The Role of Management in Entrepreneurship - Assignment Example

1. Identify and explain the four basic management functions in organizations. The work of the managers is to ensure that an organization uses it resources efficiently to attain its goals. The resources of the organization include the workers, funding and equipment in the organization. Management can be characterized as a continuous process that focuses on organizational goals. Management functions can be categorized into four principle functions that need to be addressed for efficient achievement of organizational goals. The first organizational function is planning where a manager is required to identify the organizational goals and ways of attaining them. The manager has to compare the input to the organizational goals and ensure that they can be attained using the resources in the organization. Planning ensures that the managers are prepared for the challenges that may affect the organization during its operations (Pride, Hughes & Kapoor, 2012). Assigning tasks to the departments in the organization is referred as organizing. Organizing ensures that the plans made by the management translate into actions. The tasks assigned to the department should be consistent with the set goals. Success of individual departments contributes to the overall achievement of organizational goal. Motivation is another managerial function in the organization. A manager should ensure that his workers are motivated to ensure that they work towards achieving organizational goals. The final managerial function is control. The manager has to control the use of resources to ensure that organizational goals are prioritized. The manager should evaluate performance of the organization on previous and current projects. The manager has to ensure that the organization's performance improves through control of all ongoing processes in the organization. 2. Explain the importance of history and theory to management, and highlight the pioneers of management theory. Management dates back to historic times with the term being used in industries, and control of manual laborers. The term has evolved with the improvement of technology in the modern world. Management theory is crucial to the organization as it improves the productivity of the workers. The organization whose staff understands management theory is competitive compared to other organization in the industry. Fredrick Taylor formulated the scientific management theories. These theories are a deviation from the old systems of personnel management. The theories analyzed and revolutionized work flow in the organization. The main aim of scientific management was to ensure economic efficiency in the field of labor productivity. Max Weber’s theory of bureaucracy advocates for a hierarchy in the organization as a way of ensuring organizational efficiency. Organizations that follow this theory have a formal structure where the duties are divided among the members. Henri Fayol is another theorist who contributed to the field of management. His theories of administration focus on management levels and duties of management on each level. The resources controlled by the managers on each level include material and human resources. According to Fayol, emphasis on managerial practices reduced misunderstanding among workers in the organization thus efficiency (Griffin, 2012). Elton Mayo's Hawthrone experiments evaluated the behaviour of workers in the work place. His works focused on organizational structure, communication in the organization and cohesive leadership. Impersonal skills in the organization ensure that the organization is productive. These skills can be taught to the workers through training. Communication is emphasized as a significant factor affecting the success of the organization. 3. Identify and summarize two emerging ethical issues managers face today. The acceptable behaviour that the business community should abide to is referred to as business ethics. The managers should always advocate for ethical practices to ensure a favorable working environment. Ethical issues can be classified into company specific or industrial wide ethical issues. One of the main ethical issues affecting businesses today is the source of raw material. As part of company’s corporate social responsibility, the businesses should ensure that the source of raw material is ethical. Ethical in this case refers to sources that are sustainable and legal. Sustainable sources of raw material ensure that the environment is not affected by the production process. The managers should also investigate their suppliers to ensure that child labor or slavery was not used in the production process. The organization has also to make sure that their producers guarantee decent working conditions for its workers (Pride, Hughes & Kapoor, 2012). Nestle is one of the companies that has been exposed for its production practices. Competition among firms has affected the revenue of similar organization in an industry. Increased competition has resulted in unethical practices by companies to increase sales. Managers are faced with the challenge of obtaining information about competitors through illegal channels. Such channels include bribing of workers in the rival company. Bribing can also be used to acquire tenders that will increase the company’s revenue. The managers are also challenged by bribery problems among the staff in the organization, where senior staff may receive bribes from junior staff thus affecting the relationship between workers in the organization. 4. Discuss the types of organizational structures and summarize their strengths. The structure used by the organization determines the organization's ability to accomplish the set goals. The structure used by an organization depends on the business. The structure of the organization determines the reporting mechanism and hierarchy in the organization. An organization needs to have a structure to ensure that all its processes are efficient. The three basic structures adopted by organizations are functional, matrix or divisional structures. Functional structure refers to grouping each department in the organization with regards to its function in the organization. Such organizations are divided into individual departments, which are tasked with specialized tasks. The merit of this structure is that it is efficient in small businesses as the department can support its operation in the department. The management has to ensure that departmental goals are consistent with organizational goals. Large organizations especially multinational use divisional structures to operate the organizations. This structure is effective when dealing with organizations covering wide areas geographically. Car manufactures may have divisions in many areas charged with different tasks. Some divisions cater for productions of parts while a separate division is charged with marketing. The merit with this method is that the divisions can focus on their tasks (Griffin, 2012). A combination of functional and divisional structures makes up a complex structure called matrix structure. The structure ensures that the organization enjoys the merits of the two structures. This method also allows for specialization and enables managers to concentrate on their work since the managerial duties are delegated to assistants in the organization. 5. Describe a leader and how leaders can influence organizational effectiveness. Cite personal examples. A leader can be described as an individual who heads operations in an organization. A leader should have self confidence and sociable in the workplace. A leader should pay attention to detail by being a terrific listener and using the information to make timely decisions. A leader is a skilled communicator who can address his staff clearly. A leader should ensure that his decisions are not emotionally biased to ensure that organizational goals are attained. Bill Gates is a leader who has personally influenced the effectiveness of Microsoft in the business environment. The former C.E.O of Microsoft and the sitting chairman was the co-founder of one of the most influential business in the modern world. He is a team player who participated in code writing during the growth stage of the company. He is a skilled code writer who passed his skills to his juniors in the company ensuring that quality products were produced. During the growth of the company, Bill personally went through all the codes written to ensure that the client paid for quality. His commitment to Microsoft improved the image of the company. Richard Branson started the company Virgin from scratch to be among the biggest brands in the globe. He is a skilled leader who pays attention to detail. His business is effective due to his fearless approach when dealing with challenges. His business has invested in many areas that other investors fear to invest. His approach to business is inspirational to his workers thus an effective organization (Pride, Hughes & Kapoor, 2012). 6. Identify and distinguish between two opposing forms of structural control. The management is responsible for control of resources in the organization to guarantee optimal performance. The control function enables the manager to limit error accumulation in the organization. The control function also enables managers to minimize cost, adapt to challenges in the environment and accommodate the growth of the organization. Structural controls are some of the forms of control in an organization. Structural control deals with structural elements in the organization and the organization's ability to control these elements to serve the purpose intended. The two forms of conflicting structural control forms are bureaucratic control and decentralized control. Bureaucratic control can be described as mechanistic or formal while the decentralized control can be described as being informal or organic. Bureaucratic control allows limited participation of workers and ensures that participation is formal. Structural control is informal and does not limit participation of workers in the organization. Bureaucratic control rewards individual performance while decentralized control rewards group performance. To achieve the goals set by the organization, bureaucratic control focuses on employee compliance while decentralized control focuses on employee commitment. The organization with bureaucratic control has a tall structure while that with a decentralized has a flat structure. Performance expectations in a decentralized organization are aimed at exceeding expectations. An organization with Bureaucratic control performance expectation is aimed at attaining the minimum level acceptable in the organization. Bureaucratic control ensures that the organization follows strict rules in a rigid hierarchy system while formality in a decentralized organization is determined by culture, group norms and self control (Griffin, 2012). 7. Highlight the major issues involved in choosing strategies for small firms and the role of management in entrepreneurship. Small firms need to evaluate the industry they want to start the business and make sure that they are adequately prepared for the challenges. Small business should consider the source of raw materials and competition in the industry. The manager should study this market to identify a niche that the new firm can exploit to increase its chances of survival. Small firms can not exploit economies of scale thus the management should ensure that the business exploits existing production mechanisms to reduce production costs. The entrepreneur who is normally the owner of the small firm should write a business plan to capture the strategy selected. The role of management in entrepreneurship is to provide a stable foundation for the business to grow. The manager for small firms is also the proprietor thus his work is to source for funds to start the business. The manager can use personal savings or borrow to start the business. The manager is responsible for hiring of workers in the small firms. The manager should ensure that the workers hired are competent. The management is responsible for making sure that the working environment facilitates productivity. The manager is responsible for control of all resources in the organization. The manager ensures that the resources of the new business are used towards achieving the goals set. Organizational goals can be achieved through delegating duties to workers in the organization or working in groups. The managers are the leaders in the new business and should ensure that the organization is productive (Griffin, 2012). References Griffin, R. W. (2012). Fundamentals of management. Mason, OH: South-Western Cengage Learning. Pride, W. M., Hughes, R. J., & Kapoor, J. R. (2012). Business. Mason, OH: South-Western Cengage Learning. Read More