Chapter 1

• What are the 3 characteristics of an organization?

  1. distinct purpose
  2. people
  3. deliberate structure
• 4 Levels of Management from Top to Bottom are:

  1. Top Managers
  2. Middle Managers
  3. First-line Managers
  4. Nonmanagerial Employees
• Efficiency: getting the most outputs from the least amount of inputs
• Effectiveness: completing activities so that organizational goals are attained; "doing the right things"
• Management Functions

  1. Planning
  2. Organizing
  3. Leading
  4. Controlling
• Mintzberg's Managerial Roles

  1. Interpersonal Roles
  2. Informational Roles
  3. Decisional Roles
• As managers perform these roles, Mintzberg proposed that their activities included both reflection (thinking) and action (doing)

  Mintzberg: “Basically, managing is about influencing action”
• technical skills: job-specific knowledge and techniques needed to proficiently perform work tasks
• human skills: The ability to work well with other people individually and in a group
• conceptual skills: The ability to think and to conceptualize about abstract and complex situations
• Technical Skills = lower-level managers
• human skills = middle managers
• conceptual skills = top managers
• interpersonal roles: Managerial roles that involve people and other duties that are ceremonial and symbolic in nature
• informational roles: Managerial roles that involve collecting, receiving, and disseminating information
• decisional roles: Managerial roles that revolve around making choices
• sustainability: A company’s ability to achieve its business goals and increase long-term shareholder value by integrating economic, environmental, and social opportunities into its business strategies
• universality of management: The reality that management is needed in all types and sizes of organizations, at all organizational levels, in all organizational areas, and in organizations no matter where located
• Explain why managers are important to organizations:

  • First, organizations need their managerial skills and abilities in uncertain, complex, and chaotic times
  • Second, managers are critical to getting things done in organizations.
  • Finally, managers contribute to employee productivity and loyalty; the way employees are managed can affect the organization’s financial performance; and managerial ability has been shown to be important in creating organizational value.