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Management Exam Study Guide

Chapter 1: Managers and You in the Workplace

Key Definitions

Who is a Manager?

Someone who coordinates and oversees the work of other people so that organizational goals can be accomplished.

What is an Organization?

A deliberate arrangement of people to accomplish some specific purpose.

What are the three common characteristics of an Organization?

1. A distinct purpose (goals)
2. Composed of people
3. A deliberate structure

What is the difference between Efficiency and Effectiveness?

Efficiency (Means): "Doing things right." Getting the most output from the least amount of input (low resource waste).
Effectiveness (Ends): "Doing the right things." Attaining organizational goals (high goal attainment).

What is Management?

Coordinating and overseeing the work activities of others so that their activities are completed efficiently and effectively.

Levels and Functions of Managers

What are the three levels of management?

1. Top Managers: Make organization-wide decisions and establish plans/goals (e.g., CEO, President).
2. Middle Managers: Manage the work of first-line managers (e.g., Regional Manager, Project Leader).
3. First-Line Managers: Manage the work of non-managerial employees (e.g., Supervisor, Shift Manager).

What are the four functions of management?

1. Planning: Defining goals, establishing strategies, and developing plans.
2. Organizing: Arranging and structuring work to accomplish goals.
3. Leading: Working with and through people to accomplish goals (motivating, resolving conflicts).
4. Controlling: Monitoring, comparing, and correcting work performance.

Managerial Roles and Skills

What are Mintzberg's three main groups of managerial roles?

1. Interpersonal Roles: Involving people and symbolic duties (Figurehead, Leader, Liaison).
2. Informational Roles: Involving collecting, receiving, and disseminating information (Monitor, Disseminator, Spokesperson).
3. Decisional Roles: Entailing making decisions or choices (Entrepreneur, Disturbance Handler, Resource Allocator, Negotiator).

What are the three essential skills for managers?

1. Technical Skills: Knowledge and proficiency in a specific field.
2. Human Skills: The ability to work well with other people.
3. Conceptual Skills: The ability to think and conceptualize about abstract and complex situations.

How do the needed skills change by management level?

* Top Managers: Need strong Conceptual skills.
* Middle Managers: Need a balance of all three (Conceptual, Human, Technical).
* Lower-Level Managers: Need strong Technical skills.
* All Levels: Human skills are equally important at every level.

Modern Challenges

Why are managers important?

1. Organizations need their skills in uncertain and complex times.
2. They are critical to getting things done.
3. The quality of the relationship with a direct supervisor is key to employee productivity and loyalty.

What are some key factors reshaping a manager's job today?

* Changing Technology (Digitization): Virtual workplaces, social media challenges.
* Increased Emphasis on Ethics: Redefined values, rebuilding trust, sustainability.
* Increased Competitiveness: Focus on customer service, innovation, globalization.
* Changing Security Threats: Risk management, restructured workplace.

What is Sustainability?

A company's ability to achieve its business goals and increase long-term shareholder value by integrating economic, environmental, and social opportunities into its business strategies.

Management History Module

Early Management & Classical Approach

What is "division of labor" (job specialization)?

Coined by Adam Smith (1776), it's the breakdown of jobs into narrow and repetitive tasks to increase productivity.

What was the Industrial Revolution's impact on management?

Machine power replaced human power, and it became more economical to manufacture in factories. This created a need for formal managers to forecast demand, assign tasks, and direct activities.

What is the Classical Approach to management?

The first studies of management, which emphasized rationality and making organizations and workers as efficient as possible.

What are the two main theories within the Classical Approach?

1. Scientific Management
2. General Administrative Theory

Key Figures in the Classical Approach

Who was Frederick W. Taylor?

The "father" of Scientific Management. He used the scientific method to find the "one best way" for a job to be done.

What are Taylor's 4 Principles of Scientific Management?

1. Develop a science for each element of an individual's work.
2. Scientifically select, train, teach, and develop the worker.
3. Heartily cooperate with workers to ensure work is done according to the principles.
4. Divide work and responsibility almost equally between management and workers.

Who was Henri Fayol?

A key contributor to General Administrative Theory. He focused on what *all* managers do and what constitutes good management practice.

What did Fayol develop?

He developed 14 Principles of Management, which are fundamental rules that could be applied in all organizational situations (e.g., Unity of Command, Division of Work, Esprit de corps).

Who was Max Weber (VAY-ber)?

A German sociologist who developed a theory of authority structures called Bureaucracy.

What is a Bureaucracy?

A form of organization characterized by division of labor, a clearly defined hierarchy, detailed rules and regulations, and impersonal relationships.

Behavioral, Quantitative, and Contemporary Approaches

What is the Behavioral Approach?

The study of the actions (behavior) of people at work. Research in this area is called Organizational Behavior (OB).

What is the Quantitative Approach?

The use of quantitative techniques (like statistics) to improve decision-making.

What is Total Quality Management (TQM)?

A philosophy of management driven by continuous improvement and responsiveness to customer needs. It uses statistical techniques to measure critical variables.

What is the Contemporary Approach?

It includes the Systems and Contingency approaches.

What is the Systems Approach?

It views an organization as a system (a set of interrelated and interdependent parts) that interacts with its environment.

* Closed Systems: Not influenced by their environment.
* Open Systems (what organizations are): Interact with their environment. They take in Inputs (resources), put them through a Transformation Process, and produce Outputs (products/services).

What is the Contingency Approach?

(Not detailed in the notes, but a core concept). This approach says that organizations are different, face different situations (contingencies), and require different ways of managing. There is no "one best way" that works for all.