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Product Management and Product Marketing

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This document provides a high level overview on the challenges typically encountered in defining the roles of Product Management and Product Marketing. It also contains job and task descriptions that can help you determine the best way to structure these roles within your own organization.

Overview

If you are looking for the demarcation points between the roles of Product Management and Product Marketing you are likely to find many different variations. Often the following questions arise.

• Does Product Management belong in Marketing or Development?
• Is Product Management an Internally facing role and Product Marketing an externally facing role?
• What responsibilities belong to each and who ultimately owns accountability for product?
• Are these 2 roles or 1?

There is no universal answer because what will work best in your organization has dependencies on these and other variables.

• How many products do you have?
• How mature are your products?
o Are you trying to innovate and launch new products?
o How competitive is your market?
 How many competitors are there?
 How rapidly are they releasing new capabilities?
• How large is your organization and how many resources do you have/can you have?
• Who is your product’s primary buyer and how technical is the sale/solution?
• Where is your product development being done (local, offshore etc.)?
• Do you have stovepipe organizations?

If you can find an individual that excels at project management, has a strong technology aptitude, good customer facing skills and has the creativity to do product marketing, a single individual owning all aspects of the product is certainly possible. For many companies this skill set can either be difficult to find, or the magnitude of activities this individual has to perform is simply too overwhelming for one person. In that case, the job can be divided, typically along the lines of “Marketing” activities.

The challenge with having a separate Product Marketing function is that your Product Marketing Manager may not have the market knowledge, product knowledge or technical aptitude. Or, confusion can arise between the Product Marketing Manager and Corporate Marketing in terms of who owns aspects of producing or delivering collateral and other deliverables.

If you plan to separate the roles, it is recommended to keep the two functions in the same organization (Marketing). Your Product Manager should have seniority and overall accountability for all product deliverables while the Product Marketing Manager acts in a supporting role. Establish clear responsibilities and approval authority between all groups.

With Product Management in the marketing organization, you will also need a strong working relationship between your product manager and your development organization. Your Product Manager will need their respect and have the ability to manage individuals in an organization they have no authority over.

Managing the Marketing Effort

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d. Managing the Marketing Effort
The company wants to design and put into action the marketing mix that will best achieve its objectives in target markets. This involves four marketing management functions. The four functions are: analysis, planning, implementation, and control
a. Marketing Analysis:
Marketing analysis involves a complete analysis of the company’s situation. The company performs analysis by Identifying environmental opportunities and threats. Analyzing company strengths and weaknesses to determine which opportunities the company can best pursue. Feeding information and other inputs to each of the other marketing management functions.
b. Marketing Planning:
Within each business unit, functional plans must be prepared, including marketing plans. Such plans include marketing plans which are aggregate plans consisting of plans for product lines, brands and markets. Marketing planning involves deciding on marketing strategies that will help the company to attain its overall strategic objectives. A detailed plan is needed for each business, product, or brand. A product or brand plan
should contain the following sections: executive summary, current marketing situation, threats and opportunity analysis, objectives and issues, marketing strategies, action programs, budgets, and controls.
Contents of Marketing Plan

1. Executive summary - The opening section of the marketing plan that presents a short summary of the main goals and recommendations to be presented in the plan.
2. Current marketing situation - The section of a marketing plan that describes the target market and the company’s position in it. The current marketing situation is the section of a marketing plan that describes the target market and the company’s position in it. Important sections include:
1). A market description.2). A product review.3). Analysis of the competition.4). A section on distribution.
3. Opportunities and Issues Analysis- This section requires the marketing manager to look ahead for threats and opportunities that the product(s) might face. A company marketing opportunity would be an attractive arena for marketing action in which the company would enjoy a competitive advantage. In the threats and opportunities section, managers are forced to anticipate important developments that can have an impact, either positive or negative, on the firm. Having studied the product’s threats and opportunities, the manager can now set objectives and consider issues that will affect them.
4. Objectives - Objectives should be stated as goals the company would like to reach during the plan’s term.
5. Marketing strategy - The marketing logic by which the business unit hopes to achieve its marketing objectives. Marketing strategy consists of specific strategies for target markets, marketing mix and marketing expenditure level. Strategies should be created for all marketing mix components. The marketing budget is a section of the marketing plan that shows projected revenues, costs, and profits. The last section of the marketing plan outlines the controls that will be used to monitor progress. This allows for progress checks and corrective action.

Determine what the trends are in company organization.
Determine how marketing and sales are organized in companies.
Determine what steps a company can take to build a stronger customer-focused culture.
Determine how a company can improve its marketing-implementation skills.
Determine what tools are available to help companies monitor and improve their marketing activities.
Kotler on Marketing:-
The marketing organization will have to redefine its role from managing customer interactions to integrating and managing all the company’s customer-facing processes.
Main responses of companies to a changing environment are Reengineering,Outsourcing,Benchmarking,Supplier partnering and Customer partnering. Where as following are also in consideration Merging,Globalizing,Flattening,Focusing,Empowering.
Outsourcing can save companies money by passing on to another firm the overhead involved with maintaining specialized staff positions, or eliminating the need to maintain specialized equipment that does not directly support their core business. What are the potential risks associated with outsourcing?

Developing the Marketing Mix

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c. Developing the Marketing Mix
Once the company has decided on its overall competitive marketing strategy, it is ready to begin planning the details of the marketing mix. The marketing mix is the set of controllable marketing variables that the firm blends to produce the response it wants in the target market. The marketing mix consists of everything that the firm can do to influence the demand for its product.
These variables are often referred to as the “four Ps.”

1). Product stands for the “goods-and-service” combination the company offers to the target
market.
2). Price stands for the amount of money customers have to pay to obtain the product.
3). Place stands for company activities that make the product available to target consumers.
4). Promotion stands for activities that communicate the merits of the product and persuade
target consumers to buy it.
An effective marketing program blends all of the marketing mix elements into a coordinated program designed to achieve the company’s marketing objectives by delivering value to consumers. Some critics feel that the four Ps omit or underestimate certain important activities.
1). “Where are services?” they ask.
2). “Where is packaging?”
3). The 4 Ps seems to take the seller’s view rather than the buyer’s view.
4). Perhaps a better classification would be the 4 Cs:

a). Product = Customer Solution.
b). Price = Customer Cost.
c). Place = Convenience.
d). Promotion = Communication.

Marketing Organization keep in focus the Simple Sales Department,Sales Department With Ancillary,Marketing Functions,Separate Marketing Department
Modern Marketing Department , Effective Marketing Company,Process-And Outcome-Based Company.
Product- or Brand-Management Organization
Product and brand managers have these tasks:
Develop a long-range and competitive strategy for the product
Preparing an annual marketing plan and sales forecast
Working with advertising and merchandising agencies to develop copy, programs, and campaigns
Stimulating support of the product among the sales force and distributors
Gathering continuous intelligence on the product’s performance, customer and dealer attitudes, and new problems and opportunities
Initiating product improvements to meet changing market needs
Building a Companywide Marketing Orientation
Transforming into a true market-driven firm requires:
Developing a companywide passion for customers
Organizing around customer segments instead of around products
Developing a deep understanding of customers through qualitative and quantitative research

Selecting the target Market

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b. Selecting the target Market:

To succeed in today’s competitive marketplace, companies must be customer centered. They must win customers from competitors and keep them by delivering greater value.

• Sound marketing requires a careful, deliberate analysis of consumers.

• Since companies cannot satisfy all consumers in a given market, they must divide up the total market (market segmentation), choose the best segments (market targeting), and design strategies for profitably serving chosen segments better than the competition (market positioning).

Market segmentation is the process of dividing a market into distinct groups of buyers with different needs, characteristics, or behavior who might require separate products or marketing mixes. Market targeting is the process of evaluating each market segment’s attractiveness and selecting one or more segments to enter. A company should target segments in which it can generate the greatest customer value and sustain it over time. A company may decide to serve only one or a few special segments, or perhaps it might decide to offer a complete range of products to serve all market segments. Special segments may be called “market niches.” Most companies enter a new market by serving a single segment, and if this proves successful, they add segments. Market positioning is arranging for a product to occupy a clear distinctive and desirable place relative to competing products in the minds of target consumers. In positioning a product, a company first needs to identify possible competitive advantages upon which to build the position. To gain competitive advantage, the company must offer greater competitive advantage to the target segment. The company’s entire marketing program should support the chosen positioning strategy. Effective positioning begins with actually differentiating the company’s marketing offer so that it gives consumers more value than they are offered by the competition.
What steps can a CEO take to create a market and customer focused company?
1.Convince senior management of the need
2.Appoint a senior marketing officer and a marketing task force
3.Get outside help and guidance
4.Change the company’s reward measurement and system
5.Hire strong marketing talent
6.Develop strong in-house marketing training programs
7.Install a modern marketing planning system
8.Establish an annual marketing excellence recognition program
9.Shift from a department focus to a process-outcome focus
10.Empower the employees
Evaluation and Control
Efficiency control,Marketing Controller,Sales-Force Efficiency,Advertising Efficiency,Sales-Promotion Efficiency,Distribution Efficiency
Part I. Marketing Environment Audit
Macroenvironment
A. Demographic What major demographic developments and trends pose opportunities or threats to this company? What actions has the company taken in response to these developments and trends?
B. Economic What major developments in income, prices, savings, and credit will affect the company? What actions has the company been taking in response to these developments and trends?
C. Environmental What is the outlook for the cost and availability of natural resources and energy needed by the company? What concerns have been expressed about the company’s role in pollution and conservation, and what steps has the company taken?

MARKETING PROCESS

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The Marketing Process
1.Define customer value and satisfaction.
2.Understand the nature of high performance businesses.
3.Understand how to attract and retain customers.
4.Define customer profitability, company profitability, and total quality management.

Once the strategic plan has defined the company’s overall mission and objectives, marketing plays a role in carrying out these objectives. The marketing process is the process of analyzing market opportunities, selecting target markets,developing the marketing mix, and managing the marketing effort. Target customers stand at the center of the marketing process. There are following steps in Marketing Process:

1. Analyzing marketing opportunities

2. Selecting target markets

3. Developing the marketing Mix

4. Managing the marketing effort

a. Analyzing marketing opportunities
First step of the marketing process is analyzing market opportunities and availing these opportunities to satisfy the customer’s requirements to have competitive advantage. The marketing function of analyzing market opportunities is important in the marketing planning process. Any marketing manager must analyses the long-run opportunities in the market to improve the business unit's performance. To evaluate its opportunities firms needs to operate a reliable marketing information system. Marketing research is an indispensable marketing tool for this purpose. Researching the market allows the company to gather information about their customers, competitors and any environmental changes to determine the market opportunities. Once the market opportunities have been analyzed then modern marketing practice calls for dividing the market into major market segments, evaluating each segment, and selecting and targeting those market segments that the company can best serve.
Evolution of Marketing Department
1) sales department, finance, personel, operations, sales, accounting
2) sales department w/ other marketing functions
3) separate marketing department
4) modern marketing department
5) marketing company
6) process & outcome based company
Financial Analysis
(1)profit margin net profits/net sales
(2)asset turnover net sales/total assets
(3)return on assets net profits/total assets
(4)financial leverage total assets/net worth
(5)rate of return on net worth net profits/net worth
Profitability Control
1) identify functional expenses
2) assign functional expenses to marketing entities
3) profit/loss statement for each marketing entity
Marketing strategies must be based on consumer needs, and also on the company’s industry position and resources relative to competitors. The company must continually monitor competitors’ products, prices, channels, and promotion.

Stars are high-growth

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a). Stars are high-growth, high-share businesses or products (they need heavy
investment to finance their rapid growth potential).
b). Cash Cows are low-growth, high-share businesses or products (they are established,
successful, and need less investment to hold share).
c). Question Marks are low-share business units in high-growth markets (they require
a lot of cash to hold their share).
d). Dogs are low-growth, low-share businesses and products (they may generate enough
cash to maintain themselves, but do not have much future). Once it has classified its SBUs, a
company must determine what role each will play in the future. The four strategies that can be
pursued for each SBU are:
1). The company can invest more in the business unit in order to build its share.
2). The company can invest enough just to hold at the current level.
3). The company can harvest the SBU.
4). The company can divest the SBU.
As time passes, SBUs change their positions in the growth-share matrix. Each has its own life cycle. The growth-share matrix has done much to help strategic planning study; however, there are problems and limitations with the method.

1). They can be difficult, time-consuming, and costly to implement.

2). Management may find it difficult to define SBUs and measure market share and growth.

3). They focus on classifying current businesses but provide little advice for future planning.

4). They can lead the company to placing too much emphasis on market-share growth or
growth through entry into attractive new markets. This can cause unwise expansion into hot, new,
risky ventures or giving up on established units too quickly. In spite of the drawbacks, most firms
are still committed to strategic planning.
The modern marketing department evolved through several stages. It started as a sales department, and later took on ancillary functions, such as advertising and marketing research. As the ancillary functions grew in importance, many companies created a separate marketing department to manage them. Sales and marketing people generally worked well together. Eventually, the two departments were merged into a modern marketing department headed by a marketing vice-president. A modern marketing department, however, does not automatically create an effective marketing company unless the other departments accept and practice customer orientation. When a company refocuses its organizational structure on key process, rather than departments, it becomes a process-outcome-based company.
Modern marketing departments are organized in a number of ways. A functional marketing organization is where separate managers head marketing functions, reporting to the marketing vice-president. A geographical marketing organization allocates its sales organization resources along geographic lines, nationally, regionally, or locally. A product management organization assigns products to product managers who work with functional specialists to develop and achieve product plans. A market management organization assigns major markets to market managers who in turn work with functional specialists to develop and implement their plans. Some large companies use a product and market management organization called a matrix organization. Finally, multi-division companies usually operate with a corporate marketing department and divisional marketing departments.
In order to find the best competitive marketing strategy and put it into action, marketing managers perform four important marketing management functions: (1) marketing analysis, (2) marketing planning, (3) marketing implementation, and (4) marketing control. Through these activities, the company watches and adapts to the marketing environment.

Strategic Control
Stategic Planning Process,mission ,environmental analysis ,internal
external goal formulation , strategy formulation , program formulation
implementation , feedback & control
1.Determine how a company can identify the segments that make up a market.
2.Determine the criteria a company can use to choose the most attractive markets.

Analyzing the Current Business Portfolio

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In order to analyze the current business portfolio, the company must conduct portfolio analysis (a tool by which management identifies and evaluates the various businesses that make up the company). Two steps are important in this analysis:
1). The first step is to identify the key businesses (SBUs). The strategic business unit (SBU) is a unit of the company that has a separate mission and objectives and which can be planned independently from other company businesses.
2). The SBU can be a company division, a product line within a division, or even a single product or brand.
3). The second step is to assess the attractiveness of its various SBUs and decide how much support each deserves. The best-known portfolio planning method is the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) matrix:
1). Using the BCG approach, where a company classifies all its SBUs according to the growth-share matrix.
a). The vertical axis, market growth rate, provides a measure of market attractiveness.
b). The horizontal axis, relative market share, serves as a measure of company strength in the market.
2). Using the matrix, four types of SBUs can be identified:
a. Stars
b. Cash Cows
c. Question Marks
d. Dogs
Marketing must work harmoniously with other functional areas. In its pursuit of the customer’s interests, marketing may come into conflict with R&D, engineering, purchasing, manufacturing, operations, finance, accounting, credit, and other functions. These conflicts can be reduced when the company president commits the firm to a customer orientation and when the marketing vice-president learns to work effectively with the other executives. Acquiring a modern marketing orientation requires top executive support, a marketing task force, outside marketing consulting help, in-house marketing training, acquisition of strong marketing talent, a customer-oriented system, and other related steps.
Those responsible for the marketing function must not only develop effective marketing plans but also implement them successfully. Marketing implementation is the process of turning plans into action exercises describing who does what, when, and how. Effective implementation requires skills in allocating, monitoring, organizing, and interacting at all levels of the marketing effort. Evaluations and control include annual-plan control, profitability control, efficiency control, and strategy control. The capstone effort in this process is the marketing audit.
Describe what a business market is and how it differs from the consumer market.
1.Describe the buying situations that organizational buyers face.
2.Understand who participates in the business-to-business buying process.
3.Describe the major influences on organizational buyers.
4.Describe how business buyers make their decisions.
5.Understand how institutions and government agencies do their buying.
Marketing Audit
comprehensive,systematic, independent, and periodic examination of company's marketing environment, objectives, strategies, and activities to discover problems and offer solutions

Procedure
1. agree on objectives, coverage, depth, data sources,report format, and time period
2. develop plan
3. gather data
4. analyze data
5. present findings
6. discuss findings

Characteristics of a Strategic Plan

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Strategic planning consists of developing a company mission (to give it direction), objectives and
goals (to give it means and methods for accomplishing its mission), business portfolio (to allow
management to utilize all facets of the organization), and functional plans (plans to carry out daily
operations from the different functional disciplines). Since most companies are interested in
growth, this chapter explores several growth alternatives within the context of strategic planning
and portfolio analysis. The product/market expansion grid shows four avenues for growth: market
penetration, market development, product development, and diversification. Many companies
operate without formal plans. However, formal planning can provide many benefits:

1). It encourages management to think ahead systematically.
2). It forces managers to clarify objectives and policies.
3). It leads to better coordination of company efforts.
4). It provides clearer performance standards for control.
5). It is useful for a fast-changing environment since sound planning helps the company
anticipate and respond quickly to environmental changes and sudden developments.
II. Marketing organization
A. Evolution of the marketing department
1. Simple sales department—sales vice president, selling orientation, occasional outside support
2. Sales department with ancillary marketing functions
3. Separate marketing department—still with a focus on sales
4. Modern marketing department/effective marketing company—beginning of customer orientation
a) Sales and marketing relatively equal
b) Planning from marketing
c) Implementation by sales
d) Key is that all employees must realize that their jobs are to create, serve, and satisfy customers.
5. Process- and outcome-based company—focus of structure on key processes (new-product development, customer acquisition, etc.) versus departments
B. Organizing the marketing department
1. Functional organization
2. Geographic organization
3. Product- or brand-management organization
a) Advantages and disadvantages
b) Alternative to product managers is product teams
4. Market-management/customer management organization
a) For firms that sell their products to many different markets
b) Or those that deal with individual customers versus the mass-market or even market segments
5. Product-management/market-management organization
a) Known also as a matrix organization
b) Focus on meeting their market’s needs versus selling a particular product
6. Corporate/divisional organization—from no corporate marketing staff to a strong corporate marketing staff
In carrying out marketing analysis, planning, implementation, and control, the marketing manager needs information at almost every turn. He or she needs information about customers, competitors, dealers, and other forces in the marketplace. One marketing executive puts it this way: “To manage a business well is to manage its future; and to manage the future is to manage information”.

STRATEGIC PLANNING AND MARKETING PROCESS

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The process of developing and maintaining a strategic fit between the organization’s goals and
capabilities and its changing marketing opportunities is called Strategic planning. Planning is
basically concerned with what are we going to do and how are we going to do it? Organizations,
which are not able to perform the effective planning, are actually planning for failures. To meet
changing conditions in their industries, companies need to be farsighted and visionary, and must
develop long-term strategies. Strategic planning involves developing a strategy to meet competition
and ensure long-term survival and growth. The marketing function plays an important role in this
process in that it provides information and other inputs to help in the preparation of the
organization’s strategic plan. Planning is performed to:
• Address changing environment and consumers
• Develop shared goals within organization
• Address competitive threat
• To anticipate the future
• Determine actions that are needed to achieve objectives
Strategic planning is mainly of three types:

(1) Strategic Planning:
Major activities in strategic planning process include developing the company's goals and plans. Typically strategic planning focus on long-term issues and emphasize the survival, growth, and overall effectiveness of the organization.

(2) Tactical Planning:
Tactical planning is concerned with translating the general goals and plans developed by strategic managers into objectives that are more specific and activities. These decisions, or tactics, involve both a shorter
III. Marketing implementation
A. Process that turns marketing plans into action assignments and ensures that such assignments are executed in a manner that accomplishes the plan’s stated objectives
B. Strategy: what and why of marketing activities; implement the who, where, when, and how
C. Skills related to effective implementation
a) Diagnostic skills
b) Identification of company level
c) Implementation skills
d) Evaluation skills
IV. Evaluation and control—types of control
A. Annual-plan control
1. Sales analysis
2. Market share analysis
3. Marketing expense-to-sales analysis
4. Financial analysis
5. Market-based scorecard analysis
B. Profitability control
1. Marketing-profitability analysis (identifying the functional expenses, assigning the functional expenses to the marketing entities, and preparing a profit-and-loss statement for each marketing entity)
2. Determining corrective action
3. Direct versus full costing (direct costs, traceable common costs, and nontraceable common costs)

Introduction of Marketing

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What image comes to mind when you hear the word “marketing”? Some people think of advertisements or brochures, while others think of public relations (for instance, arranging for clients to appear on TV talk shows). The truth is, all of these—and many more things—make up the field of marketing. The Knowledge Exchange Business Encyclopedia defines marketing as “planning and executing the strategy involved in moving a good or service from producer to consumer.” With this definition in mind, it’s apparent that marketing and many other business activities are related in some ways. In simplified terms, marketers and others help move goods and services through the creation and production process; at that point, marketers help move the goods and services to consumers. But the connection goes even further: Marketing can have a significant impact on all areas of the business and vice versa.

Marketing: It is the process of creating consumer value in the form of goods, services, or ideas

that can improve the consumer’s life.

Marketing is the organizational function charged with defining customer targets and the best way

to satisfy needs and wants competitively and profitably. Since consumers and business buyers face

an abundance of suppliers seeking to satisfy their everyday need, companies and nonprofit

organizations cannot survive today by simply doing a good job. They must do an excellent job if

they are to remain in the increasingly competitive global marketplace. This is what we say that

survival of the fittest. Many studies have demonstrated that the key to profitable performance is to

know and satisfy target customers with competitively superior offers. This process takes place

today in an increasingly global, technical, and competitive environment.

What is Marketing?

Marketing is not only restricted to selling and advertising as is perceived but is More than it advertising it identifies and satisfies customers needs. it functions revolve around wide variety and range of tasks and
activities mostly termed as functions related to 4ps i.e. Product, price, place and promotion.
Marketing is:
a. Creating customer value and satisfaction are at the very heart of modern marketing thinking and practice.

b. A very simple definition of marketing is that it is the delivery of customer satisfaction at a profit.

c. Sound marketing is critical to the success of every organization.

Marketing can also be defined as process of planning and executing the conception, pricing, promotion, and distribution of ideas, goods, and services to create exchanges that satisfy individual and organizational objectives.”
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EXPECTANCY, GOAL SETTING AND RE-ENFORCEMENT THEORIES

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Expectancy Theory is the theory that an individual tends to act in a certain way based on the expectation

that the act will be followed by a given outcome and on the attractiveness of that outcome to the individual.

Three relationships are important to this theory.

1. Effort-performance linkage (expectancy) is the probability perceived by the individual that exerting

a given amount of effort will lead to a certain level of performance.

2. Performance-reward linkage (instrumentality) is the degree to which an individual believes that

performing at a particular level is instrumental in, or will lead to, the attainment of a desired outcome.

3. Attractiveness of the reward (valence) is the importance that the individual places on the potential

outcome or reward that can be achieved on the job.

4. There are four features inherent in the theory.

a. What perceived outcomes does the job offer the employee?

b. How attractive do employees consider these outcomes to be?

c. What kind of behavior must the employee exhibit to achieve these outcomes?

d. How does the employee view his or her chance of doing what is asked?

5. The key to understanding expectancy theory is understanding an individual’s goal and the linkage

between effort and performance, between performance and rewards, and between rewards and individual

goal satisfaction.

Goal-Setting Theory says that specific goals increase performance, and difficult goals, when accepted,

result in higher performance than easy goals. What do we know about goals as motivators?

1. Intention to work toward a goal is a major source of job motivation. Specific and challenging goals

are superior motivating forces. Specific hard goals produce a higher level of output than do generalized

goals.

2. Is there a contradiction between achievement motivation and goal setting? No, and here’s why.

a. Goal-setting theory deals with people in general; achievement theory is based only on people who

have a high need for achievement. Difficult goals are still recommended for the majority of employees.

b. The conclusions of goal-setting theory apply to those who accept and are committed to the goals.

Difficult goals will lead to higher performance only if they are accepted.

3. Will employees try harder if they participate in the setting of goals?

a. We can’t say that participation is always desirable.

b. However, participation is probably preferable to assigning goals when the manager expects

resistance.

4. Will people do better when they get feedback on how well they’re progressing toward their goals?

a. Feedback acts to guide behavior.

b. Self-generated feedback has been shown to be a more powerful motivator than externally generated

feedback.

5. What contingencies exist in goal-setting theory? There are four contingencies we need to know

about.

a. Feedback influences the goal-performance relationship.

b. Goal commitment is another contingency. Commitment is most likely to occur when goals are

made public, when the individual has an internal locus of control, and when the goals are self-set rather than

assigned.

c. Self-efficacy is another contingency and refers to an individual’s belief that he or she is capable of

performing a task. The higher your self-efficacy, the more confidence you have in your ability to succeed in

a task.

d. The last contingency that affects goal setting is national culture.

6. Our conclusion about motivation from goal-setting theory is that intentions, as defined by hard and

specific goals, are a powerful motivating force.

a. In the proper conditions, they can lead to higher performance.

b. However, there’s no evidence that such goals are associated with increased job satisfaction.

MARKETING MANAGEMENT

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MARKETING MANAGEMENT provides the framework to understand and analyse

the market environment,
consumers
competitors,
marketing decision-making.

The MARKETING MANAGEMENT introduces the

concepts,
principles
activities involved in the analysis,
development,
implementation
control of marketing programmes.

Learning objectives of MARKETING MANAGEMENT are as follows:

To identify customer needs and perform market segmentation to target segments
To make marketing decisions about product, price, place and promotion
To evaluate customer satisfaction, value and relationship management
To identify and evaluate key market trends and consumer behaviour
To make appropriate decisions about possible entry to new markets
To develop effective marketing and branding strategies
To plan and implement integrated marketing communications strategies

Taking a Leadership Role in Global Marketing ,Management :

What allows these leading innovators to surge ahead while other firms engage in endless cutthroat competition and shrinking profit margins?

There are a number of reasons why marketing developed a passion for tangibility. The main reason are listed here below;

The very first reason is that marketing thought developed from economic thought, which itself developed from Adam Smith’s fixation on national wealth creation through the export of surplus tangible goods.
the model of science was the Newtonian mechanical model of tangible things being embedded with properties,
The marketing practice developed around a business function focused on the distribution of the angible products of industry and agriculture.

Hundreds of years ago, only royalty and the very wealthy had access tomusic through the musicians they funded and for whom they often provided instruments. When a firm sees itself primarily as a manufacturer with an implied purpose of selling what it makes, it sees the key to making more money as selling more and
more goods.

• The essentials of marketing

• Strategic marketing planning

• Understanding industrial buyer behaviour

• Understanding value, cost and speed

• Market intelligence and research

• Market segmentation, targeting and positioning

Communicating

your ideas and issues to the key people

who can support you in implementing

solutions is a very tough job. MCE can

help by developing the strategic communication

skills of your managers and

leaders in the context of your strategy

and your company.
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The control process

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A. The basic process used in controlling has several major steps.

1. Determine areas to control.

a. It is impractical, if not impossible, to control every aspect of an organization’s

activities.

b. Major controls are based on the organizational goals and objectives developed

during the planning process.

2. Develop standards spelling out specific criteria for evaluating performance and

related employee behaviors.

a. Standards are often incorporated into the objectives set in the planning

process.

b. Standards serve three main purposes related to employee behavior.

1) Standards help employee understand what is expected and how

their work will be evaluated.

2) Standards provide a basis for detecting job difficulties that are

related to personal limitations of organization members.

3) Standards help reduce the potential negative effects of goal

incongruence, a condition in which there are major

incompatibilities between the goals of an organization member

and those of the organization.

3. Make a decision about how and how often to measure performance related to a

given standard.

a. MBO is a popular technique for coordinating the measurement of

performance throughout an organization.

b. The means of measuring performance depends upon the performance

standards that have been set, as well as data, such as units produced,

quality of output, or profits.

c. Most organizations use combinations of both quantitative and qualitative

performance measures.

d. The period of measurement usually depends upon

1) The importance of the goal to the organization

2) How quickly the situation is likely to change

3) The difficulty and expense of rectifying a problem if one were to

occur

4. Compare performance against standards.

a. Reports that summarize planned versus actual results are often developed.

b. Management by exception is a control principle which suggests that

managers should be informed of a situation only if control data show a

significant deviation from standards.

c. Mangers may compare performance and standards through personal

observation.

d. The 360-degree feedback system described in chapter 10 is being used by

a number of organizations as an evaluation approach.

5. Recognize above-standard performance both to give precognition to top

performing employees and also to aid improving performance on regular bases.

6. Assess the reason why standards are not met, and take corrective action.

7. Adjust standards and measures as necessary.

a. Standards and measures need to be checked for relevance.

b. Managers must decide whether the cost of meeting certain standards is

worth the resources consumed.

c. Exceeding a standard may signal opportunities, the potential to raise

standards, and/or the need for possible adjustments in organizational

plans.

B. Managers can take a number of approaches to deciding what to control.

1. Resource dependence is an approach based on the view that managers need to

consider controls mainly in areas in which they depend on others for resources

consider control mainly in areas in which they depend on others for resources

necessary to reach organizational goals.

a. Strategic control points are performance areas chosen for control

because these are particularly important in meeting organizational goals.

b. Strategic control points meet four conditions.

1) Dependence on a resource is high because the resource is

important and limited in availability.

2) The probability that the expected resource flow will be

unacceptable is high because of anticipated problems with

quantity, quality, or timeliness.

3) Instituting a control system is feasible.

4) The cost of instituting the control system is acceptable.

2. Mangers need to develop an alternative to controls if they are needed, but cannot

be instituted due to problems of feasibility or cost.

a. The dependence relationship can be changed so that controls are

unnecessary, e.g., lining up several suppliers.

b. The nature of the dependence relationship can be changed so that a

control system is feasible and/or cost-effective, e.g., job simplification or

vertical integration.

c. Organizational goals can be changed so that the resources in question are

no longer necessary.

Control as a management process

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A. Controlling, one of the four major functions of POLCA management, is the process of

regulating organizational activities so that actual performance conforms to expected

organizational standards and goals.

1. Controlling is largely geared to ensuring that the behavior of individuals in the

organization contributes to reaching organizational goals.

2. Controls encourage wanted behaviors and discourage unwanted behaviors.

B. A control system is a set of mechanisms that are designed to increase the probability of

meeting organizational standards and goals.

C. Controls can play five important roles in organizations.

1. Control systems enable managers to cope with uncertainty by monitoring the

specific activities and reacting quickly to significant changes in the environment.

2. Controls help managers detect undesirable irregularities, such as product defects,

cost overruns, or rising personnel turnover.

3. Controls alert managers to possible opportunities by highlighting situations in

which things are going better than expected.

4. Controls enable managers to handle complex situations by enhancing coordination

within large organizations.

5. Controls can decentralize authority by enabling managers to encourage decision

making at lower levels in the organization while still remaining in control.

D. Control responsibilities differ according to managerial level.

1. Strategic control involves monitoring critical environmental factors that could

affect the viability of strategic plans, assessing the effects of organizational

strategic actions, and ensuring that strategic plans are implemented as intended.

a. Strategic control is typically the domain of top-level managers who must

insure core competencies are developed and maintained.

b. Long time frames are involved, although shorter time frames may be

appropriate in turbulent environments.

2. Tactical control focuses on assessing the implementation of tactical plans at

departmental levels, monitoring associated periodic results, and taking corrective

action as necessary.

a. Tactical control is primarily under the direction of middle managers, but

top-level managers may at times get involved.

b. Time frames are periodic, involving weekly or monthly reporting cycles.

c. Tactical control involves department-level objectives programs, and

budgets.

3. Operational control involves overseeing the implementation of operating plans,

monitoring day-to-day results, and taking corrective action when required.

a. Operational control is the responsibility of lower-level managers.

b. Control is a day-to-day process.

c. The concern is with schedules, budgets, rules, and specific outputs of

individuals.

4. For controls and three levels to be effective they must operate in concert with one

another.

CONTROLLING AS A MANAGEMENT FUNCTION

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Regardless of the thoroughness of the planning done, a program or decision still may be poorly or

improperly implemented without a satisfactory control system in place.

Controlling is that process of regulating organizational activities so that actual performance conforms to

expected organizational goals and standards. While interrelated with all of the other management functions,

a special relationship exists between the planning function of management and controlling. Planning,

essentially, is the deciding of goals and objectives and the means of reaching them. Controlling lets manager

tell if the organization is on track for goal achievement, and if not, why not. A well-developed plan should

provide benchmarks that can be used in the control process.

Controls serve other important roles including helping managers cope with uncertainty, detecting

irregularities, identifying opportunities, handling complex situations, and decentralizing authority. Like

planning, controlling responsibilities differ by managerial level with control responsibilities paralleling

planning responsibilities at the strategic, tactical, and operational level.

There are several major steps usually identified in the basic control process. These are, in order, determining

the areas to be controlled, establishing the appropriate standards, measuring performance, comparing the

performance against standards, recognizing performance if standards are met or exceeded or take corrective

actions as necessary if not, and adjusting either/or standards and measures as necessary. Of course it would

be impossible to control all activity in an organization. Consequently, it is important for the manager to

decide which activities should have the control process applied. Argues that managers need to consider

controls mainly in areas in which they depend on others for resources necessary to reach organizational

goals. Four conditions help delineate when controls should be used. These are having a high dependence on

the resource, having a high expectation that the resource flows would be unacceptable without proper

controls, that the instituting of a control process would be feasible, and that the total control process costs

would be within the acceptable range.

Timing is one of the bases for differentiating control systems. Some major control types are based on

timing. These include feed forward controls, concurrent controls, and feedback controls. These are terms

which are unfamiliar to many students and special note needs to be made in reviewing this material. A

variety of these types of control is frequently used in multiple control systems and usually involve noncybernetic.

Cybernetic controls involve little, if any, human discretion as part of the system. Rather, it is a

self-regulating system that, once put into operation, can automatically monitor the situation and take

corrective action when necessary. Noncybernetic systems, on the other hand rely on human discretion as a

basic part of its process.

In addition to deciding the types of controls to use, managers also have the options regarding the

mechanisms to be used to implement controls. The three basic approaches are bureaucratic, clan, and

market. Bureaucratic controls rely on regulation through rules, policies, supervision, budgets, schedules,

reward systems, and other administrative mechanisms aimed at ensuring acceptable behavior and

performance Clan controls rely on the values, beliefs, traditions, corporate culture, shared norms, and

informal relationships to regulate behavior and to facilitate the reaching of organizational goals. The market

controls have a somewhat more limited application in organizations than do bureaucratic or clan controls;

all three approaches are likely to be used to some extent. Market controls rely on market mechanisms to

regulate prices for certain goods and services used by the organization.
There are some potential dysfunctional aspects of control systems the manager must consider. Behavioral

displacement, game playing, operating delays, and negative attitudes are some of these. To decrease the

likelihood of the effects, managers need to avoid engaging in either over-control or under-control. To be effective, control systems should be future-oriented, multidimensional, cost-effective, accurate, realistic,

timely monitor able, acceptable to organization members, and flexible.

PRINCIPLES OF MARKETING

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Marketing is part of all of our lives and touches us in some way every day. To be successful each company that deals with customers on a daily basis must not only be customer driven, but customer obsessed. The best way to achieve this objective is to develop a sound marketing function within the organization.

Marketing is defined as a social and managerial process by which, individuals and groups obtain what they need and want through creating and exchanging products and value with others. Marketing is a key factor to business success. The marketing function not only deals with the production and distribution of products and services, but it also is concerned with the ethical and social responsibility functions found in the domestic and global environment.

The Knowledge Exchange Business Encyclopedia defines marketing as “planning and executing the strategy involved in moving a good or service from producer to consumer.”

Marketing is the process of creating consumer value in the form of goods, services, or ideas that can improve the consumer’s life. Marketing is the organizational function charged with defining customer targets and the best way to satisfy needs and wants competitively and profitably.

Marketing can also be defined as process of planning and executing the conception, pricing, promotion, and distribution of ideas, goods, and services to create exchanges that satisfy individual and organizational objectives.”

Marketing system has following basic activities:
1) Sellers must search for buyers, identify their needs, design good products and services, set prices for them, promote them, and store and deliver them.
2) A modern marketing system includes all of the elements necessary to bring buyers and sellers together. This might include such activities as product development, research, communication, distribution, pricing, and service.
3) Each of the major actors in a marketing system adds value for the next level of the system. There is often critical interdependency among network members.

Product:
What are you selling? (It might be a product or a service.)
Price:
What is your pricing strategy?
Place or distribution:
How are you distributing your product to get it into the Customersmarketplace?
Promotion:
How are you telling consumers in your target group about your product?
Positioning:
What place do you want your product to hold in the consumer’s mind?
Personal relationships:
How are you building relationships with your target consumers?
People:
Public who can have impact on organization or can be affected by organization.
Profits:
The basic objective of organization that to have something valuable in return of product or service mostly it is in form of money.

Marketing mainly emphasizes on creating and maintaining relationships and applies for both non-profit organizations and profit-oriented businesses. Major activities that are performed in marketing process include: Personal selling Advertising, Making products available in stores and Maintaining inventories. Any thing like goods, services, experiences, events, persons, places, organizations, information and ideas can be marketed to the customers in return of something of value.

Organizations (producer/ seller) can create the customers by Identifying customer needs, designing goods and services that meet those needs than communicating information about those goods and services to prospective buyers Making the goods or services available at times and places that meet customers’ needs Pricing goods and services to reflect costs, competition, and customers’ ability to buy and finally providing for the necessary service and follow-up to ensure customer satisfaction after the purchase.

According to Peter F. Drucker If we want to know what a business is, we have to start with its purpose. And its purpose must lie outside the business itself. In fact, it must lie in society since a business enterprise is an organ of society.

There is one valid definition of business purpose: to create a customer.

SWOT stands for: Strength, Weakness, Opportunity and Threat

Behavioral Theories of Management

2009-08-08T06:15:00.000-07:00

Hugo Munsterbeg (1863-1916) is considered to be the “father of industrial psychology” and is regarded by students of psychology as an important figure as Frederick Taylor is by students of management. Munsterberg attempted to develop practical applications of psychology. He argued that psychologists could help industry in three major areas: (1) Finding ways to identify individuals best suited to particular jobs. (2) Identifying the psychological conditions for optimum efficiency. (3) Finding ways to influence individual behavior to be congruent with management’s objectives.

Mary Parker Follett (1868-1933) brought to management the perspectives of political science and social work.This American lady was an American social worker, management consultant and pioneer in the fields of organizational theory and organizational behavior. she was one of the first women ever invited to address the London School of Economics, where she spoke on cutting-edge management issues. In 1898 she graduated from Radcliffe College, but was denied a doctorate at Harvard on the grounds that she was a woman.

Mary Parker Follett published many works, including:

The Speaker of the House of Representatives (1896)
The New State (1918)
Creative Experience (1924)
Dynamic Administration (1941)

She identified:

a. The importance of the functioning of groups, not just individuals, in organization.

b. The principle of “power with” rather than “Power over” in managementemployee relations.

c. Conflict resolution through integration, i.e., finding a solution to a conflict that would satisfy both parties.
d. The achievement of integrative unity, whereby the organization operates as a functional whole, with the various interrelated parts working together effectively to achieve organizational goals.
Mary Follett's work set the stage for a generation of effective, progressive changes in management philosophy, style and practice, revolutionizing and humanizing the American workplace.
Hawthorne Studies, a series of studies conducted at the Western Electric Company Works in Cicero, Illinois. These studies, started in 1924 and continued through the early 1930s, were initially designed by Western Electric industrial engineers as a scientific management experiment. They wanted to examine the effect of various illumination levels on worker productivity. Control and experimental groups were set up with the experimental group being exposed to various lighting intensities, and the control group working under a constant intensity. If you were one of the industrial engineers in charge of this experiment, what would you have expected to happen? That individual output in the experimental group would be directly related to the intensity of the light? Seems perfectly logical,
doesn’t it? However, they found that as the level of light was increased in the experimental group, output for both groups increased. Then, much to the surprise of the engineers, as the light level was decreased the productivity decrease was observed in the experimental group only when the level of light was reduced to that of a moonlit night. What would explain these un-excluded that illumination intensity was not directly related to group productivity, and that something else must have contributed to the results. However, they weren’t able to pinpoint what that “something else” was. In 1927, the Western electric engineers asked Harvard professor Elton Mayo and his associates to join the study as consultants. Thus began a relationship that would last through 1932 and encompass numerous experiments in the redesign of jobs, changes in workday and workweek length, introduction of rest periods, and individual versus group wage plans. For example, one experiment was designed to evaluate the effect of a group piecework incentive pay system on group productivity.
Hawthorne studies reflected the scientific management tradition of seeking greater efficiency by improving the tools and methods of work—in this case, lighting.
1. In the first set of studies, no correlation was found between changes in lighting conditions and individual work performance. In fact, performance nearly always went up with any change—brighter or darker—in illumination.
2. In the second set of studies, the concept of the Hawthorne effect emerged. The Hawthorne effect refers to the possibility that individuals singled out for a study may improve their performance simply because of the added attention they receive from the researchers, rather than because of any specific factors being tested in the study.
3. The third set of studies centered on group production norms and individual motivation.
4. Although simplistic and methodologically primitive, the Hawthorne studies established the impact that social aspects of the job (and the informal group) have on productivity.

Fayol’s 14 Principles of Management

2009-08-08T05:38:00.000-07:00

Henri Fayol (1841-1925) a successful French industrialist. Fayol's career began as a mining engineer. He then moved into research geology and in 1888 joined, Comambault as Director. Comambault was in difficulty but Fayol turned the operation round. On retirement he published his work - a comprehensive theory of administration - described and classified administrative management roles and processes then became recognised and referenced by others in the growing discourse about management. He developed theories about management. His thought could be taught to those individuals with administrative responsibilities to management.
Fayol’s contribution is the functional approach which is still used today. The major managerial functions, according to Fayol, were planning, organizing, commanding, coordinating, and controlling. The functions have been slightly modified several times since Fayol. In the main, these still provide the basic frame work for studying management as witnessed by the organization. Fayol’s works were not translated into English for a couple of decades after his death.

Fayol's five functions are still relevant to today management roles and action.
(1) to forecast and plan - prevoyanceexamine the future and draw up plans of action
(2) to organisebuild up the structure, material and human of the undertaking
(3) to commandmaintain activity among the personnel
(4) to co-ordinatebind together, unify and harmonise activity and effort
(5) to controlsee that everything occurs in conformity with policy and practise

Fayol gives 14 principles of management which are still being used nowadays. His aspiration for an "administrative science" sought a consistent set of principles that all organizations must apply in order to run properly. These principles are given below:
1. Division of work ; Specialization increases output by making employees more efficient.
2. Authority; Managers must be able to give order. Authority gives them this right. Along with authority, however, goes responsibility, allocation and permission to use the necessary resources needed (budgets, assets, staff) to carry out the responsibilities,"judgement demands high moral character. A manager should never be given authority without responsibility and at the same time and also should never be given responsibility without the associated authority.
3. Discipline; Employees must obey and respect the rules that govern the organization. without it - standards, consistency of action, adherence to rules and values - no enterprise could prosper.
4. Unity of Command ; An employee should receive orders from one superior only.
5. Unity of direction; The organization should have a single plan of action to guide managers and workers.
6. Subordination of individual interests to the general interest. The interests of any one employee or group of employees should not take precedence over the interests of the organization as a whole.
7. Remuneration; Workers must be paid a fair wage for their services.
8. Centralization; This term refers to the degree to which subordinates are involved in decision making.
9. Scalar Chain; The line term refers to the degree to which subordinates are involved decision making.
10. Order; People and materials should be in the right place at the right time.
11. Equity; Managers should be kind and fair to their subordinates. Equity, fairness and a sense of justice "should" pervade the organisation in principle and practice.
12. Stability of tenure of personnel; Management should provide orderly personnel planning and ensure that replacements are available to fill vacancies.
13. Initiative; Employees who are allowed to originate and carry out plans will exert high levels of effort.
14. Esprit de corps; Promoting team spirit will build harmony and unity within the organization. Management must foster the morale of employees.The real talent needed to coordinate efforts, encourage keenness, use the abilities of each person, reward each person irrespective of personal liking and disliking but due to his individual efforts and knowledge. Here Fayol emphasises the need for building and maintaining of harmony among the work force , team work and sound interpersonal relationships.

The Evolution of Management Theories

2009-07-24T00:36:00.000-07:00

Trying to achieve goals through the judicious use of people and resources, getting the others to work toward these goals, and keeping track of whether or not we are accomplishing what we set out to do has been around for centuries. Most of the contributors we recognize today have been
twentieth century people.

Robert Owen (1771-1858) was a British factory owner who advocated concern for the working and living conditions of workers, many of them young children. Many of his contemporaries thought he was a radical for such ideas.

Charles Babbage (1792-1871) is considered to be the “father of modern computing.” He foresaw the need for work specialization involving mental work. His management ideas also anticipated the concept of profit sharing to improve
productivity.

Henry E. Towne (1844-1924) called for the establishment of a science of management and the development of management principles that could be applied across management situations.

Frederick W. Taylor (1856-1915) is known as the “father” of scientific management. Taylor’s work at the Bethlehem Steel companies motivated his interest in improving efficiency. Taylor sought to create a mental revolution among both workers and managers by defining clear guidelines for improving production efficiency. He defined four principles of management. His “pig iron” experiment is probably the most widely cited example of scientific management. Using his principles of scientific management, Taylor was able to define the one best way for doing each job. Overall, Taylor achieved consistent improvements in productivity in the range of 200 percent. He affirmed the role of managers to plan and control and of workers to perform as they were instructed. Frederick Winslow Taylor 's “Taylorism” or “scientific management” was a major contribution to business operations as we know them today. The overview of his studies is given below:
a. Taylor developed scientific management to counter the problem of soldiering by workers—deliberately working below full capacity.
b. Taylor pioneered the time-and-motion study, where by a work task is broken down into its various motions, is improved by eliminating unnecessary motions, and then the motions timed to determine optimal daily production.
c. Through his four principles of scientific management, Taylor advocated scientific study of the task to find the best work method rather than relying on traditional methods handed down from one worker to another.
d. Taylor successfully implemented his theory at Bethlehem Steel in two famous studies involving shoveling and pig-iron handling.
e. Although real and imagined abuses or misuses of scientific management occurred.

Taylor’s Four Principles of Scientific Management:
1. Study each part of the task scientifically, and develop a best method to perform it.
2. Carefully select workers and train them to perform a task using the scientifically developed method.
3. Cooperate fully with workers to ensure they use the proper method.
4. Divide work and responsibility so management is responsible for planning work methods using
scientific principles and workers are responsible for executing the work accordingly.

Frank and Lillian Gilbreth (1868-1924 and 1878-1972 respectively):
They did studies aimed at eliminating unnecessary motions and way of reducing task fatigue.
a. They perfected the time-and-motion study techniques first introduced by Taylor.
b. Together they provided the first vocabulary for identifying hand, arm, and body motions used at work—which they called “Therbligs.”
c. Lillian’s doctoral dissertation was published as the book, The Psychology of Management, one of the first books published on the findings of psychology in the workplace.
d. Frank “proved” the value of motion studies in his own construction company whose roductivity was nearly three times better than his competitors who used the older work methods.

Henry L. Gantt (1861-1919)
One of Taylor’s closest associates is best known for his Gantt chart, a graphic aide to planning, scheduling, and controlling. His other interests included a unique pay incentive system and the social responsibility of business.

Frank and Lillian Gilbreth

2009-05-04T23:10:00.000-07:00

Frank and Lillian Gilbreth (1868-1924 and 1878-1972 respectively):
They did studies aimed at eliminating unnecessary motions and way of reducing task fatigue.
a. They perfected the time-and-motion study techniques first introduced by Taylor.
b. Together they provided the first vocabulary for identifying hand, arm, and body motions used at work—which they called “Therbligs.”
c. Lillian’s doctoral dissertation was published as the book, The Psychology of Management, one of the first books published on the findings of psychology in the workplace.
d. Frank “proved” the value of motion studies in his own construction company whose productivity was nearly three times better than his competitors who used the older work methods.

CLASSICAL VIEW OF MANAGEMENT

2009-05-04T22:46:00.000-07:00

Classical Viewpoint is divided into three parts:
1. Scientific management
2. Bureaucratic management
3. Administrative management

Frederick Winslow Taylor (1856-1915) was the first nationally known management thinker. His “Taylorism” or “scientific management” was a major contribution to business operations as we know them today.

a. Taylor developed scientific management to counter the problem of soldiering by workers—deliberately working below full capacity.
b. Taylor pioneered the time-and-motion study, where by a work task is broken down into its various motions, is improved by eliminating unnecessary motions, and then the motions timed to determine optimal daily production.
c. Through his four principles of scientific management, Taylor advocated scientific study of the task to find the best work method rather than relying on traditional methods handed down from one worker to another.
d. Taylor successfully implemented his theory at Bethlehem Steel in two famous studies involving shoveling and pig-iron handling.
e. Although real and imagined abuses or misuses of scientific management occurred. Taylor’s strong support of science and his redefining the role of managers remains his primary contribution to management theory.

MANAGEMENT’S CONNECTION TO OTHER FIELDS

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Management courses have a rich heritage from humanities and social science courses and have a good relation with other filed of science and knowledge.
Anthropology
The study of societies, which helps us learn about humans, their activities, and differences in fundamental values, attitudes, and behavior between people in different countries and within different organizations.
Economics
Concerned with the allocation, distribution of scare resources, and understanding the changing economy, as well as the role of competition and free markets in a global context.
Philosophy
Examines the nature of things, particularly values and ethics.
Political Science
Studies the behavior of individuals and groups within a political environment, including structuring of conflict, allocating power in an economic system, and manipulating power for individual self-interest.
Psychology
Science that seeks to measure, explain, and sometimes change the behavior of humans and other animals.
Sociology
The study of people in relation to their fellow human beings.

Skills and performance

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Management Skills, Knowledge and Performance
The knowledge base provides a context for the manager’s activities. It can include information about an industry and its technology, company policies and practices, company goals and plans, company culture, the personalities of key organization members, and important suppliers and customers.
Managers need three types of key skills to perform the duties and activities associated with being a manager.
1. Technical skills are skills that reflect both an understanding of and a proficiency in a specialized field. Technical skills include knowledge of and proficiency in a certain specialized field, such as engineering, computers, accounting, or manufacturing. These skills are more important at lower levels of management since these managers are dealing directly with employees doing the organization’s work.
2. Human skills are associated with a manager’s ability to work well with others both as a member of a group and as a leader who gets things done through others. Because managers deal directly with people, this skill is crucial! Managers with good human skills are able to get the best out of their people. They know how to communicate, motivate, lead, and inspire enthusiasm and trust. These skills are equally important at all levels of management.
3. Conceptual skills are skills related to the ability to visualize the organization as a whole, discern interrelationships among organizational parts, and understand how the organization fit into the wider context of the industry, community, and world. Conceptual skills are the skills managers must have to think and to conceptualize about abstract and complex situations. Using these skills, managers must be able to see the organization as a whole, understand the relationships among various submits, and visualize how the organization fits into its broader environment.
The concept of organizational performance was analyzed by Peter Drucker.
1. Effectiveness is the ability to choose appropriate goals and to achieve those goals.
2. Efficiency is the ability to make the best use of available resources in the process of achieving goals. Efficiency is the ration of inputs used to achieve some level of outputs

MANAGERIAL FUNCTIONS

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Planning
It involves the process of defining goals, establishing strategies for achieving those goals. And developing plans to integrate and coordinate activities.
Organizing
It involves the process of determining what tasks are to be done. Who is to do them, how the tasks are to be grouped, who reports to whom, and where decisions are to be made.
Leading
It involves motivating subordinates, influencing individuals or teams as they work, selecting the most effective communication channels, or dealing in any way with employee behavior issues.
Controlling
It involves monitoring actual performance, comparing actual to standard and taking corrective action, if necessary.
Assurance
Quality function which demands from every manager that he/she ensures that prior management support and management processes are in place before management functions are executed.

The Egyptain Pyramid

2009-04-29T10:30:00.000-07:00

Approximately, four thousnads years before they were build. The interesting things about it are:

The blocks used have weigh about 2 and a half ton each.
It covers 13 acres land.
app. number of blocks user were 2,300,000 stones.
number of worker used to build these paramids were 100,000.
It takes apprx. 20 years to complete.
The military, social, religious and governmental aspects of Egyptian were highly organized and they kept all the record of this project.

Introduction Of management

2009-04-29T07:32:00.000-07:00

Defination of Management:
"The process of coordinating and integrating work activities so that they are completed efficiently and effectively with and through other people." Management is important for society, industry and government organizations. Every product, every service, and every action is provided or affected by organizations and depends very much on management. Managers are the actors who do the job of management in any organization. So, all organizations require managers.

Management Roles:

A role is an organized set of behaviors that is associated with a particular office or position. There are three types of roles which a manager usually does in any organization.

Interpersonal roles
Informational roles
Decisional roles

Dr. Henry Minzberg, did very good work in definning the roles of managers in any organization. The studies of Mintzberg’s role categories in different types of organizations and at different
managerial levels.
Management function:
Management function is the process of defining goals, establishing strategies for achieving those
goals. They are as under:

Planning
Organizing
Leading
Controlling
Assurance