Chapter 1Management: an Overview

Chapter 1—Management: An Overview 1

Chapter 1Management: An Overview

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

After studying this chapter, you should be able to:

Explain why organizations need managers
Outline factors that affect a manager’s universe
Identify three levels of management
Describe five management functions
Apply management functions to each level of management
Summarize ten management roles
Analyze three management skills
Contrast the myths with the realities of a manager’s job
Discuss the criteria used to evaluate a manager’s performance

KEY TERMS

conceptual skills / management
customer / management hierarchy
Customer Relationship Manager (CRM) / manager
diversity / middle management
ethics / organization
first-line management / quality
functional managers / role
goal / technical skills
human skills / technology
leadership / top management
Web 2.0

CHAPTER OUTLINE

INTRODUCTION
MANAGEMENT AND MANAGERS
ORGANIZATIONAL NEED FOR MANAGERS
THE MANAGER’S UNIVERSE
The Need to Please Customers
The Need to Provide Leadership
The Need to Act Ethically
The Need to Value Diversity in Their Employees
The Need to Cope With Global Challenges
LEVELS OF MANAGEMENT
Top Management
Middle Management
First-Line Management
Functional Managers
Marketing Managers
Operations Managers
Finance Managers
Human Resource Managers
MANAGEMENT FUNCTIONS
Planning
Duration and Scope of Planning
Influences on Planning
Flexibility in Planning
Organizing
Staffing
Leading
Controlling
FUNCTIONS AND THE LEVELS OF MANAGEMENT
Top Management
Middle Management
First-Line Management
MANAGEMENT ROLES
Interpersonal Roles
Informational Roles
Decisional Roles
Roles and Managerial Functions
Roles and the Expectations of Others
MANAGEMENT SKILLS
Technical Skills
Human Skills
Conceptual Skills
Skills and Levels of Management
MANAGEMENT MYTHS AND REALITIES
EVALUATING A MANAGER’S PERFORMANCE

Enrichment Vignette

One common misconception regarding management is that managers are those who are the boss—they give orders to subordinates while subordinates simply take orders. Actually, all managers both give and take orders, and the orders may not simply come from above.

The first line supervisor obviously does both—he or she gives orders to subordinates but also takes orders from those in higher-level management positions. However, what about the manager at the very top? What about the CEO—the Chief Executive Officer? The CEO must please the members of the Board of Directors—there have been many CEOs in recent years who failed to do so and were fired by the directors. What about the directors? They can be replaced by the stockholders, and that has happened on many occasions—in particular, when someone or some organization acquired a large portion of the corporation’s stock. All managers both give and take orders.

Technically, subordinates do not give orders to the boss, but situations often exist in which that is virtually what is happening. A manager wants his or her performance to look good to those who are higher in the chain of command, but that manager’s performance may be affected by a subordinate who has vital expertise that the manager lacks—expertise that may not be easily replaced. Recommendations from such a subordinate are technically not orders, but they may have the same effect.

The stockholders are not managers, and they are not the ultimate boss. If the customer does not buy what the company is trying to sell, neither manager nor subordinate (no matter how valuable) will have a job, and there will be no one to manage. The stockholders’ stock will then be worthless. In essence, it is the customer—not the manager—who is the ultimate boss.

LECTURE OUTLINE

The outline below (the lecture outline) is referenced to the above chapter outline and contains supplementary material to enhance your discussion of the chapter, but it is organized somewhat differently. As a result, you have a choice: by using what is in the outline below, (1) you may present the above chapter outline material in a different sequence, or (2) you may use the chapter outline references in the outline below to present the lecture outline material in the same sequence as the chapter outline.

I.INTRODUCTION

A.Management and Managers (Chapter Outline: Section II)

1.Society is functionally dependent upon organizations and organizations, in turn, are dependent upon managers.

2.Organizations require two or more people to exist.

3.Most organizations have some form of management and leadership.

4.Each organization requires a purpose for its existence.

5.Goals, objectives, and values are meaningful to both individual employees and organizations.

B.Organizational Need for Managers (Chapter Outline: Section III)

1.Managers exist in private, public, for-profit, and not-for-profit organizations. Very few organizations exist without managers.

2.The study of management involves many academic disciplines.

3.Obviously, managers provide the coordinating element for organizations.

4.Managers can be the owners/operators/founders of organizations.

5.Managerial decisions commit the courses of action for organizations.

6.The study of management is a body of both practical and theoretical knowledge and understanding, as well as application.

7.Managers help address, resolve, and control conflict and disorder within organizations.

II.THE MANAGER’S UNIVERSE (CHAPTER OUTLINE: SECTION IV)

A.Big Picture

1.The primary functions of management are planning, organizing, staffing, leading, and controlling.

2.Managers accomplish work/tasks through people.

3.The working day of many managers is diverse and extremely complex.

Management is an attempt to accomplish pre-set goals and objectives by using both human and non-human resources.

B.Need to:

1.Please customers

2.Provide leadership

3.Act ethically

4.Value diversity

Cope with global challenges

III.LEVELS OF MANAGEMENT (CHAPTER OUTLINE: SECTION V)

A.Who Reports to Whom...and Why!

1.Managers are identified by level of hierarchy and area of responsibility.

2.The levels of management include top, middle, and first-line (operating).

3.Chief executive officers, presidents, and vice presidents make up the highest level of managers.

4.Middle managers range from below the rank of vice president but above the supervisory level.

5.First-line management is also called supervisory and operating management.

6.Managers’ titles depend upon the organization and the work being performed.

7.Organizational titles and positions vary among organizations.

Top-level managers create and set overall policy.

9.Middle managers implement policies from top management.

10.First-line managers perform operational duties and preside over nonmanagement employees.

B.Functional Managers

1.Managers are identified by the type of work, activity, or function of responsibilities, as well as the authority of their position.

2.Various functional areas include but are not limited to marketing, operations, finance, and human resources.

Enrichment Vignette

What are the rewards that go with the management job? Depending on the size of the company and the area of specialty the cash compensation picture is intriguing.

Chief Executive Officer:

1.Annual revenues under $25 million—an average of $202,900.

2.Annual revenues between $1 billion and $2 billion—an average of $616,000.

Chief Operating Officer:

1.Annual revenues under $25 million—an average of $141,300.

2.Annual revenues of $100 million to $200 million—an average of $198,500.

3.Annual revenues of $1 billion to $2 billion—an average of $434,200.

Chief Financial Officer:

1.Annual revenues under $25 million—an average of $91,700.

2.Annual revenues of $100 million to $200 million—an average of $122,100.

Annual revenues of $1 billion to $2 billion—an average of $256,000.

IV.MANAGEMENT FUNCTIONS (CHAPTER OUTLINE: SECTION VI)

A.Planning

1.Management functions can be inseparable, simultaneous, continuous, and interactive in the daily work of managers.

2.Planning is the creation of future courses of action.

3.Planning is the first function and is the catalyst to all other functions.

4.Planning is a mental activity. Planning means to think, think, think...

5.Planning asks, “What do we intend to do?”

6.Planning creates objectives for organizational accomplishments.

B.Organizing

1.Organizing follows planning.

2.Organizing is a composite of the structural issues of an organization.

3.Assigning work and granting authority are important elements of organizing.

C.Staffing

1.Staffing comprises the “people” or personnel aspects of an organization.

2.Activities include recruiting, selecting, training, and developing employees.

D.Leading

1.Leading is very similar to directing.

2.Motivation, communication, guiding, and encouraging involve leading.

3.Leading can include the attempt to satisfy needs and meet expectations of employees.

4.Leading is also similar to coaching, assisting, and helping.

E.Controlling

1.Controlling is a follow-up of plans, activities, or functions.

2.Controlling ensures that goals and objectives are met.

3.Controlling asks the question: “Are we doing what we intended to accomplish?” Controlling “finalizes” many other functions.

All other functions precede controlling.

Enrichment Vignette

Management functions can be useful when driving to a distant location with friends. It can help to plan: know the destination (goal) and the best route to get there. The plan may include when one should be at the various points along the route. You may wish to organize and staff: get everything together for the trip and determine who will be driving and who will keep track of the map. It will be important to have controls: watch the highway signs and compare where the group is while driving toward the destination versus where the group should have been at some point in time according to what had been planned. Leadership may be required to keep people motivated and working together in order to have a successful trip.

V.FUNCTIONS AND THE LEVELS OF MANAGEMENT
(CHAPTER OUTLINE: SECTION VII)

1.All managers perform all functions.

2.Managers at various levels devote different proportions of time to different functions.

3.Top management oversees the total picture of the organization.

4.Middle managers develop strategies to accommodate the broad strategies of top management.

5.First-line managers perform supervisory or operational activities.

The time dimension for managerial activities ranges gradually from long-term for top-level managers to immediate attention or focus for first-line supervisors.

Enrichment Vignette

According to Thomas R. Horton, previous chairman of the American Management Association and co-author of Beyond The Trust Gap, the essence of management can be boiled down to the following:

People. Since success depends so much on others, it is wise for a manager to surround himself or herself with able people.

Judgment. Because management is more about people than anything else, judgments must be made about them. But don’t rush the judgment.

Decision making. Many managers err by making decisions too quickly. Decisions should be made when necessary, but the best decisions are often made later rather than earlier, and by those best equipped to make them.

Experience. Be suspicious of your own experience. A situation that may appear similar to an event in one’s earlier career can trigger a knee-jerk response that may be entirely inappropriate for the occasion at hand.

Culture. The work climate of any unit is determined, for good or bad, by the work habits of that unit’s manager. Over time, a culture is created by the behavior of the manager or leader.

Preparedness. Some people create their own luck by being prepared. Many who are unlucky turn out not to have had the will to be prepared, do their homework, visualize events as they are likely to play out, develop plans and alternatives, or work toward creating their own futures.

Persistence. People from all parts of the business must be persuaded that the goals you seek to achieve are worth their effort. The essential ingredient in is not genius, but tenacity.

VI.MANAGEMENT ROLES (CHAPTER OUTLINE: SECTION VIII)

A.Interpersonal Roles

1.Managerial roles are actually expectations of managers by others.

2.These roles are divided into specific categories of expected behavior.

3.Roles are extensions of others’ values and anticipations.

4.Interpersonal roles stem from position and authority.

Managers play out various roles on a daily basis.
Managers must “wear different hats” in order to carry out their various roles.

B.Informational Roles

1.The informational category of roles deals with managerial information and dissemination of that information.

Informational roles are monitor, disseminator, and spokesperson.

C.Decisional Roles

1.Managers make choices.

2.Managerial choices are made alone or with others.

3.Managers also influence the choices of others.

4.The activities of problem solving and decision making are inherent in some roles.

D.Roles and Managerial Functions

1. Roles and functions are interdependent aspects of managers.

E. Roles and Expectations of Others

1.Various role expectations of managers vary among different people within an organization.

VII.MANAGEMENT SKILLS (CHAPTER OUTLINE: SECTION IX)

A.Technical Skills

1.In order to carry out various functions managers must possess specific skills, talents, and abilities.

2.Skills are the abilities to use processes, practices, techniques, and tools of a specialty area.

3.Technical skills require a specific expertise.

B.Human Skills

1.This area is also referred to as human relations.

2.Interaction and communication are primary to successful human skills.

3.An understanding of psychology as well as a wealth of social understanding is necessary to the success of human interaction.

C.Conceptual Skills

1.The ability to see the “entire” organization or the “big picture” is necessary for conceptual understanding.

2.Imagination, creativity, and coordination are attributes of conceptual ability.

3.Conceptual skills are the mental capacity to identify problems, develop alternatives, select appropriately, and implement solutions.

D.Skills and Levels of Management

1.Conceptual skills dominate top management.

2.Technical skills are proportionately more important to first-level managers.

As with functions, various skills are proportionately different to various levels of management.

Chapter 1—Management: An Overview 1

VIII.MANAGEMENT MYTHS AND REALITIES (CHAPTER OUTLINE: SECTION X)

1.There are many public or common misconceptions regarding management.

2.Many realities of management are opposed to common management myths.

3.At this juncture, a class discussion of misconceptions would be useful. Discussions should include both myths and realities. Examples:

a.All managers are paid well.

b.Managers do not work as hard or as long as employees do each day.

c.All managers are well-educated.

d.Managers should be in charge.

VIIII.EVALUATION OF A MANAGER’S PERFORMANCE
(CHAPTER OUTLINE: SECTION XI)

A.Many Factors Are Involved

1.Do they carry out their roles effectively?

2.Are their skills applied properly?

3.Are they effectively setting and accomplishing their goals?

4.Are their talents and resources used efficiently?

5.Do they demonstrate leadership?

6.Are they ethical by practice?

7.Do they make use of the diversity in their people?

8.Do they please customers?

SUGGESTED RESPONSES TO REVIEW QUESTIONS

1.How do managers assist an organization to achieve its goals and objectives?

In an organization it is quite possible that employees perform parts of jobs that each thought were important to meet the objectives, while in actuality they were working in opposite directions. To prevent this from occurring and to ensure coordination of work to accomplish the objectives, managers are needed. The manager is the person in an organization who gives it direction, makes decisions, and commits its resources (personnel, capital, and equipment) to achieve the organization’s objectives.

2.What factors make the manager’s universe complex?

The world of work is a complex arena of exacting, precise, exciting, and pressure-filled elements. Dull managerial moments seldom exist. Staying ahead of this complexity is an ongoing requirement. The world is becoming more complex. Limited resources place heavy demands upon managers. Unpredictable challenges are as prevalent as known certainties.

3.Where are managers located within an organization’s management hierarchy? How are the different levels similar? How are they different?

a.Managers can be divided into three basic categories: top management, middle management, and first-line or supervisory management.

b.Top management is responsible for the overall management of the organization. It establishes organizational or company-wide objectives or goals and operating policies, and it directs the company in relationships with its external environment.

c.Middle managers are all managers below the rank of vice president but above supervisory level. Their subordinates are other managers. They are responsible for implementing top management objectives and policies.

d.First-line managers or supervisors, those at the operating level, are the lowest level of management. They are responsible for the management of their specific work groups and for the accomplishment of the actual work of the organization. Their subordinates are nonmanagement workers or operating employees.

4.What activities do all managers perform regularly? Which of these activities are called the “first” function? Why?

a.Planning identifies the goals and alternatives. It maps out courses of action for the organization and is known as the “first” management function.

b.Organizing is concerned with (1) assembling the resources necessary to achieve the organization’s objective, (2) establishing the activity-authority relationship of the organization, and (3) establishing the structure of the company.

c.Staffing is concerned with locating prospective employees to fill the jobs created by the organizing process. Staffing involves matching job demands with applicant abilities, orienting new employees, training and developing, appraising performance, and determining the proper pay and benefits.

d.Leading is aimed at getting the members of the organization to move in the direction that will achieve its objectives. Leading involves motivation.

e.Controlling deals with establishing standards for performance, measuring performances against standards, and dealing with deviations from standards.

f.Planning is considered the first function because it lays the groundwork for all the other functions. It identifies the goals and alternatives. It maps out the course of action that will commit individuals, departments, and the entire organization for days, months, and years to come. Planning achieves these ends after setting in motion the following processes: (1) determination of what resources will be needed, (2) identification of the number and types of personnel the organization will need, (3) development of the foundation for the organizational environment in which work is to be accomplished, and (4) determination of a standard against which the progress toward objectives can be measured so that corrections can be made, if necessary.