The four branch model of emotional intelligence proposed by Salovey and Mayer, that identified four areas of capacities or skills of emotional intelligence: the perception of emotion, the ability reason using emotions, the ability to understand emotion and the ability to manage emotions. According to Salovey and Mayer, the four branches of their model are, “arranged from more basic psychological processes to higher, more psychologically integrated processes. For example, the lowest level branch concerns the (relatively) simple abilities of perceiving and expressing emotion. In contrast, the highest level branch concerns the conscious, reflective regulation of emotion” (1997). Salovey and Mayer add that abilities that “emerge relatively early in development are to the left of a given branch; later developing abilities are to the right.” They also say that, “people high in emotional intelligence are expected to progress more quickly through the abilities designated and to master more of them.” The Continue reading
Modern Management Approaches
A Brief Introduction to Six Sigma Methodology
The creation of Six Sigma Methodology is understood to be traced back to Carl Friedrich Gauss and introduced as a measurement in variation in organizations. Six Sigma name comes from the Greek alphabet “Sigma” which mathematician or statisticians uses in statistics to find a standard deviation. Motorola was the first company to use Six Sigma, to measure the quality of products and services from within. In the process of Motorola using Six Sigma, it helped them to pinpoint mistakes such as finances and operations. Six Sigma’s core philosophy was based on business process and customer requirements, extensive training to employees, focus on the organization, and creating an improved system. Six Sigma Methodology describes a business improvement approach that seeks to find and eliminate causes of defects and errors in manufacturing and service processes by focusing on outputs that are critical to customers and a clear financial return for the organization. Continue reading
Adoption of Blue Ocean Strategies in Business
Strategy involves standing out from the competition and making choices that give the company a unique and valuable position by offering distinctive products and services. Competitive advantage and profitability can be achieved simultaneously by approaches that create consistent internal synergies and combine a company’s operational activities efficiently. Strategies are formed at various levels of the organization. However, a typical organizational structure incorporates strategies at 3 specific levels: corporate, business and functional. Corporate strategy defines a company’s holistic growth and management direction pertaining to its various businesses, products and services. Business strategies, on the other hand, are established at the divisional levels and typically focus on enhancing the strategic business unit’s competitive position in its industry. Functional strategies aim to maximize resource productivity and are typically set by functional departments within each SBU to improve competencies and performance. Blue Ocean strategies are a form of business level strategies that enable firms Continue reading
Total Quality Management (TQM) Implementation
Total Quality Management (TQM) is a method by which management and employees can become involved in the continuous improvement of the production of goods and services. It is a combination of quality and management tools aimed at increasing business and reducing losses due to wasteful practices. Total Quality Management (TQM) views an organization as a collection of processes. It maintains that organizations must strive to continuously improve these processes by incorporating the knowledge and experiences of workers. The simple objective of TQM is “Do the right things, right the first time, every time.” TQM is infinitely variable and adaptable. Although originally applied to manufacturing operations, and for a number of years only used in that area, TQM is now becoming recognized as a generic management tool, just as applicable in service and public sector organizations. A preliminary step in Total Quality Management (TQM) implementation is to assess the organization’s Continue reading
Managing Leadership in Organizations
Basically, leadership is getting people to follow you. The moral and ethical considerations of leading are beyond the scope of this article, but their importance cannot be overstated. Unfortunately, much leadership is designed around a control/authority model. Many leaders, even the brightest, figure out what has to happen with things in the company, tell people what is needed for the desired results and then expect things to happen-a gross simplification of the process. You would be surprised how many leaders lead this way. In light of the psychological reality that people only do what they want to do, the current approach means that people follow and work only as hard as is necessary to avoid the consequences of disobedience. However, leadership can be a whole lot more than charting out a business strategy that others happen to follow. The most skilled leaders ask themselves, “What can I say or do Continue reading
Six Sigma – A Business Process Improvement Methodology
Six Sigma is a methodology that provides businesses with the tools to improve the capability of their business processes. This increase in performance and decrease in process variation leads to defect reduction and vast improvement in profits, employee morale and quality of product “It’s the only program I’ve ever seen where customers win, employees are engaged and satisfied, and shareholders are rewarded.” – Jack Welch Historical Background of Six Sigma Around 1980 Robert Galvin, at that time CEO at Motorola, realized the importance of working systematically with variance reduction as the Japanese had done for a prolonged period. Together with Bill Smith, Mikel Harry and Richard Schroeder, he created an improvement program that was given the name Six Sigma. Bill Smith came up with the idea of “inserting hard-nosed statistics into the blurred philosophy of quality”. The program was inspired by Japanese work, but also strongly influenced by Juran’s thoughts. Continue reading