The Routledge Dictionary of Business Management

A fully comprehensive resource for those wanting to know about the world of business management. Students and working professionals alike can enjoy quick and accessible definitions and the extensive cross-referencing system allows readers broader access to subject areas. This dictionary covers all the topics, issues and terms in the field, including:

● Business economics ● Consumer behaviour ● Corporate strategy ● Financial management ● Human resource management ● Information technology ● Management accounting ● Marketing ● Organizational behaviour and work psychology

Dr David A. Statt was formerly Academic Director of Edinburgh Business School. He has worked as a manager, a consultant, a trainer and an academic in Britain, Canada and the United States.

David A. Statt First published 1991 as The Concise Dictionary of Management by Routledge Second edition first published 1999 by Routledge Third edition first published 2004 as The Routledge Dictionary of Business Management by Routledge 11 New Fetter Lane, London EC4P 4EE Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada by Routledge 29 West 35th Street, New York, NY 10001 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group

This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2004. ©1991,1999,2004 David A. Statt All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data The Routledge dictionary of business management / David A. Statt. – 3rd ed., rev. and enl. p. cm. – (The Routledge dictionaries) Rev. ed. of: Concise dictionary of business management. 2nd ed. 1999. 1. Management – Dictionaries. 2. Business – Dictionaries. I. Statt, David A., 1942– II. Statt, David A., 1942– Concise dictionary of business management. III. Series. HD30.15.S73 2004 658Ј.003–dc22 2003023572

ISBN 0-203-36205-5 Master e-book ISBN

ISBN 0-203-66957-6 (Adobe eReader Format) ISBN 0–415–32819–5 (Print Edition) For Judith Acknowledgements

My thanks go to Rosie Waters, my editor at Routledge, for her patient and thoughtful co-operation during the commissioning and preparation of this new edition. Although I managed to do all the word processing myself this time, unlike the previous editions, I was still in great need of the unflagging support and TLC provided by my wife Judith, to whom the book is dedicated. I would like to thank the following publishers for their kind permission to reproduce material from their publications: Palgrave Macmillan Press Ltd. for figures taken from two of my own books, Psychology and the World of Work (Figure 39) and Understanding the Consumer (Figures 1, 10, 11, 13, 18, 31 and 32). Figure 22 is taken from Theories of Group Process, C. Cooper (ed.), 1975, and reproduced by permission of John Wiley & Sons Limited.

Edinburgh October 2003 Introduction

There are two major changes in this work from the previous edition, and both are immediately apparent to the reader. The title has changed from Concise Dictionary of Business Management to Routledge Dictionary of Business Management, and this change in turn reflects both a different approach and a considerable addition to the content of the book. This new material has taken several forms.

1 Updating All the terms in the previous edition were considered first from a viewpoint of their relevance to the broader business orientation of this edition as well as currency of usage. Some sixty-six terms that seemed now to be outmoded, beyond the book’s business management focus, or too much a part of common parlance now to require definition, have been dropped. The remaining terms were then considered in the light of the developments in their field since the late 1990s, and modified wherever necessary to take account of these developments. Wherever it seemed desirable terms in the dictionary were then expanded to provide more information and background while remaining within the book’s spirit of being written as concisely and accessibly as possible.

2 Additional terms About a couple of hundred new entries have been added to the previous edition in keeping with the broader business orientation of the present edition. In particular, many terms have been included from such areas (in alphabetical order of course) as business economics, consumer behaviour, corporate strategy, financial management, human resource management, information technology, management accounting, marketing, organizational behaviour and work psychology. One other important feature of the book that has been retained from the previous edition is the cross-referencing to other relevant entries. These entries are printed in SMALL CAPITALS and this allows the reader quickly to identify and to follow up other terms which appear within the particular entry being consulted. With the addition of so many new terms this feature of the book has obviously been expanded considerably, and a reader interested in doing so can now follow a thread that will lead through whole areas of content such as those outlined in the preceding paragraph. Perhaps an example might help to illustrate how this process could help the reader engaged in searching or browsing for information. Let’s take the term INFORMATION, TECHNOLOGY, for instance. The entry for this term leads us through two large content viii Introduction areas. We will first of all find cross-references to COMPUTER, COMMUNICATION, ARTIFICIAL, INTELLIGENCE and SYSTEMS, THEORY, which in turn will give us access, if we wish to have it, to the general effects of the way electronic equipment is used in business and management. At the same time our original entry on INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY will suggest that we consult MAN–MACHINE INTERFACE and ERGONOMICS, which in turn will lead us to such key terms as PSYCHOLOGY, and ORGANIZATION, from where we can branch out into virtually any aspect of human resource management. Terms that use ‘man’, like ECONOMIC MAN or MAN–MACHINE INTERFACE, refer invariably to both men and women. However, as a dictionary has to reflect actual practice this usage has been retained. As this revised edition so clearly shows, writing a dictionary like this is, perhaps even more than in most academic endeavours, a bit like painting the Forth Bridge. And because it is a continuous activity both the author and the publisher of this book would be delighted to receive suggestions from readers (whether on style, content or format) that we might be able to incorporate in the next edition. A

ABB See ACTIVITY-BASED BUDGETING. access time The amount of time taken to retrieve information from the storage ABC See ACTIVITY-BASED COSTING. facility of a COMPUTER and make it availability Being able to perform a partic- able for use. See also INFORMATION ular TASK. Implicit in the use of the term RETRIEVAL. is that no further TRAINING is required in accident prevention The policy or order to do so, thus distinguishing it from procedures followed in a workplace to an APTITUDE. See also COMPETENCIES for prevent accidents to employees, or at least an alternative usage. to reduce the occurrence of accidents. It above the line advertising This is a includes physical aspects like the proper form of SALES PROMOTION where an housing of machinery or the provision of agency is commissioned to place adver- protective clothing, and managerial tising for a client in the MASS MEDIA. It is aspects such as effective supervision and usually contrasted with BELOW THE LINE TRAINING. ADVERTISING which has overtaken it in accidents popularity in recent years. The ‘line’ in Mishaps that take place at question was originally on a company’s work and may be caused by carelessness, by inadequate safety precautions, or by balance sheet but in MARKETING this usage chance. By law, in the United Kingdom, has now been lost. accidents causing death or major injury absenteeism The absence from WORK must be reported by the employers or the of an employee during normal working appropriate authority. Employees are gen- hours, whether voluntary or involuntary. erally entitled to record details of any Voluntary absence is usually considered injuries resulting from accidents in an to be avoidable and without reasonable accident book kept at the workplace, and cause; in effect the employee chooses to this may be used as evidence for insur- be absent. Involuntary absence is usually ance purposes. Some people are thought held to be unavoidable and outside the to be more accident prone than others for employee’s control, for reasons such as psychological reasons. While people’s unusually difficult weather conditions, DEPRESSION or unhappiness may decrease breakdown of transport, or sickness. their awareness of their surroundings and A high absenteeism rate is a sign of orga- affect their reactions to a potentially dan- nizational ill-health in a WORK ORGANIZA- gerous situation (in anyone at any time), TION. It is also likely that much of the these factors play only a minor role in the absenteeism through sickness is job incidence of industrial injury. related, either physically in the form of accountability [1] Being answerable INDUSTRIAL DISEASES or emotionally in to others for some actions, for example, to the form of PSYCHOSOMATIC DISORDERS. a SUPERVISOR for completing a task or to See also PRESENTEEISM. a board of directors for company PER- ABT See ACTIVITY-BASED TECHNIQUE. FORMANCE. [2] Having responsibility and 2 accounting

AUTHORITY for seeing that something is acquisitive society A society in carried out as expected, for example, that which people are constantly encouraged sales targets are met or that a BUDGET has to possess things, for example our own. It been properly spent. has been argued by many economists and others that if we did not have this encour- accounting The establishment, main- agement our economy would collapse. tenance, collection and analysis of financial records. It is used to provide data on action-centred leadership A tech- the financial position of an ORGANIZATION nique of MANAGEMENT DEVELOPMENT,first and any changes that have occurred or suggested in the United Kingdom in the that may occur, over time. This is one early 1980s by John Adair, which seeks to fundamental aspect of the profession (or provide TRAINING in LEADERSHIP through art) of accountancy. See also MANAGE- practical problem solving. This is an MENT ACCOUNTING. approach to leadership which emphasizes doing rather than being and concentrates accounting period The length of time on the particular behaviour expected of a between the financial reports produced by leader. It does this by studying situations an ORGANIZATION. If the reports are for that may vary depending on the needs of internal use the period is usually either the individual, the GROUP and the TASK a week or a month; for external informa- at hand. tion it is usually a year. action learning A technique of MAN- account management The MANAGE- AGEMENT DEVELOPMENT produced in the MENT of individual client accounts in an United Kingdom by R.G. Revans as an ADVERTISING, MARKETING or PUBLIC RELA- antidote to formal business school meth- TIONS agency. ods of TRAINING. As its name implies, this acculturation The process of learning technique focuses on dealing with real and immediate problems, usually within the to adapt to a new CULTURE. Of crucial importance to expatriate managers. individual’s own ORGANIZATION and as part of a GROUP of MANAGERS who contribute achievement culture An ORGANIZA- different experiences and SKILLS. The indi- TIONAL CULTURE that fosters ACHIEVEMENT vidual is thus given the opportunity to and, under certain conditions, perhaps learn about GROUP PROCESS and to gain also the NEED FOR ACHIEVEMENT in its insight into her or his own behaviour while members. acquiring practical knowledge and skills.

ACORN Acronym for ‘A Classification action research First proposed by of Residential Neighbourhoods’. Used in KURT LEWIN in the 1930s in his work on MARKETING research on GEODEMOGRAPHIC GROUP DYNAMICS. The objective of this SEGMENTATION to rank neighbourhoods by kind of research is to harness an under- SOCIO-ECONOMIC STATUS. Its most recent standing of the GROUP behaviour being version lists thirty-eight types of neigh- studied to the attempted solution of prac- bourhood by variables like household tical problems within an organizational or composition or age structure and uses des- social setting. It therefore has both an criptions such as ‘older suburban singles’. applied and a theoretical aspect to it, and The term is the British equivalent of the often includes monitoring and EVALUA- American PRIZM. TION RESEARCH on effectiveness as well. administrative management theory 3 activities analysis One of three tech- adjusts to changes in the light, or niques suggested by PETER DRUCKER to [2] where the changed expectations of a help a WORK ORGANIZATION decide on its society demand some kind of social adap- most appropriate ORGANIZATIONAL STRUC- tation in the behaviour of its members. TURE. This technique is to establish what For example, the greatly increased num- the key activities in the ORGANIZATION ber of women at work has led in many actually are as opposed to unquestioned cases to more covert rather than overt assumptions about what they are. The DISCRIMINATION against them by men. other two techniques are DECISION ANALY- adaptive control A form of self- SIS and RELATIONS ANALYSIS. regulation of an industrial process, usu- activity-based budgeting An ACC- ally by COMPUTER, where the objective is OUNTING technique which identifies the to maintain a continuous PERFORMANCE costs involved in running each aspect of a at optimum level through a changing business ORGANIZATION. ENVIRONMENT. See also CYBERNETICS. activity-based costing A method for added value The increase in value of costing products, used in ACCOUNTING goods or services that results from their since the late 1980s, which links the over- PRODUCTION or DISTRIBUTION. It usually all cost of a product to the total cost involves the transformation of materials of the various activities within a busi- by the actions of the workforce. It is often ness ORGANIZATION that contribute to its quantified as the difference between rev- production. enue from sales and the costs of materials and labour. The term is also used in the activity-based management The PUBLIC SECTOR to indicate intellectual or implementation of ACTIVITY-BASED COST- social gains from a particular INVESTMENT ING by the MANAGEMENT of a business compared to other uses of the same funds; ORGANIZATION. for example, the gains in understanding a activity-based technique Any method social issue from the work of a single used by the MANAGEMENT of a business research centre as opposed to the work of ORGANIZATION to cost its activities. The isolated individuals scattered throughout most common technique is ACTIVITY- the country. BASED COSTING. adhocracy A NEOLOGISM introduced acuity This term is used in COGNITIVE by Alvin Toffler (who also invented ERGONOMICS and in ERGONOMICS gener- FUTURE SHOCK). It refers to the tendency ally to describe someone’s ability to dis- in an ORGANIZATION to progress on the criminate fine detail in using one of the basis of temporary, ad hoc groups, such senses. Most often used of vision, though as a TASK FORCE brought together to deal also used of hearing and other senses. with a particular project only. adaptation Originally a biological administrative management theory term used to describe physical or behavi- An approach to the study of MANAGE- oural changes that increased an organ- MENT, based on the work of HENRI FAYOL ism’s chances of survival. Now used in and others in the 1930s, which empha- PSYCHOLOGY in two ways: [1] to describe sizes the importance of the formal responses to change in the physical envi- structure and the HIERARCHY of an ronment, for example where the eye ORGANIZATION. 4 administrative science administrative science The system- system, thereby preparing the body for atic study of administration in all its action. If the body is in a WORK situation aspects. It includes both the public and and unable to take any physical action the the private sector and attempts to formu- resulting frustration can contribute to late general principles that are applicable a variety of PSYCHOSOMATIC DISORDERS. to all forms of ORGANIZATION. advertising The publishing, PROMO- adoption of new products The TION and COMMUNICATION of information process by which individuals adopt or opinions about a product or service, or particular innovations in goods and ser- even an ORGANIZATION, to a potential vices over time. Five stages in this process MARKET. The means used may be ABOVE have been identified: awareness, interest, THE LINE or BELOW THE LINE. Advertising evaluation, trial and adoption. The indi- is an integral part of any MARKETING MIX vidual’s experience of the process may in the selling of CONSUMER GOODS. It is vary for reasons of both DEMOGRAPHIC global in scope and has been so for most and PSYCHOLOGICAL SEGMENTATION and is of its history since the advent of MASS micro-social in nature, as compared to the PRODUCTION and consumption in the late macro-social process involved in the DIF- nineteenth century. FUSION OF NEW PRODUCTS. (See Figure 1.) affirmative action An American term ADP See AUTOMATIC DATA PROCESSING. used to describe the provision of opportunities for disadvantaged groups by paying adrenalin A hormone secreted by the particular attention to the RECRUITMENT, adrenal glands (which are situated on top TRAINING and PROMOTION of people who of the kidneys) in times of excitement or have been subject to DISCRIMINATION in STRESS. It increases the heart rate, the EMPLOYMENT practices. blood supply, and the sugar supply from the liver into the blood stream, and alerts ageism DISCRIMINATION against older the muscles to impulses from the nervous people; for example, by ORGANIZATIONS

Figure 1 Adoption of new products. anticipatory socialization 5 reluctant to hire secretaries over forty, or use of the working time its employees models over twenty. Like RACISM and are paid for. It can thus, for example, SEXISM this is based on an attribute vary the length of the working day or arbitrarily determined by birth – in this allow for peaks and troughs in the case age. demand for its products over the year without having to pay overtime or hire AI See ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE. casual workers. Compare with FLEXIBLE ALGOL (Algorithmic Language) A WORKING HOURS. SYSTEM of words and symbols used in annual report An account of an science and TECHNOLOGY to instruct ORGANIZATION’s activities over a twelve- a COMPUTER in its TASK of INFORMATION month period, drawn up by its MANAGE- processing. See COMPUTER LANGUAGE and MENT. Required by law for registered ALGORITHM. companies. It may include an ACCOUNT- algorithm A set of rules to be used in ING of HUMAN RESOURCES as well as finan- solving a problem. It usually takes the cial resources. form of a fixed procedure with a logical anomie A term used by the French sequence of steps. Extensively used sociologist Emile Durkheim to describe COMPUTER PROGRAMS SYSTEMS in and a condition of society where SOCIAL ANALYSIS HEURISTIC . See also . NORMS are breaking down and people alienation A term with various shades become confused both about their place of meaning in PSYCHOLOGY and SOCIO- in society and about their sense of LOGY, all of which refer to feelings of IDENTITY. This may lead them to suffer a being estranged, separated and power- form of ALIENATION. less, whether in relation to oneself, to Ansoff Matrix A way of classifying WORK, to nature, to other people, to the four basic product strategies of wealth and the means of PRODUCTION in a MARKETING developed by Igor Ansoff: society, or else to society as a whole. [1] market penetration, [2] market exten- allocation [1] The process of dividing sion, [3] product development and [4] resources or costs between different diversification. (See Figure 2, p6.) sections or functions of an ORGANIZATION. anthropology The study of the differ- [2] The amount of resources in a given ent physical and cultural conditions of BUDGET. humankind, including ORGANIZATIONS and alternative shift A two-shift system the world of WORK. of working in which, for example, people anthropometry A branch of ANTHRO- may work days and then nights for the POLOGY that is concerned with measuring same period of time, often week and human physical characteristics. It is used week about, or perhaps alternating early in a workplace ENVIRONMENT when the and late shifts. nature of human size, shape and movement is of particular concern to annualized hours The contractual ERGONOMICS. requirement by employers that their STAFF work a certain number of hours anticipatory socialization Where per year rather than per week thus allow- people are eager to enter a new ROLE they ing a company more flexibility in the may anticipate the situation by adopting 6 anxiety

Figure 2 Ansoff Matrix. the ATTITUDES and interests associated applied psychology The term nor- with it; for example, someone about to mally used for those areas of PSYCHOLOGY become a student, or a MANAGER, or a par- which apply psychological theories and ent for the first time. See also SOCIALIZA- findings to particular issues of everyday TION and PROFESSIONAL SOCIALIZATION. life, such as COUNSELLING, education, MANAGEMENT or the workplace. It can anxiety A term used with many also be used to describe the contributions shades of meaning and in many different of psychologists in a wide variety of more areas of PSYCHOLOGY. It is generally held unusual areas such as designing instru- to be an unpleasant emotional state result- ment panels for spaceships and assisting ing from STRESS or CONFLICT, and charac- the police in dealing with hostage takers. terized by fear and apprehension. appraisal interview See PERFORM- Everyone suffers from anxiety at some ANCE APPRAISAL INTERVIEW. time or other and some situations would make virtually everyone anxious. But if apprenticeship The period of time the fear and apprehension felt are vague spent, mostly at the workplace and usu- and diffuse and not attached to a specific ally on low wages, in learning the basic object, or if they seem excessive, the anxi- SKILLS of a craft, trade or profession. This ety is considered to be a neurotic TRAIT of was formerly a common way for young the individual’s PERSONALITY. people to enter the world of work and assembly line 7 usually lasted several years. Outside of characteristics of human INTELLIGENCE, the more traditional professions like law like language and problem-solving. These or medicine, this form of entry has machines are intended to reproduce become relatively rare with the wide- human thought processes and are used spread use of fast-changing INFORMATION especially in the development of EXPERT TECHNOLOGY. SYSTEMS which simulate human expertise, for example, that of bank managers mak- appropriation Money allocated to ing loan decisions or even doctors making a BUDGET for a specific purpose. diagnoses of patients. There is a certain aptitude The potential for acquiring amount of disquiet among specialists in a SKILL or ABILITY after some TRAINING. this area about the tendency to treat this process as value-free in terms of its aptitude test A technique that tries to effects on people, which it most certainly predict a person’s capacity for acquiring is not. a certain SKILL or ABILITY. See also PSYCHOMETRICS. Asch, Solomon (1907–96) An American psychologist influenced by the arbitration A method of settling a GESTALT viewpoint and who has special- dispute between two parties who have ized in the study of CONFORMITY behav- failed to agree on some matter. With the iour in small GROUPS, generally agreement of both parties to abide by the considered to be one of the most impor- arbiter’s decision the dispute is put before tant aspects of the way an ORGANIZATION a neutral third party, usually an independ- functions. His most important contribu- ent body, for adjudication outside a court tion to GROUP DYNAMICS is considered to of law. be the finding that some people can be Argyris, Chris (1923–) An American persuaded to doubt the evidence of their psychologist and specialist in ORGANIZA- own eyes by the force of group pressure. TIONAL DEVELOPMENT whose work fo- (See Figure 3, p8.) cuses on the relationship between the assembly line A means of MASS PRO- individual and the ORGANIZATION, and in DUCTION, based on the ideas of GILBRETH particular the search for conditions that and TAYLOR, which was invented by HENRY foster the integration of individual needs FORD in 1913 for his model-T car factory. and ORGANIZATIONAL GOALS. It quickly became the leading method of Army Alpha Test The earliest example producing standardized goods in large volumes. The method requires workers to of a PAPER-AND-PENCIL TEST used by carry out their particular tasks on the pro- a large ORGANIZATION in the RECRUIT- duct as it passes in front of them along a MENT, SELECTION and PLACEMENT of very large numbers of people. This was a conveyor belt, each worker adding something to the product along the way. A TASK test of INTELLIGENCE used by the US army to screen new recruits during the may take as little as a couple of seconds to First World War. perform, and the possible psychological effects of doing this all day long have been artificial intelligence A field of explored by the well-known psychologist study, combining PSYCHOLOGY and INFOR- C. Chaplin in his film Modern Times. See MATION TECHNOLOGY, which uses computer also AUTONOMOUS WORK GROUPS and systems to develop machines that exhibit DEPERSONALIZATION. 8 assertiveness training

Figure 3 Asch conformity situation. Does X really ϭ C? assertiveness training A form of benefit to it. These may be tangible (like TRAINING designed to increase a person’s people, machinery or property) or intan- confidence. It uses a technique of BEHAVI- gible (like GOODWILL). See also MANAGE- OUR MODIFICATION intended to help people MENT AUDIT. overcome INHIBITIONS about expressing their feelings, but without becoming asset stripping The acquisition of aggressive in the process. This technique a business ORGANIZATION for the sole purpose of selling off its most valuable involves a lot of ROLE PLAYING. It is quite ASSETS in order to make a quick PROFIT. often used in MANAGEMENT DEVELOPMENT. assessment [1] In PSYCHOLOGY, this association A group of people or is a procedure to identify ABILITY, carried ORGANIZATIONS sharing the same interest out on individuals as part of the processes who wish to be affiliated with each other. of RECRUITMENT and SELECTION. [2] In This affiliation may be formal or infor- ACCOUNTING, this is a procedure carried mal, highly organized or loosely struc- out on property or PROFITS to determine tured; worldwide in scope or restricted to tax liability. a single building. assessment centre An establish- attitude A stable, long-lasting and ment, often set up within large ORGANIZA- learned predisposition to respond to cer- TIONS, that specializes in identifying tain things in a certain way. An attitude ABILITY as part of the processes of has three aspects to it: belief, feeling and RECRUITMENT and SELECTION and in iden- intention. In PSYCHOLOGY these are often tifying potential for MANAGEMENT DEVEL- referred to as cognitive, affective and OPMENT. See also CAREER DEVELOPMENT. conative aspects. (See Figure 4.) assets Any resources that an ORGANI- attitude scale A set of questions ZATION owns which may be of economic designed to elicit ATTITUDES from authority 9

Figure 4 Attitude. respondents on a given topic and to [2] The term may also be used in relation measure their strength. to HUMAN RESOURCES, as in MANAGEMENT AUDIT. attitude survey The use of SURVEY RESEARCH to obtain information on authoritarian management A type ATTITUDES. of MANAGEMENT which emphasizes the discipline and control of people and sees attribution theory A way of trying to little value in consulting them about the interpret and understand our own behavi- JOB. It is what you would expect from our and that of other people. We seem to an AUTHORITARIAN PERSONALITY. It is attribute certain intentions or MOTIVA- usually contrasted with DEMOCRATIC TIONS to the behaviour we observe. This MANAGEMENT. can also be thought of as a way of describing what the study of PSYCHOLOGY authoritarian personality A person is all about. In a sense it is the layperson’s characterized by a concern with obedi- equivalent of what the psychologist does ence and various TRAITS of PERSONALITY for a living. that seem to be associated with it, such as low TOLERANCE FOR AMBIGUITY, high audioconferencing A TELECONFER- PREJUDICE, rigid adherence to conven- ENCE using only audio means of tions, superstition, servility and contempt COMMUNICATION. for weakness. audiovisual aids Techniques making authority [1] The right, inherent in a use of hearing and (especially) vision that JOB or function, to use POWER in the fulfil- are used in order to improve COMMUNICA- ment of one’s responsibilities. Power and TION. They range from blackboard and authority do not always go together. chalk to COMPUTER-ASSISTED INSTRUCTION People in a position of authority may be in complexity – though not necessarily in ineffective in using power because they effectiveness. do not command the respect or loyalty of audit [1] The process of verifying the their subordinates, and people with no ACCOUNTING records of an ORGANIZATION official authority may exert a powerful by an independent auditor to see whether effect on an ORGANIZATION by virtue of they contain a true, fair and accurate their personal qualities, their long experi- account of the business transacted. ence, or the fact that they married the 10 autocratic leadership boss’s daughter. [2] The term is also used computation or CONTROL in relation to a of a public body with statutory powers JOB. It is particularly important in INFOR- and responsibilities, such as a local MATION PROCESSING and INTELLIGENT authority care home. KNOWLEDGE-BASED SYSTEMS. autocratic leadership A leader- autonomous work groups A form of centred way of dealing with subordinates WORK ORGANIZATION where workers have who are given no say in making deci- the opportunity and the responsibility for sions. In running an ORGANIZATION this planning and carrying out their TASKS becomes AUTHORITARIAN MANAGEMENT. without the direct supervision of the MANAGEMENT. It is thought to increase JOB automatic data processing See SATISFACTION and product QUALITY, and ELECTRONIC DATA PROCESSING. possibly also PRODUCTIVITY. It is in direct automation A term first used in the opposition to the model of the ASSEMBLY late 1940s by the Ford Motor Company. LINE, though it has been almost as widely It is used to describe the employment adopted in the car industry, which produced of machines that reduce or dispense them both. In fact neither of them is now in entirely with HUMAN COMMUNICATION, general use in that industry. B balanced scorecard A MANAGEMENT describe the total working day of an tool aimed at increasing organizational ORGANIZATION from the earliest permitted effectiveness. It employs a range of starting time to the latest permitted both quantitative measures (like PROFIT finishing time. [2] A term used in and PRODUCTIVITY) and qualitative meas- TELECOMMUNICATIONS for the frequency ures (like CUSTOMER SERVICE and STAFF limits to a given communications band. TRAINING) to balance money-oriented bar chart A graphical method of and people-oriented factors in setting illustrating statistical information (as ORGANIZATIONAL GOALS and assessing in Figure 5). It takes the form of a their performance. diagram in which quantities or frequen- banding A way of organizing cies are expressed as columns of differ- a SALARY STRUCTURE where a series of ent height. See also GANTT CHART and different levels is first established into HISTOGRAM. which jobs are then classified by level, or bar code A computer code which band, rather than fixing a different rate of appears as a series of parallel lines and PAY for each job individually. spaces marked on retail products. This bandwidth [1] A term used in the code is then read by a laser scanner at the FLEXIBLE WORKING HOURS system to ELECTRONIC POINT OF SALE and converted

Figure 5 Bar chart. 12 bargaining into information about price and stock towards biology and physiology in one supply. direction and ANTHROPOLOGY and SOCIOL- OGY in the other. (See Figure 6.) bargaining [1] A term used in INDUS- TRIAL RELATIONS to describe negotiations behavioural theory of the firm between two parties, usually employers A concept proposed in the early 1960s by and employees or their representatives, to two American psychologists, Richard achieve a settlement regarding wages and Cyert and James March, which argues conditions of EMPLOYMENT. [2] The kind that a business ORGANIZATION consists of a of behaviour studied in various areas of coalition of different interest groups with SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY, especially GAME different goals representing a variety of THEORY, where people with different views and which are continuously BAR- interests try to influence each other GAINING for POWER. This means that in order to improve their position. decision-making is an inherently uncer- [3] Transacting business, whether on the tain business – contrary to the assumptions stock exchange or in a street market. of rational behaviour made by proponents of CLASSICAL ORGANIZATION THEORY or bargaining zone An area of overlap ECONOMIC MAN. See also CHAOS THEORY. in the interests of two parties within which BARGAINING can occur. Behaviourism A school of PSYCHO- LOGY founded by an American psycholo- BARS See Behaviourally Anchored gist, J.B. WATSON, in 1913. Watson believed Rating Scale. that the work of PAVLOV on CONDITIONING BASIC An introductory COMPUTER represented the future of psychology, LANGUAGE that combines ALGOL, COBOL which should deal solely with the objec- and FORTRAN. tive study of human and animal behaviour and eschew ‘woolly’ concepts like mind batch production A type of PRODUC- and consciousness. Watson is now gener- TION different from MASS PRODUCTION or ally regarded as much too extreme and CONTINUOUS PROCESS PRODUCTION in that simpleminded, having been superseded it is used where identical items are to be by B.F. SKINNER and other theorists of manufactured and processed in groups, or Behaviourism. For cultural and historical batches, rather than individually. reasons Behaviourism has continued to Examples might be gloves, toolkits or flourish more in the United States than matching lingerie. elsewhere. Watson himself left acade- Behaviourally Anchored Rating Scale mia to pursue a successful career in ADVERTISING with the J. Walter Thompson An ASSESSMENT instrument that often uses Company. the CRITICAL INCIDENT TECHNIQUE, thereby ‘anchoring’ it in employees’ actual behav- behaviour modification The deliber- iour. It may then be used to assess a ate changing of a particular pattern of given person in a PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL behaviour (e.g. the attempt to reduce INTERVIEW. smoking or drinking in times of STRESS) by using methods based on the theory of behavioural science The study of the BEHAVIOURISM. behaviour of people and animals by use of experiment and observation. It is Belbin groups Named after Meredith centred on PSYCHOLOGY but branches out Belbin, the British MANAGEMENT benefit segmentation 13

Figure 6 Behavioural science.

CONSULTANT who was concerned with the benefit in kind Any payment for effects of different TEAM ROLES on group work performed, other than money. The performance. most common example is the company car. See also BLACK ECONOMY, FRINGE bell-shaped curve This describes the BENEFIT and PERK. shape of the curve obtained by plotting the kind of FREQUENCY DISTRIBUTION benefit segmentation A form of known as a NORMAL DISTRIBUTION on a MARKET SEGMENTATION which is based on graph. a knowledge of the benefits that consumers seek from a particular product. To below the line advertising This is an use it a marketer needs to include the ever-increasing form of SALES PROMOTION appropriate characteristics – or at least an which uses outlets such as direct mail, the impression of them – within a given prod- internet, special discounts and point-of- uct. In a sense this form of segmentation sale offers, on which no agency commis- is right at the heart of the MARKETING CON- sion is paid, as opposed to the MASS MEDIA CEPT; find out what people want (or might used in ABOVE THE LINE ADVERTISING. The want, or think they want) and give it to ‘line’ in question was originally on a com- them. For instance, if the customer wants pany’s balance sheet but this usage has ‘sleek and stylish’ from her or his elec- now been lost in MARKETING. tronic equipment, matt black is usually benchmarking Currently fashionable considered a more appropriate colour JARGON for setting standards. than mauve. 14 bimodal distribution bimodal distribution A FREQUENCY DISPUTE with their employers. It involves DISTRIBUTION that has two MODES. a refusal to handle the movement of goods and services to or from the other bio-data See BIOGRAPHIC DATA. organization. biofeedback The FEEDBACK of infor- blackleg A derogatory term (origin mation to individuals about their biologi- unknown) used to describe someone who cal functions. Using biofeedback it is does not support the INDUSTRIAL ACTION possible for people to gain a certain of his or her fellow workers and, for amount of CONTROL of such functions as example, continues to work during a heart rate, blood pressure and brain waves STRIKE or replaces a striking worker. through a form of CONDITIONING process. blacklist A list of people or ORGANIZA- biographic data The kind of personal TIONS against whom some kind of information recorded in a CURRICULUM DISCRIMINATION will be practised, usually VITAE. It is used in the RECRUITMENT and for political reasons. SELECTION of applicants for jobs. black market An illegal trade in biological clock Not a physical goods or services, the demand for which structure but a term used to describe the has outstripped the officially available biochemical process that controls our supply. It is caused by the imposition of BIORHYTHMS. official measures which are designed to biorhythms Biological systems that cope with the shortfall, like rationing or have regularly recurring cycles. The best price controls. known of these are the menstrual cycle Blau typology A technique used by and the CIRCADIAN RHYTHMS, the latter the American sociologist Peter Blau of which are of particular interest to which classified FORMAL ORGANIZATIONS psychologists. according to the criterion ‘who benefits?’ biotechnology The use of biologically Four classes of ORGANIZATION are thereby based processes in existing manufacturing distinguished: [1] mutual-benefit associa- and service industries. tions, like clubs and political parties; [2] business concerns, like banks and black economy The widely used shops; [3] service organizations, like name for the set of informal economic hospitals and schools; [4] commonweal activities engaged in outside the official organizations, like the fire and police systems of EMPLOYMENT and TAXATION,on services. which no documents are kept and no tax paid. PAYMENT IN KIND, or cash, is the blind test A technique used in MAR- usual procedure. Contrary to popular KET RESEARCH for obtaining the opinions mythology the people involved in this of consumers on a product where all of activity may well be regularly employed the product’s identifying marks are rather than unemployed and actively removed. Several products are sometimes MOONLIGHTING on the side. compared at the same time in this fashion. blacking A type of INDUSTRIAL ACTION blue chip [1] The term used to adopted by employees of an ORGANIZA- describe the ordinary shares of long- TION in support of employees in another established, large and reputable compa- organization who have an INDUSTRIAL nies. Such shares are generally regarded bottom line 15 as being a good long-term INVESTMENT. financial situation to be obtained at any [2] More generally, the term may be used time, such as by reference to its ‘books’. of anything that is highly regarded for its See also DOUBLE ENTRY BOOKKEEPING. reliability and PERFORMANCE. boomerang effect A term used in blue-collar worker Popular term for SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY, in the study of a MANUAL WORKER in a factory or other ATTITUDE change. It refers to people who industrial workplace. The name derives change their attitudes in the opposite direc- from the typical shirts or overalls worn. tion from that being advocated to them. Usually contrasted with a WHITE-COLLAR Boston Matrix Developed by the WORKER. Boston Consulting Group and used in body language NON-VERBAL COMMU- MARKETING as a way of classifying prod- NICATION with other people by means of ucts by business growth and relative com- physical postures, movement or gestures petitive position. [1] star – high growth, that may be conscious or UNCONSCIOUS on market leader/high market share, should the part of the communicator. invest; [2] cash cow – low growth, high market share, mature, should generate body-shopping A term sometimes cash for investment; [3] question mark – used of the practice whereby a CONSUL- high growth, low market share, should TANCY supplies people to work on a become star or divested; [4] dog – low temporary contract basis in place of growth, low market share, should divest. regular STAFF in the PUBLIC SECTOR. (See Figure 7.) BOGOF Abbreviation used in MARKET- bottom line An ACCOUNTING term ING for ‘buy one get one free’. denoting the last line of a balance sheet Apparently, it sounds like a better deal which calculates the PROFIT and loss of a than ‘two for the price of one’. business. It is now used more widely in bookkeeping The method of record- MANAGEMENT to mean something like ‘in ing an ORGANIZATION’s financial transac- the final analysis’ or ‘the most important tions that allows a clear picture of its thing’. A nice example of the way

Figure 7 Boston Matrix. 16 boundaryless organization accountants have taken over the language thus have a tangible value calculated in of discourse in the ORGANIZATION. billions of dollars when a large company with several successful brands is subject boundaryless organization The idea to a TAKE-OVER bid. that creativity and innovation can be fostered in an ORGANIZATION that tries to brand extension A way of using a break down traditional barriers not only well-known existing BRAND NAME to between departments within the organiza- introduce a new product. The extension tion but between the organization itself may be just a variation on a successful and the significant others in its environ- product (e.g. Heinz’ 57 varieties) or ment, like its customers and suppliers, a switch into a whole new MARKET (e.g. who are re-conceptualized as partners in from Caterpillar tractors to Caterpillar the same enterprise. boots). The BRAND LOYALTY of existing customers is an important factor in the BPR Acronym for BUSINESS PROCESS success of the extension. RE-ENGINEERING. brand identity The meaning of a brainstorming In SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY BRAND to the company that owns it, as this term refers to the free generation of expressed through its ADVERTISING. ideas by the members of a GROUP for the Compare with BRAND IMAGE. purpose of solving a specific problem. See also DELPHI METHOD and SCENARIO brand image The meaning of a BRAND WRITING. to potential consumers based on their perceptions of its ADVERTISING. Compare brainwashing An attempt to coerce with BRAND IDENTITY. someone into radically changing his or her beliefs or behaviour by using psycho- branding The use of a BRAND to logical manipulation; for example, in describe a product, service or ORGAN- ADVERTISING. Despite much hysterical IZATION. At its most successful it becomes pronouncement on the subject there is a generic term for its whole field; no good evidence that it can actually for example, the use of ‘Xerox’ for be done. photocopier. brand leader A term used in MARKET- brand A mark, name, LOGO or TRADE- ING to describe a BRAND or a product that MARK that identifies a product or service appears to be the most prominent one in or ORGANIZATION and distinguishes it from its competitors. its field to consumers, and is marketed accordingly – and differently from a brand awareness The extent to which follower in the MARKET or a new product. potential customers are aware of a given brand loyalty A situation where con- BRAND and its attributes. sumers remain loyal over time to a partic- brand equity BRANDS started out as ular BRAND of goods or services, even if it intangible repositories of values like cus- costs more than its competitors. tomer LOYALTY and GOODWILL but since brand mark A symbol or LOGO unique the 1980s have become such an important to a particular BRAND. aspect of MARKETING that they may even be listed on a company’s balance sheet brand name The name by which a along with its other ASSETS. They can BRAND is identified. If it is sufficiently bureaucracy 17 important to the BRAND IDENTITY and BS 5750 A standard of QUALITY set by BRAND IMAGE of a product it can become the British Standards Institution. Its suc- a registered TRADEMARK. cessful achievement by an ORGANIZATION is attested by a certificate. brand personality A way of charac- terizing the image of a BRAND by giving it buddy system The American equi- personal associations as though it were an valent of SITTING NEXT TO NELLIE. individual. Using descriptions like ‘mas- budget [1] The financial statement of culine’, ‘feminine’, ‘traditional’, ‘safe’ or an ORGANIZATION’s planned INCOME and ‘assertive’ is the most common way of expenditure for a given length of time. trying to distinguish a brand from its [2] The proposed income and expenditure competitors. More ambitious marketers of the British government over the coming may try to provide the brand with a year as presented to Parliament by the whole, rounded and consistent personal- Chancellor of the Exchequer. [3] ity of its own that the customer can hang Sometimes used in place of APPROPRIATION. a proper name on, like Dr Pepper or Mr Coffee in the United States and budget-based institution An ORGAN- Messrs Bradford and Bingley in the IZATION that is required to prepare, and United Kingdom. work to, a BUDGET. brand value Both the tangible buffering A form of CONFLICT MANAGE- (financial) and the intangible (psycholog- MENT that attempts to use the outputs of one ical) value of a given BRAND EQUITY. work group as the inputs of another to reduce potential conflict between them. break-even point The point in an Most often used in arranging stock INVEN- ORGANIZATION’s financial life where its TORIES between two groups. However, it INCOME equals its costs. runs counter to the fashionable approach of brightness A term used in ERGONO- JUST-IN-TIME PRODUCTION. MICS to describe both the objective bug An error or fault in the SOFTWARE intensity of the physical stimulus from a which causes a COMPUTER PROGRAM to source of light and the subjective sensation malfunction. of the person who experiences it. Buggin’s turn ‘Joe Buggin’ is the brownfield site A location for a new classic organizational time server who industrial or commercial development on gets rewarded or promoted (has his the cleared site of a former development. ‘turn’) simply by being there long Compare with GREENFIELD SITE. enough. In a time of MACHO MANAGE- MENT, with lots of DELAYERING and RIGHT- brown goods Consumer products SIZING, this is not supposed to happen. which are presented within a wood or imitation wood case, like television sets built-in obsolescence The deliberate or kitchen cabinets. Compare with WHITE design and manufacture of a product so GOODS. that it needs replacing after a certain length of time. browser A COMPUTER PROGRAM that allows a user to browse through the web bureaucracy [1] A term coined by pages on the WORLD WIDE WEB and then to the German sociologist Max Weber in read and download pages as desired. the early twentieth century to describe 18 burnout an ORGANIZATION that has (a) a clearly interests; [3] social responsibility by a defined HIERARCHY with top-down company in the MARKETING of its goods AUTHORITARIAN MANAGEMENT, (b) highly and services. specialized responsibilities, ROLES and business game A form of TRAINING TASKS for its members and (c) a heavy for MANAGEMENT where the elements of emphasis on rules and procedures. a business situation are presented to the Though these characteristics are mainly trainees, who then have to make decisions associated with large organizations they about how best to manage the situation. It are found to some extent in all organiza- involves ROLE PLAYING, is usually done in tions. [2] ‘The bureaucracy’ is a term a group, sometimes competitively, and sometimes used in the PUBLIC SECTOR to increasingly with the aid of COMPUTER describe the Civil Service. SIMULATION. burnout A term used to describe peo- business model ple at work who have suffered from the The practical day-to- day guidelines for running a business effects of STRESS to the point where they are overloaded and no longer able to that can be drawn from a CORPORATE function productively. People in this situ- PLAN. ation may become cynical and just go business plan See CORPORATE PLAN. through the motions if the source of stress is not dealt with. See also PRESENTEEISM business process re-engineering and RETIREMENT ON THE JOB. See RE-ENGINEERING. business cycle Regular patterns of business re-engineering See RE- fluctuation over time in the business ENGINEERING. activity of an economy. Four distinct business transformation See RE- phases are usually identified; boom, ENGINEERING. RECESSION, DEPRESSION and recovery. The causes of the cycle are partly economic busy-work The American version of and partly political. For example govern- MAKE-WORK. ments will try to engineer a boom shortly buyer’s market A MARKET situation in before an election by use of fiscal or mon- which buyers have more POWER to influ- etary policy. ence prices and conditions of sale than business ethics The application of sellers, usually because supply exceeds ethical concerns to the world of business demand. Always contrasted with SELLER’S usually takes one of three forms: MARKET. [1] codes of ethics, where industries, PRO- buying-in The practice of hiring expert FESSIONS or individual companies have help as required by an ORGANIZATION rather explicit guidelines for their members than employing such experts on its STAFF. about what constitutes acceptable behaviour to STAKEHOLDERS like staff or con- buzzword A term that describes a sumers; [2] changes in the board of current MANAGEMENT fad or fashion, directors to include people from outside for example, TQM, RIGHTSIZING or the the business world who reflect broader LEARNING ORGANIZATION. C

CAD See COMPUTER-AIDED DESIGN. factors necessary for PRODUCTION along with labour and land. CAD/CAM system An integrated SYSTEM used in INDUSTRIAL ENGINEER- capital-intensive The term used of an ING that employs both COMPUTER- ORGANIZATION with a relatively high AIDED DESIGN and COMPUTER-AIDED degree of CAPITAL invested in AUTOMATION MANUFACTURING. as opposed to people; for example, a car manufacturer. It is therefore the opposite CAE See COMPUTER-AIDED ENGINEERING. of LABOUR-INTENSIVE. cafeteria benefits A form of REWARD capitalism An economic SYSTEM where employees are given some choice characterized by the private ownership from a range of FRINGE BENEFITS. of a society’s resources; by COMPETITION CAI See COMPUTER-ASSISTED INSTRUC- in the pursuit of financial gain; and TION. by support for the ideal (if not the practice) of a FREE MARKET in goods and call centre A location where telephone services. calls to and from customers are handled. The location is often remote from – captive product A relatively insignif- indeed sometimes on a different continent icant product that must be purchased from – both the caller and the business he regularly to service a more important or she is trying to deal with. Operators are product. For example, ink cartridges for generally expected to keep calls (often to a printer or top-up cards for a mobile a fixed script) as brief as possible and phone. process as many as possible during their career A line of work that a person shift. Their PERFORMANCE is monitored by expects to pursue for his or her foresee- a SUPERVISOR for the purpose of REWARD able working life, though it might include or DISCIPLINE. It is an ASSEMBLY LINE for changes in job or employer. In fact, it is the twenty-first century. now generally accepted that both job CAM See COMPUTER-AIDED MANUFAC- and career changes are an inevitable, and TURING. probably desirable, aspect of a career and that these changes will often be asso- capital [1] In ACCOUNTING, capital is ciated with periods of education and the term for the total financial ASSETS of TRAINING. an ORGANIZATION whether in the form of money, property, goods or equipment. career anchors A concept developed It represents the organization’s stock of by the American theorist of ORGANIZA- wealth as opposed to its INCOME. The TIONAL PSYCHOLOGY, Edgar Schein, to organization’s HUMAN RESOURCES may be study the guidelines and priorities in the represented in the form of HUMAN ASSET working life of a MANAGER. It deals with ACCOUNTING. [2] In ECONOMICS, capital is the way in which a person’s SELF-IMAGE traditionally one of the three major focuses on the needs, motives, talents and 20 career break values and the clarification of what is case studies A form of TRAINING for most important to her or him, such as the MANAGEMENT used extensively to develop use of technical SKILLS or finding stability the intellectual SKILLS of analysis, reason- or security within an ORGANIZATION. ing and judgement. It is based mainly on past real-life situations. Case studies are career break A period of time when associated particularly with the teaching someone’s CAREER is interrupted for per- methods of the Harvard Business School. sonal reasons (like childcare) or pro- Unlike BUSINESS GAMES, case studies have fessional reasons (like studying for no action component to them. One impor- a qualification) before the career is tant criticism of the method is that it resumed at the same level. encourages students to believe that every career development The planning of ‘problem’ has a ‘solution’ if only they are a person’s future CAREER within an clever enough to find it, and that this does ORGANIZATION in order to maximize his or not prepare them to deal with situations her contribution to the organization and the which neither they nor anyone else have fulfilment of his or her own potential. This ever encountered before – which is much CHAOS is a primary function of PERSONNEL MAN- more like the real world. See also THEORY AGEMENT. See also ROLE and TRAINING. . cash cow One of the MARKETING career ladders Recognized routes of situations in the BOSTON MATRIX. It is PROMOTION and advancement within characterized by low growth and a an ORGANIZATION. strong MARKET position. A cash cow is a career patterns The identification of product with a steady INCOME stream regularities or typical paths through and may be used to generate cash for an ORGANIZATION that show up in people’s investment. CAREERS. cash flow [1] The amount of cash cartel A combination of two or more flowing into and out of an ORGANIZATION INCOME independent ORGANIZATIONS which pro- as and expenditure. [2] The duce the same product, for the purposes amount of cash required to finance oper- PRODUCTION of eliminating or restricting COMPETITION ating expenses or further between them and preventing new over a given period of time. competitors from entering the MARKET. casualization A process, much used This is accomplished by fixing prices, by the FLEXIBLE FIRM, of reducing the level of PRODUCTION or MARKET SEGMEN- number of permanent employees in TATION. It is illustrated, for example, by favour of temporary staff who are only the Organization of Petroleum Exporting paid as and when they are required to Countries (OPEC) and is a common work. An increasingly popular form of development in mature industries. casualization with employers is the ZERO- HOURS CONTRACT. cascade briefing A technique for communicating information down cautious shift A form of GROUP through an organizational HIERARCHY. POLARIZATION where people make more It begins with the most senior level of cautious decisions under the influence of MANAGEMENT briefing the next level a group than they do when they are by down, and so on. themselves. The opposite of RISKY SHIFT. chaos theory 21 caveat emptor Latin for ‘let the buyer persuasion’ for a COMMUNICATION aimed beware’. It is used to illustrate the widely at prospective purchasers. The central held legal principle that the onus is on route, which requires rational thought the buyer, rather than the seller, to check by the consumer, is followed when the that he or she is getting the goods and consumer’s involvement and MOTIVA- services paid for. TION in assessing the product are high. Compare with PERIPHERAL ROUTE TO CBA See COST–BENEFIT ANALYSIS. PERSUASION. CBP See COMPUTER-BASED PRACTICE. certification The process of obtaining CBT See COMPUTER-BASED TRAINING. an official document to satisfy some institutional requirement. Most often used CD ROM An acronym for COMPACT in the field of education or TRAINING or DISK READ ONLY MEMORY. the provision of professional services. cell organization A form of WORK chain of command ORGANIZATION that groups together work- The arrangement ers concerned with the various activities by which instructions and information are of one part of a manufacturing process passed down through the HIERARCHY of into a ‘cell’ or unit. It is often used in LINE MANAGEMENT in an ORGANIZATION. BATCH PRODUCTION. chairman’s brief A document usually CEO See CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER. written by the Secretary of an ORGAN- IZATION or COMMITTEE to prepare the CEO disease A behaviour pattern that Chairman of the organization or commit- has been observed among CHIEF EXECU- tee for a forthcoming meeting. TIVE OFFICERS who become intoxicated with the POWER and PERKS of office. change agent A person who acts as Symptoms include believing in their own a catalyst within an ORGANIZATION to omnipotence, surrounding themselves assist the introduction, implementation with yes-men and responding brutally to or facilitation of changes as a result of any opposition. an ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT programme (or perhaps the whim of the central bank Usually a national gov- CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER). ernment’s own bank, like the Bank of England (which performs that function chaos theory A theory developed by for the United Kingdom) or the Federal natural scientists and mathematicians Reserve Bank in the United States, which beginning in the early 1970s. It is the carries out the government’s financial opposite of the scientific model of direct policy. It also oversees the operation of links between cause and effect, leading to a country’s financial SYSTEM, acting as a prediction and CONTROL, that has tradition- banker to the other banks. ally been the model not only for natural science but for BEHAVIOURAL and SOCIAL centralization The policy and process SCIENCE as well. Chaos theory argues that of trying to run everything in an ORGANI- behaviour is essentially random and ZATION from one central point. unpredictable when looked at in detail but central route to persuasion It is that there is an underlying pattern or widely accepted in CONSUMER PSYCHOLOGY rhythm to it when considered at a deeper that there are two different ‘routes to level. Attempts at planning and control in 22 chargehand businesses, as in any other ORGANIZATION, where market-makers might be keen to are therefore doomed to failure. So man- sell a stock because they expected its agers need to be aware of the fluid, value to fall, and the brokers then recom- dynamic and ever-changing nature of mended the stock to clients. Numerous events as they impinge on the business. In financial scandals in the 1980s and 1990s line with recent thinking in MANAGEMENT have shown that the walls are a lot more research and consultancy, this will require porous in practice than theory. Why the them to be facilitators and coaches rather Chinese have been accorded such a dubi- than SUPERVISORS in dealing with their ous attribution is unclear. STAFF. It will also require them to be flex- chip A shortened, colloquial form of ible and adaptable in their dealings with MICROCHIP. customers, suppliers and all the other interest groups they deal with. chi square In STATISTICS this is a simple chargehand The leading member of TEST, represented by the Greek letter chi (␹), which is widely used in research a WORK GROUP under the supervision of a in PSYCHOLOGY and the BEHAVIOURAL FOREMAN. SCIENCES to see whether observed results charisma An elusive quality of differ from those expected by chance alone. PERSONALITY, often described as ‘personal magnetism’ (whatever that may be), chronobiology The study of BIO- which is widely considered to be an RHYTHMS. important element in LEADERSHIP, espe- chunking The process of grouping cially TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP. items of information into units, or charm price An alternative term for ‘chunks’, as an aid to memorizing them. PSYCHOLOGICAL PRICE. CIM See COMPUTER-INTEGRATED MANU- chart A diagrammatic way of express- FACTURING. ing information; for example, BAR CHART, circadian rhythm The term ‘circa- HISTOGRAM, PICTOGRAM and PIE CHART. dian’, from the Latin meaning ‘about a chief executive officer The most day’, refers to those BIORHYTHMS which senior EXECUTIVE officer of an ORGANIZA- function on roughly a 24-hour cycle, like TION; for example, the permanent secre- sleeping and changes in blood pressure tary of a British government department and body temperature. or the managing director of a company. CIT See CRITICAL INCIDENT TECHNIQUE. Chinese walls Imaginary barriers to classical organizational theory The COMMUNICATION which are set up volun- attempt, in the early years of the twentieth tarily between two departments or sets century, to formulate a set of general prin- of activities within the same company. ciples of ADMINISTRATION that would The point of the exercise is to protect serve as a guide to the effective MANAGE- their clients’ rights to receive impartial MENT of any ORGANIZATION. It is associa- advice, which might be compromised by ted with the work of FAYOL and TAYLOR, privileged information being passed freely among others. throughout the company. This applies, for example, to the MARKET-making and bro- clique An INFORMAL GROUP whose kerage functions of a stockbroking firm, members associate with each other at coercion 23 work (as in society generally) on the basis cluster sampling A term used in MAR- of mutual interests, or even just physical KET RESEARCH for the practice of drawing proximity. In SOCIOLOGY, where it was a sample of informants from a geographi- first used, the term does not have quite the cally localized area (like a single street) – pejorative connotation of in-group exclu- a much cheaper procedure than RANDOM siveness and hostility to out-groups that it SAMPLING or even QUOTA SAMPLING. has in popular usage. CNC machines Machines that are clock time The process of ordering under COMPUTER NUMERICAL CONTROL. our lives and synchronizing our work activities via the external clock (as coacting group A sociological term GOAL opposed to our internal BIOLOGICAL for people who share the same but CLOCK, for example). It is the way we work towards it without communicating experience LINEAR TIME. or interacting. In doing so they may be exhibiting PLURALISTIC IGNORANCE. closed shop A situation in which all the members of an ORGANIZATION must COBOL An acronym for Common belong to the appropriate TRADE UNION. Business Oriented Language. This is a After legislation passed in the 1980s this SYSTEM of words and symbols used in is no longer formally possible in the business to instruct a COMPUTER in its United Kingdom. TASK of INFORMATION PROCESSING. See COMPUTER LANGUAGE. closure [1] A GESTALT principle, generally accepted in PSYCHOLOGY, that the code of practice A set of guidelines brain has a built-in tendency to perceive outlining expected standards of behaviour meaning, completion and coherence by people working in an industry or a pro- where the objective sensory facts may fession. Such a code is not legally binding have no meaning or be incomplete or and may, indeed, be adopted to forestall incoherent. Thus, a figure with a part governmental regulation that would be so. missing will be perceived as though it coefficient See CORRELATION COEFFI- were whole. (See Figure 8.) [2] The term CIENT. is also used in PSYCHOTHERAPY (and even in general parlance) to denote a line of coercion The use of POWER to get investigation that is being brought to people to do something they would not completion. [3] A related usage is that of otherwise do. Typical of AUTHORITARIAN ‘closing’ a deal. MANAGEMENT.

Figure 8 Closure. 24 coercive power coercive power A form of POWER particular of people born in the same year. which denotes the ability of someone in It is thought that cohorts born several an ORGANIZATION to punish others, for decades apart, for instance, may be example, by demotion or the withholding affected in systematically different ways of a salary increase. It is a kind of nega- by the different ZEITGEIST and social/ tive REWARD POWER and these two kinds environmental conditions of their times. of power are usually held by the same cold calling A form of selling where person. the salesperson approaches a prospective cognition A general term which customer – by telephone, post, e-mail or includes all the psychological processes in person – with no prior contact being by which people become aware of, and made. gain knowledge about, the world. collective bargaining An INDUSTRIAL cognitive dissonance A theory RELATIONS process in which employers or developed in SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY by the their representatives negotiate with American psychologist LEON FESTINGER. employees or their (TRADE UNION) repre- The theory states that because we have sentatives on the level of wages and the a powerful DRIVE towards consistency (or conditions of EMPLOYMENT for a GROUP of consonance), if we hold two psychologi- employees as a whole, rather than for cally inconsistent COGNITIONS (beliefs, individuals. ATTITUDES, values or ideas) at the same colour blindness A total or par- time, or if our behaviour clashes with those tial inability to distinguish colours. Total cognitions, we will be in an unpleasant colour blindness is very rare but partial state of tension which we are strongly colour blindness (particularly the inability motivated to reduce. As the theory deals to distinguish red and green from each with psychological rather than logical other or from grey) is surprisingly com- inconsistency, it proposes that we are mon. It has been estimated that about not so much concerned with actually 8–10 per cent of males are born with this being consistent as with feeling that defect, though it is uncommon in females. we are consistent. This finding is of some relevance to cognitive ergonomics A form of ERGONOMICS. ERGONOMICS in which factors of COGNI- command and control organization TION are more important than physical An ORGANIZATION run on traditional lines factors. by a relatively rigid and multi-layered cognitive map A mental representa- HIERARCHY, with an emphasis on top-down COMMUNICATION of instructions to employ- tion of the way in which a GOAL can be achieved or a problem solved, as opposed ees and centralized decision-making. to a technique or a series of steps. command economy See PLANNED ECONOMY. cohort effect A cohort is generally defined as a group of people who have communication The process of lived through a certain period of time and transmitting or exchanging information, shared common historical experiences ideas, beliefs and opinions, mainly by the like the Second World War or the advent use of language – though NON-VERBAL of personal computers. It is used in COMMUNICATION can also be important compensatory consumption 25 in certain situations. Transmission of of both cannot be fulfilled by living information may be by FORMAL COMMUNI- together all the time. It usually involves CATION or INFORMAL COMMUNICATION. people sharing a family home, and See also CHAIN OF COMMAND, COMMUNI- perhaps being together at weekends, but CATION NETWORK, INFORMATION TECHNOL- working in different towns (or even OGY, INFORMATION THEORY and SOCIAL countries). DISTANCE. Compact Disk Read Only Memory communication network A method, A CD ROM is a computer disk which form or pattern of COMMUNICATION. The contains data that can only be read, but two most frequently studied types of net- not altered, by the user. It is either sold to works are wheel-shaped and circle- the customer or leased to subscribers. shaped. (See Figure 9.) The wheel company town A town dominated network facilitates quick and accurate by a single employer. Such towns are communication but is less equipped to usually small, but there are exceptions. handle complexity and change. The circle Washington DC is sometimes described network adapts well to complexity and as a company town, the ‘company’ in this change in COMMUNICATION and seems to case being the US government. involve and satisfy its members better. These networks are often discussed when company union An employer’s a comparison is being made between a version of a TRADE UNION within a single MECHANISTIC ORGANIZATION and an ORGANIZATION. It does not have the inde- ORGANIC ORGANIZATION. pendent STATUS or POWER to represent the employees in any INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS communication theory See INFORMA- matters. TION THEORY. compatibility [1] People being able to communicator credibility In SOCIAL work together. [2] Machines and units of PSYCHOLOGY, this term describes the TECHNOLOGY being able to work together. extent to which the communicator of a message is believable. It is thought to be compensation [1] Payment for injury, related to whether the communicator damage or loss. [2] The term is also used, is perceived as expert and trustworthy particularly in the United States, for the or not. remuneration of staff, including salary and FRINGE BENEFITS. commuter marriage A marriage where the partners spend considerable compensatory consumption A form time living apart because the work needs of buying behaviour in which people of

Figure 9 Communication network. 26 competencies low SOCIO-ECONOMIC STATUS (SES), and behaviour that is usually contrary to having relatively little disposable income, one’s conscious wishes. [2] Being made may spend a much greater proportion of to obey a statutory requirement or a legal that income than people of high SES on obligation. luxury goods such as jewellery, clothing computer An electronic machine for and electronic equipment in an attempt to processing information automatically and compensate themselves psychologically very quickly. According to SOD’s LAW it is for their material poverty. always ‘down’ when needed most. competencies A competence is the computer-aided design A process in ABILITY required to do a given job. In MAN- which a designer interacts with a compu- AGEMENT, the term ‘competencies’ is often ter system to produce a design, from the used to describe the set of disparate SKILLS original idea to the finished product, by that MANAGERS require, which are identi- electronic manipulation and the use of a fied and fostered in TRAINING courses. VISUAL DISPLAY UNIT rather than pencil competition The attempt to do better and paper. Closely associated with than others supplying goods and services COMPUTER-AIDED MANUFACTURING. in the same MARKET. Fostering competi- computer-aided engineering The tion is one of the basic principles of process that links COMPUTER-AIDED CAPITALISM, which was first formulated in DESIGN with COMPUTER-AIDED MANUFAC- the eighteenth century by ADAM SMITH. TURING; for example, in the manufacture competitive advantge Anything that of tools or machines under COMPUTER gives an ORGANIZATION an edge over the NUMERICAL CONTROL. COMPETITION in its MARKET. computer-aided manufacturing compliance [1] In SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY, COMPUTERIZATION of all the steps in the this is a form of yielding to group pres- manufacture of a product. sure, where a change of behaviour is computer-assisted instruction A exhibited by someone but without any method of PROGRAMMED LEARNING in underlying change of ATTITUDE. [2] Obey- which a COMPUTER is used as a TEACHING ing a statutory requirement or a legal MACHINE. obligation. computer-based practice A method compressed hours A way of of LEARNING in which the medium of organizing the working week into fewer instruction is the COMPUTER or COMPUTER working days, for example, a 40-hour TERMINAL. week consisting of four 10-hour days rather than five 8-hour days. See also computer-based training A method of TRAINING in which the medium of ANNUALIZED HOURS and FLEXIBLE WORKING instruction, with which the individual HOURS. interacts, is the COMPUTER or COMPUTER comptroller Traditional form of the TERMINAL rather than a human teacher. term CONTROLLER, from the French verb computer-integrated manufacturing comptroller, meaning ‘to check off’. The ultimate form of industrial AUTOMA- compulsion [1] An overwhelming TION, in which every aspect of manufac- UNCONSCIOUS need to engage in some turing, from the initial design to the conflict resolution 27 delivery of the finished product, is both stages of NEW PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT. controlled and co-ordinated by COMPUTER. The idea or ‘concept’ of the product being considered is presented to samples of computerization The installation of potential consumers for their reactions COMPUTERS as part of a process of before a serious financial commitment is AUTOMATION. made to its development. computer language A SYSTEM of words and symbols used to instruct a conditioning A process of LEARNING in humans or animals, via an experimen- COMPUTER in its TASK of INFORMATION tal procedure using REINFORCEMENT, PROCESSING. The most popular computer where a given stimulus produces language in business is COBOL; in science a response other than its normal, natural and TECHNOLOGY ALGOL and FORTRAN are commonly used. An introductory compu- or automatic one. In the classical form ter language that combines aspects of all developed by PAVLOV, a dog learned to salivate at the sound of a bell and not just three is called BASIC. when food was presented. B.F. SKINNER computer literacy ‘The ABILITY to developed a procedure called operant use COMPUTER LANGUAGE’ is how this conditioning, in which an animal’s simple term used to be defined, but it is now response could be used as the basis of commonly applied to people who simply TRAINING it to engage in very complex know which buttons to press. behaviour, like circus tricks. Humans can be trained to control bodily processes like computer numerical control The blood pressure or brain waves in cop- control of machines by COMPUTER using ing with STRESS, for example, by using numerical information. similar techniques. computer package This refers to the SOFTWARE required for a particular conflict A situation in which there are application. mutually antagonistic interests, needs or motives involving individuals or groups. computer program A set of instruc- The most easily recognized indicator tions to a COMPUTER, written in a COMPU- of conflict in a WORK ORGANIZATION TER LANGUAGE, that tells it to perform a is a STRIKE but a lot of conflict may be particular task. The spelling of ‘program’ unspoken, or even UNCONSCIOUS, and is is usually American, in recognition of the very difficult for organizations to handle. American MARKETING predominance in this field. conflict management The conscious attempt to identify CONFLICT within an computer simulation A SIMULATION ORGANIZATION and deal with it in such a exercise conducted by COMPUTER; for way that its potential for disruption is example, to produce the realistic experience minimized. of flying in the TRAINING of airline pilots. conflict resolution The conscious computer terminal A machine linked attempt to identify CONFLICT within an to a COMPUTER, however remote, and hav- ORGANIZATION and to deal with it in such ing access to all its data. a way that it disappears. Much more concept testing A MARKETING ambitious, and much rarer, than CONFLICT research technique used in the early MANAGEMENT. 28 conformity conformity The tendency to allow displaying products commonly associated one’s ATTITUDES, opinions, perceptions with that group, like driving a Rolls- and behaviour to be influenced by others. Royce or ordering vintage champagne, This may be due to a deep-rooted TRAIT of regardless of her or his actual social and someone’s PERSONALITY or to the kind of financial status. People who are particu- group pressures that would lead most larly concerned to impress by using such people to conform. This area is an impor- STATUS SYMBOLS might even drive a white tant part of SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY, to which Rolls or order Dom Perignon by name. leading contributions have been made by constructive dismissal The legal ASCH and MILGRAM, among others. term for a situation in which an employee confrontation meeting A meeting leaves an ORGANIZATION, apparently (or where employees are invited to be com- technically) of her or his own free will, pletely frank with the MANAGEMENT about but where in reality she or he has been their concerns. Used in assessing JOB SAT- forced out by the actions of the employer. ISFACTION, but not too often. See also UNFAIR DISMISSAL. Confucian Ethic The basis for a construct validity The extent to which SOCIAL SYSTEM, suggested by the fifth- each item of a PSYCHOLOGICAL TEST meas- century BC Chinese moral philosopher ures or predicts what it is supposed to. Confucius, which emphasizes the har- consultative committee A committee mony of mutual loyalties and reciprocal in which representatives of employees in duties among members of a society. an ORGANIZATION meet regularly with the Relationships between people should be SENIOR MANAGEMENT, usually to discuss governed by formal differences in STA- the welfare of the STAFF and the impact of TUS. It is sometimes claimed that the policy decisions on them. Confucian Ethic has had as powerful an effect on the Asian world of work and consumer awareness The term used MANAGEMENT as the PROTESTANT WORK to describe the way in which people think ETHIC has had in the West. of themselves in the role of consumers as opposed to other roles they might occupy, conglomerate A business ORGANIZA- like those of voters or parents. This is the TION, usually comprising a group of com- basis for the social phenomenon of panies, with diverse and often unrelated CONSUMERISM. financial interests but sometimes trading under the one name. consumer decision-making The process by which people decide what consensual validation Checking goods and services to buy. A typical one’s perceptions of something with other model of the stages in this process is illus- people as a way of knowing whether what trated in Figure 10. is being perceived is real or illusory. This is the psychological basis of the ASCH consumer disposables Another term experiments on CONFORMITY. for non-durable products which are FAST MOVING CONSUMER GOODS. Compare with conspicuous consumption A form CONSUMER DURABLES. of buying behaviour in which a consumer lays claim to membership of the high- consumer durables Relatively expen- est SOCIO-ECONOMIC STATUS group by sive and infrequently purchased products, consumer life cycle effects 29

Figure 10 Consumer decision-making. like cars, furniture and laptop comput- consumerism A movement that is ers, which are expected to last for a concerned with the interests of the con- period of years. Compare with CONSUMER sumer in the marketplace by trying to have DISPOSABLES. the safety, QUALITY and informational content of CONSUMER GOODS and services consumer goods Goods for direct improved. In its modern form it can be consumption, like food, clothing and cars, traced back to the efforts of RALPH NADER as opposed to things like machinery in the early 1960s to publicize serious and tools which are used to make other safety hazards in the manufacture of goods. Traditionally, a distinction has American cars. been made between CONSUMER DISPOS- ABLES (like food) and CONSUMER DURABLES consumer life cycle effects The part (like cars), but this distinction is some- played in consumer behaviour by the what blurred by the effects of BUILT-IN stage of life a person is at. For most peo- OBSOLESCENCE. ple in a given society these effects will be 30 consumer panel based on their age group, lifestyle and the way children learn how to be con- disposable income. The stages most com- sumers. An important part of this process monly defined by marketers and advertis- is CO-SHOPPING. ers are as follows: childhood; youth; content analysis The analysis of data bachelor (unmarried person under 35); to see what categories or themes emerge, newly married (under 35, no children); or the analysis of data by prearranged full nest I (married, youngest child under theme or categories to test a HYPOTHESIS 6); full nest II (married, youngest child or make a diagnosis. It is widely used in 6–12); full nest III (married, youngest MARKET RESEARCH. child in teens); empty nest I (married, children left home); empty nest II (mar- contingency planning The attempt ried, children left home, retired); solitary to anticipate emergencies or unexpected survivor (widow/er, children left home, difficulties that might arise in the future. still working); retired solitary survivor (as above, but retired). contingency theory of leadership Any theory of LEADERSHIP which empha- consumer panel A MARKET RESEARCH sizes the need for flexibility in dealing with technique which uses a representative a given situation. The complexity of the group of consumers to provide continu- modern ORGANIZATION means that effective ous data about specific goods or services. leadership is contingent upon a great many Respondents are usually asked to keep a factors: what may be successful in one weekly diary in which they record all rel- context may not be so in another. evant purchases. The views of the respondents about these goods and services and continuing professional development their response to ideas for new products The repeated updating of knowledge, are then discussed with them at regular skills and techniques throughout a pro- intervals. This technique differs from fessional career. It is now becoming SURVEY RESEARCH in being a continuous a requirement in more and more rather than a one-off source of data. PROFESSIONS. consumer psychology The PSYCHOL- continuous improvement See KAIZEN. OGY of an individual when acting as a continuous process production A consumer. manufacturing technique in which raw consumer satisfaction/dissatisfaction materials are fed in at one end of a Since the 1970s, the study of what makes process and finished products emerge at consumers satisfied or dissatisfied with the other in one continuous uninterrupted the products they have bought has flow – hence the alternative name FLOW become a major focus of research. The PRODUCTION. The petrochemical and key seems to lie in the comparison we electricity industries are important users make between what we expected the prod- of this type of production. See also for uct to be like and the way we actually comparison BATCH PRODUCTION and MASS experienced it. The final stage in the PRODUCTION. process of CONSUMER DECISION-MAKING. contracting out [1] Hiring another (See Figure 11.) person or ORGANIZATION to do part of consumer socialization The specific the WORK. (Similar to SUBCONTRACTING.) aspect of SOCIALIZATION concerned with [2] Refusing to join a TRADE UNION or pay co-opting 31

Figure 11 Consumer satisfaction/dissatisfaction. a political contribution. [3] Leaving convergent thinking Thinking along an employer’s pension scheme for a pri- conventional lines in an attempt to find vate one. the best single answer to a problem, unlike DIVERGENT THINKING. See also control [1] In terms of ACCOUNTING, LATERAL THINKING. control refers to the process of checking actual financial PERFORMANCE co-operative A group of producers or against planned performance. [2] In purchasers who set up a trading ORGANI- general, the POWER to direct an ZATION, the PROFIT from which is shared ORGANIZATION. out among the members of the group. controller The senior manager respon- co-opting Inviting someone to join an sible for the finances of an ORGANIZATION. already established group because of 32 co-ordination some particular quality or SKILL, the need corporate plan A document that for which may not have been foreseen maps out the future work and develop- when the group was set up. ment of an ORGANIZATION over a period of years in the light of its resources and the co-ordination The process of inte- ENVIRONMENT in which it operates. The grating all the parts and functions of an plan is concerned with the long-term ORGANIZATION. objectives of the organization and the coping strategy A pattern of behav- strategy used to achieve them. iour that someone uses repeatedly in deal- corporate responsibility Part of a ing with perceived STRESS. business ORGANIZATION’s SYSTEM of COR- copy In ADVERTISING this refers to the PORATE GOVERNANCE deals with the text of an advertisement. responsibility that the company has for the effects of its behaviour on others. Like copyright The exclusive right to pro- corporate governance in general, this duce or reproduce particular written, invariably comes to public notice when a musical or artistic material over a fixed corporation is accused of doing some- period of time. The copyright belongs thing wrong and abusing its relationship originally to the creator of the material, with the community in which it is situated, who normally assigns it to a publisher or with the public in general. in exchange for a ROYALTY on each item sold. corporate strategy This is a set of issues concerned with the direction in core business The key products and which a business ORGANIZATION is going MARKETS at the heart of a company’s and its positioning in the MARKET. It is operations. usually considered the province OF SENIOR core time Under FLEXIBLE WORKING MANAGEMENT, who are supposed to deal HOURS core time refers to those periods with the fundamental questions: ‘What during which all employees must be pres- business are we in?’, ‘Are we in the right ent at the workplace. The rest of the business?’ and ‘How should we go about working day is made up of FLEXIBLE TIME. our business?’ corporate culture See ORGANIZATIONAL corporatism Historically, this refers CULTURE. to the replacement of owners by professional managers in the running of compa- corporate governance The SYSTEM nies. But the term is also widely used to of accountability that a business ORGANI- describe collective action by employers’ ZATION has in dealing with the various sets trade and industrial ORGANIZATIONS. of people that affect it, such as STAFF, customers, shareholders, suppliers and so on. correlation In STATISTICS, this refers to The way this system is supposed to work the relationship, or dependence, between is contained within the FORMAL ORGANI- two variables. It is measured by a statistic ZATION; the way it actually works will be called a CORRELATION COEFFICIENT. found in the INFORMAL ORGANIZATION. correlation coefficient In STATISTICS, corporate image The impression of this is a measure (denoted by the letter r) itself that an ORGANIZATION presents to the of the extent to which two variables outside world. are correlated. It can range from zero creative accounting 33

CORRELATION to perfect positive correla- price the cost (or an estimate of the cost) tion (r ϭ 1.00), where the variables are of producing the product or service in always associated in the same way, or question before deciding on the PROFIT perfect negative correlation (r ϭϪ1.00), margin or the fee to add on. where the variables are always associated but in different ways. counselling The act of listening to people with personal problems and giving co-shopping When parents take their them practical advice. It may happen children shopping with them they act as informally at any level of an ORGANIZA- ROLE MODELS for them in their earliest TION and, for example, is often done by a CONSUMER SOCIALIZATION. Co-shopping FOREMAN for his or her workers. In a more usually begins with mother and child, and formal sense it is usually seen as a PER- with the ever-increasing participation of SONNEL function, where systematic coun- women in the world of paid employment selling may be given by people, on either this is a way in which mothers and a STAFF or CONSULTANCY basis, with children are spending an ever-increasing appropriate TRAINING in PSYCHOLOGY. proportion of their time together. This training would probably be based on cost–benefit analysis A technique for one of the major theories of psychology, comparing all the costs (both tangible like BEHAVIOURISM or PSYCHOANALYSIS,or and intangible) of a particular course on the NON-DIRECTIVE THERAPY of HUMAN- of action with the resulting benefits ISTIC PSYCHOLOGY. expected. It normally, therefore, includes country club management style social or environmental costs as well as Description of people on the MANAGERIAL financial ones. GRID who score high for concern with cost centre A unit whose direct costs people but low for PRODUCTION. can be ascertained, and to which fixed Coverdale training A form of SENSI- costs can be allocated, in the pursuit of TIVITY TRAINING based on GROUP DYNAM- effective financial CONTROL. This unit ICS developed in the United Kingdom by may be a department, a place, a person or Ralph Coverdale. It emphasizes the even a machine. Contrast with PROFIT performance of real group TASKS – as CENTRE. opposed to ROLE PLAYING – and is used in cost effectiveness A measure of the MANAGEMENT DEVELOPMENT to improve extent to which money has been SOCIAL SKILLS and sharpen COGNITION. effectively spent on something. It is found See also ACTION LEARNING. by seeing whether the benefits that have resulted could have been obtained with a CPA See CRITICAL PATH ANALYSIS. lower expenditure. See also VALUE FOR CPD See CONTINUING PROFESSIONAL MONEY. DEVELOPMENT. cost leadership A low-cost strategy creative accounting A form of for acquiring COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE in a ACCOUNTING in which the presentation of product MARKET. financial data is manipulated to the cost plus This is probably the most advantage of an ORGANIZATION in any way common form of PRICING policy, where a possible within the law (or not, as the case company would take as the basis for its may be). 34 creative conflict creative conflict A form of CONFLICT critical path analysis A form of RESOLUTION suggested by the American OPERATIONAL RESEARCH in which a project social worker Mary Parker Follett in the is represented by a diagram containing a early years of the twentieth century. It time schedule for each of the different advocates that opposing views should not parts of the project. The ‘critical path’ be fudged, compromised or avoided, but through the diagram is then the arrange- that a bold attempt be made to examine ment of jobs on the project which will them with a view to integrating them and result in the project taking the shortest moving forward in a way that is in every- amount of time, and therefore incurring one’s interest. A very modern view in the least cost. This is a particularly impor- many ways. tant technique in the PLANNING of large construction projects such as roads and creativity The ABILITY to produce new bridges. ideas; for example, by using DIVERGENT THINKING or INSIGHT LEARNING. critical success factors The ADDED VALUE provided by a company’s human credit squeeze The governmental con- and material resources which give it trol of credit, aimed at making it more dif- a COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE in its field. ficult and expensive to obtain, by imposing high interest rates, restrictions on hire pur- CRM See CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP chase and bank lending, and similar meas- MANAGEMENT. ures. The GOAL is to damp down demand in cross-sectional research The study order to reduce the risk of INFLATION. of a relatively large and diverse set of crisis management The form of people at a single point in time. Compare MANAGEMENT adopted in an emergency with LONGITUDINAL RESEARCH and see or an exceptional situation which focuses also COHORT EFFECT. all the resources of the ORGANIZATION CS/D See CONSUMER SATISFACTION/ on getting through a temporary period of DISSATISFACTION. difficulty, leaving more fundamental or longer-term issues aside. There is a culture In ANTHROPOLOGY, culture is great temptation for senior managers to usually defined as the shared beliefs, val- allow this state of affairs to degenerate ues, ATTITUDES and expectations about into MANAGEMENT BY CRISIS. appropriate ways to behave that are held by the members of a social group. This term is critical incident technique A tech- also important in PSYCHOLOGY, where the nique which analyses the impact of key unquestioned assumptions people share incidents in past PERFORMANCE in order to about the world, about the human condi- improve future performance. It is used, tion, and about what is right, wrong or for example, to study the safety of equip- NORMAL are perhaps even more important. ment in the workplace and in various Both of these uses apply to an understand- aspects of MANAGEMENT EDUCATION and ing of ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE. TRAINING. It can be used as the basis for an INTERVIEW during a SELECTION proce- culture lag The continued use of dure, where inferences may be drawn outmoded ways of doing things even from a candidate’s behaviour during criti- after the introduction of more effective cal incidents in a previous job to his or her means of attaining the particular goals of likely behaviour in a future job. a society, or of an ORGANIZATION. A social curvilinear relationship 35 version of DECENTRING. See also PRODUCT person’s previous CAREER including work LIFE CYCLE. experience, qualifications, achievements and usually some basic BIOGRAPHIC culture shock The feelings of DATA. It is used by employers in the dislocation and bewilderment that people RECRUITMENT and SELECTION of applicants may experience when they come into for JOBS. contact with a different society or CULTURE. This can even apply to a move curve of forgetting A graphic repre- from one ORGANIZATION to another, where sentation of the rate at which the forget- the job in question may be similar but the ting of learned material occurs. (See way of doing it very different; for exam- Figure 12.) ple, in a move from the PUBLIC SECTOR to the PRIVATE SECTOR, or vice versa. curvilinear relationship A relationship between two variables depicted curriculum vitae From the Latin graphically by a curve rather than a meaning ‘course of life’. A summary of a straight line. (See Figure 13.)

100

80 Amount forgotten 60

40 Per cent retained Per 20 Amount retained

0 ½81 24 48 Number of hours since learning

Figure 12 Curve of forgetting.

Figure 13 Curvilinear relationship (for changing fashions in flared trousers). 36 customer consciousness customer consciousness Awareness for customers. This can range from of a customer’s needs with regard to a empathizing with a customer’s needs (see product or service. EMPATHY) to exhorting her or him to ‘have a nice day’. customer–contractor principle A term used in the PUBLIC SECTOR to c.v. See CURRICULUM VITAE. describe research commissioned or spon- sored by a government department from a cybernetics From a Greek term mean- publicly funded research council. The ing something like ‘steersman’, introduced research council is the contractor, or MID- in 1948 by Norbert Wiener, an American DLEMAN, for the funds which it awards computer engineer. It is usually defined to professional researchers, and the gov- briefly as the study of regulatory mecha- ernment department is the end-user or nisms (like thermostats). Out of this field customer for the research findings. came the analogy of the brain as a COM- customer focus The idea that all PUTER and the MODEL of psychological ORGANIZATIONS, and particularly those in processes as SYSTEMS of messages with the ever-growing SERVICE SECTOR should their own built-in FEEDBACK. be aware of their customers’ identity and needs, whatever other strategy they might cyberphobia An irrational fear of adopt. computers. A specialized form of TECHNOPHOBIA. customer intimacy What may result if companies adopt a CONSUMER FOCUS. cycle time The time normally taken by customer relationship management a worker to perform a TASK. Usually the longer the cycle time the more responsi- An attempt by an ORGANIZATION to retain ble the task. its customers by fostering their PERCEP- TION that they each have a relationship cyclical time Experiencing repeated with it beyond the mere buying and sell- events that occur at regular and pre- ing of products. dictable intervals; for example, in the customer service The development of work of a farmer or an ASSEMBLY LINE specific policies and procedures to care operator. Compare with LINEAR TIME. D

DAT See DIFFERENTIAL APTITUDE TEST. piece of work because, to take a common example, the COMPUTER is down. database A store of information, usually held in a COMPUTER, which is decentralization The opposite process logically arranged for a certain use; for to CENTRALIZATION. One or other of these example, a list of people on a company’s is invariably suggested as a cure for ORGA- payroll or a list of its regular customers. NIZATIONAL PATHOLOGY. database marketing A form of MAR- decentring The process of continuing KETING which makes use of a company’s to perceive a situation in a way that customer DATABASE to encourage further changing circumstances have rendered purchases. It would make use of informa- ineffective. A psychological version of tion like name, address, telephone num- CULTURE LAG. ber, e-mail address, previous purchases, decision analysis etc. in sending a personalized COMMUNI- One of three PETER DRUCKER CATION to each customer. techniques suggested by to help a WORK ORGANIZATION decide on data processing There are manual, its most appropriate ORGANIZATIONAL mechanical or ELECTRONIC DATA PROCESS- STRUCTURE. This technique is to establish ING systems. By any of these means raw what the key decisions to be made in the information, or data, may be processed; ORGANIZATION actually are as opposed to that is, collected, recorded, organized, unquestioned assumptions about what analysed, and converted into a form they are. The other two techniques are where it may conveniently be used or ACTIVITIES ANALYSIS and RELATIONS stored. ANALYSIS.

Data Protection Act Legislation decision-maker Anyone charged with passed by the parliament of the United the formal responsibility for making Kingdom in 1984 to regulate the informa- decisions in an ORGANIZATION. The term tion held by ORGANIZATIONS on individu- is usually applied mainly to SENIOR als and to ensure its confidentiality. MANAGEMENT people. day release An arrangement whereby decision tree A kind of FLOW CHART an employee is given time off WORK (usu- used to summarize a possible sequence ally one day a week) without loss of pay, of decisions in which alternative choices to further his or her education or TRAINING are open at each stage and where with formal study. each alternative is dependent on choices already made. dead time A term used in PAYMENT- BY-RESULTS schemes and very similar to decoding In INFORMATION PROCESSING, DOWNTIME. It refers to the time people this is the attempt, by the recipient, to spend waiting around during working make sense of a COMMUNICATION. hours before they can actually start a Compare with ENCODING. 38 decoupling decoupling Reducing the friction never senior) from an organizational between two conflicting groups by HIERARCHY. removing or reducing the amount of con- Delphi method A technique of FORE- tact between them. In ORGANIZATIONS this may, however, result in duplicated effort. CASTING, using a panel of experts in science and TECHNOLOGY to predict the deferred compensation Payment likely future of a particular issue. Each intended by an ORGANIZATION for its member of the panel makes his or her employees at some future date; for exam- own forecast and the different forecasts ple, as pensions upon their RETIREMENT. are assembled in a composite report, deindividuation Feelings of anonymity which is then sent round the panel for and being part of a crowd. A blurring of comment. This process is then usually repeated until a workable consensus on individual IDENTITY and a loosening of the likely future emerges. See also BRAIN- INHIBITIONS often follows. This is the psychological basis for any kind of mob STORMING and SCENARIO WRITING. behaviour. demand curve A graphic measure delayed gratification In SOCIOLOGY, which is used in ECONOMICS to show how this term is used to describe the act of much of a certain product is likely to be foregoing present satisfaction for the sake bought at certain prices. A fall in price, of greater satisfaction in the future; for for example, usually leads to a rise in example, saving money rather than demand. (See Figure 14.) spending it. It is supposed to be most typ- demarcation dispute In INDUSTRIAL ical of the middle classes in our type RELATIONS this is a disagreement between of society, who can afford to be more TRADE UNIONS about the way in which future-oriented. work should be divided between different delayering This euphemism for firing groups of workers, where each union people is used specifically for remov- claims the right to do certain types ing entire levels or layers of MANAGE- of work exclusively for its own mem- MENT (usually middle, sometimes junior, bers. With the decline in trade union

Figure 14 Demand curve. depth interview 39 membership since 1980 these disputes are of state-owned industries or services from now relatively rare. the PUBLIC SECTOR to the PRIVATE SECTOR. This is also called PRIVATIZATION. Deming, W. Edwards (1900–93) An American engineer and statistician denial The EGO DEFENCE in which regarded as the founder of the ‘QUALITY’ people simply refuse to accept either that movement. He worked for a time at the a painful experience has occurred to them Hawthorne works, where ELTON MAYO or the existence within themselves of an conducted his famous studies. When ANXIETY-provoking impulse. he was invited to Japan in 1950, his lec- depersonalization The loss of one’s tures on QUALITY CONTROL had an enor- IDENTITY or SELF-IMAGE. In a business mous influence on Japanese industry. ORGANIZATION this occurs when people Japanese success in Western markets then are treated like machines. It is often asso- awakened American interest in this kind ciated with the ASSEMBLY LINE, but is of work. more a matter of MANAGEMENT philoso- democratic leadership A form of phy than PRODUCTION technique as such. LEADERSHIP which tries to replace the depreciation In ACCOUNTING, this is usual focus on the leader in favour of a a financial measure of the reduction focus on the contributions of followers. In in value of fixed capital ASSETS over an ORGANIZATION this takes the form of time; for example, the wear and tear of DEMOCRATIC MANAGEMENT. equipment. democratic management A type of depression [1] In PSYCHOLOGY, this MANAGEMENT which emphasizes the is one of the most common forms of importance of consulting people about emotional disturbance, which can vary in the work of the ORGANIZATION and involv- intensity from an everyday attack of the ing STAFF at all levels in the process of ‘blues’ to a seriously disturbed condition making decisions. Usually contrasted of paralysing hopelessness. It is charac- with AUTHORITARIAN MANAGEMENT. terized by ANXIETY, dejection and a gen- demographics A set of figures eral lowering of activity. There is a describing a POPULATION, both in general difference of opinion as to whether (or to terms (like births, deaths and marriages) what extent) the causes of depression are and in specific terms like the consump- to be found in unconscious CONFLICT or in tion of particular goods and services. biochemical malfunctioning of the brain. DEMOGRAPHIC SEGMENTATION is widely [2] In ECONOMICS, depression also used in MARKETING. denotes a serious lowering of activity – in business – usually accompanied by demographic segmentation A form high UNEMPLOYMENT and low industrial of MARKET SEGMENTATION that deals with PRODUCTIVITY. the ways of categorizing statistically all the inhabitants in a national population. The deprivation The lack of something most important forms of segmentation for considered essential to well-being, either marketers are usually thought to be by age, psychological, social or material. See also sex and SOCIO-ECONOMIC STATUS. SOCIAL DEPRIVATION. denationalization The opposite of depth interview An INTERVIEW in NATIONALIZATION. It involves the transfer which an interviewer tries to get beyond 40 depth psychology the conscious responses of the inter- psychological or statistical. In STATISTICS, viewee to probe his or her UNCONSCIOUS it refers to the difference of a given score feelings. from the MEAN. depth psychology The area of PSY- Differential Aptitude Test This is CHOLOGY that studies the part the UNCON- actually a battery involving eight different SCIOUS plays in human behaviour. See tests of APTITUDES, like verbal reasoning also DYNAMIC PSYCHOLOGY and FREUD. and spatial relations. The test is used to assess educational and vocational descriptive statistics STATISTICS that PERFORMANCE. summarize or describe a set of measurements; for example, MEASURES OF differentials In INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS, CENTRAL TENDENCY. Compare with INFER- this refers to the differences in levels ENTIAL STATISTICS. of PAY between different categories of workers. deskilling Any process that reduces the amount of SKILL required for the differentiation In ORGANIZATION THE- PERFORMANCE of a job. ORY, this term describes the tendency an ORGANIZATION has to set up specialized desk research A term used in MARKET functions as a way of dealing with RESEARCH to describe the gathering, colla- increasing complexity in its operations. tion and analysis of available data, as opposed to fieldwork, which generates diffusion of new products The fresh data. It is often used as the prelimi- process by which innovations in goods nary stage of a new project. It is the oppo- and services spread throughout a society site of FIELD RESEARCH. over time. Many such innovations appear but very few are commercially successful. desktop publishing A feature of the This is a macro-social process, as com- ELECTRONIC OFFICE. A way of preparing pared to the micro-social process involved documents that involves a MICROCOM- in the ADOPTION OF NEW PRODUCTS. PUTER with word processing, COMPUTER GRAPHICS and SOFTWARE which allows a diffusion of responsibility In SOCIAL combination of text and pictures to be PSYCHOLOGY, this is the idea that taking assembled and displayed on a screen. The responsibility for initiating action or final HARD COPY is produced by a laser offering help in an emergency is spread printer. among the people present in the situation. Sometimes the responsibility is so diffuse devaluation The reduction of the offi- that no action is taken by anybody. cial rate at which the currency of a coun- The term can also be used more generally try is exchanged for other currencies, about the diffusion of decision-making thereby lowering its value. It has the responsibility in the presence of other effect of making imported goods dearer people in a given situation. and the country’s own exports cheaper in overseas MARKETS. Dilbert Principle This was suggested by the American cartoonist Scott Adams deviance Behaviour that is different and states that the most ineffective work- from the expected NORM of a society. ers in a business ORGANIZATION are sys- deviation Generally speaking, a tematically moved to the place where they departure from the NORM, whether social, can do the least damage – MANAGEMENT. displacement 41

Adams regards his idea as the natural externally imposed or self-imposed, and successor to the PETER PRINCIPLE. therefore the basic requirement of all members of a functioning WORK GROUP. diminishing returns [1] In ECONO- MICS, this is the point beyond which any discontinuous innovation A situa- additional input of resources will result in tion in which a new product is introduced a less than proportionate increase in out- to the MARKET whose use requires some put. [2] This idea has been borrowed by new form of behaviour by the consumer, PSYCHOLOGY, where it describes an behaviour that is ‘discontinuous’ from improvement that gets progressively existing behaviour. This is the rarest form smaller with each succeeding increment. of innovation – usually the result of great For example, it is used in the study of technological discoveries – but the one LEARNING and MEMORY, where, after a with the greatest social and psychological large gain at the beginning, extra practice impact. Examples include the telephone, begins to provide less and less gain. car, radio, television, personal computer and microwave oven. directed interview See STRUCTURED INTERVIEW. discrimination In PSYCHOLOGY, this is direct labour costs The costs associ- simply the ABILITY to perceive differ- ated with those members of the workforce ences. In a social or political context ‘dif- directly involved in the PRODUCTION of ference’ often comes to signify something goods and services. Compare with INDI- to be feared or rejected; for example, RECT LABOUR COSTS. something to discriminate against, like sex or colour. This kind of discrimination direct mail advertising A form of is usually illegal. BELOW THE LINE ADVERTISING where COM- MUNICATIONS are sent directly to cus- diseconomies of scale The disadvan- tomers or potential customers by mail. tages resulting for a large, as opposed to a small, scale of operation in an ORGANI- direct marketing A form of MARKET- ZATION. They include difficulties of ING where producers of goods and servi- CO-ORDINATION, COMMUNICATION and ces deal directly with potential consumers adaptability to changing circumstances. rather than going through retail outlets. Compare with ECONOMIES OF SCALE. The media used for such marketing include the traditional MAIL ORDER and dispersion In STATISTICS, this term door-to-door selling and the more recent describes the concentration or the spread additions of local radio and television, of scores in a FREQUENCY DISTRIBUTION. telephone and online COMPUTERS. The most commonly used measure of direct taxation The TAXATION of indi- dispersion is the STANDARD DEVIATION. viduals or ORGANIZATIONS on their INCOME displacement In PSYCHOANALYSIS, or PROFITS; for example, income tax or cap- this is an EGO DEFENCE which involves the ital gains tax. Tax due is paid directly to the UNCONSCIOUS shifting of feeling from its government, unlike INDIRECT TAXATION. real object to another where it is less discipline In PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT threatening to the EGO; for example, terms, this refers to the CONTROL shouting at the television set rather than necessary to do a particular job, whether arguing with the boss. 42 distress distress An unpleasant feeling of divisional organization This is liter- being weighed down, oppressed and con- ally the division of an ORGANIZATION into stricted, which usually accompanies the sub-units. These may take the form of experience of being under STRESS. It is a FUNCTIONAL ORGANIZATION (finance, often contrasted with EUSTRESS. MARKETING, PRODUCTION and so on) or separate business units co-ordinated distributed practice A technique of by SENIOR MANAGEMENT at the centre of LEARNING in which the lessons or periods the organization. of PRACTICE are spread out as widely as the available time permits. This is a much division of labour In ECONOMICS, this more effective method of learning in most is a concept introduced by ADAM SMITH in cases than MASSED PRACTICE, with which the eighteenth century. It involves break- it is usually contrasted. ing down the work of a business ORGANI- ZATION into a series of TASKS or operations distribution [1] In STATISTICS, this is which allows SPECIALIZATION by workers the term for the arrangement of data in in one area of activity. See also ASSEMBLY categories and their display in the form of LINE and BUREAUCRACY. a graph or table. [2] In ECONOMICS, it is the study of how wealth is spread through dog One of the MARKETING situations in the BOSTON MATRIX. It is characterized a POPULATION. by both low growth and low market distributive bargaining A form of share. A dog is a product which a com- COLLECTIVE BARGAINING in which the pany needs to divest itself of as soon as resources to be distributed are regarded possible. as fixed and one side’s gain is therefore domestic labour Unpaid labour that the other side’s loss, as in a ZERO-SUM is performed in the home, the vast major- GAME. ity of it by women (even those in full-time distributive justice A situation in paid EMPLOYMENT outside the home). which everyone receives her or his just dominance The term used of a strong REWARD. Even though this situation fre- need to CONTROL, or to be more important quently does not occur in real life, it has than, other people. been suggested in PSYCHOLOGY that people need to operate on the basis that it double-entry bookkeeping The nor- does; that is, on the basis of a JUST-WORLD mal method of BOOKKEEPING or ACCOUNT- HYPOTHESIS. ING in an ORGANIZATION, where total credits equal total debits because every divergent thinking Creative and transaction is recorded twice, as a credit original thinking that deviates from the to one account and a debit to another. obvious and the conventional to produce several possible solutions to a particular double-loop learning Central to the concept of ORGANIZATIONAL LEARNING as problem. Usually contrasted with CON- pioneered, notably, by CHRIS ARGYRIS.It VERGENT THINKING. See also LATERAL involves not only learning from previous THINKING. behaviour (i.e. SINGLE-LOOP LEARNING) diversification The extension of an but also a critical examination of the ORGANIZATION’s activities or products assumptions underlying that behaviour. beyond its existing range into new areas. This is often described as ‘learning how dysfunctional 43 to learn’ and is regarded as crucial in the concept of MANAGEMENT BY OBJECTIVES situations of rapid change, with the high and introduced the techniques OF ACTIVI- levels of uncertainty and unpredictability TIES ANALYSIS, DECISION ANALYSIS and which accompany them. See also TOLER- RELATIONS ANALYSIS to the study of ORGA- ANCE FOR AMBIGUITY. NIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR. Widely regarded as the original management guru. double time A form of OVERTIME working in which time worked is paid at duopoly A MARKET in which only two twice the normal rate. See also TIME-AND- firms compete or which is dominated A-HALF. by two firms. See also MONOPOLY and OLIGOPOLY. downsizing A euphemism for REDUN- DANCY. See also RIGHTSIZING. dyad In SOCIOLOGY, this is a way of downstream integration See VERTI- referring to a two-person group. CAL INTEGRATION. dynamic psychology The term downtime Any period of time during applied to those aspects of PSYCHOLOGY which no work can be done for reasons that are concerned with MOTIVATION beyond the CONTROL of the workforce; for and with understanding the causes of example, machine failure or bad weather. behaviour in all its ramifications. PSYCHO- The term overlaps with DEAD TIME. ANALYSIS and psychoanalytically influenced areas of psychology are the prime, downward communication Any but not the only, examples of dynamic COMMUNICATION SENIOR MANAGE from - psychology. GESTALT psychology would MENT to lower levels of employees within also qualify, for instance. an ORGANIZATION. Compare with HORI- ZONTAL COMMUNICATION and UPWARD dynamic strategic planning This is COMMUNICATION. a recent American development of SYS- TEMS ANALYSIS: Dynamic refers to the drive A general term for a strong urge uncertainty of the world and therefore in an animal or a person, including those the need for flexibility. Strategic refers urges that are sometimes referred to as to the need for a long-term outlook. instinctive. See also MOTIVATION. Planning refers to the MANAGER’s drive reduction The weakening of a continued need for coherent guidelines. DRIVE in an animal or human, usually as dysfunctional Anything that disturbs a result of the appropriate needs being the normal FUNCTIONAL operations of an satisfied. ORGANIZATION. It is also used more widely Drucker, Peter (1909–) An American to mean a way of doing things that does expert on MANAGEMENT who popularized not work. E

EAP See EMPLOYEE ASSISTANCE MOTIVATION of workers depends solely on PROGRAMME. rational, financial REWARD and punishment. The beauty of the invention is that early adopters Consumers who follow it saves them from thinking about the the earliest innovators in the ADOPTION OF effects of complicated things like GROUP NEW PRODUCTS. NORMS or UNCONSCIOUS MOTIVATION. early retirement The procedure economics A SOCIAL SCIENCE that whereby an employee opts for RETIRE- concentrates on the PRODUCTION, DISTRI- MENT before the usual retiral age, usually with an enhanced pension. If it happens BUTION and consumption of wealth, and of goods and services, as well as the indivi- as a result of DELAYERING or DOWNSIZING dual and social behaviour involved in these or any other form of REDUNDANCY, the element of choice for the employee may processes. It is therefore concerned with be more apparent than real. issues like the working of the MARKET, PRICING, business confidence, economic e-business Any business linking sup- growth, INFLATION and UNEMPLOYMENT. pliers and consumers which is conducted electronically, that is, by computer economies of scale The advantages using the INTERNET. It is a form of DIRECT resulting from a large, as opposed to a MARKETING. small, scale of operation in an ORGANIZA- TION. They include lower unit costs, echo chamber effect The insulating greater purchasing power by buying in effect of hearing only one’s own ideas bulk, opportunities for TRAINING and so on. coming back from other people. Can Compare with DISECONOMIES OF SCALE. afflict SENIOR MANAGEMENT without their being aware of it. One symptom of CEO EDP See ELECTRONIC DATA PROCESSING. DISEASE. efficacy A term sometimes used in e-commerce See E-BUSINESS. PSYCHOLOGY to describe how effective a person feels in influencing matters of econometrics The branch of ECONO- importance to him or her. MICS that deals with the mathematical or statistical relationships between economic ego Latin for the ‘I’, the conscious variables. awareness of oneself (of one’s SELF). According to FREUD the ego is that part of economic determinism The concept the PERSONALITY closest to external reality, that one’s place in the economy, or even which holds the ring between the UNCON- what one does for a living, determines SCIOUS drives of the pleasure seeking ID one’s views of society and politics. on the one hand and the internalized This concept is usually traced back to restrictions of the SUPEREGO on the other. KARL MARX. Neurosis, in Freud’s view, is thus the economic man An invention of result of the ego being unable to maintain economists to support the belief that the harmonious relations with the id and empire-building 45 superego because the POWER of their electronic technology which records a great unconscious drives is too much for it to deal of information automatically when a cope with. sale is registered, such as the product, price, time, operative, method of payment, etc. ego defence In PSYCHOANALYSIS, this is a term for the ways in which the EGO e-mail See ELECTRONIC MAIL. protects itself from the threatening emergent change UNCONSCIOUS ideas of the ID or the SUPER- A recent approach ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE EGO, or from external dangers in the ENVI- to which is scep- RONMENT. See also DENIAL, PROJECTION, tical about the effectiveness of planned RATIONALIZATION, REGRESSION, REPRESSION, change. In particular, evaluations of the SELF-KNOWLEDGE and SUBLIMATION. ‘one-size-fits-all’ or ‘recipe’ approach of planned change seem to suggest it is inade- 80 : 20 rule See PARETO ANALYSIS. quate for extremely complex organiza- e-learning A form of E-BUSINESS tions which have to operate in volatile, where the supplier is an educational insti- unstable and uncertain environments. The tution and the consumer is a student. Has conceptual core of the emergent approach increased greatly in popularity, since the are the two popular and interlinked ideas 1990s, among students of business. of institutionalizing continuous improvement in their work by all staff (known to electronic brainstorming BRAIN- the Japanese for many years as KAIZEN) STORMING by electronic COMMUNICATION and the development of a learning culture rather than sitting round the same table. in the organization. electronic data processing Any kind emotional intelligence The ability to of collection, manipulation or analysis of identify and monitor one’s own and data that makes use of a COMPUTER. others’ feelings and emotions, to discrim- electronic mail The SYSTEM of trans- inate among them, and to use this infor- mitting COMMUNICATIONS electronically mation to guide one’s thinking and between individual COMPUTER TERMINALS actions. It is meant to be contrasted with or within networks of such terminals. It the COGNITION which makes up the tradi- includes the FACSIMILE TRANSMISSION of tional content of INTELLIGENCE and INTEL- HARD COPY. LIGENCE TESTS. electronic office A term used to emotional labour Managing one’s describe an (ideal) office which has taken emotions so as to present a particular face maximum advantage of COMPUTERIZATION to the customer on behalf of the organiza- and the latest developments in office tion, as salesmen or air stewardesses do. AUTOMATION and INFORMATION TECHNO- Of increasing prevalence with the growth LOGY. Such an office would exhibit the of the SERVICE SECTOR, especially in jobs following features, among others: DESKTOP done by women. PUBLISHING, ELECTRONIC MAIL, FACSIMILE empire-building Seeking the aggran- TRANSMISSION, MICROCOMPUTERS, PER- dizement of oneself or of one’s ROLE in an SONAL COMPUTERS, TELECONFERENCING, ORGANIZATION by the pursuit of greater TELEWORKING and WORDPROCESSORS. CONTROL or POWER, without regard to the electronic point of sale The modern needs of other people or of the organiza- form of the cash register. A piece of tion as a whole. Can end in CEO DISEASE. 46 employee assistance programme employee assistance programme A shown rather than by any kind of COER- form of confidential help for people suf- CION. This is particularly important if a fering from STRESS at WORK, or particular company wants to become a LEARNING symptoms of it like alcohol or drug abuse. ORGANIZATION. employee ownership A situation in encoding In INFORMATION PROCESSING, which the people who work for an ORGAN- this is the attempt, by the sender, to con- IZATION own some, or even all, of its vert information into a form which can be shares. Figures vary from country to coun- stored, processed and then DECODED. try, but most employees own no shares at encounter group A form of PSY- all in the organization for which they CHOTHERAPY which is conducted in a work. See also EMPLOYEE SHARE OWNER- GROUP rather than with an individual. It SHIP PLAN. has been adapted for use in MANAGEMENT employee profile Following a JOB TRAINING generally, where people are ANALYSIS, this is a descriptive list of the encouraged to express their emotions and background, experience and ABILITY con- to hear how other people perceive them. sidered necessary for the PERFORMANCE of The technique may also be used more the job. specifically in ASSERTIVENESS TRAINING. employee share ownership plan A endogenous variables Factors (usu- loan scheme to help employees buy some ally of change) that occur within an or all of the shares in their company. See ORGANIZATION and therefore, at least in also EMPLOYEE OWNERSHIP. theory, within the CONTROL of MANAGE- MENT. The term may also be used with employers’ association An ORGANI- reference to a given national economy. ZATION of employers within an industry or Contrast with EXOGENOUS VARIABLES. an economy. It is the organization which engages with TRADE UNIONS by represent- engineering psychology An American ing its members in COLLECTIVE BARGAIN- term for ERGONOMICS. ING and matters of EMPLOYMENT, as well enterprise [1] The willingness to try as lobbying on behalf of its members’ new initiatives and to accept responsibil- interests with government and regulatory ity and risks. [2] A synonym for a business. bodies. enterprise culture A social or com- employment Working for someone pany climate that celebrates ENTERPRISE else in a job which is usually paid and and the ENTREPRENEUR. part of an ORGANIZATION. See also SELF- EMPLOYMENT and UNEMPLOYMENT. entrepreneur A person who risks his or her judgement – and often CAPITAL – in empowerment Being given the a search for PROFIT from new business POWER to do something. This is a term opportunities. Such a person is consid- used especially of TRANSFORMATIONAL ered to have a high NEED FOR ACHIEVE- LEADERSHIP. It denotes the kind of DELE- MENT. Having a critical mass of such GATION in which subordinates ‘own’ the people is considered essential to the suc- task they have been entrusted with and cessful working of CAPITALISM. accept full responsibility for it, being inspired to extend themselves by the force entropy In INFORMATION THEORY, this of the vision and commitment they are is technically an indication of the lack of Etzioni Model 47

ORGANIZATION in a SYSTEM, or the degree equity theory A theory of MOTIVATION of openness in the message being con- that is concerned with our sense of fair- veyed. For example, if a message begins ness and justice about the way we and ‘the cat . . .’ there is a vast number of pos- others are treated at work in terms of the sible ways in which it can be completed, ratio of inputs (like experience, qualifica- and entropy is therefore high. But if the tions and effort) to outcomes (like pay, message reads ‘the cat sat on the mat promotion and status). in front of a warm . . .’ it is already highly ergonomics organized or structured and there is The study of the interac- very little choice about the next word. tion between people and the ENVIRONMENT Entropy is therefore low. in which they work, and in particular their relationship to machines and equipment. entry barrier Any impediment that It draws most heavily on PSYCHOLOGY as prevents or hinders a new competitor well as on engineering, anatomy, physiol- from entering a MARKET. This can be any- ogy and other sciences. The field owes a thing from lack of trained employees to great deal to the early twentieth-century government tariffs or the existence of a pioneers like FRANK GILBRETH and price-fixing CARTEL. F.W. TAYLOR. environment All the external sur- ESOP See EMPLOYEE SHARE OWNERSHIP roundings of an individual or an ORGANI- PLAN. ZATION that affects him or her in some ethical investment The policy of way. See also ERGONOMICS. investing money in companies whose environmental audit A survey of all activities one approves of on ethical the ways in which the activities of an grounds. In practice, this usually means ORGANIZATION affect its environment, often avoiding companies one disapproves of. as part of a COST–BENEFIT ANALYSIS. It is For most ethical investors these are com- particularly concerned with identifying panies involved in alcohol, animal abuse, (and possibly correcting) negative factors environmental degradation, pollution, like pollution, wastage of energy and pornography and tobacco, and those that resources, etc. have poor INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS with their employees. EPOS See ELECTRONIC POINT OF SALE. ethnocentrism The tendency to EQ Stands for ‘Emotional Quotient’. A regard the groups one identifies with, and measure of EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE. especially one’s ethnic group, as superior equal opportunities A situation in to any other. It involves the inability to which access to EMPLOYMENT, PROMOTION, step outside the perceptual framework of TRAINING and other aspects of work is one’s own group and see life from the available to individuals regardless of viewpoint of a different group of people. non-work-related personal factors like Etzioni Model A contribution to age, colour or sex. ORGANIZATIONAL THEORY by the American equity [1] Receiving the same pay as sociologist Arnitai Etzioni, who classified other people doing the same job (a crucial organizations in terms of the kind of aspect of MOTIVATION). [2] The ordinary POWER or AUTHORITY they used. The shares in a company. typology includes coercive (e.g. prisons), 48 euro utilitarian (e.g. business), normative ORGANIZATION. [2] The people respon- (e.g. colleges) and a mixed category. sible for implementing the decisions of a legislature. euro The common European currency, and successor to the ECU, which came into executive search The process of general circulation in the year 2002 looking systematically for supposedly among those countries which had signed talented EXECUTIVES and offering them an up for economic and monetary union. INCENTIVE to move to another ORGANIZA- TION. See also HEAD-HUNTING. European Union An alliance of European countries based on the Treaty of executive washroom An American Rome (1958) which established a term for the lavatory used exclusively by Common MARKET with an integrated SENIOR MANAGEMENT. The term is used economic policy and the aspiration for metaphorically to distinguish the people greater social and political integration. with high status in an ORGANIZATION from Originally six countries, there are now fif- the rest. Having the key to the executive teen and many more countries from washroom is a STATUS SYMBOL. Central and Eastern Europe (and beyond) exercise [1] The use of an attribute are due to join in the next few years. like AUTHORITY or POWER. [2] An activity eustress A term sometimes given to used in TRAINING to analyse or develop the only positive aspect of stress, a feeling a particular SKILL. of stimulation and excitement that can ex gratia payment Payment made as sometimes result in enhanced perform- a gift or favour and not in fulfilment of ance, at least in the short term. The prefix a contract or legal obligation. From the ‘eu’ is from the Greek for ‘good’, which Latin for ‘out of grace’. gives the term a bit of class. It is usually contrasted with DISTRESS. exit interview An INTERVIEW with an employee who is leaving an ORGANIZA- evaluation research The systematic TION to find out that person’s reason for study of the effects and effectiveness of leaving and his or her perception of the a research, TRAINING or intervention ORGANIZATION. programme. exogenous variables Factors (usually exchange economy A simple econ- of change) that occur outside an ORGANI- omy where goods and services are ZATION, and therefore beyond the direct bartered directly rather than through the control of MANAGEMENT. The term may medium of cash or credit. This may take also be used with reference to a given place in either a pre-cash economy or in national economy. Contrast with ENDOGE- the BLACK or GREY segments of our own NOUS VARIABLES. INFORMAL ECONOMY, where it may use an alternative trading medium like LETS. expectancy theory of motivation A way of looking at the relationship exchange rate The rate at which one between MOTIVATION and the PERFORM- country’s currency can be exchanged for ANCE of a JOB. It suggests that people another’s. behave in accordance with the expected executive [1] An individual with outcome of their performance and the the AUTHORITY to take decisions in an value they place on that outcome. Thus eye–voice span 49 people would be motivated to produce and outward-looking sociability. It is more only if they expected that their usually contrasted with INTROVERSION. increased performance would lead to greater satisfaction for them. extrinsic motivation Doing something for reasons of REWARD or punishment expert power This form of POWER in external to the activity itself; for example, an ORGANIZATION depends on the posses- staying in a boring job because you need sion of knowledge and SKILLS that other the money to pay the mortgage. Usually people, particularly at the top of the organ- contrasted with INTRINSIC MOTIVATION. ization value highly, for example, in areas like accounting, finance, law, science and extroversion More properly EXTRA- technology. VERSION. expert systems The COMPUTERIZATION eye–hand span In ERGONOMICS, this of human knowledge, experience and SKILL is a measure of how far the eye is ahead in a particular field; for example, banking of the hands in the PERFORMANCE of some or medicine. This is a central concern of manual TASK. It is tested experimentally research in ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE. by suddenly darkening the room and recording how much of the task the external validity The extent to which subject continues to perform. It is used, a psychological test or research finding is for example, in designing keyboards and valid when applied to everyday life. equipment for sorting letters in the post extranet An information site derived office. from the INTERNET which belongs to a eye–voice span In ERGONOMICS, this given ORGANIZATION and can be accessed is a measure of how far the eye is ahead externally by a password. Now widely of the voice in reading out loud. This is used in DIRECT MARKETING. Compare with tested experimentally by suddenly dark- INTRANET. ening the room and recording how many extraversion According to the Swiss words the subject continues to say. It is psychoanalyst Carl Gustav Jung this is a used in measuring reading SKILLS and in basic PERSONALITY dimension of openness the ASSESSMENT of reading problems. F face saving See FACEWORK. different situations an individual consumer may go through in the course of face-to-face group A term used in a lifetime. The most commonly used such SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY, particularly in GROUP series is as follows. DYNAMICS. It describes a small group of people in close enough physical proxi- ● Bachelor: unmarried person under 35 mity for each person in the group to inter- ● Newly married: under 35, no children act directly with each of the others. Such ● Full nest I: married, youngest child a group will usually contain no more than under 6 six to eight people. ● Full nest II: married, youngest child face validity The extent to which a 6–12 PSYCHOLOGICAL TEST or other procedure ● Full nest III: married, youngest child appears relevant to the variable it is in teens dealing with. It is also used more loosely ● Empty nest I: married, children left in PSYCHOLOGY in the sense of ‘having home credibility’. ● Empty nest II: married, children left facework In SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY, this home, retired term is sometimes used to describe social ● Solitary survivor: widow(er), children rituals that save ‘face’ or enhance a public left home, still working image at the expense of honest emotion. ● Retired solitary survivor: as above, but retired. facsimile transmission The process of transferring material electronically fast-moving consumer goods A from one location to another by use of term used in MARKETING and MARKET a TELECOMMUNICATIONS network. The RESEARCH to describe relatively small image is converted into electronic data, products that have a quick turnover in a which when received is converted back retail outlet. Supermarkets and chemists into the original image on paper. Any are among the most common examples of form of document may be sent or received such outlets. in this fashion. fatigue In ERGONOMICS, this is a term factor analysis A technique used in that includes both the subjective feeling STATISTICS for analysing complex CORRE- of tiredness that a worker may report and LATIONS of scores and tracing the factors the objectively observed decrease in his underlying these correlations. or her level of PERFORMANCE of a TASK. fad surfing Riding the crest of each The issue of finding the most efficient and new MANAGEMENT wave the tide brings in, effective SYSTEM of work and rest periods preferably without getting your feet wet is of particular importance in matters of and having to change. safety; for example, with airline pilots or junior hospital doctors. family life cycle A series of stages used in MARKETING to categorize the FAX See FACSIMILE TRANSMISSION. fifth generation computer 51

Fayol, Henri (1841–1925) A French PSYCHOLOGY, best known for his theory of pioneer of ORGANIZATIONAL THEORY and COGNITIVE DISSONANCE. MANAGEMENT, who set out the structural field research An important part of principles of FORMAL ORGANIZATION. The MARKET RESEARCH. It involves the collec- CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER of a mining tion of data about products or ADVERTISING company himself, he was mainly interested from actual or potential customers, usually in SENIOR MANAGEMENT. He believed that by means of INTERVIEW or QUESTIONNAIRE. general principles of management could The opposite of DESK RESEARCH. be found that were relevant to all kinds of ORGANIZATION and which could be used in field theory In its best-known form, MANAGEMENT TRAINING. Fayol is responsi- the GESTALT school of PSYCHOLOGY argued ble for introducing the concepts of CHAIN that, in the functioning of the brain and OF COMMAND, JOB DESCRIPTION, MANAGE- in the behaviour of humankind and the MENT AUDIT, ORGANIZATION CHART and higher animals, the whole is greater than the SPAN OF CONTROL. sum of all its parts; that the brain could be understood better as a total field than as a fear of failure A fear that is aroused collection of nerve cells; and that the cause when someone feels pressured to achieve of a particular piece of behaviour lies in the something. It is particularly prevalent in totality of a field of interacting elements people with a high NEED FOR ACHIEVEMENT. rather than in the most obvious stimulus. In fear of success Mainly used to its social applications, field theory is closely describe the MOTIVATION in some women associated with the work of KURT LEWIN. to avoid doing well and achieving success FIFO See FIRST IN, FIRST OUT. (especially in competition with men) because their SOCIALIZATION has led them Fifth Discipline An idea introduced to perceive such behaviour as unfeminine. by the American MANAGEMENT specialist Peter Senge in 1990. In Senge’s words featherbedding [1] A restrictive ‘it is the cornerstone of the LEARNING labour practice where more STAFF are ORGANIZATION’ and it requires the use of employed than is necessary for the work to five basic disciplines or ‘component tech- be done. [2] An economic ENVIRONMENT nologies’. These are: [1] systems thinking, which provides companies with easy [2] personal mastery, [3] mental models, PROFITS; for example, because of the way [4] building shared vision and [5] team tax is regulated. [3] The subsidizing of an learning. unprofitable industry by government. fifth generation computer The new feedback A term borrowed from generation COMPUTER, which uses STATE- CYBERNETICS, where it refers to the direct OF-THE-ART technology in design and relationship of the input of a SYSTEM to its applications. It is expected to have a more output. The concept of a return flow of sophisticated MAN–MACHINE INTERFACE – output information which can be used to thus making computers more USER regulate future input is now widely used FRIENDLY – and new SOFTWARE, incorpo- in PROGRAMMED LEARNING and the devel- rating principles of ARTIFICIAL INTELLI- opment of TEACHING MACHINES. GENCE intended to help computers Festinger, Leon (1919–89) A lead- approximate more closely in their opera- ing American contributor to SOCIAL tions to human COGNITION. 52 filtering filtering The process of screening out markets, first-mover may really be an certain stimuli from the ENVIRONMENT, such advantage and in others it may not, with as dust or heat or glaring light. The term is later-movers learning from the mistakes used in PSYCHOLOGY as a metaphor for the made by their predecessors and acquiring way we filter out those sensory stimuli not a LATE-MOVER ADVANTAGE. Something needed for us to make sense out of our like this seems to have happened with PERCEPTION of the environment. E-BUSINESS. financial management Any action fixed pie myth An American version taken by an ORGANIZATION to manage the of a ZERO-SUM GAME that does not in fact funds it has at its disposal. Deals particu- exist in a given situation. larly with the generation of capital and revenue and the control of costs. See also flat organization An ORGANIZATION HIERAR BUDGET and COST–BENEFIT ANALYSIS. with relatively few levels in its - CHY. An oft-quoted example is the financial year The twelve months cho- Catholic church, a global organization sen by an ORGANIZATION as its ACCOUNTING with only five levels from parish priest to PERIOD. pope. Compare with TALL ORGANIZATION. first in, first out [1] A method of valu- flexible firm A company that follows ing stock or taking INVENTORY in a busi- a model of ‘flexibility’ in dealing with its ness ORGANIZATION, where the prices of employees. This has three aspects: the oldest items purchased are applied [1] functional – the division of employees to the entire stock. Items received first into essential core workers and the are the first to be sold. [2] A method of peripheral remainder; [2] numerical – choosing people for REDUNDANCY in an varying the number of employees as and organization where the first to be hired when required; [3] financial – varying are also the first to be made redundant. pay and fringe benefits with supply and first-in strategy A business strategy demand in the labour market. which seeks COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE by flexible time Under a system of FLEXI- being first into a new MARKET. See FIRST- BLE WORKING HOURS, flexible time refers to MOVER ADVANTAGE. those periods during which an employee first-line supervisor The supervisor may choose whether to be at work or not, responsible for the MANAGEMENT of PRO- in contrast to CORE TIME, when attendance DUCTION workers on the SHOP FLOOR. The is mandatory. term refers to anyone at the level above flexible working hours A method of CHARGEHAND and is most often synony- organizing working hours which has no mous with the term FOREMAN. The first fixed starting or finishing times and step in the management HIERARCHY of a which allows people some latitude in business ORGANIZATION. deciding when they will work, provided first-mover advantage The supposed their daily, weekly or monthly total of competitive advantage of being the first hours worked is that contracted for. The company to enter a new MARKET because working day is divided into CORE TIME of the unique link made in the minds of and FLEXIBLE TIME. Extra hours worked consumers between the company and the within a given period may be credited to goods or services it offers. In some the next period or given as time off. forming 53 flexitime Popular term for FLEXIBLE of SCIENTIFIC MANAGEMENT into action on WORKING HOURS. his ASSEMBLY LINE. float [1] To launch a new company. forecasting A series of techniques for [2] A small amount of cash used for trying to predict the future on the basis of expenses or in making change. [3] To known data, usually with regard to the allow a currency to find its own EXCHANGE economy or some aspect of it like sales, RATE in the MARKET, as opposed to demand or the need for MANPOWER PLAN- maintaining a particular rate by CENTRAL NING. Sometimes a QUALITATIVE METHOD- BANK intervention. [4] Used in NETWORK OLOGY like the DELPHI METHOD may be ANALYSIS to denote the amount of time used, but more often a QUANTITATIVE that can be added to a given activity with- METHODOLOGY is used employing a mathe- out extending the total time of the whole matical or statistical technique like project. REGRESSION analysis. See also MODEL and OPERATIONAL RESEARCH. floppy A small magnetic disk inserted into a COMPUTER or WORD PROCESSOR and foreman A FIRST-LINE SUPERVISOR used for the storage of data. It is called responsible for a group of workers on the ‘floppy’ to distinguish it from a hard disk, SHOP FLOOR. Usually one level above which is a permanent fixture with a much CHARGEHAND. higher storage capacity. formal communication Any COMMU- flow chart A diagram showing all NICATION between people through the the parts of a SYSTEM or the stages in official channels of an ORGANIZATION, fol- a process, and the interrelationships lowing the official procedure. Usually between them; for example, a map of the contrasted with INFORMAL COMMUNICATION. London Underground or a plan of a self- formal group A group set up by the assembly wardrobe. MANAGEMENT of an ORGANIZATION with a flow production See CONTINUOUS written mandate and a well-defined pur- PROCESS PRODUCTION. pose. Usually compared with an INFORMAL GROUP. fmcg An acronym for FAST-MOVING CONSUMER GOODS. formal organization The ‘face’ of an ORGANIZATION, as exhibited in its brochure, followership A research focus that annual report, rule book, ORGANIZATION began in the 1980s on why people follow CHART and so forth. It represents the offi- leaders as an attempt to overcome dissatis- cial structure of the organization and the faction with existing theories of LEADER- way it is supposed to function. Compare SHIP that concentrated largely on leaders with INFORMAL ORGANIZATION. and their behaviour. forming A term sometimes applied to Ford, Henry (1863–1947) The the initial stage of group formation within founder of the Ford Motor Company, who an ORGANIZATION. The individuals con- is celebrated in the study of MANAGEMENT cerned are intent on finding out what they for inventing the ASSEMBLY LINE form of can about each other (and making a good manufacturing in 1913. impression) and do not yet see themselves Fordism An ideology named after as a distinct group. See also STORMING, HENRY FORD, who first put the principles NORMING and PERFORMING. 54 form letter form letter A standard letter used for free market The kind of MARKET that repetitive kinds of correspondence, such would exist under a FREE ENTERPRISE as rejection slips from publishers. SYSTEM.

FORTRAN (Formula Translation) A frequency distribution In STATISTICS, SYSTEM of words and symbols used in this is a tabulation of the number of times science and TECHNOLOGY to instruct a something occurs in a body of data. COMPUTER in its TASK of INFORMATION Freud, Sigmund (1856–1939) A PROCESSING. See COMPUTER LANGUAGE. Viennese neurologist and psychologist. four P’s of marketing See MARKET- Freud’s work may be divided into three ING MIX. areas: his invention of PSYCHOANALYSIS as a therapeutic technique, his theory of PER- framing effect A psychological effect SONALITY (EGO, ID and SUPEREGO), and his based on human COGNITION in which we social philosophy. While each of Freud’s make judgements based on the cognitive ideas is still hotly debated, few people framework within which a situation or would dispute his enormous and wide- proposition is put to us. Putting such a spread influence in making the twentieth proposition to us on behalf of a client is century more aware than any previous age the mainstay of ADVERTISING. For example, of the POWER of the irrational and the a statement like ‘nine out of ten lager UNCONSCIOUS in human affairs. drinkers prefer Plonker’ sounds impres- sive at first hearing but begs some impor- fringe benefit A REWARD beyond the tant questions, like ‘prefers it to what? basic PAY for the job. Examples can Bleach?’ Or ‘how were these intrepid range from subsidized meals and travel to lager drinkers chosen?’ and ‘were they pensions, holidays and sickness benefits. paid for their views?’ and so on. functional Referring to a specialized free enterprise system An ideal of aspect or function of an ORGANIZATION, CAPITALISM in which supply and demand like PERSONNEL or MARKETING. Often are the only influences on the MARKET used more broadly in the sense of some- and government intervention is minimal, thing in the organization that is working or even less. efficiently.

Figure 15 Functional organization. future shock 55 functional authority The AUTHORITY about the causes of someone’s behaviour that is associated with a particular job. by overestimating the effects of her or his personal characteristics and underesti- functional organization A form of mating those of the social ENVIRONMENT. ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE in which specialists carry out their own particular func- future shock A term introduced by tion in an ORGANIZATION (like RESEARCH the American writer Alvin Toffler in the AND DEVELOPMENT or QUALITY CONTROL) 1970s to denote the growing difficulty but without any AUTHORITY over people in many people have in our society of cop- LINE MANAGEMENT. (See Figure 15.) ing with, and adapting to, what he consid- fundamental attribution error The ered to be an increasingly rapid pace of tendency to make an erroneous attribution social change. G gain–loss theory of interpersonal progress of a project over time in terms of attraction An attempt in SOCIAL scheduled PERFORMANCE as compared to PSYCHOLOGY to formulate a theory that actual performance. (See Figure 16.) takes account of changes in people’s Gantt, Henry (1861–1919) An liking for each other. It suggests that American engineer, and colleague of increases or decreases in the rewarding F.W. TAYLOR, who was a pioneer of MAN- behaviour we receive from another person AGEMENT CONSULTANCY and developed the has more effect on us than a constant level GANTT CHART, emphasized the importance of liking or disliking. Thus we like best of employees as HUMAN RESOURCES in an someone who starts out negatively in our ORGANIZATION and the need to understand estimation and becomes more positive, their MOTIVATION. He also urged that more and we like least a person who starts out social responsibility be shown by positive and becomes negative. business to society. gainsharing A form of PAYMENT BY garbage in, garbage out A slogan RESULTS, like the SCANLON PLAN, where coined by American operatives in the employees are paid extra for increasing COMPUTER industry, but widely adopted productivity or decreasing costs. It can outside it, implying that the QUALITY of thus be used in either commercial or the output from a SYSTEM depends upon non-profit ORGANIZATIONS. the quality of the input to it. Gallup poll The first and the best- GAS See GENERAL ADAPTATION known QUESTIONNAIRE technique for the SYNDROME. mass SAMPLING of public opinion. It was developed by the American social gatekeeper [1] In SOCIOLOGY, this scientist George Gallup. term is used for someone with the POWER to decide who will join a select group. game theory A mathematical appr- [2] In ORGANIZATIONAL THEORY, the term oach to the study of CONFLICT and is used for someone with the power to decision-making which treats conflict decide what information will flow into or situations as though they were games, out of an ORGANIZATION. with set tactics and strategies and totally rational players. Some of the simpler Gaussian curve The BELL-SHAPED situations studied, like the PRISONER’S CURVE of a NORMAL DISTRIBUTION, named in DILEMMA, have been of interest to people honour of the nineteenth-century German in SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY looking for a mathematician K.F. Gauss. MODEL that would generate ideas about GDP See GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT. social behaviour. gender roles See SEX ROLES. Gantt chart A type of BAR CHART developed by HENRY GANTT which is general adaptation syndrome The widely used in the PLANNING and CONTROL body’s non-specific response to STRESS of PRODUCTION. The chart depicts the that consists of three stages: the alarm gentleman’s agreement 57

Figure 16 Gantt chart.

reaction, when the body responds with generic Having a general application the heightened physiological reactivity of to a group or class of things rather than to the ‘fight or flight’ response to meet the a specific individual. [1] It is widely used demands of the STRESSOR; resistance, in MARKETING and examples can include when the body tries to cope with the stres- the ADVERTISING of materials like wool, or sor and outwardly appears to have the sale of non-branded products like returned to normal but inwardly is releas- eggs, or in reference to a class of product ing high levels of stress hormones; and like wine. [2] In HUMAN RESOURCE MAN- exhaustion, where resources are depleted AGEMENT, it can refer to a class of SKILL and the body’s defence against disease such as accountancy, law or computing and illness is decreased. which is not job-specific and can be transferred from one employer to another. generalized other According to the American sociologist G.H. Mead, this is genotype An individual’s genetically the concept an individual has of how inherited potential. Usually contrasted other people expect her or him to behave with PHENOTYPE. in a given situation. Compare this with gentleman’s agreement A verbal SIGNIFICANT OTHER. contract which is not legally binding and general manager The MANAGER depends for its implementation on the responsible for the whole range of ADMIN- sense of honour of the ‘gentlemen’ ISTRATION in an ORGANIZATION and not just involved. In practice, this kind of agree- a specific function within it. ment often works as well as, if not better 58 geodemographic segmentation than, the written kind. A good example of Gilbreth, Frank (1868–1924) An this is the diamond business. American MANAGEMENT scientist who pioneered TIME-AND-MOTION STUDY and geodemographic segmentation As contributed generally to the SCIENTIFIC the name suggests, this is a combination MANAGEMENT movement. Gilbreth was an of GEOGRAPHIC SEGMENTATION and DEMO- engineer and worked with his wife GRAPHIC SEGMENTATION. This particular Lillian, a psychologist, on many projects. market segment is based on the finding They invented, among other things, the that consumers who live in the same SIMO CHART and the THERBLIG. neighbourhood will tend to have the same SOCIO-ECONOMIC STATUS and each of glass ceiling A real though invisible the factors making up this status (income, barrier that may be present in an ORGANI- education and occupation) will also be ZATION preventing women from rising similar. Thus, people in a particular neigh- above a certain level in the organizational bourhood will often have similar needs, HIERARCHY. Its origin lies in the ATTI- wants and preferences and a similar TUDES of the men who run the organiza- amount of money to spend on them. It is a tion about the idea of women being in way of identifying ready-made clusters of positions of AUTHORITY. households with similar lifestyles and pat- globalization The process of ever- terns of consumption, and therefore pro- increasing worldwide integration of cul- vides a useful tool for marketers who have tures, societies and, especially, economies. clearly identified and detailed targets. This process has been made possible by geographic segmentation A form of high-speed electronic COMMUNICATIONS MARKET SEGMENTATION where the market and has led to a global marketplace in is segmented by location on the assump- goods, services and CAPITAL as well as the tion that consumers living in a particular emergence of a global workforce. location will have similar needs, wants GNP See GROSS NATIONAL PRODUCT. and preferences, and that these will differ systematically from those of consumers goal setting A term used in the theory living in other locations. It has been of MOTIVATION. It has been found that the argued that the process of GLOBALIZATION PERFORMANCE of a TASK is aided if people and the worldwide MARKETING of famous agree to accept specific GOALS for them- brands like Microsoft and Coca-Cola has selves which are stretching but attainable. reduced the importance of this form of gofer An office junior, one of whose segmentation outside of a particular duties is to go for (‘gofer’) things and run national market. errands. gestalt A German word meaning a golden handcuffs A financial induce- form, a configuration or a whole, which ment to an employee to stay, which is so has properties that are more than just the favourable that he or she would find it sum of its parts; for example, the way the difficult to leave the ORGANIZATION. brain organizes dots of light into visual golden handshake A relatively large patterns, or musical notes into melodies. sum of money given in the form of SEV- See also CLOSURE. ERANCE PAY for a departure that is usually GIGO An acronym for GARBAGE IN, ahead of normal RETIREMENT or comes at GARBAGE OUT. the end of a contract. grid training 59 golden hello A relatively large pay- which there is no existing or previous ment made to an individual as an induce- development. Originally, these locations ment to leave one ORGANIZATION and come were, and sometimes still are, green fields to another. on the outskirts of urban areas. A move to such a site is often accompanied by new golden parachute [1] An American forms of INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS practices GOLDEN HANDSHAKE. [2] A relatively large that attempt to overcome traditional sum paid to the directors of the losing confrontations between MANAGEMENT and company in a TAKE-OVER bid should they TRADE UNIONS. suffer REDUNDANCY. No such provision is made for any other employees. green pound/dollar A term used to describe consumer spending on goodwill Any INTANGIBLE ASSET of a products identified as environmentally business, which includes its reputation, friendly. the LOYALTY of its employees or customers, its location, and so on. greenwash Similar to ‘whitewash’ when applied to a company’s PUBLIC go-slow A form of INDUSTRIAL ACTION, RELATIONS efforts to obtain credit for short of a STRIKE, where workers do not ethical or environmentally friendly poli- withdraw their labour but instead slow cies when in fact it is conducting business down the rate at which the work is done, as usual. usually by meticulously following the rule book. See also WORK-TO-RULE. grey economy Part of the INFORMAL ECONOMY. Unlike the BLACK ECONOMY, graphology The study of handwriting WORK in the grey economy is unpaid. It in an attempt to gain a quick insight into consists of work done within households someone’s PERSONALITY. Often used (or or communities. Usually, this takes the misused) in business as a kind of ‘quick form of an informal arrangement between and dirty’ PROJECTIVE TECHNIQUE, family, friends or neighbours, but in some especially in the SELECTION of new staff. places it may be more systematically graveyard shift In SHIFT WORK prac- organized; for example, in the form of tice this is a colloquial term for the night LETS. It has been estimated that work shift. done in the grey economy accounts for over half of all work done in the FORMAL great man theory The idea that the and INFORMAL ECONOMIES combined. course of events is influenced at crucial times by the actions of outstanding men, grey market A term sometimes used often because of their CHARISMA. As a to describe the MARKET SEGMENTATION way of understanding history it is a gross by age that identifies older consumers oversimplification. Despite this, it is still (usually over the age of fifty) as a popular in the study of LEADERSHIP and separate group. the place of leadership within the func- grey pound/dollar A term used to tioning of an ORGANIZATION. describe consumer spending on products green audit See ENVIRONMENTAL identified as being particularly appropri- AUDIT. ate to elderly people, or simply the total consumer spend of elderly people. greenfield site A location for a new commercial or industrial development on grid training See MANAGERIAL GRID. 60 grievance procedure grievance procedure In INDUSTRIAL keeping to the same level of PRODUCTI- RELATIONS, this is a series of arrangements VITY as the other group members, regard- for settling grievances that employees less of MANAGEMENT instructions or have against their employers, either INCENTIVES. See also NORM. directly or between their MANAGEMENT group polarization The tendency of and TRADE UNION representatives. a group to become more extreme in its gross domestic product In ECONO- decision-making than its individual mem- MICS, this is the total value of all business bers. Thus, cautious individuals will spark activity (all goods and services produced) an even more CAUTIOUS SHIFT and risk- within a country’s economy over a given taking individuals a more RISKY SHIFT. period of time. See also GROSS NATIONAL group process A term used to PRODUCT. describe the interactions within a group gross national product In ECONO- and the changes that occur over time in MICS, this is the value of the GROSS DOMES- the relationships between its members. TIC PRODUCT plus the value to a country’s See also ENCOUNTER GROUP and T-GROUP. residents of all foreign investments. group selection methods Techniques group cohesiveness In SOCIAL PSY- of SELECTION which aim to assess the CHOLOGY, this term refers to the tendency ABILITY of individuals to work with other of a group to maintain itself in the face of people in a group. They usually involve external threats or pressures, based on the the observation of a group of candidates attraction the group has for each of its in a discussion or a problem-solving members, which acts as a binding force. situation. group dynamics In SOCIAL PSYCHO- group structure The way in which a LOGY, this term refers to the study of the group is designed and organized. It forms way people behave in a GROUP, especially the framework for the GROUP PROCESS and a small FACE-TO-FACE GROUP. This field is for the PERFORMANCE of the group’s TASK. closely associated with the pioneering Especially important in this context is work of KURT LEWIN. the COMMUNICATION NETWORK within the ORGANIZATION. grouping In STATISTICS, this is the process of combining individual scores group therapy A form of PSYCHO- THERAPY which involves several people at into categories or putting them in RANK the same time. The assumption here is ORDER; for example, as PERCENTILES. that people can benefit from the experi- group mind A hypothetical entity ences and companionship of other people, (see HYPOTHESIS), sometimes given mysti- as well as experiencing the GROUP cal qualities, which has been suggested as PROCESS itself. the agency for crowds acting in unison. It groupthink The English writer is a way of saying we don’t understand George Orwell’s term for the totalitarian very much about crowd behaviour. imposition of authorized thoughts on all group norm Behaviour expected of the members of a society. The term has all the members of a group. In a WORK been introduced into SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY GROUP the HAWTHORNE STUDIES discov- by the American scientist Irving Janis, ered that this can mean an individual where it is sometimes used to describe the growth needs 61 way that members of a very cohesive workers, by forming individuals into a group can become so preoccupied with coherent WORK GROUP and allowing them maintaining a group consensus of thought more autonomy over, and responsibility that their critical faculties become dulled – for, their work than they would have sometimes to the point of making a cata- as a series of individuals. This process strophic decision. Contrast with SYNERGY. often involves JOB RESTRUCTURING of indi- See also CONSENSUAL VALIDATION. vidual jobs. group training methods These are growth [1] In ECONOMICS, this is the TRAINING techniques which use the pro- expansion of a business ORGANIZATION or perties of a group to help individual the economy in general. The rate of members learn. The point of the training growth in the latter is usually measured may be to have the members learn from by the rate of change in the GROSS DOMES- each other’s expertise in tackling a partic- TIC PRODUCT. [2] In PSYCHOLOGY, the term ular problem together, or the point of the refers to an increase in maturity as shown group might be the GROUP PROCESS from by evidence of intellectual or emotional which the members would be encouraged development. to learn about themselves and how they are perceived by others, as well as growth needs An important aspect about group behaviour in general. See of theories of MOTIVATION, especially also COVERDALE TRAINING, ENCOUNTER that of ABRAHAM MASLOW. After the basic GROUP, SENSITIVITY TRAINING and T-GROUP. physiological needs in his HIERARCHY group working An attempt to increase OF NEEDS have been met the psycho- JOB SATISFACTION (as well as PRODUCTI- logical or growth needs can potentially be VITY), especially among ASSEMBLY-LINE satisfied. H habit A learned response to a given hard currency A national currency situation which occurs in such a regular used in international trade because it has fashion that it appears to be virtually a stable or rising EXCHANGE RATE and is automatic. Thus, it may at times be mis- generally accepted as being easily convert- taken for innate behaviour and considered ible into other currencies; for example, the an instinct. American dollar or Swiss franc. habituation In PSYCHOLOGY, this hard sell A colloquial term for the refers to a decreasing response to a stimu- aggressive ADVERTISING, MARKETING, lus as it becomes more familiar through PROMOTION and SELLING of a product. repeated presentation. With reference to hardware The physical components drug use, habituation is the condition, of electronic and mechanical equipment resulting from repeated use of a drug, that make up a COMPUTER; for example, where there is a psychological, though the disk drives, keyboard, printer, VISUAL not a physical, dependence on the drug DISPLAY UNIT and so on. These compo- but with little or no desire to increase the nents must be in place before any SOFT- dose; for example, the two-Martini lunch WARE can be added to the SYSTEM. as opposed to ALCOHOLISM. Hawthorne effect The finding in hacking Unauthorized breaking into INDUSTRIAL PSYCHOLOGY that paying the DATABASE of a COMPUTER. attention to people at work improves hall test In MARKET RESEARCH, this is their PERFORMANCE. Part of the series the technique of asking people their opin- of HAWTHORNE STUDIES done at the ions of the ADVERTISING, packaging and Hawthorne works of the Western Electric presentation of a product (originally done Company in Illinois between 1927 and on the spot in a supermarket ‘hall’). 1932. Various attempts were made to improve workers’ conditions, including halo effect In SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY, changes in lighting, rest breaks, hours of this refers to the tendency to generalize in work and methods of payment. Each of judging a person from just one character- these changes resulted in an increase in istic (usually positive) to a total impres- PRODUCTIVITY, and so did a return to the sion. Compare with HORN EFFECT. original conditions of work. The investi- handbook A book of instructions on gators concluded that the changes in the how to operate some machine or proce- external ENVIRONMENT had not influenced dure. In a more academic sense it is used of the workers’ PERFORMANCE as much as a survey of a particular field that is intended had their PERCEPTION that the MANAGE- to be authoritative and comprehensive. MENT of the ORGANIZATION was interested in them and their work. This is an example hard copy A copy on paper, often of SOCIAL FACILITATION. in the form of print-out, of data stored electronically in a COMPUTER or WORD Hawthorne studies A series of inves- PROCESSOR. tigations carried out at the Hawthorne hedonism 63 plant of the Western Electric Company in Illinois between 1927 and 1932, under the direction of ELTON MAYO, which marked a turning point in the history of INDUSTRIAL PSYCHOLOGY. The scale of the research was vast – in one phase over 20,000 employees were interviewed – and it explored various aspects of the way in which the employees regarded their work, their colleagues and their supervisors. Apart from the HAWTHORNE EFFECT, one other major finding that attracted great attention was that a WORK GROUP could set its own rate of PRODUCTION regardless of external financial INCENTIVES offered by MANAGEMENT to the group or to the individuals in it. head-hunting The process of looking systematically for talented people and offering them an INCENTIVE to move to another ORGANIZATION. A more general form of EXECUTIVE SEARCH. health and safety at work An area of work subject to a great deal of detailed legislation in most industrialized countries because of the importance of labour to PRODUCTIVITY. hearing loss The degeneration of an individual’s hearing ability. Apart from physical damage or disease it can be caused by prolonged exposure to NOISE. Legis- lation on HEALTH AND SAFETY AT WORK has reduced the serious risk of hearing loss in HEAVY INDUSTRY, though there are still dangers there and in LIGHT INDUSTRY, and even in daily life. (See Figure 17.) heavy industry The term applied to traditional industries, like steelmaking, coalmining and shipbuilding, which were the basis of Western INDUSTRIALIZATION in the nineteenth century and have always required heavy physical labour. Compare with LIGHT INDUSTRY. hedonism In PSYCHOLOGY, this refers Figure 17 Hearing loss and the loudness to the idea that all our behaviour stems of some familiar sounds. 64 helicopter factor from the MOTIVATION to pursue pleasure hidden agenda Things which are not and avoid pain; in philosophy, the listed on the formal agenda of a meeting doctrine that it is our ethical duty to do so. but which influence the meeting none the The one does not, of course, imply the less. These may be unspoken (or even other. UNCONSCIOUS) ATTITUDES that individuals hold on the subjects under discussion, or helicopter factor A term sometimes they may form a quite conscious attempt used in the study of LEADERSHIP to describe at manipulating the meeting on behalf the ABILITY to rise above the immediate of the hidden agenda of an individual or situation one is in, get a broader perspec- group interest. tive on it, and see how it relates to the ORGANIZATION in general. hierarchical task analysis A form of herd instinct Used as a description of TASK ANALYSIS used in assessing TRAINING the way people in business will often fol- needs, which describes a TASK in terms of low a trend simply because other people a HIERARCHY of the operations necessary for its PERFORMANCE, ranging from the in their PEER GROUP are doing so, without thinking it through or having any rational broadest down to the most detailed. reasons for their behaviour. The indis- hierarchy [1] Any ORGANIZATIONAL criminate buying of INTERNET stocks in STRUCTURE containing different levels of the late 1990s is a good example. AUTHORITY, and often responsibility. Herzberg two-factor theory An [2] Any arrangement of things in suc- influential theory of MOTIVATION proposed ceeding levels, each one subsuming all in the late 1950s by Fred Herzberg, an preceding levels. American psychologist. Herzberg’s hierarchy of needs A theory of MOTI- theory resulted from a study of JOB SATIS- VATION proposed by the American psy- FACTION in which he found that satisfac- chologist ABRAHAM MASLOW in the 1940s. tion and dissatisfaction with WORK were He suggested there were five distinct caused by different factors. Satisfaction levels of human need arranged in a HIER- resulted from ‘motivators’ like recogni- ARCHY (see Figure 18), starting with the tion and increased responsibility, but basic physiological needs for food and dissatisfaction resulted from the working shelter. As one level of need is satisfied ENVIRONMENT itself and factors like another is reached, until by the fifth level poor physical conditions or relatively low the individual is concerned with the need PAY. Herzberg referred to these as ‘hygiene for SELF-ACTUALIZATION. factors’. Thus, neither interesting work nor a good working environment was histogram In STATISTICS, this is a form sufficient by itself – though each was of BAR CHART on which a FREQUENCY DIS- necessary – to ensure job satisfaction. TRIBUTION can be represented graphically. Herzberg’s work led to an emphasis on (See Figure 19.) JOB ENRICHMENT schemes. homeostasis A physiological term heuristic An idea or method of teach- for the maintenance of balance or equili- ing that stimulates further thinking and brium within a complex SYSTEM like the discovery. Now widely used to describe a human body, or its subsystems like tem- rule of thumb for making a decision. See perature and oxygen level. See also also ALGORITHM. SERVOMECHANISM. Figure 18 Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.

Figure 19 Histogram. 66 home-worker home-worker A person who works containing news of the organization and for an ORGANIZATION at home. This form its STAFF. of working was very common at one time house organ An American HOUSE but declined markedly with the twentieth- JOURNAL. century growth of BUREAUCRACY. But with the development of the ELECTRONIC HRM See HUMAN RESOURCE OFFICE, and a trend towards DECENTRAL- MANAGEMENT. IZATION, home working is increasing HTA See HIERARCHICAL TASK ANALYSIS. again both as a way of making a living and as a way of cutting down on commut- human asset accounting An attempt ing to the office. See also NETWORKING. to measure the value to an ORGANIZATION homo economicus The Latin ances- of its HUMAN RESOURCES by treating them as ASSETS as well as costs to the organiza- tor of the modern ECONOMIC MAN. tion and assessing, for example, RECRUIT- horizontal communication Any COM- MENT and TRAINING policies and funding MUNICATION between people at the same in this light. Associated with the work of level of the HIERARCHY in an ORGANIZA- the American psychologist RENSIS LIKERT. TION. Compare with DOWNWARD COMMU- human capital NICATION and UPWARD COMMUNICATION. That part of an ORGANIZATION’s CAPITAL represented by horizontal integration The process the ABILITY, experience and SKILL of its whereby a company extends its business workforce. interests into other geographical areas of the same (or a similar) MARKET. This is human communication [1] Simply usually accomplished by some form of referring to the process of COMMUNICA- MERGER with, or TAKE-OVER of, another TION between people. [2] A relatively new firm in the same business, though some- field of study involving contributions times a company is able to extend its PRO- from COMPUTER science, linguistics, DUCTION of goods and services by itself. logic, PSYCHOLOGY and SOCIAL SCIENCE. Compare with VERTICAL INTEGRATION. human engineering An American horn effect In SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY, term for ERGONOMICS. this is the tendency to make a generaliza- human factors engineering Another tion in judging a person from one nega- American term for ERGONOMICS. tive characteristic to a total impression. (The ‘horn’ is associated with the Devil.) humanistic psychology A school of This is a negative form of HALO EFFECT. PSYCHOLOGY which emphasizes the positive qualities that differentiate human hot desking A system used in ORGAN- beings most from other animals, particu- IZATIONS whose STAFF are often away larly creativity, play and psychological from headquarters. Instead of having their growth in general. LIKERT, MASLOW and own office space in the headquarters MCGREGOR are among its proponents. building, people will use whatever desk and equipment is available when needed. human performance factors Still another American term for ERGONOMICS. house journal A magazine or newslet- ter, produced for members of an ORGANI- human relations An approach to ZATION and other interested parties, ORGANIZATIONAL THEORY that arose in the hypothesis 67

1930s in opposition to the SCIENTIFIC human resources All the people MANAGEMENT school. The human rela- who work for an ORGANIZATION in any tions approach was greatly influenced by capacity. the HAWTHORNE STUDIES and the other hurry sickness The classic disease of work of ELTON MAYO, and later by KURT a TYPE A PERSONALITY. LEWIN and DOUGLAS MCGREGOR. It emphasizes the importance of MORALE in an hypertext A technique for linking ORGANIZATION and the need for good INFORMATION SYSTEMS, which is used on working relationships between MANAGE- the INTERNET. The term itself means ‘over MENT and the people managed, in the text’ and implies that a given text contains quest for organizational effectiveness and links to other texts. Its use on the Internet high PRODUCTIVITY. dates from 1992 when the British COMPUTER scientist Tim Berners-Lee human resource accounting See produced a BROWSER which linked the HUMAN ASSET ACCOUNTING. user with the sources of information human resource management The available. Essentially, this transformed responsibility for making the best use what had previously been an academic of an ORGANIZATION’s employees. One network into the generally accessible of the major functions of PERSONNEL WORLD WIDE WEB. MANAGEMENT. hypothesis An explanation which has human resource planning See MAN- been put forward to account for observed POWER PLANNING. data, but which has still to be tested. I id From the Latin word for ‘it’. IKBS See INTELLIGENT KNOWLEDGE- According to FREUD the id houses the BASED SYSTEM. deepest unconscious drives, which are illumination In ERGONOMICS, the most in touch with the biological nature of provision of appropriate lighting in the the body, and is one of the three main workplace is a very important aspect of aspects of the PERSONALITY. The id is HEALTH AND SAFETY AT WORK. dominated by the ‘pleasure principle’ and causes problems for the EGO when its impersonality A form of MANAGE- drives are blocked. See also SUPEREGO. MENT that is mechanical in its approach and lacks the personal involvement of a identification In general terms, this HUMAN RELATIONS emphasis. implies recognizing the IDENTITY or nature of someone or something. In PSYCHO- implicit personality theory In PSY- ANALYSIS, it refers to the phenomenon of CHOLOGY, this refers to the unquestioned emulating the behaviour of a person with assumptions an individual uses in think- whom one has a powerful emotional bond. ing about the PERSONALITY of another person. More specifically the term refers to identity Having essentially unchang- the characteristics that tend to be associ- ing characteristics. When applied to an ated with each other in judging someone’s individual it is usually considered to be personality. For instance, ‘warm’ usually the basic content of someone’s PERSONAL- goes with ‘outgoing’, ‘sociable’ and ITY, especially his or her SELF-IMAGE. ‘good-humoured’, ‘cold’ tends to go with identity crisis The acute feeling that ‘withdrawn’, ‘reserved’ and ‘humourless’. one’s IDENTITY and sense of SELF have lost impression formation In SOCIAL PSY- their normal stability and continuity over CHOLOGY, this refers to the process of time, leaving one disoriented and having putting together the various bits of infor- difficulty in recognizing oneself. mation about someone which we gather in the course of INTERPERSONAL CONTACT, ideology In SOCIOLOGY, this term making sense of her or him in one coher- refers to a SYSTEM of beliefs that embod- ies the values of a large group of people. ent impression of that person. The espousal of the ideology by the group impression management In SOCIO- members helps to strengthen the GROUP LOGY, this is a term introduced by the COHESIVENESS; for example, businesspeo- Canadian sociologist Erving Goffman, ple having the ideology of the FREE which describes the attempt to present ENTERPRISE SYSTEM. oneself (one’s SELF) to other people in such a way that they will react in a con- idiographic An approach to the study trollable or predictable fashion. See also of human behaviour that emphasizes the PRESENTATION OF SELF. uniqueness of the individual rather than general laws or principles. Contrast with impulse buying When a consumer NOMOTHETIC. purchases goods or services without industrial action 69 having planned to do so beforehand. The such as pensions, in line with changing encouragement of impulse buying is the prices, usually as reflected in the RETAIL point of displays at supermarket check- PRICE INDEX. out counters. indirect discrimination A form of incentive In ECONOMICS, this term is DISCRIMINATION which does not specifi- almost synonymous with MOTIVATION. In cally single out particular targets but PSYCHOLOGY, it is the basis of external operates as the by-product of some other motivation only and can refer to any kind measure; for example, the requirement of of REWARD or inducement. In an ORGANI- residential mobility for job PROMOTION ZATION, especially a business organiza- invariably discriminates against women. tion, the term is most often applied to indirect labour costs The costs financial rewards, although PROMOTION associated with those members of the and enhanced STATUS may also be used. workforce not directly involved in the incidental learning LEARNING that PRODUCTION of goods and services, but takes place without one making a con- whose labour is essential to the running of scious effort to do so; for example, learn- the ORGANIZATION; for example, mainte- ing the names of shops on the way to the nance and secretarial staff. Usually com- bus stop. pared with DIRECT LABOUR COSTS. income This term is usually reserved indirect taxation A form of TAXATION for money received by an individual, which is not paid directly to the govern- whether earned through WORK or unearned ment, as in DIRECT TAXATION, but added to through dividends, interest and so on. the cost of goods and services; for example, Value Added Tax or the tax on cigarettes increment [1] In PERSONNEL MAN- and petrol in the United Kingdom. AGEMENT, this is a regular, and usually automatic, increase in a scale of PAY. individual differences The compa- [2] In ERGONOMICS, it may refer to an rison of people’s characteristics and PER- increase in a stimulus from the ENVIRON- FORMANCE on certain dimensions which MENT of a standard amount; for example, are considered socially important, and of ILLUMINATION. especially of their INTELLIGENCE and INTEL- LIGENCE TEST scores. incremental innovation A form of induction The process of introducing INNOVATION that is really part of the prin- new members into an ORGANIZATION. The ciple of KAIZEN, where the improvements made to a product are small and continu- aim of induction is to provide them with ous in nature rather than spectacular step- an overview of the whole organization changes. and their place in it, and to give them a taste of the ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE and incremental learning LEARNING that the nature of the PSYCHOLOGICAL CON- takes place in a series of regular and TRACT they will be expected to make with orderly steps rather than following flashes the organization. of INSIGHT LEARNING. industrial action Any form of collec- index linking A mechanism for offset- tive action taken by the employees of an ting changes in the value of money by mak- ORGANIZATION – usually organized by a ing systematic adjustments to payments, TRADE UNION – most often to do with PAY 70 industrial democracy or conditions of EMPLOYMENT. Action from being a largely agricultural econ- taken may include a GO-SLOW, STRIKE or omy to an economy dominated by WORK-TO-RULE. In some cases, employers machines, with a concomitant change in may take industrial action against their the way work is organized, featuring a employees by organizing a LOCK-OUT. DIVISION OF LABOUR, MASS PRODUCTION and STANDARDIZATION. industrial democracy A situation in which the MANAGEMENT in an ORGANIZA- industrial medicine Medical research TION or an industry shares POWER with the and PRACTICE carried out in an industrial workers or their representatives in making working ENVIRONMENT and specializing in decisions about their work and about the INDUSTRIAL DISEASE. organization in general. See also COLLEC- TIVE BARGAINING, EMPOWERMENT, LEARNING industrial psychology The branch of ORGANIZATION, WORKER-DIRECTORS and PSYCHOLOGY that deals with the world WORKS COUNCILS. of work, including COUNSELLING, the ENVIRONMENT, HUMAN RELATIONS, JOB industrial disease A disease whose ANALYSIS, JOB SATISFACTION, MOTIVATION, origin is directly attributable to conditions RECRUITMENT, SELECTION, TRAINING and, in the ENVIRONMENT of the work being especially, ERGONOMICS. The term is done; for example, the lung diseases of now used interchangeably with OCCUPA- silicosis in miners, asbestosis in building TIONAL PSYCHOLOGY and both are being workers and REPETITIVE STRAIN INJURY in superseded by the broader term WORK keyboard workers. PSYCHOLOGY. industrial dispute A CONFLICT industrial relations This term is now between MANAGEMENT and workers or used to describe the web of relation- between their representatives, usually ships that exists between employees, or about PAY or conditions of EMPLOYMENT. their TRADE UNION representatives, MAN- industrial engineering An American AGEMENT and government. Its usage is term for a kind of applied ERGONOMICS therefore much broader than its original which concentrates on the SYSTEM of PRO- industrial or manufacturing context DUCTION and draws on various fields, and extends to issues and procedures including INDUSTRIAL PSYCHOLOGY, OPERA- concerning employment in any WORK TIONAL RESEARCH and TIME-AND-MOTION ENVIRONMENT. See also CLOSED SHOP, COL- STUDY, as well as physics and mathematics. LECTIVE BARGAINING, INDUSTRIAL ACTION and INDUSTRIAL DEMOCRACY. industrial espionage Spying on an ORGANIZATION to obtain information of Industrial Revolution The name economic (or sometimes, in an INDUS- given to the historical process beginning TRIAL DISPUTE, political) value that the in the late eighteenth century (and usually organization wishes to keep to itself. In dated from James Watt’s invention of the the United Kingdom, stealing a TRADE steam engine) that led to the INDUSTRIAL- SECRET is not in itself a criminal offence. IZATION of the United Kingdom, making it Other countries have different laws on the first industrialized nation and the industrial espionage. richest economy the world had ever seen. industrialization The term used to industrial sociology The study of describe the process of change in a society the effects of societal processes on the informal theories of motivation 71

ENVIRONMENT of work and on the econ- which is OVERCOMPENSATION for the per- omy, such as the BLACK ECONOMY, or social ceived defect – a mechanism often invoked change and its effects on economic life. to explain aggressiveness in small men. industrial training In PERSONNEL inflation In ECONOMICS, this term MANAGEMENT, this term usually refers to describes a situation in which prices are the TRAINING of new workers in a parti- rising relatively quickly, as measured for cular industry or sector of the economy, example, by the RETAIL PRICE INDEX, thus at all levels of ABILITY and SKILL. causing a fall in the real (as opposed to the nominal) value of money. industrial tribunal The SYSTEM of industrial tribunals was established in the inflationary spiral In ECONOMICS, this United Kingdom in 1964, originally to is a situation arising from INFLATION where deal with INDUSTRIAL TRAINING disputes. price rises lead to higher PAY demands, It now deals with a wide variety of dis- which, if satisfied, lead to higher PRODUC- putes between employees and employers, TION costs and therefore to still higher such as unfair dismissal or DISCRIMINA- prices, and so on. TION. Each tribunal consists of three members, including a legally qualified informal communication Any COM- chairman and one nominee from each side MUNICATION between people that takes of industry. Parties to the dispute may be place outside official channels within represented by anyone (e.g. a TRADE an ORGANIZATION; for example, through UNION official) and not necessarily some- the GRAPEVINE. Usually contrasted with one with a legal qualification. FORMAL COMMUNICATION. inertial marketing A way of MARKET- informal economy The official name ING goods and services which relies on for what is widely known as the BLACK the inertia of an existing customer in pre- ECONOMY, though it also includes the GREY ferring to leave arrangements unchanged. ECONOMY and alternative trading media This is done either by sending unsolicited like LETS. products to people on a sale-or-return informal group Unlike a FORMAL basis or by automatic renewal of existing GROUP, an informal group is not set up by agreements on an anniversary date. the MANAGEMENT of an ORGANIZATION but inertia selling See INERTIAL MARKETING. arises spontaneously in the workplace – where it may not be wholly, or even inferential statistics In STATISTICS, partly, connected with work. these are procedures by which generaliza- tions can be made from findings on REP- informal organization Unlike the RESENTATIVE SAMPLES to the large groups outward face of the FORMAL ORGANIZA- from which they are drawn. TION this reflects the inner life of the ORGANIZATION, where COMMUNICATION inferiority complex According to the proceeds via the GRAPEVINE, where life is Viennese psychoanalyst Alfred Adler, this lived in INFORMAL GROUPS, and PRODUC- is an UNCONSCIOUS condition where an TIVITY is determined by the GROUP NORM individual feels inadequate and resentful, of a particular WORK GROUP. often because of some physical feature regarded as a defect. This complex leads to informal theories of motivation The distorted behaviour, the most striking of guidelines – often UNCONSCIOUS – that 72 informal theories of personality people use to account for each other’s INFORMATION SYSTEM. The most common behaviour. Managers in a business ORGAN- example of information retrieval is proba- IZATION often use THEORY X or THEORY Y. bly the checking by an airline booking clerk of the availability of seats on a informal theories of personality particular flight. The guidelines – often UNCONSCIOUS – that people use to form a general overview of information system Any systematic someone’s PERSONALITY. These are con- way of organizing the handling of infor- tained in IMPLICIT PERSONALITY THEORY mation, from INFORMATION GATHERING to and IMPRESSION FORMATION. INFORMATION RETRIEVAL and use. information gathering This is the information technology A field that essential first step in setting up an combines the TECHNOLOGY of the COM- INFORMATION SYSTEM, which requires a PUTER with that of COMMUNICATION. It is procedure for identifying and collecting concerned with the gathering, recording, information. storage, processing and dissemination of information and represents the latest information highway An electronic form of MAN–MACHINE INTERFACE. See network which links ORGANIZATIONS or also ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE and SYSTEMS homes with providers of information, in THEORY. its broadest sense (like telephone or television companies), by means of cable. information theory The study of information and the way it is communi- information management This is cated. It originated with mathematicians concerned with applying INFORMATION and engineers and draws heavily on con- TECHNOLOGY to the flow of information in cepts from these fields, but with advances an ORGANIZATION with the intention of in brain research it has also been used in ordering it in the best way to achieve linguistics and PSYCHOLOGY. ORGANIZATIONAL GOALS. infrastructure The network of essen- information overload A situation in tial services supporting a modern society which the sheer amount of information in that has undergone the process of INDUS- an INFORMATION SYSTEM is simply too TRIALIZATION, especially education, health, great to be coped with by the INFORMA- gas, electricity, transport and water. TION MANAGEMENT available. inhibition PSYCHOLOGY information processing A key term In generally, this term refers to the blocking of one in the study of COGNITION, which is used to denote what happens mentally between physiological or psychological process by the stimulus and the response to it, another; for example, the response to one sense receptor (the eyes) inhibiting including PERCEPTION, MEMORY, thinking, decision-making and problem-solving. response to another (the ears), or fear By ‘information’ is usually meant any inhibiting escape from danger. In PSYCHO- stimulus with a mental content – an ANALYSIS, inhibition is used specifically image, idea, fact, opinion and so on. to describe an impulse from the ID being blocked from entering consciousness by information retrieval The process of the SUPEREGO. This is not the same as recovering data from a DATABASE. This REPRESSION, where the impulse is actively process lies at the heart of a MANAGEMENT held back. integration 73 initiating structure The way in lives – like the family or the monarchy – which the TASK LEADER of a group organ- but which usually endures over time and izes it in pursuit of its objectives. reflects some basic values of the society. When an individual ORGANIZATION has innovation The development of some- endured long enough it is often accepted thing new. It is most often applied to the as an institution; for example, the Bank of introduction of new goods and services to England or the BBC. the MARKET, particularly those incorporat- ing some advance in TECHNOLOGY. institutional investor An ORGANIZA- TION that invests in shares and other input–output analysis This is a set of securities with funds obtained from a STATISTICS used in a general sense in ECO- large number of individual savers; for NOMICS, and more specifically in MARKET- example, a bank, insurance company or ING and MARKET RESEARCH, in which TRADE UNION. patterns of buying and selling between industries or sectors of an economy are institutional racism Behaviour exhi- analysed to study changes in their trading biting racial PREJUDICE which has not relationships over a given period of time. been adopted by individual choice, but is This technique is particularly useful in simply the consequence of a general CON- spotting changing trends in consumer FORMITY to the NORMS and conventions of choices. a society whose INSTITUTIONS of law, government and business systematically dis- in-service training The TRAINING of criminate against particular racial groups. STAFF, as a normal part of their job, by the ORGANIZATION they work for in order to instrumental aggression A term enhance their value to the organization. used in SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY to describe behaviour that is aggressive not for its INSET See IN-SERVICE TRAINING. own sake but as a means to an end; for insider dealing Making a PROFIT,or example, the difference between killing avoiding a loss, in financial transactions an enemy in a face-to-face confrontation as a result of having access to confidential and pressing a button in a missile site a information not available to the general thousand miles away. investing public. intangible assets ASSETS which have insight learning A form of LEARNING no physical existence (unlike, say, machin- in which there appears understanding – ery or property) but which are still pre- usually sudden – in dealing with a sumed to be of some financial value to a problem. Insight learning involves both business ORGANIZATION; for example, COPY- COGNITION, in finding a solution to a prac- RIGHT, GOODWILL, PATENT or TRADEMARK. tical problem, and the SELF-KNOWLEDGE integration The process of organizing that can be achieved in PSYCHOTHERAPY. different parts into a whole of a higher It is usually compared with TRIAL AND order. It is used widely in science, from ERROR LEARNING or ROTE LEARNING. the ORGANIZATION of nervous impulses institution In SOCIAL SCIENCE, this necessary for any kind of behaviour up term refers to a social, cultural, economic to the organization of a whole society. or political arrangement that may be of In both individual PSYCHOLOGY and greater or lesser importance to people’s ORGANIZATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY integration 74 integrative bargaining is widely regarded as the key criterion of categories. High scores are supposed to healthy functioning. denote high intelligence and vice versa, but in the absence of an agreed definition integrative bargaining A form of of intelligence the OPERATIONAL DEFINI- BARGAINING whose objective is to achieve TION becomes circular – people score an outcome in which both parties gain. high on intelligence tests because they That is, the attempt to organize a win–win are highly intelligent because highly situation. intelligent people score high on intelli- intellectual capital The collective gence tests. There is also a great deal of knowledge and brainpower to be found evidence that intelligence tests, which are within the STAFF of an ORGANIZATION. The usually highly verbal, tend to be biased value of this form of CAPITAL has increased in favour of white, urban, middle-class enormously with the development of people in their SELECTION of test items. INFORMATION MANAGEMENT and the rise of intelligent knowledge-based system the KNOWLEDGE WORKER. The branch of ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE intellectual property right For many whose objective is to develop computer years, this referred to the ownership of a systems resembling various aspects of INTELLIGENCE COPYRIGHT, PATENT or TRADEMARK. More human ; for example, lan- recently, the term has been extended to guage ABILITY and LEARNING capacity. include the right to any kind of published interaction process analysis A tech- or broadcast intellectual endeavour in nique for recording and analysing the industry, commerce, science or the arts, interactions between people in a FACE-TO- or even of any commercially confidential FACE GROUP. information. intercorrelations A table of CORRELA- intelligence Although this concept TIONS between each and every one of a has been discussed in PSYCHOLOGY since series of variables. the 1870s there is no universally accepted interference This term has two princi- agreement on what intelligence is. Most pal meanings in PSYCHOLOGY: the change psychologists would probably agree that in perception when two light or sound heredity sets the limits of a person’s intel- waves out of phase come together, and, ligence, and most would also agree that more commonly, where one kind of the ABILITY to think in one form or another LEARNING disturbs another or leads to INHI- (handling abstract ideas, adapting to new BITION of it. situations, perceiving complex relationships) is a sign of high intelligence – which intergroup relations In SOCIAL PSY- may not get us very far, but has never pre- CHOLOGY, this term refers to the relation vented psychologists from designing new between one group and any other groups. INTELLIGENCE TESTS. Compare with INTRAGROUP RELATIONS. See also SUPERORDINATE GOAL. intelligence test A TEST that is supposed to measure INTELLIGENCE, whatever internalization In PSYCHOLOGY, this that may be. Its purpose is to discriminate is the process of accepting external between people who score high and people ideas or values as one’s own to the point who score low (i.e. high and low IQ), for of not being aware of their origins. The the purpose of assigning them to various best-known example of this concept is the educational, occupational and social SUPEREGO, where the values of the parents interview bias 75 and the parent society are internalized interpersonal contact The general into the developing PERSONALITY. term for any kind of contact, of any type or duration, between individuals (as internal justification In SOCIAL PSY- opposed to groups). CHOLOGY, this is a way of resolving COG- NITIVE DISSONANCE and underlies the interpersonal relations The general most powerful kind of ATTITUDE change. term for any kind of relationship or form For example, if you feel, on reflection, of COMMUNICATION between individuals that you have an awful job, you can (as opposed to groups). resolve (psychologically) the dissonance interpersonal skills development between the COGNITIONS ‘I am a sensible A GROUP TRAINING METHOD which empha- person’ and ‘I choose to work in an awful sizes the SKILLS involved in COMMUNICA- job’ either externally or internally. TION with other people and in listening An external justification might be ‘I do it to their replies. These skills are obvi- for the money’, but that wouldn’t change ously important throughout the life of an your opinion of the JOB. However, if you ORGANIZATION but are perhaps most visi- began to consider the job in a different ble (on both sides of the table) in an light and saw its more positive aspects INTERVIEW, especially a PERFORMANCE you would be justifying your decision APPRAISAL INTERVIEW. to stay in an awful job internally. You would in fact be persuading yourself, the interpretivists A school of consumer most powerful way of changing anyone’s research that regards the act of buying as attitudes. being only a small part (however important) of a consumer’s activities. It holds internal validity The extent to which that buying behaviour has to be inter- a psychological test or research finding is preted in the light of a person’s entire valid in its own terms. That is, how far consumer experience, and indeed his or does a test measure what it is supposed to her entire life experience. measure; how far does an experiment deal with the factor it is supposed to deal with? interview In essence, an interview is a form of conversation, between an inter- internet A global network of elec- viewee and one or more interviewers, tronic COMMUNICATIONS which grew out of which is structured to a greater or lesser a group of academic and military research extent. It is probably the technique most networks established in the United States widely used (and misused) in ORGANIZA- during the 1960s. Among other services, it TIONS for the ASSESSMENT of a person’s now includes ELECTRONIC MAIL and the ABILITY, despite the fact that its RELIABIL- WORLD WIDE WEB. ITY and VALIDITY in the SELECTION of interpersonal attraction The general staff are usually very low. However, term for an area of SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY sensitive and well-trained interviewers concerned with why people are attracted can still make use of the method quite to each other. For a more specific term see successfully. GAIN–LOSS THEORY OF INTERPERSONAL interview bias The effects on an INTER- ATTRACTION. VIEW of the conscious and UNCONSCIOUS interpersonal conflict The general biases (assumptions, expectations) of the term for any kind of CONFLICT between interviewer. See also SELF-FULFILLING individuals (as opposed to groups). PROPHECY. 76 intragroup relations intragroup relations In SOCIAL PSY- invisible hand In ECONOMICS, this CHOLOGY, this term refers to the relations refers to the term invented in the eight- between its members within the group. eenth century by ADAM SMITH to support Compare with INTERGROUP RELATIONS. the policy of free trade as opposed to gov- See also SUPERORDINATE GOAL. ernment intervention in the workings of the MARKET. The pursuit of self-interested intranet An information network economic behaviour by each individual derived from the INTERNET but which is was supposed to lead naturally, when limited to authorized members of a aggregated, to the best interests of the given ORGANIZATION. Compare with whole society being served – as if by the EXTRANET. workings of an ‘invisible hand’. This idea intrapreneur A member of a large is frequently claimed as the basis of the ORGANIZATION who displays the ATTITUDES modern IDEOLOGY of the FREE MARKET. and behaviour of an ENTREPRENEUR. IQ The intelligence quotient; a score in-tray exercise A form of SIMULA- obtained from an INTELLIGENCE TEST by TION used in the SELECTION of candidates dividing the mental age (MA) obtained on for a managerial job where people are the test by the actual or chronological age required to deal with the typical daily (CA) and multiplying by 100; that is, IQ ϭ tasks of the job (as represented by the MA/CA ϫ 100. An IQ score by itself is contents of the in-tray). It is usually con- meaningless. It does not measure intelli- sidered to have more RELIABILITY than gence the way a tape measures height, for most other selection methods because it is instance. It is only a measure of compari- part of what the job itself actually entails. son between all the people who have taken that particular test, with the average score intrinsic motivation Doing some- being placed arbitrarily at around 100. thing for its own sake, because the activity itself constitutes a REWARD. Always ISO 9000 A standard of QUALITY contrasted with EXTRINSIC MOTIVATION. set by the International Standardization Organization (ISO) and based on the introversion According to the BS5750. Viennese psychoanalyst Carl Gustav Jung, this is a basic PERSONALITY dimen- IT See INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY. sion of being withdrawn, inward-looking item analysis In STATISTICS, this is a and passive that is usually contrasted with technique to determine the effectiveness EXTRAVERSION. of different items on a TEST in its DISCRIM- inventory In ACCOUNTING, this term has INATION among the people who take it. three related uses: [1] a list of items in iterative process [1] In OPERATIONAL stock; [2] a list of raw materials; [3] the RESEARCH, this refers to a mathematical cost of materials currently being processed. technique for making successive approxi- investment In ECONOMICS, this is the mations in the search for a solution by the general term for spending money, usually method of repeated calculations. [2] In a from current INCOME, on the ASSETS of BUREAUCRACY, especially in the PUBLIC SEC- a business ORGANIZATION (including its TOR, the term is used to denote a dialogue human assets) in order to expand and or a series of consultations back and forth increase PRODUCTION in the future. in the formulation of a policy document. J

Japanization The adoption by Western the curve depicts a small decrease in companies of Japanese policies and work some variable followed by a large and practices, such as JUST-IN-TIME PRODUC- rapid increase. TION, TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT and WORK TEAMS. But see also the entry on jet lag The physiological effects and W. EDWARDS DEMING for some background psychological STRESS caused by having to to this process. adjust one’s CIRCADIAN RHYTHM to the disorienting effects of rapid long-distance jargon A private language, spoken by air travel that involves passing through a GROUP in the conduct of its affairs, which different time zones. is usually impenetrable – intentionally – to outsiders, that is, the ‘lay public’. It JIT See JUST-IN-TIME PRODUCTION. serves to enhance GROUP COHESIVENESS and the SELF-ESTEEM of its members if j.n.d. See JUST-NOTICEABLE DIFFERENCE. they use, for example, computerese or job analysis A key ROLE for practi- legalese. See also PROFESSION. tioners of INDUSTRIAL PSYCHOLOGY, where J-curve [1] In PSYCHOLOGY, this term the elements making up a job are studied denotes a FREQUENCY DISTRIBUTION of in an attempt to match the TASKS and conforming behaviour, portraying on a SKILLS necessary for successful PERFORM- graph that the behaviour of most people ANCE with the ABILITY of the worker to in a given situation will fall at or near perform them. Job analysis is an essential the behaviour expected. (See Figure 20.) prerequisite for the study of jobs and job- The curve looks roughly like a capital J, holders and is therefore an important tool or a reverse J, in shape. [2] In ECONOMICS, of PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT.

Figure 20 J-curve. 78 job characteristics model job characteristics model A tech- job fragmentation Splitting an exist- nique for evaluating the effectiveness of a ing job up and dividing it among other JOB ENRICHMENT scheme. Devised by jobs, or creating a new series of smaller J.R. Hackman and G.R. Oldham, it focuses jobs. on the JOB SATISFACTION provided by job longevity The concept that length five key characteristics: [1] SKILL variety, of time spent in a job is an important fac- [2] TASK IDENTITY, [3] task significance, tor in determining what contributes most [4] AUTONOMY and [5] FEEDBACK. to an individual’s JOB SATISFACTION. For job costing A method for calculating example, there is evidence that, after five costs in an area where each job consti- years in a job, factors in the organiza- tutes a separate order or finite unit of tional ENVIRONMENT like PAY, FRINGE BEN- work. This is considered particularly EFITS and relationships with colleagues appropriate for CONSULTANCY work; for and supervisors are more important than example, in building or in qualitative the PERFORMANCE of the job itself. MARKET RESEARCH. job mobility The extent to which job demands The requirements that a workers are prepared to change job, espe- job has, and therefore the PERFORMANCE cially if a change requires geographical that will be expected of the person doing it. relocation. job description The broad outline job redesign Doing a new JOB DESIGN of what TASKS a job consists of; delineating as part of a wider process, like JOB its duties and responsibilities and the ENLARGEMENT or JOB ENRICHMENT, and position of the job within the ORGANIZATION. preparatory to JOB RESTRUCTURING. job design The process of relating all job restructuring Marking changes in TASKS the TASKS to be performed within an the and responsibilities of an indi- ORGA ORGANIZATION to specific jobs. vidual’s job rather than a change in - NIZATIONAL STRUCTURE or GROUP WORKING job enlargement Expanding the con- practices, though the latter would lead to tent of a job to include new responsi- job restructuring. The addition of similar bilities that will usually require TRAINING tasks as a result of job restructuring would and the acquisition of new SKILLS. mean JOB ENLARGEMENT; an increase of responsibility and different types of task job enrichment The desired result of would be JOB ENRICHMENT. JOB RESTRUCTURING, in which various aspects of a job or its component TASKS job rotation The systematic moving are changed in order to help strengthen of people at the same level in an ORGANI- employee MOTIVATION and increase JOB ZATION from one job to another. On the SATISFACTION. SHOP FLOOR it is done to relieve boredom and monotony; as part of MANAGEMENT job evaluation A method of compar- DEVELOPMENT it is done to give MANAGERS ing jobs for their relative value to an a broader experience of the ORGANIZATION. ORGANIZATION and then determining on this basis a HIERARCHY of PAY appropriate job satisfaction The extent to which a to each one. The method uses such factors worker is content with the REWARDS she or as complexity, experience, responsibility, he gets out of her or his job, particularly SKILL and so on. in terms of INTRINSIC MOTIVATION. joint consultation 79 job security The right to continued job transition The process of moving EMPLOYMENT, usually until RETIREMENT. from one job to another, either within the Contractually, this is now quite rare; psy- same ORGANIZATION or between organiza- chologically, the feeling of security varies tions. A time of heightened psychological with the job and the employee. activity and STRESS. job segregation See OCCUPATIONAL Johari Window A technique used in SEGREGATION. COUNSELLING to help people give and job sharing The procedure whereby receive FEEDBACK about the effects of two (or more) part-time workers make up their behaviour. The ‘window’ is actually one full-time job between them and share a 2 ϫ 2 table. (See Figure 21.) The whole the accompanying PAY on a pro rata basis. window is meant to represent the whole truth about someone and each quadrant job simplification The process of therefore represents a particular aspect using people like machines by reducing of the truth. ‘Johari’ is derived from the their job to consist of the smallest TASK first names of the two men who devel- possible with the least amount of discre- oped the technique, Joseph Luft and tion in it. It is particularly associated with Harry Ingham. WORK on an ASSEMBLY LINE. Compare with WORK SIMPLIFICATION. joint consultation A procedure job specification A much more whereby both employees and employers in detailed version of a JOB DESCRIPTION, an ORGANIZATION (or their representatives) stating as exactly as possible what a job have a forum for discussing such common entails. It is usually drawn up on the basis concerns as DISCIPLINE, TRAINING, or the of a JOB ANALYSIS. WELFARE FUNCTION.

Figure 21 Johari Window. 80 journeyman journeyman The traditional term for a smooth flow of THROUGHPUT. It is also skilled worker who has completed a craft claimed that this approach reduces costs, or trade APPRENTICESHIP but is not yet a increases JOB SATISFACTION and improves master craftsman in SELF-EMPLOYMENT. In QUALITY. previous times, such a worker would need to journey around offering his SKILLS to a just-noticeable difference In ERGONO- master until such time as he could set up MICS, this is the minimum amount of dif- in business for himself. ference that a subject can detect between two stimuli. junior management The term applied to MANAGERS who are relatively low in the just-world hypothesis The term used HIERARCHY of an ORGANIZATION because in SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY for the unques- they are junior in age and/or level of tioned assumption that the world is a responsibility and AUTHORITY. just place where the deserving receive just-in-time production A Japanese a proper REWARD and the undeserving approach to the process of PRODUCTION, are punished. It therefore follows that if which emphasizes tight scheduling of people are punished they must have materials into and out of the process, with done something to deserve it, and this is a very low INVENTORY of stock carried on- how the HYPOTHESIS accounts for people site. The aim of the process is to prevent who blame victims for their own misfor- bottlenecks in production and ensure a tunes. See also DISTRIBUTIVE JUSTICE. K k A common abbreviation for one full EMPLOYMENT in particular, required thousand, derived from the French ‘kilo’. government spending and INVESTMENT. It is used especially of money; for example, $50K ϭ $50,000. key success factors See cRITICAL SUCCESS FACTORS. kaizen The Japanese concept of ‘continuous improvement’. It is based on the kinaesthetics The study of body move- related assumptions that a product can ments. It is used in TIME-AND-MOTION always be improved and that this must be STUDY and WORK STUDY. done in accordance with customer needs. kinesics The study of body move- It applies to both HUMAN RESOURCES and the use of machinery and underpins such ments in NON-VERBAL COMMUNICATION. concepts as KANBAN, QUALITY CIRCLE and KISS principle An acronym for Keep TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT . It Short and Simple. KISS is a valuable aid kanban The basis for the Japanese in human COMMUNICATION (but then you SYSTEM of JUST-IN-TIME PRODUCTION. It knew that already, didn’t you?). involves requesting items only as they knowledge-based industry A term become necessary in the PRODUCTION used of a field that deals in the COMMUNI- process. CATION of information and particularly in karoshi The Japanese term for ‘death INFORMATION MANAGEMENT. by overwork’. knowledge engineering A term keiretsu Name given to an interlock- sometimes used of a group of techniques, ing and mutually supportive group of based on theories of ARTIFICIAL INTELLI- giant Japanese companies. Also known as GENCE, which are concerned with the ZAIBATSU. design of INTELLIGENT KNOWLEDGE-BASED Kelly repertory grid A technique SYSTEMS. used in MARKET RESEARCH to obtain opi- knowledge management The MAN- nions from respondents about products and AGEMENT of KNOWLEDGE WORKERS as well their BRAND IMAGE. The materials are pre- as the information they deal with. sented in threes and the respondents are asked to say why one is different from the knowledge of results The process of other two and why these two are similar. giving people FEEDBACK on their PERFORM- Nobody seems quite sure who Kelly was. ANCE of a TASK. In the study of LEARNING this has been found to increase someone’s Keynes, John Maynard (1883–1946) MOTIVATION to perform better. A highly influential British economist who believed that an economy could not knowledge worker A term sometimes regulate itself in the interests of the soci- used of a person working in the COMMUNI- ety as a whole via the FREE MARKET. He CATION of information, particularly in suggested that general prosperity, and INFORMATION MANAGEMENT. 82 Kolb’s learning cycle

Figure 22 Kolb’s learning cycle.

Kolb’s learning cycle A formulation of noticed by the nineteenth-century different ways of LEARNING and of stages in Russian economist Nikolai Kondratieff. the learning process that is widely used in This was the appearance of long, but MANAGEMENT TRAINING. It was developed by regularly occurring, cycles or waves in an American psychologist called David economic activity that oscillated between Kolb. There are four aspects of Kolb’s cycle: boom and RECESSION every fifty years or doing, reflecting, conceptualizing and experi- so. Their existence is a matter of some menting. (See Figure 22.) Ideally, fully debate. integrated learning requires the whole Kuder Preference Record This is a cycle to be completed, though the theory is QUESTIONNAIRE technique, used in OCCU- that everyone has a particular preference PATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY, which is designed for one of the four modes of learning. to elicit a subject’s areas of vocational Kondratieff cycle The term given interest. It is named after its designer, the in ECONOMICS to a phenomenon first American psychologist George Kuder. L labelling theory In PSYCHOLOGY, this infighting by subordinates who attempt is a way of explaining DEVIANCE by to make use of the POWER vacuum thus focussing on the reactions of other people created to further their own interests. to the person whom they have labelled last in, first out [1] A method of valu- deviant. When combined with SELF- ing stock or taking INVENTORY in which FULFILLING PROPHECY, labelling theory the prices of the newest items purchased has also been used to account for very are applied to the entire stock. Items disturbed, or psychotic, behaviour. Thus, received last are then first to be sold. [2] A if a person is labelled paranoid, every- method of choosing people for REDUN- thing he or she does is interpreted in the DANCY in an ORGANIZATION, where the light of his or her paranoia, and invariably last to be hired are the first to be made then taken as evidence for the correctness redundant. of the original diagnosis. labour-intensive The term used for late-entry strategy The business strategy of seeking COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE relying mainly on labour in the PRODUC- by coming late into a MARKET. See LATE- TION of goods and services, as opposed MOVER ADVANTAGE. to the INVESTMENT of CAPITAL in the process of AUTOMATION; for example, as late-mover advantage The supposed in teaching or tailoring. It is therefore the advantage for a company of entering opposite of CAPITAL-INTENSIVE. anew MARKET relatively late and thereby labour mobility See JOB MOBILITY. learning from the mistakes of its predecessors. This may be happening with labour relations See INDUSTRIAL E-BUSINESS. RELATIONS. lateral communication See HORIZON- labour turnover The percentage of TAL COMMUNICATION. the total labour force of an ORGANIZATION leaving its EMPLOYMENT and being replaced lateral integration See HORIZONTAL over a given period of time, usually a year. INTEGRATION. laissez-faire economy From the French lateral mobility Sideways JOB MOBIL- for ‘let do’. This is the term used in ECO- ITY in the same ORGANIZATION at the same NOMICS for the traditional doctrine that level of AUTHORITY and responsibility. a government should not intervene in the lateral thinking A term suggested by workings of its country’s economy. The the British psychologist Edward de Bono basis for the FREE ENTERPRISE SYSTEM. to describe an attempt to solve a problem laissez-faire leadership/management by any means other than the usual A form of LEADERSHIP or MANAGEMENT straight-line method of thinking, thus in which the input of the leader/manager allowing the problem to be reconceptual- is minimal and has little direct effect ized, and perhaps solved, by a previously on an ORGANIZATION. This often leads to unacceptable or unthought-of solution. 84 LCU

LCU A LIFE CHANGE UNIT. as collective learning about the organization itself. This would encompass such leadership [1] A widely applied term HUMAN RELATIONS approaches as CUSTOMER that usually refers to the PERSONALITY SERVICE, EMPOWERMENT, TEAM-BUILDING characteristics and the behaviour of people and TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT. with AUTHORITY, influence and responsibility for leading groups. See also learning plateau A flattening of the CHARISMA, GREAT-MAN THEORY, LEADER- LEARNING CURVE due to a temporary halt SHIP STYLE and TRANSFORMATIONAL LEAD- in LEARNING progress. ERSHIP. [2] The term is also used to refer to learning set Sometimes described as the group of people officially responsible ‘learning how to learn’, this is a general- for running an ORGANIZATION. ized approach to problems in which leadership style This term usually people carry over into a new LEARNING refers to the adoption of an AUTHORITARIAN situation the responses and strategies they TRANSFER MANAGEMENT or a DEMOCRATIC MANAGE- learned in a previous situation. OF TRAINING MENT style by an individual in an ORGANI- results from a learning set. ZATION, depending on which style is more learning theory In PSYCHOLOGY, this comfortable to his or her PERSONALITY. refers to the systematic attempt to explain the process of LEARNING. leadership substitutes Research into FOLLOWERSHIP has raised the question of least preferred co-worker A tech- whether leaders are always necessary, and nique developed by the American psy- has suggested substitutes like special chologist Fred Fiedler to assess the extent TRAINING for STAFF or having a variety of to which someone in a position of LEAD- experienced people adopt the leadership ERSHIP is predisposed to deal more with ROLE in turn. the TASK confronting the group or the INTERPERSONAL RELATIONS of its members. lead time The time taken to complete The technique involves asking people a cycle of activity. The term is usually about their ‘least preferred co-worker’. used in reference to the PRODUCTION pro- Someone with negative views of this cess, from the initial idea to the finished colleague has a low LPC score and, it is product, although it can also refer to the assumed, is predominantly a TASK LEADER. time-lag in supplying an order. Someone with a more positive view would lean production The process of therefore have a high LPC score and be reducing the costs and wastage involved in more concerned with maintaining har- the production of a product in an attempt mony and cordiality within the group (i.e. to maximize both efficiency and effective- a SOCIO-EMOTIONAL LEADER) than with the ness. It usually involves JUST-IN-TIME PERFORMANCE of a task. PRODUCTION, KAIZEN and DOWNSIZING. left brained A term sometimes used learning curve The curve obtained by to describe people who are verbal in their plotting on a graph measured changes in thinking rather than visual or intuitive. The origin for this rather sweeping gener- the PERFORMANCE of LEARNING over time. alization is that the major speech centre is learning organization An ORGANIZA- apparently on the left side of the brain TION whose ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE cortex. Usually contrasted with RIGHT encourages individual LEARNING as well BRAINED. light industry 85 legitimacy A term sometimes used of a combination of various attributes the LEADERSHIP of a group or ORGANIZA- that increase in complexity as they deve- TION when it is fully accepted by the lop through four different levels. (See group members. Figure 23, p86.) Products go from being generic to being potential, containing pos- legitimate power POWER This form of sibilities that have not yet been attained. is what is usually meant by having AUTHORITY as a consequence of one’s Lewin, Kurt (1890–1947) A German position in the ORGANIZATION. It implies, psychologist who escaped from the Nazis very importantly, that a willingness to and went to the United States in the accept that authority is shown by people 1930s. He was a student of the early in positions subordinate to it. GESTALT psychologists who applied much of their thinking to SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY, LETS An acronym for Local Exchange in which he pioneered the field of GROUP Trading System. This is an attempt to DYNAMICS as well as the HUMAN RELA- organize systematic trading relationships TIONS school of MANAGEMENT. See, for within the GREY ECONOMY, which started example, his work on LEADERSHIP STYLE. in Canada in 1982. LETS has since spread successfully to a number of other Life Change Unit An item in a rating countries, especially the United States scale of stressful incidents drawn up by a and the United Kingdom. Members of a team of American psychologists. The big- LETS form a network and trade their ger the event, or change, in a person’s life services and products with each other on the greater the likely STRESS. Top of the the basis of a notional LETS currency, scale is the death of a spouse. But stress- which cannot be converted into cash. ful events (LCUs) are not necessarily, or Thus ten LETS might be enough to get entirely, painful; marriage is also high on your windows washed and 100 might get the list. The very fact of change itself, you the use of a garage for a few months. which of course is quite unavoidable, In some places local traders outside the seems to contribute to the experience of scheme have been willing to accept LETS stress. units as part payment for their own goods life space A term introduced by KURT and services. LEWIN to describe the totality of the physical and psychological factors in the ENVI- level of aspiration The GOALS or RONMENT of an individual or group at any standards of PERFORMANCE a person sets given time. for herself or himself. life stage See FAMILY LIFE CYCLE. levels of significance See STATISTICAL SIGNIFICANCE. lifestyle segmentation The attempt to divide people into different consumer Levitt’s total product concept A groups on the basis of the typical spend- concept introduced to MARKETING by the ing patterns that underlie their life- American writer Theodore Levitt. It deals style. This is closely related to their with the psychological gap that may exist SOCIO-ECONOMIC STATUS. between the producer’s view of a particu- LIFO LAST IN FIRST OUT lar product and that of the consumer. See , . This is particularly true of NEW PRODUCT light industry The term applied to DEVELOPMENT. Levitt sees a product as industries like electronics or clothing, 86 Likert Rensis (1903–81)

Potential product (includes all innovations)

Augmented product

Expected product

Generic product

Figure 23 Levitt’s total product concept. (Adapted from The Marketing Imagination, Theodore Levitt, Free Press, New York, 1986.) which tend to be smaller in scale and to different functions performed in an require less physical labour than HEAVY ORGANIZATION by MANAGERS who are INDUSTRY. directly responsible for achieving the organization’s GOALS (‘line’) and those Likert Rensis (1903–81) An American who perform supportive functions like psychologist whose contributions to the MARKETING or PERSONNEL (‘staff’). This study of MANAGEMENT and ORGANIZA- distinction becomes somewhat blurred in TIONAL THEORY include the concepts of practice. See also LINE MANAGEMENT and HUMAN ASSET ACCOUNTING, the LIKERT STAFF MANAGEMENT. SCALE, the LINKING-PIN MANAGEMENT STRUCTURE and SYSTEM 4. linear programme A mathematical technique used in OPERATIONAL RESEARCH Likert scale A QUESTIONNAIRE scale to help the DECISION-MAKER where there is developed by the American psychologist a direct, straight-line relationship between RENSIS LIKERT, which allows respondents to two variables; for example, where the indicate how much they agree or disagree shortest route means the lowest cost. with a series of statements on a three- or five-point scale, as opposed to the more linear relationship The relationship simplistic choice of either/or responses. It between two or more jobs in an ORGANIZA- is widely used in ATTITUDE studies. TION as plotted on an ORGANIZATION CHART. line and staff concept A term used in linear time Our most salient view of ORGANIZATIONAL THEORY to denote the time, which perceives it as flowing in longwall method 87 a straight line from the past to the future via the present. Our most common experience of it is as CLOCK TIME. Compare with CYCLICAL TIME. line management The term used to Figure 24 Logo. describe MANAGERS who are responsible for an ORGANIZATION carrying out its basic what happens to them, and people with an functions, such as MARKETING PRODUC , - external locus tend to attribute their exper- TION and so on, and who give and receive iences to outside forces or other people. orders via the CHAIN OF COMMAND, within the organizational HIERARCHY. Compare logistics A term that was originally with STAFF MANAGEMENT, and see also used in the military sphere to describe the LINE AND STAFF CONCEPT. organizing and moving of troops and equipment. It is now often applied to any line of command CHAIN OF See detailed planning process in an ORGANI- COMMAND . ZATION which entails the DISTRIBUTION or line relationship A LINE MANAGE- redistribution of resources. MENT relationship between a superior and logo [1] Short for ‘logotype’, the a subordinate in the HIERARCHY of the TRADEMARK or other identifying symbol ORGANIZATION. of an ORGANIZATION, often including the linking-pin management structure name. (See Figure 24.) [2] A high-level COMPUTER LANGUAGE A way of conceptualizing ORGANIZA- . TIONAL STRUCTURE, developed by the longitudinal research Repeated study American psychologist RENSIS LIKERT, of the same people over a period of time. where an ORGANIZATION consists of a By its nature this form of research is series of interlocking groups connected more difficult to carry out than CROSS- up into a coherent SYSTEM by key individ- SECTIONAL RESEARCH, and it is much more uals, each of whom has overlapping rarely done. But because the same sub- group membership. These members are jects are being compared at different the ‘linking pins’ in the system. points in time its findings are considered more powerful in illustrating the effect liquid assets Any ASSETS that are in cash and immediately available, or that being studied. See also COHORT EFFECT. are easily convertible into cash, like long-range planning What a CORPO- securities or bank deposits. RATE PLAN is supposed to be used for. lock-out Action taken by employers in long-term unemployment A term the course of an INDUSTRIAL DISPUTE, normally reserved for a period of UNEM- which involves denying the workers PLOYMENT of twelve months or longer. access to the workplace by locking them longwall method A method of PRO- out; its consequences are the same as a DUCTION in the UK coal-mining industry STRIKE. which led to a change in SHIFT WORK and locus of control A dimension of PER- other practices as the result of the intro- SONALITY in which people who have an duction of new mining TECHNOLOGY. internal focus feel they have control over These changes meant there was one long 88 loss leader coalface of two hundred yards being to a group and its objectives – rarely the worked by three shifts of miners with dif- other way round. See also BRAND LOYALTY ferent TASKS, as opposed to one team on a and ORGANIZATIONAL LOYALTY. ten-yard face who did the whole job. This LPC See LEAST PREFERRED CO-WORKER. resulted in social and PSYCHOSOMATIC DIS- ORDERS, which were dealt with by treating Luddite The term used to describe the new workplace as a SOCIO-TECHNICAL workers who are obstinately opposed to the SYSTEM. introduction of NEW TECHNOLOGY into their workplace. It derives from the activities of loss leader In MARKETING, this refers British textile workers during the INDUS- to a product or service sold at a loss for TRIAL REVOLUTION, supposedly following the seller in order to attract customers to the example of one Ned Lud, who saw new buy her or his other products or services. machinery as a threat to their traditional loyalty Usually defined within an craft SKILLS and working PRACTICES and ORGANIZATION as the dedication of people opposed its introduction violently. M

Machiavellianism A PERSONALITY macroeconomic model In ECONO- characteristic in which a person manipu- MICS, this is a computer model of the lates others for his or her own gain. The workings of a whole economy, usually term is named after the political theories a national economy. It is extensively used of the fifteenth-century Italian statesman by both academics and government mini- and writer Niccolò Machiavelli, whose stries to test the implications of changes book The Prince has been used as source in different aspects of the economy, such material by psychologists in the construc- as interest rates or TAXATION. tion of the MACH-V SCALE. macroeconomics The part of machine bureaucracy An ORGANIZA- ECONOMICS that deals with the overall TION that is run like a machine, with a working of an economy – usually a dominant BUREAUCRACY which is particu- national economy – and the interrelations, larly rigid and inflexible. between its different factors, including machine controls The knobs, wheels, GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT and GROSS switches and so on that provide energy or NATIONAL PRODUCT, EMPLOYMENT and information to a machine. UNEMPLOYMENT, INVESTMENT patterns and national MARKETS. It is usually compared machine dynamics In ERGONOMICS, this with MICROECONOMICS. term refers to the set of factors involved in the design of the MAN–MACHINE INTERFACE. magic thinking Any attempt to understand and manipulate the human condi- machine readable Information pre- tion by recourse to supernatural powers. sented in such a form that it can readily be In particular, the term is used to describe identified and processed by a machine. the belief that there is a causal link macho management A term that arose between one’s wishes and the real world – in the Reagan–Thatcher era of the 1980s. It that ‘wishing can make it so’. It is said to represents the extreme aggressiveness be typical of children, psychotics and towards the workforce associated with the ‘primitive’ peoples, but it is not entirely slogan ‘management’s right to manage’, at unknown among NORMAL adults in our a time when SENIOR MANAGEMENT in busi- own society. ness ORGANIZATIONS generally felt they had Maier’s Law If the data do not fit the enough POWER and CONTROL of the SHOP theory, the data must be disposed of. In FLOOR to ignore the interests of their other words, if the facts do not fit your employees and disdain any HUMAN RELA- preconceived notion then it’s the facts that TIONS approaches. This is a good example must be wrong. This was suggested by the of the ABC School of Management – American psychologist Norman Maier, in Authoritarian, Brutal and Crass. exasperation at fellow psychologists’ Mach-V Scale A PSYCHOLOGICAL TEST slavish adherence to their pet theories that is intended to identify and measure regardless of the evidence. But it is much MACHIAVELLIANISM. more widely applicable, of course, than 90 mail order academic PSYCHOLOGY. It may well, management buyout A situation in indeed, be a firmly rooted part of the way which the MANAGERS of a business in which we make sense of the world. ORGANIZATION make a bid to own it, in whole or in part, by buying out the origi- mail order A form of trading con- nal shareholders and then operating as a ducted mainly through a postal or deliv- separate ENTERPRISE on their own behalf. ery SYSTEM which connects buyers and sellers. management by crisis A MANAGE- MENT STYLE that tends to favour crash mailshot An American term for a programmes to deal with problems as one-off ADVERTISING circular sent to they arise in an ORGANIZATION rather than prospective customers. focussing on long-term PLANNING or on mainframe A large, powerful, central- the overall objectives of the organization. ized COMPUTER. It is a style that suits a MANAGER inclined to AUTHORITARIAN MANAGEMENT and is make-work WORK created to keep a way of turning short-term CRISIS MAN- STAFF or equipment occupied and not AGEMENT into a permanent arrangement. because there is any real need for it. This is not supposed to happen in a time of management by exception A form REDUNDANCY and RIGHTSIZING. of managerial CONTROL that requires subordinates to inform SUPERVISORS only management [1] All that is involved when something happens which is in making the most effective use of sufficiently exceptional to require their available resources, whether in the form attention. of machines, money or people. [2] A collective term for the people responsible management by objectives A term proposed by the American MANAGEMENT for the management of an ORGANIZATION; writer PETER DRUCKER in the 1950s to that is, for the directing, PLANNING and running of its operations, for the imple- emphasize the importance of setting mentation of its policies and the attain- objectives for – and by – each individual ment of its objectives. member of an ORGANIZATION as well as the various branches of the organization. management accounting The pre- Drucker also emphasized the element of paration of ACCOUNTING information for self-control and taking responsibility for use by the MANAGERS of an ORGANIZATION one’s own work. As an objective and a in budgeting, decision-making, PLANNING quantifiable measure of PERFORMANCE and formulating policy. this technique has since become very popular with SENIOR MANAGEMENT, management audit An AUDIT of all though its application in PRACTICE has aspects of MANAGEMENT in an ORGANIZA- often been more top-down and formalized TION to review the use of all resources and than Drucker had intended. see whether any improvements in efficiency can be made. It includes an exam- management by walking about A ination of CAREER DEVELOPMENT, MORALE technique suggested by some specialists of STAFF, the effects of PERSONNEL poli- in MANAGEMENT SCIENCE for keeping cies, financial PERFORMANCE, PLANNING SENIOR MANAGEMENT, and especially the effectiveness and the SKILLS of the organi- chief executive, in touch with what is zation’s MANAGERS. actually happening in the ORGANIZATION. manager 91

By walking about where people are MANAGERS of an ORGANIZATION in making actually doing the work MANAGERS decisions. are able to get information and opin- management science ions at first hand and undistorted by pass- [1] The application of scientific methods, and ing through the channels of UPWARD particularly QUANTITATIVE METHODOLOGY, COMMUNICATION. to the practice of MANAGEMENT. [2] The management charter initiative This application of a specifically BEHAVIOURAL was established in Britain in 1988 by a SCIENCE or SOCIAL SCIENCE perspective to group of large companies to promote the study of MANAGEMENT. national standards of COMPETENCIES in MANAGEMENT development. management service Any service intended to help MANAGEMENT function management consultant Someone more effectively, such as DATA PROCESSING who offers a CONSULTANCY service in any or MARKET RESEARCH. area of MANAGEMENT or the running of an ORGANIZATION. management style The general approach a MANAGER has to dealing with management development The other people at work, and in particular the process of identifying, TRAINING and exercising of his or her AUTHORITY with generally equipping relatively junior subordinates. This style is often charac- MANAGERS with the experience or SKILL terized as tending towards AUTHORITARIAN necessary for SENIOR MANAGEMENT MANAGEMENT or DEMOCRATIC MANAGE- positions with an ORGANIZATION in the MENT, depending on the PERSONALITY of future. It is a process that, ideally, should the individual manager, but people can be an integral part of a coherent also have somewhat different approaches PERSONNEL policy going from initial when faced with different situations. See RECRUITMENT to ultimate RETIREMENT. also THEORY X and THEORY Y. management education Any course management training Any form of of instruction in MANAGEMENT and related TRAINING in the practices and techniques fields – which is often known as BUSINESS of MANAGEMENT. One important form of ADMINISTRATION. Success in such a course management training is to have MAN- is usually rewarded with an academic AGERS deal with CASE STUDIES of real-life qualification, whether the setting is (or even fictitious) issues in ORGANIZA- an institution of higher education or an TIONS and work on solutions to problems; in-house programme tailored to a particu- another is to play BUSINESS GAMES lar ORGANIZATION. The term is often designed to deal with particular aspects used interchangeably with MANAGEMENT of management. The term is often used TRAINING, though the emphasis of man- interchangeably with MANAGEMENT agement education is generally more EDUCATION, though the emphasis of man- formal and academic. agement training is generally more management game A BUSINESS GAME focussed and less formal or academic. used in MANAGEMENT TRAINING. manager Anyone involved in the management information system ADMINISTRATION of an ORGANIZATION with A centralized, and usually computerized, the AUTHORITY to use organizational INFORMATION SYSTEM for use by the resources, whether money, labour or 92 managerial accounting equipment, in furtherance of the organi- of scoring managers on two dimensions at zation’s objectives. right angles to each other to form a grid. The dimensions are concern for PRODUC- managerial accounting See MAN- TION (or the TASK in hand) and concern for AGEMENT ACCOUNTING. people. Each individual’s scores are then managerial economics The applica- plotted on this grid to see how much of tion of ECONOMICS to the kind of practical each concern they express. The grid business decision that a MANAGER has to also forms the basis for a seminar explor- take. As well as economics the field ing various aspects of the WORK GROUP. draws on OPERATIONAL RESEARCH, MAN- (See Figure 25.) AGEMENT ACCOUNTING and MARKETING. managerial psychology The system- managerial grid A technique used in atic study of the ROLE of the MANAGER in MANAGEMENT DEVELOPMENT that was an ORGANIZATION and in particular the devised by two American SPECIALISTS in relationships between SUPERVISORS and ORGANIZATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY, Robert supervisees. This area of study is a part of Blake and Jane Mouton, building on pre- INDUSTRIAL PSYCHOLOGY. vious contributions to the study of HUMAN RELATIONS by psychologists like ARGYRIS, managerial viewpoint The view of an LEWIN and LIKERT. The technique consists ORGANIZATION that SENIOR MANAGEMENT

Figure 25 Managerial grid. (Adapted from The Managerial Grid, Blake and Mouton (1964)). marketing concept 93 have and which reflects their interests. It is doing physical rather than mental work, by far the dominant view – and often whether the work is skilled or unskilled. regarded as the only one – compared to, marginal cost The extra costs of PRO- say, that of SHOP FLOOR workers, part-time DUCTION of a unit additional to those employees or even shareholders. already produced or planned. man–machine interface In ERGONO- marginality A term used in SOCIAL MICS, this refers to all those points of con- SCIENCE to denote the effects on an indi- tact in the workplace between people and vidual or a group of being excluded from the equipment they use. The term now has the mainstream life of a society. It is now a particular reference to INFORMATION applied to life within an ORGANIZATION as TECHNOLOGY. well. See also DEVIANCE. man–machine system This is at the margin of error The range of error or heart of ERGONOMICS where the work- inaccuracy usually regarded as accept- place is regarded as a SYSTEM within able; for example, in operating machinery which workers and machines are to be or making calculations. See also STAN- fully integrated. DARD DEVIATION and TOTAL QUALITY manpower analysis An analysis of MANAGEMENT. the employees in an ORGANIZATION that market [1] A situation where buyers attempts to identify patterns and trends in and sellers are in COMMUNICATION with their EMPLOYMENT. It will examine, for each other. This may take several forms; for instance, the DISTRIBUTION of employees example, in person (as in a cattle auction), by age, sex, SKILL, JOB TITLE and length of electronically (as in the stock exchange) or service. It is the first stage of systematic through the MASS MEDIA, as in newspaper MANPOWER PLANNING. ADVERTISING columns. [2] The nature of the manpower audit See MANPOWER demand for a particular product. ANALYSIS. market forces The factors determin- manpower forecasting See MAN- ing supply and demand in a given POWER PLANNING. MARKET. See also PRICING. manpower planning The process of marketing The complex series of processes by which demand for goods FORECASTING both the numbers and the and services is identified, supplied, anti- kinds of employees that an ORGANIZATION will require over a given period of time cipated or manipulated by a producer. and taking steps to ensure their supply. While now often regarded as part of the Ideally, this should be an integral part of responsibility of every aspect of the business and, indeed, every employee it relies an organization’s PERSONNEL policy from heavily on such functions as ADVERTISING, RECRUITMENT to RETIREMENT, including MARKETING RESEARCH and NEW PRODUCT SELECTION, PROMOTION and TRAINING. DEVELOPMENT. See also DIRECT MARKET- manual skill A SKILL that requires ING, MARKET SEGMENTATION, MARKETING physical rather than mental ABILITY. MIX and PROMOTION. manual worker Someone employed marketing concept The fundamental on the SHOP FLOOR of an ORGANIZATION philosophy of MARKETING that emphasizes 94 marketing environment the supreme importance of the customer CONSULTANCY, to assess the likely MARKET to any provider of goods or services. for a given product or the effects of past Essential to this philosophy is an under- or prospective ADVERTISING of that pro- standing of what the customer wants in duct on consumers. Depending on the kind any given MARKET, and this is usually of information required, the research may ascertained by extensive MARKET use either QUANTITATIVE METHODOLOGY, RESEARCH. It should be contrasted with the with SURVEY RESEARCH on large numbers PRODUCTION ORIENTATION. of people, or QUALITATIVE METHODOLOGY, with DEPTH INTERVIEWS of individuals marketing environment The set of and families and GROUP interviews of external factors that affect the MARKET in 5–10 people in a FACE-TO-FACE GROUP. which an ORGANIZATION operates; that is, cultural, economic, legal, political, market segmentation The analysis of geographical and so on. buyers or potential buyers in a given MAR- KET along various dimensions. These usu- marketing mix The combination of ally include DEMOGRAPHICS like age, sex different aspects of a business ORGANIZA- and SOCIO-ECONOMIC STATUS, buying pat- TION’s strategy for MARKETING a product; terns with respect to price and QUALITY, and for example, ADVERTISING, MARKET PERSONALITY factors like conservatism– RESEARCH, PRODUCTION and PUBLIC radicalism, NEED FOR ACHIEVEMENT or RELATIONS. The guidelines for the most NEED FOR AFFILIATION. The objective is to appropriate mix are sometimes expressed divide a market into segments comprising as the ‘four Ps’: [1] product, [2] price similar kinds of people so that MARKETING (MARKET), [3] promotion and [4] place. efforts can be targeted more precisely, and marketing research The collection the most effective approach used with and analysis of a wide range of informa- each segment. For specific forms of tion that can aid in the formulation of market segmentation see under BENEFIT a MARKETING policy for the products of an SEGMENTATION, DEMOGRAPHIC SEGMEN- ORGANIZATION. It usually includes the use TATION, GEOGRAPHIC SEGMENTATION, PSY- of MARKET RESEARCH on specific product CHOLOGICAL SEGMENTATION and USAGE ideas. SEGMENTATION. market leader The business ORGANI- market share The amount of total ZATION with the largest share in a given demand in a MARKET which a particular MARKET. business ORGANIZATION supplies over a given period of time. market niche A unique place or gap market value The current price that in the MARKET for a given product. See a particular item would fetch in the also UNIQUE SELLING POINT. MARKET. market penetration The amount of Marx, Karl (1818–83) Economist and demand in a given MARKET that is sup- theorist of SOCIALISM who lived and plied by a particular ORGANIZATION. worked (and died) in London and based market research Work carried out in much of his thought on his analysis of the the course of MARKETING RESEARCH, effects of the INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION and either by a business ORGANIZATION the British factory SYSTEM. He believed in itself or by SPECIALISTS from an external ECONOMIC DETERMINISM and argued that MBWA 95 social harmony and individual happiness mass production The PRODUCTION of lay in changing the economic relation- identical items on a very large scale. It ships between people in society, and in requires the processes of AUTOMATION, particular that labour should not be DIVISION OF LABOUR, JOB SIMPLIFICA- exploited and workers should own the TION, SPECIALIZATION and STANDARDIZA- means of PRODUCTION. TION. In the twentieth century the prototype for mass production was the ASSEMBLY masking In ERGONOMICS, this refers to LINE developed in the car manufacturing the blocking of one sensory stimulus or industry by HENRY FORD. For comparison, process by another. see also BATCH PRODUCTION and CONTINU- Maslow, Abraham (1908–70) An OUS PROCESS PRODUCTION. American PERSONALITY theorist and lead- matrix organization A flexible form ing exponent of HUMANISTIC PSYCHOLOGY. of ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE often used He is closely associated with the terms in situations which require a mix of peo- HIERARCHY OF NEEDS, PEAK EXPERIENCE ple with different SKILLS and experience and SELF-ACTUALIZATION. to be focussed on a particular TASK, or an mass customization A recent devel- unusual project that crosses existing opment in MARKETING which takes advan- departmental boundaries in an ORGANIZA- tage of the increased sophistication of TION. The people involved in this kind of computers to combine mass production TASK FORCE will continue to report offi- techniques with individual customization cially to LINE MANAGEMENT, but in their of a product. For example, Levi jeans, day-to-day work they will be responsible though still manufactured in the tradi- to the project leader. tional way, can also now be tailored to an Mayo, Elton (1880–1949) An individual customer’s measurements thus Australian psychologist and MANAGEMENT reaching the ultimate in MARKET SEGMEN- specialist who worked at the Harvard TATION,aSEGMENT OF ONE. Business School and had a great influ- massed practice A technique of ence, during the 1920s and 1930s, on the LEARNING in which the lessons or periods development of INDUSTRIAL PSYCHOLOGY. of PRACTICE follow each other without He is associated particularly with the a break. Generally speaking, and for most HAWTHORNE STUDIES, which were carried purposes, this is considered a less out under his direction. Mayo stressed the effective method of learning than DISTRIB- importance of HUMAN RELATIONS in the UTED PRACTICE, with which it is usually workplace and regarded INTERPERSONAL contrasted. RELATIONS within the WORK GROUP as the key factor. He encouraged MANAGEMENT mass marketing The promotion of a to listen to workers on the SHOP FLOOR and given product by a company in large take their views seriously – a reaction to quantities in order to facilitate its MASS the SCIENTIFIC MANAGEMENT advocated by PRODUCTION. F.W. TAYLOR and the dominant industrial mass media Forms of COMMUNICATION image of the ASSEMBLY LINE. between producers and consumers that MBO See MANAGEMENT BY OBJECTIVES. reach a large – usually nationwide – audience; that is radio, television and MBWA See MANAGEMENT BY WALKING newsprint. ABOUT. 96 McClelland, David (1917–98)

McClelland, David (1917–98) An numbers: the MEAN, the MEDIAN and the American psychologist and leading MODE. contributor to the study of MOTIVATION, mechanistic organization A term and particularly the part played by introduced by two British sociologists UNCONSCIOUS needs. He has suggested and MANAGEMENT theorists, Tom Burns that one very important human need is the and George Stalker. It denotes a relatively NEED FOR ACHIEVEMENT and has provided closed and formal type of ORGANIZATION historical and cross-cultural evidence to with a high degree of BUREAUCRACY,in support this view. An ENTREPRENEUR contrast to an ORGANIC ORGANIZATION. will be more concerned with the need for achievement than other people. median In STATISTICS, this is a McClelland also suggested the impor- MEASURE OF CENTRAL TENDENCY which tance of the NEED FOR POWER, a need that divides a group of scores in half, with half is of particular relevance to the MANAGE- the score falling above the median score MENT of an ORGANIZATION. and half below. McGregor, Douglas (1906–64) An mediation An alternative term for American psychologist and leading ARBITRATION. contributor to ORGANIZATIONAL THEORY from the HUMAN RELATIONS perspective. membership group In SOCIAL He classified the assumptions about PSYCHOLOGY, this term is used to denote human nature made by supporters of the the particular group to which an individual RATIONAL-ECONOMIC view as a rather cyn- belongs. Compare with REFERENCE GROUP. ical THEORY X, which he rejected in favour memory [1] A function of COGNITION of his own, more optimistic, THEORY Y. which refers to the storage of informa- MCI See MANAGEMENT CHARTER tion. [2] With reference to a COMPUTER, INITIATIVE. this is an electronic form of storing information. MDW See MEASURED DAYWORK. mental health Mental and emotional mean STATISTICS In , this is the most well-being, harmony and INTEGRATION of commonly used MEASURE OF CENTRAL an individual’s thoughts, feelings and TENDENCY . It is the arithmetic average, behaviour. In the workplace, JOB SATIS- found by summing the values of a series FACTION and PEER GROUP support are cru- of numbers and dividing this by the total cial to mental health, as is the ability to number in the series. manage STRESS when it arises. measured daywork A MANAGEMENT mental set An expectation of, or procedure where a daily PRODUCTION tar- readiness for, a particular experience. get is defined for all the workers on the SHOP FLOOR, whose PAY is then made up of mentoring A SYSTEM in an ORGANIZA- a fixed, regular amount for each day that TION whereby an experienced senior the target is met – as opposed to PAYMENT member of STAFF coaches, advises and BY RESULTS. counsels a junior member (or members) as they progress through the organization. measure of central tendency One of three STATISTICS which can each be used mere exposure In SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY, as a central value to describe a series of this is a term introduced in the 1960s by mid-life crisis 97 the American psychologist Robert Zajonc microcomputer A relatively small to explain the phenomenon that, other and cheap COMPUTER that has been things being equal, the more familiar designed for specific applications. people become with objects, words or microeconomics The part of ECO- pictures of faces they don’t know, the NOMICS that deals with small-scale issues more they like them. Mere exposure may like the prices of individual products, the thus help to explain the influence of PERFORMANCE of individual companies, or frequent ADVERTISING on buying habits even a family BUDGET. Compare with and even political preferences. MACROECONOMICS. merger An amalgamation of two or micromarketing A form of MARKET- more business ORGANIZATIONS into a ING that targets very small, narrowly single new organization by mutual defined, groups of people as part of agreement – as opposed to a TAKEOVER by a MARKET SEGMENTATION process. The one company of another. ultimate form of micromarketing might SEGMENT OF ONE meritocracy A social SYSTEM in which be a . advancement is based on ABILITY rather microprocessor The MICROCHIP con- than birth or background. taining the central processing unit of a MICROCOMPUTER. Also used of the merit rating A form of REWARD for microcomputer itself. members of an ORGANIZATION, based on an assessment of their worth beyond the middleman An individual or an normally expected PERFORMANCE of their ORGANIZATION acting as a link between JOB, on the grounds that different people others, especially between producers of doing the same job can have a different goods and services on the one hand and value to the organization. The kinds of consumers or retailers on the other; factor usually taken into account are for example, a furniture wholesaler or a ABSENTEEISM, APTITUDE, ATTITUDE towards literary agent. See also WHOLESALING. MANAGEMENT, length of service, punctu- middle management Any MANAGER ality and so on. whose position in the HIERARCHY of an ‘me-too’ product A new product ORGANIZATION is higher than JUNIOR whose PROMOTION deliberately attempts MANAGEMENT and lower than SENIOR MAN- to model it on, or even mimic, the MARKET AGEMENT is part of middle management, LEADER in the hope that potential con- and this accounts for most managers in sumers will conflate the two in their most organizations. Middle managers are minds and choose the former by mistake, typically in charge of the constituent units thereby eating into the leader’s market that make up an organization, responsible share. for the work of other people but with little or no say in the making of policy or the tak- micro Shortened, colloquial form of ing of organization-wide decisions. They MICROCOMPUTER. were particularly vulnerable to the enthusi- asm for DELAYERING and DOWNSIZING that microchip A tiny piece of silicon, con- swept the 1980s and the early 1990s. taining a complete electrical circuit, used extensively in the manufacture of the mid-life crisis The term applied to the MICROCOMPUTER. process of reassessing one’s personal and 98 Milgram, Stanley (1933–84) work life that people typically go through mission statement [1] A brief around middle age (from about 35–55). explanation (usually no more than a couple It is inevitably accompanied by ANXIETY, of sentences) of what an ORGANIZATION and sometimes by DEPRESSION. It may exists to do, its purpose and objectives, that also manifest itself in the form of an can act as a guide to key groups in its ENVI- IDENTITY CRISIS. RONMENT like STAFF and customers. [2] A brief statement that every organization Milgram, Stanley (1933–84) An now feels it has to make about itself and American psychologist who made several thus often bland, or meaningless, or mis- notable contributions to SOCIAL PSYCHO- leading and best understood as a PUBLIC LOGY, particularly in the study of CON- RELATIONS exercise. FORMITY to AUTHORITY. His best-known finding was that most people could be mixed economy In ECONOMICS, this persuaded to give other people electric refers to the kind of economy in which shocks when told to do so by an authority the ownership of the means of PRODUC- figure. TION is partly in the PRIVATE SECTOR and partly in the PUBLIC SECTOR. mindguards In GROUPTHINK, these are the group members who guard the group MMPI See MINNESOTA MULTIPHASIC against outsiders and prevent their PERSONALITY INVENTORY. disturbing ideas from getting through. mnemonic Any trick to aid the minimax strategy In GAME THEORY, MEMORY, such as the use of the phrase this is the strategy of choosing to ‘Every Good Boy Deserves Favour’ minimize loss rather than maximize gain. (EGBDF) in learning musical notation.

Minnesota Multiphasic Personality modality In ERGONOMICS and PSY- Inventory For many years this was CHOLOGY, this term usually refers to widely considered to be the leading a particular form of sensory experience, PAPER-AND-PENCIL TEST of PERSONALITY, like vision or hearing. though it is now somewhat out of fashion. It contains 550 statements which the sub- mode In STATISTICS, this is a MEASURE ject responds to as being true or false OF CENTRAL TENDENCY; the most fre- about herself or himself. The pattern of quently occurring value in a series of responses is intended to reveal certain numbers. personality characteristics, particularly model [1] Any representation of an those associated with a tendency towards object, situation or ORGANIZATION. It may psychological disturbance. be physical, verbal, mathematical or pro- Mintzberg, Henry (1939–) A duced by COMPUTER SIMULATION. [2] In Canadian MANAGEMENT theorist, best SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY, it is used of a person known for his empirical observations of whose behaviour is closely observed. See MANAGERS at work, highlighting the dif- also MODELLING. ferences between what they are supposed modelling In SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY, to do, or what they think they do and what this is a form of LEARNING from observing they actually do. a MODEL which goes much further than MIS See MANAGEMENT INFORMATION copying or imitating. Children, espe- SYSTEM. cially, may generalize from the model’s mores 99 behaviour to a wide range of similar monopoly A situation in which a behaviours of their own invention. MARKET is under the CONTROL or domina- tion of a single ORGANIZATION. This con- modem From the term ‘modulator– dition is generally considered to be met at demodulator’. It is an electronic device one-quarter to one-third of the market in that converts information from a COM- question. A monopoly is contrary to the PUTER into a form suitable for transmis- ideal of the FREE MARKET and is therefore sion by telephone, thus enabling subject to legal sanctions in all industrial- COMMUNICATION with other computers. ized countries with a capitalist or MIXED monetarism In ECONOMICS, this refers ECONOMY. Monopolies can occur in both to the theory that the successful MANAGE- the PRIVATE SECTOR and the PUBLIC SEC- MENT of an economy depends crucially on TOR. See also DUOPOLY and OLIGOPOLY. CONTROL of the MONEY SUPPLY, because monopsony A situation in which one too rapid a rise in the supply of money buyer can CONTROL, or greatly influence, can lead to INFLATION. the price of a product through being the monetary policy In ECONOMICS, this only buyer, or the most powerful buyer, in refers to a government’s position on the a particular MARKET. A country’s Ministry regulation of the amount of spending of Defence is a common example. power available in an economy and the Monte Carlo methods A technique of cost of borrowing money; for example, SIMULATION, including COMPUTER SIMULA- deciding whether or not to impose a TION, that deliberately introduces an ele- CREDIT SQUEEZE. ment of randomness, for reasons money supply In ECONOMICS, this discussed in CHAOS THEORY. refers to the total amount of money circu- moonlighting Doing a second (or even lating within an economy at any given third) job, usually in the BLACK ECONOMY, time, in the form of notes, coins, bank in addition to one’s normal EMPLOYMENT. deposits and so on. Moore’s Law Named after Gordon monochronic culture A concept Moore, the co-founder of the computer developed by the American anthropolo- company Intel. In 1965, he observed that gist Edward Hall. It refers to a CULTURE in each new microchip, produced roughly which time is divided up sequentially into every two years, had about twice as much segments and where the SOCIAL NORM is capacity as its predecessor. This doubling to do one thing at a time. Such cultures effect meant that over time computer tend to be found in the Anglo-Saxon power would rise exponentially. To date, countries of North America and Northern Moore’s Law seems to be holding. Europe, where doing business revolves around strict timetabling and punctuality. morale An indicator of how much Contrast with POLYCHRONIC CULTURE. IDENTIFICATION the members of an ORGAN- IZATION have with its aims and values and monoculture Any CULTURE whose how much JOB SATISFACTION they derive SOCIAL NORMS include the assumption that from belonging to it. there is only one right way of doing things and one correct SYSTEM of values mores The customs, conventions and and beliefs – your average ORGANIZATION, PRACTICES of a group, an ORGANIZATION or in fact. See also NIH SYNDROME. a society. 100 motivation motivation In PSYCHOLOGY, this is a and activities between them, in such a general term for any part of the hypothe- way as to maximize its trading advantages tical psychological process which involves in areas like labour costs or TAXATION ben- the experiencing of needs and DRIVES, and efits. the behaviour that leads to the GOAL multiple-activity chart A CHART which satisfies them. In more popular which records the activities and interrela- usage, motivation refers to those factors tionships of workers or machines on the that predispose people to act in one way same time scale. rather than another. See also HERZBERG TWO-FACTOR THEORY, MASLOW, MCCLELLAND multiplier effect In ECONOMICS, this is and MCGREGOR. an idea, associated with JOHN MAYNARD KEYNES, that emphasizes the powerful effect motive hierarchy See HIERARCHY of even small increases in INVESTMENT. OF NEEDS. multi-sensual marketing Product motor skill Any SKILL that depends on MARKETING that makes use of as wide a muscular CONTROL and co-ordination. range of sensory stimuli as possible. For multimodal distribution In STATISTICS example, an upmarket bookstore may this term refers to a DISTRIBUTION with have a spacious appearance, piped classi- several MODES. cal music, soft carpeting and a coffee shop to provide a pleasant aroma. multinational company A commercial ORGANIZATION which operates in more Murphy’s Law An Irish version of the than one country and moves its resources more general SOD’SLAW. N n Ach The abbreviation for NEED FOR psychologist DAVID MCCLELLAND. It is the ACHIEVEMENT. strongly felt MOTIVATION to achieve, to accomplish ambitions and to be success- Nader, Ralph (1934–) An American ful that is commonly found in the ENTRE- lawyer and campaigner whose exposure PRENEUR, for example. McClelland of shoddy practices in the Detroit car suggested that this motivation is incul- industry of the early 1960s heralded the cated by careful child-rearing patterns, broad movement of concern for the qual- and especially the encouragement of early ity of CONSUMER GOODS known generally ACHIEVEMENT (like walking and talking) as CONSUMERISM. by mothers. This may hold good n Aff The abbreviation for NEED FOR especially for the relationship between AFFILIATION. mothers and first-born sons.

NAFTA See NORTH AMERICAN FREE need for affiliation As used in SOCIAL TRADE AREA. PSYCHOLOGY, this term refers to the need to be with other people, particularly when nationalization The process – now facing an unpleasant experience. There is virtually extinct – by which a state takes some evidence that this need may be over the ownership of a private company related to birth order, with last-born chil- or industry and brings it within the CON- dren having least need and first-born TROL of the PUBLIC SECTOR. This may be children (especially males) having most. due to practising the IDEOLOGY of SOCIAL- ISM or to the attempt to save a strategic need for power An aspect of MOTIVA- part of the economy from collapse or TION suggested by DAVID MCCLELLAND. It from foreign ownership. DENATIONALIZA- is a need to influence other people and TION has been much more popular since have them do things they would not other- the Reagan–Thatcher years of the 1980s wise do. Such people tend to be very con- and the collapse of the Soviet Union. cerned with their position and status in the organizational HIERARCHY. They may nationalized industry An industry also be prone to MACHIAVELLIANISM. that has undergone NATIONALIZATION. need hierarchy See HIERARCHY OF natural wastage The reduction in the NEEDS. number of people employed in an ORGANI- ZATION through resignation, RETIREMENT or need to make sense This is a death (rather than a policy of dismissal or tendency observed time and again REDUNDANCY), who are not then replaced. throughout all the diverse areas of PSY- CHOLOGY. People apparently have a very near-market research Scientific deep-rooted need to make sense of them- research with an evident potential for selves, their thoughts and feelings, and commercial applications. their ENVIRONMENT. This is true whether need for achievement A concept the environment is physical or social; associated particularly with the American whether the person is alone in it or with 102 negotiation other people. In particular, people are round a common goal or shared interests threatened by evidence of ambiguity, and values, like the OLD SCHOOL TIE and disorder or unpredictability and will try what it represents. very hard to reduce these and feel psychologically more comfortable, even networking Linking people who are at the expense of the truth. See also scattered geographically into a single WORK GROUP by electronic means; for COGNITIVE DISSONANCE, EGO DEFENCE and example, TELEWORKING. SELF-FULFILLING PROPHECY. negotiation In INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS, network organization A sexier way this is the essence of the COLLECTIVE of describing an INFORMAL ORGANIZATION. BARGAINING process. It refers to the neurolinguistic programming A discussion of terms and conditions of fashionable technique for influencing EMPLOYMENT by employers and employ- interpersonal COMMUNICATION, aimed at ees, or their representatives, with a view to changing someone’s behaviour or beliefs, reaching a mutually acceptable outcome. whose content and purpose are difficult to Neo-Human Relations School A pin down despite the scientific-sounding development of the HUMAN RELATIONS name. It is concerned with patterns of approach to ORGANIZATIONAL THEORY relations between bodily movement, which arose in the 1950s and 1960s and memory and the use of language. It origi- emphasized more of a WORK PSYCHOLOGY nated as a form of PSYCHOTHERAPY, based orientation. It accepted, for instance, that apparently on GESTALT psychology, but is conflicts of interest were endemic to now widely applied to the world of work ORGANIZATIONS and had to be managed despite (or perhaps because of ) the lack rather than banished, or wished away. of evidence that it actually does anything. Closely associated with the work of neurotic organization The idea that HERZBERG, MASLOW and MCGREGOR. the irrational and dysfunctional behaviour neologism Literally, ‘a new word’. It is of a key individual at the top of a HIERAR- found in scientific and scholarly writing CHY can affect those around him to the where common words are used in a new extent that the ORGANIZATION itself comes way, like BUG or MOUSE, or where new to mirror his neurosis. HENRY FORD was a words are concocted, like BRAINSTORMING good example. See also CEO DISEASE. or WORKAHOLIC. new product development The very nepotism PRACTICE The of a business expensive process of bringing to MARKET owner or member of SENIOR MANAGEMENT new products and, much more frequently, ORGANIZATION of an showing favouritism INNOVATIONS to existing products. Many towards a relative regardless of his or her thousands of such products appear every ability. Standard practice in many private year but it is estimated that as few as companies but severely frowned upon 10 per cent of them may be commercially (officially) in public organizations. successful. network analysis See CRITICAL PATH new technology The term often used ANALYSIS. to describe the applied microelectronic network-building Any systematic devices to be found in the ELECTRONIC attempt to link people and resources OFFICE. norm 103

NGO See NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANI- interpretation for steering the person in a ZATION. particular direction. Compare with BEHAV- IOUR MODIFICATION and PSYCHOANALYSIS. NGT See NOMINAL GROUP TECHNIQUE. non-employment The state of neither niche marketing The systematic being in paid EMPLOYMENT nor seeking search for a MARKET NICHE, usually by a it – other than being in RETIREMENT; for small specialist ORGANIZATION. Its basic example, married women with no paid principle is the attempt to create a new employment. MARKET rather than to increase its MARKET SHARE of an existing market. non-executive director A director of an ORGANIZATION who is not a full-time NIH (not invented here) syndrome employee and who does not have any The syndrome that militates against EXECUTIVE form of AUTHORITY. copying from, or even LEARNING from, others in the same field. It is usually non-governmental organization regarded in MANAGEMENT SCIENCE as a This term is usually applied to an ORGAN- sign of insecurity or inertia masquerading IZATION that operates internationally but is as arrogance (for instance, ‘if it wasn’t not supported, in the main, by direct gov- invented here how good can it be?’) and ernmental funding; for example, Amnesty was widely used (in the past) by Western International or the Red Cross. companies to denigrate the Japanese, non-parametric statistics Statistical whose business PRACTICES were enthusi- methods that may be used when the data astically opposed to the NIH syndrome. do not conform to a NORMAL DISTRIBU- NLP See NEUROLINGUISTIC PROGRAM- TION; for example, most data in studies of MING. human behaviour. noise [1] Any sound that the listener non-profit organization Any ORGAN- does not want to hear. Prolonged noise IZATION whose ownership resides entirely can cause STRESS and even HEARING LOSS, with its members and whose financial as well as a drop in PRODUCTION. operations are not intended to yield a [2] Anything that distracts from the mes- PROFIT for shareholders; for example, sage in a SYSTEM of COMMUNICATION. clubs, neighbourhood associations or charities. nominal group technique Any method for eliciting the ideas of group non-verbal behaviour Any form of members on a given topic. human behaviour that does not employ speech or writing. nomothetic An approach to the study of human behaviour that emphasizes gen- non-verbal communication Direct, eral or universal principles rather than the face-to-face COMMUNICATION between uniqueness of the individual. Contrast people by any means other than the spo- with IDIOGRAPHIC. ken word. This would include facial expressions, body gestures, hand ges- non-directive therapy A form of tures, body posture and eye contact. PSYCHOTHERAPY which accepts an individual’s expression of his or her needs norm In STATISTICS, this is a single and conflicts on his or her own terms, value representative of a whole set of without any preconceived system of numbers, such as one of the MEASURES OF 104 normal

Figure 26 Normal distribution.

CENTRAL TENDENCY (MEAN, MEDIAN and norming A term sometimes used for MODE). See also GROUP NORM and SOCIAL the third stage of group formation within NORM. an ORGANIZATION where the GROUP NORMS of expected behaviour and appropriate normal Literally, CONFORMITY to the roles for all the members are being NORM or standard. As applied to human worked out. Members now see them- behaviour it usually refers to what is selves as belonging to the group and expected (the SOCIAL NORM) or what is GROUP COHESIVENESS is emphasized. See generally considered right, proper or cor- also FORMING, STORMING and PERFORMING. rect under the given circumstances. North American Free Trade Agreement normal distribution The DISTRIBU- TION of data from a RANDOM SAMPLE of the A treaty, originally between Canada and POPULATION. When these data are plotted the United States and extended to Mexico on a graph they show up as a symmetrical in 1994, which aims to set up a free trade BELL-SHAPED CURVE with scores clustered area where tariffs and other barriers to trade around the average and declining towards between member nations may be removed. either extreme. (See Figure 26.) n Pow Abbreviation for NEED FOR normative Any behaviour, idea or POWER. opinion that pertains to a particular NORM numeracy Literally, the ability to count – or expectation. the numerical equivalent of literacy. The normative influence In SOCIOLOGY, term is used more widely to include people this is the process by which other people’s with no fear of dealing with STATISTICS or anticipated judgements of what is right and mathematics and the ABILITY to handle wrong influence someone’s behaviour. QUANTITATIVE METHODOLOGY. O

O & M See ORGANIZATION AND METHODS. leading expert on STRESS, Cary Cooper, and his associates. OB Mod An abbreviation for organizational BEHAVIOUR MODIFICATION. occupational therapy An adjunct to PSYCHOTHERAPY in hospitals, which occupational choice Having a choice involves patients in performing useful of occupation is largely confined to middle- TASKS to help improve their SELF-ESTEEM class people with education and/or con- and feelings of worth. nections. Within this constraint, choice is determined partly by interests and ABILI- OD See OPERATIONAL DEFINITION. TIES and partly by SELF-IMAGE and an office politics A term widely used for idea of what is appropriate to the people the games people play in their attempts, concerned. whether as individuals or groups, to occupational health The study of advance their own interests within an people’s health in their work environ- ORGANIZATION, whether legitimately or not. ment, including the factors that contribute office technology See ELECTRONIC to ill-health such as STRESS. This field OFFICE. draws mainly on PSYCHOLOGY and other branches of SOCIAL SCIENCE, as well as off-line That part of a COMPUTER medicine. system which is not under the immediate CONTROL of the central processing unit occupational medicine See INDUS- and cannot therefore be accessed directly. TRIAL MEDICINE. It is used to produce data that is only occupational psychology Used required at relatively long intervals, like interchangeably with the older usage of a monthly bank statement or a quarterly INDUSTRIAL PSYCHOLOGY, though strictly electricity bill. Compare with ONLINE. speaking it should have a wider remit OJT See ON-THE-JOB TRAINING. covering all occupations regardless of setting. old school tie A long-established form of NETWORKING. In this case, chaps occupational segregation A situa- who went to the same English public tion where certain jobs or occupations are school (and are therefore entitled to wear filled by certain groups, often regardless the same tie) practise various forms of of their being theoretically open to all. mutual aid in later life. DISCRIMINATION is usually by sex, religion and social background. The OLD SCHOOL oligopoly In ECONOMICS, this is a situ- TIE might make an appearance. ation in which a few sellers can CONTROL or dominate a MARKET. Such a situation is Occupational Stress Indicator A widely regarded as an INCENTIVE for PSYCHOLOGICAL TEST that tries to measure the sellers to form a CARTEL. See also the degree of JOB SATISFACTION and DUOPOLY and MONOPOLY. (dissatisfaction) that an individual is experiencing. Produced in 1987 by a OM See OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT. 106 omnibus survey omnibus survey In MARKET RESEARCH, operational research A branch of this is a wide-ranging form of survey that MANAGEMENT SCIENCE that applies mathe- seeks to obtain data on many different matics to a series of techniques, like topics at the same time, usually for a CRITICAL PATH ANALYSIS, which an ORGAN- number of different clients. IZATION may use in its PLANNING and decision-making. In essence, operational 180Њ evaluation A technique used in research is used to see whether the effi- PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT where opinions ciency and COST EFFECTIVENESS of a about someone’s work are obtained from SYSTEM can be improved by developing all of his or her equal status colleagues. a scientific MODEL to study that system Compare with 360Њ EVALUATION. and including within it the factors of one-trial learning LEARNING that change and RISK. occurs after a single trial or PRACTICE. operations management Tradition- online That part of a COMPUTER system ally, operations management has been which is under the immediate CONTROL of concerned with all the processes that go the central processing unit and can make into the physical PRODUCTION of the goods information immediately accessible to the that an ORGANIZATION is set up to provide. user by being linked directly to a MAIN- With the balance of economic activity in FRAME and operating in REAL TIME. The developing countries changing inex- most common example is that of an orably, since the late 1950s, from the airline seat reservation SYSTEM. Compare manufacturing to the service sector, OM with OFF-LINE. has had to become less concerned with material processes and more involved on-the-job training TRAIN A form of - with MARKETING (and therefore custo- ING that is given to people at their place of mers) and HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT WORK, and usually during working hours. (and therefore staff). In the United Kingdom, it often involves SITTING NEXT TO NELLIE, and in the United operations research The American States, the use of the BUDDY SYSTEM. term for OPERATIONAL RESEARCH. open-plan office A single large room operations strategy A plan that divided into various workstations but with attempts to put the CORPORATE STRATEGY no fixed walls or barriers between them. of an ORGANIZATION into a practical It has been associated with a reduction in format which can be acted upon. JOB SATISFACTION. opinion leader A term used in SOCI- operational audit See MANAGEMENT OLOGY to denote a person of STATUS AUDIT. within a given group, whose opinions are highly thought of and who can therefore operational definition A definition influence the opinions of other members of something which is based on the oper- of the group. See also TWO-STEP FLOW OF ation of the factors which produced it; for COMMUNICATION. example, INFLATION is defined by the movement of prices and the real value of opinion polling A form of SURVEY money. The term is also used more RESEARCH in which respondents are asked loosely to mean a ‘working definition’ or their opinions about goods, services or a ‘rule of thumb’. political candidates. organizational culture 107 opportunity cost In ECONOMICS, this entity, rather than that of any individual refers to the lost INCOME, PROFIT or time member. involved in forgoing an alternative course organizational buying The process of of action; that is, this is an economic buying goods and services on behalf cost and would not be included as an of ORGANIZATIONS rather than indivi- ACCOUNTING cost. dual consumers. Far more money is spent, optimization The process of weigh- in total, on organizational buying than ing up all the factors in a given situation individual buying. Organizational buyers with the aim of producing the most effec- and sellers usually operate in a much tive or optimum PERFORMANCE,given smaller market than individuals and, unavoidable constraints. Compare with indeed, may well know each other per- SATISFICING. sonally. The arms trade is a well-known example. OR See OPERATIONAL RESEARCH. organic organization A term organizational change The term that introduced by two British sociologists describes the process of change within an ORGANIZATION. and MANAGEMENT theorists, Tom Burns and George Stalker. It denotes a relatively organizational climate The ethos of, open and informal type of ORGANIZATION or commonly perceived feelings about, an displaying flexibility in people’s JOB ORGANIZATION. It is based on tangible DESCRIPTIONS, for example, and encourag- factors like the prevailing MANAGEMENT ing COMMUNICATION and the flow of new STYLE, the clarity of GOALS and values, the ideas outside the formal CHAIN OF time horizons and so on. COMMAND. This is in striking contrast to what happens in a MECHANISTIC ORGANI- organizational commitment The ZATION. See also BUREAUCRACY. extent to which people feel committed to the ORGANIZATION they work in. It is an organization A group of people important component of employee brought together for the purpose of MORALE and MOTIVATION and is mainly achieving certain objectives. As the basic concerned with how emotionally attached unit of an organization is the ROLE rather someone is to their organization. than the person in it, the organization is maintained in existence, sometimes over organizational conflict A clash of a long period of time, despite many interests, values or GOALS between indivi- changes of members. See also BUREAU- duals or groups within an ORGANIZATION. CRACY, DIVISION OF LABOUR, FORMAL organizational convenience A ORGANIZATION, HIERARCHY, INFORMAL course of action that meets the (usually ORGANIZATION, ORGANIZATIONAL THEORY financial) interests of the ORGANIZATION and SPECIALIZATION. as a whole (i.e. SENIOR MANAGEMENT) organizational audit An AUDIT of all rather than the interests of staff or cus- aspects of an ORGANIZATION’s operations. tomers; for example, moving to a cheaper In PRACTICE, this is usually the same as but less accessible location. a MANAGEMENT AUDIT. organizational culture This denotes organizational behaviour The behav- ‘CULTURE’ as the term is used in both iour of an ORGANIZATION acting as an ANTHROPOLOGY and PSYCHOLOGY; that is, 108 organizational design not only the shared beliefs, values, ATTI- applied to someone who has the kind of TUDES and expectations of its members PERSONALITY which allows him or her to that make up the life of an ORGANIZATION, fit relatively comfortably into an ORGANI- but also the unquestioned assumptions ZATION, particularly a FORMAL ORGANIZA- about its traditions and ways of doing TION with some degree of BUREAUCRACY. things. See also NIH SYNDROME. organizational pathology Writers on organizational design The extent to ORGANIZATIONAL THEORY from a HUMAN which an ORGANIZATION has been deliber- RELATIONS viewpoint (such as ARGYRIS and ately structured to achieve its stated goals MCGREGOR) have proposed that an ORGAN- and the form which that structure takes. It IZATION can be healthy or unhealthy, just includes the set of roles and responsibili- like any of its individual members. Their ties set out in the official documents of criteria for judging organizational health the FORMAL ORGANIZATION. parallels accepted criteria for individual MENTAL HEALTH reality organizational development A , as follows: [1] testing – the ABILITY to perceive what is process that affects the ORGANIZATION as a whole as well as its individual members. really happening in the ENVIRONMENT and how this is likely to affect the organiza- It involves the application of BEHAVI- tion; [2] adaptability – the ability to react OURAL SCIENCE to the process of improv- to a changing environment; [3] identity – ing the functioning and the MANAGEMENT of the organization, especially in response the extent to which members are clear on what the organization is, what it stands for to changes in the ENVIRONMENT. and what its goals are. Underpinning these organizational goals The formally criteria is the crucial need for INTEGRATION stated objectives which are the basis for so that different parts of the organization the existence and the maintenance of an are not in conflict with each other – a sure ORGANIZATION. sign of both individual and organizational organizational learning Learning pathology. that is not limited to particular members organizational politics Another term of an ORGANIZATION but is retained within for OFFICE POLITICS. the organization as a whole and that would remain even if the individuals who organizational psychology Often did the actual learning were to leave. The used interchangeably with the older term learning has therefore been institutional- INDUSTRIAL PSYCHOLOGY but without the ized, through either the FORMAL ORGANI- connotation of being limited to ORGANI- ZATION or, probably more effectively, ZATIONS in industrial, or indeed work, through the INFORMAL ORGANIZATION. settings. organizational loyalty The basis of organizational shape The profile of the PSYCHOLOGICAL CONTRACT between an the levels of HIERARCHY in an ORGANIZA- ORGANIZATION and its members. It is usu- TION; the extent to which it is a FLAT ally assumed to be something the individ- ORGANIZATION or a TALL ORGANIZATION. ual owes the organization – rarely the organizational size The number of other way round. members which an ORGANIZATION has can organizational man A term, used have a direct effect on its ORGANIZATIONAL both approvingly and pejoratively, CLIMATE, ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE and overlearning 109

ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE. The larger orientation programme See the number the greater the pressure to INDUCTION. operate as a FORMAL ORGANIZATION with a OSI OCCUPATIONAL STRESS INDICATOR high level of BUREAUCRACY, a relatively See . fixed CHAIN OF COMMAND, and increased outplacement The process of helping levels in a HIERARCHY of AUTHORITY. people to find new jobs after giving them organizational structure The arrange- notice of REDUNDANCY but while they are ment of the work of an ORGANIZATION into still employed. the different functional roles and manage- outsourcing Obtaining supplies of ment roles. material and HUMAN RESOURCES outside organizational symbols Symbols the ORGANIZATION. uniquely associated with a particular outworker See HOME-WORKER. ORGANIZATION. These may be internal (annual dinner, founder’s picture or overachiever A person who exceeds slogan) or external (LOGO or TRADEMARK). the level of ACHIEVEMENT expected of organizational theory The system- her or him. The term is sometimes used in the field of education to describe atic study of the ORGANIZATION, its structure and functioning, and its relationships someone who tries too hard; that is, a to the people who comprise it. This area person whose ambitions appear to out- strip his or her ABILITY. Contrast with of study draws heavily on PSYCHOLOGY UNDERACHIEVER. and SOCIOLOGY. organizational tree See ORGANIZA- overcompensation Producing a TION CHART. greater effort than is needed to overcome a difficulty or resolve a defect. The term organizational types Any attempt to is often used in connection with attempts classify or categorize ORGANIZATIONS along to overcome an INFERIORITY COMPLEX. one or more dimensions with the aim of identifying characteristic differences overconforming This term is some- between them; for example, formality, as a times used to describe a person who way of distinguishing MECHANISTIC ORGAN- is excessively slavish to the demands IZATIONS from ORGANIC ORGANIZATIONS. of AUTHORITY or the conventions of a SOCIAL NORM. organization and methods The application of WORK STUDY techniques to overhead Any recurrent day-to-day the structure and procedures of an ORGAN- expenditure incurred in running an IZATION in order to improve the efficiency ORGANIZATION other than the costs of of the organization’s SYSTEMS. labour and material; for example, rent, heating and lighting. organization chart A CHART outlining the relationships between the direct overlearning LEARNING in which PRAC- functions, responsibilities and titles in an TICE or repetition continues beyond the ORGANIZATION and often the people who point required for adequate mastery of the actually perform them. (See Figure 27, TASK. Overlearning is not usually p110.) This is an important guide to the considered harmful; that is, it is not thought workings of the FORMAL ORGANIZATION. possible to learn something too well. 110 overmanning

Figure 27 Organization chart. overmanning A situation in which PRODUCTIVITY and was particularly inter- there are more people employed by an ested in the ATTITUDES of people to their ORGANIZATION than are necessary for the work and the MANAGEMENT of that work. efficient PERFORMANCE of its work. Compare with UNDERMANNING. See also own brand The PRACTICE of a retailer UNDEREMPLOYMENT. putting its own name on a product as opposed to that of the producer; for exam- overtime Any time worked outside ple, ‘Statt’s Baked Beans’ as opposed to normal working hours for which people ‘Heinz Baked Beans’. It has been stan- may be paid at a higher rate than the basic dard practice for a number of years for level of PAY, usually DOUBLE TIME or TIME- most leading retailers to buy in generic AND-A-HALF. products like food or clothing from the Owen, Robert (1771–1858) The same group of suppliers – often in owner of a textile mill at New Lanark, cheaper labour MARKETS – and then to put Scotland, who is sometimes credited with their own label on them. This tendency being the first modern MANAGER, because appears to be growing, at the expense of he addressed the issues of MOTIVATION and the well-known BRANDS. P pacing The process of allowing a fixed is sometimes used loosely, and wrongly, amount of time for the PERFORMANCE of as if it were ‘perimeter’. an operation, or an entire job, on a parametric statistics STATISTICS that moving ASSEMBLY LINE. Usually the time deal with a NORMAL DISTRIBUTION or other allowed (or pace) is set by machinery POPULATION of scores. under the CONTROL of a SUPERVISOR. Pareto analysis A technique for PAI See PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL identifying and concentrating on the INTERVIEW. minority of things, both positive and neg- paired comparisons A method of ative, that are thought to contribute most assessing a series of items and putting to the operations of an ORGANIZATION. It is them in RANK ORDER by comparing each sometimes referred to as the ‘80 : 20 rule’, one with all the others in turn. This or ‘the law of the trivial many and the method can be used in JOB EVALUATION; critical few’. Examples include 20 per for example, in comparing the PERFORM- cent of customers accounting for about ANCE of a number of MARKET RESEARCH 80 per cent of the sales, or 20 per cent of interviewers. stock accounting for 80 per cent of the value of an INVENTORY. The analysis is panacea A universal remedy for all named after Vilfredo Pareto, the late problems in an ORGANIZATION. Ideally, it nineteenth-century Italian engineer, should be cheap, painless and change economist and sociologist who first nothing important, which is why re- suggested the idea. organization is such a great favourite. parity [1] Equal rates of PAY between panel testing See CONSUMER PANEL. individuals or groups of people. [2] The paper-and-pencil test Any kind of perceived fairness of equal rates of pay TEST or PROJECTIVE TECHNIQUE that between individuals or groups of people. requires written answers. Now usually When used in this sense it has the same computerized. value, connotation and importance for MOTIVATION as the term EQUITY. PAQ See POSITION ANALYSIS QUESTION- NAIRE. Parkinson’s Law Work expands to fill the time available for its completion. paradigm A detailed example or C. Northcote Parkinson, the British writer, MODEL of a particular process. introduced this concept in the 1950s as a Parameter Mathematically, this is a humourous observation, but it has since constant in an equation that defines the become a serious contribution to MANAGE- form of the curve. In PSYCHOLOGY, it is MENT SCIENCE (like the PETER PRINCIPLE). a constant that defines the curve of a Parkinson later introduced a variant of his psychological function like LEARNING. In law that is just as familiar in private life as STATISTICS, it takes the form of a measure it is in the life of the ORGANIZATION – of a total POPULATION of scores. The term expenditure rises to meet INCOME. 112 participant observation participant observation A research inverse of it. It states that women in an technique in SOCIAL SCIENCE where an ORGANIZATION are held below their level observer becomes an accepted member of of competence. As the argument behind the group he or she wishes to study. this principle is that incompetent men are particularly threatened by competent participation The term used to women, it also complements the Peter describe the involvement of people in the Principle. PERFORMANCE of the ORGANIZATION they work for; for example, by EMPLOYEE Pavlov, Ivan (1849–1936) A Russian OWNERSHIP or PROFIT SHARING. physiologist who won the Nobel Prize in 1904 for his work on the digestive SYSTEM participative management The kind of dogs. In the course of his research he of MANAGEMENT which emphasizes chanced upon a phenomenon he could not INDUSTRIAL DEMOCRACY, active worker explain and followed it (reluctantly) out PARTICIPATION in running an ORGANIZA- of physiology and into PSYCHOLOGY. TION and the importance of HUMAN What puzzled him was that his dogs RELATIONS at WORK. The opposite of began to salivate not only when they were RATIONAL MANAGEMENT. presented with food but even before they part-time job Any job that takes up were fed, when they recognized the man less than the NORMAL full-time hours of coming to feed them – the essence of work in any given situation. CONDITIONING. Though Pavlov thought he had found a way of studying the brain, patent A MONOPOLY right, awarded by rather than behaviour, his work inspired a law to an individual or group, granting new American school of PSYCHOLOGY sole right to make, use or sell an article or called BEHAVIOURISM. process they have invented. In the United Kingdom, a patent normally lasts for pay An amount of money paid on a twenty years, during which time the regular basis to people in regular EMPLOY- patent holder is protected from any MENT. Payment may be of wages or attempts by others to copy the invention. salary, in cash or by cheque, or by direct bank transfer. paternalism The process of treating adults like children in an ORGANIZATION by payment by results A SYSTEM of withholding from them any POWER to make remuneration in which PAY is linked to decisions affecting their own work lives. PRODUCTIVITY. See also PIECEWORK and WORK STUDY. path–goal theory A type of CONTIN- GENCY THEORY OF LEADERSHIP which is payment in kind Payment for work based on the EXPECTANCY THEORY OF done in goods and services rather than MOTIVATION. It concentrates on maximiz- money. ing the PERFORMANCE of subordinates in a PBR See PAYMENT BY RESULTS. given situation, with the leader or MAN- AGER having an enabling function of PC See PERSONAL COMPUTER. clearing a path for his or her subordinates peak experience In HUMANISTIC PSY- towards their personal goals at work. CHOLOGY, this term refers to a rare Paula Principle This is not a female moment of great emotional POWER in version of the PETER PRINCIPLE but the which a person feels something akin perk 113 to ecstasy, where she or he is at one performance The way a job or TASK is with herself or himself and with the done by an individual, a group or an world – a moment of SELF-ACTUALIZATION, ORGANIZATION. in fact. performance appraisal interview pecking order The HIERARCHY of An INTERVIEW between an employee and STATUS relationships formed among farm- his or her line MANAGER, usually con- yard hens by their PRACTICE of pecking ducted once a year, at which an ASSESS- each other. The most pecked hen has the MENT is made of the individual’s job lowest status. The term is now routinely performance and how it relates to TRAIN- (and therefore dangerously) applied to ING needs, PROMOTION opportunities and status relationships in human groups. so on. Similarly, the term ‘henpecked’ has long been part of everyday speech – performance-related pay See PAY- though it is applied to males rather than MENT BY RESULTS. females. performing A term sometimes used peer group Any group of people with for the fourth stage of group formation whom one associates on more or less within an ORGANIZATION. This is ideally equal terms. It is used of both a social the group in its mature form (although group and a WORK GROUP. not all groups achieve this stage) where it works most effectively. Interdependence people-oriented culture An ORGANI- of members is emphasized at this ZATIONAL CULTURE which emphasizes stage. See also FORMING, STORMING and most the meeting of the professional and NORMING. psychological needs of an ORGANIZA- TION’s members. Usually found in small, peripheral route to persuasion It is non-traditional organizations. Often com- widely accepted in CONSUMER PSYCHOL- pared with TASK-ORIENTED CULTURE. OGY that there are two different ‘routes to persuasion’ for a COMMUNICATION aimed percentile STATISTICS In , this is one- at prospective purchasers. The peripheral hundredth of the total number of scores in route, which does not require rational a ranked DISTRIBUTION; for example, the thought by the consumer, is followed ninetieth percentile is the point below when the consumer’s involvement and which lie 90 per cent of the scores. MOTIVATION in assessing the product are perception The mental process by low. That is, the receiver of the message which the brain receives the flow of infor- may respond to cues, like background mation about the ENVIRONMENT from the music, that do not involve much assess- sense organs (eyes, ears and so forth) and ment of the message itself. Compare uses this raw material to help us make with the more effective CENTRAL ROUTE TO sense of that environment. PERSUASION. perceptual defence The process of perk An abbreviation of the word defending oneself (one’s SELF), or one’s ‘perquisite’ whose use is largely synony- EGO, from the awareness of unpleasant mous with that of FRINGE BENEFIT, perceptions, either by misperceiving them although it has overtones of more specifi- as being pleasant or inoffensive or by not cally job-related kinds of benefit, like free perceiving anything at all. meals for restaurant workers or cheap 114 personal computer travel for airline employees. See also personnel audit See MANAGEMENT PAYMENT IN KIND. AUDIT. personal computer A MICROCOMPUTER personnel economics The use of used only by a single individual. financial INCENTIVES and disincentives in the RECRUITMENT, SELECTION and MANAGE- personality The sum total of all the MENT of STAFF. Economists often call this factors that make an individual human ‘motivation’ but most psychologists being both individual and human; the would regard it as only a part of MOTIVA- thinking, feeling and behaving that all TION, the part that deals with external (as human beings have in common, and the opposed to internal) incentives. particular characteristic pattern of these elements that makes every human being personnel management A special- unique. Psychologists often emphasize ized function concerned with all aspects the INTEGRATION and the dynamic nature of the MANAGEMENT of HUMAN RESOURCES of an individual’s personality, and the in an ORGANIZATION from RECRUITMENT to important ROLE of UNCONSCIOUS processes RETIREMENT, including conditions of that may be hidden from the individual EMPLOYMENT, SELECTION, TRAINING, but are at least partly perceptible to other PLACEMENT, PROMOTION and the WELFARE people. FUNCTION. personality test See PSYCHOLOGICAL personnel specification See EMPLOYEE TEST. PROFILE. personality types Names given to person perception The process by what appear to be distinct patterns of indi- which people form impressions of others, vidual tendencies and behaviour; for then flesh these impressions out and make example, AUTHORITARIAN PERSONALITY, them more coherent – though not neces- TYPE A, TYPE B. sarily more accurate. See also NEED TO MAKE SENSE. personal space In SOCIAL PSYCHOL- OGY, this is the idea that the area immedi- PERT See PROGRAMME EVALUATION AND ately surrounding an individual is felt to REVIEW TECHNIQUE. be his or her own. The amount of space PEST Analysis A review of a com- claimed in this way varies from CULTURE pany’s business environment in terms of to culture, but any invasion of it is taken four major factors: [1] Political, [2] Eco- as a hostile or threatening act. nomic, [3] Social and [4] Technological. person–job fit The extent to which the Peter Principle In a HIERARCHY,every PERSONALITY of an individual fits harmo- employee tends to rise to her or his level niously with the job he or she does. On the of incompetence – and stick there. goodness of fit between the two will Laurence Peter, the Canadian educational depend the crucial factors of work, like JOB psychologist, introduced this concept in SATISFACTION, PRODUCTIVITY and STRESS. the 1960s as a humorous observation but it personnel [1] The people employed has since become a serious contribution to in an ORGANIZATION. [2] The function of MANAGEMENT SCIENCE (like PARKINSON’S dealing with an organization’s employees LAW). The Peter Principle deals mainly as its HUMAN RESOURCES. with the experience of men, as might be placement 115 expected, but see the related PAULA PRINCI- piecework A form of PAYMENT BY PLE for women. It is perhaps most applica- RESULTS where workers are paid for each ble where people are promoted out of a piece of work they do rather than the SPECIALIST job they are good at (like sales, number of hours they put in. It was based car mechanics or teaching) into a MAN- originally on the SCIENTIFIC MANAGEMENT AGEMENT position which usually requires principles of F.W. TAYLOR. a different set of skills, and for which they pie chart A circular CHART with sections have received no TRAINING. representing proportions of some total entity phenotype The result of the interac- as slices of a pie. (See Figure 29, p116.) tion between the GENOTYPE of inherited genetic tendencies and the social ENVI- pilot study A term sometimes used in RONMENT. There is no way of seeing a MARKET RESEARCH or SURVEY RESEARCH; person’s genotype, for genetic potentiali- for example, when a proposed QUESTION- ties can only appear in actual behaviour. NAIRE may be tested on a few respondents All the behaviour that we can observe before being used on a large-scale study, from before birth right throughout life is to see whether the questionnaire needs therefore a phenotype. revising and whether the study itself is worth doing. picket A person or group posted outside their workplace as a TRADE UNION pink pound/dollar A term used to presence during an INDUSTRIAL DISPUTE. describe consumer spending on products The picket will try to persuade other identified as being particularly appropri- workers to support their side of the dis- ate to gay and lesbian people, or simply pute by not crossing the picket line and the total consumer spend of homosexuals. going in to work. placement The process of placing pictogram A CHART which uses someone in a job, ideally with a perfect pictures or symbols to represent numeri- PERSON–JOB FIT. This is an important cal data. (See Figure 28.) aspect of PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT.

Figure 28 Pictogram. 116 planned economy

Figure 29 Pie chart. planned economy An ECONOMY pluralistic ignorance A social situa- under the central direction and CONTROL tion in which each individual believes of the state (e.g. under the IDEOLOGY of himself or herself to be the only exception SOCIALISM), which would decide on mat- to the accepted beliefs or behaviour of his ters like PAY and PRODUCTION in the or her group. absence of MARKET FORCES. point-of-sale advertising A form of planned obsolescence See BUILT-IN ADVERTISING material that is BELOW THE OBSOLESCENCE. LINE and placed in retail outlets; that is, the point at which the sale is actually planning Any attempt systematically to made. organize the future PERFORMANCE of people, money, or goods and services, within a polychronic culture A concept devel- given set of constraints and TIME HORIZON. oped by the American anthropologist Edward Hall. It refers to a CULTURE in planning, programming and budget- which time is organized ‘horizontally’ ing system A widely used technique along parallel tracks, rather than sequen- of ACCOUNTING which, like ZERO-BASED tially, so that people may do several BUDGETING, originated in the United things at the one time. In this kind of cul- States. It usually follows five steps: [1] set ture social and interpersonal relationships overall objectives for the ORGANIZATION; are usually more important than [2] compare alternatives for effectiveness timetabling and punctuality. Such cul- in achieving objectives; [3] compare tures are commonly found in Southern alternatives for cost efficiency; [4] select Europe, Latin America, Africa and the most effective and efficient programmes; Middle East. Contrast with MONOCHRONIC and [5] review and assess programme CULTURE. performance. population In STATISTICS, this is the plant The buildings, equipment and total number of cases or individuals from machinery used in the running of an which a sample is drawn for study and ORGANIZATION, especially in manufactur- about which inferences are to be made. ing industry. Porter’s Five Forces Model A plateau See LEARNING PLATEAU. technique for analysing the competitive post-industrial society 117 forces in a given MARKET and on a given market. This implies, therefore, that the company. Invented by the American marketer has first segmented the market MARKETING guru Michael Porter. The and identified the preferred target. There five forces Porter identified are: [1] com- would be little point in attempting to posi- petitors, [2] potential entrants, [3] buyers, tion a product without having done so [4] substitutes and [5] suppliers. (See first. Figure 30.) post-decision dissonance A form of Position Analysis Questionnaire A COGNITIVE DISSONANCE that is experienced written technique which asks people to after making a difficult decision. The closer keep a diary, along certain detailed the alternatives one has to choose from in and standardized lines, about what they their desirability the greater will be the actually do in their job as opposed dissonance experienced. This is an impor- to what they think they do or what tant concept to MARKETING in terms of a they’re supposed to do. It is now widely consumer’s post-purchase behaviour. The regarded as an important element of a JOB theory predicts that in order to reduce dis- ANALYSIS. sonance following a difficult choice between two desirable alternatives, the con- positioning A technique of MARKET- sumer will emphasize the positive aspects ING that is closely allied to MARKET SEG- of the product she chose and the negative MENTATION. The position of a product in aspects of the one she didn’t. the MARKET reflects the way consumers see it in relation to its competitors. The post-industrial society A concept particular attributes of the product, and associated with the American sociologist the way it is promoted, form the ingredi- Daniel Bell, in which the SERVICE SECTOR ents of the strategy a marketer will use in could become an alternative basis to man- positioning it for its target segment of the ufacturing industry for the creation of

Figure 30 Porter’s Five Forces Model. 118 post-modernism wealth in society, following the adoption practical intelligence A suggested of NEW TECHNOLOGY. form of INTELLIGENCE that may not be picked up on a standardized INTELLIGENCE post-modernism The view that the TEST. As the name suggests it is about detached objective observer – a key having an ABILITY to solve problems in assumption in traditional Western science practical rather than abstract situations. and scholarship – doesn’t exist. In terms of consumer behaviour it has been sug- practice [1] In PSYCHOLOGY, this term gested by the application of this theory refers to the repetition of certain behav- that rather than having an objective IDEN- iour during the process of LEARNING some TITY people obtain their identity, and are SKILL. [2] In ANTHROPOLOGY, and in gen- identified by others, from their purchases; eral usage, the term is usually applied to a that we are what we consume, in a sense. particular custom or tradition. predatory pricing post-purchase behaviour See POST- The practice of DECISION DISSONANCE. pricing a product at such a low level that competitors cannot compete and are power The ABILITY to make things forced out of the MARKET, whereupon the happen by exerting influence over people predator raises the price substantially. or things. The most commonly recog- predictive validity See CONSTRUCT nized sources of power are physical VALIDITY. strength, knowledge, or position in the HIERARCHY of an ORGANIZATION. But there prejudice An ATTITUDE, opinion or are also less concrete sources of power, belief with a strong emotional underpin- such as exist in PERSONALITY factors like ning that makes it largely impervious to CHARISMA or the relationships between reason or evidence to the contrary. The people in an organization. See also COER- term is usually (though not always) used CIVE, EXPERT, LEGITIMATE, REFERENT and in a negative sense. REWARD POWER. premium A term widely used in MAR- power distance An individual’s ori- KETING to describe a product as ‘rare’, entation to AUTHORITY. The extent to ‘first-class’ or ‘expensive’. which people at the lower levels of an presentation of self A term associ- ORGANIZATION, or of a society, are willing ated with the Canadian sociologist Erving to accept that POWER is unequally distrib- Goffman, who was interested in the way uted and that they don’t have very much people want others to perceive them. See of it. In some countries people are appar- IMPRESSION MANAGEMENT. ently willing to forgo power for clarity in lines of authority: in others, where presenteeism A form of ABSENTEEISM authority seems to be less highly while remaining in the job. It is found respected, they may be willing to go among employees who are seriously dis- against official authority in pursuit of an affected from their ORGANIZATION. important social or organizational goal. price and incomes policy A policy that governments follow whether their PPB An acronym for PLANNING, PRO- IDEOLOGY is in favour of STATE INTERVEN- GRAMMING AND BUDGETING SYSTEM. TION in the MARKET or having a LAISSEZ- PR See PUBLIC RELATIONS. FAIRE ECONOMY. The object of the policy problem recognition 119 is to reduce INFLATION and UNEMPLOY- leniently. If neither confesses, both MENT, and the means of achieving it is to benefit, because they cannot then be have a reduction in PAY and in prices, or in convicted. their rate of increase. private sector The part of a MIXED price discrimination In ECONOMICS, ECONOMY which is controlled by individ- this is a PRICING situation where two units uals or companies rather than the state. of the same product are sold at different Compare with PUBLIC SECTOR. prices, whether to the same consumer or privatization The process of transfer- to different consumers. In PSYCHOLOGY, the term would refer, in this context, to an ring the ownership of an ORGANIZATION or an industry from the PUBLIC SECTOR to the aspect of PERCEPTION; the consumer’s PRIVATE SECTOR, usually by the public sale ABILITY to perceive that there was in fact a difference in price. of shares. pricing The decisions made by an privatized industry An industry that ORGANIZATION in setting a price for the has undergone PRIVATIZATION. goods or services it provides, taking into PRIZM An acronym for Potential account the cost of PRODUCTION and the Rating Index by Zip Market. It is used in nature of the MARKET. See also MARKET MARKETING research on GEODEMOGRAPHIC FORCES. SEGMENTATION to rank neighbourhoods by primacy effect The finding that, SOCIO-ECONOMIC STATUS. Developed by under certain conditions in the process of the Claritas Corporation in the United LEARNING, the first one of a series to be States, PRIZM established an SES ranking learned is remembered best. See also (or ‘zip quality’) of all neighbourhood RECENCY EFFECT. clusters throughout the country, ranging from ZQ1 (‘blue-blood estates’) where primary group A small group (such the most affluent Americans live, to ZQ40 as the family) characterized by direct, (‘public assistance’) where the poorest intimate, personal relationships between people in the inner cities live. The term is people who depend on each other for sup- the American equivalent of ACORN. port and for satisfaction of emotional needs. proactive inhibition The detrimental effect of previous LEARNING on the recall prioritizing Making a list of priorities. of later learning. Compare with RETRO- Not so much a NEOLOGISM as a distortion ACTIVE INHIBITION. of the English language. probability In STATISTICS, this refers Prisoner’s Dilemma A situation to the likelihood that a given event will developed out of GAME THEORY and used occur as compared with the likelihood of in SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY in the study of alternative events occurring. For example, BARGAINING behaviour. In this particular the probability of obtaining a given game two suspects are caught by the number when throwing a six-sided dice is police and questioned separately about a one in six. crime. If one prisoner confesses and the other does not, the squealer is set free and problem recognition This is the first the fall guy takes the rap. If both confess, stage in the process of CONSUMER both are convicted but dealt with DECISION-MAKING, which is triggered by 120 process production consumers perceiving that they have product differentiation [1] The some need which is not being met. The packaging and ADVERTISING of different consumer’s ‘problem’ is therefore to close BRANDS of virtually identical products in the gap between the actual state they are order to create differences between them in currently in and the desired state they the mind of the consumer. [2] The process would like to be in. (See Figure 31.) of designing and producing a range of the same basic products in order to appeal to process production See CONTINUOUS different segments of the MARKET; for PROCESS PRODUCTION. example, breakfast cereals with or without process theories Theories of MOTIVA- fibre, fruit, sugar and so on. TION which are concerned with the process of how people decide on what product innovation A product whose behaviour to engage in. These include PRODUCTION breaks new ground for an ORGANIZATION theories of EQUITY, EXPECTANCY and , either because of the GOAL-SETTING. Often contrasted with process involved in producing it or the content theories of motivation, mainly MARKET it is aimed at. concerned with needs, such as NEED FOR production All the processes involved ACHIEVEMENT, NEED FOR AFFILIATION and in providing goods and services to the NEED FOR POWER. MARKET, from the extraction of raw mate- product champion A key member of rials to the RETAILING of finished products. an ORGANIZATION who gives devoted sup- production orientation A view of port to an innovative idea or product. the marketplace often held by producers product cycle See PRODUCT LIFE CYCLE. when the demand for their product

Figure 31 Problem recognition. profit-related pay 121 exceeds the supply and consumers are profession [1] ‘An occupation possess- forced to buy what there is rather than ing high social STATUS and characterized what they may really want. Under these by considerable SKILL and knowledge, conditions producers ‘sell whatever much of which is theoretical and intellec- they can produce’, as opposed to the tual in nature’ (The Penguin Management MARKETING CONCEPT where they ‘produce Handbook). [2] ‘A conspiracy against the whatever they can sell’. laity’ (George Bernard Shaw). productivity The rate of output of a professional socialization The worker or a machine. process of SOCIALIZATION that a new product life cycle A term used in recruit to a PROFESSION has to undergo. MARKETING to describe the different profit Any financial gain resulting stages that every product goes through from business activity. It is basically the from its initial development and introduc- excess of INCOME over expenditure for a tion to the MARKET, via its initial sales and given period of time. its established sales, to its eventual profit centre A unit of ORGANIZATION decline and withdrawal from the market. which is treated as a separate entity for (See Figure 32.) purposes of financial CONTROL, and which product mix The range of products, is allocated designated INCOME targets and the particular combination of them that allow its PROFIT to be calculated over at any given time, that an ORGANIZATION a given period of time. This unit may be a produces. department, a place, a person or even a machine. Contrast with COST CENTRE. product obsolescence The final stage of a PRODUCT LIFE CYCLE, when it is profit-related pay A type of PROFIT superseded by other products. Its identifi- SHARING for employees who used to have cation necessitates the withdrawal of the UK tax advantages if they took part of product from the MARKET. their earnings in this form. However, as

Figure 32 Product life cycle. 122 profit sharing

PRP often did not follow the more to pursue specific, time-limited objectives volatile movements of company profits, that cross the usual departmental the tax advantages have been phased out. boundaries of an ORGANIZATION. Both the staffing and the LEADERSHIP of such profit sharing An INCENTIVE involv- projects will also cross these boundaries. ing the DISTRIBUTION of some of the Project management uses both practical PROFIT made by a business to its employ- techniques like CRITICAL PATH ANALYSIS ees, over and above their normal PAY,in and HUMAN RELATIONS approaches like the form of cash or shares. TEAM-BUILDING. programmed learning A form of promotion [1] Any attempt to LEARNING involving a SYSTEM of self publicize an ORGANIZATION, its products instruction, based on CONDITIONING, or its interests, by ADVERTISING or PUBLIC where a TASK to be mastered is broken RELATIONS. [2] The process of moving down into small steps. The subject is within the same organization to a job of given FEEDBACK about his or her mastery greater AUTHORITY, PAY and STATUS. See of each step as he or she goes along. also the PETER PRINCIPLE. Programme Evaluation and Review proprietor The sole owner of an Technique The name of a particularly establishment or business. popular technique in CRITICAL PATH ANALYSIS. Protestant Work Ethic The idea that work is both an end in itself and a good in progress chasing Monitoring each itself. This was central to the view of stage of the PRODUCTION process for society held by leading Protestant reform- QUALITY, cost and punctuality. ers like Calvin and Luther. Together with other values they held, like thrift and an projection In PSYCHOANALYSIS, this emphasis on ACHIEVEMENT, this ethic is refers to an EGO DEFENCE where an indi- widely believed to have been the major vidual (at the UNCONSCIOUS level) attributes to other people feelings she or he has, contribution to the INDUSTRIAL REVOLU- TION and the rise of INDUSTRIALIZATION in but which are too threatening to the EGO to admit into her or his consciousness. the West. prototype [1] A trial version of a projective technique A procedure product. [2] The original version of for uncovering an individual’s UNCON- a product as compared to later versions. SCIOUS MOTIVATION, ANXIETY or CONFLICT. Like the RORSCHACH TEST, the 16PF TEST PRP See PROFIT-RELATED PAY. or the THEMATIC APPERCEPTION TEST, such psychoanalysis A form of PSY- a procedure consists of presenting rela- CHOTHERAPY, invented and developed by tively unstructured stimuli to the subject, SIGMUND FREUD. It places great emphasis designed to encourage the PROJECTION of on the uncovering and understanding of the material, which would be inadmissi- UNCONSCIOUS MOTIVATION. Any form of ble to consciousness, in a relatively direct psychoanalysis, no matter how far and undisguised form. removed it may be from its Freudian ori- project management In contrast to gins, would subscribe to this principle. the normal operations of both LINE and Psychoanalysis is the most arduous and STAFF MANAGEMENT, projects are intended demanding form of psychotherapy, psychosomatic disorders 123 requiring years of (expensive) sessions LEARNING, MOTIVATION, PERCEPTION and during which a great amount of powerful patterns of PERSONALITY. The objective of emotion will be experienced. this form of segmentation is to gain some insight into what makes consumers tick psychodiagnostics Any technique and to arrive at individual profiles which applied to the interpretation of PERSONAL- capture the essence of a target consumer. ITY, whether PROJECTIVE TECHNIQUE or Attempts at constructing consumer pro- PSYCHOMETRICS. files usually concentrate on three areas of psychodynamics See DYNAMIC behaviour: [1] activities (how do people PSYCHOLOGY. spend their time?); [2] interests (what are people most interested in?); and [3] opin- psychographics Used in MARKETING. ions (how do people view themselves and [1] To describe the PSYCHOLOGICAL TESTS their world?). used as part of MARKET RESEARCH. [2] As a rough and ready way of dividing con- psychological test This term is gen- sumers into broad psychological types erally applied very broadly to include any like ‘conspicuous consumers’ (see CON- procedure or technique for assessing any SPICUOUS CONSUMPTION) or ‘high achiev- aspect of mental or emotional function- ers’ (see NEED FOR ACHIEVEMENT). ing. It would thus include both PROJEC- TIVE TECHNIQUES and PSYCHOMETRICS. psychological contract In ORGANIZA- TIONAL PSYCHOLOGY, this refers to an psychology Most commonly defined unwritten (and often unspoken) contract, at present as ‘the scientific study of mind consisting of a set of expectations which and behaviour’, a definition that accu- the ORGANIZATION and the individual rately describes the route of increasing our member have of each other. On the psychological knowledge (behaviour) as degree of fit between these two sets of well as a psychological understanding of expectations rest the health and happiness what that behaviour is about and how to of both. make sense of it most intelligently (mind). psychometrics Those areas of PSY- psychological field See LIFE SPACE. CHOLOGY that deal specifically with the psychological price The retail price measurement of psychological factors. In of an item that is generally accepted with- a management ENVIRONMENT, the term out question by the consumer, though it tends to be used as a synonym for PSY- may be a relatively high one, largely CHOLOGICAL TESTS. because of its familiarity. Also known as psychosomatic disorders This term the CHARM PRICE of an item. comes from the Greek words psyche psychological segmentation A form (mind) and soma (body). It relates to psy- of MARKET SEGMENTATION that tries to chological disorders in which emotional analyse the way in which the consump- STRESS produces physiological symptoms. tion of particular products relates to the Illnesses such as asthma and stomach rest of the consumer’s life. It adopts the ulcers have long been known to be psy- viewpoint of PSYCHOLOGY in its approach chosomatic, but it has also been argued to understanding consumer behaviour, that, because of the interrelationship and is concerned with such fundamental between mind and body, every illness is psychological factors as ATTITUDE change, psychosomatic at least to some extent. 124 psychotherapy psychotherapy The use of psycho- the supply of water or electricity, whether logical techniques to treat psychological it is part of the PRIVATE SECTOR or the PUB- disturbance. The three main forms of psy- LIC SECTOR. chotherapy are based on the theoretical PWE See PROTESTANT WORK ETHIC. approaches of BEHAVIOURISM, PSYCHO- ANALYSIS and a broad HUMANISTIC PSY- Pygmalion effect A form of SELF- CHOLOGY orientation represented by the FULFILLING PROPHECY in a social setting work of psychologists like LEWIN and that was first suggested by the American MASLOW. psychologist Robert Rosenthal. Rosenthal led a number of teachers to believe that public relations The systematic certain children in their classes had high attempt by an ORGANIZATION to present IQs and were expected to do well in the itself to the best advantage, both to an year ahead. The children did do well – external public and to its employees, by a though they were all in fact of average IQ. process of persuasive COMMUNICATION. It Hence the name Pygmalion, from the is used in conjunction with paid ADVER- play by George Bernard Shaw (later made TISING and concentrates usually on the into the musical My Fair Lady). The MASS MEDIA. The objective of the exercise concept has been applied to the world of is to build up and maintain good relations the ORGANIZATION more widely, to between the organization, its public and describe a MANAGER’s expectation of a its employees. subordinate. public sector The part of a MIXED pyramid hierarchy An ORGANIZA- ECONOMY which is controlled by the state TIONAL STRUCTURE having different levels rather than by individuals or private com- of AUTHORITY with fewer people at each panies. Compare with PRIVATE SECTOR. succeeding level, so that a chart of the public utility An ORGANIZATION that HIERARCHY would look like a pyramid in provides an essential public service, like shape. See also TALL ORGANIZATION. Q

QC See QUALITY CIRCLE. voluntary and is seen by MANAGEMENT as a way of improving the PARTICIPATION and Q sort A technique for rating different MOTIVATION of the workforce, as well as TRAITS of PERSONALITY, in which an indi- providing the bonus of increased quality vidual is given a large number of state- and, perhaps as a result, decreased costs. ments about himself or herself, or about As CONTROL of all the decisions arising someone else, which he or she then sorts from the circle remains with the manage- into piles representing the degree to which ment, it may be viewed with suspicion by the statements are applicable. many people on the SHOP FLOOR. The idea qualitative methodology The use of of quality circles is based on the work of research methods in BEHAVIOURAL SCIENCE W. EDWARDS DEMING. or SOCIAL SCIENCE which are concerned quality control Any technique, like more with the complexity and the richness the QUALITY CIRCLE, that helps to maintain of the data being collected than with the a desired level of QUALITY in the PRODUC- CONTROL of the research situation, the TION of a product. Normally, this level quantity of data generated, or the sophisti- will be as high as is feasible, but some- cation of the statistical analysis of them times CONTROL will be exercised to ensure available to the researcher. The open- that quality is not too high; for example, ended, UNSTRUCTURED INTERVIEW, which in the case of BUILT-IN OBSOLESCENCE. does not use a detailed QUESTIONNAIRE, and Based on the work of W. EDWARDS PARTICIPANT OBSERVATION are probably the DEMING. Compare with TOTAL QUALITY most common methods used. Compare MANAGEMENT. with QUANTITATIVE METHODOLOGY. quality market Any MARKET in which quality The term is now used mainly the QUALITY of a product is generally as a way of measuring or describing how more important to the customer than is good or bad a product is at performing its the price. function and meeting the needs of its users. It is an important way in which pro- quality of working life An approach ducers can achieve PRODUCT DIFFERENTIA- to work that first became prominent in the TION and maintain the BRAND LOYALTY of 1960s. It is concerned to improve the their customers. See also LEVITT’s TOTAL QUALITY of life for people in the work- PRODUCT CONCEPT and TOTAL QUALITY place, by emphasizing the importance of MANAGEMENT. good JOB DESIGN in making work more meaningful for workers and giving them quality circle A technique developed in more CONTROL over how they do it. This the 1960s by American and Japanese engi- approach has been somewhat less promi- neers. Each circle consists of a small local nent since the 1980s. group of employees trying to solve practical problems about the standard of QUAL- quango An acronym for a ‘quasi- ITY of the product they are working on. autonomous non-governmental organiza- Membership of the circle is completely tion’ in the United Kingdom. This is 126 quantitative methodology an ORGANIZATION which is established and RESEARCH and is the basis of all work in funded indirectly by the government to SURVEY RESEARCH, where questionnaires oversee or encourage activity in a parti- tend to have structured items with a nar- cular area of public interest. Examples row range of possible answers. In qualita- include the Economic and Social tive research, however, the items will tend Research Council, or the Scottish Tourist to be less structured, or perhaps even Board. open-ended, and allow for a wide variety of responses and possible follow-up by quantitative methodology The use the researcher. See also QUALITATIVE of research methods in BEHAVIOURAL METHODOLOGY and QUANTITATIVE SCIENCE or SOCIAL SCIENCE which are METHODOLOGY. concerned more with the precision and generalizability of the data being queueing In ERGONOMICS, this term is collected than with their richness of used to describe a way of dealing with content or complexity; that is, having a SENSORY OVERLOAD, in which all the narrower but sharper focus than QUALITA- stimuli but one are ‘put on hold’ by the TIVE METHODOLOGY. The laboratory brain until that one has been processed. or field experiment and the structured quick fix An attempt (often desperate) QUESTIONNAIRE are the most common to deal with a complex MANAGEMENT methods used. issue in a business ORGANIZATION by quartile In STATISTICS, this is one of applying a simple-minded, fast-acting the three points on a FREQUENCY DISTRI- ‘solution’. Reorganization of the com- BUTION which divide it into equal quar- pany is a firm favourite, as is the latest ters; for example, at 25 per cent, 50 per management fad from the currently cent and 75 per cent of a list of annual fashionable snake-oil salesman. earnings. quota sampling In STATISTICS, this is question mark One of the MARKETING the process of SAMPLING data from each situations in the BOSTON MATRIX. It is sub-group of a given POPULATION. This is characterized by high growth but a poor a particular form of STRATIFIED SAMPLING market position. A question mark is a widely used in MARKET RESEARCH, where product about which a decision needs to an interviewer is given a set number or be taken; will it become a STAR or a DOG? quota of INTERVIEWS to carry out in a given stratum of the population, and stops questionnaire Any set of written sampling when the quota has been questions used in the collecting of infor- achieved. mation for purposes of comparison. It is widely used in quantitative MARKET QWL See QUALITY OF WORKING LIFE. R r In STATISTICS, this is the symbol for rate setting An old-fashioned term the most common CORRELATION COEFFI- for the process of setting PIECEWORK CIENT used in BEHAVIOURAL SCIENCE and rates of PAY for a job. The process is more SOCIAL SCIENCE. often included now under the term WORK MEASUREMENT. R & D See RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT. rational-economic A view of human racism A negative PREJUDICE against nature which argues that people act only to someone of a different race (usually maximize their self-interest. It is based on meaning a different skin colour). the philosophy of HEDONISM and often radical innovation Often applied to claims the thought of ADAM SMITH in its the introduction of products or organiza- support. Any MANAGEMENT STYLE which tional processes which represent a STEP acted on his view would be described as CHANGE rather than CONTINUOUS IMPROVE- RATIONAL MANAGEMENT. See also THEORY X. MENT for a company. Examples would be rational-economic model As applied major changes in working practices or to MANAGEMENT this MODEL is based on MARKETING like the introduction of the the assumption that the only source of ASSEMBLY LINE or the supermarket. MOTIVATION in the workplace is money.

RAM An acronym for RANDOM ACCESS rationalization [1] In PSYCHOANA- MEMORY. LYSIS, this term is used to describe an EGO random access memory The imme- DEFENCE in which a person justifies some action about which he has UNCONSCIOUS diately available short-term part of a COM- guilt feelings because he really knows he PUTER’s MEMORY. Any data stored in this part is lost when the computer is switched shouldn’t have acted in that way. [2] In off, unless it has been transferred to some ECONOMICS, the term is used to denote the form of longer term memory storage. application of the most efficient methods in the use of resources within an ORGANI- random sampling In STATISTICS, this ZATION. [3] In ORGANIZATIONAL THEORY, is the process of SAMPLING data at random the term is supposed to describe the cre- from a POPULATION so that inferences can ation of a more effective ORGANIZATIONAL be made about the population from STRUCTURE. In PRACTICE, this often findings about the sample. The crucial implies one that is cheaper because it has condition is that each individual in fewer people in it as a result of DELAYER- the total population should have an ING and DOWNSIZING. equal chance of being chosen for the rational management The term is sample. usually used to denote a MANAGEMENT rank order Any series of numbers, STYLE that emphasizes objective measures items or individuals arranged in order of input and output rather than HUMAN of magnitude, either increasing or RELATIONS. The opposite of PARTICIPATIVE decreasing (first, second, third, etc.). MANAGEMENT. 128 reaction time reaction time In ERGONOMICS, this often with the objective of finding them term refers to the time elapsed between alternative EMPLOYMENT. the presentation of a stimulus and the redundancy The dismissal of peo- subject’s response to it. ple from their EMPLOYMENT either real time A period of time during because their job has ceased to exist or which an ONLINE computer is processing because their SKILLS are no longer the data about a particular situation while required. See also DELAYERING, DOWNSIZ- that situation is actually in progress, thus ING, FIRST IN, FIRST OUT, LAST IN, FIRST OUT allowing for instant updating, as in an and VOLUNTARY REDUNDANCY. airline or hotel reservation SYSTEM. re-engineering An approach to changing an ORGANIZATION, popularized real wages [1] Disposable INCOME left in the early 1990s by Michael Hammer after paying TAXATION and so on. [2] The and James Champy, that focuses on the buying POWER of a certain income, as opposed to the actual money received. organization’s processes rather than its traditional functions. It makes extensive recency effect The finding that, under use of INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY to help certain conditions in the process of companies rethink their business from LEARNING, the last one of a series to be scratch. This invariably requires some learned is remembered best. See also DELAYERING and DOWNSIZING, perhaps as PRIMACY EFFECT. a consequence of trying to apply both top-down LEADERSHIP and employee recession A lack of growth or a EMPOWERMENT at the same time. decline in trading or in the economy generally, though not as seriously as in a reference group In SOCIOLOGY, this is DEPRESSION. the term for a group with which an individual identifies and whose GROUP NORMS reciprocity In ERGONOMICS, this refers she or he follows, whether accepted by it or to the principle that a response is pro- not and whether physically part of it or not. duced by a combination of the duration It is usually compared with MEMBERSHIP and intensity of a stimulus. GROUP. recruitment The process of identifying referent power This form of POWER possible candidates for a job vacancy. It is a function of a given individual rather should start, ideally, with a JOB ANALYSIS, than his or her position in an ORGANIZA- after which a JOB SPECIFICATION should be TION. It is often thought of as the pos- drawn up. Likely candidates to meet the session of CHARISMA such that people specification would then be trawled, identify with someone’s personal qualities perhaps by ADVERTISING in the appropri- and are happy to accept their leadership ate TRADE PRESS or by HEAD-HUNTING. In because of it. principle, this process should be the refreezing A term introduced by KURT logical outcome of MANPOWER PLANNING LEWIN to describe the state of an ORGANI- and the first stage of a coherent policy of ZATION following some radical changes, PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT that continues when its members have fully incorporated until RETIREMENT. the required new ways of doing their jobs. redeployment The process of moving It is the final stage in the process of which workers from one location to another, UNFREEZING is the first stage. representativeness heuristic 129 regression [1] A return by an indi- reliability [1] In STATISTICS, this term vidual to an earlier form of behaviour. In describes the internal consistency of a PSYCHOANALYSIS, it is an EGO DEFENCE, TEST; that is, the extent to which it can be where an individual seeks to deal with expected to produce the same result on ANXIETY and avoid UNCONSCIOUS conflicts different occasions. [2] The extent to by reverting to an earlier stage of devel- which an instrument, machine or product opment where his or her problems were provides the PERFORMANCE expected of it ‘solved’ by more infantile means. [2] In over its expected lifetime. STATISTICS, the term is used to describe relocation a technique for estimating the relation- The process of settling in a ship between one variable and another. It new place, whether for an ORGANIZATION or an individual worker. is applied to FORECASTING, for example, where qualitative ratings on one variable reluctant manager A term intro- are used to make quantitative predictions duced to MANAGEMENT SCIENCE in the on the other. 1980s by two British writers, Richard Scase and Robert Goffee. The term reinforcement The process of strength- describes a MANAGER suffering from a ening the likelihood that a given behavi- certain ALIENATION from his job because our will occur by providing it with some he sees the REWARD for his efforts as being form of REWARD. This is the basis of all insufficient to compensate him for the CONDITIONING. STRESS he feels. This reluctant ATTITUDE relations analysis One of three tech- to commitment seems to increase as the niques suggested by PETER DRUCKER to amount of BUREAUCRACY in an ORGANIZA- help a WORK ORGANIZATION decide on its TION increases. most appropriate ORGANIZATIONAL STRUC- repetitive strain injury The term gen- TURE. This technique is used to establish erally used for a series of injuries to the what the key relations between MANAGERS muscles and skeleton caused by doing and all levels in the ORGANIZATION actually repetitive operations on machines for a are, as opposed to unquestioned assump- considerable period of time. It is thought to tions about what they are and unthinking be particularly prevalent among WORD- reliance on an ORGANIZATION CHART. The PROCESSOR users, and results from the fail- other two Drucker techniques are ACTIVI- ure of an ORGANIZATION to consider TIES ANALYSIS and DECISION ANALYSIS. seriously the ERGONOMICS of its workplace. relative deprivation PSYCHOLOGY In , representation The procedure where this term is used to describe an individ- someone acts on behalf of an individual ual’s feeling of being deprived when she or a group of workers in an ORGANIZA- or he compares herself or himself to TION. Usually this refers to the right of someone else, regardless of the objective a TRADE UNION to represent its members reality or what other people may feel. For in dealing with MANAGEMENT on issues example, a managing director might feel other than those dealing with PAY and deprived with a six-figure salary if it were conditions of EMPLOYMENT, which are less than other managing directors got, dealt with by COLLECTIVE BARGAINING. while an office junior might be delighted with her own salary even though it is representativeness heuristic A one-tenth of the figure. HEURISTIC in which we pick out something 130 representative sample familiar in a new object and then equate it restraint of trade Any activity which with one that we know; for example, buy- interferes with the operation of a FREE ing something by judging its quality on MARKET; for example, price-fixing or the basis of its price. preventing a new competitor from entering the MARKET. representative sample A sample that is intended to be completely repre- restrictive practice This term usually sentative of the POPULATION from which it refers to a work practice supported by is drawn. a TRADE UNION, in the interest of JOB SECU- RITY for its members, which limits the PSYCHOANALYSIS repression In , this scope of MANAGEMENT, especially in the term is used to describe a particular kind allocation of particular kinds of work. of EGO DEFENCE, as well as being a crucial The practice may or may not be officially concept in Freudian theory. The essence agreed through COLLECTIVE BARGAINING. of repression is the holding back from See also CLOSED SHOP, DEMARCATION conscious awareness of disturbing feel- DISPUTE and OVERMANNING. ings and impulses arising from the ID. They are submerged in the UNCON- restructuring of industry A term SCIOUS – where they invariably get up to often used to describe the decline of mischief. FREUD considered repression the HEAVY INDUSTRY, with its attendant UNEM- price we pay for civilization and that PLOYMENT, and the increasing importance psychoanalysis, by making the uncon- of the SERVICE SECTOR and of INFORMATION scious conscious, was the only way to TECHNOLOGY. come to terms with this dilemma. résumé A French word which is Contrast with INHIBITION. sometimes used as an American version resale price maintenance The of a CURRICULUM VITAE. requirement of a manufacturer or supplier retail audit A MARKET RESEARCH that certain products may not be sold by technique which involves taking a REPRE- a retailer below a certain fixed price, thus SENTATIVE SAMPLE of retail outlets and removing one of the more tiresome studying them to obtain data on DISTRIBU- effects of COMPETITION on PROFIT. It is TION, sales, stock and so on. now by and large illegal in the United Kingdom and the United States. retailing The selling of goods and services, in relatively small quantities, research and development The first directly to the consumer through a shop stage of a PRODUCT LIFE CYCLE, in which or other retail outlet. Compare with science and TECHNOLOGY are applied to WHOLESALING. the development of new products. The term is also used more generally to retail price index A figure, calculated describe any systematic activity within an monthly, which reflects the cost of a set of basic goods and services used by ORGANIZATION aimed at gaining it a competitive edge in the future. most of the United Kingdom POPULATION. It is generally used as an indicator of response bias A MENTAL SET to changes in INFLATION and the cost of respond in a particular way to certain living, and is often the basis for COLLEC- issues or questions; for example, on a TIVE BARGAINING and for government QUESTIONNAIRE. policy-making. robotics 131 retirement The process of finishing rightsizing A little more than just one’s full-time work life, traditionally at a another euphemism for firing people – designated or generally accepted age. like DOWNSIZING was in the 1980s – ever EARLY RETIREMENT has increased greatly since SENIOR MANAGEMENT discovered, in in recent years, though later retirement the 1990s, that sometimes you need to has also been noticed. hire back some of the people you fired. retirement on the job A term ringi system A form of Japanese sometimes used of an employee who expe- decision-making where all the members riences such ALIENATION from his job that of an ORGANIZATION who will be affected he does the minimum possible in order to by it participate in reaching a collective retain it while he waits for RETIREMENT. It decision. may be the end result of PRESENTEEISM. risk [1] The likelihood, or the statistical retroactive inhibition The detrimental PROBABILITY, of failure in a business effect of later LEARNING on the recall ENTERPRISE; the essence of being an of previous learning. Compare with ENTREPRENEUR, and therefore of CAPITAL- PROACTIVE INHIBITION. ISM. [2] The term is also used of the probability of damage or loss; the essence of return on investment One of the insurance. more potent forms of FEEDBACK on behaviour, whether by an individual or an risk aversive The tendency to avoid ORGANIZATION. taking risky decisions, which is said to be generally true of both individuals and reward Any kind of return (usually ORGANIZATIONS. However, decision-making positive) as a result of a given behaviour. is not entirely a rational process and it It is most often used in EMPLOYMENT to depends, in part, on how the potential risk refer to monetary gains in return for an is framed. individual’s PERFORMANCE at work. These gains may be in the form of PAY, FRINGE risk capital CAPITAL invested in an BENEFITS or PERKS. ENTERPRISE with a high RISK of failure, though usually with the possibility of a reward power A form of POWER large financial gain. which denotes the ability of someone in an ORGANIZATION to reward others, for risky shift A form of GROUP POLARIZA- example, with PROMOTION or better pay TION where people make riskier decisions or conditions. Usually contrasted with under the influence of a group than by COERCIVE POWER. themselves. The opposite of CAUTIOUS SHIFT. right brained A term used to describe people who are visual and intuitive in robot A machine which can be pro- their thinking rather than verbal. The ori- grammed and controlled by a COMPUTER gin of this rather sweeping generalization to function like a person for certain jobs. is that the major speech centre in the brain The term is based on the Czech word for is usually found in the left hemisphere of compulsory labour, from a 1920 play by the cerebral cortex. It is usually con- Karel Capek. trasted with LEFT BRAINED. robotics The study of ROBOTS, their right first time See ZERO DEFECTS. design, manufacture and applications. 132 ROI

ROI See RETURN ON INVESTMENT. role overload An extreme form of ROLE CONFLICT, where the number of dif- role A term widely used in SOCIAL ferent ROLES expected of an individual are PSYCHOLOGY to refer to the kind of behavi- simply too great for her or him to contain. our expected of a given person in a given The opposite of ROLE UNDERLOAD. situation. The term has been applied generally to the ORGANIZATION and the role playing [1] Acting the part of workplace. another person in a therapeutic or BUSI- NESS GAME situation. [2] Playing a certain role ambiguity A situation in which ROLE for the particular effect it will cause. an individual is unclear about the ROLE expected of her or him. role relationship Any relationship role conflict A situation in which an between two people which is defined by individual is expected to play two or more the ROLE they each play; for example, boss and subordinate. ROLES which are in conflict or in competition with each other. role reversal A situation in which role differentiation The processes of people agree to switch their usual ROLE RELATIONSHIPS; for example, army offi- the DIVISION OF LABOUR and of SPECIAL- cers serving Christmas dinner to the IZATION within a group. The larger and more complex the group – from troops. the family to the MULTINATIONAL COM- role set The SIGNIFICANT OTHERS who PANY – the greater the degree of role have ROLE RELATIONSHIPS with a given differentiation. individual. (See Figure 33.) role expectation The expectations role structure The extent to which a other people have about the way a per- ROLE is specified and defined or left open. son will play his or her ROLE in a given situation. role transition The process of switch- ing from one ROLE to another, a process in role incongruence This occurs where which SOCIALIZATION is of great impor- individuals have high status in some tance. aspects of their job but low status in others, for example, a junior accountant role underload A situation in which querying the expenses of a senior execu- an individual feels that his or her ROLE is tive or a personal assistant accruing the not big enough. The opposite of ROLE POWER of a GATEKEEPER in relation to her OVERLOAD. See also UNDEREMPLOYMENT. boss. ROMPing An acronym for Radical role innovation The process of Office Mobility Programme, a more changing the goals and objectives of a advanced and comprehensive form of HOT particular ROLE. DESKING. role negotiation This term is some- Rorschach test The most famous times used to describe a process that may PROJECTIVE TECHNIQUE of all, beloved of take place during an INTERVIEW with a cartoonists and comedians. It consists candidate for a job, where the exact ROLE of ten standardized inkblots developed the individual would play in the ORGANI- by a Swiss psychiatrist called Hermann ZATION is subject to negotiation. Rorschach in the early part of the RSI 133

Figure 33 Role set. twentieth century. The subject’s responses attempt to find order or meaning in the to the inkblots are analysed by the tester material. Compare with INSIGHT LEARNING in the light of certain categories that have and TRIAL AND ERROR LEARNING. also been standardized over the years. No royalty A fee paid to an author or com- diagnosis of someone’s PERSONALITY poser on each sale of published work for should ever be made solely on the basis of which she or he holds the COPYRIGHT, or to this (or any other) TEST, but many psy- an inventor for the use of an invention for chologists regard it as a useful first step. which she or he holds the PATENT. Rosenthal effect See PYGMALION RPI See RETAIL PRICE INDEX. EFFECT. RPM See RESALE PRICE MAINTENANCE. rote learning LEARNING attempted solely through repetition, without any RSI See REPETITIVE STRAIN INJURY. S sacred cow In a business ORGANIZATION, sampling error In STATISTICS, this is this usually refers to a project that may the extent to which a sample is not an not be closed down, no matter how ineffi- accurate representation of the POPULATION cient or costly it is, for reasons that are from which it has been drawn. not rational. The reference is to the Hindu sampling frame The background or veneration of the cow, which is allowed a catchment area of POPULATION from free run of India while not being used as which a sample is to be taken. food for hungry people. sapiential authority The idea that the salaried staff This term is usually basis for exercising AUTHORITY associated applied to STAFF who are WHITE-COLLAR with certain people lies in their perceived WORKERS and whose PAY is calculated on wisdom rather than in any formal POWER an annual basis and paid in equal monthly or STATUS they may hold. instalments. This is in contrast to the BLUE-COLLAR WORKER, for example, who satisficing A term that originated in might be paid on an hourly basis or by the ECONOMICS to describe the situation in amount of work completed. which an ORGANIZATION was sufficiently satisfied with what it had achieved to stop salary structure The arrangement of striving for more, even though it had not PAY within an ORGANIZATION such that reached its ideal or optimal targets. The different grades of employees doing term is also used more broadly to be different jobs will receive different rates. almost synonymous with ‘compromise’ in These rates are supposed to be based (at a situation of CONFLICT, where a solution least originally) on the processes of JOB is reached which satisfies all parties but is ANALYSIS and JOB EVALUATION and each less than optimal for any of them. See would normally be in the form of a scale also SUBOPTIMIZATION. with annual increments of pay. saving face Maintaining one’s sales promotion Any attempt to SELF-ESTEEM, or the self-esteem of one’s increase the sales of a particular product group, in a situation of individual or with a focussed, intensive, short-term group CONFLICT, or in any kind of BAR- campaign of inducements such as gifts, GAINING. An essential aspect, for example, free samples, special offers and so on. of successful INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS. scab An alternative term for BLACK- sampling In STATISTICS, this is the LEG, whose origin is likewise unknown. process of analysing a sample drawn from a particular POPULATION when it is too Scanlon Plan Named after the difficult or expensive to deal with each American TRADE UNION theorist Joseph member of that population. The most com- Scanlon whose plan, first produced in the mon ways to obtain a sample are by RAN- late 1930s, was intended to herald a new DOM SAMPLING and STRATIFIED SAMPLING, form of co-operative relationship between including QUOTA SAMPLING. MANAGEMENT and unions. One outcome scientific management 135 of the plan was a method whereby scenarios for its future development. See employees would share in the financial also BRAINSTORMING and DELPHI METHOD. benefits of increased PRODUCTIVITY by receiving, each month, a bonus based on scheduling [1] A term used to a percentage (usually 50–75 per cent) of describe the process of organizing TASKS to be done by a series of machines in savings to the ORGANIZATION in labour costs. The Scanlon Plan is regarded as an order to streamline PRODUCTION. [2] Any important contribution to both the theory way of dividing up time in the course of a working day so that people can syn- and practice of INDUSTRIAL DEMOCRACY. chronize their activities with each other. It scapegoating The DISPLACEMENT of is particularly important in cultures of frustration and aggression from its real MONOCHRONIC activity. object, which is too threatening, on to individuals or groups who are unlikely to schema In the PSYCHOLOGY of COGNI- fight back. The origin of the term ‘scape- TION, this term is used to describe a men- goat’ goes back to Biblical times, when tal MODEL or framework within which the Israelites each year sent a pure white new experiences are digested that then goat out to die in the wilderness on the allow LEARNING to take place. Day of Atonement, symbolically carrying Schumacher, Fritz (1911–77) Gener- with it all the sins of the people. ally considered to be the father of the scattergram A graph or diagram in ‘Small Is Beautiful’ movement both in which the individual points are left ORGANIZATIONAL THEORY and in thinking unconnected in order to show what pat- about the global ENVIRONMENT. His work terns the data fall into. (See Figure 34.) also helped Western business theorists to appreciate the Japanese passion for scenario writing A technique used in smallness – and with it QUALITY. FORECASTING, where expert predictions about the ENVIRONMENT in which an scientific management An approach ORGANIZATION operates are used as the to MANAGEMENT, based on the theories of basis for exploring several alternative F.W. TAYLOR, dealing with the MOTIVATION

Figure 34 Scattergram (showing high positive CORRELATION in sales of product over time). 136 screwdriver operation to work. It sees it as a MANAGER’s duty to another job or ORGANIZATION for a tempo- find out the best way to do a given job, by rary period. a process of WORK MEASUREMENT, then segment of one The use of computer give each worker individual instructions DATABASES by marketers to generate lists which have to be followed strictly. The of individuals in their target market individual is thus seen as the extension of segment and send them personalized his or her machine, and his or her COMMUNICATIONS based on who they are, REWARDS are also to be allocated mechan- where they live, what they do, etc. It is ically, with more PAY expected to produce therefore the ultimate in MARKET SEGMEN- more output regardless of any other TATION. It is also a return to a time before factors. Scientific management is thus the the advent of MASS PRODUCTION and antithesis of the HUMAN RELATIONS mass consumption when producer and approach. consumer had a direct relationship with screwdriver operation A factory each other. where only the parts of a product are selection The process of choosing assembled as opposed to the PRODUCTION someone for a particular job, which of the whole product. Usually applied to follows the RECRUITMENT of suitable can- a subsidiary of a MULTINATIONAL COMPANY didates. The selection process will operating in a country with a relatively probably include an INTERVIEW and may cheap labour market. also include TESTS of ABILITY, APTITUDE, scripts Based on the theatrical use of INTELLIGENCE or PERSONALITY. the term, these are familiar scenarios selective perception Literally, the of events recognized by the members of process of seeing what you want to see. an ORGANIZATION. On this interpretation The process of perceiving the world as we of organizational life different organiza- need to perceive it, whatever the relation tions will ‘perform’ different ‘plays’ on of that PERCEPTION to objective reality, is the basis of the particular SOCIAL NORMS the way we satisfy the NEED TO MAKE that apply to them. SENSE. search engine An INTERNET service self The self, in HUMANISTIC PSYCHOL- which allows the user to search for OGY, is roughly equivalent to the EGO in information of specific interest. PSYCHOANALYSIS. It refers to that part of seasonal unemployment A form of the PERSONALITY which is conscious of UNEMPLOYMENT that peaks at certain its own IDENTITY on a continuous basis times of the year due to the nature of the over time. industry in question, as for example in self-activating man The belief that a construction or tourism. person can CONTROL her or his own life secondary group Another name for to some extent, which is the assumption underlying a PATH–GOAL THEORY of a FACE-TO-FACE GROUP. MOTIVATION. ‘second curve’ thinking See SIGMOID self-actualization According to the CURVE. American psychologist ABRAHAM MASLOW secondment A term used in PERSONNEL this term describes the ongoing striving to practice when moving someone to fulfil one’s creative capacities. This is senior management 137 considered an important sign of psycho- self-management Used in TRAINING logical health. to describe an approach where trainees are responsible for the content, method self-censorship A situation in which and progress of their LEARNING. people do not say what they really think in a group discussion, for the sake of seller’s market A MARKET situation in GROUP COHESIVENESS. This is one of the which sellers have more POWER to factors contributing to GROUPTHINK. influence prices and conditions of sale than do buyers, usually because demand self-concept All the elements that exceeds supply. Always contrasted with make up a person’s view of himself or BUYER’S MARKET. herself, including his or her SELF-IMAGE. selling [1] The process of exchanging self-esteem The degree to which a goods or services for money. [2] The person likes herself; how worthy she functions in an ORGANIZATION which are deems herself to be. High self-esteem is most concerned with this process. These generally considered to be an important now include ADVERTISING, DISTRIBUTION, sign of psychological health. MARKETING and QUALITY CONTROL as well as sales and SALES PROMOTION. self-fulfilling prophecy The idea that expectations concerning one’s own or semi-autonomous work groups other people’s behaviour can lead to the A term used by SENIOR MANAGEMENT for expected behaviour actually appearing, AUTONOMOUS WORK GROUPS which they such as in the PYGMALION EFFECT. wish to CONTROL. Anything less than autonomy for SHOP FLOOR workers means self-image SELF The , a person believes that they have no real autonomy over himself or herself to be. One’s self-image what they do. The concept is therefore is a composite of many things and may a contradiction in terms, like being ‘semi- bear little relation to any objective pregnant’. ASSESSMENT of oneself or the assessment of others. It begins very early in life and semiology A variant of SEMIOTICS. is probably, to a large extent, physical. semiotics The field of study dealing This early body image can stay with a with the meanings that signs and symbols person for the rest of his or her life. The have for people, both consciously and judgements of other people are also UNCONSCIOUSLY. important in the formation of the self- image, but even though someone’s social seniority This term refers to either a contacts, and therefore the judgements higher rank or a greater length of service made of him, may change greatly in later within a given ORGANIZATION. life, he may still think of himself in terms of the earlier judgements. senior management The term applied to MANAGERS who are relatively self-knowledge Having an accurate high in the HIERARCHY of an ORGANIZA- awareness of what our SELF is really like. TION because they are senior in level of Where such knowledge is painful we will responsibility and AUTHORITY, and often invest an enormous amount of energy in in age as well. The precise cut-off point not knowing about it. See also EGO for this category varies from one organi- DEFENCE. zation to another. The term implies that 138 sensitivity training someone is part of that group within the are looking for. However, on their travels organization which makes policy and they make many other interesting discov- takes the important decisions. eries, as indeed do researchers in many fields, to say nothing of dictionary users. sensitivity training A technique for trying to improve interpersonal COMMUNI- serial learning The process of LEARN- CATION and the QUALITY of INTERPERSONAL ING material in a particular order or RELATIONS in FACE-TO-FACE GROUPS. The sequence. orientation of this technique is that of server That part of a computer system HUMANISTIC PSYCHOLOGY and it is based which distributes the availability of on the methods and experience of GROUP services to a wider network of users. THERAPY. Group leaders try to facilitate open and honest discussion of feelings service sector That sector of a MIXED within the group. The hope is that any ECONOMY which is concerned not with newfound sensitivity to one’s dealings the conversion of raw materials or the with other people will carry over to other PRODUCTION of goods but with providing areas of life, such as WORK GROUPS. a service, such as ADVERTISING, education, health or transport. sensory deprivation A situation in which people are deprived of the usual servomechanism A SYSTEM that has stimulation their senses encounter in CONTROL over another system. FEEDBACK daily life. Apparently when people are from the system under control enables the isolated from sensory stimulation, as far servomechanism to regulate its input so as possible, in a laboratory, they quickly that a constant output is maintained. become bored and then start to halluci- A thermostat is the usual example given nate. It may be that when we have nothing of a servomechanism, but HOMEOSTASIS in in our ENVIRONMENT for our brains to the body can also be seen in this way. work on and make sense of, we feel a SES See SOCIO-ECONOMIC STATUS. need to provide our own sensations and make sense out of nothing. Something severance pay A payment made to an similar seems to happen in particularly employee either because his contract of monotonous and boring jobs. Compare EMPLOYMENT has ended or because he has with SENSORY OVERLOAD. See also NEED to lose his job through no fault of his own; TO MAKE SENSE. for example, through REDUNDANCY. sensory overload The opposite prob- sex differences These refer to all lem to SENSORY DEPRIVATION, where there differences in behaviour or ABILITY is so much stimulation of the senses that between males and females. As with sup- the brain cannot process them all and posed racial differences, there is no evi- ‘shuts down’ in self-defence. dence that there are any. What looks like a genetic sex difference in aggressive- serendipity The experience of finding ness, for instance, is due to a cultural one thing while looking for another. The process of LEARNING the SEX ROLE consid- term was first coined by the English writer ered appropriate for either males or Horace Walpole in 1754 and is based on females. See also SEX-LINKED TRAIT. a sixteenth-century Italian story, The Three Princes of Serendip, where the heroes sexism A negative PREJUDICE against travel the world but never find what they someone on the basis of her or his sex. sick building syndrome 139

Usually, though by no means exclusively, emergency services, where continuous by men against women. cover is required. sexual harassment The occurrence shop floor A term originally applied of verbal or physical abuse solely on the to the area of a factory in which PRODUC- basis of the sex of the victim. It is very TION took place. It has been widened in its common in the workplace and almost application to indicate the BLUE-COLLAR always by men against women. Many WORKERS in an ORGANIZATION as opposed countries now have legislation designed to the WHITE-COLLAR WORKERS, or even to prevent it or to punish it where it the workforce in general as opposed to occurs. the MANAGEMENT. shadow price A guess or best esti- shop steward A TRADE UNION official mate of the price of a product in the elected by fellow workers on the SHOP absence of a MARKET in that product FLOOR to represent them in their day-to- which can actually provide one. See also day dealings with the employers or their OPPORTUNITY COST. MANAGEMENT representatives. shamrock organization A term shortlist A list of the leading candi- introduced by the Irish MANAGEMENT the- dates for a particular job as the result of orist Charles Handy as a description of a RECRUITMENT process. People on the the FLEXIBLE FIRM. The three leaves of his shortlist will be asked to attend an INTER- shamrock are the professional core, the VIEW, and will perhaps be given some flexible labour force and the contractual TESTS as well, before the final SELECTION fringe. is made. shareholder value The idea that the short termism The financial equiva- interests of a company’s shareholders are lent of the organizational QUICK FIX. the most important (if not the only) objec- short-time working A situation in tive in doing business. Contrast with the which a workplace is forced to work idea of STAKEHOLDER. a reduced working week because of a shelf-life The amount of time a prod- shortage of orders. This is seen as a uct has (e.g. on a supermarket shelf) temporary measure to cut labour costs before it starts to deteriorate. Shelf-life while retaining the workforce intact, can often be manipulated by the producer, rather than making people redundant (see wholesaler or retailer. See, for example, REDUNDANCY) and then rehiring them BUILT-IN OBSOLESCENCE. when orders pick up. shift work A form of SCHEDULING sick building syndrome This term which uses the process of dividing the was introduced in the late 1980s to whole 24-hour day into work periods, describe relatively minor but frequent ail- often three periods of eight hours each, for ments (like sore throats, headaches or example, midnight–8.00 a.m., 8.00 a.m.– eyestrain) that are attributed to factors in 4.00 p.m. and 4.00 p.m.–midnight. Shift the workplace ENVIRONMENT. It is thought work is used to obtain maximum use that inadequate lighting and ventilation, of PLANT in manufacturing, or of the combined with a closed, automated phys- workforce in the SERVICE SECTOR, espe- ical environment over which workers cially that part of it which includes the have no CONTROL, are at the root of the 140 sickness benefit syndrome. It is seen in ERGONOMICS as American sociologist G.H. Mead to another instance of workers fitting them- denote a person who is particularly selves into an old TECHNOLOGY and suf- important to us, especially in the support fering from it while NEW TECHNOLOGY is of our SELF-IMAGE. This term is usually applied only for the benefit of machines. compared with GENERALIZED OTHER. sickness benefit See SICK PAY. SIMO chart In ERGONOMICS, this is an acronym for a Simultaneous Motion sick pay PAY given to workers who are off work for reasons of illness or injury. As Cycle Chart, used to record and CHART the well as statutory provisions there are many CO-ORDINATION of workers’ limb move- occupational schemes and these are some- ments or THERBLIGS. It is one of the techniques of WORK MEASUREMENT invented times regarded as a FRINGE BENEFIT of a job. by FRANK GILBRETH. sigmoid curve This is a way of analysing the relationship between simulation The creation of a con- growth and time in the life of a business trolled replication of a real-life situation ORGANIZATION. (See Figure 35.) Before a for purposes of TRAINING, analysis or pol- project or product comes to the end of its icy decision-making. It may be abstract useful life it may be advisable to start and use sophisticated mathematics (like working on its replacement. Thus, a sec- a MODEL of the world economy) or ond ‘S’ curve will grow out of the first. concrete and use a BUSINESS GAME. signal detection theory In ERGO- sinecure Paid EMPLOYMENT with little NOMICS, this theory suggests that the per- or no work attached to it; that is, even less ception (or detection) of a given stimulus than in the case of UNDEREMPLOYMENT. (or signal) is related to the sensitivity of single loop learning Central to the the sense receptors (eyes, ears and so on) concept of ORGANIZATIONAL LEARNING as and the MOTIVATION of the individual to pioneered, notably, by CHRIS ARGYRIS.It respond. occurs where the effects of FEEDBACK significant other A term introduced from previous behaviour is used to to SOCIAL SCIENCE in the 1920s by the change present behaviour.

Figure 35 Sigmoid curve. small batch production 141 sitting next to Nellie The traditional sleep deprivation. Indeed, other than form of ON-THE-JOB TRAINING on the dreaming it is difficult to detect any phys- British SHOP FLOOR, where the trainee iological difference between sleeping and learned the job by observing and emulat- just resting. Note also the similarities to ing the highly experienced ‘Nellie’. The SENSORY DEPRIVATION. American equivalent is called the BUDDY sleeper effect A term used in several SYSTEM. different senses in the SOCIAL PSYCHOL- 16PF test This is a PSYCHOLOGICAL OGY of ATTITUDE change. [1] Its most TEST of PERSONALITY, developed by the frequent usage is probably in describing American psychologist Raymond Cattell, a change in an attitude or opinion after which attempts to measure sixteen major a study has been conducted. This may be personality factors (hence 16PF). The one reason for inaccuracy in public opin- TEST is sometimes used in OCCUPATIONAL ion polls. [2] The term is also used to PSYCHOLOGY for the purpose of SELECTION, describe a more favourable response to where the findings are matched against a COMMUNICATION after some time has important personality factors that have elapsed, rather than the expected decline been identified for various occupations. in the effect of the communication. [3] The sleeper effect is also used to skill A learned response, often as the describe the dissociation between com- result of specific TRAINING, which affords munication and communicator over time someone the ABILITY to perform a partic- so that people may become less receptive ular TASK and achieve a particular goal. to positive sources and more receptive to skills analysis A part of JOB ANALYSIS. negative ones. Sloan, Alfred P. (1875–1966) Skinner, B.F. (1904–90) An American An psychologist and the most celebrated American industrialist who took over a small and ailing motor manufacturer, exponent of BEHAVIOURISM, not just in the General Motors, in the early 1920s and study of PSYCHOLOGY but as a means of running a society. His own technique of turned it into one of the biggest corpora- tions in the world – and at the expense of CONDITIONING was based on the research the Ford Motor Company. He did so of PAVLOV and WATSON. In later years, he expounded the social implications of his mainly by introducing the concept of views in a number of influential works professional MANAGEMENT to a business intended for the general public. world that was still largely run by the personal PROPRIETOR, like HENRY FORD, sleep deprivation The lack of a usual whose company almost went out of amount of sleep over a given period of business in competition with GM. time. This is an area of particular interest slush fund An informal, unofficial and in the study of the effects of SHIFT WORK sometimes dubious source of funds from or jet travel on PERFORMANCE. When peo- which an ORGANIZATION can finance a great ple are prevented from sleeping they variety of informal, unofficial and some- eventually experience ill effects such as times dubious activities, ranging from hallucinations and confusions of thought STAFF outings to bribing public officials. and behaviour. Some scientists engaged in dream research argue that dreaming is small batch production See BATCH the most important aspect of sleeping and PRODUCTION. 142 SME

SME An acronym for a Small or an idea that when people are uncertain Medium-sized Enterprise; usually a com- what to do (or think, or feel) in a given sit- pany with fewer than 1,000 employees. uation they are more likely to take their cue from other people and conform to Smith, Adam (1723–90) A Scottish their behaviour. economist and philosopher who based his doctrines of the FREE MARKET on a social contact See INTERPERSONAL RATIONAL-ECONOMIC view of human CONTACT. nature. He argued that, as individual self- social control The CONTROL that a interest was the driving force whose group, CULTURE or society exerts upon the aggregate effects resulted in social har- individuals who comprise it. This control mony, there should therefore be no state stems from the process of SOCIALIZATION intervention in the MARKET between buy- and is exhibited as CONFORMITY pressures ers and sellers. He also proposed SPECIAL- towards SOCIAL NORMS. IZATION and the DIVISION OF LABOUR in manufacturing, though he was concerned social costs The data for SOCIAL about the resulting effects of workers’ ACCOUNTING. ALIENATION from their labour. Social Darwinism The application to snowball sample A form of SAMPLING human society of Charles Darwin’s theo- used in MARKET RESEARCH, where each ries of natural selection, where only the respondent interviewed is asked to fittest members of a species survive provide the names of additional respon- because of their successful adaptation to dents. The bias in this form of sampling the ENVIRONMENT. In effect, it was in is, of course, that the additional respon- Victorian times (and still is) an attempt to dents are likely to be of a similar social justify the existing order by arguing that background to the original respondent. the rich and successful have evidently been selected by nature to be rich and social accounting Any aspect of successful – the corollary being that the ACCOUNTING with a particular concern for poor are meant to be poor. In practice, it the social aspects of a COST–BENEFIT becomes a SELF-FULFILLING PROPHECY. ANALYSIS. social deprivation In SOCIOLOGY, this social audit See SOCIAL ACCOUNTING. term is used to describe the situation of social class A rather old-fashioned an individual or group lacking the mate- term for SOCIO-ECONOMIC STATUS. It is rial benefits which are generally enjoyed considered crude and gauche in some in a society. Compare with RELATIVE quarters, if not downright subversive. DEPRIVATION. social cohesion A similar process to social facilitation The stimulating that of GROUP COHESIVENESS, though on effect on someone’s behaviour of other a larger scale extending to an entire people – even the mere presence of other CULTURE or society. people. The HAWTHORNE EFFECT is an example of social facilitation. Contrast social comparison The process of with SOCIAL LOAFING. evaluating one’s ATTITUDES and behaviour by comparing them with those of other social influence A basic concept of people. In SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY, there is SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY, which refers to the socially acquired needs 143 effects on a person of relations with social learning This form of learning others, whether individuals, groups or is based on MODELLING behaviour and is society in general. therefore particularly important to ADVER- TISING and MARKETING. social interaction The mutual SOCIAL INFLUENCE that people have on each social loafing The tendency of people other’s behaviour in a social setting. to work less hard on a TASK when part of socialism An economic SYSTEM, a group than as individuals, due to a DIF- characterized by state ownership of the FUSION OF RESPONSIBILITY. Contrast with means of PRODUCTION and DISTRIBUTION, SOCIAL FACILITATION. whose major theorist was KARL MARX. It socially acquired needs A term is now very much out of fashion. sometimes used in MOTIVATION to describe socialization The process whereby needs that people might say they an individual becomes a social being. have which are not biological (like (See Figure 36.) Although it is a lifetime food or security) but represent aspects of process, it is particularly important in their relationship to themselves and childhood, when society is represented by other people, which have been learned (and through) a child’s parents and the (like being accepted or achieving rest of her or his family. See also PROFES- certain goals). See also HIERARCHY OF SIONAL SOCIALIZATION. NEEDS.

Adult Societal Influences

School (5 years)

Individual

Effect of parents Birth (0 years)

Figure 36 Socialization (as illustrated by the Statt Cone). 144 social norm social norm Behaviour that is expected B (middle class) of all the members of a society. The NORM intermediate managerial, administra- of social behaviour is therefore one way of tive or professional defining social normality. C1 (lower middle class) supervisory, clerical, junior manage- social psychology The branch of PSY- rial, administrative or professional CHOLOGY that deals with social life, the C2 (skilled working class) behaviour of people in groups and the skilled manual workers behaviour of individuals in social settings. D (working class) social science Any field of study con- semi-skilled and unskilled workers cerned with people as social beings. To a E (lowest level of subsistence) greater or lesser extent these are generally state pensioners, widows, casual and considered to include ANTHROPOLOGY, lowest-grade workers. ECONOMICS, history, political science, PSY- CHOLOGY and SOCIOLOGY. Compare with socio-emotional leader The individ- BEHAVIOURAL SCIENCE. ual who may emerge in a small group as the person who keeps up the morale and social skills A set of SKILLS in dealing facilitates the INTERPERSONAL RELATIONS with other people which determine some- of the group. This is usually compared one’s effectiveness in a social or group set- with TASK LEADER. ting. They include INTERPERSONAL SKILLS DEVELOPMENT, INTERPERSONAL RELATIONS sociology The study of society in gen- and NON-VERBAL COMMUNICATION. eral and social ORGANIZATION in particular. social status Someone’s general posi- sociometry A term and a technique tion in society in relation to, and as deter- invented by the American psychiatrist mined by, other people. J.L. Moreno. It is an attempt to measure social support Positive INTERPER- what people in a group think and feel SONAL RELATIONS with colleagues, friends about each other by setting out the net- or family, which are particularly helpful work of their INTERPERSONAL RELATIONS. in dealing with the effects of STRESS. socio-technical system In ERGONO- social system Any set of ROLE RELA- MICS, this term is used to describe a SYSTEM TIONSHIPS or INTERPERSONAL RELATIONS combining social and technical factors between people, from a couple to the that underlie the interaction of people and entire planet. machines in an ORGANIZATION. It emerged from the approach to MANAGEMENT of the socio-economic status In SOCIOLOGY, Tavistock Institute of HUMAN RELATIONS this term refers to the categories produced in London, led by ERIC TRIST. The objec- from the SOCIAL STRATIFICATION of a soci- tive of this approach was to optimize task ety by INCOME and occupation. In the performance and JOB SATISFACTION jointly. United Kingdom, these are six in number and they are widely used in ADVERTISING, Sod’s Law If something can go wrong, MARKET RESEARCH and SURVEY RESEARCH: it will.

A (upper middle class) software The COMPUTER PROGRAMS, higher managerial, administrative or codes and other support materials avail- professional able for use with particular HARDWARE. staff 145 somatizing A term sometimes used speech processing The capacity of in PSYCHOTHERAPY to describe the appear- a COMPUTER to recognize and react to the ance of physical symptoms as a result spoken word. of psychological STRESS, as in PSYCHOSO- split shift In SHIFT WORK practice, this MATIC DISORDERS. term refers to a shift which has been sour grapes reaction The process of divided into two or more periods of time convincing yourself that something you and/or groups of workers. can’t have is not worth having anyway. In spontaneous recovery In CONDITION- CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY, this is called ING, this terms refers to the reappearance RATIONALIZATION; in SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY, of a conditioned response which has been it is regarded as an attempt to resolve extinguished, after a short rest period. COGNITIVE DISSONANCE. spreadsheet A technique, which spaced practice Any LEARNING which originated in ACCOUNTING, for displaying has a time interval between each PRAC- items in a wide series of columns (i.e. on TICE, but which does not necessarily dis- a spread sheet of paper) so that calcula- tribute the practice to maximum tions could be made by row or column as advantage in the time available, as does well as by item. The term has now largely DISTRIBUTED PRACTICE. been taken over by the COMPUTER world spam Unwanted ELECTRONIC MAIL to refer to SOFTWARE packages that pro- messages. duce spreadsheets for VISUAL DISPLAY UNITS, from which rapid electronic calcu- span of control The number of subor- lations can be made. dinates who report directly to a given MANAGER and over whose work he or SPSS An acronym for Statistical she exercises AUTHORITY. Generally speak- Package for Social Science, which is a ing, the higher a manager is in the HIER- SOFTWARE package for the statistical ARCHY of an ORGANIZATION the smaller analysis of SURVEY RESEARCH data in the span of control he or she has to deal SOCIAL SCIENCE. with. SQC See STATISTICAL QUALITY CONTROL. SPC See STATISTICAL PROCESS CONTROL. stability zones A term introduced in specialist An individual who is an 1970 by the American futurologist Alvin expert in one particular field of study, or Toffler to describe those relationships, in the use of a certain ABILITY or SKILL,or times and places in busy lives, which are even in the PERFORMANCE of a particular otherwise full of STRESS, that provide TASK. essential oases of calm and continuity. These can range from a long-term sup- specialization In ECONOMICS, this portive marriage to half an hour’s daily term refers to part of the DIVISION OF meditation. LABOUR, in which a given TASK is broken down as far as possible into sub-tasks, staff This term is most often used to each of which then becomes the respon- describe the WHITE-COLLAR WORKERS – sibility of a SPECIALIST worker. Special- usually full-time employees – of an ization is therefore an important basis for ORGANIZATION, as opposed to BLUE- MASS PRODUCTION. COLLAR WORKERS. The term often refers to 146 staff appraisal a difference of STATUS in terms of PAY, of each deviation from the MEAN. Or, to conditions of EMPLOYMENT and FRINGE put it simply, it is the average distance of BENEFITS. each score from the mean. staff appraisal The ASSESSMENT of standard error of the mean In STA- how well a member of STAFF is doing in TISTICS, this is the STANDARD DEVIATION of his or her job. It is usual to include a PER- the theoretical SAMPLING distribution of FORMANCE APPRAISAL INTERVIEW as part of the MEAN, or the extent to which the mean this process. obtained differs from the true mean of the POPULATION from which the sample was staff association In terms of INDUS- taken. TRIAL RELATIONS, a staff association is equivalent to a COMPANY UNION, as it standard hour In WORK STUDY, this usually has no powers of COLLECTIVE term refers to a unit of work rather than BARGAINING on PAY and conditions of time. It is the measure of the PERFORM- EMPLOYMENT. It also has the function of ANCE of a standard operator for a given organizing social activities for STAFF. TASK over one hour. staff inspection A JOB ANALYSIS of all standardization [1] The process of STAFF positions in an ORGANIZATION as the PRODUCTION that provides standard first step in a process of RATIONALIZATION. machine parts through a wide variety of manufacturing. This is one of the bases of staff management [1] The MANAGE- MASS PRODUCTION. [2] The process of set- MENT of STAFF in an ORGANIZATION. ting generally acceptable standards of [2] MANAGERS who have a SPECIALIST product QUALITY. service or advisory support function and are not in the CHAIN OF COMMAND of the star One of the MARKETING situations organization’s HIERARCHY. Compare with in the BOSTON MATRIX. It is characterized LINE MANAGEMENT, and see also LINE AND by high growth and a leading market STAFF CONCEPT. position. A star is a product to invest in. staff turnover See LABOUR TURNOVER. state intervention The intervention by government, either directly or indi- stagflation In ECONOMICS, this term is rectly, in the workings of the economy. used to describe a situation which com- This is something that all governments do bines stagnation with INFLATION, where to a greater or lesser extent, whether their output and consumer demand are static primary allegiance is supposed to be to though prices are rising. CAPITALISM or SOCIALISM. stakeholder Anyone with a specific state-of-the-art The very latest pro- interest in a company and the way it is duct in its field. run; that is, not just the traditional shareholder interest but that of staff, customers, statistical process control The use of suppliers and the wider community in statistical techniques to determine the which the business operates. acceptable limits of variation in output on a given process, and to correct the process standard deviation In STATISTICS, this if the output falls outside these limits. is a measure of the dispersion or variability of the scores in a DISTRIBUTION. It is statistical quality control The use of the square root of the mean of the squares statistical techniques to determine the strategic planning 147 acceptable limits of variation in QUALITY about 80 per cent of its work. See also in output on a given process, and to PARETO ANALYSIS. correct the process if the output falls STEP Analysis This is sometimes used outside these limits. as an alternative acronym to a PEST statistical significance In STATISTICS, ANALYSIS. this term refers to the PROBABILITY that the step change This term is sometimes results in question could have occurred by used to denote a change in the life of an chance alone. The highest probability ORGANIZATION that is particularly signifi- acceptable to current convention is 5 in cant and discontinuous with what has 100, or a 0.05 level of significance. gone before. statistics A form of mathematics used stereotype In PSYCHOLOGY, this term on data gathered in studying behaviour denotes an oversimplified perception of and by which investigators evaluate their some aspects of the social world. This findings and make inferences of wider often tends to be a basis for PREJUDICE. implication than their study sample. See also NON-PARAMETRIC STATISTICS, store-specific marketing The ulti- PARAMETRIC STATISTICS and SAMPLING. mate form of GEOGRAPHIC SEGMENTATION, where a MARKETING promotion is targeted status [1] The standing of an individ- at individual retail outlets. For example, ual within a given ORGANIZATION. This is in supermarket promotions ELECTRONIC based on the amount of respect she or he POINT OF SALE information is often obtained is accorded by other people, whether it is from checkout scanners to find out detailed because of the position in the HIERARCHY local preferences. or because of personal qualities like CHARISMA. [2] The standing of a docu- storming A term sometimes used for ment under discussion. How formal or the second stage of group formation official is it and what is the appropriate within an ORGANIZATION where members way of responding to it? negotiate and often conflict with each other while they work out what they want status symbol A measure of some- from the group both individually and one’s STATUS and importance (or sometimes collectively. See also FORMING, NORMING self-importance) in an ORGANIZATION. and PERFORMING. Favourite status symbols are dress (e.g. strain ‘white’ collar as opposed to blue) and The effect of exceptionally offices and office furnishings (the size, heavy demands being placed on an position and furnishings of an office individual or SYSTEM. Often used inter- are often a finely calibrated guide to the changeably with STRESS, but where a distinction is made strain tends to be regarded occupant’s status, both in the HIERARCHY and in the importance attached to his or as a preliminary to, or a symptom of, her function). stress. strategic management The applica- steady state A term used by the Irish tion of MANAGEMENT principles to the writer on ORGANIZATIONAL THEORY, development of CORPORATE STRATEGY. Charles Handy, to characterize the routine day-to-day activities of an ORGANIZATION strategic planning The basis of a that keep it going and which account for CORPORATE PLAN or other broad-based and 148 stratified sampling long-term assessment of an ORGANIZA- account of many decades of history in TION’s future. the world of work and the concomitant vocational and occupational changes. stratified sampling In STATISTICS, this is a technique frequently used for mass Strong Vocational Interest Blank OPINION POLLING. It involves dividing a A QUESTIONNAIRE about a person’s inter- POPULATION into sub-groups or strata ests, which is matched with the reported and then taking a RANDOM SAMPLE of interests of people in different vocations each one. to assess her or his suitability for a particular kind of work. This TEST was first stress Physical and psychological ten- developed in 1927 and later revised as the sion and STRAIN, usually accumulated STRONG–CAMPBELL INTEREST INVENTORY over a period of time, which threatens a in 1985. person’s ABILITY to go on coping with the demands of a given situation. If it is not structural change Deep-seated dealt with it will frequently result in PSY- changes that affect the very structure of CHOSOMATIC DISORDERS. a society, like the INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION. stress audit An AUDIT of a business structural unemployment UNEM- ORGANIZATION which is designed to iden- PLOYMENT that arises from the changing tify sources of STRESS perceived by staff. structure of an industry or society (e.g. in the pattern of demand) that is long-term stress interview An INTERVIEW that is or even permanent, as opposed to SEA- deliberately conducted by the interviewer SONAL UNEMPLOYMENT or unemployment in a harsh and hostile manner, with the that is a temporary reflection of prevailing supposed intention of testing the intervie- economic conditions. wee’s ABILITY to cope with STRESS. It is more likely to be the sign of a man with structured interview An INTERVIEW an INFERIORITY COMPLEX testing his in which the interviewee is led through manhood, and thus typical of MACHO a fixed series of topics based on a set of MANAGEMENT. prepared questions, often raised in a particular order. This method emphasizes stressor Any factor that contributes to comparability of respondents at the the experience of STRESS. expense of flexibility for the interviewer strike The ultimate form of INDUSTRIAL and scope for amplifying answers by the ACTION by employees in dispute with their interviewee. Compare with UNSTRUC- employers, where they withhold their TURED INTERVIEW. labour until the dispute is settled. subcontracting The PRACTICE of stroking A term used in TRANSAC- making an agreement between the TIONAL ANALYSIS to describe actions that main contractor responsible for a project demonstrate caring recognition of, and and another ORGANIZATION which will attention paid to, another person. The subcontract to carry out part of the WORK term originates from the analogy of on it. physically stroking an infant. subculture A term borrowed from Strong–Campbell Interest Inventory ANTHROPOLOGY by SOCIOLOGY to denote The revised version of the 1927 STRONG a CULTURE within a culture; that is, one VOCATIONAL INTEREST BLANK, which takes which shares most of the main features Superwoman 149 and values of the parent culture while recovered if the project it is intended retaining special characteristics of its own. for is cancelled, but which can be listed as an asset of the ORGANIZATION. Some- sublimation PSYCHOANALYSIS In , this times used to describe any ongoing con- is an EGO DEFENCE in which unacceptable tracted expenditure, including HUMAN UNCONSCIOUS impulses are channelled RESOURCES. into consciously acceptable forms. For FREUD this was society’s main way of superego Latin for ‘over I’. Accor- handling REPRESSION. It is certainly the ding to FREUD the superego is one of the most socially acceptable of the ego three main aspects of the PERSONALITY defences and may be the source of energy (along with the EGO and ID). Like the id, of the WORKAHOLIC, for instance. with which it is always in CONFLICT, the superego is basically UNCONSCIOUS. It is subliminal advertising The term the internalization of restrictions on the ‘subliminal’ in PSYCHOLOGY refers to sen- impulses of the id, as reflected in the val- sory stimulation – in this case the presen- ues and standards of behaviour required tation of an image – below the ‘limen’ or by society in general and parents in par- threshold above which perception ticular. It is the equivalent of a conscience becomes conscious. Subliminal ADVERTIS- in a SYSTEM of ethics. ING would therefore mean that the viewer of a film or television message would not supernumerary Someone who is sur- be conscious of seeing it – and therefore, plus to requirements for an ORGANIZATION it is argued, not conscious of being per- at a given time and place; for example, as suaded. For this reason such advertising is a result of OVERMANNING. banned in most countries, although its superordinate goal SOCIAL PSY effects are probably not very great, or In - specific, or controllable by advertisers. CHOLOGY, this term is used to denote a goal which is beyond the capacity of any suboptimization The process of set- one group by itself to achieve and there- tling for a compromise position which is fore requires the active co-operation of less than one would ideally need or want. more than one group. It is regarded as See also SATISFICING. a means of promoting good relations between groups. It is a form of SYNERGY. suggestion scheme Any scheme See also SYNDICATE. which encourages the employees of an ORGANIZATION to suggest ways of improv- supervisor Anyone who supervises ing the organization’s operations in, for the work of others, although a supervisor, example, HEALTH AND SAFETY AT WORK, like a FOREMAN, is usually regarded as PRODUCTIVITY or QUALITY. A monetary being on the first level of LINE MANAGE- REWARD is usually given for suggestions MENT in the HIERARCHY of an ORGANIZA- that are accepted. However, only the TION. In Western countries supervision Japanese seem to take suggestion usually means having close visual over- schemes seriously, and one way they have sight of what people are doing, and this is formalized them is in the technique of at the heart of Western assumptions of QUALITY CIRCLES. what MANAGEMENT is about. sunk cost An expenditure, usually on Superwoman A term popularly used CAPITAL equipment, which can not be of a woman who combines a successful 150 supply chain management work CAREER with a family life and the swing shift A flexible form of SHIFT rearing of children. WORK practice where a shift has no set hours. The workers have a variable num- supply chain management The ber of hours at work, depending on the management of an ORGANIZATION’S circumstances, in order to ensure the INVENTORY from its links with suppliers, continuity of PRODUCTION. through its own internal procedures, and on to its relationship with its customers. SWOT Analysis A framework for All the groups and individuals involved analysing the position of a business are perceived as being part of the same ORGANIZATION or a product in the MARKET. interdependent chain or network. The acronym stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. supply-side economics A form of economic policy that emphasizes the symbolic interaction This term importance of supply rather than demand describes a sociological method of in the workings of the economy. approaching the study of SOCIAL PSY- It encourages measures like the removal CHOLOGY. It emphasizes the part played of RESTRICTIVE PRACTICES, the reduction by language, gestures and other symbols of the PUBLIC SECTOR in favour of the of interaction in our conscious attempts to PRIVATE SECTOR, and the cutting of form ourselves and our world, and it TAXATION as an INCENTIVE to the ENTRE- regards our human qualities as the PRENEUR. During the 1980s, this policy products of that social interaction. was closely associated with the governments of Ronald Reagan in the syndicate A group of individuals United States and Margaret Thatcher in or ORGANIZATIONS who combine for some the United Kingdom. common goal which is to their mutual benefit. See also SUPERORDINATE GOAL. survey research A technique for gathering data from large numbers of synectics A more narrowly focussed people by the use of QUESTIONNAIRES and form of BRAINSTORMING. statistical SAMPLING methods. synergy A situation in which the survivor guilt This term was first used co-operation of two or more individuals, by psychologists who noticed that when groups or ORGANIZATIONS produces a people escape from some disaster which combined effect which is greater than claimed the lives of friends or family they could have been produced by the sum of often exhibited symptoms of guilt at their the separate entities; for example, a good fortune. It has been applied in recent SUPERORDINATE GOAL achieved by two years to workers who survived the REDUN- groups. See also SYNDICATE, and contrast DANCY which claimed the jobs of their with GROUPTHINK. colleagues. system Any series of interconnected sweatshop A small factory where elements forming an organized or organic workers are employed, who are not mem- whole with a common objective. bers of a TRADE UNION, for long hours at Examples can range from an individual low PAY in harsh conditions of EMPLOY- central nervous system to a society’s MENT. See also SUPPLY-SIDE ECONOMICS. family and kinship arrangements. systems theory 151

System 4 A classification of MANAGE- COMMUNICATION or heating, to see how it MENT STYLE by the American psychologist might be made more efficient. RENSIS LIKERT. There are four styles in all, systems theory The attempt to ranging from the autocratic (System 1) to formulate general principles that could be the democratic (System 4). applied to any SYSTEM by a compara- systems analysis The analysis tive analysis of the structures and func- (usually by COMPUTER) of a physical SYS- tions of as wide a variety of systems as TEM within an ORGANIZATION, like its possible. T

TA See TRANSACTIONAL ANALYSIS. its HIERARCHY. (See Figure 37.) The classic examples are the army and the British Taguchi technique This is named Civil Service, with a dozen levels or after the Japanese MANAGEMENT specialist more. This is usually compared with a Genichi Taguchi. It is a technique used in FLAT ORGANIZATION. See also PYRAMID QUALITY CONTROL, which employs statis- HIERARCHY. tical methods to determine the best design of a new product in terms of cost effi- task The major element of work that ciency and minimum variability. makes up a job. Each task in a JOB DESCRIPTION is intended to contribute to takeover The gaining of CONTROL by the overall objective of the job. one business ORGANIZATION over another. A takeover attempt may be unwanted by task analysis The analysis of a TASK the target company (a ‘hostile’ takeover) into its constituent operations for the pur- or it may be welcomed by a company that poses of identifying the SKILLS involved can no longer compete successfully by and the TRAINING necessary to improve itself. them. tall organization An ORGANIZATION task force A group of people who are with a relatively large number of levels in brought together for a particular TASK,

Figure 37 Tall organization (the traditional British Civil Service). team roles 153 usually involving a special project individual or ORGANIZATION. Compare or unusual problem. The group is nor- with TAX AVOIDANCE. mally disbanded when the task has been Taylor, F.W. (1856–1915) An successfully completed. American engineer who invented WORK task identity The extent to which a STUDY and founded the SCIENTIFIC MAN- TASK is composed of a single, whole and AGEMENT approach to the world of work identifiable piece of work. (sometimes known as TAYLORISM) at task leader The individual who may the beginning of the twentieth century. emerge in a small group as the person He placed great emphasis on analysing the who tries to keep the attention of the constituent operations of a TASK down to group focussed on its TASK and who tries the finest details. Taylor also saw the SELECTION TRAIN to ensure that it gets done. This ROLE is importance of good and - ING COM usually compared with that of SOCIO- procedures, and argued for better - MUNICATION MANAGEMENT EMOTIONAL LEADER. between and the SHOP FLOOR and better co-operation in task-oriented culture An ORGANIZA- general between both sides of industry. TIONAL CULTURE which emphasizes most the importance of solving problems and Taylorism An alternative name for the completing tasks and is usually associ- SCIENTIFIC MANAGEMENT approach to the ated with working in a large traditional world of work pioneered by F.W. TAYLOR. ORGANIZATION. Often compared with teaching company A business ORGAN- PEOPLE-ORIENTED CULTURE. IZATION, usually in the manufacturing field, TAT See THEMATIC APPERCEPTION TEST. which provides students with education and TRAINING to degree standard. Tavistock approach The approach to MANAGEMENT of the Tavistock Institute teaching machine Any instrument for Human Relations in London. See for aiding PROGRAMMED LEARNING. SOCIO-TECHNICAL SYSTEM and ERIC TRIST. team briefing The PRACTICE of taxation The levying of compulsory encouraging COMMUNICATION in an charges on certain items by government, ORGANIZATION via the FACE-TO-FACE as a way of raising revenue for public GROUP. services, and paid by individuals and ORGANIZATIONS. These charges may be in team-building A technique that aims the form of DIRECT TAXATION or INDIRECT to help WORK GROUPS by improving the TAXATION. QUALITY of their members’ INTERPER- SONAL RELATIONS as well as their SKILL at tax avoidance The legal attempt to solving problems and accomplishing their TAXATION reduce the burden of on an indi- TASK. This is usually done with the aid of ORGANIZATION vidual or . Compare with an external CONSULTANCY, which will TAX EVASION. diagnose the way the work group func- tax-deductible Any business expense tions, helping members to identify diffi- that can be deducted from INCOME before culties and suggest improvements. the calculation of tax due. team roles Literally, the different tax evasion The illegal attempt to ROLES played by different members of a reduce the burden of TAXATION on an team or WORK GROUP. Various elaborate 154 technocentric classifications of these roles have been been successfully applied to an area in produced, notably by Meredith Belbin in which it has not yet been tried. the United Kingdom, who identified nine technophilia An irrational attraction distinct roles that contributed to the most to TECHNOLOGY. Compare with TECHNO- successful MANAGEMENT teams. He called PHOBIA. these, teamworker, completer, shaper, monitor-evaluator, plant, resource inves- technophobia An irrational fear of tigator, co-ordinator, implementer and TECHNOLOGY. Compare with TECHNOPHILIA. specialist. Teams can be successful in the absence of some of these roles, of course, technostress Any evidence of STRESS or there would be no successful eight- that is attributed directly to the effects of person teams! It is the balance of the workplace TECHNOLOGY. roles, given the TASK that has to be done, telecommunications Any form of which is important. Generally speaking, COMMUNICATION by electronic means. people perform those roles best which fit most closely with their basic PERSONALITY telecommuting Another term for characteristics and most people tend to be TELEWORKING. It has the connotation of comfortable with one or two roles. being an alternative lifestyle to commut- ing physically between home and work. technocentric Looking at business and MANAGEMENT issues primarily from a teleconference A discussion or technological point of view. conference where participants are geographically scattered and linked by means technocrat A person who climbs the of TELECOMMUNICATION, such as AUDIO- HIERARCHY of a business ORGANIZATION CONFERENCING or VIDEOCONFERENCING. by virtue of his or her technical expertise. teleworking The application of technological change Any industrial TELECOMMUNICATIONS to equip the HOME and social change, leading to changes WORKER and to encourage other people to in the workplace ENVIRONMENT, which work from home. can be attributed to the introduction of test Any procedure for the ASSESSMENT TECHNOLOGY. of a specific ABILITY, APTITUDE or psycho- technological determinism The idea logical state. See also PSYCHOLOGICAL that the kind of TECHNOLOGY an ORGANI- TEST. ZATION uses is the most important factor in trying to understand and explain the test marketing A form of PILOT STUDY behaviour of its members. on a new product, where it is tried out in a limited area first in order to see whether technological unemployment UNEM- it would be worth MARKETING more PLOYMENT that can be attributed directly to widely. the introduction of a particular TECHNOL- T-group A form of SENSITIVITY TRAIN- OGY to the workplace. ING carried out within a group. technology The practical application Thematic Apperception Test A of scientific innovation to industry. PROJECTIVE TECHNIQUE developed in the technology transfer The transfer of a late 1930s by the American psychologist TECHNOLOGY from an area in which it has Henry Murray. It consists of vague and time-and-a-half 155 ambiguous drawings (usually of one or [7] less SPECIALIZATION. There is some evi- two human figures), about each of which dence that Theory Z organizations have the subject has to make up a story. The less ABSENTEEISM, greater PRODUCTIVITY themes that may emerge from these sto- and better QUALITY output than do others. ries are then used to diagnose areas of therapy See PSYCHOTHERAPY. emotional CONFLICT or concern in the subject. This technique has been widely used therblig A term used in the WORK in the SELECTION of SENIOR MANAGEMENT STUDY area of ERGONOMICS. It is simply its where, for example, the incidence of inventor’s name spelled backwards (more ACHIEVEMENT imagery might be of partic- or less) – GILBRETH. A therblig is one of ular interest. Companies in ADVERTISING eighteen fundamental operations in a and MARKET RESEARCH sometimes use worker’s activities. Therbligs are used in techniques based on the TAT and other conjunction with a SIMO CHART and each projective techniques to probe beneath has a symbol that describes the bodily the surface reactions of their informants movements involved, like ‘hold’ or to a particular product. ‘select’. (See Figure 38, p156.)

Theory X In the terminology of third force A term used in PSYCHOL- DOUGLAS MCGREGOR, this describes the OGY to describe those psychologists who RATIONAL-ECONOMIC view of human subscribe to a view of the human condi- nature that people only WORK when they tion based neither on BEHAVIOURISM nor have to and therefore require AUTHORITAR- on PSYCHOANALYSIS, but broadly on IAN MANAGEMENT. McGregor rejected this HUMANISTIC PSYCHOLOGY. view in favour of THEORY Y. See also 360Њ evaluation A technique used in MANAGEMENT STYLE. PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT, where opinions Theory Y In the terminology of about someone’s work are obtained DOUGLAS MCGREGOR, this describes a from his or her superiors as well as view of human nature in which people equal-STATUS colleagues. Compare with would like to be creative in their work and 180Њ EVALUATION. take more responsibility for it. They could threshold In ERGONOMICS, this term thus be more responsive to DEMOCRATIC describes two ways of indicating sensitiv- MANAGEMENT and its enabling function ity to sensory stimulation. The absolute than is suggested by the proponents of threshold is the minimum amount of stim- THEORY X. See also MANAGEMENT STYLE. ulation necessary for the subject to detect Theory Z The term suggested by the it. The differential threshold is the mini- American writer on ORGANIZATION THE- mum change in stimulation necessary to ORY, William Ouchi, for Western adapta- produce a JUST-NOTICEABLE DIFFERENCE. tions of Japanese MANAGEMENT practices. throughput The amount of material The Theory Z ORGANIZATION is distin- that goes through the entire process of guished by several important features: PRODUCTION in a given time. [1] lifetime EMPLOYMENT, [2] relatively slow PROMOTION, [3] concern for the time-and-a-half A form of OVERTIME whole person, [4] informal CONTROL and working in which time worked is paid at LEADERSHIP, [5] individual responsibility, one-and-a-half times the normal rate. See [6] consensual decision-making and also DOUBLE TIME. 156 time-and-motion study

Figure 38 Therbligs. time-and-motion study See WORK ORGANIZATION or an individual MANAGER STUDY. extends into the future. time budget The preparation of a time in lieu A period of time off work, detailed timetable of work activities in usually taken at the employee’s discre- order to help improve time MANAGEMENT tion, to make up for time worked over and and efficiency. above normal working hours; that is, an exchange of time for the money that time horizon The degree to which would have been paid for working an the PLANNING or SCHEDULING of an OVERTIME rate. trademark 157 time management The treatment of without seeking the comfort of simplistic time as a resource to be managed like any solutions. In PSYCHOLOGY, high tolerance other. This can only be meaningful to for ambiguity is usually seen as a sign of people whose TIME ORIENTATION is that of psychological health and maturity, LINEAR TIME. whether in individuals or ORGANIZATIONS, and as an important PERSONALITY factor in time orientation The experience of dealing with STRESS. working in either CYCLICAL TIME or LINEAR TIME. total hours society A society in which all major activities, but especially time sharing A situation in which two work and shopping, occur at all hours of or more people or ORGANIZATIONS make the day or night. use of the same workplace and equipment (particularly a COMPUTER) in order to share total quality management An costs and to maximize use of the resource. approach to, and concern for, QUALITY One common form of time sharing is which pervades a business ORGANIZATION where someone uses a desk in the morn- from top to bottom. It was originally ing and someone else in the afternoon. introduced to Japan in the aftermath of the Second World War by the American time-span of discretion A term intro- engineers W. EDWARDS DEMING and Joseph duced to the WORK STUDY area of Juran. It is based on close attention to ERGONOMICS in the 1960s by the British detail, self-monitoring by workers at each industrial psychologist Elliot Jaques. It is step, and a passionate commitment to an attempt at EQUITY in setting salary levels quality as part of an organization’s IDEN- and DIFFERENTIALS following a JOB EVALU- TITY, which is internalized by everyone in ATION. What is measured is the length of it. This approach is customer-driven and time during which someone has to exercise aims for ZERO DEFECTS, while being discretion – that is, personal judgement imbued with the spirit of KAIZEN or and responsibility – in her or his job before continuous improvement. requiring decisions from superiors. TQM See TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT. TM See TRADEMARK. tracking In ERGONOMICS, this term TNA See TRAINING NEEDS ANALYSIS. refers to the SKILL of an individual in making the necessary adjustments of tokenism An action taken for its sym- hand and eye to follow a moving object in bolic value as opposed to a serious a visual display. attempt at changing a given situation; for example, appointing a lone woman to an trade association A voluntary group- all-male board of directors as an end in ing of ORGANIZATIONS in the same busi- itself, namely to show how open-minded ness which combine for mutual benefit; and progressive the ORGANIZATION is. for example, in trying to influence government legislation. See also EMPLOYERS’ tolerance for ambiguity The ABILITY ASSOCIATION. to live with a situation that is not clear cut, where different interpretations of trademark Any form of LOGO and/or what is happening are possible and where wording which a company uses to the outlook is obscure; in sum, the ability identify its products or BRANDS and dis- to accept complexity in human affairs tinguish them from their rivals’. As for 158 trade press a COPYRIGHT or a PATENT, the owner of a analysed in terms of their transactions trademark that has been officially regis- with each other in the ROLE of ‘parent’, tered has the MONOPOLY right to use it for ‘child’ or ‘adult’ (their EGO states, in TA a certain period of time. language). Transactional analysis was developed in the 1960s, its most cele- trade press Journals, magazines or brated exponent being the American newspapers that cater for the interests or a psychiatrist Eric Berne. particular trade or industry, like the Pig Breeder’s Gazette or the Wall Street transactional leadership A term Journal. introduced into the study of LEADERSHIP trade secret Information or tech- in the 1960s by the British political scien- niques known only to members of a par- tist J.M. Burns to describe a MANAGER in ticular trade or PROFESSION, public an ORGANIZATION who is more concerned knowledge of which would detract from with the means of achieving the organiza- their standing and INCOME, such as how a tion’s ends or goals than in the nature of magician saws a lady in half. these ends. Burns considered this type of leadership essential for the efficient day- training An area of PERSONNEL MAN- to-day running of the organization and the AGEMENT concerned with making the best continuing MOTIVATION of the workforce. use of the HUMAN RESOURCES in an See also TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP, ORGANIZATION by providing them with the with which it is always contrasted. appropriate instruction to acquire the necessary SKILLS for their jobs. See also transfer of training The process GROUP TRAINING METHODS, MANAGEMENT whereby the LEARNING achieved in one DEVELOPMENT and TEAM-BUILDING. situation is transferred to another situa- training needs analysis In theory, tion. This can have positive effects (knowing Spanish helps the learning of this should be the first stage in a TRAINING programme; that is, an examination of Italian) or sometimes negative effects what training might be required to help (knowing how to steer a car is detrimental to steering a boat with a tiller). See also improve the working of the ORGANIZA- LEARNING SET. TION. There are three components to a TNA: [1] the organization (where is train- transformational leadership A term ing needed?); [2] the job (what is training introduced into the study of LEADERSHIP needed for?); and [3] the person (who in the 1960s by the British political scien- needs training?). tist J.M. Burns, to describe a MANAGER in trait Any enduring characteristic of an an ORGANIZATION who is more concerned individual’s PERSONALITY. with the nature of the ends or goals of an organization than in the means of achiev- trait theory Any approach to the study ing them. Burns considered this type of of LEADERSHIP which emphasizes the leadership essential in reassessing the importance of trying to identify dis- organization’s goals and values and the tinguishing characteristics or TRAITS of direction in which it is going, as well as in PERSONALITY common to successful leaders. the EMPOWERMENT of the workforce to be transactional analysis A form of creative in their jobs. See also TRANSAC- GROUP THERAPY in which the interrela- TIONAL LEADERSHIP, with which it is tionships of the group members are always contrasted. typing 159 transnational company Sometimes make whatever childcare arrangements preferred now to MULTINATIONAL COMPANY. may be necessary. travel-to-work area The geographi- two-factor theory See HERZBERG cal area over which people are willing TWO-FACTOR THEORY. to commute daily to work in a given two-step flow of communication ORGANIZATION. The idea that the MASS MEDIA of COMMU- trial and error learning The step-by- NICATION first influence the OPINION LEAD- step form of LEARNING, over many trials, ERS in a community, who in turn influence characteristic of most animal learning and the opinions and ATTITUDES of others. much human learning, and the basis for Type A personality A set of PERSON- CONDITIONING procedures. It is a very ALITY characteristics that have been laborious process compared to INSIGHT linked with a particular susceptibility to LEARNING. See also ROTE LEARNING. heart disease. These characteristics Trist, Eric A leading British industrial include being impatient, always rushing, sociologist concerned with GROUP WORK- trying to do too many things at once, ING practices, who developed the concept walking, talking and eating fast, being of the SOCIO-TECHNICAL SYSTEM. hard-driving at work, having few interests trust–control dilemma The basic outside work, and hiding feelings. Type A problem of DELEGATION, faced, at any level, personality is always contrasted with by a MANAGER in an ORGANIZATION, of how TYPE B PERSONALITY. much trust to have in the subordinate to Type B personality A set of PERSON- whom the work is delegated and how much ALITY characteristics that are the opposite CONTROL, if any, of the work to retain. of TYPE A PERSONALITY and therefore con- T-test In STATISTICS, this is a technique sidered to be much less susceptible to for deciding whether the MEANS of two heart disease. These characteristics sets of scores are significantly different. include being casual about appointments, being a good listener, never feeling turkey farm That part of an ORGANI- rushed, being slow and deliberate in man- ZATION in which the most incompetent ner and speech, being easygoing, having MANAGERS are placed whenever possible. many interests outside work, and being It is the area least essential to the contin- able to express feelings. Types A and B uing operation of the organization. are a continuum, and most people would turnover [1] The amount of sales rev- fall towards one end or the other. enue achieved or business transacted dur- Type T The ‘T’ stands for ‘thrill ing a given period of time. [2] Loss of seeker’, a type of PERSONALITY identified people from, and appointments to, the in American MARKETING, which actively workforce during a given period of time. looks for risk in CONSUMER DECISION- [3] The THROUGHPUT of stock in either MAKING. Type Ts have been estimated at manufacturing PRODUCTION or services. up to 25 per cent of the American popula- 24-hour society See TOTAL HOURS tion. Contrast with consumers who are SOCIETY. RISK AVERSIVE. two-career family A family in which typing Shortened form of ‘stereotyp- both partners have full-time CAREERS, and ing’; dealing with people as STEREOTYPES. U uncertainty avoidance Uncertainty of him or her. This term is sometimes in any form is a prime STRESSOR in the used in the field of education to describe workplace which everyone would rather people who don’t try hard enough; that is, avoid. However, different societies can people whose ABILITY could take them have different reactions to uncertainty and beyond their ambitions. This is usually these have been identified in a wide range contrasted with OVERACHIEVER. of national offices of the same interna- underemployment tional company. For example, countries A situation in high on uncertainty avoidance require which people do not have enough work activities to be more structured, to have to do or are not having their SKILLS fully more written rules and to be less likely to utilized. See also OVERMANNING. take risks than those low on uncertainty undermanning A situation in which avoidance. there are fewer people employed by an unconscious This is the most impor- ORGANIZATION than are necessary for the PERFORMANCE tant concept in PSYCHOANALYSIS. It refers efficient of its work. to the part of the psyche that contains Compare with OVERMANNING. impulses and desires which are too threat- unemployment The term generally ening to be allowed into consciousness, used of people who are able and willing from which they have been repressed or to engage in paid EMPLOYMENT but unable inhibited from entering. The effects of to find any. See also SEASONAL UNEM- this REPRESSION and INHIBITION are PLOYMENT, STRUCTURAL UNEMPLOYMENT expressed in consciousness as disturbed and TECHNOLOGICAL UNEMPLOYMENT. The behaviour. While FREUD did not discover exact definition of unemployment is a the unconscious (and never claimed to matter of some political contention. have done so), he systematically probed the dynamic mechanisms involved in its unfair dismissal The verdict of an relationship with the conscious psyche, INDUSTRIAL TRIBUNAL which is sought by and did more than anyone else to expose an employee who feels he or she has been the great amount of irrationality in human wrongfully dismissed by his or her affairs, not least in the world of business. employer. The employer has to show that the dismissal was fair and legal. See also unconscious ideology An IDEOLOGY CONSTRUCTIVE DISMISSAL. which underlies and guides someone’s behaviour but of which she or he is not unfreezing A term introduced to GROUP consciously aware. DYNAMICS by KURT LEWIN. He saw it as the first in a three-step process of change in the unconscious motivation Any MOTI- balance of psychological forces at work in VATION of whose origin, or even existence, an ORGANIZATION (the other two are moving a person is not consciously aware. and REFREEZING). It requires the SENIOR underachiever Someone who fails to MANAGEMENT of the organization to reduce meet the level of ACHIEVEMENT expected the level of those forces which have the utility 161 effect of maintaining the existing behaviour to SENIOR MANAGEMENT in the HIERARCHY of the workforce. of an ORGANIZATION. This is a much more difficult proposition than either DOWN- unique selling point In MARKETING, WARD COMMUNICATION or HORIZONTAL this term refers to the distinctive feature COMMUNICATION. of a product that gives it a COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE. See also MARKET NICHE. upward management A term some- unit cost The cost of one unit of times used of the attempt to ‘manage’ or influence one’s boss. PRODUCTION or of a single item. It is found by dividing the total costs by the number usage segmentation This is a form of units or items produced. of MARKET SEGMENTATION which is based unity of command In ORGANIZA- on information about volume and TIONAL THEORY, this is the principle that frequency of purchase for a given prod- each member of an ORGANIZATION should uct. It is a popular way of segmenting report to only one person. See also markets because there is a lot of informa- AUTHORITY and FUNCTIONAL AUTHORITY. tion readily available about patterns of usage for most goods and services, often unstructured interview An INTER- supplied automatically by ELECTRONIC VIEW which is not guided by a set of fixed POINT OF SALES equipment. Supermarket questions (or perhaps even topics) from checkout scanners are probably the most the interviewer, but in which as free and familiar form in which consumers open a discussion as possible is encour- provide this information. aged within the constraints of time and the objective of the interview. This user friendly A product, especially in method emphasizes flexibility for the the COMPUTER world, in which the needs interviewer and scope for expression by and convenience of the potential user the interviewee, at the expense of compa- have been fully considered. A (rare) rability across respondents. In PRACTICE, triumph of ERGONOMICS, apparently. See most interviews of whatever kind fall also TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT. somewhere between the completely USP See UNIQUE SELLING POINT. unstructured interview and the totally STRUCTURED INTERVIEW. utility [1] In ECONOMICS, the term implies the usefulness or satisfaction upstream integration See VERTICAL to be derived from a product by a INTEGRATION. potential buyer. [2] Something that upward communication COMMUNI- performs a useful service, like a PUBLIC CATION from lower levels of employees up UTILITY. V validity As used in PSYCHOMETRICS victimization The persistently unfair this refers to how well each item of a TEST treatment of a worker, by either colleagues measures or predicts what it is supposed or employers. See also SCAPEGOATING. to measure or predict. videoconferencing A TELECONFERENCE VALS An acronym for Values And Life using video, as well as audio, means of Styles. This is an American form of PSY- COMMUNICATION. CHOLOGICAL SEGMENTATION, which classi- virtual corporation A company that fies the adult population into eight has only an electronic existence, with no categories of consumer, based on their headquarters building or PLANT or any of lifestyles and psychological profiles. the other physical manifestations of the value added See ADDED VALUE. traditional corporation. value for money A term used, partic- virtual reality Three-dimensional images created by a computer system ularly in the PUBLIC SECTOR, to denote the benefit derived from a particular expendi- which give the user the experience ture for a particular purpose. of reality. It can be used to let people ‘walk’ through an architect’s design of variance In STATISTICS, this is the a building, for instance. square of the STANDARD DEVIATION. It is visual search In ERGONOMICS, this used to measure the spread of scores in a term refers to the process of scanning particular TEST or experiment. a set of instruments or CONTROLS for venture capital See RISK CAPITAL. relevant information. vertical communication A term vocational guidance A branch of sometimes applied to DOWNWARD COMMU- OCCUPATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY which helps NICATION, though more usually to UPWARD people to choose an occupation or a COMMUNICATION in an ORGANIZATION. CAREER which will be of mutual benefit to them and their prospective employers. It vertical integration The process makes use of the INTERVIEW technique plus whereby a company extends its business an extensive battery of PSYCHOLOGICAL interests into other stages of production TESTS, including tests of ABILITY, APTI- of, or sales of, its products. Though some- TUDE and NEED FOR ACHIEVEMENT. times a company is able to do this for itself, it is usually accomplished by some voluntary reduced time A situation where employees voluntarily agree to form of MERGER with, or TAKEOVER of, another firm concerned with a different work fewer hours than they have been stage of the same product; for example, doing; for example, to save their employer a publisher may take over a bookshop. expenses in a time of reduced demand. Like all such agreements the degree of Compare with HORIZONTAL INTEGRATION. voluntariness may sometimes be open to VFM See VALUE FOR MONEY. dispute. V-time 163 voluntary redundancy A situation in Vroom–Yetton model A CONTINGENCY which an employee requests or agrees to THEORY OF LEADERSHIP that uses a DECI- REDUNDANCY, usually in return for SION TREE to identify the most appropriate favourable terms of compensation. LEADERSHIP STYLE for a given situation. It was developed by two American indus- voluntary work Unpaid work done trial psychologists, Victor Vroom and by volunteers for a charity or similar Philip Yetton. ORGANIZATION.

VR See VIRTUAL REALITY. V-time See VOLUNTARY REDUCED TIME. W wage differentials See DIFFERENTIALS. white-collar crime Criminal offences associated with businesspeople or WHITE- wastage See NATURAL WASTAGE. COLLAR WORKERS, like embezzlement, wasting assets Any form of ASSETS fraud or insider dealing on the stock whose economic value decreases as they market. are used because they cannot practically white-collar worker Popular term for be renewed or replaced; for example, any member of STAFF who works in an coalmines or oilfields. office. The name derives from the prac- Watson, J.B. (1878–1958) An tice of (men) wearing a white shirt to American psychologist, and later advertis- work (in the days when men wore only ing executive, who is generally regarded white shirts – with white collars). Usually as the father of BEHAVIOURISM. contrasted with a BLUE-COLLAR WORKER. web See WORLD WIDE WEB. white goods A term used to describe consumer goods encased in white painted welfare function The basic function metal, like refrigerators or washing of PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT which machines. Contrast with BROWN GOODS. implies responsibility for the well-being of an ORGANIZATION’s members, physical, wholesaling Acting as an intermediary mental and social. At the very least this or MIDDLEMAN between the PRODUCTION will include HEALTH AND SAFETY AT WORK of goods and their RETAILING to the general but, depending on the policy of the organ- public. It usually involves the stocking of ization, it may also include many other relatively large quantities of goods for things, like AFFIRMATIVE ACTION, PATER- onward DISTRIBUTION. NITY LEAVE, or the provision of a crèche for working mothers of small children. widget A NEOLOGISM which is sometimes used in discussions of MARKETING or welfare state A country whose govern- PRODUCTION to refer to a generalized stan- ment accepts that it has the primary dard item rather than a specific product. responsibility for at least the basic welfare of its citizens; their education, wildcat strike A local STRIKE that does health, EMPLOYMENT and RETIREMENT in not have official TRADE UNION backing. It particular. is usually called without warning, or at short notice. whistle-blowing The public exposure of corrupt, illegal or unethical PRACTICES windfall profit An unexpected PROFIT, operating in an ORGANIZATION, usually usually arising from matters not directly on the part of an individual member, connected with the activities of the lucky though sometimes by a body responsible individual or ORGANIZATION; for example, for overseeing the organization which a bequest, or a change in TAXATION. The lacks the AUTHORITY or POWER to impose original ‘windfall’ consisted of apples, penalties for wrongdoing. blown from trees, that had fallen on the work sampling 165 ground and were therefore the property of ENVIRONMENT by young people about to the finder. leave school, as preparation for future EMPLOYMENT. word-of-mouth marketing A form of MARKETING for goods or services work flow The arrangement of jobs in whose ADVERTISING is based on personal a particular sequence intended to help recommendation; for example, finding a an ORGANIZATION run smoothly and plumber or a lawyer. productively. wordprocessor A MICROCOMPUTER, work group A group of people used only for the wordprocessing func- engaged in doing some work together tions of typing and editing, which has who are also linked by INTERPERSONAL taken over from the typewriter in the RELATIONS which are important to them. modern ELECTRONIC OFFICE. It consists of work–life balance A recent attempt a keyboard and a VISUAL DISPLAY UNIT and by employees and employers to tackle usually has a printer attached to produce STRESS in the workplace by consciously HARD COPY. It works from text stored looking for a healthy balance between either in its own memory, on hard drive, the demands of work life and home life. or on FLOPPY DISKS. In practice, this usually means trying to workaholic Someone who uses work reduce excessive working hours. the way an alcoholic uses alcohol, as a work measurement An integral part way of trying to escape from his or her of the WORK STUDY process in which personal problems. a variety of (subjective) methods, like work design The part of the JOB WORK SAMPLING, are used to fix a standard DESIGN process that is concerned with the time for the acceptable PERFORMANCE of a actual working operations, as opposed to given TASK by a trained worker. the PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT aspects. work organization Any ORGANIZATION worker-director A representative of which, in the course of trying to fulfil its the workforce on the board of directors of goals, gives paid EMPLOYMENT (whether an ORGANIZATION. This is sometimes con- full-time or part-time) to one or more sidered the ultimate in INDUSTRIAL workers. DEMOCRACY. It is extremely rare. work psychology A term that workers co-operative An ORGANIZA- includes all the material covered by the TION that is owned and controlled, and older INDUSTRIAL PSYCHOLOGY as well as usually operated, by the people who work broader issues like UNDEREMPLOYMENT or in it. Each worker is a member of the the GLASS CEILING. co-operative and each has a single vote in work role See ROLE. making decisions. The ultimate form of INDUSTRIAL DEMOCRACY and EMPOWERMENT work sampling A technique used in of workers. WORK MEASUREMENT and WORK STUDY for obtaining information about a particular work ethic The PROTESTANT WORK ETHIC job or TASK by the process of SAMPLING as applied to anyone, regardless of religion. (usually RANDOM SAMPLING) from the work experience A period of time work activities at various times rather spent doing unpaid work in a workplace than by continuous observation. 166 works council works council A forum for JOINT TRADE UNION. The net effect on the CONSULTATION between employees and ORGANIZATION is usually the same as a GO- employers (or their representatives) in an SLOW, and they are often used together. ORGANIZATION. One effect of these actions is to expose the degree to which the organization in work simplification A process used question depends upon the unwritten co- in ORGANIZATION AND METHODS or WORK operation and GOODWILL of its employees, STUDY where a SYSTEM of work is exam- who often, as a matter of course, will ined to see if unnecessary expenditure of ignore the rule book in order get the job energy can be removed. Compare with done and maintain productivity. JOB SIMPLIFICATION. World Wide Web A computer system workstation The physical ENVIRON- which allows the user to tap into the MENT in which a job is done. It is used most INTERNET. It was created by Tim Berners- often to refer to the location of a COMPUTER Lee, a British computer expert, while operator or WORDPROCESSOR operator. working at the atomic research centre work study A set of techniques, CERN (Conseil Européen de Recherches including WORK MEASUREMENT, which Nucléaires) near Geneva in Switzerland. analyse a given area of work to see Berners-Lee found that information kept whether PERFORMANCE can be made more falling out of the ORGANIZATION’s corpo- efficient and economical. It is based on rate memory and having to be reinvented the SCIENTIFIC MANAGEMENT approach to at a later date, so he created a form of the study of the ORGANIZATION. classification using HYPERTEXT that gave the user easy access to all the information work teams See TEAM ROLES. the organization possessed. When the work-to-rule A form of INDUSTRIAL web was made generally available in ACTION, short of a STRIKE, where workers 1992 it vastly expanded the use of the do not withdraw their labour but do INTERNET. withhold any co-operation with their WP See WORDPROCESSOR. employers, beyond the explicit contractual agreement made for them by their WWW See WORLD WIDE WEB. Z zaibatsu Another term for KEIRETSU. zero-based budgeting The use of BUDGETS which start from a present base ZBB See ZERO-BASED BUDGETING. of zero and regard all future expenditure Zeigarnik effect A finding by a as being on new items rather than a GESTALT psychologist named Bluma continuation of existing ones. In PRACTICE, Zeigarnik that subjects are more likely to this means that a budget has to be justified remember details of TASKS during which in full for each year of operation. This is they were interrupted than those they a widely used technique of ACCOUNTING were allowed to complete. The effect has that originated in the United States. been claimed for many workplace situations where someone is interrupted. zero defects The objective of a policy of TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT. It is to zeitgeist A German term meaning liter- have every single item produced and ally ‘spirit of the times’. It is used to denote delivered to the customer completely the prevailing social and political mood of perfect, as opposed to working within an era, the conventional wisdom, the fads an acceptable range of QUALITY, and and fashions in everything from hair length therefore defectiveness. to management. A zeitgeist affects the emotional and mental life of everyone who zero-hours contract A contract of lives through it, and is thought to have sim- EMPLOYMENT where the worker has to be ilar effects on people of a similar age available to the employer for a certain group, thus providing one basis for genera- period of time even though his or her tional differences. (See Figure 39.) services may not actually be called upon.

Figure 39 Zeitgeist. 168 zero-sum game

As the worker is only paid for time actu- and losses in the game add up to zero. ally worked, zero hours worked in a given This situation has been suggested as a period of time will mean zero PAY. From MODEL for many people of the DISTRIBU- the employer’s point of view this is the TION of REWARDS in society. ultimate benefit of the FLEXIBLE FIRM. For zone of indifference The range of the employee it is an efficient way to AUTHORITY which a subordinate is willing ensure poverty. to accept from a superior in an ORGANIZA- zero-sum game In GAME THEORY, this TION as his or her right; that is, where the is a situation where one person’s losses subordinate does not question – is indif- are another’s gains because there is a ferent to – the legitimacy of the superior’s finite amount to be won; that is, the gains orders.