Short Question and Answers

Short Question and Answers

1 Define Management? It is a process of designing and maintaining an environment in which individuals working together in groups efficiently accomplish selected aims. 2 Name the various managerial functions? Planning, Organizing, Staffing, Leading, Controlling. 3 What are the different managerial skills.? Technical skills,Human skills, conceptual skills, Design skills. 4 Define productivity? Productivity is defined as an output to input ratio within a time period with consideration for quality.

Essentials of Directing

Essentials of Directing

Directing is said to be a process in which the managers instruct, guide and oversee the performance of the workers to achieve predetermined goals. Directing is said to be the heart of management process. Planning, organizing, staffing have got no importance if direction function does not take place. Directing initiates action and it is from here actual work starts. Direction is said to be consisting of human factors. In simple words, it can be described as providing guidance to workers is doing work. In field of management, direction is said to be all those activities which are designed to encourage the subordinates to work effectively and efficiently. According to Human, “Directing consists of process or technique by which instruction can be issued and operations can be carried out as originally planned” Therefore, Directing is the function of guiding, inspiring, overseeing and instructing people towards accomplishment of organizational goals. Directing means giving instructions, guiding, counselling, motivating and leading the staff in an organisation in doing work to achieve Organisational goals. Directing is a key managerial function to be performed by the manager along with planning, organising, staffing and controlling. From top executive to supervisor performs the function of directing and it takes place accordingly wherever superior – subordinate relations exist. Directing is a continuous process initiated at top level and flows to the bottom through organisational hierarchy.

Decision Making Model

How to make good decisions If you want to lead effectively, you need to make good decisions. If you can learn to do this in a timely and well- considered way, then you can lead your term to spectacular and well deserved success. However, if you dither or make poor decisions, your team risks failure and your time as a leader will probably be brutally short. The techniques in this section help you to make the best decisions possible with the information you have available. They help you map out the likely consequences of decisions, work out the importance of individual factors, and choose the best courses of action. The section starts with some simple techniques that help you to make decisions where many factors are claiming your attention. It then moves on the explain more powerful techniques, such as use of decision trees, 6 thinking hats and cost/ benefit analysis, which are routinely used in commercial decision making.

Decision making The techniques in the section help you to make the best decisions possible with the available information. With these tools you will be able to map out the likely consequences of decisions, work out the importance of individual factors, and choose the best course of action to take. Selecting the most important change to make Evaluating the relative importance of different options Selecting between good options Choosing between options by projecting likely outcomes Weighing the pros and cons of decision Analyzing the pressures for and against change Looking at a decision from all points of view Seeing whether a change is worth making

Organizing Process

Delegation and decentralization Definitions According to Me Farland “delegation is the primary formal mechanism by which the net work authority relationship is established”. According to Hodge and Johnson “a process whereby a superior divides his total work assignment between himself and subordinate manager or operative personal in order to achieve other operative and management specialization". According to Terry “conferring authority from the executive or organizational unit to another in order to accomplish particular assignment”.

Elements of delegation Assignment of the duties and responsibilities - this work is being done only at the time when a superior has no time to accomplish all the work. The superior automatically assign the work to the subordinates. Delegation of authority - if the work is assigned to any subordinate, there will be a need for to accomplish it. Accountability - accountability means that the subordinate is answerable to his immediate superior. If the subordinate has not accomplished the work then the superior is answerable to the management.

Principles of delegation Delegation to go by results expected - the nature of this duty has equal rank with the extent of delegation of authority. The superior has to know what he expect from the subordinate before delegation of authority. Non delegation of responsibility - a superior can delegate authority but not his responsibility. The superior has to be in touch with the subordinate to know the duties are performed and the authority is exercised properly the ultimate responsibility for the performance of duties remains with the superior. Unity of command - the principle of unity of command insists that a subordinate should be assigned duties only by one superior and he is accountable to the concerned one.

Definition of limitation of authority - A person knows well that an authority alone can delegate the authority properly. There should be in written manuals which help the person to understand the authority in right direction.

Planning

What is Planning Planning is decidingvin advance what is to be done. It involves the selection of objectives, policies and programmes from among alternatives. What should a plan be? A plan should be a realistic view of the expectations. Depending upon the activites, a plan can be long range, intermediate range or short range. It is the framework within which it must operate. For management seeking external support, the plan is the most important document and key to growth. Preparation of a comprehensive plan will not gurantee success, but lack of a sound plan will almost certainly ensure failure. Purpose of Plan Just as no two organizations are alike, so also their plans. It is therefore important to prepare a plan keeping in view the necessities of the enterprise. A plan is an important aspect of business. It serves the following three critical functions: Helps management to clarify, focus, and research their businesses or project's development and prospects. Provides a considered and logical framework within which a business can develop and pursue business strategies over the next three to five years. Offers a benchmark against which actual performance can be measured and reviewed. Importance of the Planning Process A plain can play a vital role in helping to avoid mistakes or recognize hidden oppurtunities. Preparing a satisfactory plan of the organization is essential. The planning process enables management to understand more clearly what they want to achieve, and how and when they can do it. A well-prepared business plan demonstrates that the managers know the business and that they have thought through its development in terms of products, management, finances, and most importantly, markets and competition. Planning helps in forecasting the future, makes the future visible to some extent. It bridges between where we are and where we want to go. Planning is looking ahead.

Management Theory

MANAGEMENT THEORY Introduction
Classical Approach To Management
The history and theory of management are important to managers for various reasons:
They help managers understand current developments and avoid mistakes of the past They foster an understanding and appreciation of current situations and developments and facilitates the prediction of future conditions They help managers organize information and approach problems systematically. Without knowledge of theory, managers would be using guess work, hunches, intuition and hopes which may not be useful in the present complex and dynamic organization.
The practice of management can be traced to the beginning of man.  Egyptian, Greek, Roman and Chinese civilizations all have records indicating the importance of management. (The writings of Sun Tzu on the ‘Art of War’, written 2500 years ago are a lesson on strategic management) In Greece, Socrates the famous philosopher observed that “the management of private affairs such as households is not different from the conduct of public affairs except in magnitude”  The biblical Moses used the Principle of delegation and hierarchy of command to manage the Israelites during the exodus. (Exodus 18: 1-27). Joshua used the management techniques to recruit soldiers for war. The Roman Catholic Church over the centuries has effectively used the principles of division of labor and hierarchy of authority. The Roman empire colonized many parts of the world for many centuries by effectively using basic management ideas such as scalar principle and delegation of authority.  Niccolo Machiavelli in ‘The Prince’ gives relevant ideas on how to develop and use management skills.  He suggests to ‘The Prince’ ideas on – consent of the majority, inspiration of people to greater achievement, offer of rewards and incentives and taking advantage of all opportunities. The above early influences on management, however, do not give much insight into the principles of management as they are not organized and the relationships among various variables are not explained.  The knowledge is based on trial and error and experience rather than organized scientific knowledge. It was only in the late 19th century that large business organizations requiring systematic administration started to emerge.  We shall focus on two early schools of management.
Classical management theory Human  relations neo-classical theory

Introduction to Management