Ch 1 - Introduction to Management and organisations

Managers: are individuals who coordinate and oversee the work of other people so that organisational goals can be reached

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Classification of managers:

The hierarchy table decreases in the amount of employees as we go up the triangle

1. Top Managers: individuals who are responsible for making organisation-wide decisions and establishing plans and goals that affect the organisation
2. Bottom: individuals who manage the work of first-line managers
3. First-line managers: Individuals who manage the work of non-managerial employees.
4. Non-managerial employees: individuals who work directly on a job, and have no responsibility of overseeing the work of others

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Managerial concerns:

• Efficiency: “doing things right”, getting the most output for the least input

→ low resource usage/waste (means)

• Effectiveness: “doing the right things”, attaining organisational goals

→ high goal attainment (ends)

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What do managers do?

• Planning: defining goals, establishing strategies to achieve goals, developing plans to integrate and coordinate activities → creating
• Organising: arranging and structuring work to accomplish organisational goals → arranging
• Leading: working with and through people to accomplish goals → motivating
• Controlling: monitoring, comparing, and correcting work

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→ All these functions help achieve the organisation’s stated purpose

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Management roles:

• Interpersonal roles (figurehead, leader, liaison)
• Informational roles (monitor, disseminator, spokesperson)
• Decisional roles (disturbance handler, resource allocator, negotiator)

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Managers have to:

• Interact with others, the organisation, and the external context of the organisation
• Reflect ~ thoughtful thinking
• Action ~ practical doing

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Skills managers should have:

• Technical skills: knowledge and proficiency in a specific field

→ most important in lower management

• Human skills: the ability to work well with other people

→ most important in middle management

• Conceptual skills: the ability to think and conceptualise about abstract and complex situations concerning the organisation

→ most important in top management

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How a manager’s job is changing:

• Changing consumer needs: high quality products/customer service
• Innovation: doing things differently, exploring new territory, taking risks

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What is an organisation?

A deliberate arrangement of people to accomplish some specific purpose

→ individuals can’t accomplish them alone

Characteristics:

• Distinct purpose (goal)
• Composed of people
• Deliberate structure

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The universality of management is that it is needed in all aspects of an organisation, no matter how small or large