3 Discussions Due Tonight

Units 1,2,3 Discussions.rtfd/TXT.rtf

Unit 1 Discussion Directions: Use the management article you located when you conducted your independent research in this unit's studies to answer the following: Review the main theme(s) of the article. Highlight any new information that you gleaned from this article. In what ways do you think this new information will help you to explore the topics of this course? Provide any personal or professional experiences you have regarding the themes and points of this article. Reference your article using APA style and formatting guidelines. Please attach the article with your post. Assume for a moment that it’s your first day in an introductory physics class. Your instructor asks you to take out a piece of paper and “describe Newton’s second law of motion.” What would your reaction be? I expect most students would respond with something like “How would I know? That’s why I’m taking this course!” Now let’s change the situation to the first day in an introductory management class. Your instructor asks you to write an answer to the question: “What traits does one need to be an effective leader?” When we’ve asked this question of students on the first day, we find that they’re never at a loss for an answer. Everyone seems to think they know what makes a good leader. Our example illustrates a popular myth about the study of management: It’s just common sense. Well, it’s not! The study of management is filled with insights, based on extensive research, which are counterintuitive. And to reinforce this point, we open each chapter of this book with a finding from that chapter that runs counter to common sense. Let’s begin this chapter by debunking the above common-sense myth: This statement often surprises students majoring in subjects like accounting, finance, statistics, information technology, or advertising. Since they don’t expect to be managers, they see spending a semester studying management as irrelevant to their career goals. Later in this chapter, we’ll explain why the study of management is valuable to every student. So attention, accounting majors: You don’t have to be a manager, or aspire to be a manager, in order to gain something from a management course. (Robbins 4) Robbins, Stephen P., David Decenzo, Mary Coulter. Fundamentals of Management: Essential Concepts and Applications, 9th Edition. Pearson Learning Solutions, 01/2014. VitalBook file. Although we’d like to think that all managers are good at what they do, you may have discovered through jobs you’ve had that managers can be good at what they do or maybe not so good, or even good one day and not so good the next! One thing you need to understand is that all managers—including those in organizations where you’ve worked and in other organizations—have important jobs to do. And this book is about the work they do. In this chapter, we introduce you to managers and management: who they are, where they work, what management is, what they do, and why you should spend your time studying management. Finally, we’ll wrap up the chapter by looking at some important factors that are reshaping and redefining management. Who Are Managers and Where Do They Work? 1 Tell who managers are and where they work. There’s no pattern or prototype or standard criteria as to who can be a manager. Managers today can be under age 18 or over age 80. They may be women as well as men, and they can be found in all industries and in all countries. They manage entrepreneurial businesses, large corporations, government agencies, hospitals, museums, schools, and not-for-profit enterprises. Some hold top-level management jobs while others are supervisors or team leaders. However, all managers share one common element: They work in an organizational setting. An organization is a deliberate arrangement of people brought together to accomplish some specific purpose. For instance, your college or university is an organization as are the United Way, your neighborhood convenience store, the Dallas Cowboys football team, fraternities and sororities, the Cleveland Clinic, and global companies such as Nestlé, Nokia, and Nissan. These and all organizations share three common characteristics. (Robbins 5) Robbins, Stephen P., David Decenzo, Mary Coulter. Fundamentals of Management: Essential Concepts and Applications, 9th Edition. Pearson Learning Solutions, 01/2014. VitalBook file. What Three Characteristics Do All Organizations Share? The first characteristic of an organization is that it has a distinct purpose, which is typically expressed as a goal or set of goals. For example, Bob Iger, Walt Disney Company’s president and CEO, has said his company’s goal is to create amazing family entertainment and to provide customers extraordinary experiences, which will lead to increasing shareholder value.1 Achieving those goals is done by the people in an organization, which is the second common characteristic of an organization. An organization’s people make decisions and engage in work activities to make the desired goal(s) a reality. For instance, at Disney, many employees work to create the content and experiences that are so important to the company’s businesses. Others provide supporting services or interact with guests (customers) directly. Finally, the third characteristic is that an organization is structured in some way that defines and limits the behavior of its members. Disney, like most large organizations, has a fairly complex structure with different businesses, departments, and functional areas. Within that structure, rules and regulations might guide what people can or cannot do, some members will supervise other members, work teams might be formed, or job descriptions might be created so organizational members know what they’re supposed to do. That structure is the setting within which managers manage. How Are Managers Different from Nonmanagerial Employees? Although managers work in organizations, not everyone who works in an organization is a manager. For simplicity’s sake, we’ll divide organizational members into two categories: nonmanagerial employees and managers. Nonmanagerial employees are people who work directly on a job or task and have no responsibility for overseeing the work of others. The employees who ring up your sale at Home Depot, take your order at the drive-through at Jack in the Box, or process your course registration in your college’s registrar’s office are all non-managerial employees. These nonmanagerial employees may be referred to by names such as associates, team members, contributors, or even employee partners. Managers, on the other hand, are individuals in an organization who direct and oversee the activities of other people in the organization so organizational goals can be accomplished. A manager’s job isn’t about personal achievement—it’s about helping others do their work. That may mean coordinating the work of a departmental group, or it might mean supervising a single person. It could involve coordinating the work activities of a team with people from different departments or even people outside the organization, such as temporary employees or individuals who work for the organization’s suppliers. This distinction doesn’t mean, however, that managers don’t ever work directly on tasks. Some managers do have work duties not directly related to overseeing the activities of others. For example, an insurance claims supervisor might process claims in addition to coordinating the work activities of other claims employees. (Robbins 6) Robbins, Stephen P., David Decenzo, Mary Coulter. Fundamentals of Management: Essential Concepts and Applications, 9th Edition. Pearson Learning Solutions, 01/2014. VitalBook file. What Titles Do Managers Have? Identifying exactly who the managers are in an organization isn’t difficult, but be aware that they can have a variety of titles. Managers are usually classified as top, middle, first-line, or team leaders. (See Exhibit 1–2.) Top managers are those at or near the top of an organization. They’re usually responsible for making decisions about the direction of the organization and establishing policies and philosophies that affect all organizational members. Top managers typically have titles such as vice president, president, chancellor, managing director, chief operating officer, chief executive officer, or chairperson of the board. Middle managers are those managers found between the lowest and top levels of the organization. These individuals often manage other managers and maybe some nonmanagerial employees and are typically responsible for translating the goals set by top managers into specific details that lower-level managers will see get done. Middle managers may have such titles as department or agency head, project leader, unit chief, district manager, division manager, or store manager. First-line managers are those individuals responsible for directing the day-to-day activities of nonmanagerial employees. First-line managers are often called supervisors, shift managers, office managers, department managers, or unit coordinators. We want to point out a special category of lower-level managers that have become more common as organizations have moved to using employee work teams to do work. These managers can best be described as team leaders—that is, individuals who are responsible for managing and facilitating the activities of a work team. Team leaders will typically report to a first-line manager. (Robbins 6-7) Robbins, Stephen P., David Decenzo, Mary Coulter. Fundamentals of Management: Essential Concepts and Applications, 9th Edition. Pearson Learning Solutions, 01/2014. VitalBook file. Unit 2 Discussion Directions: Make sure you have completed the Understanding Yourself: How Motivated Am I to Manage? self-assessment to see how you score on your management disposition. Not everyone is motivated to perform managerial functions. This self-assessment instrument taps six components that have been found to be related to managerial success, especially in larger organizations. These components include a favorable attitude toward authority, a desire to compete, a desire to exercise power, assertiveness, desire for a distinctive position, and a willingness to engage in repetitive tasks. Post your results and reflect on the outcome. Are you in agreement with the results? Did you find the results surprising? Rate from Strongly Disagree to Stongly Agree I have a generally positive attitude toward those holding positions of authority over me. I enjoy competition and striving to win for myself and my work group. I like to tell others what to do and have no problem with imposing sanctions to enforce my directives. I like being active, assertive, and protecting the members of my work group. I enjoy the idea of standing out from the group, behaving in a unique manner, and being highly visible. I am willing to perform routine, day-to-day administrative tasks and duties. Unit 3 Discussion Directions: Now that you have had a chance to review the video Atha Corp: Presentation from the CEO and the Executive Department Management Sheet, it is time to declare the functional area in which you will focus. Along with this functional area, you are also required to address on the human resources area. Use the Executive Department Management Sheet in conjunction with the SAW (both available in the Resources) for the functional area of your choice to complete the following: Identify which of the functional areas, in addition to human resources, you will manage: Sales and marketing. Operations and production. Accounting and finance. Explain why you chose this functional area. Justify your decision and identify some of the factors that define and shape management that you intend to address; specifically, economy, customer needs and wants, and innovation. What background or interest do you have in this functional area? PRESENTATION FROM THE CEO Good Afternoon one and all! I have asked all of my mangers, from the vice presidents to my department managers, to be here today, so that I can share with you an exciting vision for Atha Corporation. I have just recently completed negotiations with a venture capitalist to provide us with the financial resources necessary to achieve an unprecedented goal: to double our company sales in the next fiscal year, beginning 90 days from today. You are expected to complete this year’s business on a strong note. You will be required to develop plans to add critical equipment and staff, so that we are hitting next year’s goals from the first day of our next business cycle. Each of you will need to evaluate the organizational structure that you have now, allocate existing and new resources, both human and equipment, to provide for the greatest efficiencies and productivity possible. I have prepared a list of functional area goals for each of you to accomplish. Those goals are in the manager information packet that is available in front of you there. Each functional area vice-president will have specific goals, which are impacted by the goals, objectives, and activities of the other functional areas. You will have to work closely with each other in order to ensure company success. We have employee performance problems in most of our functional areas. You will need to evaluate the source of those problems, and develop a strategy to increase employee responses from their current levels. Working with Human Resources, you will need to properly utilize your existing staff, and hire new people to accomplish your goals. My family and I have invested everything we have into this effort… failure is not an option for us! As members of the management team, you will take your functional area goals and convert them to actionable plans in alignment with our company goals. Help them reach those goals — because their success is our success! Now, let’s get after it! CREDITS Title: Presentation from the CEO Subject Matter Expert: Sam Palmeri Instructional Designer: Mo Yang Interactive Design: Patrick Lapinski, Joe Birr Project Management: SueAnn AdamsBottolfson, Julie Greunke, MAEd On-Camera Talent: Patty Matthews, Joe Lane, Alan Campbell, Mo Yang, Galen Pearson, Joe Tojek, SueAnn AdamsBottolfson