Unit Ten

Introduction to Management

Objectives

Get the students to be familiar with the concept of management.

Cultivate the students’ ability of problem-solving. Help the students to grasp the techniques for fast

reading.

Section A

Introduction A management scholar once stated that management is the “art

of getting things done through people”. In other words, the manager coordinates the work of others to accomplish goals that might not be achievable by an individual. Thus management will be defined as the application of planning, organizing, directing, and controlling functions in the most efficient manner possible to accomplish meaningful organizational objectives.

Pre-reading

Before reading the following passage, answer these questions:

1. What does management mean? 2. What roles does management play in a company? 3. What functions do you think management possesses?

Text Management Functions

Given the definition of management, exactly how do managers go about managing in an office, on a shop floor, or in a committee meeting? What do they do to help accomplish objectives? Management theorists have identified four primary functions of managers. These functions are planning, organizing, directing and controlling.

Planning Former President Dwight Eisenhower once said, “Plans are

nothing, planning is everything.” Planning means defining goals for future organizational performance and deciding on the tasks and use of resources needed to attain them. Of course, plans alone do not bring about the desired results; but without a plan and a set of objectives, managerial actions are likely to produce confusion. Planning is a task that each manager must do every day. It is a continuous process. It is unlikely that a plan that worked yesterday would be successful in today’s market.

The work of planning is basically mental. It requires thinking things through logically. Managers should think before acting and act in light of facts rather than best guesses. Effective planning helps an organization adapt to change by identifying opportunities and avoiding problems. It sets the direction for the other functions of management and for teamwork. Planning improves decision-making. All levels of management engage in planning.

Most planning follows a pattern. The procedure you would follow in planning your life and career is basically the same as that used by businesses for their plans. Planning answers several fundamental questions for businesses:

1. What is the situation now? What is the state of the economy and other environments? What opportunities exist for meeting people’s needs? What products and customers are most profitable? Why do people buy (or not buy) our products? Who are our major competitors? What threats are they to our business? (These questions are part of what is called SWOT analysis. SWOT stands for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.)

2. Where do we want to go? How much growth do we want? What is our profit goal? What are our social objectives? What are our personal development objectives?

3. How can we get there from here? This is the most important part of planning. It takes three forms:

1) Strategic (long-range) planning determines the major goals of the organization as well as the policies, procedures, and strategies for obtaining and using resources to achieve those goals. In this definition, policies are broad guides to action, and strategies determine the best way to use resources. At the strategic planning stage, the company decides which customers to serve, what products or services to sell, and the geographic areas in which the firm will compete.

In today’s environment, long-range planning is becoming more difficult and ineffectual because changes are occurring so fast that plans set for years into the future may soon be obsolete. Therefore, such plans are often being replaced by ones that allow for quick responses to customer needs and requests. The long-range goal is to be flexible and responsive to the market.

2) Tactical (short-range) planning is the process of developing detailed, short-term strategies about what is to be done, who is to do it, and how it is to be done. Tactical planning is normally done by managers or teams of managers at lower levels of the organization. Tactical planning, for example, involves setting annual budgets and deciding on other details and activities necessary to meet the strategic objectives. If the strategic plan, for example, is to sell more trucks in the South, the tactical plan might be to fund more research of southern truck drivers’ wants and needs, and plan advertising to reach those people.

Operational planning is the process of setting work standards and schedules necessary to implement the tactical objectives. For example, an operational plan may include setting specific dates for certain truck parts to be completed and the quality demanded.

3) Contingency planning is the process of preparing alternative courses of action that may be used if the primary plans don’t achieve the organization’s objectives. The economic and competitive environments change so rapidly that it is wise to have alternative plans of action ready in anticipation of such changes. For example, if an organization doesn’t meet its sales goals by a certain date, the contingency plan may call for more advertising or a cut in prices at that time.

A lack of planning—or poor planning—can hurt an organization’s performance. For example, Ashton-Tate Corporation, a PC software giant ranked in the big three of the industry, tumbled sharply as a result of planning errors attributed to chief executive Edward Esber, Jr. Critics cite Esber’s lack of vision in perceiving market direction and a weak planning effort that left too many bugs in the dBaseV software introduction along with failed efforts to develop other software products. Poor planning is a major reason for the sharp decline in Ashton-Tate’s market share and revenue growth rate, producing the company’s first net loss of $30 million.

Organizing Organizing typically follows planning and reflects

how the organization tries to accomplish the plan. Organizing involves the assignment of tasks, the grouping of tasks into departments, and the allocation of resources to departments.

For example, Hewlett-Packard, Sears Roebuck, and Xerox have all undergone structural reorganizations to accommodate their changing plans. Semco, a Brazilian company making industrial pumps, mixers, propellers, and other products, reorganized from a highly structured, autocratic business into a company run on trust, freedom, and democracy. Six people, including one woman, rotate as CEO, each putting in six-month stints. Employees set their own work schedules, organizing themselves to accomplish their tasks. Semco’s loose organization has been so successful that Mobil, IBM, and hundreds of other US companies have travelled to Sao Paulo to see the operation firsthand. Honeywell managers reorganized new product development into “tiger teams” consisting of marketing, engineering, and design employees. The new structural design reduced the time to produce a new thermostat from 4 years to 12 months. Many companies today are following Honeywell’s lead by reorganizing into teams that have more responsibility for self-management.

Directing Providing leadership is becoming an increasingly important

management function. Directing is the use of influence to motivate employees to achieve organizational goals. Directing means creating a shared culture and values, communicating goals to employees throughout the organization, and infusing employees with the desire to perform at a high level. Directing involves motivating entire departments and divisions as well as those individuals working immediately with the manger. In an era of uncertainty, downsizing, international competition, and a growing diversity of the workforce, the ability to shape culture, communicate goals and motivate employees is critical to business success.

The directing function is a part of any manager’s job, but the time and effort managers spend in directing vary with their position in the managerial hierarchy, the number of assigned subordinates, and the type of job activities being performed. For example, the supervisor in a Haier distribution center in Guanzhou spends most of the day directing subordinates, whereas the president of Haier spends significantly greater time in more abstract and general activities.

Generally speaking, managers may choose from many directing styles. Two such styles of direction are autocratic and democratic leadership.

Autocratic leadership, the close style of supervision, means providing subordinates with detailed job instructions. The manager structures or specifies exactly what is to be done and when the work is due. Managers using this style delegate as little authority as possible. Autocratic managers assume they should do the planning and make the necessary decisions.

Some employees respond positively to the autocratic style. Others tend to lose interest and lack initiative when working for an autocratic manager. In some cases, individual or even groups of subordinates may actively resist and develop hostilities toward the autocratic manager.

The opposite of autocratic direction is democratic leadership, or general supervision (also referred to as participatory). In this style, the manager consults with subordinates about job activities, problems, and corrective actions. Managers using the general approach seek help and ideas. Democratic leadership does not lessen managers’ formal authority; decision-making power still rests with them. With an experienced, skilled, and intelligent group of employees, a manager would likely benefit from using a democratic style that encourages participation. Organizations that have successfully used this style include Wal-Mart, Federal Express, IBM, AT & T.

For democratic management to be successful, the manager must be enthusiastic and honest in using it, and the employees must want it. If a worker believes a boss “knows best”, the person is not likely to be motivated to perform better under the general supervision style.

Probably the best reason for considering the democratic style is that subordinates who participate in a job-related decision are apt to be more enthused about performing the job. Those allowed taking part in decision making generally support the final decisions enacted. They try hard to make the decision a success.

Controlling Controlling is the fourth function in the management process.

Controlling involves verifying that actual performance matches the plan. The core idea of control is to modify behavior and performance when deviations from plans are discovered.

Planning, organizing, directing are the initial steps for getting the job done. Controlling is concerned with making certain that plans are correctly implemented. Supervisors who delegate their responsibility should take care to control because the ultimate responsibility for the delegated work is theirs. The process of control has five basic steps:

1. Set clear standards for time, quality, quantity, and so on. 2. Monitor and record actual performance (results). 3. Compare results against plans and standards. 4. Communicate results and deviations to the employees

involved. 5. Take corrective action when needed.

The control system’s weakest link tends to be the setting of standards. To measure results against standards, the standards must be specific, attainable and measurable. Vague goals and standards such as “better quality”, “more efficiency”, and “improved performance” are inadequate because they do not describe the objective in sufficient detail.

For example, let us say you are a runner and you have made the following statement: “My goal is to improve my distance.” When you started your improvement plan last year, you ran two miles a day. Now you run 2.1 miles a day. Did you meet your goal? Well, you did increase your distance, but certainly not by very much. A more appropriate statement would be “My goal is to increase my running distance from two miles a day to four miles a day by January 1st.” It is important to have a time period established when goals are to be met.

The following examples of goals and standards meet these criteria: ＊ Cutting the number of finished product rejects from 10 per 1,000 to 5

per 1,000 by March 31st. ＊ Increasing the number of times that managers praise employees

from 3 per week to 12 per week. ＊ Increasing sales of product X from 10,000 per month to 12,000 per

month by July. One way to make control systems work is to establish clear

procedures for monitoring performance. Naturally, management shouldn’t be burdened with such control procedures unless the goals are important enough to justify such reporting. Most managers have seen, for example, elaborate accident reports that took hours of management time merely to say, “All is well.” To minimize paperwork, accident reports could be limited to certain kinds of serious cases.

Post-reading

Answer the questions on the text: 1. What is the theme of management? 2. What did Dwight Eisenhower mean when he stated,

“Plans are nothing, planning is everything.”? 3. What are the four functions in the management process? 4. What are the differences between autocratic and

democratic leadership styles? 5. How many steps are there in the process of control?

What are they?

Section B Reading skills

Predicting the Writer’s Ideas Making predictions or anticipating the writer’s next point is an

important skill in active reading. Prediction begins from the moment you read the title and form

expectations of what the book is likely about. Read for a purpose to see which of your expectations are in fact

dealt with and what answers are offered.

Speed Reading Task

Let’s have a glimpse of management skills. As you read it, see if you can predict the general direction of the writer’s thinking. Use this reading skill of prediction to find out the answers to Exercise 1 as quickly as possible.

True or False

1. Conceptual skill involves the manager’s thinking, information processing, and planning abilities.

2. Conceptual skills are used by most supervisors. 3. Supervisors use human skills more than top

manages. 4. ___ Interpersonal relations are a type of human skills. 5. ___ Managerial skills are classified as conceptual, human

and technical. 6. ___ Technical skills are used most by middle managers. 7. ___ The ability to effectively run a machine is classified

as a technical skill. 8. ___ Working effectively with a team to resolve conflicts

describes a human skill.

KEY: T F F T T F T T

Section C Case Study

Blockbuster’s Fired-up Mr. Fixit

When it comes to doing his homework, John F. Antioco is something of a fanatic. Take his job interview for the top post at Blockbuster Entertainment Group last spring. Viacom Chairman Summer M. Redstone was quickly charmed by the former fast-food executive, who sounded as if he had been in the video-rental business for years. The lunch went on for hours. “He surprised me,” recalls Redstone, who was quickly convinced that Antioco was “the guy who will turn Blockbuster around.”…

Task Study the case and discuss the questions in groups.

Antioco spent his first months crisscrossing the country meeting with store employees, regional managers, and franchise operates. He’s also schmoozing with Hollywood studio executives, trying to smooth relations and hammer out deals that may allow Blockbuster to buy tapes more economically. Antioco, who lives in Scottsdale, Ariz., and commutes to Dallas every few days, keeps a low profile. He’s not granting media interviews, nor has he met with analysts to articulate his strategy.

Already, though, the Brooklyn native is pumping some energy into a demoralized staff, employees say. At a meeting of 1,100 Blockbuster store managers in Dallas last fall, Antioco delivered a fiery speech, portraying Blockbuster as an underdog that would prove skeptics wrong by coming back stronger and more aggressive than ever. “Will this company fail?” a fired-up Antioco asked the managers. “Not on my watch. No way, no how.”

Current and former associates describe him as a charismatic, no-nonsense manager. “It’s all about customer service with John,” says Karl Eller, who preceded Antioco as CEO of the Circle K Corp. convenience chain. “Figure out what the customer wants and find a way to get it to him.” Antioco also gets high marks for motivating employees. When Antioco was CEO at Circle K, he and a colleague closed a national sales meeting with their best Blues Brothers impression, down to the dark suits, glasses, and hats. “That kind of stuff struck a chord with employees,” recalls Ann Vry, formerly Circle K’s public-relations chief.

Energy and drive have always characterized Antioco, who as a boy would rise at 3 A.M. to help his father, a milkman. Antioco later did stints as a shoe salesman, gravedigger, and stock clerk.

Antioco took his first assignment in retailing with Dallas-based Southland Corp.’s 7-Eleven Stores chain. By age 30, he was one of the company’s youngest division managers ever. That’s where Antioco began showing a talent for troubleshooting. The New York-based unit was bleeding cash, so Antioco spruced up stores, created new marketing campaigns, and patched up rocky franchisee relationships. Within two years, Antioco’s unit was the company’s most profitable.

His biggest feat, however, came at Circle K. In his first two years as CEO of the troubled chain, he restructured debt and closed 2,000 stores. By 1993, Antioco and other top execs joined Bahrain-based Investcorp International Inc. in a $400 million buyout, taking Circle K out of trouble.

With fresh capital, Antioco zeroed in on operations. He ditched paralled shelves and narrow aisles in favor of self-contained departments like “Beverage Depot.” He scrapped the sky-high prices then typical of such stores. Recalls Mitchell E. Telson, then Circle K chief operating officer: “John reestablished the concept of what a convenience store was supposed to be.”

Then, during his brief stint as CEO of Taco Bell Corp., owned at the time by Pepsico Inc., Antioco presided over the chain’s first same-store sales gain in more than two years. “John’s a very smart, pragmatic guy who’s very focused on the consumer,” says PepsiCo CEO Roger A. Enrico. “Even in just a few months you could see his imprint on Taco Bell.”

Can Antioco work his magic on Blockbuster? The new chief is keeping the focus tight on operations and customer satisfaction. He hopes new deals with Hollywood studios will give it access to more hit films at a lower price. In the past, many customers left Blockbuster stores empty-handed when hit releases were missing from the shelves. Antioco is also lowering prices and extending rental periods for new and older flicks.

Meantime, he has been cutting costs: He laid off about 180 employees, mostly at Dallas headquarters. Antioco also put the brakes on store expansions until later this year and shuttered all 17 stores in Germany, which were doing poorly.

There are early signs of improvement. Analysts estimate fourth-quarter, same-store sales of video rentals were up 2% from the year-earlier quarter, the first positive showing in more than a year. Still, even if Antioco works miracles, some investors question whether the unit, now in a slow-growth industry, will ever be a good fit for Viacom. Says Mario J. Gabelli, a large Viacom shareholder, with nearly 10%: “It was a mistake (for Viacom) to make the acquisition (in 1994), and it’s (still) a mistake. The growth potential just isn’t there.”

But Redstone seems ready to declare a turnaround. “We don’t need any more time to conclude that John is the right guy in the right job,” he says. But of course, Redstone was just as publicly bullish on Antioco’s short-lived predecessors. Viacom had hoped to spin off at least part of Blockbuster this year. Those plans are on hold—at least until Antioco delivers. Now, all Redstone has to do is hold on to him.

Questions for discussion:

1. What is John ANtioco’s approach to managing—that is, to planning, organizing, leading, and controlling?

2. How is Antioco trying to give Blockbuster a competitive advantage?

NOTES

SWOT analysis SWOT 分析。这是一项管理工具，用于组织管理和战略

制定。它能够帮助企业找到其自身的优势（ Strengths ）、弱点（ Weaknesses ）、机会（ Opportunities ）和威胁（ Threats ）。