Management Principles
95 flashcards by MentisLibrary
The vocabulary every manager is assumed to already know, from Fayol's four functions to Herzberg's motivators and the Peter Principle. Each idea is credited to whoever actually came up with it, with a concrete example of what it looks like on a real team.
- What are the four functions of management?
- Planning, organizing, leading, and controlling, often abbreviated POLC
- In the POLC framework, what is planning?
- Setting objectives and deciding in advance the actions and resources needed to reach them
- In the POLC framework, what is organizing?
- Arranging people, tasks, authority, and resources into a structure that can execute the plan
- In the POLC framework, what is leading?
- Influencing, motivating, and directing people so they willingly work toward the objectives
- In the POLC framework, what is controlling?
- Measuring actual performance against the standard and correcting the deviation
- What were Henri Fayol's 14 principles of management?
- A set of general administrative principles including division of work, authority and responsibility, unity of command, unity of direction, scalar chain, and esprit de corps
- What is unity of command?
- The principle that each employee should receive orders from only one supervisor
- What is span of control?
- The number of direct reports one manager supervises
- What is the difference between a tall and a flat organization?
- A tall organization has many layers and narrow spans of control; a flat one has few layers and wide spans
- What is the scalar chain?
- The unbroken line of authority running from the top of an organization to the lowest level
- What is Fayol's gangplank?
- A permitted sideways communication between peers in different chains of command, bypassing the scalar chain for speed
- What is delegation?
- Assigning responsibility and the matching authority for a task to someone else while retaining ultimate accountability
- What is the difference between responsibility, authority, and accountability?
- Responsibility is the obligation to perform the task, authority is the right to make decisions and use resources, accountability is answering for the result
- What is reverse delegation, or the monkey on the back?
- When a subordinate hands a problem back to the manager, who ends up doing the work
- What are the five levels of delegation?
- Roughly: do exactly as I say, research and report, research and recommend, decide and inform me, decide and act independently
- What is management by objectives, or MBO?
- A process where manager and employee jointly set specific, measurable objectives, then review performance against them
- What are SMART goals?
- Goals that are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time bound
- What are OKRs?
- Objectives and Key Results: one qualitative objective paired with a few measurable key results that define success
- How do OKRs differ from KPIs?
- OKRs are goals set to drive change over a period; KPIs are ongoing health metrics you monitor continuously
- What is Maslow's hierarchy of needs?
- A five level model of human motivation: physiological, safety, belonging, esteem, and self actualization, with lower needs generally taking priority
- What is Herzberg's two factor theory?
- Job satisfaction and dissatisfaction come from different sources: hygiene factors prevent dissatisfaction, motivators create satisfaction
- What are hygiene factors in Herzberg's theory?
- Conditions whose absence causes dissatisfaction but whose presence does not motivate: salary, job security, working conditions, company policy, supervision quality
- What are motivators in Herzberg's theory?
- Factors that genuinely create satisfaction: achievement, recognition, the work itself, responsibility, advancement, and growth
- What is Theory X and Theory Y?
- Two contrasting assumptions managers hold: Theory X assumes people dislike work and need control; Theory Y assumes people are self directed and seek responsibility
- What is Theory Z?
- A management style blending Japanese and American practice: long term employment, collective decision making, individual responsibility, and concern for the whole employee
- What is expectancy theory?
- Motivation equals expectancy times instrumentality times valence: will effort produce performance, will performance produce a reward, and do I value that reward
- What is equity theory?
- People compare their ratio of inputs to outcomes against a referent other, and are demotivated by perceived unfairness
- What is goal setting theory?
- Specific and difficult goals produce higher performance than vague or easy ones, provided the person accepts the goal and gets feedback
- What is intrinsic versus extrinsic motivation?
- Intrinsic motivation comes from the work itself, extrinsic from external rewards or punishments
- What are the three needs in self determination theory?
- Autonomy, competence, and relatedness