Week One

Week One: Getting started, Principles of Management and Generation Y

**Part 1

Part 1 A- 30 minutes (20 minutes essay; 10 minutes Discussion Forum)**

I have developed an outline of 6 topics to cover over the next 2 months. This will form a basic framework, but can change. I can change it to reflect your concerns, experiences and areas of interest.

You have already studied management as part of this course. I have translated the topics you covered as:

 Managing in business
 Dymanising the collective
 Assuming responsibility
 The act of management

Please write me a short essay (100-300 words) and email me when you have finished it at rf.gesei|sbbig.b#rf.gesei|sbbig.b . Please cover:

 What you learnt
 What you found interesting or useful

Please also tell me:

 About any management experience you have had
 Whether you have any management experiences in your current role
 If there are any particular areas of management theory or practice which you are interested in

Part1 B- 30 minutes (20 minutes essay; 10 minutes Discussion Forum)

To start with I have 5 questions for you. Please answer these in writing (100-300 words in total) and email your answers to me when you have finished them to rf.gesei|sbbig.b#rf.gesei|sbbig.b

 What is management?
 What is a manager?
 What does a manager do?
 What makes a good manager?
 What are the key management skills?

Part**2 Management and Generation Y

Part 2 A- 45 mins (45 minutes to listen to podcast, read articles and write essay; 15 minutes Discussion Forum)**
Generation Y is a term used to describe people born between c1985-c2005. Many commentators have suggested that members of Generation Y (Gen Yers) should be managed differently from older workers.

Personnel Today magazine has a set of articles, some case studies and a quiz all related to Generation Y which are available on line. The American Management Association also publish resources on the internet.

I have included a podcast and two articles in this section. Please listen to the podcast and read the two articles

Managing Generation Y
http://www.amanet.org/training/podcasts/7117.aspx#blank

What do business leaders need to know about Generation Y to Lead successfully
http://www.amanet.org/training/articles/What-Do-Leaders-Need-to-Know-About-Generation-Y-to-Lead-Successfully.aspx

Debunking the Myths about Generation Y
http://www.personneltoday.com/articles/2008/09/14/47166/debunking-the-myths-about-generation-y.html

Please write me a short essay (200-400 words) and email me when you have finished them to rf.gesei|sbbig.b#rf.gesei|sbbig.b . Please cover:

 Do you think that younger people (the under 25s) should be managed differently from older people?
 What ideas/ points in the podcast/ articles do you agree with?
 What do you disagree with?
 What do you want from your manager?
 How do you think you should be managed?

The theory behind this weeks work
In the first part of this session, I want to look at what you think about management at this point in time. We will look at how managers describe what they do, or what they would like others to think they do i.e. the espoused theory

Search “theories-in-action”, “theory in use” and “espoused theory”

I would also like to start looking at two other ideas:

 Reflective Practice
 Communities of Practice

Reflective practice can be understood as an approach which promotes autonomous learning that aims to develop understanding and critical thinking skills. It is has been defined as "learning to learn, or the development of learning power, is getting better at knowing when, how and what to do when you don't know what to do". The term 'reflective practitioners' is often used to refer to professionals, such as managers who are engaged in some kind of activity which they can use to reflect on their strengths, weaknesses and areas for development.

Search “reflective practitioner”, reflective practice. The material below relates to the supervision of students on work placements which you may find useful and relevant.

http://www.practicebasedlearning.org/resources/materials/docs/Reflection%20Work%20Based%20Supervisors/page_04.htm

A community of practice is a group of people with is basis in a shared interest or in order to develop their knowledge of a subject or field.

Search “community of practice” or visit http://www.ewenger.com/theory/

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