Managers Responsibility Nowadays - Assignment Example

Chapter One How do you feel about having manger’s responsibility in today’s world characterized by uncertainty, ambiguity, and sudden changes or threats from the environment? Describe some skills and qualities that are important to managers under those conditions. I feel that managers today need to have a lot more skills to be able to be effective in the work environment. Although there are sudden changes sometimes, managers are much better equipped to deal with any threats because training programs are much more vigorous. Also, there is a lot more literature available to managers to work with to help them to manage more effectively. Some of the skills and qualities that are important to managers under these conditions are flexibility, openness, and creativity. Although a manager can plan for every conceivable outcome, there are some circumstances that may not be foreseen. In this case, a manager needs to be able to adapt quickly and change the focus of the whole organization. Additionally, a manager needs to be open to ideas from anyone in the organization. In the traditional model of management, opinions would not be sought from regular employees, but these days we now know that it is important to let everyone have an opinion because it will improve the complexity of ideas. Finally, because most industries are so competitive and free trade is encouraged, there is little chance to break into the market. For this reason, managers need to have creative ideas that can give their organization a competitive advantage. 2- Is efficiency or effectiveness more important to organizational performance? Can manage improve both simultaneously? Efficiency and effectiveness are both important to organizational performance because they each have an impact on organizational success. If a manager is in charge of an organization that is efficient but not effective, then while productivity may be high, organizational performance will not be at the most optimal. On the other hand, if effectiveness is high but efficiency is poor, then the organization will likely lose some market share because productivity will not be at maximum. It is important that managers get the balance of these two factors right because an imbalance will lead to failing to meet organizational objectives. Managers can improve both efficiency and effectiveness at the same time by changing organizational goals to fit with the capabilities of a firm. For example, if an organization wants to sell 1,000,000 units by the end of the year, but it is only on track for 700,000, then it might be a good idea to revise the target down to 800,000. This still provides some incentive for workers to reach, but organizational performance can increase slightly to meet the revised target. Effectiveness can be increased if efficiency can be improved, and this can only happen by revising organizational objectives. Chapter Two: 3- How do societal forces influence the practice and theory of management? Do you think new management techniques are a response to these forces? Societal forces do influence the practice and theory of management because managing people does involve society. Management practices are designed to improve both the efficiency and work environment of employees. The benefits of this are two-fold: (1) employers get workers that are motivated to work hard, which increases output; and (2) employees are treated like human beings and get the respect that they feel they deserve. Traditional management theory dictated that employees were there to be worked into the ground. However, this only decreased productivity because workers were too tired to continue to remain at optimal capacity. Societal forces showed that this old model did not work as planned, so management theory and practices had to change. With an increase in human rights within society, such as allowing women to vote and also giving more rights to blacks, managers had no choice but to respond in turn in the workplace. New management techniques are a response to these forces because there was simply no other option available. Changing societal forces will continue to influence the practice and theory of management, such as with the increase in gay rights, because society will demands that these new changes are accepted in the workplace. 4- Based in your experience at work or school, describe some ways in which the principles of scientific management and bureaucracy are still used in organizations. Do you believe these characteristics will ever cease to be a part of organizational life? Discuss The principles of scientific management and bureaucracy are still used in organizations with regards to the need to get the permission of the head manager to enact something in the workplace. This process is designed to ensure accountability, but the reality is that it just slows everything down because an idea needs to be signed off by many different people. In this day and age, it should be enough to get the consent of a direct manager rather than going through to the guy at the top. Modern technology makes it possible for meetings to be held even if all the participants are not onsite. If communication channels could be opened for individual employees to air their concerns, then it is likely that the organization would run more efficiently. Instead, barriers are put into place to ensure that authority is not abused and that no one steps over the boundaries that are there to stop this. I think that these characteristics will cease to be a part of organizational life because greater competitiveness in the marketplace will force managers to delegate more authority to their subordinates so that they can take advantage of market opportunities. Chapter Three: 5- What do you think are the most important forces in the external environment creating uncertainty for organization today? Do the forces you identified typically arise in the task environment or the general environment? In my opinion, the most important forces in the external environment creating uncertainty for organizations today both political and economic. The reason why politics is shaping the way that organizations are run is due to concern over the environment. Global warming is now a real concern among many industries, and as government realizes this then they will crack down on violators and put some concrete laws and regulations into place. This may not be a bad thing because it has the potential to increase organization performance, but the uncertainty about it will force organizations to adjust their goals and objectives because of it. For economic reasons, this force will create huge uncertainty for organizations today because of the volatile state of the economy. No organization wants to expand if there is a chance that the economy will tank in the next year because it has the potential to set an organization back enormously. Also, it will be more common to see workers cut from their jobs because of rising wages and decreasing returns on investments. Both political and economic forces are in the general environment because they do not have a direct effect on organizational performance but they do influence from afar. 6- Why are symbols important to a corporate culture? Do stories, heroes, slogans, and ceremonies have symbolic value? Discuss. Symbols are extremely important to a corporate culture because it helps to pull to workforce together. However, symbols themselves do not really affect corporate culture because there needs to be some policies in place that can change the culture of the workplace. Symbols are popular because they are often simple and easy to recognize, and also they provide an identity for a firm. Corporate culture is made up of everyone that works in an organization, from the cleaning lady to the general manager. It is up to the individual actions of all of these people to determine corporate culture. Managers always like to use symbols to help foster relations between diverse groups of people. For example, it is a common sight to see all the employees in a workplace wearing the same uniform. Usually these uniforms will have a symbol or the logo of the corporation on them. This helps every employee to identify with the organization, but more importantly it helps them to identify with each other. Stories, heroes, slogans, and ceremonies do have symbolic value, but if they are not backed up through action, then there is little point to them. While these things are external, there does need to be internal action to correspond to it. Chapter Four: 7- What specifically would the experience of the living and working in another country contribute to your skill and effectiveness as manager in your own country? Being a manager requires a multitude of skills in order to be able to handle many different outcomes in the workplace. For managers that have worked in the same country for their whole lives, or at least have only managed the same ethnic group of people, their managerial techniques will be somewhat limited because they do not have the experience of managing employees from diverse backgrounds. Managing in another country can increase a managers flexibility and creativeness because they will be exposed to different styles of managing. This does not take away from their ability to manage but rather adds to it because they can draw upon many different cultural experiences. Living and working in another country is not easy because there are many challenges involved; however, doing it for a short time can actually prove to be beneficial. When a manager returns back to their own country, they are able to handle conflict better and also increase communication channels among workers. More importantly, they can better identify the individual needs of each worker because even employees from the same culture can have different personalities. This requires the ability to change management styles to suit the needs of the organization. 8- Compare the advantage associated with the foreign-market entry strategies of exporting, outsourcing, licensing, and wholly owned subsidiaries. What information would you need to collect and what factors would you consider when selecting a strategy? Whenever an organization chooses to expand overseas, there can be many risks involved. This is why it is so important to choose a foreign-market entry strategy that decreases risks and maximizes opportunities. Unfortunately there is not one single entry method that is perfect because there are pros and cons for each entry strategy. Additionally, the capabilities of a firm and also the market conditions in the foreign country will determine the best entry strategy moving forward. For organizations that are still relatively small and do not have a lot of capital to expand, the entry strategy of exporting is the best one to choose because there are few risks involved. The organization does not need to set up a base of operations in the foreign country; this makes it easier to get out if the deal turns bad. Another strategy that can be good is outsourcing, especially if the cost of wages is too high in the country where an organization is already operating. Choosing this entry method can reduce costs considerably, which can boost revenues. Licensing and wholly owned subsidiaries are much more complex and should only be taken by firms that are already located across much of the globe. The risks are higher with these strategies because it may be possible to lose everything. Read More