Management Glossary | A to Z Terms used in Management

Welcome to the constantly evolving and dynamic world of management. This comprehensive glossary looks into important terms and concepts, providing an easy-to-understand overview of the important variables that drive organizational performance. Look into the descriptions to discover:

Management Glossary – A to Z

A	Description
Agile Methodology	An iterative and flexible approach to project management that focuses on delivering value in short cycles
Authority	The right to make decisions and take action.
Assets	Resources owned by a company with economic value.
Adam’s Equity Theory	Adam’s Equity Theory boils down to this: we judge fairness by comparing our efforts (inputs) to rewards (outputs), and feeling unfairly treated leads to demotivation. We even compare ourselves to others to see if things are balanced.

B	Description
Benchmarking	Comparing your company’s performance to similar businesses.
Budgetary Control	Budgetary control is like a financial GPS for your business. It helps you set spending targets, track progress, and adjust course to ensure your expenses stay on track with your goals.
Brand Management	The process of creating and maintaining a positive image of your company.
Business Development	Business development is the engine of growth, driving new customers, partnerships, and opportunities to propel a business forward.
Business Process Management (BPM)	The practice of optimizing business processes to improve efficiency and effectiveness.
Business Process Re-engineering (BPR)	Business process re-engineering (BPR) is a method for improving an organization’s processes by fundamentally redesigning them. It involves challenging conventional thinking and looking for ways to improve efficiency, effectiveness, and customer satisfaction. In short, BPR helps organizations work smarter, not harder.

C	Description
Consumer Behaviour	Consumer behavior, the study of how people choose, use, and dispose of products, helps businesses understand what motivates customers and create marketing strategies that influence their decisions. It’s crucial for businesses to reach, engage, and ultimately sell to their target audience.
Crisis Management	Crisis management helps organizations prepare for, respond to, and recover from unexpected events that could damage their reputation, operations, or people. It involves planning, communication, and collaboration to minimize harm and return to normalcy as quickly as possible.
Coordination	Coordination is the ability to work together effectively and efficiently towards a common goal. It is the process of bringing together and uniting various organizational components to accomplish predefined goals. It is a planned and rational procedure.
Committee Organisation	Committees bring together diverse expertise within an organization to tackle complex tasks and make informed decisions. They share workload, promote collaboration, but need effective coordination to avoid delays and fragmentation. Ultimately, well-managed committees can significantly improve decision quality and organizational effectiveness.
Corporate Governance	Corporate governance sets the rules for how companies operate, ensuring fairness, transparency, and accountability for all stakeholders, from shareholders to employees to society. This helps companies thrive and build trust.
Creative Process	Creativity in decision-making is thinking outside the box to solve unique problems. It involves a four-stage process: gathering information, subconsciously processing ideas, experiencing sudden insights, and refining the solution for practicality.
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)	Integrating social and environmental concerns into your business practices.
Chief Operating Officer (COO)	As the right-hand person to the CEO, the COO manages an organization’s daily operations, ensuring smooth functioning and efficiency.

D	Description
Decision Making	The process of choosing a course of action.
Departmentation	Departmentation refers to the process of grouping related activities or functions into specialized units or departments within an organization. It is derived from the word ‘department’, which signifies an organization’s distinct area or division responsible for specific tasks or functions.
Delegation	Delegation empowers employees by giving them tasks and responsibility, freeing up managers for strategic thinking. It boosts productivity, develops skills, and helps plan for future leadership.

E	Description
Emotional Intelligence	The ability to understand and manage your own emotions, and the emotions of others.
Expectancy Theory of Motivation	Expectancy theory says we’re motivated by what we expect: putting in effort leads to good performance (Expectancy), good performance gets rewards (Instrumentality), and those rewards matter to us (Valence). Like a formula, these factors multiply to determine our overall motivation.
Ethics	The principles of right and wrong conduct.
Employee Branding	Employee Branding goes beyond just hiring – it’s about building a workforce that embodies and advocates for the company’s core values, fostering pride and ownership to transform them into active brand ambassadors.
Environmental Management	Environmental Management aims to balance human needs with the planet’s health through strategic planning, sustainable practices, and innovative solutions, protecting resources and ecosystems for generations to come.
Entrepreneur	Entrepreneurship ignites passion, fuels innovation, and transforms dreams into reality, navigating challenges to carve a lasting legacy in the dynamic world of business.

F	Description
Feedback	Information provided to someone about their performance.
Functional Organisation	Functional organizations group individuals with similar skills into departments like marketing, finance, or operations. This fosters expertise, clarity on responsibilities, and efficient workflows.
Finance	The management of money and other financial resources.
Forecasting	Forecasting involves making educated guesses about future events that could affect a company. Businesses can predict sales, finances, customer demand, and market changes by examining past data, trends, and patterns. Forecasting helps companies make decisions, plan, and manage risks.

G	Description
Green Marketing	Green marketing involves creating and promoting eco-friendly products and services, focusing on sustainability throughout the process. This helps businesses appeal to environmentally conscious consumers and contribute to a healthier planet.
Glass Ceiling in Workplace	The “glass ceiling” refers to an invisible barrier holding women and minorities back from reaching top leadership positions, despite their talent and contributions. It’s a discriminatory obstacle hindering their rise and needs to be shattered for truly equal opportunities.

H	Description
Human Resource Accounting	Human Resource Accounting (HRA) goes beyond traditional accounting by valuing employees and their skills as an investment, not just a cost. This helps companies understand their human capital’s worth and make informed decisions about talent management.
Herzberg’s Two-Factor Theory of Motivation	Frederick Herzberg’s theory, based on interviews with 200 US engineers and accountants, categorizes job factors into “motivators” (growth-related) and “hygiene factors” (maintenance-related). Motivators drive satisfaction, while hygiene factors prevent dissatisfaction, creating separate paths to positive and negative feelings about work.
House’s Path-goal Theory	Robert House’s Path-Goal Theory argues leaders influence subordinates’ satisfaction and performance by adapting their style to individual needs and situational factors like task structure and work environment. While offering a comprehensive framework, it faces criticism for complexity, limited empirical support, and neglecting leader traits and the full impact of their behaviour.
Human Resource Management System	HRMS software automates and manages various HR tasks like recruitment, payroll, and employee information, streamlining operations and saving time for HR professionals in organizations of all sizes. They can be customized to fit specific needs and often come as modular suites or individual products.
Horizontal Marketing System	Businesses on the same level join forces (Horizontal Marketing System) to share resources, reach more customers, and gain a competitive edge.

I	Description
International Management	International management navigates complex global landscapes, balancing diverse cultures, navigating conflicting policies, and managing unique risks like nationalization, currency fluctuations, and local workforce challenges, often requiring decentralization.

J	Description
Job Design	The structure and content of a job.
Japanese Management	Japanese management, known for its emphasis on continuous improvement, collaboration, and respect for hierarchy, helped fuel Japan’s economic miracle, sparking worldwide interest in its unique approach.

K	Description
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)	Metrics used to track progress towards goals.
Knowledge Management	The process of capturing, storing, and sharing knowledge within an organization.

L	Description
Life Cycle Theory of Leadership	Hersey and Blanchard’s Life Cycle Theory argues that effective leadership adapts to follower maturity, proposing four styles (Telling, Selling, Participating, Delegating) based on task and relationship needs, influencing leadership training in companies like Bank of America.
Line Organisation	Line organization prioritizes clarity and efficiency through a straightforward chain of command. Each employee reports directly to a single supervisor, creating clear accountability and centralized decision-making. This traditional structure minimizes confusion and ensures smooth communication.
Line and Staff Organisation	A line and staff organization combines a clear chain of command with specialized support teams (finance, HR, marketing), enabling efficient decision-making and leveraging everyone’s expertise.
Levels of Management	Management involves people at different levels with varying responsibilities and authority, forming a hierarchy to achieve organizational goals. This hierarchy has three main levels: top, middle, and operational.
Learning Organisation	Learning organizations go beyond training, actively adapting and acquiring knowledge together to stay ahead in a dynamic world, valuing individual and collective learning for sustained success.
Logistics	Logistics is very important to the success and efficiency of businesses because it helps with things like on-time delivery, cutting costs, making good use of resources, keeping customers happy, and expanding into new markets around the world.

M	Description
Management	Management, the art of leading others to achieve organizational goals, utilizes resources through planning, organizing, directing, and controlling. It combines scientific principles with situational adaptation for effective execution.
Micromanagement	Micromanagement suffocates creativity and productivity by controlling every detail and offering little autonomy, leaving employees feeling stifled and unappreciated.
Management Audit	Management audits go beyond compliance, examining management effectiveness and identifying areas for improvement, ultimately aiming to boost transparency, accountability, and overall performance.
Management of Change	Management of Change (MOC) helps organizations smoothly implement new systems, processes, or structures by minimizing disruption and maximizing efficiency, particularly in safety-critical industries like manufacturing and healthcare.
Managerial Effectiveness	Managerial effectiveness is achieving organizational goals by efficiently using resources and coordinating team efforts, influenced by the manager, organization, and external environment. It’s about doing the right things and doing them well, unlike efficiency which focuses on optimizing internal processes.
Management by Objectives (MBO)	A goal-setting approach where employees agree on objectives with their managers.
Multinational Corporations	A multinational corporation, headquartered in one country, controls and manages diverse affiliates globally, with a unified strategy and ownership structure, shaping the global economy as major players in trade and production.
Marketing	The activities companies undertake to promote and sell their products or services.
Morale	Morale reflects a group’s spirit – high morale means a positive, productive environment, while low morale indicates discouragement and decreased performance.
McKinsey’s 7S Framework	McKinsey & Company, a renowned global consulting firm, leverages its vast expertise and network of specialists to help organizations overcome challenges, thrive, and achieve success.
Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A)	When two or more companies combine.
McClelland’s Achievement Motivation Model	David McClelland identified three core human needs: achievement, affiliation, and power. These needs drive our behavior and can be harnessed to improve organizational performance by understanding and aligning roles with individual motivations. However, limitations exist in the theory’s application and research backing.
Mc Gregor’s Theory X and Theory Y	In 1960, Douglas McGregor proposed Theory X (negative view of workers) and Theory Y (positive view) in his book, suggesting managers’ assumptions about employee motivation significantly impact their leadership approach.
Motivation	The driving force that compels employees to act.
Manager	A manager is a leader who oversees and coordinates individuals or departments, ensuring smooth operations, achieving goals, and driving organizational success through planning, organizing, leading, and controlling.
Matrix Organisation	Matrix organizations break from the traditional structure, giving employees two bosses: a functional manager for expertise and a project manager for specific tasks. This blends specialized skills with cross-functional teamwork, enabling efficient resource allocation and flexible staffing. However, it needs clear communication, defined roles, and strong project management to avoid confusion and conflicts.

N	Description
Negotiation	The process of reaching an agreement with others.
Non-profit Organisations (NPOs)	Non-profit organizations (NPOs) prioritize social impact over profit, offering crucial services and addressing societal issues through charitable donations and tax exemptions.

O	Description
Operations Management	Operations Management ensures businesses run smoothly by planning, organizing, and optimizing resources to efficiently create goods or provide services, leading to satisfied customers, cost savings, and overall success in various industries.
Organizational Effectiveness	An effective organization efficiently hits its goals, optimizes resources, and adapts to change through clear communication, strong leadership, and continuous improvement, ultimately delivering value to stakeholders and achieving success.
Organizational Communication	Organizational communication is the lifeblood of any company, ensuring information flows smoothly and everyone’s on the same page, ultimately driving success.
Organization Manual	An organization manual is a roadmap for managers, outlining key principles, practices, and guidelines to ensure consistent and successful operations. It empowers them with clear roles, decision-making guidance, and strategic direction, ultimately contributing to a streamlined and thriving organization.
Organisation Chart	An Organization chart is a visual map of an organization, showing who works there, who they report to, and how everyone connects. It helps everyone understand the company’s structure and who to go to for what.
Organizational Development	Organizational Development helps companies transform and succeed in changing times by focusing on improving people, processes, and performance through collaborative efforts.
Organisational Conflict	Organisational conflicts are disagreements or clashes within a company arising from personality differences, competing interests, or unclear goals. They can be interpersonal, between teams, or even at departmental levels, impacting productivity and morale.
Organizational change	Organizational change is the process of transforming a company’s structure, operations, or culture to adapt to new challenges and opportunities. In simple terms, it’s about evolving the way an organization works to stay relevant and successful.
Organization Structure	An organizational structure defines how an organization operates, setting clear roles, communication channels, and reporting lines to achieve goals efficiently. It’s like a blueprint for success, shaping culture, optimizing workflows, and maximizing results.
Organisational Politics	Organizational politics can be seen as either negative (dishonest, hindering progress) or positive (natural, conflict resolution). Ultimately, it’s about using power and influence to achieve goals in situations with uncertainty and disagreement.
Organizational Behavior	The study of how individuals and groups behave within organizations.

p	Description
Performance Management	The process of setting goals, monitoring performance, and providing feedback to employees.
Project Organisation	Project organization is the blueprint for project success. It defines roles, responsibilities, communication, and tasks, ensuring everyone’s aligned.
Performance Appraisals	Performance appraisals are formal reviews assessing an employee’s work, providing feedback, setting goals, and influencing decisions about promotions, raises, and other job-related matters. They involve evaluating specific skills and behaviors over a period of time.
POSH Policy	Despite comprising half the world’s population, women face widespread discrimination and gender-based violence, including sexual exploitation at work. Laws like India’s POSH Act aim to protect their rights and dignity.
Project Manager	A Project Manager, Leads teams and coordinates resources to deliver projects on time, within budget, and meeting expectations, acting as a strategic guide and problem-solver to ensure smooth execution.
Public Relations (PR)	Managing the public’s perception of an organization.
POSDCORB	POSDCORB is a framework outlining key management functions: Planning, Organizing, Staffing, Directing, Coordinating, Reporting, and Budgeting, helping organizations achieve efficiency and effectiveness.
Point of Sale (POS)	A Point of Sale (POS) is the digital or physical hub where customers pay for products and services, evolving from cash registers to systems managing inventory and analyzing data.

Q	Description
Quality Control	Quality Control ensures consistent product/service quality through monitoring, assessment, and regulation throughout the process, identifying and rectifying issues to meet predefined standards and satisfy customers.

R	Description
Recruitment	The process of attracting and hiring qualified employees.
Risk Management	Identifying and mitigating potential risks.

S	Description
Social Audit	Social audits go beyond financials, assessing a company’s social and ethical impact through internal checks, stakeholder feedback, and transparency to ensure true social responsibility.
Strategic Management	The process of making long-term decisions about the direction of an organization.
Six Sigma	Six Sigma, a data-driven approach, helps businesses achieve near-perfect processes by minimizing defects and exceeding customer expectations, leading to increased profits and streamlined operations.
Sexual Harassment	Sexual harassment in the workplace is harmful to individuals and organizations alike. Employers must take proactive steps like establishing policies, training, and support systems to prevent and address it, fostering a safe and productive work environment.
Span of Management	Span of management refers to the ideal number of employees a manager can effectively lead. It balances team size and manager workload, impacting communication, decision-making, and resource utilization.
Supply Chain Management	The process of managing the flow of goods and services from suppliers to customers.
Software Development Team	Software development where companies use various designations to define roles and responsibilities, ranging from intern to CTO, each requiring specific skills and experience. These designations help attract talent, clarify career paths, and showcase individual achievements.

T	Description
Total Quality Management	Total Quality Management (TQM) empowers everyone in an organization to continuously improve, satisfy customers, and eliminate waste, ultimately leading to better processes, products, and customer satisfaction.
Team Building	Team building strengthens groups by fostering collaboration, communication, and trust, leading to efficient achievement of shared goals.
Trait Theory	Trait theory suggests leaders are born with specific personality traits, but it’s criticized for lacking universality, clear measurement methods, and ignoring context.
Talent Management	Attracting, retaining, and developing talented employees.
Town Hall Meeting	Town Hall Meetings bridge the gap between employees and management, providing a platform for information sharing, feedback, and building company culture.
Time Management	Organizing and using your time effectively.
Transactional Analysis (TA) Theory	Transactional Analysis (TA) examines how people interact by analyzing their “ego states” (inner roles) and the patterns in their communications, offering insights into both individual and group behavior.

U	Description
Uncertainty Management	Coping with the unknown.

V	Description
Values	The core beliefs and principles that guide an organization’s actions.
Vision	A clear picture of what the organization wants to achieve in the future.

W	Description
William Ouchi’s Theory Z	William Ouchi, a renowned management theorist and professor, made significant contributions to organizational behavior. He’s best known for developing Theory Z, emphasizing employee participation, team spirit, and long-term employment, drawing inspiration from Japanese management practices.
Wellness	The overall physical, mental, and emotional well-being of employees.
Work-Life Balance	Balancing work and personal life commitments

X	Description
Xenophobia	Xenophobia is the irrational fear or dislike of foreigners or anything perceived as different, leading to discrimination and exclusion.

Y	Description
Yield Management	This is a strategy used by businesses to maximize revenue by setting different prices for the same product or service based on demand, competition, and other factors.

Z	Description
Zero-Based Budgeting	A budgeting method where all expenses are justified each year.