Management Practive in Business - Coursework Example

? Management practice in Business The management practice in business organizations is an important matter of study. In understanding the management practice in an organization, the functions played by the managers are important to consider. The basic functions of mangers are planning, leading, organizing, staffing and controlling. The paper studies the manner in which the above practices of the management are implemented in Liberty mutual insurance. Planning: The planning process in an organization involves the process of strategizing ways to achieve the business goals. The planning process focuses on the realistic view of the business expectation. The presence of proper planning process in an organization helps the management of the organization in maintaining a focus towards the overall growth and development of the business. The planning process also helps the organization in providing a framework for the business and provides the organization with a benchmark for measuring the performance of the organization (Reilly, Minnick & Baack, 2011). Considering the importance of planning in the business organization, the planning process in Liberty mutual insurance is being analyzed critically. The first step maintained by Liberty Mutual insurance in their planning process is in setting the basic target of the organization which includes clarification of the vision, mission and goals of the organization. The vision of Liberty mutual insurance involves providing every one with the same amount of opportunity to live their dreams. The mission of the organization states that the organization is in the process of value creation for the citizens with the help of the effective and profitable life insurance plans. The goals of the organization are also made clear and it aims at becoming a leading provider of life insurance services in the global market by focusing attention towards the customer satisfaction. The organization also aims at enhancing the value of stakeholders by achieving reputations in the market through the business practices. In matters of implementation of any strategic decision in the organization; the mission, vision and goals are kept in mind. Before planning for any changes in the organization, careful market research is conducted and due importance is provided to the needs of the customers. During the decision making process ideas are taken from all levels of the management and clear analysis of the views of the employees are done. The various departments within the organization are assigned with the responsibility of managing their own department and integration within different department is maintained. As the goals of the organization, includes the creation of values to the customers, careful steps are being adopted to make the products of the organization popular among the customers by addressing their needs in a proper manner. The management also is looking for expansion in the international markets, by conducting studies regarding the market feasibility of various economies. Leading: Leadership is one of the important attribute of good managers and the process of overall leading of the employees to attain their goals and objectives often determines the success of an organization. The process of leading the employees in the organization starts after the goals are set by the management (Canada, 2009, p.22). In Liberty mutual Insurance, the workings of the organization is strengthened by the presence of effective leadership quality of the key personnel who constantly dedicates their best in helping the employees to attain their goals set by the organizations. One important characteristic of the leaders in the organizations is that they always aim to maintain clarity in defining the roles and expectations of the employees which in turn helps the employees to attain their goals. The leaders in the organization exhibit strong interpersonal skills in motivating the employees. The leaders in the organization are also found to maintain right balance in maintaining their personal relationship with the employees and the task related demands which creates a good impact on the employees. The leaders in the organizations exhibit true leadership skills by contributing their best towards the development of the organization and turns out to be a role model for the other employees. The leaders in the organization provide necessary guidelines to the employees and also engage in personal discussions with them to address their work related problem. Often the leaders take their own initiative in rewarding their subordinates for better performance. The leaders of the organization are always true to the employees and describe the current state of the organization and the future plans of the organization which helps the employees to dedicate themselves accordingly. The presence of effective leaders in the organization often enables the employees to complete challenging tasks at ease. The presence of effective communication between the leaders and the employees on a regular basis also helps the leaders to keep track of the employee’s performance in the workplace and they provide necessary suggestions to the employees to improve their efficiency. In Liberty Mutual Insurance, the presence of leaders in all most every department of the organization helps the entire department to perform at the same pace and helps in the overall development of the organization. The charge of leadership is given to the person, based on the assessment of the leadership quality he possess and after monitoring his performance for the organization in past. Organizing: The perspective of organizing in the management is another important guideline which organizations follow. The process of organizing involves arrangement of teams and resources to carry out the plan set by the management. Organizing also incorporates assigning the work to the employees and granting the authority to the right personnel to lead a team. If the process of organizing is not done effectively, then the overall implementation of the plan leads to a failure (Koontz & Weihrich, 2006, p.26). In Liberty mutual insurance, special focus is provided to the task of organizing. Depending upon the nature of the plan, the respective department in the organization is first classified and then creates a team from the best possible workforce. After the creation of team is done for particular task, the leaders are also chosen for leading the team. After the choice of leaders takes place, it becomes the task of the leaders to assign the work to the subordinates. As for example in the sales team, the leaders assign the employees their particular region to work on and sets a monthly target and also guides the employees in attaining his desired target . As the performance of the team depends on the coordination of the leaders, so it becomes an important task for the senior level managers in the organization to monitor the performance of the leaders of the different departments. The leaders are also provided the authority to direct the teams according to their own style of operation. The leaders in turn report to their senior mangers regarding the performance of the teams and provide necessary suggestions and ideas to the management regarding increasing the efficiency of the employees so that the organizational goals are attained. Thus the overall task of organizing the task within Liberty mutual insurance takes place by distribution of work into teams under the supervision of leaders and by maintaining a hierarchy in the organizational structure. Staffing: The process of staffing in an organization includes the process of recruitment, selection and training of the employees. Employees are the crucial part in an organization as they are the prime force within the organization which helps to attain the goal set by the organization. Considering the importance, the strafing of the employees is a fundamental operation. Selection of right workforce for the right task is one of the fundamental tasks for the mangers. In liberty mutual insurance, the process of staffing is undertaken by the human resource department. The human resource department carries out recruitment process by all possible ways. The process of centralized recruitment maintained within the organization helps in reducing the administration cost and uniformity is maintained in the recruitment of the employees. Steps are also taken to ensure that no biasness creeps in the process of recruitment. The organization maintains both the process of internal and external recruitment for selection of the employees. In matters of internal recruitment, often references from the employees are taken or internal promotion is made to fill up the vacancy (Dale, 2004, p.6). In matters of external recruitment, the organization arranges for walk in interviews and also takes help of the consultancies in finding the desirable candidate for the required post. The selection of the candidates takes place after a complete evaluation of the merit and his knowledge regarding the subject. A consideration of the experience of the candidate is also done during the selection process. After the selection of the employees takes place, the organization arranges extensive training session so that the employees can inculcate the work culture and makes him comfortable with the environment within the organization. Training is also provided to the employees in work related matters and the roles expected from him are made clear in the initial days. After training process is over, an evaluation of the knowledge gained by the newly recruited staff is undertaken and based on the performance he starts to work for the organization. Controlling: The process of controlling is one of the preventive mechanisms adopted by the mangers to set the operations of the organization in order. The process of controlling also involves monitoring the results and analyzing whether the results achieved by the organization is in the process of meeting with the organizational goals and the objectives. (Business Management, p.94, 1993) In Liberty Mutual insurance, the controlling process is assigned to the mangers of the respective departments. In order to maintain a steady flow of the operations within department , the mangers takes the daily report from the team leaders and in case of any constraint achieved, immediate actions are being taken after consultation with the leaders and few of the employees. The mangers dedicates themselves to ensure that the plan set by the top management are always on track and tries to handle the difficulty in the operation in a prompt manner. In the overall control process though the manger is in charge of restoring things in order, yet the coordination from the employees and the leaders also guides the success of the organization in maintaining smooth operation of the business. The performances of the teams are measured against the benchmark set by the organization and an effort is made by the manger to motivate the leaders to derive the estimated output from the employees. In order to control the overall business activity of the organization, the managers of respective department coordinate among themselves to discuss what can be done best for the sake of improving the productivity of the organization. Conclusion: The study of the business process in Liberty Mutual insurance confers on the fact that the organization stresses importance on the critical elements of business practices which includes planning, leading, organizing, staffing, and control. The management adopts flexible policies so that the framework of the organization is strong. With clear focus on the goals of the organization, the policy formulation of the business practices are undertaken. The strength of the organization lies in the integration of the employees across all sectors of the organization. The mangers and the leaders of the organization also dedicate themselves towards the sake of the organization and create an example for the other employees to follow. The focus on the attention of the customers is also an important aspect maintained by the organization and the organization maintains a constant effort to empower the employees by providing them with adequate training. The organization believes in team work by the effective participation of the employees and leaders and the allocation of task between different departments, enables smooth operation of the business. Adhering to such policies incorporated by the organization, would definitely lead liberty Mutual insurance in the path of success. However the organization can improve the performance if more number of employees is involved in the decision making process as they directly deals with important matters and their views and suggestions would be of immense help to the management. References Business Management, (1993), New Delhi: FK Publications Canada, B, S, (2009), the role of leadership and management skills in the success of construction project managers, London: ProQuest Dale, M, (2004), Manager's guide to recruitment and selection, Philadelphia: Kogan Page Publishers Koontz, H & Weihrich, H, (2006), Essentials of management, New Delhi: Tata McGraw Hill. Reilly, M, Minnick, C & Baack, D, (2011), the five functions of effective management, San Diego: Bridge point Education Read More