Management Basics and fundamentals

1. Semester I-107
Subject: Management Fundamentals
Unit-1:Basic Concepts, Managing
MBA
External 50 Marks & No Internal Marks
-Prof. Titir Das Sharma

2. Marks and Question type:
• Short questions (S)------(2marks)------------5 Questions
• Medium questions(M)-------(5 marks)----------2 Questions
• Long/Descriptive (L)----------(10 marks)--------3 Questions
**Questions are marked with S, M, L
*** Do not leave any unit as an option. You need to study all units.

3. Questions-
1. What are the skills needed at different management levels? Explain with a diagram. (L)
2. Define managers? (S)
3. Is there some way to classify managers in organizations? (M)
4. Give examples of management as a universal human activity and as a distinct role. (M)
5. Define concept of universality of management? (S)
6. Explain the universal need of management with a diagram. (L)
7. Explain how managers influence others to add value to resources. (M)
8. How does Mintzberg’s theory of management roles complement that which identifies the tasks of management? (L)
9. Is your instructor a manager? Discuss in terms of planning, organizing, leading, and controlling, and of Mintzberg’s
managerial roles (M)
10. Give examples from your experience or observation of each of the four tasks of management using P-O-L-C framework.
(L)
11. Do managers act differently when they work for large organizations rather than smaller ones? (M)
12. What characteristics define an organization? (S)
13. Compare and contrast types of Organizations and organization structures? (L)
14. Elaborate managerial functions at different organization levels? (L)

4. 15. Do managers always plan, organize, lead, and then control?? In practice, what a manager does may not
always happen in this logical and sequential order. Explain. (L)
16. “An organization can have no structure.” Do you agree or disagree with this statement? Explain. (L)
17. Define workplace. (S)
18. What is an organization? (S)
19. Describe the characteristics of a boundaryless organizational structure. (M)
20. What are the common characteristics of an organization? (M)
21. The concept of an organization changing? Today’s organizations are becoming more open, flexible, and
responsive to change. In this context explain how IPL is an organization? (M)
22. What happened to the managerial role? Why is this a crisis point? (L)
23. How is Manager’s Job Changing? (M)
24. Identify 2 approaches to management? Discuss their characteristics and contribution as well as their
limitation. (L)
25. Why has Frederick Taylor been called the father scientific management and Henri Fayol the father of modern
management? Compare their approaches to management. (L)

5. Manager, Workplace, Organization

6. Management- Concept Note

7. What makes someone a manager?
Managers work with and through other people by coordinating employee work activity in
order to accomplish organizational goals. Managers may have personal goals, but
management is not about personal achievement—it is about helping others achieve for the
benefit of the organization as a whole.
What is management and what do managers do?
Management is coordinating work activities of people so that they are done efficiently and
effectively. Efficiency means “doing things right” and getting things done at the least cost.
Effectiveness means “doing the right things” and completing activities that will help
achieve the organization’s goals. To do their jobs, managers plan, organize, lead, and
control. In other words, they set goals and plan how to achieve those goals; they figure out
what tasks need to be done and who should do them; they motivate individuals to achieve
goals and communicate effectively with others; and they put accountability measures into
place to make sure that goals are achieved efficiently and effectively.

8. Who are managers and concept of a manager
a) All managers carry out managerial functions but the time spent for each function may differ. They plan, lead, organize,
and control
b) Mangers differ function wise.
c) Managers vary level wise.
d) The difference in the time spent
controlling varies at various levels
Planning and
strategy
making

9. What are the skills needed at different management levels? Explain with a diagram.as identified by
Robert L. Katz.
* Fourth- ability to design solutions

10. Mintzberg’s
Managerial
Roles

11. Managerial competencies
Communication
Planning and administration competency
Strategic action
Self management
Global awareness
Teamwork competency
The success of a project depends to a great extent on the competence of management. A project which is
considered technically feasible, economically viable & financially sound may run into difficulties, if it is not
backed by efficient management. If the management is incompetent, even a good project may fail. In this
light essential managerial competencies needed-

12. The Universality of Management
Concept:
• Managing is necessary whenever one needs to get things done.
• Practice of consciously and continually shaping organizations.
• Every organization has people who are assigned the responsibility of serving the organization to
achieve its goals.
• These people are managers who are assigned the responsibility.
• No organization can carry on its business without management, which is in turn supervised by
managers.
• Managers execute the five management functions to achieve organizational goals
“Universality of management means that the principles of management are applicable to all types of
organizations and organizational levels.” It indicates that the managers apply the same management
principles and skills in all managerial positions held in different organizations. Universality means the
transferability of management skills across countries and industries. It indicates that management is
common in content and can be applied to all forms of organizations.
So, an industrial manager can manage a charitable organization, a retired army officer can manage a
hospital, a civil servant can manage an industrial company, and so on.

13. Diagram: Universal need of management

14. Managerial functions at different organization levels-
Basic Approach
• Do managers always plan, organize, lead, and then control?? In practice, what a manager does may not always
happen in this logical and sequential order.
• But that reality does not negate the importance of the basic functions managers perform.
FOOD FOR THOUGHT

15. Dimensions of the planning-organizing-leading-controlling (P-O-L-C) framework
of management function.
Case Study-
Goodwill
Industries

16. 1.Any department, organization, undertaking, establishment, enterprise, institution, office, branch, or unit
which is established, owned, controlled, or wholly or substantially financed by funds provided directly or
indirectly by the appropriate Government or the local authority or a Government company or a corporation
or co-operative society is considered a workplace.
2.Any private sector organization or a private venture, undertaking, enterprise, institution, establishment,
society, trust, non-governmental organization, unit, or service provider carrying on commercial,
professional, vocational, educational, entertainment, industrial, health services, or financial activities
including production, supply, sale, distribution or service is a workplace.
3.Hospitals or nursing homes are workplaces.
4.Any sports institute, stadium, sports complex, or competition or games venue, whether residential or not,
used for training, sports, or other related activities comes under a workplace.
5.Any place visited by the employee during employment for working or recreational purposes, including
transportation by the employer for undertaking such a journey, is a workplace.
6.Dwelling place or a house from where the employee works is a workplace.
What is a workplace- definition according to PoSH Act, 2013
(definition according to Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013)

17. What is an organization?
Three common characteristics:
• Distinct purpose- This purpose is typically expressed in terms of a goal or a set of goals that the
organization hopes to accomplish.
• People- One person working alone is not an organization. An organization requires people to
perform the work necessary to achieve its goals.
• Deliberate structure- Whether that structure is open and flexible or traditional and clearly
defined, the structure defines members’ work relationships.
The term organization refers to an entity that has a distinct purpose, includes people or members, and has
some type of deliberate structure.
The concept of an organization changing? Today’s organizations are becoming
more open, flexible, and responsive to change. Have you heard of collocation
offices??
** Is IPL an organization?
FOOD FOR THOUGHT

18. 1 among big 5
technology
companies-
Facebook-
Matrix
Structured
Organization

19. Cloud Kitchen Company:
Zomato- Flat and Matrix
mixed

20. Matrix
Line
Types of Org structures
The matrix organizational structure
resembles a grid in which employees
with similar skills are grouped and
report to more than one manager. This
often includes a functional manager
who oversees projects and their
progress and a product manager who is
responsible for the company's strategy
and success regarding product
offerings. The matrix structure is
typically used by large, multinational
organizations.
In a line structure, authority
within the organization
flows from top to bottom
and there are no specialized
or supportive services.

21. Functional
Divisional
organization is divided into groups by
roles, responsibilities or specialties. For
example, an organization may have
marketing, finance and sales
departments that are each overseen
by a manager who also has a
supervisor that oversees multiple
departments.
In a divisional structure, organizations are split into
divisions based on specific products, services or
geographies. For this reason, this structure is
typically used by large companies that operate in
broad geographic areas or own separate, smaller
companies. Each division has its executive
leadership, departments and resources.

22. Flat
Network
Process

23. Flat structure
In a flat organizational structure, most middle-management levels are removed so there is little separating staff-level
employees from upper management. Employees are given more responsibility and decision-making power without the
usual hierarchical pressures or supervision and can often be more productive. Small companies and early-stage start-ups
mostly use this type of structure because they often have fewer employees and projects to manage. It may also be referred
to as a "horizontal structure."
Process-based structure
In a process-based structure, the organization is designed around the flow of its processes and how the duties performed
by its employees interact with one another. Instead of flowing from top to bottom, this structure outline services from left
to right.
Network structure
In a network structure, managers at an organization will coordinate relationships with internal and external entities to
deliver their products or services. For example, a retail company will focus on selling clothing items but will outsource the
design and production of these items in a partnership with other companies. This structure focuses more on open
communication and relationships than hierarchy.

24. Team-based/Committee
Circular
In a team-based organizational structure,
employees are grouped into skills-based
teams to work on specific tasks while
working toward a common goal. Often, this
is a flexible structure that allows employees
to move from team to team as they
complete projects. This structure focuses on
problem-solving and employee cooperation.
(within a large company mostly these
structure is present)
A circular organizational structure relies on a
hierarchy to depict higher-level employees
within the inner rings of a circle and the
lower-level employees on the outer rings.
Seated at the center of the organization,
leaders do not send orders down the chain of
command but rather outward.

25. MNC- Multinational Organizations- A multinational corporation (MNC) is a broad term normally used to refer to any
and all types of companies that maintain operations in multiple countries but manage them from a base in the home
country. Today, most companies have some type of international dealings.
MDC- Multidomestic Organizations-
Type of Organizations
(continued)
A multidomestic corporation is an MNC that maintains significant
operations in more than one country but decentralizes management to the
local country. This type of organization does not attempt to manage
foreign operations from its home country. Instead, local employees
typically are hired to manage the business, and marketing strategies are
tailored to that country’s unique characteristics.

26. Virtual Organization
Boundaryless Organization
The purpose is to remove barriers between the various departments as well as between domestic and
international operations. It had a model called ‘integration model’, where bonuses were awarded to
employees who not only generated new ideas but also shared them with others.
For example, IBM dropped its organizational structure based on country and reorganized into industry
groups such as business solutions, software, IT services, and financing.

27. What happened to the managerial role? Why is this a crisis point?
The traditional role of the manager evolved in the hierarchical workplaces of the industrial age, but in our fluid,
flatter, post-industrial age that role is beginning to look archaic (old).
1. Process Reengineering- The first wave, process reengineering, began about 1990 and lasted until the early 2000s. It
focused on eliminating bureaucracy and boosting operational efficiencies.
2. Wave of innovation- Digitization, arrived in about 2010. Promisingly, it democratized access to both information
and people. Managers and most importantly CEO’s became could now communicate directly with their entire
workforces, sharing strategies, priorities, and important updates and responding to concerns. No longer a
necessary part of the information loop, managers began to feel a loss of power, control, and status.
3. Agile movement- Agile process changes came which companies began to adopt in the mid to late 2010s. It aimed
to shorten timelines and turbocharge innovation and matching skills to work and assemble project teams on
needed basis. As a result, managers started to lose touch with their reports, who now spent much of their time
under the rotating supervision of the project managers they were temporarily assigned to.
4. Pandemic and remote monitoring- a fourth wave arrived in 2020 with the pandemic, when companies and
employees were forced to embrace the possibilities of flexible work. a fourth wave arrived in 2020 with the
pandemic, when companies and employees were forced to embrace the possibilities of flexible work.

28. How Is the Manager’s Job Changing?,
1
2
3

29. The Telstra experience shows us the benefits of a
radical new organizational design, and the Standard
Chartered and IBM experiences show us that at a
minimum companies can take deliberate steps to
shift managers’ mindsets, energy, and focus.

30. The Importance of Customer Experience in
Management and to Managers
What is a customer experience and why it matters?
Customer experience can be defined as a relationship or experience of the customer while buying the product or getting
service.
According to Gartner’s definition, Customer experience management (CXM) is the discipline of understanding
customers and deploying strategic plans that enable cross-functional efforts and customer-centric culture to
enhance satisfaction, loyalty, and advocacy. Following how key point:
• delivering more than your online customers ask.
• method to know your customers completely so that you can create and deliver better experiences
• Bring repeat business
• the way you think about customer experience shows how you think about your business as a whole
• customer experience can never be in perfect form because it can always be improved
• customer experience is measured relative to other companies and no company can deliver a perfect customer
experience
• Finally, a good customer experience strategy is needed, which differs from firm to firm and largely depend on
the nature of the business

31. How to Manage Customer Experience?
Following key criteria should be considered to manage a good
customer-
▪ The first step in creating a customer experience management strategy
is to know what your customers are looking for and gaining a good
understanding of their needs and behaviors.
▪ Build a customer journey map and then capture touchpoints and hobbies. This map contributes to define customer
touchpoints and predict how customers would interact with your product and service.
▪ Create brand experience- create emotional connection, it addresses the feelings that you want to evoke in customers
in their experience with the brand. To develop an emotional connection, it is important to have a clear vision of the
brand’s identity and values.
▪ Measure the return on the investment- periodic, occasion-based survey, tracking survey to track perceptions
Examples-
❑ How will customers rate a café coffee day experience? What
can managers do to keep the experience best?
❑ What is the brand experience of Nike?

32. The Importance of Sustainability in Management and to Managers
1. Sustainability.
2. Social responsibility.
3. The environment.
These concepts 3 BL means- Triple bottom line.
According to IBM definition, Sustainability in business refers to a company's strategy to reduce negative environmental
impact resulting from their operations in a particular market. An organization’s sustainability practices are typically
analyzed against environmental, social, and governance (ESG) metrics.
Why is sustainability in business important?
• We’re doing business in an unpredictable world. Climate change, dwindling natural resources, and ever-increasing
demands on our energy and food supply are disrupting business operations and supply chains in unexpected ways
• Important than ever for private and public organizations to fundamentally rethink the way they function.
• Transforming into a successful sustainable business requires new levels of agility, rooted in responsible practices
that preserve our planet.

33. Approaches to management