Assignment 1 (MGT420)

1. Define what management .

Management is the process of administering and coordinating resources
effectively, efficiently, and in an effort to achieve the goals of the
organization
2. Identify and explain the basic managerial functions.
The functions of management include planning, organizing, leading, and
controlling. All of these four functions are important because they contribute
to the accomplishment of the organizations goals and objectives. Planning
is important because it involves setting goals and defining the actions
necessary to achieve those goals. Organizing involves determining the tasks
to be done, who will do them, and how those tasks will be managed and
coordinated. Leading is extremely important. Managers must be able to
lead, which means motivating their employees to accomplish the
organizations goals. Finally, controlling is important because it provides a
mechanism for managers to identify deviations between planned and actual
results
3. Understand the roles that managers play.
Managerial roles: According to a well-known study by Henry Mintzberg,
managers serve three primary roles :
a. Interpersonal Roles: The mangers responsibility for managing relationships
with organizational members and other constituents.
b. Informational Roles:
The managers responsibility for gathering and
disseminating information to the stakeholders of the organization.
c. Decisional Roles: The managers responsibility for processing information
and reaching decisions.
4. Discuss the scope of responsibilities of functional and general
managers.
a. A functional manager is responsible for a work group that is segmented
according to function. For example, the manager of a marketing department
is typically responsible for managing only the activities of that particular
department.
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b. A general manager is typically responsible for managing several different

departments that are involved in different tasks. For example, the manager
of a grocery store will be responsible for the produce department, the meat
department, the bakery, and so on. Because functional managers are
responsible for supervising employees that are all working in the same area
(e.g., marketing), they must have superior technical skills.
General
managers, who supervise employees across departments, need to have
stronger human skills in order to coordinate these diverse groups.
5. Describe the three levels of managers in terms of the skills
they need and the activities in which they are involved.
Levels of Management:
a.

First-line managers supervise individuals who are directly responsible for

producing the organizations products and services. They carry titles such as
production supervisor, line manger, section chief, or account manager.

b.

Middle managers supervise first-line managers or staff departments.

They have titles such as department head, product manager, or marketing
manager.

c.

Top-level managers provide the strategic direction for the organization.

They carry titles such as chief executive officer (CEO), president, chief
operations officer (COO), or executive vice-president.
6. Identify major changes in the 21st. century and explain how
they will affect management of organizations.
Managing in the 21st Century.
A. Change.
a. Hyperchange continues. This is a condition of rapid, dramatic,
complex, and unpredictable change that has a significant effect
on the economy and organizations.
b. The new economy.
The expansion of individual opportunity.
Disruptive energy that comes from ceaseless innovation.
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The
transformative
power
communication technologies.

of

information

B. Environmental trends.
a. Advances in information technology that affect the
organizations operate.
The internet and other forms of globally connected networks.
Electronic commerce.
Mobile computing.

and

way

b. Globalization of the marketplace. The amount of trade between

countries continues to increase. Also, many companies continue to
move operations to many other countries in order to gain some
advantage and to gain new markets.
c. Increasing predominance of entrepreneurial firms. Despite the
importance of large organizations to the U.S. economy,
entrepreneurial firms are important.
Entrepreneurial firms are responsible for a disproportionate
number of new products, services, and processes.
Entrepreneurial activities place pressures on large, bureaucratic
firms to be more innovative and proactive.
Entrepreneurship provides opportunities for minorities and others
who may face barriers in traditional corporate environments.
d. Growing importance of intellectual capital. For most of the 20 th
century, the critical factors of production were considered to be
land, labor and raw materials. The job of managers was to take
these inputs and create products that were more valuable than the
sum of the parts. Production factors have changed however.
Intellectual capital has become more important. According to
Thomas Steward, there are three types of intellectual capital.

Structural capital: The accumulated knowledge and knowhow of the organization represented by the companys
patents, trademarks and copyright, proprietary databases and
systems.
Customer capital: The value of established relationships with
customers and suppliers.
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Human capital:
The cumulative skills and knowledge of
people in the organization.

C. Organizational changes.
Contemporary organizations are experiencing a number of important
changes that revolve around achieving excellence.
a)
A new model of leadership: Contemporary leaders need to
be more flexible. They need to have three characteristics (The
3Cs Model of Leadership:
Competence.
Leaders need to have overall business
knowledge and skills.
Character. Leaders need to have values and behaviors that
elicit trust, commitment and followership.
Community. The need to be aware of things beyond oneself
and even beyond ones team and organization. A commitment
to supporting the communities around them.
b)
From hierarchy to collaborative work relationships. In an
effort to be more responsive to the challenges of the 21 st
century, many organizations have moved away from traditional
hierarchical organizational structures, and toward structures that
favor the use of self-managed teams.
c)
Increasing diversity in the workplace. Connected to the
globalization of business has been the globalization of the labor
market. Diversity refers to the heterogeneity of the population
and workforce.
d)
A new organizational model. Organizations that operate in
rapidly changing markets need to be lean and flexible.
7. Describe the major influences on the development of
management thought.
Economic influences relate to the availability, production, and
distribution of resources within a society.
Social influences related to the aspects of a culture that influence
interpersonal relationships.
Political influences related to the impact of political institutions on
individuals and organizations.
Technological influences relate to advances and refinements in any
of the devices used in conjunction with conducting business.
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Global influences relate to the pressures to improve quality,

productivity, and costs as organizations attempt to compete in the
worldwide marketplace.

8. Identify the five major perspectives of management thought

that have evolved over the years.
Contingency Perspective
Systems Perspective
Quantitative Perspective
Behavioral Perspective
Classical Perspective
9. Describe the different subfields that exist in the classical
perspective of management and discuss the central focus of
each.

Scientific management - emphasized that decisions based on

rules of thumb and tradition be replaced with precise procedures
developed after careful study of individual situations as the
solution to improving labor productivity.

Bureaucratic management - emphasized management on an

impersonal, rational basis through elements such as clearly
defined authority and responsibility, record keeping, and
separation of management and ownership.

Administrative management - focused on the productivity of

the total organization rather than the productivity of the
individual worker.

10.
Describe the theories of the major contributors to the
behavioral perspective of management.

The Behavioral Perspective: The behavioral perspective followed the

classical perspective (chronologically) and acknowledged the
importance of human behavior in shaping management style. The
behavioral perspective is associated with the following scholars:
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Mary Parker Follett

Observed managers performing their jobs and concluded that
the key to effective management is coordination. In addition,
she was an early champion of teamwork and employee
empowerment and felt that it was inappropriate for managers
to insist that workers perform a task in only one specifically
prescribed way (which is the opposite of scientific
management). Follet also made early contributions in the
area of conflict management.

Elton Mayo
Conducted the famous Hawthorne Experiments in the Western
Electric Plant in Hawthorne, Illinois. Through the Hawthorne
Experiments, Mayo concluded that paying attention to
employees and other human relations factors are important
components of managerial effectiveness. Mayos work
represents
an
important
transition
from
scientific
management to the early human relations movement.

Douglas McGregor
Proposed the Theory X and Theory Y. Theory X managers
perceive that their subordinates have an inherent dislike for
work and will avoid it if at all possible. Theory Y managers
perceive that their subordinates enjoy work and that they gain
satisfaction from performing their jobs.

Chester Barnard
He believed that executives serve two primary functions: (1)
establish and maintain a communications system among
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employees, and (2) establish the objectives of the

organizations and motivate employees. Barnard also believed
that authority flows from the ability of subordinates to accept
or reject an order.

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