
1. The need for achievement (nAch), which is the drive to succeed and excel in
relation to a set of standards
2. The need for power (nPow), which is the need to make others behave in a way
that they would not behave otherwise, and
3. The need for affiliation (nAff), which is the desire for friendly and close
interpersonal relationships.
Communication Process-13

Exhibit 13-1 depicts the seven-part communication process of transferring and

understanding meaning: (1) the communication source or sender; (2) encoding; (3) the
message; (4) the channel; (5) decoding; (6) the receiver; and (7) feedback.
The sender is the source of the communication.
Encoding means converting a message into symbolic form.
The message is the purpose to be conveyed in the communication.
The channel is the medium by which a message travels.
Decoding means translating a received message.
The receiver is the recipient of the communication.
Feedback is checking to see how successfully a message has been transferred.
Control Management-14
Control is the management function that involves monitoring activities to ensure that theyre
being accomplished as planned and correcting any significant deviations
The value of the control function can be seen in three specific areas: planning, empowering
employees, and protecting the workplace.
Feed forward Control-14
The most desirable type of controlfeedforward controlprevents problems because it
takes place before the actual activity starts.
Input, Processes, Output
Concurrent control-14
Control that takes place while a work activity is in progress.
Feedback control-14
Control that takes place after a work activity is done.
1. Feedback gives managers meaningful information on how effective their
planning efforts were. Feedback that shows little variance between standard
and actual performance indicates that the planning was generally on target. If
the deviation is significant, that information can be used to formulate new
plans.
2. Feedback enhances motivation because people want to know how well theyre
doing.
Operations management-15
Operations management refers to the design, operation, and control of the transformation
process that converts resources such as labor and raw materials into goods and services that
are sold to customers. Here in Exhibit 15-1 we see a simplified overview of the process of
creating value by converting inputs into outputs.
Operations management is important because: (1) it encompasses processes in both service
and manufacturing organizations, (2) its key to effectively and efficiently managing
productivity, and (3) it plays a strategic role in an organizations competitive success.

Manufacturing/Service Organizations-15
All organizations produce goods or services through the transformation process.
Manufacturing organizations produce tangible, physical goods such as cars, cell phones, and
food products. Service organizations produce nonphysical outputs such as medical and
health care services, transportation services, entertainment services, and so on.