MOL Content Topics 6-10 Vocabulary Review

A comprehensive vocabulary set covering organizational structure, control systems, motivation theories, teamwork, and decision-making processes.

Organisational structure

The formal system that defines how tasks are divided, coordinated, and supervised within an organization.

Organising

The process managers use to arrange and allocate work, authority, and resources.

Organizational chart (org chart)

A visual diagram showing roles, job titles, reporting relationships, and levels of hierarchy.

Division of Labor (Work Specialization)

The process of breaking down jobs into smaller, specific tasks to increase efficiency and productivity.

Authority

The right of a manager to give orders and expect them to be followed, which flows downward in an organization.

Span of Management (Span of Control)

The number of employees a manager directly supervises, categorized as narrow or wide.

Centralization

A system where decision-making power is located at the top with senior management.

Decentralization

A system where decision-making power is spread throughout lower levels of the organization.

Simple structure

A structure typical for small businesses and start-ups where each employee reports directly to the owner with no formal departments.

Functional structure

A structure seen in mid-size and large organizations where jobs are grouped into units and departments based on similar skills.

Divisional structure

A structure where a business is split into sections focusing on specific products, customers, or geographic locations.

Matrix structure

A combination of functional and divisional structures where employees report to two managers simultaneously.

Vertical structure

A traditional hierarchy where authority flows from the top to the bottom through a chain of command.

Horizontal structure

A structure focused on teamwork with less hierarchy and fewer barriers between employees and managers.

Team-Based Structure

A horizontal structure where employees are grouped into self-managed teams responsible for planning and results.

Network Structure

A structure where a small core business works with other companies or partners using outsourcing.

Virtual Structure

A flat organization with no physical office where people work together online or remotely.

Mechanistic approach

A tall structure with formalized rules, centralized decision making, and a clear chain of command, best for stable environments.

Organic approach

A flat structure with decentralized decision making and few formal rules, best for changing environments.

Restructuring

Major organization-wide changes involving hierarchy, departments, locations, or reporting relationships to improve function.

Utilitarian View

An ethical approach defining behavior based on outcomes where a decision is ethical if it produces the greatest good for the greatest number.

Rights View (Deontological Perspective)

An ethical perspective focused on protecting fundamental individual rights and freedoms such as fairness, privacy, and expression.

Procedural justice

A component of the justice perspective focusing on fair decision-making processes.

Distributive justice

A component of the justice perspective focusing on the fair distribution of outcomes.

Compensatory justice

A component of the justice perspective that focuses on addressing harm when unfairness occurs.

Control

The management function involving monitoring activities to ensure accomplishment and correcting significant deviations.

Range of variation

The acceptable parameters of variance between actual performance and an established standard.

Feedforward control

Control measures implemented before an activity takes place.

Concurrent control

Control measures implemented while an activity is in progress.

Feedback control

Control measures implemented after an activity has been completed.

Management Information System (MIS)

A computer-based system that collects, processes, and provides business information to managers for decision-making.

Work motivation

Conditions and processes that initiate, guide, and regulate how people behave at work, consisting of direction, persistence, and intensity.

Intrinsic motivation

Internal forces and feelings that drive workers to achieve goals and influence their attitudes about work.

Extrinsic motivation

External forces such as salary or bonuses that inspire workers to achieve.

Hygiene factors

In Herzberg's two factor theory, extrinsic conditions like pay and security that prevent dissatisfaction but do not increase motivation.

Motivators (intrinsic)

In Herzberg's theory, factors like achievement and recognition that create job satisfaction and fulfillment.

Hierarchy of Needs Theory

Abraham Maslow's theory that people are motivated by five levels of needs: Physiological, Safety, Social, Esteem, and Self-Actualization.

Need for Achievement (nAch)

One of McClelland’s three needs, defined as the desire to succeed and accomplish goals through challenging tasks.

Need for Affiliation (nAff)

One of McClelland’s three needs, defined as the desire for relationships, belonging, and cooperation.

Need for Power (nPow)

One of McClelland’s three needs, defined as the desire to influence or control others through leadership and authority.

Theory X

Douglas McGregor's view that managers believe employees dislike work, avoid responsibility, and need close supervision.

Theory Y

Douglas McGregor's view that managers believe employees enjoy work, are self-motivated, and want responsibility.

Goal-Setting Theory

The idea that clear, SMART goals provide direction, focus, and motivation to work harder.

Job Characteristics Model

A theory suggesting job design motivates employees through five core characteristics: skill variety, task identity, task significance, autonomy, and feedback.

Equity Theory

The theory that employees compare their inputs and outputs against others to determine if they are being treated fairly.

Reinforcement Theory

The idea that behavior is shaped by consequences, specifically through rewards for good behavior and punishments for bad behavior.

Expectancy Theory

A motivation theory based on the belief that effort leads to performance (Expectancy), performance leads to rewards (Instrumentality), and these rewards are valuable (Valence).

Team

A unit of two or more people who interact and coordinate work to accomplish a shared goal for which they are mutually accountable.

Functional team

Also called a command team, it is composed of a manager and subordinates across three to four levels of hierarchy.

Self-managed team

A permanent team of multiskilled employees who have the authority to make decisions and produce an entire product.

Team Stages of Development

The five phases teams go through: Forming, Storming, Norming, Performing, and Adjourning.

Team cohesiveness

The extent to which members are attracted to the team and motivated to remain part of it.

Integrative negotiation

A collaborative approach to negotiation based on a win-win principle.

Distributive negotiation

A competitive and adversarial approach to negotiation where one party's gain is the other's loss.

Decision making

The process of identifying a problem or opportunity and choosing among alternative courses of action.

Satisficing

A behavior in decision theory where managers select the first course of action deemed satisfactory or good enough rather than seeking the optimal choice.

Garbage can decision model

A model suggesting decisions are made opportunistically through the mix of problems, solutions, participants, and situations, and do not follow a linear path.

Heuristics

Mental shortcuts or rules-of-thumb that simplify decision making and reduce cognitive load but can lead to systematic errors.

Confirmation trap

A bias where managers seek information that confirms what they already believe and neglect disconfirming information.

Groupthink

The tendency for members of a highly cohesive group to conform and lose their ability to critically evaluate ideas.

Escalating commitment

The tendency to continue with a failing course of action by rationalizing negative feedback to protect one's ego.