Staretegic Human Resource Managemen Practices

all about strategies. division of labor

Narrow specialization of tasks within a production process so that each worker can become a specialist in doing one thing, especially on an assembly line. In traditional industries (see sunset industries), division of labor is a major motive force for economic-growth. However, in the era of mass customization (which requires multiple skills and very short machine change-over time), division of labor has become much more flexible.

franchised monopoly

A government-granted monopoly. The most important reason for the government granting a monopoly is in the case of the product or service being a natural monopoly, i.e. unable to sustain more than one producer. This is usually the case when very large economy of scale is needed to make production efficient (so the marginal cost of producing each additional unit is very low). Thus, given the huge scale of production needed for efficiency, it could be that the entire market demand would be fulfilled by a single efficient producer, making it unfeasible to have a second producer in the market. Thus, the government may decide to simply give a producer a monopoly, so that the producer is convinced of the fact that there is adequate market to achieve efficient scale. A government may also choose to grant monopolies in special conditions such as when they want to encourage a specific kinds of innovation (patents are effectively a government-granted monopoly), give preference to a producer who might also be involved in community development activities etc.

defensive response

Management's admission of some errors and taking of only legally required steps to solve social and environmental problems caused by a firm's activities. It is one of the four ways in which an organization may choose to respond. For the other three see accommodating response, obstructive response, and proactive response

demerger

The act of splitting off a part of an existing company to become a new company, which operates completely separate from the original company. Shareholders of the original company are usually given an equivalent stake of ownership in the new company. A demerger is often done to help each of the segments operate more smoothly, as they can now focus on a more specific task. opposite of merger.

bear market

Period in which prices of securities or commodities fall by 20 percent or more. During such periods (1) investment interest is generally limited, (2) concerns about the state of the economy abound, and (3) dealers or speculators are more inclined in selling their investment portfolios than to increase their risk by holding. See also bull market.

idle

Situation in which production has shut down or