Management Chapter 1

Understanding the
Manager’s Job
CHAPTER 1
AN INTRODUCTION TO MANAGEMENT
 An organization is a group of people working together in a structured and

coordinated fashion to achieve a set of goals.
 Management can be defined as a set of activities (including planning
and decision making, organizing, leading, and controlling) directed at an
organization’s resources (human, financial, physical, and information),
with the aim of achieving organizational goals in an efficient and
effective manner.
 A manager, then, is someone whose primary responsibility is to carry out
the management process.
 By efficient, we mean using resources wisely, in a cost-effective way.
 By effective, we mean making the right decisions and successfully
implementing them.
Levels of Management
Managing in Different Areas of the
Organization
 Regardless of their level, managers may work in various areas within an
organization. In any given firm, for example, these areas may include
marketing, financial, operations, human resources, administrative, and others.
 Marketing managers work in areas related to the marketing function—getting
consumers and clients to buy the organization’s products or services. These
areas include new product development, promotion, and distribution.
 Financial managers deal primarily with an organization’s financial resources.
They are responsible for activities such as accounting, cash management,
and investments. In some businesses, especially banking and insurance,
financial managers are found in large numbers.
 Operations managers are concerned with creating and managing the
systems that create an organization’s products and services. Typical
responsibilities of operations managers include production control, inventory
control, quality control, plant layout, and site selection.
Managing in Different Areas of the
Organization
 Human resources managers are responsible for hiring and developing
employees. They are typically involved in human resource planning, recruiting
and selecting employees, training and development, designing compensation
and benefit systems, formulating performance appraisal systems, and
discharging low-performing and problem employees.
 Administrative, or general, managers are not associated with any particular
management specialty. Probably the best example of an administrative
management position is that of a hospital or clinic administrator. Administrative
managers tend to be generalists; they have some basic familiarity with all
functional areas of management rather than specialized training in any one
area.
 Public relations managers, for example, deal with the public and media for
firms such as Facebook. They try to protect and enhance the image of their
organizations.
Basic Management Functions
 Regardless of level or area, management involves the four basic functions of
planning and decision making, organizing, leading, and controlling.
 Planning and Decision Making : In its simplest form, planning means setting an
organization’s goals and deciding how best to achieve them. Decision
making, a part of the planning process, involves selecting a course of action
from a set of alternatives.
 Organizing : Once a manager has set goals and developed a workable plan,
his or her next management function is to organize people and the other
resources necessary to carry out the plan. Specifically, organizing involves
determining how activities and resources are to be grouped.
 Leading : Leading is the set of processes used to get members of the
organization to work together to further the interests of the organization.
 Controlling The final phase of the management process is controlling, or
monitoring the organization’s progress toward its goals. As the organization
moves toward its goals, managers must monitor progress to ensure that it is
performing in such a way as to arrive at its “destination” at the appointed time.
Fundamental Management Skills
 Technical Skills Technical skills are necessary to accomplish or understand the
specific kind of work done in an organization. Technical skills are especially
important for first-line managers. These managers spend much of their time
training their subordinates and answering questions about work-related
problems. If they are to be effective managers, they must know how to
perform the tasks assigned to those they supervise.
 Interpersonal Skills Managers spend considerable time interacting with
people both inside and outside the organization. For obvious reasons, then,
they also need interpersonal skills—the ability to communicate with,
understand, and motivate both individuals and groups.
 Conceptual Skills Conceptual skills depend on the manager’s ability to think
in the abstract. Managers need the mental capacity to understand the
overall workings of the organization and its environment, to grasp how all the
parts of the organization fit together, and to view the organization in a holistic
manner.
Fundamental Management Skills
 Diagnostic Skills : Successful managers also possess diagnostic skills—skills that

enable them to visualize the most appropriate response to a situation. A physician
diagnoses a patient’s illness by analyzing symptoms and determining their
probable cause. Similarly, a manager can diagnose and analyze a problem in the
organization by studying its symptoms and then developing a solution.
 Communication Skills Communication skills refer to the manager’s abilities to both
effectively convey ideas and information to others and effectively receive ideas
and information from others.
 Decision-making skills refer to the manager’s ability to correctly recognize and
define problems and opportunities and to then select an appropriate course of
action to solve problems and capitalize on opportunities. No manager makes the
right decision all the time.
 Time management skills refer to the manager’s ability to prioritize work, to work
efficiently, and to delegate work appropriately.

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Management Chapter 1

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Understanding the

 An organization is a group of people working together in a structured and

 Diagnostic Skills : Successful managers also possess diagnostic skills—skills that

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