The Concise Dictionary of Business Management

David Statt

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2002
• Topic: Psychology
• eBook ISBN:
  9781134659647
• Subtopic: Business General
• Index: Psychology

This second edition of The Concise Dictionary of Business Management has been completely revised and updated to reflect the changing world of work and new technology. It has been expanded to include many new terms and buzzwords such as: contracting out, telecommuting, occupational choice, glass ceiling, superwoman, electronic brainstorming, the internet and the virtual corporation. It is the ideal quick reference guide for students and professionals wanting to cut through the jargon of business and management.

S

sacred cow In a business ORGANIZATION this usually refers to a project that may not be closed down, no matter how inefficient or costly it is, for reasons that are not rational. The reference is to the Hindu veneration of the cow, which is allowed a free run of India while not being used as food for hungry people.

salaried staff This term is usually applied to STAFF who are WHITE-COLLAR WORKERS and whose PAY is calculated on an annual basis and paid in equal monthly instalments. This is in contrast to the BLUE-COLLAR WORKER, for example, who might be paid on an hourly basis or by the amount of WORK completed.

salary structure The arrangement of PAY within an ORGANIZATION such that different grades of employees doing different JOBS will receive different rates. These rates are supposed to be based (at least originally) on the processes of JOB ANALYSIS and JOB EVALUATION and each would normally be in the form of a scale with annual increments of pay.

sales promotion Any attempt to increase the sales of a particular product by raising public awareness of it through ADVERTISING, MARKETING or PUBLIC RELATIONS.

sampling In STATISTICS this is the process of analysing a sample drawn from a particular POPULATION when it is too difficult or expensive to deal with each member of that population. The most common ways to obtain a sample are by RANDOM SAMPLING and STRATIFIED SAMPLING, including QUOTA SAMPLING.

sampling error In STATISTICS this is the extent to which a sample is not an accurate representation of the POPULATION from which it has been drawn.

sampling frame The background or catchment area of POPULATION from which a sample is to be taken.

sapiential authority The idea that the basis for exercising AUTHORITY associated with certain people lies in their perceived wisdom rather than in any formal POWER or STATUS they may hold.

satisficing A term that originated in ECONOMICS to describe the situation in which an ORGANIZATION was sufficiently satisfied with what it had achieved to stop striving for more, even though it had not reached its ideal or optimal targets. The term is also used more broadly to be almost synonymous with ‘compromise’ in a situation of CONFLICT, where a solution is reached which satisfies all parties but is less than optimal for any of them. See also SUBOPTIMIZATION.

saving face Maintaining one’s SELF-ESTEEM, or the self-esteem of one’s GROUP, in a situation of individual or group CONFLICT, or in any kind of BARGAINING. An essential aspect, for example, of successful INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS.

scab An alternative term for BLACKLEG, whose origin is likewise unknown.

Scanlon Plan Named after the American TRADE UNION theorist Joseph Scanlon whose plan, first produced in the late 1930s, was intended to herald a new form of co-operative relationship between MANAGEMENT and unions. One outcome of the plan was a method whereby employees would share in the financial benefits of increased PRODUCTIVITY by receiving, each month, a bonus based on a percentage (usually 50–75 per cent) of savings to the ORGANIZATION in labour costs. The Scanlon Plan is regarded as an important contribution to both the theory and practice of INDUSTRIAL DEMOCRACY.

scapegoating The DISPLACEMENT of frustration and aggression from its real object, which is too threatening, on to individuals or GROUPS who are unlikely to fight back. The origin of the term ‘scapegoat’ goes back to Biblical times, when the Israelites each year sent a pure white goat out to die in the wilderness on the Day of Atonement, symbolically carrying with it all the sins of the people.

scattergram A graph or diagram in which the individual points are left unconnected in order to show what patterns the data fall into. (See Figure 34.)

scenario writing A technique used in FORECASTING, where expert predictions about the ENVIRONMENT in which an ORGANIZATION operates are used as the basis for exploring several alternative scenarios for its future development. See also BRAINSTORMING and DELPHI METHOD.

scheduling 1 A term used to describe the process of organizing TASKS to be done by a series of machines in order to streamline PRODUCTION. 2 Any way of dividing up time in the course of a working day so that people can synchronize their activities with each other. It is particularly important in cultures of MONOCHRONIC activity.

schema In the PSYCHOLOGY of COGNITION this term is used to describe a mental MODEL or framework within which new experiences are digested that then allow LEARNING to take place.

Schumacher, Fritz (1911–77) Generally considered to be the father of the ‘Small Is Beautiful’ movement both in ORGANIZATIONAL THEORY and in thinking

Figure 34 Scattergram (showing high positive CORRELATION in sales of product over time) about the global ENVIRONMENT. His work also helped Western business theorists to appreciate the Japanese passion for smallness—and with it QUALITY.

scientific management An approach to MANAGEMENT, based on the theories of F.W.TAYLOR, dealing with the MOTIVATION to WORK. It sees it as a MANAGER’S duty to find out the best way to do a given JOB, by a process of WORK MEASUREMENT, then give each worker individual instructions which have to be strictly followed. The individual is thus seen as the extension of his or her machine, and his or her REWARDS are also to be allocated mechanically, with more PAY expected to produce more output regardless of any other factors. Scientific management is thus the antithesis of the HUMAN RELATIONS approach.

scripts Based on the theatrical use of the term, these are familiar scenarios of events recognized by the members of an ORGANIZATION. On this interpretation of organizational life different organizations will ‘perform’ different ‘plays’ on the basis of the particular SOCIAL NORMS that apply to them.

search engine An INTERNET service which allows the user to search for information of specific interest.

seasonal unemployment A form of UNEMPLOYMENT that peaks at certain times of the year due to the nature of the industry in question, as for example in construction or tourism.

secondary group Another name for a FACE-TO-FACE GROUP.

‘second curve’ thinking See SIGMOID CURVE.

secondment A term used in PERSONNEL practice when moving someone to another JOB or ORGANIZATION for a temporary period.

secretary 1 An individual, usually female, who supports one or more EXECUTIVES in an ORGANIZATION by typing, filing, arranging meetings, screening telephone calls and so on. 2 An individual, usually male, who is the executive responsible for administrative arrangements (and often the legal and financial arrangements) of a GROUP or organization; for example, the secretary of a golf club, the secretary of a COMMITTEE, or the permanent secretary of a government department in the United Kingdom.

segment of one The use of computer DATA BASES by marketers to generate lists of individuals in their target market segment and send them personalized COMMUNICATIONS based on who they are, where they live, what they do, etc. It is therefore the ultimate in MARKET SEGMENTATION. It is also a return to a time before the advent of MASS PRODUCTION and mass consumption when producer and consumer had a direct relationship with each other.

selection The process of choosing someone for a particular JOB, which follows the RECRUITMENT of suitable candidates. The selection process will probably

include an INTERVIEW and may also include TESTS of ABILITY, APTITUDE, INTELLIGENCE or PERSONALITY.

selective perception Literally, the process of seeing what you want to see. The process of perceiving the world as we need to perceive it, whatever the relation of that PERCEPTION to objective reality, is the way we satisfy the NEED TO MAKE SENSE. self The self, in HUMANISTIC PSYCHOLOGY, is roughly equivalent to the EGO in PSYCHOANALYSIS. It refers to that part of the PERSONALITY which is conscious of its own IDENTITY on a continuous basis over time.

self-activating man The belief that a person can CONTROL her or his own life to some extent, which is the assumption underlying a PATH-GOAL THEORY of MOTIVATION.

self-actualization According to the American psychologist ABRAHAM MASLOW this term describes the ongoing striving to fulfil one’s creative capacities. This is considered an important sign of psychological health.

self-censorship A situation in which people do not say what they really think in a GROUP discussion, for the sake of GROUP COHESIVENESS. This is one of the factors contributing to GROUPTHINK.

self-concept All the elements that make up a person’s view of himself or herself, including his or her SELF-IMAGE.

self-employment Working for oneself and not being a STAFF member of an ORGANIZATION.

self-esteem The degree to which a person likes herself; how worthy she deems herself to be. High self-esteem is generally considered to be an important sign of psychological health.

self-fulfilling prophecy The idea that expectations concerning one’s own or other people’s behaviour can lead to the expected behaviour actually appearing, such as in the PYGMALION EFFECT.

self-image The SELF a person believes himself or herself to be. One’s self-image is a composite of many things and may bear little relation to any objective ASSESSMENT of oneself or the assessment of others. It begins very early in life and is probably, to a large extent, physical. This early body image can stay with a person for the rest of his or her life. The judgements of other people are also important in the formation of the self-image, but even though someone’s social contacts, and therefore the judgements made of him, may change greatly in later life, he may still think of himself in terms of the earlier judgements.

self-knowledge Having an accurate awareness of what our SELF is really like.

Where such knowledge is painful we will invest an enormous amount of energy in not knowing. See also EGO DEFENCE.

self-management Used in TRAINING to describe an approach where trainees are responsible for the content, method and progress of their LEARNING.

seller’s market A MARKET situation in which sellers have more POWER to influence prices and conditions of sale than do buyers, usually because demand exceeds supply. Always contrasted with BUYER’S MARKET.

selling 1 The process of exchanging goods or services for money. 2 The functions in an ORGANIZATION which are most concerned with this process. These now include ADVERTISING, DISTRIBUTION, MARKETING and QUALITY CONTROL as well as sales and SALES PROMOTION.

semi-autonomous work groups A term used by SENIOR MANAGEMENT for AUTONOMOUS WORK GROUPS which they wish to CONTROL. Anything less than autonomy for SHOP FLOOR workers means that they have no real autonomy over what they do.

semiology A variant of SEMIOTICS.

semiotics The field of study dealing with the meanings that signs and symbols have for people, both consciously and unconsciously.

seniority This term refers to either a,higher rank or a greater length of service within a given ORGANIZATION.

senior management The term applied to MANAGERS who are relatively high in the HIERARCHY of an ORGANIZATION because they are senior in level of responsibility and AUTHORI...

Table of contents

• COVER PAGE
• TITLE PAGE
• COPYRIGHT PAGE
• ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
• INTRODUCTION
• A
• B
• C
• D
• E
• F
• G
• H
• I
• J
• K
• L
• M
• N
• O
• P
• Q
• R
• S
• T
• U
• V
• W
• Z