Free Essay on Understanding Management

In an organization, managers have a broader and more detailed set of responsibilities that they have to deal with. The process of guiding a team to attain the various goals of the organization requires the ability to control the procedural, structural and interpersonal challenges (Burrow & Kleindl, 2013, p.31). The four functions of management include,

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Planning

For a manager to meet the goals and objectives of a company or any organization, the primary role of the manager is to create a plan. Planning for an organization involves deciding on the realistic timelines and setting standards for completion (Owusu, 2015, p.21). The act of planning also requires knowing how to delegate responsibilities to employees and continuously checking the progress of the team. The importance of monitoring the team progress as a manager is so that one can make the necessary adjustments while still aiming to attain the set goals of the organization (Drucker, & Maciariello, 2008, p.3). Communication is very critical in management because managers plan anytime they meet with other leaders of the company to talk about the teams long and short term goals. Planning also involves engaging independently in work to determine which responsibilities can be handled by which employee and also having priority levels for certain duties (Keith & Gubellini, 2008, p.52).When a manager plans well, proper allocation of resources is achieved and also minimizes waste of resources.

Leading

The function of a manager is to motivate employees in working so as to achieve the business objectives and goals (Hoang, 2010, p33). When a manager leads other people in the company, he or she should show a direction and freely communicate the new processes, services, and products that can be valuable in the organization. Being a leader, the manager should recognize when employees have done a good job and praise them and also solve conflicts when they arise between team members.

Organizing

A good manager has perfect organizing skills. This is very important so as to ensure that the organization runs smoothly. A manager should make sure that everyone and everything in the company are duly organized and all the daily operations is running well. In case of any challenges experienced in the company, the manager should reorganize things to achieve the goal. The manager should adjust the timeline for a project slightly and also reallocate some different tasks to another team member so as to ensure positive growth of the company.

Controlling

A manager must be able to monitor different things in a company. To achieve success in an organization, he or she should be able to supervise the performance of employees, the quality of work being done, and how well the completed projects are performed. The primary role of controlling in an organization is to ensure that the ultimate goals are adequately met and being able to make changes when need be (Koontz, & O'donnell, 2012, p24).

Matrix Organizational Structure

Reporting both to functional and product manager describes the dual relationship that happens in a matrix organizational structure (Ybema, Yanow & Sabelis, 2011, p.12). The employees convey information about the business to the functional manager who is in charge of helping with skills and also to the product manager who is responsible for setting direction on product settings.

Advantages of Matrix Structure

Equipment is shared across the project hence the resources are used appropriately

Functional departments can coordinate the products and projects well

The flow of information in the organization is good

Sharing of information is achieved as many people are in contact

Disadvantages of Matrix Structure

It is expensive to maintain because there is need for double management in the organization

Internal conflicts arise due to sharing of employees

Management Culture

Management culture refers to the system whereby assumptions, beliefs, and values are set by the administration systems to show people which behavior is appropriate and which one is inappropriate (Turner, 2010, p.23). The nature of management culture has a significant influence on employees performance and the overall organization performance (Duplessis, 2006, p.32). Management culture varies from one company to another because every business has its own employee behavior patterns and people tend to be more informed about their organizational culture.

Advantages of Role culture

Unity between Employees

Once an organization has a role culture, the employees can adapt to the norms that are in the company. The process of employees and management adapting to the norms brings unity in the organization (Edosomwan, 2006, p.62). The unity enhanced in the company makes employees feel that they are part of the team and this leads to hard work. Role culture helps employees and the management cooperate and all aim to achieve the success of the organization because each individual performs the specific tasks assigned (Markovic, 2012, p.74). All of them put personal interests aside and focus on achieving the goals set by management.

Increased Marketability

Organizational culture is also a part of the organization brand, and it has an impact on how the employees perform and how the organization achieves its goals (Brown, 2008, p.23). When an organization has a good role culture, it can be able to offer excellent services and sell the best products to the customers. Every employee get used to the norms and beliefs of the business hence it is easier to market the services and products.

Increased Productivity

Employees who understand clearly the role culture of an organization invest in the company where they show loyalty and work to increase the organization's productivity. Every person works hard on the specified tasks so that they meet the set goals of the company.

Disadvantages of Role culture

Time to disconnect

With the application of a role culture in an organization, the management forgets that employees need to hit the reset button once in a while. People cannot get to work every day without getting burnt time to involve in other personal matters.

Lack of cooperation

Role culture can lead to the lack of cooperation to some employees who feel that they don't need to be pressured to work. Others feel that they should not only work on those specified tasks every day without change.

Innovative Organizational Culture

To create a more innovative organizational culture, the company must set building blocks such as values, resources, behavior, success and climate. The values of a company play a significant role in the people's behaviors while the climate of a workplace determine how the success of the organization is to be met (Crutchfield & Roughton, 2013, p12). The employee's issues have significant power to shape the culture of innovation. The manager's willingness to change the existing products and services of the organization to new ones improves innovation (Poole, & Van de Ven, 2004, p.51)

Relationship between Business Planning and Operations

Business planning involves an official statement that comprises the organization goals, reasons why the goals are attainable and plan to attain those goals (Young, 2007, p10). Mostly business plans target at changing the perception of the business and branding by the customers and the larger community. In international business, a long term business plan is essential because the investors will be checking their returns after the set time. An international business can focus on business plans internally and externally. External business plan mainly targets the goals that involve external stakeholders who are primarily the financial stakeholders (Daniel, & Radebaugh, 2015, p.25). The external stakeholders have detailed information about the organization and they also attempt to achieve the goals. The internally focused plans for an organization aims at the goals that are intermediary and are helpful in achieving the external goals. Internal business plans for an international business may include, setting up a new information system for the company, offering new services to clients, refurbishing a factory or changing other minor things in the organization. An operational business plan portrays the goals of a company the team members or the department. The results that an international business should get from business operations is harvesting the value from the assets that the company owns. Business operations include management tactics that aim to earn value from the property that the company owns (Sethi & Sheth, 2013, p.21). The managers at the organization should strive to secure the profit and the property of the business, increase the quality of the business assets and find a way of generating recurring income (Donnelly, Gibson & Ivancevich, 2011, p12). Management systems in an international business should make sure that the business plan for a company, aims at increasing the operations of the organization too. Amazon.com is an international company which deals with selling of products online. Being the largest online retailer in the world the company has both external and internal plans so as to get profit from its operation of selling books and e-books and electronics. The international business targets many customers by offering many options to the clients when shopping on the Amazon website.

Effective Communication Techniques

Good communication between managers and team members is critical for every organization (Lehman & Dufrene, 2002, p.61). To achieve good communication in an organization, trainees should learn the following techniques;

Creating an open door policy for employee communication

An organization that uses an open door policy allows every employee to talk to the managers and the executives about anything that concerns the business (Ludlow & Pantom, 2002, p.29). The aim of creating the open door policy is to bring confidence and trust among the managers and the team members. When employees are a given a chance to express themselves, they get very close to the managers hence having good communication.

Preparation

Effective communication in an organization needs preparation (Ferguson, 2000, p.41). Every manager must learn how to prepare before having an employees meeting, chairing conferences, conducting an interview and making any business call. The main aim of preparation is to avoid unnecessary talks when at work and running the business. Preparation before having any formal meeting at work commands respect from other managers and the employees and helps a manager facilitate more meetings without any trouble (Thill & Bovee, 2003, p 45).

Holding Regular Staff Meetings

When the managers hold regular staff meetings, it creates an opportunity for managers and employees to discuss issues that affect the organization openly (Smithson, 2004, p.27). The discussions that happen between the management and the employees is a technique to improve communication in the organization.

References

BROWN, A. D. (2008). Organisational culture. London, Financial Times.

BURROW, J. L., & KLEINDL, B. (2013). Business Management. Mason, US, Cengage Learning.

CRUTCHFIELD, N., & ROUGHTON, J. E. (2013). Safety culture...