PAPER NO.1 MANAGEMENT PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICE
UNIT DESCRIPTION
This paper is intended to equip the candidate with knowledge, skills and attitudes that will enable him/her to apply and demonstrate management principles in a decision making practice organisational context.
LEARNING OUTCOMES
A candidate who passes this paper should be able to:
- Demonstrate an understanding of management principles and techniques
- Apply knowledge of management theories in organizations
- Effectively practicemanagement functions such as planning, organizing, leading and controlling in an organization (P-O-L-C framework)
- Make rational management decisions in an organisational context
- Embrace and manage change.
- Develop capacity for making rational decisions
CONTENT
- Introduction to management
- Nature of management
- Importance of management
- Levels of management
- Multi-disciplinary nature of management
- Roles of management as advocated by Henry Mintzberg
- The changing roles of management and managers
- Qualities of an effective manager
- Management and administration
- Evolution and development of management thought
- Classical approaches to management
- Taylor’s view point
- Fayol’s administrative theory
- Max Weber’s bureaucratic theory
- Behavioural management approach
- Elton Mayo-Human relation theory
- Abraham Maslow’s theory
- McGregor’s X and Y theories
- Mary Parker Follett’s Management theory
- Modern management theories
- Quantitative thinking
- Systems thinking
- Contingency thinking
- Functions of management
Planning function:
- Introduction to planning
- Importance of planning
- Planning process
- Types of plans
- Approaches to planning
Organising function
- Meaning and importance of organising
- Factors affecting the organising function
- Process of organising
- Principles of organising
- Organisational structures
Staffing function
- Meaning and importance of staffing
- Staffing process
- Factors that affect the staffing function
- Components of the staffing function
Leadership function
- Meaning of change
- Theories of change
- Types of organisational change
- Managing resistance to change
- Innovation at workplace
Controlling function
- Meaning and importance of control
- Steps in the control process
- Types of control
- Controlling for organisational and employee performance
- Tools for measuring performance
- Essentials of an effective control system
- Enterprise management
- Meaning and concept of entrepreneurship
- Intrapreneurship
- Entrepreneurial development
- Enhancing creativity and innovation in organisations
- Methods of generating ideas
- Introduction to business plan
- Protection of intellectual properties
- Change
- Meaning of change
- Theories of change
- Types of organisational change
- Managing resistance to change
- Innovation at workplace
- Project management
- Project management concepts
- Characteristics of a project
- Importance of projects
- Features of projects and baseline surveys
- Illustration of the Project life cycle
- Project planning and organising
- Project resources and costing
- Project completion and evaluation
- Marketing management
- Meaning and importance of marketing
- Marketing management orientation/philosophies
- Marketing mix
- Development of marketing information
- Marketing strategies
- Marketing research and intelligence
- International marketing and e-commerce
- Decision making
- Importance of decision making
- Decision making models/approaches
- Types of decisions
- Decision making process
- Problem solving skills
- Decision making under different conditions
- Challenges in decision making
- Effective decision making in today’s world
SAMPLE WORK
Complete copy of CS MANAGEMENT PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICE REVISION KIT is available in SOFT copy (Reading using our MASOMO MSINGI PUBLISHER’S APP) and in HARD copy
Phone: 0728 776 317
Email: info@masomomsingi.co.ke
SAMPLE QUESTIONS
TOPIC 1
INTRODUCTION TO MANAGEMENT
QUESTION 1
What are the four managerial functions and how do they interrelate with each other?
QUESTION 2
Explain three ways of classifying managers
QUESTION 3
State and explain three managerial roles as identified by Henry Mintzberg. Clearly identify how each is subdivided.
QUESTION 4
Identify five (5) basic management skills and explain the major sources of these skills. Do managers at all levels require these skills? Explain giving examples.
QUESTION 5
“Attempts to bring scientific methods into management merely show what an inexact art management really is.” Discuss. (Total: 20 marks)
QUESTION 6
Managers must live in two time dimensions at once: the present and the future and this
inevitably causes a conflict between focusing on the present demands of the day and creating space in which to plan strategically for the opportunities for tomorrow.
How can managers improve their personal time management so that both these activities
can be achieved effectively? (Total 20 marks)
QUESTION 7
- a) Define the ―Peter Principle‖ as a management concept. (4 marks)
b) To what extent is the concept valid in modern management practices? (16 marks)
QUESTION 8
Identify and explain the behavioural attributes that a manager should possess in order to successfully perform his duties. (10 marks)
QUESTION 9
Managers are not born, they are made.
Explain the ways in which the behavioural attributes of a manger mentioned in (a) above can be developed. (10 marks)
QUESTION 10
Describe ways in which managerial functions enhance productivity in the organization. (Total: 20 marks)
SAMPLE ANSWERS
TOPIC 1
INTRODUCTION TO MANAGEMENT
QUESTION 1
The four managerial functions are:-
a) Planning – (Decision making, looking ahead). It is the determining of organisation’s goals and deciding how best to achieve them. Managers think through their goals and actions in advance, that their actions are based on some method, plan or logic, rather than on a hunch. It is the basis by which:-
- The organisation obtains and commits the resources required to attain its objectives
- Members of the organisation carry on activities consistent with the chosen objectives and procedures.
- Progress towards the objective is monitored and measured so that corrective action can be taken where such progress is unsatisfactory.
b) Organising – (harnessing, combining, co-ordinating resources). While planning provides the framework in terms of organisational goals, organising refers to the process of arranging and allocating work, authority and resources among an organisation’s members so that they can achieve the organisation’s goals effectively and efficiently.
It entails setting or designing the organisational structure that suits the organisation in terms of its resources and gaols. Students will note organising should necessarily follow after planning.
Management cannot organise without any idea as to the purpose of such an exercise, thus tasks and positions are allocated after an organisation has established its direction (planning)
The organisational structure defines the reporting levels within an organisation and provides a hierarchy of formal positions
c) Leading: – (Directing, supervising, overseeing, guiding, motivating). This entails directing, influencing and motivating the task related activities and efforts of organisational members to achieve set goals of an organisation.
The leadership function is distinct from planning in that it involves dealing with people. It should be borne in mind that leading function necessarily follows after organising. Managers are given authority and responsibility as well as confirmation of their levels in the company through that organisation function. It should therefore follow that you cannot effectively lead without knowing:
Who to lead? Where you belong in terms of the various departments of the organisation. How much authority is bestowed upon you, and finally. Who you report to in the organisational hierarchy.
d) Controlling :- (Monitoring, Evaluating, Checking, Making sure). This process is the ultimate management function and it evaluates the efficiency and effectiveness of the other management functions. The control function is concerned with ensuring that the action s of the organisation’s members does move the organisation towards its stated goals.
It is sometimes referred to as the process of monitoring progress towards achievement of goals. The controlling function entails:-
- Establishing standards of performance and how it will be measured
- Measuring current performance
- Comparing actual with standard performance, and
- Taking corrective action where deviations from stated goals are detected.
Through the control function, the manager keeps the organisation on its chosen track through timorously investigating and correcting and deviations from set standards
QUESTION 2
Ways of classifying managers
a) Managers can be classified by management levels were we have:-
- First line managers also known as operations managers or just line managers. These are responsible for the work of employees only and as such do not supervise any managers. They are the lowest management level in the organisational hierarchy, being directly responsible for the supervision of non-managerial staff. First line managers’ activities tend to focus mainly on the day to day running of the organisation and they focus on the activities of sub-units such as departments and sections thereof.
Typical titles of first line managers are: foreman, supervisor, operations managers etc
- Middle managers (also known as tactical managers or management control level). This may incorporate more than one level in the organisation. They are primarily concerned with directing the operations of lower level management. In addition they are also responsible for implementing and interpreting the policies formulated by the top management level. Thus they are intermediaries between top management and lower level management.
Typical titles include: Branch managers, Regional managers, senior managers etc.
- Top management (also known as strategic managers or corporate level managers). Top managers probably account for a relatively small group of executives who control the organisation. They are thus responsible for establishing the organisation’s goals, strategies and operating policies. In addition, they also represent the organisation to the external environment e.g. by meeting with government officials, other business executives, other institutional heads etc.
Activities undertaken at this level are thus of a long term nature and mainly guide the organisation’s conduct with the environment. They tend to focus on the organisation as a whole, with emphasis on both the present and the future scale of operations
Typical titles are: Chief Executive Officer, Managing Director, and General Manager etc.
- b) Management can also be classified according to the scope of activities
- Functional Managers- These are responsible for just one speciality organisational activity e.g. the finance manager (responsible for finance) and the human resources managers (responsible for the human resource function) this level of management may be likened to that of operational management for they are also responsible for the day to day running of the organisation as well as the direct supervision of subordinates.
The people headed by a functional manager are engaged in a common set of activities
- General Managers. Unlike functional managers, general managers oversee the complex units e.g. subsidiaries or independent operating divisions. In this case they will be responsible for all the activities of that unit such as marketing, production etc. Thus the general manager will be in charge of the functional managers falling under his sub-unit or division.
SAMPLE WORK
Complete copy of CS MANAGEMENT PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICE REVISION KIT is available in SOFT copy (Reading using our MASOMO MSINGI PUBLISHER’S APP) and in HARD copy
Phone: 0728 776 317
Email: info@masomomsingi.co.ke
QUESTION 3
Managerial roles as identified by Henry Mintzberg and how each is subdivided
a) INTERPERSONAL ROLES:
These roles relate to how a manager interacts with others i.e. subordinates, peers, supervisors and outsiders. They include the roles of:-
- Figurehead: – As a figurehead, the manager performs certain ceremonial roles, which are of a legal nature. Typical example include welcoming visitors, attending subordinates’ weddings and performing ribbon-cutting ceremonies as well as taking customers to lunch. In this case, managers are symbols and as such personify an organisation’s successes and failures.
- Leader: – Managers are accountable for the actions of their subordinates as well as their own. It therefore follows that by showing subordinates how to perform under pressure, what hours they should work, promoting, etc, managers will be performing the role of leader.
iii. Liaison: – In the liaison role, managers must learn to work with everyone both within and outside the organisation who can help them achieve their goals. This role necessitates establishing networks of contacts and creating obligations among the people with whom the manager interacts. In this instance, managers also act as a contact person and his activities include those of writing correspondences, replying customer enquiries, etc. Thus liaison role enables the manager to win support for his/her proposal.
b) INFORMATIONAL ROLES
These relate to the manager’s tasks of receiving and communicating information. Managers need information to make quality and informed decisions.
Similarly other people, both within and outside the organisation rely on information received from and / or transmitted through the manager. Mintzberg identifies the following three informational roles that managers have to undertake:-
(i)Monitor: – Managers are constantly and actively seeking for information from both inside and outside the organisation that may be useful to the organisation. They establish a network of contacts through which they get information. In addition they ask subordinates for information where the subordinates are more informed.
Where possible, they also obtain information from unsolicited sources. It is because of this role, therefore that managers are often said to be the most informed people in an organisation
(ii)Disseminator: – Here managers will be responsible for contributing important information to subordinates. The manager has to make sure that subordinates have all the information to ensure that they carry out their duties efficiently and effectively. This role may also be thought of as a communication role, especially combined with the role of monitor.
iii. Spokesperson: – Managers in this instance are responsible for transmitting information to the outside world. Literally put, managers are said to be the organisation public relations managers (officers). Typical activities include, among other things, replying letters from customers, giving speeches on behalf of the organisation etc.
