Directing: Management Principles and Elements

Vocabulary and key concepts from Figure 7 of Business Studies regarding Management Directing, including motivation, leadership, and communication.

Directing

The process of instructing, guiding, counselling, motivating and leading people in the organisation to achieve its objectives.

Warrior-entrepreneurs

People at Ford with the courage and skills to topple old ideas and who believe in change passionately enough to make it happen.

Supervision

The process of guiding the efforts of employees and other resources to accomplish desired objectives by overseeing what is being done and giving instructions.

Motivation

The process of making subordinates act in a desired manner to achieve certain organisational goals.

Motive

An inner state that energises, activates or moves and directs behaviour towards goals, arising out of the needs of individuals.

Motivators

The techniques used to motivate people in an organisation, such as pay, bonus, promotion, recognition, and praise.

Positive Motivation

A motivational approach that providing positive rewards like increase in pay, promotion, or recognition.

Negative Motivation

An approach that uses negative means like punishment, stopping increments, or threatening to induce a person to act in a desired way.

Maslow’s Need Hierarchy Theory

A theory of motivation published in 1943 stating that five levels of needs exist within every human being in a hierarchical order.

Basic Physiological Needs

The most basic needs in Maslow’s hierarchy, such as hunger, thirst, shelter, and sleep; satisfied in an organisation by basic salary.

Safety/Security Needs

Needs providing protection from physical and emotional harm, such as job security, stability of income, and pension plans.

Affiliation/Belonging Needs

Needs referring to affection, sense of belongingness, acceptance, and friendship.

Esteem Needs

Needs including factors such as self-respect, autonomy status, recognition, and attention.

Self Actualisation Needs

The highest level of need in Maslow's hierarchy, referring to the drive to become what one is capable of becoming, including growth and self-fulfillment.

Financial Incentives

Incentives in direct monetary form or measurable in monetary terms that serve to motivate people for better performance.

Profit Sharing

A financial incentive meant to provide a share of the organisation’s profits to employees to motivate improved performance.

Co-partnership/ Stock option

Incentive schemes where employees are offered company shares at a set price lower than the market price to create a feeling of ownership.

Perquisites

Fringe benefits offered in many companies such as car allowance, housing, medical aid, and education for children over and above the salary.

Non-Financial Incentives

Incentives that focus on psychological, social, and emotional needs rather than money-driven satisfaction, such as status or job recognition.

Job Enrichment

Designing jobs to include a greater variety of work content, requiring higher knowledge and skill, and providing more autonomy and responsibility.

Employee Empowerment

The practice of giving more autonomy and powers to subordinates to make them feel their jobs are important.

Leadership

The activity or process of influencing people so that they will strive voluntarily and enthusiastically towards the achievement of group goals.

Autocratic Leader

A leader who gives orders and expects subordinates to obey, with communication being only one-way from the manager to the subordinate.

Democratic Leader

A participative leader who develops action plans and makes decisions in consultation with his subordinates.

Laissez faire Leader

A free-rein leader who does not use power unless essential, giving followers a high degree of independence to formulate their own objectives.

Communication

The process of exchange of ideas, views, facts, or feelings between or among people to create common understanding.

Encoding

The process in communication of converting the message into symbols such as words, pictures, or gestures.

Decoding

The process of converting encoded symbols received from the sender back into a meaning that is understood.

Noise

Any obstruction or hindrance to communication, such as ambiguous symbols, poor telephone connection, or inattentive receivers.

Formal Communication

Communication that flows through official channels designed in the organisation chart, which may be oral or written.

Vertical Communication

Communication that flows upwards or downwards through formal channels between superiors and subordinates.

Horizontal Communication

Lateral communication taking place between one division and another, such as between a production manager and a marketing manager.

Grapevine

Informal communication that takes place without following formal lines, spreading throughout the organisation in all directions regardless of authority levels.

Semantic Barriers

Communication obstructions concerned with problems in the process of encoding and decoding messages into words or impressions.

Psychological Barriers

Barriers to communication resulting from emotional factors, such as premature evaluation, lack of attention, or distrust.