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Topic: management

topics > Group: organizations



Group:
coordination system
Topic:
accounting
Topic:
business application language
Topic:
contingency and strategic planning
Topic:
corporations and institutions
Topic:
managing people
Topic:
software management

Summary

Management provides a framework for cooperative activity. It can range from a formal, structured system to an informal seat-of-the-pants approach and even to a chaotic fire-fight. Management handles resource allocation, scheduling, reorganization to meet changes, making plans, administrating plans, defining interactions between employees.

Administration and information needs can be partly automated with computer systems, but management remains a human activity because it depends upon anticipating the future. Coordination systems may help to execute a manager's plan. (cbb 7/83)

Subtopic: business as goal oriented up

Quote: in business you start at the end of the book and do everything you must to reach it [»geneH_1984]
Quote: strategy requires a long-term road map of global trends; need a five-year planning horizon, not two years or less [»colwRP_2006]

Subtopic: business as results oriented up

Quote: the test of any management policy or social discipline is whether or not it works [»drucPF_1946]

Subtopic: business as surprise avoidance up

Quote: avoid surprises in business; 99% are negative [»geneH_1984]
Quote: use a red flag page to report significant, unsolved problems

Subtopic: business as interestingness up

Quote: search guided only by the heuristics of "interestingness" is the mechanism for science and may be best for social design [»simoHA_1981]

Subtopic: business as numbers up

Quote: require data for resolving design issues; establish a data-driven culture; data forces the right questions [»colwRP_2006]
Quote: the drudgery of the numbers will make you free [»geneH_1984]
Quote: numbers in business are symbols, like words, with rich meanings from relationships to one another
Quote: if based on unshakable facts, numbers act as a thermometer of a company's health [»geneH_1984]
Quote: any significant variation between the budget and numbers is a signal for action
Quote: the key issue in business is finding out what is happening behind the numbers
Quote: many companies do not take their numbers seriously enough; a task of the chief executive [»geneH_1984]
Quote: numbers have an inherent quality to them; they can be accurate or fuzzy, precise or rounded off, detailed or averaged and vague

Subtopic: budgeting up

Quote: in a budget, equal sums should be spent of large, medium, and small building projects; guarantees numerical predominance of small projects [»alexC_1975]

Subtopic: management by objectives up

Quote: Intel's management by objectives measured those tasks that might jeopardize a project's schedule; discuss with staff [»colwRP_2006]
Quote: do not tie compensation to objectives; otherwise try to score well instead of selecting the right objectives and metrics [»colwRP_2006]
Quote: management by objectives drives out miscommunications among cooperating design groups; managers can discover missing objectives before it is too late [»colwRP_2006]

Subtopic: decentralized vs. centralized up

Quote: decentralization works best for manufacturing businesses with distinct markets for distinct product lines [»drucPF_1974]
Quote: meta-programs allow a wheel network organization; reduces number of communication channels and centralizes language creation [»simoC12_1976]
Quote: localized, economic change requires a decentralized solution; decisions must be local [»hayeFA9_1945]

Subtopic: informal vs. formal management up

Quote: informal coordination is more efficient and flexible than formal coordination; more dependent on shared understandings [»holtAW_1997]

Subtopic: standards vs. predictions up

Quote: under uncertainty, standardization may be more effective than prediction; e.g., a business operating with an incorrect estimate [»simoHA_1981]
Quote: Gothic cathedrals and Japanese temples were build from standardized parts with custom made doors, windows, etc. [»drucPF_1974]

Subtopic: rational decision making vs. bounds up

Quote: rational decision making--list alternative strategies, determine the consequences, and pick the best [»winoT_1986]
Quote: bounded rationality occurs when the complexity of the environment is much greater than the computational powers of the adaptive system [»simoHA_1981]
Quote: actual behavior must depart from rational decision making because can't determine all alternatives or consequences


Related Topics up

Group: coordination system   (8 topics, 217 quotes)
Topic: accounting (10 items)
Topic: business application language (11 items)
Topic: contingency and strategic planning (22 items)
Topic: corporations and institutions (8 items)
Topic: managing people (64 items)
Topic: software management
(28 items)

Updated barberCB 3/06
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