CH-1-2 Supervisory Management Roles and Challenges – Supervisory Management: The Art of Inspiring, Empowering and Developing People : Chapter Notes

This Document Contains Chapters 1 to 2 Chapter 1 Supervisory Management Roles and Challenges Jackie Schultz, Supervisor This chapter begins with a profile of Jackie Schultz, supervisor for Panera Bread. The profile highlights several concepts that will be discussed throughout the text. Schultz joined Panera Bread while she was a high school senior. She cross-trained for multiple associate jobs and, within six months, was named an associate trainer. A year later, she was promoted to shift supervisor and training specialist. The associates in Jackie’s store are representative of a diverse group of employees. The profile demonstrates the importance of working through associates to achieve goals. As a supervisor, the core of Jackie’s daily job is making sure Panera’s commitment to quality is reflected in her associates’ job performance. The profile also lists the activities that Schultz performs and the skills she uses. I. The Need for Management • Whenever a group of people works together in a structured situation to achieve a common objective, they form an organization. • The main objective of an organization is to produce a product or provide a service. • To reach the objectives, management must perform three basic organizational activities: ○ Operations, or producing the product or service ○ Marketing, or selling and distributing the product ○ Financing, or providing and using funds A. What is Management? • Management can be defined as the process of working with and through people to achieve objectives by means of effective decision making and coordination of available resources. • The basic resources of any organization are human resources, which are the people involved; physical resources, which include buildings, furnishings, machinery, computers, equipment, materials, and supplies; and financial resources, such as money, capital, and credit. B. Levels of Management • Except in very small organizations, the different levels of management are usually based on the amount of responsibility and authority required to perform the job. • Authority is the right to tell others to act or not act in order to reach objectives. • Responsibility is the obligation that is created when an employee accepts a manager’s delegated authority. • Large organizations usually have at least three levels of management, plus a level of operative employees. These levels are generally referred to as: ○ Top management is responsible for the overall operations of the entire organization or oversees a major segment of the organization or a basic organizational activity. ○ Middle management is responsible for a substantial part of the organization. ○ Supervisory management has control over the operations of a smaller organizational unit. • Supervisory managers or supervisors are the organization’s primary link with most of its employees. II. What Do Managers Do? A. Functions Performed by Managers • Managerial functions are the broad classifications of activities that all managers perform. • The functions are planning, organizing, staffing, leading, and controlling. 1. Planning • Planning involves selecting goals and future courses of action and deciding how to achieve the desired results. • All other basic managerial functions depend on planning because it is unlikely that they will be successfully carried out without sound and continuous planning. 2. Organizing • Deciding what activities are needed to reach goals and objectives, deciding who is to perform what task, dividing human resources into work groups, and assigning each group to a manager are tasks that make up the organizing function. • Another aspect of organizing is bringing together the physical, financial, and human resources needed to achieve the organization’s objectives. 3. Staffing • The process of recruiting, selecting, training, developing, promoting, and paying and rewarding people to do the organization’s work is called staffing. 4. Leading • The leading function involves guiding, influencing, and motivating employees in the performance of their duties and responsibilities. • It consists of coaching and empowering employees, facilitating their activities, communicating ideas and instructions, and motivating employees to perform their work efficiently. 5. Controlling • The controlling function involves comparing actual performance with planned actions and taking corrective action, if needed, to ensure that objectives are achieved. • Control can be achieved only by setting up standards of performance, checking to see whether they have been achieved, and then doing what is necessary to bring actual performance in line with planned performance. B. How the Functions Are Related • Although the five management functions must be performed by managers in all types of organizations and at all management levels, they may be performed in different ways and given different emphasis by various managers. • The functions are interrelated, interactive, and interdependent. C. Roles Played by Managers • Managers play roles—parts played in the performance of their functions—as if they were actors, and these roles change rapidly and frequently. • A landmark management study identifies 10 roles, grouped as follows: ○ Interpersonal roles ○ Informational roles ○ Decision-making roles • Managers vary in how they interpret the roles, the time they devote to them, and the importance they assign to them. III. Skills Required For Effective Management • Although many basic skills are needed to perform the managerial functions and play the managerial roles most effectively, a few of the most common ones are conceptual skills, human relations skills, administrative skills, and technical skills. A. Conceptual Skills • Conceptual skills involve the ability to acquire, analyze, and interpret information in a logical manner. • All managers need to understand the environments in which they operate, as well as the effects of changes in those environments on their organization. • Top managers particularly need strong conceptual skills because changes affecting the organization tend to be more important at their level than at other managerial levels. B. Human Relations Skills • Human relations skills consist of the abilities to understand other people and to interact effectively with them. • These skills are most needed in performing the leading function because they involve communicating with, motivating, leading, coaching, empowering, and facilitating employees, as well as relating to other people. • These skills are important to managers at all levels, but especially to supervisory managers, who spend almost one-half of their time using human relations skills. C. Administrative Skills • Administrative skills are the skills that permit managers to use their other skills effectively in performing the managerial functions. • These skills include the ability to establish and follow policies and procedures and to process paperwork in an orderly manner. • By lending coordination, order, and movement to tasks, administrative skills underlie the ability some people have to “make things happen” and “get things done.” D. Technical Skills • Technical skills include understanding and being able to supervise effectively the specific processes, practices, or techniques required to perform specific duties. • Technical skills are more important for supervisors than for top managers, since supervisors are closer to the actual work being performed. • Recently, the concept of emotional intelligence has become a popular way to view a specialized skill set involving people’s emotions. ○ Emotional intelligence, or EI as it is often referred to, is the capacity to recognize and accurately perceive one’s own and others’ emotions, to understand the significance of these emotions, and to influence one’s actions based on this analysis. IV. The Transition: Where Supervisors Come From • Each year, several hundred thousand nonmanagers become supervisors or managers • Most of the positions are filled by current employees. • Internal promotions make sense for at least three reasons: ○ An inside candidate understands the organization and its culture. ○ Management has firsthand knowledge of the employee’s record of accomplishment and can use this as a predictor of success. ○ To promote someone internally serves as a reward and as an incentive for those employees who have an interest in management and demonstrate management potential. • Unfortunately, organizations commonly make two crucial mistakes when selecting supervisors: ○ One is to automatically select the best present performer. • Although the best performer may have excellent technical skills, other skills, especially human relations skills, are also important. ○ Another crucial mistake made by organizations stems from inadequately preparing the employee to assume a supervisory position. • Ideally, an organization should take great care when identifying potential candidates for supervisory positions and, once candidates are chosen, should help new supervisors make the transition. V. Supervisory Relationships • The three major types of relationships that supervisors have are: ○ Personal ○ Organizational ○ External • These comprise the supervisor’s relationships network, the major individuals and groups with whom the supervisor interacts. A. Personal Relationships • Supervisors’ relationships with their families and their friends determine their attitudes and frame of mind as they perform managerial duties. ○ Their attitudes, in turn, influence the relationships they have with other people, both inside and outside the organization. B. Organizational Relationships • Within the organization, supervisory managers have varied and often conflicting relationships with several organizational entities. 1. Supervisor-to-Employee Relationships • Supervisory managers must relate to their own employees and to people from other units who perform some type of service for them. • A manager-to-employee relationship exists where the supervisor facilitates and directs nonmanagerial personnel. 2. Relationships with Peer Supervisors and Union Steward • There are essentially two sets of horizontal relationships: ○ Those with other supervisory managers ○ Those with the union steward or other representative(s) of the employees • Supervisors need the feeling of support and reinforcement that comes from associating with other supervisors who are considered their equals or peers. ○ Yet the relationship can result in competition or even conflict if they seek to be promoted to the same job at the next higher level. • In a unionized organization, employees select a union steward to represent them in their dealings with management. ○ Although the steward is a supervisor’s peer—legally, if not organizationally—he or she does represent the supervisor’s employees. ○ Therefore, the association between the supervisor and the union steward may be competitive or even combative. 3. Supervisor-to-Manager Relationships • Supervisors have a reverse manager-to-employee relationship with their immediate manager. ○ As a result of downsizing, reengineering, empowering, and similar new managerial approaches, this relationship is being upgraded. • In addition to a supervisor’s direct manager, staff managers in other departments, such as legal and research, may also tell supervisors what to do. • Often, supervisors have an upper manager who serves as mentor and acts as advocate, teacher, and advice giver. 4. External Relationships • Supervisory managers must also deal with people outside the organization. • Some of the people who must be served or catered to are the owners of the business, customers or clients, etc. • These relationships can be quite difficult and frustrating for supervisors, who represent their organizations but usually do not have the authority to make decisions and enforce them. VI. The Emerging Position of Supervisory Managers • No matter what type of role supervisors play, their goals are the same—getting out production, maintaining quality, holding down costs, maintaining high morale, and otherwise serving as management’s representative while also acting as a spokesperson for employees. • Although the knowledge and skills required today to perform most supervisory jobs have greatly increased, from, say, 25 years ago, the central objective has remained the same—to obtain quality and quantity production while maintaining good human relationships. • A study of supervisors in two plants within the same company illustrates the point. ○ One plant followed traditional organizing practices—the supervisor had authority to supervise, to determine working conditions, to plan the work and schedule it, and to control it. ○ In the other plant, “team advisors” were used instead of supervisors, with the focus being on facilitation rather than traditional direction of the work teams. ○ As it turned out, “exceptional” and “average” supervisors at both plants, whether they were called supervisors or team advisors, exhibited characteristic behaviors. ○ “Exceptional” supervisors: • Were competent, caring, and committed both to getting the job done and to supporting their employees • Pushed for high quality, provided clear direction, and motivated employees with timely, accurate feedback • Willingly shared information with personnel, even if the system didn’t require it • Were committed to teamwork and employee participation in the department’s decisions • Shared skills and knowledge willingly and saw their role as one of coach rather than driver • Understood what was involved beyond their own units, from the broader perspectives of the plant • Took the initiative in implementing changes and new approaches ○ Supervisors considered only “average” in the two differently organized plants also exhibited similar behaviors. These supervisors: • Set narrowly defined goals and had more specific performance standards • Were less attuned to the plant’s overall goals and focused more narrowly on their own unit • Provided less information or feedback about performance to their work groups • Were less flexible, less innovative, and less willing to change • Maintained tighter controls and were uncomfortable practicing participative management VII. Some Current Trends Challenging Supervisors A. Dealing with a More Diverse Workforce • Diversity refers to the wide range of characteristics that distinguish employees, such as sex, age, race, ethnic origin, and other factors. • At no time in history has the U.S. workforce been so diverse, and this trend is expected to continue. • Although men and women are entering the workforce at about the same rate, men, who have been in the workforce longer, are retiring at a faster rate. ○ Thus, like racial and ethnic minorities, women will continue to occupy many types of jobs and positions that were previously the domain of men, including supervisory and management positions. • Providing opportunities for women is particularly challenging, as there appears to be a glass ceiling in many organizations. ○ These ceilings are considered invisible barriers that limit the advancement of women into higher levels of the organization. ○ Thus, supervisors will be expected to design programs to attract and to develop women and minority employees and to provide them with a full range of opportunities for growth and development, the same as they do for all other employees. • Along with changes in gender, race, and ethnicity, the workforce is aging, as is the rest of the U.S. population. ○ Those in the 55 or older age group made up 19:5 percent of the 2010 workforce, but their number will increase by more than 10 million employees and comprise 23 percent of the projected workforce by 2016. B. Emphasizing Team Performance • As organizations seek to equip employees to function on their own, less direct supervision is required. ○ This empowerment results in supervisors increasingly working with work groups or teams. • When supervisors work with these teams, their roles are changed. ○ No longer are they “bosses”; instead, they become leaders, facilitators, or team advisors, who share responsibility with the team for maintaining cost, quality, and prompt and effective delivery of products. C. Coping with Exploding Technology • The primary effect of exploding technology on supervisors will be the need to keep personally abreast of changes that can potentially improve effectiveness, improve training of employees, and overcome employees’ resistance to change. • Change brings with it uncertainty, and because most people resist that which is uncertain, overcoming employee resistance to technological change becomes an increasing part of the supervisor’s job. D. Adjusting to Occupational and Industry Shifts • Emphasis on the traditional industries has declined, with a concurrent shift toward more people-related activities such as services and marketing. ○ Along with these shifts, many organizations have been reinventing themselves, dramatically changing their size, organizational structure, and markets. • Many of the large companies have also been reengineering their activities. ○ Reengineering activities resulted in another trend, called downsizing, in which an organization strives to become leaner and more efficient by reducing its workforce and consolidating departments and work groups. • With the recession that began in 2008, downsizing has become necessary as organizations adapted to the resulting decreased demand for services and products. ○ However, organizations also downsize to become more efficient. E. Meeting Continued Global Challenges • As business activities have become more global, those interested in supervisory management need to understand that they may have to operate in a one-world market. • A result of the global challenge is that the large number of U.S. businesses are foreign owned. ○ This changing ownership may lead to differing cultures and management styles, especially at supervisory levels. F. Improving Quality and Productivity • The view of quality being embraced today reflects a comprehensive organizational approach to customer satisfaction through continuous improvement in organizational processes. • The supervisor, as management’s direct link with employees, plays an important role in an organization’s quality initiatives. ○ It is the supervisor who is challenged to find ways to gain employee commitment to high-quality performance. • Equally important as achieving better quality is achieving improved productivity, which is a measurement of the amount of input needed to generate a given amount of output. ○ Because productivity is the basic measurement of the efficiency of people and processes, it becomes a challenge for supervisors to improve through having people work better and smarter. G. Improving Ethical Behavior • The downfall of major organizations has dramatically called attention to the issue of organization ethics. ○ The vulnerability of organizations to ethical misdeeds was exposed. ○ The result is that organizations have raised the “ethics” bar for all employees and management levels—including supervisors—for a wide range of issues, not just financial ones. • In this environment, supervisors will likely continue to face ethical dilemmas in which they are not sure of the correct action in a given situation involving themselves or their employees. H. Responding to Crises • Dealing with crises—events that have a major negative or potentially negative impact on entire organizations or on individual managers or supervisors—has always been part of managerial life. ○ Recently, however, the scope of such events has been dramatically increasing. • One such crisis was the collapse of the U.S. and global credit markets in 2008 and the economic recession that followed. ○ However, crises also take other forms, such as mergers and acquisitions, illegal mismanagement, and even acts of terrorism or natural disasters. ○ Add to these extraordinary crises those associated with technological outages, equipment breakdowns, job accidents, incidents of workplace violence, and sudden loss of key suppliers/customers, and one can view the supervisor’s role as increasingly one of addressing workplace crises. VIII. Final Note: The Supervisor and Leading • In the pre-1990 years, managers who were adept at planning, organizing, staffing, and controlling—and not so effective in leading—could function effectively. ○ Unlike the relatively stable environment then, today’s management challenges make effective “leading” essential. ○ Managers and supervisors must do more with fewer personnel, integrate more diverse team members, ask personnel to reach increasingly higher performance levels, and continuously implement change. ○ No longer do they rely on authority as the primary means to achieve the goals, but on influence and persuasion. The PowerPoint slides correlated with the Lecture Outline above are available on the Instructors CD-ROM and on the product support website. PowerPoint Slide 1-1 Chapter 1 Title PowerPoint Slide 1-2 Learning Objectives PowerPoint Slide 1-3 Learning Objectives (cont’d) PowerPoint Slide 1-4 Need for Management PowerPoint Slide 1-5 Management PowerPoint Slide 1-6 How Management Combines the Organization’s Resources into a Productive System (Text Exhibit 1-2) PowerPoint Slide 1-7 Authority and Responsibility PowerPoint Slide 1-8 How Management Authority and Responsibility Increase at Higher Levels (Text Exhibit 1-3) PowerPoint Slide 1-9 How the Management Functions Are Related (Text Exhibit 1-5) PowerPoint Slide 1-10 Roles Played by Managers (Text Exhibit 1-6) PowerPoint Slide 1-11 Roles Played by Managers (Text Exhibit 1-6) PowerPoint Slide 1-12 Roles Played by Managers (Text Exhibit 1-6) PowerPoint Slide 1-13 Skills Required for Effective Management PowerPoint Slide 1-14 Emotional Intelligence (IE) PowerPoint Slide 1-15 The Relative Importance of Managerial Skills at Different Managerial Levels (Text Exhibit 1-7) PowerPoint Slide 1-16 Where Supervisors Come From PowerPoint Slide 1-17 Why Supervisors and Managers Fail (Text Exhibit 1-8) PowerPoint Slide 1-18 The Supervisor’s Network of Relationships (Text Exhibit 1-9) PowerPoint Slide 1-19 The Flow of Supervisors’ Organizational Relationships (Text Exhibit 1-10) PowerPoint Slide 1-20 Union Steward and Mentor PowerPoint Slide 1-21 Changing Views of Supervisor’s Job (Text Exhibit 1-11) PowerPoint Slide 1-22 Goals of a Supervisor PowerPoint Slide 1-23 Trends Challenging Supervisors PowerPoint Slide 1-24 Trends Challenging Supervisors PowerPoint Slide 1-25 Trends Challenging Supervisors PowerPoint Slide 1-26 Trends Challenging Supervisors PowerPoint Slide 1-27 Trends Challenging Supervisors PowerPoint Slide 1-28 Important Terms 1. Why do people form organizations? People form organizations because they can accomplish more by working together than they can accomplish by working alone. Whether their objective is to produce a product and/or service, provide a benefit to the public, or return a profit to the owners, people working together can accomplish it better than people working alone. 2. Identify the five functions every manager must perform and briefly explain each. The five functions every manager must perform are: • Planning—is selecting goals and future courses of action and deciding how to achieve the desired results. All other functions depend on planning. • Organizing—involves deciding what activities are needed to reach goals and dividing human resources into work groups. • Staffing—is the process of recruiting, training, promoting, and paying and rewarding people to do the organization’s work. • Leading—involves conducting, guiding, influencing, and motivating employees in the performance of their duties and responsibilities. • Controlling—involves comparing actual performance with planned actions and taking corrective action, if needed, to ensure that objectives are achieved. 3. Why is management needed in organizations? Management is needed to combine and coordinate the efforts of the members of the organization. Without management, people in the organization would operate on their own without supervision, wasting effort and probably accomplishing little. Management combines all the resources into a productive system. 4. What are the three levels of management found in large organizations? Describe each, giving its responsibilities. The three levels of management are: • Top management—is responsible for the entire or a major segment of the organization. • Middle management—is responsible for a substantial part of the organization, such as a program, division, or plant. • Supervisory management—controls the operations of smaller organizational units, such as the production line or office. 5. Identify the four skills that managers need. Can someone be weak in one of these skill areas and still function effectively as a supervisor? Explain. Many skills are needed by managers. The most common ones are: • Conceptual skills—involve the mental ability to become aware of and identifying relationships among different pieces of information. • Human relations skills—consist of understanding other people and interacting effectively with them. • Administrative skills—include establishing and following procedures in an orderly manner. • Technical skills—include understanding and being able to supervise effectively the specific processes, practices, or techniques required for specific jobs in a company. All managers need these basic skills, but their importance varies from level to level. For example, top managers need more conceptual skills than lower level managers do. In contrast, supervisory managers need to have more technical skills. Weakness in one skill may not be an insurmountable barrier. Also, the organization can focus training and development to help the supervisor develop the needed skill. 6. How are most supervisory positions filled? Explain why this is so. Most supervisory positions are filled by promoting current employees. There are many reasons for hiring from within the organization. An inside candidate understands the organization and its culture. Management knows something first hand about the employee’s past track record. Also, internal promotion serves as a reward and as an incentive for employees. Organizations commonly make crucial mistakes in selecting supervisors. First, many organizations automatically select the best performer to fill the position. However, the best performer may have excellent technical skills but lack other skills needed to be a manager. Also, organizations often inadequately prepare the employee to assume a supervisory position. Ideally the organization should carefully identify potential supervisory candidates and help them make the transition. Before a permanent position is assigned, promising potential supervisors can be identified, assessed, and trained. Candidates may be given temporary assignments to evaluate supervisory ability. 7. What are the three types of supervisory relationships? Explain. The three types of supervisory relationships are as follows: • Personal relationships—supervisors’ relationships with their families and their friends determine their attitudes and frame of mind as they perform managerial duties. Their attitudes, in turn, influence the relationships they have with other people, both inside and outside the organization. • Organizational relationships—within the organization, supervisory managers have varied and often conflicting relationships with several organizational entities. These are the supervisor’s employees, the supervisor’s peer group supervisors, the union steward (if the company is unionized), and the supervisor’s managers. ○ Supervisor-to-employee relationships—supervisory managers must relate to their own employees and to people from other units who perform some type of service for them. A manager-to-employee relationship exists where the supervisor facilitates and directs nonmanagerial personnel. ○ Relationships with peer supervisors and union steward—there are essentially two sets of horizontal relationships: • Those with other supervisory managers • Those with the union steward or other representative(s) of the employees 8. Identify each of the trends challenging today’s supervisors and explain how each impacts supervisors. The eight major trends are: • Dealing with a more diverse work force—diversity refers to the wide range of characteristics that distinguish employees, such as sex, age, race, ethnic origin, and other factors. At no time in history has the U.S. workforce been so diverse, and this trend is expected to continue. • Emphasizing team performance—as organizations seek to equip employees to function on their own, less direct supervision is required. This empowerment results in supervisors increasingly working with work groups or teams. Supervisors become leaders, facilitators, or team advisors, who share responsibility with the team for maintaining cost, quality, and prompt and effective delivery of products. • Coping with exploding technology—the primary effect of exploding technology on supervisors will be the need to keep personally abreast of changes that can potentially improve effectiveness, improve training of employees, and overcome employees’ resistance to change. Change brings with it uncertainty, and because most people resist that which is uncertain, overcoming employee resistance to technological change becomes an increasing part of the supervisor’s job. • Adjusting to occupational and industry shifts— emphasis on the traditional industries has declined, with a concurrent shift toward more people-related activities such as services and marketing. Along with these shifts, many organizations have been reinventing themselves, dramatically changing their size, organizational structure, and markets. Many of the large companies have also been reengineering their activities. Reengineering activities resulted in another trend, called downsizing, in which an organization strives to become leaner and more efficient by reducing its workforce and consolidating departments and work groups. • Meeting continued global challenges—as business activities have become more global, those interested in supervisory management need to understand that they may have to operate in a one-world market. Large number of U.S. businesses are foreign owned. This changing ownership may lead to differing cultures and management styles, especially at supervisory levels. • Improving quality and productivity—the view of quality being embraced today reflects a comprehensive organizational approach to customer satisfaction through continuous improvement in organizational processes. The supervisor, as management’s direct link with employees, plays an important role in an organization’s quality initiatives. It is the supervisor who is challenged to find ways to gain employee commitment to high-quality performance. Equally important as achieving better quality is achieving improved productivity, which is a measurement of the amount of input needed to generate a given amount of output. Because productivity is the basic measurement of the efficiency of people and processes, it becomes a challenge for supervisors to improve through having people work better and smarter • Improving ethical behavior—the downfall of major organizations has dramatically called attention to the issue of organization ethics. The vulnerability of organizations to ethical misdeeds was exposed. The result is that organizations have raised the “ethics” bar for all employees and management levels—including supervisors—for a wide range of issues, not just financial ones. • Responding to crises— Dealing with crises—events that have a major negative or potentially negative impact on entire organizations or on individual managers or supervisors—has always been part of managerial life. Recently, however, the scope of such events has been dramatically increasing. One such crisis was the collapse of the U.S. and global credit markets in 2008 and the economic recession that followed. However, crises also take other forms, such as mergers and acquisitions, illegal mismanagement, and even acts of terrorism or natural disasters. Add to these extraordinary crises those associated with technological outages, equipment breakdowns, job accidents, incidents of workplace violence, and sudden loss of key suppliers/customers, and one can view the supervisor’s role as increasingly one of addressing workplace crises. 9. What are some reasons why “leading” is such a critical skill for supervisors and managers today? In the past supervisors could function effectively even though they had poor leading skills. But in the new, dynamic environment, organizations need managers at all levels who are better at performing leadership. Skill Builder 1-1 Analysis of Supervisor/Management Job Descriptions Works with SCANS competencies: Interpersonal Skill, Information, and Technology Instructions: • Think about a supervisory/management position that interests you. The position must be a first-line supervisor/manager position of your choice. In addition, you may include the type of industry in your search, such as banking supervisor, nursing supervisor, recreation manager, hotel maintenance supervisor, etc. Students will share some of the same interest. Therefore, research will lead to examples of supervisors/managers that will overlap. Have students discuss why they are interested in a particular supervisor/manager position. • Visit Monster.com at http://www.monster.com. This is a career resource website (job search, resume writing, etc.). • Type the name of the supervisory/management position in the “Search Jobs” box. You may leave blank the “U.S. Locations” box, which will result in a nationwide search. Clicking “Search” will likely result in numerous listings, depending on how general or specific your “Search Job” supervisory/management listing was. • Scroll the listings, viewing job titles and the names of the organizations for which there are position vacancies. Find a position/organization that looks of interest, and click the job title. You will then find the company’s job description for the position. • Select and print out job descriptions for three different organizations, noting the differences in responsibilities, duties, and requirements. What conclusions about supervision/management and the organizations can be drawn from these? • Write a report, one-half to one page in length, to your instructor, commenting on the differences noted. Include printouts of the three job listings. • Be prepared to discuss your results in class, individually or in teams, as determined by your instructor. Researching supervisory/management positions using the monster.com website provides students insight into multiple listings for different positions. Students will be able to narrow down their interests so that they can be more deliberate in their search. Reviewing supervisory/management positions in three different organizations allows students to list and understand the similarities, yet differences in responsibilities, duties, and requirements for the positions. Skill Builder 1-2 The Personal Interest Inventory Works with SCANS competencies: Interpersonal Skill and Information Instructions: The Personal Interest Inventory should give you some insight into the strengths you would bring to a management position. If you enjoy an activity, it is likely to be something that you do well. The three areas shown in the Score Matrix—things, people, and ideas—correspond to the following skills, which managers must use in doing their job: • Things: Technical skills • People: Human relations skills • Ideas: Conceptual skills 1. After scoring your inventory, break into groups of three to five and discuss your profiles. To what extent are they similar? Different? Are any of the areas dominant in the group? Underrepresented? Discuss. Each group of students will have a unique set of profiles. 2. Generalize about the kinds of supervisory jobs that might call for: a. High technical skill High technical skill might be required for a position supervising scientists, technicians, nurses, mechanics, etc. b. High human relations skill Human relations skills are needed in all management positions. These would be especially vital in positions dealing with very creative or very well educated workers. c. High conceptual skill Conceptual skills involve the abilities to see the big picture, to understand how the parts work together to form the whole. Engineering supervisors would need high conceptual skills, as would any supervisor who is in the position of coordinating between organizational units. 3. Are your answers on this inventory consistent with the type of management job that you have in mind? If there are inconsistencies, what do they mean? Each student’s inventory will be unique. Skill Builder 1-3 Effective and Ineffective Supervisors Works with SCANS competencies: Interpersonal Skill and Information Instructions: • Think of all the supervisors for whom you’ve ever worked—part-time or full time. If you have not worked for a supervisor, consider some of your teachers or perhaps a coach. • Select two—one who was most effective and one who was least effective—and list the behaviors of each. • In groups of three to five classmates, share your lists and discuss. Were there common behaviors? Select a spokesperson to present to the class your discussion results. Student listings of characteristics of the effective supervisor will probably include such descriptions as “honest,” “caring,” “sense of humor,” “easy to talk to,” “respects me as a person,” “listens to my opinion,” and “open-minded.” The effective supervisor gets results by motivating the worker, whatever form the motivation may take. In some instances this can involve participatory management and shared decision making. Other times it may be clearly defined responsibilities and caring supervision. Every worker has different needs that a good manager can help satisfy. Listings of characteristics of the ineffective supervisor are likely to be colorful. Some ineffective supervisors are referred to as “incompetent,” “dishonest,” “tyrannical,” “belligerent,” “emotional,” “disloyal,” “self serving,” or just plain “unfriendly.” Ineffective managers have failed to win the worker’s respect. The relationship is often adversarial, whereas the relationship of the effective supervisor with workers is usually cooperative. Skill Builder 1-4 Do You Have the Makings to Become a Great Supervisor? Works with SCANS competencies: Information Based on what you learned from the exercise about effective supervisors, do you believe that you have the makings of a great supervisor? Do you have the desire to become a great supervisor? Assuming that you do, what are your strengths and weaknesses that would assist or hinder you in becoming a successful supervisor? Brainstorm and create a separate list for each. Reflect on your lists and prioritize your top three strengths and top three weaknesses. How did you come to possess each one? How can you ensure that you will be able to maintain your strengths as you work on completing this course/your degree? Be specific. If you were to select one weakness to work on improving this term, which one would it be, and what specifically can you do to make strides in this area? The last aspect of your improvement plan should include a self-evaluation at the end of this term to assess your progress in this area. Case 1-1 Coach X: Effective Hospital Administrator 1. Respond to the following question: Would X be someone whom you would consider as a viable potential candidate for the hospital administrator position, despite his limited technical expertise? This case explores the question: “Are management skills universal?” Can a coach who has worked in the sports arena for fifteen years transfer his/her talents and skills to the job of hospital administrator? Students may have arguments both in favor and against considering X as a viable potential candidate for the hospital administrator position. However, the abilities of Coach X—leadership, team building, mentorship, ethics, motivation—are talents that are acutely needed at all levels of management. 2. Suppose that the position being sought was that of supervisor of the hospital’s computer technology department. Would your answer to the question be the same? Why? Students’ answers may vary. However, many of them may say that technical skills are more important for middle management and first-line supervisors. Upper-level managers manage the operations of the entire organization. While Coach X may have the conceptual and human relations skills required for the hospital administrator position, he or she would need more technical skills to be able to supervise the hospital’s computer technology department. 3. In groups of four to six, discuss your answers, and be prepared to report highlights of your discussion to the overall class. Each group will have unique perceptions of this case. Chapter 2 Fundamentals of Planning Effective Planning: A Nonprofit Perspective The profile at the beginning of this chapter focuses on Casi Callaway, Director of Mobile Baykeeper (MBK), an affiliate of Waterkeeper Alliance. During the early days, Casi’s primary goals were to affiliate with a larger, recognized organization and develop a strong, active board. In addition to WA’s assistance, Casi recognized the need for a knowledgeable, connected, and active board. Ms. Callaway was a tenacious and intelligent young woman with quite a bit of energy who adeptly analyzed the situation and chose to focus on commonalities that could ultimately align environmental and conservative interests alike. Ms. Callaway played an instrumental role in transforming the organization from a loosely organized coalition to an operationally sound community stakeholder. Tremendous strides are being made in all key performance areas. I. Some Important Points about Planning • Planning involves selecting future courses of action for your organization and deciding how to achieve the desired results. • Supervisors do planning—both routine and detailed—as an ongoing part of their jobs. A. Basic Steps Involved in Planning • Planning covers a wide variety of activities, from simple to complex, and from short to long term. In all cases, however, the three basic planning steps are as follows: ○ Setting an objective or goal ○ Identifying and assessing present and future conditions affecting the objective ○ Developing a systematic approach by which to achieve the objective (the plan) • Three additional steps must also be taken to achieve effectively the objective or goal established in step 1, although they are not exactly planning steps. These include the following: ○ Implementing the plan (organizing, leading, staffing) ○ Monitoring the plan’s implementation (controlling) ○ Evaluating the plan’s effectiveness (controlling) • These last three steps illustrate how closely planning is related to the other managerial functions, especially controlling. • The first step in planning—setting an objective or goal—addresses the issue of what one hopes to achieve. • The second planning step—identifying and assessing present and future conditions affecting the objective—recognizes important variables that can influence objectives. • The third step of planning is developing a systematic approach to achieve the objective. ○ This third step becomes the plan. ○ It addresses such issues as the how, when, who, and where of the plan. B. Planning Is Most Closely Related to Controlling • Of the managerial functions, planning is probably most closely related to controlling. • The steps in controlling are as follows: ○ Setting performance goals, or norms ○ Measuring performance ○ Comparing performance with goals ○ Analyzing results ○ Taking corrective action as needed C. Many Managers Tend to Neglect Planning • Poor planning results in disorganized and uncoordinated activities. • Many of the short-run crises that confront supervisors could be greatly eased by proper planning. D. Contingency Planning Anticipates Problems • Contingency planning means having anticipated solutions in advance for problems or changes that may arise and being prepared to deal with them smoothly when they do arise. • Proper anticipation of a problem may prevent it from happening. • A variation of contingency planning is scenario planning, which involves anticipating alternative future situations, and developing courses of action for each alternative. ○ Scenario planning has a long-term focus and is typically associated with planning at upper levels within organizations. ○ Scenario planning is a necessary tool for most managers today. II. Planning Differs at Different Management Levels • Top managers are more involved in strategic planning, which has longer time horizons, affects the entire organization, and deals with the organization’s interaction with its external environment. • Strategic plans include the following: ○ The mission, which defines the purpose the organization serves and identifies its services, products, and customers. ○ The overall objectives that drive the organization, such as profitability, customer satisfaction, employee relationships, environmental protection, or other critically important ends to be sought. ○ Strategies, the activities by which the organization adapts to the important factors that comprise its external environment, including consumers, customers, suppliers, competitors, and social, political, economic, and technological conditions. • Middle- and supervisory level managers are more concerned with operational planning. ○ Operational planning consists of intermediate- and short-term planning that facilitates achievement of the long-term strategic plans set at higher levels. • Although planning at the supervisory level generally is less complex and involves less uncertainty than planning at higher levels, it is still crucial that such planning be done effectively. III. Importance of Setting Objectives • Objectives are crucial to effective planning. A. What Are Objectives? • Objectives are the goals that provide the desired purposes and results for an organization and its parts. • Management experts disagree on whether there is a difference between an objective and a goal. ○ Some say that goals are broad and nonspecific, whereas objectives are narrow and specific. ○ Others reverse the distinction. ○ Still others do not distinguish between the two. ○ Because the terms goal and objective are often used interchangeably, this book treats them as synonyms. B. Objectives Serve as a Stimulus for Motivation and Effort • Objectives provide a stimulus for effort; they give people something to strive for. C. Hierarchy of Objectives • In any organization, objectives are first needed at the top management level. • Once top management has determined broad objectives or goals, other levels of the organization, including supervisory management, reflect these in objectives or goals of their own, thus creating a hierarchy of objectives. D. Unified Planning Through Objectives • A major advantage of organizational objectives is that they give managers at lower levels guidance in developing their own operational plans and coordinating their own activities. • Ideally, top management’s objectives should give tactical plans at lower levels unity of purpose. ○ Unified planning means ensuring that plans at all organizational levels are in harmony, rather than at cross-purposes, with one another. • Other types of plans may also be established to aid in unified planning at lower levels. ○ These other types of plans—policies, procedures, and rules—are more specific than objectives and spell out the methods used at lower levels. E. Guidelines for Setting Objectives • Objectives set out for employees what they must do to make their performance acceptable. • Because all supervisors should set objectives in their departments, the following guidelines should prove helpful to managers at all levels: ○ Select key performance areas for objectives. ○ Be specific, if possible. ○ Set challenging objectives. ○ Keep objective area in balance. ○ Objectives should be measurable. ○ Involve employees in setting objectives. ○ Follow up. IV. Types of Plans • Once objectives have been set to determine what needs to be accomplished, plans can be developed to outline how the objectives can be attained. • The plans fall into two categories—standing plans and single-use plans. A. Standing Plans • Standing plans, or repeat-use plans, are those that are used repeatedly over a period of time. • The three most popular types of standing plans are policies, rules, and procedures. 1. Policies • A policy is a guide to decision making—a sort of boundary on a supervisor’s freedom of action. ○ That is, it is a way to provide consistency among decision makers. • Supervisory managers fit into the policy picture in two key ways. ○ They play an important part in implementing organizational policies that have been established by higher management. ○ They create policies within their departments as guides for their own work groups. • Policies established by upper-level managers should be put into writing, because they must be enforced at operating levels by supervisors. ○ Also, they often form the basis for legal proceedings against the organization and its management. • Some policies may be unwritten, implied, or based on past practices. • Supervisors must keep in mind that action or even inaction may be thought of as policy by employees and serve as a guide to their behavior. • Policies are relatively permanent but should not be set in stone. Circumstances change, and management must from time to time reexamine the appropriateness of its policies. 2. Rules • Like policies, rules provide guidance. ○ But a rule is stronger than a policy in that the guidance given by a rule is final and definite. • Although rules have an important place in organizations, their overuse can lead to problems. ○ When there are too many rules, supervisors lose their individualism and may use the rules as crutches. ○ Or they may offer weak, apologetic reasons when they enforce the rules. 3. Procedures • The need for procedures arises when an organization or a department requires a high degree of consistency in activities that occur frequently. • A procedure outlines the steps to be performed when a particular course of action is taken. B. Single-Use Plans • Single-use plans are developed to accomplish a specific purpose and then discarded. • Unlike policies, rules, and procedures, single-use plans detail courses of action that won’t be performed on a repetitive basis. 1. Programs • A program is a large-scale plan that involves a mix of objectives, policies, rules, and projects. • A program outlines the specific steps to be taken to achieve its objectives and the time, money, and human resources required to complete it. 2. Projects • A project is a distinct, smaller part of a program. • Each project has its own objectives and becomes the responsibility of personnel assigned to oversee it. 3. Budgets • A well-planned budget serves as both a planning and a controlling tool. • A budget is a forecast of expected financial performance over time. 4. Schedules • A schedule is a plan showing activities to be performed and their timing. • Two scheduling approaches with which students should be familiar are the Gantt chart and critical path method. • The Gantt chart is a visual progress report that identifies work stages or activities on a vertical axis and scheduled completion dates horizontally. ○ While the Gantt chart is helpful as a planning tool, it does not show directly how the various activities involved in a job depend on one another. • The critical path method is a management scheduling tool that identifies the activities needed to complete a task or project, specifies the time each activity will take, and shows the relationships among the network of activities to determine the total completion time of the task or project. ○ The critical path method is used on highly complex, one-time projects, such as building a skyscraper or completing the prototype of a new jet aircraft. ○ However, its principles are relevant for many supervisors, especially in planning and scheduling various aspects of their jobs. ○ The total time to complete a job is obtained by adding the hours necessary to complete the series of activities that comprise the longest route, in terms of time, to complete the job. • This route is called the critical path. ○ A major advantage of the critical path method, even for simple problems, is that they graphically display the dependent parts of a total job. • The supervisor thus has a better grasp of the total job to be completed. The PowerPoint slides correlated with the Lecture Outline above are available on the Instructors CD-ROM and on the product support website. PowerPoint Slide 2-1 Chapter 2 Title PowerPoint Slide 2-2 Learning Objectives PowerPoint Slide 2-3 Learning Objectives PowerPoint Slide 2-4 Supervisory Planning PowerPoint Slide 2-5 The Three Planning Steps (Text Exhibit 2-1) PowerPoint Slide 2-6 Steps To Achieve the Objective or Goal PowerPoint Slide 2-7 Steps in Controlling PowerPoint Slide 2-8 The Nonplanner’s Cycle (Text Exhibit 2-2) PowerPoint Slide 2-9 Contingency Planning PowerPoint Slide 2-10 Scenario Planning PowerPoint Slide 2-11 Planning at Three Management Levels (Text Exhibit 2-3) PowerPoint Slide 2-12 Strategic Planning PowerPoint Slide 2-13 Elements of Strategic Plans PowerPoint Slide 2-14 Operational Planning PowerPoint Slide 2-15 Objectives PowerPoint Slide 2-16 Hierarchy of Objectives for Computronix PowerPoint Slide 2-17 Unified Planning PowerPoint Slide 2-18 Guidelines for Setting Objectives PowerPoint Slide 2-19 Standing Plans or Repeat-Use Plans PowerPoint Slide 2-20 Policy PowerPoint Slide 2-21 Rule PowerPoint Slide 2-22 Procedure PowerPoint Slide 2-23 Single-Use Plans PowerPoint Slide 2-24 Program and Project PowerPoint Slide 2-25 Budget and Schedule PowerPoint Slide 2-26 Example of Gantt Chart Showing Activities Needed in Production Start-Up (Text Exhibit 2-6) PowerPoint Slide 2-27 Critical Path Method PowerPoint Slide 2-28 Critical Path for Completing Machine Overhaul (Text Exhibit 2-7) PowerPoint Slide 2-29 Important Terms 1. What are the three basic steps in planning? Why do supervisors tend to slight the planning function? The three steps of planning are: • Setting an objective, or goal • Identifying and assessing present and future conditions affecting the goal • Developing a systematic approach by which to achieve the goal Supervisors tend to slight the planning function since thinking is often more difficult than doing. Therefore, it becomes tempting to forgo thinking about the future in order to get busy performing a task or solving present work problems. 2. How does planning differ among top, intermediate, and supervisory management levels? Top managers are more involved with strategic planning, which has longer time horizons, affects the entire organization, and deals with the organization’s interface with its external environments. Intermediate and supervisory level managers are more concerned with operational planning. This consists of intermediate and short term planning that facilitates achievement of the long-term strategic plans set at higher levels. 3. What are some guidelines for setting performance objectives? The following are some guidelines that supervisors may use for setting performance objectives: • Select key performance areas for objectives. • Be specific in defining objectives. • Set challenging, yet attainable objectives. • Keep objective areas in balance. • Objectives should be measurable. • Involve subordinates in setting objectives. • Follow up on results. 4. What is meant by a hierarchy of objectives? Explain. A hierarchy of objectives is a network with broad goals at the top level of the organization and narrower goals for individual divisions, departments, or employees. A hierarchy of objectives reflects the fact that, once top management determines broad objectives, other organizational levels reflect these with objectives of their own. Thus, when one level attains its own objectives, it helps accomplish the objectives of the next higher level, and so forth. 5. What is the difference between a policy, a rule, and a procedure? A policy is a guide to decision-making, a general statement of what is needed to achieve an objective. A rule is a policy that is invariably enforced. They are stronger than policies, and the guidance given is final and definite. Procedures outline the steps to be performed when taking a particular course of action. 6. What is a Gantt chart? How does it differ from a critical path method? The Gantt chart is a visual progress report that identifies work stages and scheduled completion dates. This chart is a helpful planning tool, but it does not show how the various activities in a job depend on one another as the critical part method. 7. What is contingency planning? Explain. Contingency planning is thinking in advance about possible problems or changes that might arise and having anticipated solutions available. The proper anticipation of a crisis may prevent it from happening. 8. Distinguish between objectives and strategies. Objectives are the purposes, goals, and desired results for the organization and its parts. Strategies are the activities by which the organization adapts to its environment in order to achieve its objectives. Skill Builder 2-1 Testing Your Planning Skills Works with SCANS competencies: Resources and Interpersonal Skill This is a group exercise extending the example of Marshall Biscuit Division of Lancaster Colony. The premise is that the manager has been named as the chairperson of the annual blood drive. The groups must develop objectives and an operating plan for the blood drive. Instructions: • Make a list of what you consider the key planning issues that should be identified by the committee at this initial planning meeting. At this meeting, some basic goals must be set. How many units should be targeted? What percent participation should be expected? Other planning issues—When will the blood drive occur? How will it be scheduled to attract the most donors and conflict least with oncoming operations? What facility arrangements will be needed? Where? Who will be responsible for each part of the program? How can the committee overcome resistance from employees to donating blood and attract the most donors? How should donations be scheduled? Which blood service to use? How to publicize the event? • Of the items on your list, which two or three do you believe are the most crucial? Why? The most critical items will be attracting donors and overcoming resistance and fear. Other elements can be worked around, but you have to have donors. • Identify major problems that could prevent accomplishment of your objective. What contingency planning could be done to avert them or minimize their impact? Numerous things can and will go wrong. As Murphy’s Law says—“If it can go wrong, it will.” However, most things can be handled with a little foresight. If you are going to use the company cafeteria, make certain that food service schedules can be accommodated. If the president is to give a pep talk, check with his or her assistant to make certain there isn’t a scheduling conflict. But most important, have some procedures for getting donors to the blood drive. Set up an e-mail reminder system, have supervisors give employees time off to come, phone the unit if donors do not come at their scheduled time, and so on. • To help in your preparation for the planning meeting, identify 6 to 10 steps that you feel will be needed to achieve a successful blood drive. These steps might be such things as: a. Determine a date. b. Identify a location. c. Secure commitment from Red Cross, etc. Perform a critical path analysis and draw a chart that shows the sequence and relationship of the activities identified. (You need not be concerned with the length of time needed for each activity.) Students’ answers will vary. • Compare your responses to questions 1, 2, 3, and 4 with those of other students. To what extent do they agree with you? There will be various opinions among students. Look for responses in common. Skill Builder 2-2 Determining Priorities: Put Savings First Works with SCANS competencies: Resources, Interpersonal Skill, and Information Students must take a moment to test their personal planning skills with the following personal budgeting activity. Instructions: • For one month, track your personal income and expenses using a pocket-sized notebook and pen or a personal electronic device. Regardless of how small the purchase price is, be sure to track ALL expenditures for one month. Record all items and break them into categories. For example, your income may possibly be categorized as follows: money earned waiting tables, monthly student loan income, and money provided by family. Some common expense categories would include rent, car insurance, and gas. • Analyze your monthly habits to determine where your money is going. Do you have money left over at the end of the month, spend all that you make, or finance your current lifestyle with unsecured debt (credit cards)? Begin to think about ways to reduce your expenses or increase income stream(s). • Set a savings goal for yourself; remember to use the goal-setting principles you learned about in this chapter to guide your efforts. For example, you want to be realistic about what you can achieve, and if you are not currently a saver, look for discretionary expenses you could eliminate to free up even small amounts. For example, just finding an extra $30 per month equals $360 per year. As you become a savvy saver, you can create a more challenging goal. • Think about alternative ways to achieve your goal. Pick one that will work for you and stick to it! One suggestion is to visit various financial planning Web sites, such as http://www.suzeorman.com/, to benchmark plans that have worked for others. One strategy shared by some financial advisors, including Suze Orman, is to have your local bank or credit union electronically transfer your savings goal each month from your checking to your savings account. This strategy ensures that you pay yourself first, and in most cases, if you don’t see the money in your account, you won’t miss it! Case 2-1 Island Shades 1. Analyze Terry’s goal and plan based on the concepts you learned in this chapter. Are there additional key performance areas that Terry could identify for action? Is her goal realistic? Students’ answers will vary widely, especially their opinions of how realistic her goal is. Students should recognize that Terry has done a good job of analyzing her operational planning. However, she could set clearer objectives, such as how she will distinguish her business from other similar businesses. She also needs to strategize how she will promote and grow her business. Although Terry has been working with her budgets and schedules, she probably has further work to do on policies and procedures for her suppliers, employees, and customers. 2. Do you agree with Terry’s view that Island Shades will be successful? Why or why not? Students’ answers will vary but should demonstrate a thoughtful answer using critical thinking skills. 3. Would you recommend any changes or modifications to her goal or plan? Students’ answers may vary. Some of them may say that Terry’s plan to open both a bricks-and-mortar operation along with an online operation simultaneously could be seen as smart or overly ambitious. Some may feel that she is trying to appeal to too broad of a customer base, while others may feel that she will attract more business by being so broadly diversified. A significant gap in her plan is marketing and promotions, which need to be addressed. 4. Present a summary of your analysis and recommendations to the class. Students’ answers will vary. Instructor Manual for Supervisory Management: The Art of Inspiring, Empowering and Developing People Donald C. Mosley, Paul H. Pietri 9781285063003