Topic 1 Business Management and Change
Australian Institute of Management
http://www.aim.com.au/nsw/events/news.htm
The Australian Institute of Management is one of Australia's main
organisations dedicated to improving Australian management. This is
the news section. Briefly glance at the news section and identify
topics that are in the news for managers, and open one of the items
and read it. In August the topics included, Equal Opportunity in the
workplace, delivering profitable value, e-business and empowering
your staff to keep customers.
Business
Review Weekly
http://www.brw.com.au
The Business Review Weekly is useful for analysing business
management and change. Browse the menu for articles on businesses and
read an article about a firm making a major decision for the future.
Think about the strategic thinking behind the idea. Draw a diagram
and then show the expected/likely outcomes of this strategic decision
by the firm's management.
HSC
Online
http://www.hsc.csu.edu.au/busstud/courses/2unit/action/change/63/action.html#NIKE
This is a site with many studies and links about Business Management
and Change. Open one of the articles and explore how business
management has responded to change. This site is useful in that it
discusses the element of change within the business environment and
how this change may effect management strategies. The page looks at
Nike, which can be used in The Business Environment section of this
topic.
Australian
Investment and Securities Commission
http://www.asic.gov.au
"The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) is one
of three Commonwealth government bodies that regulate financial
services. It is the single national regulator of Australia's 1.1
million companies" - from the ASIC website read the section on ASIC
and identify its role, functions and why it is important in business
management. ( http://www.asic.gov.au/about/index.htm
)
Australian
Competition and Consumer Commission
http://www.accc.gov.au
The ACCC site (Australian Competition and Consumer Commission) is the
major site for business competition and fair play. You should
familiarise yourself about the site and search it. The following
media release discusses Unconscionable Conduct. After reading the
Unconscionable Conduct Guidelines answer the following question: When
management tries to reconcile conflicts of interest among
stakeholders, which group of stakeholders gets looked after first,
second, third? http://www.accc.gov.au/media/mr1998/mr200-98.html
Return to HSC Topic 1 Business Management and Change Index
Section 2 Understanding Business Organisation with Reference to Management Theories
Weber
Speaks
http://www.faculty.rsu.edu/~felwell/Theorists/Weber/Whome.htm#Bureaucracy
This site highlights Weber's ideas which are important for
management.
Taylor Speaks
http://cupid.ecom.unimelb.edu.au/het/taylor/sciman.htm
Taylor 's Fundamentals of Scientific Management. - A speech given in
1911 This site highlights Taylor's ideas that are important for
management - even to this day. From the Radford University (Dead
Sociologists Index) More on Taylor can be read at the following site
http://www.ideafinder.com/facts/inventors/taylor.htm
Reports
on McGregor and Mayo Theories
http://westrek.hypermart.net/maslow/od_hr_04.htm
These sites about McGregor and Mayo's theories highlight their main theoretical ideas. You will need to be able to explain why these two theories have been important in studying business management. Do you agree with theory X and Y and Mayo's idea of a sense of belonging? You will need to be able to explain how they motivate business employees.
The
W. Edward Deming Institute
http://www.deming.org/deminghtml/teachings.html
http://www.deming.org/deminghtml/deming.html
Deming's ideas on Total Quality Management ( TQM ) have revolutionised management thinking about how to provide the highest quality of goods and services to the consumer. Deming's teaching and 14 management points can be identified from the institutes sites above. It will be important for you to be able to explain how Deming's teachings form the basis of TQM.
Business
Management and Change Example
http://alex.edfac.usyd.edu.au/Methods/HSIE/Year%202%20mteachBus/bus.m2#Business
Management and Change
Controlling and Corrective Action are an important part of management's role. Open the example and consider the questions that the businesses management will have to consider for the business to survive in this changing environment.
Henry Ford's leadership
http://www.hfmgv.org/histories/hf/henry.html
How Ford Motor Company is managed nowadays.
http://www.ford.com
(Ford Company Annual Report, see Open Management.)
Open the Henry Ford site and read about Henry Ford's leadership and the Ford Motor Company management today. How would you contrast the older and modern management structures. In what ways are modern management more responsive to change?
Levi
Strauss
http://www.levistrauss.com./sitemap/sitemap.html
Open the Levi' company's website sitemap and browse the corporate
culture and company history sections and identify aspects of the
firms management structures and operations.
Australia
Quality Council
http://www.aqc.org.au/frames/frameset_ob_intro.html
Browse the part of the site about the Australia Quality Council site and find out why the Australian Quality Council was introduced and what support they offer business to improve business management's capability to improve the quality of goods and services.
Return to HSC Topic 1 Business Management and Change Index
Fisher
and Paykel
http://www.fp.co.nz/Corporate.html
Fisher and Paykel is a New Zealand firm with a record of product innovation and the ability to respond to changing business environment. Browse the corporate site and read about trading conditions, corporate history and new products.
Virgin
and Impulse
http://www.virginblue.com.au/
http://www.sydney.citysearch.com.au/impulse/about.html
Both of these new entrants into the Australian Airline domestic
industry have changed the business
environment with their low fares. Open both sites and inspect their
deals and flight costs. How do you imagine that the existing
businesses Qantas and Ansett will respond to these changing business
conditions. Note that both Virgin and Impulse are bypassing
traditional travel agents and are encouraging consumers to book
directly through their websites.
e-commerce
http://www.brw.com.au/root_brw/brwlibrary/infoeconomy/infoeconomy_ecommerce.htm
Business Review Weekly's Library of e-commerce reports. Open two of the reports and browse them. Identify the way business management might respond to changes that e-commerce may cause in the business environment.
Nick
Lesson story
http://www.bananas-in-pyjamas.com.au/rn/talks/8.30/busrpt/bstories/br010903.htm
A radio national business report that gives some insight into how
Nick Leeson ( whose story
has been made into a film " Rogue Trader " ) destroyed a bank by
trading in derivatives.
Case
study coca cola
http://www.coca-cola.com.au/
Click on the annual report and read about changing business
conditions, click on environmental policy and examine the company
environmental policies and claims.
Return to HSC Topic 1 Business Management and Change Index
Kimberley
Clark
http://www.kimberly-clark.com/
Kimberley Clark is a major manufacturer of tissues and other consumer paper products. The issues with tissues - response to feedback form on tissues can be accessed at http://www.ntwn.rubix.net.au/mail/kleenex.html Tissues are made out of woodchips so Kimberley Clark has been involved in environmental disputes including this one over woodchipping in the Otway in Victoria http://oren.org.au/media/mr11121998.htm
James
Hardie Industries
Http://www.jameshardie.com/CII/
Investor and Corporate information provides a useful snapshot of
how the company is organised and structured. Http://www.jameshardie.com/CII/businessdivisions.htm
James Hardie is corporate sponsor for many organisations see if you
can identify James Hardies
corporate sponsorships by browsing their website.
Fisher
and Paykel
http://www.fp.co.nz/Corporate.html
The Fisher and Paykel site allows you to inspect the firms operations
from the point of environmentally sound and ethical behaviour - after
all they do make energy consuming consumer appliances. See if the
site has information that can be used to measure their '
environmental " credentials.
There
are many anti-transnational sites. Community Aid Abroad and
Greenpeace operate sites which question the business management of
transnationals like Nike and Adidas. Their sites often have campaigns
devoted to questioning the behaviour and ethics of major global
companies
http://www.greenpeace.org.au
http://www.caa.org.au
Anti globalisation sites are numerous - for example the http://www.s11.org site is against world trade. Open these sites and browse for anti-transnational sites and examine their comments on the business, labour and ethical practices of three transnationals. Open the transnationals site and examine their responses to criticism of their business management.
Return to HSC Topic 1 Business Management and Change Index
During Higher School Certificate Business Studies we will be using
MIM ( Mount Isa Mines ) as a case study to highlight its importance
in the Higher School Certificate course. Each student should receive
MIM Annual Report 1999 in their notes.
As well we will be visiting the MIM website to see how the MIM
management team
Return to HSC Topic 1 Business Management and Change Index
Standard
Referenced Assessment Items For Topic 1
Multiple-choice Questions
Short Answer Questions
Return to HSC Topic 1 Business Management and Change Index
1. Managerial roles incorporate
a) interpersonal, informational, decisional
b) flat, hierarchical, horizontal
c) negotiator, coalition builder, systems monitor
d) planner, leader, controller
Answer - Outcome Assessed - performance band
2. Mayo's research showed that employee productivity is strongly
influenced by:
a) the social environment
b) financial incentives
c) the physical environment
d) the employee's gender and other circumstances
Answer - Outcome Assessed - performance band
3. Ethics is concerned with the
a) businesses economic obligations to society
b) businesses legal obligations to obey the law
c) businesses social obligations to society
d) businesses moral obligations to society
Answer - Outcome Assessed - performance band
4. As firms grow larger and commence international production,
their organisation structure is more like to reflect
a) function
b) matrix
c) division
d) product
Answer - Outcome Assessed - performance band
Band
1 D - H3.2 evaluates the effectiveness of management in the organisation and operations of business and its responsiveness to change - 2-3
2 A - H3.1 explains management theories and strategies and their impact on business - 2-4
3 D - H4.1 critically analyses the social and ethical responsibilities of management 2-4
H3.3 analyses the impact of management decision-making on stakeholders - 2-4
4 C - H2.1 describes and analyses business functions and operations and their impact on business success
H3.3 analyses the impact of management decision-making on stakeholders - 3-5
Read the following two articles NeXT Computers and Neurogen Laboratories Technology at Work and answer the questions below.
Article 1
|
NeXT Computers by intensifying their technology are able to introduce new products and improve existing products more effectively than in the past. Much of this advantage flows from extensive use of automation. When Steven Jobs launched his computer firm NeXT, he decided early on that manufacturing and technology would be the core of his business. He created an almost fully automated plant that operates with only six causal workers. Company engineers who design a new circuitboard on their office computers can transmit specifications to the plant by modem and pick up the completed board in 20 minutes. The boards are made with such precision that there are fewer than twenty defects per million units produced. |
Article 2
|
Neurogen Laboratories |
i. Identify strategies that business management takes to ensure that they keep pace with technology. 3 Marks
ii. Discuss why Neurogen Laboratories need to ensure that their technology matches the current computer technology. 3 Marks
iii. Prepare a short report on why technology change provides a major competitive challenge for business. 4 Marks
Outcomes Assessed by the Question
H3.2 evaluates the effectiveness of management in the organisation and operations of business and its responsiveness to change
H4.2 evaluates management strategies in response to internal and external factors
H5.3 communicates business information, ideas and issues, using relevant business terminology and concepts in appropriate forms.
Back to standard referenced items
Identifies three strategies that management takes to maximise advantages of new technology.
Back to the short answer question