ANSWERS
LEARNING THE LANGUAGE
1. Management / 9. Role2. Diversity / 10. Business Ethics
3. Supervisory Management / 11. Senior Management
4. Glass Ceiling / 12. Staffing
5. Conceptual Skills / 13. Controlling
6. Human Relations Skills / 14. Planning
7. Middle Management / 15. Leading
8. Technical Skills / 16. Organizing
ASSESSMENT CHECK
1. Managers must make good decisions, communicate well with people, make work assignments, delegate, plan, train and motivate people, and appraise employees’ job performances.
2. An organization’s resources include its employees, equipment, and money.
3. The highest level of management is senior management and they are responsible for establishing the goals or objectives of the organization. They decide which actions are necessary to meet those goals and how to use the organization’s resources.
4. Middle management is neither highest nor lowest in an organization and must report to senior management.
5. Another name for the front-line level of management is supervisory management. They oversee the operatives.
6. The three levels of management form a hierarchy, or a group ranked in order of importance.
7. The three ways to examine how management works includes a) dividing the tasks that managers perform into categories, b) looking at the roles that different type of managers play in a company, and c) looking at the skills that managers need to do their jobs.
8. The five categories of management tasks are planning, organizing, staffing, leading, and controlling.
9. The 10 key managerial roles are split into interpersonal: figurehead, leader and liaison; informational: monitor, disseminator, and spokesperson; and decisional: entrepreneur, resource allocator and negotiator.
10. Three types of skills are:
(1) Conceptual skills – those that help managers understand how different parts of a company relate to one another and to the company as a whole;
(2) Human relations skills – those that managers need to understand and work well with people; and
(3) Technical skills – the specific abilities that people use to perform their jobs.
11. The management agreement must be abided by in order to pursue the fulfilling and rewarding job of a manager.
12. The quality of work life for employees can be improved by 1) safe and healthy working conditions, 2) opportunities to use and develop initial capabilities, 3) opportunity for personal and professional growth, 4) work schedules, career demands, and travel requirements that do not regularly take up family and leisure time, and 5) the right to personal privacy, free speech, equitable treatment, and due process.
13. The problem of the glass ceiling – the invisible barrier that prevents women and minorities from moving up in the organizational hierarchy – still remains.
CRITICAL THINKING EXERCISES
1. a. Student answers may vary. It is important for students to recognize the differences between management and their roles in the organization.
b. An organizational hierarchy will be shaped like a pyramid.
c. Student responses will vary.
2. This is an interesting exercise to understand that management skills are also applicable to just about everything you manage or engage in. As a student in this management class, you will have to plan your work, semester/quarter, and how you are going to meet the requirements of the class, as well as what grade you want and how you will go about achieving it. These activities are part of planning function and require conceptual skills. The human relations skills will come into play, as you need to interact with your professor and other students in team/class. Finally, the actual task of studying, learning, and performing in the class requires technical skills.
3. Being promoted to a managerial position will alter the way you previously viewed your work. The biggest difference is the level of responsibility you will have when you receive a promotion. You will no longer be able to hang out as much with your operatives/subordinates, play favorites, put yourself ahead of others, pass the buck on difficult assignments, or bring your personal problems to work.
4. Student answers may vary. It is important to point out that diversity can give an organization a competitive advantage. For example, if all of the employees think and act the same, creativity will not exist. Companies that are able to produce innovative products will have an advantage over other companies in any industry.
PRACTICE TEST
MULTIPLE CHOICE TRUE FALSE
1. C 7. B 1. False 7. True
2. B 8. C 2. False 8. False
3. B 9. B 3. True 9. True
4. A 10. C 4. True 10. True
5. D 11. D 5. True 11. False
6. A 12. A 6. False 12. False