Handbook

The organisations we work in are rich and complex entities in which many interactions, relationships and processes are played out every day. The complexity of these elements often poses challenges in understanding and management.

Managing People and Organisations (MPO) is focused on managers who manage people – some you manage formally, such as your subordinates, and others informally, such as your peers and bosses. Central to the course is the characterisation and discussion of everyday functions and roles in which managers take part. These include sense-making, decision-making, leading, motivating, planning, organising, mentoring, monitoring and influencing. We also address the context in which managers function and examine the effect of current issues they face. These include an increased emphasis on entrepreneurship; managing with social responsibility and the role of ethics; leading diverse, equitable and inclusive teams, and managing in a global environment. Each Unit in this course covers a topic that contributes to your undertaking these managerial roles more effectively so that you can become a better manager of yourself, others, teams and organisations.

In this course, we will ask you to test your understanding of the concepts that we introduce by examining your working life. This could involve analysing your actions, the actions of others, processes that occur within your organisation and key organisational elements. You can use these activities to evaluate the concepts by asking yourself:

• how useful is this idea to me?
• how can I modify this idea in light of my own experiences?
• how can I apply this idea to my own organisation?

MPO will introduce you to some of the key concepts, issues and debates in management, offering a glimpse into various topics that could individually constitute full courses. It is intended to serve as a foundation for your understanding of management and managing others, marking the beginning of your learning journey rather than its conclusion.