BUS 710- Week 1

Chapter 1 – There is much here of general interest, but read pages 13-18 with greatest attention because we are concerned with the role of managers.

Theorists:

Frederick Taylor – wrote Principles of Scientific Management in 1911. He defined the job of the manager to understand the way work was performed, improve workflow, and educate workers. He derided the current management style of motivation. Said motivating workers by threat or reward only made for more errors and injuries. The best way to get more work from workers was to create an environment where good work could happen.

Michael Porter – His “Competitive Forces” model places the manager as outward-looking, always striving to respond to competition. There is more on him in Chapters 1 & 2.

Peter Drucker – the main U.S. management guru since his first book in 1954. He gives managers two main jobs – marketing and innovation. By “marketing” he does not mean selling, he means understanding the needs of your customers so well that you can create products that they want to buy. Innovation lets you create the products better than competitors and cheaply enough so you can meet your customers’ price points and still make a profit.

Management Levels

• Executive – strategic focus – “we will make products in China”
• Middle Management – tactical focus – “we will build a factory near Beijing”
• Initial level – operational focus - “This machine needs to be operated correctly for us to make our daily quota.”

Chapter 2 – Our main focus on this chapter is the strategies managers use to meet the competition. The book mentions five. Most other authors list eight –

· Differentiation

· Cost leadership

· Niche focus

· Alliances

· Information infusion

· Growth

· Innovation

· Customer orientation