1- Managers and You in the Workplace

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

At the lowest level of management, first-line (or frontline) managers manage the work of
nonmanagerial employees who typically are involved with producing the organization’s
products or servicing the organization’s customers. These managers typically have titles such
as supervisor, shift manager, district
manager, department head, or office administrator. Middle managers
may have titles such as regional manager, store manager, or division manager and are mainly
responsible for turning the organization’s strategy into action. At the upper levels of the
organization are the top managers, who are responsible for making organization-wide
decisions and establishing the strategy and goals that affect the entire organization. These
individuals typically have titles such as executive vice president, president, managing director,
chief operating officer, or chief executive officer.

Nonmanagerial employees work directly on a job or task and have no one reporting to them.

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

Characteristics of Organizations
 MANAGEMENT ROLES by Mintzberg

Skills Needed at Different Managerial Levels by Katz

•Technical skills: Knowledge and proficiency in a specific field.

•Human skills (interpersonal): The ability to work well with other people.
•Conceptual skills: The ability to think and conceptualize about abstract and complex
situations concerning the organization.
 Managers Challenges

 Technology
 Disruptive innovation (Disturbing)
 Social media
 Ethics
 Political uncertainty
 Customer

Universal Need for Management

Total quality management (TQM) A philosophy of management that is driven by continuous

improvement and responsiveness to customer needs and expectations.

Closed systems are not influenced by and do not interact with their environment.
In contrast, open systems are influenced by and do interact with their environment.
Today, when we describe organizations as systems, we mean open systems.
 2- Making Decisions
Decision: a choice among two or more alternatives.

Intuitive Decision Making: making decisions on the basis of experience, feelings, and
accumulated judgment.

Decision-Making Process:

1- Identifying a Problem
2- Identifying Decision Criteria
3- Allocating Weights to the Criteria
4- Developing Alternatives
5- Analyzing Alternatives
6- Selecting an Alternative
7- Implementing the Alternative
8- Evaluating Decision Effectiveness
Decision-Style Model