“Managers know that people make the critical difference between success and failure. The effectiveness with which organisations manage, develop, motivate, involve and engage the willing contribution of the people who work in them is a key determinant of how well those organisations perform” (Patterson et al. 1997).
The above quotation was certainly true and correct. Imagine a business environment without a centralized form of manpower? Who will do the job? Even the largest company in the world will not work without human resources or people intervention. Latest technological advancements will not guarantee success as to compare with what human beings can do. In every business to function, human work force is the fuel. In every organization, performance counts. It is the measurement of employees’ capacity and productivity towards success.
Further, management as a science and the role of managers continue to develop as changes in the global marketplace occur. It is a dynamic area of study that will continuously dedicate an enormous proportion of time for further researches and discoveries to develop, alter, and achieve optimal performance in management. Further, it is expected that there will still be new and on-going management studies and probes as managers maintain their prescribed functions and responsibilities in relation to the principles of management. Understanding of people and organisational management principles is important in the profession due to several reasons:
· This serves as manager’s guiding mechanism in the effective implementation of specific managerial functions such as decision making and taking, human resources management and the like.
· It allows managers to work based on the proven, tested and acceptable concepts and universal theories relating to people and management. Similarly, it is where managerial actions are based.
· The knowledge of the manager about management theory and practice as well as people serves as a critical success factor (CSF) that creates a spill-over effect to all areas covered by the manager and his/her functions.
· Understanding people and organisational management theory and practice can avoid managerial mistakes, minimize risks, and increase the productivity of the people and the organization as a whole.
· The knowledge of the manager on the principles of human resources and organisational management also facilitates effective communication among the management and workforce.
· Productivity is also based on the knowledge of the manager of the principles and fundamentals of people and organisational management.
Any organisation, may it be profit oriented or not-for-profit, the most vital asset is its employees. And for these organizations to maximize their assets, they should manage the employees’ working condition with intelligence and efficiency (Ulrich, 1998). They must be allowed to be involved in making work-related decisions to further enhance the organisational structure (Delaney and Huselid, 1996). Furthermore, the structure of tasks among the employees strengthens the organizational performance (Wilson, 1989). It is therefore necessary to understand the employees for the organization to be effective (Schneider, 1983). The development, building, motivation, enhancement and enrichment of the employees of any organization largely depend on the leadership, mandate and vision of the organization (Rainey and Steinbauer, 1999).
In the era of globalisation (Kim and Weaver, 2000, p. 121; Ohmae, 1990; Naisbitt and Aburdene, 1990), every organisation must keep itself along with all the other organisations on being globally competitive. Corporate or organisational competitive advantage does not only depend on the organisation’s financial resources but on the knowledge and effective implementation of people and organisational management. That is, for the organisation to achieve competitive advantage, the people involved in the organisation must also be competitive.
As organizations seek to develop sources of competitive advantage, researchers and practitioners have looked to firms' human resources. Recent research by Huselid (1995), MacDuffie (1995), Delery and Doty (1996), and others has demonstrated significant relationships between HR practices and organisational performance. This line of research has estimated that a one standard deviation increase in the use of "progressive" or "high performance" work practices can result in up to a 20% increase in firm performance (Becker and Gerhart, 1996; Gerhart, 1999).
The global market is considered to be in hypercompetition (D’Aveni, 1995) mode and its rate is increasing as technology and industry concentration is intensified. With the international conditions of every particular business, the aim for competitive advantage and market superiority remains to be one of the most important factors at hand. Aside from ensuring effectiveness in management, profit-oriented corporations are also considering a total evaluation of their standards when it comes to people and organisational management. Organisations are now faced with leaner structures and increased competition which in turn are generating a rapid pace of change in the workplace. The greatest barrier to adapting to continual change lies with the management of people rather than technology. The constant efforts of effective implementation and utilization of the HR strategies make it possible for the company to perform well in the market.
Therefore, the knowledge and management of an organisation's human resources is pivotal to its responsiveness. In order to achieve this, the role of people and organizational management needs to change from reactive to proactive. If it is to be used to an organisation's competitive advantage, it needs to go beyond merely attracting and retaining good people. It should strive to gain a complete understanding of its workforce and develop organisational systems and processes that enable individuals to add value within a larger organisational unit (Ulrich and Yeung, 1989).
Treating the employees as champions and as a significant aspect of the organisation naturally results to other positive outcomes. One of which is the improvement of the overall organizational performance (Brewer and Selden, 2000). A number of empirical studies have concluded that understanding people and organisational practices have a significant effect on the organization, which leads to high performance (Haltiwanger, Lane and Spletzer, 1999). One good example that identifies this relationship was the study conducted by Delaney and Huselid (1996). Utilizing 590 profit and non-profit-oriented firms, the researchers concluded that HRM practices like staffing selectivity and training are positively associated with organizational performance.
Organizational performance is achieved through HRM functions as they mould the employees as significant contributors to the firm. Having the appropriate skills that are honed to the maximum level, people and organisational management practices will then lead to the attainment of various goals of the organization. From this relationship, it is then appropriate to conclude that the understanding of people and organisational management directly connects to the success or failure of the organisation.
How can management theories help meet the key challenges of the 21st century?
In the epoch of various occurrences such as globalisation, industrialisation and technological advancement, the international marketplace including its particular areas and systems is overly affected by the processes intrinsic to these phenomena. Among the observable impacts of such emerging conditions in the business world is competition. Competition among the various industries in every given economy is rapid and stiff. It is as if ‘survival of the fittest, extinction of the weakest’ trend. Today, as various industries are aiming for competitive advantage and sustainable development among its management and operations, there are numerous actions that are being implemented and are directed to the eventual success and growth of the company’s assets. In competition, there is motivation in every business to improve and develop their objectives. For an enterprise to succeed in global competition, hence, there is a continuous plan to develop management and marketing techniques with better advantages or higher quality than its competitors.
Management theories serve as established body of knowledge that will guide the manager in making excellent decisions for the benefit of the whole organisation. Similarly, the understanding of management theories is directly linked to enhanced organisational performance. In times of stiff competition, the knowledge of management theories is the ultimate solution in making sustainable competitive advantage that will differentiate the organisation from others. Also, it serves as a critical success factor of the whole organisation.
Organisation performance depends on the aspect of productivity and maximum contribution of every member to the company’s growth. The strategic implementation of management theories helps the organisation in improving its performance. The mere presence of premeditated management activities ensures the growth of company. Its success is also rooted on the ability of the managers and related personnel to implement programs, process and directives gained from company employees’ profile, culture, and related demographics.
Meanwhile, understanding the dynamics of management in the application to any industry helps assess the potential opportunities and threats of every business organizations. According to David (2003), there are at least four types of resources which the company can use to achieve its objectives: financial, tangible, human and technological resources. As such, it is necessary to realistically assess potential levels of profitability, opportunity and risk based on five key factors within an industry so as to determine the long-term profitability of a market or market segment.
Critical success factors (CSFs) in business, are the limited number of areas in which results, if they are satisfactory can ensure that successful competitive advantage for the company (Thierauf, 2001). Determining these factors is an old concept in business because there were great leaders throughout history who have identified and addressed key factors to achieve their successes. There is no one definition of CSF but it is considered that these are the areas which the company needs to concentrate on to flourish. Therefore, the activities should be carefully monitored and guided by the management.
Chung (1987) defined critical success factors as managerial factors that create a competitive edge for a company in its respective industry. There is no specific process in identifying and executing critical success factors in strategic management planning. This is the reason why Thierauf (2001) asserts that different companies which have similar structure can conduct its market entry forming different strategies which lead to the development of various critical factors. As the primary means for an organisation to achieve its strategy, critical success factors must take into account the differences in the environment and organisation that exists. And by having the knowledge of instrumental and conceptual principles, the manager and his/her knowledge of management theories is to be considered as the organisation’s critical success factor per se.
Based on the discussions above, it is proven that understanding instrumental and conceptual knowledge on people and organisational management particularly in the everyday dealings can serve as strategy that can take to building up or organisational sustainable competitive edge. The ability of a business to stay in significant period of time in the industry where it belongs is one measure of its success (Newstrom, 2002; Mariotti, 1999). This means that being able to survive is a necessity and survival translates to the ability of a business to compete. Since the 1980s, strategies have played key roles in planning to overcome challenges. It is believed that this line of thinking will continue to direct the activities of business into the 21st century (Paley, 1999). Every business is subject to several factors that affect its function as a whole. These factors are the ones attributed for the success or even the failure of a business (Oliver, 1997). Thus, it is accepted to confirm that they are essential in every business endeavour. The discussion above revealed the benefits of understanding people and organisational management as well as on how management theories help in meeting key challenges in the contemporary era. Through effective and efficient strategic planning and management applied by the managers and other immediate individual personnel, the organisation’s resources, systems, and administrators can add value to the services delivered to customers, reduce risks in the organisation’s business, lessen the costs of business development and service delivery, and encourage improvement in internal business processes and external service implementation.
To employ these processes, there is the need to consider the continuous learning of the managers to the emerging and latest trends in the management practice. Risks, opportunities, ability of managers to handle and use new knowledge, and the effectiveness in the organisational setting are very imperative. Intensive preparation and study should be conducted in order to ensure that managers are fully equipped and ready to face the challenges as well as to successfully able to perform its deliberate functions. The new information acquired from organisational and management learning activities will have value and increases insight into organisational needs and the way the business is looked at. Adding more and more advantages to the whole organization and solving the problems as they occur will eventually lead to success and growth as mentioned. Having an experienced strategist in helping the management utilises its resources, economic progression and corporate growth and success is promising.
The emergence of digitalisation (Earl, 1998) and globalisation in all operating global industries paved way to the further improvements related to marketing and management techniques. Regardless of the unprecedented drawbacks of such ideas when being used, every organisation and its managers are required to undergo constant knowledge progression and management must administer and control them in the most beneficial ways possible. Every decision made by the management must be directed to the welfare of the whole industry. With the right abilities, knowledge and characteristics of good manager, understanding management theory, strategy and strategic planning plus constant organisational learning will result to eventual business productivity and growth, market superiority, competitive edge, and success.
Reflection
In relation to my experiences, I can affirm that my management competencies are constantly improving each day of exposure to my working environment. During my first stage, I have less knowledge of managerial functions and its related competencies. As I continue to work and learn, I acquired important management competencies based on knowledge, skills and/or values such as leadership and teamwork, improved communication, and enhanced managerial skills.
In terms of leadership and teamwork, I can now lead and direct my subordinate and at the same time yielding the best possible result in every endeavour we partake. For instance, in one of the tasks that my team accomplished, I was able to motivate my whole team to work out our goal. I motivate them through my involvement and cooperation as it creates a feeling of oneness. I can also experiment along with the different styles of leadership as it applies to specific functions. Working with teams is a very challenging task because it means that I should deal with different principles and beliefs. With this, I see to it that I am a leader and at the same time a follower. Also, I see to it that my perception of myself is similar to my team members’ perception. Any conflict of ideas or principles are immediately address in order not to create further damage.
In communication aspect, I have been very efficient in maintaining satisfactory working relationship and environment. Communication within an organisation goes beyond the concepts of effective speaking or listening, or what is commonly considered as linear communication. It is an interactive model which deals with feedback and reciprocal exchanges. My strength in communication includes my ability to deal with all the people around me. It is important that the communication I provided is clear and consistent from within all people and levels of the organisation concerned. It must address both organisational and individual employee concerns. I learned that management behaviours influence employee behaviour more than the words included in a communication. With this, I recognise the need to assess the communication and its processes involved to see if it meets predetermined objectives. I can say that I have explored my limits in terms of communication and bring out positive results.
In upgrading my managerial functions, I developed enhanced ability in planning, organising, directing/leading, coordinating and controlling. These functions are goal-directed, interrelated and interdependent with each other. These resources also include people, jobs or positions, technology, facilities and equipment, materials and supplies, information, and money. In developing my managerial functions, I realised that managers should work in a dynamic environment and must anticipate and adapt to challenges. Moreover, managers must create and maintain an internal environment, commonly called the organisation, so that others can work efficiently in it. Specifically, my role in planning is to define goals for future performance of the organisation. I also decide on the task and the resources to be utilised in achieving the predetermined goals. I demonstrated strong planning and organisational skills during the times that there is a need to address a crucial organisational issue in the most immediate time possible yet at the same time using minimal resources. Organising, on the other hand, includes the specification and distribution of tasks to appropriate departments. It is also the assignment of authority and allocation of resources. I learned that the said ways are the immediate responsibilities of the manager. Organising is crucial in developing inputs to planning, making planning decisions, and implementing strategy. To be effective, however, comprehensive management function in the business must be a continuous process. However, the organization process that is conducted within the company is dependent on the plans that must be implemented. Furthermore, my role in directing/leading a management function is reliant to the development and implementation of designs or plans made. It is important that I must consider cost effective and time efficient ways in leading. The day-to-day responsibility of running the organization and leading the group in developing the plans for the long term future of the organization is accounted to my innate leadership abilities and managerial prowess. While it is true that the managers can direct/lead the entire workforce, generally, he/she is also connected to other factors such as the customers, the company’s budget and assets, and all other company’s resources (Roney, 2004). Furthermore, I learned that the manager is encouraged to adapt participative approaches to directing/leading in order to elicit useful characteristics and elements that are useful for the firm’s success. The leadership styles the manager chooses to utilise is also a vital determinant of effective directing process. Thus, it is still fundamental to study the feasible applications to be implemented in accordance to the achievement of organisation’s prime motives.
Coordination is the regulation of all the various aspects of the organisation into integrated and harmonious operations. It is the integrating and establishing of linkages to diverse sections in order to accomplish a communal set of objectives. For instance, in coordinating information to all members of the organisation, my role is to see to it that there is unity on all aspects of management. Managing the information that the company uses in its daily operations is crucial in any business organisation especially to the manager. Information is the blood stream of every company on which every staff, employee, and supervisor work on in order to meet the demands of the clients and customers of the business. This is the reason why there should be proper management flow within the manager and the rest of the manpower. Direct link between the managers, supervisors, and the subordinate employees should be efficient enough to answer to the daily work loads of the members of the organization. Communication between and among the members of the organisation is prioritised in order to provide a well-functioning business operation within and outside the working environment. However, there are some significant elements that are barriers to coordination. Among these are intervening factors such as personal indifferences, cultural pluralism, and behavioural diversity among members of the group. But still, the expertise of the manager to amalgamate such loopholes is a challenge to his/her managerial function. Lastly, I realised that managers manage by controlling and limiting the efforts of those below them. As a manager, it is a sole responsibility to implement plans but at the same time limiting the possible negative consequences. It has been demonstrated that the emphasis in successful management lies on the man, not on the work; that efficiency is best secured by placing the emphasis on the man, and modifying the equipment, materials and methods to make the most of the man. It has, further, been recognised that the man's mind is a controlling factor in his efficiency, and has, by teaching, enabled the man to make the most of his powers (Gilbreth, 1914, p. 3).
All in all, my experiences in the working environment that I belong serve as my stepping stones for the further development of my management competencies. Similarly, my management competencies can relate to the key current management issues evident in my profession and culture by serving as my guide to take the best possible decisions as bounded with the management theories and supported by experiences that I had. My management competencies will contribute to the organisational performance by contributing my knowledge and expertise to a certain management matter. The management culture in which I belong could be described as a learning organisation. Simply because it allows all people not only me to learn and develop their potential in order to become better workers and professionals. This provides everyone the opportunity to excel for personal and organisational advantage. It is like hitting two birds with one stone. It creates a more conducive avenue of professional development. Having said all of these, I can say that I am now capable of dealing with change. For change is inevitable, I acknowledge the fact that I should be flexible enough so as not to disorient myself in the achievement of my duties and responsibilities both to myself and to the organisation I belong. In the advent of competition and technological innovations, my innate ability to think makes the big difference. I will continue to learn and update myself with the latest management trends. With this, personal and professional growth as well as improvement is not far at hand.
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