Final Flashcards
Who are individuals who work in an organization directing and overseeing the activities of other people
Managers
Where do Managers work?
. Managers are usually classified as top, middle, or first-line. Organizations, which are where managers work, have three characteristics: goals, people, and a deliberate structure.
What is the process of getting things done, effectively and efficiently, with and through other people. Efficiency means doing a task correctly (“doing things right”) and getting the most output from the least amount of inputs. Effectiveness means “doing the right things” by doing those work tasks that help the organization reach its goals.
Management
What do managers do?
What managers do can be described using three approaches: functions, roles, and skills/competencies. The functions approach says that managers perform four functions: planning, organizing, leading, and controlling. All managers plan, organize, lead, and control although how they do these activities and how often they do them may vary according to level in the organization, whether the organization is profit or not-for-profit, the size of the organization, and the geographic location of the organization.
Why is it important to study management
One reason it’s important to study management is that all of us interact with organizations daily so we have a vested interest in seeing that organizations are well managed. Another reason is the reality that in your career you will either manage or be managed. By studying management you can gain insights into the way your boss and fellow employees behave and how organizations function.
What do managers do in the strategic management process
Managers develop the organization’s strategies in the strategic management process, which is a six-step process encompassing strategy planning, implementation, and evaluation. The six steps are as follows: (1) Identify the organization’s current mission, goals, and strategies; (2) Do an external analysis; (3) Do an internal analysis—steps 2 and 3 together are called SWOT analysis; (4) Formulate strategies; (5) Implement strategies; and (6) Evaluate results. The end result of this process is a set of corporate, competitive, and functional strategies that allow the organization to do what it’s in business to do and to achieve its goals.
Foundations of decision making and planning
Decision making
1. Decision making is part of all four managerial functions.
2. Decision making is intricately involved in planning
3. Decision-making is typically described as “choosing among alternatives.”
4. Decision-making is a process.
Organizations could also use management by objectives, which is a process of setting mutually agreed-upon goals and using those goals to evaluate employee performance.
Decision-making process is
The decision-making process consists of eight steps: (1) identify problem, (2) identify decision criteria, (3) weight the criteria, (4) develop alternatives, (5) analyze alternatives, (6) select alternative, (7) implement alternative, and (8) evaluate decision effectiveness.
The nature and purposes of planning
As the primary management function, planning establishes the basis for all the other things that managers do. The planning we’re concerned with is formal planning; that is, specific goals covering a specific time period are defined and written down and specific plans are developed to make sure those goals are met. There are four reasons why managers should plan: (1) it establishes coordinated efforts, (2) it reduces uncertainty, (3) it reduces overlapping and wasteful activities, and (4) it establishes the goals or standards that are used in controlling work.
Goal setting and planning is
Most company’s goals are classified as either strategic or financial. We can also look at goals as either stated or real. In traditional goal setting, goals set by top managers flow down through the organization and become subgoals for each organizational area. Organizations could also use management by objectives, which is a process of setting mutually agreed-upon goals and using those goals to evaluate employee performance.
Define a group and describe the stages of group development
A group is two or more interacting and interdependent individuals who come together to achieve specific goals. Formal groups are work groups that are defined by the organization’s structure and have designated work assignments and specific tasks directed at accomplishing organizational goals. Informal groups are social groups.
The forming stage consists of two phases: joining the group and defining the group’s purpose, structure, and leadership. The storming stage is one of intragroup conflict over who will control the group and what the group will be doing. The norming stage is when close relationships and cohesiveness develop as norms are determined. The performing stage is when group members began to work on the group’s task. The adjourning stage is when the group prepares to disband.
Discuss how groups are turned into effective teams
Effective teams have common characteristics. They have adequate resources, effective leadership, a climate of trust, and a performance evaluation and reward system that reflects team contributions. These teams have individuals with technical expertise as well as problem-solving, decision-making, and interpersonal skills and the right traits, especially conscientiousness and openness to new experiences.
Effective teams also tend to be small, preferably of diverse backgrounds. They have members who fill role demands and who prefer to be part of a team. And the work that members do provides freedom and autonomy, the opportunity to use different skills and talents, the ability to complete a whole and identifiable task or product, and work that has a substantial impact on others.
What is motivation
Motivation is the process by which a person’s efforts are energized, directed, and sustained toward attaining a goal. The energy element is a measure of intensity or drive. The high level of effort needs to be directed in ways that help the organization achieve its goals. Employees must persist in putting forth effort to achieve those goals.
Define leader and leadership
A leader is someone who can influence others and who has managerial authority. Leadership is a process of leading a group and influencing that group to achieve its goals. Managers should be leaders because leading is one of the four management functions.
Communicating effectively
. Communication is the transfer and understanding of meaning. There are seven elements in the communication process. First there is a sender or source who has a message. A message is a purpose to be conveyed. Encoding is converting a message into symbols. A channel is the medium a message travels along. Decoding is when the receiver retranslates a sender’s message. Finally, there is feedback. The barriers to effective communication include filtering, emotions, information overload, defensiveness, language, and national culture. Managers can overcome these barriers by using feedback, simplifying language, listening actively, constraining emotions, and watching for nonverbal clues.