Running head: PRINCIPLES OF MANAGEMENT

Principles of Management

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PRINCIPLES OF MANAGEMENT

MGT 301 Midterm Exams 1. A re-organization will require that some employees are provided severance packages while other reassigned. What interpersonal managerial roles developed by Mintzberg will a manager confronted with this employ? Explain.

Interpersonal roles

Within this category of roles, a manager has an obligation of giving information and quality ideas. The first role is; figurehead. It is within the capacity of the manager to invoke the social, ceremonial and also the legal duties in dismissing and hiring employees, if he/she considers that the existing employees are inactive. In his capacity, he should inspire the workforce and be a base of inspiration and take the authoritative power. The manager should take the role of a leader, and, therefore exemplify good leadership to his team. In the capacity as a leader, he/she should be in a position to supervise the performance and responsibility of the new team. The manager should also enhance effective communication network between the internal and external environment, and, this would establish a good start for the new group (Marshall, 1992).

2. A manager has decided to use the Hawthorne Studies to improve productivity in an office. How would she accomplish this? Would the results be short- or long-term? Explain.

The Hawthorne studies provide a situation in which the employees seem to enhance their productivity when they are being monitored. Every team member puts their efforts, including their knowledge and skills in working, and, this enhances the type of work done and the tasks assigned are completed without additional resources. Based on the fact that employees work under surveillance, it is obvious that productivity will increase, but, the results are purposed to accomplish a task that is for a short time. If the task is long time, then, it might be hard for the management to remain at a close watch to the employees as they work throughout their working person (Franke & Kaul, 1978).

PRINCIPLES OF MANAGEMENT 3.Nobel Prize-winning economist Milton Friedman argued that, there is one and only one social responsibility of businessuse its resources and engage in activities designed to increase its profits so long as it stays within the rules of the game (Friedman, 1962, p. 133). Do you agree with Friedman? Explain.

This is an argument that is accomplished if we suppose that every person in the market environment has similar objective with the corporation. However, it may not be true considering that interests of a person may conflict with the shareholders interest. This is to say, one may need to first fulfill his/her interests and forget about the rest of the people. I, therefore, agree with Milton that the business is only concerned about itself, and, do not have any social responsiveness towards the larger society (Friedman, 1970). 4. Please evaluate this scenario by detailing what the manager would do for each step in the decisionmaking process. i) Two employees are blaming each other for a project they collaborated on which failed. It is the obligation of the manager to make sure that the employees understands their assigned responsibilities and the objectives aligned with their tasks. This is one aspect that will ensure harmony amongst the employees. It is upon the manager to bravely step into such a circumstance and ensure that whoever is involved in failure of the project takes full responsibility. Before that, he should evaluate the scenario and explain to the involved parties, what is at stake and how it should be solved before it disseminates further (Mintzberg, 1975). ii) The departments last three hirers all quit within six months. The manager should first identify the cause of their quitting and then analyze their working positions. Without causing any effect, he should replace them with right, qualified personnel and permit them assume their duties swiftly. In most cases, it is considered effective if the manager replaces them with the old team members that are aware of the operation (Mintzberg, 1975). 5. Competition with China has eviscerated many American industries, how can womens clothing companies compete? Car companies? Please use Michael Porter competitive advantage categories: Cost leadership strategy, Differentiation strategy, and niche in your answer. Explain.

PRINCIPLES OF MANAGEMENT

As per the cost leadership strategy, womens clothing companies offer stiff competition, if they accept to maintain low cost producers for a particular quality of clothing. The company should offer its products at a standard industrial price, in order to earn a higher profit than the competitors, and gain a higher market share. As the clothing company retains some profits, the rival competitors suffers loses. Even in absence of the price wars, if the company is able to hold higher profits at longer time, then, there is a possibility that rival companies are eliminated from the market. Differentiation strategy, The Company should produce products that are exceptional and unique in nature, and, which are considered to be of higher value than those of the competitors. The value that a product will have may also help reconsider the price of the same product. In this case, the price allocated to a product should be higher than the costs incurred in producing the market. If the product has exceptional attributes as compared to the rival companies, the attributes will help maintain the product in the market, since there will be no any substitute. Last, but, not the least is that, it is upon the marketer to identity the gap in the market and what the customers are saying concerning particular products, and, then, produce the product (Porter, 1980).

PRINCIPLES OF MANAGEMENT References Franke, R. H. & Kaul, J. D. (1978). The Hawthorne experiments: First statistical interpretation. American Sociological Review, 1978, 43, 623-643. Friedman, M., (1970). "The Social Responsibility of Business Is to Increase Its Profits," The New York Times Magazine, September 13, 1-5. Marshall, P. (1992). Introduction to the management process. In Managing people at work. Guelph: University of Guelph Press

Mintzberg, H. (1975). "The Manager's Job: Folklore and Fact." Harvard Business Review, July-August, 5662. Porter, M.E., (1980). "Competitive Strategy: Techniques for analyzing industries and competitors" New York: The Free Press.