Using and Controlling Resources - Personal Statement Example

Topic: Using and Controlling Resources Introduction: This paper will outline and discuss how to use and control resources. It will still start with identifying the role and responsibilities in connection with managing resources, followed by an explanation to the other members of the organisation how they need the resources and encourage them to take responsibility to take control. This paper will also discuss how to monitor and control to identify the resource problems with my own work areas and how to keep records of past resource use in order to plan for future requirement. 2.1 Analysis and Discussion 2.1. Identify your role and responsibilities in connection with managing resources. Let us assume that I am a finance manager. As a finance manager it is my responsibility to plan and control financial resources of the enterprise. The plan is of course intended to control but the question is: “control for what?” Are resources controlled for the sake of being controlled? Of course there must be a reason for the control, that is, the control must attain the corporate or business objectives. So the question is: “How will I control financial resources?” Will I just stop spending and that would the best kind of control? The control that is being referred to here is the proper timing to have and get away with the financials resources of the organization. By all means the organization needs to have cash to pay its purchases of merchandise, payment of its currently maturing obligations, money to buy equipments and to pay for daily operational expenses. This objective is not easy to attain since with identified needs for cash resources, the question is: “how to get cash to meet those needs?” The answer is to plan how to get cash. Cash normally comes from sales of good and services and from collection of accounts from customers. Hence the challenge is how if the forecasted level of cash inflow as a result of earlier determined expenses will not be enough to pay obligations. As the finance manager, I must make its sure that marketing people do their functions of having sales as targeted and for collection people to make it sure that receivable form customers should be collected on time. How if after all these, there is still deficiency for additional cash? Here will come now the remedy of having to borrow from the banks or from other sources to supply the deficiency for cash. How if the company plans to acquire an asset involving a quite big amount? This is where the concept of capital budgeting come in. In doing capital budgeting, I must make it sure that before I recommend investment to a fixed asset involving a big amount I will have to make sure that it is a profitable proposition. The issue do whether it is profitable or not should be established by a formula or models as that will convince higher management that the capital budgeting plan will bring the company a better financial position or increase the wealth to the stockholders. 2. Help others to be clear about their resource needs and encourage them to take responsibility for resource control. The function of using and controlling cash is the over all plan of the organization which actually needs the support and cooperation of employees particularly the head of the different functional areas. As mentioned earlier, the marketing manager must make it sure that cash sales come on time with the planned level of sale of products and services. The collection manager must perform its functions that receivable as per contract will come one time and failure to do would put the company in very uncompromising situation, Legal strategy must be resorted to in case customer still refuse to pay as way of coercing collection of company receivable accounts, hence legal officer is needed too. I also need the participation of the production people. Since they use resource like the material that will be used in production, they must make sure that material purchases are of the best qualify and the least cost. In other words, these parts of the organization which are expense centres must minimize cost. Combining then the function of the marketing manager in maximising revenue and the effort of the expense centres in minimizing cost, the maximum profit result to the organization is not difficult achieve. With targeted profit and realized target, I have actually successfully used and controlled the resource with which empowered to do. The best way to get the support of the marketing, collection manager and the production manager is their awareness that without the cash collection they will have no money to receive as salary in addition of course to lack of business activity that will sustain their jobs if cash will not come on time to keep the organization function as planned. 3. Analyse trends and developments, which may affect resources and make recommendations for changes to resources. The trends and development, which may affect resource, include possible fluctuation in sales which may not come with seasonal realties. The non realisation of cash per forecast will necessarily require a flexible effort to adjust production so that unnecessary inventory surplus will have to be prevented. To reiterate what was mentioned earlier in case of temporary shortage in cash flows, I must be wise enough to have my good business decision which will temporarily fill the need for working capital. How if cash flows exceed expectations? Of course that part of the work, I must make it sure that excess funds are properly invested to give the best returns to the organization. This means that more customer orders did come and necessarily I must have designed a flexible budget operate for that eventuality. Some situations could not be easy; they could be challenging. 4. Monitor and control resources to identify and resolve resource problems within your own area of work. To monitor and control resources I need to have good records to resolve resource problems in my work area. This I can do by having my updated cash flow statements or cash budget (Massie, 1987) and other accounting reports coming from the accounting and management information systems people. If can I have my own records, the better but I am part of a bigger organization, the concerned managers and employees have their duty to give me reliable records for decision making. This is further explained in the next section 5. Keep appropriate records of past resource use and plan for future requirements To enable me in my decision making I must have reliable and good source of information. There is where the function of the chief accountant or the head of the management department, who will assume a very important role in providing the timely and relevant information for decision-making. Hence I will need the support of these people and in the same way that they need the funds to sustain their role in the organization. 3. Conclusion As can be seen in the analysis, as a finance manager I was able to do the following: 1. Identify managers’ role and responsibilities in connection with managing of resources. 2. Analyse trends and developments which may affect resources and make recommendations for change resources. 3. Monitor and control resources to identify and resolve resource problems, and 4. Keep or cause the keeping of appropriate records of past resource use and plan for future requirements. My work as finance manager is strategic one since the financial health of the organization is essential to the organization’s growth. As you will see there was need for support and cooperation from the managers of the organisation, which include marketing, production, collection, chief accountant and other people in the organization. Although cooperation is ideal, organisations normally have a chief executive officer which has powers over all the functional managers, including me to actually chart the destiny of and organisation and which enhance the function of using and controlling resources. Bibliography: 1. Massie, J. (1987), Essentials of Management, Fourth Edition, Prentice-Hall, Inc. Engelwood Cliffs, New Jersey 07632. Read More