Chapter 1: Managers and Managing

Vocabulary flashcards covering key concepts, terms, and frameworks from Chapter 1: Managers and Managing.

Management

The planning, organizing, leading, and controlling of human and other resources to achieve organizational goals effectively and efficiently.

Organization

Collections of people who work together and coordinate their actions to achieve a wide variety of goals.

Resources

Assets such as people and their skills, machinery, raw materials, IT, patents, financial capital, and loyal customers and employees.

Efficiency

A measure of how well or how productively resources are used to achieve a goal.

Effectiveness

A measure of the appropriateness of the goals an organization pursues and the degree to which those goals are achieved.

Organizational performance

A measure of how efficiently and effectively managers use available resources to satisfy customers and achieve goals.

Planning

Deciding which goals the organization will pursue, what strategies to adopt, and how to allocate resources.

Organizing

Structuring working relationships and establishing task and authority relationships to achieve organizational goals.

Leading

Motivating, coordinating, and energizing individuals and groups to work together to achieve organizational goals.

Controlling

Evaluating how well the organization is achieving its goals and taking action to maintain or improve performance.

Top managers

Managers who are responsible for the performance of all departments, set organizational goals, and decide how departments should interact.

Middle managers

Managers who supervise first-line managers and are responsible for efficiently using resources to achieve goals.

First-line managers

Managers who supervise nonmanagerial employees and oversee daily operations.

Conceptual skills

The ability to analyze and diagnose a situation and distinguish between cause and effect.

Human skills

The ability to understand, lead, and motivate people and manage behavior.

Technical skills

Job-specific skills required to perform a particular type of work.

Four Tasks of Management

Planning, Organizing, Leading, and Controlling—the four principal managerial tasks.

Mintzberg's managerial roles

A framework (Decisional, Interpersonal, Informational) describing the different roles managers perform.

Entrepreneur (Decisional role)

Commit organizational resources to develop innovative goods and services or expand into new markets.

Disturbance handler

Act quickly to correct problems facing the organization, whether external crises or internal issues.

Resource allocator

Allocate organizational resources among tasks and set budgets and salaries.

Negotiator

Work with suppliers, unions, and other organizations to reach agreements and coordinate resources.

Figurehead

Represent the organization in a ceremonial or symbolic capacity and communicate ethical guidelines.

Leader

Provide direction, motivate and coordinate employees, and mobilize support for goals.

Liaison

Coordinate the work of managers in different departments and establish alliances with other organizations.

Monitor

Evaluate performance and track changes in the internal and external environments.

Disseminator

Share information about organizational changes and the organization’s vision with employees.

Spokesperson

Communicate with external audiences to promote the organization and explain its actions.

Core competency

A specific set of skills or capabilities that allows an organization to outperform competitors.

Restructuring

Downsizing an organization by eliminating many managerial and nonmanagerial jobs.

Outsourcing

Contracting with another company to perform a work activity previously done in-house.

Empowerment

Giving employees more authority and responsibility over how they perform their work.

Competitive advantage

The ability to outperform rivals by delivering goods or services more efficiently and effectively.

Innovation

Creating new or improved goods and services or developing better production methods.

Turnaround management

Creating a new vision and approach to planning and organizing to revive a struggling company.

Ethics and social responsibility

Maintaining ethical standards and social responsibility; recognizing that excessive pressure can lead to unethical behavior.

Managing a diverse workforce

Establishing fair and legal HRM practices that do not discriminate and leverage a varied workforce.

HRM (Human Resource Management)

Procedures that are legal, fair, and non-discriminatory for managing people in an organization.

Global crisis management

Creating teams and processes for rapid decision making and coordination during global crises.