Question # 1
Organizational Life-Cycles and Management Styles
Organizations go through different life-cycles just like people do. Start-up organizations or founders of the organization have to do whatever is necessary just to stay in business. Leaders make highly reactive, seat-of-the-pants decisions. They fear taking the time to slow down and do planning. There is a strong relationship between the life-cycle stage of an organization and the nature of its leadership.
Managers have to perform many roles in an organization and how they handle various situations will depend on their style of management. A management style is an overall method of leadership used by a manager. Management style depends upon the life cycle of an organization. As my organization is at the stage of building and exploration, so the management style focuses on details. It is based on interpersonal relationships and long term plans.
Personal Training and Development programs
Organizations must provide training and development programs to groom the next generation of leaders. Without training and development programs, organizations will lose talent. There are seven types of training and development programs.
Out of above, I have identified following training and development programs as new middle manager:
Quality training: Quality training includes customer service training. Quality training in a manufacturing plant involves knowledge of total quality management. Quality training involves finding solutions to improve processes and products. Quality training is an on-going effort to instill the philosophy of continuous improvement.
Professional training:Organizations needs professionals in various departments. However, organizations generally do not have the expertise to provide professional training. They send their employees for courses to obtain professional qualifications.
Team-bonding activity: The organization pays money to engage employees in team-bonding activities. The purpose of this training is to develop leadership and teamwork. Team-bonding activity usually took place outdoor. Organizations use rock climbing, canoeing, and other outdoor activities as part of a team-bonding program.
Managerial training: Some organizations encourage their managers to attend expensive seminars as part of managerial training.
These trainings will continue time to time depending upon the approval from HR and finance departments.
Question # 2
Explain_factors_influencing_managerial_decision_making_what_are_various_important_decisions_in_different_functional_management
Factors Involved in Management Decisions
Managerial decision making is the key to superior performance at work. One has to refer to critical data, past records and performance metrics and analysis before making decisions. Executives often end up referring to wrong sources, which lacks scientific rigor and credentials in its finding, for arriving critical decisions. Just because one strategy works for a particular organization may not prove to be equally effective for other enterprises.
It's actually a real problem which many strategist face and typically too much of analysis may lead to complicated or erroneous conclusions if the context of the reference is not verified. Sometimes a single factor can be picked up as a major perceived thereat and instead of finding a meaningful and objective solution based on organizations own reality decisions may be unduly influenced by halo impressions.
The following are the factors influencing managerial decision making
The following are the various important decisions in different functional management.
Presentation infront of Management Team
Leaders of organizations, as well as government leaders, need to be mindful of the importance of making clear-cut, well thought-out decisions. Unfortunately, many organizational leaders do not do a particularly good job of this. Our research shows that only one out of two employees believes the leader of his organization makes sound decisions.
Good decision making is especially important during these challenging economic times, as leaders are being called upon to make big decisions about reducing costs, identifying new strategic directions, and whether to implement previously planned investments in the future.
If employees trust their leaders and believe they make sound decisions, they will follow them even when they don't agree with their decisions. The key is that they believe their leaders can provide them with a clear, consistent direction.
One of the more common mistakes in decision-making is to fail to consider every department, employee, and task that may be affected by your decision. The failure to communicate then creates mistrust with the affected employee - how much depends on your previous history and your willingness to admit the mistake, no matter how small.
Question # 3
Stakeholders in the Organization
Stakeholders are individuals or groups that have some claim on the company. They can be divided into internal claimants and external claimants. Internal claimants are stockholders and employees including executive officers and board member while external claimants are all other individuals and groups affected by the company's actions. Typically, they comprise of customers, suppliers, governments, unions, competitors, local communities and the general public.
Following are the stakeholders of the company:
Requirements
Stakeholders agree that effective corporate governance requires the following principles:
Corporate governance systems vary in how they achieve these goals, but by focusing on one group --in this case employees-- we can further develop the notion of how a stakeholder group can strengthen the corporate governance system.
Stakeholder Needs
Meeting the conflicting demands of different stakeholders,is the responsibility of a firm's leadership. This is no easy feat balancing the needs of internal stakeholders with the needs of external stakeholders and aligning the needs of these conflicting constituents with the mission and goals of the organization. The mission statement is the outward face to external stakeholders. When managers create a set of goals to measure organizational effectiveness, they must make sure that the official goals and operative goals work together to enhance effectiveness. In addition to the organizational mission and goals, leaders must develop communication skills to balance the competing demands between internal and external stakeholders.
Question # 4
/business/people/recruitment_personspecification.asp
Person Specification
A person specification describes the requirements a job holder needs to be able to perform the job satisfactorily. These are likely to include:
How should a person specification be created?
The most common approach now used by recruiters is to use what are known as "competencies" to design the person specification. These are then classified as "essential" or "desired" to determine which are most important.
Competencies might include some or all of the following:
Person specifications have to be prepared and used with great care. In particular, it is important to ensure that the list of essential or desired competencies does not lead to unlawful discrimination against potential employees.
Benefits
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A well-crafted person specification has several benefits:
How does this compare with a job description?
A job description describes the job ; a person specification describes the person needed to do the job. A person specification can, therefore, form the basis for the selection of the most suitable person to fill the job.
Preparing a job description is not a legal requirement but it can be useful for deciding the scope of the work, advertising the job, and clarifying what applicants will have to do in the job. It can also help to assess a new recruit's performance and determine training needs.
A job description should include:
Benefits
managingemployees/a/stepjobdescript.htm
A good job description:
Why both are important?
why-are-job-descriptions-and-specifications-important/
The job description and specification are important parts of planning the workforce needs of any business. So what are they?
Job description
Job specification
Question # 5
Quality within Department
Quality objectives are defined either during the QMS development stage or as part of the ongoing management review process. Management review is the routine self-assessment by the management team to ensure that the quality management system is documented, implemented, effective and meets pre-determined criteria. What is it important to recognise about these objectives?
Care needs to be taken when determining these objectives to ensure that they:
It is critical to communicate quality objectives to both internal and external customers and the standards that have been defined for the organisation to achieve. Unrealistic targets that are unlikely to be achieved within the agreed timescale will ultimately undermine individuals and business strategy. Conversely, benchmark standards that can be easily achieved can allow an organisation to become complacent, stagnate and ultimately be overtaken by their competitors!
Question # 6
training_employees
Development of Skills and capabilities
As a manager, skills and capabilities can be developed through training programs. Training has a significant role in modern business era. Not just to equip them with latest tools your company has implemented, there is a lot more to it.I have sorted down them in a list.
Training is important because
The benefits of training can be summed up as:
training-of-employees.
Ways/Methods of Training
Training is generally imparted in two ways:
On the job training- On the job training methods are those which are given to the employees within the everyday working of a concern. It is a simple and cost-effective training method. The inproficient as well as semi- proficient employees can be well trained by using such training method. The employees are trained in actual working scenario. The motto of such training is “learning by doing.” Instances of such on-job training methods are job-rotation, coaching, temporary promotions, etc.
Off the job training- Off the job training methods are those in which training is provided away from the actual working condition. It is generally used in case of new employees. Instances of off the job training methods are workshops, seminars, conferences, etc. Such method is costly and is effective if and only if large number of employees have to be trained within a short time period. Off the job training is also called as vestibule training,i.e., the employees are trained in a separate area( may be a hall, entrance, reception area,etc. known as a vestibule) where the actual working conditions are duplicated.
Question # 7
three-steps-to-quickly-put-out-poor-performance-fires.
As a manager, it is my job to make sure that the work gets done right and in a timely manner. But, at times, that doesn't happen. Deadlines get missed. Orders get filled incorrectly. And customers are starting to complain about our service..
Stop thinking it'll get better. Deal firmly and promptly with a poor performer. If certain behaviors --- coming in late or not filling out forms right --- appear acceptable, then the person will see no reason to change. The problem continues. Our good performers will have to then pick up the slack. Morale goes down.
Here are three steps to quickly put out poor performance fires.
1. Get a handle on the problem:
Before confronting the poor performer, stop and determine
2. Find out the real cause(s) of the problem.
Now go into a coaching mode and find out if the problem is due to the lack of
3. Resolve the problem.
If the poor performance is due to a lack of understanding of the proper procedures, then perhaps the answer is to have a co-worker show the person the right process in handling an order. Or, if the poor performer doesn't have the proper tools to do the job well, then find a way to get them. Don't expect to get extraordinary performance from mediocre resources. Perhaps all that is needed to improve employee performance is a simple and inexpensive morale booster like a pizza lunch or a dozen cookies.
An effective leader not only delegates work but also does not disappears until it's time for the yearly performance appraisal. She steps in to stop poor performance before it escalates into a raging brush fire.
Question # 8
which_management_skills_are_important_when
Report to the Management Team
Management is a team sport that makes similar demands on its players. Unfortunately, many managers do not understand how managerial jobs are similar and yet different across organizational levels and functions. This lack of mutual understanding makes it harder to appreciate each other's contributions and to coordinate work activities.
In addition to work coordination, executives who understand the similarities and differences in managerial jobs are better able to:
First Level Managers: One-to-One with Subordinates
The most critical skill for supervisors is the management of individual performance. This includes:
The next most critical skill is helping subordinates learn how to perform their jobs effectively, including such tasks as:
While both these skills are important for first-level managers, they are decidedly less so for middle managers.
Middle Managers: Linking Groups
The requirement to manage group performance is the hallmark change in the transition to middle management. This new responsibility includes:
Another important cluster of tasks for middle managers involves planning and resource allocation. Examples include:
A third critical task - one that is shared with executives - is the coordination of independent groups. This involves:
Executives: An Eye to the Outside
Upon entry to the executive ranks, the requirement to monitor the business environment becomes critical. The executive must:
Common to All Levels: Represent the Workgroup
Managers at all levels must be the spokesperson for their staffs. This requires them to:
Building a Winning Team
Through training and other developmental activities, organizations can help managers build the skills they need at their current level. Moreover, they can anticipate the requirements for higher levels and start developing those skills early. The result will be a winning management team.
