Business Management

Essay by yuivyHigh School, 11th gradeD-, August 2006

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Management is the process of coordinating businesses resources to achieve the goals of the business.

Human resources

Information resources

Physical resources

Financial resources

A manager is someone who coordinates the business's limited resources in order to achieve the business's specific goals.

Effectiveness measures the degree to which a goal has been achieved

Efficiency weighs the resources needed to achieve a goal against what was actually achieved.

Main management functions

Planning

Organizing

Leading

Co-coordinating

Controlling

Managerial Roles

Figure head

Leader

Liaison

Monitor

Disseminator

Spokesperson

Entrepreneur

Disturbance handler

Resource Allocator

Negotiator

Interpersonal roles is one in which the manager deals with people.

Informational role is one in which the manager gathers and disseminates information within the business.

A decision-making role involves solving problems and making choices.

Skills of management

People skills - are those skills needed to work and communicate with other people and to understand their needs

Strategic thinking - allows a manager to see the business as a whole

Vision skills - is the clear, shared sense of direction which allows people to attain a common goal

Flexibility and adaptability to change skills

Self-managing skills - involves adopting to techniques that allow people to manage their own behavior so that less outside control in necessary.

Teamwork skills - is the interaction of individuals within teams and groups

Problem solving

Decision making

Responsibilities of management to stakeholders

Managing change

Social justice

Ecological sustainability

Compliance with the law

Codes of practice

Reconciling conflicts of interest

Management theories

Classical management

Is the perspective on management that emphasizes on how best to manage and organize work efficiently to improve productivity without taking into consideration the effect that it has on employees

Hierarchical organizational structure

Clear lines of communication

Jobs broken into simple tasks

Rules and procedures

Impersonal education

Formal record keeping

Scientific management

Is the approach that studies a job in great detail to discover the best way to perform it.

Determine the most efficient way of doing it

Select suitable workers

Cooperate with workers

Divide work

Management as planning

Management as organizing

Management as controlling

Establish standards

Measure performance

Making changes

Leadership styles

Autocratic

Democratic

Collegial

Liaissez-faire

Behavioral Management

Characterized by human relations, the idea that higher morale would lead to greater productivity. The needs of the workers are addressed rather then just the needs of the business.

Management as leading

A good leader is someone who:

Sets examples

Listens to opinions/ideas

Conveys goals to workers

Avoids the use of 'jargon'

Demonstrates flexibility

Management as motivating

Managers motivate workers by:

Trust

Respect

Empowerment

Participation

Rewarding performance

Encouragement

Management as communicating

Effective communication will allow managers to share thoughts and plans which will help to motivate employees.

Flat organization structure - will involve reduced layers of management, wider span of control, greater responsibility.

Teams involve people working together as a whole.

Political Management

Is the use or power, which is sometimes gained unethically to influence others.

Sources of power:

Legitimate - status

Expert - expertise

Referent - personality

Reward - monetary/non-monetary rewards

Coercive - punishment

Systems Management

Views the organization as an integrated process where all the individual parts contribute to the whole.

Inputs

Transformational processes

Outputs

Feedback

Contingency Management

The manager uses their past experience to determine what is best for the business.

Managing change

Change is any alteration in the business environment.

Sources of change in business:

External sources

Changing nature of markets

Economic

Financial

Geographic

Social

Legal

Political

Technological

Structural response to change

Outsourcing

Flatter organizational structures

Development of strategic alliances

Network structures

Reasons for resistance to change:

Financial costs

Inertia

Cultural incapability

In mergers and takeovers

Staffing considerations

How to manage change effectively

Identify need for change, profit and loss statement and balance sheet

Setting achievable goals

Creating culture for change

Change models

Force-field analysis

Driving forces - those factors which initiate and support change

Restraining forces - those forces which act against change

Unfreeze/change/refreeze

Unfreeze - prepare for change

Change - the change begins

Refreeze - the change is reinforced.

Change and social responsibility

- Ecological sustainability

- Quality of working life

- Technology

- Globalization and cultural diversity

- E-commerce