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Management Exam 1 – Study Guide MANAGEMENT MODULE : LO 1: Explain the evolution of management thinking and its relevance to the current practice of management. Chapter 1: “Management and Its Evolution”
1. Terms: a. Contingency Theory : there is no “one best way” to manage and organize an organization because situational characteristics, called contingencies, differ. Also the view that no HR strategy is “good” or “bad” in and of itself but rather depends on the situation or context in which it is used. b. Synergy : when the sum is greater than the sum of its parts. [ex] Microsoft selling applications successfully because they are compatible with the windows operating system. c. Equifinality : an organization can reach the same goal through a number of different groups. Also not every organization must begin from the same place or use the same tactics to achieve success. d. Open and Closed Systems : open systems interact with the environment in order to survive. Closed systems do not need to interact with the environment. e. Subsystems : interdependent parts of a system; a change in one subsystem affects the other subsystems. 2. Scientific Management- method that applies the principles of the scientific method to the managing process: determining the one best way to do a job and sharing the rewards with the workers a. Principles of Scientific Management i. Scientifically study each part of a task and develop the best method of performing the task ii. Carefully select workers and train them to perform the task by using the scientifically developed method iii. Cooperate fully with workers to ensure that they use the proper method iv. Divide work and responsibility so that management is responsible for planning work methods using scientific principles and workers are responsible for executing the work accordingly b. Strengths i. Workers would earn more by cooperating with management ii. Used a person’s traits to determine the fit between person and job iii. Managers and employees should be dependent on each other to achieve desired outputencouraged cooperation and result in fewer conflicts or strikes iv. Inspire and motivate workers to cooperate and learn about scientific management 3. Total Quality Management - an organization wide approach that focuses on quality as an overarching goal. Basis is all employees and organizational units should be working harmoniously to satisfy the customer. a. Major ideas
i. Focus on the customer- Identify the organizations customers. External customers consume the organization’s product or service. Internal customers are employees who receive output of other employees. ii. Employee involvement- employees should be involves in quality initiatives. Often TQM workers are organized into empowered teams that have the authority to make quality improvements iii. Continuous improvement- small, incremental improvements that occur on a regular basis will eventually add up to vast improvements in quality
4. Bureaucratic Management - examines the entire organization as a rational entity, using impersonal rules and procedures for decision making. a. Key Characteristics i. Specialization on labor-jobs broken down into routine, become competent on their particular subset of tasks ii. Formal rules and procedures- specify the behaviors desired and ensure uniformity iii. Impersonality- rules, procedures, and sanctions are applied uniformly regardless of individual personalities and personal considerations iv. Well-defined hierarchy- multiple levels of positions v. Career advancement based on merit-selection and promotion based on qualifications and performance of members b. Strengths i. Fair and consistent way to deal with employee relations ii. Merit as the basis of career advancement iii. Minimize deviations from standard procedures and norms iv. Still advisable when reliability and efficiency are paramount 5. Administrative Perspective to Management- approach that examines an organization from the perspective of the managers and executives responsible for coordinating the activities of diverse groups and units across the entire organization a. Basic Principles- Planning, organizing, commanding, coordinating, controlling i. Division of work, authority, discipline ii. Unity of command, unity of direction iii. Sub ordination of individual interest to the general interest iv. Remuneration (rewards), centralization, scalar chain (top-down direction), order v. Equity, stability and tenure, initiative, esprit de corps (share goal of achieving organizations objectives) 6. Behavioral Perspective- view that knowledge of the psychological and social processes of human behavior can result in productivity and work satisfaction a. Mary Parker Follett- advocated increases employee participation, greater employee autonomy, and organizing the enterprise into “cross-functional” teams, composed of members of different departments working together on common projects. i. Also thought authority should rest in knowledge and expertise and not by a person’s position in the hierarchy b. The Hawthorne Studies of E. Mayo and F. Roethlisberger - original purpose was to study the effects of physical working conditions on employee productivity and fatigue i. While conducting the experiment, found the special attention paid to the employees in the studies motivated them to put greater effort into their jobs. ii. Hawthorne effect- paying attention to employees motivates them to put greater effort into their jobs
b. Business-level General Managers: Leads divisions. Organizes and leads only within that one division that he/she is in charge of. c. Functional Managers: Below general managers. Responsibility confined to one organizational activity. (For example, purchasing, marketing, etc. They help develop plans that help to achieve the overall goals of the company. They provide the information that allows general managers to make decisions. d. Frontline managers: Manage employees. Critical to maintaining the performance of an organization because they actually carry out the plans.
**4. Describe the characteristics and nature of managerial jobs
- Discuss the challenges people encounter as first-time managers** a. Challenges i. In constant demand from everyone ii. Heavy workload that they aren’t used to iii. Many issues that require the attention, “people challenges” iv. Subordinates don’t always listen b. How to respond i. Set agendas for teams ii. Network building within an organization 6. Specify the major managerial roles and sub-roles managers adopt to perform the basic functions of management a. Interpersonal Roles : Interacting with other people i. Figure Head public relations, deals with customers ii. Leadership influence, motivate, and direct others iii. Liaison network, connect with outside resources b. Informational Roles : Collecting, processing, disseminating information i. Monitorreview competition, trends, performance ii. Dissemination inform staff about companies direction and issues iii. Spokesperson deliver information to people outside their department c. Decisional Roles : Take action, make decisions i. Entrepreneursmake sure organizations are innovative and adapt new ideas ii. Disturbance Handlers address unanticipated problems iii. Resource Allocation decide how to best allocate resources iv. Negotiating negotiate prices, etc. with everyone 7. Identify the needs and motivations managers must possess to be successful a. Managers must have conceptual, technical, and human skills. They must have values (enactedguide behavior, espousedwhat people say is important to them, sharedvalues held in common with other.) They must have a desire to compete for management jobs, desire to exercise power, desire to be distinct or different, and a desire to take action. **What Great Manager’s Do
- AHH**
TEAM DEVELOPMENT MODULE:
LO 8: Understand the mechanics of operating effectively as a member of a team and how to improve a team’s effectiveness How Management Teams Can Have a Good Fight TACTICS:
1. Focus on the Facts a. Working with too much data will increase interpersonal conflict by expanding the range of issues for debate b. More information is better if the data are objective and up-to-date – encourages people to focus on issues, not personalities. c. Teams troubled by interpersonal conflict rely more on hunches and guesses than on current data. d. Facts let people move quickly to the central issue surrounding a strategic choice e. Culture on facts emphasizes issues instead of personality. 2. Multiply the Alternatives a. Teams with low interpersonal conflict deliberately develop multiple alternatives, often considering four or five options at once – often introduce options don’t support for debate b. Working together to shape options enhances sense of teamwork while promoting creative view c. Multiple alternatives lower conflict by i. Diffuses conflict: choices become less black and white and individuals gain more room to vary degree of their support over a range of choices. ii. Generating options concentrates managers’ energy on solving problems and increasing likelihood of obtaining integrative solutions iii. Don’t stop at obvious solutions; continue further 3. Create Common Goals a. Framing strategic choices as collaborative exercises- everyone’s interest to achieve the best possible solution for the collective. b. Create a common goal around which team can rally – require everyone to share a vision c. Common goals build team cohesion by stressing the shared interest of all team members in the outcome of debate – when working toward goal less likely to see themselves as individual winners more likely to perceive opinions of others correctly and learn from them. 4. Use Humor
d. Task interdependence : The extent to which team members must share common inputs to their individual tasks, need to interact while performing their work, or receive outcomes (such as rewards) that are partly determined by the performance of others. e. Role : A set of behaviors that people are expected to perform because they hold certain positions in a team and organization. f. Norms : The informal rules and shared expectations that groups establish to regulate the behavior of their members g. Trust : A psychological state comprising the intention to accept vulnerability based on positive expectations of the intent or behavior of another person. h. Task-related conflict : Occurs when team members perceive that the conflict is in the task or problem rather than in each other i. Relationship conflict : Occurs when team members view differences as personal attacks that threaten their self-esteem and resources – conflicting parties view others as source of conflict. j. Super ordinate goal : Common objectives held by conflicting parties that are more important than the departmental or individual goals on which the conflict is based.
2. Discuss the benefits, costs, and limitations of teams a. Benefits i. Make better decisions, develop better products, create a more engaged workforce ii. More successful than individuals at identifying problems, developing alternatives, and choosing from alternatives iii. Informal teams fulfill innate drive to bond iv. Accomplish personal goals that cannot be achieved by individuals working alone v. Comforted by presence of people- more motivated b. Limitations i. Teams tend to require more care and feeding than individuals working alone ii. Process losses iii. Teams require right environment to flourish – require appropriate awards, communications systems, leadership, and other conditions iv. Productivity loss due to social loafing 3. Types of Teams a. Departmental: where a supervisor coordinates the work flow ex. Accounting, finance departments – employees have similar skills and located in same unit of functional structure; minimal task interdependence b. Self-Directed: similar to production (multi-skilled, collectively produce a common product or service or make ongoing decisions.) except they produce an entire product that has low interdependence with other work units (2) have very high autonomy
c. Cross-functional : **wasn’t in the book?? d. Virtual Teams: formal teams operate across space, time, and organizational boundaries and are linked through information technologies to achieve organizational tasks; temporary or permanent
4. Self-Directed and Virtual Teams a. Self Directed i. Complete an entire piece of work ii. Team (not supervisors) assigns tasks that individual team members perform – plans, organizes, and controls work activities iii. Control most work inputs, flow, and output iv. Responsible for correcting work flow problems as they occur v. Receive team-level feedback and rewards vi. Successful when
- Responsible for entire work process
- Sufficient autonomy
- Technology-supported team dynamics b. Virtual Teams i. Not usually collocated ( don’t work in same area) ii. Depend primarily on information technologies rather than face-to-face interaction to communicate and coordinate their work efforts iii. Shift from production based to knowledge based work iv. Knowledge management and globalization (why virtual are necessary) v. Ways to improve
- Virtual team competencies
- Flexible information technologies
- Occasional face-to-face interaction 5. Discuss the different outcomes that should be considered when evaluating team effectiveness a. Relates to satisfaction and well-being of its members b. Relates to team’s ability to survive- ability to secure sufficient resources and find a benevolent environment in which to operate 6. Explain how the External Environment, the Organizational Environment, Task Characteristics, Team Design, Team Processes, and Negative Consequences of Teams affect team effectiveness a. Task Characteristics i. Task interdependence – higher level means greater need for teams b. Team Size i. Optimal team size between 5-7 members ii. Large enough to provide necessary competencies and perspectives to perform the work, yet small enough to maintain efficient coordination and meaningful involvement of each member. c. Team Composition i. a.) People with the necessary motivation and competencies for teamwork ii. b.) Diversity – diverse knowledge, skills, and perspectives are more effective d. Team Roles i. Taken informally based on personality, values and expertise ii. Belbin’s nine team roles
11. Discuss the four strategies to mitigate relationship conflict a. Emotional Intelligence: conflict less likely to occur when team members have high levels of emotional intelligence ( when they are aware of their own and others’ emotions and when they are able to manage emotions in themselves and others) b. Cohesive Team: longer people work together, get to know each other, and develop mutual trust, more latitude give each other to show emotions without being personally offended c. Supportive team norms: various team norms can hold relationship conflict at bay during constructive debate ex. Openness d. Problem solving: less likely to trigger strong emotions compared with those who assertively force their preferences on others. 12. Diagram and explain the model of interpersonal conflict management a. Problem Solving : tries to find a mutually beneficial solution for both parties. Information sharing; both parties collaborate to identify common ground and potential solutions; minimizes risk of relationship conflict b. Avoiding : tries to smooth over or avoid conflict situations altogether; low concern for both self and other party; works best when problem has already generated relationship conflict and not worth fighting over c. Forcing : tries to win conflict at the other’s expense; relies on assertive influence tactics; creates high risk of relationship conflict; necessary for quick solution d. Yielding : involves giving in completely to the other side’s wishes or at least cooperating with little or no attention to your own interests; necessary when the opponent has substantially more power or issue isn’t as important to you as to the other party; may produce more conflict e. Compromising : involves actively searching for a middle ground between the interests of the two parties; best when there is little hope for mutual gain through problem solving; both parties equal power under pressure to settle differences Structural Causes of conflict: f. Incompatible goals g. Different beliefs, backgrounds, and values that employees bring to the group- people with differences tend to prefer different choices and have different motivations h. Task interdependence- more tightly interconnected your work is with other people’s work more likely your actions are to interfere with their goals i. Ambiguity over rules and responsibilities: lack clear guidelines, leadership responsibilities PLANNING AND DECISION MAKING MODULE : LO 2: Discuss both traditional and non-traditional approaches to planning and implementing control systems LO 3: Engage in deliberate, effective decision making processes
Chapter 5: Planning and Decision Making
1. Terms: a. Planning - a formal process whereby managers choose goals, identify actions to attain these goals, allocate responsibility for implementing actions to specific individuals or units, measure the success of actions by comparing actual results against the goals, and revise plans accordingly b. Strategic plan - a plan that outlines the major goals of an organization and the organization wide strategies for attaining those goals c. Corporate-level strategy - strategy concerned with deciding which industries a firm should compete in and how the firm should enter or exit industries d. Business-level strategy - strategy concerned with deciding how a firm should compete in the industries in which it has elected to participate e. Operating-level strategy - strategy concerned with the actions that should be taken at the level of individual functions, such as production, logistic, R&D support, and sales, to support business-level strategy f. Crisis management - plan formulated specifically to deal with possible future crises g. Mission - the purpose of an organization h. Vision - a desired future state i. Values - the philosophical priorities to which managers are committed j. Goals - a desired future state that an organization attempts to realize k. Satisfice - aiming for a satisfactory level of a particular performance variable rather than its theoretical maximum 2. Distinguish Different Plans a. Strategic - a plan that outlines the major goals of an organization and the organization wide strategies for attaining those goals b. Operating - plans the specify goals, actions, and responsibility for individual functions c. Tactical -actions managers adopt over a short-medium term to deal with a specific opportunity or threat that has emerged d. Unit -plans for departments with functions, work teams, or individuals 3. Value of Different Plans a. Single-use -address unique events that do not reoccur b. Standing -used to handle events that reoccur frequently c. Contingency -address specific possible future events that might have a significant impact on the organization d. Action -specify with precision how strategies will be put into effect 4. Describe the main components of a strategic planning system a. The starting points of planning are to set the mission, values, vision, and goals of the organization. They set the context for the rest of the process b. The next step is to analyze the environment of the organization. Two environments that are looked at are the external and the organizational internal environment. c. After identifying the strengths, weakness, opportunities and threats that confront the organization they create a SWOT analysis to help chose strategies. The goals are to formulate plans at the corporate, business, and operating levels that build on the organization’s strength and to correct weaknesses. d. Next actions plans specify precisely how corporate, business, and operating strategies will be put into effect. This includes sub-goals, responsibility, budgets and timelines. e. Implementation puts the action plans into effect.
b. Implication for dysfunctional decision making- they become distresses (assign high negative value to those losses). Loss adverse decision makers try to recoup losses by taking bigger risksthey become risk seekers.
10. Counteracts cognitive biases (errors prone to make) and groupthink (focus on cohesiveness) processes a. Scenario planning - plans that are based on “what if” scenarios about the future b. Dialectic inquiry - the generation of a plan (a thesis) and a counter plan (an antithesis) that reflect plausible but conflicting courses of action c. Outside view - identifying a reference class of analogous past strategic initiatives, determining whether those initiatives succeeded or failed, and evaluating a project at hand against those prior initiatives **Groupthink by Irving Janis
- Groupthink** - arises when a group of decision makers embarks on a course of action without questioning underlying assumptions 2. Symptoms of groupthink a. Illusion of invulnerability b. Belief in group morality c. Rationalization d. Shared stereotypes e. Self-censorship f. Direct pressure g. Mind guards h. Illusion of unanimity **3. Casual Process of Groupthink and why they occur
- Steps to prevent this type of problem** a. The leader of a policy forming group should assign the role of critical evaluator to each member, encouraging the group to give high priority of open airing of objections and doubts. b. Should adopt an impartial stance instead of stating preferences and expectations at the beginning. c. Set up several outside policy-planning and evaluation groups to work on the same policy questions with different leaders d. Each member discuss the groups deliberations with associates in his own unit of the organization e. Invite outside experts to each meeting with staggered biases f. Play devil’s advocate during evaluations g. Survey all warning signals from the rivals and write alternative scenarios h. Divide into 2 or more groups when talking about surveying policy alternatives and then come back together i. Hold a “second chance” meeting for reconsidering doubts “Stop Making Plans; Start Making Decisions”
- Traditional Planning -develop a strategy plan for each business unit at some point during the year.
a. A cross-functional team dedicates less than nine weeks to developing the unit’s plan. b. The executive committee reviews each plan i. Plans are consolidated to produce a companywide strategic plan for review by the board of directors c. 8-9 weeks then in budgeting and capital planning d. Executive committee then holds another round of meetings with each of the business units to negotiate performance, resources, and compensation e. RESULTS: an approved but potentially unrealistic strategic plan for each business unit and a separate budget for each unit that is decoupled from the unit’s strategic plan
- Continuous, Decision-Oriented Planning Approach a. Company as a whole has identifies its most important strategic priorities, executive committee dialogues, spread throughout the year, are set up to reach decisions on as many issues as possible. b. Engages in 2 dialogues for each issue i. Focus on reaching agreement on facts surrounding the issue and on a set of viable alternatives ii. Focus on the evaluation of those alternatives and selection of best course of action c. Once one issue is resolved, a new one is added to the agenda d. Once decision has been reached, units are updated to reflect the selected option. Strategic planning process, capital, and budgeting processes are integrated (this reduces need for lengthy negotiations) e. RESULTS: a concrete plan for addressing each key issue; for each business unit, a continuously updated budget and capital plan that is linked directly to the resolution of critical strategic issues; and more faster, better decisions per year. Men’s Wearhouse Article
- Business industry facing little or no growth and intense rivalry.
- Competitive advantage- leveraging a workforce that many managers would characterize as less than desirable
- Retailing-low skilled, low wage, low desirable industry but is the largest industry
- The Men's Wearhouse stores target middle to upper middle-income men, and offer designer brand name and private label merchandise at prices that are typically 20 percent to 30 percent below the regular retail prices of traditional department and specialty stores
- The company believes that men do not like to shop and structures its approach on that assumption—uses an everyday low pricing strategy so men don’t have to pay attention to sales
- Stores are typically smalldon’t have to walk forever to get to itin lower rent regions
- Since small, can be helped right away
- No print advertising—all TV and radio
- Core of company’s strategy is to offer superior customer service
- “In the people business, not the suit business”
- Customer loyalty builds profits and employee loyalty
- Teamwork and interdependence. “Team selling”. Important to help others and be a team Vroom Decision Making Model (PowerPoint)
- Two approaches a. Time driven
