LESSON 1

Introduction to Management and Organization

TOPICS: LEARNING OUTCOMES:

1. Introduction to Management  Introduce management functions in
2. Primary Functions of Management general
3. Types of Managers and their roles  Discuss the primary functions of
4. Advantages of Managing People Well management
 Identify the types of managers and their
roles

Topic 1: Introduction to Management

Management is not a hard science.  Unlike chemistry or

algebra where a right answer (often) exists, management is
fluid, and subjective, and there are divergent perspectives
on how to employ its principles.  But what exactly is
management?  Most scholars have variations of the same
definition that include a utilization of resources to achieve
a goal.  Lussier (2021) defines a manager as “the
individual responsible for achieving organizational
objectives through efficient and effective utilization of
resources” .The problem with this definition is that it
implies that a manager has to be both efficient and
effective, which eliminates the possibility of having a bad
manager.  Each of us can probably contradict this
definition by providing an example from our personal
past.  However, this definition contains the basic elements of using resources to pursue goals.
An early management scholar, Mary P. Follett characterized management as “the art of getting things
done through the efforts of other people” .This definition implies both pursuing goals (getting things
done) and utilizing resources (predominantly through people).  However, this too is missing an element,
that of the organizational context.  An important consideration for understanding management is that the
term organization simply refers to “a collection of people working together to achieve a common
purpose”. This means an organization could be anything from your high school volleyball team to
church or a corporation.  Including the term “organization” in the definition leaves open the possibility
that management can be practiced in each of these settings, and broadens our use of the term
management.  A comprehensive definition for management then, would be the pursuit of organizational
goals through the use of organizational resources. Pursuit implies a chance of failure and organizational
gives us a context.  This begs the question – how can we become effective at the pursuit of goals, or
become more efficient in our use of organizational resources?  Being good at management requires an
immense focus on both of these ends, and we can achieve this through the process of the planning,
organizing, leading, and controlling functions of management.   These functions serve as the basis for
the rest of the textbook because they are the essential tools we use to manage organizations.  Most of the
context and examples for this book focus on the corporate use of management.  However, you should
meet the concepts where you are in your professional or academic career – apply the principles to the

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context of your life, master the four functions for what you are doing now so that you can scale them to
much bigger managerial endeavour’s later.
Management is the coordination and administration of tasks to achieve a goal. Such administration
activities include setting the organization’s strategy and coordinating the efforts of staff to accomplish
these objectives through the application of available resources. Management can also refer to the
seniority structure of staff members within an organization.
To be an effective manager, you’ll need to develop a set of skills, including planning, communication,
organization and leadership. You will also need extensive knowledge of the company’s goals and how to
direct employees, sales and other operations to accomplish them.

Management is the act of getting people together to accomplish desired goals and objectives using
available resources efficiently and effectively. Since organizations can be viewed as systems,
management can also be defined as human action, including design, to facilitate the production of useful
outcomes from a system. This view opens the opportunity to manage oneself, a pre-requisite to
attempting to manage others.

Management functions include: Planning, organizing, staffing, leading or directing, and controlling an
organization (a group of one or more people or entities) or effort for the purpose of accomplishing a
goal.

There are several different resource types within management. Resourcing encompasses the deployment
and manipulation of:

 Human resources
 Financial resources
 Technological resources
 Natural resources
Topic 2: Primary Functions of Management

In this part, the significance of the functions of

management and how business organizations apply them
in their day-to-day operations will be discussed.
Remember that these functions interact and support each
other. Failure in one function will result to problems in
other functions.
Planning involves defining goals, establishing
strategies for achieving those goals, and developing plans
to integrate and coordinate activities.
Organizing involves arranging and structuring
work to accomplish the organization’s goals. It also
includes provision of necessary resources (physical,
financial and human) needed by the organization to carry
out its plans and achieve its objectives.
Staffing involves selection and acquiring the workforce needed by the organization. It is all
about “putting the right man, for the right job”.
Leading involves working with and through people to accomplish organizational goals.
Motivation is integral in this function. It deals with keeping all the human resource in one path towards
the set goals and objectives of the organization.
Controlling involves monitoring, comparing, and correcting work performance. It includes identifying
deviations and errors, then implementing corrective actions to correct them.

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 Topic 3: Types of Managers and their roles

In order to gain best results using management, these roles must be properly performed by the
manager or persons engaged in management. These management roles are drawn from the management
theory of Henry Mintzberg, a Canadian academic and author on business management.

Interpersonal roles include figurehead, leadership, and liaison activities. These roles focus on
providing information and ideas.
As a figurehead, a manager has social, ceremonial and legal responsibilities. He is expected to be
a source of inspiration. His subordinates look up to him as a person with authority.
As a leader, a manager must lead his department or the entire organization and manage the performance
and responsibilities of everyone in the group.
As a liaison, a manager must communicate with internal and external contacts. He needs to be able to
network effectively on behalf of the organization.

Informational roles include monitoring, disseminating, and spokesperson activities. These roles
focus on processing information.
Monitoring incorporates regular collection of information related to the organization and
industry and looking for relevant changes in the environment. A manager must also monitor his team, in
terms of both their productivity and their well-being. Disseminating involves communication potentially
useful information to the team and entire organization.
As a spokesperson, a manager must represent and speak for their organization. He is responsible
for transmitting information about the organization and its goals to the external stakeholders.

Decisional roles include entrepreneur, disturbance handler, resource allocator, and negotiator.
These roles involve using information.
As an entrepreneur, a manager must create and control change within the organization. This means
solving problems, generating new ideas and implementing them.
As a disturbance handler, a manager must take charge when his team or the organization hits unexpected
difficulties. He also needs to help mediate disputes within it.
As a resource allocator, a manager needs to determine where organizational resources are best applied.
This involves allocating funding, as well as assigning staff and other organizational resources.
As a negotiator, a manager must take part in and direct, important negotiations within his team,
department or organization.

Topic 4: Advantages of Managing People Well

These two are one of the most common terms used in management and business. Performance of
businesses or organization may be measured using efficiency and effectiveness. These two are different
from each other but they are inseparable. To be exact, a manager or business must be effective and
efficient at the same time. There should be a balance between
the two, as Peter Drucker stated, efficiency supports profit
and effectiveness may drive growth.
Efficiency is getting the most output from the least
number of inputs in order to minimize resource costs. It is
often referred to as “doing things right”. In simple terms, it is
achieving goals or outputs with minimized resources and less
waste as much as possible.
Effectiveness is completing activities so that
organizational goals are attained. It is often described as
“doing the right things”. Thus, it is all about achieving what
is supposed to be achieved.

Performing management roles will not be enough without the skills which complement them.
These skills are essential in utilizing management to the fullest and reaping its benefits. These skills may
be innate for some managers, but also can be learned and acquired through experience and hard work.

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 Job-specific knowledge and techniques needed to proficiently
perform specific tasks
Technical Skills Managers must possess knowledge of the tasks performed by
his/her subordinates.

The ability to work well with other people individually and in a

group.
Human Skills It should be easy for a manager to approach and to be
approached by people around him/her.

The ability to think and to conceptualize about abstract and

complex situations.
Conceptual Skills These skills are needed in making strategic decisions for the
organization.

ASSESSMENT

Activity 1: Read the case carefully before answering the following questions. Answers shall be
written on whole sheet/s of yellow paper and must be submitted not later than the agreed deadline.
Late submissions will not be accepted and will result to a failing grade.

DIVOC Enterprises is a business that manufactures “face masks” in San Jose, Occidental
Mindoro. Its owner, Mr. Salvador, acts as the manager for the entire business which is composed of
100 workers. As the manager, he ensures that the business produces the quota of 10, 000 face masks
per day. In doing so, the business ensures all the ingredients are fully utilized and nothing is wasted.
This practice helped the business cut their expenses for ingredients. Aside from being the manager, he
also acts as a father and role model for his employees who look up to him. He makes decisions with the
consent of the group and disseminates information to all the members whenever needed. He knows
the tasks and responsibilities of each employee and work well with them. With him as the manager,
the business seems to have a brighter future.

In answering the questions below, please cite the instances from the case above to support your
answers.

1. Is the business efficient?

2. Are they effective?
3. What are the management role/s performed by Mr. Salvador?
4. What are the management skill/s possessed by Mr. Salvador?

RUBRICS FOR WRITTEN OUTPUT

This criterion shall include the reliability and ingenuity of
the output. Its reliability shall be evaluated based on the
Content 50%
truthfulness, while ingenuity indicates the originality and
creativity of the incorporated ideas and concepts.
This criterion encompasses the ways how the ideas and
Organization of Ideas concepts are presented. Coherence and structure of the 30%
content are the focus of the criterion.
Grammar & Mechanics This criterion shall include the grammatical correctness, 20%

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 format and use of punctuations.
TOTAL 100%

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