Introduction to Management
Q1. What is management?
ANSWER Management is the process of planning, organizing, leading, and
controlling an organization's resources to achieve its goals effectively and
efficiently.
Q2. What are the four functions of management?
ANSWER The four functions are: Planning (setting goals), Organizing
(arranging resources), Leading (motivating people), and Controlling
(monitoring performance).
Q3. What is the difference between efficiency and effectiveness?
ANSWER Efficiency means doing things right (minimizing resource waste);
effectiveness means doing the right things (achieving goals). A manager
should strive for both.
Q4. Who is considered the father of scientific management?
ANSWER Frederick Winslow Taylor is considered the father of scientific
management, known for time-and-motion studies and standardized work
methods.
Q5. What are Fayol's 14 principles of management?
ANSWER They include: division of work, authority, discipline, unity of
command, unity of direction, subordination of individual interest, remuneration,
centralization, scalar chain, order, equity, stability, initiative, and esprit de
corps.
Q6. What is the scalar chain?
ANSWER The scalar chain is the formal line of authority from the top of an
organization down to the lowest levels; communication should flow along this
chain.
Q7. What does Henri Fayol's classical management theory emphasize?
, ANSWER It emphasizes formal authority, hierarchy, and universal principles
that can be applied across all organizations.
Q8. What is scientific management?
ANSWER Scientific management (Taylorism) is the systematic study of work
methods to improve efficiency, using time-and-motion studies and
standardization.
Q9. What is the Hawthorne Effect?
ANSWER The Hawthorne Effect is the tendency for workers to increase
productivity when they know they are being observed, discovered in studies at
Western Electric's Hawthorne plant.
Q10. What are the three levels of management?
ANSWER Top-level (strategic) management, middle management, and first-
line (operational) management.
Q11. What skills are most important at the top management level?
ANSWER Conceptual skills (big-picture thinking, strategy) are most important
at the top level.
Q12. What are the three categories of managerial skills?
ANSWER Technical skills, human (interpersonal) skills, and conceptual skills.
Q13. What is a first-line manager?
ANSWER A first-line manager directly supervises non-managerial employees
and is responsible for day-to-day operations.
Q14. What is a learning organization?
ANSWER A learning organization continuously adapts by encouraging all
members to learn, share knowledge, and change in response to the
environment.
Q15. What is the systems approach to management?
ANSWER It views an organization as an interconnected system of inputs,
transformation processes, outputs, and feedback loops operating within an
environment.
Q16. What is the contingency approach to management?
ANSWER It holds that there is no single best way to manage; the best
approach depends on the specific situation or context.
Q17. What is an open system?
, ANSWER An open system interacts with its environment, taking in inputs and
producing outputs, as opposed to a closed system that operates
independently.
Q18. What are managerial roles according to Mintzberg?
ANSWER Mintzberg identified 10 roles grouped into: Interpersonal
(figurehead, leader, liaison), Informational (monitor, disseminator,
spokesperson), and Decisional (entrepreneur, disturbance handler, resource
allocator, negotiator).
Q19. What does the term 'span of control' mean?
ANSWER Span of control refers to the number of employees a manager
directly supervises. A wider span means fewer management layers.
Q20. What is the classical view of social responsibility?
ANSWER The classical view holds that management's only social
responsibility is to maximize profits for shareholders within legal bounds.
Q21. What is the socioeconomic view of social responsibility?
ANSWER It holds that corporations have responsibilities to society beyond
profit-making, including obligations to employees, customers, and
communities.
Q22. Define organizational culture.
ANSWER Organizational culture is the shared set of beliefs, values, norms,
and practices that shape how people behave within an organization.
Q23. What is a mission statement?
ANSWER A mission statement defines the organization's purpose, core
values, and the customers or markets it serves.
Q24. What is the difference between a mission and a vision statement?
ANSWER A mission describes what the organization does now; a vision
describes what it aspires to become in the future.
Q25. What is a stakeholder?
ANSWER A stakeholder is any individual or group that has an interest in or is
affected by the organization's actions, including employees, customers,
investors, suppliers, and the community.
Q26. What is corporate governance?
ANSWER Corporate governance refers to the system of rules, practices, and
processes by which a company is directed and controlled, including the role of
the board of directors.
, Q27. Define 'managerial ethics'.
ANSWER Managerial ethics refers to the standards of right and wrong that
guide a manager's decisions and actions.
Q28. What are values in an organizational context?
ANSWER Values are the core beliefs and principles that guide organizational
behavior and decision-making, such as integrity, innovation, or customer
focus.
Q29. What is the difference between a tall and flat organizational structure?
ANSWER A tall structure has many hierarchical levels and narrow spans of
control; a flat structure has few levels and wide spans of control.
Q30. What is bureaucracy as described by Max Weber?
ANSWER Weber's bureaucracy is characterized by formal rules, division of
labor, hierarchy of authority, impersonality, and merit-based employment.
Q1. What is management?
ANSWER Management is the process of planning, organizing, leading, and
controlling an organization's resources to achieve its goals effectively and
efficiently.
Q2. What are the four functions of management?
ANSWER The four functions are: Planning (setting goals), Organizing
(arranging resources), Leading (motivating people), and Controlling
(monitoring performance).
Q3. What is the difference between efficiency and effectiveness?
ANSWER Efficiency means doing things right (minimizing resource waste);
effectiveness means doing the right things (achieving goals). A manager
should strive for both.
Q4. Who is considered the father of scientific management?
ANSWER Frederick Winslow Taylor is considered the father of scientific
management, known for time-and-motion studies and standardized work
methods.
Q5. What are Fayol's 14 principles of management?
ANSWER They include: division of work, authority, discipline, unity of
command, unity of direction, subordination of individual interest, remuneration,
centralization, scalar chain, order, equity, stability, initiative, and esprit de
corps.
Q6. What is the scalar chain?
ANSWER The scalar chain is the formal line of authority from the top of an
organization down to the lowest levels; communication should flow along this
chain.
Q7. What does Henri Fayol's classical management theory emphasize?
, ANSWER It emphasizes formal authority, hierarchy, and universal principles
that can be applied across all organizations.
Q8. What is scientific management?
ANSWER Scientific management (Taylorism) is the systematic study of work
methods to improve efficiency, using time-and-motion studies and
standardization.
Q9. What is the Hawthorne Effect?
ANSWER The Hawthorne Effect is the tendency for workers to increase
productivity when they know they are being observed, discovered in studies at
Western Electric's Hawthorne plant.
Q10. What are the three levels of management?
ANSWER Top-level (strategic) management, middle management, and first-
line (operational) management.
Q11. What skills are most important at the top management level?
ANSWER Conceptual skills (big-picture thinking, strategy) are most important
at the top level.
Q12. What are the three categories of managerial skills?
ANSWER Technical skills, human (interpersonal) skills, and conceptual skills.
Q13. What is a first-line manager?
ANSWER A first-line manager directly supervises non-managerial employees
and is responsible for day-to-day operations.
Q14. What is a learning organization?
ANSWER A learning organization continuously adapts by encouraging all
members to learn, share knowledge, and change in response to the
environment.
Q15. What is the systems approach to management?
ANSWER It views an organization as an interconnected system of inputs,
transformation processes, outputs, and feedback loops operating within an
environment.
Q16. What is the contingency approach to management?
ANSWER It holds that there is no single best way to manage; the best
approach depends on the specific situation or context.
Q17. What is an open system?
, ANSWER An open system interacts with its environment, taking in inputs and
producing outputs, as opposed to a closed system that operates
independently.
Q18. What are managerial roles according to Mintzberg?
ANSWER Mintzberg identified 10 roles grouped into: Interpersonal
(figurehead, leader, liaison), Informational (monitor, disseminator,
spokesperson), and Decisional (entrepreneur, disturbance handler, resource
allocator, negotiator).
Q19. What does the term 'span of control' mean?
ANSWER Span of control refers to the number of employees a manager
directly supervises. A wider span means fewer management layers.
Q20. What is the classical view of social responsibility?
ANSWER The classical view holds that management's only social
responsibility is to maximize profits for shareholders within legal bounds.
Q21. What is the socioeconomic view of social responsibility?
ANSWER It holds that corporations have responsibilities to society beyond
profit-making, including obligations to employees, customers, and
communities.
Q22. Define organizational culture.
ANSWER Organizational culture is the shared set of beliefs, values, norms,
and practices that shape how people behave within an organization.
Q23. What is a mission statement?
ANSWER A mission statement defines the organization's purpose, core
values, and the customers or markets it serves.
Q24. What is the difference between a mission and a vision statement?
ANSWER A mission describes what the organization does now; a vision
describes what it aspires to become in the future.
Q25. What is a stakeholder?
ANSWER A stakeholder is any individual or group that has an interest in or is
affected by the organization's actions, including employees, customers,
investors, suppliers, and the community.
Q26. What is corporate governance?
ANSWER Corporate governance refers to the system of rules, practices, and
processes by which a company is directed and controlled, including the role of
the board of directors.
, Q27. Define 'managerial ethics'.
ANSWER Managerial ethics refers to the standards of right and wrong that
guide a manager's decisions and actions.
Q28. What are values in an organizational context?
ANSWER Values are the core beliefs and principles that guide organizational
behavior and decision-making, such as integrity, innovation, or customer
focus.
Q29. What is the difference between a tall and flat organizational structure?
ANSWER A tall structure has many hierarchical levels and narrow spans of
control; a flat structure has few levels and wide spans of control.
Q30. What is bureaucracy as described by Max Weber?
ANSWER Weber's bureaucracy is characterized by formal rules, division of
labor, hierarchy of authority, impersonality, and merit-based employment.
