§-Business Management Q&A
VIC · VCAA← Business Management
Business Management Q&A by dot point
A short Q&A bank for every VIC Business Management syllabus dot point. Each question and answer is drawn directly from our worked dot-point page, so you can scan key concepts before opening the long-form answer.
Unit 1: Planning a business
Unit 2: Establishing a business
Unit 3: Managing a business
Workplace relations under the Fair Work Act 2009 - the National Employment Standards, modern awards, enterprise agreements, and the role of the Fair Work Commission - and methods of dispute resolution including negotiation, mediation, conciliation and arbitration
Business objectives - to make a profit, to increase market share, to fulfil a market need, to fulfil a social need, to meet shareholder expectations - and the relationship between businesses and their objectives
Corporate culture - the official corporate culture (the formally communicated values, mission, vision, policies and rituals) and the real corporate culture (the actual day-to-day behaviour, norms and beliefs of employees) - and strategies managers use to develop and align both
Key elements of an operations system - inputs, processes and outputs; characteristics of operations management within manufacturing and service businesses; strategies to improve operations - facilities design and layout, materials management, quality management, technological developments, global sourcing, waste minimisation, lean management
Management styles - autocratic, persuasive, consultative, participative, laissez-faire - including the appropriateness of each in different situations; management skills - communication, delegation, planning, leading, decision making, interpersonal, time management, problem solving, emotional intelligence
Motivation theories - Maslow's hierarchy of needs, Locke and Latham's goal-setting theory, and Lawrence and Nohria's four-drive theory; motivation strategies including performance-related pay, career advancement, investment in training, support strategies and sanction strategies; appropriateness of each in different contexts
Strategies to improve operations efficiency and effectiveness - materials management strategies (forecasting, master production schedule, materials requirement planning, Just In Time), quality strategies (quality control, quality assurance, Total Quality Management), and lean management (waste minimisation)
Training options - on-the-job and off-the-job - and their benefits; performance management strategies - management by objectives, appraisals, self-evaluation, employee observation; termination management - retirement, redundancy, resignation, dismissal, and the entitlement and transition issues involved
Types of businesses - sole trader, partnership, private limited company, public listed company, social enterprise, government business enterprise - and their objectives; stakeholders of a business and their interests; corporate culture (official and real)
Unit 4: Transforming a business
Communication during change - the role and purpose of communication, the audiences (employees, customers, suppliers, shareholders, community, regulators), the channels (town-halls, internal newsletters, intranet, direct manager briefings, media releases, customer notices), and the principles of effective change communication
The effect of change on stakeholders of a business - including owners, managers, employees, customers, suppliers and the community - and corporate social responsibility considerations when reviewing performance and implementing change
Forces for change - driving forces (owners, managers, employees, customers, competitors, suppliers, technology, globalisation, innovation, legislation, societal attitudes, pursuit of profit, reduction of costs) and restraining forces (managers, employees, time, organisational inertia, financial considerations, legislation) - and proactive versus reactive approaches to change
Key performance indicators - percentage of market share, net profit figures, rate of productivity growth, number of sales, rates of staff absenteeism, level of staff turnover, level of wastage, number of customer complaints, number of workplace accidents - and their interpretation; Lewin's force field analysis of driving and restraining forces of change
Lewin's three-step change model - unfreeze, change (transition), refreeze - as a framework for managing a planned organisational change, and the management actions appropriate at each stage
Low-risk and high-risk strategies for implementing change - the tactics, the contexts in which each is appropriate, and the costs and benefits of each, including manipulation and threat as high-risk strategies
Porter's generic strategies - lower cost and differentiation - as approaches to strategic management, and their use in positioning a business to respond to driving forces for change
Senge's learning organisation - personal mastery, mental models, shared vision, team learning, systems thinking; low-risk and high-risk strategies for implementing change; leadership during change; the importance of leadership styles and management skills in implementing change