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Simply speaking, management is what managers do. But that simplestatement doesn’t tell us much, does it? Let’s look first at what management isbefore discussing more specifically what managers do.Managementinvolves coordinating and overseeing the work activities ofothers so that their activities are completed efficiently and effectively. Wealready know that coordinating and overseeing the work of others is whatdistinguishes a managerial position from a nonmanagerial one. However, thisdoesn’t mean that managers can do what they want anytime, anywhere, or inany way. Instead, management involves ensuring that work activities arecompleted efficiently and effectively by the people responsible for doing them,or at least that’s what managers aspire to do.Efficiencyrefers to getting the most output from the least amount of inputs.Because managers deal with scarce inputs—including resources such aspeople, money, and equipment—they’re concerned with the efficient use ofthose resources. It’s often referred to as “doing things right”—that is, notwasting resources. For instance, at the HON Company plant in Cedartown,
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Georgia, where employees make and assemble office furniture, efficientmanufacturing techniques were implemented by doing things such as cuttinginventory levels, decreasing the amount of time to manufacture products, andlowering product reject rates. These efficient work practices paid off as theplant reduced costs by more than $7 million in one year.13It’s not enough, however, just to be efficient. Management is also concernedwith being effective, completing activities so that organizational goals areattained.Effectivenessis often described as “doing the right things”—that is,doing those work activities that will help the organization reach its goals. Forinstance, at the HON factory, goals included meeting customers’ rigorousdemands, executing world-class manufacturing strategies, and makingemployee jobs easier and safer. Through various work initiatives, these goalswere pursuedandachieved. Whereas efficiency is concerned withthemeansof getting things done, effectiveness is concerned with theends, orattainment of organizational goals (seeExhibit 1-3). In successfulorganizations, high efficiency and high effectiveness typically go hand in hand.Poor management (which leads to poor performance) usually involves beinginefficient and ineffective or being effective, but inefficient.Exhibit 1-3 Efficiency and Effectiveness in Managementsidenote: Let’s Get RealCourtesy of Lacy MartinEfficiency is important in my job becausecustomers expect us to beefficient and accurate when conducting their business and it is alwaysimportant to deliver on the customer’s expectation.
Now let’s take a more detailed look at what managers do. Describing whatmanagers do isn’t easy. Just as no two organizations are alike, no twomanagers’ jobs are alike. In spite of this, management researchers have
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Management, managerial work, Lisa Greene, Lacy Martin
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