Understanding Business Chapter 7

Goals

The broad, long-term accomplishments an organization wishes to attain

Transparency

The presentation of a company's facts and figures in a way that is clear and apparent to all stakeholders

Planning

a management function that includes anticipating trends and determining the best strategies and tactics to achieve organizational goals and objectives

Organizational Chart

a visual device that shows relationships among people and divides the organization's work; it shows who reports to whom

Leading

creating a vision for the organization and guiding, training, coaching, and motivating others to work effectively to achieve the organization's goals and objectives

External Customers

dealers, who buy products to sell to others, and ultimate customers (or end users), who buy products for their own personal use

Enabling

giving workers the education and tools they need to make decisions

Participative (Democratic) Leadership

leadership style that consists of managers and employees working together to make decisions

Autocratic Leadership

leadership style that involves making managerial decisions without consulting others

Free-Rein Leadership

leadership style that involves managers setting objectives and employees being relatively free to do whatever it takes to accomplish those objectives

Strategic Planning

the process of determining the major goals of the organization and the policies and strategies for obtaining and using resources to achieve those goals

Tactical Planning

the process of developing detailed, short-term statements about what is to be done, who is to do it, and how it is to be done

Contingency Planning

the process of preparing alternative courses of action that may be used if the primary plans don't achieve the organization's objectives

Human Relations Skills

Skills that involve communication and motivation; they enable managers to work through and with people

Objectives

Specific, short-term statements detailing how to achieve the organization's goals

Decision Making

choosing among two or more alternatives

Brainstorming

coming up with as many solutions to a problem as possible in a short period of time with no censoring of ideas

Organizing

A management function that includes designing the structure of the organization and creating conditions and systems in which everyone and everything works together to achieve the organization's goals and objectives.

Mission Statement

An outline of the fundamental purposes of an organization

PMI

Listing all the pluses for a solution in one column, all the minuses in another, and the implications in a third column.

Middle Management

The level of management that includes general managers, division managers, and branch and plant managers who are responsible for tactical planning and controlling

Operational Planning

The process of setting work standards and schedules necessary to implement the company's tactical objectives

Problem Solving

The process of solving the everyday problems that occur. Problem solving is less formal than decision making and usually calls for quicker action.

Staffing

a management function that includes hiring, motivating, and retaining the best people available to accomplish the company's objectives

Controlling

a management function that involves establishing clear standards to determine whether or not an organization is progressing toward its goals and objectives, rewarding people for doing a good job, and taking corrective action if they are not

SWOT Analysis

a planning tool used to analyze an organization's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats

Vision

an encompassing explanation of why the organization exists and where it's trying to head

Knowledge Management

finding the right information, keeping the information in a readily accessible place, and making the information known to everyone in the firm

Top Management

highest level of management, consisting of the president and other key company executives who develop strategic plans

Internal Customers

individuals and units within the firm that receive services from other individuals or units

Supervisory Management

managers who are directly responsible for supervising workers and evaluating their daily performance

Technical Skills

skills that involve the ability to perform tasks in a specific discipline or department

Conceptual Skills

skills that involve the ability to picture the organization as a whole and the relationship among its various parts

Management

the process used to accomplish organizational goals through planning, organizing, leading, and controlling people and other organizational resources