Module 1 - The Exceptional Manager MAN 3025

Management and the Exceptional Manager

Management is defined as the art of getting things done through people. Exceptional managers are multidimensional, maintaining a focus on being task-oriented, achievement-oriented, and people-oriented.

Good managers strive to balance two critical components

• Efficiency: Using resources—people, money, raw materials, and the like—wisely and cost-effectively.

• Effectiveness: Achieving results, making the right decisions, and successfully carrying them out so that they achieve the organization’s goals.

Multiplier Effect

manager’s influence on an organization is multiplied far beyond the results that can be achieved by a single person acting alone.

Rewards of Studying Management

• Gaining an insider’s understanding of how to deal with organizations from the outside.

• Learning how to relate to supervisors and interact better with co-workers.

• Developing the ability to manage oneself and one's career.

• Potential for increased earnings over the course of a career.

Rewards of Practicing Management

• Experiencing a sense of accomplishment for oneself and employees.

• Stretching personal abilities and magnifying one's range of influence.

• Building a catalog of successful products or services.

Four Principal Functions

Planning	Setting goals and deciding how to achieve them.
Organizing	Arranging tasks, people, and other resources to accomplish the work.
Leading	Motivating, directing, and influencing people to work hard to achieve organizational goals.
Controlling	Monitoring performance, comparing it with goals, and taking corrective actions as needed.

Planning

Setting goals and deciding how to achieve them

Organizing

Arranging tasks, people, and other resources to accomplish the work.

Leading

Motivating, directing, and influencing people to work hard to achieve organizational goals.

Controlling

Monitoring performance, comparing it with goals, and taking corrective actions as needed.

Levels and Areas of Management

Levels of Management

• Top Managers: Responsible for making long-term decisions about the overall direction of the organization and establishing objectives, policies, and strategies.

• Middle Managers: Implement the policies and plans of the top managers and supervise/coordinate the activities of the first-line managers below them.

• First-Line Managers: Make short-term operating decisions, directing the daily tasks of nonmanagerial personnel.

• Team Leaders: Responsible for facilitating team activities toward achieving key results.

• Nonmanagerial Employees: Work alone on tasks or with others on variety of teams; they do not oversee the work of others.

Areas of Management

• Functional Managers: Responsible for just one organizational activity (e.g., R&D, Marketing, Finance, Production, or Human Resources).

• General Managers: Responsible for several organizational activities.

Levels of Management

• Top Managers: Responsible for making long-term decisions about the overall direction of the organization and establishing objectives, policies, and strategies.

• Middle Managers: Implement the policies and plans of the top managers and supervise/coordinate the activities of the first-line managers below them.

• First-Line Managers: Make short-term operating decisions, directing the daily tasks of nonmanagerial personnel.

• Team Leaders: Responsible for facilitating team activities toward achieving key results.

• Nonmanagerial Employees: Work alone on tasks or with others on variety of teams; they do not oversee the work of others.

Areas of Management

• Functional Managers: Responsible for just one organizational activity (e.g., R&D, Marketing, Finance, Production, or Human Resources).

• General Managers: Responsible for several organizational activities.

Top Managers

• Responsible for making long-term decisions about the overall direction of the organization and establishing objectives, policies, and strategies.

Middle Managers

• Implement the policies and plans of the top managers and supervise/coordinate the activities of the first-line managers below them.

First-Line Managers

• Make short-term operating decisions, directing the daily tasks of nonmanagerial personnel.

Team Leaders

• Responsible for facilitating team activities toward achieving key results.

Nonmanagerial Employees

• Work alone on tasks or with others on variety of teams; they do not oversee the work of others.

Functional Managers

Responsible for just one organizational activity (e.g., R&D, Marketing, Finance, Production, or Human Resources).

General Managers

Responsible for several organizational activities

Managerial Roles

Role Category	Roles Included	Focus
Interpersonal	Figurehead, Leader, Liaison	Interacting with people inside and outside their work units.
Informational	Monitor, Disseminator, Spokesperson	Receiving and communicating information.
Decisional	Entrepreneur, Disturbance Handler, Resource Allocator, Negotiator	Using information to make decisions to solve problems or take advantage of opportunities.

Interpersonal

Figurehead, Leader, Liaison

Interacting with people inside and outside their work units.

Informational

Monitor, Disseminator, Spokesperson

Receiving and communicating information

Decisional

Entrepreneur, Disturbance Handler, Resource Allocator, Negotiator

Using information to make decisions to solve problems or take advantage of opportunities

Skills Needed by Exceptional Managers

• Technical Skills: The job-specific knowledge needed to perform well in a specialized field. These are most important at lower levels of management (first-line managers) and for employees in their first professional jobs.

• Conceptual Skills: The ability to think analytically, to visualize an organization as a whole, and understand how the parts work together. These become increasingly important as a manager moves up the hierarchy, particularly for top managers dealing with ambiguous problems.

• Human Skills: The ability to work well in cooperation with other people to get things done. These are often the most difficult skills to master but are essential for working in teams, which is a critical part of modern organizations.

Technical Skills

The job-specific knowledge needed to perform well in a specialized field. These are most important at lower levels of management (first-line managers) and for employees in their first professional jobs.

Conceptual Skills

• The ability to think analytically, to visualize an organization as a whole, and understand how the parts work together. These become increasingly important as a manager moves up the hierarchy, particularly for top managers dealing with ambiguous problems.

Human Skills

• The ability to work well in cooperation with other people to get things done. These are often the most difficult skills to master but are essential for working in teams, which is a critical part of modern organizations.

Seven Challenges Facing Managers

1. Managing for Competitive Advantage: Organizations must stay ahead of rivals by being responsive to customers, innovating, maintaining quality, and improving efficiency.

2. Managing for Technological Advances: Dealing with the "new normal" includes managing e-commerce, navigating vast amounts of data, responding to the rise of artificial intelligence and automation, and utilizing knowledge management and collaborative computing.

3. Managing for Inclusion and Diversity: Managers must maximize the contributions of a workforce that is increasingly diverse in terms of gender, age, race, ethnicity, and sexual orientation.

4. Managing for Globalization: The interconnected nature of global business requires managers to understand cultural differences, as verbal expressions and gestures vary across the world.

5. Managing for Ethical Standards: Ethical lapses can cause significant harm beyond financial loss; managers must ensure ethical standards are followed in all areas.

6. Managing for Sustainable Development: This involves moving away from the assumption of unlimited natural resources. The UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals highlight the importance of "going green."

7. Managing for Happiness and Meaningfulness: Meaningfulness is linked to better health and performance. Managers can build meaning by identifying loved activities, leveraging natural strengths, and helping others.

The Model of Career Readiness

Developing a blend of competencies that make an individual prepared for the workforce.

• Core: Critical thinking/problem solving, oral/written communication, teamwork/collaboration, information technology application, leadership, professionalism/work ethic, and cross-cultural competency.

• Knowledge: Task-based/functional, computational thinking, understanding the business, and new media literacy.

• Soft Skills: Decision making, social intelligence, networking, and emotional intelligence.

• Attitudes: Ownership/accepting responsibilities, self-motivation, proactive learning orientation, showing commitment, positive approach, and career management.

• Other Characteristics: Resilience, personal adaptability, self-awareness, service/others orientation, openness to change, and generalized self-efficacy.

Developing and Managing Career Readiness

Steps for Development:

1. Build Self-Awareness: Identify current competencies.

2. Learn: Engage in educational activities and learn from on-the-job tasks.

3. Model: Observe others who possess the targeted competencies.

4. Engage: Seek experience from student groups and organizations.

5. Experiment: Take small steps to develop targeted competencies and evaluate the results.

The Process Cycle

Success is achieved by identifying desired competencies, determining relevant concepts for development, experimenting with implementation, and evaluating the results. This cycle is driven by an underlying willingness to grow.