Management Fundamentals Unit 1

Management Fundamentals

• An organization is a group of people working together to achieve a common outcome or purpose.
• A manager is someone who directly supports, supervises, and helps activate the work efforts and performance accomplishments of others.
• Management is the process of planning, organizing, leading, and controlling resources to achieve organizational goals and objectives efficiently and effectively.
• The four functions of management are planning, organizing, leading, and controlling.
• There are different levels of management, including top-level, middle, and front-line managers.

Purpose of Corrective Action

• To encourage communication and provide opportunities for employees to correct issues as they arise.
• To establish and maintain efficient and effective working conditions and a safe working environment.
• To help solve issues before they worsen and to preserve team morale.
• To treat all employees in a fair and consistent manner.
• To document issues as they arise and keep a history of performance-related issues.

Evolution of Management

• Management practices date back to ancient times, influencing societies and organizations since the beginning of time.
• Studying the past helps illuminate the future.
• Management thinking can be traced back to documented examples as far back as 5,000 B.C.

Theories of Management

• Classical approaches to management assume people are rational and driven by economic concerns.
• The scientific method aims to regulate, simplify, and increase efficiency and productivity.
• Administrative principles focus on designing jobs perfectly using time studies to ensure highest productivity.
• Bureaucratic organizations are characterized by a clear division of labor, well-defined levels of authority, and formal rules and procedures.

Behavioral Approaches to Management

• The Hawthorne Studies revealed that people perform differently when they know they are being observed and studied.
• Maslow's Theory of Human Needs is a pyramid of needs that describes human motivation.
• Theory X and Theory Y describe different managerial approaches to motivation and behavior.

Implications of IT within Organizations

• Facilitation of communication and information sharing.
• Flattening of organizational structures.
• Faster decision-making and increased coordination and control.

Problem Solvers and Ethical Behavior

• Problem avoiders do not want to confront problems and may ignore data indicating a problem.
• Problem solvers resolve problems as they occur.
• Problem seekers anticipate problems before they occur and see them as opportunities.
• Ethical behavior involves conduct that aligns with moral principles, integrity, and societal norms, promoting fairness, honesty, respect, and responsibility.

Factors Influencing Individual Ethics

• Family and upbringing.
• Cultural background.
• Religion and spirituality.
• Education and knowledge.
• Personal experiences.
• Legal system.
• Peers and social networks.
• Media and information consumption.
• Economic status.
• Organizational culture.
• Biological and psychological factors.
• Age and life stage.

Corporate Social Responsibility

• The commitment of businesses to contribute positively to society through ethical behavior, sustainable practices, and initiatives that benefit stakeholders beyond profit maximization.
• Arguments against social responsibility include reduced profits, higher costs, and dilution of business purpose.
• Arguments in favor of social responsibility include long-run profits, better public image, and avoiding government regulation.

Perspectives on Social Responsibility

• Growing awareness among the general public about social, environmental, and ethical issues.
• Reputation and trust are enhanced through socially responsible behavior.
• Laws and regulations are being enacted to address issues such as environmental protection, labor rights, and consumer protection.
• Socially responsible behavior is essential for long-term sustainability.### Leadership and Planning

What is a Leader?

• A leader is someone who leads or commands a group, organization, or country
• A leader can see how things can be improved and rallies people to move towards a better vision
• A person can be a leader without being a manager

Personality Traits of a Leader

• The "trait approach to leadership" identifies five significant personality traits in the workplace
• The Five Big Personality Traits are:
  • Extraversion: outgoing, talkative, assertive, and seeking social interaction
  • Agreeableness: cooperative, empathetic, polite, and sensitive to the feelings of others
  • Conscientiousness: organized, responsible, reliable, and efficient
  • Emotional Stability: calm, stable, and able to manage stress and emotions
  • Openness to experience: curious, open-minded, and appreciative of art and ideas

Approaches to Planning

• Inside-Out Planning: focuses on current production, policies, and improving existing processes
• Outside-In Planning: considers the external environment and competitive opportunities
• Top-Down Planning: sets broad objectives and guidelines for lower-level management
• Bottom-Up Planning: involves all stakeholders in the planning process

Levels of Strategic Planning

• Corporate Strategy: sets the overall direction for the company and allocates resources
• Business Strategy: identifies how a division or business unit will compete in products or services
• Functional Strategy: guides activities within a specific area of operations

Tools and Techniques

• Forecasting: making assumptions about future events
• Contingency Planning: identifying alternative courses of action for changing circumstances
• Benchmarking: comparing internal processes with external best practices
• Goal Setting: setting specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and timely goals

Competitive Advantage

• Sustainable Competitive Advantage (SCA): a competitive advantage that is difficult for competitors to imitate
• Strategic Intent: focusing all organizational energies on a unifying and compelling goal### Emotional Stability and Motivation
• A person who is emotionally stable tends to have better job performance
• A person who is not emotionally stable may have poorer job performance
• A manager's role is to create conditions for employees to feel motivated and inspired to work hard

Types of Motivational Rewards

• Intrinsic rewards: internal psychological or emotional benefits derived from engaging in an activity (e.g. personal satisfaction)
• Extrinsic rewards: valued outcomes provided by someone else (e.g. monetary incentives)

Theories of Motivation

• Content perspectives: focus on identifying specific needs and factors that motivate individuals
  • Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs: arranged from basic physiological needs to higher-level needs like self-esteem and self-actualization
  • Herzberg's Two-Factor Theory: distinguishes between hygiene factors (extrinsic factors) and motivators (intrinsic factors)
• Process perspectives: concerned with cognitive processes, decision-making, and psychological mechanisms underlying motivation
  • Vroom's Expectancy Theory
  • Adam's Equity Theory
  • Locke's Goal Setting Theory
  • Skinner's Reinforcement Theory

Reinforcement Theory

• Basic premise: behaviors followed by desired outcomes will be repeated
• Examines the relationship between behavior and its consequences, with an emphasis on the role of reinforcement in shaping and maintaining behavior

Strategies for Motivating Employees

• Recognition and rewards
• Clear goals and expectations
• Employee development and growth opportunities
• Communication and feedback
• Empowerment and autonomy
• Team building and collaboration
• Work-life balance

Organizing as a Management Function

• Organizing: the process of deciding how to group people, activities, and resources to work together to accomplish a goal
• Organizational structure: the system of tasks, workflows, reporting relationships, and communication channels that link together diverse individuals and groups

Departmentalization

• The process of grouping jobs or activities within an organization according to a logical set or pattern
• Types of departmentalization: functional, product, geographic, customer, and matrix departmentalization

Trends in Organizational Design

• Flat organizations with fewer or no levels of management between management and staff-level employees
• Wider spans of control, with managers responsible for a larger number of subordinates
• Increased empowerment and decentralization of decision-making

Control Process/System

• The process of assessing, regulating, or directing one or more organizational activities to facilitate the achievement of goals
• External controls: government regulations, industry standards, market competition, consumer demand and feedback, financial institutions and investors, and social and ethical expectations