Topic 1A Management Flashcards
What is Management?
- The pursuit of organizational goals efficiently and effectively.
- Integrating the work of people.
- Planning, organizing, leading, and controlling the organization’s resources.
What does it mean to be Efficient?
It means to use resources wisely and cost-effectively.
Relates to minimizing, or optimizing, the time and resources used to achieve results and goals.
What does it mean to be effective?
It means to achieve results, to make the right decisions and to successfully carry them out so that managers achieve the organization’s goals.
Relates to doing the right things in order to achieve desired results and goals.
What is the management process?
The management process includes: Planning, Organizing, Controlling, and Leading.
Planning:
You set goals and decide how to achieve them.
Organizing:
You arrange tasks, people, and other resources to accomplish the work.
Controlling:
You monitor performance, compare it with goals, and take corrective action as needed.
Leading:
You motivate, direct, and otherwise influence people to work hard to achieve the organization’s goals.
Functional Manager:
-Responsible for just one organization activity.
- E.g. director of finance, vice president of production.
General Manager:
-Responsible for several organizational activities.
- E.g. executive vice president, an executive director for a non-profit.
1- Top Managers:
Make long-term decisions about the overall direction of the organization and establish the objectives, policies, and strategies for it.
2- Middle Managers:
Implement the policies and plans of the top mangers above them and supervise and coordinate the activities of the first-line managers below them.
3- First-line Managers:
Make short-term operating decisions, directing the daily tasks of non-managerial personnel.
4- Team Leader:
Responsible for facilitating team activities toward achieving key results.
Technical Skills:
The job-specific knowledge needed to perform well in a specialized field.
Conceptual Skills:
The ability to think analytically, to visualize an organization as a whole and understand how the parts work together.
Human Skills (soft skills)
The ability to work well in cooperation with other people to get things done; the ability to motivate, to inspire trust, to communicate with others.
What are the seven challenges to being an exceptional manager?
1- Managing for competitive advantage
2- Managing for technological advances
3- Managing for diversity and inclusion
4- Managing for globalization
5- Managing for ethical standards
6- Managing for sustainable development
7- Managing for happiness and meaningfulness
Competitive Advantage:
The ability of an organization to produce goods or services more effectively than competitors do, thereby outperforming them.
What does it mean to have competitive advantage?
- Being responsive to customers
- Innovation: finding ways to deliver better goods or services.
- Quality: making improvements in quality so that consumers choose your product.
- Efficiency: overstaffing and overuse of raw materials can make you less competitive.
Sustainable Development:
Focuses on meeting present needs while simultaneously ensuring that future generations will be able to meet their needs.
