MGT 420: Key Concepts and Study Guide.

As a rule, study EVERYTHING.

This is not a list of questions on your exam. This just represents some of the key concepts you
should understand as you read and prepare for your assessments (DQs, papers and exams).
Your review should include (but not be limited to) the following:
Topic/Module 1
1. Define Organizational Behavior (OB)
2. Levels at which we study OB
3. Emotional intelligence
4. The research foundations of OB
5. What is management? What is a manager? Managerial roles and duties.
6. What are the functions of management
7. What are the 3 major categories of managerial roles?
8. List the 3 essential managerial skills.
9. Who is the father of scientific management?
10. What is a bureaucratic organization?
11. Draw Maslows hierarchy.
12. Explain McGregors theory X and Y
13. What is the contingency approach of management?
14. Be able to describe the major organizational theories (taxonomies) and lessons learnt.
15. List the 3 levels of management and know their major responsibilities
16. List the 6 major challenges managers face in the 21st century work environment.
17. Define knowledge worker. intellectual capital, etc.
18. What is an organization?
19. When is an organization an open system?
20. Difference between effectiveness and efficiency
21. Characteristics of best employers
22. Characteristics of 21st century organizations
23. Identify the major stakeholders of an organization you are familiar with and describe how
that manager can create value for each of these stakeholder groups.
24. Why is the study of historical management theory important for todays business
environment?
25. What is corporate social responsibility? In your opinion should businesses be socially
responsible? Support your opinion with reasons.
26. What is a shamrock organization? What impact has this had on the traditional view of
careers?
27. Organizations as open systems.
28. Difference between human capital and social capital
29. Hawthorne effect
30. Scientific management: Job simplification and job specialization.

Topic/Module 2
1. What is competitive advantage and how is it related to a core competence?
2. Factors that operate in an organizations general environment
3. Factors that operate in an organizations specific environment
4. Diversity: valuing diversity is different from managing diversity
5. Affirmative action
6. Difference between prejudice and discrimination
7. Glass ceiling,
8. Customer relationship management and supply chain management
9. Continuous improvement and TQM
10. Information technology and decision making
11. Knowledge management and learning organizations.
12. Cascading from vision statement to plans.
13. Systematic/ intuitive thinking
14. The planning process
15. Types of plans
16. Benefits of planning
17. Planning tools and techniques
18. Management By Objectives MBO
19. Difference between an policy /procedure
20. Planning and decision making- decision making model and inherent assumptions.
21. Types of decision: programmed and non programmed
22. Performance gaps, opportunities and deficiencies
23. Types of decision environments
24. Problem solving styles
25. Classical and behavioral models
26. Individual vs. group decision making
27. The importance and benefits of planning
28. Brainstorming and other techniques used to generate ideas.
29. Types of justice
Topic/Module 3
1. Definition of Motivation,
2. Different types of content (Maslow, ERG, Needs and 2 factor theory)
3. Types of process theories (Goal setting, Equity, & expectancy theories)of motivation
4. Extrinsic rewards and Intrinsic rewards.
5. Maslows Lower-order needs and Higher-order needs
6. Maslows Progression and Deficit principles
7. Laws of reinforcement and types of reinforcements and reinforcement schedules
8. Types of job design
9. Relationship between motivation and job design
10. Are motivational theories universal?
11. Job characteristics model (Ensure that you understand Hackman and Oldhams model)
12. Alternative work arrangements

13. Job satisfaction, (Definition, causes, relations b/w JS and motivation, rewards and
performance)
14. How traits differ and make us have distinct individual personalities (Big 5)
15. Types of attitudes.
16. Cognitive dissonance
17. Selective screening
18. Common perceptual distortions. And how to manage the perception process
19. Problem solving styles, how people gather and evaluate information
20. 10 personality traits (big 5 and other 5)
Topic/Module 4
1. Definition of group
2. Formal vs informal groups
3. Tuckmans stages of group development
4. Groups as open systems
5. Characteristics of effective groups/teams
6. Advantages and disadvantages of groups
7. Advantages and disadvantages of decision making in groups
8. Social facilitation, synergy, social loafing, diversity consensus dilemma
9. Norms, cohesiveness, impact of different combinations of these.
10. Definition of team
11. Team building process
12. Different team roles
13. Advantages/ disadvantages of teams
14. Types of teams (High performing, self managing employee involvement teams, etc)
15. Homogenous and heterogeneous teams
16. Types of team building/ approaches to team building
17. Difference between groups and teams
Topic/Module 5
1. The communication process
2. Difference between effective and efficient communication
3. Formal/informal communication channels
4. 2 way/1 way communication
5. Culture and communication
6. Types of communication channels
7. Non verbal cues, mixed messages, MBWA
8. Culture and communication
9. Noise and types of noise
10. Active listening and channel richness
11. Proxemics, kinesics and communication
12. Feedback in the communication process
13. 360 degree feedback; constructive feedback
14. Types of decision: programmed and non programmed

15. Performance gaps, opportunities and deficiencies

16. Types of decision environments
17. Problem solving styles
18. Classical and behavioral models
19. Individual vs. group decision making
20. Creativity in decision-making
21. Heuristics in decision making
22. Conflict: definition, types (substantive/emotional) and effect on performance
23. Constructive/destructive conflict
24. Causes of conflict
25. Direct and indirect Conflict management approaches
26. Negotiation: definition, types, steps and criteria for effective negotiation
27. Ethics, mediation and arbitration
Topic/Module 6
1. Definition of leadership
2. Emotional intelligence and leadership
3. Formal and informal leadership
4. Power versus influence
5. Types of power
6. Origins of power/ authority studies
7. Empowerment versus power versus delegation
8. Trait theory,
9. Behavioral theories
10. LMX
11. Fielders Contingency theory
12. Hersey-Blanchard theory
13. Houses path-goal theory
14. Leadership versus management
15. Transactional versus transformational theory
1. Differences
2. Dimensions
16. Druckers good old fashioned leadership
17. Moral leadership
18. Servant leadership
19. Charismatic leadership
20. Conger and Kanungos stages of charismatic leadership
21. Dark side of leadership- dark charismatics.
22. Management by exception
23. Substitute for leadership
24. Political behavior
25. Influence strategies
26. Zone of indifference
27. Self protection mechanisms

Topic/Module 7
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.

What is HRM? Why is it important? Why are people important in organizations?

Job analysis
Equal employment opportunity.
Discrimination v Prejudice
Affirmative action.
Types of diversity
EEO
Bona fide occupational qualification
Attracting a quality workforce

Human resource planning

Recruitment- internal v external ; realistic job previews

Selection : Validity and reliability, testings, interviews etc

10. Developing a quality workforce

Orientation and socialization

Training and development

Performance appraisals and performance management

o Types of Rewards
o Performance mgt.
o Performance appraisal
o Different measurement errors
o Types of appraisals.
o Evaluation alternatives (developmental or not)
o Evaluating teams
11. Maintaining a quality workforce.

Career planning and development

Work life balance

Retention and turn over

Compensation and benefits

Labor-management relations
12. Change and change leadership
13. Change agents
14. Forces and targets for change
15. Planed v unplanned change
16. Lewins stages of planned change
17. Change strategies
18. Resistance to change
19. Organizational development:

definition,

levels and

Intervention strategies.
20. Stress:

definition,

types
consequences
sources
Stress management techniques.

Topic/Module 8
1. Control and steps in the control process
2. Definition, the control process , effective controls
3. Types of control (feed forward, concurrent and feedback),
4. Internal vs. external control
5. Clan bureaucratic and market control
6. Organizational control systems
7. MBO as a control process
8. Organizational structure
9. Definition of organizing, organization structures, organization charts
10. Formal vs informal structures
11. Functional structures, advantages and disadvantages ; functional chimneys/ silos.
12. Divisional structures advantages and disadvantages
13. Matrix, advantages and disadvantages
14. Teams, advantages and disadvantages
15. Networks and strategic alliances, advantages and disadvantages
16. Boundaryless org, advantages and disadvantages,
17. Modern /contemporary trends in organizing
18. Organizational design
19. Bureaucracy
20. Mechanistic and organic designs
21. Subsystem design and managing sub systems
22. Organizational cultures, sub cultures and counter cultures.
23. Elements of organizational culture, and levels or culture.
24. Strong cultures
25. Differentiate between the core+ observable culture of an organization.