Copyright 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.

publishing as Prentice Hall

CHAPTER 1
Introducing Modern Management: Concepts and Skills
CHAPTER SUMMARY
Management may be defined in different ways, but essentially it involves the process of reaching
organizational goals by working with and through people and other organizational resources.
The management process is composed of the four integrally-related management functions:
(1) planning, (2) organizing, (3) influencing, and (4) controlling. These functions are performed in
all types of organizations.
These functions are interrelated because the performance of one depends upon the performance of
the others as organizational goals are pursued. In pursuing those goals, management uses four
basic types of organizational resources: (1) human, (2) monetary, (3) raw materials, and
(4) capital. Managerial efficiency and effectiveness are important in the utilization of these
resources.
Career planning is an important element of good management. Management careers are
characterized by a series of evolutionary stages: (1) exploration, (2) establishment,
(3) maintenance, and (4) decline. To enhance movement through these stages, an individual must
be proactive instead of reactive.
Important issues that should be addressed when making the decision to choose management as a
career include womens role in management, the problems for dual-career couples, and the
relationship between the classic and the contemporary management viewpoints.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES
1. An understanding of the importance of management to society and individuals
2. An understanding of the role of management
3. An ability to define management in several different ways
4. An ability to list and define the basic functions of management
5. Working definitions of managerial effectiveness and managerial efficiency
6. An understanding of basic management skills and their relative importance to managers
7. An understanding of the universality of management
8. Knowledge of skills that help managers become successful
9. Insights concerning what management careers are and how they evolve
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CHALLENGE CASE
UNIVERSAL OPENS HARRY POTTER THEME PARK
This case describes various modern management challenges that Universal management strived to
meet in building a new Harry Potter theme park that opened in Orlando, Florida in June 2010. The
remaining material in this chapter explains the basic concepts of modern management and helps to
develop the corresponding management skill that students will need to meet such challenges
throughout their career.
See all related teaching notes for Challenge Case in the Management Skill Activities

EXPLORING YOUR MANAGEMENT SKILL: PART 1

CHAPTER OUTLINE
II.

THE IMPORTANCE OF MANAGEMENT

A. Managers influence all phases of modern organizations.
B. Society needs a steady stream of managers to guide its organization.
C. Many people earn their living as managers. (See Fig. 1.1)

III.

THE MANAGEMENT TASK

B.

C.

D.
E.

A. The Role of Management

1. To guide organizations toward goal accomplishment
2. To combine and use resources for attainment of organizational purpose
Defining Management
1. Management is defined as the process of reaching organizational goals by
working with and through people and other organizational resources.
The Management Process: Management Functions
1. Planning
2. Organizing
3. Influencing
4. Controlling
Management Process and Goal Attainment
1. The management functions are interrelated and cannot be separated.
2. The functions must be practiced, not just defined and related.
Management and Organizational Resources
1. Organizational resources available for production include human, monetary, raw
material, and capital resources.
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2. Use of resources involves managerial effectiveness, efficiency, and skills.

a. Managerial effectiveness involves using organizational resources to meet
organizational goals.
b. Managerial efficiency involves the amount of resources used for what is
desired.
IV.

THE UNIVERSALITY OF MANAGEMENT

A. Management principles are applicable to all organizations and organizational levels.
B. Theory of characteristics: Fayol and Forbes feel that all managers can benefit from
certain physical, mental, and personal characteristics.

V.

MANAGEMENT SKILL: THE KEY TO MANAGEMENT SUCCESS

A. Defining Management Skill
1. The ability to carry out the process of process of reaching organizational goals by
working with and through people and other organizational resources.
B. Classical View
1. Technical skills-the ability to apply knowledge and expertise to work-related
techniques and procedures
2. Human skills - obtaining cooperation from the team
3. Conceptual skillsi.e., the ability to see the organization as a whole
a. Conceptual skills become more important at higher levels of management.
B. Contemporary View
1. Defining the major activities that managers typically perform
2. Listing the skills needed to carry out these activities
C. Management Skill: A Focus of This Book
1. Management Functions and Challenges Covered in This Text and
Corresponding Management Skills Emphasized to Help Address Them (see
Table 1.2)

Class Discussion Highlight

Modern Research and Management Skill
Skills Needed to Manage in Vietnam
This paper identifies skills necessary in order to succeed in Vietnam as a manager. Results show
one major difference in Vietnamese manager versus foreign manager opinions. Vietnamese
managers cited communication and cultural skills as being second last in terms of importance.
Foreign managers cited cultural understanding and awareness as the most important skill in
being a successful manager in Vietnam. Class discussion can focus on because the foreign
managers did not grow up in the Vietnamese culture, they have more problems dealing with it
than Vietnamese managers, and therefore see an understanding of the culture as more important
than Vietnamese managers.
VI.

MANAGEMENT CAREERS
A. Definition of career: the sequence of work-related positions over a persons
working life.
B. Careers, Life Stages, and Performance
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C.

1. Exploration stage: at the beginning of the career, one must self-analyze and
examine different jobs
2. Establishment stages: one starts to become more productive
3. Maintenance stage: one may continue to grow, stabilize and maintain
performance, or become stagnant
4. Declining stage: ones productivity declines
Promoting Your Own Career
1. Requires:
a. Tactics
b. Development of a career path
c. Proactively viewing ones self as a business to develop
d. Working for others who can help in the development
D.
Special career issues
1. Women managers now face challenges, but they may have an advantage in the
future business environment, as it will emphasize interrelationships, listening, and
motivation. These are strengths often attributed to women.
2. Dual-career couples: issues include scheduling and prioritizing.

CHALLENGE CASE AND CHALLENGE CASE SUMMARY

NEW HARRY POTTER PARK AT UNIVERSAL
The introductory case involves an organization that would likely be of interest to many students,
perhaps a company whose services they are familiar with. As a result, it may be possible to
stimulate discussion of the case by asking if any of the students have ever visited a Universal
theme park. Probe them about their experiences at these parks. Have they ever considered the
challenge of managing such a company?
The case describes the beginning of the worlds first fully immersive Harry Potter themed park.
With more than 300 million Harry Potter books sold in more than 63 foreign languages, it is
estimated that 8 out of 10 people already recognize the Harry Potter name. The power of the
Harry Potter brand is an important customer draw for Universal. However, going from an idea to
a reality of a profitably run theme park is a formidable challenge. The success of meeting this
challenge rests squarely in the hands of management.
The emphasis on the future success of Harry Potter Park gives students a clear understanding
of the companys objectives, and how they must guide its operations in a way that helps the
company reach those objectives in order to remain competitive in the global marketplace.
Management must avoid classic mistakes such as recruiting the wrong employees, failing to create
a motivating work environment, and preventing the development of the park on schedule. Wise
use of management skills and resources, especially the human resources, is essential in order to be
both effective and efficient.
To illustrate the stages which a manager may go through, Marsha Platt is used as example. She is
forty-five years old, has gone through the exploratory stage, and is now in the establishment stage
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moving toward the maintenance stage. The case discusses what she can do to continue to grow
and some of her options as she later goes into the decline stage and perhaps retires. There is an
emphasis on the value of developing management skills even at Platts current career stage. It is to
her advantage to become as skilled as possible at the ability to clarify organizational roles,
encourage innovative thinking, and recognize worthwhile performance of organization members.
CASE QUESTIONS
1. Do you think it will be difficult for you to become a successful manager? Explain.
Responses will vary among students.
2. What do you think you would like most about being a manager? What would you like
least?
Responses will vary among students.
3. As the chief executive at Universal Studios, Tom Williams faces the multiple challenges
of competing in a highly competitive industry; guiding the fortunes of a newly launched
theme park; finding ways to attract visitors; and more. If you were Williams, list and
describe five activities that you think you would have to perform as part of this job.
Responses will vary, however some might include: planning, controlling, influencing,
organizing and directing.
MANAGEMENT SKILLS ACTIVITIES
UNDERSTANDING MANAGEMENT CONCEPTS
Essay questions:
1. How does the management process facilitate creation and operation of purposive
organizations through individual activity?
All organizations exist for certain purposes or goals and managers are responsible for
combining and using organizational resources to ensure that the organizations achieve
their purposes. Management helps organizations achieve their purposes or goals by
assigning activities for the members of the organizations to perform. If the activities are
designed effectively, the output of each worker will contribute to the attainment of
organizational goals.
2. Describe in a sequential order the functions that comprise the management process.
Planning, organizing, influencing/leading/directing, controlling this sequence is to be
maintained in the answer.
Planning Choosing tasks that must be performed to attain organizational goals, outlining
how the tasks must be performed, indicating when they should be performed.
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Organizing Assigning tasks developed under planning function to various individuals or

groups within the organization.
Influencing Guiding the activities of organization members in appropriate directions.
Controlling Measures performance within the organization, compares to standards, and
determines whether modification are necessary.
3. List and define five characteristics that you think you will need as an effective manager of
a company. Why are these characteristics important to possess?
The characteristics most descriptive of an effective manager are: decisive, productive,
well-informed, determined, energetic, creative, intelligent, responsible, enterprising, having
clarity in the thought process, and self-starting Any of these characteristics may be
mentioned they are all important. Effective managers and effective managing will lead
inevitably to the achievement of the purposes and goals for which they are working in the
organization.
4. How does skill-set requirement change through the different levels of management?
As one moves from lower-level management to upper-level management, conceptual skills
become more important and technical skills less important. This is because as managers
move up in an organization, they become less involved with the actual production activity
and more involved with guiding the organization as a whole.
5. In your opinion, should organizations take initiatives in nurturing dual-career couples?
Highlight few ways in which the couples can design coping mechanisms to overcome their
career difficulties.
Responses will vary by student. Some management theorists believe that organizations can
attract and retain the best performers if they consider nurturing dual-career couples.
Coping mechanisms for couples include developing a commitment to the spouses career
and being flexible about handling home and job oriented issues.
EXPLORING YOUR MANAGEMENT SKILL: PART 2
YOUR MANAGEMENT SKILLS PORTFOLIO:
Managing the Blind Pig Bar
Planning Issues to Inspect:
The planning issues to inspect include: type of scheduling system used, influencing issues
to inspection and organizing issues to inspect. Responses will vary.
Assuming that you change the scheduling system used at the Blind Pig, explain how that change
affects your organizing, influencing, and controlling activities.
Organizing, influencing and controlling activities are all interrelated. Changing the
scheduling system would impact these functions.
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EXPERIENTIAL EXERCISE: ASSESSING INEFFICIENCY AT RYAN HOMES

Directions. Read the following scenario and then perform the listed activities. Your instructor may
want you to perform the activities as an individual or within groups. Follow all of your
instructors directions carefully.
Ryan Homes is a home building company that has been building homes in more than 10 states in
the northeastern part of the United States. The company has been in business since 1948 and has
built major housing developments in Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia.
Your group, the newly established Ryan Homes Efficiency Team, is searching for ways to make
your company more efficient. More specifically, you are to focus on making carpenters more
efficient workers. In your company, the job of a carpenter is described as follows:
Carpenters are craftsmen who build things. The occupation rewards those who can combine
precise detail work with strenuous manual labor. For Ryan, carpenters are involved with erecting
and maintaining houses. Carpenters turn blueprints and plans into finished houses. Ryans
carpenters work with supervisors and construction managers on the production of houses
containing different materials including fiberglass, drywall, plastic, and wood. Carpenters use
saws, tape measures, drills, and sanders in their jobs. The job of a carpenter can entail long hours
of physical labor in sometimes unpleasant circumstances. The injury rate among carpenters is
above average. Some carpenters work indoors and are involved in maintenance and refinishing;
others are involved in the creation frame and infrastructure.
Your team is to list five possible ways that carpenters at Ryan homes might be inefficient. In
addition, assuming that each of your possible ways is a reality, suggest a corresponding action(s)
that the company might take to eliminate this inefficiency.
Responses will vary although one example might be safety. The injury rate among carpenters is
above average. The corresponding action the company might take to eliminate this inefficiency is
to do regular safety training programs for carpenters.
CASES
MANAGING ZINGERMANS COMMUNITY
MANAGING ZINGERMANS COMMUNITY OF BUSINESSES
1. Which of the skills listed in Figure 1.8 did the co-founders apply when they made and
implemented the decision to expand into the Zingermans Community of Businesses?
Saginaw and Weinzeig knew that to produce a successful growth change they needed to envision
the change and encourage the risk-taking involved in developing a community of businesses.
They also wanted to encourage innovative thinking by allowing the partners/owners of the new
companies to have their own business visions. They also empowered the new companies to be
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independently operated, while preserving the original Zingermans quality, customer focus,
employee commitment, and community spirit.
2. Why was it important for Zingermans to expand as a way to provide opportunities for
employees and managers to develop their careers?
Annual sales were stagnating and the co-founders feared that management complacency would
allow competitors to start taking away from Zingermans future sales and profits. The employees
and managers needed avenues to continually improve and reach their potentials.
3. On which of the four types of resources do you think Saginaw and Weinzweig rely most
heavily when planning a new business? Explain.
To protect the positive reputation of Zingermans, the co-founders were correctly convinced that
human resource was most critical in expanding companies with the attached good name of
Zingermans. By focusing on encouraging the most innovative new partner/owners to develop
their own visions, the winning Zingermans elements of quality, customer focus, employee
commitment, and community spirit would be maintained.

TEACHING NOTES FOR VIDEONET EXERCISE:

Management Roles: azTeen Magazine
VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS
azTeen Magazine is a newly created publication in the Arizona market. It is written by teenagers
for teenagers. The video features company staff who discuss their managerial roles at azTeen and
how the four functions of managementplanning, organizing, leading, and controllingare
executed in an informal environment.
Discussion Questions
1. Describe the many roles of the azTeen management staff as discussed by Deb Rochford,
Michelle Burgess, and Veronica Sherbina in the video.
Deb Rochford is the founder and publisher of azTeen Magazine. She is in charge of the
overall management of the company, of the hiring and firing of staff, and of the magazine
sales. Michelle Burgess, the editor in chief, is responsible for editing, hiring the teen staff,
performing outreach services to schools, and organizing occasional events for their teen
market. Veronica Sherbina is the associate creative director. She manages photography and
design, holds meetings to determine the future look of the magazine, and manages
production deadlines to ensure on-time delivery of the final product.
2. What overall characteristics are important to azTeen Magazine when hiring teenaged interns?

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According to editor-in-chief Michelle Burgess, a teenaged intern must fit in with the
company culture, which she describes as laidback and fun. Because she hires three interns at
one time, they must be able to work well together and with the rest of the magazine team.
Burgess says she does not hire interns interested in editorial work because, too often, they
are interested only in writing and not in managing the overall business. Instead, she hires
interns interested in public relations and believes they are better at event planning and
meeting deadlines. While quality writing is important to the overall magazine, she believes
dedication to follow-through and meeting deadlines is more important.
3. What standards are used at azTeen Magazine in order to measure organizational performance?
Publisher Deb Rochford measures employee performance by monitoring the magazines
timeliness, its attractiveness, its readability, and its appeal to the teenaged target market. She
also says knows she is doing her best job when she is able to sell enough advertisements to
pay for the magazine and to make money for the company. Editor-in-chief Michelle Burgiss
measures performance by staying attuned to the feedback the magazine and its advertisers
receive following each issue. If the feedback is light, she knows that the magazine didnt
deliver the teen buzz necessary to produce a successful magazine and changes need to be
made.
Internet Activity
Browse the azTeen Magazine website at www.azteenmagazine.com. Roam around the site. Look
at the different types of information and articles available to teens who visit the site. Click on the
About Us and Contact Us links. What evidence do you see that emphasizes the company
culture discussed by Editor-in-chief Michelle Burgess in the video clip? Is the information
presented on the website consistent with the video clip?
The website openly solicits input from local area teens. The content of the magazine is not only
directed at the target audience, but is often created by them as well. In the video, Michelle
Burgess describes the company culture as fun and laid back. These values are definitely
reflected on the contact us page. The photos of each of the company officers demonstrate
their fun nature. One, in particular, is photographed wearing a tiara! Although student answers
may vary, it does appear that the web content is consistent with information presented in the
video clip.