The term “Hawthorne” is a term used within several behavioral management theories and is originally derived from the western electric company’s large factory complex named Hawthorne works. Starting in 1905 and operating until 1983, Hawthorne works had 45,000 employees and it produced a wide variety of consumer products, including telephone equipment, refrigerators and electric fans. As a result, Hawthorne works is well-known for its enormous output of telephone equipment and most importantly for its industrial experiments and studies carried out. Hawthorne Experiment by Elton Mayo In 1927, a group of researchers led by Elton Mayo and Fritz Roethlisberger of the Harvard Business School were invited to join in the studies at the Hawthorne Works of Western Electric Company, Chicago. The experiment lasted up to 1932. The Hawthorne Experiment brought out that the productivity of the employees is not the function of only physical conditions of work and money wages paid Continue reading
Management Concepts
Forecasting Manager – Duties and Responsibilities
The Forecasting Manager serves as the lead of a forecasting working group. The primary responsibility of this individual is to implement the forecasting process and provide objective short-term and long-range forecasting models, standards and guidelines to the Product Team. This includes the design, construction and implementation of forecasting models for specific brands. When working with the group, the Forecasting Manager must have the ability to quickly assess the major issues surrounding each forecasting problem, understand the decisions the forecast will impact, and recommend a forecasting approach. In addition, the manager should be able to identify the information/data required, and to articulate any secondary and/or primary research required to support the forecasting process. The Forecasting Manager may be required to hire external consultants to complete forecasting projects. Also, this position will require the continuous evaluation of new forecasting techniques, and technologies through internal/external networking, and attending forecasting and industry seminars. Major Continue reading
Importance of Innovation and Change within an Organization
In today’s constantly changing world, innovation and change play an extremely important role within any organization. New technologies like faster software and hardware and improved manufacturing systems are increasing production and changing the way we do business across the globe. Newly advancing markets are becoming more and more capitalistic, opening the door for corporations to come and do business. There are multiple elements when dealing with innovation and change within an organization. The first element is how an organization can change successfully which consists of the steps that are needed and the process that makes change happen. The next element is technological change, which is how organizations adapt and implement new technology. From new technology, organizations come up with our next element, new products and services. As these organizations become larger and larger there is the need for strategy and structure change as well as cultural changes. These two elements Continue reading
Introduction to Knowledge Management Systems (KMS)
The aim of every organisation is to achieve its set goals and objectives as well as secure competitive advantage over its competitors. However, these cannot be achieved or actualized if staff or workers act independently and do not share ideas. Today, prominent businesses are becoming more aware that the knowledge of their employees is one of their primary assets. Sometimes organisational decisions cannot be effectively made with information alone; there is need for knowledge application. An effective knowledge management system can give a company the competitive edge it needs to be successful, and, for that reason, knowledge management projects should be high priority. Knowledge Management Systems (KMS) “developed to support and enhance the organizational knowledge processes of knowledge creation, storage, retrieval, transfer, and application (Alavi & Leidner, 2001) This means that for any organisation to be competitive in today’s global world there is need for combination or pooling together of Continue reading
Need for Business Forecasting
Business Forecasting is an estimate or prediction of future developments in business such as sales, expenditures, and profits. Given the wide swings in economic activity and the drastic effects these fluctuations can have on profit margins, it is not surprising that business forecasting has emerged as one of the most important aspects of corporate planning. Forecasting has become an invaluable tool for business people to anticipate economic trends and prepare themselves either to benefit from or to counteract them. If, for instance, business people envision an economic downturn, they can cut back on their inventories, production quotas, and hiring. If, on the contrary, an economic boom seems probable, those same business people can take necessary measures to attain the maximum benefit from it. Good business forecasts can help business owners and managers adapt to a changing economy. Some of the important needs of business forecasting are listed below: 1. Helps Continue reading
Organizational Performance – Meaning, Definition and Measures
Managers are concerned with organizational performance–the accumulated end results of all the organization’s work processes and activities. It’s a complex but important concept, and managers need to understand the factors that contribute to high organizational performance. After all, they don’t want (or intend) to manage their way to mediocre performance. They want their organizations, work units, or work groups to achieve high levels of performance, no matter what mission, strategies, or goals are being pursued. Managers measure and control organizational performance because it leads to better asset management, to an increased ability to provide customer value, and to improved measures of organizational knowledge. In addition, measures of organizational performance do have an impact on an organization’s reputation. Managers at high-performing companies do–they manage the organizational assets in ways that exploit their value. Asset management is the process of acquiring, managing, renewing, and disposing of assets as needed, and of designing Continue reading