Mettu University

Faculty of Emgineering Technology

Department of Civil Engineering
Construction Management
Group: Civil Engineering ,Year: 5th

By: Mussa A.
February, 2017,
Mettu, Ethiopia
Chapter One: INTRODUCTION TO MANAGMENT: AN
OVERVIEW

what is general management?

Why is management important?
What do managers do? And
The Development of General Management theories
will be briefly explained.
Chapter One: INTRODUCTION TO MANAGMENT

Management is one of the most important human

activities.
Management is essential whenever human efforts
are to be undertaken collectively to achieve
specific goals.
No group activity can succeed without
management.
Organization is a group of two or more persons
that exists and operates to achieve clearly stated,
commonly held objectives.
1.1. Meaning and Definition of Management

There is no single and comprehensive meaning and definition

of management.
Meaning:
The word management has several meanings, the most
important of which are:
 Management refers to a group of people who are responsible
for guiding and controlling the organization (managerial
personnel).
 Management is the process of running an organization
(planning, organizing, staffing, directing/leading and
controlling).
 Management is a body of knowledge, a discipline.
 cont.…

Defining Management:
According different authorities in the field
Management is the art of getting things done through
and with people in a formally organized group.
Management is the process of coordinating all resources
through the five major functions of planning, organizing,
staffing, directing/leading and controlling to achieve
organizational objective.
1.2. General Management Theoretical and Practical Development

General Management is a broad area dealing with wider

aspects of managing an ongoing organization and it covers the
following among other topics:
 Cont.…

With advancing technological and changing human

behavioral aspects, management is increasingly becoming
more complex and requires considerable training, practical
experience and updating on the latest information of
developments in the field.
Management Theory and Its Development
Management’s theoretical and 5.applied contribution
Quantitative to the
contributions
world: 6. Systems Perspectives
1. Early contributions 7. Contingency Perspectives,
2. Industrial era contributions and
3. Classical contributions 8. Recent Contributions
4. Behavioral contributions
 Management Theory and Its Development

Reading Assignment: Theories of Management

 1.3. Managerial Functions

Functions of management can be described in four major elements. These

are:
I. Planning
II. Organizing
III. Implementing
IV. Monitoring and Evaluation

I. Planning
 Involves setting visions, missions and goals of organizations or
projects or programs together with the activities to achieve them.
 All levels of managers develop goals that corresponds to the efforts of
the top management overall goals and strategy.
 This requires operational plan aimed at administration and
coordination of Stakeholders, Processes and Resources.
 cont.…

 Useful in that it makes better coordination, focuses on forward

thinking, and creates participatory work environment and good for
effective monitoring and feedback systems.
II. Organizing
 It is the process of arranging people and physical resources to
carryout plans and accomplishes organizational objectives.
 This helps how responsibilities of individuals ?
 who are required to execute the works are defined and staffing and
directing can be performed. Such things can easily be shown by
the use of Organization Chart.
 Makes sure the flow of information resources and tasks logically
and efficiently.
 cont.…

III. Implementing
 It is the process where by the actual work is executed.
 This helps in executing the task defined in the planning
stage with proper organization system together with
monitoring quality, time and cost of the works.
 Proper inspection and supervision, recording data of
executed works, availing all necessary resources at the
right place and at the right time with their proper
coordination are necessary to achieve the required goal
efficiently and successfully.
 The most important aspect in implementation of works is
leading / directing.
 cont.…

Leading is the act of motivating or causing people to perform

certain tasks intended to achieve specified objectives.
 Leading requires to understand the dynamics of individual and
group behaviors, motivation of employees, effective visionary
and effective communication capabilities.
IV. Monitoring and Evaluation
 Is the process by which executives and legislatives determine or
evaluate whether organizational objectives are being achieved
and actual operations are in consistent with plans or not.
 Such things are done against the planned data with the help of
communication in the form of reporting, assessment and checking
mechanism of any kind which is suitable for the purpose of the
executed works.
 cont.….

 Generally effective management can take place when proper

planning, organizing, implementing, continuous
communication, feed back for monitoring purpose and future
planning are carried out successfully.
1.4. Managerial Roles
 According to Henry Mintzberg the are ten most common
managerial roles and which are classified into three
managerial role categories:
I. Interpersonal,
II. Informational and
III. Decision Making Roles
 Cont.…
1. Interpersonal roles are roles that involve people
(subordinates and persons outside the organization) and
other duties that are ceremonial and symbolic in nature.
The three interpersonal roles include being a figurehead,
leader, and liaison.
The figurehead performs symbolic legal or social duties.
The leader builds relationships with employees and
communicates with, motivates, and coaches them. Also
include mentoring, training and motivating employees.
The liaison establishes and maintains a network of
contacts outside the work unit to obtain information.
 Cont.…
2. Informational roles involve receiving, collecting, and
disseminating information.
The three informational roles include a monitor,
disseminator, and spokesperson.
The monitor seeks internal and external information
about issues that can affect the organization.
The disseminator transmits information internally that is
obtained from either internal or external sources.
The spokesperson transmits
information about the organization
to outsiders.
 Cont.….
3. Decisional roles involves making significant
decisions that affect the organization. Revolve around
making choices
The entrepreneur acts as an initiator, designer, and
encourager of change and innovation.
The disturbance handler takes corrective action when the
organization faces important, unexpected difficulties.
The resource allocator distributes resources of all types,
including time, funding, equipment, and human resources.
The negotiator represents the organization in major
negotiations affecting the manager’s areas of responsibility.
1.5. Management Scopes and Levels

Depending on the nature and scope of the job managers are

performing: functional or general managers.
o Functional Managers are responsible for a work group

segmented according to functions. (Communication skill is

needed)
o General Managers involve in managing several different

functions or departments which are responsible for different

tasks.(General Managers needs technical skills.)
 The level of management takes the shape of a
pyramid.
 The largest number of people is at the bottom
organizational level.
 Top managers

Ma
ng
Middle managers

ers
First-line managers

Supervisory Management

Non-management

Customers
 Levels of Management ………….Cont’
Top Managers
 The relatively small group of executives who manage the
whole organization.
 They include board of directors, executive committee and
chief executives or presidents, general managers etc.
Middle Management
 A group of managers in organizations acting as
intermediary between the top and operating (first-line)
managers
 They are usually functional area heads such as marketing,
production operations, HRM, finance etc.
 They supervise and coordinate the activities of lower-level
managers.
 Cont.….

First-Line Management/Managers (Supervisors)

The last step of the ladder consisting of a group of
managers in organizations acting as intermediary
between the Middle level management and operating
employees (non-management)
 Frontline managers
 having the least authority and are at the lowest level in the
hierarchy of the organization.
 manage the work of non-managerial individuals
Resources used by Managers
Managers use four types of resources to accomplish their
purposes.
1. Human resources are the people needed to get the job done
2. Financial resources are the money the manager and the
organization use to reach organizational goals
3. Physical resources are a firm’s tangible goods and real estate,
including raw materials, office space, production facilities,
office equipment, and vehicles.
4. Information resources are the data that the manager and the
organization use to get the job done.
 What managers Do?

Planning
Organizing
Staffing
Leading
Controlling
 Management levels and functions in
Organizations
Planning Organizing Staffing Leading Controlling
Management Level

Top
Middle
Supervisory
 1. Technical skill, 2. Human relations skill
3. Conceptual Skill
Technical skill:
Necessary to accomplish or understand the specific kind of
work being done including:
 Knowledge about such things as Machines, Methods,
Processes, Procedures
 Ability to use tools, machines
 Ability to operate equipment
Technical skills are especially important for first line
managers.
 Human Relations Skill
It refers to manager’s ability to work effectively as a team
member and to build cooperative effort in the unit.
It is an ability to work with people
Interpersonal skills are more important than technical skills
in getting to the top.
Communication skills are an important component of
interpersonal skills.
It helps the managers to understand, communicate and
work with others.
It also helps the managers to lead, motivate and develop
team spirit.
Human relations skills are required by all managers at all
levels of management.
 Conceptual skill
 It is the ability to see the organization as a total entity.
 includes analytical, creative and initiative skills.
 involves recognizing how the various units of the
organization depend on one another and how changes in
any one part affect all the others.
 includes visualizing the relationship of the individual
business to the industry; the community; and the
political, social, and economic forces of the nation as a
whole.
 It helps to identify the causes of the problems and to
solve the problems
 helps the manager to fix goals for the whole
Levels of Management and Relative Importance of managerial
skills at different levels of management.
 Cont.…
In General :
Technical skills are more important to lower
management levels;
Human skills are more important to middle
management levels and
 Conceptual skills are more important to top
management levels.