A. Purpose and reason for the establishment of Goldenstate Manufacturers
As a business organization, personally, the purpose for the establishment of Goldenstate Manufacturers is to earn or gain profit. They produce and sell product that will eventually increase their revenue.
B. Three (3) other types of organization and how their purpose and reason for establishment
differ from Goldenstate Manufacturers
Charitable Organizations - e.g Alzheimers New Zealand
It is a non-profit organization that operates for good causes or charitable purposes. Its charitable activities are beneficial to the public interest. Its purpose is to provide support, information, education programmes and services appropriate to their local community. This is an example of a healthy interaction between self-interest and community service.
Government Organization - e.g Auckland Council
The Auckland Council is a new model of local government for New Zealand, designed to strengthen regional leadership while providing effective local and community democracy. The council is here to promote the social, economic, environmental and cultural wellbeing of Auckland.
Food Industry - e.g Foodchain
A fully New Zealand owned and operated food distribution company specializing in meat, poultry, seafood and mediterranean deli products and dry goods. They offer their customers the opportunity to order specific cuts and pack sizes along with a wide range of exclusive small goods. Goods are delivered by their own fleet of refrigerated trucks and this completes a reliable, efficient service. They are committed to customer service and they have the purpose of delivering excellent food products and to be part of a great team of enthusiastic people.
1.2 Two (2) main roles/functions that need to be carried out by the following:
Mark (CEO)
One function of a CEO is to implement plans or the strategic goals and objectives of the organization. In this case, Mark has been assigned a goal of "optimizing the production and improve the quality of the finished garments to the required level within six months.
Another function is being a team builder. The CEO is the primary team builder starting at the top with the executive team. Mark must instil the coaching and mentoring concept in the core belief system of his executive team to insure that these values are passed down throughout the organization. The CEO also resolves differences among members of the senior team.
Carl (Operations Manager)
One role of an Operations Manager is to lead the people in order to ensure that business operations are efficient in terms of using as few resources as needed, and effective in terms of meeting customer requirements.
An Operations Manager has organizational and risk management responsibilities. Carl should assist departments, such as human resources and finance, and develops a system of communication within and between those departments. Also acts as a consultant to other members of the company, makes informed production decisions and makes informed decisions regarding the quality and quantity of goods or services produced or rendered.
Quality Control Manager
One function is to sample the products (Production Sampling) that a company generates to ensure that workers and machines are producing quality items. They perform tests while products are in the pre-production stage, during production and after production has been completed, right before the product is shipped to the consumer. This usually involves a hands-on inspection, comparing products to consumer specifications.
One of the most important duties of quality control managers is to report on their findings. Quality control managers report back to workers who are not meeting the necessary standards to let them know what they need to do to improve product quality. They also meet with other managers to report on their findings so that the other management staff can redirect the efforts of workers and they meet with executives to report their findings and put together plans to improve performance, production and quality. ( Refer to footnote number 3 )
Research and Development Manager
Primary function is to conduct research for new products and create up new solutions and develop the organization with all scientific aspects that are available which will benefit the organization. In order to be competitive, the company continuously needs finding ways for new technological development of product range.
Secondary function is about product maintenance and enhancement. Existing products should be maintained ensuring that they can be manufactured according to specification. If an existing product becomes obsolete, the department is expected to discover an alternative quickly so that the product manufacturing will not be postponed. At the same time, the commercial life of a product may be extended through enhancing it in some way like giving it extra features, improving its performance, or making it cheaper to manufacture, etc.
1.3
A. How effective Goldenstate Manufacturers is in meeting its purpose
Goldenstate Manufacturers was effective in meeting its purpose in the past 30 years and the company is among the top five manufacturing organisation in Australia. However, the company is not effective in meeting its purpose in the last 18 months because the productions dropped by 20 percent and customer complaints have increased regarding the quality of finished goods.
B. Four (4) main management skills or competencies needed for it to be competitive
Interpersonal skills
Communication skills
Leadership skills
Conceptual skills
C. Why the four skills or competencies listed in 1.3(b) are important
Interpersonal skills - A manager should be a people's person. This is important because a manager who have the ability to listen and understand and the ability to get along with different people, and able to build a good relationship with his subordinates will encourage team members to be more productive than those with poor interpersonal skills, because of their tendency to project a positive attitude and look for solutions to problems.
Communication Skills - This is important because effective communication is an essential component for organisation success. A manager who effectively communicates with staff members promotes pleasant relations and motivates the employees for increasing production and creates healthy and happy environment within the organisation.
Leadership skills - This is important because a manager who has the ability to influence human behaviour will be able to motivate, guide and lead the staff members. Leadership skills help the manager to get the work done through the workers.
Conceptual skills - This is the ability of a manager to see the organisation as a whole. It includes analytical, creative and initiative skills. It helps the manager to identify the causes of the problems. In the case study, Mark (as the top level manager) was able to identify the problems in the Operations Department. Conceptual skills help a manager to solve the problems for the benefit of the organisation. It helps the manager to fix goals for the whole organisation and to plan for every situation. Conceptual skills are mostly required at the top level management because the managers spend more time in planning, organising and problem solving.
2.1
A. Theory of leadership which Ron, the Finishing Manager most closely aligns with
Behavioural theory - Behavioral theories of leadership do not seek inborn traits or capabilities. Rather, they look at what leaders actually do. It assumes that leadership capability can be learned, rather than being inherent. In the case study, Ron saw how Adam leads his team and he follows the same approach of Adam who believes in the philosophy of "My way or no way" and believes in not allowing his staff to take the freedom of doing things without his knowledge.
B. Leadership styles of Adam (Knitting Manager) and James (Dyeing Manager)
Adam (Knitting Manager)
Adam uses the Autocratic style of leadership
Autocratic style of leadership is also known as authoritarian leadership. This involves having total control over a group. Leaders make the decisions, there is little or no input from group members. In the case study, Adam exercised this style of leadership by believing in the philosophy of "My way or no way"!
James (Dyeing Manager)
James uses the Laissez Faire style of leadership
Laissez Faire style of leadership is also known as delegative leadership. In this style, leaders are hands-off, he sets the tasks but allows group members to make the decisions, there is very little guidance from leaders and group members are expected to solve problems on their own. In the case study, James does not take much notice if workers don't do their job. He likes to be liked by his staff and refrains from taking any actions which might upset the team and/or turn them against him.
C. Autocratic style of leadership
Adam who believes only in his way of handling things can be seen as bossy, controlling and dictatorial. This is not appropriate because it can lead to resentment among group members. Staff may feel not being a part of the organisation may sometimes don't come up for work or leave. In the case study, there is fast turn-over of staffs in the knitting section where Adam is the manager.
Another reason why this style of leadership is not appropriate is, Adam who does not take opinions from others can often result in a lack of innovative solution to problems. Believing only in his ideas and imposing only on what he believes is right cause a lot of pressure to staffs which can ultimately hurt the performance of the group causing delays in production and poor quality of products.
Laissez Faire style of leadership
The Dyeing section is overstaffed and James (Dyeing Manager) should do something to cut on the number of staff and keep staffs that are doing a good job and probably delegate other tasks to the other staffs members.
There are issues in production delays and quality of products not up to its good standards. With the current situation, James' laissez faire style of leadership is not appropriate. Stitching section wait for fabric through the dyeing and finishing sections. He should guide his staffs and make sure his staffs are doing their job.
2.2
A. The Herzberg's Two-Factor Theory and how Mark might use this theory to motivate Carl
Herzberg's Two-Factor Theory - This theory states that there are factors in the workplace that can lead to jobHYPERLINK "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Job_satisfaction" HYPERLINK "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Job_satisfaction"satisfaction, while some factors causes dissatisfaction. Accordingly, people are influenced by two sets of factors: the motivator factor and the hygiene factor. The motivator factor give positive satisfaction, occurring from basic conditions of the job itself, such as recognition, achievement, or personal growth and the hygiene factor do not give positive satisfaction, though dissatisfaction results from their absence. (Underlined words retrieved from class hand-outs)
In the case study, it seems that Carl is not dissatisfied but not motivated. By focusing on the motivational factors Mark will be able to motivate Carl improves his work quality. Mark should praise and recognise Carl's accomplishments. Motivation factors such as recognition, job interest, career advancement etc. are needed to motivate an employee to higher performance. Work should be stimulating and rewarding so that Carl will be motivated to work and perform harder and better.
B. Four (4) ways how Adam (Knitting Manager) might motivate his staff to remain in the company
Adam should involve his staff members in decision making and make them feel valued as part of a team. He can do this by asking his staff members ideas and suggestions on how they are going to solve a problem and then makes his decision based on the information provided by his staff members.
Adam should develop a good relationship to his staff members. He can do this by being flexible in using an appropriate style of leadership. Being fair, treating his staffs with respect and being approachable can help motivate his staff to remain in the company.
Adam should also communicate with his staff effectively and also with other departments to perform well and to avoid any differences that may come between managers.
Adam should appreciate the hard work of his staff members. Work pressure in the production is very high and they need to be motivated. He can do this by writing a thank you card, or thanking them personally. This can include recognition of staff members in front of peers or he can provide rewards to reinforce positive behaviour.
2.3
A. Three (3) benefits of delegation
Delegation allows senior management to focus on important task thereby increasing productivity. By assigning minor tasks that are typically easier to do than major priority tasks, allows managers to better focus on more important and more complicated assignments. Keep in mind that training and supervision may be necessary when delegating new tasks.
Subordinates are empowered and motivated. People with allocated tasks will learn new and important skills when working on delegated tasks that they have never worked on before. In the long run, these newly delegated tasks will not require any guidance or supervision, thus increasing the productivity of the delegator and the whole team.
Delegation helps manage time effectively. For example, when less skilled workers work on less skilled tasks, this allows skilled people to focus working on more skilled tasks. As a result, delegation helps manage the limited time of more skilled employees.
B. Five (5) steps needed to be taken for effective delegation
Accountability - it means giving explanations for any variance in the actual performance from the expectations set. For example, Ron is given a task with enough power, and he was asked to delegate more tasks to his staff. If he delegates task to his staffs and asks them to ensure that task is done well, responsibility rest with his staff but accountability still rest with Ron. Accountability in short means being answerable for the end result of the task you delegate to others.
Responsibility - is the scope of a job - what must be done to carry out the tasks involved. It is the responsibility of the person to complete the job given to him. The person held responsible for a job is responsible for it. If he carries out the tasks assigned as expected, he is bound for praises. While if he doesn't finish the tasks assigned as expected, then also he is responsible to that.
Authority - it is the right of a person to use and distribute the resources efficiently, to make decisions and to provide orders so as to accomplish the organisational objectives. Authority is the right to give orders, instructions, and get the things done. In the case study, Ron does not allow his staff to do things in their own. But if he is to delegate the power of authority to his staff and give them a chance to do their job on their own, his subordinates get a feeling of importance. In a way, he is giving enough room and space to his subordinates to flourish their abilities and skills.
Empowerment - is giving employees the power to do their job. Employees need to feel that their actions count. In the case study, Ron does not allow his staff to do things on their own. Giving authority to make decisions to front-line staff, encouraging employee feedback and showing more trust in employees allows staffs to gain confidence they need to tackle problems in their job.
Process - this is where after the manager delegated tasks to his subordinates, he is to follow up on how they are managing to complete the tasks. He is to constantly monitor the work and give feedback for improvements if needed.
