Chapter 1: Introduction To Management

Define the term ORGANISATION

A deliberate arrangement of people to accomplish some specific purpose

- Example of organization: Institutes, schools, religious organization
- 3 characteristics of an organization:
An organization has a distinct purpose (goal)
Composed of people
Develop some deliberate structures

Todays organizations have adopted:

-

Flexible work arrangements

Open communications

Greater responsiveness to changes

Organization is an open system

Describe the features that organizations have in common and how they differ.
A collection of people working together to achieve a common purpose

Three characteristics:
Purpose: to create a good or service
Division of labour: different tasks assigned to different people
Hierarchy of authority: a level-by level management structure of increasing
responsibility

Define what is meant by the term Management.

Management involves coordinating and overseeing the work activities of others so
that their activities are completed efficiently and effectively.
Briefly explain the basic management functions.

Management Process: The set of ongoing decisions and work activities in which
managers engage as they plan, organize, lead and control.
(a) Planning
Involve the process of defining goals
Establishing strategies for achieving those goals
Developing plans to integrate and coordinate activities
(b) Organizing
Involves the process of determining what tasks are to be done
Who is to do them?
How tasks are to be group
Who reports to whom and where decision is to be made
(c) Leading
Involves motivating subordinates, influencing individuals or team as they
work
(d) Controlling
Involves monitoring actual performance
Comparing actual to standard
Taking necessary action

Distinguish between efficient and effective management.

Efficiency: Getting the most output from the least amount of inputs (doing things
right)

Effectiveness: Completing activities so that organizational goals are attained (doing

the right things)

A firm can be efficient by making the best use of people, money, physical plant, and
technology.

It is ineffective if its goals do not provide a sustained competitive advantage.

A firm with excellent goals would fail if it hired the wrong people, lost key
contributors, relied on outdated technology, and made poor investment decisions.

Chapter 2: Organisation Environments

Define Environment.

Describe the variable /elements in the environment and how they influence the task of
managing the organization.
Two Types of organizational environment
(a) Specific/Task environment
The part of environment that is directly relevant to the achievement of an
organizations goals
Customers, suppliers, competitors, public pressure group
(b) General environment
Broad external conditions that may affect the organization.
Economic, political, demographic, technological, global, socio-cultural

The Task/Specific Environment

1. Suppliers

Individuals and organizations that provide an organization with the input resources
that it needs to produce goods and services
Raw materials, component parts, labour (employees)

Relationships with suppliers can be difficult due to materials shortages, unions, and
lack of substitutes.
Suppliers that are the sole source of a critical item are in a strong bargaining position
to raise their prices.

Managers can reduce these supplier effects by increasing the number of suppliers of
an input.

2. Distributors

Organizations that help other organizations sell their goods or services to customers
Powerful distributors can limit access to markets through its control of customers in
those markets.
Managers can counter the effects of distributors by seeking alternative distribution
channels.

3. Customers

Individuals and groups that buy goods and services that an organization produces
Identifying an organizations main customers and producing the goods and services
they want is crucial to organizational and managerial success.

4. Competitors

Organizations that produce goods and services that are similar to a particular
organizations goods and services

The General Environment

1. Economic Forces

Interest rates, inflation, unemployment, economic growth, and other factors that affect
the general health and well-being of a country or world region.

Successful managers:
o Realize the important effects that economic forces have on their organizations
o Pay close attention to what is occurring in the national and regional economies
to respond appropriately

2. Technology

Combination of tools, machines, computers, skills, information, and knowledge that

managers use in the design, production, and distribution of goods and services

Outcomes of changes in the technology that managers use to design, produce, or

distribute goods and services.

3. Sociocultural Forces

Pressures emanating from the social structure of a country or society or from the
national culture
o Social structure: the arrangement of relationships between individuals and
groups in society
o National culture: the set of values that a society considers important and
the norms of behaviour that are approved or sanctioned in that society.

4. Demographic Forces

Outcomes of change in, or changing attitudes toward, the characteristics of a

population, such as age, gender, ethnic origin, race, sexual orientation, and social
class.

Most industrialized nations are experiencing the aging of their populations as a

consequence of failing birth and death rates and the aging of the baby-boom
generation

Organizations need to find ways to motivate and utilize the skills and knowledge of
older employees.

5. Political and Legal Forces

Outcomes of changes in laws and regulations, such as the deregulation of industries,

the privatization of organizations, and increased emphasis on environmental
protection
o Increasingly nations are joining together into political unions that allow for
the free exchange of resources and capital