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AS and A Level: People & Operations Management

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How to manage people successfully

  1. 1 A business needs to be clear on their recruitment needs and then use recruitment practices to ensure that they find them.
  2. 2 A business must train their staff in the right way. This is likely to include a mix of off the job and on the job training.
  3. 3 Staff must be appraised so that the business ensures that they are performing the job correctly. This appraisal process will often include objective setting for employees and then judging whether they have performed to this standard.
  4. 4 Staff need to be managed so that they are motivated to do a good job.
  5. 5 One of the main measures of the effectiveness of staff is to look at their productivity. This measures the output of individual workers.

Five motivation theories

  1. 1 Identifying where you see examples of the below theories in action can give big analysis marks. Motivation is not all about money. Money gets people to work but only in certain circumstances does it then lead to a more motivated workforce.
  2. 2 F. W. Taylor believed that all that was necessary was for the management to decide on the most efficient means of production and then pay workers to do it.
  3. 3 Elton Mayo said that workers work best when their group needs are considered and they are treated as human beings rather than as machines as in Taylor’s theory.
  4. 4 Frederick Herzberg discriminated between hygiene factors like pay and good working conditions which did not motivate in themselves but the absence of them demotivated and the motivators like praise and interesting work which did motivate.
  5. 5 Maslow said that we have a hierarchy of needs and we are motivated by the next unfilled need. Most workers in developed countries have sufficient money to eat so you will not motivate them just with more money but by meeting their needs and by work that is fulfilling.

Five key concepts in operations management

  1. 1 Operations management is about how and where businesses produce their product e.g. labour or capital intensive, in-house or outsourced.
  2. 2 Capacity utilisation is the percentage of total possible output a business is actually producing. Too low and capital is not being used fully, too high and there is no slack for machine breakdown, sickness or new orders.
  3. 3 Economies of scale are the benefits accruing to a business for being larger e.g. it is likely to be able to buy goods in bulk, have more specialist managers and workers, produce on a larger scale.
  4. 4 Lean production is where a business reduces waste as much as possible. Just-in-time, where businesses hold minimum stock and produce to order is a key element of this.
  5. 5 Ensuring quality might be through quality control (checking at the end) quality assurance (all staff responsible for quality) or Total Quality Management where the whole ethos of the business is centred on quality.

  • Marked by Teachers essays 8
  1. Marked by a teacher

    How employee performance is managed and measured at a business

    5 star(s)

    An assessment of an individual's achievement and an expected distribution of performance levels within Tesco. These would also include employee goal setting. The value of such a system serves to deliver a variety of value to both Tesco and the employee whose performance is being assessed. The benefits for the Tesco employee and Tesco- � Work plans and performance targets can and will drive desired goal attainment � Periodic performance assessment provides the opportunity to focus and develop talent needed to enhance career opportunity � Work plans and performance appraisal demonstrate personal interest in individual contribution and may foster a

    • Word count: 1645

Conclusion analysis


  2. Do they answer the question directly?
  • "Critically discuss how organisations can develop a human resource strategy"

    "8. Conclusion Developing a HR strategy is imperative for organisations in today's competitive business environment. The various approaches to HRM strategy outlined in the report are not always practical as in reality it is very difficult to have a "one size fits all" HR theory, and this means that there can never really be a "one size fits all" HR strategy. In reality when organisations are developing a HR strategy they will fit somewhere between the "hard" and "soft" approach. Another point is that contingencies need to be considered, as HR, strategies need to be contingent with the organisations subcultures. The following concepts need to be considered if the HR strategy an organisation adopts is to be effective * Different human resource practices should be coherent and complement each other. * There should be a fit between the coherent sets of human resource practices and other systems within the organisation. * The human resource systems should be in line with the business or competitive strategy of the organisation. * The human resource system adopted by the organisation should be compatible with its operating environment. 1"

  • Evaluate how managing resources and controlling budgets can improve the performance of a business

    "In my opinion breakeven analysis will not worry the business a lot because they are going to have their product stored and they know that the products are going to be sold soon, which will then make their profit for the business. Setting budgets will be essential for the restaurant because after their restaurant has been open for 1 to 2 months, they will know what product is being sold more and which one isn't. So therefore they will set themselves budgets, the less the product is being sold then they will order it less and the more a product is being sold then they will order more of it."

  • This essay will explain how groups are formed and will discuss how motivation techniques promote effective group work and a well motivated workforce.

    "In conclusion this essay shows different ways how groups are formed and different types of groups such as formal and informal groups. There are many ways of motivating employees but employers should know that there are different ways of rewarding. Different theorists have different ways of explaining their techniques on motivating workforces."

Marked by a teacher


Peer reviewed


Peer reviewed
