VCE Business Management Question Thread!

[Einstein]

possibly also emotional intelligence

[Jawnle]

Delegation, stress management, time management.

I understand how stress management would be one because of the lack of direction may cause concern. But for delegation, wouldn't the manager leave employees to do most of the decision making anyway? So there wouldn't be any delegating happening?

[Einstein]

he would delegate the authority to start of with. He will delegate for all kinds of tasks

[gs]

Happy to answer a few difficult questions, and provide some structure for such answers.

[Einstein]

corporate culture is my weakest point. When it ask stuff like

discuss 3 difficulties mr smith will face when merging organisations etc..

what three strategies can mr smith use to establish a positive culture?

describe any three practical strategies that Mr smith can do to encourage ethical org behaviour by managers and employees?

[Billion]

discuss 3 difficulties mr smith will face when merging organisations etc..
When merging two organisations together, you're going to have two different corporate cultures. One company may have a more relax corporate culture, while the other may have a much more formal/strict corporate culture in which these opposing culture could cause confusion and conflict, leading to a decrease in productivity, profitability etc.
Other difficulties can include poor workplace synergy (new employees), confusion of employee roles and responsibilities etc.

what three strategies can mr smith use to establish a positive culture?
Positive corporate culture can be establish through many things such as:
- Management providing an example of the culture in action
- Management recognising and rewarding the appropriate action.
- Management communicating aspects of the desired culture.
- Recruiting employees that fit in with the desired culture.
- Management need to provide training.
- Providing a clearly defined vision and mission statement.

describe any three practical strategies that Mr smith can do to encourage ethical org behaviour by managers and employees?
- Have a strong corporate culture.
'Organisations can encourage, develop and establish a strong, ethical and socially responsible culture. Management can set the tone of what is acceptable and what is unacceptable behaviour through carefully developing policies and programs. Senior management can reinforce a commitment to the highest standards by rewarding ‘saints’ and openly discouraging ‘sinners’. Not only does the official corporate culture need to support ESM, but the organisation’s real culture has to reflect the same standards'

- Have strong leadership
'ESM relies on leadership by senior management. When senior managers do not exhibit honesty and integrity, then these ethical values are unlikely to be found in other parts of the organisation. Employees take their lead from the behaviours that are modelled.'

- Correct and effective management styles
'Organisations that are committed to ESM typically apply more democratic management styles such as consultative or participative styles. Democratic styles are more inclusive of employees and automatically value the contributions they can make to the decision-making process. While democratic styles are seen as the most consistent with ESM, other styles of an employer-centred nature can also reflect ethical values such as fairness and integrity.'

- Correct and effective management skills
'A commitment to ESM brings several management skills into play. Communication is important to ensure that ESM policies are known and understood throughout the organisation. ESM gives rise to many situations that require negotiation skills and negotiated settlements, particularly in more democratic organisations.'

I've included my responses under your questions in your quote.
Hope this helps!

[Einstein]

hey, thanks heaps for that! +1 

Just a few more questions, could you give me some examples of strategic, tactical and operational objectives

and just as an overall, when it asks about describe ways you can create a positive workplace (through positive corporate culture, how would i go about answering things like this.

im struggling with questions that ask stuff like, give two strategies that mr smith can use to show customers he is being ethically responsible (customers don't believe he is mining diamonds ethically) etc

thanks heaps :0

[Jawnle]

Could someone please clarify this for me?

Vertical Specialisation is the
. Bureaucratic Structure
. Flatter structure

Horizontal Specialisation is the
. Functional
. Divisional
. Matrix

And do these have the same meaning in relation to the vertical specialisation?

Centralised structure (Tall, Traditional, Bureaucratic, Hierarchical)
Decentralised structure (Flat, Modern, Horizontal)

Thanks!

[EspoirTron]

Could someone please clarify this for me?

Vertical Specialisation is the
. Bureaucratic Structure
. Flatter structure

Horizontal Specialisation is the
. Functional
. Divisional
. Matrix

And do these have the same meaning in relation to the vertical specialisation?

Centralised structure (Tall, Traditional, Bureaucratic, Hierarchical)
Decentralised structure (Flat, Modern, Horizontal)

Thanks!

You're quite right. I am sorry though, what did you mean by your last question?

[Jawnle]

You're quite right. I am sorry though, what did you mean by your last question?

Sorry let me rephrase that,
Do the following mean the same thing?

Tall, Traditional, Bureaucratic and Hierarchical structures

Flatter, Modern, Horizontal structures

[Billion]

hey, thanks heaps for that! +1 

Just a few more questions, could you give me some examples of strategic, tactical and operational objectives

and just as an overall, when it asks about describe ways you can create a positive workplace (through positive corporate culture, how would i go about answering things like this.

im struggling with questions that ask stuff like, give two strategies that mr smith can use to show customers he is being ethically responsible (customers don't believe he is mining diamonds ethically) etc

thanks heaps :0

Frontline (operational) objectives focus on ensuring the successful operation of the organisation through day to day activities such as the management of resources, employees etc.

Strategic planning provides intermediate goals to reach overall organisation goals, planning of this area could consist of labour resourcing, diving human resources, storage of materials and finished products etc.

Finally, strategic planning are the long term strategies to turn organisation goals into realities. This can consist of deciding how quality will be achieved and maintained, facilities location, overall design of operation processes etc.

In regards to your second question, with the list of ways I gave you in my other post, you just expand on those ideas.
For example, management could help influence positive corporate culture through rituals, rites and celebrations – these provide a sense of belonging and acknowledge what is important in the organisation, increasing employee job satisfactory, job morale and obviously productivity within the organisation.

For your third question, it sounds like a more social responsibility issue, rather than ethical responsibility. However, if it's part of a case study look for ethical dilemmas such as is he employing local workers and paying them ethically? Is he making them work ethical and suitable hours? Does he provide them with holidays and breaks? Are the conditions ethical? Does he care about their overall wellbeing and their families security (he might often invest in occupational health and safety visits for the workers) etc.

Hope this helps!

[Jawnle]

Hey guys I did a practise sac a few weeks ago and one of the questions on it was asking for indicators of corporate culture.
So I would have talked about:
•   Company logo
•   Uniform
•   Symbols and slogans
•   Physical appearance of employees and furniture
•   Policies and procedures
•   Language
•   Behaviour
•   Customer relations
•   How people address each other
•   Management styles exhibited
•   Rituals (what they celebrate)

But my teacher said that there were other indicators. She showed me in our textbook (Cambridge) and they were under the heading "Differences in corporate culture". It had:
- Degree to which people are encouraged to become risk takers and innovators
- Attention to detail
- People orientation
- Task or process orientation
- Team orientation
- Level of competitiveness
- Degree of emphasis on ethical and social responsibilities
- Diversity among employees
- Age of the organisation

Which indicators do you think I should use in my answers? The ones with the "•" or "- " ? Thanks!

[Billion]

I don't really see the problem if you don't lose any marks. She may be just letting you know of other indicators. However, I'd personally use the first list that you have. However, if the teacher wants you to use the second list, use that for your sacs, as she will ultimately be the one who is marking the sacs. Come exam time, you should use your first list as VCAA have explicitly said on the 2013 exam question 3b)
Indicators of corporate culture include
- rituals, rites and celebrations – these provide a sense of belonging and acknowledge what is important in the
organisation
- heroes – these are the organisation’s successful employees who are held up as an example for others
- dress code, traditional, casual, uniform – this shows the degree of formality within the organisation
- structures and management styles – these show the relationships between staff and managers
- layout of working environment – open plan fosters teamwork, whereas closed offices do not.

Many of these overlap in your first list, however there are many, many more.

[Einstein]

we didn't cover heroes at my school

[Jawnle]

I don't really see the problem if you don't lose any marks. She may be just letting you know of other indicators. However, I'd personally use the first list that you have. However, if the teacher wants you to use the second list, use that for your sacs, as she will ultimately be the one who is marking the sacs. Come exam time, you should use your first list as VCAA have explicitly said on the 2013 exam question 3b)
Indicators of corporate culture include
- rituals, rites and celebrations – these provide a sense of belonging and acknowledge what is important in the
organisation
- heroes – these are the organisation’s successful employees who are held up as an example for others
- dress code, traditional, casual, uniform – this shows the degree of formality within the organisation
- structures and management styles – these show the relationships between staff and managers
- layout of working environment – open plan fosters teamwork, whereas closed offices do not.

Many of these overlap in your first list, however there are many, many more.

Yeah I agree with you, thanks.
Another question, when a question asks "How does an employee learn the corporate culture of an organisation?", would you talk about how they recognise it (the list above) or how a manager develops it (teaches them)?