Introduction to Management

(Mgmt1061)
 Chapter One
Management-An Overview
Chapter Objectives
• after completing this chapter, students will be
able to:
 define what management and managers are
 understand the significance of management
 identify the managerial functions
 understand the levels of management
 know the managerial roles and managerial skills
 argue whether or not management is science, art
or profession
 understand the universality of management
1.1 Definition of Managers and Management

1.1.1. Who are Managers?

• They are organizational members who told
others what to do and how to do it.

• Managers are those persons in the position of

authority who make decisions to use their
resources and the resources of others towards
the achievement of organizational objectives.
• A manager is someone who works with and
through other people by coordinating their work
activities in order to accomplish organizational
goals.

coordinating the work of a departmental

group, or

it might mean supervising a single person.

1.1.2 Meaning of Management

• Management is rich in definition; there

are different types of definitions.

• There is no one universally accepted

definition of management.
 Meaning of ….continued

• There are various but mutually supportive

definitions, which are written by different
authors and scholars; some of them are the
following
a. According to F.W. Taylor, "Management is the
art of knowing what you want to do... in the
best and cheapest way.“

b. According to H. Koontz and his co-author,

"Management is the process of designing and
maintaining an environment in which
individuals are working together in-group to
accomplish efficiently selected aims."
 Meaning of ….continued

c. According to Terry and Franklin, "Management

is a distinct process consisting of
activities of planning, organizing,
actuating, and controlling, performed to
determine and accomplish stated objectives
with the use of human beings and other
resources
d. According to Henery Fayol; "to manage is to
forecast and plan, to organize, to command,
to coordinate, and to control.
e. According to Mery Parker Fellott; "the art of
getting things done through the efforts of
other people."
 Meaning of ….continued

f. According to Kinard, "Management is the

process of maximizing the potential of an
organization's people and co-ordinating their
efforts to attain predetermined goals.

g. Management is defined as the process of

planning, organizing, leading and controlling
the efforts of organization members and of using
all other organizational resources to achieve
stated organizational goals.
 Meaning of ….continued

• From the various definitions of management,

we can derive the following important points.
 Management refers to the managerial functions
of planning, organizing, staffing, leading
and controlling.
 Management co-ordinates both human and non
human resources (land, labour, capital) for
the accomplishment of objectives.
 Management is applied to all types of
organization

 Management deals with creating a comfortable

internal environment, with a great
consideration of the external environment.
 Meaning of ….continued

• Management is a continuous process -whenever there

is a group endeavor/effort, the need for management
arises.

• Management is viewed in terms of the managerial

function a manager does

• Management is applied wherever there is an

organization with an objective to be achieved
 1.2 Significance of Management

• There are different reasons to study management.

These are:
It is important for personal life
Management is universal; managers work
 in all types of organizations,
 at all levels, and
 in all functional areas
These managers are responsible for the success
or failure of the organizations.

Societies depend on organizations for the

provision of goods and services.
These institutions are guided by the decision of
few individuals designated as Managers
 Significance of … continued

• Management is needed to coordinate and direct

the efforts of individuals, groups and the
entire organization to achieve desired
objectives.

• Management is responsible for the success or

failure of an organization.
 when an organization fails it is because of poor
management, and
 when an organization succeeds it is because of good
management.

• Without management effort will be wasted!

 1.3 Managerial Functions: An Overview

• Regardless of the type, size and objective of

the firm, all managers have certain basic
functions. These are:
planning,
organizing,
staffing,
leading/directing/, and
controlling.
• The scope of these functions differ from
manager to manager and from firm to firm.
1.3.1 Planning (For detail refer chapter-2)

• It is a decision making process which involves:

 selection of missions and objectives and
 choose the best course of action to achieve them
from among alternatives.
• It is an intellectual task, which bridges the gap
between the present and future conditions of the
organization.
• Planning is a decision making process that
determines:
 what to be done,
 how it is to be done,
 why it is done- objective
 when it is to be done, and
 by whom it is to be done.
 Planning continued

• The first step in planning is determination of the

objective of an organization.
.
• Planning doesn't occur in a vacuum; it is done in
light of:

 budgetary constraints,
 personnel requirements,

• Planning, as a managerial function, is the process

of integrating the future activities of an
organization, and requires the ability to foresee,
visualize, and look ahead purposefully.
1.3.2 Organizing (for detail, refer chapter 4)

• It involves establishing an intentional structure

of roles for people to fill in an organization.
• In short, organizing is the process of determining
the role by which an individual plays
• Involves job creation, determine the number of
subordinates, determine the number of hierarchical
levels
• Organizing, thus involves:
 identification of activities to achieve the
predetermined objective;
 grouping these activities into working units;
 assignment of responsibility to each unit with
corresponding authority; and
1.3.3 Staffing (for detail, refer chapter 5)

• It is the process of filling and keeping filled

the positions in the organization structure.
• This is done by:
 identifying work force requirements,
 inventorying the people available,
 recruiting,
 selecting,
 placing,
 promoting,
 compensating,
 training and developing
 Separating
1.3.4 Leading (for detail, refer chapter 6)

• It is influencing, motivating and directing people

so that they will contribute to organization and
group goals; it has to do predominantly with the
interpersonal aspect of managing.
• To be effective leaders managers need to
understand
 individual and group behavior,
 techniques of motivation, and
 effective styles of leadership
• Mangers must develop relationships that ensure
adequate communication with their subordinates.
• Leading /directing has the following three
elements: Motivation, Leadership styles, Communication
1.3.5 Controlling (for detail, chapter 7)

• It is the measuring and correcting of activities

of subordinates, to ensure that events conform to
plans.
• It also involves taking corrective measures
(actions) if deviations exist beyond the accepted
standard deviations.
• The controlling function involves the following
steps:
Establishing standards of performance
Measuring actual performance and comparing it
against the established standard;
Taking corrective measures if there are
deviations
1.4 Levels of Management and Types of
Mangers

• Managers can be classified into two

ways:
By their level in the organization
• first line,
• middle and
• top managers and
By the range of organizational
activities
• Functional and
• General managers
 1.4.1 Types of Managers: based on levels of management

a. First line Managers

• Managers who are responsible for the work of
operating employees only and do not supervise
other managers;
• These people are managers at the firing line
where most concrete organizational tasks are
performed.
• It includes office managers, administrators,
foreman, chief clerks, supervisors, etc.
• First level management is often called
"supervisors".
 First line…. continued

• They are mainly concerned with:

 Planning of day to day work
 Assign operating employees to specific
tasks; keeping a watch on workers
performance;
 They are responsible for overseeing and
coordinating the work of operating
employees.
 Sending reports and statements to superiors
 Their subordinates are non-managers
 Are managers on which management depends
for the execution of its plan
 First line…. continued

 Are directly responsible for the

production of goods and services.
 Serve as a bridge between managers and
non-managers.
 Spent much of their time in leading and
little in planning.
 Are in charge of carrying out the day to
day activities
b. Middle level Managers
• These are managers who direct the
activities of lower level managers and
sometimes extends to supervision of
operating employees.
 Regardless of their title, their
subordinates are managers.
 Often coordinate and supervise the
activities of lower level managers.
 Receive broad/overall strategies from
top managers and translate it into
specific objectives and plans for
First-Line Mangers/operating managers.
Are responsible for the proper
implementation of policies and
strategies defined by top level
managers.
They interpret and implement top
management directives and forward
messages to and from first-line
management.
–E.g. Academic deans, Division
Head, Plant managers, Army
captain
c. Top Level Managers
• Top-level managers are managers who are at
the top of the organizational hierarchy and
are responsible for the entire organization.
• They are usually few in number and include
the organization’s most important managers -
the CEO or the president and her immediate
subordinates usually called vice-presidents.
• But the actual title may vary from
organization to organization.
• They are responsible for the overall
management of the organization.
 Top… continued

• They establish companywide objectives or goals

and organizational policies.
• Furthermore, top management:
 Develop overall structure of the
organization.
 Direct the organization in accordance with
the environment.
 Develop policy in areas of Equal Employment
Opportunity and employee development.
 Represent the organization in community
affairs, business deals, and government
negotiations.
 Spent much of their time in planning and
dealing with middle level managers and other
subordinates.
 Top… continued

 Work long hours and spend much of their time in

meetings and on telephone
 Are persons who are responsible for making
decisions and formulating policies that affect
all aspects of the firm’s operations
 Provide overall leadership of the organization
towards accomplishment of its objectives
 They are responsible for the organization because
objectives are established and policies are
formulated at the top
 Top-level managers take the credit or blame for
organizational success and failures respectively
1.4.2 Types of Managers: based on scope of
responsibility

• Based on the scope of responsibility/activities they

manage, managers are divided into two: Functional
managers and general managers

a. Functional Managers
• Functional managers are managers who are responsible
for a department that performs a single functional
task and has employees with similar training and
skills.
• Supervise employees (managers + workers) with
specialized skills in specific areas of operations
such as accounting, payroll, finance, marketing,
production, or sales etc.
• They are responsible for only one organizational
activity; i.e. their responsibility is limited to
their specialization/specification.
b. General Managers
• General Managers are managers who are
responsible for several departments that
perform different functions.
• They are responsible for the entire
operations of the organization without being
specific.
• Oversee a complex unit, such as a company, a
subsidiary, or an independent operating
division.
 He will be responsible for all activities
of that unit, such as its production,
marketing, sales and finance.
1.5 Managerial Roles and Skills

1.5.1 Managerial Roles

• Role is an organized set of behaviors
that is associated with a particular office or
position.
• It is a pattern of behavior expected by others
from a person occupying a certain position in
an organizational hierarchy.
 When a manager tries to carryout the
management functions, she must behave in a
certain way – to fill certain role.
 Managerial roles represent specific tasks
that managers undertake to ultimately
accomplish the five managerial functions.
 Manager’s formal job description,
affect managerial roles
 Henry Mintzberg identified 10
managerial roles which are
in turn grouped into three
categories:
Interpersonal,
Informational and
Decisional Roles
1.5.1.1 Interpersonal Roles

• Interpersonal role:
 arises directly from manager’s formal
authority and status, and
 shape positive relationships with people
within and beyond the organization
• It is communication oriented; it includes:
 Figurehead Role [ representative role]
 Leadership Role [creating conducive
working environment]
 Liaison Role [link between an
organization & informants]
a.Figurehead Role [ representative role]
• Managers perform symbolic duties of a legal or
social nature.

• Because of the “lead person” position the

manager represents his/her work unit at
ceremonial or symbolic functions.

• The top level managers represent the company

legally and socially to those outside of the
organization.
• The superior represents the work group to
higher management and higher management to the
work group.
E.g.
o Signing legal documents,
o greeting visitors,
o Presenting retirement gifts
o attending a subordinate’s wedding,
o taking a customer to lunch,
o university president hands out a diploma
for graduates – in all these cases the
manager is representing her
organization.
b. Leadership Role [creating conducive working
environment]
• The leader role defines the manager’s
relationship with other people including:
motivating,
communicating and
• The leader builds relationship and
communicates with employees, motivates and
coaches them.
• As a leader, the manager is responsible for
hiring, training, motivating and encouraging
employees/subordinates.
• The manager is the environment creator –
he makes the environment conducive for work
by:
improving working conditions,
reducing conflicts,
providing feedback for performance and
encouraging growth
• The leadership role is evident in the
interpersonal relationship between
manager and his subordinates
c. Liaison Role [Link between an organization
& informants]

• The liaison maintains a network of contacts

outside the work unit to obtain information.
• The manager serves as a link between the
organization and the informants who provide
favors and information.
• He fulfills his role through community
service, conferences, social events, etc.,
like meetings with representatives of other
divisions.
• Refers to dealing with the member of the
organization superiors, subordinates, peer level
managers in other departments, staff specialists
and outside contacts such as clients, government
officials, customers and suppliers.

• The top management uses their role to gain

favors and information, while the superiors use
it to maintain the routine flow of work.
1.5.1.2 Informational Roles [ transformation of information]

• Managing depends on obtaining information

about internal and external events, and
passing to others
• It focuses on the transmission of important
information to and from internal and
external sources.
• It involves the following activities:
 Monitor role [ information
(internal/external) gathering role]
 Disseminator Role [ transferring
information to internal clients]
 Spokesperson/representative Role
[ transferring information to outsiders]
a.Monitor role [ information (internal/external)
gathering role]
• It is also called information gathering role.
• This role refers to seeking, receiving,
screening and getting information
• The monitoring role involves seeking out,
receiving and screening information to
understand the organization and its external
environment
• The manager is constantly monitoring the
environment to determine what is going on
• The monitor seeks internal and external
information about issues that can affect the
organization.
• He seeks and receives wide variety of special
information to develop through understanding of
the organization and the environment.
• Information is gathered from news, reports,
trade publications, magazines, clients,
associates, and a host of similar sources,
attending seminars and exhibitions.
b. Disseminator Role [ transferring information
to internal clients]
• What does the manager do with the information
collected?
• As the disseminator, the manager passes on to
subordinates some of the information that
would not ordinarily be accessible to them.
• After the information has been gathered (by
monitor role), it has to be disseminated to
superiors, subordinates, peers and other
concerned clients
• The types of information to be forwarded to
members could be facts, opinions,
interpretations, and influences.
c. Spokesperson/representative Role
[ transferring information to outsiders]

• The spokesperson transmits information about the

organization to outsiders.
• The manager is the person who speaks for her work
unit to people outside the work unit.
• One aspect of their role is to keep superiors well
informed and a second aspect is to communicate
outside the organization like press, government
agencies, customers and labor unions.
• Although the roles of spokesperson and figurehead
are similar, there is one basic difference between
them.
• When a manager acts as a figurehead, the
manager’s presence is as a symbol of the
organization, whereas, in the spokesman role, the
manager carries information and communicates it to
others in a formal sense.
• Thus, the manager seeks information in the monitor
role, communicates it internally in the
disseminator role and transmits it externally in
the spokesperson role.
• The three informational roles, then, combine to
provide important information required in the
decisional roles.
1.5.1.3 Decisional Roles

• It involves making significant decisions that

affect the organization; it includes:
 Entrepreneur Role (initiator of change,
innovative)
 Disturbance Handler Role (solution seeking
role)
 Resource Allocator Role
 Negotiator Role
a.Entrepreneur Role (initiator of change,
innovative)
• In the entrepreneurial role managers
demonstrate creativity and initiate change
• Often he creates new projects, change
organizational structure, and institutes
other important programs for improving the
company’s performance.
• Managers play this role when they introduce a
new product or create major change program.
• The manager acting as an entrepreneur
recognizes problems and opportunities and
initiates actions that will move the
organization in the desired direction.
b. Disturbance Handler Role (solution seeking
role)
• In the role of disturbance handler, the
manager responds to situations over which she
has little control, i.e. that are beyond her
control and expectation such as:
 conflict between people or among groups,
 strikes,
 breach of contract or unexpected events
outside the organization that may affect
the firm’s performance.
• The disturbance handler is responsible for
taking corrective action when the
organization faces important, unexpected
difficulties.
c. Resource Allocator Role
• Deciding on the allocation of the organization’s
physical, financial and human resources.
• As a resource allocator, the manager is
responsible for deciding how and to whom the
resources of the organization and the manager’s
own time will be allocated.
• This involves:
 assigning work to subordinates,
 scheduling meetings,
 approving budgets,
 deciding on pay increases,
 making purchasing decisions and
 other matters related to the firm’s human,
financial, and material resources.
• The resource allocator distributes resources
of all types, including:
 time,
 funding (finance),
 equipment and
 human resources.
d. The Negotiator Role [ bargaining…]
• Representing the organization in all
important/major negotiations.
• Managers spend a great deal of their time as
negotiators, because only they have the
information and authority that negotiators
require.
 1.5.2 Managerial Skills and Their
Relative Importance

• A manager’s job is diverse and complex and it

requires a range of skills.
• Skills are specific abilities that result from
knowledge, information, practice, and aptitude
Effective managers are essential to the performance
of all organizations, whether they have the ability
to:
• plan,
• organize,
• staff,
• lead and
• control business operations effectively can
determine a firm’s ultimate success or failure.
 Management success depends both on:
o a fundamental understanding of the principles
of management and
o the application of technical, human and
conceptual skills.
 Modern businesses are dynamic and complex, and
competition in the market place is fierce.
 Consequently, managers must be highly skilled
to succeed.
 The skills can be classified as:
o technical skill,
o human Relations skill, and
o conceptual skill
1.5.2.1 Technical Skills

• It involves:
 process or technique,
 knowledge and
 proficiency
• It is the ability to use the tools, procedures, or
techniques of a specialized field.
• It includes mastery of the:
 methods,
 techniques, and
 equipment involved in specific functions, such
as engineering, manufacturing, or finance.
• Technical skill:
 Is specialized knowledge and ability that can
be applied to specific tasks
 Technical skills are most important at the
lower levels of management.
 It becomes less important as we move up the
chain of command because when they supervise
the others (workers), they have to show how to
do the work.
• E.g. A surgeon, an engineer, a musician, a
quality controller or an accountant all have
technical skill in their respective areas
1.5.2.2 Human Relations or Interpersonal Skill

• It is the ability to interact effectively

with people
• It is the ability to work with, understand
and motivate other people, either as
individuals or as groups.
• Managers need enough of human relationships
skill to be able to participate effectively
and lead groups.
• These skills are demonstrated in the way a
manager relates to other people, including
the way he motivates, facilitates,
coordinates, leads, communicates, and
resolves conflicts.
• A manager with human skills allows
subordinates to express themselves
without fear and encourages
participation

• Because all work is done when people

work together, human relation skills
are equally important at all levels
of management.
1.5.2.3 Conceptual skills [ integrating skill]
• It involves the formulation of ideas
• It refers to the ability to see the big
picture:
 to view the organization from a broad
perspective and
 to see the interrelations among its
components
• It includes recognizing:
 how the various jobs in an organization
depend on one another and
 how a change in any one part affects all
the others
• It also involves the manager’s ability to
understand:
 how a change in any given part can affect
the whole organization,
 abstract relationships,
 solve problems creatively, and
 develop ideas
• Conceptual skills are more important in
strategic (long range) planning;
• Therefore, they are more important to top-
executives than middle managers and
supervisors
• On the Other hand, the importance of conceptual
skill increases as we rise in the rank of
management.

• The higher the manager is in the hierarchy, the

more he will be involved in the broad, long term
decisions that affect large parts of the
organization.

• For top management, which is responsible for the

entire organization, conceptual skill is probably
the most important skill of all.
 Figure 1.2 Variation of skills necessary at different management levels

Top

ll
Ski
Te
Hu
m

ch

l
tua
an

n
S ki

ica
ll

cep
l
Middle

Sk

Con
ill
First line

Managerial levels Managerial Sills

 1.6 Universality of Management

• Regardless of title, position, or management level, all

managers do the same job.
• They execute the five managerial functions and work
through and with others to set and achieve organizational
goals.
• Managers are the same whether the organization is:
 private or public,
 profit making or non-profit making,
 manufacturing or service giving, and
 Large or small firms
 Top, middle and lower management
• In sum, management theories and principles have universal
application in all kinds of organized and purposeful
activity and at all levels of management
 1.7 Is Management a Science, an Art , or
a Profession?

1.7.1 Management as Science

• Science is characterized by making conclusions based on
actual facts and verifies knowledge through cause-
effect relationship
• It can be generally learnt, thought, and researched to
know the universal truth
• It is an organized/systematized body of knowledge
constituting concepts, theories and principles
concerning a particular field of study.
• Science is:
 knowledge obtained from observation, test and
experimentation of facts;
 universally true;
 applied in any country, organization, etc
 it exploits mathematical models
 … as science

• As science, management is a systematized

body of knowledge representing a core of
principles or fundamental truths that tend to
be true in most managerial situations.

• This systematized body of knowledge of

management helps the practicing manager to
make decisions rationally and objectively
rather than rule of thumb, hunch/guess, what
they did in the past.
 … as science

• However, management is not considered as an

exact science as chemistry, physics etc.

• It is an Inexact Science.

• This is because, it deals with people/human

behavior in which change is the fashion rather
than the exception.

• It is to say that human behavior is even changing

and unpredictable.
 … as science

• To conclude, management is categorized as

science for the following reasons:
 Its principles are systematized body of
knowledge
 Its principles are universally applicable

 They are based on scientific inquiry,

observation, test and experiment

 They explain the cause and effect

relationships among/between various
variables.
 Their validity can be verifiable and can
serve as a reliable basis for predicting
future events.
1.7.2 Management as Art

• Art is characterized by:

 common sense,
 personal feeling,
 beliefs,
 impulses, etc.
• Management, like all other practices, is an
art

• It is know-how, skill or how to accomplish

the desired objectives with insufficient data
and information or when there is limited use
of secondary sources of information.
 … as art

• It is doing things in light of the prevailing

realities of a situation.

• It is concerned with the application of know-

how and skill to:
 the specific time,
 place
 and condition tactfully, creatively and wisely.
• To conclude, management as a creative art
 It requires a skill or a practical know-how of
the principles and techniques of management in
order to perform a specific job efficiently and
effectively.
 It depends on the personal skill and effective
use of one's knowledge and proficiency to ensure
maximum result at minimum cost.
 It follows result oriented course of action – or
depends on specific objective to be achieved.
 Management calls for creative ability – to
introduce new ideas, new products, new techniques
to yield higher returns to an organization
(higher surplus)
 Continuous practice of management theories and
principles results in better performance
1.7.3 Management as a Profession

• A profession is a vocation requiring,

 body of specialized knowledge and Technical
proficiency
 formal training / standardized education
and training
 social Responsibility
 code of conduct/professional Ethics
a. Body of specialized knowledge and Technical
proficiency
• If an organization needs to have rational and
scientific decision making ability, managers have to
be specialized on a systematic body of management.
• Management requires technical proficiency in special
fields such as production, marketing, finance,
human resource management , etc.
• To ensure all these, management requires intellectual
preparation or graduate study.

b. Formal/standardized Education and Training

• A certain field of study to be a profession, it
requires formal training and education.
• This holds true for management.
• There are universities, colleges, and educational
institutions specialized that provide formal teaching
of management concepts, theories and principles.
c. Social Responsibility
• Any organization has an objective whether to make
surplus, or provide efficient services to the
society, and the like.
• And also a manager of an organization is responsible
to lead the organization and its members.
• Besides, managers have to take into account the
obligation to serve the society (mission) and strict
adherence to the prescribed moral, social, and legal
conduct; because their existence depend on the
service they give to the society in general.
d. Code of Conduct
• Any discipline to be a profession, it is subjected
to the fulfillment of strict standards, rules and
regulations providing the norm of honesty,
integrity, and professional morality to be adhered
by the members
End of Chapter one!
Any Question?