Management Dissertation

One of the most important parts of the business world is management. We all hope to obtain upper managerial position when we get older, but first we need to learn the skills and principles to become a manager. Managers in today’s world walk a very fine line in everything they do, because the trust of the company lies in their hands. The jobs of a manager are not very easy. A major issue, which will be discussed later on, is that managers should also become good leaders. It is one thing to manage a company, but another to lead the company into bigger and better things.

Directors have an obligation to shareholders and the CEO to evaluate the performance of the chief executive officer. The CEO is the employee of the board and has a clear picture of expectations and goals that he must achieve. Ideally, the CEO’s performance in both management and financial matters should be evaluated each year, and should be discussed with the CEO by the board or a spokesperson who is a director. In evaluating the CEO, directors are reminded to be as objective as possible. Avoid focusing on personality or style issues and look instead to substantive matters. The board of directors should evaluate the CEO by making sure he is completing all of his tasks and keeping the company moving forward. The CEO should be in complete control of the company and make sure everything is in perfect condition and running by procedure. The board should make sure this is taking place within the company. (Runkle)(Freibert)

Men and women who serve on the board of directors should all have the certification needed to be that high up in the company. Those people should be very well educated with a very high degree. They should have all the necessary training, so they would know exactly what was taking place in the company. They should be someone that has been with the company that knows all the goals and objectives the organization is trying to reach. To be a part of the board of directors is a very honorable position in a company. Other than the CEO, the board of directors are the most important part of the company, and will lead the company in achieving the necessary tasks and moving the company forward. The board also decides if they feel the CEO is doing his job properly and to his or her best standards. They will replace the CEO if he or she is not helping the company. This makes it very important that the board members take their job very seriously. Only those who are very well educated and have the necessary training be a part of the board of directors because the company lies in their hands. (Board of Directors)

The members of the board of directors should be very aware of the day to day activities. They all should know what tasks need to be achieved each day. I interviewed one of my managers Chad Sawyer, who is the assistant store manager of Hannaford’s. He said, “Every board of directors should meet on a regular basis discussing the issues taking place in the company, which will allow everyone in the company to be on the same page of what problems need to be addressed in the company.” I felt that this was a very significant point. The more the board members speak to each other, the more they will realize what is going on around them throughout the company. The board should be united, so they are all together in operating the company under the CEO. They must help the company move forward with the CEO and take care of all the problems they encounter. (Pointer)

The board of directors take many steps in deciding whether they are going to replace a CEO or not. Some of the reasons why they would replace a CEO would be if he or she was not completing his task and objectives, was not pushing the company forward, and not achieving the success that the company wants too. The board of directors want a CEO that will help the company reach success and better the organization. They want their stocks to rise and for shareholders to love the company. The company is in the hands of the CEO, and it is a lot of hard work to stay a CEO for a long time. Many CEO’s do not last very long because it is very hard to keep a company always on top and making a huge profit. The board will replace CEO’s whenever he or she is not producing up to the standards of the company. (Do Boards ever fire executive directors)

A Manager must look at the big picture and see the company as a whole, because their decisions make the company strong and running properly. “Management is the act, manner, or practice of managing through handling, supervision, or control” (Dictionary.com). There are four main elements of the strategic management process. These areas are used to help accomplish organizational goals, through planning, organizing, leading, and controlling people and other organizational resources. Planning focuses on anticipating trends and determining the best strategies and tactics to achieve organizational goals and objectives. A major issue in planning is to please the customers. Managers should always want a very high satisfaction for customers because you want them to come back.

Through planning, he or she should set organizational goals and try to achieve them as best as possible. They should come up with tactics and a line of attack to reach those goals. Also, you should determine the resources necessary and set standards. Planning is the most important element of the strategic management process because without a good plan you will not be able to do anything. The better prepared the person is the more successful your company will be. The Second element you should focus on is organizing. Organizing includes designing the structure of the organization and creating conditions and systems in which everyone and everything work together to achieve the organization’s goals and objectives. Again, you want to organize and design your company around the customer. You want your employees to please the customers at a profit. Through organizing you want to accomplish your goals by assigning tasks and establishing procedures to reach your objectives. There should also be an organization chart showing the lines of authority throughout the company.

Employees should be recruited and hired and then trained and developed so they understand the rules and regulations of the company. Managers want to have the best employees possible so your company will meet those objectives. Employees need to be place where they best fit into the company and where they will be most effective. The third element is leading. Leading means creating a vision for the business and guiding, training, coaching, and motivating others to work effectively to achieve the organization’s goals and objectives. You do not want to control your employees; you want them to be self motivated and get the work they are supposed to done on their own. This will lead to them becoming more independent and achieve for goals. To lead his or her employees one must give them assignments, clarify policies, explain routines, and also tell them how they are doing in their performance. Lastly, controlling involves determining whether or not an organization is progressing towards its goals and objectives, and taking the necessary actions to do so. You should monitor employees work and award them for outstanding work on achieving their goals. This is the strategic management process and this is where the center and main part of an organization is made up of. (Nickels)

There are many requirements you need to have to be a manager in the 21st century. The most important competencies that are needed to be an effective manager are leadership, relating with employees, listening skills, time management, ethical issues, and rewarding employees. All of these competencies are in the beginning stages of evolving into new management skills. Managers certainly need to start preparing for the 21st century; leadership for managers will create a more demanding role than it has in the past. A manger is no longer expected to oversee his or her staff. He or she is expected to handle a multitude of tasks at any given moment. Managers will not be considered as bosses anymore. Managers will guide, train, support, motivate, and coach employees rather than to tell them what to do. Managers in the future are more likely to be working in teams, to be evaluated by those below them as well as the people above them. Mangers will demand a new kind of person, being a skilled communicator, team player, a planner, coordinator, organizer, and supervisor. You will need to be more a leader within your company and complete the many tasks and objectives that your company has. It will be very difficult to be a successful leader without manager-employee interaction, so therefore you should have very good social skills. Many of the changes in the 21st century will be rewarding and beneficial to corporations. (Stock)

When there is an organizational change among a company there is always some stress and conflict among employees. This shift in a company should be followed by an establishment of an organizational culture that will smooth the process of the change. An Organizational culture is widely spread values within an organization that provide coherence and cooperation to achieve common goals. The very best organizations have cultures that stress customer service to others. You want your business to have friendly, concerned and caring employees that will provide a very good product at a reasonable price. These elements make up a high performing culture. Managers and CEO’s should all have the same goal of customer satisfaction. By providing these high performing cultures, it leads the way to self-managed teams so more objectives will be achieved. You want customers to enjoy shopping at your business and receiving the service they need. This builds character upon your organization where people know they are getting something worth buying. (Nickels)

There are many different things you see as a first-line supervisor compared to a middle manager. When managers have planned out their course of action, they must organize the company to accomplish their goals and objectives. To do to this manager’s use an organization chart. An organization chart is a visual device which shows the relationship and divides the organization’s work, which shows who is accountable for the completion of specific work and who reports to whom. (Nickels)

There are three levels of management. First are the top management, then middle management, and lastly supervisory management. Top management consists of the president and other key company executives who develop strategic plans. Middle management includes general managers, division managers, and branch and plant managers who are responsible for tactical planning and controlling. Supervisory management includes those who are directly responsible for supervising workers and evaluating their daily performance. Middle managers are better educated and trained compared to a first-line supervisor. They are also higher in hierarchy compared to the first-line supervisors, so they have more responsibility within the company and how to succeed in the business. (Nickels)

There are some problems in both a centralized structure and in a decentralized structure. “Centralized authority is an organization structure in which decision making authority is maintained at the top level of management at the company’s headquarters” (Nickels). “Decentralized authority is an organization structure in which decision making authority is delegated to lower level managers more familiar with local conditions than headquarters management could be” (Nickels). The degree to which an organization allows managers at lower levels to make decisions determines the degree of decentralization. Today’s markets tend to favor more of a decentralized structure. In a decentralized structure companies will buy the products that more appeal to their customers compared to a centralized structure where the products are the same all over the world. There are problems because people in the United States would eat different food and wear different clothing compared to the people living in Europe. Companies need to decentralize to fit the customers’ needs, so they buy and sell different products geared towards different customer bases. (Nickels)

There are many different ways to structure an organization. The four main models are line organizations, line-and-staff organizations, matrix style organizations, and cross-functional self-managed teams. In a line-and-staff organization, a line personnel “performs functions that contribute directly to the primary goals of the organization”, while the staff personnel “perform functions that advise and assist line personnel in performing their goals” (Nickels). A line-staff structure is very helpful when dealing with safety, quality control, computer technology, human resource management, and investing. A staff personnel is very supportive toward the line personnel. It is a way to get objective and goals reached by cooperating with one another. (Nickels)

A matrix style organizational structure is similar to a line-staff structure, but different in a couple of ways. A matrix style structure “is an organization in which specialists from different parts of the organization are brought together to work on specific projects but still remain part of a line-and-staff structure” (Nickels). In a matrix style structure managers are allowed to use employees in different departments to design and market new products. (Nickels)

There are some advantages and disadvantages of this matrix style structure. Some of the advantages are that it gives flexibility to managers in assigning people to projects. It encourages inter-organizational cooperation and teamwork. It can result in creative solutions to problems such as those associated with new-product development. Lastly, it provides for more effective use of organizational resources. Some disadvantages are that it is costly and effective. It can cause confusion among employees as to where their loyalty belongs. It requires good interpersonal skills and cooperative employees and managers. It can be only a temporary solution to a long-term problem. A matrix style organization structure works very well in some businesses, but very bad in others. (Nickels)

If your goal is a superior, high performance, workforce that is focused on continuous improvement, you need to manage people within a performance management and development framework. When you implement each of these components, you’ll ensure the development of the superior workforce you seek. There were seven success opportunity areas that you should focus your time and attention too; These areas will give your organization the performance of a superior workforce, and that is the performance that will enable your organization to achieve its goals. First, create a documented, systematic hiring process to ensure you hire the best possible staff. Develop a job description that clearly describes the performance responsibilities of the person you hire. Set up as many interviews as possible, asking them questions of what they would do in certain situations. Perform a background check of each person, so you hire the best possible people, with the education necessary for the job. Second, provide the direction and management needed to align employee interest with your organization’s goals and desired outcomes. Provide effective supervisors who give clear direction and expectations to staff success. Provide the companies vision, mission, values, and goals to show what the company hopes for. Third, have quarterly performance meetings to establish aligned direction, measurement, and goals. Performance and productivity goals and measurements that support your organization’s goals are developed and written. Track the goals of the company to see which ones are being achieved. Fourth, provide regular feedback. Effective supervisory feedback means that people know how they are doing on a daily basis. Develop a reward and recognition system that tells people clearly what you want from them. It must also help people feel appreciated and recognized for their efforts. Develop a disciplinary system to help people improve areas in which they are not performing as expected. Fifth, provide a recognition system that rewards and recognizes people for real contributions. Develop a bonus system that recognizes employee’s accomplishments and contributions. Design ways to say “thank you” and other employee recognition processes. Try to provide a continual improving benefits package. Sixth, provide training, education and development to build a superior workforce. Employee retention and education begin with a positive employee orientation. The orientation should give the employee a complete understanding of the flow of the business, the nature of the work, benefits and the fit of his or her job within the organization. Each employee should receive enough training so they can do their job to the best of their ability. You should receive around 40 hours of training before they begin to work on their own. Finally the seventh is end the employment relationship if the staff person is not working out. View every termination as an opportunity for your organization to analyze its hiring, training, support, and coaching practices and policies. This will give you a better understanding of who you want to hire and who will best fit the position need. (Allaire)

There is a major difference between leading a company and managing a company. A person can be a good manager and not be a good leader. Both a leader and a manger have very different qualities. Leaders are the heart of a business. The essence of leadership means inspiring a group to come together for a common goal. Leaders motivate, console and work with people to keep them bonded and eager to move forward. Managers are the brains of the business. They establish systems, create rules, and operating procedures, and put into place incentive programs. Most business executives have a mix of both management and leadership skills. Both skill sets are necessary to run a successful business. Leadership skills provide the direction, while management skills provide the systems that let a company grow with success. Leaders set direction with a vision, mission, and operating principles that embody the company’s direction and values. Managers cope with complexity, while leaders cope with change. Managing is a present tense activity and leading is a future-tense activity. Leaders create expectations, while managers perform them. Management is doing things right where as leading is doing the right thing. Managers emphasize rational and control, and are also problem solvers. Leaders are perceived as brilliant and achieve control of themselves before they try to control others. They visualize a purpose and generate value in work. Managers and leaders have many different attitudes towards goals. Managers adopt impersonal, almost passive attitudes towards goals and decide upon goals based on necessity instead of desire and are therefore deeply tied to their organization’s culture. Leaders tend to be active since they envision and promote their ideas instead of reacting to current situations. They shape their ideas instead of responding to them and have a personal orientation toward goals. (Nickels)

Both managers and leaders have different conceptions of work. Managers view work as an enabling process. They establish strategies and make decisions by combining people and ideas. They are good at reaching compromises and mediating conflicts between opposing values and perspectives. Leaders develop new approaches to long-standing problems and open issues to new options. They first use their vision to excite people and only then develop choices which give those images substance. They focus people on shared ideals and raise their expectations. (Cropp)

Managers and leaders also have very different relationship with others. Managers prefer working with others. They maintain a low level of emotional involvement in relationships. They attempt to reconcile differences, seek compromises, and establish a balance of power. Managers relate to people according to the role they play in a sequence of events or in a decision-making process. Leaders maintain inner perceptiveness that they can use in their relationships with others. They relate to people in an intuitive way. They focus on what events and decisions mean to participants. They attract strong feelings of identity and difference or of love or hate. There are many differences between managers and leaders. For a company to have a lot of success you would definitely need to have both of them. (Cropp)

Management skills are transferable from one industry to the next. When you are studying management and leadership it prepares you to work in any organization at any level of management. A manager must have three major skills. These skills are technical skills, human relationship skills, and conceptual skills. Technical skills involve the ability to perform tasks in a specific discipline or department. Human relationship skills involve communication and motivation which enable managers to work through and with people. Conceptual skills involve the ability to picture the organization as a whole and the relationship among its various parts. There are many different types of management positions, and even many more different companies to choose from. You will have to find a management position that best fits you. You will have all the skills needed to be any type of manager. (Nickels)

There are many important elements in using organizing principles within an organization. In our textbook, it discusses how Max Weber and Henri Fayol were the first two men to discuss organization theory. Both Foyal and Weber’s theory were similar, but each of them had different theories. Foyal’s principles of organization consisted of 10 elements. The ten principles were unity of command, hierarchy of authority, division of labor, subordination of individual interests to the general interests, authority, degree of centralization, clear communication channels, order, equity, and spirit de corps. These principles were used for years and these were the basis of what organizations were built upon. Max Weber stressed a couple of other elements in his theory. Weber highlights job descriptions, written rules, decision guidelines, and detailed records. He also emphasizes staffing and promotions based on qualifications, consistent procedures, regulations, and policies. Weber believed that larger organizations needed rules, regulations and guidelines to follow to be successful. (Nickels)

An inverted structure design is suitable for all organizations today if and only if it is done right. An inverted organization has contact people at the top and the chief executive officer at the bottom of the organization chart. It is the complete opposite of a traditional chart. The front-line employees have to be very well educated because there is more stress and reliance on them to better the company. They also must better train the front-line. It takes a lot of trust from the managers to execute an inverted structure design. If a company performs correctly, it will definitely help the company. It completely helps out customer satisfaction and also profits as well. This structure gives everyone power and not just the managers. It helps the company so everyone can become a leader and make the company the best it can be. (Nickels)

Unions are good for business. Workers who belong to unions earn high wages, work fewer hours, receive more training and also have longer job tenure. People join unions because it improves their standard of living and adds to their quality of life. There are many advantages people have when the come together in solidarity. Workers can receive better pay and working conditions, improved access to benefits like pension and dental insurance, and opportunities to become better workers and better citizens. Unions provide many good jobs for people with many benefits. I believe that unions are very good for business and it is a way for many people to work together to get a lot of goals and objectives finished. (Nickels)

There are many Union tactics which are used against management. A labor union is defined in the dictionary as, “an organization of wage earners formed for the purpose of serving the members' interests with respect to wages and working conditions” (Dictionary.com). Today there are about 16 million workers in the U.S. that belong to a labor union. Labor unions have been around for a long time. The way unions negotiate for an employment contract is by collective bargaining. “Collective bargaining is negotiation between the representatives of organized workers and their employer or employers to determine wages, hours, rules, and working conditions” (Dictionary.com). When in collective bargaining, the unions represent its members in negotiations rather than have each worker negotiate individually with an employer. In order for the collective bargaining process can start a union shop must be organized. Although many union contracts are worked out through collective bargaining, there are times when this process fails to bring agreement between the union and management. (Nickels)

In looking to achieve the union’s goals, labor unions may use a variety of tactics. Some of these tactics include striking, picketing, boycotting, slowdown, and in some cases illegal methods. A strike is the most effective union tactic against management. A strike “is when workers stop working for the purpose of gaining concessions from management” (Nickels). The purpose of this is to further workers’ objectives after an impasse in collective bargaining. Strike is labor’s most powerful weapon because of the financial loss imposed upon the employer. The downfall to a strike is that it also costs participating workers a loss in income. There are three main tactics. The first one is secondary boycott, which has been discussed previously. The second is strong-arm methods where unions hire thugs to force management into accepting the union demands. The third method is called jurisdictional strike is one caused by dispute between two unions over which one can represent certain workers. Management sometime will put pressure on unions when there is a breakdown in labor-management negotiations. Some important management tactics are lockouts, injunctions, and strikebreakers. Lockout happens when management shuts down a workplace in hope of bringing the workers to the companies’ terms. Sometimes a court will issue an injunction to halt a strike. Injunctions are very uncommon. Strikebreakers occur when management hire new people to replace the people that are on strike. Strike breaking, in my opinion is the best way to handle a strike. If people don’t want to work they shouldn’t. There are peaceful ways decisions can be solved without strikes or lockouts. (Gerson)
Companies should drug test every employee that they hire. They should do a background search of all their new hires to see their training, education, and if they have committed a crime. Every employee, even ones that have been there for a very long time should continue to be drug tested. This will make for a safety and healthier work environment. Workers should be drug tested for AIDS and other diseases, but in no way should they not be hired. AIDS and other diseases will not make employees work less poorly. They will complete their goals and objectives just as well as a person with no disease would. I feel that they are just discriminated against because they have AIDS, but people have to realize they are just as capable as anyone else. You can’t catch AIDS by working with someone in a factory or a company, so there is no need not to hire these people if they are certified and educated in completing the work that needs to be done. (Nickels)
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