TOPIC 1: ORIGINS OF MANAGEMENT PRACTICES Lecture + Robbins Ch. 11. What is management? Have these definitions changed over time?
The organization and coordination of the activities of a business in order to achieve defined objectives. Management is often included as a factor of production along with? machines, materials, and money. Management consists of the interlocking functions of creating corporate policy and organizing, planning, controlling, and directing an organization’s resources in order to achieve the objectives of that policy. Other definition of management where directors and managers who have the power and responsibility to make decisions and oversee an enterprise. The size of management can range from one person in a small organization to hundreds or thousands of managers in multinational companies. Management changes can help a lot with timing. If a board of directors is serious about restructuring, they’ll often hire someone from a best-in-class company to make it happen. Those people aren’t cheap, which shows the board is serious, and the fact that the person is willing to come indicates they think they can add value. An executive from a first-class company taking over a laggard can mean an opportunity is ripe for the picking.
2. Explain the differences between effectiveness and efficiency. Give examplesto illustrate your answer. Discuss ways that managers at each of the fourlevels of management can contribute to efficiency and effectiveness.
Effectiveness is the level of results from the actions of employees and managers. Employees and managers who demonstrate effectiveness in the workplace help produce high-quality results. Take, for instance, an employee who works the sales floor. If he’s effective, he’ll make sales consistently. If he’s ineffective, he’ll struggle to persuade customers to make a purchase. Companies measure effectiveness often by conducting performance reviews. The effectiveness of a workforce has an enormous impact on the quality of a company’s product or service, which often dictates a company’s reputation and customer satisfaction
While Efficiency in the workplace is the time it takes to do something. Efficient employees and managers complete tasks in the least amount of time possible with the least amount of resources possible by utilizing certain time-saving strategies. Inefficient employees and managers take the long road. For example, suppose a manager is attempting to communicate more efficiently. He can accomplish his goal by using email rather than sending letters to each employee. Efficiency and effectiveness are mutually exclusive. A manager or employee who’s efficient isn’t always effective and vice versa. Efficiency increases productivity and saves both time and money.