management

Introduction

The old economy refers to the blue chip industries that experienced high growth at the beginning of the 20^th century due to rapid industrialization. The old economy was characterized by companies that focused on mass production and heavy investments in physical assets such as factories. Advancements in information and communication technologies led to the emergence of the new economy, which is characterized by a large service industry, technology, and electronic commerce (Walters, 2004, pp. 346-357). This paper will discuss the differences between doing business in the old and the new economy.

Business Strategy for the Old and New Economy

In the old economy, business strategy focused on increasing production in order to serve new markets across the globe. Thus, companies focused on expansion through both organic growth and acquisitions. Vertical integration was also an integral business strategy in the old economy. Managers had to build end-to-end businesses in order to control their supply chains (Walters, 2004, pp. 346-357). Corporate strategy focused on improving cost efficiency by achieving economies of scale through mass production.

The business strategy for the new economy focuses on innovation and creation of new knowledge. This helps in developing new products and reducing operating costs. Investing in advanced information technologies such as the internet is one of the strategies used to achieve innovation and creation of new knowledge (Ansoff, 2007, p. 52). For instance, retailers are shifting from physical to online stores to increase their market shares, to improve customer service, and to reduce operating costs.

Motivation for Becoming an E-business

An e-business is a company that uses electronic commerce to conduct activities such as selling, marketing, and providing customer service. The motivations for becoming an e-business include the following. First, e-business enables companies to expand their operations by gaining instant worldwide exposure (Sadler, 2003, p. 147). For instance, a company can use its sales website to serve customers in any part of the world. Second, e-business promotes sales by enabling companies to operate 24 hours a day.

Third, e-business leads to significant cost reductions. It enables companies to streamline business processes such as billing, procurement, and supply chain management. This leads to reduction of costs associated with maintenance, repair, and labor. Fourth, e-business platforms facilitate provision of excellent customer service (Lapiedra, Smithson, & Chiva, 2004, pp. 219-228). For instance, online marketing systems enable customers to get instant feedback concerning their queries and to interact directly with the sales team. Finally, e-business facilitates effective control of various business processes by providing the information that managers need to make decisions.

Ways in which IT Makes the New Economy to be Different from the Old One

The new economy differs from the old one in terms of its six characteristics namely, knowledge, digitization, virtualization, innovation, dismidiation, and internetworking. IT has facilitated these differences in the following ways. First, IT has enabled companies to develop “knowledge management systems that facilitate creation, storage, and dissemination of information” (Ansoff, 2007, p. 139). In the new economy, companies use computer-based databases to store and access the knowledge needed to improve competitiveness. Second, advancements in IT have led to digitization of information and communication in the new economy. Digitization has improved the quality of information, thereby shifting business processes such as marketing, procurement, and sales from manual to online platforms.

Third, information technologies such as video conferencing have led to creation of a virtual business environment. This includes virtual shopping malls, offices, government agencies, and distribution systems. Fourth, IT facilitates dismediation by eliminating middlemen functions in the supply chain (Walters, 2004, pp. 346-357). For instance, online business-to-business sales platforms eliminate the role of wholesalers in the supply chain. Finally, the advent of peer-to-peer internet-based networks has enabled small companies to overcome the barriers to economies of scale that characterized the old economy.

Porter’s Models

Porter’s competitive model identifies five forces that businesses must overcome to improve their competitiveness. These include competitive rivalry, threat of substitutes, threat of new entrants, suppliers’ bargaining power, and buyers’ bargaining power (Sadler, 2003, p. 93). Porter’s generic model identifies three strategies for responding to the aforementioned forces. These include cost-leadership, differentiation, and the focus strategy. Cost-leadership involves improving profits by reducing operating costs. In the old economy, companies reduced costs by achieving economies of scale in production. In the new economy, companies employ e-business technologies to reduce the costs associated with inventory, labor, and sales. The cost leadership strategy helps in overcoming high competitive rivalry, as well as, the threat of new entrants and substitutes.

Differentiation involves developing unique products to overcome the threat of substitutes and new entrants, as well as, the bargaining power of buyers and suppliers. In the old economy, differentiation focused on improving product quality in order to attract and retain customers. In the new economy, differentiation mainly focuses on delivering innovative outputs in order to enhance customer loyalty (Ansoff, 2007, p. 165). The focus strategy involves serving a particular market through differentiation or cost-leadership. Given the high competition in the new economy, companies focus on serving specific market segments, which they best understand. The resulting improvement in customer value enables firms to increase their profit margins.

Agile and Adaptive Organizations

An agile organization is a company “that is flexible, robust, and capable of responding rapidly to unexpected challenges, events, and opportunities” (Ansoff, 2007, p. 213). Agile companies use an inverted management pyramid to promote innovation by including employees in decision-making processes. Agile firms believe in continuous learning, as well as, generation and sharing of knowledge. The organizational culture of an agile firm promotes liberty, cooperation, and high productivity among employees. In the new economy, agile firms use IT to enhance their flexibility, creation of knowledge, and decision-making processes. In the old economy, the use of command and control management systems and inadequate investments in IT reduced firms’ ability to become agile.

An adaptive organization is a company that “constantly matches and synchronizes the demand and supply of its goods and services in order to prevent wastes and losses” (Sadler, 2003, p. 245). In the new economy, firms become adaptive by optimizing the use of key resources. Adaptive firms in the new economy avoid holding large inventories in order to reduce their operating costs. They use advanced information technologies to plan their production to ensure that their supply is adequate to meet existing demand. However, firms in the old economy were less adaptive since they focused on holding large inventories. This tied up their capital in unproductive resources, thereby reducing their ability to respond to unexpected challenges and opportunities.

Real-time Business and Information Systems

A real-time information system is a computer-based technique that facilitates immediate processing and access to data. Businesses often use real-time information systems to process and to manage their transactions. A real-time business information system is an “approach to data analytics that enables managers to access up-to-the-minute data by directly accessing operational systems and data warehouses” (Lapiedra, Smithson, & Chiva, 2004, pp. 219-228). The techniques that are used to implement real-time business information systems include data virtualization and data federation. Real-time business and information systems enable managers to make instant decisions to respond to market needs in time.

Failures of Real-time Business and Information Systems

First, real-time business and information systems can fail due to inadequate information security. For instance, unauthorized access to the systems can lead to lose of important information that companies need to improve their competitiveness. Second, real-time business and information systems can lead to information overload (Ansoff, 2007, p. 263). This can slow the process of making decisions. Third, the effectiveness of real-time business and information systems depend on the quality of the data fed into them. Thus, they can provide misleading information if the data fed into them is unreliable.

Conclusion

The old economy was characterized by companies that focused on mass production, whereas their counterparts in the new economy achieve competitive advantages by investing in information technologies and innovation. The main characteristics of the new economy include generation of new knowledge, dismediation, innovation, and virtualization. These characteristics have been achieved through heavy investments in information technologies. Moreover, these characteristics enable companies in the new economy to be more agile and adaptive than their counterparts in the old economy.

References

Ansoff, I. (2007). Strategic Management. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill. Web.

Lapiedra, R., Smithson, S., & Chiva, R. (2004). Role ofinformation systems on the business network formation process: An empirical analysis ofthe automotive sector. Journal of Enterprise Information Management, 17(3), 219-228. Web.

Sadler, P. (2003). Strategic Management. London, England: Kogan Page. Web.

Walters, D. (2004). A business model for the new economy. International Journal of Physical Distribution and Logistics Management, 34(3), 346-357. Web.

Abstract

The impact of technological innovation for business enterprises, governmental and non –governmental organizations has been massive. However, to be able to take advantage of its benefits, organizations have been forced to adopt change management principles. This paper looks at the impact of technological innovation within the healthcare industry, which my organization falls in. Among the benefits identified in the health care sector as a result of technological innovation include cost reduction, improvement of quality, and improved communications. In addition, the concept of the internet and other medical applications in the area of telemedicine has been able to impact a lot on access to medical care. However, technological innovation has also resulted in the need for additional skills.

Introduction

Technological advancements across different industries and organizational setups in the recent century have brought with them a revolution. Technological innovations generally are meant to bring new concepts, approaches, efficiencies, or ideas of doing things. However, it is the adoption of such ideas or concepts that presents the greatest challenges to many organizations.

Since technological innovation initiates radical shifts in operational environments, organizations must similarly initiate internal change (Thouin, Hoffman & Ford, 2008). As a result, technological innovation benefits can only be fully capitalized on by organizations if they are able to adopt the principles of change management. This paper looks at the impact of technological innovation within the healthcare industry, which my organization falls in.

Efficiency

Health care information and communication technology applications cannot be mentioned without highlighting the manner in which the efficiency of operations has increased with more inventions. Technological innovation has resulted in achieving great efficiencies, particularly in improving communication, records management, diagnostic accuracy, and even safety. Technological equipment advancement in the health care sector has significantly reduced cases of inaccurate diagnosis and prescription through the availability of improved, fast, and accurate testing equipments and kits.

Through the use of a healthcare management system, patient history and progress monitoring have been made easier. All information about individual patients can be accurately stored and relayed to any department within the hospital without involving the patient. This has resulted in time-saving. Safety in hospitals has also been enhanced. The development of special sterilizers and the development of highly sensitive equipment have enabled the reduction of risks associated with contamination and the spread of contagious diseases within the hospital.

Cost

With economic considerations having an impact in healthcare organizations, there has been a need to reduce costs of operations. Globally, the quest for sustainable and affordable health care has been intensified in the recent past. Technological innovations have largely contributed to cost reduction within health care settings in many ways. For instance, the internet alone has led to a significant reduction in the costs of information flow and administrative duties within hospitals. For example, it is now possible to ensure real-time patient-physician information exchange through video streaming capabilities availed through different online applications.

The development of simple but effective equipment like handheld blood and saliva analyzers, pregnancy test kits, and other health tests and monitoring tools have even resulted in cost reduction (Goyen & Debatin, 2009). As a result, the number of patients to be handled by doctors in a day also reduces when individuals are able to monitor their health conditions without actually going to the hospitals. Advanced medical equipment has also lead to the elimination of waste, mainly related to medical errors. With reduced patient waiting and diagnostic terms, hospitals are also able to save in costs associated with extra capacity, particularly for outpatient sections.

Quality

Quality assurance in the health care sector is one of the most important objectives. The adoption of modern technology has significantly helped in quality assurance in hospitals in many ways. Particularly, customer service, reduction of errors, increased capacity, and faster decision making are some of the major components of quality that have been improved through technological advancement.

Patients are able to be served in good time, and their results relayed immediately through a health management system (Omachonu & Einspruch, 2010). As a result, they are able to understand their situations and even provide useful information that goes a long way in helping doctors and nurses to provide appropriate care. This has also boosted confidence among patients.

The availability of health care management systems has also increased accountability since technological tools have a characteristic of leaving information trails. Through such computer operated and controlled systems, the management of schedules for employees has also been effectively improved. Patient safety and quick recovery have also been enhanced through elimination of errors and availability of real time monitoring and intervention solutions like CT scans among others.

Access

The concept of internet and other medical applications in the area of telemedicine has been able to impact a lot on access of medical care. Through internet applications like live chat, doctors and patients are able to interact without arranging for a physical meet. As a result, anyone is able to access medical guidance and manage their schedule through online booking of appointments and even prescriptions. In areas where health care infrastructure is not yet fully developed, the information and communications flow capability of health care related ICT applications have been of great benefit.

As a result, the types of jobs and cost of living have been largely impacted. For jobs, the nature of occupations in health care has been significantly altered. This is because technological innovation has effectively reduced face to face handling of patients and given most of the testing and diagnostic work to machines. The skills needed in hospitals today therefore have widened in scope to include technical operations and computer manipulation skills. As a result, additional training has been needed. The cost of living has been significantly lowered as already noted.

Change Management

In order to adapt to technological shifts, management must be ready to follow the principles of change management to assist in cultural and organization change. For a healthcare organization, there are many implementation initiatives that may be employed to enable effective and convenient change management.

First, the importance of effective communication will continue to remain relevant. Through this, all stakeholders will learn the objectives of technological change and increase adoption rates (Doppelt, 2009). Management should be able to communicate through various channels available to ensure that all employees and customers understand not only understand the important of the proposed changes but also their part in making the needed change to be successful.

Secondly, management must embrace diversity given that the healthcare industry is made up of individuals from different cultural backgrounds. According to Doppelt (2009), culture is a big influencer of change management. This is because culture determines the attitudes, beliefs and general behavior of individuals. As a result, it is usually common to find differentiated ideas with regards to some elements of the proposed changes.

The recognition of management that cultural foundations play a big role in the determination of success for the implementation of change is therefore a first step to ensuring the all goes according to plan. Through this, everyone is handled in a manner that their cultural inclinations do not affect their performance.

In addition, planning of change and effective involvement of all departments and employees is key to the success of implementation (Aggelidis & Chatzoglou, 2009). It is through planning that each unit or department is able to understand their part of contributions to the required changes and the set timelines. Consequently, every employee within each department is able to also work towards the set departmental targets.

Motivation and goal setting is also an important principle that management may employ to ensure that there is a faster acceptance of change in healthcare institutions (Doppelt, B. (2009). There are many ways that organizations may motivate their employees to provide the needed input for a successful transition to another technological dispensation.

Training is one of the most important motivators. It not only ensures that all employees have the basic skills to be needed for the new operational processes but also make the employees confident in handling the new procedures without backlash in areas of customer service. This is because a motivated employee usually results into a happier customer. Other forms of motivation like the use of reward and recognition may also be essential for the organization’s change management plan.

References

Aggelidis, V. P., & Chatzoglou, P. D. (2009). Using a modified technology acceptance model in hospitals. International Journal of Medical Informatics, 78(2), 115-126.

Doppelt, B. (2009). Leading change toward sustainability-: a change-management guide for business, government and civil society. Sheffield: Greenleaf Publishing.

Goyen, M., & Debatin, J. F. (2009). Healthcare costs for new technologies. European Journal of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging, 36(1), 139-143.

Omachonu, V. K., & Einspruch, N. G. (2010). Innovation in healthcare delivery systems: A conceptual framework. The Innovation Journal: The Public Sector Innovation Journal, 15(1), 2.

Thouin, M. F., Hoffman, J. J., & Ford, E. W. (2008). The effect of information technology investment on firm-level performance in the health care industry. Health Care Management Review, 33(1), 60-68.

Harrington’s Process Breakthrough Methodology

The Harrington’s Process Breakthrough Methodology formulated by James H Harrington focuses on the advantages of applying cross functional management to the performance of an organization. This is done for the reason of increasing profitability. (Harrington, 1991)

Nature of BPM

Business Process management (BPM) is methodological approach aimed at increasing the efficiency and adaptability of an organization. The aim of business process management is to maximize productivity in an organization by ensuring that all the stakeholders in an organization are aware of their functions. The nature of business process management is not static; it is dynamic and ever changing. (Harmon, 2007)

Change Agents

The concept of change agents in management is used in reference to an individual whose purpose is to initiate change in an organization with the aim of increasing profitability, productivity, efficiency and client satisfaction. An effective change agent is distinguished by enabling an organization to fulfill its full potential and effect changes that last. Essentially, an effective change agent enables an organization to achieve that which was unattainable in the past. (Burnes, 2009)

Specific reasons of resisting change

The work of a change agent is complicated by people who are resistant to change. According to Dawson (2003), people may resist change because fear of job loss, uncertainty whether they have the requisite skills for their altered roles and psychological threats, be they real or perceived. Resistance to change is also caused by loss of authority ad status and disruptions in the status quo

The Group Dynamics School of change Management

The group dynamics school of change Management was advanced by Kurt Lewin, an eminent social psychologist. Lewin highlighted the influence of management styles on the decision making of a group. Moreover, the theorist is credited with highlighting the effects of group dynamics on training and the development of an organization. (Lewin, 1973)

Forces that act as stimulants to organizational change

A factor that stimulates organizational change is multiculturalism and globalization. These days, most organizations have staff from different cultures, nationalities and ethnicities; this fact acts as a catalyst for organizational change. (Stephen, and Judge, 2010)

Technology is an essential catalyst for organizational change. The use of technology, especially computers has led to the re-orientation and replacement of many roles in the workplace. Furthermore, organizational change is stimulated by economic shocks, (Ibid) an illustration of this are the changes instituted in organizations after the global credit crunch.

Organizational change has been necessitated by competition. In recent times, organizations in virtually all sectors of the economy are experiencing stiff completion. To be able to deal with this, it has become necessary for organizations to adapt. In addition, organizational change has been attributed to shifting trends and attitudes that influence the popularity of a certain product or service in the consumer market. (Stephen and Judge, 2008)

Process management frameworks

Process management frameworks are similar actions that are geared towards streamlining the functions of an organization towards the client needs. This is done in order to maximize efficiency and productivity in the organization. The process management frameworks also have the advantage of ensuring organizations can respond faster to emerging situations in the market. (Brocke, 2010)

There are various process management frameworks in use by organizations. One of these is the corporate performance management; this framework is aimed primarily at the executives of a given organization. Corporate performance framework has the advantage of ensuring the executives in a company work efficiently and productively. (Wade and Recardo 2001)

Another process management framework is focused on the line of business that the company is involved in. For instance, a company that is involved in the I.T sector may adopt a process management framework that is suitable to their particular line of business as opposed to a grocery business that may apply a different framework. (Ibid)

The final process management framework is described as the operational performance framework. This framework deals with monitoring and evaluating the business activities of the organization. To illustrate this fact, an organization that deals with retail trade may use this framework to evaluate sales and supplies. (Ibid)

Does training for business and industry cost, or does it pay?

In recent times, a debate has been raging about the benefits of training vis-à-vis the cost implications of the initiative. Most organizations recognize the importance of training for their employees and yet are reluctant to implement the training programmes. The primary reason for this is the question of expense. Training is costly to the organization especially if the service is performed by an externally contracted company.

For example, in the illustration given, the company would probably be charged a considerable amount of money by the University, to carry out training of their employees. The cost implications are also extended to time.

Most training programs are time consuming and this time consumed is usually at the expense of the organization as few employees would be willing to sacrifice their personal time for the purposes of training. The time lost would have been utilized to increase productivity for the organization. Moreover, organizations are not assured that the trained employee will remain with the company, they might use the skills gained for the benefit of competitors. (Brinkerhoff, 2008)

However, there are several advantages for an organization to train its employees. Training has the advantage of increasing efficiency and productivity and in consequence, profitability. For instance, in the illustration given, the study done by the university determined that the employees of the company should receive training in benchmarking, continuous process improvement, use of quality tools, and problem solving. These are essential skills that would enable the employees to increase their efficiency and productivity.

Training also has the benefit of increasing job satisfaction, motivation, adaptability and morale among employees. Moreover, training better enables employees to be more innovative and enable them to adapt better to new technological advancements. In addition, training enables employees to work better in a multi-cultural workplace. It has also been observed that organizations that have training programs experience significantly less employee turnover. (McNamara, 2008)

It is clear that the benefits of training far outweigh the associated cost implications. Consequently, it is my opinion that training for businesses and industries.

References

Brinkerhoff, R. O. (2008). Evaluating training programs in business and industry. USA. Jossey-Bass Publishing Inc.

Brocke, J. (2010). Handbook on Business Process Management. Berlin. Springer Science Books, Inc.

Burnes, B. (2009). Managing Change: 5th ed. Harlow, UK. FT/Prentice Hall Inc.

Dawson, P. (2003). Understanding organizational change: the contemporary experience of people. London. Sage Publications Inc.

Harmon, P. (2007). Business process change: a guide for business managers and BPM and six sigma. USA. Elsevier Publishing Inc

Harrington, J. (1991). Business process improvement: the breakthrough strategy for total Quality. USA. McGraw Hill Inc.

Lewin, K. (1973). Resolving social conflicts: selected papers on group dynamics. Michigan. Souvenir Press Inc.

McNamara, C. (2008). The Free Management Library: Employee Training and Development: Reasons and Benefit. Web.

Stephen, R. P & Judge, T. (2008). Organizational behavior. USA. Prentice Hall Publishing Inc.

Wade, D. &. Recardo, R. (2001). Corporate performance management: how to build a better organization. USA. Butterworth-Heinemann Inc.

Introduction

Generally, businesses are run and directed by individuals. It is through these individuals that targets are set and objectives attained. Therefore, the performance of any business entity depends on the aggregate performance of its workforce.

The success of a business entity will thus depend upon its ability to accurately measure the performance of each personnel and apply it without prejudice to optimize their contribution (Performance Appraisal, n.d.). Individual performance can be described as an account of results produced by an individual in a given task. The assessment of a member of staff’s performance shows his/her contribution towards the organization’s goals or objectives (Performance Appraisal, n.d.)

In the last decade, a massive change in approaches to performance measurement has been witnessed. There has been an immense realization that is more significant to emphasize on describing, strategising and managing performance than simply evaluating or appraising performance (Performance Appraisal, n.d.).

Performance appraisal is a long-established approach to evaluating workers’ performance. Yet, many organizations still confuse performance appraisal and performance management. The two terms have absolutely different meanings (Actus, 2014).

The current business environment, which is very volatile and competitive, has prompted many businesses to shift from the knee jerk approach of performance appraisal to hands-on performance management approach to increase productivity and enhance overall performance.

This is one of the most welcomed changes of the last ten years (Actus, 2014). This essay will discuss the significance and tools of performance management. The difference between conventional and contemporary approaches to performance management will also be discussed. Last but not least, the essay will differentiate performance appraisal and performance management.

Significance and tools of performance management

As already been mentioned, individual performance is an account of results produced by an individual in a given task. An individual performance in an organization is very important since it contributes to the achievement of strategic goals and objective.

In addition, it contributes to growth, development and sustainability of the businesses at all levels (Performance Appraisal, n.d.). Everyday business environment is becoming more aggressive and complex. For this reason, businesses always strive to find novel ways of improving performance among employees (Actus, 2014).

Initially, businesses tried to achieve the above objective through employee performance appraisal, which was more focused on finding weaknesses in employees’ performance. Even though it served its purpose, it was not considered to be enough in optimizing performance.

As a result, businesses shifted to proactive performance management system to increase productivity and maximize performance (Actus, 2014). Performance management is a target-oriented process geared towards ensuring business processes is in the right position to optimize the efficiency of the workforce. It plays a big role in attaining organizational strategy because it entails evaluating and enhancing the value of personnel (Clausen, Jones & Rich, 2008, p. 64).

Performance management is a recurring process that is cyclical in nature. From a basic point of view, it consists of three stages: planning, midpoint discussion and performance evaluation. The planning stage entails meeting employees to establish main goals and actions that support realization of business objectives. The meeting also involves discussing employees’ career objectives, ambitions and other business related activities.

Mind point discussion, on the other hand, involves halfway review of the employees’ progress in realizing organization’s strategic goals and making adjustments where necessary. If possible, the management should carry out a progressive dialogue regarding job performance. Lastly, ultimate performance evaluation is based on the agreed goals. This is where necessary action is taken against poor performance, while excellent performance is recognized (Cornel University, 2014).

Performance management tools are increasingly becoming popular among medium-size and large enterprises. These enterprises use these tools to align employees to the tasks, strategies and processes, as well as influence financial determinants. The most commonly used tools are balance scorecard, Baldrige, Lean and Studer.

These tools can be used separately or in combination depending on the prevailing challenges. Baldrige is an all-inclusive approach to long-term quality excellence. It helps in building leadership skills that match thoughts and strategies (NRHRC, 2013, p. 1).

Lean, as the name suggests, is a fundamental theme of businesses that have effectively executed a lean performance management structure, that is, workflow process that is straightforward and consequential (Performance Appraisal, n.d.). On the other hand, Studer mainly focuses on the workforce.

It considers the employees as the most valuable asset in the organization. An enterprise that embraces Studer viewpoint usually tap into the interest and belief of what motivate workers to dedicate their entire life to an organization. The balance scorecard is the most popular of the above four tools. The scorecard approach offers both qualitative and quantitative measurements of contribution, and supply very important information (NRHRC, 2013, p. 2).

Scorecards take different shapes and forms, yet they have attracted a wide range of users across the board. This is because they allow for an immediate evaluation of key measures and the appraisal of individual status in an organization.

Thus, the scorecard is a very significant component in shaping the direction of the HR investment, performance enhancement and making use of prevention programs to sustain good results. The employee’s scorecard has three elements leading to the employee’s success; attitude and culture, ability and leadership and employees’ behaviour (NRHRC, 2013, p. 1).

The difference between traditional and modern approaches

The traditional methods and approaches to performance management are so basic due to the fact that they only provided a conservative view of an individual performance. They mainly focus on individual qualities and financial aspects. Therefore, the approaches are both counterproductive and do not guarantee 100 percent success (Performance Appraisal, n.d.).

The performance evaluation tools used do not provide a comprehensive view of the performance, hence the overall outcome and what the business should do to enhance the performance. The traditional approaches of performance management include straight ranking system, paired comparison technique, checklist system and critical incident technique among others (Performance Appraisal, n.d.).

The modern approaches are more dynamic, non-financial and tailored to specific business environments. The modern approaches use the traditional system, but add other aspects. They view an organization as a system of flows (information and financial) and resulting triads of logistical processes that help in evaluating employee performance (Performance Appraisal, n.d.).

It departs from the traditional approaches that were solely based on the financial indicators and certain individual attributes. In addition, they provide a comprehensive view of the performance and possible ways of enhancing overall results and performance. They represent the most effective methods of managing employees to achieve optimal performance. The modern approaches include balanced scorecard management system and strategic performance management system among others (Performance Appraisal, n.d.).

The difference between performance appraisal and performance management

The fundamental difference between performance appraisal and performance management is based on their scale of operation. They both entail setting of performance goals, performance review and formulating ways of realizing the set goals. They also set up clear vision and guideline on what is expected from employees, and attempts to spot obstacles to efficient performance.

However, performance appraisal is a restricted function of assessing past performance. It is normally conducted once or twice a year. In addition, it is distinct in nature and does not interfere with day to day work of employees (Richter, 2011, p. 3). On the other hand, performance management is a nonstop process of managing employees’ performance. It is proactive in nature.

Performance management makes sure that employees attain the set goals on actual time during the process, without future reassessments or corrections. It is a line activity, which means it is entrenched in the workers daily activities or operations (Richter, 2011, p. 4).

Performance management and appraisal also differ in their approaches. In performance management, the supervisors act as role coaches or advisers, while in performance appraisal they act as moderators.

A number of performance appraisal methods, for instance, management by objective draw near to performance management. This is because they permit joint setting of goals and frequent reviews. However, they still fail to match the real-time monitoring and evaluation of goals provided in performance management (Richter, 2011, p. 4).

The methodologies also differ. Performance appraisal is more strict and organized. Even though performance it allows for tailoring of fundamental areas, it is still rigid and based on equal rating. On the contrary, performance management is relatively informal and flexible. Akin to performance appraisal, it has well established procedures on what represents optimal performance.

However, since it entails real-time application, it permits adjustments on the established procedures. The adjustment depends on work conditions and circumstances (Richter, 2011, p. 4). Last but not least, performance management is normally tailored to particular job function or individuals, whereas performance appraisal is generally standardized (Richter, 2011, p. 5).

Conclusion

The success of any business entity depends on its ability to correctly gauge the performance of each personnel and apply it without prejudice to maximize their contribution. Individual performance can be described as a record of results produced by an individual in a given job function or specific period of time. Therefore, performance measure shows an individual’s contribution to the organization. In the last ten years, massive changes in performance measurement approaches have been witnessed.

This involves a shift from the knee jerk approach of performance appraisal to hands-on performance management approach. The traditional approaches only focused on individual qualities and financial aspects. However, the modern approaches are more dynamic, non-financial and tailored to specific business environments. Performance appraisal is one of the conventional approaches of measuring performance, while performance management is a contemporary approach.

The two differ in scope, approach and methodology. Performance appraisal is a restricted function of assessing past performance and is normally conducted once or twice a year. On the other hand, performance management is a nonstop process of managing employees’ performance. However, they both entail setting of performance goals, performance review and formulating ways of realizing the set goals. They also set up clear vision and guideline on what is expected from employees, and attempts to spot obstacles to efficient performance.

References

Actus. (2014). Performance appraisal or Performance management system?

Clausen, T., Jones, K., & Rich, J. (2008). Appraising Employee Performance Evaluation Systems: How to Determine If an Overhaul Is Needed. The CPE Journal 

Cornel University. (2014). Performance Management Process.

Performance Appraisal. Whatishumanresource.com.

NRHRC. (2013). Four Performance Management Tools.

Richter, L. (2011). The difference between performance appraisal and performance management.

Business excellence is one of the main goals of management. It could not be neglected and has to be improved all the time. The European Foundation for Quality Management model is one of the possible frameworks to promote business excellence. It is defined as a global not-for-profit membership foundation that is located in Brussels. There are more than 750 members from different European countries, and more than 180 excellence-related awards including the Belgian Quality Award, Italian Quality Award, and Wales Quality Award that are based on this model. Its goal is to promote the development of force that could be used for excellence in European business and help organizations make their improvement attempts.

There are three main issues in the model: people, process, and performance. Besides, eight crucial concepts make the model work which are the results orientation, customer focus, effective leadership, in-time management, people development and involvement, continuous learning and improvement, partnership development, and corporate social responsibility. Regarding these concepts, it is possible to say that business excellence helps to maximize people’s efforts, organize people’s work, create values, and develop the conditions for work. The EFQM model introduces the way that could be used by organizations to achieve a competitive advantage. There are nine main criteria according to which companies have to develop their activities and make decisions.

These are the leaders, who could shape the future, strategies where missions and visions are identified, people, who make everything work, partners and resources, processes and services, and the results achieved by customers, people, society, and business. In the end, the RADAR matrix is used to analyze the results, investigate and deploy the approaches, and make an assessment and review of the steps taken.

Introduction

While considering entering into a new market, prior planning should be done in order to understand how the company would deliver the goods and services to the target market and distribute them there. When one needs to enter into new markets in foreign countries, importation and exportation would need to occur.

This would mean that the company would need to establish and manage contracts in the foreign countries. Most companies are successful even when they remain in a specific niche market without considering entering into new markets elsewhere. However, some prefer to enter into new markets in order to experience increased sales and stabilize the business (Lymbersky, 2008). They also do this in order to enhance brand awareness in other regions.

In order to enter into new markets, a company must use market entry strategies. This could be through analyzing the potential competitors in the new market and the potential customers. There are various factors to consider while deciding whether it is viable to enter into the specific market.

They include competition, the trade barriers that exist, localized knowledge, among many others. As the Senior VP of Global Operations in my company, I have been instructed to come up with strategies as I enter two new markets including Germany and Afghanistan.

Entry strategies

The company could consider various options as it plans to enter foreign markets in Germany and Afghanistan. The major include exportation, licensing, joint ventures or directly investing in the countries (Lymbersky, 2008). Exporting is most used form. This involves producing goods in a particular country and marketing them in another country. Direct manufacturing of the products is not required in the country to be entered.

However, this would require significant investments to be made on marketing. This strategy is advantageous in various respects. Firstly, it would be less risky to manufacture the commodities at home rather than overseas.

This would also give the company ample time to learn the overseas marketing before it decides to focus its resources in its investments there. There are various potential risks involved with operating overseas. For example, Afghanistan is known to be an unstable country in terms of security issues. Therefore, manufacturing at home would help eliminate such risks.

However, disadvantages of exporting also exist. This is because the company would not have control and would mainly rely on the mercy of the agents overseas who may dictate to producers. My company is an aggressive one and has clearly defined plans and strategies. This includes issues to do with the products, the prices, promotion and distribution.

In order to be well established in the new market, it would be important to be the pioneers in order to establish a significant and sustained market share-advantage. However, if pioneers in the target market are already in place, it is necessary to make several considerations as the late entrants.

Certain competitive strategies would need to be employed. This would depend on the nature of the market environment where the existing players operate. The positioning and product portfolio would also determine the strategies to employ. One of the strategies to employ would be to use reduced prices in order to penetrate the market.

The company would need to introduce their products at lower prices those of the existing players. This would help attract the new customers hence expand the business. This would also attract the customers from the pioneers in the market to make their purchases from the new entrants.

Licensing allows the firm in the target market and allows it to use certain property. This property mostly includes the intangible ones. These include things such as patents and trademarks. Others may also want to adopt the production techniques. This would require the company to pay a certain fee in order to earn the rights to use them.

The other strategy is the use of joint ventures. This would help the company in areas of market entry, risk and reward sharing, and joint production development (Pehrsson, 2008). However, this strategy has several disadvantages including performance ambiguity and conflicts over irregular new investments. Another issue could be cultural clashes. For example, the culture of my company and those in Afghanistan greatly differ. Therefore, it would be important to consider that.

Foreign direct investment is another strategy. This is whereby a company directly owns facilities in the countries where they are introducing their businesses. The company would need to transfer its resources to the target countries. These include its personnel, the technology and capita.

This may be made through establishing new enterprises there or acquiring the existing enterprises. Any company considering establishing its business in new markets overseas must analyze the various entry strategies and determine which best suits it (Levesque & Shepherd, 2004).

Conclusion

Market entry into a foreign country is the delivering and distribution of goods and services in a new market in a foreign country. It requires the use of market entry strategies and the strategy to be used must be selected carefully by the company since this would determine the success or failure of the business. These strategies include exportation, licensing, joint ventures and directly investing. My company would make considerations and choose the best strategy to use in market entry.

References

Levesque, M., & Shepherd, D. (2004). Entrepreneurs’’ choice of entry strategy in emerging and developed markets. Journal of Business Venturing, 19(1), 29-54.

Lymbersky, C. (2008). Market entry strategies. Hamburg: Management Laboratory Press.

Pehrsson, A. (2008). Strategy antecedents of modes of entry into foreign markets. Journal of Business Research, 61(2), 132-140.

Introduction

According to Rocha-Luna, Garza-Reyes, and Kumar (2013), organizations often achieve consistent and predictable results when employees understand the processes that underlie production and service delivery. This principle underscores the application of the quality management system in improving organizational outcomes because it is a collection of interrelated processes to improve quality control functions. Initially, process management was a product of seminal works done by Ishikawa, Deming, and Juran (cited in Benner & Tushman, 2003) in the late 1970s and the 1980s.

Since then, it has evolved to become a central philosophy in total quality management programs. Furthermore, process management has become part of a continuous progression of quality management functions. The Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, the International Organization for Standardization’s Series 9000 program (ISO 9000), and business process reengineering are some quality management standards and programs that highlight the essence of process management in quality control (Benner & Tushman, 2003).

This paper provides an in-depth understanding of process management and its relation to quality. It also helps to explain how information technology helps to achieve quality integration. However, before delving into these details, it is important to understand the relationship between total quality management (TQM) and quality management systems (QMS).

Relationship between TQM and QMS

By definition, quality management systems (QMS) include the tools and processes that different organizations use to achieve quality deliverables (Robinson & Clayton, 2014). Such tools and processes may include quality assurance (reviews) and quality control testing methods. Comparatively, TQM is a set of steps that an organization follows to get a process right or to meet quality standards the first time (American Society for Quality, 2016).

In this regard, the TQM process strives to identify problematic areas in the quality management process to solve it before it causes problems. The main difference between the two concepts lies in the fact that TQM is a management strategy, while QMS defines the processes needed to implement quality management systems (Robinson & Clayton, 2014). In this regard, both concepts are complementary.

TQM and QMS have significant roles to play in improving quality management processes. Technology is at the center of this role. A study conducted by Prajogo and Sohal (2006) that involved more than 100 Australian organizations evaluated the relationship between technology and quality integration, using the TQM approach. They found out that TQM showed a strong predictive power against quality performance (Prajogo & Sohal, 2006).

The same study revealed that technology and research and development (R&D) processes had a significant relationship with quality performance (Prajogo & Sohal, 2006). Consequently, the findings mean that technology and R&D significantly influence innovation performance. The major implication of this analysis is that technology is an important tool to use with TQM to improve QMS. However, technology does not operate in a vacuum; it hinges on an organization’s process management process.

Importance of Process Management

People have different interpretations of process management. While some believe the concept centers on technological innovation and adoption, others believe it is about optimization (iGrafx, 2016). The second group of people often highlights TQM and Six Sigma as examples of optimization techniques that describe process management.

Nonetheless, for purposes of this paper, we would use the definition of the iGrafx (2016) which says process management is an evolution of application development processes in an organization. In this regard, business process management is important to organizations because it helps to align their business functions with customer needs. This tool helps align the organizational process to improve quality functions. Its relation to information technology appears below.

Relationship between Process Management and Information Technology

“Technological innovation is a central engine to organizational adaptation” (Benner & Tushman, 2003, p. 242). This statement helps us to understand the relationship between technology and process innovation because it espouses how technology affects exploratory and exploitative innovation.

Based on this assertion, Benner and Tushman (2003) say a firm’s ability to adopt innovative technologies would determine whether it destabilizes the technological regime of an organization, or reinforces the same. Therefore, an organization’s dynamic capability depends on how well it exploits existing technologies. As process management techniques strive to enhance continuous innovation in an organization, their increased use upsets the balance between exploitative and exploratory innovation (Benner & Tushman, 2003).

Process- focused activities affect technological innovation in many ways. For example, they determine how an organization would allocate its resources towards fulfilling an organization’s technological functions (Benner & Tushman, 2003). Organizational process management is a critical part of the QMS. However, the process of implementing the best process management system requires the effective use of information technology tools.

Rocha-Luna et al. (2013) say these tools help to improve organizational outcomes because they eliminate uncertainty in the process management process. Relative to this assertion, Keller (2011) affirms the same fact by saying that information technology tools help to eliminate the unknown and creates certainty in the quality management process.

While information technology tools help to improve quality management processes through QMS, Keller (2011) says they are not a prerequisite to the realization of high-quality processes because they only help to improve different aspects of a business. Relative to this assertion, he says, “We tend to think of technology change, relative to things like information systems, new product developments, and refinements or radical new production processes, while continuous improvement is focused more on changes to our business processes” (Keller 2011, p. 1).

Benner and Tushman (2003) add to this debate by saying, generally, information technology helps to improve quality management by leveraging the values of standardization, flexibility, innovation, integration, and automation in process management. Indeed, companies have demonstrated the value of technology in different areas of quality improvement. Business process outsourcing is one such area because experts have demonstrated its ability to provide cost and quality improvements.

Business Process Outsourcing (BPO)

BPO is one area of quality improvement that is associated with the use of information technology. According to Benner and Tushman (2003), the concept refers to the process of contracting some aspects of business operations to third parties for purposes of increasing an organization’s efficiency in undertaking its core processes.

Originally, this quality management process was associated with manufacturing firms such as Coca Cola because they were among the first organizations to outsource significant parts of their supply chain processes. BPO has helped them to improve their quality management processes by increasing flexibility in the same. Owing to such competencies, many multinationals have used this technique to improve their processes. The most notable ones include Dell, AIG, IBM, and Citi Group (Benner & Tushman, 2003).

Application in the Health Sector

Quality health care is an important aspect of service delivery. Information technology tools have been instrumental in improving quality management systems in the health sector, as seen in a case study of a large Swedish teaching hospital that adopted electronic medical recording as a strategy of improving its quality management process (Øvretveit, Scott, Rundall, Shortell, & Brommels, 2007).

The integration of IT in its quality management process saved time and improved the quality of health care. Although this case was successful, Øvretveit et al. (2007) acknowledge that there have been cases where EMS implementation is problematic. However, such incidences stem from the difficulty of integrating unique features of the EMS, and not necessarily with the entire system.

How would you apply Value Systems Mapping?

Value systems mapping is an important tool in analyzing quality management processes because it helps to highlight areas of criticalities. However, this tool is only applicable to linear organizational processes (Braglia, Carmignani, & Zammori, 2011). Organizations could use value systems mapping to improve process management by understanding how iterative steps in process management can incorporate the method in quality management systems. In the context of this paper, I would use the value systems mapping tool to improve quality processes by, first, executing a preliminary analysis of the quality management process to identify the critical quality path.

Thereafter, I would make improvements to this process by considering how the critical (primary) path integrates with secondary paths. Here, Braglia et al. (2011) say the secondary paths could be possible constraints to the primary path. Nonetheless, this process would help me to optimize the critical path. The possible outcome could be the identification of a new critical path of quality management. The analysis process would effectively iterate until we realize optimum management of quality processes. Consequently, a work-in-progress level would have decreased to a “safe” level where high quality is the primary output of the process.

Conclusion

By understanding the process management systems of an organization, it is easy for an organization to optimize its performance through system improvements. The findings of this paper have affirmed this fact by demonstrating how technology could help enhance TQM and QMS in quality management processes. The concepts of TQM and QMS focus on improving quality by satisfying, or meeting customer needs. Organizations that have inculcated both concepts in their quality management processes are poised to realize high-quality standards in their system management processes.

References

American Society for Quality. (2016). What is Total Quality Management (TQM)?

Benner, M., & Tushman, M. (2003).Exploitation, Exploration, and Process Management: The Productivity Dilemma Revisited. Academy of Management Review, 28(2), 238-256.

Braglia, M., Carmignani, G., & Zammori, F. (2011). A new value stream mapping approach for complex production systems. International Journal of Production Research, 44, 18-19.

iGrafx. (2016). Why Business Process Management?

Keller, R. (2011). What’s the Role of Technology in Continuous Improvement?

Øvretveit, J., Scott, T., Rundall, T., Shortell, S., & Brommels, M. (2007). Improving quality through effective implementation of information technology in healthcare. International Journal for Quality in Health Care, 19(5), 259–266.

Prajogo, D., & Sohal, A. (2006). The integration of TQM and technology/R&D management in determining quality and innovation performance. Science Direct, 34(3), 296–312.

Robinson, E., & Clayton, J. (2014). Quality Management.

Rocha-Luna, L., Garza-Reyes, J.A., & Kumar, V. (2013). Building Quality Management Systems: Selecting the Right Methods and Tools. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press.