What role does a manager play?
- Sets objectives
- Sorts what resources and work needs to be done to achieve the objectives
- Analyse and interpret data
- Make decisions
- Review effectiveness of decisions
- Appraise employees
What is the difference between a manager and a leader?
A manager tells people what to do, they organise resources whereas leader motivate and inspire people to achieve goals
What are the different leadership and management styles?
Authoritarian
Paternalistic
Democratic
Laisezz- Faire
Describe an authoritarian role?
They make decisions on their own
They identify the objectives of the business and plan how to achieve this
Staff require a lot of supervision as this style may demotivate employees
Describe the paternalistic role of management/leadership?
They consult employees when making decisions
They are able to persuade employees
They care about staff and get involved
They’re positive motivators
Describe a democratic style?
They encourage employees to partake in decision making
They delegate responsibility and listen to advice
They are confident in their ability to communicate with employees
Describe the laissez faire style?
This is the weakest form of leadership/management
They rarely offer coaching and support
They rarely get involved with the runnings of the business
When is Laissez-Faire appropriate?
A small, highly motivated workforce
What internal factors influence management and leadership styles?
Urgent tasks requires an authoritarian style
A large, unskilled workforce
A small, skilled workforce
A large, unskilled workforce requires what type of management/leadership style?
Authoritarian style
A small, skilled workforce requires what type of management/leadership style?
Democratic style
What external factors affect leadership/management style?
Recession
Economic growth
Increased competition
What is the tannenbeum- schmidt continuum?
It puts managers on a scale ranging from autocratic management through increasing levels of participation in decision making by the workforce.
How many types of management styles does the Tannenbaum - Schmidt continuum identify?
7
What does left 1 state?
Manager makes decisions and announces it
What does left 2 identify?
Manager sells decision but the workforce does not have any influence
What does left 3 state?
Managers present ideas and invite questions
What does left 4 identify?
Manager proposes a problem and discusses it with workforce
State what left 5 says?
Proposes problem, discusses it, however manager still makes the decision
What does left 6 say?
They outline the problem, sets constraints and lets workforce deal with it
What does left 7 say?
The is the ultimate level of freedom, the team define and solve the problem themselves
Describe the Blake Mouton Grid?
It assesses managers based on how much they care about employees and how much they care about production
Explain what impoverished style is?
The manager/leader has low concern for people and low concern for production
Describe what the produce or perish style is?
The manager/leader has a high level of concern for production, they neglect workers
What is the country club style?
The manager/leader has a high concern for the workforce, but a low concern for the production
What is the middle of the road style?
The manager/leader has a average concern for both production and workers
What is team style?
The manager/leader has a high concern for both workers and production
Explain what scientific decision making is?
Decisions based on data outcomes compared to initial objectives
Name the six components of the scientific decision making process?
Set objectives Collect data Analyse data Review decision Implement decision Make the decision
Describe what intuitive decision making is?
Making decision based on a hunch or instinct. Managers with extensive experience are able to make them successfully. These type of decisions can be made quickly, in situations that are new or unfamiliar
What influence does risk have on decision making?
All businesses need to take risks at some point, however it is important they identify whether it will reap high or low rewards for the level of risk they’re taking
How does reward influence decision making?
Managers expect rewards from decisions, if they are expecting bigger rewards they’re more likely to be taking more of a risk in terms of their decision
How does uncertainty affect decision making?
All decisions involve uncertainty, however to ease this, scientific decision making is appropriate. When there is more uncertainty, a manager is likely to make a decision with low risk
What is opportunity cost mean?
The benefit that’s given up in order to do something else, it’s the cost of the choice that’s made.
Give three external factors that could influence a decision?
Ethics - moral and social values
Resource constraints - resource availability is also a factor (money, time, people and raw materials)
Objectives - medium to long term targets that help a business achieve its mission
External environment - competition, trends etc
Mission statement
What is decision tree analysis?
It combines probability and expected pay off to show which course of action is probably the best to take
What are the advantages of using decision trees to make decisions?
Makes managers work out and think about the probability and the potential pay off of each outcome of their chosen action
They are a visual representation
Allow managers to compare options quantitatively and objectively
What are the disadvantages of using decision trees to choose a course of action?
They are quantitative - they ignore qualitative data like employee opinions
Probabilities are hard to predict accurately
