Principles of Management (MGMT101) Study Guide

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering the core management principles, analytical frameworks, ethical theories, and global business strategies from MGMT101.

Management

The process of planning, organizing, directing, and controlling the activities of employees in combination with other resources to accomplish organizational goals.

Managerial Roles

The three major categories of roles performed by managers within organizations: interpersonal roles, informational roles, and decisional roles.

Twenty-First-Century Manager

A manager who differs from traditional managers by functioning in four key capacities: a global strategist, a Master of Technology, a good politician, and a premier leader-motivator.

Reflective System

The logical, rational decision-making system in the brain that is optimal for handling significant, high-stakes decisions that should not be rushed.

Reactive System

The quick decision-making system in the brain that can be lifesaving in time-sensitive situations and becomes highly efficient through experience and expertise.

Programmed Decisions

Decisions based on established, well-understood criteria that allow managers to formulate clear rules and guidelines to make fast choices.

Nonprogrammed Decisions

Novel decisions that lack clear guidelines or rules for reaching a solution, requiring managers to spend time gathering information, researching, and consulting others.

Confirmation Bias

The cognitive tendency to seek out and pay attention to information that validates existing beliefs while ignoring or discounting contradictory information.

Evidence-Based Decision-Making

The practice of conducting rigorous research and collecting objective data and facts upon which to formulate a managerial decision.

Groupthink

A phenomenon in group decision-making where the suppression of dissent, conformity, or unresolved conflict prevents the team from generating optimal solutions.

Devil's Advocate

An individual assigned within a group to challenge assumptions and express opposing viewpoints in order to reduce groupthink.

Social Enterprise

An organization that is evaluated by society based on its positive impact on the community and environment at large, rather than strictly on financial performance or output quality.

Universalism

A duty-based ethical approach to decision-making that guides the moral behavior and choices of individuals and organizations.

Servant Leadership

An ethical approach to leadership where the leader prioritizes serving the best interests and needs of all organizational stakeholders.

Compliance-Based Ethical Approach

A straightforward ethical system establishing clear, spelled-out rules that outline basic behavioral integrity and provide mechanisms to restrict rights when violations occur.

Integrity-Based Ethics Code

An organizational ethical standard designed to inspire participants by setting demands and guidelines based on the highest expectations of conduct.

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)

A business philosophy wherein an organization takes responsibility for the impact of its decisions on the environment, community, and society through ethical, transparent operations embedded in daily practice.

Power Distance

Hofstede's cultural dimension reflecting the extent to which a society accepts and endorses unequal distributions of power and hierarchical authority.

Individualism

Hofstede's cultural dimension evaluating the extent to which a society focuses on personal autonomy versus collective group ties and obligations.

Uncertainty Avoidance

Hofstede's cultural dimension assessing how comfortable people within a culture feel in the face of ambiguity, uncertainty, and unpredictable conditions.

Masculinity

Hofstede's cultural dimension indicating the degree to which a society values traditional masculine qualities, such as earnings, material success, and personal advancement.

GLOBE Project

A cross-cultural research initiative involving $170$ researchers and $17{,}000$ managers across $62$ countries that categorizes cultures into seven regional clusters to analyze leadership preferences.

Cultural Paradoxes

Instances in international management where observed real-world behaviors and situations contradict expectations established by standard cultural models.

Cultural Stereotyping

The erroneous assumption that every individual belonging to a specific culture acts, thinks, and behaves identically.

Cultural Intelligence

The capability of an individual to function, adapt, and manage effectively across culturally diverse environments and assignments.

Global Strategy

An international market approach where a corporation standardizes and manages its primary operations and activities uniformly worldwide.

Regional Strategy

An expansion strategy where a multinational enterprise tailors its business activities and operational processes to regional market requirements.

Local Strategy

An international approach where a firm adapts its operations to match the unique characteristics and requirements of specific individual countries.

Exporting

An international entry mode in which a company ships domestic goods to an overseas market and fulfills orders similarly to domestic orders, offering low cost but minimal operational control.

Licensing and Franchising

A contractual entry mode granting a foreign firm the legal right to utilize intellectual property, trademarks, and specialized know-how in exchange for royalties or fees.

Strategic Alliances

Collaborative agreements between two or more firms from different nations to jointly execute business activities and pursue shared commercial opportunities.

Foreign Direct Investment (FDI)

An entry method where a multinational invests directly in another country by constructing physical facilities, offices, or manufacturing plants.

Born Globals

Companies that operate in global markets from their inception, bypassing the sequential domestic-to-international expansion process.

Entrepreneurs

Innovators who take on the personal and financial risks of establishing and operating a commercial venture with the objective of generating profit.

Micropreneurs

Classic entrepreneurs who deliberately plan and choose to maintain their business ventures at a small, manageable scale.

Multipreneurs

Entrepreneurs who repeatedly initiate, launch, and manage multiple distinct business enterprises over time.

Intrapreneurs

Entrepreneurial individuals who demonstrate innovative initiative and start new ventures or projects from within large, existing corporations.

Small Business

An independently owned and operated firm with a local operational base that is not dominant in its industry, producing approximately half of U.S. economic output and representing over $99\%$ of employer firms.

Small Business Administration (SBA)

The primary U.S. federal agency providing support to small enterprises via private-lender loan guarantees, advisory services, publications, and targeted initiatives for women, minorities, and veterans.

Strategic Analysis

A systematic diagnostic process that examines a company's internal capabilities and external environment to evaluate market position and maximize competitive success.

SWOT Analysis

A traditional strategic framework used to conduct a rapid preliminary evaluation of internal Strengths and Weaknesses along with external Opportunities and Threats.

PESTEL Analysis

A macro-environmental analytical tool used to assess external conditions across Political/Legal, Economic, Sociocultural, Demographic, Technological, and Environmental factors.

Porter's Five Forces

An analytical model assessing an industry's microenvironment via five dynamic forces: industry rivalry, threat of new entrants, threat of substitutes, supplier power, and buyer power.

VRIO Analytical Tool

An internal assessment framework that evaluates firm resources and capabilities based on Value, Rarity, Inimitability, and Organization to determine if they confer sustainable advantages.

Competitive Advantage

A superior operational and market position achieved by a firm that wins the battle for customers, characterized by higher profitability or market share relative to rivals.

Cost-Leadership Strategy

A generic strategy centered on reducing expenses across all value chain activities to market low-priced goods and services to a broad customer base.

Differentiation Strategy

A generic strategy in which a company adds unique value and features throughout its value chain to justify setting premium prices for its goods or services.

Focus Strategy

A generic strategy paired with cost leadership or differentiation that concentrates activities specifically on serving narrow demographic or geographic customer niches.

Strategic Position

The distinct identity and operational approach an organization establishes in its competitive environment, determined by its resources, generic strategy, product lines, and target markets.