5. Managers from this country:

- generally attend business schools;

- communicate easily and informally at work;

- admire the qualities of a leader;

- expect everyone to work hard. Individual performance is measured and initiative is rewarded;

- have competitive and sometimes aggressive attitudes towards work;

- often accept innovation and change.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of each approach to management and which one you would find the most attractive? Do any of these profiles correspond to management practices in your country?

Management

Task 2. Study the following information about management and say a) what the word “management” means; b) what the four functions of management are.

Management is the art or practice of managing a business, money, products, and all the people employed by a company. In other words, management is a set of activities directed at an organization’s human, financial, physical and information resources with the aim of achieving organizational goals in an efficient and effective manner. In this case, “efficient” means “using resources wisely and without unnecessary waste” while “effective” means “doing the right things”. The chart below shows the four main functions of management.

Planning and decision making

Determining the organization’s goals and deciding how best to achieve them, delegating responsibilities to subordinates.

Organizing

Determining how best to group activities and resources. Making all employees work together.

Leading

Motivating members of the organization to work in the best interests of the organization.

Controlling

Monitoring and correcting ongoing activities, receiving reports from subordinates, helping subordinates handle exceptions.

The golden rule of successful management can be summed up in the following words: “The system works well as long as we don’t have any exceptions”. Successful management is getting things done through “others”, that is through the manager’s immediate subordinates.

The word “management” is also used to denote the people who are in charge of a company or an organization. Although large organizations typically have a number of levels of management, the most common view considers three basic levels: top, middle and first line managers.

More about Management

Task 3. Read and translate this text to get additional information.

Some people learn everything without the help of a teacher; others learn nothing even when carefully taught. Most of us, however, fall in the category where we can learn if we are taught. The better we are taught, the better we learn. A skill can definitely be taught. A skill is something that can be observed, analyzed, explained, practiced, criticized and practiced again. Management is the kind of skill that can be taught, learned and must be practiced. Management is not an academic subject to be absorbed passively. Even when managers have received degrees in their field, most of their learning gets done on the job. In this way learning to manager is a bit like learning to ride a bicycle. Management is a kind of house-keeping. But it is also home-making in that it involves dealing with people. Management means getting things done and no one not even the single entrepreneur can do it alone. The successful manager knows how to get the right people to do the right jobs. He/she knows how to delegate authority: how to make people feel good about the responsibility they are taking and the creativity they engage in. All of us need a sense of self-fulfillment and the successful manager will know how to give such a sense to the people who work with him/her.

All management involves three elements: planning, execution and control. Every enterprise must be carefully planned before the first step is taken. That, of course, does not mean that plans cannot be changed mid-stream. The successful manager should be flexible enough to let his/her original design go and switch gears when he/she feels it necessary to do so. Execution means that plans are realistic enough to be carried out and to see them to their fruition. Control is the sense of keeping one’s hands on the reins of things – seeing that the project doesn’t get too far out of touch with the possible, keeping people on track, keeping lines of communication open.

Managers never work alone. They listen to others and they pay attention. The best way, of course, to know who the best manager is, is to look at the final result of the project – the proof of the pudding is in the eating – bon appetit!