Chapter 1

UNDERSTANDING THE CHAPTER 1. What is an organization and why are managers important to an organization’s success?
Answer – An organization is a systematic arrangement of people brought together to accomplish some specific purpose. All organizations share three common characteristics. 1) Every organization has a purpose and is made up of people who are grouped in some fashion. 2) No purpose or goal can be achieved by itself, therefore organizations have members. 3) All organizations develop a systematic structure that defines and limits the behavior of its members. Organization—an entity that has a distinct purpose, has people or members, and has a systematic structure.
Managers direct the activities of other people in …show more content…

Answer - Students answers will vary depending on the articles selected, but each should include the basic functions. * Planning—encompasses defining an organization’s goals, establishing an overall strategy for achieving those goals, and developing comprehensive plans to integrate and coordinate. * Organizing—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—managers motivate employees, direct the activities of others, select the most effective communication channel, or resolve conflicts among members. * Controlling—to ensure that things are going as they should, a manager must monitor performance. The monitoring, comparing, and correcting is the controlling process. 4. Is your course instructor a manager? Discuss in terms of planning, organizing, leading, and controlling. Also discuss using Mintzberg’s managerial roles approach.
Answer - A college instructor is both an individual contributor and a manager. He/she is in a non-managerial role when he/she produces “the product” of the university. But he/she is also a manager in that he/she must manage the class and students.
In terms of: * Planning—the instructor defines class goals, establishes the semester plan for achieving them, and develops lesson plans to integrate and coordinate these efforts. * Organizing—not as much, as he/she is primarily responsible for