Management by Robbins and Coulter (14th edition)

Management by Robbins and Coulter (14th edition) is the 14th edition of the college textbook that is titled Management, has been written by Stephen P. Robbins and Mary Coulter and published by Pearson Education, Inc.

Recitals

• Manager. Someone who coordinates and oversees the work of other people so organizational goals can be accomplished.
• Frontline manager (or first-line manager). A manager at the lowest levels of the organizational structure who manage the work of nonmanagerial employees.
• Middle manager. A manager between the lowest and upper levels of the organizational structure who manage the work of frontline managers.
• Top manager. A manager at or near the upper levels of the organizational structure who are responsible for making organization-wide decisions and establishing the goals and plans that affect the entire organization.
• Organization. A deliberate arrangement of people to accomplish some specific purpose.
• Management. Coordinating and overseeing the work activities of others so their activities are completed efficiently and effectively.
• Efficiency. Doing things right, or getting the most output from the least amount of inputs.
• Effectiveness. Doing the right things, or doing those work activities that will result in achieving goals.
• Managerial role. A specific action or behavior expected of and exhibited by a manager.
• Interpersonal role. A managerial role that involves people and other duties that are ceremonial and symbolic in nature. Henry Mintzberg identified the following three interpersonal roles: figurehead, leader, and liaison.
• Informational role. A managerial role that involves collecting, receiving, and disseminating information. Henry Mintzberg identified the following three interpersonal roles: monitor, disseminator, and spokeperson.
• Decisional role. A managerial role that revolves around making choices. Henry Mintzberg identified the following four interpersonal roles: negotiator, resource allocator, disturbance handler, and entrepreneur.
• Technical skill. Job-specific knowledge and technique needed to proficiently perform work tasks.
• Interpersonal skill. The ability to work well with other people individually and in a group.
• Conceptual skill. The ability to think and to conceptualize about abstract and complex situations.
• Social media. Forms of electronic communication through which users create online communities to share ideas, information, personal messages, and other content.
• Sustainability. An organization's ability to achieve its business goals and increase long-term shareholder value by integrating economic, environmental, and social opportunities into its business strategies.
• Universality of management. The reality that management is needed in all types and sizes of organizations, at all organizational levels, in all organizational areas, and in organizations no matter where located.

History of management concepts

• Classical approach in management concepts. First studies of management, which emphasized nationality and making organizations and workers as efficient as possible.
• Scientific management. An approach that involves using the scientific method to find the "one best way" for a job to be done.
• General administrative theory. An approach to management that focuses on describing what managers do and what constitutes good management practice.
• Principles of management. Fundamental rules of management that could be applied in all organizational situations and taught in schools.
• Bureaucracy. A form of organization characterized by division of labor, a clearly defined hierarchy, detailed rules and regulations, and impersonal relationships.
• Hawthorne Studies. A series of studies during the 1920s and 1930s that provided new insights into individual and group behavior.
• Quantitative approach in management. The use of quantitative techniques to improve decision-making.
• Total quality management. A philosophy of management that is driven by continuous improvement and responsiveness to customer needs and expectations.
• System. A set of interrelated and interdependent parts arranged in a manner that produces a unified whole.
• Closed system. A system that is not influenced by and does not interact with its environment.
• Open system. A system that interacts with its environment.
• Contingency approach. A management approach that recognizes organizations as different, which means they face different situations (contingencies) and require different ways of managing.

Decision-making

• Decision. A choice among two or more alternatives.
• Problem. An obstacle that makes it difficult to achieve a desired goal or purpose.
• Decision criteria. Criteria that define what's important or relevant to resolving a problem.
• Rational decision-making. Decision-making that produces choices that are logical and consistent and maximize value.
• Bounded rationality. Decision-making that is rational, but limited (bounded) by an individual's ability to process information.
• Satisfice. Acceptance of solutions that are "good enough."
• Escalation of commitment. An increased commitment to a previous decision despite evidence it may have been wrong.
• Intuitive decision-making. Decision-making on the basis of experience, feelings, and accumulated judgment.
• Evidence-based management. The systematic use of the best available evidence to improve management practice.
• Structured problem. A straightforward, familiar, and easily defined problem.
• Programmed decision. A repetitive decision that can be handled by a routine approach.
• Procedure. A series of sequential steps used to respond to a well-structured problem.
• Rule. An explicit statement that tells managers what can or cannot be done.
• Policy. A guideline for making decisions.
• Unstructured problem. A problem that is new or unusual and for which information is ambiguous or incomplete.
• Nonprogrammed decision. A unique and nonrecurring decision that requires a custom-made solution.
• Certainty. A situation in which a decision maker can make accurate decisions because all outcomes are known.
• Risk. A situation in which a decision maker is able to estimate the likelihood of certain outcomes.
• Uncertainty. A situation in which a decision maker has neither certainty nor reasonable probability estimates available.
• Heuristic. A rule of thumb that decision makers use to simplify decision-making.
• Design thinking. Approaching management problems as designers approach design problems.
• Big data. The vast amount of quantifiable information that can be analyzed by highly sophisticated data processing.

Entity external environment

• Omnipotent view of management responsibility. The view that managers are directly responsible for an organization's success or failure.
• Symbolic view of management responsibility. The view that much of an organization's success or failure is due to external forces outside managers' control.
• Entity external environment. Those factors and forces outside the organization that affect its performance.
• Entity environmental uncertainty. The degree of change and complexity in an entity's environment.
• Entity environmental complexity. The number of components in an entity's environment and the extent of the entity's knowledge about its components.
• Entity stakeholder. Any constituency in the entity's environment that is affected by an entity's decisions and actions.

Organizational culture

• Organizational culture. The shared values, principles, traditions, and ways of doing things that influence the way organizational members act and that distinguish the organization from other organizations.
• Strong organizational culture. An organizational culture in which the key values are intensely held and widely shared.
• Socialization. The process that helps employees adapt to the organization's culture.

Entity global environment

• Parochialism. Viewing the world solely through your own perspectives, leading to an inability to recognize differences between people.
• Ethnocentric attitude. The parochial belief that the best work approaches and practices are those of the home country.
• Polycentric attitude. The view that the managers in the host country know the best work approaches and practices for running their businesses.
• Geocentric attitude. A world-oriented view that focuses on using the best approaches and people from around the globe.
• Multinational corporation. A broad term that refers to any and all types of international companies that maintain operations in multiple countries.
• Multidomestic corporation. A multinational corporation that decentralizes management and other decisions to the local country.
• Global company. A multinational corporation that centralizes management and other decisions in the home country.
• Transnational organization (or borderless organization). A multinational corporation in which artificial geographical barriers are eliminated.
• Global sourcing. Purchasing materials and labor from around the world wherever it is cheapest.
• Exporting. Making products domestically and selling them abroad.
• Importing. Acquiring products made abroad and selling them domestically.
• Licensing. An organization gives another organization the right to make or sell its products using its technology or product specifications.
• Franchising. An organization gives another organization the right to use its name and operating methods.
• Strategic alliance. A partnership between an organization and foreign company partner(s) in which both share resources and knowledge in developing new products or building production facilities.
• Joint venture. A specific type of strategic alliance in which the partners agree to form a separate, independent organization for some business purpose.
• Foreign subsidiary. Directly investing in a foreign country by setting up a separate and independent production facility or office.
• Free market economy. An economic system in which resources are primarily owned and controlled by the private sector.
• Planned economy. An economic system in which economic decisions are planned by a central government.
• National culture. The values and attitudes shared by individuals from a specific country that shape their behavior and beliefs about what is important.
• Global Leadership and Organizational Behavior Effectiveness program (GLOBE program). The research program that studies cross-cultural leadership behaviors.
• Cultural intelligence. Cultural awareness and sensitivity skills.
• Global mind set. Attributes that allow a leader to be effective in cross-cultural environments.

Diversity management

• Workforce diversity. The ways in which people in an organization are different from and similar to one another.
• Surface-level diversity. Easily perceived differences that may trigger certain stereotypes, but that do not necessarily reflect the ways people think or feel.
• Deep-level diversity. Differences in values, personality, and work preferences.
• Race. The biological heritage (including skin color and associated traits) that people use to identify themselves.
• Ethnicity. Social traits (such as cultural background or allegiance) that are shaped by a human population.
• Bias. A tendency or preference toward a particular perspective or ideology.
• Prejudice. A preconceived belief, opinion, or judgment toward a person or a group of people.
• Stereotyping. Judging a person based on a perception of a group to which that person belongs.
• Discrimination. When someone acts out their prejudicial attitudes toward people who are the targets of their prejudice.
• Glass ceiling. The invisible barrier that separates women and minorities from top management positions.
• Mentoring. A process whereby an experienced organizational member (a mentor) provides advice and guidance to a less experiences member (a protégé).
• Diversity skills training. Specialized training to educate employees about the importance of diversity and teach them skills for working in a diverse workplace.

Social responsibility

• Social obligation. When a firm engages in social actions because of its obligation to meet certain economic and legal responsibilities.
• Classical view of management function. The view that management's only social responsibility is to maximize profits.
• Socioeconomic view of management function. The view that management's social responsibility goes beyond making profits to include protecting and improving society's welfare.
• Social responsiveness. When a firm engages in social actions in response to some popular social need.
• Social responsibility. A business' intention, beyond its legal and economic obligations, to do the right things and act in ways that are good for society.
• Social screening. Approving social criteria (screens) to investment decisions.
• Green management. Management in which managers consider the impact of their organization on the natural environment.

Ethics

• Ethics. Principles, values, and beliefs that define what is right and wrong behavior.
• Values. Basic convictions about what is right and wrong.
• Ego strength. A personality measure of the strength of a person's convictions.
• Value-based management. The organization's values guide employees in the way they do their jobs.
• Code of ethics. A formal statement of an organization's primary values and the ethical rules it expects its employees to follow.
• Whistle-blower. An individual who raises ethical concerns or issues to others.

Change management

• Organizational change. Any alteration of strategy, people, structure, or technology in an organization.
• Change agent. Someone who acts as a catalyst and assumes the responsibility for managing the change process.
• Organizational development. Change methods that focus on people and the nature and quality of interpersonal work relationships.
• Stress. The adverse reaction people have to excessive preasure placed on them from extraordinary demands, constraints, or opportunities.
• Stressor. A factor that causes stress.
• Role conflict. Work expectations that are hard to satisfy.
• Role overload. Having more work to accomplish than time permits.
• Role ambiguity. When role expectations are not clearly understood.
• Type A personality. People who have a chronic sense of urgency and an excessive competitive drive.
• Type B personality. People who are relaxed and easygoing and accept change easily.

Innovation

• Creativity. The ability to combine ideas in a unique way or to make unusual associations between ideas.
• Innovation. Taking creative ideas and turning them into useful products or work methods.
• Idea champion. An individual who actively and enthusiastically supports new ideas, builds support, overcomes resistance, and ensures that innovations are implemented.
• Disruptive innovation. Innovations in products, services, or processes that radically change an industry's rules of the game.
• Sustaining innovation. Small and incremental changes in established products rather than dramatic breakthroughs.
• Skunk works. A small group within a large organization, given a high degree of autonomy and unhampered by corporate bureaucracy, whose mission is to develop a project primarily for the sake of radical innovation.

Planning

• Planning. Management function that involves setting goals, establishing strategies for achieving those goals, and developing plans to integrate and coordinate activities.
• Goal (objective). Desired outcome or target.
• Organizational plan. A document that outline how organizational goals are going to be met.
• Stated goal. An official statement of what an organization says, and what it wants its various stakeholders to believe, its goals are.
• Real goal. A goal that an organization actually pursues, as defined by the actions of its members.
• Strategic plan. A plan that applies to the entire organization and establishes the organization's overall goals.
• Operational plan. A plan that encompasses a particular operational area of the organization.
• Long-term plan. A plan with a time frame beyond three years.
• Short-term plan. A plan covering one year or less.
• Specific plan. A plan that is clearly defined and leaves no room for interpretation.
• Directional plan. A plan that is flexible and sets out general guidelines.
• Single-use plan. A one-time plan specifically designed to meet the needs of a unique situation.
• Standing plan. An ongoing plan that provides guidance for activities performed repeatedly.
• Traditional goal-setting. An approach to setting goals in which top managers set goals that then flow down through the organization and become subgoals for each organizational area.
• Means-end chain. An integrated network of goals in which the accomplishment of goals at one level serves as the means for achieving the goals, or ends, at the next level.
• Management by objectives. A process of setting mutually agreed-upon goals and using those goals to evaluate employee performance.
• Commitment concept. Plans should extend for enough to meet those commitments made when the plans were developed.
• Formal planning department. A group of planning specialists whose sole responsibility is helping to write organizational plans.
• Environmental scanning. Screening information to detect emerging trends.
• Competitor intelligence. Gathering information about competitors that allows managers to anticipate competitors' actions rather than merely react to them.
• Business intelligence. Data that managers can use to make more effective strategic decisions.
• Digital tool. Technology, systems, or software that allow the user to collect, visualize, understand, or analyze data.
• Cloud computing. Refers to storing and accessing data on the Internet rather than a computer's hard drive or a company's network.
• Internet of things. Allows everyday "things" to generate and store and share data across the Internet.

Strategy

• Strategic management. What managers do to develop the organization's strategies.
• Strategy. The plan for how the organization will do what it's in business to do, how it will compete successfully, and how it will attract and satisfy its customers in order to achieve its goals.
• Business model. How a company is going to make money.
• Strategic management process. A six-step process that encompasses strategic planning, implementation, and evaluation.
• Mission. The purpose of an organization.
• Opportunity. A positive trend in the external environment.
• Threat. A negative trend in the external environment.
• Organizational resource. An organization's asset -- including financial, physical, human, intangible, and structural/cultural -- that is used to develop, manufacture, and deliver products to its customers.
• Capability. An organization's skill and ability in doing the work activities needed in its business.
• Core competency. An organization's major value-creating capability that determines its competitive weapons.
• Strength. Any activity the organization does well or its unique resource.
• Weakness. An activity the organization does not do well or a resource it needs but does not possess.
• SWOT analysis. An analysis of the organnization's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.
• Corporate strategy. An organizational strategy that determines what businesses a company is in or wants to be in, and what it wants to do with those businesses.
• Growth strategy. A corporate strategy that's used when an organization wants to expand the number of markets served or products offered, either through its current business(es) or through new business(es).
• Stability strategy. A corporate strategy in which an organization continues to do what it is currently doing.
• Renewal strategy. A corporate strategy designed to address declining performance.
• BCG matrix. A strategy tool that guides resource allocation decisions on the basis of market share and growth rate of strategic business units.
• Competitive strategy. A corporate strategy for how an organization will compete in its business(es).
• Strategic business unit. A single independent business of an organization that formulates its own competitive strategy.
• Competitive advantage. What sets an organization apart; its distinctive edge.
• Functional strategy. A strategy used by an organization's various functional departments to support the competitive strategy.
• Strategic leadership. The ability to anticipate, envision, maintain flexibility, think strategically, and work with others in the organization to initiate changes that will create a viable and valuable future for the organization.
• Strategic flexibility. The ability to recognize major external changes, to quickly commit resources, and to recognize when a strategic decision was a mistake.
• First mover. An organization that's first to bring a product innovation to the market or to use a new process innovation.

Entrepreneurship

• Entrepreneurial venture. An organization that pursues opportunities, and characterized by innovative practices, and have growth and profitability as their main goals.
• Small business. An organization that is independently owned, operated, and financed; has fewer than 100 employees; doesn't necessarily engage in any new or innovative practices; and has relatively little impact on its industry.
• Self-employment. Individuals who work for profit or fees in their own business, profession, trade, or farm.
• Feasibility study. An analysis of the various aspects of a proposed entrepreneurial venture designed to determine its feasibility.
• Venture capitalist. External equity financing provided by professionally managed pools of investor money.
• Angel investor. A private investor or group of private investors who offers financial backing to an entrepreneurial venture in return for equity in the venture.
• Initial public offering. The first public registration and sale of a company's stock.
• Business plan. A written document that summarizes a business opportunity and defines and articulates how the identified opportunity is to be seized and exploited.
• Sharing economy. Business arrangements that are based on people sharing something they own or providing a service for a fee.
• Sole proprietorship. A form of legal organization in which the owner maintains sole and complete control over the business and is personally liable for business debts.
• General partnership. A form of legal organization in which two or more business owners share the management and risk of the business.
• Limited liability partnership. A form of legal organization in which consisting of general partner(s) and limited liability partner(s).
• Corporation. A legal business entity that is separate from its owners and managers.
• Closely held corporation. A corporation owned by a limited number of people who do not trade the stock publicly.
• S corporation. A specialized type of corporation that has the regular characteristics of a C corporation, but is unique in that the owners are taxed as a partnership as long as certain criteria are met.
• Limited liability company. A form of legal organization that's a hybrid between a partnership and a corporation.
• Operating agreement. The document that outlines the provisions governing the way a limited liability company will conduct business.
• "Boiled frog" phenomenon. A perspective on recognizing performance declines that suggests watching out for subtly declining situations.
• Harvesting. Exiting a venture when an entrepreneur hopes to capitalize financially on the investment in the future.

Organizational structure

• Organizing. Management function that involves arranging and structuring work to accomplish the organizational goals.
• Organizational structure. The formal arrangement of jobs within an organization.
• Organizational chart. The visual representation of an organization's structure.
• Organizational design. Creating or changing an organization's structure.
• Work specialization. Dividing work activities into separate job tasks.
• Departmentalization. The basis by which jobs are grouped together.
• Cross-functional team. A workteam composed of individuals from various functional specialties.
• Chain of command. The line of authority extending from upper organizational levels to the lowest levels, which clarifies who reports to whom.
• Authority. The rights inherent in a managerial position to tell people what to do and to expect them to do it.
• Line authority. Authority that entitles a manager to direct the work of an employee.
• Staff authority. Positions with some authority that have been created to support, assist, and advise those holding line authority.
• Responsibility. The obligation of expectation to perform any assigned duties.
• Unity of command. The management principle that each person should report to only one manager.
• Span of control. The number of employees a manager can efficiently and effectively manage.
• Centralization. The degree to which decision-making is concentrated at upper levels of the organization.
• Decentralization. The degree to which lower-level employees provide input or actually make decisions.
• Employee empowerment. Giving employees more authority (power) to make decisions.
• Formalization. How standardized an organization's jobs are and the extent to which employee behavior is guided by rules and procedures.
• Mechanistic organization. An organization with organizational structure that's rigid and tightly controlled.
• Organic organization. An organization with organizational structure that's highly adaptive and flexible.
• Unit production. The production of items in units or small batches.
• Mass production. The production of items in large batches.
• Process production. The production of items in continuous process.
• Simple structure. An organizational structure with little departmentalization, wide spans of control, centralized authority, and little formalization.
• Functional structure. An organizational structure that groups together similar or related occupational specialties.
• Divisional structure. An organizational structure made up of separate, semi-autonomous units or divisions.
• Team structure. An organizational structure in which the entire organization is made up of workteams.
• Matrix structure. An organizational structure that assigns specialists from different functional departments to work on one or more projects.
• Project structure. An organizational structure in which employees continuously work on projects.
• Boundaryless organization. An organization whose organizational structure is not defined by, or limited to, the horizontal, vertical, or external boundaries imposed by a predefined structure.
• Virtual organization. An organization that consists of a small core of full-time employees and outside specialists temporarily hired as needed to work on projects.
• Task force (ad hoc committee). A temporary committee or team formed to tackle a specific short-term problem affecting several departments.
• Open innovation. Opening up the search for new ideas beyond the organization's boundaries and allowing innovations to easily transfer inward and outward.
• Compressed workweek. A workweek where employees work longer hours per day but fewer days per week.
• Flextime (flexible work hours). A scheduling system in which employees are required to work a specific number of hours a week but are free to vary those hours within certain limits.
• Job sharing. The practice of having two or more people split a full-time job.
• Contingent worker. A temporary, freelance, or contract worker whose employment is contingent on demand for her or his services.

Human resources

• High-performance work practice. Work practice that leads to both high individual and high organizational performance.
• Labor union. An organization that represents workers and seeks to protect their interests through collective bargaining.
• Affirmative action. Organizational programs that enhance the status of members of protected groups.
• Work council. A group of nominated or elected employees who must be consulted when management makes decisions involving personnel.
• Board representative. An employee who sits on a company's board of directors and represents the interests of the firm's employees.
• Human resource planning. Ensuring that the organization has the right number and kinds of capable people in the right places and at the right times.
• Job analysis. An assessment that defines jobs and the behaviors necessary to perform them.
• Job description. A written statement that describes a job.
• Job specification. A written statement of the minimum qualifications a person must possess to perform a given job successfully.
• Recruitment. Locating, identifying, and attracting capable applicants.
• Decruitment. Reducing an organization's workforce.
• Selection. Screening job applicants to ensure that the most appropriate candidates are hired.
• Realistic job preview. A preview of a job that provides both positive and negative information about the job and the company.
• Orientation. Introducing a new employee to her or his job and the organization.
• Performance management system. Establishes performance standards used to evaluate employee performance.
• Skill-based pay. A pay system that rewards employees for the job skills they can demonstrate.
• Variable pay. A pay system in which an individual's compensation is contingent on performance.
• Downsizing. The planned elimination of jobs in an organization.
• Sexual harassment. Any unwanted action or activity of a sexual nature that explicitly or implicitly affects an individual's employment, performance, or work environment.

Group behavior

• Group. Two or more interacting and interdependent individuals who come together to achieve specific goals.
• Forming stage. The first stage of group development in which people join the group and then define the group's purpose, structure, and leadership.
• Storming stage. The second stage of group development, characterized by intragroup conflict.
• Norming stage. The third stage of group development, characterized by close relationships and cohesiveness.
• Performing stage. The fourth stage of group development when the group is fully functional and works on group task.
• Adjourning stage. The fifth stage of group development for temporary groups during which group members are concerned with wrapping up activities rather than task performance.
• Role. Behavior patterns expected of someone occupying a given position in a social unit.
• Norm. A standard or expectation that is accepted and shared by a group's members.
• Groupthink. When a group exerts extensive pressure on an individual to align her or his opinion with others; opinions.
• Status. A prestige grading, position, or rank within a group.
• Social loafing. The tendency for individuals to expend less effort when working collectively than when working individually.
• Group cohesiveness. The degree to which group members are attracted to one another and share the group's goals.
• Conflict. Perceived incompatible differences that result in interference or opposition.
• Traditional view of conflict. The view that all conflict is bad and must be avoided.
• Human relations view of conflict. The view that conflict is a natural and inevitable outcome in any group.
• Interactionist view of conflict. The view that some conflict is necessary for a group to perform effectively.
• Functional conflict. A conflict that supports a group's goals and improve its performance.
• Dysfunctional conflict. A conflict that prevents a group from achieving its goals.
• Task conflict. A conflict over content and goals of the work.
• Relationship conflict. A conflict based on interpersonal relationships.
• Process conflict. A conflict over how work gets done.
• Workteam. A group whose members work intensely on a specific, common goal using their positive synergy, individual and mutual accountability, and complementary skills.
• Problem-solving team. A workteam from the same department of functional area that's involved in efforts to improve work activities or solve specific problems.
• Self-managed work team. A type of workteam that operates without a manager and is responsible for a complete work process or segment.
• Cross-functional team. A workteam composed of individuals from various functional specialties.
• Virtual team. A type of workteam that uses technology to link physically dispersed members in order to achieve a common goal.
• Social network structure. The patterns of informal connections among individuals within a group.

Communication

• Communication. The transfer and understanding of meaning.
• Interpersonal communication. Communication between two or more people.
• Organizational communication. All the patterns, networks, and systems of communication within an organization.
• Message. A purpose to be conveyed.
• Encoding. Converting a message into symbols.
• Channel. The medium a message travels along.
• Decoding. Retranslating a sender's message.
• Communication process. The seven elements involved in transfering meaning from one person to another.
• Noise. Any disturbances that interfere with the transmission, receipt, or feedback of a message.
• Nonverbal communication. Communication transmitted without words.
• Body language. Gestures, facial configurations, and other body movements that convey meaning.
• Verbal intonation. An emphasis given to words or phrases that conveys meaning.
• Information overload. When information exceeds our processing capacity.
• Filtering. The deliberate manipulation of information to make it appear more favorable to the receiver.
• Jargon. Specialized terminology or technical language that members of a group use to communicate among themselves.
• Active listening. Listening for full meaning without making premature judgments or interpretations.
• Formal communication. Communication that takes place within prescribed organizational work arrangements.
• Informal communication. Communication that is not defined by the organization's structural hierarchy.
• Town hall meeting. An informal public meeting where information can be relayed, issues can be discussed, or employees can be brought together to celebrate accomplishments.
• Downward communication. Communication that flows downward from managers to employees.
• Upward communication. Communication that flows upward from employees to managers.
• Lateral communication. Communication that takes place among any employees on the same organizational level.
• Diagonal communication. Communication that cuts across work areas and organizational levels.
• Communication networks. The variety of patterns of vertical and horizontal flows of organizational communication.
• Grapevine. The informal organizational communication network.
• Open workplace. Workplace with few physical barriers and enclosures.
• Ethical communication. Communication that includes all relevant information, is true in every sense, and is not deceptive in any way.
• Persuasion skills. Skills that enable a person to influence others to change their minds or behavior.
• Speaking skills. Skills that refer to the ability to communicate information and ideas in talking so others will understand.
• Writing skills. Skills that entail communicating effectively in text as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
• Reading skills. Skills that entail an understanding of written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents.

Individual behavior

• Behavior. The actions of people.
• Employees productivity. A performance measure of both efficiency and effectiveness.
• Absenteeism. The failure to show up for work.
• Turnover. The voluntary and involuntary permanent withdrawal from an organization.
• Organizational citizenship behavior. Discretionary behavior that is not part of employee's formal job requirements, but which promotes the effective functioning of the organization.
• Job satisfaction. An employee's general attitude toward her or his job.
• Counterproductive workplace behavior. Any intentional employee behavior that is potentially damaging to the organization or to individuals within organization.
• Attitude. An evaluative statement, either favorable or unfavorable, concerning objects, people, or events.
• Cognitive component. That part of an attitude that's made up of the beliefs, opinions, knowledge, or information held by a person.
• Affective component. That part of an attitude that's the emotional or feeling part.
• Behavioral component. That part of an attitude that refers to an intention to behave in a certain way toward someone or something.
• Job involvement. The degree to which an employee identifies with her or his job, actively participates in it, and considers her or his job performance to be important self-worth.
• Organizational commitment. The degree to which an employee identifies with a particular organization and its goals and wishes to maintain membership in that organization.
• Perceived organizational support. Employees' general belief that their organization values their contribution and cares about their well-being.
• Employee engagement. When employees are connected to, satisfied with, and enthusiastic about their jobs.
• Cognitive dissonance. Any incompatibility or inconsistency between attitudes or between behavior and attitudes.
• Attitude survey. A survey that elicits responses from employees through questions about how they feel about their jobs, work groups, supervisors, or the organization.
• Personality. The unique combination of emotional, thought, and behavioral patterns that affect how a person reacts to situations and interacts with others.
• Big Five Model. Personality trait model that includes extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, emotional stability, and openness to experience.
• Locus of control. A personality attribute that measures the degree to which people believe they control their own fate.
• Machiavellianism. A measure of the degree to which people are pragmatic, maintain emotional distance, and believe that ends justify means.
• Self-esteem. An individual's degree of like or dislike for herself or himself.
• Self-monitoring. A personality trait that measures the ability to adjust behavior to external situational factors.
• Proactive personality. A personality trait that describes individuals who are more prone to take actions to influence their environments.
• Resilience. An individual's ability to overcome challenges and turn them into opportunities.
• Emotion. Intense feeling that is directed at someone or something.
• Emotional intelligence. The ability to notice and to manage emotional cues and information.
• Perception. A process by which we give meaning to our environment by organizing and interpreting sensory impressions.
• Attribution theory. A theory used to explain how we judge people differently depending on what meaning we attribute to a given behavior.
• Fundamental attribution error. The tendency to underestimate the influence of external factors and overestimate the influence of internal factors when making judgments about the behavior of others.
• Self-serving bias. The tendency for individuals to attribute their own successes to internal factors while putting the blame for failures on external factors.
• Assumed similarity. The assumption that others are like oneself.
• Stereotyping. Judging a person based on a perception of a group to which that person belongs.
• Halo effect. A general impression of an individual based on a single characteristic.
• Learning. Any relatively permanent change in behavior that occurs as a result of experience.
• Operant conditioning. A theory of learning that says behavior is a function of its consequences.
• Social learning theory. A theory of learning that says people can learn through observation and direct experience.
• Shaping behavior. The process of guiding learning in graduated steps using reinforcement or lack of reinforcement.

Motivation

• Motivation. The process by which a person's efforts are energized, directed, and sustained toward attaining a goal.
• Hierarchy of needs theory. Maslow's theory that human needs -- psychological, safety, social, esteem, and self-actualization -- form a sort of hierarchy.
• Psychological need. A person's need for food, drink, shelter, sexual satisfaction, and other physical needs.
• Safety need. A person's need for security and protection from physical and emotional harm.
• Social need. A person's need for affection, belongingness, acceptance, and friendship.
• Esteem need. A person's need for internal factors such as self-respect, authority, and achievement, and external factors such as status, recognition, and attention.
• Self-actualization need. A person's need to become what she or he is capable of becoming.
• Theory X. The assumption that employees dislike work, are lazy, avoid responsibility, and must be coerced to perform.
• Theory Y. The assumption that employees are creative, enjoy work, seek responsibility, and can exercise self-direction.
• Two-factor theory (motivation-hygiene theory). The motivation theory that intrinsic factors are related to job satisfaction and motivation, whereas extrinsic factors are associated with job dissatisfaction.
• Hygiene factor. A factor that eliminates job dissatisfaction, but don't motivate.
• Motivators. A factor that increase job satisfaction and motivation.
• Three-needs theory. The motivation theory that says three acquired (not innate) needs -- achievement, power, and affiliation -- are major motives in work.
• Need for achievement. The drive to succeed and excel in relation to a set of standards.
• Need for power. The need to make others behave in a way that they would not have behaved otherwise.
• Need for affiliation. The desire for friendly and close interpersonal relationships.
• Goal-setting theory. The proposition that specific goals increase performance and that difficult goals, when accepted, result in higher performance than do easy goals.
• Self-efficacy. An individual's belief that she or he is capable of performing a task.
• Reinforcement theory. The theory that behavior is a function of its consequences.
• Reinforcer. A consequence immediately following a behavior, which increases the probability that the behavior will be repeated.
• Job design. The way tasks are combined to form complete jobs.
• Job score. The number of different tasks required in a job and the frequency with which those tasks are repeated.
• Job enlargement. The horizontal expansion of a job by increasing job scope.
• Job enrichment. The vertical expansion of a job by adding planning and evaluating responsibilities.
• Job depth. The degree of control employees have over their work.
• Job Characteristics Model. A framework for analyzing and designing jobs that identifies five primary core job dimensions, their interrelationships, and their impact on outcomes.
• Skill variety. The degree to which a job requires a variety of activities so that an employee can use a number of different skills and talents.
• Task identity. The degree to which a job requires completion of a whole and identifiable piece of work.
• Task significance. The degree to which a job has a substantial impact on the lives or work of other people.
• Autonomy. The degree to which a job provides substantial freedom, independence, and discretion to the individual in scheduling work and determining the procedures to be used in carrying it out.
• Feedback. The degree to which carrying out work activities required by a job results in the individual's obtaining direct and clear information about her or his performance effectiveness.
• Relational perspective of work design. An approach to job design that focuses on how people's tasks and jobs are increasingly based on social relationships.
• Proactive perspective of work design. An approach to job design in which employees take the initiative to change how their work is performed.
• High-involvement work practice. Work practice designed to elicit greater input or involvement from workers.
• Equity theory. The theory that an employee compares her or his job's input-outcomes ratio with that of relevant others and then corrects any inequity.
• Referent. A person, system, or self against which individuals compare themselves to assess equity.
• Distributive justice. Perceived fairness of the amount and allocation of rewards among individuals.
• Procedural justice. Perceived fairness of the process used to determine the distribution of rewards.
• Expectancy theory. The theory that an individual tends to act in a certain way based on the expectation that the act will be followed by a given outcome and on the attractiveness to the individual.
• Open-book management. A motivational approach in which an organization's financial statements (the "books") are shared with all employees.
• Employee recognition program. Personal attention and expressing interest, approval, and appreciation for a job well done.
• Pay-for-performance program. Variable compensation plans that pay employees on the basis of some performance measure.

Leadership

• Leading. Management function that involves working with and through people to accomplish organizational goals.
• Leader. Someone who can influence others and who has managerial authority.
• Leadership. A process of influencing a group to achieve goals.
• Behavioral theory. Any leadership theory that identifies behaviors that differentiate effective leaders from ineffective leaders.
• Autocratic style. Leadership style of someone who dictates work methods, makes unilateral decisions, and limits employee participation.
• Democratic style. Leadership style of someone who involves employees in decision-making, delegates authority, and uses feedback as an opportunity for coaching employees.
• Laissez-faire style. Leadership style of someone who lets the group make decisions and complete the work in whatever way it sees fit.
• Initiating structure behavior. The extend to which a leader defines her or his role and the roles of group members in attaining goals.
• Consideration behavior. The extend to which a leader has work relationships characterized by mutual trust and respect for group members' ideas and feelings.
• High-high leader. A leader high in both initiating structure and consideration behaviors.
• Managerial grid. A two-dimensional grid for appraising leadership styles.
• Fiedler contingency model. A leadership theory proposing that effective group performance depends on the proper match between a leader's style and the degree to which the situation allows the leader to control and influence.
• Leader-member relations. One of Fiedler's situational contingencies that describes the degree of confidence, trust, and respect employees have for their leader.
• Task structure. One of Fiedler's situational contingencies that describes the degree to which job assignments are formalized and structured.
• Position power. One of Fiedler's situational contingencies that describes the degree of influence a leader has over activities such as hiring, firing, discipline, promotions, and salary increases.
• Situational leadership theory (Hersey-Blanchard Situational Leadership Theory). A leadership contingency theory that focuses on followers' readiness.
• Readiness. The extent to which people have the ability and willingness to accomplish a specific task.
• Path-goal theory. A leadership theory that says the leader's job is to assist followers in attaining their goals and to provide direction or support needed to ensure that their goals are compatible with the goals of the group or organization.
• Leader-member exchange theory. The leadership theory that says leaders create in-groups and out-groups and those in the in-group will have higher performance ratings, less turnover, and greater job satisfaction.
• Transactional leader. A leader who leads primarily by using social exchanges (or transactions).
• Transformational leader. A leader who stimulates and inspires (transforms) followers to achieve extraordinary outcomes.
• Charismatic leader. An enthusiastic, self-confident leader whose personality and actions influence people to behave in certain ways.
• Visionary leadership. The ability to create and articulate a realistic, credible, and attractive vision of the future that improves upon the present situation.
• Authentic leadership. Leadership expressed by those who know who they are, know what they believe in, and act on those values and beliefs openly and candidly.
• Legitimate power. The power a leader has as a result of her or his position in the organization.
• Coercive power. The power a leader has to punish or control.
• Reward power. The power a leader has to give positive rewards.
• Expert power. Power that's based on expertise, special skills, or knowledge.
• Referent power. Power that arises because of a person's desirable resources or personal traits.
• Credibility. The degree to which followers perceive someone as honest, competent, and able to inspire.
• Trust. The belief in the integrity, character, and ability of a leader.

Monitoring and controlling

• Controlling. Management function that involves monitoring, comparing, and correcting work performance.
• Control process. A three-step process of measuring actual performance, comparing actual performance against a standard, and taking managerial action to correct deviations or inadequate standards.
• Range of variation. The acceptable parameters of variance between actual performance and the standard.
• Immediate corrective action. Corrective action that corrects problems at once to get performance back on track.
• Basic corrective action. Corrective action that looks at how and why performance deviated before correcting the source of deviation.
• Performance. The end result of an activity.
• Organizational performance. The accumulated results of all the organization's work activities.
• Productivity. The amount of goods and services produced divided by the inputs needed to generate that output.
• Organizational effectiveness. A measure of how appropriate organizational goals are and how well those goals are being met.
• Disciplinary action. An action taken by a manager to enforce the organization's work standards and regulations.
• Progressive disciplinary action. An approach to ensure that the minimum penalty appropriate to the offense is imposed.
• Feedforward control. Control that takes place before a work activity is done.
• Concurrent control. Control that takes place while a work activity is in progress.
• Management by walking around. A term used to describe when a manager is out in the work area interacting directly with employees.
• Feedback control. Control that takes place after a work activity is done.
• Management information system. A system used to provide management with needed information on a regular basis.
• Balanced scorecard. A performance measurement tool that looks as more than just the financial perspective.
• Benchmarking. The search for the best practices among competitors or noncompetitors that lead to their superior performance.
• Benchmark. The standard of excellence against which to measure and compare.
• Employee theft. Any unauthorized taking of company property by employees for their personal use.
• Service profit chain. The service sequence from employees to customers to profit.

Project management

• Forecast. Prediction of outcome.
• Quantitative forecasting. Forecasting that applies a set of mathematical rules to a series of past data to predict outcomes.
• Qualitative forecasting. Forecasting that uses the judgment and opinions of knowledgeable individuals to predict outcomes.
• Budget. A numerical plan for allocating resources to specific activities.
• Budgeting. The process of allocating resources to pay for designated future costs.
• Incremental budgeting. Process starting with the current budget from which managers decide whether they need additional resources and the justification for requesting it.
• Zero-balance budgeting. Process starting with an established point of zero rather than using the current budget as the basis for adding, modifying, or subtracting resources.
• Scheduling. Detailing what activities have to be done, the order in which they are to be completed, who is to do each, and when they are to be completed.
• Gantt chart. A scheduling chart developed by Henry Gantt that shows actual and planned output over a period of time.
• Load chart. A modified Gantt chart that schedules capacity by entire departments or specific resources.
• PERT network. A flowchart diagram showing the sequence of activities needed to complete a project and the time or cost associated with each.
• PERT event. End point that represents the completion of major activities in a PERT network.
• PERT activity. The time or resource needed to progress from one event to another in a PERT network.
• Slack time. The amount of time an individual activity can be delayed without delaying the whole project.
• Critical path. The longest sequence of activities in a PERT network.
• Breakeven analysis. A technique for identifying the point at which total revenue is just sufficient to cover total costs.
• Linear programming. A mathematical technique that solves resource allocation problems.
• Project. A one-time-only set of activities that has a definite beginning and ending point in time.
• Project management. The task of getting a project's activities done on time, within budget, and according to specifications.
• Scenario. A consistent view of what the future is likely to be.

Operations management

• Operations management. The transformation process that converts resources into finished goods and services.
• Manufacturing organization. An organization that produces physical goods.
• Service organization. An organization that produces nonphysical products in the form of services.
• Value. The performance characteristics, features, and attributes, and any other aspects of goods and services for which customers are willing to give up resources.
• Value chain. The entire series of organizational work activities that add value to each step from raw materials to finished product.
• Value chain management. The process of managing the sequence of activities and information along the entire value chain.
• Organizational process. One of the ways that organizational work is done.
• Intellectual property. Proprietary information that's critical to an organization's efficient and effective functioning and competitiveness.
• Quality. The ability of a product or service to reliably do what it's supposed to do and to satisfy customer expectations.
• ISO 9000. A series of international quality management standards that set uniform guidelines for processes to entire products conform to customer requirements.
• Six Sigma. A quality program designed to reduce defects and help lower costs, save time, and improve customer satisfaction.
• Mass customization. Providing customers with a product when, where, and how they want it.
• Lean organization. An organization that understands what customers want, identifies customer value by analyzing all activities required to produce products, and then optimizes the entire process from the customer's perspective.