Principles of Management Exam Study Guide

Comprehensive Question and Answer flashcards covering Chapters 1 to 4 of Principles of Management for Exam One prep.

What is the format, point breakdown, and time limit for Principles of Management Exam One?

Exam One covers Chapters 1 through 4, is worth $75$ total points, takes $50\text{ to }55\text{ minutes}$, and consists of $25$ multiple choice questions ($2\text{ pts}$ each, $50\text{ pts}$ total), $10$ true/false questions ($1\text{ pt}$ each, $10\text{ pts}$ total), and $3$ short answer questions ($5\text{ pts}$ each, $15\text{ pts}$ total).

What are the four functions of management and their key giveaways in exam questions?

1. Planning: Setting goals, choosing strategy, deciding what comes next.

2. Organizing: Assigning people, arranging resources, structuring the work.

3. Leading: Motivating, directing, influencing people.

4. Controlling: Measuring against a standard, then correcting.

How do you distinguish between the planning function and the controlling function?

Planning happens before an activity and sets the target. Controlling happens after the activity and compares actual results to that target.

What are the 4 Ps of management introduced in lecture?

1. People: Hiring, developing, retaining the right team.

2. Process: Workflows and procedures that produce consistent results.

3. Product: What the organization delivers, and its quality.

4. Performance: Results, and whether they meet the standard.

What is the primary difference between the four functions of management and the 4 Ps of management?

The four functions are what managers DO (plan, organize, lead, control). The 4 Ps are what managers MANAGE (people, process, product, performance).

What are Mintzberg's three informational managerial roles?

1. Monitor: Gathers information.

2. Disseminator: Passes information inward to employees.

3. Spokesperson: Passes information outward to external parties.

What are Mintzberg's three interpersonal managerial roles?

1. Figurehead: Performs ceremonial and formal duties.

2. Leader: Motivates and directs staff.

3. Liaison: Maintains outside links and networks.

What are Mintzberg's four decisional managerial roles?

1. Entrepreneur: Initiates improvements.

2. Disturbance handler: Resolves conflicts and crises.

3. Resource allocator: Decides who gets what.

4. Negotiator: Represents the unit in deals.

According to Katz's skills framework, how does management skill reliance shift across organizational levels?

First-line managers rely most on technical skills (task expertise), while executives rely most on conceptual skills (seeing the whole organization and strategic thinking). Human skills (working with people) matter roughly equally across all levels.

Why is the ability to organize and analyze information classified as a conceptual skill rather than a technical skill?

Conceptual skills involve strategic thinking, information analysis, and viewing the entire organization as a system, whereas technical skills are strictly limited to specialized task expertise.

What are the characteristics of the brain's reactive system, and which decision type pairs with it?

The reactive system is fast, automatic, intuitive, emotional, and runs on pattern recognition. It pairs with programmed decisions (routine, repeated calls with existing policies).

What are the characteristics of the brain's reflective system, and which decision type pairs with it?

The reflective system is slow, deliberate, logical, and effortful. It pairs with nonprogrammed decisions (novel, one-off choices with no existing rule).

How do programmed decisions differ from nonprogrammed decisions?

Programmed decisions are routine, repeated, have existing rules/policies, run on the reactive system, and involve actions like reordering stock at a set level. Nonprogrammed decisions are novel, one-off, have no existing rules, run on the reflective system, and involve actions like entering a new market.

What are the four components of emotional intelligence?

1. Self-awareness: Recognizing your own emotions as they happen.

2. Self-regulation (Self-management): Managing emotions rather than acting on them.

3. Empathy: Recognizing what others are feeling.

4. Social skills: Managing relationships and influencing others.

What is the key distinction between self-awareness and self-regulation?

Self-awareness is noticing the emotion (e.g., recognizing you are angry). Self-regulation is managing what you do about it (e.g., choosing not to send an angry email).

What are the six steps of the decision-making process in order?

1. Recognize a decision is needed

2. Generate alternatives

3. Analyze the alternatives

4. Select the best option

5. Implement it

6. Evaluate its effectiveness

How does satisficing differ from optimizing in managerial decision-making?

Satisficing involves choosing the first ACCEPTABLE option that meets a standard, whereas optimizing involves seeking out and selecting the absolute best option.

What is groupthink, and what specific group decision technique targets it?

Groupthink is a phenomenon where a group suppresses dissent to preserve agreement. Assigning a devil's advocate specifically targets and prevents groupthink.

Which argument fallacies correspond to non sequitur, false cause, ad hominem, genetic fallacy, and bandwagon?

Non sequitur: Conclusion does not follow. False cause: Correlation treated as causation. Ad hominem: Attacking the person. Genetic fallacy: Distrusting something due to its origin. Bandwagon: Believing something because everyone else does.

What sequence is followed in the ethical decision tree, and what happens if an action is illegal?

The tree evaluates legality first, then shareholder value, then ethics. An action that is not legal stops immediately at step one.

What was Frederick Taylor's central contribution to management history, and what did he study?

Taylor developed Scientific Management (replacing rules-of-thumb with studied, standardized methods) and studied the individual worker and the shop-floor task.

What was Henri Fayol's central contribution, and how did his focus compare to Frederick Taylor's?

Fayol developed Administrative Management, 14 principles, and the functions of a manager by studying the whole organization from the top down. While both believed management could be studied systematically, Taylor focused on the shop floor worker and Fayol focused on top management.

What was Elton Mayo's contribution to management thought, and what did he study?

Mayo launched the Human Relations Movement by showing that social factors and attention drive productivity. He studied work groups and worker attitudes.

What were Frederick Taylor's four principles of scientific management?

1. Develop a science for each element of work.

2. Scientifically select and train workers.

3. Cooperate with workers to ensure methods are followed.

4. Divide work and responsibility between management and workers.

What was the setup, unexpected finding, and significance of the Hawthorne studies?

Originally setup to test if physical lighting affected worker output, productivity rose under almost every condition (even when light was reduced). The unexpected conclusion was that social attention and group dynamics drive productivity, launching the human relations movement.

What are the core concepts of systems thinking and contingency theory?

Systems thinking views an organization as interdependent parts (inputs, throughputs, outputs). Contingency theory holds that there is no single best way to organize; structure depends on size, technology, and the environment.

Why did formal management emerge roughly $125\text{ years}$ ago?

The Industrial Revolution created large factories and organizations requiring formal coordination at scale, unlike pre-industrial work which was small-scale, informal, and decentralized.

How does environmental uncertainty vary across simple/complex and stable/unstable dimensions?

Simple + Stable = Low uncertainty (soft drink bottlers). Simple + Unstable = Moderate to high uncertainty (e-commerce, fashion). Complex + Stable = Low to moderate uncertainty (universities, insurance). Complex + Unstable = High uncertainty (airlines, aerospace, telecom).

How do mechanistic and organic organizational structures differ?

Mechanistic: Top-down hierarchy, narrow span of control, specialized tasks, formal rules, vertical communication, structured decision-making; fits stable, low-uncertainty environments. Organic: Flatter/horizontal, wide span of control, generalized tasks, few flexible rules, two-way communication, participatory decision-making; fits unstable, high-uncertainty environments.

What are the six primary organizational structures, how are they organized, and what are their strengths/weaknesses?

1. Functional: Departments; deep specialization; slow cross-department coordination.

2. Divisional: Product lines; focus per product; duplicated resources.

3. Geographic: Regions; responsive to local markets; duplication and silos.

4. Matrix: Function + project; flexible expertise; dual reporting and conflict.

5. Networked team: Interconnected teams; fast flow; unclear accountability.

6. Virtual: Tech-linked units; low overhead; cohesion harder.

What defines a Matrix organizational structure and what is its primary weakness?

A matrix structure is defined by dual reporting, where an employee reports to both a functional manager and a project manager simultaneously. Its main weakness is conflicting priorities and confusion from having two bosses.

What are the four culture types in the Competing Values Framework?

1. Clan: Internal focus, flexible (family-like, mentoring, participation).

2. Adhocracy: External focus, flexible (dynamic, entrepreneurial, risk-taking, innovative).

3. Hierarchy: Internal focus, stable (structure, control, coordination, efficiency).

4. Market: External focus, stable (results-oriented, competitive, achievement-driven).

What are the Open System Model and McKinsey 7-S Model?

Open System Model: Frames the organization as inputs, throughputs, and outputs exchanging continuously with the environment. McKinsey 7-S Model: Places shared values at the center, connected to structure, systems, style, staff, skills, and strategy, requiring all seven to align.

Taylor vs. Fayol

Both systematic, different levels. Taylor studied the worker and the

task; Fayol the manager and the organization

Taylor vs. Mayo

Taylor: efficiency and method drive productivity. Mayo: social factors

and attention drive productivity

Functional vs. divisional

Functional groups by department across the company. Divisional

groups by product, each with its own departments.

Mechanistic vs. organic

Mechanistic is rigid, fits stable environments. Organic is flexible, fits

uncertain ones. Neither is better in the abstract.

F O U R B A R R I E R S

Heuristics Mental shortcuts. Save time and suit programmed decisions;

risky anywhere else.

Satisficing Choosing the first acceptable option — not the best one.

Confirmation bias Seeking evidence that supports what you already believe,

discounting the rest.

Groupthink A group suppressing dissent to preserve agreement.

Fallacies to recognize in an argument

Non sequitur the conclusion does not follow

False cause correlation treated as causation

Ad hominem attacking the person

Genetic fallacy distrusting something for its origin

Appeal to tradition “we have always done it this way”

Bandwagon everyone else believes it

Appeal to emotion feeling substituted for evidence

Improving group decisions

Diverse membership

An assigned devil's advocate

Encouraging everyone to speak

Finding common ground

Evidence-based managemen

Grounding decisions in data rather than habit or intuition.

Diversity can be:

surface level, deep level, and hidden diversity

Prohibits employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, and national origin

Title VII

Retaliation risks increases when:

reporting channels are when or management protects high performers

Key diversity theories:

Cognitive diversity, similarity-attraction, social identity, justification-suppression

Cognitive diversity

Different perspectives

Similarity-attraction

Can create exclusion

Social identity

Classify into a group

Justification-suspension

Prejudice until “Justification”

The steps of diversity

Inclusive hiring > Belonging & voice > Growth and development > Retention and performance