Business Human Resources Terms – Flashcards
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Flexible work patterns
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the trend in having less core staff and more peripheral workers (such as part time staff and consultants) and subcontractors to improve the flexibility of the workspace
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Human Resource Management
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refers to the role of managers in developing the organizations people. such as the recruitment, selection, dismissal and training and development of employees
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Workforce planning (human resource planning)
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the management process of forecasting an organizations current and future staffing needs
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Internal Recruitment
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the practice of hiring people who already work for the firm to fill a position rather than recruiting someone new to the organization
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Job Description
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a document that outlines the nature of a job (ie the roles, tasks and responsibilities involved)
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Person Specification
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a business document that gives the profile of the ideal candidate for the job
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Job Analysis
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Shamrock Organization
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refers to Charles Handy's idea. operates with a core group of full-time long-term workers supported by others who work on contracts and part time
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Tele-working
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a method of workforce planning whereby employees work in a location away from the workplace such as a home or call center
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Short-listing
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refers to the process of sifting through applications to identify suitable candidates for the job
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Recruitment
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refers to the process of hiring suitable workers. this will entail a thorough job analysis to ensure that the best candidate is hired
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Accountability
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describes the extent to which a person is held responsible for the success or failure of a task
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Bureaucracy
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the official administrative and formal rules of an organization that govern business activity
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Centralization
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occur when the majority of decision making authority and responsibility is done by a small number of people (usually senior managers)
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Chain of command
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refers to the formal line of authority, shown in an organization chart, through which orders are passed down
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decentralization
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occur when some decision making authority and responsibility is passed on to others in the organization
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De-layering
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the process of removing levels in the hierarchy to flatten the organizational structure
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delegation
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empowerment of authority of a person lower down in the organizational structure
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flat organizational structure
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means that there are only a few layers in the formal hierarchy and hence managers have a wide span of control
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flexible structure
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not based on the traditional hierarchical organization of human resources but enable a business to adapt its labor resources when there is a need to respond to rapid change
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Paternalistic
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a system under which an authority undertakes to supply needs or regulate conduct of those under its control in matters affecting them as individuals as well as in their relations to authority and to each other.
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Situational Leadership
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refers to when the leader or manager of an organization must adjust his style to fit the development level of the followers he is trying to influence
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Laissez-faire leaders
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allow followers to have complete freedom to make decisions concerning the completion of their work. It allows followers a high degree of autonomy and self-rule, while at the same time offering guidance and support when requested.
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Blanchard & Hershey
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A situational leadership model which suggests that there is no single optimal leadership style, and successful leaders adjust their styles based on "follower maturity." Follower maturity is determined by the ability and confidence of the group they are attempting to lead.
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Charles Handy
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an Irish author/philosopher specialising in organisational behaviour and management. Among the ideas he has advanced are the "portfolio worker" and the "Shamrock Organization" (in which professional core workers, freelance workers and part-time/temporary routine workers each form one leaf of the "Shamrock").
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Peter Drucker
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Austrian-born American management consultant, educator, and author, whose writings contributed to the philosophical and practical foundations of the modern business
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delegation
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empowerment of authority of a person lower down in the organizational structure
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Empowerment
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to give power or authority to
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Fringe Benifits
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any of various benefits, as free life or health insurance, paid holidays, a pension, etc., received by an employee in addition to regular pay.
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Herzberg's Two-factor theory
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states that there are certain factors in the workplace that cause job satisfaction, while a separate set of factors cause dissatisfaction. It was developed by psychologist Frederick Herzberg, who theorized that job satisfaction and job dissatisfaction act independently of each other.[1]
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Hygiene factors
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the factors that characterize the context or environment of a person's work. They can be a cause of job dissatisfaction unless appropriately applied by an organization
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Motivators
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to provide with a motive or motives
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Mayo's Hawthorne effect
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Observation that employee motivation is affected as much or more by recognition and show of concern, as it is by improvements in their work conditions
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Job enlargement
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increasing the scope of a job through extending the range of its job duties and responsibilities generally within the same level and periphery.
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Job enrichment
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can be described as a medium through which management can motivate self-driven employees by assigning them additional responsibility normally reserved for higher level employees. By doing this, the employees feel like their work has meaning and is important to the company.
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Job rotation
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a management technique that assigns trainees to various structures and departments over a period of a few years.
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Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs
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organizational chart
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a diagrammatic representation of a firms formal structure
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offshoring
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a form of outsourcing that involves relocation business functions and processes to another country
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outsourcing
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the act of finding external people or businesses to carry out non core functions of a business
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span of control
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refers to the number of subordinates that are overseen by a manager
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matrix groups
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...
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tall organization structures
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means that there are many layers in the hierarchy
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responsibility
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refers to who is in charge of whom such as the staff in the finance department
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formal v informal groups
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formal is the official channels of communication that are established by the organization and informal are the channels established by the people within the organization
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communication channels
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the methods or routes through which information is passed down
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non verbal communication
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any form of communication other than oral communication
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autocratic leader
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refers to managers and leaders who adopt an authoritatrian style by making all decisions rather than delegating any responsibility to any employees
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contingency theory
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a leadership model that suggests the best leadership style depends on a range of interconnected factors. no single style suits all firms and all employees all of the time
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democratic leader
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refers to a decision maker who takes into account the views of others.
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Motivation
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the reason or reasons one has for acting or behaving in a particular way.
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Performance-related Pay (PRP)
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A financial reward system for employees where some or all of their monetary compensation is related to how their performance is assessed relative to stated criteria. Performance related pay can be used in a business context for how an individual, a team or the entire company performs during a given time frame.
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Piece rate
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compensation based on a worker's quantitative output or production, usually an agreed sum per article of work turned out.
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Productivity
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the state or quality of producing something, especially crops.
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Remuneration
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money paid for work or services
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Scientific management - Taylor
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An early 20th century school of management thought concerned primarily with the physical efficiency of an individual
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Time rate
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a rate for work which is calculated as money per hour or per week, and not money for work completed
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Corporate culture (organizational culture)
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the behavior of humans within an organization and the meaning that people attach to those behaviors.
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Culture clash
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a conflict arising from the interaction of people with different cultural values
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Arbitration
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form of alternative dispute resolution (ADR), is a technique for the resolution of disputes outside the courts.
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Collective bargaining
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negotiation of wages and other conditions of employment by an organized body of employees.
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Mediation
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intervention in a dispute in order to resolve it; arbitration.
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Deadlock
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a situation, typically one involving opposing parties, in which no progress can be made
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Strikes
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a refusal to work organized by a body of employees as a form of protest, typically in an attempt to gain a concession or concessions from their employer.
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Trade unions
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An organization whose membership consists of workers and union leaders, united to protect and promote their common interests.
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Walk out
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the act of leaving or being absent from a meeting, especially as an expression of protest.
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Work-to- rule
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Work-to-rule is an industrial action in which employees do no more than the minimum required by the rules of their contract, and precisely follow safety or other regulations in order to cause a slowdown, rather than to serve their purposes.
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Continuity planning
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The creation of a strategy through the recognition of threats and risks facing a company, with an eye to ensure that personnel and assets are protected and able to function in the event of a disaster.
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Contingency plans
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a plan designed to take a possible future event or circumstance into account
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Quantifiable risks (insurable)
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a risk that meets the ideal criteria for efficient insurance. The concept of insurable risk underlies nearly all insurance decisions.
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Unquantifiable risks (uninsurable)
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A hazard or condition that has either a high likelihood of loss, or in which the insurance would be considered against the law.
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