Comprehensive Management & Global Environment Review

Flashcards testing core concepts, theories, figures, definitions, and quantitative specifics from Management Chapters 1 through 4.

How is management formally defined?

Management is defined as the pursuit of organizational goals efficiently and effectively by integrating the work of people through planning, organizing, leading, and controlling the organization's resources.

What is the key difference between being efficient and being effective in management?

To be efficient means to use resources—people, money, raw materials—wisely and cost-effectively. To be effective means to achieve results, make the right decisions, and successfully carry them out to achieve organizational goals.

What is the multiplier effect in management?

The multiplier effect refers to how a good manager's influence on the organization is multiplied far beyond the results that can be achieved by just one person acting alone.

What are the four principal functions of management?

Planning, organizing, leading, and controlling.

How is the controlling function of management defined?

Controlling is defined as monitoring performance, comparing it with goals, and taking corrective action as needed.

In the traditional management pyramid, which managerial level sits directly below Middle managers and directly above Team leaders?

First-line managers

What is the primary difference between functional managers and general managers?

Functional managers are responsible for just one organizational activity, whereas general managers are responsible for several organizational activities and typically supervise other managers.

What three categories of roles must managers play according to Mintzberg?

Interpersonal roles (Figurehead, Leader, Liaison), Informational roles (Monitor, Disseminator, Spokesperson), and Decisional roles (Entrepreneur, Disturbance Handler, Resource Allocator, Negotiator).

What are the three essential skills exceptional managers need according to Katz?

Technical skills (ability to perform a specific job), Conceptual skills (ability to think analytically), and Human skills ('soft skills', ability to interact well with people).

At which management level are technical skills considered most important?

At lower levels of management, specifically among employees in their first professional job and first-line managers.

What four areas must an organization focus on to maintain a competitive advantage?

Being responsive to customers, innovation, quality, and efficiency.

What four core ideas underlying modern management were introduced by Peter Drucker?

Workers should be treated as assets; the corporation could be considered a human community; there is 'no business without a customer'; and institutionalized management practices are preferable to charismatic cult leaders.

What are Frederick Taylor's four principles of scientific management?

(1) Evaluate a task by scientifically studying each part of it. (2) Carefully select workers with the right abilities for the task. (3) Give workers the training and incentives to do the task with proper methods. (4) Use scientific principles to plan work methods and ease the way for workers.

How did Frank and Lillian Gilbreth contribute to industrial engineering and scientific management?

They expanded Taylor's motion studies using movie cameras to film workers, identifying 17 basic motions to help eliminate unnecessary motions and reduce worker fatigue.

What contributions did Charles Clinton Spaulding make to administrative management?

Spaulding proposed necessities of management such as authority, division of labor, adequate capital, proper budgeting, cooperation, and teamwork, highlighting the need to enrich organizational and community life while making a profit.

Who was the first management theorist to identify and systematize the major functions of management?

Henri Fayol

According to Max Weber, through what three mechanisms does a bureaucracy reduce ambiguity?

By defining a hierarchy of authority, detailing a clear division of labor, and documenting formal rules and procedures.

What is considered the main flaw of the classical viewpoint of management?

It tends to be too mechanistic, viewing humans as cogs within a machine without accounting for the importance of human needs.

What process did Mary Parker Follett propose for resolving organizational conflicts?

Integration, which involves managers and workers talking over differences to find shared solutions.

What is the Hawthorne Effect identified during Elton Mayo's worker productivity studies?

The finding that employees work harder if they receive added attention, believe managers care about their welfare, or feel supervisors pay special attention to them.

In Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs pyramid, which level lies directly between Safety needs and Esteem needs?

Love/Belonging

How do Douglas McGregor's Theory X and Theory Y assumptions about workers differ?

Theory X takes a pessimistic view, assuming workers are irresponsible, resist change, hate work, and need to be led. Theory Y takes an optimistic view, assuming workers are capable of accepting responsibility, exercising self-direction, and being creative.

What is evidence-based management?

An approach that entails translating principles based on the best available evidence into organizational practice, bringing rationality to the decision-making process.

What is the core proposition of the contingency viewpoint of management?

That there is no single 'best' way to manage in all situations; a manager's approach should vary depending on the individual and environmental situation.

According to the Triple Bottom Line diagram, what condition is created at the intersection of 'People' and 'Planet'?

Bearable

What proportion of Gen Z respondents indicated that they need alignment between their employer's values and their own?

Over 75%

Who are the internal stakeholders in an organization?

Employees, Owners (sole proprietors, partners, private investors, employee owners, stockholders), and the Board of Directors.

In the community of stakeholders model, what are the three main nested structural layers from innermost to outermost?

Internal Stakeholders, The Task Environment, and The General Environment

What are clawbacks in the context of local communities and organizations?

Clawbacks are the rescinding of tax breaks (previously given as incentives to locate or stay in a community) when firms fail to deliver promised jobs.

What six environmental forces comprise an organization's general environment?

Economic forces, Technological forces, Sociocultural forces, Demographic forces, Political-Legal forces, and International forces.

How does the Utilitarian Approach resolve an ethical dilemma?

It seeks to pursue a course of action that results in the greatest good for the greatest number of people.

What major legislative requirements were established by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SarbOx)?

It established requirements for proper financial record keeping for public companies and mandated established procedures and guidelines for audit committees.

What are the four levels of Carroll's Corporate Social Responsibility pyramid, listed from bottom to top?

(1) Economic Responsibility (be profitable), (2) Legal Responsibility (obey the law), (3) Ethical Responsibility (be ethical), and (4) Philanthropic Responsibility (be a good global corporate citizen).

According to research findings, how do 'America's Most Just Companies' compare financially to their competitors?

They earn a 4.5% higher profit margin and a 2.3% higher return-on-equity than the competition.

How is globalization defined?

The trend of the world economy toward becoming a more interdependent system where time and distance have virtually collapsed.

What does the concept of the 'global village' refer to?

The 'shrinking' of time and space as air travel and electronic media make worldwide communications easier.

How do ethnocentric, polycentric, and geocentric international managers differ in their attitudes?

Ethnocentric managers believe 'We know best.' Polycentric managers believe 'They know best.' Geocentric managers believe 'What's best is what's effective, regardless of origin.'

What are the five methods of international expansion ordered from lowest risk/investment to highest risk/investment?

(1) Global outsourcing, (2) Importing, exporting, & countertrading, (3) Licensing & franchising, (4) Joint ventures, and (5) Wholly owned subsidiaries.

Which country is ranked as the top exporting country in the world?

China

What is the difference between a tariff and an import quota?

A tariff is a trade barrier in the form of a customs duty or tax levied mainly on imports. An import quota is a trade barrier in the form of a limit on the quantity of a product that can be imported.

What is a trade sanction?

A trade sanction is the prohibition of trade on certain types of products, services, or technology to another country for specific reasons, including nuclear nonproliferation, terrorism, and humanitarian concerns.

Which three primary international organizations promote international trade?

The World Trade Organization (WTO), the World Bank, and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Which five emerging economies comprise the BRICS group?

Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa.

What distinguishes low-context cultures from high-context cultures?

In low-context cultures, shared meanings are primarily derived from written and spoken words. In high-context cultures, people rely heavily on situational and nonverbal cues for meaning when communicating.

According to the interpersonal distance research diagram across nations, which country requires the largest social distance at 4.2 feet?

Saudi Arabia