Прочтите текст и выполните последующие задания. Management: Functions For most of us organizations are an important part of our daily lives. By organization, we mean two or more persons engaged in a systematic effort to produce goods or services. We all deal with organizations when we attend classes, deposit money at the bank, buy clothing, and attend a movie. We are also influenced by organizations more indirectly through the products that we use. What is management? Management is the process of achieving organizational goals through engaging in the four major functions of planning, organizing, leading, and controlling. This definition recognizes that management is an ongoing activity, entails reaching important goals, and involves knowing how to perform the four major functions of management. Planning is the management function that involves setting goals and deciding how best to achieve them. This function also includes considering what must be done to encourage necessary levels of change and innovation. Organizing is the management function that focuses on allocating and arranging human and nonhuman resources so that plans can be carried out successfully. It is through the organizing function that managers determine which tasks are to be done, tasks can be combined into specific jobs, and how jobs can be grouped into various units that make up the structure of the organization. Staffing jobs with individuals who can successfully carry out plans is also part of the organizing function. Leading is the management function that involves influencing others to engage in the work behaviors necessary to reach organizational goals. Leading includes communicating with others, helping to outline a vision of what can be accomplished, providing direction, and motivating organization members to put forth the substantial effort required. Controlling is the management function that is aimed regulating organizational activities so that actual performance conforms to expected organizational standards and goals. To do the necessary regulating, managers need to monitor ongoing activities, compare the results with expected standards or progress toward goals, and take corrective action as needed. Задание 1. Найдите в тексте ответы на следующие вопросы и переведите их. 1. What do we mean by organization? 2. What is management? 3. What are the major functions of management? 4. What is planning? 5. What is organizing? 6. What is leading? 7. What is controlling? Задание 2. Используя вопросы из задания 1 в качестве плана, перечислите основные функции менеджмента. Прочтите текст с целью общего понимания содержания. Key words: take action – принимать действие, judgment – суждение, supervisor – контролер, give a refund – вернуть деньги, management responsibility – административная ответственность. Decision Making is a Key to Management Success In carrying out management functions, such as planning, organizing, motivating and controlling, a manager will be continually making decisions. Decision-making is a key to management responsibility. Some decisions are of the routine kind. They are decisions which are made quickly, and are based on judgement. Because a manager is experienced, he knows what to do in certain situations. He does not have to think too much before taking action. For example, a supervisor in a supermarket may decide to give a refund to a customer who has brought back a product. The manager does not have to gather a great deal of additional information before making the decision. Many decisions are more difficult to make since they involve problem-solving. Very often, they are strategic decisions involving major courses of action which will affect the future of the enterprise. To make good decisions, the manager should be able to select a course of action. In practice, decisions are usually made in circumstances which are not ideal. They must be made quickly, with insufficient information. When a complex problem arises, like which new products to develop, the manager has to collect facts and weigh up courses of action. A useful approach to this sort of decision-making is as follows: - defining the problem; - analysing and collecting information; - working out Options and - deciding on the best solution. As a first step, the manager must identify and define the problem. Consider the case of a department store which finds that profits are falling and sales decreasing rapidly. The falling profits and sales are symptoms of a problem. The manager must ask himself what the store’s real problem is. Does the store have the wrong image? Is it selling the wrong goods? Or the right goods at the wrong prices? Are its costs higher than they should be? At this early stage, the manager must also take into account the rules and principles of the company which may affect the final decision. These factors will limit the solution of the problem. One company may have a policy of buying goods only from home suppliers; another firm might, on principle, be against making special payments to secure a contract; many enterprises have a rule that managerial positions should be filled by their own staff, rather than by hiring outside personnel. Rules and policies like these act as constraints, limiting the action of the decision-taker. The second step is to analyze the problem and decide what additional information is necessary before a decision can be taken. Getting the facts is essential in decisionmaking. However, the manager will rarely have .all the knowledge he needs. This is one reason why making decisions involves a degree of risk: It is the manager’s job to minimize that risk. Once the problem has been defined and the facts collected, the manager should consider the options available for solving it. This is necessary because there are usually several ways of solving a problem. In the case of the department store, the management may decide that the store has the wrong image. A number of actions might be possible to change the image. New products could be introduced and existing lines dropped; advertising could be stepped up; the store might be modernized or customer service might be improved. Before making a decision, the manager will carefully assess options, considering the advantages and disadvantages of each one. Having done this, he will have to take a decision. Задание 1. Ответьте на вопросы. 1. What is the most useful approach to decision – making? 2. What must the manager do as a first step? 3. What is the second step? 4. What is necessary to do when the problem is defined and the facts are collected? 5. What facts must the manager take into consideration before taking the best solution? Задание 2. Составьте резюме. Резюме (abstract, summary) – краткое изложение наиболее важных фактов (вопросов, проблем, исследований), обсуждаемых в статье, способы их решения (реализации), результаты исследований, выводы, сделанные на основе этих исследований и рекомендации по использованию того или иного метода (полученных данных и т.д.). Как правило, термин «abstract» используется, когда резюме приводится до статьи, а термин «summary» в случае, если резюме завершает статью.
