Management

~ Richard L. Daft
Session 1: Understanding management and management types
Many new managers expect to have power, to be in control, and to be personally responsible for
departmental outcomes. A big surprise for many people when they first step into a management
role is that they are much less in control of things than they expected. Managers are dependent
on subordinates more than vice-versa because they are evaluated on the work of other people
rather than on their own work. The nature of management is to motivate and coordinate others to
cope with diverse and far-reaching challenges.
Case 1: Bruce Moeller, CEO of DriveCam, begins his work day by walking around visiting
managers in operations, marketing, sales, engineering, finance, and so forth. Those managers, in
turn, walk around talking with their direct reports, and on down the line. Moeller believes
continual, free-flowing communication keeps everyone “on the same page” and helps employees
meet goals at DriveCam, a company that sells and installs video recorders that monitor the
behavior of commercial drivers.
THE DEFINITION OF MANAGEMENT
● What characteristic do all good managers have in common?
They get things done through their organizations. Managers are the executive function of the
organization, responsible for building and coordinating an entire system rather than performing
specific tasks. That is, rather than doing all the work themselves, good managers create the
systems and conditions that enable others to perform those tasks. By creating the right systems
and environment, managers ensure that the department or organization will survive and thrive
beyond the tenure of any specific supervisor or manager.
Case 2: Jack Welch was CEO of General Electric through 20 amazingly successful years, but the
leadership transition to Jeff Immelt in 2001 was as smooth as silk, and GE has stayed at or near
the top of lists such as Fortune magazine’s “Most Admired Companies,” the Financial Times
“most respected” survey, and Barron’s most admired companies. People who have studied GE
aren’t surprised. The company has thrived for more than a century because managers created the
right environment and systems. In the late 1800s, CEO Charles Coffin emphasized that GE’s
most important product was not lightbulbs or transformers, but managerial talent.
“the art of getting things done through people.” ~ Mary Parker Follett
“The job of managers is to give direction to their organizations, provide leadership, and decide
how to use organizational resources to accomplish goals.” ~ Peter Drucker
Management is the attainment of organizational goals in an effective and efficient manner
through planning, organizing, leading, and controlling organizational resources.
This definition holds two important ideas:
● the four functions of planning, organizing, leading, and controlling.
● the attainment of organizational goals in an effective and efficient manner.
MANAGEMENT TYPES
Managers use conceptual, human, and technical skills to perform the four management functions
of planning, organizing, leading, and controlling in all organizations—large and small,
manufacturing and service, profit and nonprofit, traditional and Internet-based. But not all
managers’ jobs are the same. Managers are responsible for different departments, work at
different levels in the hierarchy, and meet different requirements for achieving high performance.
Vertical Differences: An important determinant of the manager’s job is hierarchical level.
● Top managers are at the top of the hierarchy and are responsible for the entire
organization. They have such titles as president, chairperson, executive director, chief
executive officer (CEO), and executive vice president. Top managers are responsible for
setting organizational goals, defining strategies for achieving them, monitoring and
interpreting the external environment, and making decisions that affect the entire
organization. They look to the long-term future and concern themselves with general
environmental trends and the organization’s overall success.
● Middle managers work at middle levels of the organization and are responsible for
business units and major departments. Examples of middle managers are department
head, division head, manager of quality control, and director of the research lab. Middle
managers typically have two or more management levels beneath them. They are
responsible for implementing the overall strategies and policies defined by top managers.
Middle managers generally are concerned with the near future rather than with
long-range planning.
● Project manager is responsible for a temporary work project that involves the
participation of people from various functions and levels of the organization, and perhaps
from outside the company as well. Many of today’s middle managers work with a variety
of projects and teams at the same time, some of which cross geographical and cultural as
well as functional boundaries.
● First-line managers are directly responsible for the production of goods and services.
They are the first or second level of management and have such titles as supervisor, line
manager, section chief, and office manager. They are responsible for groups of
non-management employees. Their primary concern is the application of rules and
procedures to achieve efficient production, provide technical assistance, and motivate
subordinates. The time horizon at this level is short, with the emphasis on accomplishing
day-to-day goal.
Horizontal Differences: The other major difference in management jobs occurs horizontally
across the organization.
● Functional managers are responsible for departments that perform a single functional
task and have employees with similar training and skills. Functional departments include
advertising, sales, finance, human resources, manufacturing, and accounting.
o Line managers are responsible for the manufacturing and marketing departments
that make or sell the product or service.
o Staff managers are in charge of departments such as finance and human
resources that support line departments.
● General managers are responsible for several departments that perform different
functions. A general manager is responsible for a self-contained division, such as a
Macy’s department store or a General Motors assembly plant, and for all the functional
departments within it. Project managers also have general management responsibility
because they coordinate people across several departments to accomplish a specific
project.
Session 2: Management skills, role of managers
MANAGEMENT SKILLS
A manager’s job is complex and multidimensional and, as we shall see throughout this course,
requires a range of skills. Although some management theorists propose a long list of skills, the
necessary skills for managing a department or an organization can be summarized in three
categories: conceptual, human, and technical. The application of these skills changes as
managers move up in the organization. Although the degree of each skill necessary at different
levels of an organization may vary, all managers must possess skills in each of these important
areas to perform effectively.
Relationship of Conceptual, Human, and Technical Skills to Management

● Conceptual skill is the cognitive ability to see the organization as a whole system and
the relationships among its parts. Conceptual skill involves the manager’s thinking,
information processing, and planning abilities. It involves knowing where one’s
department fits into the total organization and how the organization fits into the industry,
the community, and the broader business and social environment. It means the ability to
think strategically—to take the broad, long-term view—and to identify, evaluate, and
solve complex problems. Conceptual skills are needed by all managers but are especially
important for managers at the top. Many of the responsibilities of top managers, such as
decision making, resource allocation, and innovation, require a broad view.
● Human skill is the manager’s ability to work with and through other people and to work
effectively as a group member. Human skill is demonstrated in the way a manager relates
to other people, including the ability to motivate, facilitate, coordinate, lead,
communicate, and resolve conflicts. A manager with human skills allows subordinates to
express themselves without fear of ridicule, encourages participation, and shows
appreciation for employees’ efforts. Human skills are essential for managers who work
with employees directly on a daily basis. Organizations frequently lose good people
because of front-line bosses who fail to show respect and concern for employees.
However, human skills are becoming increasingly important for managers at all levels.
 ● Technical skill is the understanding of and proficiency in the performance of specific
tasks. Technical skill includes mastery of the methods, techniques, and equipment
involved in specific functions such as engineering, manufacturing, or finance. Technical
skill also includes specialized knowledge, analytical ability, and the competent use of
tools and techniques to solve problems in that specific discipline. Technical skills are
particularly important at lower organizational levels. Many managers get promoted to
their first management jobs by having excellent technical skills. However, technical skills
become less important than human and conceptual skills as managers move up the
hierarchy.
Manager Roles
“The manager who only communicates or only conceives never gets anything done, while the
manager who only ‘does’ ends up doing it all alone.” ~ Mintzberg
A role is a set of expectations for a manager’s behavior. These roles are divided into three
conceptual categories: informational (managing by information); interpersonal (managing
through people); and decisional (managing through action). Each role represents activities that
managers undertake to ultimately accomplish the functions of planning, organizing, leading, and
controlling.
● Informational Roles describe the activities used to maintain and develop an information
network. General managers spend about 75 percent of their time talking to other people.
o Monitor role involves seeking current information from many sources. The
manager acquires information from others and scans written materials to stay well
informed.
o Disseminator forward information to other organization members; send memos
and reports, make phone calls.
o Spokesperson transmit information to outsiders through speeches, reports,
memos.
● Interpersonal Roles pertain to relationships with others and are related to the human
skills described earlier.
o Figurehead perform ceremonial and symbolic duties such as greeting visitors,
signing legal documents.
o Leader direct and motivate subordinates; train, counsel, and communicate with
subordinates.
o Liaison maintain information links both inside and outside organization; use
e-mail, phone calls, meetings.
● Decisional roles pertain to those events about which the manager must make a choice
and take action. These roles often require conceptual as well as human skills.
o Entrepreneur initiate improvement projects; identify new ideas, delegate idea
responsibility to others.
o Disturbance handler take corrective action during disputes or crises; resolve
conflicts among subordinates; adapt to environmental crises.
o Resource allocator decide who gets resources; schedule, budget, set priorities.
 o Negotiator represent department during negotiation of union contracts, sales,
purchases, budgets; represent departmental interests.
Session 3: Management in digital age, new managerial competencies
MANAGEMENT AND THE NEW WORKPLACE
Rapid environmental shifts, such as changes in technology, globalization, and shifting social
values, are causing fundamental transformations that have a dramatic impact on the manager’s
job. These transformations are reflected in the transition to a new workplace, as illustrated below.

New Workplace Characteristics

The primary characteristic of the new workplace is the digitization of business, which has
radically altered the nature of work, employees, and the workplace itself. The old workplace is
characterized by routine, specialized tasks, and standardized control procedures. Individuals
concentrate on doing their own specific tasks, and managers are cautious about sharing
knowledge and information across boundaries. The organization is coordinated and controlled
through the vertical hierarchy, with decision-making authority residing with upper-level
managers.
In the new workplace, by contrast, work is free-flowing and flexible.
● Structures are flatter, and lower-level employees make decisions based on widespread
information and guided by the organization’s mission and values.
● Empowered employees are expected to seize opportunities and solve problems as they
emerge. Knowledge is widely shared, and people throughout the company keep in touch
with a broad range of colleagues via advanced technology. The valued worker is one who
learns quickly, shares knowledge, and is comfortable with risk, change, and ambiguity.
People expect to work on a variety of projects and jobs throughout their careers rather
than staying in one field or with one company.
 ● The new workplace is organized around networks rather than rigid hierarchies, and work
is often virtual, with managers having to supervise and coordinate people who never
actually “come to work” in the traditional sense.
● Interim managers are managers who are not affiliated with a specific organization but
work on a project-by- project basis or provide expertise to organizations in a specific
area.
Case: Technology also enables companies to shift significant chunks of what were once
considered core functions to outsiders via outsourcing, joint ventures, and other complex
alliances. U.S. companies have been sending manufacturing work to other countries for years to
cut costs. Now, high-level knowledge work is also being outsourced to countries such as India,
Malaysia, and South Africa.
New Management Competencies
In the face of these transitions, managers must rethink their approach to organizing, directing,
and motivating employees. Today’s best managers give up their command and-control mind-set
to focus on coaching and providing guidance, creating organizations that are fast, flexible,
innovative, and relationship-oriented.
Instead of “management-by-keeping-tabs,” managers employ an empowering leadership style.
When people are working at scattered locations, managers can’t continually monitor behavior. In
addition, they are sometimes coordinating the work of people who aren’t under their direct
control, such as those in partner organizations. They have to set clear expectations, guide people
toward goal accomplishment through vision, values, and regular communication, and develop a
level of trust in employees’ commitment to getting the job done.
Success in the new workplace depends on the strength and quality of collaborative relationships.
New ways of working emphasize collaboration across functions and hierarchical levels as well as
with other companies. Team-building skills are crucial. Instead of managing a department of
employees, many managers act as team leaders of ever-shifting, temporary projects.
Case: When a manager at IBM needs to staff a project, he or she gives a list of skills needed to
the human resources department, which provides a pool of people who are qualified. The
manager then puts together the best combination of people for the project, which often means
pulling people from many different locations. IBM estimates that about 40 percent of its
employees participate in virtual teams.