Management Tasks and Computer Technology - Essay Example

ID # Management Tasks and Computer Technology The manager is a standard rank which exists in almost every organization. Actually, managers carry out the similar activities in all organizations. No matter a person manages a factory or a hair salon; the manager’s tasks comprise similar jobs such as planning, organizing, leading and controlling all play a significant role in attaining management’s goals. In addition, each task is vital and one cannot work effectively without the others. Planning The initial and most important function of management is planning. While planning, a manager must establish the organization's goals as well as determine the way to attain those goals. In this scenario, much of the data and information comes openly from the vision and mission statement for the organization. In addition, establishing objectives for the business goal and following up on the implementation of the plan are two significant elements of the planning function. For instance, if an organization wants to open a new local restaurant, the manager will need to develop a marketing plan, a hiring plan and a sales plan. Additionally, the formulation of these plans can involve extensive searches of data and information as well as creation of a technically feasible proposal. In this scenario, computers present an excellent support for carrying out the task of information search through information retrieval systems on the Internet (Rothbauer-Wanish; FAO). Moreover, a good information recovery system which can help in collection and retrieval of related data and information on the subject of concern can significantly improve the quality of data and information collection. With the exception of this, there are a wide variety of other packages for this service. For instance, activities such as working out project budgets, time frames and generation of proposal reports can be aided with the help of data management systems, electronic spreadsheets and word processing, which smooth the progress of development and management of various alternatives with relative simplicity. At the present, the majority of business organizations make use of the Internet for planning of their tasks. For instance, if an organization wants to launch a new product or a service, it can use internet based surveys to collect the response of people. In light of their response, an organization can better decide whether it should launch a particular product or not. So, the use of information technology can save a lot of precious time and effort of an organization (Rothbauer-Wanish; FAO). Organizing Another significant job of managers is organization of the business and this consists of various important tasks such as organizing people and resources. In fact, determining how many people would be required for specific shifts can be vital to the success of an organization. On the other hand, if those workers do not have the essential resources to carry out their activities, organization cannot occur. In addition, without an organized place of work, workers will perceive a manager as unqualified and may lose respect for that specific manager’s managerial techniques. In this scenario, computer supported tools and applications can play a significant role. At the present, there are a wide variety of tools and applications which can perform these jobs on behalf of managers. For instance, MS Project can be used to organize tasks. A Gantt chart can provide the necessary information such as when a particular activity will be completed and how much resources will be required to perform a specific task. In this way, computer technology has made this function of management relatively easier (Rothbauer-Wanish; FAO). Leading The management and leadership are not the same activity. Basically, a manager is responsible for managing the workers and their tasks. In other words, this person ensures that all the activities are carried out on time and specific rules and standards are followed. In this scenario, workers normally follow managers for the reason that they are the superintendent and giving the orders to workers. On the other hand, workers see a leader as someone who motivates and encourages them and give them direction to help achieve the organization’s goals. In an ideal condition, the manager also serves as the leader. In this scenario, managers who want to direct successfully need to find out what motivates and encourages their workers and motivate them to achieve the organization’s goals. No doubt, computer supported tools and applications can play a significant role in the management of business tasks but they can help motivate employees. There are some characteristics that are developed in human beings it cannot be integrated on computers (Rothbauer-Wanish; FAO). Controlling The last but not least function that is performed by the managers is called controlling function, which engages keeping an eye on the organization’s performance to confirm that established goals are being achieved. In this scenario, managers need to concentrate on expenditures in opposition to performance of the firm. For instance, if an organization has established a goal of increasing sales by 10% over the next two months, the manager should make sure the improvement in the direction of the goal at the end of every month. In addition, an experienced manager will share this information with their workers for the reason that it helps develop trust and a feeling of contribution for the workers. In order to deal with these aspects, monitoring and bookkeeping activities linked to business expenditures (grants and expenditures) can be aided through accounting packages created using data management systems. In this scenario, a number of functional reports for internal record keeping and for compliance for the financial support organization can be created using these packages. In addition, any of the project management software applications discussed above can present wide-ranging study and reporting aspects. Moreover, project managers should have knowledge of formal project management tools and techniques with the purpose of using these packages efficiently (Rothbauer-Wanish; FAO). Question # 2 In light of the above discussed concepts it can be concluded that organizations should balance the managers’ skills with computer supported applications. In fact, a computer alone is nothing. It is used by the people to perform their desired tasks. These are people who take advantage of the computers. So a manager should have knowledge of computer applications in order to take full advantage of technology for carrying out management related activities. There are some important management functions that cannot be completed using computers such as leading and motivating. So is not possible for an organization to rely too heavily on computers and not enough on judgment and intuition of their managers (ENotes; Dutta). Question # 3 It is also not possible to count too much on intuition and not enough on information from computers. In fact, this is the era of computers and information technology. Almost, all the firms at the present heavily make use of IT tools to achieve their business goals. Computers can be used to collect, store and process huge volumes of data, which can be used in decision making. Though, it is true that computers can offer an excellent support for decision making but it depends on the skills and experience of project managers how they make use of the data. Thus, both the managers' skills and use of computers should be balanced in order to achieve the organization’s goals (ENotes; Dutta). Works Cited Acres, Jade. What are the basic functions of a manager? 2012. 13 May 2012 . Dutta, Pallab. Importance of Computer in Management. 2012. 12 May 2012 . ENotes. With more and more managers using computers, they'll be able to make more rational decisions. 2010. 14 May 2012 . FAO. Session 3. Computers as management tools. 2005. 14 May 2012 . Rothbauer-Wanish, Heather. Four Functions of Management. 29 April 2009. 12 May 2012 . Read More