Tag: MBA Notes

  • Do You Really Want to your Own a Business?

    Do You Really Want to your Own a Business?

    If “Yes” So, this article of post little help you How to Start. “Hope springs eternal in the human breast,” said English poet and essayist Alexander Pope several centuries ago. He wasn’t describing people expanding or starting a business, but he may as well have been. Everyone who goes into business for themselves hopes to meet or surpass a set of personal goals.

    A business (also known as an enterprise, a company or a firm) is an organizational entity involved in the provision of goods and services to consumers. Businesses serve as a form of economic activity and are prevalent in capitalist economies, where most of them are privately owned and provide goods and services allocated through a market to consumers and customers in exchange for other goods, services, money, or other forms of exchange that hold intrinsic economic value. Businesses may also be social non-profit enterprises or state-owned public enterprises operated by governments with specific social and economic objectives. A business owned by multiple private individuals may form an incorporated company or jointly organize as a partnership. Countries have different laws that may ascribe different rights to the various business entities.

    The word “business” can refer to a particular organization or to an entire market sector (for example: “the financial sector”) or to the sum of all economic activity (“the business sector”). Compound forms such as “agribusiness” represent subsets of the concept’s broader meaning, which encompasses all activity by suppliers of goods and services.

    Sole Ownership: A sole proprietorship (ownership), also known as a sole trader, is owned by one person and operates for their benefit. The owner operates the business alone and may hire employees. A sole proprietor has unlimited liability for all obligations incurred by the business, whether from operating costs or judgments against the business. All assets of the business belong to a sole proprietor, including, for example, a computer infrastructure, any inventory, manufacturing equipment, or retail fixtures, as well as any real property owned by the sole proprietor.

    Do You Really Want to your Own a Business - Sole Ownership

    While your particular configuration is sure to be unique, perhaps you will agree with some of the ones I have compiled over the years from talking to hundreds of budding entrepreneurs.

    Independence: A search for freedom and independence is the driving force behind many businesspeople. Wasn’t it Johnny Paycheck who wrote the song “Take This Job and Shove It?”

    Personal Fulfillment: For many people, owning a business is a genuinely fulfilling experience, one that lifetime employees never know.

    Lifestyle Change: many people find that while they can make a good income working for other people, they are missing some of life’s precious moments. With the flexibility of small business ownership, you can take time to stop and smell the roses.

    Respect: Successful small business owners are respected, both by themselves and their peers.

    Money: You can get rich in a small business, or at least do very well financially. most entrepreneurs don’t get wealthy, but some do. If money is your motivator, admit it.

    Power: When it is your business, you can have your employees do it your way. There is a little Ghengis Khan in us all, so don’t be surprised if power is one of your goals. If it is, think about how to use this goal in a constructive way.

    Right Livelihood: From natural foods to solar power to many types of service businesses, a great many cause-driven small businesses have done very well by doing good.

    If owning a small business can help a person accomplish these goals, it’s small wonder that so many are started. Unfortunately, while the potential for great success exists, so do many risks. Running a small business may require that you sacrifice some short-term comforts for long-term benefits. It is hard, demanding work that requires a wide variety of skills few people are born with. But even if you possess (or more likely acquire) the skills and determination you need to successfully run a business, your business will need one more critical ingredient: money.

    You need money to start your business, money to keep it running, and money to make it grow. This is not the same thing as saying you can guarantee success in your small business if you begin with a fat wallet. now, let me confess to one major bias here. I believe that most small business owners and founders are better off starting small and borrowing, or otherwise raising, as little money as possible. Put another way, there is no such thing as “raising plenty of capital to ensure success.” Unless you, as the prospective business founder, learn to get the most mileage out of every dollar, you may go broke and will surely spend more than you need to. But that doesn’t mean that you should try to save money by selling cheap merchandise or providing marginal services. In today’s competitive economy, your customers want the best you can give them at the best price. They will remember the quality of what they get from you long after they have forgotten how much they paid.

    In practical terms, that means you must buy only the best goods for your customers. Anything that affects the image your business has in your customer’s mind should be first-rate. It also means that you shouldn’t spend money on things that don’t affect the customer. For example, unless you’re a real estate broker your customers probably won’t care if you drive an old, beat-up car to an office in a converted broom closet, as long as you provide them an honest product or service for an honest price. Save the nice car, fancy office, and mobile telephone until after your business is a success.

    Self-Evaluation Exercises

    Here’s a question to ponder: Are you the right person for your business? Because running a business is a very demanding endeavor that can take most of your time and energy, your business probably will suffer if you’re unhappy. Your business can become an albatross around your neck if you don’t have the skills and temperament to run it. Simply put, I’ve learned that no business, whether or not it has sound financial backing, is likely to succeed unless you, as the prospective owner, make two decisions correctly:

    • You must honestly evaluate yourself to decide whether you possess the skills and personality needed to succeed in a small business.
    • You must choose the right business.

    A small business is a very personal endeavor. It will honestly reflect your opinions and attitudes, whether or not you design it that way. Think of it this way: The shadow your business casts will be your shadow. If you are sloppy, rude, crafty, or naively trusting, your business will mirror these attributes. If your personal characteristics are more positive than those, your business will be more positive, too. To put this concretely, suppose you go out for the Sunday paper and are met by a newsie who is groggy from a hangover and badmouths his girlfriend in front of you. chances are that next Sunday will find you at a different newsstand.

    I’m not saying you need to be psychologically perfect to run a small business. But to succeed, you must ask people for their money every day and convince a substantial number of them to give it to you. By providing your goods or services, you will create intimate personal relationships with a number of people. It makes no difference whether you refer to people who give you money as clients, customers, patients, members, students, or disciples. It makes a great deal of difference to your chances of ultimate success if you understand that these people are exchanging their money for the conviction that you are giving them their money’s worth.

    The following self-evaluation exercises will help you assess whether you have what it takes to successfully run a small business. Take out a blank sheet of paper or open a computer file.

    Your Strong and Weak Points

    Take a few minutes to list your personal and business strengths and weaknesses. Include everything you can think of, even if it doesn’t appear to be related to your business. For instance, your strong points may include the mastery of a hobby, your positive personality traits, and your sexual charisma, as well as your specific business skills. Take your time and be generous.

    To provide you with a little help, I include a sample list for Antoinette Gorzak, a personal friend who has what she hopes is a good business idea: a slightly different approach to selling women’s clothing. You’ll get to know her better as we go along. Her strengths, weaknesses, fantasies, and fears are surely different from yours. So, too, almost certainly, is the business she wants to start. So be sure to make your own lists—don’t copy Antoinette’s.

    Your list of strong and weak points will help you see any obvious conflicts between your personality and the business you’re in or want to start. For example, if you don’t like being around people but plan to start a life insurance agency with you as the primary salesperson, you may have a personality clash with your business. The solution might be to find another part of the insurance business that doesn’t require as much people contact.

    Unfortunately, many people don’t realize that their personalities will have a direct bearing on their business success. An example close to the experience of folks at nolo involves bookstores. In the years since nolo began publishing, they have seen all sorts of people, from retired librarians to unemployed Ph.D.’s, open bookstores. A large percentage of these stores have failed because the skills needed to run a successful bookstore involve more than a love of books.

    General and Specific Skills Your Business Needs

    Businesses need two kinds of skills to survive and prosper: Skills for business in general and skills specific to the particular business. For example, every business needs someone to keep good financial records. on the other hand, the tender touch and manual dexterity needed by glassblowers are not skills needed by the average paving contractor. Next, take a few minutes and list the skills your business needs. don’t worry about making an exhaustively complete list, just jot down the first things that come to mind. make sure you have some general business skills as well as some of the more important skills specific to your particular business.

    If you don’t have all the skills your business needs, your backers will want to know how you will make up for the deficiency. For example, let’s say you want to start a trucking business. You have a good background in maintenance, truck repair, and long distance driving, and you know how to sell and get work. Sounds good so far—but, let’s say you don’t know the first thing about bookkeeping or cash flow management and the thought of using a computer makes you nervous. Because some trucking businesses work on large dollar volumes, small profit margins, and slow-paying customers, your backers will expect you to learn cash flow management or hire someone qualified to handle that part of the business.

    Your Likes and Dislikes

    Take a few minutes and make a list of the things you really like doing and those you don’t enjoy. Write this list without thinking about the business—simply concentrate on what makes you happy or unhappy.

    If you enjoy talking to new people, keeping books, or working with computers, be sure to include those. Put down all the activities you can think of that give you pleasure. Antoinette’s list is shown as an example.

    As a business owner, you will spend most of your waking hours in the business, and if it doesn’t make you happy, you probably won’t be very good at it. If this list creates doubts about whether you’re pursuing the right business, I suggest you let your unconscious mind work on the problem. most likely, you’ll know the answer after one or two good nights’ sleep.

    Specific Business Goals

    Finally, list your specific business goals. Exactly what do you want your business to accomplish for you? Freedom from 9 to 5? money—and if so, how much? more time with the children? making the world or your little part of it a better place? It’s your wish list, so be specific and enjoy writing it.

    How to Use the Self-evaluation Lists?

    After you’ve completed the four self-evaluation lists, spend some time reading them over. Take a moment to compare the skills needed in your business to the list of skills you have. do you have what it takes?

    Show them to your family and, if you’re brave, to your friends or anyone who knows you well and can be objective. of course, before showing the lists to anyone, you may choose to delete any private information that isn’t critical to your business. If you show your lists to someone who knows the tough realities of running a successful small business, so much the better. You may want to find a former teacher, a fellow employee, or someone else whose judgment you respect.

    What do they think? do they point out any obvious inconsistencies between your personality or skills and what you want to accomplish? If so, pay attention. Treat this exercise seriously and you will know yourself better. oh, and don’t destroy your lists. Assuming you go ahead with your business and write your business plan, the lists can serve as background material or even become part of the final plan.

    You have accomplished several things if you have followed these steps. You have looked inside and asked yourself some basic questions about who you are and what you are realistically qualified to do. As a result, you should now have a better idea of whether you are willing to pay the price required to be successful as a small businessperson. If you are still eager to have a business, you have said, “Yes, I am willing to make short-term sacrifices to achieve long-term benefits and to do whatever is necessary—no matter the inconvenience— to reach my goals.”

    Reality Check: Banker’s Analysis

    Banks and institutions that lend money have a lot of knowledge about the success rate of small businesses. Bankers are often overly cautious in making loans to small businesses. For that very reason it makes sense to study their approach, even though it may seem discouraging at first glance.

    Do You Really Want to your Own a Business - Bankers

    Banker’s Ideal

    Bankers look for an ideal loan applicant, who typically meets these requirements:

    • For an existing business, a cash flow sufficient to make the loan payments.
    • For a new business, an owner who has a track record of profitably owning and operating the same sort of business.
    • An owner with a sound, well-thought-out business plan.
    • An owner with financial reserves and personal collateral sufficient to solve the unexpected problems and fluctuations that affect all businesses.

    Why does such a person need a loan, you ask? He or she probably doesn’t, which, of course, is the point. People who lend money are most comfortable with people so close to their ideal loan candidate that they don’t need to borrow. However, to stay in business themselves, banks and other lenders must lend out the money deposited with them. To do this, they must lend to at least some people whose creditworthiness is less than perfect.

    Measuring Up to the Banker’s Ideal

    Who are these ordinary mortals who slip through bankers’ fine screens of approval? And more to the point, how can you qualify as one of them? Your job is to show how your situation is similar to the banker’s ideal.

    A good bet is the person who has worked for, or preferably managed, a successful business in the same field as the proposed new business. For example, if you have profitably run a clothing store for an absentee owner for a year or two, a lender may believe you are ready to do it on your own. All you need is a good location, a sound business plan, and a little capital. Then, watch out Neiman-Marcus!

    Further away from a lender’s ideal is the person who has sound experience managing one type of business, but proposes to start one in a different field. let’s say you ran the most profitable hot dog stand in the Squaw valley ski resort, and now you want to market computer software in the Silicon Valley of California. In your favor is your experience running a successful business. on the negative side is the fact that computer software marketing has

    no relationship to hot dog selling. In this situation, you might be able to get a loan if you hire people who make up for your lack of experience. At the very least, you would need someone with a strong software marketing background, as well as a person with experience managing retail sales and service businesses. naturally, both of those people are most desirable if they have many years of successful experience in the software marketing business, preferably in California.

    Use the Banker’s Ideal

    It’s helpful to use the bankers’ model in your decision-making process. Use a skeptical attitude as a counterweight to your optimism to get a balanced view of your prospects. What is it that makes you think you will be one of the minority of small business owners who will succeed? If you don’t have some specific answers, you are in trouble. most new businesses fail, and the large majority of survivors do not genuinely prosper.

    Many people start their own business because they can’t stand working for others. They don’t have a choice. They must be either boss or bum. They are more than willing to trade security for the chance to call the shots. They meet a good chunk of their goals when they leave their paycheck behind. This is fine as far as it goes, but in my experience, the more successful small business owners have other goals as well.

    A small distributor we know has a well thought-out business and a sound business plan for the future. Still, he believes that his own personal commitment is the most important thing he has going for him. He puts it this way: “I break my tail to live up to the commitments I make to my customers. If a supplier doesn’t perform for me, I’ll still do everything I can to keep my promise to my customer, even if it costs me money.” This sort of personal commitment enables this successful business owner to make short-term adjustments to meet his long-range goals. And while it would be an exaggeration to say he pays this price gladly, he does pay it.

    Note: This article of “Do You Really Want to your Own a Business?” from Internet and book of How to Write a Business Plan, only for share knowledge with help.

  • What is My Goal Orientation?

    What is My Goal Orientation?

    Educators have determined that students have different reasons or purposes for achieving in different courses. Dweck and Leggett (1988) believe that the achievement goals students pursue “create the framework within which they interpret and react to events.” They have identified two types of achievement goals: mastery and performance. A mastery goal is oriented toward learning as much as possible in a course for the purpose of self-improvement, irrespective of the performance of others. A performance goal focuses on social comparison and competition, with the main purpose of outperforming others on the task. Think about how you approach different classes. Are you interested in learning as much as you can in a class, or is your major goal simply doing better than the majority of students so you can attain a satisfactory grade? Of course, in some classes, you may value both learnings and be getting good grades because you can have multiple goals in school. It is not uncommon for students to have a mastery goal orientation in one class and a performance goal orientation in another. It is also possible to have a performance and mastery goal orientation in the same class. An analysis of the distinction between mastery and performance goals in Table shows how students define schooling and learning in different ways.

    Mastery Performance
    Success defined as Improvement, progress, mastery, innovation, creativity High grades, high performance compared with others, relative achievement on standardized measures
    Value placed on Effort, academic venture some ness Demonstrating high performance relative to effort
    Basis for satisfaction Progress, challenge, mastery Doing better than others, success relative to effort
    Error viewed as Part of the learning process, informational Failure, evidence of lack of ability
    Ability viewed as Developing through effort Fixed

    The goal orientation that students adopt in a course influences the effort they exhibit in learning tasks and the type of learning strategies they use. Thus, when students adopt a mastery goal orientation, they are more likely to have a positive attitude toward the task (even outside the classroom), monitor their own comprehension, use more complex learning strategies, and relate newly learned the material with previously learned the material. In contrast, students who adopt a performance orientation tend to focus on memorization and other rote learning strategies and often do not engage in problem-solving and critical thinking. In general, they do not think about what they learn but rather look for shortcuts and quick payoffs. Students with performance goals want to look competent (e.g., Safe Susan) or avoid looking incompetent (e.g., Defensive Dimitri). In general, the research suggests that adopting a mastery goal orientation has positive academic outcomes (Ames, 1992). However, it has been found that performance goals, but not mastery goals, were related to academic performance in introductory college classes (Harackiewicz, Barron, Carter, Lehto, & Elliot, 1997).

    The researchers argued that in large lecture classes where instructors’ grade on a curve and success is defined as outperforming others, performance goals can lead to academic success. Another important issue to consider is that multiple-choice tests often are used in such settings and may assess more factual rather than deeper understanding of the material. Thus, the grading method and/or type of tests used may create a performance oriented classroom environment. In the same investigation, the researchers found that mastery goals predicted interest in the introductory class, whereas performance goals did not. We have an interesting dilemma: each goal was related to one indicator of success (academic performance or interest) but not the other. In this situation, it appears that students who endorsed both goals were most likely to like the course and achieve well.

    In the following section, two students present different views on goal orientation. The first student admits that his primary goal orientation is to meet requirements, not learn. The second student reports that his goal orientation is influenced by the value he placed on different courses. What factors influence your goal orientations?

    Your goal orientation in a particular course can greatly impact your motivation, even before you ever open a textbook or take your first lecture notes. Analyze your goal orientation in each of the classes you are currently taking. Do you have the same goal orientation in all of your classes? Do you think you exhibit both orientations in some classes? Do you find that your learning behavior differs depending on your goal orientation? Also, think about a hobby or particular interest you have. How long can you persist on the task before getting tired or bored? How is your behavior related to your goal orientation?

  • What are Motivation and Factors Influence IT?

    What are Motivation and Factors Influence IT?

    Student motivation in the college classroom involves three interactive components (adapted from Pint rich, 1994). The first component is the personal and sociocultural factors that include individual characteristics, such as the attitudes and values students bring to college based on prior personal, family, and cultural experiences. The second component is the classroom environment factors that pertain to instructional experiences in different courses. The third component is internal factors or students’ beliefs and perceptions. Internal factors are influenced by both personal and sociocultural factors and classroom environmental experiences. Current research on motivation indicates that internal factors (i.e., students’ beliefs and perceptions) are key factors in understanding behavior. Most of the attention is given to the internal factors of motivation. I begin this section with a discussion of what behaviors determine students’ motivation and then discuss how personal and sociocultural, classroom environmental, and internal factors influence motivated behavior.

    Motivated Behavior

    If you want to understand your own motivation, you might begin by evaluating your behavior in the following three areas:

    Choice of behavior.

    Level of activity and involvement, and

    Persistence and management of effort.

    Students make choices everyday about activities and tasks in which to engage. Many students choose to learn more about a subject or topic outside of class, whereas others limit their involvement to class assignments. As an undergraduate, I had a roommate who slept until noon each day. This behavior would not have been problematic if his classes were in the afternoon. Unfortunately, all his classes were in the morning. Another student I knew could not say no when someone asked if she wanted to go to a movie or have pizza, even though she had to study for an exam or write a paper. Students do not have to be productive every moment. Having fun or wasting time is a part of life. However, the choices they make play important roles in determining the number of personal goals they will attain throughout life. A second aspect of motivated behavior is level of activity, or involvement in a task. Some students are very involved in their courses. They spend considerable effort after class refining notes, outlining readings, and, in general, using different learning strategies to make sense of what they are learning. Other students are less engaged in their courses and do the minimal amount required to get by. The third aspect of motivated behavior is persistence. The willingness of students to persist when tasks are difficult, boring, or unchallenging is an important factor in motivation and academic success. In many cases, students have to learn how to control their efforts and persistence in the variety of academic tasks they experience. Let’s now examine the factors that influence motivated behavior.

    Personal and Sociocultural Factors

    The attitudes, beliefs, and experiences students bring to college based on their personal and sociocultural experiences influence their motivation and behavior, and even their persistence or departure from college. When you walk into your first college class, you bring all your precollege experiences with you, such as your study and learning strategies, attitudes and beliefs about your ability to succeed in college, your coping strategies, and the level of commitment to meet personal goals. All of these attributes will influence the way you interact with the college environment. If you receive a low grade on a paper or exam, will you remind yourself of your ability to succeed, or will you say something like: “Here we go, just like high school. I don’t know if I can do well in this course?” All your past experiences with stressful situations and the way you handled them will influence your ability to deal with new stressful situations in your college environment. You are going to learn new copying strategies in this course that should result in a reduction of stress and increase confidence in your ability to succeed in college. You also are influenced by your family and cultural experiences. Family characteristics such as socioeconomic levels, parental educational levels, and parental expectations can influence motivation and behavior. For example, first-generation and ethnic minority students have a more difficult time adjusting to college than do second- or third-generation college students (Ratcliff, 1995). Transition to college can be difficult for any student, but when an individual has family members who have experienced this transition, he or she is less likely to feel lost in a new or unfamiliar environment or unsure about what questions to ask. Also, Reglin and Adams (1990) reported that Asian American students are more influenced by their parents’ desire for success than are their non–Asian American peers. They pointed out that the desire by Asian American students to meet their parents’ academic expectations creates the need to spend more time on academic tasks and less time on nonacademic activities. In what ways has your family influenced your goals, motivation, and behavior? Here is a list of some other student characteristics that can influence adjustment and involvement in college (adapted from Jalomo, 1995):

    • Married students with family obligations Single parents.
    • Students who never liked high school or who were rebellious in high school.
    • Students who were not involved in academic activities or student groups during high school.
    • Students who are afraid or feel out of place in the mainstream college culture.
    • Students who have a hard time adjusting to the fast pace of college.
    • Students who lack the financial resources to take additional courses or participate in campus-based academic and social activities in college.

    Stereotype Threat

    A distressing research finding is that African American and Latino students from elementary school through college tend to have lower test scores and grades, and tend to drop out of school more often than White students (National Center for Education Statistics, 1998). In addition, regardless of income level, they score lower than White and Asian students on the Scholastic Achievement Test (SAT). For years, educators have been concerned with these statistics, especially when capable minority students fail to perform as well as their White counterparts. Professor Claude Steele (1999) and his colleague (Aronson, 2002) believe they have identified a possible explanation for this dilemma. They think the difference in academic performance has less to do with preparation or ability and more to do with the threat of stereotypes about the students’ ability to succeed. They coined the term stereotype threat to mean the fear of doing something that would inadvertently confirm a stereotype. The following is an explanation of this phenomenon. Stereotypes can influence an individual’s motivation and achievement by suggesting to the target of the stereotype that a negative label could apply to one’s self or group.

    For example, the commonly held stereotype that women are less capable in mathematics than men have been shown to affect the performance of women on standardized math tests. When female’s students were told beforehand of this negative stereotype, scores were significantly lower compared to a group of women who were led to believe the tests did not reflect these stereotypes (Spencer, Steele, & Quinn, 1999). In another investigation (Levy, 1996), half of a group of older adults were reminded of the stereotype regarding old age and memory loss while the other half were reminded of the more positive stereotype that old people are wise. The older adults performed worse on a test of short-term memory when they were presented with the negative stereotype than when they were reminded of the more positive stereotype. Why do you think the women and older adults scored lower under the stereotype threat condition? Now let’s review the research as to how stereotype threat may help to explain the low achievement of certain minority group members.

    There exists a stereotype that many African American and Latino students may not have the academic ability to succeed in college. As a result, many minority students may feel at risk of confirming this stereotype and wonder if they can compete successfully at the college level. Thus, just the awareness of the stereotype can affect a student’s motivation and behavior. Steele and Aronson (1995) asked African American and White college students to take a difficult standardized test (verbal portion of the Graduate Record Examination). In one condition, the experimenters presented the test as a measure of intellectual ability and preparation. In the second condition, the experimenters reduced the stereotype threat by telling the students that they were not interested in measuring their ability with the test, but were interested in the students’ verbal problem solving. The only difference between the two conditions of the experiment was what the researchers told the students: the test was the same; the students were equally talented and were given the same amount of time to complete the exam.

    The results of the experiment indicated a major difference for the African American students. When the test was presented in the no evaluative way, they solved about twice as many problems on the test as when it was presented in the standard way. Moreover, there was no difference between the performance of African American and White test takers under the no-stereotype threat condition. For the White students, the way the test was presented had no effect on their performance. The researchers believed that by reducing the evaluative condition, they were able to reduce the African American students’ anxiety, and, as a result, they performed better on the exam. Aronson (2002) pointed out that in numerous investigations, researchers have found that the stereotype threat condition doesn’t reduce effort, but makes individuals try harder on tests because they want to invalidate the stereotype. Not all individuals are equally vulnerable to stereotype threat. Individuals who are more vulnerable include those who care most about doing well, people who feel a deep sense of attachment to their ethnic or gender group, and individuals who have higher expectations for discrimination in their environment. Students under the stereotype threat condition appear more anxious while taking a test. In addition, they also reread questions and recheck their answers more often than when they are not under stereotype threat.

    As a result, students placed in a stereotype threat condition become poor test takers! Are you vulnerable to stereotype threat as a member of a minority group, a woman, an older student who has come back to college a number of years after graduating from high school? Can student-athletes experience stereotype threat? Could the stereotype threat “absentminded professor” influence your instructor’s behavior? Has stereotype threat influenced your motivation or behavior in any way? Are you aware of such influence? What can educators do about reducing the influence of stereotype threat? Aronson (2002) pointed out that stereotype threat appears to be especially disruptive to individuals who believe that intelligence is fixed rather than changeable. In this course, you are learning that academic performance can be improved through the use of different learning and motivational strategies. Do you believe that you can become a more successful student and compete with other students at your college or university? There also is some evidence that stereotype threat may be reduced through cooperative learning and other forms of direct contact with other students.

    In a successful program that improved the academic achievement of a group of African American freshman at the University of Michigan (Steele et al., 1997), students lived in a racially integrated “living and learning” community in a part of a large dormitory. The students were recognized for their accomplishment of gaining admission to the university and participated in weekly rap groups to discuss common problems they all faced. In addition, they participated in advanced workshops in one of their courses that went beyond the material in the course. All of these activities were useful; however, the weekly rap sessions appeared to be the most critical part of program. The researchers believed that when students of different racial groups hear the same concerns expressed, the concerns appear to be less racial. The students also may learn that racial and gender stereotypes play a smaller role in academic success than they may have originally expected. It is important to realize that the researchers exploring the impact of stereotype threat are not saying that this phenomenon is the sole reason for underachievement by certain minority students. We have already discussed a number of other important academic and motivational factors that can make a difference between a successful and unsuccessful college experience. Nevertheless, stereotype threat must be considered an important factor in understanding underachievement of certain minority students.

    Classroom Environmental Factors

    Many classroom environmental factors influence student motivation. These include types of assignments given, instructor behavior, and instructional methods. Ratcliff (1995) reported that a successful transition to college is related to the quality of classroom life. In particular, student motivation and achievement is greater when instructors communicate high expectations for success, allow students to take greater responsibility for their learning, and encourage various forms of collaborative learning (i.e., peer learning or group learning). In an interesting book, Making the Most of College, Light (2001) interviewed hundreds of college seniors to identify factors that made college an outstanding experience. Here are some findings about college instruction that appeared to motivate students: First, the students reported that they learned significantly more when instructors structured their courses with many quizzes and short assignments. They liked immediate feedback and the opportunity to revise and make changes in their work. They did not like courses when the only feedback came late or at the end of the semester. Second, the students reported that they liked classes where the instructors encouraged students to work together on homework assignments. They mentioned that some of their instructors created small study groups in their courses to encourage students to work together outside of class. This activity helped students become more engaged in their courses. Third, many students found that small-group tutorials, small seminars, and one-to-one supervision were the highlights of their college careers. They highly recommended that undergraduate students find internships and other experiences where they can be mentored by faculty members. Fourth, students reported the beneficial impact of racial and ethnic diversity on their college experiences. They reported how much they learned from other students who came from different backgrounds— ethnic, political, religious, or economic. Fifth, students who get the most out of college and who are happiest organize their time to include activities with faculty members or with other students. Most students need recommendations from faculty members for graduate study or jobs. Yet, they often fail to meet with their instructors to get a letter of recommendation. Light (2001) pointed out the advice he gives all his advisees: “Your job is to get to know one faculty member reasonably well this semester. And also to have that faculty member get to know you reasonably well.” He reported that as his first-year advisees approach graduation, they tell him that this advice was the most helpful suggestion they received during their freshman year.

    Professors differ as much as any other group of individuals; some are easy to approach, whereas others make it appear that they are trying to avoid students. In fact, in many large universities, a student has to work hard to make contact with some professors. Nevertheless, think about the challenge of getting to know at least one instructor or professor well each semester. Not only will you find that the experience will motivate you to achieve in his or her class, but when the time comes for letters of recommendation, you will have a list of professors to ask. So, try not to be intimidated by your instructors: go to office hours, sign up for study sessions, and get a few students together and invite the instructor to lunch if you don’t want to do it by yourself.

    Although it is important for students to understand that the classroom environment can influence their motivation, they need to take responsibility for their own behavior. My daughter came home one day during her freshman year and told me that she received a low C on a midterm exam. In the same breath, she reported that she did not like the instructor, implying a relationship between the low grade and her dislike of the instructor. I responded that my expectations for her academic performance were not based on her like or dislike of courses or professors, and told her she had to learn to do well in all types of situations. You learned that self-directed students learn how to overcome obstacles to increase the probability of their academic success. Think about some of the actions you can take to improve your academic learning when you don’t like your instructor, find the course boring, or when the instructor spends all his or her time lecturing and doesn’t encourage student interaction or small-group work.

    Internal Factors Students’ goals, beliefs, feelings, and perceptions determine their motivated behavior and, in turn, academic performance. For example, if students value a task and believe they can master it, they are more likely to use different learning strategies, try hard, and persist until completion of the task. If students believe that intelligence changes over time, they are more likely to exhibit effort in difficult courses than students who believe intelligence is fixed. I’m going to explain why the answers to the following questions can provide insight into your own motivation:

    How do I value different academic courses and tasks?

    What Are My goals?

    What is My goal orientation?

    Do I believe I can do well on different academic tasks?

    What are the causes of my successes and failures?

    How do I feel about my academic challenges?

    Notice that all of the questions deal with beliefs and perceptions. Students can learn a great deal about their motivation by examining how their beliefs and perceptions influence them.

  • What are Motivational Problems?

    What are Motivational Problems?

    Many of my students frequently state in class or in written assignments: “I have no motivation” or “I need to get motivated.” Unfortunately, I find that many students do not understand the meaning of these statements. Actually, everyone is motivated. Educational researchers have found that many different patterns of beliefs and behaviors can limit academic success. Therefore, many different types of motivational problems can be identified in any group of students. Let’s look at five students who have diverse motivational problems (adapted from Stipek, 1998): Defensive Dimitri, Safe Susan, Hopeless Henry, Satisfied Sheila, and Anxious Alberto.

    Defensive Dimitri

    Dimitri is having difficulty in his first term in college and is beginning to doubt his ability to compete with other students in his classes. As a result, he puts his energy into preventing anyone from interpreting his poor performance as evidence of lack of ability. Basically, he appears to be more motivated to avoid failure than to succeed. Dimitri uses a number of failure-avoiding strategies, such as asking instructors several questions to give the impression that he is interested in the material, telling friends that he does not spend much time studying for exams when he really does, and spending time trying to find out what information appeared on tests in other sections of the same course. Unfortunately, the strategies he uses to avoid looking like a poor student prevent him from developing his academic abilities.

    Safe Susan

    Susan is a bright student with high SAT scores. However, she can be classified as an underachiever. Her primary goal is to attain high grades and recognition from her instructors. She is upset if she obtains any grade less than an A. She takes courses that offer little challenge and over studies for every test. Susan rarely reads anything that is not required in a course and does not allow herself to be challenged. She learns only what she is told to learn.

    Hopeless Henry

    Henry has a very negative opinion of his ability to do college work. He realized early in the term that he was having trouble understanding college textbooks and taking lecture notes. In fact, he has no study skills of which to speak. Henry does not attempt to seek help because he believes it is useless to try because nothing seems to work. When talking to friends, he constantly puts himself down. He sleeps late and misses many classes and finds himself falling further and further behind in his coursework.

    Satisfied Sheila

    Sheila is a likable student who enjoys college life. She joined a number of social organizations the first term in college and is a Cave rage student who could easily attain A grades. Sheila does not want to push herself and lets course work get in the way of having a good time. She is not worried about getting C grades and is especially satisfied with any grade that does not require much effort. Sheila enjoys reading novels and writes very well. In fact, she has submitted some of her poetry to her college literary magazine. Unfortunately, she does not apply her intellectual interests and abilities to her schoolwork.

    Anxious Alberto

    Alberto lacks self-confidence and is very anxious about academic tasks. He constantly worries about his performance on every test or assignment. His anxiety is so great that he forgets material on tests even though he prepares well. Alberto has trouble sleeping, constantly has stomachaches, and does not enjoy college.

    Each of these students has a different set of beliefs and perceptions that limit his or her present and possibly future academic success. All of these students have motivational problems. Defensive Dimitri doubts his ability and is concerned that others will not see him as capable. Safe Susan does not want to take any risks or challenge herself. She just cares about doing well. Hopeless Henry does not believe anything he does will make a difference in succeeding in college. He has learned to be helpless. Satisfied Sheila does not value her academic accomplishments. As a result, she chooses to spend her time and effort in nonacademic areas. Anxious Alberto wants to be a successful student. However, his constant worry causes considerable anxiety that interferes with his academic success. Do any of these students resemble anyone you know? As you read this chapter, think about how the content can help you better understand each of these students.

    After studying this Posts, you will be able to:

    Identify the factors that influence motivation.

    Assess your beliefs and perceptions to account for your own motivation.

  • What are Interpersonal Skills and Their Types?

    What are Interpersonal Skills and Their Types?

    This may be the understatement of the year: right now there is an incredible need for engineers. All skill sets and experience levels are in high demand from start-ups to giant corporations, but that doesn’t mean that every engineer will be employed or successful.

    Interpersonal Skills also called Human Relations Skills, Interpersonal skills are often called “People Skills” because they describe a person’s ability to interact with other people in a positive and cooperative manner. Unlike technical skills that people attend school for, interpersonal skills are considered soft skills that are typically developed over time through interactions.

    Having good interpersonal skills is desired in most careers. The best members of a team often have strong skills that help them communicate and problem solve with other people in an organization. There is a long list of interpersonal skills, but among the most important for working in a team or workplace are conflict resolution, communication, problem solving and patience.

    Interpersonal skills in the thriving STEM fields, interpersonal skills are becoming increasingly important in career advancement. They are just as important as the technical skills, as they help create personal branding and a well-rounded network of professionals, opening opportunities and creating relationships with peers. Following are the five key interpersonal skills that engineers and other STEM professionals should develop for career success:

    Interpersonal Skills and Their Types

    (I) Communication Skills: Communication skills are required equally at all three levels of management. A manager must be able to communicate the plans and policies to the workers. Similarly, he must listen and solve the problems of the workers. He must encourage a free-flow of communication in the organization.

    Engineers and other STEM professions place the higher value on technical skills than communication. However, effective communication is equally as important. In order to succeed and be innovative in their position, they must be able to communicate their ideas.

    (II) Creativity Skills: The technical skills to find and fix system issues is just as valuable as the creativity to find new ways to solve problems. People who continually push the envelope to find and develop new products, processes etc., get the recognition from peers and management.

    (III) Adaptability Skills: Like creativity, the ability to continually push and change is invaluable. Challenges arise daily and as an employee and job seeker, you must be able to adapt, be creative, and communicate the issues to work towards a solution.

    The world of work is changing at an ever increasing pace so employers actively seek out graduates who can adapt to changing circumstances and environments, and embrace new ideas, who are enterprising, resourceful and adaptable.

    (IV) Collaboration Skills: Product creation, service execution, and system innovation do not happen by one person. Steve Jobs may have been an incredible driving force behind Apple’s success, but there were countless engineers, developers, and other professionals working to create, market and sell their products.

    Collaborating in a team setting is not only necessary for a job seeker and employee, but is absolutely essential. Collaborative skills that we have identified as promoting the core concepts and supporting class norms are listed below. This list of collaborative skills has been used successfully by instructional teams to identify skills that address the ways students and teachers should interact to realize class norms. The list is not exhaustive and some classrooms may have to add skills to fully meet their needs.

    (V) Leadership Skills: Leadership skills is the ability to influence human behavior. A manager requires leadership skills to motivate the workers. These skills help the Manager to get the work done through the workers.

    We all know what a leader is, however becoming one takes thought. If you aspire to make a difference in your company/ city/ the world in any profession, leadership skills have to come into play. Developing these skills over time as you build relationships will help you achieve success beyond your career.

    Advanced Interpersonal Skills

    Interpersonal Skills
    Human Relations Skills or Interpersonal Skills

    Advanced Interpersonal Communication training sessions can be custom designed to suit your employees, address specific issues and industry. Pictures, questions, and material will all be modified to suit training requirements and objectives. Contact our staff for more details.

    This Advanced Interpersonal Skills Session is designed to help your team members, management, and all staff communicate effectively with respect, build rapport, interact professionally and control their emotions for better business relations.

    Objectives for the Advanced Interpersonal Skills

    Being in control of your emotion is a benefit to you and your workplace. Learn how to be able to change your mood, attitude, and perception at the drop of a hat.

    Questioning techniques will assist you in both control and information gathering. Learn how to quickly change a subject, motivate others and communicate more effectively using communication techniques.

    Rapport is about similarities and connections. We show participants how to connect with others more with simple and effective mirroring techniques.

    Reading body language will come in use throughout your life. We develop this area and discuss how participants can take advantage of this form of communication.

    A positive mindset will move mountains. Everything will seem easier and you will feel empowerment with a positive outlook. Learn how to create the mindset for optimum performance and feel great when you need.

    More behavioral tools for the participants here as we develop some techniques to improve on existing behavior.

    learn about the four social categories and how to improve on your social category if you feel you need. We also discuss personalities and provide insight into why you do many of the things you do. This section also teaches you about others and their needs around you in the workplace.

    Advanced Interpersonal Communications are a requirement today to work closely as teams and with other people. This session is designed to carefully address any areas of concern and help individuals increase their awareness of their interpersonal skills, including any unintended communications they may be making. This session provides a greater understanding of non-spoken communication and allows a much-improved level of interpersonal communications to be implemented in the company, improving management to staff and interdepartmental relationships, which also leads to greater productivity, happier staff, and a much higher standard of customer service provision.

  • What are Managerial Skills?

    What are Managerial Skills?

    Managerial Skills; A skill is an individual’s ability to translate knowledge into action. Hence, it is manifested in an individual’s performance. Skill is not necessarily inborn. It can be developed through practice and through relating learning to one’s own personal experience and background. In order to be able to successfully discharge his roles, a manager should possess three major skills. These are conceptual skill, human relations skill and technical skill. Conceptual skill deals with ideas, technical skill with things and human skill with people. While both conceptual and technical skills are needed for good decision-making, human skill in necessary for a good leader.

    The conceptual skill refers to the ability of a manager to take a broad and farsighted view of the organization and its future, his ability to think in abstract, his ability to analyze the forces working in a situation, his creative and innovative ability and his ability to assess the environment and the changes taking place in it. It short, it is his ability to conceptualize the environment, the organization, and his own job, so that he can set appropriate goals for his organization, for himself and for his team. This skill seems to increase in importance as manager moves up to higher positions of responsibility in the organization.

    The technical skill is the manager’s understanding of the nature of the job that people under him have to perform. It refers to a person’s knowledge and proficiency in any type of process or technique. In a production department, this would mean an understanding of the technicalities of the process of production. Whereas this type of skill and competence seems to be more important at the lower levels of management, its relative importance as a part of the managerial role diminishes as the manager moves to higher positions. In higher functional positions, such as the position of a marketing manager or production manager, the conceptual component, related to these functional areas becomes more important and the technical component becomes less important.

    Human relations skill is the ability to interact effectively with people at all levels. This skill develops in the manager sufficient ability (A) to recognize the feelings and sentiments of others; (B) to judge the possible actions to, and outcomes of various courses of action he may undertake; and (C) to examine his own concepts and values which may enable him to develop more useful attitudes about himself. This type of skill remains consistently important for managers at all levels.

    A table gives an idea about the required change in the skill-mix of a manager with the change in his level. At the top level, technical skill becomes least important. That is why people at the top shift with great ease from one industry to another without an apparent fall in their efficiency. Their human and conceptual skills seem to make up for their unfamiliarity with the new job’s technical aspects.

    A Table of Skill-Mix of different Management levels and Managerial Skills

    Different Management levels

    Explanation of Managerial Skills

    (I) Conceptual skills: Conceptual skills are skills that allow a person to think creatively while also understanding abstract ideas and complicated processes. A person who has conceptual skills will be able to solve problems, formulate processes and understand the relationship between ideas, concepts, patterns and symbols.

    Conceptual skills are used frequently in the business world where managers can use their ability to conceptualize to view and visualize the entire company that they work for in order to develop the best plans for the business’s success. Most companies consider conceptual skills to be a requirement for their management staff.

    Conceptual Skills
    Conceptual Skills

    Some people are born with conceptual skills and have an intuitive sense while others must acquire the skill through learning. Other common skills valued with conceptual thinking include critical thinking, implementation thinking, innovative thinking and intuitive thinking.

    For those individuals who are not born with an innate sense of these skills, there are ways to develop the skill set. In an individual’s personal life and professional life, these skills can be developed by first taking the time to look around. Observing the way that other people and other businesses implement strategies as well as reading related publications (in the individual’s field or hobby area) can help increase the range of possibilities a person sees. Then, an individual must be willing to change direction and to pursue new goals whenever an opportunity arises that makes sense. If a problem occurs, do not look for the simple and fast fix. Look for a lasting solution instead that is a best-case scenario.

    (II) Human Relations Skills: Human Relations Skills is Interpersonal skills, Interpersonal skills are often called “people skills” because they describe a person’s ability to interact with other people in a positive and cooperative manner. Unlike technical skills that people attend school for, interpersonal skills are considered soft skills that are typically developed over time through interactions.

    Interpersonal Skills
    Human Relations Skills or Interpersonal Skills

    Having good interpersonal skills is desired in most careers. The best members of a team often have strong skills that help them communicate and problem solve with other people in an organization. There is a long list of interpersonal skills, but among the most important for working in a team or workplace are conflict resolution, communication, problem solving and patience.

    (III) Technical Skills: Technical skills are a person’s abilities that contribute directly to the performance of a given job, such as the computer, engineering, language and electrical skills. Someone with excellent abilities in any of these technical areas has the potential to secure a career in a related field.

    Technical Skills
    Technical Skills

    A person with technical writing abilities may get a job creating instruction manuals for complex products and equipment. A data expert may get a specialized job in database management or data analysis. A person with crafting abilities may get a job assembling fabrics or other products. Someone with excellent skills in automobile mechanics may get a position in an automobile repair shop.

    Other Managerial Skills also Important

    Communication Skills: Communication skills are required equally at all three levels of management. A manager must be able to communicate the plans and policies to the workers. Similarly, he must listen and solve the problems of the workers. He must encourage a free-flow of communication in the organization.

    Administrative Skills: Administrative skills are required at the top-level management. The top-level managers should know how to make plans and policies. They should also know how to get the work done. They should be able to coordinate different activities of the organization. They should also be able to control the full organization.

    Leadership Skills: Leadership skill is the ability to influence human behavior. A manager requires leadership skills to motivate the workers. These skills help the Manager to get the work done through the workers.

    Problem Solving Skills: Problem-solving skills are also called as Design skills. A manager should know how to identify a problem. He should also possess an ability to find the best solution for solving any specific problem. This requires intelligence, experience and up-to-date knowledge of the latest developments.

    Decision Making Skills: Decision-making skills are required at all levels of management. However, it is required more at the top-level of management. A manager must be able to take quick and correct decisions. He must also be able to implement his decision wisely. The success or failure of a manager depends upon the correctness of his decisions.

  • What are Managerial Roles and His Job?

    What are Managerial Roles and His Job?

    Management performs the functions of planning, organizing, staffing, directing and controlling for the accomplishment of organizational goals. Any person who performs these functions is a manager. The first line manager or supervisor or foreman is also a manager because he performs these functions. The difference between the functions of top, middle and lowest level management is that of degree. For instance, top management concentrates more on long-range planning and organization, middle-level management concentrates more on coordination and control and lowest level management concentrates more on direction function to get the things done from the workers.

    Every manager is concerned with ideas, things, and people. Management is a creative process for integrating the use of resources to accomplish certain goals. In this process, ideas, things, and people are vital inputs which are to be transformed into output consistent with the goals.

    Management of ideas implies the use of conceptual skills. It has three connotations. First, it refers to the need for the practical philosophy of management to regard management as a distinct and scientific process. Second, management of ideas refers to the planning phase of the management process. Lastly, management of ideas refers to distinction and innovation. Creativity refers to a generation of new ideas, and innovation refers to transforming ideas into viable relations and utilities. A manager must be imaginative to plan ahead and to create new Ideas.

    Management of things (non-human resources) deal with the design of production system, and acquisition, allocation, and conversion of physical resources to achieve certain goals. Management of people is concerned with procurement, development, maintenance and integration of human resources in the organization. Every manager has to direct his subordinates to put the organizational plans into practice.

    The greater part of every manager’s time is spent in communicating and dealing with people. His efforts are directed towards obtaining information and evaluating progress towards objectives set by him and then taking corrective action. Thus, a manager’s job primarily consists of management of people. Though it is his duty to handle all the productive resources, but the human factor is more important. A manager cannot convert the raw materials into finished products himself; he has to take the help of others to do this. The greatest problem before any manager is how to manage the personnel to get the best possible results. The manager in the present age has to deal efficiently with the people who are to contribute to the achievement of organizational goals.

    Peter F. Drucker has advocated that the managerial approach to handling workers and work should be pragmatic and dynamic. Every job should be designed as an integrated set of operations. The workers should be given a sufficient measure of freedom to organize and control their work environment. It is the duty of every manager to educate, train and develop people below him so that they may use their potentialities and abilities to perform the work allotted to them. He has also to help them in satisfying their needs and working under him, he must provide them with the proper environment. A manager must create a climate which brings in and maintains satisfaction and discipline among the people. This will increase organizational effectiveness.

    Recently, it has been questioned whether planning, organizing, directing and controlling provides an adequate description of the management process. After an intensive observation of what five top executives actually did during the course of a few days at work, Henry Mintzberg concluded that these labels do not adequately capture the reality of what managers do. He suggested instead that the manager should be regarded as playing some ten different roles, in no particular order.

    Role Performed by Managers

    What is Role Performed by Managers? Mostly manager has used three types roles on company or business: 1) Interpersonal Roles as used by heart, 2) Informational Roles also used by talking, and 3) Decisional Roles is mostly used by the brain. Following roles are explained here;

    Managerial Roles
    Managerial Role is three types of company or business; 1) Interpersonal Roles as used by heart, 2) Informational Roles also used by talking, and 3) Decisional Roles is mostly used by the brain.

    1. Interpersonal Roles

    Figurehead: In this role, every manager has to perform some duties of a ceremonial nature, such as greeting the touring dignitaries, attending the wedding of an employee, taking an important customer to lunch and so on.

    Leader: As a leader, every manager must motivate and encourage his employees. He must also try to reconcile their individual needs with the goals of the organization.

    Liaison: In this role of liaison, every manager must cultivate contacts outside his vertical chain of command to collect information useful for his organization.

    1. Informational Roles

    Monitor: As the monitor, the manager has to perpetually scan his environment for information, interrogate his liaison contacts and his subordinates, and receive unsolicited information, much of it as result of the network of personal contacts he has developed.

    Disseminator: In the role of a disseminator, the manager passes some of his privileged information directly to his subordinates who would otherwise have no access to it.

    Spokesman: In this role, the manager informs and satisfies various groups and people who influence his organization. Thus, he advises shareholders about financial performance, assures consumer groups that the organization is fulfilling its social responsibilities and satisfies the government that the origination is abiding by the law.

    1. Decisional Roles

    Entrepreneur: In this role, the manager constantly looks out for new ideas and seeks to improve his unit by adapting it to changing conditions in the environment.

    Disturbance Handler: In this role, the manager has to work like a firefighter. He must seek solutions to various unanticipated problems – a strike may loom large a major customer may go bankrupt; a supplier may renege on his contract, and so on.

    Resource Allocator: In this role, the manager must divide work and delegate authority among his subordinates. He must decide who will get what.

    Negotiator: The manager has to spend considerable time in negotiations. Thus, the chairman of a company may negotiate with the union leaders a new strike issue, the foreman may negotiate with the workers a grievance problem, and so on.

    In addition, managers in any organization work with each other to establish the organization’s long-range goals and to plan how to achieve them. They also work together to provide one another with the accurate information needed to perform tasks. Thus, managers act as channels of communication with the organization.

  • What are Levels of Management?

    What are Levels of Management?

    An enterprise may have different levels of management. Levels of management refer to a line of demarcation between various managerial positions in an enterprise. The levels of management depend upon its size, technical facilities, and the range of production. We generally come across two broad levels of management, viz. (I) administrative management (i.e., the upper level of management) and (II) operating management (i.e., the lower level of management). Administrative management is concerned with “thinking” functions such as laying down policy, planning and setting up of standards. Operative management is concerned with the “doing” function such as an implementation of policies and directing the operations to attain the objectives of the enterprise.

    But in actual practice, it is difficult to draw any clear-cut demarcation between thinking function and doing function. Because the basic/fundamental managerial functions are performed by all managers irrespective of their levels or, ranks. For instance, wage and salary director of a company may assist in fixing wages and salary structure as a member of the Board of Directors, but as head of wages and salary department, his job is to see that the decisions are implemented.

    The real significance of levels is that they explain authority relationships in an organization.

    Considering the hierarchy of authority and responsibility, one can identify three levels of management namely

    (I) Top management of a company consists of owners/shareholders, Board of Directors, its Chairman, Managing Director, or the Chief Executive, or the General Manager or Executive Committee having key officers.

    (II) Middle management of a company consists of heads of functional departments viz. Purchase Manager, Production Manager, Marketing Manager, Financial controller, etc. and Divisional and Sectional Officers working under these Functional Heads.

    (III) Lower level or operative management of a company consists of Superintendents, Foremen, Supervisors, etc.

    1) Top management: Top management is the ultimate source of authority and it lays down goals, policies and plans for the enterprise. It devotes more time on planning and coordinating functions. It is accountable to the owners of the business of the overall management. It is also described as the policy making group responsible for the overall direction and success of all company activities.

    The important functions of top management include:

    (A) To establish the objectives or goals of the enterprise.

    (B) To make policies and frame plans to attain the objectives laid.

    (C) To set up an organizational framework to conduct the operations as per plans.

    (D) To assemble the resources of money, men, materials, machines and methods to put the plans into action.

    (E) To exercise effective control of the operations.

    (F) To provide overall leadership to the enterprise.

    2) Middle management: The job of middle management is to implement the policies and plans framed by the top management. It serves as an essential link between the top management and the lower level or operative management. They are responsible for the top management for the functioning of their departments. They devote more time on the organization and motivation functions of management. They provide the guidance and the structure for a purposeful enterprise. Without them, the top management’s plans and ambitious expectations will not be fruitfully realized.

    The following are the main functions of middle management:

    (A) To interpret the policies chalked out by top management.

    (B) To prepare the organizational set up in their own departments for fulfilling the objectives implied in various business policies.

    (C) To recruit and select suitable operative and supervisory staff.

    (D) To assign activities, duties, and responsibilities for timely implementation of the plans.

    (E) To compile all the instructions and issue them to supervisor under their control.

    (F) To motivate personnel to attain higher productivity and to reward them properly.

    (G) To cooperate with the other departments for ensuring a smooth functioning of the entire organization.

    (H) To collect reports and information on performance in their departments.

    (I) To report to top management.

    (J) To make suitable recommendations to the top management for the better execution of plans and policies.

    3) Lower or operative management: It is placed at the bottom of the hierarchy of management, and actual operations are the responsibility of this level of management. It consists of foreman, supervisors, sales officers, accounts officers and so on. They are in direct touch with the rank and file or workers. Their authority and responsibility are limited. They pass on the instructions of the middle management to workers.

    They interpret and divide the plans of the management into short-range operating plans. They are also involved in the process of decision-making. They have to get the work done through the workers. They a lot various jobs to the workers, evaluate their performance and report to the middle-level management. They are more concerned with direction and control functions of management. They devote more time in the supervision of the workers.

  • How to Compare Between Management and Administration?

    Compare Between Management and Administration

    How to Compare Between Management and Administration? The use of two terms management and administration has been a controversial issue in the management literature. Some writers do not see any difference between the two terms, while others maintain that administration and management are two different functions. Those who held management and administration distinct include Oliver Sheldon, Florence, and TEAD, Spriegel and Landsburg, etc. According to them, management is a lower-level function and is concerned primarily with the execution of policies laid down by the administration. But some English authors like Brech are of the opinion that management is a wider term including administration.

    This controversy is discussed as under in three heads:

    (I) The administration is concerned with the determination of policies and management with the implementation of policies. Thus, the administration is a higher level function.

    (II) Management is a generic term and includes administration.

    (III) There is no distinction between the terms management and administration and they are used interchangeably.

    (I) The administration is a Higher Level Function: Oliver Shelden subscribed to the first viewpoint. According to him, “Administration is concerned with the determination of corporate policy, the coordination of finance, production, and distribution, the settlement of the compass of the organization and the ultimate control of the executive. Management proper is concerned with the execution of policy within the limits set up by the administration and the employment of the organization in the particular objects before it… Administration determines the organization; management uses it. Administration defines the goals; management strives towards it.”

    Administration refers to policy-making whereas management refers to the execution of policies laid down by the administration. This view is held by TEAD, Spriegel, and Walter. The administration is the phase of business enterprise that concerns itself with the overall determination of institutional objectives and the policies unnecessary to be followed in achieving those objectives. The administration is a determinative function; on the other hand, management is an executive function which is primarily concerned with carrying out of the broad policies laid down by the administration. Thus, administration involves broad policy-making and management involves the execution of policies laid down by the administration as shown;

    A Table of Compare Between Management and Administration;

      Basis Administration Management
    1. Meaning The administration is concerned with the formulation of objectives, plans, and policies of the organization. Management means getting the work done through and with others.
    2. Nature of work Administration relates to the decision-making. It is a thinking function. Management refers to the execution of decisions. It is a doing function.
    3. Decision-Making Administration determines what is to be done and when it is to be done. Management decides who shall implement the administrative decisions.
    4. Status Administration refers to higher levels of management. Management is relevant at lower levels in the organization.

    (II) Management is a Generic Term: The second viewpoint regards management as a generic term including administration. According to Brech, “Management is a social process entailing responsibility for the effective and economical planning and regulation of the operation of an enterprise in fulfillment of a given purpose or task. The administration is that part of management which is concerned with the installation and carrying out of the procedures by which the program is laid down and communicated and the progress of activities is regulated and checked against plans.” Thus, Brech conceives administration as a part of management. Kimball and Kimball also subscribe to this view. According to them, the administration is a part of management. The administration is concerned with the actual work of executing or carrying out the objectives.

    (III) Management and Administration are Synonymous: The third viewpoint is that there is no distinction between the terms ‘management’ and ‘administration’. Usage also provides no distinction between these terms. The term management is used for higher executive functions like the determination of policies, planning, organizing, directing and controlling in the business circles, while the term administration is used for the same set of functions in the Government circles. So there is no difference between these two terms and they are often used interchangeably.

    It seems from the above concepts of administration and management that administration is the process of determination of objectives, laying down plans and policies, and ensuring that achievements are in conformity with the objectives. Management is the process of executing the plans and policies for the achievement of the objectives determined by an administration. This distinction seems to be too simplistic and superficial. If we regard chairmen, managing directors, and general managers as performing administrative functions, it cannot be said that they perform only planning functions of goal determination, planning, and policy formulation, and do not perform other functions such as staffing functions of selection and promotion, or directing functions of leadership, communication, and motivation. On the other hand, we cannot say that managers who are responsible for the execution of plans and formulation of plans and policies, etc. do not contribute to the administrative functions of goal determination, and formulation of plans and policies. In fact, all managers, whether the chief executive or the first line supervisor, are in some way or the other involved in the performance of all the managerial functions. It is, of course, true that those who occupy the higher echelons of organizational hierarchy are involved to a greater extent in goal determination, plans and policy formulation and organizing than those who are at the bottom of the ladder.

  • Nature of Management defined as Science, Art, and Profession

    Nature of Management defined as Science, Art, and Profession

    What is the nature of Management? Management has been conceptualized earlier in this lesson, as the social process by which managers of an enterprise integrate and coordinate its resources for the achievement of common, explicit goals. It has developed into a body of knowledge and a separately identifiable discipline during the past six decades. The practice of management as an art is, of course, as old as the organized human effort for the achievement of common goals.

    Here is the article that explains the Nature of Management defined as Science, Art, and Profession.

    Management has also acquired several characteristics of the profession during recent times. Large and medium-sized enterprises in India and elsewhere manage by professional managers; managers who have little or no share in the ownership of the enterprise and look upon management as a career. The nature of management as a science, as art and as a profession discuss below:

    Nature of Management defined as Science Art and Profession Image
    Nature of Management defined as Science, Art, and Profession; Image from Pixabay.

    Nature of Management as a Science:

    Development of management as a science is of recent origin, even though its practice is age-old. Fredrick W. Taylor was the first manager-theorist who made significant contributions to the development of management as a science. He used the scientific methods of analysis, observation, and experimentation in the management of production function. A perceptive manager, as he was, he distilled certain fundamental principles and propounded the theory and principles of scientific management.

    His work was followed by many others including Gantt, Emerson, Fayol, Barnard, etc. During the last few decades, great strides have been made in the development of management as a systematized body of knowledge that can learn, taught, and researched. It has also provided powerful tools for analysis, prediction, and control to practicing managers. The scientific character of management has been particularly strengthened by management scientists who have to develop mathematical models of decision making [Hindi].

    Other Words:

    Another characteristic of science in management is that it uses the scientific methods of observation, experimentation, and laboratory research. Management principles are firmly based on observed phenomena and systematic classification and analysis of data. These analyses and studies of observed phenomena use for inferring cause-effect relationships between two or more variables. Generalizations about these relationships result in hypotheses. The hypotheses when test and find to be true call principles.

    These principles, when applied to practical situations, help the practitioner in describing and analyzing problems, solving problems, and predicting the results. Even though management is science so far as to possess a systematized body of knowledge and uses scientific methods of research; it is not an exact science like natural sciences. This is simply because management is a social science, and deals with the behavior of people in the organization. The behavior of people is much more complex and variable than the behavior of inanimate things such as light or heat. This makes controlled experiments very difficult. As a result, management principles lack the rigor and exactitude; which find in physics and chemistry.

    Many natural sciences which deal with living phenomena such as botany and medicine are also not exact. Management is a social science like economics or psychology and has the same limitations which these and other social sciences have. But this does not in any way diminish the value of management as knowledge and discipline. It has provided powerful tools for analysis, prediction, and control to practicing managers and helped them in performing their material tasks more efficiently and effectively.

    Nature of Management as an Art:

    Just as an engineer uses the science of engineering while building a bridge, a manager uses the knowledge of management theory while performing his managerial functions. Engineering is a science; its application to the solution of practical problems is an art. Similarly, management as a body of knowledge and a discipline is a science; its application to the solution of organizational problems is an art.

    The practice of management, like the practice of medicine, is firmly ground in an identifiable body of concepts, theories, and principles. A medical practitioner, who does not base his diagnosis and prescription on the science of medicine, endangers the life of his patient. Similarly, a manager who manages without possessing the knowledge of management creates chaos and jeopardizes the well-being of his organization.

    Principles of management like the principles of medicine used by the practitioner not as rules of thumb but as guides in solving practical problems. It often says that managerial decision making involves a large element of judgment. This is true too. The raging controversy whether management is a science or an art is fruitless. It is a science as well as an art. Developments in the field of the knowledge of management help in the improvement of its practice; and improvements in the practice of management spur further research and study resulting in the further development of management science.

    Nature of Management as a Profession:

    We often hear of the professionalization of management in our country. By a professional manager, we generally mean a manager who undertakes management as a career and does not interest in acquiring ownership share in the enterprise which he manages. But, is management a profession in the true sense of the word? or, is management a profession like the professions of law and medicine?

    Characteristics:

    According to McFarland, a profession possesses the following characteristics:

    • A body of principles, techniques, skills, and specialized knowledge;
    • Formalized methods of acquiring training and experience;
    • The establishment of a representative organization with professionalization as its goal;
    • The formation of ethical codes for the guidance of conduct; and.
    • The charging fees based on the nature of services.

    Management is a profession to the extent it fulfills the above conditions. It is a profession in the sense that there a systematized body of management, and it is a distinct, identifiable discipline. It has also developed a vast number of tools and techniques. But unlike medicine or law, a management degree is not a prerequisite to becoming a manager. Most managers in India as elsewhere do not have a formal management education. It seems reasonable to assume that at no time shortly, the possession of a management degree will be a requirement for employment as a career manager.

    Management is also a profession in the sense that formalized methods of training are available to those who desire to be managers. We have several institutes of management and university departments of management that provide formal education in this field. Training facilities provide in most companies by their training divisions. Several organizations such as the Administrative Staff College of India, the Indian Institutes of Management, Management Development Institute, the All India Management Association, and the university departments of management offer a variety of short-term management training programs.

    More things:

    By the Nature of Management defined as a Profession is the third thing. Management partially fulfills the third characteristic of the profession. There are several representative organizations of management practitioners almost in all countries such as the All India Management Association in India, the American Management Association in the U.S.A., etc. However, none of them have professionalization of management as its goal.

    Management does not fulfill the last two requirements of a profession. There is no ethical code of conduct for managers as doctors and lawyers. Some individual business organizations, however, try to develop a code of conduct for their managers but there is no general and uniform code of conduct for all managers. Bribing public officials to gain favors, sabotaging trade unions, manipulating prices, and markets are by no means uncommon management practices. Furthermore, managers, in general, do not seem to adhere to the principle of “service above self”.

    However little regard pay to the elevation of service over the desire for monetary compensation evidence by switching jobs by managers. Indeed, such mobile managers regard as more progressive and modern than others. It may conclude from the above discussion that management is a science, art as well as a profession. As a social science, management is not as exact as natural sciences, and it is not as fully a profession like medicine and law.