Is managing people the most important job of a manager - Coursework Example

?Question Before we try and answer the question whether managing people is the most important job of a manager or not it is very important for us to understand what management is and what tasks a manager is supposed to perform. Management has traditionally been defined as: “The attainment of organizational objectives and goals in an efficient and effective manner through planning, organizing, leading and controlling organizational resources” (Daft, 2006) While a manager is: “Someone who is charged with doing all of this planning, organizing, leading and controlling of the organization’s resources” This raises another very important question. What is an organization? Organizations have been most commonly defined as: “Social units of people, systematically structured, and managed to meet a need or to pursue collective goals on a continuing basis” (What is Organization, n.d.) The main thing to understand here is that organizations are first and foremost social units of people. The systematically structured and managed to meet a need parts come later. Without the social unit an organization would not exist and it would not be able to pursue collective goals. Managers therefore need to realize that organizations are made of people and nothing else. These people get together for a set time during the day and attempt to solve problems and achieve the collective goals that the definition of an organization talks about. To put it in simpler words, organizations cannot exist independently of the people that constitute them; they are simply patterns of human interaction. (Martin, 2011) Managers should recognize that managing people is in fact the most important task that they have to perform. All of the four components of a manager’s job: Planning, organizing, leading and controlling cannot be performed efficiently and effectively till a manager effectively manages all the human resources of the organization properly. Let us consider all the functions separately. The first function is planning. This function refers to determining the goals of the organization and figuring out how to achieve them. (Daft, 2006) Latest organizational practices theories dictate that in order to be successful managers should involve their subordinates right from the planning phase. They must sit with them and determine the goals and ways to achieve them through mutual consultation. A shrewd manager would recognize the fact that unless the employees are managed tactfully by him this whole practice would be a waste of time. The second function is organizing. This function refers to assigning responsibility to subordinates for task accomplishment. (Daft, 2006) If a manager does not manage his subordinates well then he might end up creating problems for himself as far as organizing is concerned. He might have to do all or most of the work himself because of lack of delegation which, in turn, takes place due to lack of trust between manager and subordinates etc (Morden, 2004) (Reh, n.d.) The third function is leading. This function refers to using influence to motivate subordinates to achieve the organizations goals. (Daft, 2006) To put things simply, without effective management of employees there would be no motivation and as a result no “leading”. The fourth and final function is controlling. This function refers to monitoring employee activities and keeping the organization on track towards its goals. (Daft, 2006) If employees are not managed effectively they have been known to come up with reasons to steal from the organization , to slack off from work and indulge in other such counter productive activities. (Walsh, 2000) Therefore, we can conclude that managing people is in fact the most important part of a manager’s job. Discussion Question 2: The design of organization structure is a critical factor in the success or failure of a firm and should be taken very seriously by managers. The major methods of division of work are as follows: 1. Vertical Functional: This approach is characterized by the grouping together of people with common skills in the same department. Such as finance department, Accounts department etc. (P N P, 2005) 2. Divisional approach: This approach is characterized by the grouping together of departments into separate, self-contained divisions based on a common geographic region, program, product etc. (Daft, 2006) 3. Matrix Approach: This approach is characterized by the simultaneous implementation of divisional and functional chains of command. A double chain of command exists and results in some employees reporting to two bosses. (Daft, 2006) (P N P, 2005) 4. Team-based approach: This approach is characterized by the creation of a series of teams by the organization. These teams are charged with accomplishing specific tasks and coordinating major departments in the organization. (Daft, 2006) 5. Network Approach: This approach is a relatively modern approach to organization design and is characterized by the disaggregation of major functions to different organizations. In the network approach the organization may be viewed as a central hub surrounded by other companies that specialize in one or many functions. (Daft, 2006) The factors that managers need to account for when designing organizational structures are as follows: One of the most important factors to consider when designing the organizational structure is that of the organization’s life cycle. Managers should assess and analyze the point at which the organization is standing at in its life cycle. The 4 major stages of an organization’s life cycle are birth, youth, midlife and maturity. The birth stage is the mere beginning of a firm’s life. At this stage there is usually not much delegation of authority and the founder/founders usually call all the shots. (Benowitz, 2011) The youth stage is the stage in which the organization is growing, getting bigger and larger. At this stage the attention of the company usually changes from the wishes of the founders to the wishes of the customers. It is at this stage that a formal structure is designed and some delegation of authority takes places. (Benowitz, 2011) A simple vertical function approach is most usually seen at this stage. The next stage is midlife. This stage occurs when the organization has achieved some degree of success. At this point the structure of the organization starts becoming more formal, new hierarchical levels start to appear (Benowitz, 2011). A divisional approach is most usually seen at this stage. The next stage in the cycle is maturity. Gradually, the organization because of the extra levels of authority starts to lose its ability to innovate and respond to the changing demands of the market. The firm tends to become more interested in improving efficiency and profitability (Benowitz, 2011). The matrix approach is initially seen at this stage but in order to counter the lack of innovation and to revitalize themselves some organizations also implement the team based approach. Another important factor to consider when designing the organizational structure of a company is strategy. The strategy of the organization must be supported by the organizational structure. If innovation is crucial such as in Apple then a team based structure is most suitable or if the focus is on high volume, low cost delivery then a tight vertical functional structure will be most suitable. (Mindtools.com, n.d.) Similarly, extra attention must also be paid to the sort of environment the company operates in and the sort of human resources and technology it has. An unpredictable environment requires flexibility which is provided by team based structures. And as far as human resources and technology are concerned, higher skilled workers usually work better in teams where they have authority whereas lower skilled workers work better under supervision while firms that utilize complex technology are better suited to flexible structures. (Mindtools.com, n.d.) Discussion Question 3: IMPORTANCE OF VALUING DIVERSITY IN ORGANIZATIONS Texaco, the former oil and gas giant which recently merged with Chevron and is now known as ChevronTexaco, faced a crucial decision in late 1996. This was the sort of decision that would decide its fate as a company. The company’s African-American employees had filed a racial discrimination lawsuit against the company. The plaintiffs were employees in the headquarters of Texaco located in Westchester County and in New York City (National Academy of Engineering, 2002). The lawsuit left the management with two choices: 1. To defend the company against accusations of institutional racism such as the fact that hundreds of minority employees were being paid less than the minimum salary for their job category. 2. To promptly settle the lawsuit and use it as an opportunity to convert its corporate culture to one that promotes and fosters organizational diversity. Even though Texaco at first tried to defend itself against the charges but it soon became an uphill and almost impossible task due to the release of a secret audio tape by a top official. This tape was evidence of top officials at Texaco openly using racial epithets and discussing how to make incriminating documents “disappear”. Another plaintiff published a book in which she detailed how she and other African-American employees had suffered racial discrimination and humiliation for years. (Revolutionary Worker #883, 1996) (Bernstein, 2001) (Moskowitz, 1998) In the face of mounting evidence against his company, CEO Peter Bijur finally gave up trying to defend his company and decided to settle the case for a massive $175 million. Texaco also agreed to set up an independent task force comprising of outsiders to look after the company’s diversity efforts (White, 1996). This task force had the authority not only to design and oversee the implementation of diversity programs but also to determine the human resources policy for Texaco pertaining to fairness and diversity issues. (National Academy of Engineering, 2002) (Daft, 2006) Texaco’s bosses had finally learned the lesson of valuing diversity in the workplace. Diversity is becoming common in workplaces all around the world and therefore is absolutely crucial that managers realize the true value of diversity. But before we discuss the true value of diversity in the workplace let us first understand what diversity means and what are the different attitudes towards diversity that people usually have? Workforce diversity, in the simplest of terms, refers to hiring people with different human qualities or hiring people who belong to various cultural groups. (Daft, 2006) Ethnocentrism, on the other hand, refers to the belief in the intrinsic superiority of one’s own nation, culture, ethnicity, group etc. (Reverso, n.d.) Ethnocentric practices are a negative burden on the workplace environment and produce a monoculture. Monoculture refers to a culture that accepts one set of beliefs and values. It is characterized by the acceptance of only one way of doing things in the workplace. A monoculture creates problems for minority employees and puts a huge amount of pressure on them to conform. Failure to do so results in stereotyping and assumptions of incompetence. Monoculture and ethnocentrism are silent killers because the employees of an organization that suffers from these problems may not be aware of cultural difference or these employees may have innocently assumed that their culture is superior to others and picked up negative stereotypes towards other cultural values. (Daft, 2006) Instead of ethnocentrism and monoculture organizations need to foster ethnorelativism and pluralism. Ethnocentrism refers to the belief that all groups and subcultures are inherently equal while pluralism means that an organization accommodates several subcultures. Pluralism specially looks to include employees who would otherwise feel ignored and isolated. (Daft, 2006) Ted Childs, an African American who IBM’s former Vice President for global diversity led IBM’s charge towards kicking monoculture thinking out of the organization (IBM, n.d.). He commissioned eight executive task forces (IBM, 2011) – one each for Women, Hispanics, Gays, African-Americans, Asians, disable people, Native Americans and finally White Males – and charged them with coming up with recommendations from their varied perspectives on how to make IBM a better place to work for all these diverse groups. As a result, IBM was successful in raising the number of female executives almost 4 times and the number of Minority executives almost 2.5 times (Daft, 2006). It is now time for us to understand the different benefits that diversity provides to an organization: 1. Increase in creativity: As we know that there is no single solution to any problem and organizations that foster ethnorelativism and pluralism reap the benefits in the form of different perspectives towards approaching the same problem. These different perspectives result in many different solutions to the same problem and thus result in a visible increase in creativity in the organization. (Lee, n.d.) (Mah, 2009) Johnson’s Controls is a company that harnesses the creativity and the diverse perspectives of its employees to achieve an increase a competitive advantage. Johnson’s Controls is basically a b2b company that builds an enormous variety of automotive systems utilized in the assembly of vehicles by world class car manufacturers such as Toyota and General Motors. According to Susan Davis, vice president of human resources at Johnson’s Controls values diversity because multiple and diverse points of views help them serve their customers better. She gave the example of an automotive platform for a client in Germany which would be built in South America and China and then driven primarily by females in the United States of America. She said that in order for such a project to be successful her company required not just to have many viewpoints but also to be able to understand all of them (Forsythe, 2005). 2. Increase in productivity: Diversity also leads to an increase in productivity because it allows people from different backgrounds to work towards a common goal. For example, Asians traditionally benefit an organization with their stellar quantitative skills whereas Europeans such as Germans, British and French tend to do well in high level jobs. An ethnorelative and pluralistic environment allows the organization to benefit from the unique talents of all these diverse groups of people (Lee, n.d.). It has to be noted here that diversity just for diversity’s sake will probably end up being just an expensive waste of money. A company must strategically utilize the diverse skill sets of different groups of employees. 3. New attitudes: An ethnorelative and pluralistic culture allows new attitudes to be brought to the business table (Lee, n.d.). For instance, Americans believe that “time is money” but people from different backgrounds like Hispanics, Asians and Arabs believe that time is for building relationships. Americans and Western Europeans belong to low context cultures whereas Hispanics, Asians and Arabs belong to high-context cultures. High-context cultures usually utilize time to build relationships and getting to know the other party with whom they are considering doing business. Such alternative approaches can help a business immensely in approaching critical local and international deals. 4. Language Skills: Another benefit of fostering an ethnorelative and pluralistic environment within the organization is that diverse employees speak different languages. These different languages can not only help an organization provide better services to minority communities but also help it form a bond with those minority communities that speak the languages of its employees (Greenberg, n.d.). For instance Spanish speakers can in very handy in areas where Hispanics live. Hindi/Urdu speakers can be of great use in areas where the South Asian community lives. These diverse languages also can come in very handy in today’s global economy. Companies that expand into other markets usually require people who are proficient in languages native to the area they are entering. Having such people already available within the company can help any company save massive wads of cash and a lot of hard work that would have gone into hiring foreign nationals. Walt Disney is a brilliant example of an organization that harnesses the diversity of its workforce’s native languages to achieve a competitive advantage. At the Walt Disney world resort 62000 cast members represent 81 countries and speak 53 languages (Walt Disney World, 2011). All cast members are given language badges and encouraged to interact with guests who speak their native languages in order to bond with them and leave on them a welcoming impression on behalf of the Walt Disney World Resort (Guide-to-Disney.com, n.d.). 5. New Processes: A monoculture as we know results in an insistence to do things only one way. This can cause an organization to stagnate and become inefficient. In today’s rapidly changing business environment organizations need to update themselves constantly and not just adopt the best practices currently being employed in the industry but also come up with new innovative practices of their own. An ethnorelative and pluralistic culture results in companies finding it easier to be more flexible to change, more innovative and as a result more profitable. 6. Rewards: The final and most interesting advantage of building a diverse and pluralistic workforce is that many large and medium sized organizations today prefer to work with businesses that have a diverse or a majorly minority work force in order to provide more business to such organizations. According to a top Dell executive Dell has increased its spending with women and minority owned businesses by 66% since 2001. When asked about the incentive for his company he said that women and minority owned companies bring Dell the flexibility and speed that are in integral part of Dell’s business model (Forsythe, 2005) Works Cited Benowitz, E.A. (2011) CliffsQuickReview Principles of Management, John Wiley And Sons Bernstein, A. (2001) 'Racism in the workplace', Business Week, 30 July, pp. 7-35. Daft, R.L. (2006) Management, South Western College. Forsythe, J. 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