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1 семестр Менеджмент, ГМУ
THE MANAGER'S ROLE
Our society is made up of all kinds of organizations, such as companies, government departments, unions, hospitals, schools, libraries, and the like. They are essential to our existence, helping to create our standard of living and our quality of life. In all these organizations, there are people carrying out the work of a manager although they do not have that title. The vice-chancellor of a university, the president of a students' union or a chief librarian are all managers. They have a responsibility to use the resources of their organization effectively and economically to achieve its objectives.
Are there certain activities common to all managers? Can we define the task of a manager? A French industrialist, Henri Fayol, wrote in 1916 a classic definition of the manager's role. He said that to manage is «to forecast and plan, to organize, to command, to coordinate and to control». This definition is still accepted by many people today, though some writers on management have modified Fayol's description. Instead of talking about command, they say a manager must motivate or direct and lead other workers.
Henri Fayol's definition of manager's functions is useful. However, in most companies, the activities of a manager depend on the level at which he/she is working. Top managers, such as the chairman and directors, will be more involved in long range planning, policy making, and the relations of the company with the outside world. They will be making decisions on the future of the company, the sort of product lines it should develop, how it should face up to the competition, whether it should diversify etc. These strategic decisions are part of the planning function mentioned by Fayol.
On the other hand, middle management and supervisors are generally making the day-to-day decisions which help an organization to run efficiently and smoothly. They must respond to the pressures of the job, which may mean dealing with an unhappy customer, chasing up supplies, meeting an urgent order or sorting out a technical problem. Managers at this level spend a great deal of time communicating, coordinating and making decisions affecting the daily operation of their organization.
An interesting modem view on managers is supplied by an American writer, Mr. Peter Drucker. He has spelled out what managers do. In his opinion, managers perform five basic operations. Firstly, managers set objectives. They decide what these should be and how the organization can achieve them. For this task, they need analytical ability. Secondly, managers organize. They must decide how the resources of the company are to be used, how the work is to be classified and divided. Furthermore, they must select people for the jobs to be done. For this, they not only need analytical ability but also understanding of human beings. Their third task is to motivate and communicate effectively. They must be able to get people to work as a team, and to be as productive as possible. To do this, they will be communicating effectively with all levels of the organization - their superiors, colleagues, and subordinates. To succeed in this task, managers need social skills. The fourth activity is measurement. Having set targets and standards, managers have to measure the performance of the organization, and of its staff, in relation to those targets. Measuring requires analytical ability. Finally, Peter Drucker says that managers develop people, including themselves. They help to make them bigger and richer persons.
In Peter Diucker's view, successful managers are not necessarily people who are liked or who get on well with others. They are people who command the respect of workers, and who set high standard. Good managers need not be geniuses but must bring character to the job. They are people of integrity, who will look for that quality in others.
Understanding the main points
exceptionally intelligent
keen to improve people’s lives
interested in other people
popular
able to give clear orders
honest
admired by others
able to examine carefully and make judgements.
VOCABULARY FOCUS
1. Find words and phrases in the text which mean the same as the following:
2. Managers set objectives.
What is an objective?
Give examples of objectives that sales, production, and personnel managers might set.
3. Phrasal verbs with out. Find in the text sentences with sort out (paragraph 4) and spell out (paragraph 5) and translate them into Russian.
Complete the following sentences, using suitable forms of the verbs in the box below
|
sort out spell out sell out |
make out buy out sound out |
bring out carry out turn out |
pull out |
In pairs, use some of the verbs above in sentences of your own.
GRAMMAR DRILL
Translate the following sentences, paying attention to the verbals (participle, gerund, infinitive):
Инфинитив в предложении
|
Английский вариант |
Русский вариант |
Функция и место инфинитива в английском предложении |
|
To read English books is useful |
Читать английские книги – полезно. |
Подлежащее; в начале предложения и другого подлежащего нет. Переводится существительным или неопределенной формой глагола |
|
To live is to learn |
Жить – значит учиться |
частью сказуемого; стоит после форм глагола to be или после модальных глаголов must, can, may, should и др.). Переводится неопределенной формой глагола. |
|
I like to work |
дополнением ;стоит после сказуемого Простые формы переводятся существительным или неопределенной формой глагола, сложные формы придаточным предложением с союзами что, чтобы. |
|
|
To raise the labour productivity we must apply the new equipment |
Чтобы повысить производительность труда, мы должны применить новое оборудование |
Обстоятельство; стоит в конце или в начале предложения иногда вводится союзом in order to или словами too, enough перед или после прилагательного. Переводится неопределенной формой глагола с союзом чтобы, для того чтобы или существ. с предлогом для. |
|
The work to be finished next week is of great interest. He was the last to come to the meeting |
Работа, которую необходимо (нужно, следует) закончить на следующей неделе представляет большой интерес. Он последний пришел на собрание |
определением; стоит после определяемого существительного. Переводится : а) придаточным предложением с союзом который, сказуемое которого выражает долженствование, возможность или будущее время; б) неопределенной формой глагола, в) иногда существительным. в) инфинитив после слов the first, the last и т.п. переводится глаголом в том времени, в котором стоит глагол to be. |
Building
|
Participle 1 Причастие 1 строящийся строя формальные маркеры; when (while) building при строительстве строя когда (пока) строят The working motor (какой?)-работающий мотор Applying the method the technologists will get the results desired - Применяя метод технологи получат желаемые результаты (ф.обст.) being built
having built – построив, когда построили |
Verbal noun Отглагольное существительное здание строительство формальные маркеры: артикли a, the Vings – множественное число |
Gerund Герундий 1. строить 2. строительство маркеры: глагол + ing-форма предлог + ing-форма переводится: предлог +сущест. деепричастие (а, я, ав, ив) the working model (для чего?) – рабочая модель, модель для работы Applying the method will give the results desired – Применение этого метода даст желаемые результат |
Read the presented texts and find main ideas using the following expressions:
The text is about …
At the beginning of the text the author stresses (underlines, points out) that …
Then the author describes smth (suggests, states that) …
After that the author passes on to (description of, statement of, analysis of …}
At the end of the text the author comes to the conclusion (pays attention to the fact) that…
THE OPEN DOOR POLICY
The American company, IBM, believes in creating good working conditions for its employees and in building up employee-manager relationships. One of its key policies is its Open Door programme.
This policy was started by IBM's founder and first Chairman, T. J. Watson, about fifty years ago. Watson had close contacts with staff working in the plant and field offices. Therefore, staff often brought their problems to him. Using telephone broads casts, Watson told his staff that they should go first to their plant or branch manager if they felt they were being unfairly treated. But if they were still not satisfied, they should come to him.
Many of his staff took advantage of his offer. Some would take a day off work, leaving the plant in Endicott to go to see Watson in his office in New York City. He would give them a sympathetic hearing, often deciding in favour of the employee who had complained. By the time he left the company, Watson had become a trusted friend to thousands of IBM employees.
Today, the Open Door policy is still practised by IBМ. The programme works like this: if employees think they have been unfairly treated by their immediate manager, they can appeal to a higher level of management to solve the problem. In fact, they can go to higher and higher levels of management if they wish. Alternatively, they can take their case directly to an executive director. In practice, some cases are taken to senior management and executive management level; others are resolved py the immediate manager's manager. Staff may raise any subject they wish. Generally, appeals are about promotions, relations with immediate managers, and assessments of staff performance.
In recent years, there have been 20-25 Open Door appeals dealt with by executive management annually. The employee's appeal has been favourably received in a quarter of those cases.
THE EMPLOYEE WHO WORKED TOO HARD
When Paula, aged twenty-five, joined the Packing and Despatch Department, she was determined to do a good job and get on in the company. There were six other women in the department, mostly older women. Paula, being young and keen, worked harder than all of them. Soon, in fact, her work-rate was double that of everyone else. About a year after she joined the company, the supervisor of the department retired. Paula was offered the job, which she accepted with delight.
From the very beginning she had problems. For one thing, she wasn't popular with the other women. They made jokes about her to her face, saying that she was trying to impress the management by working so hard. And, whenever she tried to persuade them to increase their work-rate, they said that the department was becoming a «sweat shop». Another thing that annoyed them was Paula's attitude to life. She made no secret of the fact that she had several different boyfriends. She was a «liberated women» wanting to get the most out of life. «You only live once» was her favourite expression. The other women didn't like her attitude at all, and made this clear to her.
One day, Paula criticized one of the women for taking an unofficial fifteen-minute tea break. A little later, the group of women came to Paula. One of them, Eileen - a sort of leader of the group - told Paula they were stopping work for the day. «We're not putting up with this kind of treatment», Eileen told her.
After this incident, relations between Paula and the women became worse. A month later, the women went on a three-day strike, insisting that they wouldn't work with Paula a day longer.
DECISION-MAKING
In carrying out management functions, such as planning, organizing motivating and controlling, a manager will be continually making decisions. Decision-making is a key management responsibility.
Some decisions are of the routine kind. They are decisions which are made fairly quickly, and are based on judgement. Because a manager is experienced, he knows what to do in certain situations. He does not have to think too much before taking action. For example, a supervisor in a supermarket may decide on the sport, to give a refund to a customer who has brought back a product. The manager does not have to gather a great deal of additional information before making the decision.
Other decisions are often intuitive ones. They are not really rational. The manager may have a hunch or a gut feeling that a certain course of action is the right one. He will follow that hunch and act accordingly. Thus, when looking for an agent in an overseas market, a sales manager may have several companies to choose from. However, he may go for one organization simply because he feels it would be the most suitable agent. He may think that the chemistry between the two firms is right. Such a decision is based on hunch, rather than rational thought.
Many decisions are more difficult to make since they involve problem-solving. Very often, they are strategic decisions involving major courses of action which will affect the future direction of the enterprise. To make good decisions, the manager should be able to select, rationally, a course of action. In practice, decisions are usually made in circumstances which are not ideal. They must be made quickly, with insufficient information. It is probably rare that a manager can make an entirely rational decision.
When a complex problem arises, like where to locate a factory or which new products to develop, the manager has to collect facts and weigh up courses of action. He must be systematic in dealing with the problem. A useful approach to this sort of decision-making is as follows: the process consists of four phases: I) defining the problem; II) analysing and collecting information; III) working out options and IV) deciding on the best solution.
As a first step, the manager must identify and define the problem. And it is important that lie does not mistake the symptoms of a problem for the real problem he must solve. Consider the case of a department store which finds that profits are falling and sales decreasing rapidly. The falling profits and sales are symptoms of a problem. The manager must ask himself what the store's real problem is. Does the store have the wrong image? Is it selling the wrong goods or the right goods at the wrong prices? Are its costs higher than they should be?
At this early stage, the manager must also take into account the rules and principles of the company which may affect the final decision. These factors will limit the solution of the problem. One company may have a policy of buying goods only from home suppliers; another firm might, on principle, be against making special payments to secure a contract; many enterprises have a rule that managerial positions should be filled by their own staff, rather than by hiring outside personnel. Rules and policies like these act as constraints, limiting the action of the decision-taker.
The second step is to analyze the problem and decide what additional information is necessary before a decision can be taken. Getting the facts is essential in decision-making. However, as already mentioned, the manager will rarely have all the knowledge he needs. This is one reason why making decisions involves a degree of risk. It is the manager's job to minimize that risk.
Once the problem has been defined and the facts collected, the manager should consider the options available for solving it. This is necessary because there are usually several ways of solving a problem. In the case of the department store, the management may decide that the store has the wrong image. A number of actions might be possible to change the image. New products could be introduced and existing lines dropped; advertising could be stepped up; the store might be modernized and refurbished or customer service might be improved.
It is worth noting that, in some situations, one of the options may be to take no action at all. This is a decision just as much as taking a more positive course of action. Peter Drucker, in his book The Practice of Management, gives a good example of the no-action option. He writes about a shipping company which, for twenty years, had problems filling a top position. Each person selected got into difficulties when doing the job:
In the twenty-first year, a new President asked «What would happen if we did not fill it?» The answer was «Nothing». It then turned out that the position had been created to perform a job that had long since become unnecessary.
Before making a decision, the manager will carefully assess the options, considering the advantages and disadvantages of each one. Having done this, he will have to take a decision. Perhaps he will compromise, using more than one option. Thus, the manager of the department store may solve his problem by making changes in the product range, increasing advertising and improving the interior of the store.
Understanding the main points
Decide whether the following statements are true or false.
Vocabulary Focus
Ex. 1. Find words or phrases in the text which mean the same as the following:
Ex.2. Collocation
make a decision
take a decision
take into account
solve a problem
The phrases above are examples of collocation. This refers to words which are frequently grouped together.
Complete the following sentences with appropriate verbs.
Ex. 3. Complete the following passage with the correct forms of the words in the box below.
|
arise (v) |
rise (n) |
rise (v) |
raise (v) |
A serious problem has ………… (1) in my company. Because the cost of living ………… (2) by 6% last year, management decided to …………… (3) the salaries of all the staff. For this reason, they gave everyone a …………… (4) of $10 a week. However, later on, they had to pay for this by …………… (5) the prices of all products by 10 %. Such a large …………… (6) in prices made our products uncompetitive. So now, management is talking of lowering our salaries again.
Ex. 4. Phrasal verbs with up
weigh up (paragraph 5)
step up (9)
Replace the words in italics in the following sentences with phrasal verbs from the box below.
|
weigh up bring up |
take up (3 meanings) draw up |
pick up step up |
Grammar Drill
Ex. 1. Translate the following sentences, paying attention to the verbals (participle, gerund, infinitive):
Ex 2. Translate the following sentences, paying attention to the forms and functions of the verbs
to be and to have.
Some decisions are of the routine kind. They are decisions which are made fairly quickly, and are based on judgement. Because a manager is experienced, he knows what to do in certain situations. He does not have to think too much before taking action. For example, a supervisor in a supermarket may decide on the sport, to give a refund to a customer who has brought back a product. The manager does not have to gather a great deal of additional information before making the decision.
Многофункциональность глагола to be.
Present Past Future
am, is are was, were will be
В предложении глагол to be может быть:
смысловым глаголом со значением быть, находиться. В настоящем времени ”to be” в этом случае часто не переводится.
Связкой в составном именном сказуемом со значением быть, являться, состоять, заключаться, когда за ним следует существительное с предлогом of , прилагательное, числительное.
1. Physics is a natural science. Физика – естественная наука
The calculations will be very Расчеты будут очень сложными.
сomplicated
This problem was of great Эта проблема представляла для
interest for us нас очень большой интерес
После слов aim, purpose (цель). task (задача) и др. инфинитив смыслового глагола употребляется с частицей to
Our task is to finish the test by 7 Наша задача–закончить (заключается
o’clock. в том, чтобы закончить) испытание
к 7 часам.
модальным со значением должен. В этом случае за ним следует инфинитив смыслового глагола(глагол с частицей “to”)
We are to prepare everything for the Мы должны все подготовить к
experiment. опыту.
He was to get the data yesterday. Он должен был получить эти данные
вчера.
вспомогательным для образования:
а) времен группы Continuous в сочетании с Participle I. (Все глаголы переводятся на русский язык глаголами несовер-шенного вида.
She is working now. Она работает сейчас.
She was working all the day yesterday. Она работала весь день вчера
б) страдательного залога в сочетании Participle II.
He is (was, will be) asked to make Eго просят (просили, попросят)
a report. сделать доклад
The house is being built now. Дом строится (строят) сейчас.
Note: глагол “to be” может входить в состав оборота “there be” и употребляться во всех временах. Оборот переводится: быть, находиться, иметься, существовать, причем начинать перевод следует с обстоятельства места или времени. В настоящем времени глагол-сказуемое часто не переводится.
There are different kinds of barometers and thermometers.
Имеются (существуют) различные виды барометров и термометров.
There are a lot of research institutes in our city.
В нашем городе – (есть) много научно-исследовательских институтов.
There were many reactions which helped us to solve the problem.
Происходило (было) много реакций, которые помогли нам решить проблему.
Многофункциональность глагола to have
Present Past Future
have, has had will have
В предложении глагол to have может быть:
смысловым со значением иметь обладать
This material has many valuable qualities. Этот материал имеет много
ценных свойств.
модальным со значением должен, приходится. В этом
случае за ним следует инфинитив смыслового глагола с
частицей to.
They have to make this experiment Мы должны (нам придется)
once more. сделать этот опыт еще раз.
We had to use a computor to make Мы должны были пользоваться
calculations. компьютером, чтобы сделать эти
вычисления.
вспомогательным для образования времен группы Perfect. В этом случае глагол to have не переводится на русский язык, но служит показателем времени, числа и лица смыслового глагола, который переводится чаще всего глаголами совершенного вида.
He has made an interesting report Он сделал интересный доклад
at the conference. на конференции.
The construction of this plant has Строительство этого завода
already been finished. было уже закончено (уже
закончили).
DISCUSSION
Read the following case study. Then, working in groups of two or three, answer the questions below. Finally, compare your answers with those of the other groups.
The time is almost midnight. Sheldon, Chief Executive of Reprox, a photocopying equipment firm, sits in an armchair, looking shocked. He has just had a phone call from Donald, his Marketing Manager, and what Donald has told him a very worrying. Sheldon pours himself out a stiff whisky and considers the facts.
Apparently, the previous night, Donald had gone to a local restaurant with his wife. There, he had seen the firm’s top salesman. Melvin, having dinner with a woman. Donald has been amazed at Melvin’s choice of a dining companion, for the woman was Lois Markham, an executive from Helix, one of their competitors.
The next day, Donald called Malvin to his office, intending to give the top salesman a quiet warning about mixing with the enemy. However, the conversation did not go as planned.
“Come on now, don’t be so naïve”, Don answered. “Think of the security aspect. We’re in a competitive business – it’s dog eat dog”.
“Ihaven’t done anything wrong. You’ve got no right to interfere in my private life. And if you start doing so, maybe I’ll have to look for another job”.
Sheldon considered the problem. Should he turn a blind eye to what was going on? Or was some sort of action needed on his part?
Тексты для чтения 2 семестр____________________________________________
Менеджмент, ГМУ
What Makes a Good Manager? Here Are 10 Tips.
by Bill Gates
/4 200 ЗНАКОВ/
There isn't a magic formula for good management, of course, but if you're a manager perhaps these tips will help you be more effective.
1. Choose a field thoughtfully. Make it one you enjoy. It's hard to be productive without
genuine enthusiasm. This is true whether you're a manager or employee.
2. Hire carefully and be willing to fire. You need a strong team, because a mediocre team gives
mediocre results, no matter how well managed it is.
One common mistake is holding onto somebody who doesn't quite measure up. It's easy to keep this person on the job because he's not terrible at what he does. But a good manager will replace him or move him to a set of responsibilities where he can succeed unambiguously.
3. Create a productive environment. This is a particular challenge because it requires different
approaches depending on the context.
Sometimes you maximize productivity by giving everybody his or own office. Sometimes you achieve it by moving everybody into open space. Sometimes you use financial incentives to stimulate productivity. A combination of approaches is usually required. One element that almost always increases productivity is providing an information system that empowers employees.
When I was building Microsoft, I set out to create an environment where software developers could thrive. I wanted a company where engineers liked to work. I wanted to create a culture that encouraged them to work together, share ideas and remain highly motivated. If I hadn't been a software engineer myself, there's no way I could have achieved my goal.
4. Define success. Make it clear to you employees what constitutes success and how they
should measure their achievements.
Goals must be realistic. Project schedules, for example, must be set by the people who do the work. People will accept a «bottoms-up» deadline they helped set but they'll be cynical about a schedule imposed from the top that doesn't map to reality. Unachievable goals undermine an organization.
At my company, in addition to regular team meetings and one-on-one sessions between managers and employees, we use mass gatherings periodically and e-mail routinely to communicate what we expect from employees.
5. To be a good manager, you have to like people and be good at communicating. This is hard
to fake. If you don't genuinely enjoy interacting with people, it'll be hard to manage them
well.
You must have a wide range of personal contacts within your organization. You need relationships - not necessarily personal friendships - with a fair number of people including your own employees. You must encourage these people to tell you what's going on (good or bad) and give you feedback about what people are thinking about the company and your role in it.
6. Develop your people to do their jobs better than you can. Transfer your skills to them.
This is an exciting goal but it can be threatening "to a manager who worries that he's training his replacement. If you're concerned, ask your boss: «If I develop somebody who can do my job super well, does the company have some other challenge for me or not?» Many smart managers like to see their employees increase their responsibilities because it frees the managers to tackle new or undone tasks.
7. Build morale. Make it clear there's plenty of good will to go around and that it's not just
you as some hotshot manager who's going to look good if things go well.
Give people a sense of the importance of what they're working on - its importance to
customers.
When you achieve great results, everybody involved should share in the credit and feel good
about it.
8. Take on projects yourself. You need to do more than communicate.
The last thing people want is a boss who just doles out stuff. From time to time prove you can be hands-on by taking on one of the less attractive tasks and using it as an example of how your employees should meet challenges.
9. Don't make the same decision twice. Spend the time and thought to make a solid decision
the first time so that you don't revisit the issue unnecessarily. If you're too willing to reopen
issues, it interferes not only with your execution but also with your motivation to make a
decision in the first place.
People hate indecisive leadership so you have to make choices.
However that doesn't mean you have to decide everything the moment it comes to your
attention. Nor that you can't ever reconsider a decision.
10. Let people know whom to please. Maybe it's you, maybe it's your boss and maybe it's
somebody who works for you. You're in trouble - and risking paralysis in your organization
- when employees start saying to themselves: «Am I supposed to be making this person
happy or this other person happy? They seem to have different priorities)).
I don't pretend that these are the only 10 approaches a manager should keep in mind, or even that they're the most important ones. There are lots of others but these 10 ideas may help you manage well, I hope they do.
FREDERICK W. TAYLOR: SCIENTIFIC MANAGEMENT
/4 200 ЗНАКОВ/
No one has had more influence on managers in the twentieth century than Frederick W. Taylor, an American engineer. He set a pattern for industrial work which many others have followed, and although his approach to management has been criticised, his ideas are still of practical importance.
Taylor founded the school of Scientific Management just before the 1914-18 war. He argued that work should be studied and analysed systematically. The operations required to perform a particular job cold be identified, then arranged in a logical sequence. After this was done, a worker's productivity would increase, and so would his/her wages. The new method was scientific. The way of doing a job would no longer be determined by guesswork and rule-of thumb practices. Instead, management would work out scientifically the method for producing the best results. If the worker followed the prescribed approach, his/her output would increase.
When Taylor started work at the end of the nineteenth century, the industrial revolution was in full swing. Factories were being set up all over the USA. There was heavy investment in plant and machinery, and labour was plentiful. He worked for twenty years (1878-1898) with the Midvale Steel Company, first as a labourer, then as a Shop Superintendant. After that, he was a consultant with the Bethlehem Steel Company in Pennsylvania.
Throughout this time, he studied how to improve the efficiency of workers on the shop floor. He conducted many experiments to find out how to improve their productivity. His solutions to these problems were, therefore, based on his own experience. Later, he wrote about his experiments. These writings were collected and published in 1947, in a work entitled Scientific Management.
When he was with Bethlehem Steel, Taylor criticised management and workers. He felt that managers were not using the right methods and that workers did not put much effort into their job. They were always «soldiering» - taking it easy. He wanted both groups to adopt a new approach to their work, which would change their thinking completely. The new way was as follows:
Each operation of a job was studied and analysed;
Using this information, management worked out the time and method for each job, and the
type of equipment to be used;
3 Work was organized so that the worker's only responsibility was to do the job in the
prescribed manner;
4 Men with the right physical skills were selected and trained for the job.
Observing; analysing; measuring; specifying the work method; organizing and choosing the right person for the job - these were the tasks of management.
Taylor's approach produced results! For example, at Bethlehem Steel, he did an experiment with shovels, the tool used for lifting and carrying materials. He studied the work of two first-class shovellers and then changed their working procedure. In the beginning, the men used their own shovels for all the types of materials they handled, whether coal or iron ore.
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Менеджмент, ГМУ
TOP MANAGEMENT –PLANNING AND STRATEGY
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The top management of a company have certain unique responsibilities. One of their key tasks is to make major decisions affecting the future of the organization. These strategic decisions determine where the company is going and how it will get there. For example, top managers must decide which markets to enter and which to pull out of; how expansion is to be financed; whether new products will be developed within the organization or acquired by buying other companies. These and other such decisions shape a company's future.
Before doing any kind of strategic planning; the management must be sure of one thing. They must decide what is the mission and purpose of their business. They also need to decide what it should be in the future. In other words, they must know why the business exists and what its main purpose is. Deciding the mission and purpose is the foundation of any planning exercise.
Two examples will make this point clear - one British, the other American. Most people have heard of Marks and Spencer, one of the biggest" and most successful retailers in the world. Michael Marks opened his first penny bazaar in 1884, in Leeds, England. Ten years later there were nine market stores, and Marks had taken into partnership Tom Spencer, the cashier of one of his suppliers. In 1926 Marks and Spencer became a public; company. At that point, they could have rested on their laurels! However, around that time, they developed a clear idea of Marks and Spencer's mission and purpose. Their later success was founded on this idea. They decided that the company was in business to provide goods of excellent quality, at reasonable prices, to customers from the working and middle classes. Providing value for money was their mission and purpose. One of the strategies they used was to concentrate on selling clothing and textiles. Later on, food products were added as a major line of business.
The second example concerns the American Telephone and Telegraph Company. They decided on their mission some sixty or so years ago. The head of the organization at that time, Theodore Vail, realized that a privately-owned telephone and telegraphic company might easily be nationalized. If the company didn't perform well, the public would call for its nationalization. To avoid this fate, it had to give efficient service to its customers. Vail and his colleagues decided that giving service would be the mission and purpose of the organization. This became the overall objective of the company, and has remained so ever since.
Having decided on its mission and purpose, an organization will have worked out certain more specific objectives. For example, a car firm may have the objective of producing and marketing new models of cars in the medium-price range. Another objective may be to increase its market share by 10% in the next five years. As soon as it has established its more specific, medium-term objectives, the company can draw up a corporate plan. Its purpose is to indicate the strategies the management will use to achieve its objectives.
However, before deciding strategies, the planners have to look at the company's present performance, and at any external factors which might affect its future. To do this, it carries out an analysis, sometimes called a SWOT analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats). First, the organization examines its current performance, assessing its, strengths and weakness. It looks at performance indicators like market share, sales revenue, output and productivity. It also examines its resources - financial, human, products and facilities. For example, a department store chain may have stores in good locations — a strength - but sales revenue per employee may be low - a weakness. Next, the company looks at external factors, from the point of view of opportunities and threats. It is trying to assess technological, social, economic and political trends in the markets where it is competing. It also examines the activities of competitors. The department store chain, for example, may see the opportunity to increase profits by providing financial services to customers. On the other hand, increasing competition may be a threat to its very existence.
Having completed the SWOT analysis, the company can now evaluate its objectives and
perhaps work out new ones. They will ask themselves questions such as: Are we producing the
right products? What growth rate should we aim at in the next five years? Which new markets
should we break into?
The remaining task is to develop appropriate strategies to achieve the objectives. The
organization decides what actions it will take and how it will provide the resources to support
those actions. One strategy may be to build a new factory to increase production capacity. To
finance this, the company may develop another strategy, the issuing of new shares to the
public.
Company planning and strategic decision-making are key activities of top management. Once they have been carried out, objectives and targets can be set at lower levels in the organization.
Challenging Substandard Performance
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Challenging substandard performance is a response to your judgement that someone is not performing as they agreed to, or is expected to. It is a communication tool used to give feedback and start solving problems. Its purpose is to move the person's performance back up to standard, while enabling you to maintain a positive relationship with them.
An essential part of your function as supervisor is to maintain the performance of your people at a high level. You cannot do this alone - you also need their co-operation.
During the planning phase, we look forward with our people, decide what they will do, and define how well it needs to be done - we set objectives and define performance standards. At times, we check how things are going and make a judgement as to whether they are going according to plan. This is referred to as our monitoring function.
When we find that someone's performance is up to standard or exceeds the standards set, we respond with praise and acknowledgement of a job well done. When we find that their performance is not what was expected and agreed to, we have a problem. A problem exists when there is a difference between the way things are and the way someone wants them to be. We can use CSP (challenging substandard performance) as the tool for working on the person's performance. It is the spokeshave we use for trimming off the rough edges.
Here it is important to note that it is not the person that is the problem, but their performance. There is a big difference between regarding Bill as a problem, and regarding Bill's performance as a problem. Think about it. If we regard Bill as a problem, we have to tackle Bill. But if we regard Bill's as a performance as a problem, we can tackle the problem with Bill. It is no longer us against Bill, it is Bill and us against the problem of substandard performance.
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Management: Six basic steps in Decision Making
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Step 1: Define the Problem
Decisions do not occur in a vacuum. Many come about as part of the firm's planning process. Others are prompted by new opportunities or new problems. It is natural to ask: What brought about the need for the decision? What is the decision all about? In all kinds of textbooks examples, the decision problem is stated and is reasonable well defined. In practice, however, managerial decisions do not come so neatly packaged; rather, they are messy and messy and poorly defined. Thus, problem definition is a prerequisite for problem management.
A key part of problem definition is identifying the setting or context...
Identifying the decision context and the decision maker represents a large step toward understanding the choice process. The particular setting has a direct bearing on both the decision maker's objectives and the available courses of action. The next two steps consider each of these aspects in turn.
Step 2: Determine the Objective
When it comes to economic decision, it is a truism that «you can't always get what you want». But to make any progress at all in your choice, you have to know what you want. In most private sector decisions, the principal objective of the firm - and barometer of its performance - is profit: the difference between the firm's total revenues and its total costs. Thus, among alternative courses of action, the manager will select the one that will maximize the profit of the firm. Attainment of maximum profit worldwide is the natural objective of the multinational steel company, the drug company, and the management and shareholders of Disney, Canon, Time Inc., Texaco, and Pennzoil. Sometimes the manager focuses on the narrower goal of minimizing cost. For instance, the firm may seek to produce a given level of output at the least cost or to obtain a targeted increase in sales with minimal expenditure on advertising. In a host of settings, measures that reduce costs directly serve to increase profits.
The objective in a public sector decision, whether it be building an airport or regulating a utility, is broader than the private profit standard. In making its choice, the government decision maker should weigh all benefits and costs, not solely those that accrue as revenue or are incurred as expenses. According to this benefit-cost criterion, the airport may be worth building even if it fails to generate a profit for the government authority. The optimal means of regulating the production decisions of the utility depend on a careful comparison of benefits (mainly in the form of energy conservation) and costs (in material and environmental terms).
In practice, profit maximization and benefit-cost analysis are not always unambiguous guides to decision making. One difficulty is posed by the timing of benefits and costs. Should a firm (the drug company, for example) make an investment (sacrifice profits today) for greater profits five or ten years from now? Are the future benefits to air travelers worth the present capital expense of building the airport? Both private and public investments involve trade-offs between present and future benefits and costs. Thus, in pursuing its profit goal, the firm must establish a comparable measure of value between present and future monetary returns.
Uncertainty poses a second difficulty. In many economic decisions, it is customary to treat the outcomes of various actions as certain. For instance, a fast-food chain may know that it can construct a new outlet in 21 days at a cost of $90 per square foot. The cost and timing of construction are not entirely certain, but the margin of error is small enough to have no bearing on the company's decisions and thus can be safely ignored. In contract, the cost and date of completion of a nuclear power plant are highly uncertain (due to unanticipated design changes, cost overruns, schedule delays, and the like). At best, the utilities that share ownership of the plant may be able to estimate a range of cost outcomes and completion dates and assess probabilities for these possible outcomes. (With the benefit of hindsight, one now wishes that the utilities had recognized the risks and safety problems of nuclear plants 10 and 20 years ago, when construction on many plants was initiated).
The presence of risk and uncertainty has a direct bearing on the way the decision maker thinks about his or her objective. The drug company seeks to maximize its profit, but there is no simple way to apply the profit criterion to determine its best R&D choice. The company cannot use the simple rule «choose the method that will yield the greater profit,» because the ultimate profit from either method cannot be pinned down ahead of time. In each case, there are no profit guarantees; rather, the drug company faces a choice between two risky options. Similarly, public programs and regulatory policies will generate future benefits and costs that cannot be predicted with certainty.
What is the decision maker's goal? What end is he or she pursuing? How should the decision maker value outcomes with respect to this goal? What if he or she is pursuing multiple, conflicting objective?
Step 3: Explore the Alternatives
After addressing the question «What do we want?», it is natural to ask, «What are our options?)) The ideal decision maker, if such a person exists, would lay out all the available courses of action and then choose the one that would best achieve his or her objective. Given human limitations, decision makers cannot hope to identify and evaluate all possible options. The cost of doing so simply would be too great. Still, one would hope that attractive options would not be overlooked or, if discovered, not mistakenly dismissed. No analysis can begin with all the available options in hand. However, a sound decision framework should be able to uncover options in the course of the analysis.
Most managerial decisions involve more than a once-and-for-all choice from among a set of options. Typically, the manager faces a sequence of decisions from among alternatives.
At the outset, management at Time Inc. had to decide whether or not develop Picture Week for market testing. The whole point of the development and testing program was to provide information on which management could base its main decision: whether or not to undertake a full-fledged, nationwide launch of the magazine. Notice that the company could have launched the magazine without extensive market testing. However, it rejected this riskier strategy in favor of a contingent plan of action: to undertake the testing program and then launch the magazine if and only if the test results and economic forecasts were both favorable.
Sequential decision making also lies at the heart of the negotiation dilemma which many firms face. Each side must formulate its current negotiation stance (how aggressive or conciliatory an offer to make) in light of current court results and the offers (both its own and its opponent's) made to date. Thus, a commonly acknowledged fact about negotiation is that the main purpose of an opening offer is not to have the offer accepted (if it were, the offer probably was far too generous); rather, the offer should direct the course of the offers to follow.
Step 4: Predict the Consequences
Depending on the situation, the task of predicting the consequences may be straightforward or formidable. Sometimes elementary arithmetic suffices. For Instance, the simplest profit calculation requires only subtracting costs from revenues. Or suppose the choice between two safety programs is made according to which saves the greater number of lives per dollar expended. Here the use of arithmetic division is the key to identifying the preferred alternative.
Step 5: Make a Choice
In the vast majority of decisions we may encounter, the objectives and outcomes are directly quantifiable. Thus, the private firm, such as the steel-maker, can compute the profit results of alternative price and output plans. Analogously, a government decision maker may know the computed net benefits (benefits minus costs) of different program options. Given enough time, the decision maker could determine a preferred course of action by enumeration, that is, testing a number of alternatives and selecting the one that best meets the objective. This is fine for decisions involving a small number of choices, but it is impractical for more complex problems.
For instance, what if the steel firm drew up a list of two dozen different pricing and production plans, computed the profits of each, and settled on the best of the lot? How could management be sure this choice is truly «optimal,» that is, the best of all possible plans? What if a more profitable plan, say, the twenty-fifth candidate, was overlooked? Expanding the enumerated list could reduce this risk, but at considerable cost.
Fortunately, the decision maker need not rely on the painstaking method of enumeration to solve such problems. A variety of methods can identify and cut directly to the best or optimal decision. These methods rely to varying extents on marginal analysis, linear programming, decision trees, and benefit-cost analysis. These approaches are important not only for computing optimal decision but for checking why they are optimal.
Step 6: Perform Sensitivity Analysis
In tackling and solving a decision problem, it is important to understand and be able to explain to others the «why» of your decision. The solution, after all, did not come out of thin air. It depended on your stated objectives, the way you structured the problem (including the set of options you considered), and your method of predicting outcomes. Thus, sensitivity analysis considers how an optimal decision would change if key economic facts or conditions were altered.
Here is a simple example of the use of sensitivity analysis. Senior management of a consumer products firm is conducting a third-year review of one of its new products. Two of the firm's business economists have prepared an extensive report that projects significant profits from the product over the next two years. These profit estimates suggest a clear course of action: continue marketing the product. As a member of senior management, would you accept this recommendation uncritically? Probably not. You naturally would want to determine what is behind the profit projection. After all, you may be well aware that the product has not yet earned a profit in its first two years. (Although it sold reasonably well, it also had high advertising and promotion costs and a low introductory price.) What is behind the new profit projection? Larger sales and /or a higher price? A significant cost reduction? The process of tracking down the basic determinants of profit is one aspect of sensitivity analysis.
As one would expect, the product's future revenues and costs may be highly uncertain. As a consequence, management should recognize that the revenue and cost projections come with a significant margin of error attached.
It is natural to investigate the profit effects if outcomes differ from the report's forecasts. What if sales are 12 percent lower than expected? What if projected cost reductions are not realized? What if the price of a competing product is slashed? By answering these «what-if» questions, management can determine the degree to which its profit projections, and therefore its marketing decision, are sensitive to the uncertain outcomes of key economic variables.
Sensitivity analysis is useful in:
providing insight into the key features of the problem that affect the decision;
tracing the effects of changes in variables about which the manager may be uncertain; and
generating solutions in cases of recurring decisions under slightly modified conditions.
After all analysis is done, what is the preferred course of action? For obvious reasons, this step (along with step 4) occupies the lion's share of the analysis and discussion. Once the decision maker has put the problem in context, formalized the objectives, and identified available alternatives, how does he or she go about finding a preferred course of action?
What features of the problem determine the optimal choice of action? How does the optimal decision change if conditions in the problem are altered? Is the choice sensitive to key economic variables about which the decision maker is uncertain?
How Americans (Mis) Communicate
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The recently published book by Professor of Linguistics Deborah TANNEN «You Just Don't
Understand», became an American best seller. Her new book, «Conversation From 9 to 5,» about
Americans' communication during work hours (hence the title) will be published in October. Excepts from the book, published in «The New York Times» magazine, have become a sensation in the United States. It turns out that men and women, superiors and subordinates, tragically, fail to
understand one another's speech signals.
Understatement is a Women's Weapon
The main thesis of Professor Tannen's first took is that men and women (of the same nation and the
same language) find it as difficult to understand one another because of the difference in their linguistic
code as people of absolutely different cultures and languages.
«John is throwing a party. Do you, want to go?» asks the wife. How should the husband take this: as a «direct» signal (the wife wants to know whether he wants, to go) or as a «concealed» signal (the wife is informing her husband that she wants to go to the party)?
Professor Tannen polled her-students. Seventy-three percent of the polled men understood the
phrase as a direct signal, in its literal sense.
Another difference between women's speech and that of men. Women are inclined more often to interrupt someone with exclamations of sympathy of disagreement, remarks, corrections of analogies. This manner is for most women an , encouraging factor denoting heightened friendly interest in what the interlocutor says, concern and sympathy. For most American men this manner is an irritating factor signifying militant incompetence and lack of culture on the part of the female.
Understatement is the Right of the Strong
Straightforwardness lies at the basis of American character, writes the professor, and to most Americans straightforward talk is an indicator of honesty and authority, while hints are associated with dishonesty and lack of confidence.
Professor Tannen justly explains this by the Americans' unfamiliarity with the cultures of other peoples. In Japan, for instance, a boss acting in a typical situation sets a task before his subordinates by simply describing the problem facing him.
American men who are accustomed to direct orders regard directions received in an indirect form as attempts to manipulate them. This way, if the subordinate makes a mistake, he or she could be blamed for interpreting the instruction incorrectly.
But the “indirect” form, argues Professor Tannen, is no more «manipulating» than the way one calls someone to the phone. When we phone and ask, for instance, “Is Alexander at home?” we are sure that, if he is, he will be simply called to the phone. Only a child answers: «He is» and continues to hold the receiver.
The professor's study of «indirect» orders shows that they are more often given by people who have authority and confidence than by weak-willed superiors. When the master enters a room and says: «It is cold here» the servant hastens to light up the stove. But if the servant makes this remark on entering the room, the master will receive it «directly», as a statement that the temperature is low.
The conclusion is that lack of confidence is more often experienced (and deeply concealed) by superiors who give orders.
This is surprisingly confirmed by the practice employed in the U.S. Navy. Professor Tannen tells a story about a naval officer who taught radio operations to young, civilian students during World War II. This time the example with temperature in the room is not fiction. Having entered the class for the first lesson, the seaman remarked: «It is rather hot». The students nodded then- heads. The seaman repeated his remark. «Yes, it is hot indeed,» replied the students, fanning themselves with their copy books. The seaman had to explain that the statement of fact by a superior in the Navy means not an invitation to discussion but an order. He said: «It is rather hot» for the third time, and the whole class rushed to open the windows.
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