Key Concepts: Quest Analysis, Quality Measurement, and More

Key Concepts in Business Management

What is Quest Analysis?

Quest analysis involves questions managers ask to understand their business environment. For example:

• Who are my customers?
• What do they demand from me?
• In what way do I meet these demands?
• How can I prove myself?

How is Quality Measured in a Firm?

Measuring quality isn't a single, simple process, even though it's used to measure profit. Profit growth, market share, or return on capital invested can be used to judge how well a quality system has worked.

Taguchi Method

The Taguchi method describes a system's capability to produce goods or services to a specification. It helps quantify the loss due to a lack of quality in a performance characteristic, with the objective of identifying the real cause of the problem.

Purpose of Organizational Design

The object of organizational design is to create a structure that fits with its objectives, resources, and environment. The structure describes the relationship between different parts of the organization and the people within it.

Problems with a Matrix Structure

Sometimes, in big organizations, a matrix structure doesn’t work because it requires a high degree of cooperation and flexibility from everyone. If there are many people involved, this can be a difficult problem to solve. Although the matrix structure is easy to design, it can be difficult to implement because of shared responsibility, the use of resources in common, and questions of priorities. In this case, a functional structure could be a better idea.

How Span of Management Affects the Manager's Role

As managers are promoted, their span of control widens. They take responsibility for more areas of work with more variety and complexity. The more complex the work activities, the narrower the span. The greater the variety of activities, the narrower the span. The more talented the manager, the wider the span. The more responsible and able the subordinates, the wider the span.

Informal Ways to Communicate Information

Informal ways to communicate information in organizations include gossip, grapevine, body language, and interpersonal behavior.