Unit 5: Management Flashcards
- List the core functions of management: Plan, Organize, Lead, Control - Plan - Distinguish between the importance of a vision, mission statement, values, and goals - Organize - Describe the importance of organizational design - Lead - Identify leadership traits, motivation, and leadership styles - Control - Summarize the steps in the control process
What do managers do
give directions to their organizations, provide leadership, and decide how to use organizational resources to accomplish organizational goals
what is management like today
- Success of a business is dependent on management’s ability to adapt to the changing business environment
- There is a greater emphasis on leading people in management
What are the 4 core functions of management
Plan
Organize
Lead
Control
what are some examples of what makes a great manager
- Their professionalism
- Their ability to rally you and your colleagues to work towards a common purpose
- Creating a fun and friendly work environment
- Supporting you with your responsibilities
- Providing positive and constructive feedback to help you grow as a professional and as an individual
- These considerations are tied to their ability to effectively plan, organize, lead, and control
what happens in the planning stage?
- Planning starts with defining a vision, mission statement, and values
- Provides a direction to where the organization is going
- What is decided from the planning stage will cascade into the other core management functions
what is a vision
- Describes why an organization exists and where it wants to be by articulating an attractive future
- Is a long-term goal
- Inspires employees to make decisions and take actions that drive towards the vision
- Provides a road map for an organization
what is a mission statement
- Describes the current purpose of an organization and what they do
- Highlights the current purpose
- Addresses: Why the business exists & what makes it unique
are vision and mission statements the same
no, but they are often put together
What are values
Fundamental beliefs that can guide day-to-day decision-making
what is the purpose of values
- Used to help align employees to work towards the vision and mission statements
- Can help make decisions when there are time constraints, incomplete information, or uncertainty
- Acknowledges what is acceptable behaviour
- Help shape organizational culture
- How should employees represent themselves and engage with others (colleagues & customers)
how does leadership ensure that the company values are embraced in the work environment
ask the questions:
- are these values communicated to all employees, especially new hires?
- are they prominent?
- are they modelled by leaders within the organization?
what are goals
Targets or accomplishments a business wants to achieve that should align with their vision and mission
what are SMART goals
goals that are specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and timely
what does it mean when a SMART goal is specific
is it clear & not ambiguous
what does it mean when a SMART goal is measurable
can you monitor and quantify how progress is made toward the goal?
what does it mean when a SMART goal is attainable
is it achievable given the people and resources involved?
what does it mean when a SMART goal is relevant
does it align with the vision and mission statement?
what does it mean when a SMART goal is timely
can the goal be met within a specified time frame?
what are contingency plans
Recognizes courses of action to take when original plans don’t go as anticipated
why is it good to have contingency plans
- The future is uncertain, having back up plans allows a business to stay flexible and reduce risks
- they should be made by considering the risk severity and likelihood of the original plan
what could be an example of a contingency plan if: sales are not growing as anticipated towards a goal
the contingency plan could involve increased spending on advertising or changes in prices to stimulate sales
what could be an example of a contingency plan if: a business faces a crisis (ex. natural disaster)
- a contingency plan can support employees to get back on their feet and get the business to run again
- Companies rely on backups of their information or access to their information that is stored in the cloud for these purposes
what happens in the organization stage
- Organization stage is putting the plans into action
- allocating resources to meet the goals in the planning stage
- Influences the way people act and how information flows within an organization
what is an organizational chart
Displays how people are organized
what does an organizational chart show
- The number of employees and their roles
- Positions and relationships of people
- How information is flowing through a company
- Is it vertical (moving from the bottom to the top)
- Is it horizontal (moving between departments and teams)
what are examples of levels of senior management
“c-suite”
Chief Executive Officer (CEO)
Chief Financial Officer (CFO)
Chief Operating Officer (COO)
Chief Information Officer (CIO)
Chief Marketing Officer (CMO)
what is the role of senior management in a company
to drive the company towards its vision while supporting a strong company culture
what are examples of middle management levels and supervisory management roles
Vice President, Assistant Vice President, Directors, etc.
why are there reducing levels of middle management (collapsing hierarchies & re-organizing)
- Employees are more educated and skills, requiring less supervision
- Employees are more empowered to make their own decisions that work towards company goals
- With fewer layers of management (fewer levels of approvals), companies can be more responsive and adapt to changing customer needs
what are the skills that all employees should possess
- human skills
- technical skills
- conceptual skills
what are human skills
- Interpersonal skills
- Used to interact with others (internal & external stakeholders) to maintain and develop relationships
- Can you communicate effectively?
- Can you collaborate?
- Can you motivate and lead?
what are technical skills
- Knowledge and ability to perform tasks
- Do you know how to use the appropriate tools and equipment?
- Do you have the expertise?
what are conceptual skills
- Seeing the big picture through analytical and critical thinking skills
- Do you understand the various business functions?
- Can you navigate the competing priorities or goals?
- Can you react quickly to new opportunities and/or threats?
- Can you act creatively and calmly under pressure?
what is the demand for each skill at each level of employees (the chart)
- all levels of employees should have human skills (consistently important)
- Entry-level employees (first line) should focus more on technical skills
- They are expected to use them day-today to fulfill their responsibilities
- Senior (top) management should focus more on conceptual skills
- They are expected to see the bigger picture and make appropriate decisions to drive an organization towards its vision and mission
while an organizational chart can share information like the number of employees and their relationships, what does it lack in communicating about an organization?
- doesn’t suggest how information flows (E.g., how do departments/teams share information with each other?)
- doesn’t detail the key skills required or responsibilities of the people in the roles
how does the use of teams impact information sharing & decision-making
- Cross-functional teams have more robust information systems and differs in design of office spaces
- Having more open-concept spaces encourages collaboration and knowledge sharing across functions and employee levels
- Also provide comfortable, flexible, and adaptable spaced to get work done
what can be used to encourage and support desired behaviours in the organization stage
- rewards
- can be compensation, promotions, recognition
- can attract and retain top talent
what happens in the leadership stage
- Leaders are relied on to maximize the efforts of others
- Done through engagement, motivation, and empowerment
what does it mean to be a leader
having the right mix of skills to influence
what are traits of successful leaders
- Drive; Having the energy and ambition to move initiatives forward
- Cognitive ability; Ability to integrate and interpret large amounts of information
- Self-confidence; Knowing the strength of their abilities and comfortable acknowledging what they don’t
- Honesty & integrity; Being trustworthy to build relationships with others
- Leadership motivation; Having the desire and ability to inspire others
what is Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
- The idea that we are constantly motivated to fulfill unmet needs
- Starting from the basic needs (the bottom), can work towards the more advanced needs
what are the levels of needs in Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
- physiological needs
- safety needs
- love/belonging needs
- esteem needs
- self actualization needs
what are physiological needs
- The basic human needs to survive
- Having access to food, water, shelter, etc.
what are safety needs
The need for security and stability at home or work
what are love/belonging needs
- The social need to belong and be accepted
- Interpersonal relationships are motivation for certain behaviours
what are esteem needs
The need for respect and to be recognized by others
what are self-actualization needs
- When employees can perform to their fullest potential
- With other needs met, they are motivated by growth and development opportunities
- drives personal success, which leads to overall organizational success
what are the three classic leadership styles
- autocratic leadership
- democratic leadership
- laissez-faire leadership
what is the autocratic leadership style like?
- Managers are making decisions without consulting with their team
- More hands on
when does the autocratic leadership style work well?
- Works well when there are newer employees who need more direction and supervision
- Also works well when there’s a time crunch, easier to make decisions
Why might the autocratic leadership style not be good?
- Reduces employee morale and job satisfaction
- Doesn’t empower employees to be self-directed or to take responsibility
what is the democratic leadership style like?
- Managers and employees collaborate to make decisions
- Employees can feel more satisfied as they partake in the decision-making
when does the democratic leadership style work well?
Works well when generating ideas
Why might the democratic leadership style not be good?
- Is it wasting time with all the meetings and emails just to communicate?
- It slows down the decision-making progress
what is the laissez-faire leadership style like?
- Managers set the goals/targets, employees accomplish them however they want
- Trusting employees to perform to the best of their abilities
- Trust in the employees to make decisions that aligns with the company’s goals
- Hands off, laid back
when does the laissez-faire leadership style work well?
Works well when managing experienced professionals with the proper knowledge and training to handle certain responsibilities
what is the best leadership style
- No universal leadership approach that works well in all situations
- A variety of approaches can be used depending on who is being led and the situation
what is the control stage like
- monitoring progress towards plans
- Aims to collect feedback to determine if goals and targets have been met, and to act accordingly
what is the control process
- establishing clear standards
- monitoring and recording performance
- comparing results against standards
- communicating results
- if needed, take corrective action
get feedback
determine if the standards were realistic or need to be adjusted
process starts all over again
what is step 1 in the control process
Establishing clear standards:
Financial measures
- Key accounting rations, budgeted vs. actual figures, etc.
Non-financial measures
- Customer growth, customer satisfaction, service time, etc.
Benchmarks to compare actual performance
what are steps 2-4 in the control process
- Comparing performance to standards, then communicating results
- Looking for positive feedback or rewards to reinforce desired behaviour
what is step 5 in the control process
- Determining any corrective action that needs to be taken when goals and targets aren’t met
- Can implement contingency plans or revisiting standards to assess if they were realistic or need to be adjusted
what is the balanced scorecard, and what does it do
- way to measure different aspects of a business
- takes a wide view of an organization
- companies can fully assess their health and long-term success
- emphasizes both financial and non-financial measures
- Looks at both short-term and long-term performance of an organization
what metrics does the balanced scorecard look at
- financial
- customers
- business processes
- learning & growth
what does the financial metric look at in a balanced scorecard
- Looking at key figures (ex. Sales numbers) or their ability to meet key ratios/targets (ex. Current ratio)
- Reviewing internal reports
- Analyzing financial statements
what does the customer metric look at in a balanced scorecard
- Are customers happy and loyal?
- Looking at metrics on customer satisfaction, retention, and market share
what does the business process metric look at in a balanced scorecard
- Looking at what a company does well in operationally
- Time to fulfill orders, amount of defects/returns, how quickly customer complaints are resolved, etc.
what does the learning & growth metric look at in a balanced scorecard
- How are employees supported and developed?
- What is the employee satisfaction, retention rates, or level of skills?
what are some challenges from implementing a balanced scorecard
- some companies have too many measures for each of the four categories
- some spend too much time measuring and not acting on their results
how can the balanced scorecard be an effective tool for a company to evaluate progress made towards a goal
if they can key in on specific measures that are important to track (that perhaps link to the vision and mission) and act on them
How did RBC change how they work a during the pandemic (+ keeping this change for the future of work)
- Empty offices but the work continues - can still remotely add value for clients, serving 15 million customers in 46 countries (can organize and lead their organization remotely)
- Can collaborate, innovate, and problem solve remotely
- Long-term concerns - impacts organizational culture and relationships (can we effectively organize, lead, and control with distributed teams?)
How did Microsoft change how they work a during the pandemic (+ keeping this change for the future of work)
More digital transformation in 2 months than in the last 2 years - globally + across industries
Need partnerships across governments, academia, and businesses to collab on development of in-demand skills
Companies are looking for more university students with work experience - how can other universities incorporate that
What is McClelland’s motivation theory
states that everyone has three key motivators:
- achievement
- affiliation
- power
what is the point of McClelland’s motivation theory
knowing what motivates you (based on the 3 key motivators) can determine how you can work to be more productive, be more innovative/creative, etc.
