Managing the Business Enterprise

ADMN 201 Ch6 — Managing the Business Enterprise

Chapter Overview

Ch6 introduces the foundations of management: what managers do (the POLC cycle), who managers are (by level and area), what skills they need, how organizations set direction (strategic management), how they prepare for disruption (contingency planning), and what culture holds everything together.

Learning Objectives

#	Objective	Key Concept Page
1	Four activities of the management process	ManagementProcess
2	Types of managers by level and area	ManagerTypes
3	Five basic management skills	ManagementSkills
4	Goal setting and strategic management	StrategicManagement
5	Contingency planning and crisis management	ContingencyPlanning
6	Corporate culture	CorporateCulture

Chapter Structure

mindmap
  root((Ch6: Managing\nthe Business))
    Management Process
      Planning
      Organizing
      Leading
      Controlling
    Manager Types
      By Level
        Top
        Middle
        First-Line
      By Area
        Marketing
        Finance
        Operations
        HR / IT
    Management Skills
      Technical — First-Line
      Human Relations — All
      Conceptual — Top
      Decision-Making — All
      Time Management — All
    Strategic Management
      Mission & Vision
      SMART Goals
      SWOT Analysis
      Strategy Levels
      Plan Hierarchy
    Contingency & Crisis
      Proactive — before event
      Reactive — during event
    Corporate Culture
      Iceberg Model
      Visible 10%
      Invisible 90%

(diagram saved)

High-Priority Exam Topics

1. The POLC Cycle

Plan → Organize → Lead → Control → (feedback to Plan). Organizing + Leading = planning implementation.
Trap: Controlling = monitoring AND corrective action — not just monitoring.

2. Manager Levels and Their Plans

Level	Plan Type	Scope
Top	Strategic	Long-term, whole organization
Middle	Tactical	Medium-term, departmental
First-Line	Operational	Short-term, daily/weekly

3. Skills by Level

• Technical → peaks at first-line (doing/supervising real work)
• Conceptual → peaks at top (vision and strategy)
• Human Relations, Decision-Making, Time Management → all levels

4. SMART Goals

Specific · Measurable · Achievable · Results-oriented · Time-framed
Example: Increase online sales by 15% over the next 6 months by launching a new marketing campaign.

5. SWOT Analysis

• Internal: Strengths / Weaknesses (within firm’s control)
• External: Opportunities / Threats (from the environment)

6. Three Levels of Strategy

Corporate (what markets?) → Business/Competitive (how to win?) → Functional (how does each department contribute?)

7. Contingency vs. Crisis Management

	Contingency	Crisis Management
Timing	Before event	During event
Posture	Proactive	Reactive

8. Corporate Culture — Iceberg Model

• 10% visible: logos, slogans, dress code, events
• 90% invisible: values, communication norms, beliefs
• Easiest to change: visible symbols. Hardest: deep values.

Key Terms

ManagementProcess · ManagerTypes · ManagementSkills · StrategicManagement · ContingencyPlanning · CorporateCulture

Additional terms: SWOT Analysis · Mission Statement · Vision · SMART Goals · Strategy Formulation · Strategy Implementation · Strategic/Tactical/Operational Plans · Corporate-Level/Business-Level/Functional Strategies · First-Line/Middle/Top Managers

Connections to Other Chapters

• Ch9 LeadershipApproaches — leadership styles live inside the Leading function of POLC
• Ch8 HumanResourceManagement — HR planning integrates with the Organizing function
• Ch15 RiskManagement — the five-step risk process extends contingency planning
• Ch2 BusinessEnvironments — SWOT’s O/T come from the four external environments