Comprehensive Organizational Planning, Strategy, and Behavior Concepts

What are the reasons managers should formulate plans?

Plans provide direction, reduce uncertainty, minimize waste and redundancy, and establish the goals or standards used in controlling.

What are the types of goals and plans?

Strategic goals, tactical goals, and operational goals; strategic plans, tactical plans, and operational plans.

How are Strategic and operational plans different?

Strategic plans are broad and long-term, while operational plans are specific and short-term.

How are goals and plans different?

Goals are desired outcomes or targets; plans outline how to achieve those goals.

Compare strategic and operational plans.

Strategic plans are long-term, directional, and set by upper management; operational plans are short-term, specific, and set by lower-level managers.

How long are short- and long-term plans used by different managerial levels?

Short-term plans usually cover one year or less; long-term plans cover three or more years and are typically used by top management.

What is traditional goal setting

means-ends chain, and management by objectives?, Traditional goal setting flows downward from top management; means-ends chains link lower-level goals to higher-level ones; management by objectives involves setting mutually agreed-upon goals.

What are cascading objectives?

Objectives that flow from one level of the organization to the next, ensuring alignment throughout.

What is environmental scanning and competitive intelligence?

Environmental scanning analyzes external opportunities and threats; competitive intelligence gathers information on competitors' activities and capabilities.

What is a strategy

business model, core competencies, and a competitive advantage?, Strategy is a plan for achieving goals; a business model describes how a company makes money; core competencies are unique strengths; competitive advantage is what sets an organization apart.

What do managers need to identify to create the organization's mission statement?

They must identify purpose, values, and the organization's primary customers and markets.

Why is strategic management important?

It helps organizations adapt to change, improves performance, and aligns resources toward long-term success.

What are the 6 steps of strategic management?

Identify mission/goals, external analysis, internal analysis, formulate strategies, implement strategies, evaluate results.

What is the purpose of an organizational mission?

To define why the organization exists and what it seeks to accomplish.

Describe a SWOT analysis and its components.

SWOT = Strengths, Weaknesses (internal), Opportunities, Threats (external).

How are functional and corporate strategies different?

Corporate strategy covers the overall organization; functional strategy focuses on specific departments; corporate = top management, competitive = middle, functional = lower-level.

What are the 3 main corporate strategies?

Growth (expansion), Stability (maintaining status quo), Renewal (retrenchment or turnaround).

Define backward and forward integration.

Backward = acquiring suppliers; Forward = acquiring distributors or retailers.

Define renewal and retrenchment.

Renewal focuses on improving performance; retrenchment reduces size or scope.

What is departmentalization?

Grouping jobs by function, product, geography, process, or customer.

What are the BCG Matrix categories?

Star, Cash Cow, Question Mark, Dog.

What is Porter's Five Forces?

Threat of new entrants, bargaining power of buyers, bargaining power of suppliers, threat of substitutes, and competitive rivalry.

What is a first mover?

A company that gains advantage by being first to offer a new product or service.

Define entrepreneurship.

The process of starting and operating a new business to exploit opportunities.

How is entrepreneurship different from other employment?

Entrepreneurs assume risk, control operations, and pursue innovation, unlike employees who work for others.

What are the 6 legal forms of organization?

Sole proprietorship, partnership, corporation, S corporation, LLC, and cooperative.

What types of decisions are involved in organizational design?

Decisions about job design, departmentalization, chain of command, span of control, centralization, and formalization.

What are the 6 key elements of organizational design?

Work specialization, departmentalization, chain of command, span of control, centralization/decentralization, formalization.

Compare mechanistic and organic organizations.

Mechanistic = rigid and hierarchical; Organic = flexible and adaptive.

What are the 4 contingency variables affecting structure?

Strategy, size, technology, and environment.

Why are more companies relying on contingent workers?

Flexibility, lower costs, and ability to scale workforce as needed.

Why is human resource management important?

It ensures effective staffing, training, motivation, and retention of employees.

What percentage of workers said benefits changes affect their decision to leave?

Around 50%.

How do organizations determine employee compensation?

Based on job evaluation, labor market, performance, and company policy.

What is variable pay?

Pay linked to performance such as bonuses or commissions.

What is NACE's salary survey data?

Provides average starting salaries for college graduates by major and field.

Differences between employee orientation and training?

Orientation introduces employees to company culture; training develops specific job skills.

What is a realistic job preview?

A presentation of both positive and negative aspects of a job to reduce turnover.

Different types of performance appraisal?

360-degree feedback, behaviorally anchored rating scales (BARS), and management by objectives (MBO).

What is sexual harassment?

Unwelcome behavior of a sexual nature that affects employment or creates a hostile environment.

Define organizational change.

Any alteration of people, structure, or technology in an organization.

What is a change agent?

Someone who acts as a catalyst and manages the change process.

What is VUCA?

Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, and Ambiguity—describing modern business environments.

What are the five areas of change?

Strategy, structure, technology, people, and culture.

What is the three-step change process?

Unfreezing, changing, and refreezing.

Contrast calm waters and white-water rapids metaphors.

Calm waters = predictable change; White-water = constant, unpredictable change.

What is design thinking?

A creative process focusing on user-centered innovation through empathy, ideation, and prototyping.

Define organizational behavior (OB).

The study of human behavior in organizational settings.

What are the six employee behaviors of interest?

Productivity, absenteeism, turnover, organizational citizenship, job satisfaction, and workplace misbehavior.

What are the three components of attitude?

Cognitive (belief), affective (feeling), behavioral (intention).

What is cognitive dissonance theory?

The discomfort from inconsistency between attitudes and behaviors.

What is personality?

A set of unique psychological traits that influence behavior.

What is the Big Five Model?

Traits: openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism; linked to job performance.

What is Holland's Personality-Job Fit theory?

Matching personality with compatible job environments increases satisfaction and success.

What is the Dark Triad?

Narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy.

What is emotional intelligence?

The ability to recognize, understand, and manage emotions in oneself and others.

What is attribution theory?

How people explain others' behavior through distinctiveness, consensus, and consistency.

What are the main learning methods?

Operant conditioning, social learning, and shaping behavior.

What are barriers to effective communication?

Filtering, selective perception, information overload, emotions, and language differences.

What is active listening?

Fully concentrating, understanding, responding, and remembering what's being said.

What are the directions of communication?

Downward, upward, lateral, diagonal, and external.

What is the grapevine?

An informal communication network within organizations.