MANCOSA
Bachelor of Business Administration Degree
Business Management 1
Activities
1. Using your organization or one that you are familiar with, describe the
activities within the following management functions :




Planning
Leading
Organizing
Controlling
2. Discuss the functions of each level of management
(Top, Middle and Lower)
3. Study the management structure in 3.1 and 3.2.
Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of each structure
3.1
3.2
4. The Marketing Mix usually consist of 4 P’s. Explain the strategies
employed by firms in each of the four elements?
5. Discuss using examples the differences between long term and short term
financing?
6. Human Resource Management is primarily made up of the several
functions that include : Planning, Recruitment, Training, Performance
Management, Compensation and Benefits and Services. Explain key
considerations within each function.
7. Purchasing and Supply Chain management are key areas within
Operations Management. Explain what purchasing and supply chain
management involves within the manufacturing industry.
8. The diagram below represents the resources within most businesses.
Explain key considerations a business manager must undertake when
managing these resources.
Business Manager
Human
Resources
Financial
Resources
Knowledge
Resources
Human
Resources
Physical
Resources
SHORT QUESTIONS :
1. Explain what a manager is and how the role of a manager has
changed.
2. Define management.
3. Distinguish between efficiency and effectiveness.
4. Describe the basic management functions and the management
process.
5. Identify the roles performed by managers.
6. Describe the skills managers need.
7. Explain what managers do using the systems perspective.
8. Identify what managers do using the contingency perspective.
9. Describe what an organization is and how the concept of an
organization has changed.
10. Explain the value of studying management
1. Discuss management’s relationship to other academic fields of study.
2. Explain the value of studying management history.
3. Identify some major pre-twentieth-century contributions to
management.
4. Summarize the contributions of the scientific management advocates.
5. Describe the contributions of the general administrative theorists.
6. Summarize the quantitative approach to management.
7. Describe the contributions of the early organizational behaviour
advocates.
8. Explain the importance of the Hawthorne Studies to management.
9. Describe the following trends that are affecting management practices:
globalization, workforce diversity, entrepreneurship, e-business
applications, need for innovation and flexibility, quality management,
learning organizations and knowledge management
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Explain the strategic importance of human resource management.
Describe the human resource management process.
Differentiate between job descriptions and job specifications.
Contrast recruitment and decruitment options.
Describe the selection devices that work best with various kinds of
jobs.
Identify the various training categories.
Explain the various approaches to performance appraisal.
Describe what an organization’s compensation system should include.
Discuss the current issues affecting human resource management.
1. Describe the role of the transformation process in operations
management.
2. Explain why operations management is important to all types of
organizations.
3. Define value chain management.
4. Discuss the goal of value chain management.
5. Explain the organizational and managerial requirements for value chain
management.
6. Describe the benefits of and obstacles to value chain management.
7. Discuss technology’s role in operations management.
8. Describe how quality affects operations management.
9. Explain ISO 9000 and Six Sigma.
GLOSSARY
closed systems
Systems that are not influenced by or do not interact with their environment.
conceptual skills
The ability to think and to conceptualize about abstract and complex situations.
contingency perspective
An approach that says that organizations are different, face different situations
(contingencies), and require different ways of managing.
controlling
Management function that involves monitoring actual performance, comparing actual
to standard, and taking action, if necessary.
decisional roles
Managerial roles that revolve around making choices.
effectiveness
Completing activities so that organizational goals are attained; referred to as ?doing
the right things.?
efficiency
Getting the most output from the least amount of inputs; referred to as ?doing things
right.?
first-line managers
Managers at the lowest level of the organization who manage the work of nonmanagerial employees who are involved with the production or creation of the
organization?s products.
human skills
The ability to work well with other people individually and in a group.
informational roles
Managerial roles that involve receiving, collecting, and disseminating information.
interpersonal roles
Managerial roles that involve people and other duties that are ceremonial and
symbolic in nature.
leading
Management function that involves motivating subordinates, influencing individuals or
teams as they work, selecting the most effective communication channels, or dealing
in any way with employee behaviour issues.
management
The process of coordinating work activities so that they are completed efficiently and
effectively with and through other people.
management process
The set of ongoing decisions and work activities in which managers engage as they
plan, organize, lead, and control.
management roles
Specific categories of managerial behaviour.
manager
Someone who works with and through other people by coordinating their work
activities in order to accomplish organizational goals.
middle managers
Managers between the first-line level and the top level of the organization who
manage the work of first-line managers.
open systems
Systems that dynamically interact with their environment.
organization
A deliberate arrangement of people to accomplish some specific purpose.
organizing
Management function that involves the process of 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.
planning
Management function that involves the process of defining goals, establishing
strategies for achieving those goals, and developing plans to integrate and
coordinate activities.
system
A set of interrelated and interdependent parts arranged in a manner that produces a
unified whole.
technical skills
Knowledge of and proficiency in a specialized field.
top managers
Managers at or near the top level of the organization who are responsible for making
organization-wide decisions and establishing the goals and plans that affect the
entire organization.
universality of management
The reality that management is needed in all types and sizes of organizations, at all
organizational levels, in all organizational areas, and in organizations in all countries
around the globe.
Bureaucracy
A form of organization characterized by division of labour, a clearly defined hierarchy,
detailed rules and regulations, and impersonal relationships.
division of labour
The breakdown of jobs into narrow and repetitive tasks.
e-business (electronic business)
A comprehensive term describing the way an organization does its work by using
electronic (Internet-based) linkages with its key constituencies in order to efficiently
and effectively achieve its goals.
e-commerce (electronic commerce)
Any form of business exchange or transaction in which the parties interact
electronically.
entrepreneurship
The process whereby an individual or a group of individuals uses organized efforts
and means to pursue opportunities to create value and grow by fulfilling wants and
needs through innovation and uniqueness, no matter what resources are currently
controlled.
general administrative theorists
Writers who developed general theories of what managers do and what constitutes
good management practice.
Hawthorne Studies
A series of studies during the 1920s and 1930s that provided new insights in
individual and group behaviour.
Industrial Revolution
The advent of machine power, mass production, and efficient transportation.
intranet
An internal organizational communication system that uses Internet technology and
is accessible only by organizational employees.
knowledge management
Cultivating a learning culture in which organizational members systematically gather
knowledge and share it with others in the organization so as to achieve better
performance.
learning organization
An organization that has developed the capacity to continuously learn, adapt, and
change.
organizational behaviour (OB)
The field of study concerned with the actions (behaviour) of people at work.
principles of management
Fundamental rules of management that could be taught in schools and applied in all
organizational situations.
quantitative approach
The use of quantitative techniques to improve decision-making.
scientific management
The use of the scientific method to determine the “one best way” for a job to be done.
therbligs
A classification scheme for labeling 17 basic hand motions.
total quality management (TQM)
A philosophy of management that is driven by customer needs and expectations and
focuses on continual improvement in work processes.
workforce diversity
A workforce that’s more heterogeneous in terms of gender, race, ethnicity, age, and
other characteristics that reflect differences.
360 degree feedback
A performance appraisal method that utilizes feedback from supervisors, employees,
and co-workers.
affirmative action
Programs that enhance the organizational status of members of protected groups.
assessment centres
Places in which job candidates undergo performance-simulation tests that evaluate
managerial potential.
behaviourally anchored rating scales (BARS)
A performance appraisal technique that appraises an employee on examples of
actual job behaviour.
career
A sequence of positions held by a person during his or her lifetime.
critical incidents
A performance appraisal technique in which the evaluator focuses on the critical
behaviours that separate effective from ineffective job performance.
decruitment
Techniques for reducing the labour supply within an organization.
dual-career couples
Couples in which both partners have a professional, managerial, or administrative
occupation.
family-friendly benefits
Benefits that accommodate employees’ needs for work-life balance.
graphic rating scales
A performance appraisal technique in which an employee is rated on a set of
performance factors.
group order ranking
A multiperson comparison that requires the evaluator to place employees into a
particular classification.
high-performance work practices
Work practices that lead to both high individual and high organizational performance.
human resource management process
Activities necessary for staffing the organization and sustaining high employee
performance.
human resource planning
The process by which managers ensure that they have the right number and kinds of
people in the right places, and at the right times, who are capable of effectively and
efficiently performing assigned tasks.
individual ranking
A multiperson comparison that requires the evaluator to list employees in order from
lowest to highest.
job analysis
An assessment that defines jobs and the behaviours necessary to perform them.
job description
A written statement of what a jobholder does, how it is done, and why it is done.
job specification
A statement of the minimum qualifications that a person must possess to perform a
given job successfully.
labour union
An organization that represents workers and seeks to protect their interests through
collective bargaining.
multiperson comparisons
Performance appraisal techniques that compare one individual’s performance with
that of one or more other individuals.
orientation
Introduction of a new employee to his or her job and the organization.
paired comparison
A multiperson comparison in which each employee is compared with every other
employee in the comparison group and rated as either the superior or weaker
member of the pair.
performance management system
A process of establishing performance standards and evaluating performance in
order to arrive at objective human resource decisions as well as to provide
documentation to support those decisions.
realistic job preview (RJP)
A preview of a job that provides both positive and negative information about the job
and the company.
recruitment
The process of locating, identifying, and attracting capable applicants.
reliability
The ability of a selection device to measure the same thing consistently.
selection process
The process of screening job applicants to ensure that the most appropriate
candidates are hired.
sexual harassment
Any unwanted activity of a sexual nature that affects an individual’s employment.
skill-based pay
A pay system that rewards employees for the job skills they can demonstrate.
validity
The proven relationship that exists between a selection device and some relevant job
criterion.
work sampling
A selection device in which job applicants are presented with a miniature replica of a
job and are asked to perform tasks that are central to it.
written essay
A performance appraisal technique in which an evaluator writes out a description of
an employee’s strengths and weaknesses, past performance, and potential.
business model
A strategic design for how a company intends to profit from its broad array of
strategies, processes, and activities.
intellectual property
Proprietary company information that’s critical to the company’s efficient and effective
functioning and competitiveness.
ISO 9000
A series of international quality management standards that set uniform guidelines
for processes to ensure that products conform to customer requirements.
manufacturing organizations
Organizations that produce physical goods.
operations management
The design, operation, and control of the transformation process that converts
resources into finished goods or services.
organizational processes
The ways that organizational work is done.
productivity
The overall output of goods or services produced divided by the inputs needed to
generate that output.
quality
The ability of a product or service to reliably do what it’s supposed to do and to
satisfy customer expectations.
service organizations
Organizations that produce non-physical outputs in the form of services.
Six Sigma
A quality standard that establishes a goal of no more than 3.4 defects per million
parts or procedures.
value
The performance characteristics, features, and attributes, and any other aspects of
goods and services for which customers are willing to give up resources.
value chain
The entire series of organizational work activities that add value at each step
beginning with the processing of raw materials and ending with finished product in
the hands of end users.
value chain management
The process of managing the entire sequence of integrated activities and information
about product flows along the entire value chain.