Management Principles and Key Concepts

Vocabulary flashcards covering the core concepts, managerial tasks, levels of management, skills, and competitive advantage pillars from the lecture notes.

Management

The planning, organizing, leading, and controlling of human and other resources to achieve organizational goals efficiently and effectively.

Organizational Performance

A measure of how efficiently and effectively managers use resources to satisfy customers and reach goals.

Efficiency

Minimizing the amount of input resources (time, raw materials, labor) needed to produce a given output; doing things right.

Effectiveness

Choosing appropriate goals and achieving them; doing the right things.

Planning

Deciding which goals to pursue, choosing strategies to adopt, and deciding how to allocate resources to achieve those goals.

Organizing

Structuring working relationships (creating authority structures and departments) so organizational members can work together toward goals.

Leading

Articulating a clear vision, energizing and enabling employees, and using influence/persuasion so everyone understands their role in achieving goals.

Controlling

Evaluating how well the organization is achieving its goals and taking corrective action to maintain or improve performance.

First-Line Managers

Supervisors who are responsible for the daily supervision of non-managerial employees who perform specific activities.

Middle Managers

Managers who supervise first-line managers and are responsible for finding the best way to use resources to achieve organizational goals.

Top Managers

Managers (e.g., CEO, COO) who establish organizational goals, decide how departments should interact, and monitor overall performance.

Conceptual Skills

The cognitive ability to analyze and diagnose complex situations and see the big picture; most critical for top managers.

Human Skills

The ability to understand, alter, lead, and control the behavior of other individuals and groups.

Technical Skills

Job-specific knowledge and techniques required to perform an organizational role; most critical for first-line managers.

Competitive Advantage

The ability to outperform rivals by excelling in efficiency, quality, innovation, and responsiveness to customers.

Quality

Improving product or service reliability and performance as a building block of competitive advantage.

Innovation

Developing new products, services, or organizational processes.

Responsiveness to Customers

Training employees to satisfy customer needs quickly and thoroughly.

Empowerment

Giving employees more authority as part of modern organizational management trends.

Restructuring

Downsizing an organization to streamline operations and increase efficiency.