- As much as it is true that focusing people towards the performance of work is the manager’s responsibility, it would be wrong to conclude that it is the basic one. Managers perform many duties and responsibilities. In most cases, the most important responsibility that managers perform is that of setting up a proper system that may allow effectiveness and efficiency in the manner that work is done.
- In management, it would be wrong to think that there is one best style of management. In essence, management styles that can be defined as being best are always autocratic and to some extent, permissive autocratic. Allowing the subordinate staff to contribute their ideas in the process of decision-making may result in arriving at a better solution than it would be making a decision individually. Secondly, this makes them feel valued and gives them some level of autonomy in doing their work.
- Effectiveness is more important to organizations in the modern times than efficiency. This is because of many factors. For instance, an organization that is efficient may end up not doing anything effective. When this happens, it becomes difficult to achieve the goals of the organization. Being effective and inefficient may not hinder an organization from achieving its goals.
- Strictly speaking, a course instructor is a manager when managerial skills and roles are taken into account. For instance, managers have a duty to regulating an institute’s activities and at the same time, overlook the affairs of the office. These are the very duties that course instructors often play and as such, they can be equated to managers in organizations.
- The structure of the contemporary organization, largely, appeals to me. For instance, due to the way they are structured, effective flow of information is facilitated to all parts. This reduces both external and internal demands.
- Henri Fayol is best remembered for his role in explaining and developing the systematic management approaches. Fayol believed that in management, administration is essential in order to oversee the day to day running of the organization. His ideal workplace would therefore be under administration. Parker Follet and Frederick Taylor too belong to this category.
- In solving a ‘people’ problem, the mathematical technique is not of great importance. This is because of the minor roles the technique can play in order to motivate the employees. To a large extent, the best way to solve a people problem is through employing the ‘people’ way technique.
- Societal trends, to a large extent, may have an influence on how management is practiced. In most cases, the societal trends may require that a manager employ a style that is mostly fluid and that does not hinder change. Most managers are good listeners of people’s opinions, and as such, they are always focused on working effectively to execute the company’s organizations. The societal trends have major implications to students of management. This is because of the management styles that are always dealt with by employing the societal trends. The students can therefore get some experience by observing how some f the best managers carry themselves in the society and copying their trends.
- It is very correct that continual improvement acts as a major pillar to total quality management. Continual improvement is very possible. Through attending seminars, managers have the ability to improve their know-how on management skills. Most challenges face several challenges when searching for ways to continually improve. For instance, lack of resources may make an organization to become reluctant to sustain continual improvement. When such happens, managers should always play their part by learning from those who have attended the seminars to get the necessary skills.
- The ‘it depends on the situation’ approach is very useful to managers for a number of reasons. Despite various mechanisms that may be employed to curb potential problems, some situations may arise that were not anticipated. As such, the organization may lack a specific method of handling it. In such cases, the ‘it depends on the situation’ approach’ becomes very essential to the organization.
1.1 The effective culture for a stable environment, in most cases, tends to have policies and mechanisms put in place to allow new management to effectively take over. Due to this, there will be no vacuum during transition within the organization. In essence, in the organizations’ senior positions, which are key to the day to day running of the organization, there should be understudies to the officers. This enables them to have some basic knowledge about the organizations’ policies and programs. In case a senior officer moves out, it would therefore not become a difficult task to replace them. This is what an effective culture for a stable environment should have in place. An effective culture for a dynamic environment, on the other hand, will ensure that the organization has a surplus or an excess of services that will play a major role in ensuring the growth of the organization. A good example of this is manpower, in which an organization should ensure that at all time, there is enough manpower to oversee the organization’s needs.
1.2 It is very important to note that classrooms have culture. In education, the culture of the classroom is always geared towards ensuring that the students achieve proper performance. Because of this, teachers and course instructors will often do their best I order to ensure that all the students mark an improvement in their performance. There are several mechanisms they may employ in order to achieve this. For instance, they may go about trying to fill the gaps that may exist. These gaps may include funding, the readiness of the school, achievement gaps among many more others. Sometimes the culture may constrain the instructors. This is through putting them under pressure to ensure there is better performance in a given course. This may make them do their best in achieving a certain result.
1.3 In most cases, organizations have a tendency of depending on the stakeholders and the environment as a source of inputs. The external forces, to a large extent, become the recipient of the organization’s outputs. Due to this reason, there is a need for there to be a good relationship between the two parties in order to improve predictability. This also ensures that the company’s outputs are well attended to instead of lacking a market.
1.4. To some extent, culture may end up becoming a liability to an organization. Most organizations that have established themselves as big weights have strict cultures that they follow. Sometimes, this may be to the detriment of the organization. For instance, it may make it difficult for the organization to change the manner in which they carry out some programs. This lack of fluidity may mean that the organization loses some opportunities.
2.1. There are several implications to a manager on a borderless organization. The most important of these implications is sensitivity. As such, it becomes important for the organization to have some sensitivity in the manner they handle their work and disseminate relevant information. Lack of sensitivity may put the organization in a difficult position to attract customers.
2.2. The approaches of going global have both advantages and drawbacks. Acting too fast and globalizing an organization while it is young may subject it to unnecessary competition, which may lead to its collapse. On the other hand, going global may have a positive effect in that the products that an organization deals in will have a wide market.
2.3. Global factors, to a large extent, have had an effect on the manner that organizations train their managers. In most cases, young organizations tend to have role models and it is common to see them copying the strategies that the big organizations employing in training managers. The internet has played a role of providing them the news on how the other organizations carry themselves.
2.4. Terrorism has many effects on business. For instance, they spread fear among customers. Due to this, it becomes difficult for the commodities produced to be sold around the globe, since distribution will be affected.
2.5. Cultural differences in Hofstede’s dimensions may affect the manner in which the managers use work groups. Managers of different organizations are always exposed to different cultures. As such, it becomes difficult for a manager to adopt another company’s culture.
