1. The headline (the title) of the article (text) is ... (The article is headlined ..., The headline of the article I've read is...) (1 sent.) 2. The author of the article (text) is...unknown person (1sent.) 3. The article is taken from (the newspaper) the book “.....”(1 sent) 4. The central idea of the article is about... (The main idea of the article is... the article is devoted to... the article deals with... the article touches upon... the purpose of the article is to give the reader some information on... the aim (1-3 sent) of the article is to provide a reader with some material on...) 5. Give a summary of the article (5-10 sentences) (The article begins with…., On the one hand, on the another hand, the author stresses, points out, dwells on…) next in the article… 6. Speak on the conclusion the author comes to.(In conclusion…) (1-2 sent) 7. Express your own point of view on the problem discussed. (In my opinion/ to my mind) BASIC MANAGEMENT FUNCTIONS When Lee Iacocca took the reins at Chrysler Corporation in 1978, the firm was on the brink of 1.bankruptcy. One of Iacocca’s first moves was to establish specific goals for sales growth and a written plan for achieving them. He changed the basic structure of the organization. Then he provided effective leadership by working for $1 a year until he had turned the company around. He also developed an 2. elaborate control system to keep Chrysler on track. Iacocca performed at least four different management functions while at the helm of Chrysler. First, he established goals and developed plans to achieve those goals. Next, he organized people and other resources into an efficient 3.«well-oiled machine». Then, he led and motivated employees to work effectively to help achieve Chrysler’s goals. Finally, he maintained control 4.to ensure that the organization was working steadily toward its goals. Management functions like those described above do not occur according to some 5.rigid, preset timetable. Managers don't plan in January, organize in February, lead and motivate in March, and control in April. At any given time, managers may 6.engage in a number of functions at the same time. However, each function tends to lead naturally to others. How well managers perform their key functions determines whether a corporation is successful. The five «world class» corporations described in the Business Journal are not only successful; they are also the most admired corporations in the United States. Their managers, you can be sure, are largely responsible for their 7.esteemed status. Planning Planning, in its simplest form, is 8. establishing organizational goals and deciding how to accomplish them. It is often referred to as the «first» management function because all other management functions depend on planning. Organizations like Texaco, Houston Community Colleges, and the U.S. Secret Service begin the planning process by developing a mission statement. An organization’s mission is a statement of the basic purpose that makes this business different from other firms. The mission of Texaco Inc. is to earn a profit for its owners by refining and selling petroleum products. Houston Community College System's mission is to provide an education for local citizens. The mission of the Secret Service is to protect the life of the president. Once an organization's mission has been described in a mission statement, the next step is to develop organizational goals and objectives. A goal is an end result that the organization is expected to achieve over a one-to-ten-year period of time. For example, Rubbermaid Inc. has established a goal of obtaining 25 percent of its 9.sales revenues from markets outside the United States by the year 2000. An objective is a specific statement detailing what the organization intends 10.to accomplish over a shorter period of time. Compared to goals, objectives have a much narrower time frame – usually one year or less. For McDonalds, one objective might be to increase sales of French fries by 5 percent over the next nine months. Sears, Roebuck might adopt the objective of increasing sales by 7 percent this year. For IBM, one objective might be 11.to reduce the average delivery time for personal computers to retailers by four days next year. Goals and objectives can deal with a variety of factors, such as sales, company growth, costs, 12. customer satisfaction, and employee morale. Whereas a small manufacturer may focus primarily on sales objectives for the next six months, Exxon Corporation may be more interested in goals for the year 2000. Finally, goals are set at every level of the organization. Every member of the organization – the president of the company, the head of a department, and an operating employee at the lowest level – has a set of goals he or she hopes to achieve. The goals developed for these different levels must be 13.consistent with one another. However, it is likely that some conflict will arise. A production department, for example, may have a goal of minimizing costs. One way to do this is to produce only one type of product and offer «no frills». Marketing, on the other hand, may have a goal of maximizing sales. And one way to implement this goal is to offer prospective customers a wide range of products with many options. As part of his or her own goal setting, the manager who is 14. ultimately responsible for both departments must achieve some sort of balance between conflicting goals. This balancing process is called optimization. The optimization of conflicting goals requires insight and ability. Faced with the marketing-versus-production conflict just described, most managers would probably not adopt either viewpoint completely. Instead, they might decide on a reasonably diverse product line offering only the most widely 15.sought-after options. Such a compromise would seem to be best for the organization as a whole. Once goals and objectives have been set for the organization, managers must develop plans for achieving them. A plan is an outline of the actions by which the organization intends to accomplish its goals and objectives. Just as it has different goals and objectives, the organization also develops several types of plans. An organization's strategy is its broadest set of plans, developed as a guide for major policy setting and decision making. These plans are set by the board of directors and top management and are generally designed to achieve the long-term goals of the organization. Thus, a firm’s strategy defines what business the company is in or wants to be in and the kind of company it is or wants to be. When the U.S. Surgeon General issued a report linking smoking and cancer in the 1950s, top management at Philip Morris Companies recognized that the company’s very survival was being threatened. Executives needed to develop a strategy to diversify into nontobacco products. Organizing the Enterprise After goal setting and planning, the second major function of the manager is organization. Organizing is the grouping of resources and activities to accomplish some end result in an efficient and effective manner. Consider the case of an inventor who creates a new product and goes into business to sell it. At first, she will probably do everything herself – 16.purchase raw materials, make the product, advertise it, sell it, and keep her business records 17.up-to-date. Eventually, as business grows, she will find that she needs help. To begin with, she might hire a professional sales representative and a 18. part-time bookkeeper. Later she might need to hire full-time sales staff, other people to assist with production, and an accountant. As she hires new personnel, she must decide what each person will do, to whom that person will report, and generally how that person can best take part in the organization’s activities. In a similar fashion, Saturn, a subsidiary of General Motors, must decide what resources will be needed and how they will be organized to produce Saturn automobiles in its Spring Hill, Tennessee, plant. Leading and Motivating The leading and motivating function is concerned with the human resources within the organization. Specifically, leading is the process of influencing people to work toward a common goal. Motivating is the process of providing reasons for people to work in the best interests of the organization. Together, leading and motivating are often referred to as directing. We have already noted the importance of an organization's human resources. Because of this importance, leading and motivating are critical activities. Obviously, different people do things for different reasons – that is, they have different motivations. Some are primarily interested in earning as much money as they can. Others may be spurred on by opportunities to get ahead in an organization. Part of the managers‟ job, then, is to determine what factors motivate workers and to try to provide those incentives in a way that encourages 19.effective performance. Controlling Ongoing Activities Controlling is the process of evaluating and regulating ongoing activities to ensure that goals are achieved. To see how controlling works, consider a rocket launched by NASA to place a satellite in orbit. Do NASA personnel simply fire the rocket and then check back in a few days to find out whether the satellite is in place? Of course, not. The rocket is constantly monitored, and its course is regulated and adjusted as needed to get the satellite to its destination. The control function includes three steps. The first is setting standards to which performance can be compared. The second is measuring actual performance and comparing it with the standard. And the third is taking corrective action as necessary. Notice that the control function is 20.circular in nature. The steps in the control function must be repeated periodically until the goal is achieved. For example, suppose that United Air Lines, Inc., establishes a goal of increasing its profit by 12 percent next year. To ensure that this goal is reached, United’s management might monitor its profit on a monthly basis. After three months, if profit has increased by 3 percent, management might be able to assume that plans are going according to schedule. Probably no action will be taken. However, if profit has increased by only 1 per cent after three months, some corrective action would be needed to get the firm on track. The particular action that is required depends on the reason for the small increase in profit.