UNDERSTANDING

MANAGEMENT
CONTEXT
Constraints and Challenges
THE MANAGER: OMNIPOTENT OR
SYMBOLIC?
• Omnipotent View of Management - the view that
managers are directly responsible for an organization’s
success or failure.
• Symbolic view of Management - the view that much of an
organization’s success or failure is due to external forces
outside managers’ control.

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THE EXTERNAL ENVIRONMENT
CONSTRAINTS & CHALLENGES
External Environment - those factors & forces outside the organization that
affect its performance
• Specific environment: External forces that have a
direct & immediate impact on the organization
• General environment: Broad economic, socio-
cultural, political/legal, demographic, technological
& global conditions that may affect the organization

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• Environmental Uncertainty - the degree of change
& complexity in an organization’s environment.

• Environmental Complexity - the number of

components in an organization’s environment & the
extent of the organization’s knowledge about those
components.
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COMPONEN
TS OF
EXTERNAL
ENVIRONM
ENT
WHO ARE STAKEHOLDERS?

any communities in the organization’s

environment that are affected by an
organization’s decisions & actions.

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ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE

• The shared values, principles, traditions, and

ways of doing things that influence the way
organizational members act. In most
organizations, these shared values and practices
have evolved over time and mostly determine,
how “things are done around here.”
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 Problem – an obstacle that
makes it difficult to achieve a
Identify a Problem desired goal or purpose.

Every decision starts with a

problem, a difference b/w an
existing and a desired condition.

Example – Adnan is a sales

manager whose reps need new
laptops.

Decision criteria are factors that are

important (relevant) to resolving the problem.
Identify Decision Criteria
E.G – Adnan decides that memory and
storage capabilities, display quality, battery
life, warranty, and carrying weight are the
relevant criteria in her decision.
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 If the relevant criteria aren’t
Allocate Weights to the Criteria
equally important, the decision
maker must weight the items to give
Memory and Storage 10
them the correct priority in the
Battery Life 8 decision.
Carrying Weight 6
Warranty 4
Display Quality 3 Adnan, identifies eight laptops as possible choices.

Adnan decides that memory and storage capabilities,

Develop Alternatives display quality, battery life, warranty, and carrying
weight are the relevant criteria in her decision.

Memory and Storage Battery Life Carrying Weight Warranty Display Quality
HP ProBook 10 3 10 8 5
Lenovo Idea 8 5 7 10 10
Apple 8 7 7 8 7
Dell Inspiron 10 7 8 6 7
HP Pavilion 4 10 4 8 10
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 Appraising each alternative’s strengths
Analyze Alternatives and weaknesses.

An alternative’s appraisal is based on

its ability to resolve the issues related
to the criteria & criteria weight.

Selecting an Alternatives The alternative with the highest total weight is

chosen.

Memory and Battery Life Carrying Weight Warranty Display Quality Total
Storage

HP ProBook 10 3 10 8 5 36
Lenovo Idea 8 5 7 10 10 35
Apple 8 7 7 8 7 37
Dell Inspiron 10 7 8 6 7 38
HP
14 Pavilion 4 10 4 8 10 36
 Implement Alternative
• Putting the chosen alternative into action
• Conveying the decision to and gaining commitment from those who will carry out the alternative

Evaluate Decision Effectiveness

• The soundness of the decision is judged by its outcomes.
• How effectively was the problem resolved by outcomes resulting from the chosen alternatives?
• If the problem was not resolved, what went wrong?

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