Saturday, November 29, 2008

Kanwal irfan's summary of Chapter 1

WHO ARE MANAGERS?

Manager: it is some1 who coordinates & overseas the work of others so that the organization goals are achieved.

Types of mangers:
1: Top managers: these managers are responsible 4 making decision, setting goals & planning of the organization which will affect the entire organization.
2: Middle managers: they are b/w the top & 1st line managers, they decide how the 1st line managers will work & actually work 4 the top managers.
3: 1st line managers: managers at the lower level of organization that manage the work of non managerial employees.

WHAT IS MANAGEMENT?

Management: coordinating & overseeing the work of others so that the activities are completed effectively & accurately.
Effeciency: doing things right or getting the most output from the least amount of inputs.
Effectiveness: completing activities so that organizational goals are achieved.

WHAT MANAGERS DO?

Management functions:

Planning: defining goals,making strategy,developing plans to coordinate activities.
Organizing: arranging and organizing structuring work to accomplish the organization goals.
Leading: it is working and dealing with and through people to achieve organization goals.
Controlling: it involves monitoring comparing and correcting work/performance.

MANAGEMENT ROLES:

Interpersonal roles: people and their duties are involvedand they are ceremonial and symbolic in nature.
Informational roles: collecting,receiving and giving information.
Decisional roles: these involve choices.

MANAGEMENT SKILLS:

Technical skills: specific job knowledge and techniques needed to proficiently perform specific tasks.
Human skills: the ability to deal properly and efficiently with other people and group.
Conceptual skills: to know the problems and have skills to conceptualize with abstract and complex situations.

WHAT IS ORGANIZATION?

ORGANIZATION:
A delebrate arrangement of people to accomplish some special people.

WHY WE NEED TO STUDY MANAGEMENT?

UNIVERSALITY OF MANAGEMENT:
The reality that management is needed in all types and sizes of organizations, at all organizational levels, in all organizational areas, and in organizations in all countries around the globe.
Reality of work: either manage or be managed.
Challenges and rewards of being a manager.

summary of chapter 7

In this chapter we will look at the contemporary issues in planing.Planning is actually defining organization goals. Planning can be formal or informal. By planning managers define how the goals will be reached. Formal planning has gained importance now a days,bcoz it provides direction, reduces uncertanity, minimizes waste & redundancy, establishes goals associated with +tive financial results.Managers stratergize on the basis of goals & plans. Goals are desired outcomes for individuals,groups or entire organizations.goals are of two types: strategic and real.Plans are the documents that outline now goals are going to be met.Plans are of many types:-1.breadth plans :include strategic or operational plans.(which specify how the overall goals are to be achieved.)2.Time frame includes short terms plans (covering 1 year) and long term plans (with a time frame beyond 3 years.)3.Specificity including directional or specific plans.Directional plans are flexible and set out general guidelines.specific plans are clearly definedand leave no room for interpretation.4.Frequency of use including single use plan or standing.single use is a one time plan specially designed to meet the need of a unique situation.Standing is an ongoing plan.they provide guidance for activities performed repeatedlyManager set goals mostly using taditional methods.it is an approach to set goals at the top level of organization and then broken into subgoals for each level of organizaion.If the goals are properly defined people will get a close conection of their result and they make strong connections with the company and their job.If hireachyof goals is clearly defined a mean and chain is formed.but if not clearly defined goals lose clarity and unity.Management by objective is a processof setting mutually agreed - upon goals and using those goals to evaluate employee performance .It has 4 elements :1.Goal specificity. 2.Participative decision making. 3.explicite time period. 4.Performance fedback.Characteristics of well defined goals stated in terms of outcomes,measurable and quantifiable,clear time frame,challenging but attainale are communicated to all organizational members.Managers plan developing strategy is base influenced by contingency factors:1.Level in the organization.2.Environmental uncertanity.3.Commitment concept.Managers approach planning is two ways basically.1.Formal planning department (A group of planning specialist whose sole responsibility is helping to write organizational plans.2.Involving more organizational members in process.In planning managers have to face some of the contemporary factors.The criticism which people make or employees make on a company or manager planning.Following may be criticism made by employees:1.Plan formal planning will create rigidity.2.Itcannot be developed for dynamic environment.3.Can't replace intution and creativity.4.Focuses on today,not tomorrow.5.Reinforces success which can lead to failure .6.Planning is not enough.Therefore this chapter explains us alot about planning and clears up(our concept) or way of thinking about planning and its importance.
Posted by kanwal irfan at 11:04 AM

Kanwal irfan's summary of Chapter 6

In this chapter we will look at the ways manager make decisions & basis of manager's job.
Decision: it is a choice 4m two or more alternatives.
Decision making process: a set including 8 steps is the decision making process.

HOW DO MANAGERS MAKE DECISIONS?

1: Identification of a problem: to look at the main cause of the requirement
e.g the sales rep of a manager need new computers.
2: Identification of decision criteria: to observe decision criteria to see memory, display quality, battery life & warrenty of computers.
3: Allocating weights to the criteria: to give weights to the following
e.g memory & storage 10
battery life 8
carryng weight 6
warranty 4
display quality 3
4: Developing alternatives: it requires the decision maker to list viable alternatives that could resolve the problem.
5: Analyzing alternative: by identifying decision criteria the strengths & weaknesses of each alternative become evident.
6: Selecting an alternative: it depends on the quality criteria.
7: Implementing the alternative: means putting decisions into action.
8:Evaluating decision effectiveness: means taking benefit giving input & geting output.

HOW DECISIONS ARE MADE?

Decision making is important in a managers job.
let us see 3 prespectives on hiw decisions are made:
1: Rational decision making: decision making behaviour where decisions are consistant & value maximizing with inspecified constraints.
2: Bounded rationality: decision making behaviour that is rational but limited by an individuals ability to pocess information.
3: Intuitive decision making: making decisions on the basis of experience, feelings & accumulated judgements.

TYPES OF PROBLEMS & DECISIONS:

Structured problems: a straight 4ward, familiar & easily defined problem.
Programed decision: a reptative decision that can be handled by a routine approach.
it has 3 types:
1: Procedure: a series of sequential steps that can be used to respond a well structured problem.
2: Rule: an explict statement that tells a manager what they can do.
3: Policy: a guideline 4 making decisions.

Unstrctured problems: problems that are new or unusual & 4 which information is ambiguous or incomplete.
Non programmed decision: a unique decision that requires a custom made solution.

THE DECISIONS UNDER WHICH MANAGERS MAKE DECISIONS:

Certanity; a situation in which a manager can make accurate decisions bcoz all outcomes are known.
Risk; a situation in which the decision maker is able to estimate the likelihood of certain outcomes.
Uncertanity: a situation in which a decision maker has neither certanity nor reasonable probability estimates available.

HOW DECISION MAKING STYLE A MANAGER DECISION MAKING?

Directive style: a decision making style characterised by low tolerance for ambiguity & a rational way of thinking.
Analytic style: a decision maing style characterised by a high tolerance 4 ambiguity & a rational way of thinking.
Conceptual style: a decision making style characterised by a high tolerance 4 ambiguity & an intuitive way of thinking.
Behavioral style: a ddecision making style characterised by a low tolerance 4 ambiguity & an intuitive way of thinking.

THE ERRORS AFFECTING DECISION MAKING:

1:Overconfidence
2:Anchoring affect
3:Confirmation
4:Sunk costs
5:Representation
6:Self serving
7:Immediate gratification
8:Selective perception
9:Framing
10:Availability
11;Randomness
12:Hindsight.

WHY MANAGERS NEED TO KNOW ABOUT MAKING DECISIONS IN TODAY'S WORLD?

* To understand cultural differences.
*To know when its time to call it quits.
*To use an affective decision making process.
*To develop highly reliable orgnization.