1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910967135903321

Titolo

The challenge of front-line management : flattened organizations in the new economy / / Ronald R. Sims ... [et al.]

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Westport, Conn., : Quorum Books, 2001

ISBN

9780313004636

0313004633

9780585385259

0585385254

Edizione

[1st ed.]

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (272 p.)

Altri autori (Persone)

SimsRonald R

Disciplina

658.4/3

Soggetti

Supervision of employees

Industrial management

Middle managers

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Description based upon print version of record.

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references (p. [261]-263) and index.

Nota di contenuto

""Contents""; ""Acknowledgments""; ""Understanding the Front- Line Manager�s Job""; ""Becoming a Front-Line Manager""; ""Ethics and the Front-Line Manager""; ""Communication: The Bridge to Organization Success""; ""Leading and Building Effective Teams""; ""Motivating Today�s Employees""; ""Developing Effective Team Skills""; ""Planning, Organizing, and Controlling""; ""Performance Appraisals""; ""Safety and Health""; ""Decision Making""; ""Change and the Front-Line Manager""; ""Selected Bibliography""; ""Index""

Sommario/riassunto

As the way work is done changes and as organizations flatten themselves down in response to demands posed by the new global economy, managers on the front lines, where some say the real work is done, need a broader set of skills than ever before. They must learn to see their jobs differently-to become tougher and more durable-but they must also become more flexible in how they interact with the organization itself and its changing work and economic environments. The authors emphasize key tasks that front-line managers must do today, such as strategic planning, budgeting, quality management, and benchmarking, and how they must focus attention on their customers,



until now far removed and perhaps out of mind. They must also recognize the need for effective information systems and find ways to align their immediate work units with larger organizational strategies and processes. In short, the authors offer essentially a new paradigm for the way management should now be practiced in a far-ranging book that today's managers will need to keep pace with changes that could threaten their careers, and a book that offers others on the way up a way to start their own careers on the right foot. Becoming an effective front-line manager starts with understanding the job. The authors begin with a comprehensive look at what it means to be a front-line manager and the special challenges they face. They must become all things to all people, say the authors, and at the same time consider other, perhaps unfamiliar challenges, such as safety and health concerns. Front-line managers today must also learn to grow and adapt to changing work environments. The authors present an extensive view of these new tasks and roles and detail the ways in which front-line managers can address and overcome the obstacles they will find. The book is a readable, thought-provoking study of special interest to teachers of general management courses on the undergraduate and graduate levels.