What management functions are covered in the Principles of Management course?

The course examines planning, organizing, staffing, directing, controlling, decision-making, and the managerial skills used at different organizational levels.

How does SWOT analysis support strategic planning?

SWOT analysis helps managers assess internal strengths and weaknesses alongside external opportunities and threats to make informed strategic choices.

What will I learn about forecasting and PERT network analysis?

You will learn how forecasting supports planning, how time-series analysis informs decisions, and how critical paths identify activities that determine project duration.

Free Course Image Principles of Management

Free online course Principles of Management

Duration of the online course: 33 hours and 58 minutes

4.9

(22)

Build confident management skills with this free online course—learn planning, strategy and decision-making to lead teams better and boost your career.

In this free course, learn about

Course Overview
Introduction to Management
Evolution of Management Thought
Planning and Strategy
Forecasting and Premising
Decision Making
Management by Objectives
Styles of Management
Organizing and Directing
Staffing and Coordination
Career Development Strategy
Leadership Styles of Managers
Organizational Communication
Change Management and Organizational Change

About the free online course

Strong management is a practical skill set that can be learned, improved, and applied in any industry. This free online course helps you build a clear foundation in how organizations are managed and why effective leadership, planning, and decision-making shape performance. Whether you are preparing for a first supervisory role, already leading a team, or simply want to understand how businesses work, you will develop a structured way to think and act like a manager.

You will explore what managers actually do day to day and how the core functions of management connect to real outcomes. The course also places modern practices in context by tracing how management thinking evolved, from early efficiency-focused approaches to broader views that consider people, quality, systems, and the environment. This perspective makes it easier to recognize why certain methods succeed in one situation and fail in another, and how to adapt your approach rather than relying on a single formula.

Planning is treated as a critical managerial responsibility, emphasizing how to scan the environment, identify opportunities and risks, and translate insights into actionable direction. You will learn to interpret internal and external factors, strengthen your strategic thinking, and use proven frameworks to make more informed choices. The course also addresses forecasting and premising so you can reduce uncertainty, set realistic assumptions, and prepare for alternative scenarios instead of reacting under pressure.

To round out your capability, you will focus on decision making in the presence of limited information, competing priorities, and human bias. Understanding common perceptual traps and interview biases helps you evaluate options more fairly, communicate decisions more clearly, and improve staffing-related judgments. By the end, you will be better equipped to plan effectively, think strategically, and make decisions that hold up in real organizational settings.

Course content

Video class: Principles of Management 03m

Video class: Lecture 1: Introduction to Management - I 35m
Exercise: What are the primary functions of management?
Video class: Lecture 2 : Introduction to Management-II 37m
Exercise: What skill is most important for top-level managers?
Video class: Lecture 3 : Introduction to Management- III 37m
Exercise: What does the multistream approach to management emphasize compared to the mainstream approach?
Video class: Lecture 4 : Introduction to Management - IV 32m
Exercise: What is the primary focus shift in modern management practices?

Video class: Lecture 5 : Evolution of Management - I 37m
Exercise: What is one of the key contributions of Frederick Winslow Taylor to management?
Video class: Lecture 6 : Evolution of Management - II 33m
Exercise: What is the main purpose of studying the evolution of management concepts according to the text?
Video class: Lecture 7 : Evolution of Management - III 30m
Exercise: What is the primary focus of Henri Fayol's administrative principles of management?
Video class: Lecture 8 : Evolution of Management - IV 36m
Exercise: What is a key focus of Total Quality Management?

Video class: Lecture 09 : Planning - I 32m
Exercise: Why is environmental scanning a crucial aspect of the planning process in contemporary business management?
Video class: Lecture 10 : Planning - II 30m
Exercise: What are the two major components of the business environment?
Video class: Lecture 11 : Planning - III 27m
Exercise: What is SWOT analysis used for in business environment appraisal?
Video class: Lecture 12 : Planning - IV 33m
Exercise: What does the term 'Strategos,' which is the origin of the word 'strategy,' mean in Greek?
Video class: Lecture 13 : Planning - V 29m
Exercise: What are the three main types of strategies within strategic management?

Video class: Lecture 14 : Forecasting and Premising - I 33m
Exercise: What is the main benefit of environmental scanning in business planning?
Video class: Lecture 15 : Forecasting and Premising - II 31m
Exercise: Which of the following is NOT a quantitative forecasting technique discussed in the context of human resource planning?
Video class: Lecture 16 : Forecasting and Premising - III 34m
Exercise: What is the purpose of time series analysis in decision making?
Video class: Lecture 17 : Forecasting and Premising - IV 31m
Exercise: What is a critical path in PERT network analysis?

Video class: Lecture 18 : Decision Making - I 31m
Exercise: Which of the following best describes the halo effect?
Video class: Lecture 19 : Decision Making - II 33m
Exercise: What impact do perceptual biases have during employment interviews?
Video class: Lecture 20 : Decision Making - III 36m
Video class: Lecture 21 : Decision Making - IV 26m
Exercise: Which of the following steps is NOT part of the 8-step decision making process as previously discussed?
Video class: Lecture 22 : Decision Making - V 35m

Video class: Lecture 23 : Management by Objectives - I 34m
Video class: Lecture 24 : Management by Objectives : II 29m
Exercise: What is the primary focus of Management by Objectives (MBO) in an organization?
Video class: Lecture 25 : Management by Objectives - III 30m

Video class: Lecture 26 : Styles of Management - I 34m
Video class: Lecture 27 : Styles of Management - II 38m
Exercise: What term describes a societal preference where relationships with others are prioritized over individual achievements?
Video class: Lecture 28 : Styles of Management - III 51m

Video class: Lecture 29 : Organizing and Directing - I 31m
Video class: Lecture 30 : Organizing and Directing - II 34m
Exercise: What is the primary distinction between a mechanistic model and an organic model of organizational design based on the discussed text?
Video class: Lecture 31 : Organizing and Directing - III 33m
Video class: Lecture 32 : Organizing and Directing - IV 29m
Video class: Lecture 33 : Organizing and Directing - V 36m
Exercise: What does staff relationship refer to in an organizational context?

Video class: Lecture 34 : Staffing and Coordination - I 31m
Video class: Lecture 35 : Staffing and Coordination - II 30m
Video class: Lecture 36 : Staffing and Coordination - III 32m
Exercise: What are the three steps in the selection process that were discussed?
Video class: Lecture 37 : Staffing and Coordination - IV 32m
Video class: Lecture 38 : Staffing and Coordination - V 35m
Video class: Lecture 39 : Staffing and Coordination - VI 35m
Exercise: Which of the following is not one of Hofstede's cultural dimensions that influence HR policies and procedures?
Video class: Lecture 40 : Staffing and Coordination - VII 30m
Video class: Lecture 41 : Staffing and Coordination - VIII 39m

Video class: Lecture 42 : Career Development Strategy - I 54m
Exercise: What is the purpose of a Realistic Job Preview (RJP) in the context of career management and development?
Video class: Lecture 43 : Career Development Strategy - II 35m
Video class: Lecture 44 : Career Development Strategy - III 32m
Video class: Lecture 45 : Career Development Strategy - IV 35m
Exercise: Which theory of career development emphasizes the importance of the environment influencing an individual's career choices?
Video class: Lecture 46 : Career Development Strategy - V 27m

Video class: Lecture 47 : Leadership Styles of Managers - I 37m
Video class: Lecture 48 : Leadership Styles of Managers - II 29m
Exercise: Which of the following is not one of the leadership styles described in Hershey and Blanchard's Situational Leadership Theory?
Video class: Lecture 49 : Leadership Styles of Managers - III 34m
Video class: Lecture 50 : Leadership Styles of Managers - IV 29m

Video class: Lecture 51 : Organizational Communication - I 29m
Exercise: What is the purpose of learning organizational communication in the context of managerial performance according to the lecture?
Video class: Lecture 52 : Organizational Communication - II 23m
Video class: Lecture 53 : Organizational Communication - III 28m
Video class: Lecture 54 : Organizational Communication - IV 31m
Exercise: What are the benefits of using electronic messages such as emails in business communication?
Video class: Lecture 55 : Organizational Communication - V 27m

Video class: Lecture 56 : Change Management - I 29m
Video class: Lecture 57 : Change Management - II 25m
Exercise: Which stage of the organizational life cycle is associated with the greatest chances of failure due to the 'liability of newness'?
Video class: Lecture 58 : Change Management - III 35m
Video class: Lecture 59 : Organizational Change - IV 28m
Video class: Lecture 60 : Change Management - V 21m
Exercise: Which role is commonly associated with transformational leadership style in the context of organizational change?
Video class: Lecture 61 : Organizational Change - VI 31m
Video class: Lecture 62 - Change Management - VII 27m