Ch1 Intro to Management

Question 1

who is a manager?

Answer 1

coordinates and oversees work of other people to achieve org goals

Question 2

managerial levels

Answer 2

top, middle, first-line, non-managerial staff

Question 3

first line mgmt

Answer 3

manage non-mgrl employees involved with producing the org’s products or servicing clients

Question 4

middle managers

Answer 4

manage first-line managers

Question 5

top managers

Answer 5

responsible for making org-wide decisions and establishing strategy and goals that affect the whole business

Question 6

define an organisation

Answer 6

deliberate arrangement of people created to achieve a specific goal

characteristics: distinct purpose, deliberate structure, made of people

Question 7

efficiency vs effectiveness

Answer 7

efficiency

• achieving max output with min input
• doing things right
• means

effectiveness

• doing the specific work activities that will result in achieving org objectives
• doing the right things
• ends

MUST go hand-in-hand to be successful

Question 8

three approaches to describe what managers do

Answer 8

functions, roles, skills

Question 9

Fayol’s 5 mgmt functions

Answer 9

planning, organising, commanding, coordinating, controlling (com and coord considered ‘leading’)

planning - setting goals and strategies and planning to integrate activites
organising - arranging various FOP and work activities needed to achieve goals (right things, right place, right time)
leading - working with and through people to achieve goals e.g. motivating, conflict-resolution, disciplinary action
controlling - monitoring work performance, comparing to pre-set targets and taking corrective action if targets have not been met

will not always happen in this sequence!

Question 10

mintzberg’s management roles

Answer 10

INTERPERSONAL
* liaison
* leader
* figurehead

INFORMATIONAL
* disseminator
* spokesperson
* monitor

DECISIONAL
* entrepreneur
* disturbance handler
* resource allocator
* negotiator

think of these as being specific ways in which fayol’s functions can be carried out

Question 11

how does the emphasis given to each of mintzberg’s roles change as you go up the hierarchy?

Answer 11

the roles of disseminator, figurehead, negotiator, liason and spokesperson are m ore important

the leader role (controlling and commanding accoring to fayol) is more important for lower-level than it is for mid or top level mgmt

Question 12

managerial skills

Answer 12

technical - job-specific knowledge needed to proficiently perform work tasks, most important for first-line managers who oversee employees directly involved with production/client servicing

interpersonal - working well with other people individually and in a group, important for all mgmt levels

conceptual - ability to think and conceptualise about abstract and complex situations, most important for top mgmt since they need to understand org as a whole and who it fits into its broader environment to set objectives, strategies and tactics to meet these objectives

Question 13

challenges faced by managers

Answer 13

1. technology - handling employee resistance
2. disruptive innovation - anticipating and turning into opportunities
3. social media - useful but possible threat to reputation, productivitty and moral
4. ethics - greater emphasis on accountability to build trust with stakeholders (and use as competitive adv)
5. political uncertainty - e.g. corp tax reforms, protectionism, immigration law
6. growing customer-centricity - greater focus on employee training and motivation to ensure consistently high-quality customer service as the tertiary sector grows in dominance