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Principles of Management

Free Principles of Management study guide: 10 units with summaries, key ideas, flashcards and 300 practice questions with step-by-step solutions.

Lines up with: College intro management; CLEP Principles of Management.

Units

1. UNIT 01

   Management Functions, Roles and History

   Management is getting work done efficiently and effectively through other people by planning, organizing, leading and controlling. This unit introduces what managers do and the century of theories that shaped how organizations are run.
2. UNIT 02

   The Organizational Environment and Culture

   Organizations do not operate in a vacuum: outside forces and the inside culture both limit and shape what managers can do. This unit covers the external environment, stakeholders, organizational culture and managing across national cultures.
3. UNIT 03

   Ethics and Social Responsibility

   Managers constantly face choices about right and wrong and about what they owe society. This unit covers ethical decision frameworks, what shapes ethical behavior, and the debate over corporate social responsibility.
4. UNIT 04

   Planning and Strategic Management

   Planning sets goals and decides how to reach them; strategic management does this for the whole organization against competitors. This unit covers types of plans and goals, the strategic management process, and the frameworks managers use to choose strategies.
5. UNIT 05

   Decision Making

   Decision making is the core of every management function. This unit covers the steps of making a decision, how real managers depart from pure rationality, the tools for deciding under risk and uncertainty, common biases, and how groups decide.
6. UNIT 06

   Organizational Structure and Design

   Organizing means arranging jobs, people and authority so work gets done. This unit covers the six elements of structure, mechanistic and organic designs, the factors that determine which design fits, and common traditional and modern structures.
7. UNIT 07

   Human Resource Management

   An organization's people are often its most important competitive advantage. This unit follows the human resource management process from planning and hiring through training, appraisal, pay and labor relations, along with the laws that shape each step.
8. UNIT 08

   Motivation

   Motivation is what makes people put in effort, direct it toward goals and keep it up. This unit covers the classic need theories and the contemporary process theories managers use to design jobs and rewards.
9. UNIT 09

   Leadership

   Leadership is the process of influencing a group toward its goals. This unit traces leadership research from traits and behaviors to contingency models and modern views, and explains where leaders get the power to influence others.
10. UNIT 10

    Teams, Communication and Control

    Managers get work done through groups, through communication and by checking results. This unit covers how teams develop and perform, how communication works and breaks down, and how the control process keeps an organization on track.