Management is a word that is quite wide spread and cannot ever have a precise and concise definition. There have been lot of definitions to it in the past that have tried to define the meaning, objective and scope of management in our lives but none of them has been able to precisely and completely define the scope and meaning of management. Many eminent authors on the subject have defined the term “management”. Some of the widely known definitions of management are as mentioned here. According to Lawrence A Appley; “Management is the development of people and not the direction of things”. According to Joseph Massie; “Management is defined as the process by which a cooperative group directs action towards common goals”. In the words of George R Terry; “Management is a distinct process consisting of planning, organizing actuating and controlling performed to determine and accomplish the objectives by Continue reading
Management Basics
Factors Affecting Organizational Structure in Multinational Companies
The organization structure is an approach that helps and guides in organizing the employees of the organization into a structured and organized pattern for better coordination and communication. The structure in a multinational company defines the architecture of the business competence, functional relationship and management function. It helps in reducing confusion in the business environment and also supports in carrying out the business function smoothly and efficiently. The organization structure is affected by various internal and external factors which are also known as the organizational environment since organization works around these factors and the environment. The organizational environment consists of all those factors that influences the organizational working and thus can also influence the organizational structure since in each country and geographical areas the organizational environment would change. The external organizational environment that would influence the organizational structure is the economic, political and legal, socio-economic, technological and natural factors. All Continue reading
Differences Between Management Control and Operational Control
Meaning of Operational Control Operational control or task control is the process of assuring that specific tasks are carried out effectively and efficiently. The focus of operational control is on individual tasks or operations. For instance, it is concerned with scheduling and controlling individual jobs through a shop rather than with measuring the performance of the shop as a whole. It involves control over individual items for inventory rather than the management of inventor as a whole. Operational control is concerned with activities that can be programmed. For instance, if the demand for an item, the cost of storing it, its production cost and production-time, and the loss involved in not filling an order are known, then the optimum inventory level and the optimum procurement schedule can be prepared. Automated plants, production scheduling, inventory control, order processing, payroll accounting, cheque handling, etc are examples of activities that are susceptible to Continue reading
Traditional Management Model vs. Modern Management Model
The world economy increasing becomes globalization, which lead to broad mixture of local, national and global markets and organizations, due to different ethic, values and cultures, even both parties speak same language, there still could lead misunderstanding, therefore today’s managers face more challenges, such as understanding the changing trends in the market, how to maintain beneficial interpersonal relationship with employees and clients, concerning about business ethics and corporate social responsibility surround managerial actions. And the turbulent global environment push managers spend more time crossing borders to conduct business, it is necessary to understand how to communicate effectively with people in different cultures to fulfill the organization’s missions and create values for the stakeholders. Traditional top-bottom management model was successful in the 20th century, however managerial hierarchies and traditional approaches may impose heavy costs on the business that would become administrative burden in future. Moreover, business and environmental changes occurred at Continue reading
Influence of the Scientific Management Theory on Modern Organizational Designs
The contemporary organizational operations center on effective planning techniques, specialized management, the division of labor, formalized interactions between managers and workers, and specializations and innovations, which are designed to achieve specific objectives. These organizational functions and operations are attributable to the concepts of the scientific management model proposed by Fredrick Taylor in the 20th century. As a mechanical engineer, Taylor devised scientific management ideologies that provided effectiveness in the running of industries. During his time, the management of industries comprised multiple anomalies and organizations lacked formal managing systems. Hence, Taylor’s management principles sought to eliminate these irregularities by improving the workers’ productivity in their class of work. Although modern organizational designs exhibit Taylor’s scientific management principles, there have been several criticisms against his propositions. Therefore, the theory of scientific management exhibits numerous weaknesses and strengths despite its influence on modern organizational functions. The Scientific Management Principles Taylor utilized systematic analysis and Continue reading
The Effect of Organizational Structure on Innovation
Organizational structure is the skeleton system based on which an organization functions. Organizational structure deals with the framework which defines the relation between people and positions in the organization. Organization structure is defined as the formal system of task and reporting relationships that controls, coordinates and motivates employees so that they cooperate and work together to achieve an organization’s goals. Several tasks are to be implemented in an organization, for these organizational tasks to be successful, they should be coordinated. Organizational structure supports division of work, categorizing the tasks and supervision in an organization. An effective organizational structure aids the efficient running of an organization. The factors that govern the formulation of an organizational structure are benefits of channelizing the tasks, hurdles due to communication and obstacles due to formatting the authority levels. Organizational structure helps the managers in a firm to describe, distribute and get job done. Organizational structure Continue reading