The Management Development work report/case study
Definition of the problem.
Management is a mix of objective factors about the nature of the work to be done, more subjective factors that are as a result of the people involved, the culture of the organization and also the objectives that the organization wants to meet. The most valuable results of effective management development (MD) are to create recognition that there are no single statements about management that can be applied to all managers in all organizations. Managers need to be depended upon the environments they are at present. Management development seeks to spell out what managers do in various contexts and how they learn. A clear distinction is made between what all managers are supposed to do and what they actually do and also reason why it may be effective for the application of management development as a strategy.
The case study to be detailed in this case is about Nina. She is an experienced and also an influential IT project manager for an international transportation and distribution company, based in the UK. Nina had begun here career 12 years ago as a business analyst. During this time, she has been working with the same company, and six years later she was able to be promoted as a project manager. She has risen in the ranks to become one of the senior project managers. Furthermore, she is well versed with the company’s operations and is also well aware of the company’s systems and has also worked extra hard to learn the processes related with project management and also the techniques. Moreover, she is considered by those around her to be good, getting results in difficult projects, if occasionally is also driven and focused .
As part of the company’s wide MD strategies, the company sort to improve the management and this was through a leadership program that was carried out off-site at the organization’s training school. The objectives of this venture were to be able to influence Nina in various ways based on management strategies. For a start, from the participation, the participant will be able to what effective leadership means in the organization and how to demonstrate it at work, improve their self-awareness and their impact on others, able to utilize informal communication networks and also improve their personal capacity to lead and manage change.
Nina was able to learn about different styles of leadership, including action-centered leadership, situational leadership and transformational leadership all in the context of the organization’s management development strategies. Later on during the program, the organization included a feedback program whereby Nina was able to receive some constructive, open and honest feedback which was discussed with her program mentor, whom was an experienced individual allocated by the training school as part of the program. With such an individual, the strategy for MD would be more effective. As a result of these discussions, Nina was able to realize that she did not relate to her team well _ since she was exceedingly results oriented, most of her communication with her team was about tasks and progress; thus some teams members began to reason she was cold and not interested in their wellbeing. This, in turn impacted negatively on their work output. Furthermore, two individuals giving feedback accused her of being a control freak. Therefore, from the program, she was able to come up with a development plan.
Examination of the situation with the aid of suitable concepts, models, perspectives and theories, showing their relevance to the situation under examination (this is what we mean by the jargon: a critical literature review).
MD can be seen as an integral part or the individual career development and also, in a way, the development of the organization as a whole. Information as much as possible is availed to the individuals thus, it is up to them to determine how best to use the information to influence their actions based on their learning. It focuses on the knowledge and also the ability in rational analysis and decision making thus, result in development of formal problem solving procedures in MD.
Under normal conditions, the pressures on managers at work and their response to the pressures are instable equilibrium. For the manager’s behavior to change, the equilibrium must be displaced. This is difficult to achieve unless there exists beneficial consequence for the managers. A number of stages in the design of a MD program are followed. Each step assesses and builds from feedback resulting from the previous stage. In a program that is well implemented, there is movement back and forth between the steps.
In the case study, change is realized and can be explained from the literature of various authors. A nine element model has been developed by Bernard Burnes. In this model, Burnes details that a vision should be created. This arises from the fact as to the reason behind why the organization needs change. Since the organization wants to attain its goals, it has to consider management development as a vital aspect in order to achieve this goal. Therefore, a tentative program is designed. This vision is constructed through the use of various aspects; mission, valued outcomes, valued conditions and midpoint goals. The objectives are to verify assumptions and to reach a consensus with respect to goals and program design. All these aspect directly influence Nina as she plays a significant role in ensuring change is experienced by the organization. Nina is developed to become a change agent by helping her recognize her feeling and also how others are affected by her decisions. It also provides opportunities for her to change this behavior. It obtains the agreement for the need for specific change and also motivating the will to change.
The organization should also develop strategies to ensure it achieves these goals. This result from the vision of the organization. Furthermore, conditions for successful change should also be created, for instance, through the program Nina attended she was made aware of the vision the company has. Feedback is also necessary to gauge the performance and also successful change should be publicized. Often, when learning and development plans have been carried out, outcomes that were not expected can be witnessed. These are known as the value added results. These results are not always beneficial, but the organization will gain in the long term. For instance, motivation of the individual within the organization would impact positively on the motivation of team as whole and also would show greater commitment by the organization towards its goals. The need for and type of change are also assessed since it is a key element.
Having gone through the assessment process, MD would also involve committing to change by the management and also preparation of a detailed plan. This should be assessed by the work of the assessment team but may be finally be implemented by a different team. Everyone should be involved during MD so as to maintain commitment, particularly if it is for the long-run. Therefore, continued involvement of all parties should be encouraged. Learning is also a key element in MD. It can be said to have occurred when people can demonstrate that after an experience, they have become aware of something they did not know before. Thus, for an effective MD, managers need to learn particular skills which will directly become an experience and influence their behaviors. In Nina’s case, the program acted as a learning opportunity whereby she was able to acquire knowledge and experience about something she was not aware of before. Thus, through the achievement of knowledge, learning becomes and result or an outcome.
Management development in most cases involves de-specialization and with focusing on the crucial role as well as with training in specific management skills. Programs attempt to show the importance of increasing management competencies and also bring managerial styles at par with the organizational culture. Thus, MD can be used as a systematic way to create and shape change within an organization.
Thoughtful analysis/exploration of the situation.
Management development plans are an excellent motivational tool; however this can result in a situation whereby expectations are raised within the e organization and cannot be fulfilled. Thus, this is where development methods can be built into the individuals’ or team work can also be beneficial. Methods for instance self-study, shadowing, delegation among others can be arranged by the individuals themselves. This would have a significant influence on management development. These methods also have the advantage of being applied without necessarily having the need of a central budget or permission. This would encourage the individuals within the organization to take responsibility and therefore, be more focused and committed. Nina was also able to identify that she could develop as a manager, and this formed the basis of the management development plan. From the case study, it can be determined that personal development is vital in improving leadership skills, just as the organization wanted to achieve.
Managers should be wary of putting needs that are too man as well as outcomes on a single plan. Furthermore, they should avoid addressing too many needs all at the same time. When this happens, it would lead to confusion about priorities, time conflicts or even lead to problems within the organization. Thus, it is recommended that in management development, issues are addressed one at a time, and it is depended upon the importance and urgency of need as well as other commitments.
The experiences are systematically analyzed to clarify the cause/effect relationships; assess and improve development design, managers’ performance and variables; and this would be vital in order to be able to make an improvement with the learning. The MD program can fail when the state of the work system and the environment and their relationships are not considered during the implementation of the program. The content of the MD program, learning approaches, and the change techniques need to be acceptable. This way, it will be advantageous and effective in assisting the managers in their functions within the organization. In influencing, the behavior of the managers, the work conditions and the environment are put into consideration. They also help when it comes to determine the objectives of the development program.
Self-learning audit
Furthermore, I would ensure the use of evaluations so as to measure the effect of the learning experience on the individual’s work based on the experiences from the program. Whatever the impact, change sort from the organizational point of view are not directly translated in the behavior of the participating manager but on the performance and output of the organization. Feedback is also made as the basis for learning. Whether it is positive or negative, there are opportunities for independent learning leading to new insights. Therefore, what I learned is utilized routinely in the work within an organization. If I had the advantage of hindsight, I would be able to come up with strategies that are indeed effective. All these will be as a result of experiences learned from the failures witnessed before. This would be advantageous since I would be in a position to determine the factors that would be advantageous to the MD goals.
Conclusion
It is also vital of having a strategic vision that is shared by top management and the various actors in the situation. This would make it easier to implement strategies that have been developed. Thus, managers need to learner the relevant skills, knowledge and insights to improve performance when carrying out their daily activities within the organization. This is important in the short term and plays a significant role when it comes to adaptability in the long term. They also need the change to assess themselves by exploring their views towards career and personal life.
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Clifford, J., & Thorpe, S. (2007). Workplace learning & development : delivering competitive advantage for your organization. London: Kogan Page.
Corbett, M. (2003). Critical Cases in Organisational Behaviour. MacMillan.
Cummings, T. W. (2007). Organisational Development and Change. California: South-Western College Publishing.
Dalton, K. (2010). Leadership and Management Development. Chicago: Pearsons.
Mailick, S., & Stephen A Stumpf, S. G. (2008). Learning theory in the practice of management development : evolution and applications. Westport: Quorum Books.
Mumford, A. (2003). Gower handbook of management development. Aldershot: Gower.
Swansburg, R. C., & Swansburg, R. J. (2002). Introduction to management and leadership for nurse managers. Boston: Jones and Bartlett.
Wilson, J. P. (2005). Human resource development : learning & training for individuals & organizations. London: Kogan Page.
Woodall, J. a. (2000). Management development: Strategy and Practice. Macmillan.
The case study was acquired from this link: http://books.google.co.ke/books?id=OZKke2T_4egC&pg=PA147&dq=case+study+analysis+in+the+area+of+learning+and+development+of+the+individual+manager+or+the+organisation.&hl=en&sa=X&ei=evPvT8n_OJDtrQf1gaG9DQ&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=case%20study%20analysis%20in%20the%20area%20of%20learning%20and%20development%20of%20the%20individual%20manager%20or%20the%20organisation.&f=false
