Chapter 14: Management and Leadership

top management

highest level of management, consisting of the president and other key company executives who develop strategic plans (ex. presidents, VPs)

objectives

specific, short-term statements detailing how to achieve the organization's goals

external customers

dealers who buy products to sell to others, and ultimate customers who buy products for their own personal use

enabling

giving workers education and tools they need to make decisions

middle management

level of management that includes general managers, division managers, and branch and plant managers who are responsible for tactical planning and controlling (division heads, branch managers)

Technical Skills

involve ability to perform tasks in a specific discipline or department

conceptual skills

involve ability to picture the organization as a whole and the relationship among its various parts

human relations skills

involve communications and motivation; they enable managers to work through and with people

participative (democratic) leadership

style that consists of managers and employees working together to make decisions

autocratic leadership

style that involves making managerial decisions without consulting others

free-reign leadership

style that involves managers setting objectives and employees being relatively free to do whatever it takes to accomplish those objectives

decision making

choosing among two or more alternatives

brainstorming

coming up with as many solutions to a problem as possible in a short period of time with no censoring of ideas

leading

creating a vision for organization and communicating, guiding, training, coaching, and motivating others to achieve goals and objectives in a timely manner; keep employees focused on right tasks at the right time

seven Ds of decision making

1. Define the situation 2. Describe and collect needed information 3. Develop alternatives 4. Develop agreement among those involved 5. Decide which alternative is best 6. Do what is indicated (begin implementation) 7. Determine whether the decision was a good one, and follow up

SWOT analysis

Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats - planning tool used to analyze an organization's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats

mission statement

an outline of fundamental purposes of an organization; becomes foundation for setting specific goals and objectives; addresses: 1. organization's self-concept 2. its philosophy 3. long-term survival needs 4. customer needs 5. social responsibility 6. nature of the product or service

goals

broad, long-term accomplishments an organization wishes to attain

controlling

establishes clear standards to determine whether an organization is progressing toward its goals and objectives, rewarding people for doing a good job, and taking corrective action if they are not; heart of management

knowledge management

finding right info, keeping info in readily accessible place, and making info known to everyone in firm

Planning

includes anticipating trends and determining the best strategies and tactics to achieve organizational goals and objectives; major objective: please customers; planning teams to help monitor the environment, find business opportunities, and watch for challenges; key management function because accomplishing the other functions depends heavily on having a good plan

organizing

includes designing the structure of the organization and creating conditions and systems in which everyone and everything works together to achieve the organization's goals and objectives; designed around pleasing the customer at a profit; remain flexible and adaptable; ex. Whole Foods Market is known for high-quality, high priced food - introduced lower cost items to adjust to financial losses of its customer base

internal customers

individuals and units within firm that receive services from other individuals/ units

PMI

listing all the Pluses for a solution in one column, all the Minuses in another, and the Implications in a 3rd column

staffing

management function that include hiring, motivating, and retaining best people available to accomplish company's objective

supervisory management

managers who are directly responsible for supervising workers and evaluating their daily performance (supervisors, foreman, department heads)

vision

more than a goal; encompassing explanation of why the organization exists and where it's trying to head; gives organization a sense of purpose and a set of values that unite workers in a common destiny; top management usually sets this for org. and then often works with others in the firm to establish a mission statement

transparency

presentation of a company's facts and figures in a way that is clear and apparent to all stakeholders

strategic planning

process of determining the goals of the organization and the policies and strategies for obtaining and using resources to achieve those goals; at this stage, top management decides which customers to serve, when to serve them, what products or services to sell, and the geographic areas in which to compete

tactical planning

process of developing detailed, short-term statements about what is to be done, who is to do it and how it is to be done

contingency planning

process of preparing alternative courses of action that may be used if primary plans don't achieve organization's objectives

operational planning

process of setting work standards and schedules necessary to implement the company's tactical objectives

problem solving

process of solving the everyday problems that occur; less formal than decision making and usually calls for quicker action

management

the process used to accomplish organizational goals through planning, organizing, leading, and controlling people and other organizational resources

organization chart

visual device that shows relationships among people and divides organization's work; it shows who reports to whom