Strategic Planning at Educational Institutions - Essay Example

?Chapter 6: What strategic plans could the college or at which you are taking this management adopt to compete for in the marketplace? Would these plans depend on the school’s goals? One of the realities of the modern university system is the need to be competitive with other universities, colleges, and technical schools in order to attract quality students (customers). In order to achieve this, the university in question must employ a number of factors to do so successfully. Outside of effective marketing, it is necessary for the university to employ a level of strategic management in order to compete for students in a marketplace that is ultimately saturated by a host of other offerings. As such, the shareholders within the university system can bolster the extent to which they can engage with prospective students by applying management concepts to the way in which a defined and effective strategy can be engaged. For instance, when a strategy is put together by a group of shareholders who are not in constant communication with one another and are aware of the ultimate goal that is to be effected, a type of non specific result that does not maximize potential is almost guaranteed. However, when shareholders are brought together and the goals are clearly defined and elaborated, a type of group collaboration between all of the elements seeking to increase student attraction within the university is greatly enhanced. For this reason, understanding management concepts and the means by which collective work can be accomplished under the guiding rubric of effective management can expressly enhance the rate and effectiveness of key business level decisions. How do you think planning in today’s organizations compares to planning 25 years ago? Do you think planning become s more important or less important in a world where everything is changing fast and crises are a regular part of organization life ? Why? With regards to 25 years ago, planning has become much more integrated into the business process. For instance, 25 years ago, the rate of change that a given organization or business might experience was somewhat limited. Due to this fact, the need to expert planning was necessarily reduced as a result of the relatively slower pace that external change was exhibited within the operational environment. With regards to the importance of planning now as compared to previously, it is the strong belief of this author that the need for planning has become even stronger in a world where sudden and unexpected change can rapidly redefine the operational environment. The main reason for this is due to the fact that only through planning can the firm or entity hope to gain a competitive advantage and seek to anticipate some of the changes that might be upcoming in the very near future. Though one might be tempted to believe that since change is so rapid and unexpected within the current model that planning is non necessitated, the fact of the matter is that the rapid level of change implores the entity or organization to take an even more aggressive approach to planning than an environment in which change occurs slowly and gradually. For this reason, integrating an appropriate level of planning at each and every level of an organization is a primary function that can help to determine whether or not the entity will be able to survive the changes that it must integrate with. Chapter 8: Analyze three decisions you made over the past six months. Which of these were programmed and which were nonprogrammer? Which model- the classical, administrative, or political- best describes the approach you took to make each decision? The three decisions that have been chosen for analysis within the context of this particular question are as follows: locating and renting an apartment, deciding upon what course selection would maximize efficiency, and considering picking up a minor field of study while in university. As such, all of these decisions which will be analyzed represent non-programmed choices that have required the author to consider a range of emotions, needs, and shareholders in order to determine the best decision for each of the determinant factors which have been listed. Moreover, with regards to the model which was used with regards to seeking to decide based upon these situations, all three also employed the classical model of decision making. Although there are a range of decisions that can be made on both a political and/or administrative level, it is the understanding of this particular author, through an analysis of the means by which key life decisions have been made within the current period of life, that the classical model is the one that is employed to the greatest and perhaps most effective degree. For instance, with regards to the decision of renting an apartment, it was necessary to consider price as opposed to location. Whereas I wanted to be close to the university, the overall cost that such a decision portended was a limiting factor. Similarly, with regards to the decision of what set of classes to pursue, this was also a decision making process that pitted the overall amount of time available with the need and desire to graduate sooner than otherwise anticipated. Finally, with regards to the choice of whether to pick up a minor field of study, this too was one that weighed the costs of tacking on additional course work to the benefits that such a minor would provide with regards to future career prospects and strength of resume. List some possible advantage and disadvantages to using computer technology for managerial decision making? With regards to seeking to automate the managerial decision making process, there are a number of key advantages and disadvantages that should be considered. Firstly, this brief analysis will integrate with some of the advantages. These can include but of course are not limited to the ability of a computer system to help to help to automate some of the more mundane and every day functions that would otherwise eat up a large percentage of a manager’s time. As a means of accomplish such a task, the computer system would be able to seek to minimize the degree of complexity that the manager would have to integrate with on a daily basis and free up his/her time to focus upon more efficient and important tasks of management that hitherto had held the possibility of being ignored. On the flip side, there are of course more than a few drawbacks to the automization and/or computerization of managerial decision making. Although the growth of technology now allows computer interfaces to accomplish increasingly complex tasks, the fact of the matter remains that computers are still unable to make complex decisions that weigh a variety of human inputs. For this matter, it is entirely inappropriate for a computer system to seek to make any type of personnel decision to the complex dynamics of human interaction and HR laws that govern such a process. Although the shipping and receiving functions that a manager must sign off on a daily basis could be aided by computerization, the means by which personal considerations are weighed must necessarily be left to a human being. Chapter 9: The divisional structure is often considered almost the opposite of a functional structure. Do you agree? Briefly explain the major differences in these two approaches to departmentalization. One can see the key differentials between divisional and functional structural systems in nearly each and every organization. Although one might be tempted to equate this to a net negative, the fact of the matter is that this is merely indicative of the process of implementation whereby the personal dynamic as well as the realities of the work engaged make key demands on the component parts and lead them to adapt to situations that provide the most proposed benefit. The main differences between these two approaches are quite simple. Whereas the first, the divisional structure, denotes the rigid means by which decisions should be engaged, and the chain of command must integrate with the task at hand, the second, the functional approach, aptly relates to the means whereby the structure and decision making process integrates the needs that the company exhibits working within the reality of the business world. Similarly, with regards to departmentilation, both of these approaches seek to differentiate the means whereby workflow ill be accomplished within a given paradigm. For instance, the organizational structure and firm rubric that the divisional structure portends will assume that the planning which has influenced leadership to adopt such a strategy and approach is the most efficient in order to accomplish the key tasks and goals that might lie ahead. Conversely, the realities of the business environment and the demands placed upon the shareholders will necessarily lead those that ascribe to the functional approach to assume that certain elements of the strict rubric which defines the divisional approach to be bent and molded to key needs. Experts say that organizations are becoming increasingly decentralized, with authority, decision- making responsibility into the organization. How well this trend affects what well be asked of you a new manager? With regards to the decentralization of management that has been noted by recent scholarship, this affects the future manager in a number of ways. The first of which is that it affects the mangers ability to command total purview of a given situation and seek to direct it with as few complications from outside shareholders as possible. Although this is not necessarily a bad thing the fact of the matter is that this requires the manager to engage with a much larger number of individuals and seek their input as well as their cooperation in order to bring any given plan or project to completion. Secondly, this requires that the manger will need to have very honed and sharpened skills of people management and negotiation between these disparate groups of shareholders within the process. Thirdly, the people skills and management style will need to be focused upon in an even more aggressive manner as a result of the first two components which have already been listed. Ultimately, the level of decentralization has all of the drawbacks that have been listed as well as none of the benefits that a manager may wish to engage in with regards to his/her ability to guide a project from the very beginning to ultimate completion. Although one might view this as a net positive, the level to which responsibility for success or failure will be placed has not changed whatsoever from the old model of leadership; whereas the level to which the change leader can integrate changes from within his/her own group has been minimized. Chapter 10: How might business use the internet to identify untapped customer needs through open innovation? What do you see as the major advantages and disadvantage of the open innovation approach? Whereas many aspects of technology have touched firms abilities to integrate with the consumer, it is arguable that the internet has provided the most potential of all within this field. As such, when one considers the means whereby a firm might seek to identify untapped customer needs through open innovation utilizing the internet, a few distinct concepts necessarily spring to mind. The first of these is the ability of the firm or entity to utilize social networking as a means of determining consumer tastes, attitudes, and preferences with regards to certain ideas and/or products prior to the completion of a costly development/production run. In this way, a type of consumer barometer is able to be had in which a business to prospective consumer relationship is developed and feedback is able to be garnered with respect to a range of issues. This naturally provides a certain level of advantage in the fact that the firm is able to save a massive amount of money in potential development with regards to products that prove to not integrate well with the given customer base. However, it should not be said that this level of integration is not without its distinct disadvantages. For instance, one of these is the fact that the consumer that is being measured online is not always prone to telling specifically how they feel with regards to a given point or issue. Furthermore, due to the fact that the customer is not able to see any tangible product, the level to which their judgments and beliefs concerning abstract ideas and concepts can and should be interpreted are also called into question. Analyze the driving and restraining forces of a change you would like to make in your life . do you believe understanding force-field analysis can help you more effectively implement a significant change in your own behavior? With regards to some of the driving and restraining forces of change that this particular author would like to make in life, these can fundamentally be described by internal and external factors. Without delving too deeply into each of these internal and/or external factors that restrains and/or drives change, the reader can and should understand that these factors can almost invariably be related back to the means by which force field analysis inter-relates to change. With respect to the force field analysis, this author understands this to be one of the most basic and primal ways in which the reader and/or researcher can understand how the many social and psychological needs and interactions influence situations and decision making. Whereas one might be tempted to integrate decision making and change in a rather 1 or 2 dimensional means, the cold hard truth of the matter is that an entire litany of factors influence the way in which change s facilitated and integrated. By seeking to understand the complex ways in which needs and desires of different shareholders integrate with change, the change leader can be more informed and make more rational decisions with regards to what the best means of accomplish such a change might be. Although no baseline or hierarchy has been proposed, it is necessary for the individual to approach such a force field analysis from a fresh perspective on each and every iteration. Chapter 13: Why is it important or managers to have an understanding of organizational behavior? Do you think knowledge of OB might be more important at some managerial levels than at others? Discuss With regards to the overall importance of managers understanding organizational behavior, this is one of the most fundamental and important aspects of a manager’s job functions that can be integrated with. The reason for this is that regardless of how brilliant a change mechanism that he/she has devised and regardless of how skilled the individuals he/she has put together on a team, the organizational behavior will ultimately determine the overall level of success that the plan will realize. For instance, before planning the change, before putting the team together, or making any of the moves that a manager should make in order to affect a certain goal, it is necessary for him/her to be intimately familiar with the organizational behavior of the given firm in order to infer what preliminary and final steps should be made in order to ensure that the work in question will ultimately survive within the given context and gain approval and/or traction. Without seeking to integrate an understanding of organizational behavior, it is highly doubtful that any plans or change mechanism can effectively integrate with the peculiar environment and needs that each organization displays on varying levels and by varying means. Naturally, depending on the level of management, organizational behavior comes to be of a greater importance. Although this is not always the case, it can generally be understood that at the very lower levels of a firm an understanding of organizational behavior is not as important as within the higher levels of management; however, this is not a hard and fast rule. How might understanding whether an employee has an internal or an external locus of control help a manager better communicate with, motivate, and lead the employee? A person with an internal locus of control may seek to understand attributions of no control based upon ability whereas attributions of control would be based on effort. Conversely, a person with an external locus of control may seek to understand attributions of no control based upon pure chance/luck whereas attributions of control they might attribute to the difficulty of the task at hand. By seeking to differentiate the types of individuals under one’s purview and helping them according to this, the manager/change leader will be able to maximize the potential of each employee; rather than merely treating them all in the same manner and hoping for a positive result (Beersma & Evers 169). This strikes of course at the very core of what effective and superior management needs to engender, the ability to stay on target and accomplish goals while at the same time speaking to the particular and individuals needs of the shareholders under one’s direction. Ultimately, as a function of striking a balance between accomplishing goals and leading individuals to maximize potential, the manager must be able to integrate with his/her employees in such a manner and seek to determine the levels of motivation that they respond best to. In such a manner, productivity will be increased, team building will be furthered, and the shareholders will not feel that they are somehow of less value to the process merely because they may ascribe to situations in a different manner than their colleagues. Work Cited M., Bianca Beersma, and Arne Evers. "Reducing Conflict-Related Employee Strain: The Benefits Of An Internal Locus Of Control And A Problem-Solving Conflict Management Strategy." Work & Stress 25.2 (2011): 167-184. CINAHL Plus with Full Text. Web. 29 Mar. 2013. Read More