2. Ask and answer the questions. Work in pairs.

3. Learn the unknown words.

4. Read and translate (the first two paragraphs in writing).

More about managers

Managers are problem solvers. They achieve results through persistence, tolerance, and good will – these useful traits in large conservative organisations. They achieve their goals through a cautious process of trail and error.

Managers strive to protect the existing order of affairs. They identify with status quo. Strengthening existing institutions heightens their self-worth.

Managers fear uncertainty. They prefer to manipulate co-workers and to use established policies to reach organisational goals. Managers are more concerned with processes that achieve results than with the results themselves.

Managers focus on the organisation’s goals. They are driven by a need to conform rather than desire to change existing systems. They are passive individuals whose goals are shaped by their organisation’s history and culture.

Manager relate to people according to their job titles and social status. They are more concerned with people’s roles in a process than with their needs.

Manager’s authority stem from their positions. Managers are supervisors, department heads, and administrators.

Words

persistence	- упорство, настойчивость
tolerance	- терпимость
feature	- черта
cautious	- осторожный
trial and error	- пробы и ошибки
to strive	- стремиться
to identify	- отождествлять/ся
to stem from	- происходить из
to fear	- бояться
uncertainty	- неопределенность
to be concerned with	- быть озабоченным, обеспокоенным чем-то
to be driven (guided) by	- руководствоваться
to conform	- соответствовать
to relate to	- относиться к
to supervise	- контролировать, осуществлять надзор/ наблюдение

Questions

1. What do managers fear?

2. What do they prefer to do to reach organisational goals?

3. Do managers strive to protect the existing order or do they try to change it?

4. In what way do managers achieve their goals?

5. What do managers focus on?

6. Are managers driven by the desire to conform existing systems or are they guided by the wish to change them?

7. How do managers relate to people?

8. What does managers’ authority stem from?

9. What functions do managers perform?

Additional text

Tasks: 1. Read the text.

2. Single out the principal points (ideas). Discuss them.

It’s a well-known fact that managers have to make decisions practically every day. It’s also true that decisions are made at various levels of an organisation all the time. In other words, decision-making is an important and integral part of managerial work.

Decision-making is considered to be a rational process in which a choice is made on the basis of the known facts. But it is not limited to this. Decision-making is a social process, and it requires that managers should not only solve problems, but also find and formulate them. To make effective decisions, managers must be able to understand the various components of the problem which faces them. This is not easy because the great amount of work often prevents managers from planning a course of actions. However, they can control their activities through planning their time.

Time is very important factor in managerial performance. How the manager spends his time while in office, has a great impact on the performance of his duties. Moreover, the time-plan can show which decisions the manager make by himself and which decisions will be made by other people and presented to him for approval. The time-plan can help the manager to determine the time-limit for each item of his day’s business activities.

Increasing managerial effectiveness requires not only time planning by the manager, but also his ability to make operative correction in the time-plan in a constantly changing situation. Moreover, the manager should not deviate from day’s business activities plan and should ensure its fulfillment.

Increasing Managerial

Effectiveness. N Hill, N.Y.