Introduction to Management & Strategic Management Review

Vocabulary flashcards covering fundamental management concepts, organizational culture, environment analysis, decision-making biases, strategic planning, and organizational structure based on lecture notes.

Managers

Organizational members who direct and coordinate the activities of others to ensure goals are achieved.

Efficiency

Often referred to as 'doing things right,' it involves using resources correctly to minimize waste and maximize output.

Effectiveness

Often referred to as 'doing the right things,' it focus on attaining organizational goals and outcomes.

Organization

A group of people working together in a deliberate systematic structure to achieve a specific purpose.

Figurehead

An interpersonal role where a manager performs symbolic or ceremonial duties as a representative of the organization.

Leader

An interpersonal role focused on motivating, guiding, hiring, training, and providing support to employees.

Liaison

An interpersonal role where the manager acts as a connector between the organization and external entities, maintaining a network of contacts.

Monitor

An informational role involving the gathering of internal and external information regarding industry trends, competition, and team performance.

Disseminator

An informational role where the manager shares and filters important information to ensure it reaches the right members of the organization.

Spokesperson

An informational role where the manager represents the organization to external parties like the media or shareholders.

Entrepreneur

A decisional role involving the initiation and overseeing of new projects or innovations to improve processes or products.

Disturbance Handler

A decisional role where the manager handles unexpected challenges, crises, and internal conflicts to maintain stability.

Resource Allocator

A decisional role where the manager decides how to distribute the organization's resources, including budgets, personnel, and equipment.

Negotiator

A decisional role where the manager engages in bargaining and discussion on behalf of the organization with internal or external stakeholders.

First-line Managers

The lowest level of management responsible for directing the work of non-managerial employees directly involved in production or customer service.

Middle Managers

Managers who manage the work of first-line managers and translate top-level goals into specific tactical plans.

Top Managers

Managers at or near the upper levels of the organization responsible for making organization-wide decisions and establishing long-term goals.

Technical Skills

Knowledge and proficiency in a specific field; most important for first-line managers.

Human Skills

The ability to work well with, lead, and motivate other people both as individuals and in groups; required at all levels of management.

Conceptual Skills

The ability to think and conceptualize abstract and complex situations; most important for top managers to visualize the organization as a whole.

Omnipotent View of Management

The view that managers are directly responsible for an organization's success or failure.

Symbolic View of Management

The view that much of an organization's success or failure is due to external forces outside of managers' control.

General Environment

Broad external conditions and trends, often analyzed through PESTEL (Political, Economic, Sociocultural, Technological, Environmental, Legal).

Specific Environment

External forces that are directly relevant to the achievement of an organization's goals, including customers, suppliers, and competitors.

Porter's Five Forces

A framework for industry analysis comprising the threat of new entrants, threat of substitutes, bargaining power of buyers, bargaining power of suppliers, and intensity of rivalry.

Backward Vertical Integration

An organization's attempt to gain control of its inputs by becoming its own supplier.

Forward Vertical Integration

An organization's attempt to gain control of its outputs by controlling distribution channels or providing customer service directly.

Buffering

Stockpiling inputs or outputs to protect an organization from sudden environmental fluctuations or supply chain disruptions.

Smoothing

Reducing the impact of market fluctuations by distributing activities evenly over time, such as adjusting seasonal pricing.

Rationing

Providing limited access to a product or service when demand exceeds supply, often used by luxury brands or during crises.

Social Responsibility

A business firm's obligation, beyond the requirements of law and economics, to pursue long-term goals that are good for society.

Bounded Rationality

Decision-making that is rational but limited by an individual's ability to process information.

Satisficing

Accepting the first alternative encountered that satisfactorily solves a problem rather than maximizing value by considering all possibilities.

Escalation of Commitment

An increased commitment to a previous decision despite evidence that it may have been wrong.

Structured Problems

Straightforward, familiar, and easily defined problems for which programmed decisions can be used.

Unstructured Problems

New or unusual problems for which information is ambiguous or incomplete, requiring nonprogrammed decisions.

Sunk Costs Bias

Incorrectly fixating on past expenditures of time, money, or effort that cannot be recovered when making a current decision.

Planning

The primary management function that involves defining objectives, establishing strategies, and developing plans to coordinate activities.

Strategic Plans

Plans that apply to the entire organization and establish its long-term goals and position within the environment (typically > 3 years).

Operational Plans

Plans that specify the details of how the overall goals are to be achieved in the short term (typically < 1 year).

Management by Objectives (MBO)

A system in which specific performance goals are jointly determined by subordinates and their managers with rewards based on progress toward those goals.

SMART Goals

An acronym indicating well-designed goals should be Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-bound.

Strategic Management Process

A six-step process including identifying mission/goals, external analysis, internal analysis, formulating strategies, implementing, and evaluating.

SWOT Analysis

An evaluation of the organization's internal Strengths and Weaknesses and its external Opportunities and Threats.

Core Competencies

The organization's major value-creating capabilities that determine its competitive weapon.

Horizontal Integration

Growth strategy where an organization combines operations with competitors in the same industry.

Diversification

Growth strategy involving merger or acquisition of firms in different industries, categorized as related or unrelated.

BCG Matrix

A strategy tool that classifies business units as Stars (high market share/growth), Cash Cows (high share/low growth), Question Marks (low share/high growth), or Dogs (low share/growth).

Work Specialization

The degree to which tasks in an organization are divided into separate jobs, also known as division of labor.

Chain of Command

A continuous line of authority that extends from upper levels to lower levels and clarifies reporting relationships.

Unity of Command

The management principle that a person should report to only one manager.

Span of Control

The number of employees a manager can efficiently and effectively supervise.

Centralization

The degree to which decision-making is concentrated at upper levels of the organization.

Decentralization

The degree to which lower-level employees provide input or actually make decisions.

Formalization

The degree to which jobs within an organization are standardized and employee behavior is guided by rules and procedures.

Mechanistic Organization

An organizational design that is rigid and tightly controlled, characterized by high specialization and centralization.

Organic Organization

An organizational design that is highly adaptive and flexible, characterized by decentralized decision-making and low formalization.

Boundaryless Organization

A flexible design intended to break down internal (horizontal) and external barriers between the organization and its customers/suppliers.

Situational Leadership Theory (SLT)

A leadership contingency theory that focuses on followers' readiness, categorized into R1 (unable/unwilling) to R4 (able/willing).