1. THE NATURE OF MANAGEMENT ? Process of coordinating a business’s resources to achieve the organizations goal. ? ? ? ? Process of working with & through people to achieve the business goals in rapidly changing environment. Human Resources: the employees of the business are its most important assets. Information Resources: knowledge & data required by the business, eg.
-market research -sales reports -economic 4 casts -technical material -legal advice Physical Resources: -equipment -machinery -buildings -raw materials Financial Resources: funds used by business 2 meet its obligations 2 various creditors. a) The importance of effective management. EFFECTIVENESS: measures degree 2 which a goal has been achieved. EFFICIENCY: compares resources needed to achieve goal (costs) against what was actually achieved (benefits). Most efficient coordination of resources occurs when, Benefits > costs.
Effective management makes sure the joint efforts of employees are directed towards achieving the business goals. PROACTIVE: management style that incorporates dynamic action & forward planning to achieve objectives. b) Management Roles. Mintz berg identified 10 roles managers must adopt to be efficient. Grouped into 3 categories: o interpersonal o informational o decision-making i. Interpersonal Roles: Manager deals with place.
They need to adopt 3 distinct interpersonal roles: o Figure head: manager may perform ceremonial duties eg. Signing a contract, opening a project, making awards, attending public presentation. o Leader: works to create appropriate workplace culture, improving employee performance, developing skills & abilities of subordinates & recruiting & motivating staff. o Liaison: individual managers interact with other managers in & outside the business. Serve as a link between different people / groups .
c) Skills of management. People Skills; interpersonal skills needed to interact with other people. Key personal skills: – active listening – feedback skills – delegation & discipline skills. Four major people skills include: Active listening skills: active search 4 meaning in what a person is telling you. Feedback skills: ability to make sure the person fully understands the feedback. Delegation skills: giving the authority & responsibility to complete a task / activity to another person.
Discipline skills: ability to be fair & consistent. Strategic Thinking; thinking about future of business. Involves finding, choosing & implementing business activities, 2 make business stronger in future. Vision: what business wants to achieve.
Sets out the business direction. Self-management: A ‘self-managed work group’ is formal work group consisting of people who are jointly responsible for making sure the group achieves its goals. Teamwork: intensive cooperation between individuals / groups within a business to jointly achieve common goals. Complex problem solving: best approach is a systematic approach.
o Define the problem o Generate alternative solutions o Evaluate & select an alternative o Implement & follow up on the solution Decision making: choice made from 2 or more alternatives. Ethical & personal standards: ethics are the principles that define what is wrong and right behavior. d) i) Responsibilities to stakeholders. Management has responsibilities to 2 groups of stakeholders: internal & external. d) ii) Reconciling conflicts of interest. Stakeholders place different emphasis on a business’s goals.
Profitability-key goal. Management and employees believe that what one group gains, is at the expense of the other group.