Introduction to Management (Reflective Journal)

• First day of lecture: What do you expect to learn in Introduction to Management module?
• After 12 weeks: What are your feelings regarding the module? Is it important for working life?

Management can be defined as the organization and coordination of the activities of a business in order to achieve defined objectives and goals. Since I never had the opportunity to take up Introduction to Management during my foundation, I have the privilege to do so in my first year of undergraduate studies at Taylor’s University. However, I did have an idea of what Management was about since I studied Commerce during my high school years in which few concepts of Management was briefly covered in Bahasa Melayu.

After the first lecture, I was expecting to learn that Introduction to Management was all about the management functions, roles and management theories. During the first lecture I learnt about the importance of managers in an organization and their roles, skills and responsibilities. The first topic was relatively easy to understand and comprehend. However, questioned the importance of learning management and the field that I intend to pursue is Accounting. Sooner or later, I realize that it is important to understand how an organization is managed in order to be a productive employee.

The following lectures I learnt a number of topics, ranging from management history and the approaches people have used in management, to how business environment and culture affects decisions made by management. After these several informative lectures, I was able to learn from blunders and mistakes made by management before and avoid them. I also learnt to use management approaches which are more aligned to the culture of the organization in order to ensure smoother and efficient management of the business.

Besides that, I also learnt about organizational structure and design. Learning this topic helped me to realize that choosing a structure based on the size and type of business is important because each business is different and unique in its own way. Motivation of employees was also another topic which I learnt and captured my interest. In this topic, I learnt that managers are responsible to motivate employees in order to obtain the best outcome and productiveness from employees. Hence, the various motivational theories which were covered during the lectures and tutorials would help me to further get an idea on how to motivate employees in an organization. Leadership is also another very essential topic which I learnt as the various leadership theories and views would give me guidance on which leadership approach to take when dealing with different employees. Another important topic which is planning was fruitful because planning would ensure better control of the business activities and helps in accomplishing business goals and strategies.

After 12 weeks, I feel that learning this module has benefited me because it acts as guidance for me on how to work in various places with different types of people. In addition, I'm also able to identify the needs that I need to fulfill before I proceed to the next level of needs. For example, according to the Maslow's hierarchy of needs I know that I need to achieve the physiological needs before fulfilling the social needs or esteem needs. Furthermore, it will also be an advantage for having the knowledge on how to manage a company as it could come in handy if I am planning to set up a business of my own in the future. I might know how to manage my business efficiently and effectively with the appropriate ways of management. In a nutshell, I believed that a person with the knowledge and skills of management are more capable in handling people, their welfare and the organization as a whole better.