VCE Business Management flashcards
VCE Business Management · Build recall with a focused review session.
33 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.
- Business definition
- An organisation that combines resources such as labour, capital and raw materials to produce goods or services that satisfy needs and wants, typically aiming to earn a profit.
- Needs versus wants
- Needs are essential for survival, such as food and shelter. Wants are discretionary desires, such as entertainment. Scarcity means both cannot be fully satisfied, so choices are made.
- Factors of production
- The resources used to produce goods and services: natural resources, labour, capital equipment, and entrepreneurship, which organises the other three into a productive enterprise.
- Primary sector
- Businesses that extract or harvest natural resources, such as mining, farming, fishing and forestry. Outputs usually become inputs for secondary-sector businesses.
- Secondary sector
- Businesses that process or manufacture raw materials into finished or semi-finished goods, such as food processing, textiles and furniture manufacturing.
- Tertiary sector
- Businesses that provide services rather than tangible goods, including retail, transport, education, health care, finance and hospitality.
- Sole trader
- A business owned and operated by one person. It is simple and inexpensive to establish, but the owner has unlimited liability for business debts.
- Partnership
- A business owned by two to twenty people who share profits, losses and decision-making under a partnership agreement. Partners generally have unlimited liability unless structured as a limited partnership.
- Company structure
- A separate legal entity owned by shareholders, with limited liability and perpetual succession. Proprietary companies are private; public companies may list on a stock exchange.
- Mission statement
- A written declaration of an organisation's purpose and core values, which guides strategic decisions and communicates direction to stakeholders.
- SMART objectives
- Objectives that are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound, making performance easier to monitor and evaluate against targets.
- Stakeholder conflict
- Arises when groups such as owners, employees and the community want different outcomes from a business, requiring trade-offs and prioritisation of objectives.
- Business life cycle
- The stages a business passes through: seed, start-up, growth, maturity, and decline or renewal. Each stage alters cash flow, staffing needs and risk.
- Management functions
- The four core activities of managers: planning (setting objectives), organising (allocating resources), leading (influencing people) and controlling (monitoring and correcting performance).
- Autocratic management style
- A style where the manager makes decisions alone and directs staff with little consultation. Decisions are fast, but employee morale and initiative may be low.
- Democratic management style
- A consultative style where staff contribute to decisions before the manager finalises them, increasing commitment and morale but slowing decision-making.
- Laissez-faire management style
- A hands-off style giving employees substantial autonomy over how work is done. It suits skilled, self-motivated teams but risks poor coordination and unclear direction.
- Maslow's hierarchy
- A motivation theory ranking needs from physiological and safety through social and esteem to self-actualisation. Lower needs must be met before higher needs motivate behaviour.
- Herzberg's two factors
- Hygiene factors such as pay and conditions prevent dissatisfaction but do not motivate. Motivators such as achievement, recognition and responsibility create genuine job satisfaction.
- Goal-setting theory
- A motivation theory holding that specific, challenging but accepted goals with regular feedback produce higher performance than vague or easy targets.
- Corporate culture
- The shared values, beliefs, rituals and behaviours that shape how employees interact and make decisions within an organisation.
- On-the-job training
- Training delivered in the workplace through coaching, mentoring or job rotation. It is contextual and cost-effective but may pass on poor habits.
- Lewin's change model
- A three-stage approach to change: unfreezing existing behaviour, implementing the change, then refreezing new practices so they become the norm.
- Operations management
- The management of the transformation process that converts inputs such as materials, labour and information into finished goods or services that add value for customers.
- Productivity formula
- Productivity equals total outputs divided by total inputs over a period. A rising ratio means more output is produced from the same or fewer resources.
- Job production
- A production method where each item is made individually to customer specifications, such as custom furniture. It offers flexibility but has high unit costs.
- Mass production
- A method producing large volumes of standardised goods using assembly lines and specialised machinery, achieving low unit costs but limited customisation.
- Total quality management
- A whole-organisation approach to quality emphasising continuous improvement, employee involvement, customer focus and the goal of zero defects.
- Just-in-time inventory
- An inventory system where stock arrives only as needed for production, reducing storage costs but requiring reliable suppliers and accurate demand forecasting.
- Triple bottom line
- A reporting framework evaluating business performance across three dimensions: financial profit, social responsibility and environmental sustainability.
- Business transformation
- A fundamental, organisation-wide change to strategy, structure, processes or culture, rather than incremental improvement, usually driven by external pressures.
- Globalisation
- The increasing integration of national economies through trade, investment and communication, creating larger markets and cheaper inputs but exposing businesses to foreign competition and exchange-rate risk.
- Disruptive innovation
- An innovation that initially offers lower performance at a lower price, targeting overlooked customers, then improves until it displaces established competitors.