Topic 1:

Management Function:

Planning
One main role of a manager is creating a plan to meet company goals and objectives.
This involves allocating employee resources and delegating responsibilities, as well as
setting realistic timelines and standards for completion. Planning requires those in
management roles to continuously check on team progress in order to make small
adjustments when necessary, while still maintaining a clear picture of a company's
larger aims and goals.

Much of one's planning function consists of working independently to determine what

responsibilities must be given to which employees, setting priority levels for certain tasks, and
creating timelines. However, communication also plays an important role. For example,
managers deal with planning when they meet with company leadership to discuss short and
long-term goals, and when they communicate the specifics of a new project to their team or
check-in periodically to ensure individual objectives are being met on time.

Organizing
Along with planning, a manager's organizational skills can help to ensure a company or
departmental unit runs smoothly. From establishing internal processes and structures to
knowing which employees or teams are best suited for specific tasks, keeping everyone
and everything organized throughout daily operations are important functions of
management.

Organization isn't just about delegating tasks efficiently and making sure employees
have what they need to accomplish their tasks, however. Managers also need to be
able to reorganize in response to new challenges. This could come into practice in the
form of slightly adjusting the timeline for a project or re-allocating tasks from one team
to another. Or, it could mean significantly altering a team's internal structure and roles in
response to company growth.

Leading
Managers should be comfortable and confident commanding their team members’ daily
tasks as well as during periods of significant change or challenge. This involves
projecting a strong sense of direction and leadership when setting goals and
communicating new processes, products and services, or internal policy.

Leadership can manifest itself in a number of ways, including recognizing when

employees need an extra boost of reinforcement and praise to handling conflicts
between team members fairly and decisively. Often, managers may function as leaders
even during small personal interactions by modeling supportive, encouraging, and
motivational qualities.

Controlling
To ensure all of the above functions are working toward the success of a company,
managers should consistently monitor employee performance, quality of work, and the
efficiency and reliability of completed projects. Control (and quality control) in
management is about making sure the ultimate goals of the business are being
adequately met, as well as making any necessary changes when they aren't.

Topic 2:

1. It helps in Achieving Group Goals - It arranges the factors of production, assembles and
organizes the resources, integrates the resources in effective manner to achieve goals. It directs
group efforts towards achievement of pre-determined goals. By defining objective of organization
clearly there would be no wastage of time, money and effort. Management converts disorganized
resources of men, machines, money etc. into useful enterprise. These resources are coordinated,
directed and controlled in such a manner that enterprise work towards attainment of goals.
2. Optimum Utilization of Resources - Management utilizes all the physical & human resources
productively. This leads to efficacy in management. Management provides maximum utilization of
scarce resources by selecting its best possible alternate use in industry from out of various uses.
It makes use of experts, professional and these services leads to use of their skills, knowledge,
 and proper utilization and avoids wastage. If employees and machines are producing its
maximum there is no under employment of any resources.
3. Reduces Costs - It gets maximum results through minimum input by proper planning and by
using minimum input & getting maximum output. Management uses physical, human and
financial resources in such a manner which results in best combination. This helps in cost
reduction.
4. Establishes Sound Organization - No overlapping of efforts (smooth and coordinated
functions). To establish sound organizational structure is one of the objective of management
which is in tune with objective of organization and for fulfillment of this, it establishes effective
authority & responsibility relationship i.e. who is accountable to whom, who can give instructions
to whom, who are superiors & who are subordinates. Management fills up various positions with
right persons, having right skills, training and qualification. All jobs should be cleared to everyone.
5. Establishes Equilibrium - It enables the organization to survive in changing environment. It
keeps in touch with the changing environment. With the change is external environment, the initial
co-ordination of organization must be changed. So it adapts organization to changing demand of
market / changing needs of societies. It is responsible for growth and survival of organization.
6. Essentials for Prosperity of Society - Efficient management leads to better economical
production which helps in turn to increase the welfare of people. Good management makes a
difficult task easier by avoiding wastage of scarce resource. It improves standard of living. It
increases the profit which is beneficial to business and society will get maximum output at
minimum cost by creating employment opportunities which generate income in hands.
Organization comes with new products and researches beneficial for society.

Esasy topic 3:

Efficiency is defined as the ability to accomplish something with the least

amount of wasted time, money, and effort or competency in performance.
Effectiveness is defined as the degree to which something is successful in
producing a desired result; success. Managers need to appreciate the way
each affects an organization.

The points, given below describe the substantial differences between

efficiency and effectiveness:

1. The ability to produce maximum output with limited resources is

known as Efficiency. The level of the nearness of the actual result
with planned result is Effectiveness.
2. Efficiency is ‘to do the things perfect’ while Effectiveness is ‘to do
perfect things’.
3. Efficiency has a short run perspective. Conversely, the long run is the
point of view of Effectiveness.
4. Efficiency is yield-oriented. Unlike Effectiveness, which is result
oriented.
 5. Efficiency is to be maintained at the time of strategy implementation,
whereas strategy formulation requires Effectiveness.
6. Efficiency is measured in operations of the organisation, but
Effectiveness of strategies is measured which are made by the
organisation.
7. Efficiency is the outcome of actual output upon given the number of
inputs. On the other hand, Effectiveness has a relationship with
means and ends.

Topic 4:

Business environment refers to all the external forces including economic, political, social, technological
and legal that affect the performance of a business organisation. It is the sum total of all the individuals,
the control of a business enterprise but has the power to affect its performance. The features of the
business environment are explained below:

a. Business environment includes all the forces, factors and Institutions which can directly or indirectly
affect the performance of the business. It is an aggregate of all the external forces.

b. All the forces and the factors which can affect the business organisation are interrelated to each
other.

c. The business environment is dynamic in nature. It is flexible and constantly changing. For example, the
taste and preferences of the customers continue to change.

d. The business environment is uncertain in nature. It is not easy to predict the future.

e. It is relative in nature. It differs from a region to another region. For example, the political conditions
may differ from one region to another.

f. The business environment is the aggregate of various forces. This makes it complex and difficult to
understand. It is easier to understand the effect of the individual forces but not of the aggregate forces.
Specific environment and general environment:

Specific environment refers to those external forces that affect an organization directly. These are
specific to a particular organization. For example, a delay in the supply of raw material from the supplier
directly affects the production of the company.

General environment refers to those external forces which affect all the organizations. They do not have
any effect on a particular organization. For example, a change in the political condition that affect all the
companies.

Topic 5:
Organizational Culture

– A system of shared meanings and common beliefs held by organizational members

that determines, in a large degree, how they act towards each other.

– Values, symbols, rituals, myths, and practices

– The way we do things around here.

Seven dimensions of Organizational culture

Detail-oriented

Not surprisingly, detail-oriented companies are all about careful attention to details. These companies
tend to be in customer-oriented industries in which such precision is valued. For example, Four Seasons
hotels are dedicated to providing customers with exactly the service they prefer, and they keep records
on each guest’s experiences, preferences, and expectations. Employees working for Four Seasons must
have an eye for detail and thrive on keeping meticulous records.

Innovative

Individuals who want opportunities to invent new products or services should consider working for
companies such as Google, Apple, Tesla. These companies not only encourage innovation but give
employees company time to work on their own projects. This approach can result in a wide range of
exciting new products developed by engineers or scientists working on their own.

Aggressive

Although some companies value cooperation, others value aggressive competition. Stratasys, a maker of
3D printers, has been willing to make enemies in order to survive and thrive. Stratasys expanded rapidly
through growth, takeovers, and mergers to gain a dominant position in the 3D printer industry.
Sometimes, Stratasys’ aggressive approach has gotten the company into legal battles—but the company
has continued to perform well.

Outcome-oriented

Outcome-oriented businesses are all about results. At RE/MAX, for example, employees are trained to
sell products, and they are evaluated on their sales performance. RE/MAX, short for “Real Estate
Maximums,” is an American international real estate company that operates through a franchise
system. The company has held the number-one market share in the United States and Canada since
1999.

Stable

Employees at a stable corporation know exactly who is in charge, who to report to, and what they are
expected to accomplish. Kraft Foods, for example, is a very stable organization with a strong
bureaucracy. Although it is consistent, however, Kraft is not known for innovation or creativity.

People-oriented
If you work for a people-oriented corporation, you can expect the company to care about you. They
value fairness and are supportive of individuals’ rights and dignity. Software company SAS is a good
example of a people-oriented company that offers employees a wide range of individualized benefits,
including on-site childcare. CEO Jim Goodnight’s philosophy is, “Treat employees like they make a
difference, and they will.” The result: a loyal and dedicated workforce.

Team-oriented

Employees who like to collaborate and cooperate with team members do well in team-oriented
companies. Whole Foods, for example, expects its employees to function as members of teams—and to
support other members of the team when necessary. This creates strong, solid relationships within
working groups.

Topic 6:

Going international may begin by using:

Global outsourcing: In this stage of going international, companies purchase materials or labor from
around the world, wherever the materials or labor are least expensive.

 Exporting: making products domestically and selling them abroad

 Importing: acquiring products made abroad and selling the products domestically

 Licensing: giving another organization the right to make or sell its products using its
technology or product specifications)

 Franchising: giving another organization the right to use its name and operating methods

 Strategic Alliances

 Partnerships between and organization and a foreign company in which both share resources
and knowledge in developing new products or building new production facilities. (Starbucks
and Barnes & Noble)

 Joint Venture

 A specific type of strategic alliance in which the partners agree to form a separate,
independent organization for some business purpose. A common use of JVs is to partner up
with a local business to enter a foreign market. (Microsoft &GE)

 Foreign Subsidiary

 A foreign subsidiary is a company operating overseas that is part of a larger corporation with
headquarters in another country, often known as a parent company or a holding company.
(boost revenues, generate tax benefits and diversify company assets to better manage risk)
 Topic 7:

Social Obligation:

• Social obligation: Social obligation is a business’s most basic duty to society. A business has
fulfilled its social obligation when it meets its economic and legal responsibilities and no
more. It does the minimum that the law requires.

• Donating to social charities, being transparent with people, and taking part in community
events.

Social obligation is the obligation of a business to meet its economic and legal responsibilities.
The organization does only what it is obligated to do and reflects the classical view of social
responsibility. In contrast to social obligation, however, both social responsibility and social
responsiveness go beyond merely meeting basic economic and legal standards. Social
responsiveness refers to the capacity of a firm to adapt to changing social conditions. The idea
of social responsiveness stresses that managers make practical decisions about the societal
actions in which they engage. A socially responsive organization is guided by social norms and
acts the way it does because of its desire to satisfy some popular social need. The example the
textbook gives is that managers at American Express Company identified three themes–
community service, cultural heritage, and economic independence—to serve as guides for
deciding which worldwide projects and organizations to support. By making these choices,
managers were "responding" to what they felt were important social needs.

Topic 8 :

Structured and structured problems and decisions

Structured problems

the goal of the decision maker is clear, the problem is familiar, and information about the
problem is easily defined and complete. Examples of these types of problems might include a
customer wanting to return a purchase to a retail store, a supplier being late with an important
delivery, a news team responding to an unexpected and fast-breaking event, or a college's
handling of a student wanting to drop a class. Such situations are called structured problems
because they are straightforward, familiar, and easily defined problems. In handling these
problem situations, the manager uses a programmed decision. Decisions are programmed to the
extent that they are repetitive and routine and to the extent that a definite approach has been
worked out for handling them. Since the problem is well structured, the manager doesn't have
to go to the trouble and expense of going through an involved decision progress. Programmed
decision making is relatively simple and tends to rely heavily on previous solutions.

b. Unstructured problems

these problems are new or unusual, and information on them is ambiguous or incomplete. The
selection of an architect to design a new corporate manufacturing facility in Bangkok is an
example of an unstructured problem. When problems are unstructured, managers must rely on
nonprogrammer decision making in order to develop unique solutions. Nonprogrammed
decisions are unique and nonrecurring. When a manager confronts an unstructured problem or
one that is unique, there is no cut-and-dry solution. It requires a custom-made response through
nonprogrammer decision making.

Topic 9:

This process is as applicable to personal decisions as it is to corporate decisions.

Step 1:

Identifying a problem—the decision-making process begins with the existence of a problem

or a discrepancy between an existing and a desired state of affairs. However, a discrepancy
without pressure to take action becomes a problem that can be postponed.

Step 2:

Identify decision criteria—once the manager has identified a problem that needs attention,
the decision criteria important to resolving the problem must be identified. That is, managers
must determine what's relevant in making a decision.

Step 3:

Allocating weights to the criteria—at this step, the decision maker must weigh the items in
order to give them the correct priority in the decision. A simple approach is to give the most
important criterion a weight of 10 and then assign weights to the rest against that standard.

Step 4:

Developing alternatives—the fourth step requires the decision maker to list the viable
alternatives that could resolve the problem. No attempt is made in this step to evaluate the
alternative, only to list them.

Step 5:

Analyzing alternatives—once the alternatives have been identified, the decision maker must
critically analyze each one. From this comparison, the strengths and weaknesses of each
alternative become evident.

Step 6:

Selecting an alternative—the sixth step is the important act of choosing the best alternative
from among those considered. All the pertinent criteria in the decision have now been
determined and weighted, and the alternatives have been identified and analyzed.

Step 7:
 Implementing the alternative—implementation involves conveying the decision to those
affected by it and getting their commitment to it. If the people who must carry out a decision
participate in the process, they're more likely to enthusiastically support the outcome than if
they are just told what to do.

Step 8:

Evaluating decision effectiveness—the last step in the decision-making process involves

appraising the outcome of the decision to see if the problem has been resolved. Did the
alternative chosen and implemented accomplish the desired result? If not, the manager may
consider returning to a previous step or may even consider starting the whole decision
process over.