Management Functions
...business.
A manager challenged to make efficient use of resources.
A manager challenged with getting things done through people.
A manager who has opportunity to use of all the tools of management that any other manager uses.
A manager who has a way of life like any other manager.
Management Excel is about changing people not about changing businesses. We change people by helping them improve their management skills. Our expectation is that with these tools, they are then likely to change their businesses.
Management
In Management Excel, we start with an assumption of the universality of management. Management is management. Management is generic. Management principles are general rather than specific to a type of firm or organization. However, management is universal only if the manager has become familiar with the specific situation in which it is applied. Production technology, customer characteristics and the culture of the industry are examples of specifics that managers need to learn to be effective in applying their generic management skills.
A definition:(1)
Management is creative problem solving. This creative problem solving is accomplished through four functions of management: planning, organizing, leading and controlling. The intended result is the use of an organization's resources in a way that accomplishes its mission and objectives. (Figure 1.1, From Higgins, page 7)
In Management Excel, this standard definition is modified to align more closely with our teaching objectives and to communicate more clearly the content of the organizing function. Organizing is divided into organizing and staffing so that the importance of staffing in small businesses receives emphasis along side organizing. In the management literature, directing and...
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