Management Exam

What is management? What are the four basic activities or functions that comprise the management process? How are they related to one another?

Management is the process of managing people in an organization to perform organizational tasks effectively.

The four basic activities consist of planning and decision making, leading, organizing and controlling. These activities are closely related to each other as in an organization the managers are tasked to organize different financial, human resource and other resources to yield results that are in accordance with the organizational goals. In any organization, leaders provide a vision to achieve these goals. Leaders, managers and other employs are engaged in planning and decision making. Organizational processes have to be controlled so that the organizational plan is followed to the letter and spirit.

Describe and classify the three environments of an organization.   Give an example of what elements or variables might be in each environment.Three environments of an organization are internal environment, task environment and general environment. The task and general environment are classified together as external environments.

Internal environment is a composition of all the things that exist inside the organization e.g. the organizational culture, the internal working environment, the internal rules and ethics, the management, the leadership and the technological tools used inside the organization.

Task environment consist of all those external factors that could influence the organization in different ways. It could be competitors, consumers or those who supply different products and services to the organization.

General environment consists of those factors that are not specific to an organization. For example economic factors, technological factor etc.

In my opinion, technology is a factor that is present in all the environments.

Define ethical and unethical behavior.  Give three specific examples of ethical behavior versus unethical behavior in an organization. Identify three methods that a manager might use to manage ethical behavior in an organization.

A behavior that is in accordance with the societal norms that are generally considered as good is called an ethical behavior. An unethical behavior on the other hand is not in line with these societal norms.

For example if a manger feels responsible to provide his subordinates a working environment that is safe and secure is an ethical behavior. Yes, there might be safety rules and regulation but if the manager want, he/she can find a way around it which will then become an unethical behavior.

Managers can use the following three ways that would help manage ethical behavior in an organization:

1. Recruit eligible people
2. Provide proper education to the staff about business ethics

• Be honest to the staff and the leadership or top management

Identify and describe Porter’s five competitive forces through which managers view their environments. Give an example of each competitive force.Porter’s five competitive forces model consists of:

Competitive Rivalry: Each business has rival business in the outside environment. For example the managers at McDonalds have to take in account the growth of a rival KFC in a specific location.

Customers: This factor consist of the purchasing and bargaining power of the customers. For example a manager at Walmart would be observing how the customers think of the price of a new item at the retailer.

Suppliers: Suppliers play an important role in the smooth functioning of the operations of an organization. The managers might need to talk to the suppliers about late deliveries. Managers have to be capable to deal with supplier’s business tactics.

New Entrants: A business have existing competitors and new competitors that are trying to get in to that specific niche. For example if a person is managing a coffee shop in a specific place and there is a new coffee shop in the next street, the manger would feel threatened by the expansion of that new coffee shop.

Substitutes: Substitute products are a real threat to the business of an organization. The managers keep track of other producers who are offering the same products. These producers might try tactics like price reduction to kick the competing products out of the market.