Growth creates a need for structure and discipline, organisation changes which can strain the culture of creativity that is so vital to future success. To sustain competitive advantage, companies need to institutionalize the innovation process; they need to create an internal environment where creative thinking is central to their values, assumptions and actions. Management changes and management generally is about implementation. When the managers of an enterprise feel pressured, the fear-driven response is generally to implement better and which generally results doing more of the same only quicker or cheaper. While this is great for doing more of the same, it is still the same and meanwhile everything else is changing — customer’s needs, technology, society, macroeconomics and geopolitics are all changing. Innovation is the engine of growth. It is also a mindset — meaning it is influenced by beliefs, values, and behavior. Company culture therefore has a huge influence Continue reading
Management Basics
Confidence and Success
Confidence is a funny thing — sometimes it’s difficult to imagine why someone doesn’t feel confident about their ability to handle a situation when we know they could easily do it. A key issue to understand is that inside all of us there’s a voice which determines how we react to many of life’s situations. It’s a voice which tells us which things we’re good at and which things we’re likely to fail at. It’s a voice we generate ourselves based on many years of experience of life. Very often it can be helpful but it can also be a great handicap. Never underestimate the power of positive thinking. Every day we hear about human achievements which initially, people probably scoffed at and said ‘You’ll never do it!’ However when someone really believes in their ability to deliver, they often make it. Most people go through their Continue reading
The Control Function of Management
Control means, “Some sort of systematic effort to compare current performance to a predetermined plan of objective, presumably in order to take any remedial action required”. This is a very general definition of the term. However, as a management function, it has been defined as “the process by which managers assure that resources are obtained and used effectively and efficiently in the accomplishment of the organization’s goals”. Controlling is tool for achieving organizational goals and activities. Control is management’s planning, implementation, evaluation, and correction of performance to ensure that the organization meets its objectives in the short, medium and long terms. According to Henry Fayol, ‘Control of an undertaking consists of seeing that everything is being carried out in accordance with the plan which has been adopted, the orders which have been given, and the principles which have been laid down. Its object is to point out mistakes in order Continue reading
Employee Selection Process
There is no hard and fast rule regarding the steps involved in the process of selection. The number of selection steps depends upon many factors like the size of the organization, level of job, nature of job, philosophy of management, availability of time, number of applicants, etc. Some organizations follow a long chain of steps, eliminating unsuitable candidates at every step, finally left with the candidates who are to be employed on the other hand, some organizations select their employees just in one go through ‘Walk-in-interviews’. Large organizations, usually consider the following steps in the employee selection process: 1. Application Blank An application blank is a columnar Performa which constrains information like address, physical characteristics, educational qualifications, experience, necessary personal information, references, etc. On the basis of information collected from the application blank, should be simple and should not contain unnecessary questions. 2. Preliminary Interview This interview is a brief Continue reading
Case Study Method in Management
Management education is mainly aimed at developing managerial skills in students. Amongst the various methods adopted in teaching management and management functions, the case study method developed in 1910 in U.S.A. and is now being propagated during the last decade or so, providing opportunities to both the teacher and the taught to promote managerial I understanding and competence, since it helps in contemplation and discussion of an actual situation. It is a wrong notion that the case studies are confined to management students. Cases may pertain lo any discipline, where skills for solving complex unstructured problems or preparing plans are required. The origin of case study methods itself can be traced to Harward Lawyers. Cases may describe problems facing individuals, groups, institutions or even Nations. Through a case study one learns a broad range of skills and has many alternatives. Case studies encourage the practice and attainment of analytical and Continue reading
Perception in Organizations
Perception in Organizational Behavior Perception is an important mediating cognitive process. Through this complex process, people make interpretations of the stimulus or situation they are faced with. Both selectivity and organization go into perceptual, interpretations. Externally, selectivity is affected by intensity, size, contrast, repetition, motion and novelty and familiarity. Internally, perceptual selectivity is influenced by the individual’s motivation, learning and personality. After the selective process filters the stimulus situation, the incoming information is organized into a meaningful whole. Individual differences and uniqueness are largely the result of the cognitive processes. Although there are a number of cognitive processes, it is generally recognized that the perceptual process is a very important one. It is a process that takes place between the situation and the behavior and is most relevant to the study of organizational behavior. For example, the observation that a department head and a subordinate may react quite differently to Continue reading