Course Description

This course presents management theory and the functions of planning, organizing, directing, staffing, and controlling. This course also focuses on the application of management principles to realistic work related situations.

Course Objectives

Upon completion of this course, the student will be able to:

• Describe the management concepts and application to actual business situations and critical thinking in the real world.
• Explain what environmental forces are influencing the manager’s business.
• Assess and quantify the ethical culture of an organization, design a specific plan for improving ethical behavior in a company.
• Explain the management challenge in decision making to solve a problem in the organization.
• Develop a workable strategic plan for an organization using SWOT analysis.
• Develop an organization chart for a company.
• Explain the firm’s lines of authority, departmentalization, degree of specialization of jobs, delegation and decentralization, and span of control.
• Describe staffing and human resource management in an organization.
• Explain the socio cultural and legal/political mistakes managers make when expanding abroad; specify the basic global strategy and the basic global organization structure a manager should use when managing in a global environment.

Course Overview

This course covers a plethora of ideas and concepts related to management. It is an introductory course. The course is a project based course. This means you will complete components of a project throughout the course.  To complete this project, you are asked to pick an organization that you can track as you work through the course. It is probably best if you pick a large business organization with a global presence. For such an organization you can typically find lots of information in news reports and magazine articles. A wealth of information can often be extracted from company websites, including Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) documents and annual financial reports. You will first look into the company’s management and then reflect and create an action plan for how you could move into a management role in this company.

Module 1: Introduction

Discussion A Initial Post (usually done before class)

• Watch the Ted Talk: The Art of Choosing
• Take the How Good Are Your Management Skills self evaluation (link in Moodle). This is a fun self evaluation.
• Initial Post (300 words)
  • The first discussion question is to see your knowledge thus far regarding Management. What skills and competencies do you feel managers need to be successful in the workplace? Please explain your answers.

Task 1 (usually done before class)

• Watch Lynda Management Fundamentals- Introduction
  • https://www.lynda.com/Business-Skills-tutorials/Management-Fundamentals/142070-2.html?org=stratford.edu
• Review the Moodle Course
• Complete Task 1 Assignment: Company Name (Portfolio Assignment)

Lesson 1 (in class)

• Activity 1: Discussion 1 Initial
• Activity 2: Task 1
• Activity 3: Final Project Overview
• Activity 4: Complete Company Description (Portfolio Assignment)

Module 2: Managing and Leading

Discussion A Reply Posts (complete before class)

• Watch the Ted Talk: The Art of Choosing
• Take the How Good Are Your Management Skills self evaluation (link in Moodle). This is a fun self evaluation.
• Reply Posts (2 100-word posts)
  • Do you agree or disagree with your classmates’ posts? Reply to 2 students.

Task 2 (complete before class)

• Watch Lynda Management Fundamentals Chapter 1 Understanding Management
• Read Textbook Chapters 1, 16
• Complete Task Assignment: Mission, Vision, Values, & Goals (Portfolio Assignment)

Lesson 2 (in class)

• Activity 1: Faculty Choice (Your professor will add additional activities in class or in an Adobe Live session to help you learn more about management).
• Activity 2: Case Study
• Activity 3: Self Reflection Assignment (This will be a part of the Portfolio section: Action Plan)

Module 3: Leadership, Motivation, & Meaning

Discussion B Initial Post (complete before class)

• Watch Ted Talk: What Matters More Thank Your Talents (see Moodle)
• Review Amazon’s Leadership Principles  (see Moodle)
• Initial Post (300 words)
  • Jack Welch, the CEO of General Electric from 1981 to 2001, was regarded by many as one of the best managers in recent business history. Do some research to identify the characteristics and behaviors that made Welch so admired. Can you see drawbacks to his management style?

Task 3 (complete before class)

• Watch Lynda Management Fundamentals Chapter 2: Managing Performance
• Read Textbook Chapters 2 & 3
• Complete Task 3 Assignment: Company Leadership (Portfolio Assignment)

Lesson 3 (in class)

• Activity 1: Faculty Choice (Your professor will add additional activities in class or in an Adobe Live session to help you learn more about management).
• Activity 2: Leadership Worksheet
• Activity 3: Self Reflection Assignment (This will be a part of the Portfolio section: Action Plan)

Module 4: Communication & Team

Discussion B Reply Posts (complete before class)

• Watch Ted Talk: What Matters More Thank Your Talents (see Moodle)
• Review Amazon’s Leadership Principles  (see Moodle)
• Reply Posts (2 100- word replies)
  • Do you agree or disagree with your classmates’ posts? Reply to 2 students.

Task 4 (complete before class)

• Watch Lynda Management Fundamentals: Chapter 3 Managing People
• Read Chapters 4, 10
• Complete the Task Assignment: Organizational Chart (Portfolio Assignment)

Lesson 4 (in class)

• Activity 1: Faculty Choice (Your professor will add additional activities in class or in an Adobe Live session to help you learn more about management).
• Activity 2: Faculty Choice (Your professor will add additional activities in class or in an Adobe Live session to help you learn more about management).
• Activity 3: Self Reflection Assignment (This will be a part of the Portfolio section: Action Plan)

Module 5: Organizational Planning

Discussion C Initial Posts (complete before class)

• Watch Ted Talk: The New Power of Collaboration (See Moodle)
• Review the Collective Genius book’s blog (See Moodle)
• Initial Post
  • Diversity is a double-edged sword for team dynamics. Discuss the benefits of team and team diversity. Identify issues or problems diverse teams potentially create. Explain your rationale.

Task 5 (complete before class)

• Watch Management Fundamentals: Chapter 4 Managing the Business
• Read Chapter 5
• Complete the Task Assignment SWOT Analysis (Portfolio Assignment)

Lesson 5 (in class)

• Activity 1: Faculty Choice (Your professor will add additional activities in class or in an Adobe Live session to help you learn more about management).
• Activity 2: Faculty Choice (Your professor will add additional activities in class or in an Adobe Live session to help you learn more about management).
• Activity 3: Self Reflection Assignment (This will be a part of the Portfolio section: Action Plan)

Module 6: Managing Strategy

Discussion C Reply Posts (complete before class)

• Watch Ted Talk: The New Power of Collaboration (See Moodle)
• Review the Collective Genius book’s blog (See Moodle)
• Reply Posts (2 100- word posts)
  • Do you agree or disagree with your classmates’ posts? Reply to 2 students.

Task 6 (complete before class)

• Read Chapter 6
• Complete the Task Assignment: Strategic Plan (Portfolio Assignment)

Lesson 6 (in class)

• Activity 1: Faculty Choice (Your professor will add additional activities in class or in an Adobe Live session to help you learn more about management).
• Activity 2: Faculty Choice (Your professor will add additional activities in class or in an Adobe Live session to help you learn more about management).
• Activity 3: Team Building Activity

Module 7: Organization and Globalization

Discussion D Initial Posts (complete before class)

• Watch Ted Talk: What’s Your 200-Year Plan? (See Moodle)
• Watch Ted Talk: Dare to Disagree (See Moodle)
• Initial Post (1 300-word post)
  • Why is it important to learn to plan – and to change plans – in today’s world and work environment? Give examples from your experiences. Did you handle the change well? How could you have done a better job?

Task 7 (complete before class)

• Watch Lynda Global Strategy: Chapters 1-3
  • https://www.lynda.com/Business-Skills-tutorials/Global-Strategy/373562-2.html?org=stratford.edu
• Read Chapters 9,11
• Complete the Task Assignment: Globalization (Portfolio Assignment)

Lesson 7 (in class)

• Activity 1: Faculty Choice (Your professor will add additional activities in class or in an Adobe Live session to help you learn more about management).
• Activity 2: Faculty Choice (Your professor will add additional activities in class or in an Adobe Live session to help you learn more about management).
• Activity 3: Complete the Assignment Managing Global Operations (Portfolio Assignment)

Module 8: Organizational Culture & Change

Course Outcomes explored in this module:

Discussion D Reply Posts (complete before class)

• Watch Ted Talk: What’s Your 200-Year Plan? (See Moodle)
• Watch Ted Talk: Dare to Disagree (See Moodle)
• Reply Posts (2 100-word posts)
  • Do you agree or disagree with your classmates’ posts? Reply to 2 students.

Task 8 (complete before class)

• Read Chapters 7, 13
• Complete the Task Assignment: Organizational Culture (Portfolio Assignment)

Lesson 8 (in class)

Activity 1: Action Plan Work Day (Portfolio Assignment)

Activity 2: Final Presentation Work Day (Due week 9)

Module 9: Final Presentation

Course Outcomes explored in this module:

Discussion E Initial and Reply Posts (complete before class) Competitiveness

• Ted Talk: The Difference Between Winning and Succeeding
• Ted Talk: How to Find Work You Love
• Initial & Reply Posts Due

Initial: Do you agree with the statement, “Happy employees create happy customers.”

Some people suggest that the most effective organizations have the strongest cultures. What do we mean by the “strength” of organizational culture, and what possible problems are there with a strong organizational culture?

Replies: Choose 2 students that you agree or disagree with. Reply to each and discuss why you agree or disagree.

Task 9 (complete before class)

• Complete and upload the written portion in Moodle

Lesson 9 (in class)

• Final Presentations
• Upload to the final presentation in Moodle.

SAMPLE SOLUTION

In this principle of management course, there is a significant insight that I have gained right from the first module of the introduction stage to the eight lesson. The first aspect in management is the art of choosing and the skills that managers need for them to be successful in the organization (Kabeyi, 2019). The first task entailed developing the company name which was followed by a complete company description. The company I selected was the Ernst and Young LLC and is based in London. These steps which were covered in module 1 was key in laying the foundation for better evaluation of the position of management and leadership in an organization. The second aspect that defined this work was a detailed explanation of the mission, vision, values and goals that the define the mentioned organization (Apoorva, 2019). The task two which I completed before class, helped to lay the foundation and basis of engagement regarding the organization as I was able to underscore the qualities…