Types of Information Needed by Managers

 

Managers require a wide variety of information. Functional information —about marketing, production, finance, and personnel, timely information about inventories, schedules, materials and labor costs, and the maintenance and serviceability of machines and equipment. "Information provides the substance for coordinating every aspect of the management process";.

Top-level managers need information on economic conditions, competitors, legal and political developments, technological innovations, customers' needs for and acceptance of the company's products and services. Middle managers need information about sales, costs, production output and so on. Lower-level managers need information about daily, weekly, and monthly activities. The sales manager needs to know how the salespeople are spending their time. The need for new information grows and the organization must find the ways to gathers it.

Managers must have suitable quality information which will allow them to make decisions, solve problems, and carry out their functions effectively and efficiently. Managers must have past, present and future information from within and outside the organization.

Information helps managers to plan, organize, staff, direct, and control both resources and operations. Information helps to solve real and potential problems. And information gives managers the data they will need to do future research and to make future plans, both strategic and operational.

 

 

Assignments:

I. Read and translate the text.

II. Remember the words from the text:

to require – приказывать; требовать, нуждаться

variety - разнообразие, многосторонность,

finance - (pl.) финансы, доходы

personnel - 1. персонал, штат, кадры; 2. личный состав

schedules - планы; расписание; график; таблица

maintenance - 1. содержание, сохранение; 2.поддержание; 3. эксплуатация; эксплуатационные расходы (включая текущий ремонт)

serviceability - надежность, прочность;

equipment - оборудование, техника

substance - 1. сущность, содержание; 2. реальность, действительность;

competitor - конкурент, соперник

innovation - нововведение, новшество, новаторство, инновация

acceptance - 1. принятие; 2. одобрение;

to gather - cобирать

suitable a - подходящий, соответствующий, годный;

effectively - эффективно, действительно

efficiently - умело, квалифицированно, действенно, эффективно;

to solve - решать, разрешать;

to carry out - выполнять, совершать, завершать;

to staff - укомплектовывать штаты, обеспечивать персоналом;

the data (pl.от datum) - данные, факты, информация

strategic - стратегический

operational - оперативный

 

III. Questions to the text:

Do you think that managers require a wide variety of information?

What types of information do managers need?

Do you consider top-level managers being well-informed on economic conditions?

Is it important for managers to know customer´s need?

What information is very important for middle-level managers?

Do middle-level managers need information about daily, weekly and monthly activities?

Does the need for new information grow constantly?

Is it difficult for organizations to gather new information?

Will suitable quality information help managers to make decisions?

What job does information help managers to do?

 

IV. Find all possible synonyms to the next words:

to gather; to carry out; the data; staff;

 

V. Form all possible new words using one root. Translate all the words into Russian:

to require; to compete; to accept; to operate; to manage; to organize; to direct;

 

VI. Give Russian equivalents to the following expressions:

a wide variety of information; the maintenance and serviceability of machines and equipment; the management process; the substance for coordinating; technological innovations; acceptance of the company´s products and services; production output;

the ways to gather information; suitable quality information; to make decisions and solve problems; to carry out functions; effectively and efficiently; from within and outside the organization; resources and operations; potential problems;

 

VII. How do you understand the meaning of the following phrases? Try to explain in your own words:

Top-level manager;

Middle-level manager;

Lower-level manager;

VIII. Imagine that you are a manager (choose any level of manager you like) of organization, firm, corporations etc. You need to gather some information about opposite organization, firm, corporations etc.

Speak on:

Your own methods of gathering information.

Places where it is possible for you to search for information.

Your point of view on types of information that will help you to manage the organization that very moment.