INTRODUCTION TO

MANAGEMENT
SABRINA A. RASSOOL
WHAT DO MANAGERS DO ?
Simply speaking, management is what managers do.

Management involves coordinating and overseeing the work activities of others so that their
activities are completed efficiently and effectively.

However, this doesn’t mean that managers can do what they want anytime, anywhere, or in
any way. Instead, management involves ensuring that work activities are completed efficiently
and effectively by the people responsible for doing them, or at least that’s what managers
aspire to do.

Efficiency refers to getting the most output from the least amount of inputs. Because managers
deal with scarce inputs—including resources such as people, money, and equipment—they’re
concerned with the efficient use of those resources. It’s often referred to as “doing things
right”—that is, not wasting resources.

Effectiveness is often described as “doing the right things”—that is, doing those work activities
that will help the organization reach its goals.
WHY ARE MANAGERS IMPORTANT ?

Managers are important to organizations for three reasons.

First, organizations need their managerial skills and abilities in

uncertain, complex, and chaotic times.

Second, managers are critical to getting things done in organizations.

Finally, managers contribute to employee productivity and loyalty;

the way employees are managed can affect the organization’s
financial performance; and managerial ability has been shown to be
important in creating organizational value.
 WHO ARE MANAGERS AND WHERE
DO THEY WORK ?

Managers coordinate and oversee the work of other people so that organizational goals can be
accomplished.
Non-managerial employees work directly on a job or task and have no one reporting to them. In
traditionally structured organizations, managers can be first line, middle, or top.
In other more loosely configured organizations, the managers may not be as readily identifiable,
although someone must fulfil that role.
Managers work in an organization, which is a deliberate arrangement of people to accomplish some
specific purpose.
Organizations have three characteristics: a distinctive purpose, composed of people, and a
deliberate structure.
Many of today’s organizations are structured to be more open, flexible, and responsive to changes.
 LEVELS OF
MANAGEMENT
MANAGEMENT FUNCTIONS
Managers perform certain activities (FUNCTIONS APPROACH)
or functions as they efficiently and
effectively coordinate the work of
others. All managers perform 4
functions:
1. planning,
2. organizing,
3. leading,
4. controlling
 MINTZBERG’S MANAGERIAL ROLES AND A
CONTEMPORARY MODEL OF MANAGING
Henry Mintzberg, a well-known management researcher, studied actual managers at work. In his first
comprehensive study, Mintzberg concluded that what managers do can best be described by looking
at the managerial roles they engage in at work.

The term managerial roles refers to specific actions or behaviors expected of and exhibited by a
manager. (Think of the different roles you play—such as student, employee, student organization
member, volunteer, sibling, and so forth—and the different things you’re expected to do in these roles.)

The interpersonal roles are ones that involve people (subordinates and persons outside the
organization) and other duties that are ceremonial and symbolic in nature. The three interpersonal roles
include figurehead, leader, and liaison.
 ROLES APPROACH

The informational roles involve collecting, receiving, and disseminating information.

The three informational roles include monitor, disseminator, and spokesperson.

Finally, the decisional roles entail making decisions or choices.

The four decisional roles include

1.entrepreneur, 2. disturbance handler, 3. resource allocator, and 4. negotiator.

As managers perform these roles, Mintzberg proposed that their activities included both reflection
(thinking) and action (doing).
Recently, Mintzberg completed another hands-on and up-close study of managers at work and
concluded that, “Basically, managing is about influencing action.

It’s about helping organizations and units to get things done, which means action.”

Based on his observations, Mintzberg went on to explain that a manager does this in three ways:
(1) by managing actions directly (for instance, negotiating contracts, managing projects, etc.),
(2) (2) by managing people who take action (for example, motivating them, building teams,
enhance the organization’s culture, etc.), or
(3) (3) by managing information that propels people to take action (using budgets, goals, task
delegation, etc.).
10 MANAGERIAL ROLES
MANAGEMENT SKILLS (SKILLS APPROACH)
Robert L. Katz proposed that managers need three critical skills in managing:
technical, human, and conceptual.

Technical skills are the job specific knowledge and techniques needed to proficiently perform
work tasks. These skills tend to be more important for first-line managers because they typically are
managing employees who use tools and techniques to produce the organization’s products or
service the organization’s customers. Often, employees with excellent technical skills get promoted
to first-line manager.
Because all managers deal with people, good human skills are equally important to all levels of
management.
Managers with good human skills get the best out of their people. They know how to
communicate, motivate, lead, and inspire enthusiasm and trust.
Finally, conceptual skills are the skills managers use to think and to conceptualize about abstract
and complex situations. Using these skills, managers see the organization as a whole, understand
the relationships among various subunits, and visualize how the organization fits into its broader
environment. These skills are most important to top managers.
Important Managerial Skills

• Managing human capital

• Inspiring commitment
• Managing change
• Structuring work and getting things done
• Facilitating the psychological and social contexts of work
• Using purposeful networking
• Managing decision-making processes
• Managing strategy and innovation
• Managing logistics and technology
HOW IS THE ROLE OF THE MANAGER
CHANGING ?
“At Best Buy’s headquarters, more than 60 percent of the 4,000 employees are
now judged only on tasks or results.
Salaried people put in as much time as it takes to do their work.
Those employees report better relationships with family and friends, more
company loyalty, and more focus and energy.
Productivity has increased by 35 percent.
Employees say they don’t know whether they work fewer hours—they’ve
stopped counting.
Perhaps more important, they’re finding new ways to become efficient.”
Welcome to the new world of managing!
THE CHANGING ROLES OF MANAGEMENT AND MANAGERS
WHY STUDY MANAGEMENT ?

You may be wondering why you need to study management.

We can explain the value of studying management by looking at

three things:

1. the universality of management,

2. the reality of work,
3. the rewards and challenges of being a manager.
UNIVERSALITY OF MANAGEMENT
Just how universal is the need for management in organizations ?

We can say with absolute

certainty that management is
needed in all types and sizes
of organizations, at all
organizational levels and in all
organizational work areas, and
in all organizations, no matter
where they’re located.

This is known as the universality

of management.
THE REALITY OF WORK

Another reason for studying management is the

reality that for most of you, once you graduate from
college and begin your career, you will either
manage or be managed.

For those who plan to be managers, an

understanding of management forms the foundation
upon which to build your management skills.

For those of you who don’t see yourself managing,

you’re still likely to have to work with managers.