MRC 401 – Principles of Management Exam Preparation

This set of flashcards covers key concepts, definitions, and models from the Principles of Management course, ideal for exam preparation.

Top managers

Individuals making organization-wide decisions, such as CEOs and VPs.

Middle managers

Managers who translate strategy into departmental plans, e.g., regional managers.

First-line managers

Managers who directly supervise employees, such as team leaders and supervisors.

Four Management Functions (POLC)

Planning, Organizing, Leading, Controlling.

Mintzberg's Managerial Roles

Interpersonal, Informational, Decisional roles that managers play.

Technical skills

Job-specific knowledge most critical at lower management levels.

Human skills

Ability to work effectively with people at all levels of management.

Conceptual skills

Ability to see the big picture and think strategically, most important at top levels.

Specific environment

Directly affects managers, including customers, suppliers, and competitors.

General environment

Broad forces affecting organizations, including economic and socio-cultural factors.

Organizational culture

Shared values, beliefs, and norms that shape employee behavior.

Strong culture

Values are widely shared, leading to consistent behavior across the organization.

Weak culture

Values are unclear, resulting in inconsistent behavior.

8-Step Decision Making Process

Identify problem, identify criteria, allocate weights, develop alternatives, analyse, select, implement, evaluate.

Programmed decisions

Routine, repetitive decisions handled by established rules or procedures.

Non-programmed decisions

Unique and unstructured situations requiring judgment.

Decision-making condition: certainty

Manager knows the outcome of each alternative in advance.

Decision-making condition: risk

Manager can estimate probabilities of outcomes.

Decision-making condition: uncertainty

Manager cannot predict outcomes or assign reliable probabilities.

Rational model

Assumes full information and logical, optimal decisions.

Bounded rationality

Decision-making that is 'good enough' due to limited information.

Intuition

Experience-based instinctive judgment useful under uncertainty.

Strategic plans

Long-term organization-wide plans set by top management.

Operational plans

Short-term, department-level plans that support strategic plans.

Standing plans

Ongoing plans for recurring activities such as policies and procedures.

Single-use plans

Plans for one-time situations such as specific projects or budgets.

Total Quality Management (TQM)

Organization-wide commitment to continuous quality improvement.

ISO 9000

International quality standard ensuring consistent documented quality processes.

Six Sigma

Data-driven approach to reduce defects in processes.

Just-in-Time (JIT)

System that minimizes inventory costs by receiving materials only as needed.

Cash Flow Statement

Tracks actual cash moving in and out of the business.

Current Ratio

Current Assets divided by Current Liabilities; a measure of liquidity.

Net Profit Margin

Net Income divided by Revenue, indicating what percentage of revenue is profit.

Debt-to-Equity Ratio

Total Debt divided by Owners' Equity, measuring financial risk.