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
Management Concepts
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
Difference Between a Team and a Group
The terms team and group are often used interchangeably in management subjects, but there are some differences between these two concepts. A group is a collection of individuals who coordinate their individual efforts. On the other hand, at team is a group of people who share a common team purpose and a number of challenging goals. The notable difference between a team and a group is that: A group may be formal or informal where as a team is necessarily formal. A group may or may not have a common goal to work towards but a team efforts are clustered towards the attainment of organizational objectives. A group can be organizational or social. A team is mostly organizational. A group is an aggregate of persons with close inter relationships. A group is a cluster of two or more individuals who interact with each other on a relatively enduring basis, identify Continue reading
Comparison of Japanese and Western Management Styles
The key difference between Japanese and Western management style is not one of method but of attitude and philosophy. The Japanese have studied the Western style of management, concentrating mainly on American management styles for the past 30 years and have adapted what they believed to be useful methods to their own work environment. It now appears that Western companies are studying some of the Japanese management styles, attitudes, and philosophy and have adopted areas of work ethic, which they believe to be valuable to their companies. It is necessary that Western companies study and deploy various Japanese management styles because the most important reason behind successful Japanese outcome in productivity and quality is the quality of their work force. Western companies aren’t often able to compete with Japanese companies. They must simply adjust their human relations and ways of management in order to become more competitive with not only Continue reading