How to Succeed in the Business World - Essay Example

How to Succeed in the Business World ID] [Lecturer] Success in business ranks is attained in anumber of ways. Business has a lot of variations and it is because of these very variations that it exists in several different forms and mannerisms. Business is managed in a lot of ways as well. This means that the mechanism through which a successful business is measured depends a great deal on the extent to which it is managed well. Also the fact there can be a lot of different businesses and their scopes adds up to the fact that indeed businesses do exist and that too in a lot of dissimilar capacities. The ways and means that are usually taken care of whilst managing a business are aplenty and it is only up to the top management within a company that the same can be handled in a several different methods. They are the ones to decide as to what is the real manner in which the firm’s operations would be handled as well as who will head the respective departments, lead the business strategic units and act as legal and media representatives of the said business. The business, as marketers say, exists to satisfy its target audience through fulfilling a need courtesy its products and/or services or a combination of the both, the same being true in case of a retail outlet which sells gasoline to local consumers, thus giving in petrol plus extra services in the form of window cleaning, fuel gauge checks and so on and so forth. (Kennedy, 2003) With the advent of the middle management growing in stature, the need has been to categorize it separately. Now the middle management of yesteryears is known as the ‘knowledge organization’ which plays the role of the ‘brain’ within the organization. (Kaye, 2003) The mind or brain is the unit within the human body that rationalizes each and every decision in the wake of past evidences and future predictions, not to forget what is happening in the present. Thus the same role is duly played by the knowledge organization, i.e., the middle management quite professionally. A business thus has to keep track of the top management and its decisions as well as the middle power cadre too. It is with the combined efforts of the two that the business can exist smoothly and thus benefit not only its own future long term growth but also help the customer and/or stakeholders by fulfilling their needs and desires. A business does not come into its own overnight. It takes a lot of research, planning and proper execution to take it where the marketers, the business professionals and the stakeholders want it to proceed and end up as something quite extraordinary and out of the blue, when one compares other similar businesses in a particular market. A successful business requires a unique name for its identification that is so very important to chalk out before it turns from a product (or service) into one of a complete business. Thus this business name need not only be unique, it also requires that the name is also what it must convey to the people in mind, how it is meeting their expectations and whether this name has a positive association with the products and services that it will offer in the long run or one that takes the end customer away from it, one that can be remarked as being dis-associative to say the least. On the same token, one need to see within the business’s life time that at which stage it exists to bring it revenues and how it fares with the competition both locally as well as on an international level. This could be summarized in the form of the Product Life Cycle (PLC). Every business and for that matter a product, new or old passes through the Product Life Cycle (PLC). (Want, 1990) The emergence of a business thus marks the first and foremost step of its entrance in the business circles of the related market zone. Success in the ranks of the virtual businesses that are being carried on in the world, we come to the understanding that their use is increasing by the day. It was thought once that online communities – newsgroups, chat sessions were made for a way to seek business, numerous people from outlying and distant areas would catch the bandwagon and share their thoughts and ideas in order to interact with the business in one way or the other. (Greathead, 2002) Such an optimistic belief was shared among the circles of web prophets. The answer to this sanguine approach was one of a ‘yes’ and another of a ‘no’. Positive in the sense that people could post their own reviews, convey the finer points what the company does not know about the business and above all, get instant feedback from the market, the consumers, retailers and the like. Many big companies like Microsoft, WebEx, Intraspect and the like have been facing barriers as concerns with the interaction between the employees who are spread in different locations. (Johnson, 1995) Business world has evolved and so have the different methodologies and the ways and means through which it is carried day in day out. One needs to realize the fact that a successful business is one which changes for the better in the changing scenarios and times. It must remain proactive at all times to sound significant within the industrial levels. Thus to put it in the related context, change is the only constant in the world and in the business scheme of things, changing to suit the will and desire of the customers and/or the stakeholders as well as doing one last bit to bring in more revenues and profits for the company just plays the right trick for the business to succeed both in the short term as well as in the long run. Businesses which stagnate over a period of time and do not change because of one pressure or the other usually die out quickly. The ones that have existed thus far have relied a great deal on the phenomenon attached with change and consistent upgrading of the needs as put forward by the business and its norms. (Massey, 2001) The employees have stood up and got noticed, they have done their share of work in a more effective and efficient manner as well as raised their productivity levels manifolds. Change is one thing that has been going on for decades now, at least in the business world and quite rightly so the most successful ones of the lot are those that have adhered to the change game and have not resisted at any given point in time. (Megone, 2002) In an office place, there are certain instances when it is best to choose different people for the various jobs that are assigned in the working environment. This holds true for the rationale that a single person cannot and will not be able to do his work as well as the additional burden that is thrust upon him with zeal and enthusiasm. Hence the need of the hour is to understand that employees and workers need a manager to comprehend their shortcomings in the field of work and thus be assigned tasks and responsibilities in line with the same. The need for recruiting able and established staff is very much there since every organization or company for that matter wants to achieve efficiency and effectiveness when it comes to getting the things done in a quick manner. (Cooper, 2004) There are instances when employees have been known to prolong things just because they do not feel to be in the mood to do so. This is a definitive statement on the part of the employees that they were recruited wrongly at the time of their hiring and the organization did indeed make a mistake in choosing such a worker over other options that were available to it around the world. The best possible diversity that could be made in this regard is to appoint top line managers who understand the psyche of the people working under him or on the same level as his so that he can get a grasp as to what employees usually are best suited at and what they do not prefer under certain strenuous conditions in the office place environment. As a consequence, being able to do more work is definitely considered a plus and an added advantage for an employee but this should not, under any level, exceed his capabilities and skill sets. He must be assigned the amount of work which is proportionate with his pay, already set working conditions and more so the skills on the basis of which he or she was selected in the first place. (Sims, 2002) Diversity therefore could be pinpointed in the area of managing these people well with the help of a manager who not only takes care of them but also acts as a person who is professional and knows how to get work done from his specialists, technicians and other sub-ordinates present at various levels within the very company. This manager thus not only plans their work that they have to carry out within a specific period of time but also organizes their routines, looks after them both from the company and the human perspectives, and not to forget his integration skills which are deemed so very necessary for involving people and their commitment towards their assigned tasks and jobs over a period of time. Lastly, he also measures their performance that they have done over this time period. (Cappelli, 1999) This measurement tool goes against a number of managers in the work environment of present times as it is usually very difficult to get a hang of because employees feel that the managers were the one to guide them along and hence they should also be held accountable in cases of extreme failure where the burden only falls on the person who carried out a task or a job. This is pretty much true of the negative aspects related with managing people and treating them fairly. Success in business is thus derived from the quarters of this diverse workforce issue as it gets its resolve from the fact that people work as a team rather than working alone yet they perform their own respective tasks and duties in their own capacities within the office environment for which there is no direct or indirect connection as concerns the groups and teams that they are working under from time to time. The business thus chalks out a plan to review each and every sub-ordinate’s performance and then allot him the potential duties which may or may not be linked to their strengths over a given period of time. (Egan, 2001) Hence diversity certainly takes its roots from this scenario and employees feel somewhat at ease whilst carrying out their jobs and assigned tasks. The ramifications of the issue of diversifying work and making people accustomed to management tactics only helps the corporate ladder as much as the employees, specialists and top management themselves. Thus a clear understanding has to be the guiding force to tell one and all in this situation as to the rationale behind doing the same. The end result is achieving success for the company or the enterprise that they all strive to be a part of and not to forget their individual growth that will take them up the ladder of expansion and development over the years. Every big business or multinational that is existent in present times credits itself on to the vision of an exemplary personality which started it all when the going was tough and when there was a huge competition in the related market. Thus to withstand pressure and competition is the hallmark of any successful and long lasting business, company or enterprise, whichever term we might quote it as. References CAPPELLI, Peter. (1999). Employment Practices and Business Strategy. Oxford University Press COOPER, Cary L. (2004). Reinventing Human Resources Management: Challenges and New Directions. Routledge EGAN, Mary Lou. (2001). Workforce Diversity Training: From Anti-Discrimination Compliance to Organizational Development. Human Resource Planning, Vol. 24 KAYE, Roland. (2003). Learning & Teaching for Business: Case Studies of Successful Innovation. Kogan Page KENNEDY, Rosemary. (2003). Case Management: Policy, Practice and Professional Business. Allen & Unwin GREATHEAD, Scott. (2002). The Multinational and the “New Stakeholder”: Examining the Business Case for Human Rights. Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law Vol. 35 JOHNSON, Arlene A. (1995). The Business Case for Work-Family Programs. Journal of Accountancy Vol. 180 MASSEY, Joseph Eric. (2001). Managing Organizational Legitimacy: Communication Strategies for Organizations in Crisis. The Journal of Business Communication Vol. 38 MEGONE, Chris. (2002). Case Histories in Business Ethics. Routledge SIMS, Ronald R. (2002). Organizational Success through Effective Human Resources Management. Quorum Books WANT, Jerome H. (1990). Managing the Business Change Cycle. ABA Banking Journal Vol. 82 Word Count: Read More