MGB1010 · Introduction To Management
What is Management
Management is not a job title — it is a process: coordinating and overseeing the work of others so that organisational goals are met, efficiently and effectively. This opening chapter sets the vocabulary the whole subject reuses. Efficiency is doing things right (least input per output, the means); effectiveness is doing the right things (attaining the goal, the ends) — and the single most-tested early trap is treating them as synonyms. Two classic maps of what managers actually do anchor the recall: Mintzberg's ten roles in three clusters (interpersonal, informational, decisional) and Katz's three skills (technical, human, conceptual) whose mix shifts up the management pyramid. It closes on POLC — plan, organise, lead, control — the four-function spine every later topic hangs on. The quizzes here reward precise labels, because the distractors are deliberately close.
What this chapter covers
- 011.1 Manager, management, organisation
- 021.2 Efficiency vs effectiveness — the core distinction
- 031.3 Mintzberg's ten managerial roles (three clusters)
- 041.4 Katz's three skills and the seniority gradient
- 051.5 Levels of management — the pyramid
- 061.6 POLC — the four functions, as a loop
Worked example: efficiency vs effectiveness, then name the function
- +1(a) Efficiency. Low waste, maximum output from minimum input — so on the means, it is efficient (doing things right).
- +1(a) Effectiveness. The goal — a product the market wants — is being missed, so it is ineffective (not doing the right thing). Efficient and ineffective is the classic trap.
- +1(b) Katz skill. Seeing the organisation as a whole and re-reading the market is conceptual skill — the skill that matters most at the top of the pyramid.
- +1(b) Why. First-line managers lean on technical skill; conceptual, strategic thinking dominates at the top, which is where a change of direction is decided.
- +1(c) POLC function. Defining new goals and the strategy to reach them is Planning — the first function, which then resets what organising, leading and controlling aim at.
Key terms
- Management
- Coordinating and overseeing the work of others so organisational goals are met — efficiently and effectively. A process run by a manager, distinct from the non-managerial employee who does the work itself.
- Efficiency
- Doing things right: getting the most output from the least input (time, money, materials, effort). It is about the means. Contrast with effectiveness, which is about the ends.
- Effectiveness
- Doing the right things: pursuing the activities that actually attain the goal. A manager aims to be high on both efficiency and effectiveness, not one or the other.
- Mintzberg's managerial roles
- Ten roles Henry Mintzberg observed managers performing, in three clusters: interpersonal (figurehead, leader, liaison), informational (monitor, disseminator, spokesperson) and decisional (entrepreneur, disturbance handler, resource allocator, negotiator) — 3 + 3 + 4 = 10.
- Katz's skills
- The three skills every manager needs: technical (job-specific, dominant for first-line managers), human (interpersonal, equally important at every level), and conceptual (whole-organisation, strategic thinking, dominant for top managers).
What is Management FAQ
What is the difference between efficiency and effectiveness?
Efficiency is doing things right — minimising the input used per unit of output (the means). Effectiveness is doing the right things — choosing and attaining the correct goals (the ends). They are independent: a firm can be efficient but ineffective (cheaply making the wrong product) or effective but inefficient (hitting the goal while burning resources). A good manager is high on both, and quiz items reward exactly that combination.
What is the difference between Mintzberg's roles and Katz's skills?
They answer different questions. Mintzberg's ten roles describe what a manager is doing (figurehead, monitor, negotiator, etc.), grouped into interpersonal, informational and decisional clusters. Katz's three skills describe what a manager is good at (technical, human, conceptual). Skills are capabilities; roles are observed behaviours. The distractors deliberately blur the two, so keep them straight.
Why do conceptual skills matter more at the top?
Top managers set organisation-wide direction, so they need to see the whole system, think abstractly and strategically — that is conceptual skill. First-line managers supervise the actual work, so technical skill dominates for them. Human (interpersonal) skill matters the same at every level. This is the Katz gradient: go up the pyramid and conceptual rises; go down and technical rises.
What is POLC and why does it matter so much?
POLC is the four functions of management — Planning, Organising, Leading, Controlling — descended from Fayol. It is the spine of the whole subject: every later topic (theories, environment, decisions, communication) is really one of these four functions in detail. The lecturer frames them as interdependent and circular — you plan, organise, lead, then control by comparing results to the plan, which feeds the next round — not a one-off checklist.
Exam move
Lock the labels precisely — this chapter is pure recognition and the distractors are close. Master the efficiency vs effectiveness grid first (it is the single most-tested early trap), then the two maps: Mintzberg's 3 + 3 + 4 = 10 roles by cluster, and Katz's three skills with the seniority gradient (top → conceptual, bottom → technical, human constant). Tie the Katz gradient to the management pyramid so a question giving a level lets you name the dominant skill. Finally, make POLC your filing system for the rest of the subject: when any later quiz asks “what is the manager doing here?”, name the POLC function first.
