supervisor
A manager at the first level of management
technical skills
The ability to apply specialized knowledge or expertise.
human relations skills
The ability to work effectively with other people.
conceptual skills
The ability to see the relation of the parts to the whole and to one another.
decision-making skills
The ability to analyze information and reach good decisions.
planning
Setting goals and determining how to meet them.
organizing
Setting up the group, allocating resources, and assigning work to achieve goals.
staffing
Identifying, hiring, and developing the necessary number and quality of employees.
leading
Influencing people to act (or not act) in a certain way.
controlling
Monitoring performance and making needed corrections.
accountability
The practice of imposing penalties for failing to adequately carry out responsibilities and providing rewards for meeting responsibilities.
productivity
The amount of results (output) an organization gets for a given amount of inputs.
quality control
An organization's efforts to prevent or correct defects in the goods or services or to improve them in some way.
product quality control
Quality control that focuses on ways to improve the product itself.
process control
Quality control that emphasizes how to do things in a way that leads to better quality.
statistical quality control
Looking for defects in parts or finished products selected through a sampling technique.
statistical process (SPC)
A quality-control technique using statistics to monitor production quality on an ongoing basis and making corrections whenever the results show the process is out of control.
zero-defects approach
A quality-control technique based on the view that everyone in the organization should work toward the goal of delivering such high quality that all aspects of the organization's goods and services are free of problems.
employee involvement teams
Teams of employees who plan ways to improve quality in their areas of organization.
Six Sigma
A process-oriented quality-control method designed to improve the product or service output to 99.997 percent perfect.
total quality management (TQM)
An organization-wide focus on satisfying customers by continuously improving every business process for delivering goods or services.
Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award
An annual award administered by the U.S. Department of Commerce and given to the company that shows the highest quality performance in seven categories.
ISO 9000
A series of standards adopted by International Organization for Standardization to spell out acceptable criteria for quality systems.
benchmarking
Identifying the top performer of a process, then learning and carrying out the top performer's practices.
value
The worth a customer places on a total package of goods and services relative to its cost.
overhead
Expenses not related directly to producing goods and services; examples are rent, utilities, and staff.
idle time, or downtime
Time during which employees or machines are not producing goods or services.
detour behavior
Tactics for postponing or avoiding work.
payback period
The length of time it will take for the benefits generated by an investment (such as cost savings from machinery) to offset the cost of the investment.
average rate of return (ARR)
A percentage that represents the average annual earnings for each dollar of a given investment.
turnover
The rate at which employees leave an organization.
group
Two or more people who interact with one another, are aware of one another, and think of themselves as a unit.
functional groups
Groups that fulfill ongoing needs in the organization by carrying out a particular function.
task groups
Groups that are set up to carry out a specific activity and then disband when the activity is completed.
formal groups
Groups set up by management to meet organizational objectives.
informal groups
Groups that form when individuals in the organization develop relationships to meet personal needs.
roles
Patterns of behavior related to employees' positions in a group.
role conflicts
Situations in which a person has two different roles that call for conflicting types of behavior.
norms
Group standards for appropriate or acceptable behavior.
status
A group member's position in relation to others in the group.
cohesiveness
The degree to which group members stick together.
homogeneity
The degree to which the members of a group are the same.
team
A small group whose members share goals, commitment, and accountability for results.
self-managing work teams
Groups of 5 to 15 members who work together to produce an entire product.
team building
Developing the ability of team members to work together to achieve common objectives.
agenda
A list of the topics to be covered at a meeting.
corporate social responsibility
Managerial obligation to take action that protects and improves the welfare of society and the organization's interests.
ethics
The principles by which people distinguish what is morally right.
code of ethics
An organization's written statement of its values and rules for ethical behavior.
nepotism
The hiring of one's relatives.
whistle-blower
Someone who exposes a violation of ethics or law.