Basics of Management Flashcards
What is Management?
Good management is working through others to accomplish tasks that help fulfill organizational
objectives as efficiently as possible.
Identify the 4 functions of management
Henri Fayol’s classic management functions are known today as planning, organizing, leading, and
controlling. Planning is determining organizational goals and a means for achieving them. Organizing is
deciding where decisions will be made, who will do what jobs and tasks, and who will work for whom.
Leading is inspiring and motivating workers to work hard to achieve organizational goals. Controlling is
monitoring progress toward goal achievement and taking corrective action when needed. Studies show
that performing these management functions well leads to better managerial performance.
Identify the different types of managers and explain their roles
There are four different kinds of managers. Top managers are responsible for creating a context for
change, developing attitudes of commitment and ownership, creating a positive organizational culture
through words and actions, and monitoring their company’s business environments. Middle managers are responsible for planning and allocating resources, coordinating and linking groups and departments,
monitoring and managing the performance of subunits and managers, and implementing the changes or
strategies generated by top managers. First-line managers are responsible for managing the performance of nonmanagerial employees, teaching direct reports how to do their jobs, and making detailed schedules and operating plans based on middle management’s intermediate-range plans. Team leaders are responsible for facilitating team performance, managing external relationships, and facilitating internal
team relationships.
Identify and describe the major roles and sub-roles that managers perform in their jobs.
Managers perform interpersonal, informational, and decisional roles in their jobs. In fulfilling the
interpersonal role, managers act as figureheads by performing ceremonial duties, as leaders by motivating
and encouraging workers, and as liaisons by dealing with people outside their units. In performing their
informational role, managers act as monitors by scanning their environment for information, as
disseminators by sharing information with others in the company, and as spokespeople by sharing
information with people outside their departments or companies. In fulfilling decisional roles, managers act
as entrepreneurs by adapting their units to incremental change, as disturbance handlers by responding to
larger problems that demand immediate action, as resource allocators by deciding resource recipients and
amounts, and as negotiators by bargaining with others about schedules, projects, goals, outcomes, and
resources.
List the skills that companies will look for when hiring a manager
Companies do not want one-dimensional managers. They want managers with a balance of skills. They
want managers who know their stuff (technical skills), are equally comfortable working with bluecollar
and white-collar employees (human skills), are able to assess the complexities of today’s
competitive marketplace and position their companies for success (conceptual skills), and want to
assume positions of leadership and power (motivation to manage). Technical skills are most important
for lower-level managers, human skills are equally important at all levels of management, and
conceptual skills and motivation to manage increase in importance as managers rise through the
managerial ranks
List the types of mistakes that managers will typically make.
Five of the most important mistakes made by managers are being abrasive and intimidating; being cold,
aloof, or arrogant; betraying trust; being overly ambitious; and failing to build a team and then delegate to that team.
Describe some the transition process for employees promoted to a manager.
Managers often begin their jobs by using more formal authority and less people management.
However, most managers find that being a manager has little to do with “bossing” their subordinates.
After six months on the job, the managers were surprised at the fast pace and heavy workload and that
“helping” their subordinates was viewed as interference. After a year on the job, most of the managers
had come to think of themselves not as doers, but as managers who get things done through others.
And because they finally realized that people management was the most important part of their job,
most of them had abandoned their authoritarian approach for one based on communication, listening,
and positive reinforcement
Explain how and why companies can create competitive advantage through people
Why does management matter? Well-managed companies are competitive because their work forces
are smarter, better trained, more motivated, and more committed. Furthermore, companies that
practice good management consistently have greater sales revenues, profits, and stock market
performance than companies that don’t. Finally, good management matters because good management
leads to satisfied employees who, in turn, provide better service to customers. Because employees tend
to treat customers the same way that their managers treat them, good management can improve
customer satisfaction.
