UNIT 3: DEFINING MANAGEMENT (1)

A.      REVIEW OF UNIT 2

Activity 1: Group presentation

In groups of five, discuss the notion of “governance”. After seven minutes, group representatives will present their findings in front of the whole class.

B.      TEXTS AND PRACTICE

Activity 2: Pre-reading

a. Look at the following words and choose five words that you think might be used in the text about defining management. Explain your choice.

b. Read aloud the words you have listed.

Activity 3: Reading comprehension

Read the following text carefully:

Management

1. Management has been called “the art of getting things done through people”. This definition, by Mary Parker Follet, calls attention to the fact that managers achieve organizational goals by arranging for others to perform whatever tasks may be necessary – not by performing the tasks themselves.

1. Management is that, and more. So much more, in fact, that no one definition has been universally accepted. Our discussion will start with a somewhat more complex definition, so that we may call attention to additional important aspects of managing.

1. Management is the process of planning, organizing, leading and controlling the efforts of an organization’s members, and using all other organizational resources to achieve stated organizational goals.

1. A process is a systematic way of doing things. We define management as a process because all managers, regardless of their particular aptitudes or skills, engage in certain inter-related activities in order to achieve their desired goals.

1. 1. Planning implies that managers think through their goals and actions in advance. Their actions are usually based on some method, plan or logic, rather than on a hunch.

1. 2. Organizing means that managers co-ordinate the human and material resources of the organization. The effectiveness of an organization depends on its ability to marshall its resources to attain its goals. Obviously, the more integrated and co-ordinated the work of an organization, the more effective it will be. Achieving this co-ordination is part of the manager’s job.

1. 3. Leading describes how managers direct and influence subordinates, getting others to perform essential tasks. By establishing the proper atmosphere, they help their subordinates do their best.

1. 4. Controlling means that managers attempt to ensure that an organization is moving towards its goals. If some part of an organization is on the wrong track, manager try to find out why, and setting things rights.

1.  The definition also indicates that managers use all the resources of the organization – its finances, equipment and information as well as its people – to attain their goals. People are the most important resources of any organization, but managers world be limiting their achievements if they did not also rely on the other available organizational resources. For example, a manager who wishes to increase sale might try not only to motivate the sales force but also to increase the advertising budget, thus using both human and financial resources to attain that goal.

1. Finally, the definition says that management involves achieving the organization’s “stated goals”. This means that managers of any organization – a university, the Department of Social Security, or the Sydney Swan – try to attain specific ends. These ends are, of course, unique to each organization. The stated goal of a university might be to give students a well-rounded education in an academic community. Whatever the stated goals of a particular organization, management is the process by which the goals are achieved.

Now say if these statements are true (T) of false (F). Look at the table that follows for the words or expressions that you don’t know. Correct the false statements.

…. 1. A manager does things for other people.

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…. 2. Managers perform tasks by themselves.

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…. 3. A process is a general way of doing things.

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…. 4. Planning means doing the tasks and actions in advance.

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…. 5. Organizing means coordinating all organizational resources.

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…. 6. Leading means directing and influencing.

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…. 7. Controlling implies setting things right.

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…. 8. A manager’s job involves only human resources.

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…. 9. Organizations are all the same.

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…. 10. Management is a way of achieving stated goals.

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Activity 4: Vocabulary work

Look carefully at these words and phrases. Read them out loud after your teacher.

Activity 5: Matching words with their meaning

Match the words on the left with their definitions on the right. The first is done for you as an example:

Activity 6: Comprehension questions

Read the text in Activity 3 again and answer the following questions:

1. What is the definition of management given by Mary Parker Follett?
2. Why is no one definition of management universally accepted?
3. Why is management defined as a process?

4.   Describe what a manager does. (Your answer should contain at least four parts.)

5.   What does planning imply?

6.   What is the meaning of leading?

7.   What is controlling?

8.   What resources do managers use to attain their goals?

9.   What do you understand by the term “stated goals”?

10. Do you have any other definition of management? What is it?

Activity 7: Word formation

The text on defining management contains a lot of words ending in –tion. Find nouns to match the following verbs: