Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Manual
Chapter 7
MANAGEMENT ROLES, FUNCTIONS, AND
SKILLS
Chapter Overview
Chapter Outline
2. The company must also have a clear assessment of its strengths and
weaknesses relative to the opportunities and threats it faces. This is
accomplished through a SWOT analysis
a. Strengths are positive internal factors that contribute to the
company’s success
b. Weaknesses are negative internal factors that inhibit the
company’s success
c. Opportunities are positive situations that represent the possibility
of generating new revenue
d. Threats are negative forces that could inhibit a firm’s ability to
achieve its objectives
3. Managers need to develop quantitative and qualitative forecasts that
predict what will occur, when it will occur, and how it will affect the
business
4. In order to understand the company’s competitors, it should also
perform a SWOT analysis on each of its major competitors
5. The company then needs to establish goals and objectives
a. A goal is a broad, long-range target or aim
b. An objective is a specific, short-range target or aim
c. Goals should be SMART – specific, measurable, attainable,
relevant, and time limited
6. Once the strategic goals and objectives have been established,
management needs to develop action plans to reach them
Classroom Activities
Details:
1. Break students into groups of four or five. (2 minutes)
2. Ask each group to come up with some pros and cons of each of the three
leadership styles, namely autocratic, democratic, and laissez-faire. Then ask
students to summarize when each style is the most effective. (Hint: For
instance, even though it generally has a bad reputation, autocratic leadership
is most effective in helping a company stave off collapse.) (10 minutes)
3. Ask representatives/speakers from each group to present their results to the
whole class, either verbally or written (on the blackboard). (3 minutes)
End-of-Chapter
Behind the Scenes
Customers Believe in Wegmans Because Wegmans Believes in Its
Employees
7-2. Would the Wegmans approach work for a car dealer? A bookstore? A
manufacturer of industrial goods? Explain your answers.
The Wegmans approach would conceivably work for a car dealer or a bookstore
since both are service oriented firms where there are substantial amounts of
employee contact with customers. Empowered employees will contribute to the
bottom line of the firm through superior customer service. The same approach
may not work as effectively for a manufacturer of industrial goods since there is
the same amount of employee-customer interaction. (LO: 1, AACSB:
Application of knowledge)
7-3. How does low employee turnover contribute to the distinct and positive
corporate culture at Wegmans?
Low employee turnover contributes to Wegmans’ distinct and positive corporate
culture since it encourages employees to build sustaining long term bonds with
each other and with the store. Such bonds will help improve employees’
productivity through teamwork, ultimately enhancing job satisfaction of
employees. (LO: 4, AACSB: Reflective thinking)
changes. This helps managers to fill in gaps in the information they use to carry
out the planning function. (LO: 2)
employees the power to make decisions that apply to their specific aspects of
work. (LO: 4)
7-13. Ethical considerations. Apart from meeting the company’s future talent
needs, do managers have a personal ethical obligation to help their
employees develop and advance in their careers? Explain your answer.
Answers will vary based on personal opinions and experience. Answers may
touch on the idea that everyone begins as a new employee who can really benefit
the guidance of a mentor. If an individual receives that nurturing early in one’s
career, it feels right to pay it back by providing that same guidance for another
new employee, when the individual is older and more experienced. (LO: 4,
AACSB: Ethical understanding and reasoning)
7-15. You’re the youngest person in your department, and you just got
promoted to department manager? What steps could you take to make sure
all your employees have confidence in your management and leadership?
Students’ answers will vary. However, their answers should show an
understanding that leaders generally possess a balance of three kinds of
intelligence: cognitive, emotional, and social. Demonstrating that one possesses
these types of intelligence would help establish one’s leadership within the
department. Additionally all the managerial roles that leaders must play can be
grouped into three categories: interpersonal, informational, and decisional.
Demonstrating the possession of the skills required to fulfill each of these roles
would also help establish one’s position within the department. (LO: 1, 4,
AACSB: Application of knowledge)
7-16. Concept Integration. Using Welch Allyn’s mission statement on page 150
as a model and the material you learned in Chapter 4, develop a mission
statement that balances the pursuit of profit with responsibility to employees
and community. Choose either a manufacturer of musical instruments or a
retailer of children’s clothing as the company.
Students’ answers will vary depending on the firm they chose, but should combine
the elements of a mission statement (the organization’s purpose, basic goals, and
philosophies) with the types of socially responsible activities described in Chapter
4 (conducting social audits, engaging in cause-related marketing, and engaging in
philanthropy). (LO: 2, AACSB: Application of knowledge)
7-18. How much of the manager’s time is spent on each of the four
management functions? Is this the allocation you expected?
Answers will vary depending on the manager selected. (LO: 2-4, AACSB:
Reflective thinking)
7-19. Ask whether this is a typical workday for this manager. If it isn’t, what
does the manager usually do differently? During a typical day, does this
manager tend to spend most of the time on one particular function?
Answers will vary depending on the manager selected. (LO: 2-4)
7-20. Of the four management functions, which does the manager believe is
most important for good organizational performance? Do you agree?
Answers will vary depending on the manager selected. (LO: 2-4, AACSB:
Reflective thinking)
received extensive training in etiquette issues because you deal with high-profile
clients. However, the rest of the workforce has not received such training, and you
worry that someone might inadvertently say or do something that would offend one
of these potential customers. In a two paragraph email message, explain to the
general manager why you think anyone who might come in contact with
customers should receive basic etiquette training.
Students’ email messages will vary. (LO: 1, AACSB: Written and oral
communication)
Students’ SWOT analyses will vary depending on the colleges and universities they
attend, however, they will need to follow the SWOT analysis framework on page
151. (LO: 2, AACSB: Application of knowledge)
7-21. What experience, skills, and business background do the two leaders
have? Do you see any striking similarities or differences in their
backgrounds?
Students’ answers will vary depending on the articles selected. (LO: 1, AACSB:
Reflective thinking)
7-22. What kinds of business challenges have these two leaders faced? What
actions did they take to deal with those challenges? Did they establish any
long-term goals or objectives for their company? Did the articles mention a
new change initiative?
Students’ answers will vary depending on the articles selected. (LO: 2)
7-23. Describe the leadership strengths of these two people as they are
presented in the articles you selected. Is either leader known as a team
builder? Long-term strategist? Shrewd negotiator? What are each leader’s
greatest areas of strength?
Students’ answers will vary depending on the articles selected. (LO: 4, AACSB:
Reflective thinking)
Assisted-graded Questions
7-24. How does the quality of business management affect society as a whole?
Students’ answers will vary but will likely touch on the fact that, given the effect that
managerial decisions and behaviors have on employees, customers, investors, and
other stakeholders, it’s no exaggeration to say that management is one of the most
vital professions in the contemporary economy. Managers who effectively and
ethically guide their companies contribute greatly to our standard of living and our
economic security. By the same measure, managers who fail, through poor planning,
misguided decisions, or questionable ethics, can create havoc that extends far beyond
the walls of their own companies. In other words, management is one of the most
important functions in society, not just within the sphere of business. (LO: 1,
AACSB: Reflective thinking)
7-25. How will your experiences as an employee affect the leadership style you
adopt when you become a manager?
Students’ answers will vary. They will likely touch on and describe the three types of
leadership styles: autocratic, democratic, and laissez-faire. Those who had good
experiences with a particular style of leadership as an employee might choose to
emulate that when they are in a managerial role. On the other hand, those who
reacted negatively to a particular style of leadership might opt to shun that style and
try another. (LO: 4, AACSB: Reflective thinking)
CHECKPOINTS
Critical thinking:
(1) How are social media changing the nature of the manager’s information role?
Social media such as blogs and wikis for both internal and external communications
allow information to flow in both directions (between managers and employees)
rather than one direction. Social media also allow more people to participate and
communicate in a more immediate and less formal way. The smart use of social
media is helping managers lean more from employees and customers and
communicate back to these and other stakeholder groups more effectively.
(2) Would managers get more respect from employees if they “rolled up their
sleeves” and pitched in with the daily work more often? Why or why not?
Not necessarily. The most important part of a manager’s job is to delegate
responsibilities and motivate others to do their jobs, rather than to actually do the jobs
of the employees.
(2) Do you believe you have the right personality for management? If not, what areas
would you work on?
Students’ responses will vary depending on personal opinions.
Critical thinking:
(1) Would Boeing and Old Navy develop strategic plans over the same time horizon?
Why or why not?
For the most part because companies in different industries tend to apply the same
long-range horizon when it comes to strategic planning and such horizons typically
range from two to five years.
(2) How does the vision statement guide the planning process?
The vision statement is a brief and inspirational expression of what a company
aspires to be. It provides the firm and its managers and employees with some focus
without getting into the specifics of a mission statement. It also inspires employees
with a clear sense of purpose.
(2) Consider a career path that you might pursue upon graduation, and perform a
quick SWOT analysis. What are some of your internal strengths and weaknesses and
external opportunities and threats?
Students’ responses will vary depending on personal experiences or opinions.
Critical thinking:
(1) Why might a manager need to deemphasize skills honed in previous positions as
he or she rises through the organizational hierarchy?
Because as the manager rises through the organizational hierarchy, skills that were
important to her job success may no longer be as important. For instance, functional
area skills are not as important for a top manager as they are for a first-line manager.
(2) Would top managers or first-line managers typically have more or less of the
information they’d like to have for the decisions they need to make? Why?
Top managers tend to have more information at the higher level, i.e. overall corporate
level information, while first-line managers tend to have more information at the
ground level, i.e. in the trenches, at the department level.
(2) If you were suddenly promoted to manage the department you’ve been working
in, would you change your “work” personality? Why or why not?
Students’ responses will vary depending on personal opinions.
Critical thinking:
(1) Are management and leadership the same thing? If not, why not?
No. Management is the rational, intellectual, and practical side of guiding an
organization, while leadership is the inspirational, visionary, and emotional side.
(2) Does leadership experience in school activities such as student government and
athletics help prepare you for business leadership? Why or why not?
Students’ responses will vary depending on personal experiences or opinions.
Critical thinking:
(1) Why is it important to meet the needs of internal customers?
Because various internal customers need to work as a team and support each other in
ways that are best for the company.
(2) Think back over any crises you’ve faced in your life. How well did you respond?
What would you do differently in a future crisis?
Students’ responses will vary depending on personal experiences or opinions.
Critical thinking:
(1) Why is trust a vital aspect of a manager’s interpersonal skills?
Because without trust, the communications from a manager will not be well-received
by the employee, thus hampering the effectiveness of such communications.
(2) What are the risks of poorly defining problems or opportunities prior to making
decisions?
Without proper definition of problems or opportunities, managers may be using the
wrong information and arrive at the wrong decisions.
(2) How would you rate your conceptual skills? Does “seeing the big picture” come
easily to you? If not, how might you improve in this area?
Students’ responses will vary depending on personal experiences or opinions.