Schools of Management and Types of Organization - Research Paper Example

? Management Questions Contrast the ical/scientific school of management with the behavioral school. The ical school of management focuses on promoting efficiency and unit based productivity offering material remuneration for work done. It is characterized by division of labor and specialization where employees and managers interact freely in a clearly stated bureaucratic communication channel for effective and fair decision making. On the other hand, behavioral school of thought uses a psychological approach where by employees are motivated to increase their productivity. In contrast to the classicalschool of thought,behavioral management holds the belief that employees work for inner satisfaction and are not motivated by material remuneration. It argues that productivity is driven by employee satisfaction and not the material benefits that one stands to gain. 2. Relate how today’s management environment differs from that of the management environment of the early 1900s. Today’s management environment is characterized by globalization, use of technological innovations, deregulation, and fierce competition from rival companies, diversified workforce and service specialization.This has driven innovation and the use of scientific models to improve production and decision making in general. In contrast, 1900s were characterized by mainly farm based activities where there was little or no dependency. Businesses were mainly small scale and did not operate beyond their regions thus there was little or no completion to fuel innovations. The government was barely involved in economic matters and there was little regulation on business process as observed in this age. Management environment today is able to better plan and forecast production through data collection and analysis because specialization through division of labor allows more time for process development. It sees business beyond its borders and works towards spreading its operations around the world in its growth plans. 4. Describe the changes that globalization is having on diversity and the methods firms can use to manage diversity Globalization has led most if not all firms’ human resource management to recruit a diverse set of employees as they venture into new regions across the globe. Employees are now drawn from different races, age groups, cultures and social backgrounds to bring on board people with fresh ideas and personal outlooks to problems facing their people0. There are several methods which organizations can use to manage diversity. This includes recruitment of a strong leadership which represents the diverse cultures of the employees and can effectively prevent prejudices and discriminations based on differences. Another method to manage diversity is to offer training and education which promotes embracing of different cultures or ways of thinking to create an open minded work force. A change in the culture and management system to incorporate diversity is also effective in managing diversity in the workplace. It not only creates a sense of belonging for all in the workplace but also fosters good relations and open communication channels needed for a company’s growth. 5. Briefly discuss the individual steps of the decision-making process. The foremost step of decision-making involves a description of the problem (Dessler, 2007). An initial assessment of the problem is clearly defined to understand why it is a problem and why you want to find solutions. The second step is clarifying your objectives. This step involves listing all concerns and converting them to precise objectives that lay the foundation of seeking possible solutions to the problem at hand. It also involves counterchecking the objectives to ensure that they seek to capture their interests of the process. The third step is identifying alternative solutions to the problem presented. Alternatives provide different options to choose from while making a decision. The fourth step is analyzing the consequences of the alternatives. It is important to clearly understand what each alternative will achieve if chosen. The final step is making a decision based on all the possible solutions listed from the alternatives. 6. Discuss several methods managers can use to make better decisions. There are various methods that managers can use to make better decisions. Increasing your knowledge about an issue is one way that helps managers understand it before making a decision based on facts. However, using your intuition can also improve your ability to make decisions especially where this is driven by moral obligation. Another method used to make effective decisions is to weigh the pros and cons of the options presented. This enables a manager to make a decision which presents more advantages than disadvantages from a set of alternatives thus making better decisions. Making decisions when the time is right could help make the right decisions. Decisions made while angry or emotional can often have destructive effects thus it is best to make decisions when calm. Finally, not all decisions are final and a good manager should allow for flexibility, which improves on the decisions made. 7. Discuss the components of a business plan and its functions. The components of a business plan are an executive summary, a company description, a marketing plan, a financial plan and a management plan. An executive summary summarizes what is contained in the business plan whereas the company description states the objectives and outlines the future and the past of the company. A marketing plan describes the nature of products offered and services provides and the target market. It also outlines how the marketing department plans to reach the target audience and the distribution channels that will be used. The management plan outlines roles and responsibilities and their qualifications. It presents the management structure from top management to the subordinate roles. A financial plan outlines how much money has been put in the project and how much more will be required when production scales up. It also shows the assets of the business and what owners stand to lose should the business close down when pitching to financiers. 8. Discuss the techniques of forecasting and developing planning premises. Quantitative and qualitative forecasting are the two sales forecasting techniques used in planning. Quantitative forecasting studies trends, relationships and patterns in data using mathematical models to analyze data whereas predictive techniques based on human opinions and estimations are used in qualitative techniques.These estimates and opinions based on human judgment are gathered in a logical and systematic way and are used to forecast factors being tested. For quantitative techniques, sets of observations collected at specific and equal intervals known as time series are observed for patterns (Dessler, 2007). Casual method where mathematical relations are observed from projections from various forecasting techniques is also used. Besides sales forecasting techniques, other forecasting and development planning premises include marketing research and also forecasting and supply chain management. Market research includes analyzing both primary and secondary data and competitive intelligence analysis. 14. Discuss the various types of organizational boundaries, how each interferes with productivity and methods for abolishing each. There are four types of organizational boundaries and they include; authority boundary, task, political and identity boundaries (Dessler, 2007). Authority boundary is manifested between managers and subordinatesbased on the chain of command and superiority. It can be abolished by encouraging managers to delegate accountability and not responsibility to subordinates. Task boundary is where different employees are divided by the tasks they perform. For example, receptionist may feel inferior to a department manager based on the different roles they play in the company. Task boundary can be abolished by promoting teamworkto foster good relationships and a cordial working environment that does not make any role feel inferior to another. Identity boundaries divides employees on the basis values and experiences whereas political boundary is fueled by department wants and who benefits from an activity. Political boundaries are abolished through decentralizing organization authority and departmental rules whereas teamwork abolishes identity boundaries. 17. Describe the role of human resources management in staffing an organization and the tools utilized The role of human resource management is to assist and advise line managers to make the right decisions during recruitment and give the right orders to employees within their departments to increase employee output. The tools utilized to measure how human resource management is valuable to the company growth include metrics such as cost per hire, HR expense factor, health costs per employee and revenue factor. Human resource management researches on new trends in human resource and job descriptions and helps management to staff the company effectively with the best people qualified to perform the role. 18. Relate how orienting and training affect appraising and compensating employees. Orienting new employees to the company’s structure, culture and their job description enables them to feel welcome and settle into their roles with ease. Daily routine, company policies, details on employment benefits and expected compensation are among the things covered during orientation. Training new employees equips them to improve their skills and also equips them with new skills to complete the job and concurrently develop the right attitude to the tasks provided also generally improves personnel output. The rules and expectations guide them through their roles and they are fully aware on how they will be appraised when the job is completed. This makes the appraisal and compensation process an easy task ad also motivates them to outperform their targets and increase their bonuses. Reference Dessler, G. (2007). Management: Principles and Practice for Tomorrow’s Leaders Update 3e. Boston, Massachusetts: Houghton Mifflin. Read More