Management


Introduction


An organizations prime objective is to achieve its mandated goal and to provide value for the people they serve. This is why an organization, a group of people who work together to achieve a goal, needs to be properly managed. Management is the supervision, and the proper utilization, of various resources. In an organization there are three main levels of management with different objectives: the top management, the middle management, and the front line management; a description of what each do will be explained below. All managers, to some degree, have three types of skills they use. They are conceptual skills, human skills, and technical skills. A few minor skills include decisional skills, informational skills, and interpersonal skills. Organizations deal with various types of environments, all of which affect how a company runs. The first is the internal environment. This focuses on their own organization and how it functions. The next is the task environment. This environment deals with organizations a company deals with on a regular basis. Such examples include suppliers, distributers, and competitors. The external environment is external forces that apply to any organization and great affect how it runs. Examples include technology, demographics, politics, and economics. Ways companies can adapt is to improve quality, improve efficiency and innovation, and provide excellent customer relationship. One last idea that companies concern themselves with is the social environment. Mainly dealing with ethics and social responsibility there are four ways a company can deal with how it responds to the external world; the four being obstructive, defensive, accommodating, and proactive.


Planning


The first model we will talk about is the rational model. In this model the idea around it revolves generating ideas, picking one, and then implementing it. This may seem reasonable; however, it doesn’t always work in the real world. This is where the administrative model comes in. The idea behind this is picking an alternative that is good enough based on the context and the information available. The reason being is that people usually operate with limited information and to some degree of bias. This is why sometimes it is best to pick an alternative that is good enough and gets the job done.

  1. recognize a need for change
  2. generate alternatives
  3. asses the alternatives
  4. pick an idea
  5. implement the idea
  6. learn from the idea

When generating an idea, or alternatives, people are often bounded by biases and logical flaws. This is why some self-awareness about how we make decisions comes about. A few examples would be a self-fulfilling prophecy or stereotyping. In a healthy organization it would be best to foster a learning environment and one where creativity is encouraged. After this is implemented a need for data and information comes in useful. Information should be of high quality, timely, complete, and relevant.

Planning time horizons is an important aspect of developing a business plan. Having short, medium, and long term goals help organizations plan and develop what they will be doing and need in the future. In addition to developing time horizons are standalone plans. These plans dictate how certain aspects of businesses are to function. When developing a course of action it is best to have a scenario plan and a crisis plan. A scenario plan is a plan of a course of action. With the development of various options an organization could choose which plan would help them achieve business objectives. Crisis planning, on the other hand, deals with worst case scenarios. What would happen if certain negative things to an organization happened, what would a company do?


Planning Process

  1. Vission Statement
  2. Mission Statement
  3. Goal Setting
  4. SMART (specific, measurable, assignable, realistic, time-based)
  5. iSWOT

Corporate Strategy

  1. concentrate on a single business
  2. diversify (related/unrelated)
  3. Expansion (international/domestic)
  4. vertical integration

Business Level-Strategy

  1. Cost-Leadership
  2. Differentialtion
  3. Stuck-in-the-Middle

Front-Line Strategy

  1. Attain Efficiency
  2. Better Quality
  3. Be innovative
  4. Responsive to Customers

Organizing

The structure of an organization can be different depending on how it operated. The four main structures are divisional, product, market, and geographic. Divisional structures are really split up in specific areas, such as finance or marketing. Product structures are based on what products are being produced. An example would be GE having a department producing houseware and another producing auto parts. Market divisions are segmented into who they are serving. An example would be products designed for pre-teens and another for older adults. Lastly, geographic divisions are based on location. One example is one department operating in North America and another in Asia.


Workplace structures, or team structures, are often grouped into two types; the matrix design and the product team. The matrix design is designed where a manager from each department has control over some aspect of a team of workers. In a product team a supervisor is elected to communicate with the needed workers in each department, gather information, and then work with the team to make a plan.

Hierarchies in organizations tend to be either tall or flat. With tall designs there often is a long chain of command. With flat chains of command there are less managers and responsibility tends to be pushed downwards. This is why flat chains of commands tend to be more responsive. Information flows from top to bottom more quickly. Organisations also can be mechanistic or organic. Mechanistic organizations tend to have a set string of procedures that employees use. Organic organization have general guidelines to follow but or more flexible when it comes to change and innovation.

One important aspect of an organization is developing a culture and set of values. Companies often achieve the culture they want through three different methods. The hire people like them, the indoctrinate the people they hire, and they act as a role model. When trying to influence a set of values and a culture there are four ways managers attempt to achieve this. The first is to socialise the staff they hire. They attempt to influence people by the way they present themselves. By doing this the employees may change their behaviour. The second is through ceremonies and rituals. By having social benchmarks and patterns of behaviour employees will be more encouraged to change their behaviour. Another way is through the use of language and stories. People tend to like verbal communicate. By verbalising stories about the company it gives the company a human sense to itself. Lastly, the use of symbols. Symbols have a sense of meaning the same way the golden arches display a meaning to McDonalds. When people see symbols and objects they immediately understand what is being said.


Assess the need for change

  1. recognize the need for change
  2. identify its source

Decide

  1. identify the future state of the company
  2. identify obstacles

Implementation

  1. top down or bottom up
  2. manage change

Evaluate

  1. compare performance
  2. Benchmark

Leading

Needs Theory of Motivation

Process Theories Of Motivation

  1. Vrooms Expectancy Theory
  2. Goal Setting Theory
  3. Adam’s Equity Theory
  4. Reinforcement Theory

Group Types

  1. Top-Management Teams
  2. Cross-Functional Teams
  3. R and D
  4. Command Groups
  5. Task Forces
  6. Self-Manage Teams
  7. Virtual

Group Dynamics

  1. Group Size
  2. Group Rules
  3. Group Leadership

Five Stages of Development

  1. Form
  2. Storm
  3. Norm
  4. Perform
  5. Adjourn

Controlling