,Schermerhorn, Management, Fifth Canadian Edition
CHAPTER 1
MANAGEMENT TODAY
Learning Objectives
Upon completion of the chapter, the student should be able to:
1. Summarize the challenges of developing and maintaining career readiness in the
new economy.
2. Describe what organizations are like as work settings.
3. Discuss what it means to be a manager.
4. Explain the functions, roles, and activities of managers.
5. Summarize how we learn and use essential skills for career success.
Chapter 1 Overview
Work in the new economy is increasingly knowledge-based, and people, with their capacity to
bring valuable intellectual capital to the workplace, are the ultimate foundation of organizational
performance. The chapter begins with a section on understanding the challenges of working
today. The world of work is undergoing dynamic and challenging changes that provide great
opportunities along with tremendous uncertainty. These changes are due to the impact of
important trends regarding worker talent, technological change, globalization, ethical standards,
workforce diversity, and careers. After setting up this framework for the changing environment in
which organizations operate, the chapter goes on to describe organizations as open systems
which interact with their environments in the process of transforming resource inputs into
finished goods and services as product outputs. From this point, the bulk of the chapter
describes managers and their work; detailing that managers directly support, supervise,
facilitate and help activate the work efforts of other people in organizations. Next, the chapter
explores the management process consisting of the four functions of planning, organizing,
leading, and controlling, followed by the roles and skills managers need for success. The
chapter concludes with a discussion of the essential managerial skills and how they are leaned.
Lecture Outline
Teaching Objective: To increase awareness of how a dynamic and changing environment
affects organizations, managers, and the management process in the new workplace.
Suggested Time: Two hours of class time are typically required to present the material in this
chapter.
,Schermerhorn, Management, Fifth Canadian Edition
Supporting Materials
Figures
• Figure 1.1: Organizations as Open Systems Interacting with Their Environments
• Figure 1.2: Productivity and the Dimensions of Organizational Performance
• Figure 1.3: Management Levels in Typical Business and Non-Profit Organizations
• Figure 1.4: Accountability in the Traditional Organization
• Figure 1.5: The Organization Viewed as an Upside-Down Pyramid
• Figure 1.6: Four Functions of Management – Planning, Organizing, Leading, and
Controlling
• Figure 1.7: Mintzberg’s Common Roles Filled by Management
• Figure 1.8: Katz’s Essential Managerial Skills – Technical, Human, and Conceptual
• Figure 1.9: Using a Personal SWOT Analysis for Strategic Career Planning
Thematic Boxes
• Analysis: Multiple Generations Meet and Greet in the New World of Work
• Ethics: Social Media Searches Linked with Discrimination in Hiring
• Wisdom: Tonia Jahshan Turns Over a New Leaf
• Choices: Want Vacation? No Problem, Take as Much as You Want
• Self-Awareness and the Johari Window
Management Learning Review
• Summary
• Self Test
Applications
• Evaluate Career Situations: What Would You Do?
• Reflect on the Self-Assessment: Career Readiness “Big 20”
• Contribute to the Class Exercise: My Best Manager
• Manage a Critical Incident: Team Leader Faces Test
• Collaborate on the Team Activity: The Amazing Great Job Race
• Video Summary and Discussion Questions: Preventing Attacks by Thinking like a Terrorist
• Analyze the Case Study: Vancity: On Top of Its Game
LECTURE NOTES
WORKING TODAY
Learning Objective 1: Summarize the challenges of developing and maintaining career
readiness in the new economy.
Today’s working environment has changed dramatically due to the complex world in which we
live. No longer can one be complacent, unskilled, or even expect job security. Innovation, cost
, Schermerhorn, Management, Fifth Canadian Edition
competitiveness, and technology are the driving forces today.
Career advancement today demands initiative and self-awareness, as well as continuous
learning.
Talent
According to management scholars Charles O’Reilly and Jeffrey Pfeffer, high-performing
companies achieve success by being better than competitors by getting extraordinary results
from the people working for them.
People––what they know, what they learn, and what they do with it––are the ultimate
foundations of organizational performance.
People represent intellectual capital, which is the collective brainpower or shared knowledge
of a workforce that is used to create value.
The intellectual capital equation of Intellectual Capital = Competency x Commitment defines
today’s workplace. Workers’ talents and capabilities represent competency, while willingness to
work hard defines commitment.
A knowledge worker is someone whose mind is a critical asset to employers and who adds to
the intellectual capital of the organization.
Technology
The world is driven by technology, so one must develop a high Tech IQ, that is, the ability to
use technology and commitment to stay informed on the latest technological developments.
We hold meetings in virtual space, eliminating physical distances. Work is done from home or
anywhere we might be. We meet as virtual teams, sharing files and information, all without ever
meeting face-to-face.
Globalization
The national boundaries of world business have largely disappeared due in part to
globalization, which is the worldwide interdependence of resource flows, product markets, and
business competition that characterizes the new economy. As such, countries and peoples are
now interconnected through news, travel, lifestyles, employment, along with financial and
business dealings. One controversial consequence of globalization is job migration, which is
the shifting of jobs from one country to another. The flip side of job migration is reshoring,
which is the shift of manufacturing and jobs back home from overseas.
Ethics
Ethics set moral standards of what is “good” and “right” in the conduct of a person or group.
Every week, we learn about the unethical behaviour of business executives that cause great
harm to those who entrust them to do the right thing. Much of this is due to the lack of active
oversight of management decisions and company actions by boards of directors. As such, it is
imperative that students realize integrity is the key to leadership and the responsibility for setting
the ethical tone of the organization comes from the top. An ethics indicator is the strength of
corporate governance. Think of it as the active oversight of top management decisions,
corporate strategy, and financial reporting by a company’s board of directors.
CHAPTER 1
MANAGEMENT TODAY
Learning Objectives
Upon completion of the chapter, the student should be able to:
1. Summarize the challenges of developing and maintaining career readiness in the
new economy.
2. Describe what organizations are like as work settings.
3. Discuss what it means to be a manager.
4. Explain the functions, roles, and activities of managers.
5. Summarize how we learn and use essential skills for career success.
Chapter 1 Overview
Work in the new economy is increasingly knowledge-based, and people, with their capacity to
bring valuable intellectual capital to the workplace, are the ultimate foundation of organizational
performance. The chapter begins with a section on understanding the challenges of working
today. The world of work is undergoing dynamic and challenging changes that provide great
opportunities along with tremendous uncertainty. These changes are due to the impact of
important trends regarding worker talent, technological change, globalization, ethical standards,
workforce diversity, and careers. After setting up this framework for the changing environment in
which organizations operate, the chapter goes on to describe organizations as open systems
which interact with their environments in the process of transforming resource inputs into
finished goods and services as product outputs. From this point, the bulk of the chapter
describes managers and their work; detailing that managers directly support, supervise,
facilitate and help activate the work efforts of other people in organizations. Next, the chapter
explores the management process consisting of the four functions of planning, organizing,
leading, and controlling, followed by the roles and skills managers need for success. The
chapter concludes with a discussion of the essential managerial skills and how they are leaned.
Lecture Outline
Teaching Objective: To increase awareness of how a dynamic and changing environment
affects organizations, managers, and the management process in the new workplace.
Suggested Time: Two hours of class time are typically required to present the material in this
chapter.
,Schermerhorn, Management, Fifth Canadian Edition
Supporting Materials
Figures
• Figure 1.1: Organizations as Open Systems Interacting with Their Environments
• Figure 1.2: Productivity and the Dimensions of Organizational Performance
• Figure 1.3: Management Levels in Typical Business and Non-Profit Organizations
• Figure 1.4: Accountability in the Traditional Organization
• Figure 1.5: The Organization Viewed as an Upside-Down Pyramid
• Figure 1.6: Four Functions of Management – Planning, Organizing, Leading, and
Controlling
• Figure 1.7: Mintzberg’s Common Roles Filled by Management
• Figure 1.8: Katz’s Essential Managerial Skills – Technical, Human, and Conceptual
• Figure 1.9: Using a Personal SWOT Analysis for Strategic Career Planning
Thematic Boxes
• Analysis: Multiple Generations Meet and Greet in the New World of Work
• Ethics: Social Media Searches Linked with Discrimination in Hiring
• Wisdom: Tonia Jahshan Turns Over a New Leaf
• Choices: Want Vacation? No Problem, Take as Much as You Want
• Self-Awareness and the Johari Window
Management Learning Review
• Summary
• Self Test
Applications
• Evaluate Career Situations: What Would You Do?
• Reflect on the Self-Assessment: Career Readiness “Big 20”
• Contribute to the Class Exercise: My Best Manager
• Manage a Critical Incident: Team Leader Faces Test
• Collaborate on the Team Activity: The Amazing Great Job Race
• Video Summary and Discussion Questions: Preventing Attacks by Thinking like a Terrorist
• Analyze the Case Study: Vancity: On Top of Its Game
LECTURE NOTES
WORKING TODAY
Learning Objective 1: Summarize the challenges of developing and maintaining career
readiness in the new economy.
Today’s working environment has changed dramatically due to the complex world in which we
live. No longer can one be complacent, unskilled, or even expect job security. Innovation, cost
, Schermerhorn, Management, Fifth Canadian Edition
competitiveness, and technology are the driving forces today.
Career advancement today demands initiative and self-awareness, as well as continuous
learning.
Talent
According to management scholars Charles O’Reilly and Jeffrey Pfeffer, high-performing
companies achieve success by being better than competitors by getting extraordinary results
from the people working for them.
People––what they know, what they learn, and what they do with it––are the ultimate
foundations of organizational performance.
People represent intellectual capital, which is the collective brainpower or shared knowledge
of a workforce that is used to create value.
The intellectual capital equation of Intellectual Capital = Competency x Commitment defines
today’s workplace. Workers’ talents and capabilities represent competency, while willingness to
work hard defines commitment.
A knowledge worker is someone whose mind is a critical asset to employers and who adds to
the intellectual capital of the organization.
Technology
The world is driven by technology, so one must develop a high Tech IQ, that is, the ability to
use technology and commitment to stay informed on the latest technological developments.
We hold meetings in virtual space, eliminating physical distances. Work is done from home or
anywhere we might be. We meet as virtual teams, sharing files and information, all without ever
meeting face-to-face.
Globalization
The national boundaries of world business have largely disappeared due in part to
globalization, which is the worldwide interdependence of resource flows, product markets, and
business competition that characterizes the new economy. As such, countries and peoples are
now interconnected through news, travel, lifestyles, employment, along with financial and
business dealings. One controversial consequence of globalization is job migration, which is
the shifting of jobs from one country to another. The flip side of job migration is reshoring,
which is the shift of manufacturing and jobs back home from overseas.
Ethics
Ethics set moral standards of what is “good” and “right” in the conduct of a person or group.
Every week, we learn about the unethical behaviour of business executives that cause great
harm to those who entrust them to do the right thing. Much of this is due to the lack of active
oversight of management decisions and company actions by boards of directors. As such, it is
imperative that students realize integrity is the key to leadership and the responsibility for setting
the ethical tone of the organization comes from the top. An ethics indicator is the strength of
corporate governance. Think of it as the active oversight of top management decisions,
corporate strategy, and financial reporting by a company’s board of directors.
