Management
• Levels of management
• Functions of managers
• Managerial skills
• Management styles
About Management
• Management involves the utilization of
human and other resources (such as
machinery) in a manner that best
achieves the firm’s plans and
objectives.
• According to a recent survey by
Shareholder Surveys, shareholders
rank good management and long-term
vision as the two most important
characteristics of a firm.
Levels of Management
• Top (high-level) management
– managers in positions such as president, CEO,
CFO and vice-president who make decisions
regarding the firm’s long-run objectives.
• Middle management
– managers who are often responsible for the firm’s
short-term decisions.
• Supervisory (first-line) management
– managers who are usually highly involved with the
employees who engage in the day-to-day production
process.
Comparison of Responsibilities
Among Managers
• Top Management
– Set new plan to expand production & increase
sales.
– Communicate those plans to all managers.
• Middle & Top Managers
– Determine how many new employees to hire.
– Determine how to charge lower prices to increase
sales.
– Determine how to increase advertising to increase
sales.
– Determine how to obtain funds to finance the
expansion.
Comparison of Responsibilities Among
Managers
• Supervisory Managers
– Provide job assignments to the new employees who
are hired.
– Set time schedules for new employees who are
hired.
Functions of Managers
• Planning
– the preparation of a firm for future business
conditions
• Organizing
– the organization of employees and other resources
in a manner that is consistent with the firm’s goal.
• Leading
– the process of providing employees with
instructions on how they should complete their tasks.
• Controlling
– the monitoring and evaluation of tasks.
Top Managers:
make the strategic (long-term) plan
Communicate the plan to
middle management and
ask middle management
to implement the plan.
Middle Managers:
Organize the employees and other
resources to produce
Top Management: Assess the
expenses and sales from producing
products every month. Determine
whether the new strategic plan is
successful.
Middle Management: Determine
whether the production is efficient
(based on monitoring the plant’s
output and expenses each month)
Communicate the
organization to supervisors
and ask them to implement
the production process.
Supervisors:
Explain each employee’s tasks & how to
perform the tasks
Supervisors: Monitor employees to
ensure their new assignments
properly
Managerial Skills
• Conceptual skills (analytic skills)
– the ability to understand the relationships among
the various tasks of a firm.
• Interpersonal skills (communication
skills)
– the skills necessary to communicate with
customers and employees.
• Technical skills
– skills used to perform specific day-to-day tasks
• Decision-making skills
– skills for using information to determine how the
firm’s resources should be allocated.
Management Styles
• Managers have to perform many roles in an
organization and how they handle various
situations will depend on their styles of
management.
• A management style is an overall method of
leadership used by a manager.
• Three main styles:
– Autocratic
– Democratic
– Laissez-faire
Management Styles
• Autocratic
– an autocratic or authoritarian manager makes all
the decisions, keeping the information and decision
making among the senior management.
–  the direction of the business will remain
constant, and the decisions will be quick and similar,
this in turn can project an image of a confident, well
managed business.
–  subordinates may become dependent upon the
leaders and supervision may be needed;
–  this style can decrease motivation and increase
staff turnover
Management Styles
• Democratic (participative)
– the manager allows the employees to take part in
decision-making: therefore everything is agreed by
the majority. (empowerment)
–  this style can be particularly useful when
complex decisions need to be made that require a
range of specialist skills;
–  from the overall business' point of view, job
satisfaction and quality of work will improve.
–  the decision-making process is severely slowed
down, and the need of a consensus may avoid taking
the 'best' decision for the business.
Management Styles
• Laissez-faire (free-rein)
– the leader delegates much authority to employees;
the leader's role is peripheral and staff manage their
own areas of the business.
–  the style brings out the best in highly
professional and creative groups of employees.
–  the leader therefore evades the duties of
management and uncoordinated delegation occurs;
–  this leads to a lack of staff focus and sense of
direction, which in turn leads to much
dissatisfaction, and a poor company image
Management Styles
• Various management styles can be
employed dependent on the culture of the
business, the nature of the task, the
experience and personalities of the
workforce and the personality and skills of
the leaders.
• Managers should exercise a range of
management styles and should deploy
them as appropriate.
Management Styles
• Listening p.101
“Management styles and qualities”
• Discussion:
“Which bosses are best, men or women?”
• Reading p.102-103
“Who would you rather work for?”
Leadership vs. Management
• In a nutshell, the difference between
leadership and management is:
• Leadership is setting a new direction or
vision for a group that they follow, ie: a
leader is the spearhead for that new
direction;
• Management controls or directs
people/resources in a group according to
principles or values that have already
been established.