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RIFT VALLEY UNIVERSTY

CENTER FOR DISTANCE EDUCATION
/ Degree Program/
WORK SHEET FOR INTRODUCTION TO MANAGEMENT
/mgmt -211/
Name TSIGE ASRATE TAYE
Id.No _____________________
Department Management
P.O. Box
Center: Sndafa
Region (Zone)
Term I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII, IX
This work sheet is prepared for you to do by your own. It only carriess30% of the total course
evaluation. The worksheet should be completed and submitted to your coordination Center for
Distance Education
If you have any questions, in the modules, that you have not been able to understand, please state
on a separate sheet of paper and attach it to this worksheet, otherwise, your tutor will clarify
them for you.
After completing this worksheet, be sure that you written you Name, ID No, Address on the
Work sheet.

FROM: - TSIGE ASRATE TAYE

 REGION: - SENDAFA

Assignment for introduction to management

1. Define the term management from different perspectives

There is no universally accepted definition of the term

management. Because different scholars define the term
management from differentAngeles and from their own view
pointes.
The economist considers management as a resource like land,
labor, capital and organization. Thebureaucracies look upon it as
a system of authority to achieve business goals. The sociologist
considers it is class elite in the society.
So let us see some of the common d definitions of management:-
A. Management is the process of coordinating all resources throats the
functions of management i.e. planning, organizing, staffing, leading and
controlling to achieve the predetermined goals of the organization.
B. Management is the art of getting things done through other people by
making the atmosphere conducive to the others.
C. Management refers to the process of using men, money, machines,
material and processes through proper direction, coordination and
integration of several activities so as to produce desired results and
attain predetermined goals.
For the further definition of management we also see it in different perspectives.
Or management can be seen as:-

 .management as activity:- it is just like playing, studying, teaching or it is

the art of getting things done through the efforts of the other people.
 Management as a process:- it is involving a series of interrelated functions.
 Management as an economic resource:- like land, labor, and capital
management is an important factors for production. Management occupies
the central place among all other resources. Let as present it in fig.
 Manpower Information

Management

Money
Materials

Time Machinery

 Management as team: - as a group of persons management consists of

all those who have the responsibility of guiding and coordinating the
efforts of the other persons.
2. Explain the five managerial functions of. Give an example for each.
1. planning
When we talk of planning, it simply refers to deciding in advance what to do,
how to do it, when to do it, and who to do it. Planning bridges the gap
between where we are and where we want to be. Planning is an essential part
of the day-to-day activities of managers. As the saying goes – he who fails to
plan has implicitly planned to fail. While planning does not necessarily
guarantee success, evidence suggests that organizations, which engage in
formal planning, tend to perform better than those with limited or no formal
planning.
Thus, planning is a systematic way of deciding about and doing things in a
purposeful manner. In the context of organizations and their management it
may be defined as the process of setting future objectives and deciding on the
ways and means of achieving them.
2. organizing
Formally defined, organizing is the process of arranging people and
other resources to work together to accomplish a goal. As one of the basic
functions of management it involves both creating a division of labor for
tasks to be performed and then coordinating results to achieve a common
purpose. Once plans are created, the manager's task is to see to it that they are
carried out. Given a clear mission, core values, objectives and strategy,
organizing begins the process of implementation by clarifying jobs and
working relationships. It identifies who is to do what, who is in charge of
whom, and how different people and parts of the organization relate to and
work with one another.
3. The Staffing (Human Resource Management) Function
Human resource management is a management function, which involves
various activities designed to foster the effectiveness of an organization’s
workforce in achieving the organizational goals and objectives. Human
Resource Management (HRM) focuses on people-their needs, expectations,
values and legal rights as well as strategies that would ensure the
achievement of individual and corporate goals.

No matter how efficient and sophisticated your machines, tools and resources
may be, people who constitute the human element, will have to put them to
use.

4. Directing/leading
In management, leadingis the process of arousing people's enthusiasm to
work hard and direct their efforts to fulfill plans and accomplish objectives.
Through leading, managers build commitments to a common vision,
encourage activities that support goals, and influence others to do their best
work in the organization's behalf.
5. Controlling
Controlling is concerned with monitoring planned and organized efforts,
comparing programs with planned objectives and making of necessary
decisions to ensure success. It completes the process that links organizational
efforts with planned objectives. Controlling is usually seen as a management
function that aims to keep activities directed in such a way that defined
results are achieved. Monitoring of performance is the starting point of
control.
Controlling is essentially a managerial function and the establishment of
control systems is usually the concern of top and senior managers. Although,
some form of control is needed at all levels of the managerial hierarchy, it is
mostly exercised at lower points in the managerial hierarchy.

When we controlling activities the following Control Process

/procedures/ are important:-
1. EstablishingStandards: A control standard is a target against which
subsequent performance will be compared.

2. Measuring Performance: The second step in the control process is

measuring performance. Performance measurement is a constant,
ongoing activity for most organizations.

3. Comparing Performance Against Standards The third step in the

control process is comparing measured performance against established
standards. Performance may be higher than, lower than, or identical to
the standard.

4. Considering Corrective Action: The final step in the control process is

determining the need for corrective action.
3. Is management a science or art? How? Explain.
The Science of Management

Many management problems and issues can be approached in ways that are
rational, logical, objective, and systematic. Managers can gather data, facts,
and objective information. They can use quantitative models and decision-
making techniques to arrive at "correct" decisions. And they need to take
such a scientific approach to solving problems whenever possible, especially
when they are dealing with relatively routine and straightforward issues.
Technical, diagnostic, and decision-making skills are especially important
when practicing the science of management.
The Art of Management
Even though managers may try to be scientific as often as possible, they must
frequently make decisions and solve problems on the basis of intuition,
experience, instinct, and personal insights. Relying heavily on conceptual,
communication, interpersonal, and time-management skills, for example, a
manager may have to decide among multiple courses of action that look
equally attractive. And even "objective facts" may prove to be wrong. Thus
managers must blend an element of intuition and personal insight with hard
data and objective facts.
So from the above point of view management is a blend of both science and
art. And successful executives recognize the importance of combining both
the science and the art of management as they practice their craft.
4. How management is defined from
A. Functions and problems solving point of view
From function point of view of management is doing activities through the
use of planning, organizing, coordinating, staffing, leading and controlling.
Decision mashing and problem solving is the central job of a manager,
because they must constantly choose what is to be done who is to do it and
when, where, and occasionally even how it will be done.

B. Human relation perspectives

The human relations management theory is a researched belief that people
desire to be part of a supportive team that facilitates development and growth.
Therefore, if employees receive special attention and are encouraged to
participate, they perceive their work has significance, and they are motivated
to be more productive, resulting in high quality work. From decision making
perspectives
C. From decision making perspective
5. Summarize the level of managers against the basic functions of
management.

Before I summarize the levels of management against the functions of

management describing the levels of managements are vital important

 Levels of Management
There are three levels of management include top level management, middle
level management, and first-line management. They are also called strategic
management, tactical management, and operational management.
Top-Level Managers
Top level of managers isa manager who is placed at the top level of the
organization. Most organizations have relatively few top management
positions. Top managers are responsible for managing the entire organization
or major parts of it. They develop and define the organization's purpose,
objectives, strategies, and long-term plans.They report to other executives or
boards of directors and supervise the activities of middle managers.
Middle-Level Managers
Middle managers are responsible for implementing top management's
strategy by developing short-term operating plans. They generally report to
executives and supervise the work of first-line managers.
First-Line Managers
Examples of the titles at this level include supervisor, department head,
section head, office manager etc. These managers are responsible for
implementing middle managers' operational plans. They generally report to
middle managers. Unlike those at the other two levels of management, first-
line managers do not supervise other managers; they supervise operative
employees.

The following diagram will give us summarization an idea about the

functions, positions and relations of different levels of management.
Planning

Organizing

Staffing

Controlling
Directing

Top

Middle

First-line

Fig1.1 summarization of levels of management and functions of management

To clarify the diagramshows that the top level management it is the 1 st or the
top level of the organization. This level determines the objectives of an
organization as a whole and lays down policies to achieve these objectives
(making of policy means providing guidelines for actions and decision). The
top management also exercises an overall control over the organization.
The middle-level management includes heads of various departments, and
actively participates in staffing and organizing of functions of management.
 The lower-level management mostlyperforms leading or directing activities
of the employees. When the work is assigned to workers, then these people
see that the work is carried out properly and at the right time. So their
functions are supervisory in nature.

6. Why studying management theories important? Explain at least four of them.

 For sound resource planning
 For personalized management styles
 Adoption to business environment
 To put theory of management in to practice.
 For effective leadership and motivation
 Integration to formal and informal groups activity
7. How do you characterized the;-
A.Bureaucratic management?
2. Hierarchy:
The basic feature of bureaucratic organization is that there is hierarchy
of positions in the organization. Hierarchy is a system of ranking
various positions in descending scale from top to bottom of the
organization. In bureaucratic organization, offices also follow the
principle of hierarchy that is each lower office is subject to control and
supervision by higher office.
3. Division of Work:
Work of the organization is divided on the basis of specialization to
take the advantages of division of labor. Each office in the bureaucratic
organization has specific sphere of competence.
4. Official Rules:
A basic and most emphasized feature of bureaucratic organization is
that administrative process is continuous and governed by official rules.
 A rational approach to organization calls for a system of maintaining
rules to ensure twin requirements of uniformity and coordination of
efforts by individual members in the organization. These rules are more
or less stable and more or less exhaustive.
5. Impersonal Relationships:
A notable feature of bureaucracy is that relationships among
individuals are governed through the system of official authority and
rules. This impersonality concept is used in dealing with organizational
relations as well as relations between the organization and outsiders.
B. Scientific management?
The following are the main characteristics of scientific management:
(1) Systematic Approach:
Scientific management is a systematic approach to management and its
use ensures that all activities are completed in a systematic and
scientific manner.
(2) Brings Complete Mental Change:
Scientific management brings about a complete mental change both in
the owners as well as the employees of the organization. Both the
parties start aiming for more and better production targets rather than
merely chasing higher profits.
(3) Discards Traditional Management:
The approach of scientific management completely discards traditional
management.
(4) Requires Strict Observance of Rules:
Scientific management requires very strict observance of rules, because
the rules are formed only after due analysis and there is very little
chance of error in them.
(5) Improves the Efficiency of Workers:
The main aim of scientific management is to increase the efficiency of
workers. This is done through conducting various kinds of studies such
as time study, motion study and fatigue study. This makes scientific
management almost a tool for the enhancement of workers’ efficiency
whose benefit ultimately goes to the organization itself.
 (6) Gives due Weightage to Specialization:
Scientific management involves dividing each work into various small
parts, each part being allotted to the person who is an expert in it. This
results in better and more work being performed in much less time.
(7) Useful for Large Organizations:
Since the scientific management system is quite expensive to
implement, it is useful only for larger organizations. Time is not far
when this extensive nature of scientific management is made less costly
for small organizations.
(8) Attempts to Minimize Wastes:
Scientific management aims at minimizing the waste of time, materials,
machine, etc. This is indeed very essential to achieve higher level of
performance and easier and quicker way to achieve goals.
C.Administrative management?
8. “Improving decision making via the application of quantitative
techniques”. Which of school of thought focuses on this
principles? Quantitative school.
9. What is the difference between mission and goal?
Mission
A mission is a long term objective or result that individuals, groups,
organizations and even governments set to achieve. Or it is the mainreason
why the organization is established. There can be various ways, strategies,
plans, and even goals that are used to achieve this mission. Thus it is clear that
goals are only milestones on the grand road that takes one to his mission and
mission is the biggest and most important thing to be achieved or accomplished.

Companies usually have a mission statement that reflects their long term goals.
It has a future orientation and tells us what the aim of the company is and how it
proposes to achieve that aim.

Goals
Goals are ends towards which effort and action is directed. Although it is an
aim, it is not the supreme goal which is always the mission of an individual or a
company. Goals are always smaller than mission. This is also reflected by the
fact that there can be many goals but there is always one mission.
One should know the difference between goals and mission or else he is
doomed to move in circles, round and round. There should be no ambiguity
about the mission of an organization which is always supreme and the sole
purpose of any organization while goals are minor milestones that need to be
achieved to get to the final objective that is the mission of the organization.

10. SWOT analysis (or SWOT matrix)

Is a strategic planning technique used to help a person or organization
identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats related to
business competition or project planning.

It is intended to specify the objectives of the business venture or project and

identify the internal and external factors that are favorable and unfavorable to
achieving those objectives. Users of a SWOT analysis often ask and answer
questions to generate meaningful information for each category to make the
tool useful and identify their competitive advantage. SWOT has been
described as the tried-and-true tool of strategic analysis.

Strengths and weakness are frequently internally-related, while opportunities

and threats commonly focus on the external environment. The name is an
acronym for the four parameters the technique examines:

 Strengths: characteristics of the business or project that give it an

advantage over others.
 Weaknesses: characteristics of the business that place the business or
project at a disadvantage relative to others.
 Opportunities: elements in the environment that the business or project
could exploit to its advantage.
 Threats: elements in the environment that could cause trouble for the
business or project.

Identification of SWOTs is important because they can inform later steps in

planning to achieve the objective. First, decision-makers should consider
whether the objective is attainable, given the SWOTs.

11. Compare and contrast :

A.policy
A policy is a guiding principle used to set direction in an organization. It can be a
course of action to guide and influence decisions. It should be used as a guide to
decision making under a given set of circumstances within the framework of
objectives, goals and management philosophies as determined by senior
management

 A policy is a deliberate system of principles to guide decisions and

achieve rational outcomes.
 A policy is a statement of intent, and is implemented as a procedure
or protocol.
 Policies are generally adopted by a governance body within an
organization.
 Policies can assist in both subjective and objective decision making.
B. Procedure

A procedure is a particular way of accomplishing something. It should be designed

as a series of steps to be followed as a consistent and repetitive approach or cycle
to accomplish an end result. Once complete, you will have a set of established
methods for conducting the business of your organization, which will come in
handy for training, process auditing, process improvement, or compliance
initiatives.Procedures provide a platform for implementing the consistency needed
to decrease process variation, which increases procedure control. Decreasing
process variation is how we eliminate waste and increase performance.

C.Rule
Is one of a set of explicit or understood regulations or principles governing conduct
within a particular activity or sphere? “The rules of the game were
understood."Control of or dominion over an area or people.

D.Method
Is an established, habitual, logical, or prescribed practice or systematic process of
achieving certain ends with accuracy and efficiency, usually in an ordered
sequence of fixed steps. See also scientific method and procedure.

12. Explain plans based on:-

A. Formality/status
a) Top level plan: The plan which is developed by the top level of the
management
b) Middle –level plan: The plan which is seted by the middle level of
management
 c) Lower – level plan : The plan which is planed by the lower level or first
one of management
B.Scope/breadth Dimension
A. Strategic Plans
Strategic plans are the plans developed to achieve strategic goals. More
precisely, a strategic plan is a general plan outlining decisions of resource
allocation, priorities, and action steps necessary to reach strategic goals.
These plans are set by the board of directors and top management, generally
have an extended time horizon, and address questions of scope, resource
deployment, competitive advantage, and synergy.
B. Tactical Plans
A tactical plan, aimed at achieving tactical goals, is developed to implement
specific parts of a strategic plan. Tactical plans typically involve upper and
middle management and, compared with strategic plans, have a somewhat
shorter time horizon and a more specific and concrete focus. Thus tactical
plans are concerned more with actually getting things done than with
deciding what to do.

C. Operational Plans
An operational plan focuses on carrying out tactical plans to achieve
operational goals. Developed by middle and lower-level managers,
operational plans have a short-term focus and are relatively narrow in scope.
Each one deals with a fairly small set of activities.

C.Time Dimension
 Long-Range Plans
A long-range plan covers many years, perhaps even decades. Today,
however, most managers recognize that environmental change makes it
unfeasible to plan too fat ahead, but large firms routinely develop plans for
five- to ten-year intervals. The time span for long-range planning varies
from one organization to another. For our purposes, we regard any plan that
extends beyond five years as long range.
 Intermediate Plans
An intermediate plan is somewhat less tentative and subject to change than
is a long-range plan. Intermediate plans usually cover periods from one to
five years and are especially important for middle and first-line managers.
Thus they generally parallel tactical plans.
  Short-Range Plans
Managers also develop short-range plans, which have a time frame of one
year or less. Short-range plans greatly affect the manager's day-to-day
activities. There are two basic kinds of short-range plans. An action plan
operationalized any other kind of plan. A reaction plan, in turn, is a plan
designed to allow the company to react to an unforeseen circumstance.
D. Use Dimension
 Single –Use Plans

A single-use plan is developed to carry out a course of action that is not likely to be
repeated in the same form in the future. Single-use plans, unlike standing plans, are
developed for a specific purpose and probably will not be used again in the same
form. However, a single-use plan may be used as a model for future program,
project or budgets. The three most common forms of single-use plans are
programs, projects and budgets.

 Standing Plans
Whereas single-use plans are developed for nonrecurring situations, a standing
plan is used for activities that recur regularly over a period of time. Standing plans
can greatly enhance efficiency by making decision making routine. Policies,
standard operating procedures, and rules and regulations are three kinds of
standing plans.

13. List all processes and elements involved in planning in detail .

Step1 environmental analysis and forecasting

It is awareness of environment both internal and external of the organization.
Organization should maintain continual assessment of the environment to
determine ite own weakness and strength of its activities.

Step2. Establishing objectives

Objectives must be established to define long-range operations. This is the
task of strategic managers. Initially, objectives are communicated to tactical
managers, who then specify objectives for their subordinates. When
managers find they cannot provide realistic tactical objectives that satisfy
strategic preferences, strategies may be reconsidered.

Step3. Determine alternative course of action

After objectives are set the management must identify alternative way to reaching
them.Because if the managers are developing alternatives may have opportunity to
achieve the objectives.

Step4. Evaluating the alternatives

Managers usually consider many alternatives for a given situation, but the
merits, demerits as well as the consequences of each alternative must be
examined before the choice is being made . Aviable alternativesuggests a
proposed course of action that is feasible, realistic, and sufficient. To be
feasible, an action must not only be possible but also have a reasonable
chance of success. To be realistic, the alternative must square with reality,
such as complying with the law and conforming to the expectations of those
who have to carry out the work.

Step5 select the best alternatives

After objective and scientific evaluation, the best alternative is chosen. The
planners should take help of various quantitative techniques to judge the
stability of an alternative.

Step6. Implement an Action Plan

Many well-founded plans never get off the ground. It is important to
consciously include implementation as a step in the planning process so that
plans will be supported by management, resources will be committed, and
people will act on decided courses of action. Arguably, it could be said that the
planning function is the most important management function. It provides the
framework for organizing, staffing, leading, and controlling.

Step7. Controlling and evaluating the results

After the selected plan is implemented, it is important to controlling and

appraises/evaluating/ its effectiveness. This is done on the basis of feedback or
information received from departments or persons concerned. This enables the
management to correct deviations or modify the plan. This step establishes a link
between planning and controlling function. The follow up must go side by side
with the implementation of plans so that in the light of observations made, future
plans can be made more realistic.
14. Explain management by objectives/MBO/.
Management by Objectives (MBO) is a personnel management technique where
managers and employees work together to set, record and monitor goals for a
specific period of time. Organizational goals and planning flow top-down through
the organization and are translated into personal goals for organizational members.
The technique was first championed by management expert Peter Drucker and
became commonly used in the 1960s.