management

Introduction

Many organizations in the world are “using teams as a powerful business strategy” (Kricher, 2008, p. 1). Such teams have the potential to improve productivity, increase customer service, and reduce operational costs. The presence of teams in an organization increases the level of morale and fulfillment. Such teams encourage more employees to make appropriate decisions, acquire new competencies, improve their performances, and embrace more responsibilities. These practices make it easier for many organizations to achieve their potentials. Businesses should use the best drivers to create powerful teams. Managers should be ready to identify and address the barriers affecting their organizations (Delarue, Hootegem, Procter, & Burridge, 2008). This essay gives a detailed description of a team-based organization. The concepts and ideas discussed in the paper can make every organization successful.

Content and Analysis

Research on Team-Based Organizations

Teamwork is a useful concept in every firm. Team-based companies have different organizational structures depending on the targeted outcomes. Such organizations have competent teams that focus on the best objectives and goals. Teamwork in a given organization increases the level of collaboration. Some of the major characteristics of team-based organizations include “goal setting, accountability, shared vision, positive leadership, empowerment, autonomy, and trust” (Kricher, 2012, p. 1). The concept of collaboration is common in every team-based organization. Members of the same team focus on the targeted goals or objectives. Such employees also exchange their views to achieve the targeted outcomes. This format makes it easier for many workers to achieve their potentials.

Managers should use powerful strategies to develop successful teams. Organizational leaders should train their employees and encourage them to form new teams. They should promote certain practices such as collaboration, innovation, and communication. Organizations should support their teams through continued decision-making and collaboration (DuBrin, 2013). Open communication makes it possible for the targeted organization to acquire the best goals. A team-based structure in an organization produces the best practices and values.

Motivating Others through Recognition

Successful business organizations promote the best relationships between different coworkers. Kricher (2012) believes that “intentional recognition produces new aspects such as accountability, team-relationship, motivation, and confidence” (p. 4). Every employee wants to be supported and praised. Managers should always recognize the actions and performances of their employees. The decision to empower and motivate different workers increases the level of productivity. The targeted workers will focus on the best organizational goals. They will also empower their workmates and promote the concept of teamwork.

Managers should ensure their employees are engaged and motivated. They should be empowered and praised after achieving the targeted goals. Recognition also encourages more employees to work as teams. This practice improves the level of peer accountability. The recognition technique should focus on the best organizational outcomes. For instance, every employee should be part of the targeted vision. Employees “should be aware of the performances and achievements rewarded by the company” (Delarue et al., 2008, p. 142). Managers should interact, recognize, and mentor their workers. This practice will improve the level of interaction. Every worker will feel appreciated and energized. The approach will also encourage more workers to form new teams. Such teams will focus on the best organizational goals. Managers should ensure their employees understand the targeted goals. They should also empower their teams using the best incentives and recognition techniques.

Recommendations

Business leaders should create powerful teams that can support the targeted long-term outcomes. The first approach towards having successful teams is having competent leaders. These leaders should value, empower, mentor, and support their team members. Such members should also be rewarded using the best strategies. The decision-making process should focus on the needs of different team members. Leaders should reward their workers using the best incentives. Team leaders should communicate effectively with different employees (Delarue et al., 2008). Competent team leaders are usually strong. They possess powerful competencies and skills. They always empower their teammates in order to get the best goals.

Teams should be aware of the targeted goals. The team should be ready to embrace new changes depending on the targeted goals. Organizational leaders should allow their teams to function independently. The approach will ensure every team focuses on the targeted business objectives. The members of the team should also be recognized to support the targeted goals (Delarue et al., 2008). These recommendations can make it easier for many teams to achieve their long-term business outcomes.

Conclusion

The success of every organization depends on the skills and goals of the manager. Team-based organizations have the potential to achieve their profits within the shortest time possible. Managers and team leaders should motivate their employees through continued recognition (DuBrin, 2013). They should use their skills to mentor and support the needs of their employees. Every team should get the best organizational support. This practice will ensure the team achieves its long-term goals. Managers and business leaders should use the best skills in order to make their teams successful. The above discussions and recommendations will make many teams successful. Managers should, therefore, produce team-based organizations in an attempt to achieve their potentials.

Reference List

Delarue, A., Hootegem, G., Procter, S., & Burridge, M. (2008). Team-working and Organizational Performance: A Review of Survey-Based Research. International Journal of Management Reviews, 10(2), 127-148.

DuBrin, A. (2013). Leadership: Research Findings, Practice, and Skills. Boston, MA: South-Western Cengage Learning.

Kricher, L. (2012). Best Practices of Team-Based Organizations. Development Dimensions International, 1(1), 1-8.

Employee motivation

In the management of an organization, one of the structures that should be put in place by human resource management to enhance the achievement of organizational goals is employee motivation. The employees need to be motivated to boost their morale for the work they are doing. In addition to motivation, their working environment should be structured in a way that it creates conducive avenue for all the employees (Whetten and Cameroon 48).

This can be enhanced by giving employees some freedom and adequate breaks that can allow them to socialize and break the monotony of work. Whenever employees work hard, their efforts need to recognized through giving them some rewards not only in form of monetary rewards but also other non-monetary rewards. Employees may be motivated by increasing their wages, promoting them or even through oral appreciation.

In the provided case study, it is so surprising to see how employees are being treated taking into account that employees from other organization who are in the same level of education and qualification are being accorded fair treatment. Upon the enquiry of the reasons behind demotivated, the reasons cited are not genuine.

The situation needs to be adjusted to accommodate the interests of all the employees. This can be achieved by giving them relevant motivational needs and giving them the freedom, they deserve (Whetten and Cameroon 81).

Measuring employee’s performance

It is important the performance of employees be constantly monitored, evaluated and measured to see if they have met the set targets. Besides portraying good characters and being obedient in their places of work, the employees should be hard working enough to achieve what has been set (Whetten and Cameroon 100). Though having precise measurement parameters for employees might be a problem to some extend, it is good to put some systems that will differentiate the poorly performing employees from good performing ones.

Using a balanced score card and measuring the achievement of set targets against the achieved targets are some of the measurement criterion that can be adopted to measure the employees’ performance. An appropriate action need to be taken against any employee who does not deliver the expected results. In the given scenario, an assistant manager though gaining support from the other employees is not delivering what is expected of him to the organization.

What the top management should do to such an employee is putting strict deadlines that he has to meet to ensure that he brings about positive impact to the organization. The organization should be more concerned of performance not the employees’ character since this is so significant as far as the performance of the organization is concerned. However, the approach to be taken against the manager should be friendly not to damage positive feelings employees have towards him.

Armand need only to be advised on the importance of being social enough to the other fellow workers and no big action should be taken against him while on the other hand, Ken has to be subjected to available performance parameters as well as being advised of why his performance is important to the existence of the organization.

Selling or presenting a business idea to the area of interest

The most successful business entities have made it through incorporation of modern and more efficient ideas that are increasingly replacing the traditional ways of doing things. However, sometimes managers may be too old fashioned such that they cannot recognize the significance of such ideas (Whetten and Cameroon 54). In the case provided, the person who is presenting the idea has some level of proof on how it has worked successfully in many businesses.

Since there seems to be some difficulties in adopting the idea, the employee needs to convince the manager using considerable tangible evidence. Provision of possible benefits that might accrue to the organization after absorption of the idea is important to convince the manager accepts the idea. In the second case, it involves presentation of an idea to strangers that is aimed at benefiting the presenter.

In the presentation of the idea, the person should be precise and objective in what he plans to do in future and how the success of his career would benefit other people apart from him. He should also state given the opportunity how he is going to explore his music talent. The person should not be too vague otherwise, his idea might be rejected. Besides, the best language has to be used to communicate the message well to the interested parties.

Adapting leadership style to a new situation

Amongst the good characteristics of leaders is flexibility. Leaders need to adapt to the changing environment since we are living in a dynamic world (Whetten and Cameroon 48). In the given scenario, the particular branch has been having troubles partly because there has been mistrust and respect on the part of outgoing manager. That is the reason why even employees are happy of his exit. The newly created manager needs to restore the trust within the branch.

The manager should start by creating an avenue where all the people’s opinions and grieverances are heard and make sure that the employees are involved in some decision-making processes.

The manager ought to maintain the existing relationship with the associates who he has been interacting with before the promotion. The past poor financial performance may be attributed to mistrust and disrespect that has been existing and therefore boosting of employees morale through building good relationships might improve the declining performance.

While managing more than one group of people, a manager needs to use different approaches since different groups of people require different management styles (Whetten and Cameroon 48).

To solve a crisis like one presented whereby there is some dissatisfaction on the part of the employees, the manager need to identify the cause of the crisis and apply the appropriate methods to the scenario in question ensuring there is fairness in their treatment. The two conflicting groups need to be brought together, identify who might be causing the problem and then solve the problem jointly while reminding each group of its responsibilities.

How to make teamwork perform

One of the reasons why organizations or groups fail to achieve is the failure to define their roles, goals and objectives (Whetten and Cameroon 48). A team may comprise of competent people but lack appropriate direction to get them ahead. In the case of an organization that has the right people but it is not achieving anything an appropriate action is required.

To solve this problem, the group should sit down, reflect on why the organization was formed, lay down the duties and obligations of each, the goals that to be achieved within a specified period of time and how the goals would be achieved. There ought to be specialization in the group such that each group member can perform what he/she is best.

In the second case where the leader has been assigned a group that seems to be in the dark since nobody seems to contribute on how the team should get started, it is the role of the leader to ignite the team and present a comprehensive list of goals and objectives to be achieved to the group. This will open up discussion forum for all the members to participate in giving their own opinions on how the goals should be achieved.

Resolution of a team dispute

One of the responsibilities of a good leader is the ability to solve conflicts within an organization or group (Whetten and Cameroon 123). In the given context, there seem to be a heated debate between two of the group members that has led to the adjournment of the meeting. The manager has to look for the best ways of solving such a crisis. To maintain the productive spirit of the team, the team leader should get to the bottom of the burning issues and determine what the main problem was.

In addition, the leader before calling for joint meeting to solve the problem, should first approach the person who triggered the trouble who in this case is Pat in the meeting and kindly explain to him that the approach he used was wrong and that was not the best way of solving a problem. Then the second person to be approached who is in this case Jordan should also be informed that the response he used was wrong and is not acceptable at all.

After these two initial approaches, the two persons should be brought together for reconciliation and then the problem be solved collectively where the two parties are briefed of the importance of working in harmony to maintain the status quo of the organization. Then finally, a joint meeting of all the members is called to allow the offenders to apologize and get the organization moving.

Conversion of Organizational problem into an Achievable change Initiative

Whenever a leader takes up leadership position in an organization or group that is having troubles, he/she is faced with a challenge since he/she is supposed to convert the situation into an achievable thing (Whetten and Cameroon 156). The newly appointed president of the professional business fraternity is required to lift an organization that is in a mess since even new membership is not being often witnessed.

Firstly, since lack of motivation seems to be one of the principal causes for declining membership, the newly elected president should come up with programs that will motivate the existing members to prevent their exit and attract new members from outside. The president should also appoint a committee that will oversee the analysis of the problems that have been troubling the organization. The formulation of lasting solutions that will help solve the problem is the next step.

In a move to initiate motivation that will see the increased registration, the members need to be convinced of the benefits of being in the organization. The rate at which the new members will have joined the organization will tell how successful the president is at the end of the year.

Work Cited

Whetten, David and Cameroon, Kim. Developing management skills. London: Harper-Collins, 1991. Print.

Introduction

Operations management is the business function which deals with resources dedicated to producing and delivering products and services (Pycraft, 2000). Operation managers are responsible for designing and managing organizational products and services. They are also in charge of managing the companies’ supply chains and how the final goods and services reach the intended market.

The scope of operations management ranges from strategic to tactical issues. Strategic issues include things like establishing the size and positioning of production plant, as well as designing the supply chains to be used by the business (Bettley et al, 2005; Lowson, 2002). Tactical issues in operations management include roles such as project management, assets management, scheduling and well as stock management and control. According to Siegel (1999), operations management is regarded as a core organizational function along with marketing and finance.

Challenges facing operations managers today

According to Gareth & George (2011), the dynamic and highly competitive nature of today’s businesses presents several challenges to the modern day operations manager. Analysts believe that today’s operation manager is operating under very interesting circumstances. The markets are becoming more and more competitive while organizational stakeholders’ needs are becoming more and more complex. Strategic alliances are becoming the norm, while more and more businesses are seeking to go international in their operations (Kotler & Keller, 2006).

Culture (Black, 2003) and technology continues to change every day, while the customer’s needs are becoming more and more complicated. More than ever before, businesses are seeking to harness organizational knowledge in order to improve their operations (Slack et al, 2007). The general public is increasingly becoming aware of the roles of the business to conserve its environment, implying that more than ever before, businesses are paying more attention to social responsibility.

Slack & Lewis (2003) have argued that these among other issues, presents a lot of challenges to modern day operations manager. Operation managers can no longer ignore these issues more so given the fact that operations management is on one way or another related to these issues. This implies that there are several challenges facing operation managers in their day to day administration.

For adaptation and survival, operation managers must be creative in their approach (Bettley et al, 2005). One approach to management might work in one organization but might fail to work in another, implying that operation managers must be very flexible in their management approach. It is only then that they will be able to cope with the differing cultures, prevailing economic conditions and the varying customer needs (Gareth & George, 2011). The following are some of the most common challenges facing operation managers today.

Managing People

Human resources are the most dynamic and difficult to manage of all the organizational assets. The modern day operations manager is faced with the challenge of hiring the right personnel and an even bigger challenge of motivating the employee (Gareth & George, 2011). Since labour is the most mobile of all the factors of production, the operations manager is faced with the challenge of retaining the employees. Without the right employees in terms of numbers, skills, qualifications and experience, the business will not be able to achieve its objectives.

Providing leadership to the human resources is increasingly becoming challenging to the modern day operations manager since the employees’ need are sophisticated. The operations manager must strive to create the right work balance policies, appropriate shift schedules, fair compensation, appropriate performance management measures and right motivating factors in order to retain the employees. Achieving the right balance of all these is very challenging

Effective Communication

The other challenge to the modern day operations manager is creating and developing the right channels of communication. Since information is critical in decision making, the operations manager must ensure information is readily available to decision makers at the right time (Gareth & George, 2011). Yet sometimes information does not reach the intended persons in time.

This leads to blame game when issues are not resolved and decisions are not made in time leading to delays. The operations manager must therefore strive to maintain a steady flow of information at all times (Kumar, 2006). This requires the development of effective channels of communication. This requires the operations manager to involve all the interested parties.

Managing change and innovation

Todays’ business environment is characterized by unexpected events. These directly affect the operations managers’ day to day administration. Change is brought about by changing tastes and preferences of consumers, technology and globalization among others (Pycraft, 2000). Coping with change is a nightmare to operation managers because business operations keep changing.

Planning is crucial in the management of these changes. The operations manager must have in place the necessary tools for documenting, depicting and describing the changes real time and efficiently as and when they occur (Kumar, 2006). Equally, the operations manager needs to have clear structures that would see decision making left in the hands of the right people. With the right information meant for the right people, the operations manager will be well prepared to manage change. The operation manager must also be careful when introducing new ways of doing things.

The challenge is normally in overcoming the initial inertia. While some employees will be receptive to the new ways, others are likely to sabotage and fight the change. The operations manager must therefore involve all the stakeholders in order to minimize resistance to change. Effective change management is a strong source of competitive advantage (Lowson, 2002).

Supply chain management

Effective management of supply chains and distribution network is a big headache for modern day operations manager. Especially for big corporations doing international business, the operations manager must think of a way of managing the global distribution of its company’s products (Krajweski & Ritzman, 2005).

The operations manager faces the challenge of deciding between centralization and autonomy when implementing business resource planning initiatives (Lowson, 2002). The operations manager must be careful when choosing the right channels of distributions to ensure they have control of the entire global distribution channels while at the same time allowing the suppliers to have their autonomy (Kotler & Keller, 2006).

Financial Management Controls

Operation managers are faced with the challenge of developing and maintaining effective financial control systems (Gareth & George, 2011). Operation managers must see to it that financial reporting systems are adequate and functioning (Slack et al, 2007). If such reporting systems are not functional, the company is likely to be affected negatively.

For instance, there is likelihood that the company may post inaccurate financial information. The operations manager must ensure that financial reporting systems are updated so that financial statements such as income statement, the balance sheets and statement of owners’ equity are accurate and prepared in time.

Changing Information Technology

The role of information technology (IT) in business cannot be overemphasized. Information technology drives business especially when IT and business objectives are aligned. Yet information technology continues to change day in day out thereby posing a big challenge to the operations manager (Slack & Lewis, 2003).

Having in place a credible operational management framework is very helpful to manufacturing concerns and departmental heads. It enables the business to ensure that there is sufficient hardware and software to meet the needs of the business. Without appropriate information technology infrastructure, the business might not be able to operate competitively and might fail to achieve its objectives (Gareth & George, 2011; Lowson, 2002).

Compliance

The operations manager equally faces the challenge of regulatory compliance. Modern day business administration involves the need to comply with several legal and administrative requirements (Gareth & George, 2011). The business is expected to comply with legislation relating to issues of taxation, financial reporting, environmental conservation, health issues etc. In fact, regulatory compliance is today regarded as source of competitive advantage.

It is therefore imperative that the operations manager ensures that organizational policies and procedures comply with the directives of top management and other guidelines (Bettley et al, 2005). The operations manager must equally ensure that the policies are in conformance with government directives and industry expectations.

Safety Management

Operations manager must confront the issue of safety at the work place. In an organizational set up, the operations manager must ensure that they put in place safety measures to eliminate any chances of occupational accidents (Kumar, 2006). The net effect of having in place effective health and safety systems is that the business will save on operational losses. The business can significantly reduce regulatory fines and litigation which might occur due to failure of compliance to occupational health and safety regulations (Gareth & George, 2011).

Conclusion

Operations management is the business function that deals with processes, decisions and responsibilities involved in manufacturing products and services. Operation managers play an oversight role as they manage the organizational resources used in the normal course of business (Slack et al, 2007). Operations management is just as critical as other business functions like finance and marketing (Gareth & George, 2011). This paper has established that there are a number of challenges facing operation managers in their day to day administration. This is because the modern day business is very dynamic and competition is very stiff.

Among others, the modern day operations manager is faced with the challenge of managing organizational human resources. The other challenge is that of developing effective communication channels coupled with the challenge of managing change and innovation. Operation managers must implement effective supply chains and must have in place financial management controls (Slack & Lewis, 2003; Krajweski & Ritzman, 2005). The other challenge is that of changing information technology. The operations manager must develop appropriate systems to curb the problem of regulatory compliance. The final challenge facing operation managers is that of safety management.

References

Bettley, A., Mayle, D., & Tantoush, T. (2005). Operations management: Strategic approach. Sage. ISBN 1847871054

Black, R. J. (2003). Organizational culture: Creating the influence needed for strategic success. London UK. ISBN: 1-58112-211-X

Gareth R. J., & George, J. M. (2011). Contemporary management 7^th Edition. McGraw-Hill Education. ISBN-10: 0078112699

Kotler, P., & Keller K. L (2006). International marketing management 12^th Edition. Prentice Hall. ISBN-10: 0131457578

Kumar, A. A. (2006). Production and operations management. New Age International.

Krajweski, L. L., & Ritzman, L. P. (2005). Operations management: Process and value chains, 8^th Edition. Pearson – Prentice Hall. ISBN-10: 013187294X.

Lowson, R. H. (2002). Strategic operations management: The new competitive advantage. Routledge. ISBN 0203361520

Pycraft, M. (2000). Operations management. Pearson. South Africa ISBN 1868910709

Siegel, J. G. (1999). Operations management. Barron’s Educational Series.

Slack, N., Johnston, R., & Chambers, S. (2007). Operations management, 5^th Ed. Prentice Hall/Financial Times, New York. ISBN-10: 0273708473

Slack, N., & Lewis, M. A. (2003). Operations management: Critical perspectives on business and management, Volume 2. Rutledge. ISBN 978-0-415-24924-9

Facts of the case

The case focuses on consumer behavior. Researches play a significant role for marketers in knowing how consumers perceive new products or services. The case also looks at how market research helps marketers identify potential markets for their products and services. Tastes of customers vary depending on cultural differences and other factors. The case discusses how McDonald’s researches about the culture of the Arab World, and provides consumers in the region with products that correlate with their culture (Kotler, 170).

Statement of the problem

Globalization has led to the emergence of new markets across the globe. This has created opportunities for many organizations, which want to expand their business operations across borders. However, there are several challenges that marketers face as they pursue potential markets for their products and services. These challenges need appropriate strategies for product development. McDonald’s understood the need for conducting a market research to overcome the challenge of finding the product that would combine its organizational culture with the Arab culture.

Objectives of the case

One of the objectives of the case study is to help readers see the need for conducting market researches before entering a new market. This move helps marketers to see how customers perceive their products, and what products or services they need in order to get satisfied. The second objective is to show readers how McDonald’s markets its products to the Arabian consumers. The other objective of the case is to show readers the need for providing goods and delivering services that correlate with cultures of consumers.

Areas of considerations

The case study does not show the situational analysis of McDonald’s. It also does not provide an environmental analysis of the Arab world. The Arab World is large regionally, and customers have varying tastes towards products and services. The case study does not show how McDonalds grouped the target audience to ensure that each group got satisfied. The case only discusses McDonald’s decision to open stores across the Arab world, design channels of distribution and use print media and billboards in advertising. However, it does not discuss the strategies that made the company succeed.

Alternative courses of action (supported by theories)

The case should show a SWOT analysis of McDonald’s to analyze its internal environment. The PEST analysis of the company should be included in the case study. The case should show how McDonald’s segmented consumer markets in order to satisfy the needs of different consumers. It also needs to illustrate how the company integrated promotional mix during product development.

Analysis of each alternative courses of action

The SWOT analysis would show McDonalds’ strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. PEST analysis helps organizations to know much about their external environment. This includes political, economical, social and technological environment. Market segmentation helps companies group its target audiences in different segments in order to identify their needs and satisfy them fully. Promotional mix includes place, price, product, promotion, people, physical evidence and processes.

Conclusion

Marketing helps marketing managers to identify potential markets, and find the best strategies to develop new products. It involves researching about consumer behavior, internal and external environments. The case study shows how McDonalds markets its products efficiently, to the Arab World.

Recommendations

Marketers should employ the most efficient strategies in new product development stages, after conducting a marketing research. This can lead to continuous growth of businesses, and hence gain a competitive edge.

Management lessons from the case

Researches play a critical role in marketing. They help marketers identify customers’ needs, and hence satisfy them profitably. They also help them to understand their culture, and hence meet their specifications. The case study also shows that distribution networks require efficient management. It is advisable to segment international markets. Customer satisfaction leads to increased sales, customer attraction and retention, as well as increased market share and profits.

Works Cited

Kotler, Philip. Principles of Marketing. Harlow: Financial Times Prentice Hall, 2005. Print.

To prepare for the human resource management career, studying human resource management at degree level offers opportunities to fulfill optimal potential in the field of labor management.

Through practical and simplified learning methods, this multidimensional career equips human resource personnel with extensive knowledge, experience, and practical life skills to handle diverse situations in the workplace and social environment. To strengthen personal capabilities, I was able to acquire workforce management information skills for managerial decisions making criterion (Lopez-Nicolas and Mero-Cerdian, 2011).

Through active involvement in the practical learning assessment activities, potential human resource management personnel can prepare for the framework that would guide in the personal conduct as a tool for developing and evaluating solutions to problems encountered within the interaction with other employees. Thus, I was empowered to prepare for the human resource management career demands and the ability to balance various academic requirements with hobbies and interests since this field involves direct interaction with the entire labor force of an organization.

I also discovered that the range of academic interests, personal perspectives, and life experiences would impact my problem-solving skills, intrapersonal and interpersonal communication skills, and team working skills in the practical work environment as a human resource manager.

Having outstanding and consistent achievement in examinations re-affirms a natural aptitude for equation solving, logical thinking, and strong personalized decision making science, which are key elements of strategic human resource policy formulation and managing the employee output-input process. I aspire to be a human resource manager at the Abu Dhabi Airport Police and engage the above skills towards motivating the workforce to perform within desirable efficiency levels.

Through pursuing relevant training in the field of human resource management, I have been able to actualize the passion for analytical problem-solving approaches and exercise personal development skills (Lopez-Nicolas and Mero-Cerdian, 2011). These skills will form my success measurement parameters as the human resource manager at the Abu Dhabi Airport Police.

In summary, I learned that an aspiring human resource manager should strive to build a stable, practically oriented, and qualitative problem-solving criterion through learning and working life. Whenever such an individual encounter challenges in the course of pursuing group academic interests, problem-solving skills will motivate him or her to comprehensively deal with these challenges in a rational quantitative approach as part of the practicality aspect of labor management in an organization.

As a team, when the aspiring human resource manager applies differential equations to models, he or she will find dynamic relationships in the proponents of operational business requirements for productivity and efficiency through creating a healthy teamwork environment.

Skills and Knowledge

The field of human resource management demands proper knowledge of labor laws, ethics, and operations management since most organizations are formal. Besides, it is important for any human resource personnel to be creative and critical in thoughts and actions since any work environment is dynamic.

Moreover, it is imperative for aspiring human resource management personnel to acquire and develop problem-solving skills through practical experiences since labour management also involves addressing the social and welfare concerns of employees in an organization.

Notably, different organizations have different rules. Thus, potential human resource management personnel must be open-minded and proactive to fit in different organizational cultures without compromising on professionalism (Society for Human Resources Management, 2011).

Through focus performance management, as human resource management personnel, I will be in a position to create clear goals on performance appraisal, manage a positive feedback channel, and offer continuous and systematic coaching to ensure that employees perform at optimal productivity level.

Thus, the best way to motivate employees is by giving them responsibilities for achieving something and the authority to do it in their way. Through this approach, employees will be empowered, and they will feel trusted and valued. This will give me an upper hand in implementing any policies or change plans as human resource personnel (Society for Human Resources Management, 2011).

My target role is to be a human resource manager in the long term career plan. Thus, I have to develop critical skills in time and change management. The most important question for an organization planning for change is whether their employees are ready to accept the change. The perception of the employees towards the efforts for change, which takes place in the organization, is a vital factor for readiness for change.

Managing and leading the change requires a human resource manager to have the learning capability to adapt and learn from the changes. In this procedure, learning the process of organizations are promoted within an environment of mutual trust and openness, which permits individuals to accept changes and experiment without feeling threatened.

Reflectively, I need to develop more skills in change management as a potential human resource manager since the value of the impact of employee’s inclusion in the management of change in an organization is significant (Society for Human Resources Management, 2011).

Marketing personal skills through networking

Through classroom and practical learning experiences, I have learned that the best approach to personal marketing to potential employers is through building strong networking skills to get ideas from those who are already practicing in the human resource management career. Besides, it is imperative to nurture admirable business etiquette as part of professional development through my elevator pitch.

Through interacting with those in the field of human resource management, my elevator pitch will enable me to attract their interest, present my potentials, and explain my career plan. I will heavily rely on face to face platform throughout my networking process (Networking: A strategy for every stage of career development, 2011).

I prefer face to face platform over the virtual platform since it allows me to display my outstanding traits such as discipline, honesty, and trustworthiness. Besides, I may display my leadership skills since the application of leadership skills to potential employers facilitate advanced stages of maladaptive leadership skills and talents, as perceived by the employers.

These aspects are complementary to each other and are active in modeling a broad vision candidate who can inspire positive change and motivate people. Also, I may join professional bodies to get contacts of different human resource management experts for easy entry in this dynamic field.

Reference List

Lopez-Nicolas, C & Mero-Cerdian, L 2011, “Strategic knowledge management, innovation and performance”, International Journal of Information Management, vol. 31, no. 6, pp. 502–509, Via researchgate database.

Networking: A strategy for every stage of career development 2011, Web.

Society for Human Resources Management 2011, “2011 Employee job satisfaction and engagement”, Society for Human Resources Management (SHRM), vol. 3, no. 2, pp. 1-64, via SHRM database.

Chaebols, Keiretsus and multi -national corporations play important roles in many people’s lives. These large business organizations have become more dominant and influential in global trade because their products are sold in many countries. Large business corporations have developed strong market strategies to enable them take advantage of opportunities in global trade.

These firms have become more influential in international trade because many trade barriers have been eliminated. The reduction in trade barriers has integrated global markets which has promoted international trade (Peng, 2009, p. 67). Many business organizations are keen to take advantage of opportunities which have opened up in foreign destinations to increase their revenues. Some business firms have opted to invest in foreign countries with favorable investment conditions to reduce high costs of production they incur while operating in their home countries.

Globalization has helped many firms from North America and Europe to diversify their operations into other countries. Large American corporations such as Apple, General Electric and Intel produce most of their products from Asian countries. These countries have favorable investment policies which encourage foreign firms to invest there. Large corporations prefer operating in these locations because their costs of production are low and there is a ready market for their final products. These corporations are able to hire skilled employees locally at a low cost (Peng, 2009, p. 73).

Low labor costs make internal operations of large corporations more efficient. Large business firms are able to sustain their production activities for a long time because raw materials and other crucial production inputs are not expensive. Globalization has made consumption patterns to continue changing at a rapid pace. Many emerging economies have more middle income consumers interested in high quality products.

Technological advances and innovations have encouraged large business firms to develop long term strategies which focus on global markets. At the moment, many people in the world are more connected to each other than ever before. Video conferencing, email, video sharing websites and social networking websites enable more people in different locations to interact and share ideas.

This has made it easy for business organizations to promote their products and services to foreign distributors and clients (Peng, 2009, p. 82 ). Supply chain functions of large corporations have improved because clients in different markets are able to access their products within a short period of time. These corporations have partnered with experienced distributors who have a good understanding of different markets to make their products more accessible to consumers. Therefore, they are more knowledgeable on consumer behavior and preferences in different global markets where they sell their products.

The increase in trade and investments has increased the level of interaction between different people across the world. Many countries have improved their transport infrastructure which enables finished products to reach markets within a short time. However, some people are against increased global trade and investments.

They claim large corporations produce low cost products sold in developing nations and this stifles the growth of their local industries (Peng, 2009, p. 89). They also argue that the concentration of production activities in foreign destinations, leads to exploitation of local workers. There have been several cases in China, India and Philippines, where workers in large corporations have gone on strike due to poor pay and harsh working conditions. Some companies have also been accused of employing children as laborers, which contravenes the rights of children.

Reference

Peng, M.W. (2009). Global business.Mason, OH:Cengage Learning.

Introduction

Effective leadership plays an important role towards the success of various activities in organizations. Notably, efficient leadership facilitates the adaptive capability of any organization to the changing external environment. Vigilance within organizational management is quite essential, since lack of careful watch on the external environment may result into organizational failure; even if the internal processes are well coordinated.

Management and Leadership

Essentially, leadership and management may seem similar, but there are fundamental differences that cut across leadership and management. Leadership portrays a high degree of integrity where the leaders are endowed with capacities to articulate the thoughts and behaviors of all the people they lead. On the other hand, management is result-oriented and is mainly concerned with control of processes within a productive enterprise. The current business world is so dynamic that managers in the contemporary organizations need to posses leadership skills that would enhance the success in leading the organizations to achieve their goals and objectives.

Fundamentally, management is seen as the establishment of formal steps, planning and setting up strategies to achieve the set goals. According to Kotter (2001), “leadership compliments management but it does not replace it” (p. 89). Leadership is portrayed as a directional move taken by an organization in an attempt to achieve its vision through an individual usually referred to as the leader. This is in contrast to the article managers and leaders in which the two aspects are brought out to be closely related. In the latter, management is perceived as a holistic process which takes into account all the stakeholders in an organization. It involves the required training of all the members in an organization so as to have a cadre of professionals which will simplify the execution of duties in the organization.

Further, Zaleznik (2004) reveals that “the managerial culture emphasizes rationality and control” (p. 73) and it does not require a genius to be a manager but the ability to exercise control over others is critical in management. Since leaders are the torch-bearers of a group, it is imperative for managers to assume a leadership role by being tolerant, hard working and possessing high degree of analytical ability in order to achieve the goals of the organization. To initiate action, a manager can use coercion, punishments or even rewards to influence the behavior of the subordinates in the right direction. In order to achieve the desired results, managers need to be good conflict handlers and should ensure that the right environment prevails in the organization so that the desired results are achieved adequately. Management is a career unlike leadership and mainly depends on experience and the size of the organization (Heifetz & Laurie, 2001).

Another aspect of the relationship between management and leadership is the aligning people in terms of staffing and organizing work (Kotter, 2001). Aligning people means the physical positioning of people in an organization so as to carry out particular tasks. On the other hand, staffing is the process of selecting qualified personnel to fill up positions in an organization, while organizing is the placing the right people in the right positions so as to achieve efficiency in an organization. Since leadership also involves motivating people in an organization, the use of positive reinforcement in order to induce behavioral change in a group of people is essential in managerial work. This is done through setting standards and establishing attractive workplace environment in order to ensure that the required results in an organization are achieved.

More so, management is perceived by Heifetz & Laurie (2001) as an adaptive process. The analogy of Jack Prichard is used to emphasize the value of change of habits for survival where he was forced to completely change his lifestyles if he had to survive. Considering the current business world, the changes in technology are forcing leaders to be very dynamic and also to focus more on the future than the present. Another aspect that is eminent it the article about leadership is for a leader to move up to a balcony or a higher place to be able to take account of whatever is happening in and around their area of responsibility. By employing this technique, a leader is able to keep abreast with changes in the business world and be able to take the necessary corrective measures. An example of a company that has been able to achieve a lot through adaptive work is the KPMG Company in Netherlands. The company identified structural challenges in the auditing sector that was draining a lot of the company’s profits. The company’s CEO, Koedijk, adapted through going into new markets and the company was able to cope with the challenges (Heifetz & Laurie, 2001).

According to Badaracco (1998, p. 91), “to become leaders, managers need to translate their personal values into calculated action”. A good manager needs to understand his/her weaknesses to be able to provide good leadership to all the other members of a group. This is what he referred to as the defining moments in the article. Before taking any course of action, a critical analysis of the possible outcomes should be the main focus in management. This is an attribute of leaders which postulates that a leader should have a minimum of the maximum knowledge of his/her subjects. This enables a leader to be able to manage all the members well taking in to consideration all their aspirations and their degree of reasoning. This ensures concrete decision making and the making of inclusive decisions. It is also important for a leader to display high levels of shrewdness and expediency as evidenced in the article when Steve Lewis had to combine idealism and realism to be able to deal with problems in the business world (Badaraco, 1998). This was unlike the mare introspection that had been applied in the previous times.

Quite importantly, problem solving is the main focus of the article managers and leaders. According to Zaleznik (1990), managers create a good strategy in which a problem can be solved. They take into account all the aspects of the problem. On the other hand, a leader may leave some aspects to chance. Managers view work as an enabling process which must be done in order to achieve the desired results. Leaders view work as a means of achieving the desired results (Zaleznik, 2004).

Conclusion

From the above discussion, it is clear that leadership and management are two aspects that are much related. Indeed, good managers must posses’ good leadership skills in order to be able to carry out the managerial work well. Though there are various differences between the two, it is important for contemporary managers to possess good leadership skills in order to enhance their success in their managerial work. This paper has highlighted that, leadership and management are inseparable and seem to complement each other.

References

Badaracco, J.L. (1998). The discipline of building character. Harvard Business Review, 76(2), 89-113.

Heifetz, R.A. & Laurie, D.L. (2001). The work of leadership. Harvard Business Review, 79(11), 131-141.

Kotter, J. (2001). What leaders really do Harvard Business Review, 79(11), 85-97.

Zaleznik, A. (2004). Managers and leaders: Are they different? Harvard Business Review, 82(1), 74-81.