Chapter 1 Managers and Managing

Strategy

A cluster of decisions about what goals to pursue, what actions to take, and how to use resources to achieve goals

Middle Manager

A manager who supervises first-line managers and is responsible for finding the best way to use resources to achieve organizational goals.

Organizational performance

A measure of how efficiently and effectively a manager uses resources to satisfy customer and achieve organizational goals

turnaround management

The creation of a new vision for a struggling company based on a new approach to planning and organizing to make better use of a company's resources and allow it to survive and prosper

Organizational structure

A formal system of task and reporting relationships that coordinates and motivates organizational members so they work together to achieve organizational goals

Top management team

A group composed of the CEO, the COO, the president, and the heads of the most important departments

Self-managed team

A group of employees who assume responsibility for organizing, controlling, and supervising, their own activities and monitoring the quality of the goods and services they provide

Department

A group of people who work together and possess similar skills or use the same knowledge, tools or techniques to perform their jobs

Top Manager

A manager who establishes organizational goals, decides how departments should interact, and monitors the performance of middle managers

First-line manager

A manager who is responsible for the daily supervision of nonmanagerial employees

Efficiency

A measure of how well or how productively resources are used to achieve a goal.

Effectiveness

A measure of the appropriateness of the goals an organization is pursuing and the and the degree to which the organization achieves those goals

Leading

Articulating a clear vision and energizing and enabling organizational members so they understand the part they play in achieving organizational goals; one of the four principal tasks of management

Organizations

Collections of people who work together and coordinate their actions to achieve a wide variety of goals or desired future outcomes

Outsourcing

Contracting with another company, usually abroad, to have it perform an activity the organization previously performed itself

What are the 3 types of managerial roles identified by Mintzberg?

Decisional, Interpersonal, and Informational

Restructuring

Downsizing an organization by eliminating the jobs of large numbers of top, middle, and first-line managers and nonmanagerial employees

What are the 4 specific roles identified by Mintzberg that are decisional?

Entrepreneur, Disturbance handler, Resource allocator, Negotiator

What are the 3 specific roles identified by Mintzberg that are interpersonal?

Figurehead, Leader, Liason

Planning

Identifying and selecting appropriate goals; one of the four principal tasks of management

What are the 3 specific roles identified by Mintzberg that are Informational?

Monitor, Disseminator, Spokesperson

global organizations

Organizations that operate and compete in more than one country

Organizing

Structuring working relationships in a way that allows organization members to work together to achieve organizational goals; one of the four principal tasks of management

competitive advantage

The ability of one organization to outperform other organizations because it produces desired goods or services more efficiently and effectively than they do

Conceptual skills

The ability to analyze and diagnose a situation and to distinguish between cause and effect

Human skills

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

Empowerment

The expansion of employees knowledge, tasks, and decision-making responsibilities

Technical skills

The job-specific knowledge and techniques required to perform an organizational role

Management

The planning, organizing, leading, and controlling of human and other resources to achieve a wide variety of goals or desired future outcomes

Innovation

The process of creating new or improved goods and services or developing better ways to produce or provide them

Core competency

The specific set of departmental skills, knowledge, and experience that allows one organization to outperform another