Lecture 2

Basics about Management

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 Outline
I. Definitions of management
II. Key skills and qualities of managers
III. Management activities
IV. Approaches to management

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 I. Definitions of management

1. Key definitions
– Management is essentially an integrating activity to
help reconcile needs of people at work with
requirements of the organization. The process through
which efforts of members of the organization are
coordinated, directed and guided towards the
achievement of organizational goals (Mullins, 2019,
p.639).
– A manager is a person responsible for the work
performance of group members and has formal
authority to commit organizational resources (Dubrin,
2012).

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 I. Definitions of management

2. What managers should do?

Druckers (1977) identifies three tasks, equally
important but essentially different, that have to be
performed by managers:
– Fulfilling the specific purpose and mission of the
institution, whether business enterprise, hospital or
university.
– Making work productive and the worker achieving.
– Managing social impacts and social responsibilities.

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 I. Definitions of management

3. Key roles of manager

Mintzberg (1973) recognizes that people who ‘manage’ have
formal authority over the unit they command and this leads to a
special position of status in the organization.
 As a result of this formal authority and status, managerial
activities can be seen as a set of ten managerial roles, which
may be divided into three groups:
– Interpersonal roles: relations with other people arising from the
manager’s status and authority
– Informational roles: relate to the sources and communication of
information arising from the manager’s interpersonal roles
– Decisional roles involve the making of strategic organizational decisions
on the basis of the manager’s status and authority, and access to
information

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 I. Definitions of management

Figure 1: Ten managerial roles by Mintzberg (University of Minnesota, 2015. p.9)

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 II. Key skills and qualities of managers

Work in pair or a small group then share the results with the class
- List out the as many key skills and qualities as possible of a
good manager in 5 mins
- What is the most important skill and quality that you believe
every manager should possess?

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 II. Key skills and qualities of managers

1. Five key managerial skills:

– Technical skills involves an understanding of and proficiency
in a specific activity (including methods, processes,
procedures or techniques).
– Interpersonal (or HR) skill is a manager’s ability to work
effectively as a team member and to build cooperative
effort in the unit.
Important components of interpersonal skills are:
• Communication skills
• Multiculturalism (i.e. the ability to work effectively and
conduct business with people from different cultures)

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 II. Key skills and qualities of managers

1. Five key managerial skills (cont.):

– Conceptual skill is the ability to see the organization as a
total entity (the “big picture”). Needed for strategic
planning.
– Diagnostic skill is investigating a problem and decide on and
implement a remedy.
– Political skill is to acquire power necessary to reach
objectives; establish the right connections and impress the
right people.
 Understanding of people is required and this skill
should be a supplement to job competence.

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 II. Key skills and qualities of management

2. Qualities of managers:

Figure 2: Composite list of basic managerial qualities (Coursebook, p.402)

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 III. Management activities/functions

The Five Functions of Management model was developed by

Henry Fayol in the early 20th century (1916) in his book “General
and Industrial Management”. He was the first to identify the
major functions of management.
The five functions of management are:
• Forecasting and planning (the central function)
– examining the future
– deciding what needs to be achieved
– developing a plan of action.
• Organizing
– providing the material and human resources
– building the structure to carry out the activities of the
organization.

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 III. Management activities/functions

The five functions of management (cont.)

• Command
– maintaining activity among personnel
– getting the optimum return from all employees in the
interests of the whole organization.
• Co-ordination
– unifying and harmonizing all activities and efforts of the
organization to facilitate its working and success.
• Control
– verifying that everything occurs in accordance with plans,
instructions, established principles and expressed command

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 III. Management activities/functions

Figure 3: Fayol’s five functions of management (SlideSalad, 2021)

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 IV. Approaches to management
Task orientation vs. relationship orientation

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 IV. Approaches to management (cont.)

1. Task – oriented management

• Task orientation: behavioral approach in which the manager
focuses on the tasks that need to be performed in order to
meet certain goals, or to achieve a certain performance
standard.
• Pros:
– Help make sure that things get done in a manner that is both
proficient and on time every time.
– These managers usually create clear, easy-to-follow work
schedules with specific requirements and deadlines.
– The pros of this leadership style are that it maintains high
standards with optimal efficiency.
– Employees who need structure and who struggle with managing
their time work best under this kind of task-oriented leadership,
because it’s more organized and is deadline driven.

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 IV. Approaches to management (cont.)

1. Task – oriented management

• Cons:
– The negatives of task-oriented leadership are that it can lead to a
lack of employee autonomy and creativity, which can result in low
morale in the office. When an employee has to work under very
strict deadlines and excessive task orientation, it can bring the
company culture down. Employees who are self-motivated tend
to rebel in this type of environment.
– The lack of creativity under excessively task-oriented management
can have a negative effect on a company’s products as well, since
it tends to deaden innovation. When a manager is too task-
oriented, the cons can sometimes outweigh the positives.

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 IV. Approaches to management (cont.)

2. Relationship – oriented management

• Relationship orientation: behavioral approach in which the
manager focuses on the motivation and the general well-being
of the team members.
• Pros:
– A people-oriented management style tends to energize employees
because it makes them feel appreciated for the work they do.
– One of the biggest benefits of people-oriented management is
that the focus on employee relationships makes employees feel
that they make a difference in the company.
– And better, more effective efforts come from people who feel that
they’re a part of a company’s success.

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 IV. Approaches to management (cont.)

2. Relationship – oriented management

• Cons:
– People-oriented management comes with a number of
challenges. Sometimes employees may feel that the
responsibilities they’ve been given are overwhelming, and
they may need more direction.
– Ineffective decisions may result if the focus is consistently
put on the manager and employee relationships, rather than
the important business decisions that need to be made.

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 IV. Approaches to management

Task orientation Relationship orientation

Emphasis Work facilitation, Goal Interaction facilitation, team
setting and a clear plan members and
to achieve goals communication within
Focus Structure, roles and Relationship, well-being
tasks and motivation
Priority Producing desired Fostering positive
results relationships
Behavior Strict use of schedules, Interaction facilitation, team
step-by-step plans and a members and
punishment/incentive communication within
system

Table 1: Comparison of task-orientation and relationship-orientation approaches

(Peak Focus, 2021)

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 Class activity

Personal skills and employability exercise (Coursebook, p.407-408)

• Objectives
Completing this exercise should help you to enhance the following skills:
– Act in the role of the manager to handle a number of real-life situations.
– Conduct management–staff interviews and discussions.
– Review critically your ability to deal with emotionally difficult situations.
• Exercise
Given below are a number of real-life situations. You are required to think through
each one and explain how you as the manager might best handle the situation/the
discussion with your staff member. Share your responses with your classmates.
– Situation 1: One of your employees who is hard-working and conscientious with
tasks continually arrives late for work. This is the sixth time this has happened.
Their excuse is that they have to take their child to nursery because they are
getting divorced and their spouse refuses to do this task.

– Situation 4: You overhear a member of your department commenting that ‘you

have no idea about the technical complexity of their work, and don’t know how
you are able to manage a department like this!’

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 Class activity (cont.)

After complete the exercise, please discuss:

• How would you summarize the essential nature of the
manager–subordinate relationship?
• Using your own examples, explain the importance of
using appropriate approaches when dealing with
potentially difficult situations.
• What have you learned about your potential skills of
effective management of people?

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 Essential readings
• Chapter 10: Managing people at work
Mullins, L. J. (2019) Organizational Behavior in the Workplace
12th Ed. Harlow: Pearson
• Chapter 1: What is manager’s job?
DuBrin, A. (2012). Management Essentials. 9th ed. Canada:
Cengage Learning.
This lecture is relevant to Learning Outcome 1 of the course.

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