Smith's Accounting and Tax Service-Can Amanda Turn Her New Business Around - Assignment Example

? Case Study of the Table of Contents Table of Contents 2 Introduction 3 Management functions 4 Conclusion 7 References 9 Introduction This case revolves around the character named Amanda Smith who has accounting degree, passed CPA exam at the very fast attempt and has six years experience of working in an accounting firm. Her technical skills were strong and have been undertaking management responsibilities for two to three years in tax and audit services. She had a strong desire of starting off her own business and wanted to enjoy the flexibility by becoming her own boss. She opened Smith's Accounting and Tax Service with only one employee named Lisa, who was an acquaintance of Amanda and was looking out for job. She used to do all the office related works. Amanda developed a strategy and mission for her own business. She wanted to offer accounting services to the small business owners or individuals and offering in-office service and even can complete the task at individual’s office. Her motto was "Have laptop, will travel." She recruited three more accountants and all four of them started working regarding tax related services for the clients. But when the Tax day came Amanda found that they were filling for too many extensions. Next problem was after the tax day was over Amanda found difficulty in paying the salary to the employees. She planned to engage the accountants in business development. But that also did not work out because they were over busy with indentifying and rectifying the errors that they have made. Hence, the organization ended up to losing two employees and leaving in the organization into a messed up state. The study focuses on analyzing what were the mistakes that Amanda committed and how they can be rectified. In this context the management functions will be used. Management functions Management is the process through which the organizational goals are achieved in an effective and efficient way via planning, organizing, leading and controlling the resources that the organization has. When starting a new business the entrepreneur or the manager should be aware of these functions and should incorporate them to be successful. Apart from these the management theorist has also identified decision making, communicating and staffing as other management function (Daft & Lane, 2009). Factors like ethics, global competitiveness and environment are the factors that are seen to influence how the mangers perform the four functions. Planning Planning is the process of identifying the organizational goals for future performances and then decides on the task and the resources required accomplishing these goals. In simple terms planning says the manger regarding what the organization wants to achieve in future and how they can achieve that. Planning also specifies when and how the task should be performed. Managers are seen to exactly outline what to achieve and how to achieve. By this the managers are not only concern with the success of the organization in achieving long term goals but also short term goals as well (Agarwal, 2008). In this case Amanda has committed the mistake of not planning how she will be running the business. She even failed to plan how she would run the business if it is undergoing through crisis. Lisa was recruited not on the basis of her experience or qualification; she was recruited simply because of her acquaintances with Amanda. This shows that Amanda was totally unprepared for the business; otherwise she would have followed proper recruitment processes. Amanda developed the mission and vision of her company after the business has been already started. The target market was even chosen by Amanda after starting the business. Both the things need to be done prior to starting the business. Moreover she even did not plan any thing for the slack period that her business will be facing. When the slack period commenced, she started wondering about she will be paying her employees and eventually end up into losing them. Moreover she was taking wrong actions in wrong situation. When she was supposed to generate new businesses she got engaged in solving the tax problems. Thus, the analysis shows that Amanda failed to identifying the organizational goals for future performances and also deciding on the task and the resources required to accomplish these goals Organizing Organizing is seen to follow the planning section and reflects on how the organization can succeed in accomplishing the plan. It is the function of the management that deals with assigning task, department wise grouping the task, delegation of the authority and allocating the resources across the organization. The tasks which are developed in the planning stage are assigned to various groups and individuals within the organization. Organizing signifies creating mechanism that puts plan into action. Tasks are required to be assigned to each individual in such a way that it contributes to the success of each department, which in turn contributes to the success of the organization (Tripathi & Reddy, 2008; Sims, 2002). When Amanda started getting business related auditing and tax services then she decided to recruit more staff, which was not in her plan when she started the business. For recruitment she was totally dependent on Lisa. Moreover after the recruitment was done the new employees were neither briefed properly nor were they having any deadlines for what they were doing. Amanda assumed that they were qualified and has got trained so they will work perfectly. Thus Amanda was seen to depend blindly on her accountants and the result was that they asked for too many extensions when the tax day came. If Amanda would have briefed them what and how they should do and provide them with the time line within which they should finish then the business would not have ended up in such bad position. Influencing Influencing is the management function that looks at motivating the employees so that the goals of the organization can be achieved. Influencing signifies creation of shared values and culture, communicating the goals that the organization wants to achieve to the employees and motivating the employees so that they show high level of performance. Influencing involves motivating not only the entire department or division but also the employees who are working immediately under the managers. In this era of business competition, growing diversity in the workplace and uncertainty makes communication of the goals and motivating the employees a crucial factor for achieving success (Lussier & Kimball, 2009). Amanda failed heavily in influencing the employees. After recruitment they were neither given any training nor were any interactions done regarding the aims of the organization. If the employees have been intimated from the first day regarding the aim of the organization then this crisis situation would not have arrived. Amanda did not like to act as a supervisor instructing how to work but in this regards she forgot that motivating the employees is very important in order to make them deliver good results. Controlling Controlling is the last function in the management process. Controlling means monitoring and assessing the activities of the employees, see whether the organization is right on track towards achieving the goal and provide necessary feedback to the employees regarding any correction. The mangers should ensure that the organization is moving in the right direction towards achieving the goals. Trends toward trust and empowerment of the employees has lead many organizations to give less stress on top down control and provide more stress on the training, monitoring and controlling the employees. Information technology is seen to help the mangers in providing organizational control without any firm top-down constraints (Daft, 2011). On every Monday the employees used to meet and Lisa looked into how they were working. They used to discuss regarding the work allocated for that week. Lisa was not a qualified individual who can judge and evaluate their performance and provide them the necessary feedback. Amanda was required to engage more proactively in the business, evaluating their performance, motivating them and providing them with feedback regarding how they should work. Amanda was in a better position than Lisa to provide guidance to the employees. Though they met every Monday but this opportunity was not utilized optimally by Amanda. Moreover when Amanda came to knew that Lisa is overburdened with work and did not have enough information regarding status of the client’s return she should have immediately called all the accountants who were responsible for filing the return and asked regarding the status. But this initiative was also not taken by her. Conclusion The four management functions are very important for the managers to follow in order to make the organization achieve its goals. If any of the four functions are not implemented by the manager then it creates a huge negative impact on the performance of the business. In this case though Amanda has huge experience in auditing and taxation but was incapable of implementing the four function of management. She tried to do a lot of things and even done some of them but all at a wrong time. She should now first plan how she would be running the business, where she needs to also focus on some provision in case if the business fails to achieve its expected results. Recruit a human resource manager and an operational manager who will be looking the recruitment and day to day operations respectively. Amanda should engage herself more proactively regarding monitoring the performance and assessing them so that feedbacks related to necessary correction can be provided. Proper flow of information regarding the goals of the organization should be ensured. References Agarwal, R.D. (2008). Organization and management. New Delhi: Tata McGraw-Hill Education. Daft, R.L. & Lane, P. (2009). Management. Connecticut: Cengage Learning. Daft, R.L. (2011). Management. Connecticut: Cengage Learning. Lussier, R.N. & Kimball, D.C. (2009). Applied sport management skills. Illinois: Human Kinetics. Sims, R.R. (2002). Managing organizational behavior. Westport: Greenwood Publishing Group. Tripathi, P.C. & Reddy, P.N. (2008). Principles of management. New Delhi: Tata McGraw-Hill Education. Read More