LESSON 4
BASICS OF M ANAGEMENT
STRUCTURE 4.0
OBJECTIVES
4.1
INTRODUCTION
4.2
ORGANIZATION 4.2.1 4.2.2
4.3
MANAGEMENT 4.3.1 4.3.2 4.3.3
4.4
DISTRIBUTION OF MANAGER’S TIME THE ROLES THAT MANAGERS PLAY MANAGERS AND DECISIONS MANAGERS AND CHANGE
MANAGEMENT SKILLS 4.5.1 4.5.2
4.6
EFFICIENCY AND EFFECTIVENESS EFFECTIVENESS MEANS “DOING THE RIGHT THINGS” MANAGEMENT ACTIVITIES
UNIVERSALITY OF A MANAGER’S JOB 4.4.1 4.4.2 4.4.3 4.4.4
4.5
THE CHARACTERISTICS OF AN ORGANIZATION THE LEVELS OF AN ORGANIZATION
GENERAL MANAGEMENT SKILLS SPECIFIC MANAGEMENT SKILLS
MANAGEMENT COMPETENCIES 4.6.1 4.6.2
IMPORTANCE OF MANAGERS IN THE MARKET PLACE IMPORTANCE OF UNDERSTANDING MANAGEMENT
4.7
OFFICE MANAGEMENT
4.8
ASSIGNMENTS 4.8.1 4.8.2
CLASS ASSIGNMENTS HOME ASSIGNMENTS
4.9
SUMMING UP
4.10
POSSIBLE ANSWERS TO SELF-CHECK QUESTIONS
4.11
TERMINAL QUESTIONS
4.12
REFERENCES AND SUGGESTED FURTHER READING
4.13
GLOSSARY
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4. BASICS OF M ANAGEMENT The earlier three lessons that formed Unit 1 dealt with various aspects of communication. In Unit 2, we will briefly consider the broad area of Office Management. In the first lesson of this Unit we will learn about the most elementary and fundamental principles of Management. The second lesson will deal with the basics of managing a modern office. It would include aspects such as infrastructure, automation, record management etc. In the third lesson of this Unit the principles of time management will be considered.
4.0
Objectives After studying this lesson you will:
•
Acquire an understanding of the concept of an “Organisation”, - its characteristics and levels.
•
Acquire an understanding of the concept of “Management”, - its functions, role of Managers and Managerial Competencies.
4.1
Introduction
A good starting point for this Unit will be to begin with an understanding of the Basics of Management which is the theme of the present lesson. The topics considered will include the characteristics and levels of an organization, the activities of management, manager’s job and managerial skills etc. as these will lead us to a comprehensive understanding of what Office Management is all about.
4.2
Organization
Before we can begin our study of management, we need to look at where manager’s work. Managers work in organizations and therefore it is worthwhile knowing what an organization is? A simple definition of an organization is that it is a systematic arrangement of people brought together to accomplish some specific purpose. A consideration of the characteristics and levels of an organization will assist in interpreting the meaning of this definition.
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4.2.1 The characteristics of an organization While there are many different types of organizations, small and large, all organizations have the following three characteristics: Purpose:
The purpose is usually expressed in the organization’s vision, mission or goals.
People:
For the organization to accomplish anything, people must be there to make things happen.
Structure:
Every organization must develop a structure of some kind that shapes and defines the acceptable behaviour of people in the organization.
4.2.2 The levels of an organization We can describe organizational members in one of two ways. Frontline employees are individuals who work directly on a job or task and have no responsibility for overseeing the work of others. Managers direct the activities of other people in the organization. In addition, managers are usually categorized as top, middle, or first-line managers. First-line managers (frequently titled ‘supervisor’) are responsible for directing the day-to-day activities of operative employees. Middle managers represent the level of management between firstline managers and top management. These managers manage other managers (and may manage frontline employees). Further, these managers are usually responsible for translating the goals of top management into specific details that lower-level managers can perform. Top managers are responsible for making decisions about the direction of the organization and setting policies that affect all organizational members.
Self-check Questions 1.
Every Organisation has the following three basic characteristics: a)
2.
c)
Managers can be classified as: a)
4.3
b)
b)
c)
Management
Let us now look at what we mean by ‘management’. First, it is a process and it is a process of getting things done through and with other people. But there is also a need for the process to be both efficient and effective.
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4.3.1 Efficiency and effectiveness The terms efficient and effective need to be elaborated. One might do this by referring to inputs and outputs and then conclude that doing the task right is being efficient. Therefore, efficient means "doing things right" 4.3.2 Effectiveness means "doing the right things" Managers play an increasingly important role in helping the organization be both efficient and effective. Can an organization be effective without being efficient? What about vice-versa? To answer these questions we may cite the example of a college imparting education in computers. The college may be able to process students through its program quickly, but if the students aren’t learning the necessary skills, the college is not being effective. It is important to note, however, that high efficiency is typically associated with high effectiveness. Also, poor management is most often associated with both inefficiency and ineffectiveness. 4.3.3 Management Activities Every manager performs four basic activities. •
Planning - defining goals, establishing a strategy for achieving those goals, and developing a plan to integrate and coordinate activities. Top managers would define goals for the overall organization.
•
Leading - motivating and guiding employees to achieve the goals. Today, this is one of the key skills required in any manager.
•
Organizing - determining what tasks are to be done, who is to do them, how the tasks are to be grouped, who reports to whom, and where decisions are to be made.
•
The last activity is controlling - monitoring the organization’s (or work units) progress against the goals. The manager is also responsible for ensuring that the organization gets back on track if the results are not as expected.
4.4
Universality of a Manager’s Job
•
Importance of roles varies depending on one’s level in organization
•
Manager’s job in for-profit and not-for-profit organizations is generally the same
•
Size of organization impacts on whether manager is more of a generalist vs. more of a specialist
•
Not all management concepts are universal
•
Management concepts may not be uniform in all countries. 4
Earlier, we referred to the job of “manager” as being general across all types of organizations. However, what a manager does will be based on the degree and emphasis of the activity. Thus, a senior manager will tend to do more planning than a first-level manager. Likewise, as managers move up in the organization, they spend less time supervising and more time planning. All managers, however, make decisions and plan, lead, organize, and control. But the amount of time they give to each activity is not necessarily the same and the actual content of the managerial activities changes with the manager’s level. Also, whether you are a manager in a for-profit organization, or in a notfor-profit, you are still expected to plan, organize, lead, and control. Results are expected whether the organization is profit-oriented or not. 4.4.1 Distribution of a manager’s time Let us look a little more closely at the difference in the amount of time a manager spends on the various activities. A top-level manager spends about 28% of the time planning whereas the first-level manager spends only about 15% of the time planning. Likewise, the top-level manager spends 22% of the time in the leading activity whereas the first-level manager spends most of his time (51%) motivating and working with employees. 4.4.2 The roles that managers play The size of the organization has an impact on what a manager does and the role played. Typically, small business is any independently owned and operated profit-seeking enterprise that has fewer than 500 employees. “Small business” in Canada accounts for the majority of job growth in today’s economy. The difference between managers in large and small organizations lies in the importance of roles. The small business manager’s most important role is that of spokesperson. This manager spends a large amount of time in outwardlydirected actions such as meetings with customers, obtaining financing from bankers, seeking new opportunities, and promoting change. Thus a small business manager is more likely to be a generalist. On the other hand, the manager in a large corporation is more internally directed—toward deciding which organizational units get what available resources and how much of them. Even so, managers in both large and small organizations perform essentially the same activities. The differences lie in how they go about them and the proportion of time they spend on each. 4.4.3 Managers and decisions In order for managers to make decisions, they need to: • • • •
Identify critical problems Gather and use appropriate data Make sense of the information Choose the best course of action 5
One area of management that is universal is decision-making. Every manager makes decisions--whether it is setting goals, deciding how to structure jobs, determining who is hired, or deciding to take action if performance differs from what was planned. However, the best managers are those that can identify and act on critical problems, gather and use relevant information, and choose a course of action that will solve the problem. 4.4.4 Managers and change In order to deal with change, managers need to have the following characteristics: • • •
Be change agents Be able to work in a dynamic environment Be flexible and adaptable
The second universal area for managers is dealing with and handling change. In today’s business environment, change is a rule not an exception. Therefore, successful managers acknowledge the changes around them by being flexible and adaptable in their management practices.
4.5
Management Skills
Recognizing that all managers perform the four basic management activities of planning, organizing, leading, and controlling, what then are the critical areas related to managerial competence? 4.5.1 General management skills Effective managers must be proficient in the following four general skill areas: • Conceptual skills refer to the mental ability to analyze and diagnose complex situations. These skills help managers see how things fit together and help make good decisions. •
Interpersonal skills encompass the ability to work with, understand, mentor, and motivate other people--both individually and in groups.
•
All managers must have technical skills to apply specialized knowledge and expertise.
•
Lastly, managers need political skills to establish the right connections or to build a “power base.” Managers with good political skills tend to be better at getting resources than managers with poor political skills.
4.5.2 Specific management skills Research has also identified six sets of specific behaviour that explain more than fifty percent of a manager’s effectiveness.
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•
Controlling the organization’s environment and resources: includes the ability to be proactive and make resource decisions based on clear and accurate knowledge of the organization’s goals.
•
Organizing and coordinating. Managers organize around tasks and coordinate interdependent relationships among tasks wherever they exist.
•
Handling information. Managers use information and communication channels for identifying problems, understanding a changing environment, and making effective decisions.
•
Growth and development. Managers provide not only for their own growth and development but for their employees as well.
•
Motivating employees and handling conflicts. Managers enhance the positive aspects of motivation so that employees perform and eliminate the conflicts that may detract from motivation.
•
Strategic problem solving. Managers take responsibility for their decisions and ensure that subordinates use effective decision-making skills.
4.6
Management Competencies
The most recent approach to describe the skills necessary to effectively perform the managerial processes refers to “competencies” - the cluster of knowledge skills and attitudes. The competencies listed here are based on an analysis of management activities through a comprehensive study of middle managers in the UK. According to this study, middle managers must: •
Be able to identify the opportunities for improvements in services or products.
•
Establish and maintain the supply of resources for the work area.
•
Control costs and activities against plans.
•
Justify proposals for expenditures.
•
Determine future staffing requirements and the skills necessary to ensure the hiring of capable staff.
Middle managers must also: •
Develop themselves and their employees for improved organizational performance.
•
Plan, allocate, and evaluate work carried out by teams, individuals, and managers themselves
•
Create, maintain, and enhance effective working relationships by providing support and establishing trust.
•
Obtain and evaluate information for decision-making.
•
Gather and exchange information to solve problems, and lead meetings and group discussions. 7
4.6.1 Importance of managers in the marketplace •
Good managers can help an organization perform successfully.
•
Poor managers can do the reverse.
•
Managers tend to earn more as their responsibilities and accountabilities increase.
Good managers can turn straw into gold whereas poor managers can do the reverse. Managers tend to be more highly paid than front-line employees. Organizations willingly offer lucrative compensation packages to good managers. 4.6.2 Importance of understanding management •
Management affects everyone in an organization
•
Poorly managed organizations will not be successful
•
A good manager is a combination of many factors
The business environment in Canada and in North America places high value on capable managers. Managers generally are more highly compensated than non-managers.
Self-check Questions 3.
Every Manager performs the following four basic functions: a)
4.
c)
d)
An effective Manager must be proficient in the following skills: a)
4.7
b)
b)
c)
d)
Office Management The following utterances from office staff sound quite familiar:
“I know it’s here somewhere.” “I’ll have to get back to you about that.” “Where’s that _____?” They are indicative of chaos that has crept into the office – and is probably busy spreading throughout that organization like a virus. Disorganization and confusion are irritating, but they’re also just plain bad for business .as the simple formulae states “chaos increasing equals profits decreasing”. Therefore, there is a urgent need to control chaos by applying the following basic office management principles: •
Establish office management routines and stick to them
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Routine tasks need routine procedures if you want to stay organized and keep things running smoothly. Set up routines for handling paperwork and office systems. For instance, every piece of paper that comes into your office should be handled once, acted upon, and filed – and not haphazardly piled on a desk. Office systems, such as computers, also need administration. When the system crashes or a computer-related piece of equipment fails, everyone in your office needs to know whom to call and what not to do (such as try to fix the problem themselves). •
Set up clearly delineated responsibilities
Good office management depends on people knowing who is responsible for what – it’s people who are accountable who get things done. What would happen, for example, if the purchasing for your small business was done by whoever whenever? •
Keep records – and keep your business records updated
Keeping records sounds like the easiest part of good office management – until you consider the need to keep those records both accessible and updated. •
Take a walk through your office and have a sit
Is your office an example of space management or space mismanagement? When you walk through the office, do you have to detour around obstacles or run the risk of tripping over something? When you sit down at a desk, could you actually work comfortably there? Are things logically arranged so that the things that you would use most at the desk are closest to hand? There are a lot of things crammed into offices nowadays, from printer stands through filing cabinets. For good office management, you need to be sure that all the things in the office are arranged for maximum efficiency – and maximum safety. •
Schedule the sundry work
It’s too easy to put off things that you do not like doing, and I do not know very many people that enjoy sundry work. Unfortunately, an office, like a kitchen, won’t function well without a certain amount of sundry work being done. If you are a small business owner who’s in the position of not being able to assign whatever you view as odd work to someone else, force yourself to get to it regularly by scheduling time each week for it. Take a morning or afternoon, for instance, and spend it making the cold calls or catching up on the accounting (or updating the records). •
Delegate and outsource
In a perfect world, everyone would only be doing what he or she had time to do and did well. The next lesson is entirely devoted to office management.
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4.8
Assignments
4.8.1 Class assignments i)
Organize a group discussion on management starting with what is management and then moving on to management skills and management competencies.
4.8.2 Home assignments i)
4.9
What are the different levels in an organization and how does a manager contribute in this context?
Summing Up
This lesson dealt with the fundamentals of management. After defining an organization, the role of management was described in terms of management skills and competencies. The different levels of organization and how managers contribute at these levels were also considered in some details. Finally some aspects of office management were also briefly described.
4.10 Possible Answers to Self-check Questions 1.
Every organization has the following three basic characteristics: a) Purpose
2.
b) People
Managers can be classified as: a) First Line Managers
3.
b) Middle Managers
c) Top Managers
Every manager performs the following basic functions: a) Planning
4.
c) Structure
b) Leading
c) Organising
d) Controlling
An effective manager must be proficient in the following skills: a) Conceptual skills c) Technical skills
b) Interpersonal skills d) Networking skills
4.11 Terminal Questions 1.
What do managers need to make decisions?
2.
What is the role of middle managers in an organization?
4.12 References and Suggested Further Reading 10
1. Sachdeva, S. and Mourya, M.L. 2004. Management Concepts and Practices. Y.K. Publishers, Agra. 2. Saksena, S.C. 1999. Business Administration and Management. Sahitya Bhawan Publications, Agra.
4.13 Glossary 1.
Competency
Ability to deal with a matter
2.
Theme
A subject or topic on which a person speaks or writes
3.
Comprehensive
Complete including nearly all elements
4.
Frontline
The foremost part of a group under attack
5.
Oversee
Supervise
6.
Strategy
A plan of action
7.
Universality
Occurring or present everywhere
8.
Dynamic
Vigorous, forceful
9.
Adaptable
Adjustable
10. Conceptual
Of mental concepts
11. Analyze
Separate into parts to find out their nature
12. Diagnose
The identification of the cause of a problem
13. Interpersonal
Between persons
14. Encompass
Enclose, include
15. Mentor
A wise loyal advisor, a teacher
16. Lucrative
Profitable
17. Haphazardly
Not planned, casual
18. Delineated
Portray by drawing or in words
19. Sundry
Various, several
20. Delegate
Entrust a task to another person
21. Outsource
Obtain by contract from an outside source
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