Introduction to Management

Introduction to Management

• Coordinator/Overseer: Someone who coordinates and oversees the work of others to achieve organizational goals.
• Production Personnel: Organizational members directly involved in producing a product or service, and serving customers.
• Top-Level Managers: Individuals responsible for making organization-wide decisions and establishing plans affecting the entire organization.
• Middle Managers: Manage the work of first-line managers and are located between top and first-line managers.
• First-Line Managers: The lowest level of management, responsible for overseeing non-management employees directly involved in production or creation.
• Job-Specific Skills: Job-specific knowledge and techniques needed to proficiently perform work tasks; more important for first-line managers.
• Interpersonal Skills: The ability to work well with other people individually and in groups; essential for all levels of management.

Technical Skills

• Conceptual Skills: The skills managers use to think and conceptualize about abstract and complex situations; most important for top managers.
• Decision-Making Skills: Refers to output from the least amount of input or resources and the means of getting things done.
• Goal-Oriented Skills: Doing work that achieves organizational goals.
• Planning Skills: Defining goals, establishing strategies, and creating plans to achieve goals; integrating and coordinating activities.
• Organizational Skills: Arranging and structuring work to accomplish organizational goals; determining what, how, and who is responsible.
• Motivational/Leadership Skills: Working with and through people to accomplish goals, motivating, leading, and acting on people-related functions.
• Control Skills: Monitoring, comparing, and correcting work to ensure goals are met.

Specific Actions/Behaviors

• General Actions: Specific actions or behaviors expected of a manager.
• People-Oriented Actions: Specific actions/behaviors involving people (internal and external) and other duties.
• Information-Oriented Actions: Specific actions/behaviors involving collecting, receiving, and disseminating information.
• Decision-Oriented Actions: Specific actions/behaviors entailing making decisions or choices.

Information Seeking

• External Information Seeking: Seeking and receiving a wide range of internal and external information to understand the organization and its environment (reading periodicals, maintaining contacts).

Information Transmission

• Internal Information Transmission: Transmitting information received from outsiders or subordinates to members of the organization (meetings, phone calls).
• External Information Transmission: Transmitting information to outsiders on organization matters (meetings, dealing with media).

Symbolic Role

• Symbolic Role: Symbolic head, obliged to perform routine duties of a legal or social nature (greeting visitors, signing documents).

Management Responsibilities

• Subordinate Management: Responsible for the motivation, staffing, and training of subordinates; performing tasks involving subordinates.
• Networking: Maintaining a network of outside contacts and informers providing favors and information.
• Opportunity Seeking: Searching the organization and its environment for opportunities and initiating projects for improvement.
• Corrective Action: Responsible for corrective action when the organization faces unexpected disturbances.
• Resource Allocation: Responsible for allocating organizational resources; making significant organizational decisions (scheduling, budgeting).
• Negotiation: Responsible for representing the organization in major negotiations.

Management as a Deliberate Arrangement

• Group Purpose: A deliberate arrangement of people to accomplish a purpose unattainable by individuals.

Management History

• Adam Smith: Published "Wealth of Nations" (1776).
• Scientific Management Pioneers: Observed manufacturing methods, substituted machine power, and promoted large organizations.
• Frederick Winslow Taylor: Considered the "father" of scientific management; published "Principles of Scientific Management" (1911).
• Henri Fayol: Emphasized distinct management principles like the interests of the organization taking precedence, fair wages, and team spirit.
• Bureaucracy Theory: Developed a theory emphasizing rationality, predictability, impersonality, and technical competence.
• Operations Research/Management Science: A method to solve problems mathematically and statistically to address military and logistical problems.
• Human Relations Approach: Emphasized that people are the most valuable asset of an organization.

Decision Making

• Managerial Essence: Decision-making is the core of management.
• Steps in Decision Making: 8 steps, starting from problem identification and ending with decision evaluation.
• Discrepancy: A discrepancy between existing and desired states (problem).
• Relevant Factors: Important factors (elements) in resolving a problem.
• Intuitive Decisions: Decisions based on experience, feelings, judgement.
• Routine Decisions: Decisions involving clear goals, familiarity, and easily defined information.
• Structured Approach: A repetitive decision requiring a routine approach (using existing criteria).

Planning

• Strategic Plans: Apply to the entire organization and set overall goals.
• Operational Plans: Apply to a particular area of the organization.
• Long-Term Plans: Time horizons extending beyond three years.
• Short-Term Plans: Time horizons of one year or less.
• Specific Plans: Clearly defined and unambiguous plans.
• Flexible Plans: Offer guidelines, allow discretion in implementation.
• One-Time Plans: Developed for specific unique situations.
• Ongoing Plans: Guides for repeatedly performed activities.
• Goal-Setting Approaches: Approaches to setting goals jointly between employees and managers, often involving performance evaluation periods and feedback.
• Overall Planning: Defines organizational goals, establishes strategies to achieve them, and develops plans for work activities.
• Performance Goals: Desired outcomes for individuals, groups, or the entire organization providing direction and evaluation criteria.
• Planning Tools: Documents that outline goals' accomplishment processes, allocating resources, and scheduling activities.