The work of management

In planning, managers outline the steps … in moving the organization toward the objectives. These plans … both long and short term in nature.

In organizing, managers … how best to put together the organizations’ human and other resources in such a way as … most effectively established plans. In directing, managers … day-to-day activities and … the organization functioning smoothly. In effect, directing is the part of the managers' work that … largely with the routine.

In carrying out the control function, managers take those steps necessary … that each part of the organization is following the plan that was outlined for it at the planning stage. To do this, managers … the accounting and other re­ports coming to them and … these reports against the plans set earlier. The accounting and other reports coming to management … feedback. Feedback is a key to the effective management of any organization.

In decision making, managers … to make rational choices among alternatives. Decision making is an inseparable part of the other functions already discussed. Planning, organiz­ing and directing, and controlling all … the decisions to be made. All decisions … on information. The quality of management's decisions will be a reflection of the quality of the accounting and other information that it ….

Ex.11. Translate the following text into Ukrainian in pen.

No school, professor or book can make you a manager. Only you can do this, and you can become a manager only by managing. Of course, you can learn the skills that are extremely helpful, particularly in such clearly defined areas as accounting, statistics, law, and finance. But this will not make you a manager. Experience is the only teacher. Experience is, however, is not the uniformly effective teacher. An old aphorism criticizes the person who has worked for 20 years but has only reexperienced the first year 20 times. Learning is not automatic. What schools can do, and what books can do is to provide you with some insights and intellectual tools to be applied against your experience. Most of you are practical people; certainly most managers are. You are concerned about doing things than about thinking about them. You are more concerned with action than with contemplation. Most business students and managers are uneasy about theory. It is abstract and difficult, too unrelated to real problems, it seems, ‘too academic’ and just ‘too theoretical’. But theory is very important because you and all men and women of action are also theorists. No matter how pragmatic you consider yourself, no matter how rooted in reality a manager views himself, you and he operate on theories. You all possess your own theories about motivation, authority, objectives and change. You will need them – and you will have them whether you know it or not. You will be a better manager if you are aware of your assumptions and you examine them periodically and modify them when necessary. Nothing is as practical as a good theory. A great deal of management theory and practice must be described as ‘common sense’. For the objectives of management may be defined as the formulation of priorities and plans.

Test questions:

1. When choosing candidates for any particular job, the Americans say,: “What can this person do?”; the French say,: “What qualification has she/he got?”; the British say, “What kind of background has this person got?” Which question would you ask when you are to choose an applicant? Why?

2. Suppose you have been appointed Dean of your department. Design a curriculum that would prepare students for their role in management. Specify your objectives and the means to be used.

3. A study in one of the largest American corporations indicates that the two criteria “quality of college attended” and “ a rank in class” were the best predictors of future managerial success in that firm. If you were a recruiter for a large company, would you utilize these criteria? Why or why not?

4. What is, from your point of view, the general relation between age and job satisfaction?

5. How many different ways of finding a job can think of? Which one is the most reliable?

6. What kind of a company would you like to work for: state-owned, private limited company, multinational corporation, etc. Why? Give your reasons.

7. What is the most group-oriented phase of life? Discuss why.

8. What are the qualities of an effective team player? What qualities could you contribute to a team?

9. Some people compare a small company to a family. In your view, is this analogy valid and useful? What are the benefits and risks of viewing a company as a family?

10. Examine the relationship between your needs and the rewards and satisfactions of any job you have held.

UNIT 4