Management, Motivation, and Leadership: Bringing Business to Life

Vocabulary flashcards covering fundamental management functions, motivation theories, planning strategies, organizational structures, leadership styles, and control mechanisms.

Top management

Managers who set the overall direction of the firm, articulating a vision, establishing priorities, and allocating time, money, and resources.

Middle management

Managers who supervise lower-level managers and report to higher-level managers.

First-line (supervisory) management

Managers who directly supervise nonmanagement employees.

Technical skills

Expertise in a specific functional area or department.

Human skills

Ability to work effectively with and through other people in a range of different relationships.

Conceptual skills

Ability to grasp a big-picture view of the overall organization, the relations among its parts, and its fit in the broader competitive environment.

Maslow's hierarchy of needs theory

A motivation theory stating that needs are arranged in a hierarchy (physiological, safety, social/belonging, esteem, self-actualization), and as each need is met, people are motivated to meet the next need.

Theory X and Theory Y

Management attitudes toward workers falling into two opposing categories based on assumptions about worker capabilities: Theory X assumes workers dislike work and require fear/direction; Theory Y assumes workers do not dislike work, seek responsibility, and respond to various rewards.

Expectancy theory

A motivation theory based on the relationships among effort, performance, and reward.

Equity theory

A motivation theory proposing that perceptions of fairness affect worker motivation, based on comparing what one contributes and earns to what others contribute and earn.

Job Enrichment

Creation of jobs with more meaningful content based on the assumption that challenging, creative work will motivate employees through skill variety, task identity, task significance, autonomy, and feedback.

Planning

Determining organizational goals and action plans for achieving those goals.

Organizing

Determining a structure for individual jobs and the overall organization.

Leading

Directing and motivating people to achieve organizational goals.

Controlling

Monitoring performance and making adjustments as needed.

Strategic planning

High-level, long-term planning that establishes a vision for the company, defines long-term objectives and priorities, determines broad action steps, and allocates resources.

Tactical planning

More specific, shorter-term planning that applies strategic plans to specific functional areas.

Operational planning

Specific, short-term planning that applies tactical plans to daily, weekly, and monthly operations.

Contingency planning

Planning for unexpected events, usually involving a range of scenarios and assumptions that differ from the assumptions behind the core plans.

Mission

An organization's purpose, values, and core goals.

SWOT analysis

Evaluation of an organization in terms of internal strengths and weaknesses and external opportunities and threats.

Strategic goals

Benchmarks that managers use to measure performance in key areas.

Strategies

Action plans that help an organization achieve its goals by forging the best fit between the firm and the environment.

Degree of centralization

Extent to which decision-making power is held by a small number of people at the top of the organization.

Span of control

Number of people a manager supervises.

Departmentalization

Division of workers into groups such as functional, product, customer, geographical, or process.

Line organization

An organizational structure with a clear, simple chain of command from top to bottom.

Line-and-staff organization

An organizational structure where line managers form the primary chain of authority, and staff departments work alongside line departments.

Matrix organization

A flexible organizational structure that brings together specialists from different areas of the company to work on individual projects on a temporary basis.

Autocratic leaders

Leaders who hoard decision-making power for themselves and issue orders without consulting followers.

Democratic leaders

Leaders who share power with followers, and solicit and incorporate input from followers before making final decisions.

Free-rein leaders

Leaders who set objectives for followers but give them freedom to choose the way to accomplish those goals.

Steps in the control process

The sequence of management control: 1) Establishing clear performance standards, 2) Measuring actual performance against standards, and 3) Taking corrective action if necessary.