... Course: Management Theory and Practice (8506) Semester: Autumn, 2011 Level: MBA/M.Com Total Marks: 100 Pass Marks: 50 ASSIGNMENT No. 1 (Units: 1–5) Note: Attempt and questions. Q. 1 a) Define manager and differentiate between general manager and functional manager. Also discuss the different levels of managers with suitable examples. (12) b) Discuss the contribution of Henry Fayol in the field of Management. (08) Q. 2 What is meant by rational decision making? Explain the steps of rational decision making with a suitable example. (20) Q. 3 a) Define Management By Objective (MBO). Differentiate between Strategic planning, Tactical planning and Operational planning. (2+10) b) Explain the following planning tools: i) Forecasting ii) Benchmarking iii) Scheduling iv) Budgeting (2+2+2+2) Q. 4 a) Define the term “Delegation”. Also describe the seven steps to effective delegation. (3+7) b) Explain the following concepts: i) Centralization ii) Decentralization iii) Authority iv) Span of control v) Span of Control (2+2+2+2+2) Q. 5 a) Define Leadership. Differentiate between Leader and Manager. (2+8) b) Discuss the following approaches to leadership in detail: i) Bass’s theory of transformational leadership ii) Contingency approach to leadership (5+5) Guidelines FOR ASSIGNMENT # 1 The student should look upon the assignments as a test of knowledge, management skills, and communication...
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...achieved those numbers was not a concern of their managers as long as the numbers were being met. Organizational behavior studies have become more important today than in previous years because corporations must learn to adapt to the rapidly changing business cultures that have stemmed from a competitive and fast-paced market. Organizational behavior was a topic that was not discussed until an employee's behavior changed, productivity changed, or sales decreased. In today's business world, managers are paying more attention to how employees react to situations rather than if they respond. They are beginning to view organizational behavior as an intricate piece of training and development of the workforce. Soft skills were never a part of management training and it was rare that managers were commended for having those skills. In the business world today, I feel organizational behavior is an essential tool for managing effective teams. If you can zone in on an employees' personality, creativity, and adaptability, motivating that employee the way they need to be motivated is never a gray area and a guaranteed success. With this knowledge managers can achieve a successful career. Since a manager needs to get his job done by the others, to have an organizational behavior skills become a valuable talent. As the environment of business is always changing, the role of the managers has become more sensitive. In order to know how...
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...PLANNING AND MANAGEMENT COURSE CODE: LDP 601 COURSE TITLE: FUNDAMENTALS OF MANAGEMENT LECTURER: DR. HARRIET J. KIDOMBO NAME: WAMBUGU SAMUEL MWANGI REG. NUMBER: L50/68096/2011 DATE OF SUBMISSION: 18TH FEBRUARY, 2012 TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction ………………………………………………………………………………….3 Managerial Roles …………………………………………………………………………….4 Importance of Management to an Organization …………………………………………..…7 Conclusion ……………………………………………………………………………………8 REFERENCES ………………………………………………………………………………9 ROLES AND IMPORTANCE OF MANAGEMENT AS A RESOURCE TO AN ORGANIZATION 1. INTRODUCTION Management is a necessary evil of any business. It provides the leadership and administration that will ensure that the organization runs the way that it should. According to the online business dictionary (2011), management is defined as the organization and coordination of the activities of an enterprise in accordance with certain policies and in achievement of defined objectives. It is the process of using organizational resources to achieve organizational objectives through planning, organizing and staffing, leading, and controlling. Management is an essential factor of production along with machines, materials, and money. As a discipline, management consists of the interlocking functions of formulating corporate policy and organizing, planning, controlling, and directing an organization's resources to achieve the policy's objectives. Management can also imply...
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...asset management systems help businesses to manage assets hosted in the cloud offering cost effective and maintenance free solutions. According to research from Gartner, Inc, “Different Organizations can cut off expenditure on software by as much as 30 percent by implementing software license optimization best practices.” Asset Management is not about...
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...A. You need to be as thorough and comprehensive applying the components of figure 2.1. This includes using the chapters of the book as applicable. For example, what is involved in the prerequisite stage as outlined in section 2.1 and figure 3.1 Performance management is a management style that has become progressively famous. It includes a procedure in which an organization, association, or foundation makes a workplace that enables employees to work to the best of their capacities. The procedure that a business uses to fulfill this frequently differs starting with one business then onto the next. In spite of these varieties, the execution performance management process, for the most part, includes some type of objective setting, assessment,...
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...The Crucial Importance of Production and Operations Management Author(s): Charles G. Andrew and George A. Johnson Source: The Academy of Management Review, Vol. 7, No. 1 (Jan., 1982), pp. 143-147 Published by: Academy of Management Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/257260 . Accessed: 22/10/2013 05:14 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp . JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org. . Academy of Management is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to The Academy of Management Review. http://www.jstor.org This content downloaded from 14.139.155.243 on Tue, 22 Oct 2013 05:14:17 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions ?Academy of Management Review 1982, Vol. 7, No. 1, 143-147 The Crucial Importance of Production and Operations Management CHARLES G. ANDREW University of Hartford GEORGE A. JOHNSON University of Connecticut The history of the recent decline of production and operations management (POM) in academic importance is traced. POM's fundamental importance as a functional area is argued on the basis...
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...The Importance of Classroom Management An effective classroom management plan is the key to becoming an effective teacher, as well as making sure that is learning going on in the classroom. (Wong, Wong, Rogers, & Brooks, 2012) All classrooms should have an effective teacher to teach the students. An effective classroom management plan will also help the teacher keep the classroom under control and it helps the students focus better. An effective classroom management plan will help keep the teachers lesson plans running smoothly throughout the year. Learning to manage a classroom full of students can be difficult at times, but with dilliance and careful planning you will soon find out that your hard work and good effort will turn out for the best in the end. For teachers to teach the students then the teacher also need to do their homework and plan an effective classroom management plan that will keep the class on the right track for the year. Effective teachers maintain their classrooms well with procedures and everyday routines where ineffective teachers just depend on punishments and threats to keep their classrooms under control. When starting to plan a classroom management plan you must first make sure that you fully understand what classroom management is and how it works. Classroom management is a set of procedures that structure the classroom so the students know what to do, how to do it, and when to do it in a classroom. (Wong, Wong, Rogers, & Brooks, 2012) A classroom...
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...widespread and dwells at the heart of every monetary activity of people, organisations and governments. Risk management is the procedure of distinguishing the risks, assessing it and after that decisions are made and executed for the best method for dealing with the risks. From the macroeconomic angle the techniques of risk management can diminish the quantity of business and modern endeavours that would some way or another get to be wiped out. The most striking advantage of powerful risk management results from loss of control. Compelling misfortune control techniques can minimise the recurrence and power of catastrophes. Risk is pervasive and spreads through each issue of life. To business segments, unanticipated circumstances make...
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...Project Management is the application of knowledge, skills, tools, techniques to project activities to meet project requirements. Project management is accomplished through the application and integration of the project management process of initiating, planning, executing, monitoring and controlling and closing (King, 2014). Nowadays, in order to become a successful project manager and to ensure the project’s success, they should possess attributes such as critical thinking skill, analysing skill as well as problem solving skill. Meredith & Mantel (2012) define certain attributes of effective project managers as well as three specific leadership styles: Intellectual, Managerial, and Emotional. Individuals...
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...processes include quality-planning, quality control, quality assurance. Quality planning is the inspection and assurance process in which method for satisfying the quality standards with the help of recognising the standards of quality along with products are services produced in the organisation are determined (Fox, 2013). In addition to this, this process determines the standards, policies, and the descriptions of the products. However, for the purpose of verifying the quality levels and for identifying the gaps between the present situation and quality standards, the cost benefit analysis, benchmarking, design experiment methods, and flowcharts are used. After this, quality management plans, input, and checklist are established. This process is used by the Pizza Hut as they create proper quality management plans along with the checklist to make sure that the end product is of high quality (Baird, et al.,...
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...The Importance of Risk Management BUS 697 The Importance of Risk Management Altex Corporation has an interesting scenario before them; Altex proposed delivery of a missile program to the Army and won the contract for research and development. The interesting component is that the proposal states that Altex can exceed Army expectations and the PM has doubts to meet this factor. Moreover, the project sponsor is assuming that the Army will accept as low as 60% of the deliverable. Proper risk management can be the point of success or failure depending on the customer expectations. Altex Corporation has to manage expectations accordingly and highlight areas of concern to benefit the most from this defense contract award. Assumed Practices During this era of post WWII defense contracting, contractors who were not primarily qualified received government obligations to deliver products for the “sole purpose of increasing competition” (Kerzner, 2005, p.253). Project sponsors held assumptions that once a contract was awarded and after much money was spent, the Department of Defense will continue to fund projects at whatever costs necessary. The issue with this is that project sponsors are risking the assumption of their customer without consulting the customer’s intentions and expectations. “A firm’s perception of risks may be significantly different than the customer’s perceptions” (Kerzner, 2005, p. 24). The assumed practice must be properly analyzed. Case Study Questions ...
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...Time management is the process of applying management "functions such as planning, organizing and controlling to one’s" (Dalli, 2014) own interests so as to reach their objectives Some of the things to do to successfully manage time include "set realistic goals, get organized, delegate, relax and recharge" (Jackson, 2009). As earlier mentioned, time management is very important and so now I follow the guidelines as to keep track of what I am doing. It has really helped me because now my work is usually completed on time. I usually participate in activities outside school and I even organize some of them so now that I have the benefit of managing time the events turn out much better as everything goes per the...
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...Part A Introduction Risk management has become a significant part in an organisation. There are always uncertainties in the process of achieving the goals of an organisation and uncertainties will lead to risks. According to insurance industry professionals, “risk is a condition where there is possibility of an adverse deviation from a desired outcome that is expected or hoped for.” Chapman (2011) stated, “Companies that treat risk management as merely compliance issue expose themselves to nursing a damaged balance sheet.” Business now operate in an entirely different environment compared with fifty years ago. There is an increasing number of firms seeking international growth by going global as an importer or exporter. When engaging in the...
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...Table of Contents Introduction 1 Project Management 1 1. Definition 1 Vision and Mission 1 Strategic Objectives 2 Importance of Project Management to achieve Strategic Objectives 3 1. Compression of the product life cycle 3 2. Global competition 4 3. Knowledge explosion 4 4. Corporate downsizing 5 5. Increased customer focus 6 6. Rapid development of Third World and Closed Economies 6 7. Small projects represent big problems 7 Conclusion 8 References INTRODUCTION The pace of change in business and technology is accelerating. As a result, no matter what your perspective there is more of everything to contend with – more ideas, competitors, resources, constraints, and certainly, more people doing and wanting things. The accelerated rate of change in technology means that products or processes are evolving at a more rapid pace, and as a result the life cycles of the things we use and rely on are getting shorter. This accelerated rate of change has a direct impact on the frequency and conduct of projects. All of this project activity has spurred a growing interest in ways to plan and control projects, and to organize and lead people, and groups to meet the needs of customers, markets, and society within the bounds of limited time and resources. (Nicholas, 2000). Today’s most successful organizations employ Project Management as a strategic tool to drive change and achieve business objectives. Focusing primarily on developing...
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...CHAPTER SUMMARY – CHAPTER 8 The Importance of Strategic Management ✓ Define strategic management, strategy, and business model. ✓ Explain why strategic management is important. Strategic management is what managers do to develop the organization’s strategies. Strategies are the decisions and actions that determine the long-run performance of the organization. A business model is a strategic design for how a company intends to profit from its strategies, work processes, and work activities. Strategic management is important for four reasons. First, it makes a difference in how well organizations perform. Second, it’s important for helping managers cope with continually changing situations. Third, strategic management helps coordinate diverse divisions, departments, functions, and work activities, and keeps all focused on achieving the organization’s goals. Finally, it’s important because it’s involved in many of the decisions that managers make. The Strategic Management Process ✓ List the six steps in the strategic management process. ✓ Describe what managers do during external and internal analyses. ✓ Explain the role of resources, capabilities, and core competencies. ✓ Define strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. The six steps in the strategic management process are: (1) identify the current mission, goals, and strategies; (2) do an external analysis; (3) do an internal analysis – steps 2 and 3 collectively are known...
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