Top ten management concepts 1. 14 principles by Fayol.

The 14 Management Principles from Henri Fayol (1841-1925) are: Division of Work. Specialization allows the individual to build up experience, and to continuously improve his skills. Thereby he can be more productive. Authority. The right to issue commands, along with which must go the balanced responsibility for its function. Discipline. Employees must obey, but this is two-sided: employees will only obey orders if management play their part by providing good leadership. Unity of Command. Each worker should have only one boss with no other conflicting lines of command. Unity of Direction. People engaged in the same kind of activities must have the same objectives in a single plan. This is essential to ensure unity and coordination in the enterprise. Unity of command does not exist without unity of direction but does not necessarily flows from it. Subordination of individual interest (to the general interest). Management must see that the goals of the firms are always paramount. Remuneration. Payment is an important motivator although by analyzing a number of possibilities, Fayol points out that there is no such thing as a perfect system. Centralization (or Decentralization). This is a matter of degree depending on the condition of the business and the quality of its personnel. Scalar chain (Line of Authority). A hierarchy is necessary for unity of direction. But lateral communication is also fundamental, as long as superiors know that such communication is taking place. Scalar chain refers to the number of levels in the hierarchy from the ultimate authority to the lowest level in the organization. It should not be over-stretched and consist of too-many levels. Order. Both material order and social order are necessary. The former minimizes lost time and useless handling of materials. The latter is achieved through organization and selection. Equity. In running a business a combination of kindliness and justice is needed. Treating employees well is important to achieve equity. Stability of Tenure of Personnel. Employees work better if job security and career progress are assured to them. An insecure tenure and a high rate of employee turnover will affect the organization adversely. Initiative. Allowing all personnel to show their initiative in some way is a source of strength for the organization. Even though it may well involve a sacrifice of personal vanity on the part of many managers. Esprit de Corps. Management must foster the morale of its employees. He further suggests that: real talent is needed to coordinate effort, encourage keenness, use each persons abilities, and reward each ones merit without arousing possible jealousies and disturbing harmonious relations.

2. Porters 5 forces model. a. Threat of New Entrants - The easier it is for new companies to enter the industry, the more cutthroat competition there will be. Factors that can limit the threat of new entrants are known as barriers to entry b. Power of Suppliers - This is how much pressure suppliers can place on a business. If one supplier has a large enough impact to affect a company's margins and volumes, then it holds substantial power c. Power of Buyers - This is how much pressure customers can place on a business. If one customer has a large enough impact to affect a company's margins and volumes, then the customer hold substantial power. d. Availability of Substitutes - What is the likelihood that someone will switch to a competitive product or service? If the cost of switching is low, then this poses a serious threat e. Competitive Rivalry - This describes the intensity of competition between existing firms in an industry. Highly competitive industries generally earn low returns because the cost of competition is high 3. Mind mapping. A mind map is a graphical way to represent ideas and concepts. It is a visual thinking tool that helps structuring information, helping you to better analyze, comprehend, synthesize, recall and generate new ideas 4. SWOT Analysis. A SWOT analysis must first start with defining a desired end state or objective. A SWOT analysis may be incorporated into the strategic planning model. Strategic Planning has been the subject of much research. Strengths : characteristics of the business or team that give it an advantage over others in the industry. Weaknesses: are characteristics that place the firm at a disadvantage relative to others. Opportunities: external chances to make greater sales or profits in the environment. Threats: external elements in the environment that could cause trouble for the business. 5. Break-even Analysis. The break-even point (BEP) is the point at which cost or expenses and revenue are equal: there is no net loss or gain, and one has "broken even". A profit or a loss has not been made, although opportunity costs have been paid, and capital has received the risk-adjusted, expected return. 6. Value chain by Porter. Michael Porter in 1985 introduced in his book The Competitive Advantage the concept of the Value Chain. He suggested that activities within the organisation add value to the service and products that the organisation produces, and all these activities should be run at optimum level if the organisation is to gain any real competitive advantage. If they are run efficiently the value obtained should exceed the costs of running them i.e. customers should return to the organisation and transact freely and willingly. Michael Porter suggested that the organisation is split into primary activities and support activities.

7. Marketing mix by McCarthy. In the late 1950s, Jerome McCarthy condensed the number of variables in a marketing mix into four principal categories: 1. product: select the tangible and intangible benefits of the product; 2. price: determine an appropriate product pricing structure; 3. promotion: create awareness of the product among the target audience; 4. place: make the product available to the customer.

8. Organization chart. An organizational chart is a diagram that shows the structure of an organization as well as the relationships and relative ranks of its positions. The term "chart" refers to a map that helps managers navigate through patterns in their employees. Charts help organize the workplace while outlining the direction of management control of subordinates. Increasingly a necessary management tool, organizational charts are particularly useful when companies reorganize, embark on a merger or acquisition, or need an easy way to visualize a large number of employees 9. BCG Matrix.

a. BCG STARS (high growth, high market share) - Stars are defined by having high market share in a growing market. - Stars are the leaders in the business but still need a lot of support for promotion a placement. - If market share is kept, Stars are likely to grow into cash cows. b. BCG QUESTION MARKS (high growth, low market share) - These products are in growing markets but have low market share. - Question marks are essentially new products where buyers have yet to discover them. - The marketing strategy is to get markets to adopt these products. - Question marks have high demands and low returns due to low market share. c. BCG CASH COWS (low growth, high market share)

- Cash cows are in a position of high market share in a mature market. - If competitive advantage has been achieved, cash cows have high profit margins and generate a lot of cash flow. - Because of the low growth, promotion and placement investments are low. - Investments into supporting infrastructure can improve efficiency and increase cash flow more. - Cash cows are the products that businesses strive for.

d. BCG DOGS (low growth, low market share)

- Dogs are in low growth markets and have low market share. - Dogs should be avoided and minimized. - Expensive turn-around plans usually do not help