Management & Leadership: Theories and Key Terms

Planning, organizing, leading and controlling (POLC)

Technical, human (interpersonal) and conceptual. Conceptual skills matter most for top managers; technical skills matter most for front-line supervisors.

Interpersonal (figurehead, leader, liaison), informational (monitor, disseminator, spokesperson) and decisional (entrepreneur, disturbance handler, resource allocator, negotiator)

Autocratic (leader decides alone), democratic (group participates in decisions) and laissez-faire (group decides with little guidance).

Transactional: leads through rewards and penalties for meeting goals. Transformational: inspires people with a vision, motivating them to go beyond self-interest.

Servant leadership

Telling, selling, participating and delegating. The right style depends on the follower's readiness (ability and willingness).

A leader's style is fairly fixed (task- or relationship-oriented), so effectiveness depends on matching the leader to a situation that suits that style.

Leaders help followers reach goals by clearing the path, choosing a directive, supportive, participative or achievement-oriented style to fit the situation.

Legitimate: from a formal position Reward: ability to give rewards Coercive: ability to punish Expert: from knowledge or skill Referent: from being liked and admired

Physiological, safety, love and belonging, esteem, self-actualization

Hygiene factors (pay, working conditions, policies) prevent dissatisfaction but don't motivate. Motivators (achievement, recognition, responsibility, growth) create real satisfaction.

Theory X managers assume workers dislike work and need control. Theory Y managers assume workers are self-motivated and want responsibility.

The need for achievement, the need for affiliation and the need for power

Motivation = expectancy (effort leads to performance) × instrumentality (performance leads to a reward) × valence (how much the reward is valued). If any one is zero, motivation is zero.

Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound

Forming, storming, norming, performing, adjourning

Groupthink

Self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy and social skills

Span of control

Centralized: decisions are made at the top. Decentralized: decision-making authority is pushed down to lower levels.

Functional: grouped by job (marketing, finance). Divisional: grouped by product, region or customer. Matrix: employees report to both a functional manager and a project manager.

Studying tasks scientifically (time-and-motion studies) to find the one best way to do each job, then training workers and paying them for output.

Cost leadership, differentiation and focus (aiming either at a narrow market segment).