chapter 1 Flashcards
Management:
− A set of activities (including planning and decision making, organizing, leading, and controlling) directed at an organization’s resources (human, financial, physical, and information) with the aim of achieving organizational goals in an efficient and effective manner
Efficient
Using resources wisely in a cost-effective way
Effective
Making the right decisions and
successfully implementing them
Top managers:
− Executives who manage the overall organization
− Create the organization’s goals, overall strategy, and operating
policies
Chief Operating Officer (COO), Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Chief Financial Officer (CFO), President, or Vice President
Middle managers:
− Implement the policies and plans developed by top managers
− Supervise and coordinate the activities of lower-level managers
These managers often have job titles that include the word “director.”
First-line managers:
− Supervise and coordinate the activities of operating employees
− Spend a large proportion of their time supervising the work of their
subordinates
functions
Planning
Decision Making
Organizing
Leading
Controlling
Planning
− Setting an organization’s goals and deciding how best to achieve them
Decision Making
− Part of the planning process that involves selecting a course of action from a set of alternatives
Organizing
- Determining how activities and resources are to be grouped
Leading
- The set of processes used to get members of the
organization to work together to further the interests of the
organization
Controlling
- Monitoring organizational progress toward goal attainment
4 Management Skills
Technical skills
Interpersonal skills
Conceptual skills
Diagnostic skills
Technical skills
− The skills necessary to accomplish or understand the specific kind of work done in an organization
Interpersonal skills
− The ability to communicate with, understand, and motivate both individuals and groups
Conceptual skills
− The manager’s ability to think in the abstract
Diagnostic skills
− The manager’s ability to visualize the most appropriate response to a
situation
The Science of Management:
- Assumes problems and issues can be approached using
rational, logical, objective, and systematic ways - Requires technical, diagnostic, and decision-making skills
The Art of Management:
- Requires a blend of intuition, experience, instinct, and
personal insights - Relies heavily on conceptual, communication, interpersonal,
and time management skills
Classical management perspective:
- Consists of two distinct branches—scientific management
and administrative management
Scientific management:
- Concerned with improving the performance of individual
workers
Administrative management:
Focuses on managing the total organization
Frederick W. Taylor (1856–1915)
− Replaced old work methods with scientifically-based work
methods
− Eliminated “soldiering,” where employees deliberately
worked at a pace slower than their capabilities
− Studied and redesigned jobs, introduced rest periods to
reduce fatigue, and implemented piecework pay systems
Classical Management Perspective Contributions
Contributions:
* Many management techniques and approaches that are still
relevant today
* Focused attention on management as a meaningful field of study
Classical Management Perspective limitations
Limitations:
* More appropriate for use in stable, simple organizations rather
than the changing and complex organizations of today
* Proposed universal guidelines that do not fit every organization
* Slighted the role of the individual in organizations
Illumination study:
− Lighting adjustments affected the productivity of both control and
experimental groups of employees.
Group study:
− A piecework incentive pay plan caused workers to establish
informal levels of individual output.
− Overproducing workers were labeled “rate busters.”
− Underproducing workers were considered “chiselers.”
Interview program:
Confirmed the importance of human behavior in the workplace
Human relations movement:
Grew out of the Hawthorne studies
Proposed that workers respond primarily to the social
context of work, including social conditioning, group
norms, and interpersonal dynamics
