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#1 - Introduction to Management (Chapter 1)
Principles of Management (香港中文大學)
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MGNT 1020 – CHAPTER 1: Managers and Management
A. What is Management?
Management – The process of getting things done, effectively, and
efficiently with and through other people
1. Efficiency – Doing the task right, or getting the most output from the
least amount of inputs (Minimize resource cost)
2. Effectiveness – Doing the tasks by doing the tasks that would help the
organization reach its goals
Conclusion: Good management aims to satisfy both effectiveness and
efficiency while Poor management focuses too much on effectiveness and
disregards efficiency
B. Who are Managers and Where do they work?
Organization – Systemic arrangement of people brought together to
accomplish a specific purpose
Characteristics of an organization
1. Distinct Purpose or Goal
2. Composed by People
3. Deliberate and Systematic structure
Difference between Managers and Non-managerial employees
1. Managers – Individuals in an organization who direct the activities of
others
2. Non-managerial Employees – People who work directly on a job or task
and have no responsibility for overseeing the work of others
What titles do managers have?
1. Top / Senior Managers – Managers who make decisions about the
direction of the organization and establishing policies and philosophies
that affect all organizational members
2. Middle Managers – Managers who manage other managers and some
non-managerial employees; they are usually responsible for translating
the goals set by top managers into specific details so that first line
managers could execute them in actions
3. First-Line Managers – Managers who direct the day-to-day activities of
non-managerial employees
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C. Why Study Management?
In studying management, there are two reasons…
1. All of us have a vested interest in improving the way organizations are
managed as they interact with our everyday lives. If organizations are
well-managed, they would find ways to prosper even in economically
challenging times
2. The reality is that when one graduates from university, one either
manages or gets managed. Therefore, either you like it or not, one
must know management in order to gain insights into the way a boss
and fellow employees behave and how organizations function
D. What do Manages do?
Management researchers have developed three approaches to describe
what managers do: Functions, Roles, and Skills/Competencies
Functions Approach – Managers perform certain activities or functions as
they direct and oversee others’ work. By doing so, managers enable the
organization to achieve stated purposes or goals
Henri Fayol once proposed the manager’s role in five different categories, but
recently, it has been reduced into four
1. Planning – Defining goals, establishing strategy, and developing sub-
plans to coordinate activities
2. Organizing – Determining what tasks are to be done, who is to do them,
how the tasks are to be grouped, who reports to whom, and who will
make decisions
3. Leading – Directing, and coordinating the work activities of an
organization’s people
4. Controlling – Monitoring activities to ensure that they are accomplished
as planned
Managerial Roles – In 1960s, Henry Mintzberg conducted a study to find
out specific categories of managerial actions or behaviors expected of a
manager
1. Interpersonal Roles – Involves people and other duties that are
ceremonial and symbolic in nature
1. Figurehead
2. Leader
3. Liaison
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2. Informational Roles – Involves collecting, receiving, and disseminating
information
1. Monitor
2. Disseminator
3. Spokesperson
3. Decisional Roles – Involves decision making
1. Entrepreneur
2. Disturbance handler
3. Resource allocator
4. Negotiator
Skills Approach
1. Conceptual Skills – Skills managers use to analyze and diagnose
complex situations, these skills are pivotal in making good decisions
2. Interpersonal Skills – Skills involved with working well with other people
both individually and in groups, such as communication, motivation,
and delegation skills
3. Technical Skills – Job-specific knowledge and techniques needed to
perform work tasks
1. Top-level managers: Knowledge of industry and general
understanding of organization’s processes and products
2. Middle and Lower managers: Knowledge required in areas where
they work
4. Political Skills – Skills to build a power base and establish the right
connections
Universality of Manager – Management is essentially the same in all
positions and organizations
1. Level in the organization – The difference exists in its degree and
emphasis, but not of the activity (All managers do POLC, but in different
emphasis)
2. Profit vs. Non-Profit – The difference is how performance is measured
3. Size of Organization – In small business, a manager becomes more
generalist whereas big firms have specialized managers in each
divisions of work
E. History of Management
Classical Approach
1. Beginning around turn of 20th century, management began to evolve
as a body of knowledge
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2. Fredrick Taylor published a “theory of scientific management” which
determines one best way to maximize individual worker’s productivity
Assigning the apt person for the job with correct tools and
equipment
Having standardized method of executing a job
Providing economic incentives to the worker
3. Henri Fayol introduced “general administrative theory” identifying the
five management functions and identified 14 Principles of Management
Division of Work – Specialization increases output by increasing
efficiency
Authority – The right to give orders
Discipline – Employees must obey and respect the rules of the
organization
Unity of Command – Employees must receive orders from one
leader
Unity of Direction – All organizational activities must be directed to
one goal
Subordination of individual interest to the general interest – An
interest of an individual must not precede over interest of the
organization
Remuneration – Employees must be paid with fair wage
Centralization – Degree to which subordinates are involved in
decision-making
Scalar chain – Line of authority from top management to lowest
rank
Order – People and materials must be placed in the right places
and time
Equity – Managers should be kind and fair to the subordinates
Stability of Tenure of Personnel – Management should provide
orderly personnel planning and ensure replacements are available
to fill vacancies
Initiative – Employees who are allowed to originate and carry out
plans will exert higher level of effort
Esprit de Corps – Promoting team spirit will build harmony
4. Max Weber described and analyzed “bureaucracy” as an ideal and
rational form of overall organization structure
Career Orientation Formal Selection
Division of Labor Formal Rules and Regulations
Authority Hierarchy Impersonality
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Behavioral Approach
1. Human Relations Movement – Study of how managers should motivate,
care, and encourage employees in order for them to perform at high
levels and be able to achieve organizational goals (Ex: Maslow’s
hierarchy of five needs and McGregor’s theories relating to a
manager’s beliefs about employee’s motivation to work)
2. Organizational Behavior – The field of study that researches the
actions of people at work
Quantitative Approach
1. Focuses on the application of statistics, optimization models,
information models, computer simulations to improve managerial
decision making
2. An examples of quantitative approach include…
1. Quantitative Management
2. Operations Management
3. Management Information Systems
Contemporary Approach
1. Systems Approach – Views systems as a set of interrelated and
interdependent parts arranged in a manner that produces a unified
whole
2. Closed System – Not influenced by and don’t interact with the
environment (All system input and output are internal)
3. Open System – Interacting with the environment by taking inputs and
transforming them into outputs from their environment
Contingency Approach (Situational Approach) – An approach to
management that says that individual organizations, employees, and
situations are different, thus require different ways of managing
