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Page 1 – Manufacturing Context and Operations Questions

  • Examples of manufacturing contexts mentioned: molded plastic furniture, wooden chair manufacturing, PCBA manufacturing (SMT), and McDonald’s operations.
  • Key questions raised about operations management:
    • What are the different teams involved in the manufacturing process?
    • How is Operations Management implemented in practice?
    • Considerations for automation and required employee skills.
    • Labor cost implications.
    • Where would you locate/build a factory? implications for location decision.
    • Materials flow in a factory (material flow considerations).
  • Thought prompts to apply concepts to real-world settings and brands.
  • Resources linked (video prompts) to illustrate manufacturing contexts and operations challenges.

Page 2 – Modern Management: Chapter 1 – Key Points

  • Four primary focus areas introduced:
    • 1) A Manager’s Task
    • 2) Management Process and Organizational Resources
    • 3) Management Skill: The Key to Management Success
    • 4) Management Careers

Page 3 – Importance of Management

  • Core idea: Managers influence all phases of modern organizations; society would not function as it does without managers guiding organizations.
  • Distinction noted by Dr. Covey: Leading vs. Managing (leadership vs. management roles).
  • Daniel Lapin’s perspective on how management has changed everyday life and business.
  • Reflective prompt: How would you position yourself in light of these ideas? innate vs. learned capabilities; how to communicate on behalf of brands.
  • Peter Drucker quote:
    • “Effective management is probably the main resource of developed countries and the most needed resource of developing ones.”

Page 4–5 – CEO Compensation and Management Effectiveness

  • Top 10 Highest Compensated CEOs (2016) – illustrative list with CEO, company, and pay in $ millions:
    • 1) Dara Khosrowshahi – Expedia – 94.6
    • 2) Leslie Moonves – CBS – 56.4
    • 3) Philippe Dauman – Viacom – 54.1
    • 4) Leonard Schleifer – Regeneron Pharmaceuticals – 47.5
    • 5) Robert Iger – Walt Disney – 43.5
    • 6) Sandeep Mathrani – General Growth Properties – 39.2
    • 7) Brian Roberts – Comcast – 36.2
    • 8) Marissa Mayer – Yahoo – 36.0
    • 9) David Cote – Honeywell International – 33.8
    • 10) Marc Benioff – Salesforce.com – 33.4
  • Source: The Associated Press, May 25, 2016.
  • Insight: “They place effective management & team structure in place … Hire the right people and have the right incentive.”

Page 5 – (Source note) Highest Paid CEOs in 2017

  • Source cited: The New York Times – Highest Paid CEOs in 2017.

Page 6 – A Manager’s Task: The Role of Management

  • Core role of management:
    • Guide organizations toward goal accomplishment.
    • Combine and use organizational resources to achieve purpose.
    • Identify tasks needed to reach goals and assign them to human resources.
    • Encourage individual activities to align with organizational goals.
    • Remove or mitigate factors that impede goal achievement.
  • Emphasis: Managers continuously focus on the organizational goal and its accomplishment (continuous alignment of activities with goals).
  • Practical note: Goal setting challenges include considerations for the company, suppliers, and customers; helps in saying no to the “long list of wrong things.”
  • Personal application: These concepts apply to personal life as well (discipline in goal setting).

Page 7 – Defining Management

  • Three (3) broad definitions:
    1) A process followed toward accomplishing an organization’s goals.
    2) A body of knowledge and information providing insights on how to manage.
    3) A reference to the individuals in organizations who guide and direct the organizations.
  • A nod to historical performance: “790% stock return since 2014 MSFT” (illustrative statistic referenced).
  • Three main characteristics of management:
    1) It is a process or series of continuing and related activities.
    2) It focuses on reaching goals.
    3) It involves working with people and organizational resources.

Page 8–9 – The Management Process: Managerial Functions (Part 1)

  • Planning:
    • Setting organizational goals.
    • Choosing tasks to attain goals.
    • Outlining how tasks must be performed and when.
    • Focus on attaining goals; ensuring the right things get done; steering toward goal accomplishment.
  • Organizing:
    • Assigning tasks identified in planning to human resources.
    • Implementing plans; grouping tasks into departments; determining task structures.
    • Example prompt: Annual budget process – questions include:
    • How much to sell? (demand planning)
    • What are the expenses? (cost budgeting)
    • Labor, CapEx, materials considerations.
    • Is the organization on track? Who does what? Is there a “right” way to organize the team and machines?

Page 9 – The Management Process: Managerial Functions (Part 2)

  • Influencing (also called motivating, leading, directing, actuating):
    • Focus on people; guide organizational members toward goal achievement in their individual roles.
    • Objective: increase productivity.
    • Human-oriented work environments tend to yield higher long-term productivity than task-focused ones.
  • Controlling:
    • Gather performance data; compare actual vs. planned results.
    • Take corrective actions to improve productivity.
  • WIIFM concept (What’s In It For Me): relevance of aligning goals with employee motivation.
  • Examples of KPI topics to monitor:
    • Lead time, scrap, cost, selling price, inventory, supplier relations, employee turnover.

Page 10 – Mistakes Managers Make in Carrying Out the Managerial Functions

  • Figure 1.2 highlights classic mistakes in performing planning, organizing, influencing, and controlling.
  • Reflective prompt: “Can you relate to this?” to encourage self-assessment of common pitfalls.

Page 11–14 – Management Process and Organizational Resources (1–4)

  • Interrelation of the four management functions: planning, organizing, influencing, and controlling are interdependent; performance of one affects the others.
  • Example: Product Line Team Structure at TransDigm
    • Features of empowered teams:
    • Quick decision making
    • Accountability among team members
    • Minimal micromanagement
    • Plant-level structure: Each plant has independent functions (Sales, Finance, Manufacturing, Engineering, etc.).
    • Incentive plans: stock options, bonuses, benefits, etc.
  • Planning example specifics (template):
    • 1) $150M in annual sales for the organization.
    • 2) 50% net profit margin.
    • Organizational units (plants) operate independently with their own functional silos.
    • Regular meetings: weekly team meetings, monthly plant meetings, quarterly corporate meetings.
  • Template actions illustrate how planning feeds organizing and controlling activities.

Page 12 – (Figure 1.3) Relationships Among the Four Functions

  • Visual representation of how planning, organizing, influencing, and controlling relate to each other to attain organizational goals.

Page 13 – Management Process and Organizational Resources (3 of 4)

  • Organizational Resources defined:
    • Human: people, their skills and knowledge.
    • Monetary: money used to purchase goods/services.
    • Raw materials: ingredients used to build products.
    • Capital: machines used in manufacturing.
  • Concepts of Effectiveness vs. Efficiency:
    • Effectiveness: using resources to achieve goals.
    • Efficiency: proportion of total resources that contribute to productivity during manufacturing.
  • Note: A historical aside mentions a Tesla stock movement as an example of managerial impact (contextual reference).

Page 14 – Management Process and Organizational Resources (4 of 4)

  • Transformation of organizational resources into finished products via the production process.
  • Managers make critical input decisions affecting performance:
    • Hiring: what kinds of people to hire and key characteristics needed.
    • Financial considerations: cost of money.
    • Material quality: raw materials quality and whether to consider alternate materials.
    • Capital equipment: existing vs. new technology and equipment.
    • Process innovation: opportunities for manufacturing process improvements.
  • Notable historical note: CEO raised $23B before the 2008 crash (illustrative of financing and risk management).

Page 15 – Combining Effectiveness and Efficiency

  • Figure 1.5 presents combinations of managerial effectiveness and efficiency.
  • Practical interpretation:
    • 1) To-do list approach.
    • 2) Not-to-do list approach: prioritization of activities to avoid wasted effort.

Page 16 – Universality of Management

  • Core idea: Principles and functions of management are universal across contexts.
  • Theory highlights:
    • Henry Fayol: Theory of Characteristics – all managers should possess certain characteristics.
    • References to other scholars (e.g., Forbes) on the importance of personal qualities.
  • Jobs may vary by company, but the core ideas of planning, organizing, influencing, and controlling remain consistent.
  • Managerial personalities can significantly impact organizational outcomes.

Page 17 – Management Skill: The Key to Management Success

  • Definition: Ability to reach organizational goals by working with and through people and other resources.
  • Modern emphasis: Organizations invest in developing managerial skills to improve individual and organizational performance.
  • Development approach: Build management skills through 360-degree inputs.
  • Subtle point: It’s about the small, everyday acts a manager does for the team.

Page 18–19 – Management Skill: Classical View

  • Three types of skills for effective management:
    • Technical: applying specialized knowledge and expertise to procedures.
    • Human: building cooperation with the team.
    • Conceptual: seeing the organization as a whole.
  • Skill emphasis by level:
    • Human skills are important at all levels.
    • The relative importance of technical skills declines as managers rise; demand for conceptual skills increases at higher levels.
  • Visual (Figure 1.6) highlights increasing importance of conceptual skills from supervisory to top management.

Page 20–21 – Management Skill: Contemporary View

  • Major activities managers perform and corresponding skills needed:
    • Task-related: short-term planning, clarifying job objectives, monitoring operations.
    • People-related: supporting and recognizing others, developing skills, consulting in decision making, empowering others.
    • Change-related: monitoring external environment, proposing new strategies, promoting innovative thinking, taking risks to drive change.
  • Management Employability Skills (Figure 1.7):
    • Communication: effectively sharing meaning.
    • Critical Thinking: assessing situations to solve problems.
    • Creativity: generating new ideas for organizational success.
    • Collaboration: working within group dynamics.
    • Personal Ethics: honesty and integrity in dealing with people and problems.
    • Adaptability: working independently or in a team.
    • Socially Responsible: contributing to community welfare.

Page 22 – Career Stages, Life Stages, and Performance

  • Concept: Relationships among career stages, life stages, and performance.
  • Management Career: a sequence of work-related positions across a lifetime; careers are cumulative; management roles at one level serve as stepping stones to higher levels.
  • Recommendation: Invest in your career development.

Page 23 – Planning Your Career Path (Table 1.3)

  • Manager vs Employee (Professional) Roles in Enhancing Employee Career Development:
    • Information:
    • Professional Employee: Obtains career information via self-evaluation/data collection: “What do I enjoy doing?”
    • Manager: Provides information by reflecting organizational realities and how the employee fits into the broader context: “What do others see in you? How things work around here.”
    • Planning:
    • Professional Employee: Develops an individual plan to reach objectives.
    • Manager: Helps employee assess the plan; provides direction and resources.
    • Follow-through:
    • Professional Employee: Takes initiative and demonstrates high performance on the job.
    • Manager: Provides coaching and opportunities; supports ongoing development.
  • Takeaway: Effective career development involves active planning, feedback, and support from both the employee and the manager.