UF MAN3025: Exam 1 Terms (Spring 2026)

Management

The pursuit of organization goals efficiently and effectively by integrating the work of people through planning, organizing, leading, and controlling an organization's resources.

Efficiency

The ability to use resources, such as people, money, or raw materials, wisely and cost-effectively. This mainly focuses on the means (i.e., how you are getting things done).

Effectiveness

The ability to achieve results, make the right decisions, and successfully carry them out to achieve an organization's goals. This mainly focuses on the ends (or the results).

Manager

A person who has to interact with others, their organization, and the external context of the organization, and reflect and take action when needed. The two potential rewards of this role include the ability to earn more than most workers and fringe benefits (health insurance or stock options). Some of the role's chief skills are the ability to motivate others, communicate, work outside the United States, and have high energy levels to meet the demands of global travel and a 24/7 world.

Planning

One of the four principal functions of management that allows an individual to set goals and decide how to achieve them and stay competitive. Top managers spend the most time on this function. It also relies on conceptual and decision-making skills.

Organizing

One of the four principal functions of management that allows an individual to arrange tasks, people, and other resources to accomplish work. It relies on human and communication skills.

Leading

One of the four principal functions of management that allows an individual to motivate, direct, and influence others to work hard and achieve their organization's goals. Middle and first-line managers spend the most time on this function. It also relies on a combination of human and communication skills and technical skills.

Controlling

One of the four principal functions that allows an individual to monitor performance, compare it with their goals, and take corrective action if necessary. This is the function that managers spend the least amount of time on. It relies on technical skills.

Interpersonal Role

One of Henry Mintzberg’s three managerial roles that focuses on the relationship that a manager has with others. In this role, managers interact with people inside and outside their work units. Examples of this role include the figurehead, leader, and liaison.

Informational Role

One of Henry Mintzberg’s three managerial roles that refers to a manager's ability to collect, spread, and transmit information with people inside and outside their organization. Examples of this role include the monitor, disseminator, and spokesperson.

Decisional Role

One of Henry Mintzberg’s three managerial roles that focuses on making decisions and their importance in any managerial activity. In this role, managers use information to make decisions to solve problems or take advantage of opportunities. Examples of this role include the entrepreneur, disturbance handler, resource allocator, and negotiator.

Technical Skill

A skill that an exceptional manager needs that refers to the job-specific knowledge needed to perform well in a specialized field. Nonmanagers (individual contributors) and first-line managers typically excel in this skill.

Conceptual Skill

A skill that an exceptional manager needs that refers to the ability to think analytically, visualize an organization as a whole, and understand how the organization's parts work together. Top managers typically excel in this skill.

Human Skill

A skill that an exceptional manager needs that refers to the ability to work well with others to get things done. Middle and first-line managers typically excel in this skill. This is also known as a soft skill, or an interpersonal "people" skill needed for success at all levels.

Competitive Advantage

One of the seven challenges to being an exceptional manager that focuses on the ability of an organization to outperform its competitors. Its four building blocks are responsiveness to customers, innovation, efficiency, and quality. The best companies manage to deliver on more than one of these building blocks.

Technological Advances

One of the seven challenges to being an exceptional manager that focuses on ecommerce, embracing new technology, knowledge management, and collaborative computing. It also considers how data, the rise of artificial intelligence, and organizational changes (i.e., shifts in structure, jobs, goals, and management) challenge decision-making or change the workforce.

Inclusion and Diversity

One of the seven challenges to being an exceptional manager that focuses on maximizing contributions of diverse employees whilst ensuring that everyone feels included. Factors like more women working, the workforce getting older, the number of immigrants increasing, and ethnic and racial diversity increasing influence this challenge.

Globalization

One of the seven challenges to being an exceptional manager that focuses on the differences between managing an international business and a domestic business. Since countries are different, an international business can have larger, more complex problems compared to a domestic business. Firms then have to find ways to work within government limits. Managers also have to manage a diverse workforce and coordinate resources worldwide. Ultimately, this challenge weakens cultural barriers and reduces dissimilarities between nations.

Ethical Standards

One of the seven challenges to being an exceptional manager that focuses on managers facing certain ethical dilemmas, such as the pressure to meet sales or production targets or the temptation to falsify data. Ethical lapses can go beyond financial harm.

An organization can promote these guidelines by fostering a strong ethical climate, screening potential employees, instituting ethical codes and programs, rewarding ethical behavior (like protecting whistleblowers), and adopting a multifaceted approach.

Sustainability

One of the seven challenges to being an exceptional manager that focuses on economic development and how it needs to meet present needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. The United Nations addressed this challenge by adopting 17 Sustainable Development Goals.

Happiness and Meaningfulness

One of the seven challenges to being an exceptional manager that focuses on how a sense of meaningfulness is associated with better health, work and life satisfaction, and performance. Individuals can build meaning into their lives by helping others, doing enjoyable activities, and using their natural strengths in their personal and work lives.

Top Manager

A manager who makes long-term decisions about the overall direction of the organization and establishes the objectives, policies, and strategies that affect it. They need to pay attention to the environment outside the organization, be alert for long-run opportunities and problems, and devise strategies for dealing with them. They also have titles like chief executive officer, chief operating officer, president, or senior vice president.

Middle Manager

A manager who implements the policies and plans of the top managers above them and supervises the activities of the first-line managers below them. They must act as followers to top management and lenders to lower-level managers and employees. They also need interpersonal skills to build relationships with people in various positions in the hierarchy.

First-Line Manager

A manager who makes short-term operating decisions and directs the daily tasks of non-managerial personnel who work directly at their jobs but do not oversee the work of others.

Team Leader

A role below first-line managers that facilitates team members' activities to help them achieve their goals. They ensure that their team has everything they need to be successful.

Nonmanagerial Employee

A role below team leaders that works alone on tasks or with others on a variety of teams. They do not formally supervise or manage other people and represent the bulk of a company's workforce. They are also an internal stakeholder who works for the organization.

Functional Manager

A manager who is responsible for one organizational activity. This manager has titles like vice president of production, director of finance, or administrator for human resources.

General Manager

A manager who is responsible for several organization activities and typically supervises other managers. An executive vice president who works in a small organization of 100 people can be considered this type of manager.

For-Profit Organization

An organization that is formed to make money by offering products or services.

Nonprofit Organization

An organization in public or private sectors that is formed to offer services. Despite the fact that these organizations offer services for free, they often operate in a surplus. They also put excess revenues back into their organizations rather than distribute them to shareholders. Examples include hospitals, colleges, and social-welfare agencies.

Mutual-Benefit Organization

An organization that consists of a voluntary collection of members who want to advance their interests. Examples include political parties, farm cooperatives, labor unions, trade associations, and clubs.

Peter Drucker

The creator of modern management who introduced several ideas that underlie the organization and practice of management. He claimed that workers should be treated as assets, the corporation could be considered a human community, there is "no business without a customer," and institutionalized management practices are preferable to charismatic cult leaders.

Theory

A conceptual framework for organizing knowledge and providing a blueprint for action.

Classical Viewpoint

The first management perspective that emerged during the 19th and early 20th centuries alongside the rise of the factory system and issues regarding structure, training, and employee satisfaction. Its two subfields are scientific and administrative management. It found ways to manage work more efficiently, assuming that people are rational. However, it was also mechanistic.

Scientific Management

A subfield of the classical viewpoint of management pioneered by Frederick W. Taylor and Frank and Lillian Gilbreth to combat labor shortages. It scientifically studied work methods to improving the productivity of workers. Its four scientific principles are to evaluate a task by studying its parts, carefully select workers with the right abilities for the task, give those workers the training and incentives to do the task, and use scientific principles to plan work methods.

Frederick W. Taylor

One of the pioneers of scientific management who proposed that workers "could be retooled like machines." Workers resisted his ideas and feared that they would lead to lost jobs.

Frank and Lillian Gilbreth

Two of the pioneers of scientific management who promoted efficiency with time and motion studies. They identified and applied 17 basic motions to work processes to determine if certain tasks could be done more efficiently. They also reinforced the link between studying physical movements in a job and workers' efficiency and helped workers reduce their fatigue.

Administrative Management

A subfield of the classical viewpoint of management that was pioneered by Charles Clinton Spaulding, Henri Fayol, and Max Weber. It is concerned with managing a total organization's productivity and efficiency. Its pioneers proposed eight "necessities" of management, identified the major functions of management (planning, organizing, leading, controlling, and coordinating), and influenced the structure of large corporations.

Charles Clinton Spauling

The "Father of African American Management" who proposed eight "necessities" of management and pioneered administrative management. He suggested that the need for authority, divisions of labor, adequate capital, proper budgeting, and cooperation and teamwork were essential for smoother operations. He also recognized that enriching the lives of organizational and community families was as important as a company making a profit.

Henri Fayol

A French mining engineer who pioneered administrative management. He identified and systematized the major functions of management (planning, organizing, commanding, coordinating, and controlling). Some of his ideas, such as unity of command, division of work, unity of direction, and the scalar chain, are still used today.

Max Weber

A German sociologist who pioneered administrative management. He believed that a bureaucracy was a rational and efficient organization based on principles of logic. He thought it did this by defining a hierarchy of authority, detailing a clear division of labor, and documenting formal rules.

Behavioral Viewpoint

The second management perspective that emphasized the importance of understanding human behavior, motivating employees toward achievement, and helping managers understand how their beliefs and expectations about human nature affect their behavior. The three phases it developed over include early behaviorism, the human relations movement, and behavioral science. Its drawbacks are connected to the nature vs. nurture argument and generalization.

Hugo Munsterberg

The father of industrial psychology who pioneered early behaviorism. He studied jobs, determined which people were best suited to those jobs, identified the psychological conditions under which employees do their best work, and devised management strategies to influence employees to follow management's interests.

Mary Parker Follett

A social worker and philosopher who pioneered early behaviorism. Her most important ideas stated that organizations should be operated as "communities," conflicts should be resolved by having managers and workers talk over differences and find satisfactory solutions, and workers with relevant knowledge should control the work process while managers act as facilitators.

Hawthorne Effect

An effect founded by Elton Mayo, one of the pioneers of early behaviorism. It states that employees worked harder when they received added attention, thought managers cared for their welfare, and thought supervisors paid special attention to them. Although the effect was criticized, it drew attention to the "social man" and how managers can use human relations to improve productivity.

Human Relations Movement

The second stage of the behavioral viewpoint that proposed that better human relations can increase productivity. It was pioneered by Abraham Maslow and Douglas McGregor (who believed that managers should be mindful of their attitudes toward employees).

Abraham Maslow

A pioneer of the human relations movement who observed that his patients had certain innate needs that had to be satisfied before they could reach their full potential. He used this to propose his hierarchy of human needs (physiological, safety, love, esteem, and self-actualization).

Theory X

One of Douglas McGregor's fundamental assumptions that managers hold about employees that represents a pessimistic view of workers. In this view, workers are considered to be irresponsible, to be resistant to change, to lack ambition, to hate work, and to want to be led rather than to lead.

Theory Y

One of Douglas McGregor's fundamental assumptions that managers hold about employees that represents a human relations outlook. In this view, workers are capable of accepting responsibility, having self-direction and self-control, and being creative.

Behavioral Science

The third stage of the behavioral viewpoint that relies on scientific research to develop theories about human behavior that can be used as practical tools for managers. This approach is the foundation for the study of organizational behavior, and its disciplines include psychology, sociology, anthropology, and economics.

Quantitative Viewpoint (Quantitative Management)

The third management perspective that applies quantitative techniques, such as statistics (math), modeling, and computer simulations, to management. Its two subfields are operations management and evidence-based management (data-driven). Its drawback is connected to the fact that mathematical models need assumptions.

Operations Management

A subfield of the quantitative viewpoint that consists of the job functions in which managers schedule job training, plan production to meet customer needs, design and deliver services customers want, locate and design facilities, and choose optimal levels of product inventory to keep costs down and reduce backorders. It also governs managers' decisions about how to increase productivity, manages the supply chain, and helps managers achieve higher quality goods and services.

Supply Chain Management

A major function of operations management that is the process of creating a product. It starts with designing and obtaining raw materials for goods or technology for services and goes all the way through delivery. It also sometimes goes through responsible disposal or recycling.

Evidence-Based Management

A subfield of the quantitative viewpoint that is based on the belief that facing the hard facts about what works and what does not, understanding the dangerous half-truths that establish conventional wisdom about management, and rejecting nonsense that passes for advice will help organizations perform better. It uses scientific methods, translates principles into organizational practices, and brings rationality to decision-making. It is also the best perspective to take as a manager.

Systems Viewpoint

The fourth management perspective that regards an organization as a system of interrelated parts. This point of view looks at an organization as a collection of subsystems and a part of a larger environment.

System

A set of interrelated parts that operate together to achieve a common purpose.

Subsystems

Parts of a system that are all interconnected. These parts give managers the ability to see the distinct elements and complexities of a situation.

Closed System

A system that has little interaction with its environment. It focuses on an organization's inner workings. The classical and quantitative viewpoints consider an organization as this system type.

Open System

A system that continually interacts with its environment. It has the potential to produce synergy.

Synergy

The idea that two or more forces combined created an effect that is greater than the sum of their individual effects. In short, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

Complexity Theory

The study of how order and pattern arise from complicated and chaotic systems. It recognizes that all complex systems are networks of interdependent parts that interact with each other according to certain simple rules. It seeks to understand how organizations adapt to their environments.

Inputs

The first part of a system that includes the people, money, information, equipment, and materials required to produce an organization's goods or services.

Transformational Processes

The second part of a system that includes an organization's capabilities in management and technology that help convert inputs into outputs. It includes managerial practices, organizational culture, incentive systems, and how employees are treated and motivated.

Outputs

The third part of a system that includes the products, services, profits, losses, and employee satisfaction or discontent produced by an organization.

Feedback

The fourth part of a system that includes information about a reaction of an environment to the outputs. This information then affects the inputs (i.e., the fourth part loops back to the first part).

Contingency Viewpoint

The fifth management perspective that emphasizes that a manager's approach should vary according to an individual and environmental situation. Although it is effective, it is not efficient. This viewpoint is the most practical because it addresses problems on a case-by-case basis.

Learning Organization

An organization that actively creates, acquires, and transfers knowledge within itself and is able to modify its behavior to reflect new knowledge. It is also agile, innovative, operationally efficient, and customer-focused. A manager can build this organization by empowering and structuring teams to make decisions and communicate with peers and customers and developing a learning culture that encourages asking questions without consequences. An example of it is Toyota.

High Performance Work Practices (HPWPs)

Contemporary practices developed by Jeff Pfeffer and James Collins that build employees’ knowledge, skills, and abilities, improve their motivation, and afford them opportunities to make work decisions and take responsibility for work outcomes. They improve an organization’s performance by reducing turnover, increasing employee satisfaction, and expanding on the behavioral and systems viewpoints.

These practices include ability-enhancing practices (for what you can do), motivation-enhancing practices (for how you feel about things), and opportunity-enhancing practices (for how you can advance).

Shared Value and Sustainable Development

A contemporary approach to management that looks beyond short-term profits and focuses on the environmental and social costs of doing business. It is where business and sustainability intersect.

Triple Bottom Line (TBL)

A framework that represents people, planet, and profit and measures an organization's social, environmental, and financial performance. It is a systematic assessment of a company's performance in implementing socially responsible programs.

Stakeholders

People with interests that are affected by an organization's activities. They are both inside and outside the organization and often make up the organization's environment. In other words, they can be internal or external.

Internal Stakeholders

Stakeholders who are regularly involved with an organization's internal activities. These stakeholders consist of employees, owners, and the board of directors (if any).

External Stakeholders

Stakeholders outside an organization who have a stake in its decisions. The external environment's two sub-environments are the task environment and the general environment.

Task Environment

A sub-environment of an external environment that consists of 10 groups that interact with an organization on a regular basis. The 10 groups include customers, competitors, suppliers, distributors, strategic allies, employee organizations, local communities, financial institutions, government regulators, and special interest groups.

General Environment (Macroenvironment)

A sub-environment of an external environment that includes the set of broad, uncontrollable forces that impact an organization. It also has 6 forces, which are economic, technological, sociocultural, demographic, political legal, and international.

Owner

An internal stakeholder for an organization who can claim it as their legal property. The five principal types are sole proprietors, partners, private investors, employee owners, and stockholders.

Board of Directors

An internal stakeholder for an organization that consists of the group of people elected to oversee the firm's activities and ensure that management acts in shareholders' best interests. It also sets the organization's strategic goals and approves major decisions and top management salaries. This stakeholder can be called the board of trustees or regents in nonprofit organizations.

Additionally, companies with groups that are larger, made up of a variety of individual differences, and have members who serve on fewer than three other groups, have better ethical reputations.

Customers

A group of the task environment that refers to those who pay to use an organization’s goods or services. This group is also related to the first law of business, which is to take care of the customer (or buyer).

Competitors

A group of the task environment that refers to the people or organizations that compete for customers, services, or resources, such as employees or raw materials.

Suppliers

A group of the task environment that refers to the people or organizations that provide supplies, such as raw materials, services, equipment, labor, or energy, to other organizations. They are also known as vendors.

Distributors

A group of the task environment that refers to the people or organizations that help other organizations sell their goods and services. They are also known as middlepersons.

Strategic Allies

A group of the task environment that refers to the relationship of two organizations that join forces to achieve advantages neither can perform as well alone. It allows firms to access new technologies, knowledge, capital, and markets, share the costs and risks, and create joint ventures (which can further help native countries establish a presence in foreign countries). This has the fourth-highest risk and investment out of the five ways of expanding internationally.

Employee Organizations

A group of the task environment that focuses on unions and associations. While unions typically represent hourly workers, associations typically represent salaried workers.

Local Communities

A group of the task environment that becomes more prominent when a big organization arrives or leaves an area and causes local governments to find a replacement. This group is a stakeholder for an organization since it relies on the tax base and jobs the organization provides.

Clawback

The action of canceling tax breaks when firms do not deliver promised jobs. It is mainly related to the ethical dilemmas involving companies and their external stakeholders.

Financial Institutions

A group of the task environment that refers to the banks, savings and loans, and credit unions that can loan money to people who want to launch a small company if they have good credit.

Venture Capital

Money provided by investors to start firms and small businesses with high risk and perceived long-term growth potential in return for an ownership stake.

Crowdfunding

The action of raising money for a project or venture by obtaining many small amounts of money from many people. It can be done using websites like Kickstarter.

Government Regulators

A group of the task environment that refers to regulatory agencies that establish ground rules under which organizations may operate.

Special Interest Groups

A group of the task environment that refers to groups whose members try to influence specific issues. It also considers mass media and the role social media has in these issues.

Economic Force

A force of the general environment that refers to the general economic conditions and trends, such as unemployment, interest rates, and trade balance, that may affect an organization's decisions. It also refers to the availability, production, and distribution of resources.

Technological Force

A force of the general environment that consists of new developments for transforming resources into goods or services. It also includes artificial intelligence, which has changed how humans interact with the workplace.

Sociocultural Force

A force of the general environment that refers to human relationship influences and trends within a country, society, or culture, and values that may affect an organization or industry.

Demographic Force

A force of the general environment that consists of the influence on an organization arising from changes in the characteristics of a population, such as age, gender, or ethnic origin.

Political Legal Force

A force of the general environment that refers to how changes in politics and laws create opportunities and threats for an organization. Companies encounter this force in their external environment when they face legal challenges arising from new regulations in their industries.

International Force

A force of the general environment that refers to changes in the economic, political, legal, and technological global system that may affect organizations.

Ethics

The standards of right and wrong that influence behavior. They may vary among countries and cultures (i.e., they are relative). Managers must balance conflicting sets of standards when considering the needs of multiple stakeholders.

Ethical Behavior

Behavior that is "right" as opposed to "wrong" according to prevailing standards. The six most common workplace behaviors that are considered misconduct are conflicts of interest, abusive behavior, violations of health and safety, corruption, discrimination, and sexual harassment.

Values

The permanent and deeply held underlying beliefs and attitudes that help determine a person's behavior, such as the belief that "fairness means hiring according to ability, not family background."

Utilitarian Approach

An approach to resolving ethical dilemmas where ethical behavior is guided by what will result in the greatest good for the greatest number of people. Managers often use this approach in combination with financial performance to guide their decisions. The main drawback to it is that it could damage workforce morale and strip an organization of valuable employees.