Leadership & Change Management with Theory U @ ELIAS: Creating a global innovation eco-system

ELIAS: CREATING A GLOBAL INNOVATION ECO SYSTEM

www.ELIAS-GLOBAL.com

ELIAS (Emerging Leaders for Innovation Across Sectors) is a network of twenty global business, government, and civic organizations dedicated to finding productive solutions to the most confounding dilemmas of our time. Each member is a powerhouse in its realm—BASF, BP, Oxfam, Nissan, the Society for Organizational Learning, Unilever, the UN Global Compact, UNICEF, the World Bank Institute, and the World Wildlife Fund, among others.

Together ELIAS members are examining problems by combining systems thinking, deepened personal awareness, and listening skills with hands-on prototyping in order to develop and test new cross-sector approaches to some of today’s most difficult challenges.

The ELIAS pilot program convened a group of 25 high-potential leaders from these organizations and sent them on an intensive learning journey that included training in leadership capacity building and hands-on systems innovation.

After shadowing each other in their work environments (each fellow spent several days in the life of one or more peers in another business sector), the group travelled to China in the fall of 2006, where they engaged in discussions with Chinese thought leaders, consulted with sustainability engineers, journeyed to rural China to observe emerging challenges, and capped the trip with a week of contemplative retreat.

• One of the prototyping projects developed by the ELIAS pilot group is the Sunbelt team, which is exploring methods for bringing solar- and wind generated power to marginalized communities, especially in the global South. This decentralized, distributive, democratic model would significantly reduce CO2 emissions and foster economic growth and well-being in rural communities.

• Another team is testing alternative energy resources, such as the indigenous development of renewable and hybrid sources of power for the Chinese automotive industry.

• An Africa-based team is testing mobile community-based life education as a way to uproot the HIV/AIDS pandemic.

• An ELIAS fellow from the Indonesian Ministry of Trade applied the U process to government policies for sustainable sugar production in Indonesia. His idea was to involve all key stakeholders in the policymaking process.

The results were stunning: for the first time ever the Ministry’s policies did not result in violent protests or riots by farmers or other key stakeholders in the value chain.

Now, the same approach is being applied to other commodities and to standards for sustainable production. The Indonesia-based ELIAS team plans to launch a country version of the ELIAS cross-sector innovation platform in early 2008 that will focus on the severe flooding problems in Jakarta.

• A Brazil-based team is focused on integrating the whole demand-and supply chain for organic agricultural products. They are creating infrastructures, raising awareness, and building skills and support networks of small farmers using organic agricultural methods.

The goals include improving contractual fairness and creating a transparency that allows the entire value chain, from the farmers to the consumers, to see one another, connect, and co-evolve.

The ELIAS team from Brazil also intends to launch a country version of the ELIAS innovation platform in Brazil in 2008.

• In the Philippines, one ELIAS fellow of Unilever teamed up with former colleagues who now work in the NGO sector to form a venture (MicroVentures) that advises and finances women micro-entrepreneurs in the Philippines by leveraging the Unilever business and its network at the community level. What started as an idea by a few people two years ago has turned into a vibrant and rapidly evolving global network of changemakers and prototyping projects.

In addition to company-city- and country-specific projects and programs, ELIAS fellows have developed a global ecology of prototyping initiatives and an alumni network of high-potential leaders in some of the most innovative institutions in business, government, and the NGO sector.

Together, this global network hopes to use a web of activities develop the capacity to respond to some of the key challenges of our time in truly innovative ways (Field 4 responses).

Other outcomes of participation in the ELIAS program include:

1. Prototypes of cross-sector innovation that address that shared challenges of

• creating value for the triple bottom line—the environment, society, and the

• economy—with the ultimate goal of advancing global sustainability

• A steadily growing network of leaders from the public, private, and civic sectors

• that will enhance and accelerate the benefits to individual members

• Information and ideas for innovative solutions to individual members’

• challenges

• An enhanced capacity among leaders to deal with the complexity of    

globalization

• and sustainable development through practical innovations.

We, at MANAGEMENT INNOVATIONS offer curated courses and consulting services on Theory U and Leadership from the Emerging Future from the commitment to alter the consciousness with which organizations, society and leadership operate.

One of our Leadership and Change Management workshops offered for senior leadership teams and entrepreneurs globally is *Leadership from the Emerging Future* a 3 month video conference based workshop series. We have had participation from 28 industries and 8 countries till now.

http://bit.ly/LFEFCohort12

Our Cohort 12 starts from 24th February 2020.

For more information contact manoj@managementinnovations.co.in; 91-9106456275

Why Leadership Education needs to change?

To bring different results on the planet, we need different leadership. Actually we need a different leadership paradigm.

Shifting from Past based to based on sensing and actualizing the higher future possibilities.

Shifting from EGO to ECO. From thinking of some people, some interest groups to thinking of one and all – holistic, all inclusive.

Shifting from the economy of ignorance, hate and fear to economy of curiosity, compassion and courage.

Shifting from leadership as an individual phenomenon to leadership as a collective capacity to sense and actualize the higher future possibility. The world of co-creation.

We would like to discuss further with various stakeholders in the area of leadership and management development in institutions and organizations world wide.

Thanks Manoj Onkar Email: manoj@managementinnovations.co.in

Creating 21st Century University – Transforming Higher Education, Management & Leadership Development

• Why higher education needs to change?
• Education needs to prepare people aware of the current world challenges and be able to bring new perspectives to address the current world.
• Also education needs to help people develop themselves for sensing the future and actualizing the highest future possibility.

Current Reality

What are the key points for transforming education?

1. Build Vertical Literacy
2. Learning as kindling of the flame
3. Action Learning: Shift the outer place of Learning. Learning by doing.
4. Whole Person Learning: Shift the inner place of Learning.
5. Ecosystem Leadership: Building Capacity from me to we
6. Self Knowledge – Know Thyself
7. Systems Thinking – Make the system see itself
8. Social Arts and Aesthetics – Make the system sense itself
9. Science 2.0: Observe the Observer (Self)
10. Tech 2.0: Create awareness based social technologies
11. Democratize – Build infrastructure for deep learning @ Scale
12. Third and Fourth Teacher : Place and Social Fields

Leadership and Change Management with Theory U @ HP

HEWLETT PACKARD

As part of the work done by Dr. Otto Scharmer and team, among many global organizations, HP has applied Theory U in change efforts within its digital photography business portfolio, focusing on improving the customer experience and cross-category business strategies.

In 2005, HP launched an effort to improve the value of its digital photography products and services by designing compelling customer experiences across its broad portfolio.

Although originally designed to focus on customer experiences, interviews with executives revealed that delivering satisfying customer experiences would require substantial cross-category and cross-value chain strategy development and
alignment.

 A more holistic change effort was then developed and launched, consisting of four tracks:

(1) an Executive Leadership track to address executive learning and leadership, including management of portfolio objectives and leading interdependent cross-business programs;

(2) an Experience Design Operating Model to address governance, decision-making, collaboration, and lifecycle processes;

(3) an Experience Design track to develop the design capabilities and capacity required to meet business goals; and

(4) an Organizational Development track to grow the broader organizational culture in support of the previous three tracks.

In the Executive Leadership track, an initial workshop established a common ground perspective of the digital photography opportunities and challenges.

This workshop also established a learning agenda that served as the foundation for executive learning journeys.

Based on the initial positive results of the digital photography effort, HP is now pursuing a broader use of Theory U in change efforts in its Imaging and Printing Group.

Excerpt from https://www.presencing.org/assets/images/theory-u/Theory_U_Exec_Summary.pdf

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We offer training and consulting interventions customized to organizational perspectives.

Our open workshops have been a great opportunity to get introduced to the power of Theory U and Leadership from the Emerging Future.

The video conference based workshops allow people to participate in this world class leadership and change management opportunity from anywhere in the world.

http://bit.ly/LFEFCohort12

For more information contact Manoj Onkar – 9106456275; manoj@managementinnovations.co.in

Leadership and Change Management with Theory U@ German Healthcare Network

Excerpt from https://www.presencing.org/assets/images/theory-u/Theory_U_Exec_Summary.pdf

Multi-stakeholder Innovation
TRANSFORMING A REGIONAL HEALTHCARE SYSTEM IN GERMANY

In a rural area of approximately 300,000 inhabitants near Frankfurt, Germany, a network of physicians applied the U process in several ways, including in a patient-physician dialogue forum.

When negotiations between the physicians’ network and the insurance company stalled, the core group of physicians invited other physicians and their patients to a one-day meeting designed around the U process.

In preparation for the meeting, a group of students trained in dialogue interviews spoke with 130 patients and their physicians. Then they invited
all of the interviewees to a feedback session, which 100 of them attended.

During this event and afterward, the patients and physicians moved from politeness and debate to real dialogue and thinking together.

The initiatives formed or crystallized during this day had a profound impact on the region.

One group proposed a standard format for transferring information between hospitals and outside physicians and has since opened an office for the outside physicians at the largest hospital in the region. It is jointly run by the clinic and residential physicians and works to improve critical interface between the two.

The group also prototyped and then institutionalized a new program that provides better emergency care for patients, incorporates cross-institutional cooperation, and costs less.

As a result, factor 4 cost savings have been realized, and patient complaints in that region have decreased to almost zero.

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We offer curated courses on leadership and change management for corporates, government and not for profit organizations.

We also offer in person and video conference based live workshops.

Our next batch is scheduled to start in Feb. 2020 http://bit.ly/LFEFCohort12

Leadership and Change Management with Theory U @ Royal Dutch Shell

ROYAL DUTCH  SHELL

Shell has applied some key elements of Theory U in change efforts at Shell EP Europe. In 2005 the organization was experiencing significant problems getting its new Plant Maintenance process to work.

One site, a gas plant in the Netherlands, with about 60 staff members, was selected to be the pilot site for diagnosing what was going on.

Interviews with Shell staff revealed that the problems in the organization,
while being attributed to new SAP software, were more likely symptoms of the way people were working together.
The rich material gained from the interviews allowed a team of internal consultants to develop a number of “what’s in it for me?” propositions as a way of tapping into people’s feelings. The propositions, in the form of cartoons, were used in two small focus groups of six or seven people to help Shell staff visualize a different future.

In the focus group dialogues, Shell employees were able to express some of their deeper feelings about working at the plant and about SAP. They expressed a desire for less conflict during the workday, and they welcomed ideas for a new approach to organizational effectiveness.

Instead of seeking any specific business targets, the team sought to create a better environment for learning, innovation, and change. The results of that approach proved to be powerful and sustainable.

Says Jurry Swart of Shell: “After a couple of months we saw the output KPI’s [key performance indicators] of the process improving.

Furthermore, we saw a cultural change in the whole organization, from being negative and skeptical to one of inquiry and keenness to move forward. A survey of the Shell participants revealed greater motivation and reduced frustration at the gas plant site.”

Excerpt from https://www.presencing.org/assets/images/theory-u/Theory_U_Exec_Summary.pdf

http://bit.ly/LFEFCohort12 – Our Curated Course for Leaders and Entrepreneurs

Leading in the Changing Economic Context

While management is about “Getting things done’, Leadership is about creating and cultivating the larger context – the fertile common ground and soil in which things can happen.

Initially, business leaders embraced a directive approach i.e. command and control. Leaders setting the agenda and objectives designed to mobilize and guide the whole company.

In the complex environment, that doesn’t work too well – How can you command and control when the most important goals, objectives, issues and opportunities are not known up front but tend to emerge over time?

As a response to the above challenge, leaders started to balance setting goals and direction while increasing people participation across the organization.

Now we are in the third phase.

Blank Canvas

This phase is concerned with creating the conditions that inspire people, teams and networks to operate from a ‘different place’. In this era, organizations can achieve peak performance by creating conditions that all them to unleash the power of their people – not leading them, not managing them, but by co-inspiring them.

For high performance organizations to evolve, leaders have to extend their focus of attention from processes to using the “blank canvas” dimensions of leadership.

They must help people access their sources of inspiration, intuition and imagination. Like an artist standing in front of the blank canvas, leaders must develop a capacity to shift their organization so that its members can sense and articulate emerging futures, both individually and collectively.

The Changing  Economic Context
	Goods	Services	Innovation
Focus of Value Creation	Make standardised products	Deliver customized services	Stage and co-create personalized experiences
Customer as	Target for Mass Marketing	Target for Mass Customization	Partner for Co-Creation
Economics	Economies of Scale	Economies of Scope	Economies of Presencing
Organizational Model	Functional,	Divisional,	Networked,
	Single Sphere: Mass Production	Two Spheres: Production, Customer Interface	Three Spheres: Production, Customer Interface, Innovation
Location of Entrepreneurial Impulse	Centre of one’s own organization (Product Focus)	Periphery of one’s own organization (Customer focus)	Surrounding sphere of one’s own organization (co-creation focus)
Relationship Logic with Customers	PUSH ( Product driven)	PULL ( Service driven)	PRESENCE (Co-creation driven)
Managerial Mindset	The world is as it is.                      Self = Onlooker	The world evolves as people interact. Self = Participant	The world arises as we choose to attend. Self = Source of Co-creation

Above table from the book Theory U by MIT Prof. Dr. Otto Scharmer point that, today, most organizations are not one, but three. Three spheres are Production, Customer Interface and Innovation.

And each of their 3 spheres functions according to a different set of principles.

In Production, the primary principle is Economies of Scale.

In Customer Interface, the primary principle is Economies of Scope.

For Innovation, it is Economies of Presencing; that is, the capacity to sense and shape emerging future possibilities.

To see these patterns accurately, one must look beyond a single organization and begin to see larger economic contexts in which companies co-evolve.

As companies evolve into this next stage, they begin to see the increased need to develop their presence based relational skills.

In order to deal with with disruptive stakeholder situations, managers must be able to tap into their inner sources of creativity and operate from the ECO context – not just individually but as part of a larger organizational field.

They must learn to function within emerging complexity.

The above articles in an excerpt from the book Theory U.

We offer organizations workshops and consulting interventions to help them transform their leadership and build organizations ready to thrive in the VUCA world.

Our introductory workshop both online and in-person can kick start the journey for the organizational leadership team.

Check out: http://bit.ly/LFEFCohort12 – information about our batch starting from Feb. 2020. Thanks Manoj:manoj@managementinnovations.co.in

Special Workshop for Entrepreneurs and Leaders : Leadership & Change Management

http://bit.ly/LFEFCohort12

Ignorance -> Hate -> Fear

The mass hysteria of CAA, Brexit, Trump and a World of Absencing/De-sensing …

Absencing by Dr. Otto Scharmer

Also visible in Organizations, Communities and families.

Everyone speaking – no one really listening. Deep Listening.

Stuck in the absencing shown above and in inverted U below, instead of the bottom U of Presencing

Presencing (Creation) Vs Absencing (Destruction) by Dr. Otto Scharmer

Economies of Destruction: Social Pathology

We are stuck in downloading. Downloading is when instead of seeing what is happening out in the world, really, we are listening to our default world of opinions and judgements. Ofcourse, when we are listening to the our opinions and judgements, we will ongoingly reinforce our opinions and judgement.

That leads to Blinding. Getting stuck in One Truth and One View. And ofcourse, each one of us is 100% clear that our Truth and our View is the only valid Truth/ View.

The next phase is Denial of validity of everyone else which ultimately leads to labelling and De-Sensing. That is the phase of groupism. US vs THEM. And ofcourse the US is always right and the THEM is always wrong.

The continual Blinding, Denial and De-Sensing leads to Getting Stuck in One Will (My/Our Will) and begin to manipulate, abuse and destory every other possibility.

This is the cycle of IGNORANCE –-> HATE –> FEAR.

But there is a way out.

Social Presencing:

Human Beings have the ability, less used ability, but, there nevertheless of causing a new paradigm, a new reality.

It begins with LISTENING. Deep Listening.

Noticing our Voice of opinions and judgements, suspending them and listening for facts. Seeing the world – what is really happening instead of what we strongly believe is happening.

Instead of de-sensing, we stepping out of our world view for a moment, and seeing the world from other’s perspective. Redirecting our Cynicism and Opening our Heart to seeing the world from other’s eyes.

And most importantly, noticing our Voice of Fear and seeing how it gets us stuck in the past and fixed ways of being. Letting go of the past and allowing new futures to emerge.

This is the new kind of leadership required in the Chaos of the current times. In society and in organizations.

This is the kind of leaderships that we all, not some, all of us, are called upon to provide.

Open Mind (Curiosity) —> Open Heart (Compassion) —> Open Will ( Courage)

The future of humanity depends on it.

Manoj Onkar

manoj@managementinnovations.co.in

Management Salt: 3 Cs of Creating an Innovation Culture

3 Critical Components of an Innovation Culture are:

Curiosity

Compassion

and

Courage.

Curiosity:

Curiosity is the primary driver for learning, exploring, asking, observing, seeking and experimenting.

Curiosity allows us to suspend our opinions and judgements, and stuckness to the past and opens the possibility of finding out new facts, new paradigms, new data points and through all of them new worlds or parts of the world we didn’t know exist.

Compassion:

Compassion allows the space of empathy, deep connection with people, seeing the world from other’s eyes.

Innovation is difference making, when it is done enriched by the viewing the situation, challenges and opportunities from the view of the users, customers and stakeholders.

Courage:

Courage facilitates a new relationship with fear and failure, which is critical for the space of innovation. Courage to try out the new,take some risk, experiment, fail, learn and try again many times over.

Curiosity, Compassion and Courage in the teams will allow learning, collaboration and co-creation as the stepping stones for innovation and innovation culture.

Manoj Onkar

manoj@managementinnovation.co.in

Management Salt: Giving and Receiving Feedback

Transforming the Culture through each supervisor and manager.

GIVING AND RECEIVING FEEDBACK

Some Points:

1. CONTEXT: Giving and Receiving feedback is one of the most important aspects of individual and organizational development.
2. INTENTION: Giving and Receiving feedback should accomplish the following:
   1. Help the Individual improve their knowledge, skill, attitude and grow as a professional
   1. Improve the performance in expected as well as better than expected manner
   1. Strengthen the relationship between the Individual, the feedback giver and the company
   1. Help the feedback giver discover new paradigms and grow as a professional
   1. Help the company grow by improved performance, improved products and services and improved teamwork, innovation and culture

• Types of Feedback: Transactional Feedback Vs Transformational Feedback

• Key Principles:
  •  Iceberg Model: What you say is 10% Everything else is 90%
  • Receiving and Giving Feedback is not about what you say? It is not about How you Say? It is much more than that? What could it be about?
  • Transformational Feedback is a difference making conversation that contributes to the giver, receiver and the organization.
  • Transformational Feedback needs a state change in the consciousness with which the individuals and the organizations operate.

• What are the various factors affecting this conversation?
  • From Feedback Giver Perspective
  • From Feedback Receiver Perspective
  • From Situation Perspective

• Laws for Giving and Receiving Feedback
  • No one should give feedback or receive feedback without deep appreciation for the other person and the work area that is being discussed.
  • It is not a feedback session if it is not leaving everyone empowered and enabled

• Principles for Giving and Receiving Feedback
  • Giving Feedback and Receiving Feedback is a transformational conversation and hence is a ‘Leadership’ role.
  •  Blindspot of Leadership: Success of the Intervention depends on the interior condition of the intervenor. i.e. The success of the feedback conversation is dependent on your interior condition.
  • Interior Condition is constituted of 1. Intention 2. Attention and 3. Presence
  • You can choose to operate from Being the leader/Intervenor every time you give or receive the feedback.

• Interior Condition:
  • INTENTION:
    • There are 2 kinds of intentions. EGO Intentions and ECO Intentions.
    • Ego intentions are given by concern for self or small group of people. E.g: Proving Oneself, Defending Oneself, Protecting something etc.,
    • Eco intentions are holistic in nature and include the benefit of all stakeholders

• ATTENTION:

One can either have the attention on their ECO Intention or be distracted by all the concerns, worries and considerations. The Quality of Attention on the Intention is the differentiating factor between good intentions and good impact.

• PRESENCE:

The level of mindfulness that we operate with is the level at which we are really present – present to people, to the situation, to ourselves and are able to sense the said, the unsaid and the emerging possibility.

• How does one develop oneself to be effective in giving and receiving feedback? To be covered in another writeup.

For more information on trainings and interventions that transform the consciousness of the organization and its people, contact: Manoj Onkar: manoj@managementinnovations.co.in 91-9106456275

Inspired by Theory U – by MIT Prof. Dr. Otto Scharmer

Let go the past; Let come the future

MANAGEMENT SALT : How much management is good?

How much management is good?

The guiding principle is: The amount of management required in an organization is inversely proportional to the quality of its people and the quality of alignment among its people.

If your people are a highly competent team of self- generating leaders sourced by the common INTENTION (Purpose), the level of management required is minimum e.g. Salt in cooking.

If you compromise on the competency or alignment of your team, then you have to compensate by excessive management and that leads to a host of impact that an evolved leader or organization doesn’t want to see.

The more management you have – the less leadership you have in your organization. Leaders need minimum management.

How do you create an organization of self- generating competent leaders aligned to the INTENTION of the organization is the key question for the CEO and the top leadership team.

If you do the job of getting the right people – competent people, who have also mastered deep listening and sensing and invest in generating a common PURPOSE – raison d’etre for your organization and the team – you don’t need to do excessive management.

What do you think?

For more information on how you can create an organizational culture of more leadership and initiative from people and reduce the need for too much supervision and management, contact: Manoj Onkar – 91-9106456275; manoj@managementinnovations.co.in

This write up is inspired by Theory U by MIT Porf. Dr. Otto Scharmer

Why Teamwork doesn’t work and how to make it work

Everyone talks about teamwork. But does it really work?

What do you do when you have wrong people on the team? Or People who really don’t know how to work on the team?

What does it take to really make Teamwork Work?

Consider the real issue is *What are you constituted as?*

You can either BE an INDIVIDUAL or BE a TEAM – not both. In the moment, you are being an individual- you are not being a team and in the moment you are being the team – the individual doesn’t exist.

What does it mean to be constituted as a TEAM?

Moment by moment giving up the ego of being an INDIVIDUAL. The boundary of our thinking has to move from that of an Individual to the Team.

EVOLVED TEAM:

An evolved team, is not about the team but about the PURPOSE – raison d’etre of the team.

TIPS:

1. Know that you have an EGO as an Individual.
2. Know that you are by default married to your EGO as an Individual.
3. Your commitment to BEING the TEAM has to win everytime over your default attachment to BEING the INDIVIDUAL
4. Having the right team helps – but at the level of EGO there is no right team. EGO will have an issue with anyone and everyone – sometime or the other.
5. Training your self and your team in the tools of A. DEEP LISTENING and B. FIELDS OF CONVERSATION – covered in earlier write ups will help.

Unless the team is trained in listening at Level 3 and Level 4 reliably – it is not going to discover it’s real power as a team.

Every team meeting that is done at the field 3 and field 4 i.e. Dialogue: Reflective Inquiry and Presencing: Generative flow will go beyond the traditional understanding of the team and the kind of work that the team is able to fulfill.

For more information on transforming team work, collaboration and co-creation in your organization, you may contact: Manoj Onkar 91-9106456275. 91-8767636060 manoj@managementinnovations.co.in

Education 4.0: From Student-Centric to Activating Deeper Sources of Learning

In education and learning we have seen a very similar shift, the journey from:

OS 1.0: Input – Centric operations, revolving around traditional teaching and teachers, to

OS 2.0: Output – Centric, revolving around standardized curricula and teaching for testing, to

OS 3.0: Learner – Centric, which puts the experience of the student at the center of reshaping learning environments, to

OS 4.0: Connecting learners with the sources of creativity and the deepest essence of our humanity, while teaching them to co-sense emerging future possibilities and bring them to fruition.

The most innovative schools are experimenting with Education 4.0

This write up is based on Theory U by MIT Prof. Dr. Otto Scharmer

Strategy Formulation Tools: MICHAEL PORTER Model for Industry Analysis

PORTERS MODEL FOR INDUSTRY ANALYSIS:

Perhaps the best known tool for formulating strategy is the model developed by Michael E. Porter, an internationally acclaimed strategic management expert.

Essentially, Porter’s model outlines the primary forces that determine competitiveness within an industry and illustrates how those forces are related.

The model suggests that in order to develop effective organizational strategies, managers must understand and react to those forces within an industry that determine an organization’s level of competitiveness within that industry.

According to these model, competitiveness within an industry is determined by the following factors:

1. New Entrants or New Companies within the Industry
2. Substitute Products or Services – for goods or services that the companies within the industry produce/provide.
3. Supplier’s Ability to control issues like costs of material/ inputs that industry companies use to manufacture their products or provide their services.
4. Competition level among the firms in the industry.

According to the model, buyers, product substitutes, supplier and potential new companies within an Industry all contribute to the level or rivalry among industry firms.

Strategy Formulation: BCG Growth-Share Matrix Model

BCG Growth-Share Matrix:

The Boston Consulting Group, a leading consulting firm, developed and popularized a portfoilo analysis tools that helps managers develop organizational strategy based on market share of businesses and the growth of markets in which businesses exist.

The 1st step in using this model is identifying the organization’s strategic business units (SBUs). A Strategic business Unit is a significant organization segment that is analysed to develop organizational strategy aimed at generating future business or revenue.

Exactly what constitutes as SBU varies from company to company. In bigger organizations, and SBU could be a company division, a single product or a complete Product Line.

In smaller organizations, it might be the entire company.

Eventhough they vary drastically in form each SBU has the following characteristics:

1. It is a single business or collection of related businesses.
2. It has its own competitors.
3. It has a manager who is accountable for its operation.
4. It is an area that can be independently planned for within the organization.

After identifying the SBUs, the next step is to categorize each SBU within one of the 4 Matrix Quadrants:

1. STARS – Star SBUs have a high share of a high growth market and typically need large amounts of cash to support their rapid and significant growth. Stars also generate large amounts of cash for the organization and are usually segments in which management can make additional investments and earn attractive returns.
2. CASH COWS: SBUs that are Cash Cows have a large share of a market that is growing only slightly. Naturally, these SBUs provide the organization with large amounts of Cash, but since their market is not growing significantly, the cash is generally used to meet the financial demands of the organization in other areas, such as the expansion of a STAR SBU.
3. QUESTION MARKS: These category of SBUs have a small share of a high growth market. These are “question marks” because it is uncertain whether management should invest more cash in them to gain a larger share of the market or deemphasize or eliminate them. Management will choose the 1st option when it believes it can turn the question mark into a star, and the 2nd option when it thinks that future investments would be fruitless.
4. DOGS : SBUs that are dogs have a relatively small share of a low-growth market. They may barely support themselves; in some cases, they actually drain off cash resources generated by other SBUs. These are the SBUs which are likely to be shortlisted for deemphasize or elimination.

PITFALLS of the BCG Growth Matrix Model:

The matrix does not consider factors like:

• Various types of Risk associated with product development
• Threats that inflation and other economic conditions can create in the future.
• Social,Political and Ecological Pressures.

A LEARNING ORGANIZATION

A LEARNING ORGANIZATION is an organization that does well in creating, acquiring and transferring knowledge, and in modifying behaviour to reflect the new knowledge.

Learning organizations emphasize systematic problem solving,experimenting with new ideas, learning form experience and past history, learning from the experience of others, and transferring knowledge rapidly throughout the organization.

According to Peter Senge, the 5 features of a learning organization are:

1.  SYSTEMS THINKING: Every organization member understands her own job and how the job fits together to provide final products to the customer.                                                        
2. SHARED VISION: All organization members have a common view of the purpose of the organization and a sincere commitment to accomplish the purpose.                                                       
3. CHALLENGING OF MENTAL MODELS: Organization members routinely challenge the way business is done and the thought processes people use to solve the organizational Problems.                 
4. TEAM LEARNING: Organization members work together, develop solutions to new problems together, and apply the solutions together. Working as teams rather than individuals will help organizations gather collective force to achieve organizational goals.                                                                                         
5. PERSONAL MASTERY: All organization members are committed to gaining a deep and rich understanding of their work. 

PRICING STRATEGY IN COMPETITIVE TIMES

Pricing has lot to do with the target audience that you are positioning your product and service offerings for?

Do you want to target the uber rich and super rich or you want to target the rich and the upper middle class?

These competitive times along with the recessionary pressures will force most of the organizations to relook at their pricing strategy?

What should be your strategy? What target market will fulfill the sustainable growth requirements for your organization? 

How would your budgets look with high pricing and low volumes vs little lower pricing or even half pricing and increased volumes?

What Volumes are you expecting at what price point?

What will be the increased sales and marketing costs required based on change of the target market segments and the pricing policy to ensure the successful implementation.

What is the scalability in your production capacity, especially if you are a service organization?

Service offerings may have more restriction on their capacities and hence more restrictions on how much they can play around with their pricing models.

What is your product or service packages? What pricing models are your exploring? What optional target market segments are you considering?

Contact: MANAGEMENT INNOVATIONS

managementinnovations2020@gmail.com, manojonkar@gmail.com; 919375970812

IIPM – Indian Institute of Planning & Management

Prof. Manoj Onkar has joined IIPM, Ahmedabad as a visiting Professor for conducting the HRS (Human Resource System).

Keep in touch for further updates.

MANAGEMENT INNOVATIONS

www.managementinnovations.wordpress.com

www.linkedin.com/manojonkar

managementinnovations2020@gmail.com

CHANGE & RELATED STRESS MANAGEMENT

CHANGE & STRESS

 

 

Whenever managers implement changes, they should be concerned about the stress they may be creating.

 

If the stress is significant enough, it may well cancel out the improvement that was anticipated from the change.

 

In fact, stress could result in the organization being less effective than it was before the change was attempted.

 

STRESS:

 

The bodily strain that an individual experiences as a result of coping wit some environmental factor is stress.

 

Hans Selye, an expert on this subject, said that Stress constitutes the factors affecting wear and tear on the body.

 

In organizations, this wear and tear is caused primarily by the body’s unconscious mobilization of energy when an individual is confronted with organizational or work demands.

 

Why Study Stress?

• Stress can have damaging psychological and physiological effects on employees’ health and on their contributions to organizational effectiveness. It can cause hear disease and it can prevent employees from concentrating or making decisions.

                                                                                                                                 

• Stress is a major cause of employee absenteeism and turnover. Certainly such factors severely limit the potential success of an organization.

 

• A stressed employee can affect the safety of other workers or even the public.

 

• Stress represents a very significant cost to organizations.

 

 

MANAGING STRESS IN ORGANIZATIONS:

 

Since stress is felt by all employees in the organizations, managers must do the following:

 

1. Understand how stress influences worker performance
2. Identify where unhealthy stress exists in organizations
3. Help Employees handle stress

 

Understand how Stress Influences Worker Performance:

To deal with stress among employees, managers must understand the relationship between the amount of stress felt by a worker and the impact on the worker’s performance.

 

Extremely high and extremely low levels of stress tend to have negative effects on production. While increasing stress tends to bolster performance up to some point, when the level of stress increases beyond that point, performance levels begin to deteriorate.

 

Certain amount of stress among employees is generally considered to be advantageous for the organization because it tends to increase productivity, however when the employees experience too much or too little stress, it is generally disadvantageous for the organization because it tends to decrease productivity.

 

 

SYMPTOMS OF UNHEALTHY STRESS IN ORGANIZATION:

 

Symptoms are as follows:

 

1.      Constant Fatigue

2.      Low Energy

3.      Moodiness

4.      Increased Aggression

5.      Excessive use of Alcohol

6.      Temper outbursts

7.      Compulsive Eating

8.      High Levels of Anxiety

9.      Chronic Worrying

 

A manager who observes one or more of these symptoms in employees should investigate to determine if those exhibiting the symptoms are indeed under too much stress. If so, the manager should try to help those employees handle their stress and/or should attempt to reduce stressors in the organization.

 

Helping Employees Handle Stress:

 

• Create an organization climate that is supportive of individuals.
• Make jobs interesting
• Decision and operate career counselling programs

Factors for Change Management

FACTORS TO CONSIDER WHEN CHANGING AN ORGANIZATION

 

The following factors should be considered whenever change is being contemplated:

 

1. The Change Agent
2. Determining What should be Changed
3. The kind of Change to Make
4. Individuals affected by the Change
5. Evaluation of the Change

 

THE CHANGE AGENT:

 

The change agent might be a self designated manager within the organization or an outside consultant hired because of a special expertise in a particular area.

 

This individual might be responsible for making very broad changes, like altering the culture of the whole organization; or more narrow ones, like designing and implementing a new safety program or a new quality program.

 

Special skills are necessary for success as a change agent. Among them are the ability to determine how a change should be made, the skill to solve change related problems, and facility in using behavioural science tools to influence people appropriately during the change process.

 

Perhaps the most overlooked skill of successful change agents, however, is the ability to determine how much change employees can withstand.

 

Managers should choose agents who have the most expertise in all these areas. A potentially beneficial change might not result in any advantages for the organization if a person without expertise in these areas is designated as a change agent.

 

 

DETERMINING WHAT SHOULD BE CHANGED:

 

Organizational effectiveness depends on 3 classes of factors:

1. People
2. Structure
3. Technology

 

People Factors are attitudes, leadership skills, communication skills, and all other characteristics of the human resources within the organization; Structural Factors are organizational controls, such as policies and procedures; and Technological Factors are any type of equipment or processes that assist organization members in the performance of their jobs.

 

For an organization to maximize its effectiveness, appropriate people must be matched with appropriate technology and appropriate structure.

 

 

THE KIND OF CHANGE TO MAKE:

Most changes can be categorized into one of the 3 kinds:

 

1. Technological
2. Structural
3. People

 

These 3 kinds of change correspond to the 3 main determinants of the organizational effectiveness – each change is named for the determinant it emphasizes.

 

STRUCTURAL CHANGE:

 

Structural change emphasizes increasing organizational effectiveness by changing controls that influence organization members during the performance of their jobs.

 

Structural change is aimed at increasing the organizational effectiveness through modifications to the existing organizational structure like:

 

1. Clarifying and Defining Jobs
2. Modifying Organizational Structure to fit the communication needs of the organization
3. Decentralizing the organization to reduce the cost of coordination, increase the controllability of subunits, increase motivation, and gain greater flexibility.

 

Although structural change must take account of people and technology to be successful, its primary focus is obviously on changing organization structure.

 

Managers choose to make structural changes within an organization if information they have gathered indicates that the present structure is the main cause of organizational ineffectiveness.

 

The precise structural changes they choose to make will vary from situation to situation, of course. After changes to organizational structure have been made, management should conduct periodic reviews to make sure the changes are accomplishing their intended purposes.

 

                        Matrix Organization:

 

Matrix Organizations is a traditional organization that is modified primarily for the purpose of completing some kind of special project.

 

Essentially, a matrix organization is one in which individuals from various functional departments are assigned to a project manager responsible for accomplishing some specific task.

 

The project itself may be either long term or short term, and the employees needed to complete it are borrowed from various organizational segments.

 

 

PEOPLE CHANGE:

 

Although successfully changing people factors necessarily involves some consideration of structure and technology, the primary emphasis is on people.

 

Organization Development (OD): People Change emphasizes increasing organizational effectiveness by changing certain aspects of organization members.

The focus of this kind of change is on such factors as employee’s attitudes and leadership skills.

The process of people change can be referred to as organization development (OD). Although OD focuses mainly on changing certain aspects of people, these changes are based on an overview of structure, technology, and all other organizational ingredients.

 

GRID OD:

 

One traditional used OD techniques for changing people in organizations is called Grid Organizational Development, or Grid OD.

 

The managerial grid, a basic model describing various managerial styles, is used as the foundation for grid OD. The managerial grid is based on the premise that various managerial styles can be described by means of two primary attitudes of the manager: concern for people and concern for production.

 

 

 

INDIVIDUAL AFFECTED BY THE CHANGE:

 

To increase the chances of employee support, one should be aware of the following factors:

 

1. The usual employee resistance to change
2. How this resistance can be reduced

 

Resistance to Change:

 

Resistance to change within an organization is as common as the need for change.

After managers decide to make some organizational change, they typically meet with employee resistance aimed at preventing that change from occurring.

 

Behind this resistance by organization members lies the fear of some personal loss, such as a reduction in personal prestige, a disturbance of established social and working relationships, and personal failure because of inability to carry out new job responsibilities.

 

Reducing Resistance to Change:

 

1.      Avoid Surprises

2.      Promote Real Understanding

3.      Set the Stage for Change

4.      Make tentative Change

 

 

EVALUATION OF THE CHANGE:

 

One must evaluate the change one makes. The purpose of this evaluation is not only to gain insight into how the change itself might be modified to further increase its organizational effectiveness, but to determine whether the steps taken to make the change should be modified to increase organizational effectiveness, next time around.

 

Evaluation of change often involves watching for symptoms that indicate that further change is necessary. But the decision to change must not be made only based on the symptoms. Additional Change is justified if it will accomplish any of the following goals:

 

1.      Further improve the means for satisfying someone’s economic wants

2.      Increase Profitability

3.      Promote human work for human beings

4.      Contribute to individual satisfaction and social well being.

CHANGE MANGEMENT BASICS

FUNDAMENTALS OF CHANGING AN ORGANIZATION

 

Changing an Organization is the process of modifying an existing organization to increase the overall organizational effectiveness.

 

These modifications can involve any organizational aspect, but typically it affects the lines of authority, the levels of responsibility held by various organization members, and the established lines of organizational communication.

 

IMPORTANCE OF CHANGE:

 

Most managers agree that if the organization is to thrive, it must change continually in response to significant developments in the environment, such as changing customer needs, technical breakthroughs, and new regulations.

 

Managers who can determine appropriate changes and then implement such changes successfully enable their organizations to be more flexible and innovative. Because change is such a fundamental part of the organizational existence, such managers are very valuable to organizations of all kinds.

 

Many managers consider change to be so critical to organizational success that they encourage employees to continually search for areas in which beneficial changes can be made.

 

CHANGE Vs. STABILITY:

 

Along with Change, some amount of stability is a prerequisite for long term organizational success.

 

The organization without enough stability to complement change is a definite challenge. When stability is low, the probability of organization survival and growth declines.

 

Change after Change without regard for the essential role of stability typically results in confusion and employee stress.

 

Performance Appraisals

PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL

 

Performance Appraisal is the process of reviewing individual’s past productive activity to evaluate the contribution they have made towards attaining the organization’s objectives.

 

Performance Appraisal is a continuous review that focuses on both established human resources within the organization and new comers.

 

Its main purpose is to furnish feedback to organization members about how they can become more productive and useful to the organization in its ambitions and growth plans.

 

Advantages of Appraisal Systems:

 

1. They provide systematic judgements to support salary increases, promotions, transfers, and sometimes even demotions & terminations.      

                                                                            

1. They are a means of telling subordinates how they are doing and of suggesting needed changes in behaviour, attitudes, skills or job knowledge; they let subordinates know where they stand with the boss.

 

 

1. They furnish a useful basis for the coaching and counselling of individuals by their seniors.

 

 Several Methods used for Performance Appraisals are:

 

• Rating Scale
• Employee Comparisons
• Free form Essay
• Critical form Essay

 

Guidelines for Handling Performance Appraisals:

 

• Performance Appraisals should stress both Performance in the Position the individual holds and the success with which the individual is attaining organizational objectives.

 

• Although conceptually separate, performance and objectives should be inseparable topics of discussion during performance appraisals.

 

 

• Appraisals should emphasize how well the individual is doing the job, not the evaluator’s impression of the individual’s work habits. The goal is an objective analysis of performance rather than a subjective evaluation of habits.

 

• Appraisals should be acceptable to both the appraiser and the appraisee, on the benefits for the individual as well as the organization.
• Performance appraisals should provide a base for improving individual’s productivity within the organization by making them better equipped to produce.

 

 

Pitfalls in Performance Appraisals:

 

1. Performance appraisals focus employees on short term rewards rather than on issues that are important to the long run success of the organization.
2. Individuals involved in the performance appraisal view them as reward- punishment situation.
3. The emphasis is wrongly placed on completing paper work, rather than really critiquing individual performance.
4. Individuals view the process as unfair or biased.
5. Subordinates react negatively when evaluators offer unfavourable comments.

Training – Need Analysis, Design, Deliver and Evaluat

TRAINING

 

After recruitment and selection, the next step in providing appropriate human resources to the organization is Training.

 

Training is the process of developing qualities in human resources that will enable them to be more productive and thus to contribute more to organizational goal attainment.

 

The purpose of training is to increase the productivity of employees by influencing their behaviour.

 

The training of individuals in an organization is essentially a 4 step process:

 

1. Determining the Training Needs
2. Designing the Training Program
3. Administering the Training Program
4. Evaluating the Training Program

 

DETERMINING THE TRAINING NEEDS:

 

The 1^st step of the training process is determining the organization’s training needs.

 

Training Needs are the information or skill areas of an individual or group that require further development to increase the productivity of that individual or group.

Only if the training focuses on these needs, it can be productive for the organization.

 

Training is a continuous activity. Even employees who have been with the organization for some time and who have undergone initial orientation and skills training need continued training to improve their skills.

 

            Determining the Needed Skills:

 

There are several methods of determining which skills to focus on with established human resources. One method calls for evaluating the production process within the organization. Factors like excessive rejections, missed deadlines, high labour costs are clues to deficiencies in the production related expertise. Similar activities for various departments can be carried out.

 

Another method for determining training needs includes getting direct feedback from employees on what they believe are the training needs of the organization. Organization members are often able to verbalize clearly and accurately exactly what types of training they require to do a better job.

 

A third way of determining training needs involves looking into the future. Future company plans and industry trends also provide inputs on likely training requirements.

 

 

DESIGNING OF THE TRAINING PROGRAM:

Designing a training program entails assembling various types of facts and activities designed to meet the identified training needs.

 

ADMINISTERING THE TRAINING PROGRAM:

 

Various techniques exist for both transmitting necessary information and developing needed skills in training programs like:

 

1. Lectures – for knowledge transfer
2. Programmed Learning – for knowledge transfer
3. On the Job Training  – for skill development
   1. Coaching
   2. Position rotation
   3. Special Project Teams

 

 

EVALUATING THE TRAINING PROGRAMS:

 

Training programs have various costs including materials, trainer time and production loss while employees are being trained rather than doing their jobs – a ROI  is essential.

 

Management should evaluate the training program to determine if it meets with the needs for which it is developed.

E.g.: Has the sales increased, Has the customer complaints reduced, Has production gone up etc.

HR : Selection, Testing and Assessment Centers

SELECTION

 

The 2^nd major step in providing human resource for the organization is SELECTION.

Selection is choosing an individual to hire from all those who have been recruited (short listed).

 

Selection is obviously dependent on the 1^st step which is recruitment.

Selection is a series of stages through which job applications must pass in order to be hired. Each stage reduces the total group of prospective employees until, finally, the required no. of individuals are hired.

 

Stages of the Selection Process:

 

1. Preliminary Screening from Records, Data Sheets etc.,
2. Preliminary Interview
3. Intelligence Tests
4. Aptitude Tests
5. Personality Tests
6. Performance References
7. Diagnostic Interview
8. Physical Examination
9. Personal Judgement

 

Two tools often used in the selection process are Testing and Assessment Centres.

 

TESTING:

 

Testing is examining human resources for qualities relevant to performing available jobs. 4 categories of testing include:

 

1. Aptitude Tests
2. Achievement Tests
3. Vocational Interest Tests
4. Personality Tests

 

Testing Guidelines:

 

• Care must be taken to ensure that the test being used in both valid and reliable.
• A test is valid if it measures what it is designed to measure and reliable if it measures similarly at all times.
• Test Results should not be used as the sole determinant of a hiring decision.
• People change over time, and someone who doesn’t score well on a particular test might still develop into a productive employee. Such factors as potential and desire to obtain a position should be assessed subjectively and used along with test scores in the final selection decision.
• Test should be non discriminatory.

 

ASSESSMENT CENTERS:

 

Assessment Centres are used both for the purpose of selection and also for continued training and development over time.

 

An assessment centre is a program (not a place) in which participants engage in a no. of individual and group exercises constructed to stimulate important activities at the organizational levels to which they aspire.

 

These exercises can include activities like Participating in groups, giving presentations, team work in problem solving. The participants are observed by mangers and/or trained observers who will evaluate both the ability and the potential.

 

Generally, participants are assessed according to the following criteria:

 

1. Leadership
2. Organizing and Planning Ability
3. Decision Making
4. Oral and Written Communication Skills
5. Initiative
6. Energy
7. Analytical Ability
8. Resistance to Stress
9. Use of Delegation
10. Behaviour Flexibility
11. Human Relations Competence
12. Originality
13. Controlling
14. Self Direction
15. Overall Potential

HR: Recruitment Basics

Appropriate Human Resource refers to individuals within the organization who make a valuable contribution to management system goal attainment. This contribution results from their productivity in the positions they hold.

 

Inappropriate Human Resource refers to organization members who do not make valuable contribution to the attainment of management system objectives.

For one reason or the other, they are ineffective in their jobs.

 

Productivity in all organizations is determined by how human resources interact and combine to use all other management system resources. Such factors as background, age, job related experience, and the level of formal education all play a role in determining how appropriate the individual is for the organization.

 

STEPS IN PROVIDING HUMAN RESOURCES:

 

To provide appropriate human resources to fill both managerial and non managerial openings, managers follow 4 sequential steps:

 

1. Recruitment
2. Selection
3. Training
4. Performance Appraisal

 

RECRUITMENT:

 

Recruitment is the initial attraction and screening of the supply of prospective human resources available to fill a position.

 

Its purpose is to narrow a large field of prospective employees to a relatively small group of individuals from which someone eventually will be hired.

 

To be effective, recruiters must know the following:

 

1. The Job they are trying to fill
2. Where Potential human resources can be located
3. How the law influences recruiting efforts.

 

KNOWING THE JOB:

 

Recruitment activities must begin with a thorough understanding of the position to be filled so the broad range of potential employees can be narrowed intelligently.

 

The technique commonly used to gain the understanding of the job is Job Analysis.

Job Analysis is aimed at determining a Job Description ( the activities a job entails) and a Job Specification (the characteristics of the individual who should be hired for the job).

 

KNOWING SOURCES OF HUMAN RESOURCES:

 

Besides a thorough knowledge of the position the organization is trying to fill, recruiters must be able to pinpoint sources of human resources.

 

Since the supply of individuals from which to recruit is continually changing, there will be times when finding appropriate human resources will be tougher than some other times.

 

Human resource specialists in organizations continually monitor the labour market so they will know where to recruit suitable people and what kind of strategies and tactics to use to attract job applicants in a competitive marketplace.

 

Sources inside the Organization:

 

The pool of employees within the organization is one source of human resources. Some individuals who already work for the organization may be well qualified for an open position.

Some lateral movements do happen, but most of the times, internal movements are promotions.

 

Advantages of Promotion:

 

–          Building Employee Moral

–          Encouraging employee to work order

–          Inspiring Employees to stay longer

 

Human Resource Inventory:

 

Human Resource Inventory consists of information about the characteristics of organization members. This focuses on the past performance and future potential and the objective is to keep management up to date about the possibilities for filling a position from within.

 

This inventory should indicate which individuals in the organization would be appropriate for filling a position if it becomes available.

 

Walter S. Wikstrom proposed that organizations keep 3 types of records that can be combined to maintain a useful human resources inventory.

 

Management Inventory Card

It includes both an organizational history of the employee and cues on how she might be used in the future. It can include details like :

1.  
   1.  
      • Age,
      • Year of Employment,
      • Present Position,
      • Duration of current Posting,
      • Performance Ratings,
      • Strengths and Weaknesses,
      • Positions to which the employee can be moved,
      • By when would she be able to take the new role,
      • What new training and development required for the same.

Position Replacement Form

 

This record focuses on position centred information rather than people centred information. The position information form is helpful in determining what would happen to a present position, if the current incumbent is moved to some other post or leaves the organization.

 

Management Manpower Replacement Chart

 

This Chart presents a composite view of the individual’s management considers significant for human resource planning.

 

The current incumbent’s performance rating and promotion potential  can be easily compared with those of the other employees when a company is trying to determine which individual would most appropriately fill a particular position

 

All these 3 forms together help the management answer the questions:

 

1. What is the organizational history of an individual and what potential does the person possess?
2. If a position becomes vacant, who might be eligible to fill it?
3. What are the merits of one individual being considered for a position compared to those of another individual under consideration?

 

SUCCESSION PLANNING:

 

Succession planning is the process of outlining who will follow whom in various organizational positions.

 

 

Sources outside the Organization

 

      Various Sources include:

1. Competitors
2. Employment Agencies
3. Readers of Certain Publications
4. Educational Institutions

 

Competitors:

            There are several advantages to luring human resources away from competitors including:

·         The individual knows the business

·         The competitor will have paid for the individual’s training up to the time of hire.

·         The competing organization will probably be weakened somewhat by the loss of the individual.

Once hired, the individual will be a valuable source of information about how to best compete with the other organization.

Centralization and Decentralization

The terms Centralization and Decentralization describe the general degree to which delegation exists in the company.

Decentralizing an Organization:

 

The appropriate degree of decentralization for an organization depends on the unique situation of that organization.

 

Relevant Questions will be:

 

1. What is the present size of the organization?
2. Where are the Organization’s customers located?
3. How homogeneous is the organization’s product line?
4. Where are the Organizational Suppliers?
5. Is there a need for quick decisions in the Organization?
6. Is creativity a desirable feature of the Organization?

 

SIZE:

 

The larger the organization, the more the chance that decentralization will be advantageous. Delegation is an effective means for helping managers manage their increasing workload in big organizations.

 

But in some cases, the Organization may be too large and decentralized.

 

If the proportionate manpower costs are very high, then that organization may actually benefited by centralization of some of the aspects of the organization.

 

 

CUSTOMER LOCATIONS:

 

The more physically separated the organization’s customers are, the more viable a significant amount of decentralization is. This is less valid in the ecommerce business but most other cases, it makes complete sense.

 

 

HOMOGENEOUS PRODUCT LINE:

 

Generally, as the product line becomes more heterogeneous, or diversified, the appropriateness of decentralization increases.

 

 

SUPPLIER LOCATION:

 

Decentralization of some functions becomes a requirement, in case of high geographic diversity in the suppliers.

 

 

 

 

QUICK DECISION MAKING:

 

If speedy decision making is essential, then decentralization of the relevant functions can be critical.

 

 

CREATIVITY:

 

Decentralization generally fosters creativity.

Obstacles in the Delegation Process

Obstacles that can make delegation within an organization difficult or even impossible can be classified into 3 general categories:

 

1. Obstacles related to the Supervisor
2. Obstacles related to Subordinates
3. Obstacles related to Organizations

 

Obstacles related to the Supervisor:

 

A supervisor who resists delegating his authority to subordinates because he cannot bear to part with any authority.

 

Two other supervisor related obstacles are the fear that the subordinates will not do a job well and the suspicion that surrendering some authority may be seen as a sign of weakness.

 

If supervisors are insecure in their jobs or believe certain activities are extremely important to their personal success, they may find it hard to put the performance of these activities into the hands of the others.

 

Obstacles related to Subordinates:

 

Subordinates may be reluctant to accept delegated authority because they are afraid of failing, lack self confidence, or feel the supervisor doesn’t have the confidence in them.

These obstacles will be especially apparent in subordinates who have never before used delegated authority.

 

Other subordinate related obstacles are the fear that the supervisor will be unavailable for guidance when needed and the reluctance to exercise authority that may complicate comfortable working relationships.

 

Obstacles related to the Delegation Process:

 

In organizations, where few job activities and little authority have been delegated in the past, an attempt to initiate the delegation process may make employees reluctant and apprehensive, for the supervisor would be introducing a significant change in procedure and change is often strongly resisted.

 

 

 

ELIMINATING OBSTACLES IN THE DELEGATION PROCESS:

 

 

Advantages of Delegation are:

 

1. Enhanced Employee Confidence
2. Improved Subordinate Involvement and Interest
3. More free time for the supervisor to accomplish tasks
4. Assistance from subordinates in completing tasks the manager simply wouldn’t have time for otherwise.

 

What can managers do to eliminate obstacles to the delegation process?

 

Firstly uncover the obstacles to delegation.

 

Then taking actions to eliminate these obstacles with the understanding that they may be deeply ingrained and therefore required much time and effort to overcome.

 

Among the most effective management actions that can be taken to eliminates obstacles to delegation are building subordinate confidence in the use of delegated authority on established working relationships, and helping delegates cope  with problems whenever necessary.

 

MANAGERIAL CHARCTERISITICS REQUIRED:

 

• Willingness to consider the ideas of others seriously
• The insight to allow subordinates the free rein necessary to carry out their responsibilities,
• Trust on abilities of subordinates
• The wisdom to allow people to learn from their mistakes without suffering unreasonable price for making them.

 

ACCOUNTABILITY & DELEGATION

Accountability refers to the management philosophy whereby individuals are held liable, or accountable, for how well they use their authority and live up to their responsibility of performing predetermined activities.

The concept of accountability implies that if an individual does not perform predetermined activities, some type of penalty, or punishment is justifiable.

The punishment theme of accountability has been summed by one company executive ” Individuals who do not perform well simply will not be around too long.

The accountability concept also implies that some kind of reward will follow if predetermined activities are performed well.

 

DELEGATION:

Delegation is the actual process of assigning job activities and corresponding authority to specific individuals within the organization.

Important Dimensions of Delegation include:

1. Steps in the Delegating Process
2. Obstacles to the delegation Process
3. Elimination of obstacles to the delegation process.
4. Centralization and Decentralization

STEPS IN THE DELEGATION PROCESS:

According to Neman and Warren, the delegation process consists of 3 steps:

1. Assign Specific duties to the individual. Manager must be sure that the subordinate assigned to specific duties has a clear understanding of what these duties entail. Whenever possible, the activities should be stated in operational terms so the subordinate knows exactly what action must be taken to perform the assigned duties.                                             
2.  The delegation process involves granting appropriate authority to the subordinate -i.e. the subordinate must be given the right and power within the organization to accomplish the duties assigned.                                
3. The subordinate must be aware of the responsibility to complete the duties assigned and must accept the responsibility.

GUIDELINES FOR MAKING DELEGATION EFFECTIVE:

1. Give employees task to pursue tasks in their own way.                                       
2. Establish Mutually agreed upon results and performance standards for delegated tasks.                                                                                                                 
3. Encourage employees to take an active role in defining, implementing and communicating progress on tasks.                                                                       
4. Entrust employee with completion of whole projects or tasks whenever possible.                                                                                                                   
5. Explain the relevance  of delegated tasks to larger projects or to department or organizational goals.                                                                         
6. Give employees the authority necessary to accomplish tasks.                        
7. Allow employees access to all information, people and departments necessary to perform delegated tasks.                                                                           
8. Provide training and guidance necessary for employees to complete delegated tasks satisfactorily.                                                                                     
9. When possible, delegate tasks on the basis of employee interests.

TYPES OF AUTHORITY : LINE & STAFF ROLES

Authority is the right to perform or command. It allows its holder to act in certain designated ways and to directly influence the actions of others through orders.

It also allows its holder to allocate the organization’s resources to achieve organizational objectives.

AUTHORITY ON THE JOB :

Barnard  defines authority as the character of communication by which an order is accepted by an individual as governing the actions that individual takes within the system.

Barnard maintains that authority will be accepted only under the following conditions:

1. The individual can understand the order being communicated.
2. The individual believes the order is consistent with the purpose of the organization.
3. The individual sees the order as compatible with his or her personal interests.
4. The individual is mentally and physically able to comply with the order.

The fewer of these 4 conditions that are present, the lower the probability that authority will be accepted and obedience be exacted.

Barnad offers some guidance on what managers can do to raise the odds that their commands will be accepted and obeyed. He maintains that more and more of a manager’s commands will be accepted over the long term if:

1. The manager uses formal channels of communication and these are familiar to all organization members.                                                                            
2. Each organization member has an assigned formal communication channel through which orders are received.                                                              
3. The line of communication between manager and subordinate is as direct as possible.                                                                                                                 
4. The complete chain of command is used to issue orders.                                     
5. The manager possesses adequate communication skills.                                     
6. The manager uses formal communication lines only for organizational business.                                                                                                                                
7. A command is authenticated as coming from a manager.

TYPES OF AUTHORITY:

3 main types of authority can exist within an organization:

1. Line Authority
2. Staff Authority
3. Functional Authority

Each type exists only to enable individuals to carry out the different types of responsibilities with which they have been charged.

LINE AUTHORITY:

The most fundamental authority within an organization, reflects existing superior-subordinate relationships. It consists of the right to make decisions and to give order concerning the production,sales or finance related behaviour of subordinates.

In general, line authority pertains to matters directly involving management system production, sales, finance etc., and as a result with the attainment of objectives.

People directly responsible for these areas within the organization are delegated line authority to assist them in performing their obligatory activities.

 

STAFF AUTHORITY:

Staff authority consists of the right to advise or assist those who possess line authority as well as other staff personnel.

Staff authority enables those responsible for improving the effectiveness of line personnel to perform their required tasks.

 

Line and Staff personnel must work together closely to maintain the efficiency and effectiveness of the organization. To ensure that line and staff personnel do work together productively, management must make sure both groups understand the organizational mission, have specific objectives, and realize that they are partners in helping the organization reach its objectives.

Size is perhaps the most significant factor in determining whether or not an organization will have staff personnel. The larger the organization, the greater the need and  ability to employ staff personnel.

As an organization expands, it usually needs employees with expertise in diversified areas. Although small organizations may also require this kind of diverse expertise, they often find it more practical to hire part time consultants to provide it is as needed rather than to hire full time staff personnel, who may not always be kept busy.

 

LINE – STAFF RELATIONSHIPS :

e.g. A plant manager has line authority over each immediate subordinate, human resource manager, the production manager and the sales manager.

However, the human resource manager has staff authority in relation to the plant manger, meaning the human resource manager has staff authority in relation to the plant manager, meaning the human resource manager possesses the right to advise the plant manager on human resource matters.

Still final decisions concerning human resource matters are in the hands of the plant manager, the person holding the line authority.

ROLE OF STAFF PERSONNEL:

Harold Stieglitz has pinpointed 3 roles that staff personnel typically perform to assist line personnel:

1.  The Advisory or Counseling Role :   In this role, staff personnel use their professional expertise to solve organizational problems. The staff personnel are, in effect, internal consultants whose relationship with line personnel is similar to that of a professional and a client.                  
2. The Service Role : Staff personnel in this role provide services that can more efficiently and effectively be provided by a single centralized staff group than by many individuals scattered throughout the organization. This role can probably best be understood if staff personnel are viewed as suppliers and line personnel as customers.                
3. The Control Role : Staff personnel help establish a mechanism for evaluating  the effectiveness of organizational plans.

The role of staff in any organization  should be specifically designed to best meet the needs of that organization.

CONFLICT IN LINE – STAFF RELATIONSHIP:

From the view point of line personnel, conflict is created  because staff personnel tend to 

• Assume Line Authority
• Do not give Sound Advice
• Steal Credit for Success
• Fail to Keep  line personnel  informed of their activities
• Do not see the whole picture.

From the view point of Staff Personnel, conflict is created because line personnel do not make proper use of staff personnel, resist new ideas and refuse to give staff personnel enough authority to do their jobs.

Staff Personnel can often avert line-staff conflicts if they strive to emphasize the objectives of the organization as a whole, encourage and educate line personnel in the appropriate use of staff personnel, obtain any necessary skills they do not already possess, and deal intelligently with the resistance to change rather than view it as an immovable barrier.

Line personnel can do their part to minimize line staff conflict by sing staff personnel wherever possible, making proper use of the staff abilities, and keeping staff personnel appropriately informed.

 

*****

FUNCTIONAL AUTHORITY:

Functional authority consists of the right to give orders within a segment of the organization in which this right is normally non existent.

This authority is usually assigned to individuals to complement the line or staff authority they already possess.

Functional Authority generally covers only specific task areas and is operational only for designated amounts of time. It is given to individuals who, in order to meet responsibilities in their own areas, must be able to exercise some control over organization members in other areas.

 

 

 

 

MANAGEMENT RESPONSIBILITY GUIDE

7 Responsibility Relationships among Managers, as used in the Management Responsibility Guide:

1. General Responsibility: The individual who guides and directs the execution of the function through the person accepting operating responsibility.                                                                                                                            
2. Operating Responsibility: The individual who is directly responsible for the execution of the Function.                                                           
3. Specific Responsibility: The individual who is responsible for executing a specific or limited portion of the function.                                          
4. Must be Consulted: The individual whose area is affected by a decision who must be called on to render advice or relate information before any decision is made or approval is granted. This individual does not, however, make the decision or grant approval.                                  
5. May Be Consulted: The individual who may be called on to related information, render advice, or make recommendations before the action is taken.                                                                                                                       
6. Must be Notified: The individual who must be notified of any action that has been taken.                                                                                                               
7. Must Approve: The individual,other than persons holding general and operating responsibility who must approve or disapprove the decision.

RESPONSIBLE MANAGERS:

Managers can be described as responsible if they perform the activities they are obligated to perform. 

Since managers have more impact on an organization than non managers, responsible managers are a pre requisite for managemetn system success.

 

The degree of responsibility that a manager possesses can be determined by appraising the manager on the following 4 dimensions:

1. Attitude toward and conduct with subordinates.
2. Behaviour with Upper Management
3. Behaviour with Other Groups
4. Personal Attitudes and Values

4 Key Dimensions of Responsible Management Behaviour 

Attitude toward and conduct with subordinates.

• Responsible Managers take complete charge of their work groups.
• They Pass Praise and credit along to subordinates.
• They stay close to problems and activities.
• They take actions to maintain productivity and are willing to terminate poor performers if necessary.

Behaviour with Upper Management:

• Responsible Managers accept criticism for mistakes and buffer their groups from excessive criticism.                                                                                  
• Responsible managers ensure that their groups meet management expectations and objectives.

Behaviour with Other Groups :

• Responsible Managers make sure that any gaps between their areas and those of other managers are securely filled.

Personal Attitudes & Values:

• Responsible managers identify with the group.
• Put organizational goals ahead of personal desires or activities.
• Perform tasks for which there is no immediate reward but that help subordinates, the company or both.
• Conserve corporate resources as if the resources were their own.

RESPONSIBILITY

Responsibility is the obligation to perform assigned activities. It is the self assumed commitment to handle a job to the best of one’s ability.

The source of responsibility lies within the individual.

A person who accepts a job agrees to carry out a series of duties or activities or to see that someone else carries them out.

The act of accepting the job means that the person is obligated to a superior (relationship management) to see that job activities are successfully completed.

THE JOB DESCRIPTION:

An individual’s job activities within an organization are usually summarized in a formal statement called a job description – a list of specific activities that must be performed by whoever holds the position.

Unclear job descriptions Can confuse employees and may cause them to lose interest in their jobs. On the other hand, a clear job description can help employees to become successful by focusing their efforts on  the issues that are important for their position.

When properly designed, job descriptions communicate job content to employees, establish performance levels that employees must maintain, and act as a guide that employees should follow to help the organization reach its objectives.

Job activities are delegated by management to enhance the accomplishment of  management system objectives.

Management analyzes its objectives and assigns specific duties that will lead to reaching those objectives. A sound organizing strategy delineates specific job activities for every individual in the organization.

The following 3 areas are related to responsibility:

1. Dividing Job Activities
2. Clarifying Job activities of managers
3. Being Responsible

DIVIDING JOB ACTIVITIES:

One person cannot be responsible for performing all of the activities that take place within an organization. Since so many people work in a given management system, organizing necessarily involves dividing job activities among a no. of individuals.

Some method of distributing these job activities is essential.

THE FUNCTIONAL SIMILARITY METHOD:

The functional similarity method is the most basic method of dividing job activities.

Management should take 4 basic interrelated steps to divide job activities in the following sequence:

1. Examine management system objectives.
2. Designate Appropriate activities that must be performed to reach those objectives.
3. Design specific jobs by grouping similar activities.
4. Make specific individuals responsible for performing those jobs.

 

FUNCTIONAL SIMILARITY & RESPONSIBILITY:

3 additional guides can be used to supplement the functional similarity method.

1. Overlapping Responsibility should be avoided when making job activity divisions.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        Overlapping responsibility refer to a situation in which more than one individual is responsible for the same activity.                                                                                                                                                                                           Generally speaking, only one person should be responsible for completing one activity.                                                                                    When 2 or more employees are unclear about who should do a job because of overlapping responsibility, it usually leads to conflict and poor working relationships. Often the Job does not get done because each employee assumes the other will do it.                                                                       
2. RESPONSIBILITY GAP:                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                A responsibility gap exists when certain tasks are not included in the responsibility area of an individual organization member. This results in a situation in which nobody within the organization is obligated to perform certain necessary activities.                                                                                                                                       
3. Management should avoid creating job activities for accomplishing tasks that do not enhance goal  attainment. Organization members should be obligated to perform only those activities that lead to goal attainment.

Chain of Command

Departmentalization, Division of Labour, Span of Control and the 4th aspect of organizing effort is SCALAR RELATIONSHIPS – The Chain of Command.

Every organization is built on the premise that the individual at the top possesses the most authority and that other individual’s authority is scaled downward according to their relative position on the organization chart.

The lower a person’s position on the organization chart, then, the less authority that person possesses.

The Scale Relationship or Chain of Command is related to the unity of command.

UNITY OF COMMAND is the management principle that recommends that an individual  have only 1 boss.

If too many bosses give orders, the result will probably be confusion, contradiction and frustration –  a sure recipe for ineffectiveness and inefficiency in an organization.

Although the unity of command principle is 75 years old, it is still considered as a valid and critical one.

******

Fayol recommends that a gangplank be created for a peer level communication within and across departments with structures to keep the organization updated on the information shared. 

SPAN OF MANAGEMENT

After Departmentalization and Division of Labour, the third main consideration of any organizing effort is Span of Management – the no. of individuals a manger supervises.

The more individuals a manger supervises, the greater the span of management.

Span of management is also called the span of control, span of authority, span of supervision and span of responsibility.

The central concern of span of management is to determine how many individuals a manager can supervise effectively.

To use the company’s human resources most productively, managers should supervise as many individuals as they can best guide towards meeting the organization’s targets. Too few – wasting their capacity. Too many – losing effectiveness.

DESIGNING SPAN OF MANAGEMENT : A CONTINGENCY VIEWPOINT

As reported by Harold Koontz, several important situational factors influence the appropriateness of the size of an individual’s span of management:

• SIMILARITY OF FUNCTIONS:                                                                                                                                                                                                                   The degree to which activities performed by supervised individuals are similar or dissimilar. As the similarity of the subordinates activity increases, the span of management increases and vice versa.                                                                          
• GEOGRAPHIC CONTINUITY:                                                                                                                                                                                                                           The degree to which subordinates are  physically separated. In general, the closer subordinates are physically, the more of them managers can supervise effectively.                                                                              
• COMPLEXITY OF FUNCTIONS:                                                                                                                                                                                                                       The degree to which worker’s activities are difficult and involved. The more difficult and involved the activities are, the more difficult it is to manage a large no. of individuals effectively.                                                                      
• COORDINATION :                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                The amount of time managers must spend synchronizing the activities of their subordinates with the activities of other workers. The greater the amount of time must be spent on such coordination, the smaller the span of management can be.                                                                                                                       
• PLANNING:

              The amount of time  managers must spend developing management                   system objectives and plans and integrating them with the activities                   of their subordinates. The more time managers must spend on the                       planning activities, the fewer individuals they can manage effectively.

 

GRAICUNAS and SPAN OF MANAGEMENT:

V.A.Graicunas developed a formula for determining the no. of possible relationships between a manager and subordinates when the no. of subordinates is known.

Graicunas’s Formula is as follows:

C = n a (2^n)/2 + n – 1 b

C is the total no. of possible relationships between manager and subordinates, and n is the known no. of subordinates.

As the no. of subordinates increases, arithmetically, the no. of possible relationships between the manager and those subordinates increases geometrically.

DIVISION OF LABOUR & Guidelines on Coordination

After Departmentalization, the second main consideration of any organizing effort is how to divide labour.

Division of Labour is the assignment of various portions of a particular task among a no. of organization members. Rather than one individual doing the entire job, several individuals perform different parts of it.

Production is divided into a no. of steps, with the responsibility for completing various steps assigned to specific individuals.

The essence of division of labour is the individuals specialize in doing part of a task rather than the entire task.

 

Advantages & Disadvantages of Division of Labour:

Several explanations are available for the usefulness of division of labour.

• When workers specialize in a particular task, their skill at performing that task tends to increase.                                                                                            
• Workers who have 1 job and 1 place in which to do it, do not lose valuable time changing tools or locations.                                                                 
• When workers concentrate on performing only one job, they naturally try to make their job easier and more efficient.                                                        
• Division of labour creates a situation in which workers need only to know how to perform their part of the work task rather than the entire process for producing the end product.

Dis Advantages of Excessive Division Of Labour:

Division of labour focuses solely on  efficiency and economic benefit and overlooks the human variable in organizations.

Work that is extremely specialized tends to be boring and therefore will eventually cause production rates to go down as workers become resentful of being treated like machines.

Managers need to find a reasonable balance between specialization and human motivation.

COORDINATION:

In a division of labour situation, the importance of effective coordination of the different individuals doing portions  of the task is obvious.

Coordination is the orderly arrangement of group effort to provide unity of action in the pursuit of a common purpose. Coordination is the means for achieving any and all organizational objectives.

Coordination involves encouraging the completion of individual portions of a task in a synchronized order that is appropriate for the overall task.

Groups need coordination for maintaining productivity.

Establishing and maintaining coordination may required close supervision of employees. Managers can establish and maintain coordination through bargaining, formulating a common purpose for the group, or improving on specific problem solutions so the group will know what to do when it encounters those problems.

 

Mary Parker Follett’s Guidelines on Coordination:

1. Coordination can be attained with least difficulty through direct horizontal relationships and personal communications. When a coordination problem arises, peer discussion may be the best way to resolve it.                                                                                                                                     
2. Coordination be a discussion topic throughout the planning process. Managers should plan for coordination.                                                                        
3. Maintaining coordination is a continuing process and should be treated as such. Managers cannot assume that because their management system shows coordination today, it will show coordination tomorrow.                                                                                                       
4. Human element is important and the communication process is an essential consideration in any attempt to encourage coordination.               
5. Employee skill levels and motivation levels are also primary considerations for the coordination activity.

ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE

STRUCTURE:

In any organizing effort, managers must choose an appropriate structure.

Structure refers to the designated relationships among resources of the management system. Its purpose is to facilitate the use of each resource, individually and collectively, as the management system attempts to attain its objectives.

ORGANIZATIONAL CHART:

An organizational chart is constructed in pyramid form, with individuals toward the top of the pyramid having more authority and responsibility than those toward the bottom.

The relative positioning of individuals within boxes on the chart indicates broad working relationships, and lines between boxes designate formal lines of communication between individuals.

AUTHORITY & RESPONSIBILITY:

The dotted line is not part of the organization chart but has been added to emphasize the chart’s pyramid shape. The locations of the positions also indicate broad working relationships.

FORMAL & INFORMAL STRUCTURE:

Formal structure is defined as the relationships among organizational resources as outlined by Management. It is represented primarily by the Organization Chart.

Informal Structure is defined as the patterns of relationships that develop because of informal activities of organization members. It evolves naturally and tend to be molded by individual norms and values and social relationships.

DEPARTMENTALIZATION & FORMAL STRUCTURE:

Department is a unique group of resources established by management to perform some organizational task. The process of establishing departments within the management system is called DEPARTMENTALIZATION.

FUNCTIONAL DEPARTMENTALIZATION:

The most widely used basis for establishing departments within the formal structure is the type of work functions (activities) being performed within the management system.

Functions are typically divided into major categories like  marketing, production and finance, etc.,

 

PRODUCT DEPARTMENTALIZATION:

Organization structure based primarily on product departmentalizes resources according to the products being manufactured. As the company grows and as their product range grows, it becomes increasing difficult for management to coordinate activities across the organization.

Organizing on the lines of products and product groups permits the logical grouping of resources across the organization.

GEOGRAPHICAL DEPARTMENTALIZATION:

Structure based primarily on territory departmentalizes according to the places where the work is being done or the geographic markets on which the management system is focusing.

The physical distances can range from quite short (between 2 points in the same city) to quite long ( between 2 points in the same state or different states or countries or continents).

As market areas expand and the work locations increase, the physical distances between places can make the management task extremely cumbersome. To minimize this problem, resources can be departmentalized according to the territory.

 

CUSTOMER DEPARTMENTALIZATION:

Structure based primarily on the customer establishes departments in response to the organization’s major customers.

This structure,of course, assumes that major customers can be identified and divided into logical categories.

 

MANUFACTURING PROCESS DEPARTMENTALIZATION:

Structure based primarily on manufacturing process departmentalizes according tot he major phases of the process used to manufacture products.

 

*** FORCES INFLUENCING FORMAL STRUCTURE***

According to Shetty & Carlisle, the formal structure of a management system is continually evolving.

4 Primary forces influences this evolution:

1. Manager
2. Task
3. Environment
4. Subordinates

The evolution of a particular organization is actually the result of a complex and dynamic interaction among these forces.

MANAGER:

Each manager perceives the organizational problem in a unique way. Naturally, knowledge, experience, background and values influence the manager’s perception of what the organization’s formal structure should be or how it should be changed.

TASK:

Task includes the degree of technology involved in performing the task and the task’s complexity. As task activities change, a force is created to change the existing organization.

ENVIRONMENT:

Environment include the customers and suppliers of the management system, along with existing political and social structures.

SUBORDINATES:

Sub ordinates include the needs and skill  levels of subordinates.

Changes in the environment or subordinate dynamics can effect a change in the organization.

ORGANIZING – 16 General guidelines by Henri Fayol

Organizing is the process of establishing orderly uses for all resources within the management system.

Here, Orderly signifies the emphasis on the attainment of management system objectives and assist managers not only in making objectives apparent but in clarifying which resources will be used to attain them.

IMPORTANCE OF ORGANIZING:

The organizing function is extremely important to the management system because it is the primary mechanism mangers use to activate plans.

Organizing creates and maintains relationships between all organizational resources by indicating which resources are to be used for specified activities and when,where, and how they are to be used.

A thorough  organizing efforts helps managers to minimize costly weaknesses, such as duplication of effort and idle organizational resources.

If there were to be an organizing department, it’s responsibilities will include:

• Reorganization plans that make the management system more effective and efficient.
• Plans to improve managerial skills to fit current management system Needs.
• An advantageous Organizational climate within the Management System.

 

Henri Fayol developed 16 general guidelines for organizing resources:

1. Judiciously prepare and execute the operating plan.                        
2. Organize the human and material facets so that they are consistent with objectives, resources and requirements of the concern.                                                                                                                 
3. Establish a single component, energetic guiding authority i.e. a Formal Management Structure.                                                                    
4. Co-ordinate all activities and efforts.                                                                     
5. Formulate clear, distinct and precise decisions.                                          
6. Arrange for efficient selection so that each department is headed by a component, energetic manager and all employees are placed where they can render the greatest service.                                   
7. Define duties.                                                                                                               
8. Encourage initiative and responsibility.                                                         
9. Offer fair and suitable rewards for services rendered.                              
10. Make use of sanctions against faults and errors.                                       
11. Maintain discipline.                                                                                           
12. Ensure that individual interests are consistent with the general interests of the organization.                                                                            
13. Recognize the Unity of Command.                                                              
14.  Promote both material and human coordination.                                                                                                                  
15.  Insitute and Effect Controls.                                                                          
16.  Avoid regulations, red tape and (excessive) paper work.                                                   

 

5 Step Organizing Process:

1. Reflect on Plans and Objectives.
2. Establish major Tasks.
3. Divide major tasks into subtasks
4. Allocate resources and directives for subtasks.
5. Evaluate the results of implemented organizing strategy.

METHODS OF SALES FORECASTING

Modern Managers have several different methods available for Sales Forecasting.

Popular methods are:

1. Jury of Executive Opinion Method
2. The Salesforce Estimation Method
3. Time Series Analysis Method

Jury of Executive Opinion Method:

In the Jury of executive opinion method of Sales Forecasting, appropriate managers within the organization assemble to discuss their opinions on what will happen to sales in the future.

Since these discussion sessions usually resolve around hunches or experienced guesses, the resulting forecast is a blend of informed opinions.

A similar, forecasting method, which has been developed recently is called the DELPHI Method. Delphi Method also gathers, evaluates, and summarizes expert opinions as the basis for a forecast, but the procedure is more formal than that for the jury of executive opinion method.

The Delphi Method has the following steps:

1. STEP 1 – Various Experts are asked to answer, independently and in writing, a  series of questions about the future of sales or whatever other area is being forecasted.                                                      
2. STEP 2 – A summary of all the answers is then prepared. No expert knows, how any other expert answered the questions.       
3. STEP 3 – Copies of summary are given to the individual experts with the request that they modify their original answers if they think it necessary.                                                                                                    
4. STEP 4 – Another summary is made of these modifications, and copies again are distributed to the experts. This time,however, expert opinions that deviate significantly from the norm must be justified in writing.                                                                                        
5. STEP 5 – A third summary is made of the opinions and justifications, and copies are once again distributed to the experts. Justification in writing for all answers is now required.   
6. STEP 6 – The forecast is generated from all of the opinions and justifications that arise from step 5.

 

SALES FORCE ESTIMATION METHOD:

The Sales Force Method is a sales forecasting technique that predicts future sales by analyzing the opinions of sales people as a group.

Salespeople continually interact with customers, and from this interaction they usually develop a knack for predicting future sales.

As with the jury of executive opinion method, the resulting forecast normally is a blend of the informed views of the group.

The sales force estimation method is considered very valuable management tool and is commonly used in business and industry throughout the world.

This method can be further improved by providing sales people with sufficient time to forecast and offering incentives for accurate forecasts.

Companies can make their sales people better forecasters, by training them to better interpret  their interactions with the customers.

 

TIME SERIES ANALYSIS METHOD:

The time series analysis method predicts the future sales by analyzing the historical relationship between sales and time.

Although the actual number of years included in a time series analysis will vary from company to company, as a general rule, managers should include as many years as possible to ensure that important sales trends do not get undetected.

 

Other complex sales forecasting methods include:

• Statistical Correlation Method
• Computer Simulation Method

 

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PLANNING TOOLS

The planning tools are techniques managers can use to help develop plans.

2 of the most important tools are:

1. Forecasting
2. Scheduling

FORECASTING:

Forecasting is the process of predicting future environmental happenings that will influence the operation of the organization.

Although sophisticated forecasting techniques have been developed only rather recently, the concept of forecasting can be traced at least as far back as Fayol.

The importance of forecasting lies in its ability to help managers understand the future makeup of the organizational environment, which, in turn, helps them formulate more effective plans.

HOW FORECASTING WORKS:

e.g: William C. House in describing the Insect Control Services Company, has developed an excellent illustration of how forecasting works.

In general, Insect Control Services forecasts by attempting to do the following:

1. Establish relationships between Industry Sales and National Economic and Social Indicators.                                                                      
2. Determine the impact government restrictions on the use of chemical pesticides Will have on the growth of Chemical, biological and electromagnetic energy pest control markets.       
3. Evaluate Sales Growth Potential, profitability, resources required, and risks involved in each of its market areas (Commercial, industrial, institutional, governmental and residential)                                                                                                            
4.  Evaluate the potential for expansion of marketing efforts in geographical areas of the country and abroad.                                          
5. Determine the likelihood of technological breakthroughs that would make existing product lines obsolete.

TYPES OF FORECASTS:

Various types of forecasts includes:

Economical, Technological, Social  Trends, Sales Forecasting etc.,

Although a company’s complete forecasting process should, and usually does, include all these types of forecasting, sales forecasting is considered the key forecast for a company.

A Sales forecast is a prediction of how high or low sales of the organization’s products and/or services will be over the period of time in reference.

It is the Key forecast for organizations because it serves as the fundamental guideline for planning.

Only after the sales forecast has been completed can managers decide, for example, if more salespeople should be hired, if more money for plant expansion must be borrowed, or if layoffs and cutbacks in certain areas are necessary.

Managers must continually monitor forecasting methods to improve them and to reformulate plans based on inaccurate forecasts.

SCHEDULING:

Scheduling is the process of formulating a detailed listing of activities that must be accomplished to attain an objective, allocating the resources necessary to attain the objective, and setting up and following timetables for completing the objective.

Scheduling is an integral part of every organizational plan.

Two popular scheduling techniques are Gantt Charts and PERT – Program Evaluation and Review Technique.

PLANNING AREAS: INPUT PLANNING

Organizational inputs,process, outputs and environment are major factors in determining how much the organization will be successful.

Planning in areas, such as plant facilities planning or human resource planning, is called INPUT PLANNING – the development of proposed action that will furnish sufficient and appropriate organizational resources for reaching established organizational objectives.

e.g.: Human Resource Planning

Kind of questions personnel planners  should try to answer are:

1. What types of people does the organization need to reach its objectives?                                                                                                                    
2. How many of each type are needed?                                                                
3. What steps should the organization take to recruit and select such people?                                                                                                         
4. Can present employees be further trained to fill future needed positions?                                                                                                                   
5. At what rate are employees being lost to other organizations?

WHY PLANS FAIL?

A study by K.A. Ringbakk determined that plans fail when:

1. Corporate Planning is not integrated into the total management system.                                                                                                                     
2. There is a lack of understanding of the different steps of the planning process.                                                                                                    
3. Management at different levels in the organization has not properly engaged in or contributed to planning activities.               
4. Responsibility for planning is wrongly vested solely in the planning department.                                                                                              
5. Management expects that plans developed will be realized with little effort.                                                                                                              
6. In starting formal planning, too much is attempted at once.          
7. Management fails to operate by the plan.                                                      
8. Financial projections are confused with planning.                                    
9. Inadequate inputs are used in planning.                                                   
10. Management fails to grasp the overall planning process.

 

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TYPES OF PLANS

STANDING PLANS are used over and over again because they focus on organizational situations that occur repeatedly.

SINGLE USER PLANS are used only once, or at most, couple of times, because they focus on unique or rare situations within the organization.

STANDING PLANS:

Policies, Procedures and Rules:

A POLICY is a standing plan that furnishes broad guidelines for taking action consistent with reaching organizational objectives.

A PROCEDURE is a standing plan that outlines a series of related actions that must be taken to accomplish a particular task.

Procedures outline more specific actions than policies do.

Organizations usually have many different sets of procedures covering the various tasks to be accomplished.

Managers must be careful to apply the appropriate organizational procedures for the situations they face and apply them properly.

A RULE is a standing plan that designates specific required action. A rule indicates what an organization member should or should not do and allows no room for interpretation.

 

SINGLE USE PLANS:

Programs & Budgets:

A PROGRAM is a single use plan to carry out a special project within an organization. The Project itself is not intended to remain in existence over the entire life of the organization. Rather, it exists to achieve some purpose, that if accomplished, will contribute to  the organization’s long term success.

A BUDGET is a single user financial plan that covers a specificed length of time. It details how funds will be spent on labour, raw materials, capital goods, information systems, marketing and so on, as well as how the funds will be obtained.

WHAT IS A PLAN?

A Plan is a specific Acton proposed to help the organization achieve its objective.

A crucial part of the management of any organization is developing logical plans and then taking the steps necessary to put the plans in to action.

Regardless of how important experience related intuition may be to managers, successful management actions and strategies typically are based on reason.

Rational managers are crucial to the development of an organizational plan.

4 Dimensions of Plans:

1. REPETITIVENESS
2. TIME
3. SCOPE
4. LEVEL

REPETITIVENESS:

The repetitiveness dimension of a plan is the extent to which the plan is used over and over again. 

Some plans are specially designed for one situation that is relatively short term in nature.

Plans of this sort are essentially non repetitive.

Other Plans, however, are designed to be used time after time for long term recurring situations. These plans are basically repetitive in nature.

TIME:

The Time dimension of a plan is the length of time the plan covers.Strategical Plans cover relatively long periods of time4 and tactical plans cover relatively short periods of time.

SCOPE:

The Scope dimension of a plan is the portion of the total management system at which the plan is aimed.

Some plans are designed to cover the entire open management system: the organizational environment, inputs, process and outputs. Such a plan is often referred to as a master plan.

Other Plans are developed to cover only a portion of the management system. e.g.: A plan that covers the recruitment of new workers.

The greater the portion of the management system that a plan covers, the broader is the plan’s scope.

LEVEL:

The level dimension of a plan is the level of the organization at which the plan is aimed.

Top Level Plans are those designed for the organization’s top management; whereas the middle level and the lower level plans are designed for middle and lower management, respectively.

Since all the parts of the organization are interdependent, plans developed at any level of the organization have effect on the plans at other levels.

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TACTICAL PLANNING Vs. STRATEGIC PLANNING

Tactical Planning is Short range planning that emphasizes the current operations of various parts of the organization.

Short Range is  defined as a period of time extending about one year or less in the future.

Managers use tactical planning  to outline what the various parts of the organization must do for the organization to be successful at some point 1year or less into the future.

Tactical plans are usually developed in the areas of production, marketing, personnel, finance and plant facilities.

COMPARING AND COORDINATING STRATEGIC & TACTICAL PLANNING:

Basic differences between strategic planning and tactical planning:

1. Since upper managers generally have a better understanding of the organization as a whole than lower level managers do, upper management generally develops the strategic plans and because lower level managers generally have better understanding of the day to day organizational operations, generally the lower level managers develop the tactical plans.           
2. Because Strategic  Planning emphasizes analyzing the future and tactical planning emphasizes analysing the everyday functioning of the organization,facts on which to base strategic plans are usually more difficult to gather than are facts on which to base tactical plans.                                                                                                                       
3. Because strategic plans are based primarily on a prediction of the future and tactical plans on known circumstances that exist within the organization, strategic plans are generally less detailed than tactical plans.                                                                             
4. Because strategic planning focuses on the long term and tactical planning on the short term, strategic plans cover a relatively long period of time whereas tactical plans cover a relatively short period of time.

Despite their differences, tactical and strategic planning are integrally related. Manager need both tactical and strategic planning program, and these program must be closely related to be successful.

Tactical planning should focus on what to do in the short term to help the organization achieve the long term objectives determined by strategic planning.

STRATEGY IMPLEMENTATION & STRATEGIC CONTROL

Strategy Implementation, the 4th step of the strategy management process, is putting formulated strategies into action.

Without successive implementation, valuable strategies deeloped by managers are virtually worthless.

The successful implementation of strategy required 4 basic skills:

1. INTERACTING SKILL
2. ALLOCATING SKILL
3. MONITORING SKILL
4. ORGANIZING SKILL

INTERACTING SKILL:

Interacting Skill is the ability to manager people during implementation. Managers who are able to understand the fears and frustrations others feel during the implementation of a new strategy tend to be the best implementers. These managers empathize with organization members and bargain for the best way to put a strategy into action.

ALLOCATING SKILL :

Allocating skill is the ability to provide the organizational resources necessary to implementing a strategy. 

Successful implementers are talented at scheduling jobs, budgeting time and money, allocating other resources that are critical for implementation.

MONITORING SKILL:

Monitoring skill is the ability to use information to determine whether a problem has arisen that is blocking implementation.

Good Strategy Implementers set up feedback systems that continually tell them about the status of strategy implementation.

ORGANIZING SKILL :

Organizing skill is the ability to create throughout the organization a network of people who can help solve implementation problems as they occur.

Good implementers customize this network to include individuals who can handle the special types of  problems anticipated in the implementation of a particular strategy.

Overall , the successful implementation of a strategy requires handling people appropriately, allocating resources necessary for implementation, monitoring and implementing progress, and solving implementation problems as they occur.

Perhaps the most important requirements are knowing which people can solve specific implementation problems and being able to involve them when those problems arise.

 

STRATEGIC CONTROL:

Strategic Control, the last step of the Strategy Management Process, consists of monitoring and evaluating the strategy management process as a whole to ensure that it is operating properly.

Strategic Control focuses on the activities involved in environmental analysis, organizational direction, strategy formulation, strategy implementation, and strategy control itself – checking that all steps of the strategy management process are appropriate, compatible and functioning properly.

SAMPLE ORGANIZATIONAL STRATEGIES

Analyzing the organizational environment and applying one or more of the strategy tools i.e. Critical Question Analysis, SWOT Analysis, Business Portfolio Analysis and the Porter’s Model; will give the managers a foundation on which to formulate organizational strategy.

The 4 common organizational strategies that evolve this way are:

1. Growth
2. Stability
3. Retrenchment
4. Divestiture.

GROWTH STRATEGY:

Growth Strategy is adopted by management to increase the amount of businsess that an SBU is currently generating.

The growth strategy is  generally applied to star SBUs or question mark SBUs who have the potential to become stars.

Management generally invests substantial amounts of money to implement this strategy and may even sacrifice short term profit to build long term gain.

Managers can also pursue a growth strategy by purchasing an SBU from another organization.

STABILITY:

Stability is a strategy adopted by management to maintain orslightly improve the amount of business that an SBU is generating.

This strategy is generally applied to cash; cows, since these SBUs are already in an advantageous position.

Management must be careful,however, that in its pursuit of stability it does not turn cash cows into dogs.

RETRENCHMENT:

Retrenchment is to defend or fortify.

Through Retrenchment strategy, mangement attempts to strengthen or protect the amount of business an SBU is generating.

This strategy is generally applied to cash cows or stars that are beginning to lose market share.

DIVESTITURE:

Divestiture is a strategy adopted to eliminate an SBU that is not generating a satisfactory amount of business and that has little hope of doing so in the near future.

In essence, the organization sells or closes down the SBU in question. This strategy is usually applied to SBUs that are dogs or question marks that have failed to increase market share but still require significant amounts of cash.

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STRATEGY FORMULATION TYPES

Understanding the forces that determine competitiveness within an industry should help managers develop strategies that will make their companies more competitive within the industry.

Porter has developed 3 generic strategies to illustrate the kind of strategies managers might develop to make their organizations more competitive:

1. Differentiation
2. Cost Leadership
3. Focus

DIFFERENTIATION:

Differentiation, the first of Porter’s Strategies,focuses on making an organization more competitive by developing a product or products that consumers perceive as being different from products offered by competitors.

Differentiation includes uniqueness in such areas as product quality, design and level of after sales service.

COST LEADERSHIP:

Cost Leadership is a strategy that focuses on making an organization more competitive by producing products more cheaply than competitors can.

According to the logic behind this strategy, by producing products more cheaply than its competitors do, an organization will be able to offer products to customers at lower prices than competitors can, and thereby increase its market share.

Examples of tactics managers might use to gain cost leadership are obtaining lower prices for product parts purchased from suppliers and using technology to increase organizational productivity.

Similar strategies are also used in the service industry.

FOCUS:

Focus is a strategy that emphasizes making an organization more competitive by targeting a particular customer segment.

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Strategy Forumulation: GE Multifactor Portfolio Matrix

GE Multifactor Portfolio Matrix:

GE Multifactor Portfolio Matrix is a tools that helps managers develop organizational strategy that is based primarily on market attractiveness and business strengths.

The GE Multifactor Portfolio was deliberately designed to be more complete than the BCG Growth Share Matrix.

Each of the organization’s SBUs are plotted on a 2 dimensional matrix of Industry Attractiveness and Business Strength.

Each of these 2 dimensions are a composite of  a variety of factors that each firm must determine for itself, given its own unique situation.

As examples, Industry Attractiveness might be determined by such factors as:

• No. of Competitors in the Industry
• Rate of Industry Growth
• Weakness of Competitors within an Industry

Business Strengths might be determined by such factors as:

• Company’s Financial Solid Position
• Its Good Bargaining Position over Suppliers
• Its high level of Technology Use.

Specific strategies for a company are implied by where their businesses fall on the matrix.

STRATEGY FORMULATION TOOLS

After the managers involved in the strategic management process have analyzed the environment and determined organizational direction through the development of a mission statement and organizational objective, they are ready to formulate strategy.

STRATEGY FORMULATION is the process of determining appropriate courses of action for achieving organizational objectives and thereby accomplishing organizational purpose.

Managers formulate strategies that reflect environmental analysis, lead to fulfillment of organizational mission, and result in reaching organizational objectives.

Special tools they can use to assist them in formulating strategies include the following:

1. CRITICAL QUESTION ANALYSIS
2. SWOT ANALYSIS
3. BUSINESS PORTFOLIO ANALYSIS
4. PORTER’S MODEL FOR INDUSTRY ANALYSIS.

These 4 strategy development tools are related but distinct. Managers should use the tools or combination of tools that seems most appropriate for them and  their organizations.

CRITICAL QUESTION ANALYSIS:

The 4 critical questions to be answered here are:

1. What are the purposes and objectives of the Organization?
2. Where is the Organization presently going?
3. In what kind of environment does the organization now exist?
4. What can be done to better achieve organizational objectives in the future?

 

SWOT ANALYSIS:

SWOT Analysis is a strategic development tool that matches internal organizational strengths and weaknesses with external opportunities and threats.

SWOT is an acronym for the organization’s Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities and Threats.

It is based on the assumption that if managers carefully review such strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats, a useful strategy for ensuring organizational success will become evident to them.

 

BUSINESS PORTFOLIO ANALYSIS:

Business Portfolio Analysis is an organizational strategy formulation technique that is based on the philosophy that Organizations should develop strategy much as they handle investment portfolios.

In the way, in which the sound financial investments should be supported and unsound ones discarded, sound organizational activities should be emphasized and unsound ones deemphasized.

2 Business Portfoilo tools are:

1. The BCG Growth Share Matrix by Boston Consulting Group.
2. GE Multifactor Portfolio Matrix by General Electric Company.

BCG Growth-Share Matrix:

The Boston Consulting Group, a leading consulting firm, developed and popularized a portfoilo analysis tools that helps managers develop organizational strategy based on market share of businesses and the growth of markets in which businesses exist.

The 1st step in using this model is identifying the organization’s strategic business units (SBUs). A Strategic business Unit is a significant organization segment that is analysed to develop organizational strategy aimed at generating future business or revenue.

Exactly what constitutes as SBU varies from company to company. In bigger organizations, and SBU could be a company division, a single product or a complete Product Line.

In smaller organizations, it might be the entire company.

Eventhough they vary drastically in form each SBU has the following characteristics:

1. It is a single business or collection of related businesses.
2. It has its own competitors.
3. It has a manager who is accountable for its operation.
4. It is an area that can be independently planned for within the organization.

After identifying the SBUs, the next step is to categorize each SBU within one of the 4 Matrix Quadrants:

1. STARS – Star SBUs have a high share of a high growth market and typically need large amounts of cash to support their rapid and significant growth. Stars also generate large amounts of cash for the organization and are usually segments in which management can make additional investments and earn attractive returns.
2. CASH COWS: SBUs that are Cash Cows have a large share of a market that is growing only slightly. Naturally, these SBUs provide the organization with large amounts of Cash, but since their market is not growing significantly, the cash is generally used to meet the financial demands of the organization in other areas, such as the expansion of a STAR SBU.
3. QUESTION MARKS: These category of SBUs have a small share of a high growth market. These are “question marks” because it is uncertain whether management should invest more cash in them to gain a larger share of the market or deemphasize or eliminate them. Management will choose the 1st option when it believes it can turn the question mark into a star, and the 2nd option when it thinks that future investments would be fruitless.
4. DOGS : SBUs that are dogs have a relatively small share of a low-growth market. They may barely support themselves; in some cases, they actually drain off cash resources generated by other SBUs. These are the SBUs which are likely to be shortlisted for deemphasize or elimination.

PITFALLS of the BCG Growth Matrix Model:

The matrix does not consider factors like:

• Various types of Risk associated with product development
• Threats that inflation and other economic conditions can create in the future.
• Social,Political and Ecological Pressures.

 

GE Multifactor Portfolio Matrix:

GE Multifactor Portfolio Matrix is a tools that helps managers develop organizational strategy that is based primarily on market attractiveness and business strengths.

The GE Multifactor Portfolio was deliberately designed to be more complete than the BCG Growth Share Matrix.

Each of the organization’s SBUs are plotted on a 2 dimensional matrix of Industry Attractiveness and Business Strength.

Each of these 2 dimensions are a composite of  a variety of factors that each firm must determine for itself, given its own unique situation.

As examples, Industry Attractiveness might be determined by such factors as:

• No. of Competitors in the Industry
• Rate of Industry Growth
• Weakness of Competitors within an Industry

Business Strengths might be determined by such factors as:

• Company’s Financial Solid Position
• Its Good Bargaining Position over Suppliers
• Its high level of Technology Use.

Specific strategies for a company are implied by where their businesses fall on the matrix.

 

While portfolio models are useful frameworks and reference points, no model is yet designed that will deal with all the various dynamics involved in an organization and an industry and the changing environment. Hence Portfolio models should never be applied in a mechanistic fashion and sound managerial judgement and experience is to be applied alongwith.

 

PORTERS MODEL FOR INDUSTRY ANALYSIS:

Perhaps the best known tool for formulating strategy is the model developed by Michael E. Porter, an internationally acclaimed strategic management expert.

Essentially, Porter’s model outlines the primary forces that determine competitiveness within an industry and illustrates how those forces are related.

The model suggests that in order to develop effective organizational strategies, managers must understand and react to those forces within an industry that determine an organization’s level of competitiveness within that industry.

According to these model, competitiveness within an industry is determined by the following factors:

1. New Entrants or New Companies within the Industry
2. Substitute Products or Services – for goods or services that the companies within the industry produce/provide.
3. Supplier’s Ability to control issues like costs of material/ inputs that industry companies use to manufacture their products or provide their services.
4. Competition level among the firms in the industry.

According to the model, buyers, product substitutes, supplier and potential new companies within an Industry all contribute to the level or rivalry among industry firms.

 
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ORGANIZATIONAL DIRECTION: MISSION & OBJECTIVES

DETERMINING ORGANIZATION DIRECTION:

Through an interpretation of information gathered during environmental analysis, managers can determine the direction in which an organization should move.

2 important ingredients of organizational direction are Organizational Mission and Organizational Objectives.

DETERMINING ORGANIZATIONAL MISSION:

The most common initial act in establishing organizational direction is determining an organizational mission.

ORGANIZATIONAL MISSION is the purpose for which the Organization exists.

The firms organizational mission reflects such information as what types of products or services it produces, who its customers tend to be, and what important values it holds.

Organizational Mission is a very broad statement of organizational direction and is based on a thorough analysis of information generated through environmental analysis.

DEVELOPING A MISSION STATEMENT:

A MISSION STATEMENT is a written document developed by management, normally based on input by managers as well as non managers, that describes and explains what the mission of an organization actually is.

The mission is expressed in writing to ensure that all organization members will have easy access to it and thoroughly understand exactly what the organization is trying to accomplish.

IMPORTANCE OF ORGANIZATIONAL MISSION:

An organization mission is very important to an organization because it helps management increase the probability that the organization will be successful.

There are several reasons why it does this.

First, the existence of an organizational mission helps management focus human effort in a common direction.

The mission makes explicit the major targets the organization is trying to reach and helps managers keep these targets in mind as they make decisions.

Second, an organizational mission serves as a sound rationale for allocating resources.

A properly developed mission statement gives managers useful guidelines about how resources should be used to best accomplish organizational purpose.

Third, a mission statement helps management define broad but important job areas within an organization and therefore critical jobs that must be accomplished.

RELATION BETWEEN MISSION & OBJECTIVES:

Sound organizational objectives reflect and flow naturally from the purpose of the organization.

The organization’s purpose is expressed in its mission statement.

Thus organizational objectives must reflect and flow naturally from an organizational mission that, in turn, was designed to reflect and flow naturally from the results of an environmental analysis.

STRATEGY PLANNING – ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS

The 1st step of the strategy management process is environmental analysis. An organization can only be successful if it is appropriately matched to its environment.

ENVIRONMENT ANALYSIS is the study of the organizational environment to pinpoint environmental factors that can significantly influence organizational operations.

MANAGERS commonly perform environmental analyses to help them understand what is happening both inside and outside their organizations and to increase the probability that the organizational strategies they develop will appropriately reflect the organizational environment.

In order to perform an environmental analysis efficiently and effectively, a manager must thoroughly understand how organizational environments are structured.

For purposes of environmental analysis, the environment of an organization is generally divided into 3 distinct levels:

1. General Environment
2. Operating Environment
3. Internal Environment

Managers must be well aware of these 3 organizational environmental levels, understand how each level affects organizational performance and then formulate organizational strategies in response to this understanding.

THE GENERAL ENVIRONMENT:

The components normally considered part of the general environment are:

• Economic
• Social: Including Demographics and Social Values
• Political
• Legal
• Technological

THE OPERATING ENVIRONMENT:

The operating Environment includes various components like:

• Customer
• Competition
• Labour
• Supplier
• International Issues.

THE INTERNAL ENVIRONMENT:

The level of an organization’s environment that exists inside the organization and normally has immediate and specific implications for managing the organization is the internal environment.

It includes marketing, finance and accounting,planning,organizing, influencing and controlling within the organization.

FUNDAMENTALS OF STRATEGIC PLANNING

STRATEGIC PLANNING:

Strategic Planning is  the long range planning that focuses on the organization as a whole. In doing strategic planning, managers consider the organization as a total unit and ask themselves what must be done in the long term( 3 to 5 years) to attain organizational goals.

In strategic planning, managers try to determine what their organization should do to be successful 3 – 5 years from now. The most successful managers tend to be those who are capable of encouraging innovative strategic thinking within their organization.

STRATEGY:

Strategy is defined as a broad and general plan developed to reach long term objectives.Organizational strategy can and generally does focus on many different organizational areas such as Finance, Sales,Marketing,Production, Research and Development and PR.

It gives broad direction to the organization.

Strategy is actually the end result of strategic planning. Although larger organizations tend to be more precise in  developing organizational strategy than smaller organization, every organization must have a strategy.

For a strategy to be worthwhile, it must be consistent with organizational objectives, which, in turn, must be consistent with organizational purpose.

STRATEGY MANAGEMENT:

Strategy management is the process of ensuring that an organization possesses and benefits from the use of an appropriate organization strategy. An appropriate strategy is one best suited to the needs of an organization at a particular time.

The strategy management process is generally thought to consist of 5 sequential and continuing steps:

1. Environmental Analysis
2. Establishment of an Organizational Direction.
3. Strategy Formulation
4. Strategy Implementation
5. Strategic Control

PROCESSES FOR MAKING GROUP DECISIONS

3 Famous Processes for Group level Decision Making are:

1. Brainstorming
2. Nominal Group Technique
3. Delphi Technique

BRAINSTORMING:

Brainstorming is a group decision making process in which negative feedback on any suggested alternative by any group member is forbidden until all members have presented alternatives that they perceive as valuable.

Brainstorming is carefully designed to encourage all group members to contribute as many viable decision alternatives as they can think of.

Its premise is that if the evaluation of alternatives starts before all possible alternatives have been offered, valuable alternatives may be overlooked.

During brainstorming, group members are encouraged to state their ideas, no matter how wild they may seem, while an appointed group member records all ideas for discussion.

NOMINAL GROUP TECHNIQUE:

The nominal group technique is another useful process for helping groups make decisions. This process is designed to ensure that each group member has equal participation in making the group decisions.

It involves the following steps:

1. STEP 1: Each group member writes down individual ideas on the decision or problem being discussed.
2. STEP 2: Each member presents individual ideas orally. The ideas are usually written on a board for all other members to see and refer to.
3. STEP 3: After all members present their ideas, the entire group discussed these ideas simultaneously. Discussion tends to be unstructured and spontaneous.
4. STEP 4: When discussion is completed, a secret ballot is taken to allow members to support their favourite ideas without fear. The idea receiving the most votes is adopted and implemented.

DELPHI TECHNIQUE:

The Delphi technique involves circulating questionnaires on a specific problem among group members, sharing the questionnaire results with them, and then continuing to recirculate and refine individual responses until a consensus regarding  the problem is reached.

In contrast to the nominal group technique or brainstorming, the Delphi technique does not have group members meet face to face. The formal steps followed in the Delphi Technique are:

1. STEP 1: A problem is identified.
2. STEP 2: Group members are asked to offer solutions to the problem by  providing anonymous responses to a carefully designed questionnaires.
3. STEP 3: Responses of all group members are compiled and sent out to all group members.
4. STEP 4: Individual group members are asked to generate a new individual solution to the problem after they have studied the individual responses of all other group members.
5. STEP 5: Step 3 and 4 are repeated until a consensus problem solutions is reached.

 

Brainstorming offers the advantage of encouraging the expression of as many useful ideas as possible, but the disadvantage of wasting the group’s time on ideas that are wildly impractical.

The nominal group technique, with its secret ballot, offers a structure in which individuals can support or reject an idea without fear of recrimination. Its disadvantage is that there is no way of knowing why individuals voted the way they did.

The advantage of the Delhi Technique is that ideas can be gathered from group members who are too geographically separated or busy to meet face to face.Its disadvantage is that members are unable to ask questions of one another.

Managers must carefully weigh the advantages and disadvantages of these 3 group decision making tools and adopt the one or some combination of the three – that best suits their unique organizational circumstances.

TYPES OF DECISIONS & DECISION MAKING PROCESS

A decision is a choice made between 2 or more available alternatives.

Decision Making is the process of choosing the best alternative for reaching objectives.

Managers make decisions affecting the organization daily and communicate those decisions to other organizational members.

Some decisions affect a large number of organization members, cost a great deal of  money to Carry out, or have a long term effect on the organization. Such significant decisions can have a major impact, not only on the management systems itself, but on the career of the manager who makes them.

Other decisions are fairly insignificant, affecting only a small member of organization members, costing little to carry out, and producing only a short term effect on the organization.

TYPES OF DECISIONS:

PROGRAMMED DECISIONS: 

Programmed decisions are routine and repetitive, and the organization typically develops specific ways to handle them. A programmed decision might involve determining how products will be arranged on the shelves of a supermarket. For this kind of routine, repetitive problem, standard arrangement decisions are typically made according to established management guidelines.

NON PROGRAMMED DECISIONS:

Non programmed decisions are typically one shot decisions that are usually less structured than programmed decision.

5 ELEMENTS  OF THE DECISION SITUATION:

1. The Decision Makers
2. Goals to be served
3. Relevant Alternatives
4. Ordering of Alternatives
5. Choice of Alternatives

DECISION MAKING PROCESS:

Decision making steps this model depicts are as follows:

1. Identify an existing problem                                                                      
2. List possible alternatives for solving the problem                       
3. Select the most beneficial of these alternatives.                           
4. Implement the selected alternative.                                                        
5. Gather feedback to find out if the implemented alternative is solving the identified problem.

THE PLANNER: Qualification and Evaluation

The planner is probably the most important input in the planning subsystem. This individual combines all other inputs and influences the subsystem process so that its output is effective organizational plans.

The planner is responsible not only for developing plans but also for advising management on what actions should be taken to implement those plans.

Regardless of who actually does the planning or what organization the planning is being done in, the qualification, duties, and evaluations of the planner are all very important considerations for an effective planning subsystem.

QUALIFICATIONS OF PLANNERS:

Planners should have four primary qualifications:

1. They should have considerable practical experience within their organization. Preferably, they should have been executives in one or more of the organization’s major departments.This experience will help them develop plans that are both practical and tailor made for the organization.                   
2. Planners should be capable of replacing  any narrow view of the organization they may have acquired while holding other organizational positions with an understanding of the organization as a whole. They must know how all parts of the organization function and interrelate. They must have an abundance of conceptual skills.                                                                     
3. Planners should have some knowledge of and interest in the social,political, technical and economic trends that could affect the future of the organization. They must be skillful in defining those trends and possess the expertise to determine how the organization should react to the trends to maximize its success. This qualification can be overemphasized.                                             
4. They should be able to work well with others. Their position will inevitably require them to work closely with several key members of the organization, so its is essential that they possess the personal characteristics necessary to collaborate and advise effectively. The ability to communicate clearly, both orally and in writing, is one of the most important of these characteristics.

EVALUATION CRITERIA FOR PLANNERS:

1. Organizational Plan is in writing.
2. Plan is the result of all elements of the management team working together.
3. Plan defines present and possible future business of the organization.
4. Plan specifically mentions organizational objectives.
5. Plan identifies future opportunities and suggests how to take advantage of them.
6. Plan emphasizes both internal and external environments.
7. Plan describes the attainment of objectives in operational terms whenever possible.
8. Plan includes both long and short term recommendations.

Over and above all these, the subjective considerations include how well planners get along with key members of the organization, the amount of organizational loyalty they display and their perceived potential.

MBO – Management by Objectives

MBO – Management by Objectives was popularized mainly through the writings of Peter Drucker.

Some Managers find organizational objectives such an important and fundamental part of management that they use a management approach based exclusively on them.

Although mostly discussed in the context of profit oriented companies, MBO is also a valuable management tool for non profit organizations.

MBO Strategy has 3 basic parts:

1. All individuals within an organization are assigned a specialized set of objectives that they try to reach during a normal operating period. These objectives are mutually set and agreed upon by individuals and their managers.                                                 
2. Performance reviews are conducted periodically to determine how close individuals are to attaining their objectives.                    
3. Rewards are given to individuals on the basis of how close they come to reaching their goals.  

The MBO  process consists of 5 steps:

1. Review Organizational Objectives: The manager gains a clear understanding of the organization’s overall objectives.                     
2. Set Worker Objectives: The manager and worker meet to agree on worker objectives to be reached by the end of the normal operating period.                                                                                               
3.  Monitor Progress:  At intervals during the normal operating period, the manager and worker check to see if the objectives are being reached.                                                                                             
4. Evaluate Performance: At the end of the normal operating period, the worker’s performance is judged by the extent to which the worker reached the objectives.                                               
5. Give Rewards: Rewards given to the worker are based on the extent to which the objectives were reached.

CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTORS:

1. Top Management must be committed to the MBO process and set appropriate objectives for the organization.
2. Managers and subordinates together must develop and agree on each individuals goals.
3. Employee performance should be conscientiously evaluated against established objective.
4. Management must follow through on employee performance evaluations by rewarding employees accordingly.

ADVANTAGES:

1. MBO programs continually emphasize what should be done in an organization to achieve organizational goals.
2. MBO process secures employee commitment to attaining organizational goals.

DISADVANTAGES:

1. One is that the development of objectives can be time consuming, leaving both managers and employees less time in which to do their actual work.
2. Increased Paper Work

GUIDELINES FOR ESTABLISHING OBJECTIVES

In general an organization should have 3 types of Objectives:

1. Short Term Objectives : Targets to be achieved in 1 year or less.
2. Intermediate Term Objectives: Targets to be achieved in 1 to 5 years.
3. Long Term Objectives: Targets to be achieved in 5 to 7 years.

The necessity of predetermining appropriate organizational objectives has led to the  development of a management guidelines called the PRINCIPLE OF OBJECTIVE.

This principle states that  before managers take any action, they should clearly determine, understand and state organizational objectives.

SUB OPTIMIZATION:

Sub optimization is a condition where sub objectives are conflicting ro not directly aimed at accomplishing the overall organizational objective.

GUIDELINES FOR ESTABLISHING OBJECTIVES:

1. Let the people responsible for attaining the objectives have a voice in setting them.
2. State Objective as specifically as possible.
3. Relate objectives to specific actions whenever necessary.
4. Pinpoint expected results.
5. Set goals high enough that employees have to strive to meet them, but not so high that employees give up trying to meet them.
6. Specify when goals are expected to be achieved
7. Set objectives only in relation to other organizational objectives.
8. State Objectives clearly and simply.

PLANNING CHARACTERISTICS

4 Aspects of Planning are :

1. Definition of Planning
2. Purposes of Planning
3. Advantages and Potential disadvantages of planning
4. Primacy of Planning

DEFINING PLANNING:

Planning is the process of determining how the organization can get where it wants to go, and what it will do to accomplish its objectives.

Planning is the systematic development of action porgrams aimed at reaching agreed business objectives by the process of analysing, evaluating, and selecting among the opportunities which are forseen.

PURPOSES OF PLANNING:

The protective purpose of planning is to minimize risk by reducing the uncertainities surrounding business conditions and clarifying the consequences of related management actions.

The affirmative purpose is to increase the degree of organizational success.

The fundamental purpose of planning, however, is to help the organization reach its objectives.

PLANNING: ADVANTAGES & DISADVANTAGES

A vigorous planning program produces many benefits.

First, it helps managers to be future oriented. They are forced to look beyond their everyday problems to project what situations may confront them in the future.

Second, a sound planning porgram enhances decision coordination. No decision should be made today without some idea of how it will affect a decision that might have to be made tomorrow.

The planning function pushes managers to coordinate their decisions.

Third, planning emphasizes organizational objectives. Because organizational objectives are the starting points for planning, managers are continually remind of exactly what their organization is trying to accomplish.

DISADVANTAGES:

The downside is that if the planning function is not well executed,planning can have several disadvatnages for the organization.

e.g.: An overemphasized planning program can take up too much managerial time. Managers must strike an appropriate balance between time spent on planning and time spent on organizing, influencing, and controlling.

PRIMACY OF PLANNING:

Planning is the primary managerial function- the one that precedes and is the absis for the organizing, influencing and controlling functions of managers.

Only after manaers have developed their plans can they determine how they went to structure their organization, place their people and establish organizational controls.

FIRST STEP : PLANNING

SECOND STEPS: ORGANIZING, INFLUENCING, CONTROLLING

RESULTS: ACHIEVING OBJECTIVES

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STEPS IN THE PLANNING PROCESS:

The planning process consists of the following 6 steps:

1. State Organizational Objective
2. List alternative ways of reaching objectives
3. Develop premises on which to base each alternative
4. Choose the best alternative for reaching objectives
5. Develop plans to pursue the chosen alternative
6. Put the plans into action.

ORGANIZATIONAL OBJECTIVES:

Organizational objectives are the targets toward which the open management system is directed. Organizational input,process and output all exist to reach organizational objectives.

Properly developed organizational objectives reflect the purpose of the organization.

ORGANIZATIONAL PURPOSE:

Organizational Purpose is what the organization exist to do, given a particular group of customers and customer needs. If an organization is accomplishing its objectives, it is accomplishing its purpose and thereby justifying its reason for existence.

Organizations exist for various purposes and thus have various types of objectives.

Therefore, its objectives are aimed at furnishing this assistance. The primary purpose of a business organization, in contrast, is usually to make a profit.

Diversity Management: Ethnocentrism and other negative dynamics

The changing demographics set in motion certain social dynamics that can interfere with workforce productivity. If an organization is to be successful in diversifying, it must neutralize these dynamics. 

ETHNOCENTRISM:

Our natural tendency is to judge other groups less favourably than our own.

These tendency is the source of ethnocentrism.

Ethnocentrism is the belief that one’s own group, culture,country or customs are superior to others.                                                                                      

PREJUDICE: 

A prejudice is a preconceived judgement,opinion, or assumption about an issue,behaviour or group of people.                                                    

STEREOTYPE:

Stereotype is a positive or negative assessment of members of a group or their perceived attributes.

It is important for managers to know about these negative dynamics so they can monitor their own perceptions and help their employees view diverse coworkers more accurately.

DISCRIMINATION:

Discrimination is the act of treating an issue, person, or behaviour unjustly or inequitably on the basis of stereotypes and prejudices.

TOKENISM:

Tokenism refers to being one of very few members of your group in the organization.

“Token” employees are given either very high or very low visibility in the organization.

PROMOTING DIVERSITY THROUGH HUDSON INSTITUTE STRATEGIES:

6 major issues:

1.  Stimulate Balanced World Growth
2. Accelerate Productivity increases in Service Industries
3. Maintain the dynamsism of an Aging Workforce.
4. Reconcile the conflicting needs of women, work and families.
5. Fully integrate all groups of workers into the economy.
6. Improve the education and skills of all workers. 

VARIOUS APPROACHES TO MEETING SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

Lipson, a desirable and socially responsive approach to meeting social obligations does the following:

1. Incorporates social goals into the annual planning process.
2. Seeks comparative industry norms for social programs.
3. Presents reports to organization members, the board of directors, and stockholders on social responsibility progress.
4. Experiments with different approaches for measuring social performance.
5. Attempts to measure the cost of social programs as well as the return on social program investments.

S. Prakash Sethi presents 3 management approaches to meeting social obligations:

1. Social Obligation Approach: It considers business as having primarily economic purposes and confines social responsibility activity mainly to existing legislation.                            
2. Social Responsibility Approach: It sees business as having both economic and societal goals.                                                                    
3. Social Responsive Approach: It considers business as having both societal and economic goals as well as the obligation to anticipate potential social problems and work actively toward preventing their occurrence.

CONVERTING ORGANIZATION POLICIES ON SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY INTO ACTION:

A policy is a management tool that furnishes broad guidelines for channeling management thinking in specific directions.

To be effective, social responsibility policies must be converted into appropriate action.

PHASE 1: It consists of the recognition by Top Management that the organization has some social obligation. Top Management then must formulate and communicate some policy about the acceptance of this obligation to all organization members.

PHASE 2: It involves staff personnel as well as Top Management. In this phase, top management gathers information related to meeting the social obligation accepted in phase 1. Staff Personnel are generally involved at this point to give advice on technical matters related to meeting the accepted social obligation.

PHASE 3: It involves division management in addition to the organization personnel already involved from the first 2 phases.

During this phase, top management strives to obtain the commitment of organization members to live up to the accepted social obligation and attempts to create realistic expectations about the effects of such a commitment on organizational productivity.

Staff specialists encourage the responses within the organization necessary to meet the accepted social obligation properly; and division management commits resources and modifies existing procedures so that appropriate socially oriented activities can and will be performed within the organization.

OUTCOMES OF SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY INVOLVEMENT EXPECTED BY EXECUTIVES

POSITIVE OUTCOMES:

1. Enhanced corporate reputation and goodwill.
2. Strengthening of the social system in which the corporation functions.
3. Strengthening of the economic system in which the corporation functions.
4. Greater Job satisfaction among all employees.
5. Avoidance of issues with government regulations.
6. Greater job satisfaction among executives
7. Increased chances for survival of the firm.
8. Ability to attract better managerial talent.
9. Increased long term profitability.
10. Strengthening of the pluralistic nature of American Society.
11. Maintaining or gaining Customers
12. Investor Preference for socially responsible firms
13. Increased short term profitability

 

NEGATIVE OUTCOMES:

1. Decreased Short term profitability
2. Conflict of economic or financial and social goals.
3. Increased prices for consumers
4. Conflict in criteria for assessing managerial performance
5. Disaffection of stock holders.
6. Decreased Productivity
7. Decreased Long term profitability
8. Increased Government Regulation
9. Weakening of the economic system in which the corporation functions.
10. Weakening of the social system in which the corporate functions.

 

STAKEHOLDERS:

 

SOCIAL OBLIGATIONS OF THE MANAGERS TO VARIOUS STAKEHOLDERS :

1. STOCKHOLDERS: To increase the value of the organization.
2. SUPPLIERS : To deal with them fairly
3. BANKS & LENDERS: To replay debts
4. GOVERNMENT AGENCIES: To abide laws.
5. EMPLOYEES & UNIONS: To provide safe working environment and to negotiate fairly with union representatives.
6. CONSUMERS: To provide Safe Products
7. COMPETITORS: To compete fairly and to refrain from restraints of trade.
8. LOCAL COMMUNITIES & SOCIETY: To avoid business practices that harm the environment.

THE SYSTEM APPROACH

The system approach to management is based on general system theory founded by Scientist Ludwig Von Betalanffy.

The main context of this theory is that to be able to fully understand the operations of an entity, the entity must be viewed as a system.

A system is a number of interdependent parts functioning as a whole for some purpose.

The concept of WHOLENESS is very important in general system analysis. The system must be viewed as a whole and modified only through changes in its parts.

L. Thomas Hopkins suggested 6 guidelines for system analysis:

1. The whole should be the main focus of the analysis. Parts to receive secondary attention.
2. Integration is the key variable in wholeness analysis. It is defined as the interrelatedness of the many parts within the whole.
3. Possible modifications in each part should be weighed in relation to possible effects on every other part.
4. Each part has some role to play so that the whole cam accomplish its purpose.
5. The nature of the part and its function is determined by its position in the whole.
6. All analysis starts with the existence of the whole. The parts and their interrelationships should then evolve to best suit the purpose of the whole.

 

THE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM:

The main parts of the management system  are:

• Organizational Input
• Organizational Process
• Organizational Output

The management system is an open system, which interacts with its environment.

The factors which the management system interact with are:

• Government
• Suppliers
• Customers
• Competitors

Each of these factors represents a potential environment influence that significantly change the future of the organization and thus the management system.

MANAGEMENT SCIENCE

The Scientific Method of problem solving dictates that one should:

1. Systematically observe the system whose behaviour must be explained to solve the problem.
2. Use these specific observations and from which consequences of changing the system can be predicted.
3. Use the model to deduce how the system will behave under conditions that have not been observe but could be observed if the changes were made.
4. Finally, test the model by performing an experiment on the actual system to see if the effects of changes predicted using the model actually occur when the changes are made.

The OR ( Operations Research) groups proved very successful at using the scientific method to solve the problems.

 

THE CONTINGENCY APPROACH:

The contingency approach to management emphasizes that what managers do in practice depends on, or is contingent upon, a given set of circumstances – a situation.

In essence, this approach emphasizes “if-then” relationships.

“If” this situational variable exists,”then” this is the action a manager probably would take.

In general, the contingency approach attempts to outline the conditions or situations in which various management methods have the best chance of success.                                                                                        

This approach is based on the premise that, although there is probably no one best way to solve a management problem in all organizations, there probably is one best way to solve any given management problem in any one organization.

MAIN CHALLENGES OF USING THE CONTINGENCY APPROACH: 

1. Perceiving organizational situations as they actually exist.
2. Choosing the management tactics best suited to those situations.
3. Competently implementing those tactics.

The notion of a contingency approach to management is a popular discussion topic for contemporary management thinkers.

THE SYSTEM APPROACH:

The system approach to management is based on general system theory. Ludwign von Bertalanffy as scientist is recognised as the founder of the general system theory.

The main premise of the theory is that to understand fully the operation of an entity, the entity as viewed as a system.

A system is a number of interdependent parts functioning as a whole for some purpose.

HENRI FAYOL’S 14 Principles of Management

Management Principles developed by Henri Fayol: 

1. DIVISION OF WORK: Work should be divided among individuals and groups to ensure  that effort and attention are focused on special portions of the task. Fayol presented work specialization as the best way to use the human resources of the organization.                                                                                                                   
2. AUTHORITY: The concepts of Authority and responsibility are closely related. Authority was defined by Fayol as the right to give orders and the power to exact obedience. Responsibility involves being accountable, and is therefore naturally associated with authority. Whoever assumes authority also assumes responsibility.                                                              
3. DISCIPLINE: A successful organization requires the common effort of workers. Penalties should be applied judiciously to encourage this common effort.                                                                              
4. UNITY OF COMMAND: Workers should receive orders from only one manager.                                                                                              
5. UNITY OF DIRECTION: The entire organization should be moving towards a common objective in a common direction.                                                                                                        
6. SUBORDINATION OF INDIVIDUAL INTERESTS TO THE GENERAL INTERESTS: The interests of one person should not take priority over the interests of the organization as a whole.                                                                                                                                        
7. REMUNERATION: Many variables, such as cost of living, supply of qualified personnel, general business conditions, and success of the business, should be considered in determining a worker’s rate of pay.                                                                                                  
8. CENTRALIZATION: Fayol defined centralization as lowering the importance of the subordinate role. Decentralization is increasing the importance. The degree to which centralization or decentralization should be adopted depends on the specific organization in which the manager is working.                                                                                                                  
9. SCALAR CHAIN: Managers in hierarchies are part of a chain like authority scale. Each manager, from the first line supervisor to the president, possess certain amounts of authority. The President possesses the most authority; the first line supervisor the least. Lower level managers should always keep upper level managers informed of their work activities. The existence of a scalar chain and adherence to it are necessary if the organization is to be successful.                                                                                                    
10. ORDER: For the sake of efficiency and coordination, all materials and people related to a specific kind of work should be treated as equally as possible.                                                                          
11. EQUITY: All employees should be treated as equally as possible.                                                                                                                 
12. STABILITY OF TENURE OF PERSONNEL: Retaining productive employees should always be a high priority of management. Recruitment and Selection Costs, as well as increased product-reject rates are usually associated with hiring new workers.                                                                                                 
13. INITIATIVE: Management should take steps to encourage worker initiative, which is defined as new or additional work activity undertaken through self direction.                                                    
14. ESPIRIT DE CORPS: Management should encourage harmony and general good feelings among employees.

 

MANAGEMENT INNOVATIONS

managementinnovations2020@gmail.com; manojonkar@gmail.com; 919375970812

 

UNIVERSALITY OF MANAGEMENT & MANAGEMENT SKILL

Management principle are universal; that is why, the apply to all types of organizations including but not limited to FOR PROFIT AND NOT FOR PROFIT ones like businesses, churches,sororities, athletic teams, hospitals and so on.

Manager’s jobs vary somewhat from one type of organization to another because each organizational type requires the use of specialized knowledge, exists in a unique working and political environment, and uses different technology. However, there are job similarities across organizations because the  basic management activities – planning, organizing, influencing, and controlling are common to all organizations.

The basic ingredients of successful management are applicable to all organizations.

MANAGEMENT SKILL:

Management skill is the ability to carry out the process of reaching organization goals by working with and through people and other organizational resources.

Learning about management skill and focusing on developing it are of critical importance since possessing such skill is generally considered to be the prerequisite for management success.

Katz indicates that 3 types of skills are important for successful management performance: technical, human and conceptual skills.

* TECHNICAL SKILLS:

Technical skills are skills involving the ability to apply specialized knowledge and expertise to work related techniques and procedures.

Examples of these skills are engineering, computer programming, and accounting. Technical skills are mostly related to working with “things” – processes or physical objects.

HUMAN SKILLS:

Human skills are skill that build cooperation with the team being led. They involve working with attitudes and communication, individual and group interests – in short, working with people.

CONCEPTUAL SKILLS:

Conceptual Skills involve the ability to see the organization as a whole. A manager with conceptual skills is able to understand how various functions of the organization complement one another, how the organization relates to its environment, and how changes in one part of the organization affect the rest of the organization.

As a manager grows, the need for conceptual skills increases.

Human skills are required at all levels.

 

MANAGEMENT SKILL: A contemporary View:

The major activities that the modern managers typically perform are of 3 basic types:

1. Task Related Activities:                                                                                                Task related activities are management efforts aimed at carrying out critical management related duties in organizations. Such activities include short term planning, clarifying objectives of jobs in organizations, and monitoring operations and performance.                                                                       
2. People Related Activities:                                                                                                    People related activities are management efforts aimed at managing people in organizations. Such activities include providing support and encouragement to others, providing recognition for achievements and contributions,developing skill and confidence or organization members,consulting when making decisions, and empowering others to solve problem.                                                                                         
3. Change Related Activities:                                                                                                    Change related activities are management efforts aimed at modifying organizational components. Such activities include monitoring organization’s external environment, proposing new strategies and vision, encouraging innovative thinking, and taking risks to promote needed change.

To increase the probability of being successful, managers should have competence in :

• Clarifying Roles
• Monitoring Operations
• Short term Planning
• Consulting
• Supporting
• Recognizing
• Dveloping
• Empowering
• Envisioning Change
• Taking risks for Change
• Encourge Innovative Thinking
• External Monitoring

 

 

MANAGEMENT INNOVATIONS

managementinnovations2020@gmail.com; manojonkar@gmail.com; 919375970812

MANAGERIAL EFFECTIVENESS & EFFICIENCY

ORGANIZATIONAL RESOURCES:

 

1. Human Resources
2. Monetary Resources
3. Raw Materials
4. Capital

 

Organizational resources are used,combined and transformed into finished products during the production process.

Human resources are people who work for an organization.Their skills and their knowledge are leveraged by the managers.

Monetary resources are amounts of money that managers use to purchase goods and services for the organization.

Raw materials are ingredients used directly in the manufacturing of products.

 

Managers must become both efficient and effective.

MANAGERIAL EFFECTIVENESS:

The effectiveness of the managers is measured in the effectiveness of the organization in achieving the organizational goals.

MANAGERIAL EFFICIENCY:

Managerial efficiency is the proportion of total organization resources that contribute to productivity during the manufacturing process. The higher this proportion, the more efficient the manager. The more resources wasted or used during the production process, the more efficient the manager.

Managers can be efficient but not effective and vice versa.

If managers achieve the organization goals they are effective, but if they end up using or wasting a high amount of resources, then definitely, the concerned manager is not being efficient.

On the other hand, if the manager is very efficient by using the resources in a limited manner, but misses accomplishing the organizational goals and objectives.

MANAGEMENT INNOVATION

managementinnovations2020@gmail.com; manojonkar@gmail.com; 919375970812

DEFINE MANAGEMENT & ITS FUNCTIONS

Management is the process of reaching organizational goals by working with and through people and other organizational resources. 

Management has the following 3 characteristics:

1. It is a process or series of continuing and related activities.
2. It involves and concentrates on reaching organizational goals.
3. It reaches these goals by working with and through people and other organizational resources.

 

MANAGEMENT FUNCTIONS:

The 4 basic management functions that make up the management process are described in the following sections:

1. PLANNING
2. ORGANIZING
3. INFLUENCING
4. CONTROLLING.

PLANNING: Planning involves choosing tasks that must be performed to attain organizational goals, outlining how the tasks must be performed, and indicating when they should be performed.

Planning activity focuses on attaining goals. Managers outline exactly what organizations should do to be successful. Planning is concerned with the success of the organization in the short term as well as in the long term.

ORGANIZING:

Organizing can be thought of as assigning the tasks developed in the planning stages, to various individuals or groups within the organization. Organizing is to create a mechanism to put plans into action.

People within the organization are given work assignments that contribute to the company’s goals. Tasks are organized so that the output of each individual contributes to the success of departments, which, in turn, contributes to the success of divisions, which ultimately contributes to the success of the organization.

INFLUENCING:

Influencing is also referred to as motivating,leading or directing.Influencing can be defined as guiding the activities of organization members in he direction that helps the organization move towards the fulfillment of the goals.

The purpose of influencing is to increase productivity. Human-oriented work situations usually generate higher levels of production over the long term than do task oriented work situations because people find the latter type distasteful.

CONTROLLING:

Controlling is the following roles played by the manager:

1. Gather information that measures performance
2. Compare present performance to pre established performance norms.
3. Determine the next action plan and modifications for meeting the desired performance parameters.

Controlling is an ongoing process.

 

MANAGEMENT INNOVATIONS

managementinnovations2020@gmail.com; manojonkar@gmail.com; 919375970812

ROLE & IMPORTANCE OF MANAGEMENT

IMPORTANCE OF MANAGEMENT:

Managers influence all the phases of modern organizations. Sales Managers maintain a sales force that markets goods. Personnel managers provide organizations with a competent and productive workforce. Plant managers run manufacturing operations that produce the clothes we wear, the food we eat, and the automobiles we drive.

Our society could never exist as we know it today nor improve without a steady stream of managers to guide its organizations. The well known management author Peter Drucker highlighted this point when he said that Effective Management is probably the main resource of developed countries and the most needed resource of developing ones.

In short, all societies, whether developed or developing, need a huge lot of good managers.

THE ROLE OF MANAGEMENT:

Essentially, the role of managers is to guide the organizations toward goal accomplishment. All organizations exist for certain purposes or goals,and managers are responsible for combining and using organizational resources to ensure that their organizations achieve their purposes.

The role of the Management is to move an organization towards its purposes or goals by assigning activities that organization members perform.

If Management ensures that all the activities are designed effectively, the production of each individual worker will contribute to the attainment of the organizational goals.

Management strives to encourage individual activity that will lead to reaching organizational goals and to discourage individual activity that will hinder the accomplishment of the organization objectives. 

There is no idea more important than managing the fulfillment of the organizational goals and objectives. The meaning of the Management is given by its goals and objectives.

All managers, must have a single minded focus on the fulfillment of the organizational goals.

 

MANAGEMENT INNOVATIONS

managementinnovations2020@gmail.com; manojonkar@gmail.com, 919375970812

ETHICS OF CONSUMER PRODUCTION AND MARKETING – Theories and Definitions

How far must manufacturers and their representatives go to make their products and services completely safe?

WHAT Is the relationship between a business and its customers? a contract, or is there more to it than that?

Hos does the fact that companies usually know more about their products than their customers IMPACT their duty to protect customers from injury or harm?

What responsibility do businesses have for customer injuries no one could reasonably have foreseen or prevented?

What about customer’s privacy – what obligations do companies have?

 

MARKET APPROACH TO CONSUMER PROTECTION:

Consumer safely is seen as a good that is most efficiently provided through the mechanism of the free market whereby sellers must respond to consumer demands.

PROBLEMS WITH THE ASSUMPTION OF FULL INFORMATION:

 

• Many products are too complex for consumers to understand
• Markets cannot provide consumers with product information.

 

FREE RIDERS:

individuals who enjoy the benefits of a good without paying their share of its costs.

RATIONAL UTILITY MAXIMIZER:

A person who has a well defined and consistent set of preferences, and who knows how personal choices will affect those preferences.

PROBLEMS WITH THE ASSUMPTION OF RATIONAL UTILITY MAXIMIZATION:

 

• Few people are good at estimating probabilities.
• People are irrational and inconsistent when weighing choices.
• Many consumer markets are monopolies or oligopolies.

 

CONTRACT VIEW OF THE FIRM’S DUTIES TO ITS CUSTOMERS:

The view that the relationship between a business firm and its customers is relationship, and the firm’s moral duties to the customer are those created by this contractual relationships.

RELIABILITY:

The probability that a product will function as the consumer is led to expect that it will function.

SERVICE LIFE:

The period of time during which the product will function as effectively as the consumer is to led to expect it to function.

MAINTAINABILITY:

The ease with which the product can be repaired and kept in operating condition.

PRODUCT SAFETY:

The degree of risk associated with using a product.

MORAL DUTIES TO CONSUMERS UNDER CONTRACTUAL THEORY:

 

• Duty to comply with express and implied claims of reliability, service life, maintainability, and safety.
• Duty of disclosure
• Duty not to misrepresent
• Duty not to coerce

 

DUE CARE THEORY OF THE MANUFACTURER’S DUTIES TO CONSUMERS:

The view that because manufacturers are in more advantaged position, they have a duty to take special care to ensure that consumers’ interests are not harmed by the products that they offer them.

CAVEAT EMPTOR:

Let the buyer take care.

CAVEAT VENDOR:

Let the seller take care.

 

AREAS OF PRODUCER RESPONSIBILITY ACCORDING TO DUE CARE THEORY:

 

• Design
• Production
• Information

 

SOCIAL COSTS VIEW OF THE MANUFACTURER’S DUTIES TO CONSUMERS:

The view that a manufacturer should pay the costs of any injuries sustained through any defects in the product, even when the manufacturer exercised all due care in the design and manufacture of the product and has taken all reasonable precautions to warn users of every foreseen danger.

 

• Manufacturer should pay the costs of all injuries caused by defect in a product even if exercised due care.
• Argues that injuries are external costs that should be internalized.

 

STRICT LIABILITY:

A legal doctrine that holds that manufacturers must bear the costs of injuries resulting from product defects regardless of fault.

CRITICISMS OF THE SOCIAL COST VIEW:

 

• Unfair to manufacturers since it forces them to compensate unforeseeable injuries.
• Assumption that adherence to the social cost view will prevent accidents is false.
• Leads to successful consumer lawsuits in cases where manufacturers took all due care.

 

COMMERCIAL ADVERTISING:

Communication between a seller and potential buyers that is publicly addressed to a mass audience and is intended to induce members of this audience to buy the seller’s products.

 

• Public communication aimed at mass audience
• Intended to induce members of its audience to buy the Sellers’s products
• Succeeds by creating a desire for the seller’s product or a belief that a product will satisfy a pre existing desire.

 

PRODUCTION COSTS:

The costs of the resources consumed in producing or improving a product.

SELLING COSTS:

The additional costs of resources that do not go into changing the product, but are invested instead in getting people to buy the product.

DECEPTIVE ADVERTISING:

 

• Is a function of the author’s intent to make the audience believe what is known to be false.
• OR a function of The media’s communication of the false message.
• OR a function of The audience’s vulnerability to deception.

 

RIGHT TO PRIVACY:

The right of persons to determine what, to whom, and how much information about themselves will be disclosed to other parties.

PSYCHOLOGICAL PRIVACY:

Privacy with respect to a person’s inner life.

PHYSICAL PRIVACY:

Privacy with respect to a person’s physical activities.

IMPORTANCE OF PRIVACY:

 

• Protects individuals from interference, shame, embarrassment, hurting loved ones, self-incrimination
• Enables the development of personal relationships,professional relationships, distinct social roles and self determination.

BUSINESS & ENVIRONMENT

The process of producing goods forces businesses to engage in exchanges and interactions with 2 main environments ie. the customer environment and the natural environment.

It is from the natural environment that business ultimately draws the raw materials that it transforms into it the finished products, which are then promoted and sold to the customers. 

Thus, the natural environment provides the raw material input of business, whereas the consumer environment absorbs it finished output.

POLLUTION:

The undesirable and unintended contamination of the environment by the manufacture or use of commodities.

RESOURCE DEPLETION:

The consumption of finite or scarce resources.

GLOBAL WARMING:

The increase in temperatures around the globe due to rising levels of greenhouse gases.

GREENHOUSE GASES:

Carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, methane and chlorofluorocarbons – gases that absorb and hold heat from the sun,preventing it from escaping back into space, much like a greenhouse absorbs and holds the sun’s heat.

OZONE DEPLETION:

The gradual breakdown of ozone gas in the stratosphere above us caused by the release of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) in to the air.

ACID RAIN:

Acid rain occurs when sulfur oxides and nitrogen oxides are combined with water vapour in clouds to form nitric acid and sulfuric acid.

These acids are then carried down in rainfall.

PHOTOCHEMICAL SMOG:

A complex mixture of gases and particles manufactured by sunlight out of the raw materials- nitrogen oxides and hydrocarbons – discharged to the atmosphere chiefly by automobiles.

MAJOR TYPES OF AIR POLLUTION:

• Global Warming Gases
• Ozone depleting Gases.
• Acid Rain
• Airbone Toxics
• Air Quality

ORGANIC WASTES:

Largely untreated human wastes,sewage,and industrial wastes from processing various food products,from the pulp and paper industry and from animal feedlots. 

ECOLOGICAL SYSTEM:

An interrelated and interdependent set or organisms and environments.

ECOLOGICAL ETHICS:

The view that nonhuman parts of the environment deserve to be preserved for their own sake, regardless of whether this benefits human beings.

PRIVATE COST:

The cost an individual or company must pay out of its own pocket to engage in a particular economic activity.

SOCIAL COST:

The private internal costs and wider external costs of engaging in a particular economic activity.

 

KINDS OF ETHICAL APPROACHES TO ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION:

• Ecological approach: non humans have intrinsic value.
• Environmental Rights Approach: Humans have a right to a livable environment.
• Market Approach: External costs violate utility, rights and justice.

INTERNALIZATION OF THE COSTS OF POLLUTION:

Absorption of costs by the producer, who takes them into account when determining the price of goods.

ENVIRONMENTAL INJUSTICE:

The bearing of external costs of pollution largely by those who do not enjoy a net benefit from the activity that produces the pollution.

SOCIAL AUDIT:

A report of the social costs and social benefits of the firm’s activities.

CONSERVING:

The saving or rationing of neutral resources for later uses.

Arguments against the Existence of the Rights of Future Generations:

• Future generations do not now exist and may never exist.
• The potential argument that the present must be sacrificed fot he future.
• Our ignorance of the interests of future generations.

CONSERVATION BASED ON JUSTICE:

• Rawls: Leave the world no worse than we found it.
• Care: Leave our children a world no worse than we received.
• Attfield: Leave the world as productive as we found it.

THINGS TO CHECK IN A BUSINESS PLAN

We have been consulting an investor ( a strategic VC Operations) on investing in various projects.

Common findings:

• The entrepreneurs who had approached the investors were operating more from their gut feelings than from data.
• They are very optimistic about their future prospects, even though they have been facing tough times for a long time.
• The data of the best possible scenario is generally referred to as the standard expected scenario, which is never even remotely close.
• Expenditures are considered on a very loose levels and always underestimated.
• Lot of challenges are discounted and overlooked till the time they become big and unconfrontable.
• Competition is never given its dues in terms of considering market share, marketing, sales and talent retention challenges.
• Sweeping generalities become the business plan instead of data oriented thought through strategies.
• Cash Flow is expected to be taken care of, by the expected business revenue – which generally fail to be as per the expectations.
• Challenges faced by the industry as a whole, are not fully considered and rarely brainstormed to create innovative solutions.
• Scant respect for Financial Planning, strategy, HR, training and development are seen in many cases.
• Employees are expected to be automatically aligned to the vision that is hidden in the mind of the promoters.

These are some of the observations, but definitely not applicable to everyone.

Many entreprenuers have demonstrated that they do not fall in the above pitfalls and they steer their organizations to great success and sustained performance standards by combining the entreprenuers fire in the belly, with the strategy and systems.

WHAT WORKS:

1. Have accurate data of the past and realistic data about the future.
2. Have all industry related information handy.
3. Have your financial data impeccable and ready to discuss.
4. Have your competition and various factors affecting your organization performance detailed out.
5. Have a strong strategy and marketing plan.
6. What are the Key requirements for success in your industry, is it technolgoy, manpower, skills, market converage? Have all the bases worked out.
7. Realistic Growth Plans.
8. Detailed SWOT Analysis or the reverse TOWS Analysis.
9. Create a realistic picture of the Opportunites and Challenges and your plans for dealing with them.
10. Clearly identify the areas where you have not yet sorted out things or you would like inputs or are working out external inputs.
11. Have guidance from professionals like CAs, Management Consultants, Govt. liasoning officers etc., as required.
12. Create 3 plans , worst scenario, best scenario and realistic scenario.

To discuss more, contact:

MANAGEMENT INNOVATIONS

managementinnovations2020@gmail.com; manojonkar@gmail.com; 919375970812

ETHICAL PRINCIPLES IN BUSINESS – Various Definitions

ETHIC OF CARE:

An ethic that emphasizes cring for the concrete well being of those near to us.

ETHIC OF VIRTUE:

An ethic based on evaluations of the moral character of persons or groups.

UTILITARIANISM:

A general term for any view that holds that actions and policies should be evaluated on the basis of the benefits and costs they will impose on society.

UTILITY:

The inclusive term used to refer to any net benefits produced by an action.

UTILITARIANISM:

• Advocates maximising utility.
• Matches well with moral evaluations of public policies
• Appears intuitive to many people
• Helps Explain why some actions are generally wrong and others are generally light.
• Influenced Economics

COST BENEFIT ANALYSIS:

A type of analysis used to determine the desirability of investing in a project by figuring whether its present and future economic benefits outweight its present and future economic costs.

EFFICIENCY:

Operating in such a way that one produces a desired output with the lowest resource input.

NONECONOMIC GOODS:

Goods such as life, love, freedom,equality, health, beauty, whose value is such that no quantity of any economic good is equal in value to the value of the noneconomic good.

INSTRUMENTAL GOODS:

Things that are considered valuable because they lead to other good things.

INTRINSIC GOODS:

Things that are desirable independent of any other benefits they may produce.

JUSTICE:

Distributing benefits and burdens fairly among people.

RIGHTS:

Individual entitlements to freedom of choice and well being.

EVALUATING UTILITARIANISM:

• Critics say not all values can be measured.
• Utilitarians respond that monetary and commonsensee mesures can measure everything.
• Critics say utilitarianism fails with rights and justice.
• Utilitarians respond that rule – utilitariansim can deal with rights and justice.

LEGAL RIGHT:

An entitlement that derives from a legal system that permits or empowers a person to act in a specified way or that requires others to act in certain ways toward that person.

MORAL RIGHTS:

Rights that human beings of every nationality possess to an equal extent simply virtue of being human beings.

CHARACTERISTICS OF RIGHTS:

• A right is an individual’s entitlement to something.
• Rights derieved from legal systems are limited by jurisdiction
• Moral or human rights are based on moral norms and are not limited by jurisdiction.

SUMMARY OF MORAL RIGHTS:

• Tigthly correlated with duties.
• Provide individuals with autonomy and equality in the free pursuit of their interests.
• Provide a basis for justifying one’s actions and for invoking the protection or aid of thers.

NEGATIVE RIGHTS:

Duties others have to not interfere in certain activities of the person who holds the right.

POSITIVE RIGHTS:

Duties of other agent to provide the holder of the right with whatever he or she needs to freely pursue his or her interests.

KINDS OF MORAL RIGHTS:

• Negative rights require others leave us alone
• Positive rights require others help us
• Contractual or special rights require other to keep agreements.

CATEGORICAL IMPERATIVE:

The requirement that everyone should be treated as a free person equal to everyone else.

MAXIM:

The reason a person in a certain situation has for doing what he or she plans to do. 

UNIVERSALIZABILITY:

The person’s reasons for acting must be reasons that everyone could act on atleast in principle.

REVERSABILITY:

The person’s reasons for acting must be reasons that he or she would be willing to have all others use, even as a basis of how they treat him or her.

KANT’S CATEGORICAL IMPERATIVE FORMULAS:

• Never do something unless you are willing to have everyone do it.
• Never use people merely as means, but always respect and develop their ability to choose for themselves.

CRITICISMS OF KANT:

• Categorical Imperatives are unclear
• Kant’s rights can conflict
• Kant’s theory implies some mistaken moral conclusions

LIBERTARIAN PHILOSOPHERS:

• Believe that freedom from human constraint is necessarily good  and that all constraints imposed by others are necessarily evil except when needed to prevent the imposition of greater human constraints.

TYPES OF JUSTICE:

• Distributive Justice: Just distribution of benefits and burdens
• Retributive Justice: Just imposition of punishments and penalities.
• Compensatory Justice: Just compensation for wrongs or injuries.

DISTRIBUTIVE JUSTICE:

Distributive society’s benefits and burdens fairly.

RETRIBUTIVE JUSTICE:

Blaming or punishing persons fairly for doing wrong.

COMPENSATORY JUSTICE:

Restoring to a person what the person lost when he or she was wronged by someone.

EGALITARIANISM:

Every person should be given exactly equal shares of a society’s or a group’s benefits and burdens.

POLITICAL EQUALITY:

Equal participation in, and treatment by, the political system.

ECONOMIC EQUALITY:

Equality of income, wealth and opportunity.

PURITAN ETHIC:

The view that every individual has a religious obligation to work hard at his calling (the career to which God summons each individual).

WORK ETHIC:

The view that values individual effort and believes that hard work does and should lead to success.

PRODUCTIVITY:

The amount a person produces.

PRINCIPLE OF EQUAL LIBERTY:

The claim that each citizen’s liberties must be protected from invasion by others and must be equal to those of others.

DIFFERENCE PRINCIPLE:

The claim that a productive society will incorporate inequalities, but takes steps to improve the position of the most needy members of society.

PRINCIPLE OF FAIR EQUALITY OF OPPORTUNITY:

The claim that everyone should be given an equal opportunity to qualify for the more privileged positions in society’s institutions.

ORIGINAL POSITION:

An imaginary meeting of rational self interested persons who must choose the principles of justice by which their society will be governed.

VEIL OF IGNORANCE:

The requirement that persons in the original position must not know particulars about themselves which might bias their choices such as their sex,race,religino,income,social status etc.,

PRINCIPLES OF DISTRIBUTIVE JUSTICE:

• Fundamental: Distributive benefits and burdens equally to equals and unequally to unequals.
• Egalitarian: Distribute equally to everyone.
• Capitalist: Distribute by Contribution
• Socialist: Distribute by need and ability.
• Libertarian: Distribute by Free Choices
• Rawls: Distribute by equal liberty, equal opportunity, and needs of disadvantaged.

ETHIC OF CARE:

An ethic that emphasizes caring for the concrete well being of those near to us.

• Claims ethics need to be impartial.
• Emphasizes preserving and nurturing concrete valuable relationships.
• Says we should care for those dependent on and related to us.

COMMUNITARIAN ETHIC:

An ethic that sees concrete communities and communal relationships as having a fundamental value that should be preserved and maintained.

Objection to Care Approach to Ethics:

• Charge: Ethic of care can degenerate into favoritism.
• Response: Conflicting moral demands are an inherent characteristic of moral choices.
• Charge: Ethic of care can lead to “burnout”
• Response: Adequate understanding of ethic of care will address the need to care for the caregiver.

The Basis of Moral Judgements:

• Evaluations of social costs and benefits.
• Respect for individual rights.
• Just ditribution of benefits and burdens.
• Caring for those in concrete relationships.

MORAL VIRTUE:

An acquired disposition that is valued as part of th character of morality good human being and that is exhibited in the person’s habitual behaviour.

THEORIES OF MORAL VIRTUE:

• Aristotle: Habits that enable a person to live according to reason.
• Aquinas: Habits that enable a person to live responsibly in this world and be united with God in the next life.
• MacIntyre: Disposition that enables a person to achieve the good at which human”practices” aim.
• Pincoff: Dispositions we use when choosing between persons or potential future selves.

VIRTUE THEORY:

The theory that the aim of the moral life is to develop those general dispositions called moral virtues, and to exercise and exhibit them in the many situations that human life sets before us.

VIRTUE THEORY CLAIMS:

• We should exercise, exhibit, and develop the virtues.
• We should avoid exercising, exhibiting, and developing vices.
• Institutions should instill virtues not vices.

Business Ethics – Various Definitions and Theories

Business Ethics:

The principles of conduct governing an individual or a group.

Business Ethics:

Ethics is the study of Morality.

 

Ethics is not the same as morality, it is a study  of various dimensions of Morality.

Ethics is the discipline that examines one’s moral standards or the moral standards of a society.

WHAT IS MORALITY?

The standards that an individual or a group about what is right and wrong or good and evil.

MORAL STANDARDS :

The norms about the  kinds of actions believed to be morally right and wrong as well as the values placed on the kinds of objects believed to be morally good and morally bad.

NON MORAL STANDARDS:

The standards by which we judge what is good or bad and right or wrong in a nonmoral way.

5 Characteristics of Moral Standards:

1. Involved with serious injuries or benefits.
2. Not established by Law or Legislature.
3. Should be preferred to other values including self interest.
4. Based on impartial considerations
5. Associated with special emotions and vocabulary

NORMATIVE STUDY:

An investigation that attempts to reach conclusions about what things are good or bad or about what actions are right or wrong.

DESCRIPTIVE STUDY :

An investigation that attempts to describe or exploan the world without reaching any conclusions about whether the world is as it should be.

BUSINESS ETHICS:

A specialized study of moral right and wrong that concentrates on moral standards as they apply to business institutions, organizations and behaviour.

BUSINESS ETHICS STUDIES:

• Moral Standards
• How moral standards apply to social systems and organizations that produce and distribute goods and services.

KINDS OF ETHICAL ISSUES:

• Systemic – Social Systems or institutions within which business operate.
• Corporate – An Individual Company taken as a whole
• Individual – A Particular individual or individuals within a company and their behaviours and decisions.

ETHICAL RELATIVISM :

A theory that there are no ethical standards that are absolutely true and that apply or should be applied to the companies and people of all societies.

Objections to Theory of Ethical Relativism:

• Some moral standards are found in all societies.
• Moral differences do not logically imply relativism
• Relativism is incoherent
• Relativism privileges the current moral standards of a society.

 

Kohlberg’s Three Levels of Moral Development :

• Preconventional – Punishment and obedience; instrumental and relative.
• Conventional – Interpersonal concordance; law and order
• Postconventional – Social contract, universal principles

MORAL REASONING:

The reasoning process by which human behaviours, institutions or policies are judged to be in accordance with or in violation of moral standards.

Objections to Bringing Ethics into Business:

• In a free market economy,the pursuit of profit will ensure maximum social benefit
• A manager’s most important obligation is to the company.
• Business ethichs is limited to obeying the law.

Arguments Supporting Ethics in Business:

• Ethics applies to all human activities
• Business cannot survive without ethics
• Ethics is consistent with profit seeking
• Prisoner’s dilemma argument
• Customers and Employees care about Ethics

Elements of Moral Responsibility:

• Individual must cause or fail to prevent an avoidable injury or wrong.
• Individual must know what he is doing
• Individual must act of his own free will.

RECOMMENDED WEBSITES:

http://www.scu.edu/ethics

http://www.ethics.acusd.edu

http://www.web-miner.com/busethics.htm

http://www.essential.org

http://www.sec.gov/edgar.shtml

http://www.betterworldlinks.org/book100.htm

http://www.corpwatch.org

http://www.worldwatch.org

http://www.arq.co.uk/ethicalbusiness

http://www.bsr.org

http://www.mallenbaker.net/csr

http://www.pwblf.org

BUSINESS ETHICS

Business Ethics is applied ethics in the day to day operations of the business.

It is the on the court application of our understanding or what is good and right to that assortment of institutions, technologies,transactions,activities and pursuits that we call BUSINESS.

Although ethics may be the best policy, the ethical course of aciton is not always clear.

We will try to explore this issue in details through the various series of blog postings in the coming days. The purpose is not to give moral advice but to provide a deeper knowledge of the nature of ethical principles and concepts and an understanding of how these apply to the ethical problems encountered in business.

This kind of knowledge and understanding will help managers in charge to see their way through the various ethical dilemmas that one confronts in our business life.

REFERENCE BOOK:

BUSINESS ETHICS – Concepts and Cases by Manuel G. Velaszquez

Our Work in Education Field

As management consultants and advisers, we have had the privilege to work on various interesting and esteemed projects in the field of Education.

 

1. Delhi Public School, Ahmedabad   – a K-12 CBSE School
2. Calorex Institute of Technology – a VLSI Chip Design Institute
3. DPS Prerna (DPS Nalanda) – A School for Dyslexic Children
4. VISAMO – a Special Initiative for children from BPL families
5. Zydus School for Excellence – a K-12 school from the house of Zydus Cadila.

 

 

Various Activities that we have provided valuable inputs and guidance include:

 

1. Market Research
2. Organizational Positioning
3. Pricing
4. Marketing
5. Sales
6. Staff Selection and Induction
7. Teaching Staff ongoing Training & Development
8. Admin Staff and Support Staff Orientation
9. Customer Orientation
10. HR & Employee Engagement
11. Overall Growth and development

 

For further information contact:

MANAGEMENT INNOVATIONS ( erstwhile INNOVATIVE CONSULTANTS)

managementinnovaitons2020@gmail.com;   manojonkar@gmail.com; 91-9375970812

Market Segmentation

Market Segmentation and diversity are complementary concepts. Without a diverse marketplace, composed of many different peoples with different backgrounds, cultures,environments,paradigms, thoughts processes, interests, needs and wants, there really would be little reason to segment markets.

Earlier Mass Marketing – selling the same product or service package to everyone, was the most widely used marketing strategy, before the widespread adoption of the marketing concept. In many countries this is still developing and yet to become the part of the marketing and management DNA.

Market Segmentation is to be followed as a logical way to meet customers needs. Market Segmentation is defined as the process of dividing a potential market into distinct subsets of consumers with a common need or characteristic and selecting one or more segments to target with a specially designed marketing mix or product, price, promotion, place etc.,

Besides supporting in the development of new products, Market Segmentation research also supports in the redesigning and repositioning of existing products and services and in the creation of the appropriate promotional materials, including the selection of the most effective media for promotion.

Market Segmentation Strategies benefit both the customers and the marketers, hence they received full support from both parties. Market Segmentation is now widely used by most of the organizations including manufacturers, retailers, channels and even the not for profit sector.

9 Major Classes of Consumer Characteristics serve as the most common basis for Market Segmentation. These include:

1. Geographic Factors
2. Demographic Factors
3. Psychological Factors
4. Pyschographic Factors
5. Socio-Cultural Factors
6. Use -related Factors (Application)
7. Use – Situation Factors (Environment)
8. Benefits Expected and
9. Hybrid Forms of Segmentation like Psychographic-demographic profiles  or geodemographic factors.

Key Criteria for Market Segmentation include:

1. Identification

2. Sufficiency

3. Stability

4. Accessibility.

 

Once one identifies potential target markets, one must decide whether to target 1 segment i.e  concentrated marketing OR to target several market segments i.e. differentiated marketing.

One has to then develop a positioning strategy for each of the selected target segment.

In some cases, one can recombine 2 or more market segments into one larger segments.

How do you Market Segmentation in your company?

MANAGEMENT INNOVATIONS

managmentinnovations2020@gmail.com;  manojonkar@gmail.com; 91-9375970812

Customer and Consumer Behaviour

The study of consumer behaviour enables the marketers to fully understand and be able to predict the consumer behaviours. It deals with not only with what the customer buy, but also with why, when, where, how, and how often they buy it.

Consumer Research is the Methodology that is used to study Customer and Consumer behaviour and it takes place at every stage/phase of the consumption process: before, during, and after the purchase.

The foundation fo the consumer behaviour is the Marketing Concept. Marketing Concept is the business orientation that evolved in the second half of the last century and is picking up more and more in the current environment. Marketing Concept was the evolution of the industry over the earlier concepts of production and product.

The 3 major strategies tools fo marketing are Market Segmentation, Targeting, and Positioning.

The Marketing Mix consists of a company’s products and services offering(S) to customers and the pricing, promotion and distribution methods needed to accomplish the deal.

The Professional Marketers make the customers the core of the company’s culture and ensure that all employees view any interaction with the customers as a part of a Customer Relationship and not just a Transaction. The Top 3 drivers of successful relationships between marketers and customers are customer value, high levels of customer satisfaction, and building a  structure for customer retention.

Consumer behaviour is multi disciplinary, i.e it is based on various theories and concepts about people that have been developed by scientists in such diverse disciplines as economics, cultural anthropology, social psychology, sociology and psychology.

Consumer behaviour has to be an integral part of strategic market planning. 

Contact for further inputs:

MANAGEMENT INNOVATIONS

managementinnovations2020@gmail.com;   manojonkar@gmail.com;  91-9375970812

Consultative Sales – First Step – Pre Sales Preparation

Pre Sales Preparation is one of the most under estimated sales tool. Over a period of time, pre sales preparation gets compromised for one reason or the other. There is always some other urgent, seemingly more important work running the clock, and this foundation keeps getting neglected.

Consultative Sales is built on Credibility. Credibility is built on knowledge and mastery. Knowledge and Mastery of one’s own industry, products, services, past projects, difference made to the customers businesses, successes and breakdowns.

One also needs to know the competitors, their products, services, strengths, weaknesses, strategies etc.,

Most importantly, we need to learn the customer’s company, industry, the challenges, the opportunities and what are the best ways that we can make a difference to these potential or existing clients.

Every dollar invested in pre sales preparation will pay back atleast 100 times.

To know what and how you need to do pre sales preparation for your business, feel free to get in touch with us.

MANAGEMENT INNOVATIONS

managementinnovations2020@gmail.com ;  manojonkar@gmail.com;  91-9375970812

Change Management – First Deal with Harboured Resentments

The impact of Harboured Resentments could be the following:

1. You have traitors in the game, who pretend to be committed to what you are planning, but are secretly waiting for or even planning your failure. You trust them and they will betray you.  If you delegate to them, then it is your funeral.

2. Some of them will be vociferous about their upsets, of course, not the real issues, but some other issues, like why your plans will not work etc., It is good, that atleast these people have been identified by you. They may not be easy to deal with, but atleast you know who they are.

3. The real dangerous people are the ones, who have the harboured resentments, and do not say anything against you. They are the ones, who will pretend to play ball, and at the right time, not do what you expect them to do, or, work behind your backs and create strategic attacks on you. This is very difficult to deal with and almost impossible to address once they have begun their attacks. The only time, you can be effective is , if you can identify them and get them to be transparent and get their issues addressed. Otherwise you have neutralize them, marginalize them or even remove them – even if they are otherwise good capable people.

Ignore this at your own peril.

For help in identifying these kind of people in your organization, you can get in touch with us.

MANAGEMENT INNOVATIONS

managementinnovations2020@gmail.com;     manojonkar@gmail.com ;     91-9375970812

Key Challenge of Change Management & How to deal with it

There are innumerable challenges in any Change Management Processes, whether the change management is in a for profit or not for profit organization.

The key factor that everyone knows for change management is People.

But, what may not be known is the real challenge in dealing with People. The real challenge in most cases is the harboured resentments. Harboured Resentments may be for any reasons, may be against anyone, against the person leading the change movement or the top management, or the old management.

Harboured Resentments are very difficult to be dealt with since, most of the times, one does not even know who has what harboured resentment, and naturally, the person concerned is not communicating the same.

Most Change Management efforts fail or give less than optimum results because of the Harboured Resentments.

Some things that one can try to deal with the challenge of Harboured Resentments are:

1. Before starting any change management exercise, make a list of people involved in the current situation and how they could be affected by the change. What kind of conversations they are having for this change? Who are they blaming and for what? what are they upset about? what is taking away their attention? where are they getting stuck?
2. Get all the reasons for the proposed change up on the table and have everyone empty the cup with regards to the need for the change.
3. Ensure that the environment of Blame on anyone, is dealt with and everyone is trained and enrolled to communicate. Tell everyone that there will be Harboured Resentments and if they do not speak up and they do not get complete it for themselves, it will come in the way of the performance.
4. Each Person has to be encouraged continually for being in full communication and any upset or potential upset has to be resolved with urgency.
5. Teamwork and clear cut accountabilities for each and every person will help.
6. Creating small winnable games for the teams to start experience winning.

For further inputs on this aspect of Change Management, please be in communication with us.

MANAGEMENT INNOVATIONS

managementinnovations2020@gmail.com,  manojonkar@gmail.com, 91-9375970812

Some More Information on Courses available at Landmark Education

As a lifetime participant and a person assisting, we have found most of the courses available at Landmark education to be very rewarding and enriching.

The curriculum for living has the following courses:

1. The Landmark Forum

2. The Landmark Forum in Action ( Seminar Series)

3. The Landmark Advanced Course

4. The Landmark Self Expression and Leadership Course.

 

The Graduate Curriculum has approx 16 different 10 session seminar series on various topics like:

Money, Relationships, Effectiveness and Velocity, Living Passionately, Being Extraordinary. Breakthroughs, Commitment – Power of the Word, Integrity, Sex & Intimacy, Beyond Fitness.

The Communication Curriculum has various Courses inlcuding:

Communication – Access to Power     and

Communication – Power to Create.

There are also other courses like Team Management and Leadership Program,

Landmark Forum for Young People

Wisdom Course.

For Corporate Transformational Work: there is Landmark Education Business Division, now called the VANTO Group.

For further details contact a local Landmark Education Office or visit http://www.landmarkeducation.com

Happy Customers:

MANAGEMENT INNOVATIONS

managementinnovations2020@gmail.com, manojonkar@gmail.com, 919375970812

Recommended Education for All – Landmark Education

We spend 16 years for our Schooling and Education that enables us to earn a living.

Landmark Education provides Learning for Living a Life you love and Living Life Powerfully.

The education starts with a 3 & 1/2days and the whole curriculum can be completed within 6 months or so.

Please check the website: http://www.landmarkeducation.com

The education is based on the science of applied philosophy and ontology. People get free from the constraints of the past on the thinking and view of life and allows them to create their life, and each and every aspect of their life.

It is available in more than 150 cities globally.

MANAGEMENT INNOVATION,

managementinnovations2020@gmail.com, manojonkar@gmail.com, 91 – 9375970812

Books: E-Myth Mastery and Awakening the Entrepreneur within

Some other good books from E-Myth and Michael Gerber.

1. E Myth Mastery – The 7 essential disciplines for building a World Class Company
2. Awakening the Entrepreneur Within

Websites:

http://www.e-myth.com

http://www.emythmastery.com

Must read for all entrepreneurs and all those inspiring to be entrepreneurs.

How to create organizations which are run by systems and those systems are run by people, instead of self dependent organizations or people dependent organizations.

The guideline is to WORK ON THE BUSINESS and not just  IN THE BUSINESS.

From time to time, we will be recommended various books and reading materials. We will not have any connections with them, except when categorically mentioned.

We are exploring some such strong concepts being brought into the markets like India through National Collaborations. We are in touch with such like minded organizations and will keep you updated on the developments.

MANAGEMENT INNOVATIONS

managementinnovations2020@gmail.com; manojonkar@gmail.com; 919375970812

http://www.linkedin.com/manojonkar

TOWS – Threat, Opportunity, Weakness, Strengths

SWOT has been the standard approach for any business analysis and personal analysis.

Now the trend is to look at the Threats first, and hence the reverse approach to start with T O W S.

SWOT can be said to be Inside out way of thinking and TOWS can be said to be the outside in way of thinking.

Today, in discussion with one of the clients, we were discussing THREATS of TOWS in further details.

THREATS:

1. Threats can be to the current state as well as to the desired future state.
2. Threats can be to current market share, customer base, revenue, profitability, manpower, resources, channel and other key factors.
3. Mapping all possible threats may be a good starting point. One must map all possible threats including the ones, that you are currently able to manage successfully.
4. Mapping all players, all key stake holders, all constituency will help you generate awareness.
5. Mapping all possible direct and indirect competition and their strengths is difficult but very useful.

For further details contact us at

MANAGEMENT INNOVATIONS

managementinnovations2020@gmail.com; manojonkar@gmail.com; 919375970812

http://www.linkedin.com/in/manojonkar

WISH LIST from Management Consultants

Taking services of Management Consultants, If you had an opportunity to have all your wishes fulfilled,

what would they be:

You may list the Top 5 Items on your wish list.

MANAGEMENT INNOVATIONS

managementinnovations2020@gmail.com; manojonkar@gmail.com ; 91-9375970812

Complaints and Unfulfilled Expectations against Management Consultants

We invite all of you to write to us on managementinnovations2020@gmail.com or on this blog, based on your first hand experiences, what have been your moments of dissatisfaction, what have been your complaints, where you have found the Management Consultants not delivering your expectations, where have you found them not in your world.

The opportunity is to share and create awareness and also get inputs on what to do in such situations. 

This would be a WIN WIN for the clients and the consultants reading this blog.

Requested to avoid the names of the consultants and the consultancy firms.

MANAGEMENT INNOVATIONS

managmentinnovations2020@gmail.com; manojonkar@gmail.com, 919375970812

Recommended Readings for Recession Times

If you have not read by now, or even if you have read it once, good time to re- read the extra ordinary book and concept by Management Guru – C.K. Prahlad – “The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid”.

The biggest innovations in the management field have been the new, out of the box, revenue models and business models.

Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid concept gets companies access to markets, which were generally not even considered as potential markets ( and of course they are the bigger ocean).

Companies will have to rethink their business models, but those new business models created for tapping the bottom of the pyramid may alter the history of the enterprise as well as the industry and it has a parallel opportunity to make a big difference to the society, while taking care of the stake holders and the stock holders requirements.

Along with that we also recommend the book BLUE OCEAN STRATEGY.

Using both the books as reference points, one can create a unique strategy which will help the companies whether small or big, to emerge as WINNERS in the current times as well as in the future to come.

MANAGEMENT INNOVATIONS,

managementinnovations2020@gmail.com ;  manojonkar@gmail.com ; 919375970812

Recommended Readings for Entrepreneurs

We have found E-Myth, and its various related products by Michael Gerber, including E-Myth revisited, in the dreaming room and various other books and online products a great source for all entrepreneurs.

E-myth guides the entrepreneurs in creating an organization that is not dependent on them, that is systems driven, people are able to grow and contribute fully to the organization, each staff and the entrepreneur is able to fulfill their vision for their life and create a professionally run smooth enterprise.

It also helps to plan the business, in such a way, that, if one wants to explore the route of franchising in the future, one can do so effortlessly.

Search on the net for E-Myth and Michael Gerber will give a good amount of data. Books are available in local book stores also.

http://www.e-myth.com

http://www.emythmastery.com

We have no association with the author or their organization or products, except that we have read and found it of very high quality and would recommend to anybody without any concern.

Management Innovations

managementinnovations2020@gmail.com;    manojonkar@gmail.com; 91-9375970812

Profile for Your Reference

manoj_onkar_-_president coo ceo director

 

Also check

http://www.linkedin.com/in/manojonkar

 

Write to

manojonkar@gmail.com; managementinnovations2020@gmail.com; 919375970812

How are you using Social Networking sites?

Are you using social networking sites for expanding your business, finding potential team members, finding potential service providers with the right references, finding the best sales channel, best technologists,best consultants?

do you want to use social networking sites to build your business, find new customers, do subtle marketing?

Contact us

Management Innovations

managementinnovations2020@gmail.com; manojonkar@gmail.com; 919375970812

How are you leveraging the Net for your Business?

Do you have a product with good brand recognition in the offline world, but do not have much online presence?

How many customers are coming to you because of your online presence?

How much percentage of your business is happening because of your online marketing?

What is your online marketing strategy? do you want to brainstorm with us on what is possible in the area of using online marketing to expand your business?

Do you want to do market research?

Do you want to create parallel sales channel?

Do you want to get across the a new customer segment?

Do you want to supplement your advertisement with online activites which draw potential customers to you?

Talk to us

Management Innovations

managementinnovations2020@gmail.com

manojonkar@gmail.com

919375970812

What is your vision? What is your dream?

What is your dream and vision for your organization, we are here to support you in fulfilling the same.

Write to us on managementinnovations2020@gmail.com

If you want support in articulating your vision? Getting clear on the plans for your business?

or creating strategies for your business growth or dealing with any other challenges like Marketing/Sales/HR/Systems/Processes/Training

feel free to write/talk to us.

MANAGEMENT INNOVATIONS

managementinnovations2020@gmail.com

manojonkar@gmail.com

91-9375970812

SPIN SELLING

Spin Selling by Huthwaite UK is one of the highly researched sales models.

Neil Rackham also has published books on SPIN SELLING including Handbook of field Sales.

We can support companies in converting all their marketing and selling in alignment with the principles of the SPIN selling models.

The Presales, the Appointment Process, the Understanding Client Needs, the Expansion of the Client Needs and Problems, the Science of Proposing a Solution, the Negotiation and the Sales Closing Techniques as well as the Post Order Process can be made all in alignment with the principles of SPIN SELLING system.

SALES TRAININGS – GUIDELINES

What kind of topics are required to be covered in the sales trainings?

How long is the Sales training supposed to be?

What is the required frequency of the Sales training ?

First things first.

* Do the Sales Team have the basic communication skills, if not, deal with that immediately or find repalcements.

* Train them into the following things:

1. The Products and Services offered by the Company.
2. How are the Products Manufactured and the Services Delivered.
3. All Sales People should know a little about each department and how it works and what is its role and what are their strengths.
4. Sales Team should know the complete history of the company, its past products, services, markets covered, key customers, successes, accomplishments, awards, testimonials etc.,
5. Sales team should be fully exposed to how the customers use the products and services and how the customers are benefited by the use of your products and services.
6. The detailed understanding of the customer, customers business, customer’s challenges and opportunities, customer’s industry, SWOT and TOWS of the customer and their industry etc., can make a sales person graduate to being a sales consultant.
7. Knowing about the company’s past clients, past projects, portfolio, industry presence, key accomplishments, recognition, collaborations etc., will help the sales person represent the company in a more effective way.

Consultative Sales

Consultative Sales methods like SPIN Selling, Action Selling and other world class sales methodologies are important not only for the sales team, but for actually the whole company.

One of the top management consultants had once mentioned – how many sales people should be there in a company. As many as the No. of staff that the company has.

It means that each and every person, whatever is the role, has to think from the customer perspective also, al the time.

It would be a good idea to have key people from all the departments trained and exposed to such thinking.

Consultative Sales (Customers come to you during Recession also)

Like you go to the doctors, when you have a problem.

Consultative Sales will help you get connected and engaged with the customers to the level that they would come to you first for solving the problems that they are facing.

Sales Training, Pre Sales, SPIN Selling, Consultative Sales, Proposal Making, Proposing Solutions, Negotiations, Closing techniques are couple of areas where we will support.

SALES, MARKETING & MARKET RESEARCH (Make your company recession proof)

Sales, marketing, market research are a dynamic cycle of continuous study and implementation.

Researching the various target customers based on our best ability to serve their needs in the most effective manner, creates a great relationship between the customers and the company.

As the customer needs keep changing, mapping the needs on a regular basis, re-evaluating the service offerings, customizing the solution packages, fine tuning the delivery mechanism are regular requirements.

Stronger brand awareness, stronger customer engagement, the integration into the customers life style (personally or professionally), becoming indispensable by solving their mission critical problems and supporting them in fulfilling their dreams and visions.

Geographical reach along with strong segmentation and mapping each segment is important.

This is one of those make or break areas of the organization where the top management has to be keenly involved.

Strategy Implementation – BSC (Balanced Scorecard way)

Balanced Scorecard by Dr. Robert Kaplan and Dr. David Norton is one of the strong tools available currently in supporting the companies to get clear of their strategy and to do holistic, organization wide implementation. Strategy Maps and Balanced scorecards are very useful tools for strategy planning, communication, monitoring, evaluation, course correction and overall implementation.

Ensuring that the strategy implementations is done powerfully on all the 4 perspective of Finance, Customer, Process and Capability perspectives, organizations can ensure that on a daily basis they are moving forward in the strategy implementation.

Highly committed and transformed organizations also have couple of other dimensions including Impact on Society.

Different organizations depending on their genre will have different focus, e.g. government, NGO and similar organizations may not be highly focused on the financial perspective.

R&D organizations, Manufacturing Organizations etc., may have extra focus on the process perspective.

“Learning organizations” may focus more on the capability, learning and growth perspective.

But each and every organization committed to sustainable growth have to have balanced growth.

Team alignment, each department scorecard, each individual scorecard, the vertical and horizontal alignment and the lead and lag measures are very useful dimensions of implementing strategy the BSC way.

Need support in creating or implementing your strategy?

MANAGEMENT INNOVATIONS

managementinnovations2020@gmail.com; manojonkar@gmail.com

919375970812

Strategy Creation – SWOT, TOWS & Blue Ocean Thinking

Strategy creation begins with SWOT or actually better is TOWS i.e. SWOT in reverse.

Starting with Threats, Opportunities, Weakness and Strengths.

As we facilitate the TOWS analysis, you will see lot of inputs on which you can create the strategy.

Industry Analysis, Competition Analysis and Blue Ocean Thinking.

Organizational Strategy will also include product strategy, marketing strategy, finance strategy, hr strategy, sales strategy, production strategy etc.,

 

For help on implementing SWOT, TOWS and other Strategy creation and implementation processes, contact us:

MANAGEMENT INNOVATIONS

 managementinnovations2020@gmail.com; manojonkar@gmail.com;

919375970812

How we help you implement your vision,mission and values

• An original authentic vision is always easy to share with passion and get people’s alignment.                                                                 
• You will be guided on how to share your vision effectively and get your people on board.                                                                                   
• Re-evaluating each work done on a day to day basis and differentiating between which is forwarding the mission and the vision and is in alignment with the Core Values and what is not.        
• Identifying the most critical actions and conversations required in your organization for the fulfillment of the vision, mission and honouring the core values.                                                        
• Creating a clear list of WHAT’S ON and WHAT’S NOT ON in the organization.                                                                                                             
• Education, Education and Education for the team.                                   
• Seniors walking the talk.

For detailed inputs on Creating and Implementing Vision and Mission, contact:

MANAGEMENT INNOVATIONS

managementinnovations2020@gmail.com;  manojonkar@gmail.com; 919375970812