Chapter 1
Managers in the Workplace
In this introductory chapter, your students will explore the concepts of management,
manager skills, and organizations in today’s dynamic business environment.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
1. Explain why managers are important to organizations.
2. Tell who managers are and where they work.
4. Describe the factors that are reshaping and redefining the manager’s job.
5. Explain the value of studying management.
It’s Your Career
The ABC’s of Managing Your Time
Time is a unique and valuable resource and focusing on time management is one aspect
of management that can be tremendously useful to students in their lives. This chapter
opens with an emphasis on the importance of time management and outlines the ABCs of
managing your time. Time that is wasted can never be replaced and unlike most
resources, time is distributed equally across people. We all receive the same amount of
time: 1080 minutes a week but some people are much more efficient at using their
allotted time. Here are some suggestions to help you better use your time:
2. Rank your goals according to importance. Not all goals are of equal importance. Given the limitations
on your time, you want to make sure you give highest priority to the most important goals.
3. List the activities/tasks necessary to achieve your goals. What specific actions do you need to take to
achieve your goals?
4. Divide these activities/tasks into categories using an A, B, and C classification. The As are important
5. Schedule your activities/tasks according to the priorities you’ve set. Prepare a daily plan. Every morning,
6. Plan your to-do list each day so that it includes a mixture of A, B, and C activities/ tasks. And it’s best to
7. Realize that priorities may change as your day or week proceeds. New information may change a task’s
8. Remember that your goal is to manage getting your work done as efficiently and effectively as you can.
It’s not to become an expert at creating to-do lists. Find what works best for you and use it!
CHAPTER OUTLINE
1.1 WHY ARE MANAGERS IMPORTANT?
Managers have an important impact on both employees and the organizations in
which they work. The following three reasons address their importance:
A. Organizations need their managerial skills and abilities more than ever in
these uncertain, complex, and chaotic times.
B. Managers are critical to getting things done.
1.2 WHO ARE MANAGERS AND WHERE DO THEY WORK?
Managers may not always be what we expect. Today’s managers range from 18
to 80, they‘re found in a variety of different types of organizations, and they
perform a variety of jobs from the top to the bottom of the organization. Data
points show some of the latest results of opinions of management. Statistics
also show an increasing number of women in management; however, while their
number is increasing, it is mostly in the area of lower and middle management,
not top management.
Who Is a Manager?
A. The changing nature of organizations and work often requires employees
in formerly nonmanagerial jobs to perform managerial activities. Students
who are preparing for careers on any organizational level can benefit from
acquiring management skills. Today’s employees need to be cross-
trained and multi-skilled.
B. How do we define a manager? A manager is someone who coordinates
and oversees the work of other people so that organizational goals can
be accomplished. However, keep in mind that managers may have
additional work duties not related to coordinating the work of others.
C. Managers can be classified by their level in the organization, particularly
in traditionally structured organizations—those shaped like a pyramid
(see Exhibit 1-1).
1. First-line (or front-line) managers (often called supervisors) are
2. Middle managers include all levels of management between the
3. Top managers include managers at or near the top of the
organization who are responsible for making organization-wide
decisions and establishing plans and goals that affect the entire
organization.
Where Do Managers Work?
A. An organization is a deliberate arrangement of people to accomplish
some specific purpose. Organizations share three common
characteristics (See Exhibit 1-2): (1) each has a distinct purpose; (2)
B. Although these three characteristics are important in defining what an
organization is, the concept of an organization is changing. These
changes include: flexible work arrangements, employee work teams,
open communication systems, and supplier alliances. Organizations are
becoming more open, flexible, and responsive to changes.
1.3 WHAT DO MANAGERS DO?
A. Management involves coordinating and overseeing the work activities of
others so that their activities are completed efficiently and effectively.
2. Efficiency is getting the most output from the least amount of
3. Effectiveness is completing activities so that organizational goals
are attained and is often described as “doing the right things” (see
Exhibit 1-3).
B. Management Functions
Henri Fayol, a French industrialist in the early 1900s, proposed that
managers perform five management functions: POCCC (planning,
organizing, commanding, coordinating, and controlling).
1. Over time, Fayol’s five management functions have been
1-4).
Is It Still Managing When What
You’re Managing Are Robots?
While the text presents a fairly accurate description of today’s workplace, the
future is not certain. Work life in the future may be very different than today and
will likely include workers who are robots. How will a manager’s job be different?
How will working with robots affect human coworkers?
The following discussion questions are posed:
Talk About It 1: What’s your response to the title of this box: Is it still managing
when what you’re managing are robots? Discuss.
Talk About It 2: If you had to “manage” people and robots, how do you think your
job as manager might be different than what the chapter describes?
a. Planning involves defining goals, establishing strategies
2. In practice, managing is not always performed in a sequence as
they should be viewed as an ongoing process.
C. Management Roles
Henry Mintzberg, a management researcher, conducted a precise study
of managers at work. He concluded that managers perform 10 different
roles, which are highly interrelated.
1. Management roles refer to specific categories of managerial
behavior (see Exhibit 1-5).
handler, resource allocator, and negotiator.
2. Follow-up studies of Mintzberg’s role categories in different types
3. Although the functions approach represents the most useful way
LEADER MAKING A DIFFERENCE
Ursula Burns, CEO of Xerox, was the first African-American woman to lead a Fortune
500 Company. Starting as a summer engineering intern more than 30 years ago, Ms.
Burns has a reputation for being bold. She took on the established culture of Xerox,
known for being polite, courteous, and discreet with her bold talk and blunt attitude. Her
challenge at Xerox is crafting strategies that will help it prosper and be an industry leader
in a digital age where change is continual.
What can you learn from this leader making a difference?
D. Management Skills
Managers need certain skills to perform the challenging duties and
activities associated with being a manager.
1. Robert L. Katz found through his research that managers need
three essential skills (see Exhibit 1-6).
a. Technical skills are job-specific knowledge and
techniques needed to proficiently perform specific tasks.
2. Developing management skills are important for aspiring
managers. To help aid students in this respect, the authors have
1.4 HOW IS THE MANAGER’S JOB CHANGING?
Security threats, corporate ethics scandals, global economic and political
uncertainties, and technological advancements should be discussed. While all
managers will not have to manage under tragically demanding circumstances,
how managers manage in today’s workplace is changing. These issues are
summarized in Exhibit 1-8.
A. Importance of Customers to the Manager’s Job
With all of the technology available to managers, it is possible now more
than ever to lose touch with customers. Face-to-face contact is being
customer needs.
B. Importance of Social Media to the Manager’s Job
The new frontier in communication is social media. Platforms such as
Facebook and Twitter have moved beyond personal uses to work and
C. Importance of Innovation to the Manager’s Job
“Nothing is more risky than not innovating.” All organizations innovate;
however, a problem for organizations is working to get all employees
working together and commitment.
D. Importance of Sustainability to the Manager’s Job
Today’s organizations agree that the time has come for managers to
embrace both sustainability and green management. Sustainability has
1.5 WHY STUDY MANAGEMENT?
The importance of studying management in today’s dynamic global environment
can be explained by looking at the universality of management, the reality of
work, and the rewards and challenges of being a manager.
A. The Universality of Management
Without a doubt, management is needed in all types and sizes of
organizations, at all organizational levels, and in all organizational work
areas throughout the world (see Exhibit 1-9).
1. We interact with organizations every day of our lives. Every
2. Students who study management gain the ability to recognize and
B. The Reality of Work
After graduation, students will either manage or be managed. A course in
management provides insight and understanding about behaviors of
supervisors and the internal operations of organizations. An individual
does not have to aspire to be a manager in order to benefit from taking a
course in management.
C. Rewards and Challenges of Being a Manager (See Exhibit 1-10.)
1. Challenges
a. Managers may have difficulty in effectively blending the
2. Rewards
a. Managers have an opportunity to create a work
environment in which organizational members can do their
ANSWERS TO REVIEW AND DISCUSSION
QUESTIONS
Student answers to these questions will vary.
1-1. How do managers differ from nonmanagerial employees?
1-2. Is your course instructor a manager? Discuss in terms of managerial functions,
managerial roles, and skills.
Course instructors (in contrast to individuals who hold positions such as department
head) are not usually classified as managers. In most situations, a course instructor
does not fall within the definition of a manager when utilizing managerial functions,
1-3. “The manager’s most basic responsibility is to focus people toward performance of
work activities to achieve desired outcomes.” Why do you agree or disagree with this
statement?
1-4. Explain why the universality of management concept still holds true or doesn’t hold
true in today’s world.
Management principles are needed for the efficient and effective operation of
organizations, regardless of the level of the manager or the industry in which they
operate. This is true for today’s organizations now more than ever. The global
1-5. Is business management a profession? After doing some external research, why is
management a profession or why is it not?
According to the Occupational Outlook Handbook published by the Bureau of Labor
1-6. Does the way that contemporary organizations are structured appeal to you? Why
or why not?
1-7. In today’s environment, explain which is more important to organizations—efficiency
or effectiveness?
1-8. “Management is undoubtedly one of humankind’s most important inventions.”
Explain why you do or do not agree with this statement.
While most people do not see ‘management’ as an invention, it is safe to say that
PERSONAL INVENTORY ASSESSMENTS
Student answers to these questions will vary.
ETHICS DILEMMA
Student answers to these questions will vary.
Like Micah and Ryan in the Let’s Get Real scenarios, the transition to management can
be difficult. Ask students what obligation the organization maintains for helping new
managers adapt to their position. Also, what are the consequences for starting
employees in positions where their actions can have a profound on the organization and
SKILLS EXERCISE: DEVELOPING YOUR
POLITICAL SKILLS
As referenced in Exhibit 1-7, there are many skills important to managers. One
important skill is their ability to understand and navigate political situations. In this
exercise, students work on building their own political skills based on 4 steps: developing
networking ability, working on gaining interpersonal influence, developing social
astuteness, and being sincere. Students are encouraged to take notes to track their
progress and then to evaluate their own level of political skill development. (LO: 3,
WORKING TOGETHER: TEAM EXERCISE
In groups of three to four individuals, students are asked to discuss their experience with
both good and bad managers. Students should make a list of both good and bad
management behaviors and relate these to the functions of management and which
management skills they think it falls under. After the groups develop their list, they
MY TURN TO BE A MANAGER
• Use the most current Occupational Outlook Handbook (U.S. Department of
Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics) to research three different categories of
managers. For each, prepare a bulleted list that describes the following: the
nature of the work, training and other qualifications needed, earnings, and job
outlook and projections data.
• Using current business periodicals, find three examples of managers you would
describe as master managers. Write a paper describing these individuals as
managers and why you feel they deserve this title.
• Interview two different managers and ask them the following questions: What are
the best and worst parts about being a manager? What’s the best management
advice you ever received? Type up the questions and their answers to turn in to
your professor.
• Accountants and other professionals have certification programs to verify their
skills, knowledge, and professionalism. What about managers? Two certification
ANSWERS TO CASE APPLICATION 1
QUESTIONS
Student answers to these questions will vary.
Who Needs A Boss?
1-13. What is a holacracy?
Students should recall that the holacracy is an organizational structure that eliminates
1-14. What benefits do you see to an organization where there are no job
titles, no managers, and no hierarchy?
1-15. What challenges does a holacratic approach have?
There are several challenges presented by this approach. While the holacracy
1-16. Discuss why you would or would not like to work in an organization like this?
While the holacracy is a new approach, students might draw on their previous
ANSWERS TO CASE APPLICATION 2
QUESTIONS
Student answers to these questions will vary.
Building A Better Boss
1-17. Describe the findings of Project Oxygen using the functions approach, Mintzberg’s
roles approach, and the skills approach.
Students should easily be able to apply several of Fayol’s four functions and Mintzberg’s
1-18. Are you surprised at what Google found out about “building a better boss?” Explain
your answer.
1-19. What’s the difference between encouraging managers to be great managers and
knowing what being a great manager involves?
1-20. What could other companies learn from Google’s experiences?
1-21. Would you want to work for a company like Google? Why or why not?