Q1-17

Discuss the business processes of your organisation.  If you are not employed, use any organisation as an example.

In your own words, describe the purpose of the following departments/functions in an organisation:

• Production
• Operations
• Purchasing
• Marketing
• Sales
• Finance
• Administration
• Human Resources
• Public Relations
• Quality Control

Discuss the resources used by your organisation.  If you are not employed, use any other organisation such as KFC for your assessment.

• Name the resources that are used
• Explain how management can use these resources to the best advantage of the organisation
• Explain how employees can ensure that resources are not wasted but used for optimum benefit of the organisation

Answer the following self check questions

1. It appears that Alice lacks:
2. What are the implications of this for a company?
3. What are the implications of this for a manager?

In our excerpt from Alice in Wonderland, Lewis Carroll seems to capture the essence of goal setting. Alice lacks a clearly defined goal; therefore she could not decide which road she ought to take. Any organisation or individual who lacks goals will face the same dilemma. Given the choice of alternatives they won’t be able to decide which road to take.

It is interesting that just about everything a person does in life, both at home and at work, is based on some goal or objective. Without them, life’s activities would have little value or purpose.

Analyse the following objectives.  Are they SMART?

1. To achieve customer satisfaction.
2. To produce acceptable machine outputs by 1 July.
3. Treble company profit in six years.
4. To understand what makes customers tick.
5. To increase the number of calls made per representative from the current six, to eight per day by June 30.

• Describe the planning function of a manager in your own words.
• Describe the organising function of a manager in your own words
• Describe the activating function of a manager in your own words
• Describe the controlling function of a manager in your own words

Discuss what has to be communicated in your section and how this communication usually takes place.

Find out about at least two cultures that are different from your own. 

• Give two examples of how noise could affect communication between you and the other people.
• Give two examples of how you could use knowledge of the other person’s culture to improve communication between yourselves.
• Give three examples of noise that can cause the message to be distorted or misinterpreted.
• What is the difference between interpersonal and intrapersonal communication?

Somewhere in your own personal experience someone you trusted broke your trust.  Answer the following questions honestly:

• How did that make you feel?
• Was it easy to trust that person again?
• Was it easy to trust someone else after this experience?
• What could this person have done differently for you to trust this person?
• What have you learnt from this experience?
• Would you agree that this person broke your trust through communicating something about yourself to a third party?
• Would your bad experience help you not to do this to other people, especially someone who works in you department?

• Discuss the following types of coordination and note your understanding of the type of coordination: Informal coordination, Programmed coordination
• In your own words, explain sequential interdependence.
• In your own words, explain reciprocal interdependence.

• Discuss the factors that hinder coordination. Determine what you think you will be able to do to overcome these factors.  Note your answers.
• Discuss the methods of improving coordination. Add suggestions of your own that might improve coordination.  Note your answers.

1. Describe the decision-making function of a manager in your own words
2. Describe the communication function of a manager in your own words
3. Describe the motivation function of a manager in your own words
4. Describe the coordination function of a manager in your own words
5. Describe the delegation function of a manager in your own words
6. Describe the discipline function of a manager in your own words
7. Explain how the planning function and decision-making go together when goals and objectives are set.
8. Explain how the organising function and decision-making work together to ensure that the standards set by the organisation are met.
9. Explain how leadership and communication work together to motivate staff to do the work according to the standards and within the time limits as dictated by goals and objectives.
10. Explain how planning and communication work hand-in-hand to inform the relevant parties about decisions that were made and now have to be implemented. Also explain how delegation is also part of this process.
11. How do the controlling function and discipline relate to each other?
12. A lot has been said about management, their functions and responsibilities. In a group, discuss how management contributes to the success of an organisation.
13. What do you think will happen if there was no management structure in an organisation and everyone was left to do their own thing without any control or measurement of their activities?

A supervisor of a supermarket had just turned off the lights in the store, when a man appeared and demanded money.  The supervisor opened the cash register. The contents of the cash register was scooped up and taken, and the man sped away.

Define the problem.

The story seems simple enough. But look at it very carefully.

Are the following statements true or false?

1. A man appeared after the owner had turned off his store lights.
2. The robber was a man.
3. While the cash register contained money, the story does not say how much.
4. The police were called in to investigate.
5. The man sped away with money taken from the cash register.

Refer back to Case Study 1 and your notes on that case study.

Answer the following questions:

• List as many options (solutions) to the problem as you can.
• What are the likely end results of each of the above options?
• Which option seems to be the best from all angles? Motivate your answer.

Refer back to Case Study 1 and restate the problem.
To get the creative processes flowing, do the following exercises:
 Using the brainstorming technique, list as many uses for a paper clip as you can in two minutes. The facilitator will lead the discussion.
 Use mapping to link at least four uses.
Now, evaluate the possible courses of action.
 Advantages.
 Disadvantages.
 Duration.
 Effects.
 Which factors do you think influenced your decision?

Refer to Case Study 1

• Determine who the stakeholders are that have to be consulted.
• Decide how long you will monitor the implementation of the solution.
• Decide how you will monitor the implementation.

Do the following:

• Select an organisation to discuss. This may be the organisation you work for or any other organisation
• List the management functions and indicate who in the organisation is responsible for each function
• Develop an organogram of the organisation to explain how each management function is addressed in the organisation