Principles of Management

• This lecture introduces the principles of management
• The course will explore the specifics activities that constitute managing and being managed
• Examines how management differs across contexts and situations
• It will look at what management entails and what good management leads to

Course Teacher

• Dr. Didier Soopramanien has a PhD from Lancaster University
• Dr. Soopramanien's previous experience includes:
  • Assistant Professor at Lancaster University-UK
  • Associate Professor at Beijing Foreign Studies University-China
  • Reader at Loughborough University-UK
  • Senior Associate Professor at Xi’an Jiatong Liverpool University-China
  • Research Fellow at Seoul National University Asia Centre
  • Solbridge Korea and BFSU

Additional Thoughts

• It's beneficial to learn management skills, even if you feel too young or plan to start your own business
• Managing time, planning, managing others, and decision-making are useful skills to learn
• Understanding strategy, planning, and organizational behavior is useful for other courses

Expectations

• Students should feel comfortable admitting when they don't know something
• The course will involve attendance, group work, midterm exams, and final exams

Core Activities of Management

• The four main principal activities in management are:
  • Leading
  • Managing
  • Controlling
  • Planning

Organizational Structure

• Organizations take inputs and transform them into outputs

Types of Organizations

• Examples of organizations include:
  • BFSU, Oxford University, Google, Baidu
  • Manchester United, FIFA, Boeing, Tesla
  • BYD, and Médecins Sans Frontières

Diversity in Organizations

• The diversity and heterogeneity of organizations are crucial to understand

Definition of an Organization

• As defined by Robbins and Coulter (2018), an organization has:
  • Distinct Purpose
  • Deliberate Structure
  • People

Management Roles

• Mintzberg identified three main managerial roles:
  • Interpersonal, Informational, and Decisional
• These roles are further broken down into specific functions

Interpersonal roles

• Interpersonal roles are about relationships
• Leadership involves the kind of "Boss" a manager is
• A figurehead represents the team
• Other roles include being a colleague, motivator, advisor, mentor, and liaison

Informational Roles

• Informational roles pertain to gathering and conveying information
• Managers gather information from various sources, including headquarters
• They interpret information to guide others
• Listening and serving as a spokesperson are key

Decisional Roles

• Decisional roles involve making choices and taking action
• Managers initiate projects and choose actions
• They make tough decisions, negotiate with stakeholders

Manager Skills

• Three main types of skills that a manager requires depend on the level of management within an organization: -Technical skills -Human skills -Conceptual Skills

Technical Skills

• Technical skills involve knowledge of the industry to know how the work is done
• Higher-level managers may require experience from outside their current industry

Human Skills

• Human skills relate to empathy, listening, communication, and recognizing diversity

Conceptual Skills

• Conceptual skills involve:
  • Systems perspective: Understanding how different parts of the organization are linked
  • Creative thinking: Thinking beyond the information or situation provided

History of Management

• The history stems from efforts to organize people, such as in constructing buildings
• Division of labor and Adam Smith's ideas contributed to management principles

Technology Factors

• The Industrial Revolution significantly impacted production & made one country more rich than an other
• Electricity impacted production and transport of goods.
• Current technological transformations involve Industry 4.0 and 5.0
• Smart systems, smart manufacturing, and smart cities are examples of technological advancements

Managing Change

• Change is triggered by both internal and external forces
• Organizations must improvise and adapt, especially during events like the COVID-19 lockdown

Efficiency vs Effectiveness

• Efficiency relates to optimizing resource use.
• Effectiveness relates to achieving goals.
• Definitions may vary for different organizations (e.g., hospitals vs. manufacturing firms)

Core Management Theories

• People and organizations have always needed to be managed

• Adam Smith - “Wealth of Nations”, advocated for division of labor and production reorganization

• Fordism uses a management science approach based on metrics

• Henry Fayol focused on the work of managers and tasks like planning and organizing

• Weberian - Theory of bureaucracy includes structures organizations and how they are arranged and designed

• Organisational behavior approach involves consideration of improving productivity of workers looking at assets.

• Total Quality Management (TQM) - Aims to measure management and benchmarking

• Management journals such as Harvard Business Review research in management and can see topics that being studied in the field.