CHAPTERS ONE: INTRODUCTION TO MANAGEMENT

2.1.1 1.0 Introduction and Overview

In this topic it covers the meaning of management, the level of management and role of
management and management skills required to perform their duties.

2.1.2 1.1 Learning Outcomes

At the end of this topic the learner is expected to:

1. Defined the term management
2. Explain the characteristics of management
3. Analyze the various levels of management and roles of management

2.1.3 1.2 Definition of Management

Management can be defined as a set of activities directed at the efficient and effective utilization
of resources in order to achieve organizational objectives. Management focuses on the entire
organization from both a short and a long-term perspective. Management is the managerial
process of forming a strategic vision, setting objectives, crafting a strategy and then
implementing and executing the strategy.

Management goes beyond the organization’s internal operations to include the industry and the
general environment. The key emphasis is on issues related to environmental scanning and
industry analysis, appraisal of current and future competitors, assessment of core competencies,
strategic control and the effective allocation of organizational resources.

The term management has been defined in different ways by different writers. Management is
“the act of getting things done through and with people in formally organized groups. It’s the act
of creating an environment in which people can perform as individuals and yet co-operate
towards attainment of group goals. According to the famous American management theorist,
Mary Parker Follet,” Management is the art of getting things done through other people”. It’s a
process of achieving results through the efficient utilization of human and material resources.
Management involves “the design or creation or maintenance of an internal environment in an
enterprise where individuals working together in groups can perform efficiently and effectively
towards the attainment of group goals (H.Koontz and O‟Donnel).

Management is the “process of getting things done through the efforts of other people (Moody et
al).Management is a process of achieving an organization’s goals through coordinated
performance of specific functions, that is, planning, organizing, directing, staffing, controlling
(David Schwartz). Management is also a process of coordinating and integrating human,
technical and other resources to accomplish specific results. It’s a process of getting things done
through and with people, by directing and motivating the efforts of individuals toward common
objectives.

2.1.4 1.3 Characteristics of Management

Management is universal i.e. the basic Principles of Management are universally applicable.
1. Management applies at all levels of organization i.e. the managerial functions are the same
at all levels of the organization, except for the types of decisions made at the different
levels.
2. Management is purposeful - the aim of all managers is the same - to achieve a specific
objective.
3. Management is concerned with productivity which implies effectiveness and efficiency.
Productivity is the ratio of output to input of resources within a given time period with due
consideration to quality.
4. Management involves the allocation and control of human, money and other physical
resources; however it excludes the actions of a person working alone. A person is not a
manager unless involved in the process of getting things done through others.

5. Management is an organizational function, like sales, marketing or finance. It doesn't

necessarily mean managing people. We can manage ourselves or the material assigned to
us at work. If you managed a project very well on your own, it would mean that you did the

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job in a well-organized, efficient manner, making good use of all resources at your
disposal.

6. Management is like investment. Managers have resources to invest - their time, talent and,
possibly, human resources. The goal (function) of management is to get the best return on
such resources by getting things done efficiently.
7. Management is an integrative process: the essence of management lies in the co-ordination
of individual efforts into a team i.e. management reconciles the individual goals with
organization goals.

Managerial activities can be looked into the basic functions of management. These are:-
1. Planning
2. Organizing
3. Controlling
4. Co-coordinating
5. Leading and Directing.

2.1.5 1.4 Functions of Management

Management functions are the set of activities inherent in most managerial jobs, they include:-
(a) Planning- is deciding in advance what to do, how to do it when to do it. It is the process
of setting organizations goals and objectives and determining ways and means of
achieving them. Planning is an element of management.
(b) Organizing – is the process of grouping similar activities and resources in a logical and
appropriate way. It involves allocation of duties and responsibilities, delegating of
authority and creation of departments and sections. It is the process of establishing an
organizations structure.
(c) Coordinating – is the process of harmonizing group activities and directing them
towards a common direction. It may be referred to as orderly arrangement of a group
effort to provide unity of action in pursuing of a common purpose.
(d) Leading Directing – involves guiding and directing employees towards organizational
goals attainment, the key activities include managing inter-personal and intrapersonal
conflict, motivating employees and dealing with change.

(e) Controlling – is the process of measuring actual performance or results against set
standards, targets or objectives and taking corrections, actions if there are any deviations.

2.1.6 1.5 Management Roles

Another useful perspective for describing the manager’s job is in terms of the roles they perform.
A role beginning with the formal authority bestowed on managers by their organization, this
authority is accompanied by a certain amount of status that enables managers to perform their
roles. There are ten managerial roles grouped into three categories:-

1. Interpersonal Roles: Roles concerned with dealing with other people

a. Figurehead – in this role the manager puts in an appearance as a representative of the
organization. e.g. in Kenya a person like Naikuni the Chief Executive of Kenya
Airways is considered as the figurehead of the organization.
b. Leader – The manger directs or guides and motivates employees and deals with
behavioural process.
c. Liaison – deals with people outside the organizations on a regular basis in order to
establish good working relationship with suppliers, customers, government agencies,
etc.

2. Informational Roles:-
a. Monitor – the manager actively watches the environment for information that might be
relevant to the organization.
b. Disseminator – the manager transmits information obtained through monitoring to the
appropriate people or sections in the organization.
c. Spokesman – is similar to the figurehead role but the manager in this role presents
information of meaningful content and answers questions on behalf of the company.

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3. Decisional Roles:-
a. Entrepreneurship role – the manager looks for opportunities that the organization
can pursue and takes lead in doing so.
b. Disturbance handler – the manager resolves conflicts in individuals and groups.
c. Resource allocator – this role focuses on determining how resources will be shared
by the different groups or areas within the organization.
d. Negotiator – the manager attempts to work out agreements and contracts that
operation in the best interest of the organization.

2.1.7 1.6 Levels of Management

There are three common level of management:-

(a) Top Management
Top managers are those at higher level of management and are responsible for setting overall
goals and formulating the policies and strategy of the organization. They also represent the
organization in the external environment, liaising with other executives to establish relationships
with other organizations for the benefit of their organization. Top managers are usually
considered to include the CEO, and the immediate deputies or other senior managers. They are
responsible to the Board of Directors.
(b) Middle Management
Middle managers are responsible for implementing strategies and policies by top management
and they also coordinate the work of first line managers. Middle managers are also responsible
for deciding which products or services to produce.
(c) First Line Management:-
Is the lowest level of the management where managers at this level supervise operative
employees? They spend much of their time directly overseeing the work of operating employees.
The managerial task at this level is to develop the best allocation of resources that will produce
the desired output. First line managers include section heads, heads of department, foremen, etc.
2.1.8 1.7 Management Skills

Skills are the various talents that managers need to perform their roles effectively. A skill is an
ability or proficiency in performing a particular task. Different types of skills are required by
modern managers as their jobs become more complex. Effective managers should possess a
certain combination of skills that set them apart from others. The various categories of skills are
inter-related and are required by all managers. However, each of them varies according to the
level of the manager in the organization.

a. Technical Skills
They are the skills a manager needs to perform specialized tasks within the organization. It’s the
ability to use specific knowledge, techniques and resources in performing work and includes
mastery of methods, techniques and equipment involved in performing specific functions. They
are important for first level managers because they spend most of their time working and
interacting with the operating employees. They must also have a good understanding of the work
being done by the employees it they are to supervise them effectively skilled accounting
supervisor should be able to guide and assist the accounting work of his subordinates and help
them in solving technical/accounting problems experienced at the operational level.

b. Conceptual Skills
It relates to a managers ability to think in abstract. It’s where managers need to see relationships
between forces others aren’t seeing and to understand how a variety of factors are interrelated
and to take a global perspective of the organization and its environment. Involves the manager’s
thinking and planning abilities and the manager takes a broader view of the organization. Top
managers require these skills because they’re responsible for identifying and exploiting new
opportunities.
It is the cognitive ability to see the organization as a whole and the relationship among its parts
that is how the parts depend upon or relate to one another. It involves knowing where one’s unit
fits into the total organization and how the organization relates to the broader environment of
which it forms a part.
2.1.9 c. Diagnostic skills

These are skills used to define and understand situations. They are applicable to the top
managers. They are moderately important to middle managers and least important to supervisory
managers.

d. Human Relations Skills

Skills a Manager needs to work well with people. They include; ability to understand one else’s
position , ability to present ones position in a reasonable way, ability to compromise and to deal
effectively with conflicts, ability to motivate others, ability to coordinate, lead, communicate
etcetera. A manager with human skills allows subordinates to express themselves without fear
and encourages participation and involvement. They are important to all because at each level,
managers interact and work with people.

e. Stress and Change Management Skills

Nearly all managers work in stressful environment. In the normal course of doing their jobs, they
experience high levels of ambiguity and often try to change organizations and people resistant to
change. Stress could be caused by; responsibility for the performance or welfare of others, lack
of involvement in decisions that affect the person experiencing stress, crowded, noisy,
uncomfortable working conditions, organizational work and change and receiving performance
evaluations. Stress is not automatically bad, but it can affect adversely the physical and mental
health as well as work performance. They experience frustrations. Managers are responsible for
introducing and managing change which can be a source of stress.

2.1.10

2.1.11 1.8 Strategic Management

It’s the ongoing process of ensuring competitively superior fit between the organization and its
ever changing environment and it constitutes strategic planning, implementation and control in
order to ensure long term success. It involves systematically and continuously adjusting,
updating and fine tuning strategic plans as the environmental conditions change. Strategic
adjustment and control help the organization to reach its destination by ensuring that the right
things are done to accomplish the organization’s mission and long term objectives. The process
includes activities that range from environmental scanning to the evaluation of performance.
Strategic management model consists of;
a) Environmental scanning
b) Strategy formulation
c) Strategy implementation
d) Evaluation and control
Environmental scanning involves the top management scanning both the external and internal
environmental factors to determine the opportunities and threats, strengths and weaknesses.
These are the organization’s strategic factors which determine the organization’s future. Strategy
formulation is the process of development of long range plans for the effective management of
environmental opportunities and threats, in light of corporate strengths and weaknesses. This
includes defining the corporate mission, objectives, strategies and setting policy guidelines.

Strategy implementation is the process through which strategies and policies are put into action
through the development of programs, budgets and procedures. This might mean changing the
org. culture, structure, and organization management system. Evaluation and control is the
process in which corporate activities and performance results are monitored so that actual
performance can be compared with desired performance and involves managers at all levels in
the organization.

2.1.12 1.9 Environment to Management

David Schwartz (2004) defines environment as the aggregate or the sum total of social, cultural,
economic and physical conditions that influence the life of an individual, community or an
organization. According to Phillip Kotler, the term environment refers to the forces that emanate
from within or from outside the organization that have an impact on an organization’s ability to
accomplish its goals and objectives.

No enterprise/organization of any kind can operate in the absence of the environmental

restrictions/constraints imposed by the organizations surroundings. While managers exercise
power their authority is always limited hence enterprises must adjust to the environment in which
they exist. Environment could also refer to a set of forces that characterize the general setting of
the organization. These forces directly or indirectly affect business and they are part of the
general context of an organization.

Effective management must deal with the environment and they must take into account the needs
and the desires of the members of the society outside the organization as technology and other
requirements in the external environment change. Even though managers would do little or
nothing to change these forces, they must be able to respond to them. They must be able to
identify, evaluate and react to them. The number of environmental constraints that managers
must take into account is large. Some are internal constraints or restrictions that originate from
within the organization.

2.1.13 1.9.1 Internal Environment/Constraints

The internal constraints are internal to the organization and hence within the control of
management.
Examples
1. Organizational charters and guidelines.
2. Organizational policies, procedures and rules.
3. Limited money, personnel or HR and other resources.
4. Higher level managers.

2.1.14 1.9.2 Constraints Imposed by Organizational Charters and Guidelines

Many organizations that is agencies, religious bodies and corporations have written documents
e.g. constitutions, corporate charters, By laws etc. that spell out what the organization is, how it
is expected to function and what limits are set in the course of its operation. A charter is an
official document granting rights like in a university.
2.1.15 1.9.3 Constraints imposed by Organizational Policies, Rules and Procedures

A policy is a guideline to managers that causes him to take action in certain ways e.g. training
policy. A procedure is a way of doing things and a rule is a regulation. These are pre- determined
plans that place limits on what an organization can or cannot do. E.g. a policy that specifies that
all sales will to be made directly to the consumer. A rule that says that two members of the same
family cannot work in the same department/company prevents such people from doing so.

2.1.16 1.9.4 Constraints imposed by Limited Money, Personnel and Other Resources

No organization has enough capital. Managers may be unable to recruit or to hire the best
qualified people and purchase the best equipment because of insufficient funds. If there are
insufficient financial resources, it means that the organization will be restricted in whatever
actions it can take. They may also be limited by the personnel within the organization who may
not have the necessary skills to carry out a planned activity. It will lead to postponement of an
idea for organizational expansion. Lack of other resources will also limit managers in
implementing other planned activities i.e. lack of information technology, physical resources etc.

2.1.17 1.9.5 Constraints Imposed by Higher Level Managers

Policies, procedures and rules are developed by higher level managers who also develop
strategies used to achieve organizational objectives. By doing so, higher level managers dictate
what the lower level managers can or can’t do because lower level managers are responsible for
the implementation of higher level management strategies.

2.1.18 1.10 Organizational Culture

It also acts as limiting factor. What a manager believes as a way of doing things will actually
affect what is new in an organization.
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2.1.20 1.10.1 External Environmental Constraints

Are factors imposed from outside the organization and are generally beyond the control of
managers. These factors may limit managers in performing the five functions of management.

2.1.21 1.10.2 Constraints Imposed by the Economy

Includes availability of capital, inflation, interest rates on loans and deposits, loans from banks
and other financial institutions, donations from individuals and corporations, personal savings
etc.; inflation, interest rates, economic growth rates, exchange rates, monetary policies, SAPs,
unemployment rate etc. All these factors affect the practice of management. Business
organizations are affected by the increasingly imposed economic policies. Consider the effects of
the structural adjustment programs in Kenya and other developing economies.

2.1.22 1.11 Customs

It’s defined as a long established and constant practice considered as unwritten law and a source
of authority in an organization. It limits what managers can do. It defines an established and
constant practice considered as a written law and a source authority in an organization. The
social and cultural factors constitute the cultural values and social customs of a society that affect
an organization. The social environment is made up of: attitudes desires, expectations, degree of
intelligence and education, beliefs etc.

2.1.23 1.12 Laws and Political/Legal Considerations

The political/legal constraints include; Laws and regulations, taxes, wars or presence or chances
of war, political stability. The attitudes and the actions of the political and government leaders
and legislators do change with the flow of social demand and behavior. These changes affect
organizations. These laws, regulations and government policies and actions will affect all types
of enterprises. The government for example will affect every organization in every aspect of life.
It can either promote or constrain a business leading to its closure or expansion.

Laws regulate every dimension of human existence and they come about to prevent or to stop the
abuse of power. In exercising their power over resources, managers sometimes come into conflict
with the expectations and goals of the society. Business Managers are confronted with a
multitude of laws that limit their power e.g. the existing laws that regulate the
workingconditions, minimum wages, safety of the workers etc. Managers may lobby for
influential personality in order to influence government positions.

With regard to political-legal constraints, managers can make inputs at the local or national
levels. They may lobby influential personalities in a bid to influence government decisions. In the
final analysis, an organization cannot control what a government body does.

1.12.1 Public/society
It holds considerable power regarding what an organization can do. It comprises of the
consumers who decide what products wills succeed in the market and it will depend on their
purchasing power. The public can either purchase or boycott the product. The society ultimately
establishes the laws and regulations under which all organizations operate. If an organization
ignores society‟s social concerns, the society will react by imposing legal restrictions.
1.12.2. Competitors
A competitor through his actions places a restriction on what an organization can do e.g. pricing
decisions in many companies can affect the pricing decisions of a leading competitor.
1.12.3. Chronological constraints
It’s a key to organizations affecting the processing speed as well as the quality of the final output.
It affects the transformation processes and gives an organization a competitive edge.
1.12.4. Constraints by Education of potential employees
High level education of the available work force and the availability of the workers with
appropriate skills have a direct effect on management.
1.12.5. Constraints by Labor unions
Through contracts negotiated with management, labour/trade unions restrict what management
may want to do about wages, vacations, retirement plans, working conditions and employment
policies.
2.1.24 1.13 Summary of the Topic

In this topic we have been able to defined management, demonstrate the level of management;
function of management; ten roles of management and the skills required for managers to
effectively carry out the managerial obligation.