Corporate Management Science: scope and main contents

Corporate management science is the broad interdisciplinary study of problem solving and decision making in human organizations, with strong links to management, economics, business, engineering, management consulting, and other fields. It uses various scientific research-based principles, strategies, and analytical methods including mathematical modeling, statistics and numerical algorithms to improve an organization’s ability to enact

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The Definition of Management

What do managers such as Heather  Coin and Paul McGuinness have in common? They get things done through  their organizations.  Managers create the sys- tems, conditions,  and environments that enable orga- nizations to survive and thrive beyond the tenure of any specific supervisor or manager.  Jack Welch was CEO of General Electric through 20

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Organizational Performance

The definition of management includes the attainment of organizational  goals in an effi- cient and effective manner. Management is important because organizations  are impor- tant. In an industrialized  society where complex technologies dominate, organizations bring together knowledge, people, and raw materials to perform tasks no individual could do alone. Without organizations, how could technology

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Management Skills

A manager’s job requires a range of skills. Although some management theorists propose a long list of skills, the necessary skills for managing a department or an organization can be placed in three categories: conceptual, human, and technical.14 As illustrated in Exhibit 1.4, the application of these skills changes dramatically when a person is

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Management Functions

Managers use conceptual, human, and technical skills to perform the four management functions of planning, organizing, leading, and controlling in all organizations—large and small, manufacturing and service, profit and nonprofit, traditional and Internet-based. But not all managers’ jobs are the same. Managers  are responsible for different departments, work at different levels in the hierarchy,

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Making the Leap: Becoming a New Manager

Many people who are promoted into a manager position have little idea what the job actu­ally entails and receive little training about how to handle their new role. It’s no wonder that, among managers, first-line supervisors tend to experience the most job burnout and attrition.23 Making the shift from individual contributor to manager is

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Managing in Small Businesses and Nonprofit Organizations

Small businesses are growing in importance. Hundreds of small businesses open every month, but the environment for small business today is highly complicated. The Appendix provides detailed information about managing in small businesses and entrepreneurial start-ups. One interesting finding is that managers in small businesses tend to emphasize roles different from those of managers

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Management and the New Workplace

Over the past decade or so, the central theme being discussed in the field of management has been the pervasive changes. Rapid environmental shifts are causing fundamental  trans- formations that have a dramatic  impact  on the manager’s job. These transformations  are reflected in the transition to a new workplace, as illustrated  in Exhibit 1.5.

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The Learning Organization

One of the toughest challenges for managers today is to direct people’s focus on adaptive change to meet the demands of a turbulent and rapidly changing environment. Few prob- lems come with ready-made solutions, and they require that people throughout  the com- pany think in new ways and learn new values and attitudes.52  These

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Managing the Technology-Driven Workplace

The shift to the learning organization  goes hand-in-hand with the current transition to a technology-driven workplace. The physical world that Frederick Taylor and other propo- nents of scientific  management measured determines less and less of what is valued in or- ganizations and society. Our lives and organizations  have been engulfed by information technology. Ideas,

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Management and Organization

A historical  perspective on management provides a context or environment in which to in- terpret current opportunities and problems. Studying history, however, doesn’t mean merely arranging events in chronological order. It means developing an understanding  of the impact of societal forces on organizations. Studying history is a way to achieve strategic thinking, see the

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The External Environment

The tremendous and far-reaching  changes occurring  in today’s world can be understood by defining and examining components of  the external environment.  The external organizational environment includes all elements existing outside the boundary of the organization that have the potential  to affect the organization.5 The environment includes competitors,  resources, technology, and economic conditions that influence

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The Organization–Environment Relationship

Why do organizations  care so much about factors in the external environment? The reason is that the environment  creates uncertainty  for organization  managers, and they must respond by designing the organization to adapt to the environment. 1. ENVIRONMENTAL  UNCERTAINTY To  be  effective,  organizations   must manage environmental   uncertainty. Uncertainty means that managers do not have

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The Internal Environment: Corporate Culture

The internal environment within which  managers work includes corporate culture, pro- duction technology, organization structure, and physical facilities. Of these, corporate culture  surfaces as extremely  important to competitive  advantage. The internal culture must fit the needs of the external environment  and company strategy. With  this fit, highly committed  employees create a high-performance  organization  that

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Environment and Culture

A big influence on internal corporate culture is the external environment. Cultures can vary widely  across organizations; however, organizations within the same industry  often reveal similar  cultural  characteristics  because they are operating  in similar environments.49 The internal culture should embody what it takes to succeed in the environment. If the external environment requires extraordinary

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Shaping Corporate Culture for Innovative Response

Research conducted by a Stanford  University  professor indicates that the one factor that increases a company’s value the most is people and how they are treated.57  In addition, sur- veys found  that CEOs cite organizational culture as their most important mechanism for attracting, motivating, and retaining  talented  employees, a capability  they consider the single

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A Borderless World

Why do companies such as Dell, FedEx, and eBay want to pursue a global  strat- egy, despite difficulties, failures, and losses? They recognize that business is becoming a unified,  global field as trade barriers fall, communication becomes faster and cheaper, and consumer tastes in everything from clothing to cellular phones converge. Thomas Middelhoff of

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Getting Started Internationally

Organizations   have a  couple of ways  to become  involved internationally. One is to seek cheaper  sources  of materials or labor offshore, which is called  offshoring or global outsourcing. Another  way is to develop markets for finished products outside their home countries, which may include exporting, licensing, and direct investing. These market entry strategies represent

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The International Business Environment

International management is defined  as the management of business operations con- ducted in more than one country.  The fundamental  tasks of business management,  includ- ing financing, production, and distribution of products  and services, do not change in any substantive way when a firm is transacting business across international borders. The basic management functions  of

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The Economic Environment

The economic environment  represents the economic conditions in the country where the international organization operates. This part of the environment  includes factors such as economic  development,  infrastructure,   resource and product markets, and exchange rates, each of which is discussed next. In addition,  factors such as inflation, interest rates, and economic growth are part of

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