MGM102H5 Study Guide - Final Guide: Trade Union, Centripetal Force, David Breashears
Chapter 1- Intro to case studies Week 1
●General theme-learn by doing rather than listening
●Individual prep for cases= you must be able to structure questions to ask, define the problem, and
suggest solutions that could have tackled the issues, sort important info from irrelevant info
●Separate facts from opinions,analyze info, come to a conclusion
●Ask following questions: What business is the organization in? What are its objectives? What are
its strengths and weaknesses? What opportunities and threats exist? Who are its customers? What
does it have to do well to satisfy customers? How do you know? What is the decision to be made,
problem to be solved, or issue to be resolved? How do you know — what is your evidence?
● (Let the case data guide you — most cases will have sufficient data for you to “solve” the
problems and are unlikely to contain vast amounts of completely irrelevant data.)
●What facts are relevant and key to a solution? Are they symptoms? Causes? What is your
quantitative and qualitative evaluation of the organization’s strengths and weakness
Chapter 2-Organizational change and Information: Week 2
●4 ways to deal with change:
○allow room for failure
○have a consistent explanation for change
○ look for opportunities in unconventional ways
○ have the courage to follow the change and stand by it to convince others
●2 types of changes-proactive and reactive
●Proactive= planned change
●reactive= when need arises for change
●Need for change factors:
○Marketplace becoming more segmented and moving towards niche products
○More competitors offering targeted products
○Requiring faster speed-to-market ( ex;virgin)
○Offshore company influences like cheap labour
○Knowledge is comp. Adv now not info
●Internal factors for change: H.R concerns like job dissatisfaction, turnover rate, productivity,
participation, and unmet needs.
●External factors for change: technological, demographics, politics, and market changes.
●Three types of change=least to most threatening
○Adaptive=practiced within org already (changing employee hours from 8 to 12)
○Innovative=new to the organization (24 hour store hours)
○Radically innovative change=new to industry (shutting down and running e-commerce)
●Lewins model of change=Unfreezing, changing, refreezing
○unfreezing=recognize change
○changing= implement change
○freezing=practice change
●Kotters 8 steps to leading change=
○Establish urgency/right people for change needed/develop vision and strategy/
communicate vision/eliminate barriers to change/create short term wins/ consolidate
wins/ anchor new approaches
●Organisational Development=set of techniques to implement change that is planned
●O.D used for: managing conflict/ opening communication/ adopting mergers
●O.D Process=diagnosis, intervention, evaluation, feedback
●Resistance to change= established work routine. Resistance can be as subtle as passive
resignation and as overt as deliberate sabotage.
●causes=(1) employee characteristics, (2) change agent characteristics, and (3) the change
agent–employee relationship. For example, an employee’s resistance is partly based on his or her
perception of change, which is influenced by the attitudes and behaviors exhibited by the change
agent and the level of trust between change agent and the employee.
Major Question: How are employees threatened by change, and how can I help them adjust?
Chapter 3 -Entrepreneurship and starting small business Week 3
●entrepreneurship= taking risk of starting new business
●examples= roots, leon,canadian tire, sobeys
●Why do people become entrepreneurs:
○Wealth creation
○New ideas
○Interdependence
○Challenge
○Family pattern
○immigrants
●traits= goal oriented, risk takers, self nurturing, action oriented, quick learners
●Keep in mind, however, that not all ideas are opportunities. If your idea does not meet anyone
else’s needs, the business will not succeed.
●You may have a business idea that is a good opportunity if:
○It fills customers’ needs
○You have the skills and resources to start a business
○You can sell the product or service at a price customers are willing and able to pay—and
still make a profit
○You can get your product or service to customers before your window of opportunity
closes or before competitors with similar solutions beat you to the marketplace and
You can keep the business going.
●Females as entrepreneurs: stay longer in business, rates have risen from 27 to 33
●SME=fewer than 500 people
●Why are there more women?
○Financial needs, lack of promotions, age and skills become old, family responsibility
(single moms start home businesses), public awareness of other female success stories
● Higher Rate of Success for Women?
○Women feel less pressured than men to achieve quick results.
○They are a little more cautious, so they make fewer mistakes.
○They also accept advice more readily than men, who may feel that they need to know it
all.
●What can the government do for entrepreneurs?
○SME research and Stats site
○Canada accelerator and incubator program
●intrapreneurs= entrepreneurs within organisations
●Business incubators= centres for businesses that provide advice, services, and space.
●micropreneurs= less than 5 workers
●micro-enterprises=owned by micropreneurs, less than 5 workers
●Business establishment must meet the following criteria= have 1 paid employee, annual sales of
30 K, have filed corporate income tax return in previous 3 years
●Small business= independently owned and not dominant in its field, 1-100 workers
●Canada accounts for 98.2 small businesses, rest have more than 100 employees
●In addition to providing employment opportunities, small firms believe they offer other
advantages over larger companies—more personal customer service and the ability to respond
quickly to opportunities.
●Causes of failure in small businesses?
● To help you succeed as a business owner, explore the five functions of business in a
small-business setting
○Planning your business/ Financing your business (finance)/ Knowing your customers
(marketing) /Managing your employees (human resources) /Keeping records (accounting)
●Managing small business:
●Planning
○Business plan=detailed plan that describes nature of business
●Financing:
○angel investors=private investors who invest in hot companies before they go public
○Venture capitalists= invest in order to become partners
○crowd-funding= collecting funds through the public on social media-example kickstarter
Consumers
○market is individuals with resources and unsatisfied needs that need to be met
Managing employees
Keeping records
Asking for help
●Small businesses have several advantages over large businesses in international trade, which
include the following:
○ Overseas buyers enjoy dealing with individuals rather than with large corporate
bureaucracies
○Small companies can usually begin shipping much faster
○Small companies can support a wide variety of suppliers
Document Summary
Chapter 1- intro to case studies week 1. General theme-learn by doing rather than listening. Individual prep for cases= you must be able to structure questions to ask, define the problem, and suggest solutions that could have tackled the issues, sort important info from irrelevant info. Separate facts from opinions,analyze info, come to a conclusion. (let the case data guide you most cases will have sufficient data for you to solve the problems and are unlikely to contain vast amounts of completely irrelevant data. ) What is your quantitative and qualitative evaluation of the organization"s strengths and weakness. Have the courage to follow the change and stand by it to convince others. Marketplace becoming more segmented and moving towards niche products. Adv now not info participation, and unmet needs. Internal factors for change: h. r concerns like job dissatisfaction, turnover rate, productivity, External factors for change: technological, demographics, politics, and market changes. Three types of change=least to most threatening.