Contents
Management Advantage
RationaleIn for-profit organisations, the primary function of management working in competitive, diverse business environments, is to satisfy a range of stakeholders. This typically involves making a profit (for the shareholders), creating valued products at a reasonable cost (for customers), and providing rewarding employment opportunities (for employees). In nonprofit work it is also important to keep the faith of donors. In most models of management, shareholders vote for the board of directors, and that board then hires senior management. Some organizations are experimenting with other methods (such as employee voting models) of selecting or reviewing managers/senior managers but this is very rare. In the public sector of countries constituted as representative democracies, politicians are elected to public office. They hire many managers and administrators, and in some countries like the United States a great many people lose jobs when a new President comes into office. 2500 people serve "at the pleasure of the President" including all the top US government executives. Public, private and voluntary sectors place different demands on managers, but all must retain the faith of those who select them (if they wish to retain their jobs), retain the faith of those people that fund the organization, and retain the faith of those who work for the organization. If they fail to convince employees that they are better off staying than leaving, the organization will be forced into a downward spiral of hiring, training, firing, and recruiting. Management also has a responsibility to innovate and improve the functioning of the organization. In all but the smallest organizations, achieving these objectives involves a division of management labour. People specialize in a limited range of functions so as to more quickly gain competence and expertise. Even in employee managed workplaces such as a Wobbly Shop, where managers are elected, or where latitude of action is sharply restricted by collective bargaining or unions, managers still take on roughly the same functions and job descriptions as in a more traditional command hierarchy.
Learning OutcomesKnowledge After completing the course, students will
Skills After completing the course, students will be able to
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Teaching and Learning Resources
Managing
Business philosophies and popular management theories
A business philosophy or popular management theory is any of a range of approaches to accounting, marketing, public relations, operations, training, labor relations, executive time management, investment, and/or corporate governance claimed (by their proponents, and sometimes only by their proponents and selected clients) to improve business performance in some measurable or otherwise provable way.
These management theories often have their own vocabulary (jargon). They sometimes depend on the business insights of a single guru. They rarely have the sophistication or internal consistency to qualify as a school of philosophy in the conventional sense - some (branded "biz-cults") resemble a cult religion. They tend to have in common high-cost consulting fees to consult with the "business gurus" who have created the "philosophy". Only rarely do such schools transmit to any trusted students the capacity to teach others - one of the key requirements of any legitimate non-esoteric school of thought or academic discipline.
Most of these theories tend to experience a limited period of popularity (about 5 to 10 years). Then they disappear from the popular consciousness. Occasionally one has lasting value and gets incorporated into textbooks and into academic management thought. For every theory that gets incorporated into strategic management textbooks about a hundred remain forgotten. Many theories tend either to have too narrow a focus to build a complete corporate strategy on, or appear too general and abstract for applicability to specific situations. The management-talk circuit fuels the low success rate: in that circuit hundreds of self-appointed gurus queue in turn to sell their books and to explain their "revolutionary" and "groundbreaking" theories to audiences of business executives for phenomenal fees.
Note too, however, that management theories often undergo testing in the real world. Disciples apply or attempt to apply such theories, and find them sometimes consistently applicable over time, sometimes merely an "idea du jour". The relevant and valuable principles become recognized, and in this way may get incorporated into academic management thought.
Management in all business areas and human organization activity is the act of getting people together to accomplish desired goals and objectives. Management comprises planning, organizing, staffing, leading or directing, and controlling an organization (a group of one or more people or entities) or effort for the purpose of accomplishing a goal. Resourcing encompasses the deployment and manipulation of human resources, financial resources, technological resources, and natural resources.
Because organisations can be viewed as systems, management can also be defined as human action, including design, to facilitate the production of useful outcomes from a system. This view opens the opportunity to 'manage' oneself, a pre-requisite to attempting to manage others
Management can also refer to the person or people who perform the act(s) of management.
- History
- Historical development
- Management topics
- Areas and categories and implementations of management
- Management Courses at MIT Sloan, OpenCourseWare
- Research on Organizations: Bibliography Database and Maps
- ATMAE The Association for Technology, Management, and Applied Engineering
The External Environment
Tutorials
Readings
A business does not function in a vacuum. It has to act and react to what happens outside the factory and office walls. These factors that happen outside the business are known as external factors or influences. These will affect the main internal functions of the business and possibly the objectives of the business and its strategies.
The main factor that affects most business is the degree of competition – how fiercely other businesses compete with the products that another business makes.
The other factors that can affect the business are:
Social – how consumers, households and communities behave and their beliefs. For instance, changes in attitude towards health, or a greater number of pensioners in a population.
Legal – the way in which legislation in society affects the business. E.g. changes in employment laws on working hours.
Economic – how the economy affects a business in terms of taxation, government spending, general demand, interest rates, exchange rates and European and global economic factors.
Political – how changes in government policy might affect the business e.g. a decision to subsidise building new houses in an area could be good for a local brick works.
Technological – how the rapid pace of change in production processes and product innovation affect a business.
Ethical – what is regarded as morally right or wrong for a business to do. For instance should it trade with countries which have a poor record on human rights.
Markets are changing all the time. It does depend on the type of product the business produces, however a business needs to react or lose customers.
Some of the main reasons why markets change rapidly:
- Customers develop new needs and wants.
- New competitors enter a market.
- New technologies mean that new products can be made.
- A world or countrywide event happens e.g. Gulf War or foot and mouth disease.
- Government introduces new legislation e.g. increases minimum wage.
Though a business does not want competition from other businesses, inevitably most will face a degree of competition.
The amount and type of competition depends on the market the business operates in:
- Many small rival businesses – e.g. a shopping mall or city centre arcade – close rivalry.
- A few large rival firms – e.g. washing powder or Coke and Pepsi.
- A rapidly changing market – e.g. where the technology is being developed very quickly – the mobile phone market.
A business could react to an increase in competition (e.g. a launch of rival product) in the following ways:
- Cut prices (but can reduce profits)
- Improve quality (but increases costs)
- Spend more on promotion (e.g. do more advertising, increase brand loyalty; but costs money)
- Cut costs, e.g. use cheaper materials, make some workers redundant
Social Environment and Responsibility
Social change is when the people in the community adjust their attitudes to way they live. Businesses will need to adjust their products to meet these changes, e.g. taking sugar out of children’s drinks, because parents feel their children are having too much sugar in their diets.
The business also needs to be aware of their social responsibilities. These are the way they act towards the different parts of society that they come into contact with.
Legislation covers a number of the areas of responsibility that a business has with its customers, employees and other businesses.
It is also important to consider the effects a business can have on the local community. These are known as the social benefits and social costs.
A social benefit is where a business action leads to benefits above and beyond the direct benefits to the business and/or customer. For example, the building of an attractive new factory provides employment opportunities to the local community.
A social cost is where the action has the reverse effect – there are costs imposed on the rest of society, for instance pollution.
These extra benefits and costs are distinguished from the private benefits and costs directly attributable to the business. These extra cost and benefits are known as externalities – external costs and benefits.
Governments encourage social benefits through the use of subsidies and grants (e.g. regional assistance for undeveloped areas). They also discourage social costs with fines, taxes and legislation.
Pressure groups will also discourage social costs.
Planning, Strategic Management and Managerial Decision Making
Tutorials
- Managerial Planning and Goal Setting
- Planning and Strategic Management
- Strategy Formulation and Implementation
- Managerial Decision Making
Readings
Planning in organizations and public policy is both the organizational process of creating and maintaining a plan; and the psychological process of thinking about the activities required to create a desired goal on some scale. As such, it is a fundamental property of intelligent behavior. This thought process is essential to the creation and refinement of a plan, or integration of it with other plans, that is, it combines forecasting of developments with the preparation of scenarios of how to react to them. An important, albeit often ignored aspect of planning, is the relationship it holds with forecasting. Forecasting can be described as predicting what the future will look like, whereas planning predicts what the future should look like [1].
The term is also used to describe the formal procedures used in such an endeavor, such as the creation of documents, diagrams, or meetings to discuss the important issues to be addressed, the objectives to be met, and the strategy to be followed. Beyond this, planning has a different meaning depending on the political or economic context in which it is used.
Two attitudes to planning need to be held in tension: on the one hand we need to be prepared for what may lie ahead, which may mean contingencies and flexible processes. On the other hand, our future is shaped by consequences of our own planning and actions.
Decision making can be regarded as the mental processes (cognitive process) resulting in an outcome leading to the selection of a course of action among several alternatives. Every decision making process produces a final choice.[1] The output can be an action or an opinion of choice.
- Overview
- Problem Analysis vs. Decision Making
- Everyday techniques
- Cognitive and personal biases
- Cognitive styles
- Neuroscience perspective
Ethics and Corporate Responsibility
Tutorials
Readings
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is a concept whereby organizations consider the interests of society by taking responsibility for the impact of their activities on customers , employees , shareholders, communities and the environment in all aspects of their operations. This obligation is seen to extend beyond the statutory obligation to comply with legislation and sees organizations voluntarily taking further steps to improve the quality of life for employees and their families as well as for the local community and society at large.
The practice of CSR is subject to much debate and criticism. Proponents argue that there is a strong business case for CSR, in that corporations benefit in multiple ways by operating with a perspective broader and longer than their own immediate, short-term profits. Critics argue that CSR distracts from the fundamental economic role of businesses, others argue that it is nothing more than superficial window-dressing, still others argue that it is an attempt to pre-empt the role of governments as a watchdog over powerful multinational corporations.
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Operations and Service Management. International Management
Tutorials
Readings
International trade is the exchange of goods and services across international boundaries or territories. In most countries, it represents a significant share of GDP. While international trade has been present throughout much of history (see Silk Road, Amber Road), its economic, social, and political importance has been on the rise in recent centuries. Industrialization, advanced transportation, globalization, multinational corporations, and outsourcing are all having a major impact. Increasing international trade is the usually primary meaning of "globalization".
Activity
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A
member of the Clandestine Rebel Clown Army protesting during the
week of
the July 2005 G8 Summit, held at Gleneagles, near Edinburgh, Scotland.
Title: Edinburgh Prepares For Influx Of Protestors To G8 Summit.
Copyright: Getty Images, available from Education
Image Gallery
New Ventures
Tutorials
Readings
To start an own company or to bring a new product to the market, the venture may need to attract financial funding. There are several categories of financing possibilities. If it is a small venture, then perhaps the venture can rely on family funding , loans from friends and personal bank loans . For more ambitious projects, some companies need more than what mentioned above, some ventures have access to rare funding resources that is called Angel investors. These are private investors who are using their own capital to finance a ventures' need. However, these funding methods are rare. Apart from these investors, there are also venture capitalist firms ( VC-firms ) who are specialised in financing new ventures against a lucrative return. When a venture approaches the last one, the venture is going to do more than negotiating about the financial terms. Apart from the financial resources these firms are offering; the VC-firm also provides the necessary expertise the venture is lacking, such as legal or marketing knowledge. This is also known as Smart Money.
- Market research (Author: M. Dekkers)
- Segmenting & Positioning (Author: A. van Esch)
- Pricing (Author: E. Vuuregge)
- References
Organization Structure and The Responsive Organization
Tutorials
Readings
An organizational structure is a mainly hierarchical concept of subordination of entities that collaborate and contribute to serve one common aim.
Organizations are a variant of clustered entities. An organization can be structured in many different ways and styles, depending on their objectives and ambiance. The structure of an organization will determine the modes in which it operates and performs.
Organizational structure allows the expressed allocation of responsibilities for different functions and processes to different entities such as the branch, department, workgroup and individual. Individuals in an organizational structure are normally hired under time-limited work contracts or work orders, or under permanent employment contracts or program orders.
Human Resource Management, Managing a Diverse Workforce
Tutorials
- Human Resource Management
- Dynamics of Behavior in Organizations
- Meeting the Challenge of Diversity
- Managing a Diverse Workforce
Readings
Human resource management (HRM) is the strategic and coherent approach to the management of an organization's most valued assets - the people working there who individually and collectively contribute to the achievement of the objectives of the business. The terms "human resource management" and "human resources" (HR) have largely replaced the term "personnel management" as a description of the processes involved in managing people in organizations.[1] In simple sense, HRM means employing people, developing their capacities, utilizing, maintaining and compensating their services in tune with the job and organizational requirement.
- Features
- Academic theory
- Business practice
- Careers and education
- Professional organizations
- Functions
Leadership, Motivating for Performance, Managing Teams
Tutorials
Readings
Leadership is stated as the process of social influence in which one person can enlist the aid and support of others in the accomplishment of a common task.”[1] Definitions more inclusive of followers have also emerged. Alan Keith of Genentech states that, "Leadership is ultimately about creating a way for people to contribute to making something extraordinary happen."[2] Tom DeMarco says that leadership needs to be distinguished from posturing.[3]
Leadership remains one of the most relevant aspects of the organizational context. However, defining leadership has been challenging and definitions can vary depending on the situation. According to Ann Marie E. McSwain, Assistant Professor at Lincoln University, “leadership is about capacity: the capacity of leaders to listen and observe, to use their expertise as a starting point to encourage dialogue between all levels of decision-making, to establish processes and transparency in decision-making, to articulate their own values and visions clearly but not impose them. Leadership is about setting and not just reacting to agendas, identifying problems, and initiating change that makes for substantial improvement rather than managing change.”
The following sections discuss several important aspects of leadership including a description of what leadership is and a description of several popular theories and styles of leadership. This article also discusses topics such as the role of emotions and vision, as well as leadership effectiveness and performance, leadership in different contexts, how it may differ from related concepts (i.e., management), and some critiques of leadership as generally conceived.
- Theories of leadership
- Trait Theory
- Behavioral and style theories
- Situational and contingency theories
- Functional theory
- Transactional and transformational theories
- Leadership and emotions
- Neo-emergent theory
- Environmental leadership theory
- Leadership styles
- Leadership performance
- Contexts of leadership
- Historical views on leadership
- Action Oriented Team Leadership Skills
- Titles emphasizing authority
- Critical Thought on the concept of leadership
Communicating
Tutorials
Readings
Communication is a process of transferring information from one entity to another. Communication processes are sign-mediated interactions between at least two agents which share a repertoire of signs and semiotic rules. Communication is commonly defined as "the imparting or interchange of thoughts, opinions, or information by speech, writing, or signs". Although there is such a thing as one-way communication, communication can be perceived better as a two-way process in which there is an exchange and progression of thoughts, feelings or ideas (energy) towards a mutually accepted goal or direction (information).[1]
Communication is a process whereby information is enclosed in a package and is channeled and imparted by a sender to a receiver via some medium. The receiver then decodes the message and gives the sender a feedback. All forms of communication require a sender, a message, and a receiver. Communication requires that all parties have an area of communicative commonality. There are auditory means, such as speech, song, and tone of voice, and there are nonverbal means, such as body language, sign language, paralanguage, touch, eye contact, through media, i.e., pictures, graphics and sound, and writing.
- Information communication revolutions
- Types of communication
- Oral Communication
- Communication Modeling
- Communication Noise
- Nonhuman communication
- Communication as academic discipline
Managerial Control
Tutorials
Readings
Coaching refers to the activity of a coach in developing the abilities of coachees. Coaching tends to focus on the achievement by coachees of a goal or specific skill. Methodologies for coaching ranges from the directive to the facilitative. At one end of this scale lie mentoring and training, and at the other psychotherapy and counselling.
There are many ways to coach and many applications of coaching ranging from sport, to business, to niches such as divorce or motivational speaking. Sessions may be one-on-one either or in a group setting, in-person or over the telephone or via IRC. It may include seminars, workshops, or supervised practice.
Today, coaching is a recognized discipline used by many professionals engaged in human development. However, as a distinct profession, it is relatively new and self-regulating. No independent supervisory board evaluates these programs and they are all privately owned. These bodies all accredit various coaching schools as well as individual coaches, except the IAC and ECI which only certify individuals. According to coach credentialing expert, Dr. Rey Carr, in North America the term accreditation only applies to organizations, and certification applies to individuals; whereas in European countries "accreditation" can mean either organizations or individuals.
Quality control is a process by which entities review the quality of all factors involved in production. This approach places an emphasis on three aspects :
1. Elements such as controls, job management, defined and well managed processes[1][2], performance and integrity criteria, and identification of records
2. Competence, such as knowledge, skills, experience, and qualifications
3. Soft elements, such as personnel integrity, confidence, organizational culture, motivation, team spirit, and quality relationships.
The quality of the outputs is at risk if any of these three aspects is deficient in any way.
- Total quality control
- Industrial resources
- Scientific resources
- Academic resources
- See also
- Notes and references
- Further reading
- OSDL Data Base Test Suite Backgrounder, Press releases,
- Open Source Development Labs, 3 March 2003, archived from the original on 5 June 2004,
- http://web.archive.org/web/20040605173457
- QACity: Resources for Busy Testers, LogiGear, archived from the original on 9 October 2004,
- http://web.archive.org/web/20041009213226/http://www.qacity.com/front.htm, retrieved 29 June 2009
- Home, Saksoft, 29 May 2004, archived from the original on 10 August 2004,
- http://web.archive.org/web/20040810002450/http://www.saksoft.com/sak_feb/testing_services.htm, retrieved 29 June 2009
Managing and Creating Change,
Managing Technology and Innovation
Tutorials
- Managing and Creating Change
- Managing Change and Innovation
- Managing Technology and Innovation
- Information Technology and E-Business
Readings
Innovation is a new way of doing something or "new stuff that is made useful".[1] It may refer to an incremental emergent or radical and revolutionary changes in thinking, products, processes, or organizations. Following Schumpeter (1934), contributors to the scholarly literature on innovation typically distinguish between invention, an idea made manifest, and innovation, ideas applied successfully in practice. In many fields, such as the arts, economics and government policy, something new must be substantially different to be innovative. In economics the change must increase value, customer value, or producer value. The goal of innovation is positive change, to make someone or something better. Innovation leading to increased productivity is the fundamental source of increasing wealth in an economy.
Innovation is an important topic in the study of economics, business, entrepreneurship, design, technology, sociology, and engineering. Colloquially, the word "innovation" is often synonymous with the output of the process. However, economists tend to focus on the process itself, from the origination of an idea to its transformation into something useful, to its implementation; and on the system within which the process of innovation unfolds. Since innovation is also considered a major driver of the economy, especially when it leads to new product categories or increasing productivity, the factors that lead to innovation are also considered to be critical to policy makers. In particular, followers of innovation economics stress using public policy to spur innovation and growth.
Those who are directly responsible for application of the innovation are often called pioneers in their field, whether they are individuals or organisations.
- Introduction
- Market outcome
- Sources of innovation
- Value of experimentation
- Diffusion
- Goals
- Failure
- Measures
- Public awareness
- Academic article on Being a Systems Innovator on SSRN
- "Communication on Innovation policy: updating the Union's approach in the context of the Lisbon strategy"
- Commission proposes 2009 to become European Year of Creativity and Innovation– The European Commission.
- PRO-INNO Europe - Innovation policy analysis and development throughout
- Jacob-S.NET – Innovation – Articles and ressources.
- Innova Pulse non profit/non comercial org promoting strategic innovation - Articles and resources.
- 12 Innovations that Changed the World
Recommended Texts
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Management: Competing in the New Era, 5/e Thomas
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