Management Flashcards

Flashcards covering key vocabulary and concepts from the Management lecture notes.

Manager

Someone who coordinates and oversees the work of other people in order to accomplish organizational goals.

First-line Managers

The lowest level of management, managing non-managerial employees directly involved in producing products/services.

Middle Managers

Managers found between the lowest and top levels of the organization, managing first-line managers.

Top Managers

Individuals responsible for making organization-wide decisions and establishing plans and goals.

Management

Coordinating and overseeing work activities of others efficiently and effectively to achieve organizational goals.

Efficiency

Getting the most output from the least amount of inputs.

Effectiveness

Doing the right things or completing activities so that organizational goals are attained.

Planning

Setting goals and aims of the organization to guide all future endeavors.

Strategic Plans

Very long-term plans of the organization

Tactical Plans

Medium-term plans, usually with a window of 1-3 years.

Operational Plans

Short-term objectives normally completed within the year.

Contingency Plans

Objectives put in place if immediate plans do not come to fruition.

Organizing

Putting together all necessary resources, labour and capital and integrating them to meet organizational goals, assigning responsibilities, establishing a hierarchy, and setting procedures.

Staffing

The process of selecting, orienting, assigning, training, and promoting labour within the organization.

Leading

Establishment of a direction or vision, guiding factors (especially people) to follow that direction.

Controlling

Checking and measuring how activities are being carried out and steering them towards meeting goals.

Classical Management

Improving management effectiveness in organizations.

Bureaucratic Management

Branch of classical school, Weber constructed a 'rational-legal authority' model of an ideal type of bureaucracy.

Authority

The right to give orders and the power to exact obedience.

Discipline

Obedience and respect between a firm and its employees based on clear and fair agreements.

Unity of Command

An employee should receive orders from only one superior.

Unity of Direction

Organizational activities must have one central authority and one plan of action.

Remuneration of Personnel

Salaries are the price of services rendered by employees, should be fair and provide satisfaction.

Scalar Chain

A chain of authority exists from the highest organizational authority to the lowest ranks.

Equity

In organizations, equity is a combination of kindliness and justice.

Scientific Management

The belief that study of the organization through scientific method would provide answers to resolve productivity problems.

Scientific management consisted of

A system for supervising employees, improving work methods, and providing incentives through the piece rate system.

Hawthorne Effect

Work productivity increased by 112 percent when workers believed they were being watched and studied.

Scientific management is the belief that

Worker productivity was affected by work conditions, the skills of workers, and financial incentives.

Elton Mayo believed that

Workers are best motivated by better communication, greater manager involvement, and working in groups.

Hawthorne Effect is the result of

Worker productivity when increased by 112 percent when they believed they were being watched and studied.

Communication, for management, is

This idea assumes that communication between workers and management will break down ‘barrier’

Reductionism says that

This approach says the best way to understand organisations is to study the properties of its individual parts.

Systems Theory

This focuses on the relations between the parts

System

A number of interdependent and inter-related parts functioning as a unified whole for some purpose or goal.

Inputs include

Resources such as raw materials, money, technologies and people.

Outputs

Products or services to a market.

Closed Systems

Not influenced by and do not interact with their environments.

Open Systems

Interact with their environment.

Entropy

A universal property of systems and refers to their tendency to run down and die.

Synergy

“The whole is greater the sum of its individual parts.”

Subsystem

A system within a system.