Management and Supervision for Working Professionals, Third Edition, Volume I

Herman Koren

• Publisher: CRC Press
• Year: 2021
• ISBN:
  9781000724080
• Edition: 3
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Human Resource Management
• Index: Business

The practical set of methods and tools contained in the two volumes of Management and Supervision for Working Professionals provides the reader with the knowledge and means to become an effective manager or supervisor. Volume I emphasizes organizational structure, planning, and leadership, while Volume II emphasizes communication, instruction, and daily management responsibilities such as performance ratings, unions, and health and safety.

LESSON 1

THE ORGANIZATION AND ITS STRUCTURE

Learning Objectives

Fundamental Management Information

Lesson Discussion

I. Organization and the First Line Supervisor

II. The Organization

III. The Supervisor’s Place in Management

IV. Leadership Styles

A. The Autocratic

B. The Democratic

C. Participation

V. Unity of Command and Control

VI. Why Supervisors and Managers Fail

VII. Summary

Case Problems

Practical Exercises

Self-Testing Examination

Answers to Self-Testing Examination

Case Problem Answers

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

When you have successfully completed this lesson, you should:

1. 1. Understand the relationship between the first line supervisor and the field personnel, management personnel, and the overall organization.
2. 2. Recognize many of the important responsibilities of the first line supervisor.
3. 3. Understand the reason for the establishment of organizations, the types of organizations which exist, their functions, and understand that the organization is created by people in order to accomplish a goal.
4. 4. Recognize the supervisor’s place in management and the type of management role which he or she carries out.
5. 5. Understand what the autocratic style of leadership is and why it is not satisfactory for the type of organization for which you work.
6. 6. Understand the democratic style of leadership and the participating style of leadership and how each one works in order that you may choose your own particular style.
7. 7. Recognize the necessity for a unity of command and control of personnel.
8. 8. Understand why supervisors fail and thereby how to make yourself a successful supervisor.

FUNDAMENTAL MANAGEMENT INFORMATION

INTRODUCTION

The executive management team is responsible for futuristic thinking, planning, budgeting, evaluating, and redirecting the organization to meet expressed needs, objectives and stated goals. The executive management team works through a series of different management and supervisory levels.

EXECUTIVE MANAGEMENT TEAM

The executive management team is a team of people who coordinate the activities of an organization in order to meet its goals and objectives. Management is also the process of working with people to plan, organize, direct, control, and coordinate human and material resources.

An executive manager is a member of this team of decision makers. There is a hierarchy in a management team, where certain individuals have more authority than others and, therefore are responsible for running the organization and delegating authority as needed.

HIERARCHY

The term hierarchy refers to individuals at different levels of authority. Authority can be formal, which is based on the actual power in the organization, or informal, which is obtained from other individuals when they are willing to do things for you because of your skills, their admiration for you, or because you have some other level of power in another organization.

The typical management hierarchy consists of a board of directors, the chief executive officer or administrator, the middle management team, and the first line supervisors. The top management level is responsible for proposing policy to the board based on careful analysis of a variety of situations. This chief executive officer (CEO) also recommends the appropriate budget, the goals and objectives of the planned programs, and the means for implementing the programs. It is then the function of the board to approve or reject the policies and programs. The CEO then puts the plan into action in an effective manner by use of the various management levels of the organization. It is then the function of this individual to review the evaluations of the appropriate actions related to the programs and the results of the programs to see if the objectives of the organization are being carried out. It is essential for this individual to perform in this role of futuristic thinker, planner, director, organizer, and coordinator of the work of the other individuals.

DELEGATION OF AUTHORITY

The executive manager delegates authority to middle management and first line supervisors. However, the delegation of authority does not relieve the executive manager of the ultimate responsibility for what occurs. This is called accountability. Each individual that exercises any type of authority must then be held accountable for the results as well as the cost of the program.

MIDDLE MANAGEMENT

The middle management group is made up of individuals responsible for specific program areas. These individuals must be capable of taking the plan and program of the top management and interpreting it to the supervisors within the department and to the professionals and other members of the staff working at a field level. The middle manager must also be able to plan the activities based on the program plan, and control, organize and direct the work of subordinates. This individual must be able to evaluate the program and make necessary changes where needed. If the changes involve questions in the program, the middle manager should discuss this with the administrator or CEO.

LINE AND STAFF

Line managers, who tend to be generalists, are individuals who carry forth the authority from the highest level of the organization and direct the operation of the field personnel. Staff managers are specialists who assist the line managers in carrying out their functions. The staff managers are specialists in areas such as personnel, budgeting, purchasing, human resources, and office automation.

GOALS

The purposes or goals of the organization are most important, since the results of the use of time and money will be measured against the original purposes and goals. The purposes and goals are broken down further into objectives and should be measurable

OBJECTIVES

An organization typically has short-term objectives (these are to be achieved in one year or less), intermediate objectives (these are to be achieved in one to five years), long-term objectives (these are to be achieved in five or more years). The middle managers evaluate the appropriate data to determine what would be an effective objective. They then decide what it is they wish to accomplish and how much it will cost in dollars, people, and other resources. They finally determine the specific objectives for the program. To set good objectives, the middle managers should determine how best to implement the program plan. These individuals, with the help of the executive manager, should then state very clear and specific objectives that relate to the various phases of the program. The objectives should be high enough to indicate achievement, but not so high that they will not be reached under normal circumstances. A specific time period should be established for the objectives.

The middle managers always try to be as effective as possible in reaching the objectives while also being efficient in the use of resources. Management is much more than telling people what to do. It is a complex process involving the utilization of a variety of resources in an effective manner.

MANAGEMENT BY OBJECTIVES

The approach called management by objectives, or MBO, has three main points: (1) All individuals in the organization set a specific group of objectives, which they try to reach during a specific time period; (2) There are periodic performance reviews during the course of this time period; and (3) The organization members are rewarded if they reach their specific goals.

In order for an MBO program to work, the top managers of the organization must first set appropriate goals and objectives. The managers and subordinates should work together to develop and agree upon the individual goals and objectives. The managers and subordinates must agree that the individual objectives are ...