Final answer:
The condition in which managers are aware of their goals but lack complete information about alternatives and future events is known as uncertainty. It is an example of imperfect information where it's challenging to predict outcomes accurately.
Step-by-step explanation:
Managers often face situations where they know which goals they wish to achieve, but the information about alternatives and future events is incomplete. This condition is referred to as uncertainty. Unlike certainty, where managers are fully informed about the situation, or risk, where probabilities of outcomes can be estimated, uncertainty involves a lack of information that makes it difficult to assign probabilities to the outcomes of decisions. It represents a scenario of imperfect information, where managers may have some knowledge about current conditions, but are unable to predict future events or the consequences of their decisions accurately.