Comprehensive Study Notes: Chapters 1–4 and Global Management
Chapter 1: The Exceptional Manager
- Definition of Management: coordinating and overseeing work activities to achieve organizational goals efficiently and effectively.
- Four Functions of Management (4):
- Planning – Setting goals and deciding how to achieve them
- Organizing – Arranging tasks, people, and resources
- Leading – Motivating and directing people
- Controlling – Monitoring performance and making adjustments
- Levels of Management:
- Top Managers: Strategic decisions, overall direction
- Middle Managers: Implement policies, coordinate departments
- First-Line Managers: Direct daily tasks of non-managerial staff
- Team Leaders: Facilitate team activities and performance
- Skills of Managers:
- Technical Skills – Job-specific knowledge
- Human Skills – Ability to work well with others
- Conceptual Skills – Strategic thinking and problem-solving
- Roles of Managers (Mintzberg):
- Interpersonal: Leader, liaison
- Informational: Monitor, spokesperson
- Decisional: Entrepreneur, negotiator
- Types of Organizations:
- For-Profit – Focused on making money
- Nonprofit – Focused on serving clients
- Mutual-Benefit – Focused on serving members (e.g., unions)
- Knowledge Workers: Employees whose main contribution is information and expertise
- Challenges Managers Face:
- Competitive advantage
- Technological advances
- Individual differences
- Globalization
- Ethical standards
- Sustainability
- Happiness and meaningfulness
Chapter 2: Management Theory
- Classical View
- Scientific Management – Taylor & Gilbreths; efficiency through motion studies
- Administrative Management – Fayol (functions), Weber (bureaucracy)
- Behavioral View
- Early Behaviorism – Follett (cooperation), Mayo (Hawthorne effect)
- Human Relations Movement – Maslow (hierarchy of needs), McGregor (Theory X/Y)
- Behavioral Science Approach – Uses research to develop tools for managing people
- Quantitative View
- Operations Management – Efficiency in production and delivery
- Evidence-Based Management – Decisions based on data and research
- Systems View
- Open System – Interacts with environment
- Closed System – Isolated from environment
- Contingency Approach
- Management style depends on the situation—no one-size-fits-all
- Quality Management View
- Focus on continuous improvement, customer satisfaction, and employee involvement
- Learning Organization
- Constantly creates, shares, and adapts knowledge across the organization
Chapter 3: Ethics & Social Responsibility
- Ethics
- Standards of right and wrong that influence behavior
- Stakeholders:
- Internal: Employees, owners, board of directors
- Task: Customers, suppliers, competitors, regulators
- General: Economic, technological, sociocultural forces
- Role of the Board of Directors:
- Oversight: Ensures the organization is being run in the best interest of shareholders or stakeholders
- Governance: Establishes policies, approves major decisions, and monitors executive performance
- Hiring and Firing Executives: Selects the CEO and may remove them if necessary
- Strategic Direction: Helps shape long-term goals and ensures alignment with mission and values
- Accountability: Holds management accountable for ethical behavior, financial performance, and legal compliance
- Common Issues Faced by Boards:
- Conflicts of Interest: Board members may have personal or financial ties that interfere with objective decision-making
- Common Ethical Issues:
- Conflicts of interest, discrimination, misuse of resources
- Four Ethical Decision-Making Approaches:
- Utilitarian – Greatest good for the greatest number
- Individual – Long-term self-interest
- Moral-Rights – Respect for fundamental rights
- Justice – Fairness and equity
- Ethical Dilemma:
- Conflict between competing values or choices
- Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR): Going beyond profit to benefit society
- Triple Bottom Line:
- \text{Triple Bottom Line} = {\text{People},\ \text{Planet},\ \text{Profit}}
- Sustainability
- Meeting present needs without compromising future generations
- Government Regulators
- Ensure compliance with laws and ethical standards
Chapter 4: Global Management
- Globalization
- Interconnected economies and shrinking time and space
- Why Expand Internationally
- Access to resources, new markets, lower costs, avoid tariffs
- How Companies Expand Internationally:
- Outsourcing: Using outside suppliers
- Importing/Exporting: Buying/selling across borders
- Licensing/Franchising: Allowing use of brand or product
- Joint Ventures: Partnership with foreign firm
- Wholly Owned Subsidiary: Full ownership in another country
- Three Influential Effects on Globalization:
- Global village
- Global economy
- Rise of megafirms and internet-based companies
- Characteristics of a Successful International Manager:
- Cultural awareness, adaptability, global mindset
- Barriers to Free Trade:
- Tariffs, Quotas, Embargoes
- Overcome through trade agreements and diplomacy
- Understanding Cultural Differences:
- Low-context vs. High-context cultures
- Hofstede’s Dimensions – Individualism, power distance, etc.
- GLOBE Project – Nine dimensions of cultural differences
- Organizations Promoting Globalization:
- World Trade Organization (WTO)
- World Bank
- International Monetary Fund (IMF)
- Trading Blocs:
- USMCA, European Union (EU), BRICS