Management Science Introduction to Management

INTRODUCTION TO MANAGEMENT

INTRODUCTION

“Management is nothing more than motivating other people.”

-Lee Iacocca-

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

At the end of this lesson, you should be able to:

1. Operationally define Management;

2. Understand the Characteristics of Management;
3. Explain the Purpose of Management;
4. Identify the Functions of Management;
5. Recognize the difference between the different levels of
management;
6. Identify and understand the Types of Management
7. Understand the evolving nature of management perspectives and
strategies.

PRESENTATION OF LEARNING CONTENT

A. DEFINITION OF MANAGEMENT

Management can be defined as the process of administering and

controlling the affairs of the organization, irrespective of its nature, type,
structure and size. It is an act of creating and maintaining such a business
environment wherein the members of the organization can work together,
and achieve business objectives efficiently and effectively.
Management acts as a guide to a group of people working in the
organization and coordinating their efforts, towards the attainment of the
common objective.
In other words, it is concerned with optimally using 5M’s, i.e. men,
machine, material, money and methods and, this is possible only when there
proper direction, coordination and integration of the processes and activities,
to achieve the desired results.

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B. Characteristics of Management

 Universal: All the organizations, whether it is profit-making or not, they require

management, for managing their activities. Hence it is universal in nature.
 Goal-Oriented: Every organization is set up with a predetermined objective
and management helps in reaching those goals timely, and smoothly.
 Continuous Process: It is an ongoing process which tends to persist as long as
the organization exists. It is required in every sphere of the organization
whether it is production, human resource, finance or marketing.
 Multi-dimensional: Management is not confined to the administration of
people only, but it also manages work, processes and operations, which
makes it a multi-disciplinary activity.
 Group activity: An organization consists of various members who have
different needs, expectations and beliefs. Every person joins the organization
with a different motive, but after becoming a part of the organization they
work for achieving the same goal. It requires supervision, teamwork and
coordination, and in this way, management comes into the picture.
 Dynamic function: An organization exists in a business environment that has
various factors like social, political, legal, technological and economic. A
slight change in any of these factors will affect the organization’s growth and
performance. So, to overcome these changes management formulates
strategies and implements them.

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 Intangible force: Management can neither be seen nor touched but one
can feel its existence, in the way the organization functions.
Precisely, all the functions, activities and processes of the organization
are interconnected to one another. And it is the task of the management to
bring them together in such a way that they help in reaching the intended
result.

C. Different Types of Management Styles

There are different types of management styles, and the management

process has changed over recent years. The addition of work teams and servant
leadership has changed what is expected from managers, and what managers
expect from their employees.

a. Traditional Management

There is a hierarchy of employees, low level management, mid-level

management, and senior management. In traditional management systems,
the manager sets out expectations for the employees who need to meet
goals, but the manager receives the reward of meeting those goals.

b. Team Management

In a team management arrangement the manager is a guiding hand

to help the members of the team work together to solve problems but
doesn’t dictate policy and the entire team receives the reward of meeting
those goals.

c. Servant Management

With this approach, the manager helps supply resources the

employees need to meet company goals. In servant leadership, the
organization recognizes employees as experts in their field and work to help
them work efficiently.

No matter which type of management style is used by an organization,

the main objective of managers is to help employees reach company goals
and maintain company standards and policies.

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D. The Purpose of Management

The purpose of management is to serve customers. Yet, if one looks

through most management books for a definition of management, 99.9
percent of the time the word customer will not be mentioned. This is
astonishing because serving customers in order to obtain a profit is the crux of
every business organization. Equally remiss is the fact that most definitions of
management neatly filter out service in their descriptions of management.

Good managers constantly streamline their organizations toward

making a sale. In other words, good managers are needed to keep their
organizations on track by ensuring that everything that’s being done is
ethically geared toward providing what customers want. In this regard, a
good manager is responsible for reducing waste and ambiguity, keeping
costs down, and motivating others to do the same. In the same vein, good
managers regularly take educated risks and exercise good judgement (the
basis of entrepreneurship). These risks include:

 Trying new things;

 Successfully adjusting to constant change;
 Developing subordinates (good managers aren’t afraid of letting other
people shine and, in fact, they encourage it);
 Improving their own skills.

E. The Need for Management

Management is needed in order to coordinate the activities of a

business and make sure all employees are working together toward the
accomplishment of the organization’s goals.

Management in all business and organizational activities is the act of

getting people together to accomplish desired goals and objectives using
available resources efficiently and effectively. Since organizations can be
viewed as systems, management can also be defined as human action
(including design) to facilitate the production of useful outcomes from a
system. Therefore, management is needed in order to facilitate a
coordinated effort toward the accomplishment of the organization’s goals.

Since most managers are responsible for more work than one person can
normally perform, a good manager delegates and integrates his or her work
(or the work of others). A manager does this by acting as a clear channel of
communication within the business that he or she serves. Good management
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is needed to inject motivation, creativity, discipline, and enthusiasm into

areas in which they either don’t exist or they’re not necessarily wanted.

F. FUNCTIONS OF MANAGEMENT

 Planning: It is the first and foremost function

of management, i.e. to decide beforehand what
is to be done in future. It encompasses
formulating policies, establishing targets,
scheduling actions and so forth.
 Organizing: Once the plans are formulated,
the next step is to organize the activities and
resources, as in identifying the tasks, classifying
them, assigning duties to subordinates and
allocating the resources.
 Staffing: It involves hiring personnel for
carrying out various activities of the organization.
It is to ensure that the right person is appointed to
the right job.
 Directing: It is the task of the manager to
guide, supervise, lead and motivate the
subordinates, to ensure that they work in the right
direction, so far as the objectives of the
organization are concerned.
 Controlling: The controlling function of
management involves a number of steps to be
taken to make sure that the performance of the
employees is as per the plans. It involves
establishing performance standards and
comparing them with the actual performance. In case of any
variations, necessary steps are to be taken for its correction.

Coordination is an important feature of management which means the

integration of the activities, processes and operations of the organization and
synchronization of efforts, to ensure that every element of the organization
contributes to its success.

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G. LEVELS OF MANAGEMENT

1. Top-Level Management: This is the highest level in the organizational

hierarchy, which includes Board of Directors and Chief Executives. They are
responsible for defining the objectives, formulating plans, strategies and
policies.
2. Middle-Level Management: It is the second and most important level in
the corporate ladder, as it creates a link between the top and lower-level
management. It includes departmental and division heads and
managers who are responsible for implementing and controlling plans and
strategies which are formulated by the top executives.
3. Lower Level Management: Otherwise called as functional or
operational level management. It includes first-line managers, foreman,
supervisors. As lower-level management directly interacts with the workers, it
plays a crucial role in the organization because it helps in reducing wastage
and idle time of the workers, improving the quality and quantity of output.
The three management levels form the management hierarchy, that
represents the position and rank of executives and managers in the chart.

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Most organizations have three management levels:

 Low-level managers;
 Middle-level managers; and
 Top-level managers.

These managers are classified in a hierarchy of authority, and perform

different tasks. In many organizations, the number of managers in every level
resembles a pyramid.

1. Top-level Managers

 The board of directors, president, vice-president, and CEO are all

examples of top-level managers.
 These managers are responsible for controlling and overseeing the
entire organization. They develop goals, strategic plans, company
policies, and make decisions on the direction of the business.
 In addition, top-level managers play a significant role in the
mobilization of outside resources.
 Top-level managers are accountable to the shareholders and general
public.

2. Middle-level Managers

General managers, branch managers, and department managers are all

examples of middle-level managers. They are accountable to the top
management for their department’s function.

Middle-level managers devote more time to organizational and directional

functions than top-level managers. Their roles can be emphasized as:
 Executing organizational plans in conformance with the company’s
policies and the objectives of the top management;
 Defining and discussing information and policies from top management
to lower management; and most importantly
 Inspiring and providing guidance to low-level managers towards better
performance.

Some of their functions are as follows:

 Designing and implementing effective group and intergroup work and
information systems;
 Defining and monitoring group-level performance indicators;
 Diagnosing and resolving problems within and among work groups;

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 Designing and implementing reward systems supporting cooperative

behavior.

3. Low-level Managers

Supervisors, section leads, and foremen are examples of low-level

management titles. These managers focus on controlling and directing.

Low-level managers usually have the responsibility of:

 Assigning employees tasks;
 Guiding and supervising employees on day-to-day activities;
 Ensuring the quality and quantity of production;
 Making recommendations and suggestions; and
 Upchanneling employee problems.

Also referred to as first-level managers, low-level managers are role models

for employees. These managers provide:
 Basic supervision;
 Motivation;
 Career planning;
 Performance feedback; and
 Staff supervision.

Management Levels: Hierarchical view of management in organizations

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H. TRENDS IN MANAGEMENT

Modern trends in management favor agile, iterative processes that

focus on innovation, software development, and social impacts.

Management is a rapidly evolving field. Even now startups all over the
world are trying out new, innovative ways of looking at how to align their
resources, how to make decisions, and what managerial approaches (or lack
of managerial approaches) might yield the best culture for growth. It’s an
intriguing time for management, and experimentation is constant.
When looking at new management approaches, it’s useful to consider the
area in which these organizations operate. Software, non-profit, and
entrepreneurship are all seeing substantial deviations from standard
corporate management approaches.

Software

The two big words in software management over the past decade or
two have been Scrum and Agile. Each of these approaches is a
management philosophy equipped for rapid construction, iteration, and
implementation.

Iterative Development

The agile management philosophy is an adaptation of iterative

management. The concept is fairly simple. All production of new and
innovative products and services will require constant refinement and
improvement through iterative experimentation.

Scrum has been around since the late 1980s, but not particularly
prevalent until the early 21st century. Scrum is defined as a feedback-driven
empirical approach that highlights transparency, inspection, and
adaptation. In terms of values, scrum discards traditional hierarchy and

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promotes commitment, courage, focus, openness, and respect in a team -

oriented, objectives-driven environment. In terms of structure, you’ll find three
groups:

Development Team – This will be your functional specialists, all

collaborating on a daily basis to construct a facet (or perhaps the
entirety) of a new piece of software. In scrum, this is quite often cross-
functional.

Scrum Master – A facilitator, this individual focuses on removing

impediments and acting as a buffer between the team and external
distractions (usually integration with other teams). The scrum master will
also assess progress holistically, and ensure alignment with the scrum
mentality.

Product Owner (PO) – The PO focuses on being a voice of the

customer and the representation of stakeholders in the team
environment. Stakeholders, in this context, represent anyone with an
interest in the output of that team (primarily organizational owners and
other teams). The PO is not a manager, but instead a bridge between
the team and the external environment they operate in.

Scrum Framework
This is an excellent illustration of how scrum mentality works. It is
intrinsically a horizontal management style, meaning there is no particular
managerial presence. The idea is that the process itself is self-sustaining in
pursuit of agreed upon objectives via an iterative cycle of production.

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Social Entrepreneurship

Utilizing the ever-evolving perspectives of start-up companies and

entrepreneurs, non-profit organizations and other community-oriented groups
have begun replacing traditional management approaches with a more
grassroots perspective. A key metric to a social entrepreneur isn’t profit but
community impact, usually in areas such as poverty alleviation, health care,
education, and community development. This management style is small,
focused, innovation-driven, and non-hierarchical.

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KEY POINTS TO PONDER

 Management processes include planning, organizing, staffing,
directing and controlling.
 An important aspect of management’s function is the allocation of
finite resources.
 Resources can be human, financial, technological or natural.
 There are different management styles: Traditional, Team, and Servant.
 Management in all business and organizational activities is the act of
getting people together to accomplish desired goals and objectives
using available resources efficiently and effectively.
 Good managers are needed to keep their organizations on track by
ensuring that everything that’s being done is ethically geared toward
providing what customers want.
 Good management is needed to inject motivation, creativity,
discipline, and enthusiasm into areas in which they either don’t exist or
they’re not necessarily wanted.
 People who work for managers must realize that it is their job to make
their managers value them.
 Management is a constantly evolving field, with a wide variety of
formal and informal approaches and perspectives.
 While new management perspectives are emerging everyday in
manufacturing, technology, software, and social entrepreneurship,
some of the most notable new perspectives are in software
development.
 Scrum and agile management styles focus primarily on iteration and
the capacity to build non-hierarchical work structures that empower
growth and innovation without the rigidity of traditional management.
 Social entrepreneurship is a recent emergence in management, in
which entrepreneurial management styles are being taken to the non-
profit and community development sectors.
 The three levels of management typically found in an organization are
low-level management, middle-level management, and top-level
management.
 Top-level managers are responsible for controlling and overseeing the
entire organization.
 Middle-level managers are responsible for executing organizational
plans which comply with the company’s policies. These managers act
at an intermediary between top-level management and low-level
management.
 Low-level managers focus on controlling and directing. They serve as
role models for the employees they supervise.

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KEY TERMS TO REMEMBER:

o system: A whole composed of relationships among the members.

o resource: Something that one uses to achieve an objective. An examples of a
resource could be a raw material or an employee.
o hierarchy: Any group of objects ranked so that every one but the topmost is
subordinate to a specified one above it.
o manager: A person whose job is to manage something, such as a business, a
restaurant, or a sports team.
o board of directors: A group of people, elected by stockholders, to establish
corporate policies, and make management decisions.
o top management: company employees responsible for controlling and
overseeing the entire organization
o middle management: company employees that are accountable for
controlling and overseeing a department
o entrepreneurship: The art or science of innovation and risk-taking for
profit in business.
o iteration: The process of repeating a process in pursuit of incremental
improvement.
o scrum: A management philosophy predicated upon a feedback-driven
iterative evolution of process.

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