Organizational Operation Management: Assessing Performance on the Market - Research Paper Example

From Theory to Practice Introduction Business organizations operate with the objective of improving their performance in the market, increase market share and increase their level of profit earned. To achieve these broad goals managers fix certain specific objectives to administer their employees and supervise their performance level. These objectives are set by the ‘SMART’ criteria; specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and timed. Measuring the criteria that is to be managed is an important part of organizational management (Walmsley, 2010). There is a well known business adage that famous business consultant Peter Drucker emphasizes upon. According to the adage, if something cannot be measured precisely, it would not be possible to manage the issue efficiently or improve it (Weiler, 2013). For managing a particular thing, a manager has to have knowledge about the issues and problems arising within the organization. If the problems cannot be measured sufficiently or specified accurately, there would be a certain degree of vagueness in the minds of employees as well as mangers and the problem would not be satisfactorily addressed. Unless the issue is measured it cannot be assessed whether the situation is improving or worsening (Reidenbach, Goeke and McClung, 2002). Improvements cannot be brought unless it can be understood appropriately which activities are good for the organization and its employees and which activities or situations are harming them. While there are certain attributes that can be measured, there are other immesurable attributes that play an important part in employee performance. The measurable attributes are sales in terms of sales figures, employee performance in terms of their productivity, employee skills in terms of their efficiency and degree of communication maintained among the different levels within the organization. The other attributes that cannot be measured are employee satisfaction, knowledge level of employees, employee motivation, adaptability, team focus, orientations towards technology advancements and upgradation, inclusiveness of the employees and accountability (UNL, 2013). From the perspective of the employees, these factors play a critical role in their performance. Democratic style of organizational management The pattern of management is a process that influences the level of motivation and performance of the employees. In every organization, there are two categories; the management level employees and the subordinates. However, the combined effort of all the managers as well as other staff working at different levels helps the organization to maintain its level of performance in the long run. The method in which employees are managed exerts influence on the members of the team working under the supervision of the manager. It is a process that influences the level of motivation of the employees to move towards the common goal. It is, therefore, imperative to understand the measurable as well as immeasurable attributes of the employees (Maitlo, et al., 2012). Managers often hold the view that the process of management entails the method of prescribing certain instructions, which employees in a particular team or a particular organization must follow. This is method of managing is termed as autocratic (Bryman, 2013). It creates a feeling of dominance among the employees and their opinions are not considered in the process of making regulations. Managers have certain objectives that they aim at fulfilling within a stipulated period of time. Fulfilment of the measurable targets is affected by the level of satisfaction reached on behalf of the employees in terms of immeasurable attributes. If managers do not make efforts to assess the immeasurable aspects that affect performance of employees, it would not enable them to make appropriate decisions regarding employee management. Democratic or Participative style of leadership always prioritizes the team members. Although a democratic leader holds the ultimate power to make a decision for his company, he would be willing to listen to the opinions of his team mates and make fair consideration of these ideas in the decision making process (Tracy, 2010). Role of managers within organisations Every organization has one or many managers based on the expanse of business that the organization is engaged in. Managers in a firm share the responsibility of steering the company in the right direction and help it meet the organizational goals. Organizational management is the procedure that the decision makers in the organization follow for making plans, organising the activities, developing leadership strategies and controlling the activities of the members of the organizations (Ashenden, 2013). Although, in theory this method is lucid, in practice this method has a number of intricate implications. The strategies are developed by decision makers, but are actually implemented by managers. Often there exists a gap between the strategies developed and the way in which these strategies are implemented (Business case studies, 2013). Every manager in the organisation follows certain specific target by satisfying definite objectives in the short run. They have certain responsibilities that are allotted to them depending on their area of operation. In the long run, several factors affect the outcome of the management’s decisions. Some of these factors are skill of the team members coupled with the level of resource allocation made for each activity. According to established theories, the job of the manager is to control the way in which the organization works, however, in practice it has been realised that the manager’s job is not only to control but to supervise and guide the employees in their work. For this purpose, the managers are trusted with the responsibility of understanding and assessing the immeasurable factors related to the employees as well. Proper communication with the staff is one of the most important responsibilities of managers (MMU, n.d.). Only then would the manager be able to lead the members of his team in the right direction and inspire them. There are different organizational structures that are followed by the companies. Depending on these structures, the role of managers varies. Practice and values based approach to understanding organisations Managers in every organization enjoy a position of authority. This position entitles them to lead a team of employees, who are their subordinates. Management style is another form of leadership style. The subordinates follow managers’ advice not because they are not capable of doing tasks on their own, but because following proper guidance would help them in doing their work better and in a coherent manner (Reidenbach, Goeke and McClung, 2002). Subordinates often become followers out of a voluntary sense of respect and trust. In order to retain the position of successful leader, mangers must shed the shell of authoritarian control and engage into an informal relationship with employees to understand their strengths and weaknesses well. Providing credit to employees enhances the position of the manger more than maintaining a loud dominant personality (Thompson and Tracy, 2010). Problems encountered in organisational life There are different problems that the employees at the organization might face. Apart from technical problems occurring due to breakdown of machines or failure of system, there are other problems that employees face in their work place. Such problems can be categorised into three divisions, namely, organizational problem, personality problems and external problem. Organizational Problem Often problems arise with regard to completing the tasks in an organised manner. This is because there are several employees in the organization that are associated to the task at different levels and discrepancies of view occur intermittently. This can be mitigated through skilled managerial capabilities. The manager has to understand the issue and realise the cause of the issue (Morgan, 2011). The major reasons behind the cause of these issues are lack of proper supervision, poor interpersonal relationships, overload of work pressure on few employees, boredom and lack of appreciation. Proper managerial capabilities help to develop a self correcting mechanism within the organization. Personality Problems Some employees personally face certain problems at work that are not generally faced by the others in their team in the workplace. These problems might occur due to some problems that are related to the personality of these individuals and are interfering with their professional lives. In some other cases, the employees face behavioural problems and lack of proper bonding with boss or co-workers. Both these problems might affect the level of productivity of these employees and their level of job satisfaction. It might create feeling of lack of confidence or uneasiness among the employees. Since these issues are not measured through conventional methods, these are often ignored. Dominating attitude of the managers would further aggravate the problem instead of bringing solutions to the problem. Although sometimes these problems are not directly created due to some organizational or managerial problem, it is the responsibility of efficient managers to understand and sort out the problems by their causes and try to mitigate them professionally in order to increase productivity of the team. On ignoring them, the problem might become bigger in volume and difficulty. External Problem Every employee in an organization is a social individual and their job forms one portion of their lives. According to business consultants, family and leisure are two important parts of the lives of an employee besides their work life. A satisfied employee always puts equal importance on all these parts of their lives (Stroup, 2004). This puts profound impact on the behaviour of the person in and outside the workplace. Sometimes these aspects interfere with the work life of the individual. The general forms of external problems are marriage, bereavement and depression. Implications of internal organisational factors and external forces Several factors affect the employees and their level of performance. These factors are both internal and external. The Internal Environment The environment internal to an organization are related to the people, events, systems, management structures, physical equipments and others working conditions present within the organization. These factors are such that these can be controlled by the company. The internal environment of the company is closely associated with its mission, vision and goals and also involved intrinsically with the organizational culture. Some of these factors are measurable while the others are dependent on the perceptions of the managers as well as employees of the organization. Leadership style plays a critical role in this respect. Pattern of leadership holds a serious position in the behaviour of the employees in their workplace, thereby affecting the level of performance. As the proverb says, if something cannot be measured, it would not be managed efficiently (Walker, 2011). Measurement does not only relate to the act of cardinally measuring the factors, rather assessing them empathetically to get the best possible outcome of the situation. The style of leadership shows the way in which the specific situations would be managed. It is important to note that the internal environment of an organization can put considerably large impact on the regular activities, decision making process, and employee attitude toward work and their behaviour. The External Environment The external environment refers to the factors occurring outside the premises of direct control of the company. The external factors include demand made by customers, level of competition in the industry, growth of the economy, technological advancement of the society in which the company operates and the political conditions of the society. These features act as external factors influencing the organization. Although the external environment remains outside control of the organization, it can manipulate the present operations and long-term sustainability of the firm (Lyons, 2009). If managers ignore these external forces, they forgo the opportunity to understand certain factors or conditions that might affect employees in the organization. It is detrimental for the employees as well as for the growth of the company. The managers are required to adapt to the changing external factors, so that they might be able to bring proactive and positive changes in the firm. Conclusion Every organization irrespective of whether it is big or small, aims at achieving growth in the long run. The managers of these organizations also, therefore, align their goals with company goals and conduct their short term activities such that they would bring growth in the long run. According to consultants, managers should aim at growth, if not for any other reason, but at least for accommodating the increasing expenses incurred by the firm over the years. In order to remain in profitable business over a long period of time, every firm has to grow. From this perspectives, employees benefit as the organization grows. Employees are one of the most prized possessions of any organization and they should be able to reap the benefits of organizational growth. Salaries rise as employees gain experience with passage of time. It leads to rise in cost to the company, which the managers overcome by increasing profit. Managers should be able to assess not only the measurable factors, but, also the immeasurable factors that affect employee performance. They have to be aware of the internal factors as well as the external environment of the organization in order to direct employee performance towards the right direction and help them benefit from organizational progress (Rezvani, 2008). Almost all corporate organization progresses with a profit motive. This should be taken into consideration that profit is earned by the firm not only financially, but also, through improvements in their staff base, improvement in communication channels in the firm, development of a relationship of trust and improvement in overall work culture of the organization (Schneider, 2002). Therefore, mangers should not keep a taken for granted view regarding the development process of the firm. Progress path of the organization is equivalent to the path of fulfilment of the predetermined goals of the organization. However, fulfilment of the financial goals should not hinder the process of fulfilling the ethical and aesthetic goals. Managers have to adopt a democratic style of leadership in order to motivate their team members and imbibe the goals of the company into the minds of the employees. It would help in achieving company goals as common goals of the managers and the employees. Reference List Ashenden, A., 2013. The Changing Role of Managers in the Collaborative Organization. [online] Available at: < http://www.aiim.org/community/blogs/expert/The-changing-role-of-managers-in-the-collaborative-organisation > [Accessed 21 September 2013]. Bryman, A., 2013. Leadership and organizations. London: Routledge. Business case studies, 2013. Organization and Management Structures. 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Rezvani, J., 2008. Guild Leadership. North Carolina: Lulu.com. Schneider, M., 2002. Total customer relationship management. Connecticut: Cengage Learning. Stroup, J., 2004. Managing leadership: Toward a new and usable understanding of what leadership really is and how to manage it. Bloomington: iUniverse. Thompson, M. and Tracy, B., 2010. Now, build a great business: 7 ways to maximize your profits in any market. New York: AMACOM Div American Mgmt Assn. Tracy, B., 2010. Goals: How to get everything you want - Faster than you ever thought possible. California: Berrett-Koehler Publishers. UNL, 2013. The Definition of Competencies and Their Application at NU. [online] Available at: < http://hr.unl.edu/compensation/nuvalues/corecompetencies.shtml > [Accessed 21 September 2013]. Walker, A., 2011. Organizational behaviour in construction. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons. Walmsley, B., 2010. Instant manager: Managing yourself. London: Hachette. Weiler, A., 2013. If You Can’t Measure It, You Can’t Manage It. [online] Available at: < http://wellpepper.com/healthmeasures > [Accessed 21 September 2013]. Read More