Chapter 1 – Manager and Management

Chapter 1 – Manager and Management

Learning Outcomes

•          Tell who managers are and where they work.

•          Define management.

•          Describe what managers do.

•          Explain why it’s important to study management.

•          Describe the factors that are reshaping and redefining management.

Who Are Managers?
Where Do They Work?

•          Organization

•          A deliberate arrangement of people brought together to accomplish a specific purpose

•          Common Characteristics of Organizations

•          Goals

•          People

•          Structure

1. Goals, which express the distinct purpose of a particular organization
2.  People, who make decisions and reach the organization’s goals, and
3.  A deliberate structure, which systematically defines, limits, and guides
4.  its members’ behavior.

How Are Managers Different from Nonmanagerial Employees?

•          Nonmanagerial Employees

•          People who work directly on a job or task and have no responsibility for overseeing the work of others

•          Examples: Associates and Team Members

•          Managers

•          Individuals in organizations who direct the activities of others

What Titles Do Managers Have?

•          Top managers often makes decisions about the direction of the organization and establishes policies and philosophies that affect all organizational members.

•          Examples: President, Chief Executive Officer, Vice-President

•          Middle managers are responsible for translating the goals set by top managers into specific detailed tasks that lower-level managers oversee.

•          Examples: District Manager, Division Manager

•          First-line managers are responsible for directing the day-to-day activities of nonmanagerial employees.

•          Examples: Supervisor, Team Leader

What Is Management?

Management is the process of getting things done effectively and efficiently, with and through people.

•          Effectiveness

•          “Doing the right things”: the tasks that help an organization reach its goals

•          Efficiency

•          “Doing things right”: the efficient use of such resources as people, money, and equipment

•          Efficiency and effectiveness are interrelated.

•          a) It’s easier to be effective if one ignores efficiency.

•          b) Good management is concerned with both

•              attaining goals (effectiveness) and doing so as efficiently as

•              possible.

•          c) Organizations can be efficient and yet not be effective.

•          d) High efficiency is associated more typically with high effectiveness

Four Management Functions

•          Planning

•          Defining the organizational purpose and ways to achieve it

•          Organizing

•          Arranging and structuring work to accomplish organizational goals

•          Leading

•          Directing the work activities of others

•          Controlling

•          Monitoring, comparing, and correcting work performance

Minzberg Manager’s Role: Update

Manager’s role is to influence action by:

1. Managing actions directly
2. Managing people who take action
3. Managing information that propels people to take action

Manager’s dual roles include:

1. Framing
2. Scheduling

What Skills Do Managers Need?

•          Conceptual Skills

•          Used to analyze and diagnose complex situations

•          Interpersonal Skills

•          Used to work with, understand, and motivate individuals and groups

•          Technical Skills

•          Involve job-specific knowledge and techniques required to perform tasks

•          Political Skills

•          Used to build a power base and establish connections

Is The Manager’s Job Universal?

The previous discussion describe management as a generic activity.  In reality, a manager’s job varies with along several dimensions

•          Level in the Organization

•          Top level managers do more planning than supervisors

•          Profit vs. Nonprofit

•          Management performance is measured on different objectives

•          Size of the organization

•          Dictates the manager’s main roles and time spent in each role

•          Transferability of managerial concepts

•          Requires modification with countries other than free-market democracies

Why Study Management?

•          We all benefit from efficiently and effectively run businesses.

•          Well-managed organizations prosper even in challenging economic times.

•          After graduation, most students become managers or are managed.

What Factors Are Reshaping and Redefining Management?

Today, managers must deal with:

•          Changing workplaces

•          Ethical and trust issues

•          Global economic uncertainties

•          Changing technologies

Why Are Customers Important?

•          Without customers, most organizations would cease to exist.

•          Employee attitudes and behaviors play a big part in customer satisfaction.

Managers must create a customer-responsive environment where employees are friendly, knowledgeable, and sensitive to customer needs

Why Is Innovation Important?

•          “Nothing is more risky than not innovating.”

•          Innovation isn’t only important for high technology companies; it is essential in all types of organizations.

•          Innovation means doing things differently, exploring new territory, and taking risks.

•          In today’s challenging environment, innovation is critical and managers need to understand what, when, where, how, and why innovation can be fostered and encouraged throughout an organization. Managers need to be personally innovative and to encourage their employees to be innovative.