Taking the Lead: The Management Revolution

This vital and insightful new business management telecourse provides an overview of management in the nineties, with an emphasis on the competencies that are essential for success. Taking the Lead: The Management Revolution features such noted authorities as Warren Bennis, John Kotter, George Labovitz, and William Ouchi, and provides students with an inside view of management in a variety of businesses, including General Dynamics, Hybritech, Patagonia, and the Four Seasons Hotel. Course organization is based on the major functions of management—planning, organizing, staffing, directing, and controlling. Topics of such current importance as the cultural and social diversity of the work force, Total Quality Management (TQM), social responsiveness and ethics, and multinational markets and competition are woven throughout the course.

Taking the Lead: The Management Revolution is part of the Business Connection—a series of video-based courses designed to enhance a student's career potential in business. The first phase of the Business Connection consists of courses in business law (Business and the Law, 1989); business math (By the Numbers, 1990); entrepreneurship (Something Ventured, 1991); principles of selling (The Sales Connection, 1992); and, principles of management (Taking the Lead, 1993).

GOALS AND OBJECTIVES

Combining vision with reality, and long-term goals with short-term strategies, each program in the Taking the Lead series will provide viewers with the insight they need to both survive and succeed in the rapidly changing world of business at the beginning of the 21st century.

PROGRAM DESCRIPTIONS

Module I: Introduction to Management

101) Management at Work: The Managerial World
This program introduces the five basic functions of management, and describes the sweeping changes in the business environment which are exerting a staggering impact on management. Also explored is the wide range skills required of managers and the difference in emphasis from one level of management to another.

102) In Transition: Changing, Challenging Environment
The ability for an organization to adapt to the diversity of its workforce and also to realize its responsibility for its social, ethical, and environmental actions, is crucially important. This program focuses on the challenge today's managers have in breaking down barriers of the past and responding effectively to change.

Module II: Planning and Decision Making

103) Setting the Stage: The Planning Process
The multi-faceted Los Angeles Music Center serves as a backdrop for this program which examines the challenges of planning in uncertain environment. Viewers will gain insight into the process of establishing an organization's mission, projecting and analyzing the future, and developing strategies for success.

104) The Game Plan: Strategic-, Business-, Department-Level Planning
The importance of strategic planning is emphasized in this program. Flour, IBM and Apple Computers, and General Dynamics corporations are studied in relation to the strategic approaches they employ, including diversification and the joint venture.

105) Calling the Shots: Decision Making
Sound decision-making is one of the most critical managerial skills. The actual choice made, however, is often only the tip of the iceberg in a larger, more complex process, as is illustrated in case studies of CNN, the Cable News Network, and Mercy Hospital and Medical Center.

Module III: Organizing

106) Putting it Together: The Principles of Organizing
This episode examines the theory of organizational structure and demonstrates that many organizations do not operate according to this neatly defined concept. The case study of Patagonia, a company which produces high quality outdoor clothing, demonstrates how an organization can successfully undergo dramatic structural change as it reacts to the ever-changing business environment.

107) Laying the Groundwork: Organizational Design
Organizational design is analyzed in this program which emphasizes the fact that companies must be willing to make changes in this area in order to remain viable. The broad trend of change from mechanistic organizational designs, which depend on centralized authority and many layers of bureaucracy, to organic designs, which decentralize authority and enable companies to respond to change, is discussed.

108) Running the Show: Influence, Power, and Authority
Managers at Northwest Airlines and CNN share their experiences in relation to influence, power, and authority within their organizational environments. This program shows how changes in sources of power can be linked to changes in levels of employee performance.

109) Heart of the Matter: Organizational Culture and Climate
Corporate culture and corporate climate are defined in this episode and brought to life through an inside look at Patagonia's culture. The evolution of the philosophy of management known at Total Quality Management, or TQM is explored.

110) Shifting Gears: Managing Organizational Change
Change is the focus of this program, specifically the changes that organizations must make to manage success and growth, or conversely, a downturn which necessitates restructuring. Emphasis is placed on the fact that today's measure of most successful companies is no longer their level of stability, but their ability to deal with rapid change.

Module IV: Managing Human Resources

111) Help Wanted: Recruitment and Employee Selection
Explored in this program are the many sources available to organizations for employee recruitment and selection, including employment agencies, educational and local community organizations, and their own pool of existing employees. Also discussed are the host of laws and regulations related to equal employment opportunities, and various approaches to employee compensation and benefits.

112) High Performance: Staff Development/Maintenance
The issues that surround the management of human resources and the challenge they present to managers at all levels of the organizational hierarchy are identified. Companies with high employee expectations must provide continual staff development - from company orientation to training programs to on-going coaching - and do so with the added challenge of an increasingly diverse workforce.

113) Keeping in Touch: Interpersonal Communication
Communication is critical to an organization's survival, be it a small company or a highly complex, global corporation. This episode focuses on several important steps which must be followed in order for effective communications to take place, and examines approaches used at rapidly changing companies like Northwest Airlines, Arthur Andersen, and Solectron.

Module V: Directing

114) All Systems Go: Motivating for Excellence
Of all the challenges facing managers, motivating employees may well be the most psychologically complex. Maslow's theory of the hierarchy of needs is defined in this program; viewers will learn about the successful Four Season Hotel whose highly motivated employees have made a positive impact on this world-renowned chain.

115) Pulling Together: Building Moral and Commitment
Morale — the feeling an employee or employees have about their jobs and the places they work — is the focus of this segment. The effect of certain management styles on morale are explained, and various approaches used by companies, such as Ford Motor Company and Esprit, to bolster employee morale are described.

116) At the Helm: Styles of Leadership
The leaders of the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, Harden Industries, and the Virgin Group of Companies are introduced in this episode to illustrate their different yet effective styles of leadership.

117) Working it Out: Managing Organizational Conflict
Strategies for managing and resolving organizational conflict are the focus of this program. Mercy Hospital and Medical Center's creation of formal councils which facilitate the process of bringing people together in a group setting to work on problems without casting blame, is presented as one way of resolving conflict.

Module VI: Controlling

118) Keeping Track: Management and Control
Discussed in this episode is the recent revolution of the control concept, which has changed from traditional management thinking where control came from the top down to the new way of thinking in which, although managers and technical experts still have special roles, the source of control is essentially everybody. The controlling function of the Santa Anita Racetrack and other companies is studied.

119) It All Adds Up: Financial Methods of Control
Controls affect every facet of company's operations, but they are particularly critical in the area of finance. This program identifies the tools needed to successfully mange financial resources and provides the viewer an inside look at the complexity of maintaining effective control at the Santa Anita Racetrack.

120) Taking Stock: Production/Operations Management
Organizational success depends upon efficient management of operations. Various methods developed to improve operations are explored here, including the technique of involving and listening to customers as used at the Rutherford Hill Winery.

121) Point of Information: Information Systems Management
The focus of this program is on management information systems, or m.i.s. The best information systems can reduce waste and vastly improve overall efficiency, but the task of implementing a system that will satisfy an organization's specific needs is a complex and challenging one. Apple Computers and Arthur Anderson and Company are studied with respect to m.i.s.

Module VII: Competitive Management

122) Above and Beyond: Managing for Productivity
The complex process of managing for productivity is analyzed. Two companies are studied here: Domaine Chandon, the sparkling wine producer, and the Ford Motor Company, whose production system was revolutionized in the early 1980's upon the implementation of Deming's management principles.

123) World of Opportunity: Management in a Global Environment
The exponential growth of international trade and investment in recent decades has spurred broad political, cultural and economic changes around the world. Emphasis of this episode, is on the efforts managers must make in dealing with the cultural diversity of different nations, and the flexibility needed to keep an organization running most effectively.

Module VIII: Management and the Individual

124) The Right Fit: The Individual and the Organization
The relationship of the employee and the organization is examined, especially the importance of finding close matches between employee values and goals and those of the organization. Cultivation of employee capabilities can be accomplished through a variety of methods, as shown circuit board producer Solectron's mentoring system, the Four Seasons Hotel management development reviews and the flexible, nurturing environment provided at Apple Computers.

125) Making Choices: Managerial Ethics
This program looks at the sensitive issue of business ethics and the challenging management issues which tend to occur in virtually all firms. These include affirmative action and other hiring policies, promotion, unfair termination, employee privacy, and the way in which businesses deal with other countries in the global economic arena.

126) For the Common Good: Social Responsibility & Management
Since the 1960's, the consumers have become increasingly vocal in their demands for more socially responsible corporate behavior. This program takes a look at how companies can successfully integrate social responsibility with profit, and spotlights two pioneer companies in this area: clothing manufacturers Patagonia and Esprit.