Management(various non-typical intangible assets which can help a manager) - Essay Example

Running Head: Management Evaluating the extent to which intangible resources can be used to legitimise management ity in organisations [Name of writer] [Name of institution] Evaluating the extent to which intangible resources can be used to legitimise management authority in organisations Resources are inputs of an organization which help it carry out its day to day activities and achieve long term goals. Resources can either be tangible or intangible. Tangible resources include stocks, materials, machinery, buildings, human resources, capital etc. Tangible resources are produced or attained from outside the organization unlike intangible resources which are developed within the organization. Intangible resources include skills, knowledge, brand name, goodwill etc (Campbell et al: 2002, 37). Intangible resources include; (Dess: 2004, 87) Human resources (knowledge, organizational routines) Innovation Resources (idea, Scientific capabilities, capacity to innovate) Reputational resources (reputation with customers and suppliers, brand name, perception of product quality, durability and reliability, inter organization relationships) Managerial resources (leadership, communication, motivation etc) It can be noticed that intangible assets of an organization are not things which can be acquired or bought but are rather developed. These are a set of instructions, knowledge etc which along with the tangible assets of the organization, help in running the organization and completing day to day activities. Intangible assets bring a new configuration of the things making it more valuable and accessible. Apart from all the above mentioned intangible resources this paper will discuss managerial intangible resources which a manager draws upon to fulfil his role. This paper discusses and evaluated how intangible resources can be used to legitimise management authority in organizations. In order to do so, the paper describes what intangible assets are and what management is. Later, it discusses what is meant by management and what the connection between management authority and intangible assets is. Management is an art. It is an art of planning, organizing, directing and monitoring. It is an art of managing people. It is also science. Science is how you mange to do all this. It can also be said as an act of directing, controlling, coordinating and harmonizing people towards the accomplishment of a goal. It also comprises of deployment and proper use of human resources, technological resources and financial resources. Those people or groups of people who manage these things are the management. In the late seventies and eighties management was considered as an engineering. Any company was considered as a machine, the managers were the operators and the workers, merely pawns. Today management has a whole new concept (McCrimmon: 2007, n.p). The efficiency in the workers reflects the efficiency of the manager. If the manager is incompetent then the efficiency of the workers does not change, rather in some cases it goes down. Managers take responsibility of what they do. They are creative and analyzing. Managers discover what is unique about a person and then use his unique quality to achieve their goals. The job of a manager is to achieve performance using a person's talent (Buckingham, n.p. 2005). However, in order for the manager to do his job, it is very important for him to have some authority over his employees. This authority is not only given to him by the higher management when he is hired, he also makes use of intangible assets and resources to legitimise this authority such as skills and knowledge. A manager has a bird's eye view of the entire system and the entire organization. He is the one who makes use of this knowledge and expertise to not only take strategic decisions, but also prove that he is capable for this position (Buckingham, n.p. 2005). An important part of intangible assets which a manger makes use of is leadership qualities which help him legitimise authority in organization. Leadership means to influence and motivate others. In an organization it affects the cost, revenue, earnings, share prices, motivation and engagements. Management is a subset of leadership. Effective leadership ensures effectiveness in organization. In an organization a leader sets direction, puts in effort to influence people so that they may follow this direction. This direction if set by the higher management and it goes towards goal attainment. There are four major functions of management. Planning, organizing, leading and controlling. Leadership is just not these four functions; it is more than that and beyond that. These functions are focused on resources but leading is focused more on influencing. (McNamara, n.p. 1997). There are two types of leaders; formal and informal. Formal leaders are appointed by the organization. They have a particular post and responsibilities. They have been appointed due to their skills and education. In our case, Vice President Production or Vice President Finance were appointed because they were qualified and had managerial skills (McNamara, n.p. 1997). On the other hand, informal leaders are chosen by the employees or co-workers due to their skills and personality traits. Such people work for the rights of workers. When these informal leaders have same goals as formal leaders, the organization can progress with light speed and cultivate huge profits. These people have qualities which, formal leaders might not have. Sometimes it is not because they wanted to become leaders but due to the great respect an organization has for them, they are considered as leaders. Formal leaders often try to benefit from these informal leaders in order to attain certain goals. Formal leader can be a president or the CEO, whereas informal leader can be any worker or supervisor. Organizations do not need just managers, but they need leaders also. Leadership is important because a leader innovates whereas; a manager administers. A manager works on system and focuses on the structure but a leader inspires trust. A manager has a short term view of the scenario but a leader has a bird's eye view of everything. A manager initiates the process but a leader creates it. Therefore; it is important for an organization to have managers who can be leaders (Bennis, n.p. 1989). Another important intangible asset is the ability to communicate effectively. Effective communication is a key to success in a workplace. International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) defines employee communication as; "the process of exchanging information, creating understanding and behaviours among employees within an organization that reinforce the organization's vision, values and culture among employees, who can then communicate the company's message to external audiences" (Gillis, 2, 2007). There are two types of communication in an organization, internal and external. In internal communication you present and interpret facts; whereas in external communication you spread goodwill for the company, in order to achieve good business. Internal communication takes place within the company. It can be between the top level management and the middle level management or the middle level management and the first level management. Communication is necessary in order to solve problems, resolve conflicts and achieve goals (Cushman and Cahn, 102, n.d) Another important intangible asset for a manger is his ability to bring in various employees together as a team in order to achieve the goals and objectives of the organization. A single person in an organization cannot work alone to achieve a goal. Everybody in the organization need to work together as a team; therefore we can say that team work means to work together in away that we benefit from each other. An effective team is the one whose basic aim is to get good, sustainable results. Teamwork helps achieve strategic goals and magnify the achievements of individuals and enable the organization to serve the customers better. Teamwork improves Quality, Flexibility, coordination, development and productivity. A team is not just group of people who happen to be together. Teams are built with people who have common goals and are ready to help each other in achieving that goal. Communication plays an important role in any team. (Molen and Hoogland, 10-35, 2005) Teamwork helps enhance success, promote creativity and sometimes it is fun as it reduces tension and stress. If members of team do not act together then this team can cause negative effects also. Sometimes decision making in teams is slow, as everybody has a different opinion. A lot of time is wasted in constructing a good team. Apart from all the above mentioned assets which a manager can draw upon, motivation plays a very dynamic role. Motivation can be said as the reason for doing a certain thing or engaging in a certain behavior and its reasons. There are two types of motivation, intrinsic motivation and extrinsic motivation. In intrinsic motivation people do something not because they will get some reward but because they like it. In extrinsic motivation people do something because they know they are going to get rewarded for it. One of the best extrinsic awards is money. There are many theories concerning motivation. For motivation the first thing to do is to organize tasks and goals. Many different tasks make up a goal. So dividing a goal in different tasks will help us see if we are moving towards the goal and this is quite motivating itself (Neil Jr and Drillings, 25-40, 1994) The paper above discussed in details various non-typical intangible assets which can help a manager do his job and provide the authority and leadership he needs to manage the organization. Tangible assets and other intangible assets might also play an important role, however it is very difficult to run an organization effectively without the above mentioned resources. These resources come from within an organization, can be enhanced but cannot be acquired if a person does not have them. Effective manager and management determine the productivity of the staff, culture of organization and ultimate failure or success of an organization. Developing effective management skills to deal with organizational problems is the need of today's organizations. Companies should see that effective training and development programs are held so that managers learn new skills and strategies in order to manage the organization more effectively. References Bennis, Warren G. (1989). On Becoming a Leader. Reading: Addison-Wesley Buckingham, Marcus. (2005). What great managers do; Harvard business review Gillis, Tamara. L. (2007).Employee communication is no small wonder; Communication world. Retrieved 2nd December 2009 from; Campbell, David; Stonehouse,George; Houston, Bill (2002) Business Strategy; An introduction; The Business organization: competencies and activities. A Butterworth-Heinemann Title; 2 edition (9 Jul 2002) Cushman , Donald P. Dudley D. Cahn (n.d) Communication in Interpersonal Relationships (Suny Series in Human Communication Processes) State Univ of New York Pr Dess, Gregory (2004) Strategic Management; creating competetive advantages. Irwin/McGraw-Hill; 2 edition (January 2004) Gillis, Tamara. L. (2007).Emplyee communication is no small wonder; Communication world. Retrieved 2nd December 2009 from; http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m4422/is_5_24/ai_n19520083/pg_2 http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m4422/is_5_24/ai_n19520083/pg_2 McCrimmon, Mitch (2007). What is management today; the essence and importance of management. Retrieved 2nd December 2009 from; http://businessmanagement.suite101.com/article.cfm/what_is_management_today McNamara, Carter. (1997); Adapted from Field Guide to Leadership and Supervision; overview of leadership in an organization; Retrieved 2nd December 2009 from; http://www.managementhelp.org/ldrship/ldrship.htm#anchor4623 Molen, Henk T and Hoogland, Yvonne.H Gramsbergen (2005) Communication in Organization: Basic Skills and Conversation Models; Communication in Organization: Basic Skills and Conversation Models Neil Jr, Harold and Drillings, Michael (1994) Motivation: Theory and Research; Lawrence Erlbaum; 1 edition Read More