An Israeli physicist, Eliyahu Goldratt wrote a book titled ‘The Goal’, about a factory manager’s quest to save his factory from being closed down for lack of profitability. It chronicles the process that the manager and his staff go through as they learn how to save their factory. What they learn is how to apply the principles of what Mr. Goldratt calls the “Theory of Constraints.” Theory of Constraints (TOC) is a logic-driven approach which focuses on system improvement. The core idea of TOC is that every organization has at least one constraint that prevents management from achieving the goal of the organization to a larger degree. A system can be defined as a collection of interrelated, interdependent components or processes that act in concert to turn inputs into defined outputs in pursuit of a particular goal. Linking systems to chains, TOC defines weakest link as a Constraint. Constraint limits Continue reading
Modern Management Practices
Effectuation – New Paradigm of Entrepreneurship
The business world is permeated through and through this kind of rationality, based on what we see is happening today in the world, what are the trends? what will be the consequences? are forecasted the solutions in a business environment. However, according to Saras Sarasvathy, it is not how entrepreneurs think. The thought process is not “causal” but “effectual”. When a project is approached, the entrepreneur has three means skills: his own innate abilities, skills acquired through education and personal contacts. The entrepreneur is guided by a simple maxim: “To what extent can we control the future, we do not need to predict it.” Here lies all the difference. According to Sarasvathy, the successful entrepreneur does not try to predict what will be the most profitable markets, very opposite idea to Henry Mintzberg. In 1997 Saras Sarasvathy, professor of business and ethics at the University of Virginia but then a Continue reading
Organizational Success through Creativity and Innovation
Creativity and innovation are generally understood as routine drivers of successful organizational growth. Organizations are facing enormous pressure to innovate in order to attain competitive advantage from the global environment that is increasingly becoming intricate and competitive. Due to this, organizational management has to inculcate or reinforce culture of creativity and innovation within organization; however, much of the focus in this endeavor is on the individual level but team work is also essentially encouraged. Individuals are of vital importance in creativity and the innovation process requires a supportive well-managed atmosphere that can translate novel ideas into innovative product effectively. Generally the two concepts are diverse as creativity can be production of new ideas and concepts, which are applied through a process, which then becomes innovation. This states that any innovation is a process that is based on the creativity of mind(s) and creativity is reliant on innovation to become tangible. Continue reading
Theory of Flow by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
“The best moments usually occur when a person’s body or mind is stretched to its limits in a voluntary effort to accomplish something difficult and worthwhile. Optimal experience is thus something we make happen.” -Csikszentmihalyi, 1990. The theory of flow (also referred to as positive psychology) was developed by Hungarian psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, as described in his 1990 book, Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience. Csikszentmihalyi defines flow as “the state in which people are so involved in an activity that nothing else seems to matter; the experience itself is so enjoyable that people will do it even at great cost, for the sheer sake of doing it.” In this state of being, people are motivated by inherent enjoyment of the challenges provided by the activity, and are subsequently more productive and happier. He identifies a number of different elements involved in achieving flow: There are clear goals every step Continue reading
Total Quality Management (TQM) Approach
Quality is a continuous process that can be broken anywhere in the system of supply and customer service. By letting every person know how their activities help fulfill customer’s requirements, the organization can motivate their employees and supplies to provide quality consistently. They must also realize that throughout the organization they will have both internal customers and’ supplies to those outside the organization. In general, a process helps to change a set of inputs into desired output in the form of products or services. Proper investigation of the inputs and outputs of the organization help to determine the action to be taken for the improvement of the quality. The quest for continuous improvement of quality is a continuous cycle. The process on which continuous improvement is based is generally known as “Deming Wheel“. The wheel represented below shows a continuous movement in a certain direction. The idea behind this that Continue reading
John Holland’s Theory of Career Choice
It is John Holland’s view that career choice and career adjustment represent an extension of a person’s personality. People express themselves, their interests and values, through their work choices and experience. In his theory, Holland assumes that people’s impressions and generalizations about work, which he refers to as stereotypes, are generally accurate. By studying and refining these stereotypes, Holland assigns both people and work environments to specific categories. John Holland (1966, 1973, 1992, 1997) has published five books that explain his typological theory. Each book represents an update and a further-refined version of earlier work in the development of his theory. The -August 1999 issue of the book – The Journal of Vocational Behavior – contains 12 articles which describe John Holland’s 40-year contribution to career development theory. Two psychological inventories were important in the development of his theory: the Vocational Preference Inventory (Holland, 1985) and the Self-Directed Search (Holland, Continue reading