Management basics
This is the process of coordinating people and resources and making decisions so an organization can achieve its goals.
What is management?
This person owns all or part of a business and assumes financial risk.
Who is an owner?
x10 bonus
A manager decides the business wants to increase sales by 10% and determines how it will try to accomplish this.
What is planning?
This management level is primarily concerned with the overall direction and long-term goals of the organization.
What is upper/top level management?
A person or group that affects or is affected by a business and its decisions.
What is a stakeholder?
Managers coordinate these two broad things to help an organization achieve its goals.
What are people and resources?
This person coordinates people and resources to help achieve business goals.
Who is a manager?
A manager divides responsibilities among employees and determines who will use which resources.
What is organizing?
This management level directly supervises employees and deals heavily with day-to-day operations.
What is lower/first-line management?
x 3 bonus
Name two common stakeholder groups.
owners, employees, customers, suppliers, community.
x 4 bonus
A manager notices two problems: an angry customer waiting at the counter and a gradual decline in monthly sales. Explain why the problem that should be handled first is not necessarily the most important problem overall.
The angry customer may be more urgent, because declining sales could be more important to the long-term success of the business.
This person performs work for compensation and carries out responsibilities within their role.
Who is an employee?
x3 bonus
A restaurant is opening a second location. The manager determines how many employees are needed, hires them, trains them and creates the initial schedule. Which management function is MOST directly represented?
What is Human Resources/Staffing?
x2 bonus
This management level often connects upper management's strategy with departments, regions or locations.
What is middle management?
A café increases prices by 10%. Identify two stakeholder groups that could be affected and explain one possible effect on each.
customers may pay more; owners could potentially receive greater revenue per sale
A business grows from 5 employees at one location to 100 employees at 12 locations. Give two reasons its management system would likely need to change.
more employees/locations, greater complexity, need to delegate, more communication, additional management levels, specialized responsibilities.
Taylor owns a small salon, schedules the stylists, orders products and also cuts clients' hair. Identify the three roles Taylor is performing and give one example of each.
Owner: owns the salon; Manager: schedules/orders; Employee: provides hair services.
Sales are below the company's target, so a manager compares actual results with the goal and decides what needs to change.
What is controlling?
A CEO decides the company will expand into another province. A regional manager determines how locations in the region will support the expansion. A store manager adjusts employees' responsibilities. Identify the three management levels in order.
Upper → Middle → Lower management.
Why might a management decision benefit one stakeholder group while creating a disadvantage for another? Give an example.
Example: reducing employee hours could lower labour costs for the business but reduce employees' income and potentially affect customer service.
x2 bonus
Two businesses use the same five management functions but manage very differently. Give three factors that could explain why.
size, industry, organizational structure, business needs, number of employees, customers, resources.
As Taylor's salon grows from one location to 20 locations, explain why it may become difficult for Taylor to continue acting as owner, manager and frontline employee.
The business becomes too complex for one person to manage everything; responsibilities would likely need to be delegated/divided among additional managers and employees.
A manager communicates expectations, motivates employees and helps the team work toward its goals.
What is leading?
A company has excellent upper managers and excellent frontline employees, but its departments repeatedly misunderstand company-wide goals. Which management level might deserve closer examination, and why?
Middle management, because it often connects organizational strategy with departments/locations and helps translate upper-level direction into operations.
A company-wide strategy was introduced. Upper management establishes the goals, regional managers communicate the strategy differently, which causes location managers implement it in different ways. Why would it be inaccurate to automatically blame only one management level?
~ though management levels have different but connected responsibilities. Problems with strategy, communication, interpretation or implementation at multiple levels could contribute to the results.