Essentials of contemporary management 8th edition free download

Managers allocated all the tasks involved in actually cooking the food to the job of the chef, and allocated all of tasks related to giving food to customers to food servers. In addition, the company created other kinds of specialized jobs, such as dealing with drive-through customers and keeping the restaurant clean. This kind of job specialization increases efficiency and worker productivity. Managers must continually analyze the range of tasks to be performed and then create jobs that allow the organization to give customers the quality of goods and level of service that they want.

In doing so, however, they must certain not to oversimplify tasks, since too much specialization can lead to worker boredom and monotony. This can have an adverse impact on productivity and efficiency.

A record of procedures is kept that codifies methods of performing tasks into written work rules and standard operating procedures. Employees receive a training manual and begin with simplified jobs, earning advancement to more complex positions as they increase their performance. A pay system that ties performance to bonuses or time off might provide workers with incentive to sell more food and improve their customer service.

How do they differ? Weber developed a system of bureaucracy—a formal system of organization and administration designed to ensure efficiency and effectiveness. It is a system based on five principles. Fayol identified 14 principles that he believed to be essential to increasing the efficiency of the management process.

According to Weber, formal authority derives from the position a manager holds in the organization. Fayol went beyond formal authority to include the informal authority derived from personal expertise, technical knowledge, moral worth, and ability to lead and to generate commitment from subordinates. Fayol echoes this idea when he speaks of unity of command— an employee should receive orders from only one superior.

While Weber was more adherent to a hierarchical strategy, Fayol emphasized also the importance of cross-departmental integration and teams, and communication at the lower levels of management in an organization. Fayol also stressed the importance of limiting the number of levels in the hierarchy to reduce communication problems.

Fayol was more flexible, though, in allowing for initiative and innovation at lower levels in an organization. These standards provide guidelines that increase performance because they specify the best ways to accomplish organizational tasks.

Ethical behavior in organizations is crucial for organizational success and employee well being. Weber also emphasizes specificity in authority hierarchy, task requirements, and chains of command. The fairness and equity of the selection and promotion systems that Weber advocates encourages organizational members to act ethically and further promote the interests of the organization as well. By recognizing the downside of specialization and focusing upon expanded employee duties and responsibilities, Fayol avoids unethical treatment of employees.

Why was the work of Mary Parker Follett ahead of its time? To what degree do you think it is appropriate today? Mary Parker Follett wrote mainly in response to the lack of concern for the human side of the organization by other management theorists and practitioners. She pointed out that management often overlooks the many contributions that employees can make to organizations when managers allow them to participate and exercise initiative.

Her work was important because she called for employee involvement in analyzing their jobs and participating in the work development process. Follett was ahead of her time because she anticipated the current interest in self-managed teams and empowerment, in which workers manage many of their own activities. Follett advocated a horizontal view of power and authority. She suggested that those with the knowledge to help the organization achieve its goals should have more authority, and authority should be flexible to meet the needs of organization at different times.

This approach was very radical for its time, and directly contrasted the work of Fayol and Weber. New issues constantly arise, and organizations need to be able to adapt and change in order to survive. An organization that has an archaic management structure that impedes communication and thwarts efforts to respond to changing needs will not survive global and domestic competition. Organizations also need to respond to the advances of technology that may make some organizations obsolete.

What is contingency theory? What kinds of organizations familiar to you have been successful or unsuccessful in dealing with contingencies from the external environment? The important message of contingency theory is that there is no one best way to manage.

If an organization is to succeed, managers must look to the environment in which the organization operates to determine the kind of strategy, structure, and control systems to implement.

Since the ability of an organization to obtain resources depends on the nature and characteristics of the environment, managers cannot afford to adhere to an inflexible management strategy. Managers must recognize the opportunities and limitations sometimes imposed by the environment, and then. The ultimate goal is to be able to respond to a changing environment quickly and effectively. Examples of organizations that were unable to deal with contingencies from the environment include those that have become obsolete due to changes in technology, the entry of new competitors in the environment, and changes in economic conditions.

Intel is successful because it developed new computer technology that surpassed existing technology. Donna Karan, a high-end clothing manufacturer, has been unsuccessful in controlling costs that its sales cannot support.

People are now spending less money on clothing than during previous decades and Donna Karan was slow to respond to this environmental shift. America Online was unprepared for the shift to broadband internet access and has been slow to formulate a new strategy for success in an environment in which functioning solely as an internet portal no longer provides a competitive advantage.

Why are mechanistic and organic structures suited to different organizational environments? A mechanistic structure is chosen when the environment surrounding an organization is stable. This would be the case for an organization that has steady supply and demand and is somewhat immune to the fluctuations of the economy.

Management closely supervises subordinates and the emphasis is on strict discipline and order. A mechanistic structure allows inputs to be obtained at the lowest cost, giving an organization the most control over its conversion processes and enabling the most efficient production of goods and services. In a stable environment lower level employees do not need to make management decisions in response to changing environment characteristics.

An organic structure is chosen when the environment surrounding an organization is changing rapidly, making it is more difficult to obtain access to resources. In this kind of environment, managers need to be able to respond quickly to seize resources, so it must be free from the difficulties associated with a vertical hierarchy that exists in a mechanistic structure.

Instead of vertical authority, authority is more decentralized to people lower in the organization. Departments are encouraged to take a cross-departmental or functional perspective, which makes authority more horizontal than vertical. An organic structure allows managers to react more quickly to a changing environment than a mechanistic structure. An advantage is that authority rests with the people who are in the best positions to control and address the current problems the organization is facing.

The number of levels should be limited to help ensure timely and flexible reactions to problems, and to facilitate communication. This is a primary concern for many managers who work with diverse workforces. It should be uniformly applied to all employees. Visit at least two organizations in your community, and identify those that seem to operate with a Theory X or a Theory Y approach to management.

Note to the instructor: Student answers will vary. The following is a brief overview of the Theory X and Theory Y approach to management. Theory X approach to management: According to this theory, managers believe the average worker is lazy, dislikes work, and will try to do as little as possible.

These managers believe that it is their job to counteract the natural tendencies of workers to avoid work by closely supervising and controlling them. Control is exercised through a system of rewards and punishments. This theory asserts that managers need to maximize control and minimize employee autonomy over their work and work pace. Cooperation is neither expected nor desired by the workforce. Managers see their role as to closely monitor workers to ensure they contribute to the production process and follow the rules and standard operating procedures of the organization, and do not threaten product quality.

Typical examples of Theory X organizations include fast food restaurants and retail stores. Employee turnover tends to be very high and employees are motivated mostly by the money and many will quit as soon as a short term financial objective is achieved pay off a traffic ticket, buy books for the semester, buy car insurance.

Rules, procedures and strict managerial oversight are often effective in these organizations. Theory Y Approach to Management: According to Theory Y, workers do not naturally dislike work; the work setting itself determines whether or not work is seen as a source of satisfaction or punishment.

Given the chance or opportunity, workers will do what is good for the organization. If managers believe that workers are motivated, they can decentralize authority and give more control over the job to workers. These are organizations that employee highly skilled, highly educated employees who are often experts at what they do. They are motivated by their enjoyment of their work, ambition, and the desire to be perceived as excellent at what they do.

Managers mostly just need to point the way and the employees will take care of the rest. Use the principles of Weber and Fayol to decide on the system of organization and management that you think will be most effective for your growing organization. How many levels will the hierarchy of your organization have? How much authority will you decentralize to your subordinates? How will you establish the division of labor between subordinates? Will your subordinates work alone and report to you or work in teams?

Note to the instructor: Due to the nature of the question, individual answers will vary. The following points should be addressed in each answer Weber developed his five principles of bureaucracy that utilize a formal system of organization and administration to ensure efficiency and effectiveness.

Bureaucracies tend to have more levels of hierarchy than do other systems. Subordinates tend to work independently and are typically not given much authority. Labor tends to be very specialized and divided among many subordinates. Several of these are relevant when deciding which system of organization and management should be implemented. Division of labor was suggested, but Fayol also advocated that workers should be given more responsibility and authority.

Fayol went beyond formal authority to include informal authority, such as expertise or knowledge, as well. He also stressed the importance of limiting the number of levels of management, suggesting that subordinates report to one manager only. This reduces communication problems so that an organization can act quickly and flexibly. Fayol also advocated teams and cross-departmental integration, as opposed to individuals working alone.

Which management approach for example, Theory X or Y do you propose to use to run your organization? In 50 or fewer words write a statement describing the management approach you believe will motivate and coordinate your subordinates, and tell why you think this style will be best. The following is an overview of Theory X and Y. Management approaches are typically developed from either Theory X or Y. They maximize management control and minimize control workers have over the pace of work.

Management views its task as creating a work setting that encourages commitment to organizational goals, with the assumption that workers will exercise self-control when they are committed to these goals. Commitment also provides opportunities for workers to be imaginative, and to exercise initiative and self-direction.

While some students may argue persuasively for a Theory X type of approach, the nature of the company suggests a Theory Y approach. Computer gaming is a highly competitive industry and the successful games are creative, complex, intricate and immerse the player in the imaginary world.

This suggests that employees, particularly the software developers, graphic artists and computer technicians will be highly educated, highly creative and largely self-motivated.

High levels of bureaucracy will seriously impede the chaotic process of game creation. By slaughtering sick cows and allowing them to enter the food chain, dragging sick cows using metal chains and forklifts, shocking them with electric prods, and shooting water in their noses and faces, the company has resorted to unacceptable and unethical practices.

Management then should have closely watched how employees were carrying out their jobs and if non-compliance was observed, those employees should have been reprimanded and corrected. This would have eliminated unacceptable employee practices, thereby avoiding the untoward situation the developed. Also use the theories to discuss the ethical issues involved in the way the meat-packing business is being conducted today.

Factors such as proper hygiene by employees, the torture of animals to get the work done quickly, and allowing sick cows to enter the food chain persist in the meatpacking industry today. Because managers must rely upon their personal and organizational ethics to guide their decision making regarding each of these issues, ethics training and reinforcement of high ethical standards in this industry is critical.

According to the Hawthorne studies, managers can be trained to behave in ways that will elicit cooperative behavior from their subordinates, so that productivity is positively impacted. If this is the case, managers whose behavior reflect high levels of integrity and make highly ethical decisions can influence their employees to do the same. Also, according to Theory Y, employees will make decisions that are in the best interest of the organization, provided that management creates a highly ethical corporate culture and workers are allowed to exercise self-initiative and self-direction.

They must also be provided with adequate resources to achieve organizational goals. Search the web for changes occurring in the meatpacking business. Meat-packing businesses today are largely automated. Examples include hog jaw and snout pullers, boning tables, cutting floor and harvest floor equipment and conveyors, and pack-off conveyors.

After choosing an organization, model it from an open-systems perspective. Students should identify all three parts of the open system process. Input stage: An organization acquires resources from the environment that it needs to produce goods and services. Typically this includes capital, employees, raw materials, and supplies such as paper or computers. In the case of a restaurant, the conversion stage takes food and turns it into a meal, a bank takes in money and earns more money, and a retail store displays goods in an attractive, inviting way so that customers want to buy the goods.

In a restaurant, the output is the delivery of the meal to the customer and the subsequent cleaning of the used dishes , in a bank the output is money loaned or interest paid to customers, and in a retail environment the output stage is when the customer walks out the door with their purchase in a bag. Forces in the external environment that can affect the ability of an organization to obtain resources or dispose of its goods and services may include such factors as natural disasters, lack of available labor, instability of the economy, fluctuations in consumer demand, and advances in technology.

The earliest record of a shipment is July 20, , approximately one month after incorporation, to a Detroit physician. The line proved tremendously efficient, helping the company far surpass the production levels of their competitors and making the vehicles more affordable. As some left, Ford acquired enough stock to increase his own holdings to Gray, a Detroit banker, as the company's president.

In , a conflict with stockholders over the millions to be spent building the giant Rouge manufacturing complex in Dearborn, Michigan led to the company becoming wholly owned by Henry Ford and his son, Edsel, who then succeeded his father as president. After Edsel Ford passed away in , a saddened Henry Ford resumed the presidency. Current Challenges In the s, Ford, like other global car companies, is hustling to catch up to the manufacturing efficiencies of Toyota and Nissan.

Although Ford made significant advances in the s, GM and Chrysler recently surpassed it. How do the various management theories discussed in this chapter offer clues for organizing and controlling hotel employees?

In this elite hotel, employees must be allowed to service customer needs without always checking with a supervisor first. Which parts would be the most important for an effective system to organize and control employees? She calls for employee involvement in analyzing their responsibilities and participating in the work development process. She also advocates self-managed teams and empowerment, in which workers manage many of their own activities.

EBS is a white collar financial services company. It processes lockbox transactions, which means that large numbers of employees, in a warehouse-like setting, open envelopes, record the value of the enclosed check or cash, and verify the accuracy of the financial transaction. The founder of the company, Mr. Ron Edens runs an efficient, low-cost operation. Costs are kept low by paying low wages minimum wage or barely above minimum wage to non-unionized employees. The company is aggressive in its efforts to ensure that its workforce remains non-unionized.

Further, the workplace setting has been designed to prevent distractions, the windows are covered so employees cannot look outside, work surfaces are positioned so that employees face the same direction which supports the final rule; talking is prohibited.

All tasks have been broken down into the smallest unit so that the same bit of work is repeated by a single worker. This increases efficiency but also increases boredom. Employee decision making is eliminated via the use of software that detects possible data entry errors. Finally, all employee activity is closely supervised by supervisors, camera surveillance, time tracking activities and software that records the time taken to record each entry.

The work is monotonous, boring and socially isolating. The employees remain with the company because it is one of the few employers left in a town that has lost most of its industrial base in the last three decades. The company stays because it has a ready supply of blue-collar workers willing to do the work for low wages.

Which of the management theories described in the chapter does Ron Edens make the most use of? Edens uses the Theory X management approach. In fact, people tend to improve in emotional intelligence over the course of a lifetime, because life lesions often make people wiser in this domain.

Thy get more comfortable with themselves and other people. But someone who wants to a leader needs to have a relative high level of these abilities. A business school that wants to help its students achieve high leadership levels either has to select people who have already developed these abilities, or it has to help its students to learn them. Soft skills have hard consequences. Lecture Enhancer 2.

The only child has similar, yet often more intense personality traits. The middle child is a master negotiator who never had his parents to himself, and endured hand-me- downs. The good news is he can compromise, share and negotiate. Leman describes the baby of the family as manipulative, social, outgoing, and a natural salesperson. She is the child who got her siblings in trouble while she was cute, helpless and got away with murder.

A fourth birth-order position, identified by Michael Maniacci, a clinical psychologist and member of the faculty at the Adler School of Professional Psychology in Chicago, is the second born. The second born tends to be more rebellious, non-conforming and independent than the middle child. After reading these descriptions, most either buy into the birth-order concept as a perfect description of their family or discount it. That impacts birth-order roles. There is not much distinction between being a girl and a boy.

Conversely, if Dad has short hair and Mom has long, and Mom stays at home and Dad works, the boy holds the role of the oldest born male and the girl the oldest born female. Physical differences play a role too.

If the oldest child is physically or psychologically challenged, the second child usually takes on the role of the firstborn. Other experts caution that understanding and using birth order is anything but simple, and many variables mold personality. Experts generally agree interpreting birth order can be complicated and only presents part of the picture. Some individuals have a kind of psychological urge to reach beyond the status quo and seek out novelty, change, and excitement. Psychologist Frank Farley, of the University of Wisconsin, has spent twenty years examining what he calls the Type T thrill-seeking personality.

For some the thrills are mostly physical. The degree of risk that individuals are willing to assume spans a broad continuum. Big T personalities, those who continually live on the edge, are at one end of the scale. Most people fall somewhere in the middle. Thrill seekers are happiest in jobs that provide change, excitement, and an ample outlet for their creativity.

They are often drawn to careers in advertising, journalism, or in the brokerage business, where novelty and uncertainty are a given. Whether individuals seek risks or avoid them affects not only their own job performance but also boss- employee relationships and co-worker production.

An organization with too many risk takers can spell trouble. So can one top-heavy with cautious, security-minded individuals. A synergistic mix is best. Discuss why managers who have different types of personalities can be equally effective and successful.

Furthermore, personality traits that contribute to the managerial effectiveness in one situation may actually hinder the effectiveness in another situation. Can managers be too satisfied with their job?

Can they be too committed to their organizations? Why or why not? Note to Instructors: Student answers will vary. The text defines job satisfaction as the feelings and beliefs people have about their current jobs and organizational commitment as the collection of feelings and beliefs people have about their organizations as a whole. Students may mention that managers who are too satisfied with their jobs may not look to improve the current state of affairs, preferring to let things go on as they are.

This may harm the prospects of the team as a whole. On the personal level, managers who are too satisfied with their jobs or too committed to the organization may harm their own prospects of career improvement or advancement. Assume that you are a manager of a restaurant.

Describe what it is like to work for you when you are in a negative mood. Note to Instructors: Student answers will vary based on their personalities.

The text identifies characteristics of a negative mood as feelings of distress, fearful, scornful, hostile, jittery or nervous.

This question is very individualized. However, you might turn it into an interesting exercise. You could have the individual student answer the question and then have their classmates react to their self- description as to its accuracy from their perspective. Why might managers be disadvantaged by low levels of emotional intelligence? Social skills are increasingly important in organizations today. People work more and more in teams. Emotional intelligence enables managers to interact more effectively both internally with co-workers and externally with customers.

Interview a manager in a local organization. Ask the manger to describe situations in which he or she is especially likely to act in accordance with his or her values.

Ask the manager to describe situations in which he or she is less likely to act in accordance with his or her values. This question to potential strangers is tricky. People are sometimes quite guarded about their values and are not eager to discuss them with others. It is suggested that the class or a team of students, as interviewers, should be more comfortable and aware when asking ethical questions and capturing a response.

You may also want to suggest that students interview a manager who is someone they know. Watch a popular television show and as you watch it, try to determine the emotional intelligence levels of the characters the actors in the show portrays. Rank the characters from highest to lowest in terms of emotional intelligence. As you watched the show, what factors influenced your assessments of emotional intelligence levels? Note to Instructors: Student answers will vary based upon the television show they view.

You may want to request that the entire class watch the same episode of a popular television show. The ranking of characters by students will probably vary, thereby providing the basis for an interesting discussion.

Go to an upscale clothing store in your neighborhood and go to a clothing store that is definitely not upscale. In what ways are the organizational cultures in each store similar? In what ways are they different?

Often the environment of upscale clothing stores is rather quiet and formal, and salespersons are dressed rather conservatively. On the other hand, less upscale stores often have a much more casual environment in which music that appeals to the younger generation is played. Normative behavior for employees in the upscale store is reflected in the reserved and cautious manner required when interacting with customers.

In a less upscale environment, however, interaction with customers is less formal and more casual. For example, slang language may be used. However, core values common to both stores would include high levels of customer responsiveness, honesty, and integrity, operational efficiency, and a strong work ethic. What values are emphasized in this culture? Student answers will vary but they should give specific examples of behaviors or policies that reflect specific values such as a sense of accomplishment, self-control, dependability, independence, and honesty.

What norms do members of this organization follow? Again, student answers will vary but they should give specific examples of behaviors or policies that reflect specific norms such as courtesy, informality, and a willingness to take risks. Who seems to have played an important role in creating the culture?

Founders, managers, or even employees often establish or influence the culture. In what ways is the organizational culture communicated to organizational members? Often founders use their own values to determine and guide organizational culture.

Culture can also be communicated to organizational members through formal or informal socialization programs, ceremonies, rites, stories, and language. Either individually or in a group, think about the ethical implications of using personality and interest inventories to screen potential employees. How might this practice be unfair to potential applicants? How might organizational members who are in charge of hiring misuse it?

It is important that companies make every effort to hire employees whose values, personality, and interests fit with their organizational culture.

However, reliance upon personality and inventory tests is an ineffective means of evaluating such factors. Because of their measurement error and validity problems, these tests could mistakenly screen out those candidates who are well suited for the job. Managers in charge of hiring may think these tests are a quick and easy substitute for a thorough interviewing process, but will regret their decision later. Note to Instructor: Student answers will vary. When candidates apply for a job, they generally assume that they will be evaluated and compared to other applicants in a fair, nonbiased manner.

The use of such tests violates that trust, thus representing an ethical breach. Develop a list of options and potential courses of action to address the heightened competition and decline in profitability that your company has been experiencing. Note to instructors: student answers will vary based on their experiences. Choose your preferred course of action and justify why you will take this route.

Note to instructors: Student answers will vary. Describe how you will communicate your decision to employees. Chapter 02 - Values, Attitudes, Emotions, and Culture: The Manager as a Person Since "rumors are rampant", it is important to communicate with everyone in a clear and timely manner. Top management needs to increase the employees' sense of security and confidence about the company's commitment to resolving the situation.

Moreover, since the stakes are high and people's jobs are on the line, the decision should be communicated in a face-to-face meeting. If layoffs are being announced, the meetings should be individualized and terminated employees should be assured that the terminations were based on objective criteria. Specific information regarding severance pay etc.

If your preferred option involves a layoff, justify why. Layoffs could be justified if the slowdown of work is so severe that the company cannot keep its workers occupied or is facing a financial crisis, such as bankruptcy.

In this case, the only way to save the company and protect the majority of stakeholders could be through downsizing. Because maintaining the company's no-layoff policy is an important aspect the company's culture, this action should still be considered only as a last resort, as it could be demoralizing to the remaining workers. Other companies, such as Southwest Airlines, have stood by their employees even in the toughest of times, which has resulted in a high level of employee loyalty and commitment.

A collaborative approach encourages the disputing parties to solve the problem together. The position of both parties should be treated as equally important though not necessarily the case , and equal emphasis should be placed on the quality of the outcome and the fairness of the decision making process.

The intent is to find solutions that are satisfactory to both parties rather than find fault or assign blame. The first step of the vice president for human resources should be to bring the disputing parties together for the purpose of focusing upon a shared goal, such as improved work climate, improved quality of work, improved work relationships, etc. The establishment of common goals will provide a context for the continuance of discussions between disputants.

As the collaborative effort to identify mutually acceptable resolutions continues, it is important that emphasis always rests upon issues, not personalities. In other words, people must remain separated from the problem and that the focus must remain upon interests, not position.

Doing so will depersonalize their disagreement and allow all parties to feel less vulnerable about opening up to a different point of view. After the source of conflict has been identified and resolved, the attitudes and behavior of the disputants should change, gradually eliminating any lingering feelings distress, fear, or hostility in the office environment. Through this company, he wants to reinvent the wholesale shopping club. Customers will find just about everything, including clothes, books, and electronics.

Lore spent a little less than two-and-a-half years inside Amazon. After leaving the company, he came up with the idea to bring the membership-based shopping club model online.

With Jet. Jet turns these savings over to the customer. When Jet. Buyers will also save by being offered items from sellers located near them. In many ways, Lore has conceived of Jet. At Jet, there will be no annual performance reviews, because Lore thinks feedback should be immediate and civil.

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