Page 304 - Business Principles and Management

C HAPTER 11 A SSESSMENT

CASE IN POINT

CASE 11-1: What Makes an Effective Manager?
Amber and Travis are considering careers in business and have hopes of
becoming managers someday. Both hold part-time jobs and have seen a
number of managers at their work. Amber was even selected to fill in for
a short time as the shift supervisor for her work team when the full-time
supervisor was on vacation. That gave her a closer view of some of the
work managers do and how their job is different from that of employees.
Amber shared her experiences with Travis, which led to a discussion of
their views of a manager’s work.
Travis: A manager’s job is really very easy if the company hires good em-
ployees. All a manager has to do is make sure the work gets done.
Amber: Do you really think it’s that easy? First, I don’t think companies
can always find employees who can do the work well. Also, a
manager’s job involves much more than working with employees.
Travis: I think a manager just has to be a good communicator. If a man-
ager can explain clearly what needs to be done, good employees
will take it from there.
Amber: But what about all of the things that can go wrong in a company
that a manager can’t plan for? Equipment can break down, new
employees may not be well trained, or a big order may require
everyone to work overtime.
Travis: I read that companies spend a large amount of their training bud-
gets on management development. If you ask me, either you’re a
good manager or you aren’t. I don’t think taking classes on how to
manage will do much good if you aren’t the right type of person.
Amber: I might have agreed with you a few years ago, but today it seems
that management is much more complicated. In fact, I believe
that the problems each manager faces are so different it would be
difficult to develop training programs that would benefit all of the
managers in a company.

THINK CRITICALLY
1. Analyze the views of Amber and Travis toward management. With
what do you agree or disagree?
2. Do you believe that managers spend most of their time working with
employees? Justify your answer.
3. What characteristics are common to all managers’ jobs? What are
the types of things that would be quite different from one manager’s
job to another?
4. If you were responsible for developing a training program for
managers, what would you include?

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