FUNDAMENTALS OF MANAGEMENT

Course Contents:
• Introduction: Definition, Levels of
management, Roles and functions of
managers, skills required by successful
managers
• The evolution of management thought
• Management environment
• Organization and organization structure
Course Contents continued…..
• Staffing as a managerial function
• Leadership and management
• Controlling and linking the functions of
management
• To be the best is to have the right knowledge
and training that can help you influence the
world around you as it is tough and
unpredictable; organizations need problem
solvers, planners that can drive the
organizations productivity towards success
efficiently and effectively.
 INTRODUCTION Cont….

• So when you want to become the best

manager certain principles and practices of
management have to be part of the
knowledge that you seek to be a top business
manager.
 INTRODUCTION Cont….
• This course unit helps you by introducing to
you the world of management through
providing you with the basic principles and
practices of a manager. You will realize that by
the end of this course unit you will be a leader
with a purpose and you aim to achieve this
purpose efficiently and effectively no matter
which environment you may be in.
 DEFINING MANAGEMENT
• Management is a course of action directed in
the act of coordinating people’s efforts
towards a problem solving process that
enhances achievement of organization’s
objective through effective and efficient use of
available scarce resources in the dynamic
global competitive environment.
 The main elements in the definition
• Management is a course of action: it is a pathway for
accomplishing organizational planned objectives.
• Management involves coordination of efforts: it involves
harmonization and bringing together subordinates’
capabilities towards achieving a common goal /objective.
• Management is problem solving process: it is a
challenge that comes with difficulty both positively or
negatively, therefore needs systematic interrelated
activities that will help in overcoming managerial
problems.
 Management enhances achievement of
organizational objectives
• Management is all about accomplishment of
organizational objectives otherwise without
them then the organization and its
management would have no reason to exist
more so not know how to accomplish tasks
and why?
 Management is about effectiveness and
efficiency
• The ability to achieve outcomes/objectives using
the available amount of resources, meaning it’s
about increasing output with reduced or average
amount of inputs, in short a manager has to be
productive.
• Management involves use of scarce resources: it is
about utilizing resources tangible and intangible
resources, which resources due to unlimited
human wants are short in supply or inadequate.
Dynamic global competitive environment

• Due to a highly changing environment, even

the competition has increased causing
organizations to have best management that
has intellectual knowledge of the changing
technology, economy, social, political and legal
environment.
 Management as an art and as a science.

• Management as an art says that management

excellence does not only depend on knowledge but
it requires an inherent skill, it’s a knowhow with a
creative field that only looks at performance.
• As a science it is an accumulated body of
knowledge, it involves scientific methodology:
statement of problem, observation, data collection,
measurement, classification, induction, hypothesis
and laws.
 MANAGERIAL SKILLS

• To be a successful manager certain skills to

transform knowledge into action that results
in desired performance, are required, these
skills are as follows;
 Technical skill
• This skill involves the ability to use a
particular knowhow or expertise to perform a
job effectively. Technical skills are most
important at lower levels of management.
 Human skills
• This is the interpersonal skill and emerges in
the workplace as a spirit of trust, enthusiasm,
and genuine involvement in interpersonal
relationships. A manager with good human
skills has a high degree of self-awareness and
a capacity to understand or empathize with
the feelings of others.
 Conceptual Skills
• This skill enables managers to see a bigger
picture consisting of various sub-units linked
together that is be able to break down
problems into smaller parts, to see the
relations among the parts, and to recognize
the implications of any one problem for others
 Diagnostic Skills
• This skill calls for the ability to think
analytically. Here the manger has the ability to
identify problems, causes and effects hence
effectively making a decision
• Although all three categories contain skills
essential for managers, their relative
importance tends to vary by level of
managerial responsibility.
 Mintzberg’s Set of Ten Roles
Informational Roles:
Monitor; Seek and receive information; scan
periodicals and reports; maintain personal
contact with stakeholders.
Disseminator; Forward information to organization
members Via memos, reports, and phone calls.
Spokesperson; Transmit information to outsiders
via reports, memos, and speeches
 Mintzberg’s Set of Ten Roles Cont…

Interpersonal Roles:
Figurehead; Perform ceremonial and symbolic
duties, such as greeting visitors and signing legal
documents.
Leader; Direct and motivate subordinates, counsel
and communicate with subordinates.
Liaison; Maintain information links both inside and
outside organization via mail, phone calls, and
meetings
 Mintzberg’s Set of Ten Roles Cont…

Decisional Roles:
Entrepreneur; Initiate improvement projects,
identify new ideas and delegate idea
responsibility In others.
Disturbance handler; Take corrective action
during disputes or crises; resolve conflicts
among subordinates; adapt to environments.
 Mintzberg’s Set of Ten Roles Cont…

Resource allocator; Decide who gets resources;

prepare budgets; set schedules and determine
priorities.
Negotiator; Represent department during
negotiations of union contracts, sales,
purchases, and budgets.
 Functions of a manager

• Managers just don’t go out and perform their

responsibilities randomly. Good managers
discover how to master five basic functions:
planning, organizing, staffing, leading, and
controlling.
 Functions of a manager Cont….

• Planning: this is a managerial process of setting

objectives, strategies, policies, programs and
procedures determining the resources, course
of action and time frame for achieving them.
• Organizing: After a plan is in place, a manager
needs to organize her team and materials
according to her plan. Assigning work, grouping
them in a meaningful, way and granting
authority.
 Functions of a manager Cont….

• Leading: A manager needs to do more than just plan,

organize, and staff her team to achieve a goal. She must
also lead. Leading involves motivating, communicating,
guiding, and encouraging. It requires the manager to
coach, assist, and problem solve with employees.
• Controlling: After the other elements are in place, a
manager’s job is not finished. He needs to continuously
check results against goals Sand take any corrective
actions necessary to make sure that his area’s plans
remain on track.
 Functions of a manager Cont….

All managers at all levels, of every organization

perform these functions, but the amount of
time a manager spends on each one depends
on both the level of management and the
specific organization