Job opportunities are awarded to the most qualified candidates after a series of thorough grilling and assessment, which calls for enough preparation. The interviewer must be sure that you understand what the job requires and have all it takes to execute future tasks successfully.
With that said, you must have a good grasp of management principles if interested in a management position. This article looks at some of the most asked questions in such interviews to give you an upper hand in your interview.
We have crafted helpful responses to guide you on how to answer these questions. Let’s dive right into it!
Management basically refers to the engaging of people to get things done. More specifically, it is the coordination and administration of tasks geared towards achieving a given goal. For successful management, those responsible must undertake strategic planning and coordinate staff effort.
Fundamental management involves controlling, directing, staffing, planning and organizing. Managers should therefore apply these fundamental management functions to succeed in their roles.
It is a theory of management that advocates for the use of a variety of quantitative techniques to maximize resources in a company or business setting. It is an upscale of the scientific management theory and involves quantitative management, total quality management, management information systems and operations management.
The study of management theories has opened me up to management. It has given me a chance to utilize the experience of pioneers in my day-to-day operations and come up with a unified global theory of management.
Management by objectives ensures improved performance since everyone is focused on the given objectives. Employees are also motivated, given that they become part of the goal-setting process. It also dictates that the objectives are clearly set, thus saving employees from applying unnecessary effort. Lastly, this style of management allows managers to have better control of their employees.
Planning is a detailed process, which includes peering into the future and coming up with a horde of alternative courses of action. Managers must consider the business missions and objectives and develop ways through which they can meet them. During planning, managers identify and select goals while weighing and settling on efficient courses of action.
Planning plays an important role in organizations. It helps determine direction, minimize wastage and facilitate proper decision making. It also boosts the general morale of the employees as well as offer a foundation for teamwork. This explains why every project or business idea must have a plan before commencement.
The informal organization has its fair share of advantages. It guarantees a faster and smoother flow of communication as compared to formal channels. It further completes many tasks that the formal organization cannot accomplish.
This type of organization also fosters a good relationship between people, thus enhancing cooperation. Employees are normally satisfied with their jobs, as it confers status and fosters personal attachment to workers.
Motivation is the process needed to achieve a given end result, which is satisfaction. Motivation involves inspiring the workers to accomplish the set objectives, whereas satisfaction results from this accomplishment. Motivation ensures that higher levels of productivity are maintained, whereas satisfaction initiates behavioural change. Also, satisfied employees are normally motivated for the next roles.
Centralization vests authority on a few individuals. Power is not, therefore, evenly shared across the organization. These few selected individuals are usually the top managers or board of directors responsible for decision making.
Decentralization champions for the sharing of authority. It gives members of an organization a given amount of freedom depending on their positions in the organization. It also ensures that they participate in decision making.
Strategic planning has its fair share of advantages in the business setting. It ensures that an organization is proactive instead of reactive. It also sets up a sense of direction for the entire business and the employees, thus increasing operational efficiency.
As a result, the business will increase its market share and be more profitable. Lastly, this type of planning can make the business more durable as it gives it a strong focus, foresight and foundation needed to survive rapid changes.
Planning is to visualize the future and make decisions based on what you see. It is a fundamental management function that has to be done to execute a given project successfully. However, while planning, managers are guided by several steps.
First, they must be aware of the opportunity before establishing the goals and objectives and considering the planning premises. This is followed by identifying and evaluating the practical alternatives. Managers should then select the best alternatives and make supportive plans before numbering them. All these steps are necessary and should not be skipped or substituted.
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The basic control process falls under the control function of management and plays an important role in business management. It involves four steps, with the first being establishing standards and methods for performance measurement.
The second step is the actual performance, which is then measured using the established standards. It is then established whether the performance matches the standard by comparing the actual performance value with the set standards. The last step is taking corrective action.
It aids in project scheduling, which is creating a timeline of the tasks, deliverables and milestones of a project for successful execution and measuring of success. It also helps in linear programming, coming up with simulation models, optimization functions, and problems assignment. All these are aimed towards enhanced productivity.
The fourteen principles of management are:
(You can expound more on this. However, mention them if told to. Just make sure that you do not stutter or break a sweat)
Preventive controls are implemented in anticipation of a threat to reduce the likelihood or potential impact in its occurrence. It has three main principles: The management fundamentals are utilized, managers’ performance is also evaluated, and the professional managers commit minimum errors.
Preventive Control brings with it its fair share of advantages. It acts as a basis for managerial training since it allows the uncovering of managers’ deficiencies via manager evaluation. The top management can therefore come up with programs for management training owing to these results.
It also encourages self-control. Managers understand that any of their deficiencies will be uncovered during their evaluation and therefore become more responsible. It lessens the managerial burden as it prevents the occurrence of deviations.
Lastly, it fosters better superior-subordinate relationships as everybody in different levels of management understand what is expected of them in terms of performance.
There are several methods of conflict resolution depending on the situation. Some of the most common are compromise, problem-solving, smoothing, withdrawals and use of appropriate authority. However, some circumstances may call for more detailed means such as altering the structural or human variable, coming up with superordinate goals and expanding resources. Even though most of these methods can be used in various situations, some only come in handy in specific events.
Planning is done at different parts of the business, and therefore, there exist several types of plans. These are the budget, programs and projects, strategies, goals and objectives, policies, procedures, missions and purposes. (Any decision made and captured in writing based on a certain desired end result can be considered a plan)
It is a principle of management that details the reporting relationship between a superior and a subordinate. It directs that the subordinate only has one superior, who reports to another superior and forms a sort of hierarchy.
Out of all the types of budgets that a business can come up with, the master budget, operating budget, flexible budget and zero-based budget are the most common.
A selection test is done to assess whether a given candidate can perform tasks captured in the job description. It is in line with staffing, which is one of the fundamental functions of management. Some of the common tests are the achievement test, interest test, aptitude test, personality test and intelligence test.
The main difference between these two sets of people lies in their relationship with the achievement of the goals of an organization. Line people are directly related to achieving these goals, whereas staff people have an indirect relation.
Organizational change is the alteration or modification of a major component of a business organization. This can either be its culture, infrastructure, internal processes or the underlying technologies. This is normally inspired by the competition, different industrial changes, customer preferences or even the need to boost productivity.
It generally results in improved employee well being and improved organizational efficiency.
Organizations train their employees to enhance not only their skills but also their abilities. Given that this is a continuous process, there exist two main types. These are on the job training, which happens as the employee goes about his/her roles and off the job training, done at specific times outside the normal job description.
Some of the common sources of conflict are status relationship, organizational policy, responsibility and authority.
These are some of the most asked principles of management questions in job interviews. Ensure that you have the right answers before attending a management interview. We wish you all the best.
