UNIT 3: DEFINING MANAGEMENT

A.      REVIEW OF UNIT 2

Activity 1: Group presentation

In groups of five, discuss the notion of “governance”. After seven minutes, group representatives will present their findings in front of the whole class.

B.      TEXTS AND PRACTICE

Activity 2: Pre-reading

a. Look at the following words and choose five words that you think might be used in the text about defining management. Explain your choice.

plan resources goals budget

complaint office audit human

organization academic tasks culture

b. Read aloud the words you have listed.

Activity 3: Reading comprehension

Read the following text carefully:

Management

1. Management has been called “the art of getting things done through people”. This definition, by Mary Parker Follet, calls attention to the fact that managers achieve organizational goals by arranging for others to perform whatever tasks may be necessary – not by performing the tasks themselves.

1. Management is that, and more. So much more, in fact, that no one definition has been universally accepted. Our discussion will start with a somewhat more complex definition, so that we may call attention to additional important aspects of managing.

1. Management is the process of planning, organizing, leading and controlling the efforts of an organization’s members, and using all other organizational resources to achieve stated organizational goals.

1. A process is a systematic way of doing things. We define management as a process because all managers, regardless of their particular aptitudes or skills, engage in certain inter-related activities in order to achieve their desired goals.

1. 1. Planning implies that managers think through their goals and actions in advance. Their actions are usually based on some method, plan or logic, rather than on a hunch.

1. 2. Organizing means that managers co-ordinate the human and material resources of the organization. The effectiveness of an organization depends on its ability to marshall its resources to attain its goals. Obviously, the more integrated and co-ordinated the work of an organization, the more effective it will be. Achieving this co-ordination is part of the manager’s job.

1. 3. Leading describes how managers direct and influence subordinates, getting others to perform essential tasks. By establishing the proper atmosphere, they help their subordinates do their best.

1. 4. Controlling means that managers attempt to ensure that an organization is moving towards its goals. If some part of an organization is on the wrong track, manager try to find out why, and setting things rights.

1.  The definition also indicates that managers use all the resources of the organization – its finances, equipment and information as well as its people – to attain their goals. People are the most important resources of any organization, but managers world be limiting their achievements if they did not also rely on the other available organizational resources. For example, a manager who wishes to increase sale might try not only to motivate the sales force but also to increase the advertising budget, thus using both human and financial resources to attain that goal.

1. Finally, the definition says that management involves achieving the organization’s “stated goals”. This means that managers of any organization – a university, the Department of Social Security, or the Sydney Swan – try to attain specific ends. These ends are, of course, unique to each organization. The stated goal of a university might be to give students a well-rounded education in an academic community. Whatever the stated goals of a particular organization, management is the process by which the goals are achieved.

Now say if these statements are true (T) of false (F). Look at the table that follows for the words or expressions that you don’t know. Correct the false statements.

…. 1. A manager does things for other people.

...........................................................................................................................................................

…. 2. Managers perform tasks by themselves.

...........................................................................................................................................................

…. 3. A process is a general way of doing things.

...........................................................................................................................................................

…. 4. Planning means doing the tasks and actions in advance.

...........................................................................................................................................................

…. 5. Organizing means coordinating all organizational resources.

...........................................................................................................................................................

…. 6. Leading means directing and influencing.

...........................................................................................................................................................

…. 7. Controlling implies setting things right.

...........................................................................................................................................................

…. 8. A manager’s job involves only human resources.

...........................................................................................................................................................

…. 9. Organizations are all the same.

...........................................................................................................................................................

…. 10. Management is a way of achieving stated goals.

...........................................................................................................................................................

Activity 4: Vocabulary work

Look carefully at these words and phrases. Read them out loud after your teacher.

Vocabulary	Vietnamese meaning(s)
Goal                                              (para.1)	Mục tiêu
Organizational goal                      (para.1)	Mục tiêu của tổ chức
Management                                 (para.1)	Quản lý
Manager                                        (para.1)	Nhà quản lý
Universally                                   (para.2)	Được chấp nhận chung
Controlling                                   (para.3)	Kiểm tra Kiểm soát
Leading                                        (para.3)	Lãnh đạo
Organizing                                   (para.3)	Tổ chức
Planning                                       (para.3)	Lập kế hoạch Lên kế hoạch
Human and material resources                                      (para.6)	Các nguồn nhân lực và vật lực
The more …, the more …           (para.6)	Càng…, càng…
Proper atmosphere                       (para.7)	Bầu không khí thích đáng
Subordinate                                  (para.7)	Cấp dưới
Achievement                                (para.9)	1.  Hành động đạt được 2.  Thành tựu
Academic community                                                      (para.10)	1.  Cộng đồng học thuật 2.  Giới học thuật
Stated goals                                  (para.10)	Các mục tiêu đã đề ra

Activity 5: Matching words with their meaning

Match the words on the left with their definitions on the right. The first is done for you as an example:

1. resources 2. controlling 3. goal 4. planning 5. complex

a. something you hope to achieve b. made up of many different parts c. people or things you can turn to for help d. making something work in the way that is required e. deciding in advance how to do something.

Activity 6: Comprehension questions

Read the text in Activity 3 again and answer the following questions:

1. What is the definition of management given by Mary Parker Follett?
2. Why is no one definition of management universally accepted?
3. Why is management defined as a process?

4.   Describe what a manager does. (Your answer should contain at least four parts.)

5.   What does planning imply?

6.   What is the meaning of leading?

7.   What is controlling?

8.   What resources do managers use to attain their goals?

9.   What do you understand by the term “stated goals”?

10. Do you have any other definition of management? What is it?

Activity 7: Word formation

The text on defining management contains a lot of words ending in –tion. Find nouns to match the following verbs:

Verbs 1. define 2. attend 3. organize 4. act 5. co-ordinate 6. inform 7. educate

Noun (ending in –tion) ………………………………….. ………………………………….. ………………………………….. ………………………………….. ………………………………….. ………………………………….. …………………………………..

Meaning of the Noun ………………………………. ………………………………. ………………………………. ………………………………. ………………………………. ………………………………. ……………………………….

Activity 8: Pronunciation

Stress

1. Words ending in –tion have at least two syllables, usually more. Which syllable is stressed? Listen to the nouns ending in –tion. Mark the stressed syllable.
2. Study the list again. What is the rule for stress in words ending in –tion? Complete the following sentence:

Rule: the syllable _______________________ -tion is stressed.

1. Does it make any difference if the –tion is not at the end of the word?

Example: addition – additional, education – educational, organization – organizational

Rule: the syllable _____________________ -tion is ______________ stressed.

The sound /∫/

The letters “ti” in –tion are pronounced /∫/ as in SH. Which of the following words from the text also have the same sound? Underline the letters which give this sound.

discussion – ensure – essential – establish – finances – financial – process – social

Are you making the /∫/ sound correctly? If not, pull your tongue back more and press the sides of the tongue up against the inside of the upper back teeth.

Activity 9: Topic for discussion:

Give your opinion on the future of “management”.

C.     EXTENSION

Activity 10: Filling in the gaps

Complete the text using the following verbs. There may be some new words in the text. Try to guess the meaning before you look in a dictionary or ask somebody.

analyze improve select

communicate measure train

contribute commercialize understand

divide perform use

form risk work out

You want me to explain what management is? Well, I guess I can manage that! Actually, management as we (1)………………..it today is a fairly recent idea. Most economists in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, for example, wrote about factors of production such as land, labour and capital, and about supply and demand, as if these were impersonal and objective economic forces which left no room for human action. An exception was Jean-Baptiste Say, who invented the term “entrepreneur”, the person who see opportunities to (2)……………… resources in more productive ways.

Entrepreneurs are people who are alert to so-far undiscovered profit opportunities. They perceive opportunities to (3) ……………….. new technologies and products that will serve the market better than it is currently being served by their competitors. They are happy to (4) …………….. their own or other people’s capital. They are unconventional, innovative people. But entrepreneurship isn’t the same as management, and most managers aren’t entrepreneurs.

So, what’s management? Well, it’s essentially a matter of organizing people. Managers, especially senior managers, have to set objectives for their organization, and then (5) ………………. how to achieve them. This is true of the managers of business enterprises, government departments, educational institutions, and sport teams, although for government services, universities and so on we usually talk about administrators and administration rather than managers and management. Managers (6) ………………. the activities of the organization and the relations among them. They (7) ………………… the work into distinct activities and into individual jobs. They (8) …………………… people to manage these activities and perform the jobs. And they often need to make the people responsible for performing individual jobs (9) ……………… effective teams.

Managers have to be good at communication and motivation. They need to (10) ………… the organization’s objectives to the people responsible for attaining them. They have to motivate their staff to work well, to be productive, and to (11) ……………. something to the organization. They make decisions about pay and promotion.

Managers have to (12) …………….. the performance of their staff, and to ensure that the objectives and performance targets set for the whole organization and for individual employees are reached. Furthermore, they have to (13) ………………. and develop their staff, so that their performance continues to (14) ……………

Some managers obviously (15) …………… these tasks better than others. Most achievements and failures in business are the achievements or failures of individual managers.

Activity 11: Things to remember:

“Management: The process of planning, organizing, leading, and controlling the work of organization members and of using all available organizational resources to reach stated organizational goals.”

Activity 12: Translation

1. Translate the following passage into Vietnamese:

1. “For most of our lives, we are members of one organization or another – a college, a sports team, a musical or theatrical group, a religious or civic organization, a branch of the armed forces, or a business.
2. Some organizations, like the army and large corporations, are structured very formally. Others, like a neighborhood basketball team, are more casually structured.
3. But all organizations, formal or informal, are put together by a group of people who see that there are benefits available from working together toward some common goal. So a very basic element of any organization is a goal or purpose.
4. The goal will vary – to win a league championship, to entertain an audience, to set a product – but without a goal no organization would have a reason to exist”.

1. Translate the following passage into English:

Sựtiến hóa của lý thuyết quản lý

1. Quản lý và các tổchức là các sản phẩm của thời gian và không gian lịch sửvà xã hội của chúng. Nhưvậy, chúng ta có thểhiểu sựtiến hóa của lý thuyết quản lý từphương tiện con người đã từng vật lộn với vấn đềcác mối quan hệtại thời điểmcụthểtrong lịch sử.

1. Bài học quan trọng chúng ta có thểhọc tập được từkiến thức và kinh nghiệm của các bậc tiền bối là vềcác tổchức hình thức.

1. Khi nghiên cứu lý thuyết quản lý chúng ta sẽthấy rằng mặc dù những gì Henry Ford và Alfred Sloan quan tâm khác xa với những điều các nhà quản lý hiện nay quan tâm, chúng ta vẫn có thểthấy rằng chúng ta đang tiếp nối những truyền thống quý báu mà các bậc tiền bối đó đi trước từlâu.

1. Việc ghi nhớvềkhuôn khổcác mối quan hệvà thời gian đó giúp chúng ta đặt mình vào vịtrí của người học viên vềquản lý.”

D.    HOMEWORK

Exercise 1: Complementary reading

Read the following text and answer the review questions at the end:

Evolution of management theory

To fully appreciate the managerial process, an understanding of the evolution of management theory is essential. This evolution has progressed through four distinct phases, beginning with the scientific management movement in the early 1900s, moving on to the administrative movement of the 1930s, thehuman relations movement of the 1940s and 1950s, and then the current modern movement.

The Scientific Management Movement

1. Fredrick W. Taylor, generally regarded as the founded of scientific management, was greatly concerned during the late 1800s, and early 1900s with the emphasis that organization placed on production. Taylor believed that any major problem confronting an organization could be resolved if management would scientifically determine and communicate expected output levels to employees. Scientific management, as conceived by Taylor, was designed to increase the output of the employees and to improve management’s operating efficiency.
2. Taylor viewed each worker as a separate economic entity whose motivation to work stemmed from the worker’s financial needs. He also believed that workers had to produce more at a lower cost and that they should be paid on a piecework basis, which would enable them to increase their earnings.
3. The cornerstone of scientific management as formalized by Taylor was the use of time and motion study to increase workers’ efficiency in using machines. Time study is concerned with the amount of time it takes to complete a task, while motion study is concerned with the efficiency of the motion involved in performing a task.
4. Taylor and this his followers believed that it was possible to identify one best way to do a job. But mechanical, psychological and social needs were often neglected.

The Administrative Movement

1. Popular during the 1930s, the administrative movement focused on the firm as a whole or total entity rather than on specific isolated functions. It was during this movement that specific management functions were identified, including planning, organizing, commanding, coordinating, and controlling.
2. Henry Fayol, a French geologist and engineer, was one of the more important proponents of the administrative philosophy. Fayol and his followers believed that management, regardless of the specific areas, was comprised of the following universal principles:

1. Division of labour 3. Discipline 5. Unity of direction 7. Remuneration 9. Scalar chain (line of authority) 11. Equity 13. Initiative

2. Authority 4. Unity of command 6. Subordination of the individual interest to the general interest 8. Centralization 10. Order 12. Stability of tenure of personnel 14. Esprit de corps.

The Human Relations Movement

1. Emerging during the 1940s and 1950s, the human relations movement was largely a response to the failure of organizations to treat their employees in a human manner. Rather than focusing on the whole organization, which was the philosophy of the administrative movement, the human relations era was primarily concerned with individuals, and groups. Especially important in the human relations movement was the relationship between superior and subordinate, particularly in terms of interpersonal relations and communication. Much of the work that evolved out of the human relations movement was concerned primarily with the lower levels of management.
2. One of the main proponents of the human relations movement was Elton Mayo. The well knownHawthorneStudies conducted by Mayo and other researchers from Harvard University provided the primary impetus for the development of the human relations movement. The Hawthorne Studies, which took place at Western Electric’s plant in Hawthorne, Illinois, were concerned with determining the effects that such factors as lighting, heating, fatigue and layout had on productivity.
3. One phase of the study determined the relationship between the illumination level of the work area and the output of the plant workers. As the illumination level was increased, the output also predictably increased. But unexpectedly, the output continued to increase even when the illumination level was decreased. The researchers concluded that the human element had a greater impact on determining output and reaction to change than did the technical factor. Those advocating human relations strongly believed, therefore, that treating employees in a human manner had a greater effect on operating efficiency and output than did any of the technical factors.

The Modern Movement

1. The fourth phase in the evolution of management theory, the modern movement, began in the early 1950s, and it continues today. The modern movement consists of two approaches – the quantitative approach and the nonquantitative approach. The quantitative approach is also known as the operations approach, while the nonquantitative approach is frequently called the behavioral science approach.
2. The operations approach is concerned primarily with the making of decisions, especially decisions about which operations should be undertaken and about how they should be carried out.
3. Systems analysis is closely related to the operations approach, with the following basic differences: sys analysis depends more on judgement and premonition, while the operations approach depends more on quantitative methods and mathematical models. Systems analysis is more subjective, while the operations approach is more objective.
4. The behavioral sciences approach is the scientific study of observable and verifiable human behavior. The effects of behavioral sciences can be observed at the individual, group, and organizational levels. The individual level is concerned with such factors as motivation, attitudes, and personality. The group level is concerned with interactions, interrelationships, group norms and group leadership. The organizational level is concerned with such areas as bureaucracy and the effect on behavior of the total design of the system.
5. Other comparisons can be made between the behavioral sciences approach and the operations approach. The behavioral sciences approach is concerned with the manner in which decisions are made, while the operations approach is concerned with the way in – which they ought to be made. The former uses psychology, sociology, and anthropology as its basis, while the latter is more concerned with mathematics, computer science, and statistical applications.

Now answer the following questions:

1. During the scientific management movement, what technique or process was used to help increase workers’ efficiency in using machines?
2. In what ways does the scientific management movement differ from the administrative movement?
3. What impact have the Hawthorne Studies had on the development of management theory?
4. How to systems analysis and the operations approach of the modern movement differ from one another?

E.   REVIEW TEST

You have 25 minutes to complete the following test. When you have finished, your teacher will give you the key and you will mark your own answers.

Test 1: Give a brief definition of each of the following words or phrases:

1. Resources......................................................................................................................................
2. Stated goals...................................................................................................................................
3. Controlling....................................................................................................................................
4. Co-ordination................................................................................................................................
5. Systems analysis............................................................................................................................
6. A process.......................................................................................................................................

Test 2: Fill in the gaps:

Find words or phrases used in this unit to fill in the gaps in the following sentences:

1. ……………is the action of directing and influencing subordinates to perform essential ………………
2. A good manager must identify and think through his actions and ………….. in advance so that he can …………… how to achieve something.
3. The ………………… and …………… resources of an organization must be …………… by a manager in order to make it operate efficiently.
4. “Management has been called the …………… of getting things ……………….. through ………………..”

(4 points)

Test 3: Making a list.

List, in order of importance, the six essential qualities you think a manager should possess. Be prepared to justify your choice.

(3 points)