What are the four basic activities that comprise the management process

Chapter 1

Discussion Questions 1, 3, 5, 7, 9

Pages 28-29

Week/Session 1

Questions for Review

1. What are the four basic activities that comprise the management process? How are they related to one another?

" The four basic activities that comprise the management process are as follows:

Planning and Decision Making, Organizing, Leading, and Controlling. Managers engage in these activities to combine human, financial, physical, and information resources efficiently (using resources wisely and in a cost-effective way) and effectively (making the right decisions and successfully implementing them) and to work toward achieving the goals of the organization.

Planning and Decision Making set the organization's goals and decides how best to achieve them. Organizing then determines how best to group activities and resources. Leading motivates members of the organization to work in the best interests of the organization. Controlling monitors and corrects ongoing activities to facilitate goal attainment."

3. Briefly describe the ten managerial roles identified by Mintzberg. Give an example of each.

"Mintzberg concluded that managers play ten different roles and that these roles fall into three basic categories: Interpersonal, Informational, and Decisional.

There are three Interpersonal roles in the manager's job:

Figurehead: Taking visitors to dinner, attending ribbon-cutting ceremonies, etc.

Leader: Hiring, training, and motivating employees.

Liaison: Serving as a coordinator or link between people, groups, or organizations.

There are three Informational roles in the manager's job:

Monitor: Actively seeking information that may be of value.

Disseminator: Transmitting relevant information back to others in the workplace.

Spokesperson: Formally relaying information to people outside the unit or outside the organization.

There are four Decisional roles in the manager's job:

Entrepreneur: Voluntarily initiating change.

Disturbance Handler: Handling such problems as strikes, copyright infringements, or problems in public relations or corporate image.

Resource Allocator: Deciding how resources are distributed, and with whom he or she will work most closely.

Negotiator: Enters into negotiations with other groups or organizations as a representative of the company."

Questions for Analysis

5. The text notes that management is both a science and an art. Is one of these more important than the other? Under what circumstances might one characteristic be more important than the other?

"The effective practice of management requires a synthesis of science and art, that is, a blend of rational objectivity and intuitive insight. Most managers attain their skills and positions through a combination of education and experience.

Science and Art are equally important in a managerial role.

Many management problems and issues can be approached in ways that are rational, logical, objective, and systematic. Managers gather data, facts, and objective information. They can use quantitative models and decision-making techniques to arrive at "correct" decisions. And, they need to take such a scientific approach to solving problems whenever possible, especially when they are dealing with relatively routine and straightforward issues.

Even though managers may try to be scientific as much as possible, they must often make decisions and solve problems on the basis of intuition, experience, instinct, and personal insights. Relying heavily on conceptual, communication, interpersonal, and time-management skills, for example, a manager may have to decide between multiple courses of action that look equally attractive. And even 'objective facts' may prove to be wrong. Thus, managers must blend an element of intuition and personal insight with hard data and objective facts."

7. Some people argue that CEO's in the United States are paid too much. Find out the pay for a CEO and discuss whether you think he or she is overpaid.

The New York Stock Exchange pays almost $140 million in accrued savings, benefits and incentives to Chairman and Chief Executive Richard Grasso.

Grasso has been chairman and chief executive officer of the New York Stock Exchange since June 1995. He became executive vice chairman in 1991 and is the first member of the NYSE's management to be elected to any of these positions in the NYSE's history. Grasso joined the Exchange in 1968 and has worked his way up through the years. He has served as director of listings and marketing, in charge of adding qualified prospects to the NYSE's list of companies. Mr. Grasso became executive vice president, marketing group, and then executive vice president, capital markets, with responsibility for all financial products and the market data group.

Among his extensive and impressive list of accomplishments, Grasso serves on the board of directors of The Home Depot Inc. He serves as the vice chairman of the National Italian American Foundation, and on the Board of the Congressional Medal of Honor Foundation just to name a few. Mr. Grasso received honorary Doctor of Laws degrees from Fordham University School of Law, Pepperdine University Graziadio School of Business and La Salle University, and an honorary Doctor of Commercial Science degree from New York University and Pace University.

No, I do not think Dick Grasso is overpaid due to the fact he has obviously earned his keep. He laid the necessary groundwork in order to achieve ultimate success.

Questions for Application

9. Locate a recent business management publication like Fortune, Business Week, or Forbes. Read an article in the magazine that profiles a specific manager or executive. Identify as many examples in the article as you can illustrate management functions, roles, and/or skills.

"Ms. Larissa Herda took the helm of Time Warner Telecom Inc., as President and CEO, on June 22, 1998. She was elected Chairman of the Time Warner Telecom Inc. Board of Directors effective June 7, 2001, and currently holds the title of Chairman, President and CEO. Ms. Herda served as the company's Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing from March 1, 1997 to her appointment as chief executive.

Within weeks of Ms. Herda becoming President and CEO, Time Warner Telecom issued $400 million of Senior Notes, and in May 1999 completed a $290 million IPO. Ms. Herda has since raised a total of nearly $3 billion in the public and debt markets. This financing and the company's positive EBITDA position, make it a fully-funded entity.

Under Ms. Herda's direction, the Time Warner Telecom has introduced data and IP products, expanded its optical network footprint, launched switched telephone services, acquired a regional Internet Service Provider, and turned-up a national IP backbone. In January 2001, Time Warner Telecom completed the purchase of substantially all assets of GST Telecommunications Inc. for $690 million. With this transaction and Time Warner Telecom's expansion into five additional markets, the company offers fiber-based, metro-area broadband networks and services to business customers in 44 U.S. markets."