Introduction to Management

Definition of Management:

Management is the process of designing and maintaining an environment in which individuals, working together in groups, accomplish efficiently selected aims. This basic definition needs to be expanded:

1. As managers, people carry out the managerial functions of planning, organizing, staffing, leading, and controlling.

2. Management applies to any kind of organization.

3. It applies to managers at all organizational levels.

4. The aim of all managers is the same: to createa surplus.

5. Managing is concerned with productivity; that implies effectiveness and efficiency.

Management is technical problem solving

1. Functions of Management:

Planning Predetermining a course of action for accomplishing organizational objectives

Organizing Arranging the relationships among work units for accomplishment of objectives and the granting of responsibility and authority to obtain those objectives

Staffing Selecting and training people for positions in the organization

Directing

(Leading)

Creating an atmosphere that will assist and motivate people to achieve desired end results

Controlling Establishing, measuring, and evaluating performance of activities toward planned objectives

2. Management applies to any type of organization:

- Government agencies- Businesses- Non-profit organizations- Hospitals- Universities

Offering:

- Products and/or Services

3. Applies to managers at all organizational levels.

- All managers carry out managerial functions

- Despite different departments and different tasks involved for each department or organization

- Depending on management level, percentages of function responsibilities differ

- Effective Management Skills:

All managers at all levels should have a good handle of the following skills:

One. Technical Skills- Procedures- Methods- Processes- Tools- Techniques

Two. Human Skills- Cooperation- Teamwork- Security

Three. Conceptual Skills- The big picture- Recognizing significant elements- Understanding relationships among elements

Four. Design Skills- Ability to solve problems

Theories of Management

Frederick Winslow Taylor

Frederick Winslow Taylor devised a system he called scientific management, a form of industrial engineering that established the organization of work as in Ford's assembly line. This discipline, along with the industrial psychology established by others at the Hawthorne Works of Western Electic in the 1920s, moved management theory from early time-and-motion studies to the latest total quality control ideas.

Taylor's ideas, clearly enunciated in his writings, were widely misinterpreted. Employers used time and motion studies simply to extract more work from employees at less pay. Unions condemned speedups and the lack of voice in their work that "Taylorism" gave them. Quality and productivity declined when his principles were simplistically instituted.

Modern management theorists, such as Edward Deming, often credit Taylor, however, with generating the principles upon which they act. Others, such as Juran, though, continue to denigrate his work. Modern theorists generally place more emphasis on worker input and teamwork than was usual in much of Taylor's time. A careful reading of Taylor's work will reveal that he placed the worker's interest as high as the employer's in his studies, and recognized the importance of the suggestion box, for example, in a machine shop.

According to the Toronto Globe and Mail, (1995) January 26, pp. B26, one of the popular current "re-engineering" gurus, G. Hamel, has this to say about Taylor's ideas today:

"When I am in a mean mood, I call re-engineering '21st century Taylorism'.

"If you read Frederick Winslow Taylor from the beginning of the century, there are three fundamental things he taught:

"1. Find the best practice wherever it exists. Today we call it benchmarking.

"2. Decompose the task into its constituent elements. We call it business process re-design.

"3. Get rid of things that don't add value. Work out, we call it now.

"So we're doing these things one more time and we need to do them.

"But my argument is that simply getting better is usually not enough.

"Whether it involves cycle time, quality or whatever, most of re-engineering has been about catching up."

HENRI FAYOL’S 14 Principles of Management

Management Principles developed by Henri Fayol:

DIVISION OF WORK: Work should be divided among individuals and groups to ensure that effort and attention are focused on special portions of the task. Fayol presented work specialization as the best way to use the human resources of the organization.

AUTHORITY: The concepts of Authority and responsibility are closely related. Authority was defined by Fayol as the right to give orders and the power to exact obedience. Responsibility involves being accountable, and is therefore naturally associated with authority. Whoever assumes authority also assumes responsibility.

DISCIPLINE: A successful organization requires the common effort of workers. Penalties should be applied judiciously to encourage this common effort.

UNITY OF COMMAND: Workers should receive orders from only one manager.

UNITY OF DIRECTION: The entire organization should be moving towards a common objective in a common direction.

SUBORDINATION OF INDIVIDUAL INTERESTS TO THE GENERAL INTERESTS: The interests of one person should not take priority over the interests of the organization as a whole.

REMUNERATION: Many variables, such as cost of living, supply of qualified personnel, general business conditions, and success of the business, should be considered in determining a worker’s rate of pay.

CENTRALIZATION: Fayol defined centralization as lowering the importance of the subordinate role. Decentralization is increasing the importance. The degree to which centralization or decentralization should be adopted depends on the specific organization in which the manager is working.

SCALAR CHAIN: Managers in hierarchies are part of a chain like authority scale. Each manager, from the first line supervisor to the president, possess certain amounts of authority. The President possesses the most authority; the first line supervisor the least. Lower level managers should always keep upper level managers informed of their work activities. The existence of a scalar chain and adherence to it are necessary if the organization is to be successful.

ORDER: For the sake of efficiency and coordination, all materials and people related to a specific kind of work should be treated as equally as possible.

EQUITY: All employees should be treated as equally as possible.

STABILITY OF TENURE OF PERSONNEL: Retaining productive employees should always be a high priority of management. Recruitment and Selection Costs, as well as increased product-reject rates are usually associated with hiring new workers.

INITIATIVE: Management should take steps to encourage worker initiative, which is defined as new or additional work activity undertaken through self direction.

ESPIRIT DE CORPS: Management should encourage harmony and general good feelings among employees.

Contingency TheoryContingency theories are a class of behavioral theory that contend that there is no one best way of organizing / leading and that an organizational / leadership style that is effective in some situations may not be successful in others. In other words: The optimal organization / leadership style is contingent upon various internal and external constraints.

These constraints may include: the size of the organization, how it adapts to its environment, differences among resources and operations activities, managerial assumptions about employees, strategies, technologies used, etc. Four important ideas of Contingency Theory are:

1. There is no universal or one best way to manage 2. The design of an organizations and its subsystems must 'fit' with the environment 3. Effective organizations not only have a proper 'fit' with the environment but also between its subsystems and 4. The needs of an organization are better satisfied when it is properly designed and the management style is appropriate both to the tasks undertaken and the nature of the work group.