Competing models of management refer to those models that attempt to explain the competing value framework of organizational management. The organizational management sometimes faces the management challenge of balancing between two or more important processes that affect the operation of an organization. The competing values framework is a model that was developed by Robert Quinn and Kim Cameron to assess the organizational culture. The theory of competing values framework, in essence, shows the interrelationship between processes that enable the organization to focus on the internal environment or external environment. The area of focus of an organization leads to the development of the organizational culture and often results in a balancing of two or more competing value factors. This implies that the organizational competing values framework models have a role in the success of an organization. The competing values framework can be used in constructing an organizational culture profile. An organizational Continue reading
Principles of Management
Ten Personality Factors in Organizational Behavior
Personality is a complex, multi-dimensional construct and there is no simple definition of what personality is. Salvatore R. Maddi defines personality as, “A stable set of characteristics and tendencies that determine those commonalities and differences in the psychological behavior and that may not be easily understood as the sole result of the social and biological pressures of the moment”. All individuals have some universally common characteristics. Yet they differ in some other specific attributes. This makes it difficult for the managers to assume that they can apply same reward types or motivation techniques to modify different individual behaviors. The definition, however, does not mean that people never change. In simple terms, it asserts that individuals do not change all at once. Their thoughts, feelings, values and actions remain relatively stable over time. Changes in individual’s personality can, however, occur gradually over a period of time. The managers should, therefore, attempt Continue reading
Leadership Qualities – Top Qualities that Make a Great Leader
Leadership is a process of influencing the behavior of people at work towards the achievement of specified goal. The following elements must be present in the leadership: It is the process of influence; The influence is always for achievement of common goal; There must be minimum two or more persons present; influencing your own behavior is not leadership. The influence should be to get the willing co-operation of the employees and not the forceful co-operation. Most Important Leadership Qualities A person must possess the following qualities to be a good and effective leader. Physical qualities. Good physical features attract people. Physical features like height, weight, health and looks of person attract and individual. Healthy and smart leader can him also work hard and he can induce his subordinates also to work hard. Knowledge, Intelligence and Scholarship. A leader must be able to examine every problem in the right perspective or Continue reading
Six Elements of Organizational Structure
An organizational structure is a diagram displaying the hierarchical arrangement of lines of authority, roles and duties within an organisation and how they relate to one another. A structure is dependent upon the objectives and strategy of which the organization is focussed on. There are six basic elements of an organizational structure: Specialisation Departmentalisation Chain of Command Span of control Centralisation and Decentralisation Formalisation Work specialization gives employees specific duties and roles they are expected to perform within the company, factoring in their qualifications and skills. Having descriptions of duties for staff members helps the organisation to fully meet the workforce needs and to ensure there are no unnecessary duplications within roles. Departmentalization refers to how the organisation breaks down the functions and teams needed to run the company and carry out the essential tasks. Departments are usually made up of staff members who perform similar tasks in the same Continue reading
Six Elements of Organizational Design
Organizational design is a process of developing and changing the organization’s structure by its managers. It is a chart containing the reporting structure i.e. who reports to whom. Organizational structure is thus a framework on which an organization is patterned for coordinating and carrying out organizational tasks. Organizational design involves decisions about the following six elements: 1. Work Specialization: Work specialization describes to which the overall task of the organization is broken down and divided into smaller component parts. For example, one person would paint a wall and another person fixes a door. So by breaking jobs up into small tasks, it could be performed over and over every 10 seconds while using employees who had relatively limited skills. The main thought of this process is that the entire job is not done by an individual and it is broken down into steps, and a different person completes each step. Continue reading
Management Planning and Control
The essence of the management process is decision-making. Decision making is an unavoidable and continuous management activity. It may be directed towards some specific objectives, or it may result as a reaction of environmental factors as they occur. The decision-making process should be both efficient and effective. It would be effective when management’s objectives are achieved. It is said to be efficient when objectives are realized with the minimum use of resources. The process of decision-making involves two basic management functions of planning and control. Planning Function of Management The decision-making process starts with planning. Planning is a statement of what should be done, how it should be done and when it should be done. It is the design of a desired future state of an entity and of the effective ways of bringing it about. Its basic purpose is to provide guidelines for making decisions. Continue reading