Topic One NATURE OF MANAGEMENT
Learning Outcomes
Analyse the role that business organisations play in modern economy.
Evaluate the different levels and kinds of management in an organisation.
Examine managerial roles performed by managers.
Evaluate managerial skills needed at the different levels of management.
Analyse the major challenges faced by management in SA.
Introduction
Organisation acquire human, financial, physical & information resources in
order to produce a product / service for which there is a need in society.
An organisations that satisfy the complex needs of society, they depend on
business.
Government organisations such:
Hospitals and clinics provide health care.
South African Police Services provide protection against crime.
Municipalities provide water and electricity.
Non-profit organisations also help to satisfy society’s needs.
ROLE OF BUSINESS ORGANISATIONS IN MODERN
SOCIETY
In any organisation, whether private or public is complex because of
the needs of society through the utilisation of resources, namely:
People (human resources with specific knowledge, skills, abilities)
Money (capital of financial resources)
Raw materials (physical resources)
Knowledge (information resources)
Fundamental Management Functions
Planning: Involves the process of defining goals, establishing strategy for
achieving those goals, & developing plans to integrate & coordinate activities.
Organising: Includes the process of determining what tasks are to be done,
who is to do them, how the tasks are to be grouped, who reports to whom at
what level.
Leading /Commanding: Influencing of people so that they will contribute to
organisation and group goals. Involves motivating, communicating employees to
accomplish goals & objectives of an organisation.
Controlling: Measuring & correcting of activities of subordinates to ensure that
events conform to plans. Measures performance against goals & puts in motion
actions to correct deviation, helps ensure accomplishment of plans.
Different types & levels of Management
Levels of Management Types of Management
Top Level Management Board of directors, managing directors or
executive committee members.
Middle Level Management Consists of managers such as personnel,
production, sales, marketing, resource,
finance etc.
Lower Level Management Consists of foreman, supervisors, daily
labourers etc.
Top Level Management
Final authority and responsibility of the management process rests on them.
They are responsible for the business as a whole. It is concerned with long term
planning.
Also monitors the environment within which the organization operates.
Examples: Board of directors, partners, managing director, chief executives, as
well as management committees .
Middle Level Management
Is responsible for specific departments of the organisation and is primarily
concerned with implementing the strategic plan formulated by top
management.
The middles management consists of heads such as the marketing,
purchasing and personnel manager.
The responsibility of the middle management is medium/ long term planning
and organising within the own functional areas.
Lower Level Management
Is responsible for even smaller segments of the organisation, namely the different
sections within an organisation.
Lower management is often called line management; note that Supervisors &
foremen are included in lower management.
Their duties involve the day-to-day activities of a particular section.
First-line managers deal with the monthly, weekly and daily management of their
sections.
Role of Managers
1.Decisional Role
2.Interpersonal Role
3. Informational Role
DIFFERENT MANAGERIAL SKILLS
Conceptual skills: Involves the managers planning abilities and
thinking.
Interpersonal skills: Ability to work with other people, managers
should be able to communicate with and motivate groups.
Technical skills: How one has to use the knowledge & ability or
technique of a particular discipline.
Conceptual skill
Allows manager's ability to see the organisation as a whole, as a complete
entity.
Involves understanding how organisational units work together & how the
organisation fits into its competitive environment.
This skill is still necessary for middle /supervisory managers, who must use
this skill to envision, example how work units & teams are best organised.
Interpersonal skill
Involves human relations, or the manager's ability to interact effectively
with organizational members.
Communication is a critical part of interpersonal skill, and an inability to
communicate effectively can prevent career progression for managers.
Managers who have excellent technical skill, but poor interpersonal skill
are unlikely to succeed in their jobs.
Technical skill
Involves understanding and demonstrating proficiency in a particular
workplace activity.
Technical skills are things such as using a computer word processing
program, creating a budget, operating a piece of machinery, or preparing a
presentation.
Technical skills used will differ in each level of management.
SCOPE OF MANAGEMENT
Study of management traditionally focused on business management & therefore, the
management of business organisations.
Effective and efficient management practice is equally important in smaller business
organisations as well as in non-profit organisations.
Good management practice is applicable to every organisation where one, two or more people
work together to achieve a set of goals.
Scope of management practice is virtually unlimited or necessary to the success of all kinds and
sizes of organisation.
Prescribed Textbook
Smit, P. 2016. Management Principles: A Contemporary Edition for Africa. 6th
ed. South Africa: Juta Publishers.
