Critical Business Issues And Self-Evaluation - Essay Example

?Critical Business issues and self-evaluation Part Introduction This paper examines the challenges faced by organizations today and the role of leaders and managers in helping organizations address these complex challenges in pursuit of organizational goals and objectives, to ensure both success and survival of their organizations. Organizations today, more than ever before, are facing new and unfamiliar circumstances that are potential sources of disaster if not complex problems (Simmons 2001, p.21), which beset the performance of the organizations in terms of profitability and survival respectively. The global business environment is constantly changing by the day, and these changes impose certain limitations and requirements on the present day organizations; the successful organizations are those that are able to make appropriate adjustments in response to the changes taking place around them. Inability to respond to these changes undermines organizational effectiveness, leading to utter losses and organizational failure accordingly; in this respect, excellent managers are able to make intelligent trade-offs in pursuit of performance and sustainability in the long term. In the current global system, therefore, adaptability or, the capacity to change in the face of increasing pressure in the highly competitive and complex global business environment, is a fundamental precursor to successful business. As it stands, organizations today are increasingly facing new challenges, and the role of managers has changed drastically from the traditional one since they have to find new ways of addressing new challenges that beset their organizations today. In this respect, one of the greatest challenges faced by organizations today is the establishment of the right kind of leadership that can yield new innovative approaches to addressing current organizational challenges. Organizational management has to ensure that organizational goals and objectives are met in the most efficient ways possible, even as it strives to steer the organization towards that desired future state, where performance and sustainability is guaranteed. Due to the changing global business environment, particularly as a result to the increased global interconnectedness that has emerged following globalization and technological pressures, organizations have inevitably found it hard to continue operating in their conventional ways. New situations at the work place have demanded completely new approaches to solution finding and organizations have come under great test as they have been subjected to rapid changes that have necessitated rapid responses. The highly dynamic and complex business environment today has, therefore, instigated the evolution of the role of managers and leaders today; the changing roles of managers is a function of the new order, which requires that managers adopt new approaches to addressing organizational challenges. Apart from the changing role of managers, the other theme of fundamental importance at the workplace today is teamwork; successful organizations are those that are able to leverage on the pooling of talents, skills, and knowledge of teams to accomplish their organizational objectives. Teams possess greater capabilities as opposed to single individuals working independently because they bring together individuals who are jointly working towards the achievement of common objectives through shared commitment and mutual sense of purpose. Leadership, is a great organizational challenge today, particularly because, organizations seeking to restate their presence in the global business space need to adapt a new kind of leadership capability that can reframe challenges, interpret options, and provide direction by reforming organizational operations (Powell 2007, p.2). The challenge of leadership, especially in these turbulent times, is becoming real by the day since organizations cannot continue to rely on conventional approaches such as restructuring and reengineering alone. The new challenges faced by organizations continuously demand that leadership must be able to provide direction by leading people, inspiring commitment at the workplace, and managing the change process in response to changing circumstances accordingly. In this respect, talent recognition and management is of utmost importance to organizational success (Beheshtifar, Nasab, & Moghadam 2012, p.227), because it enables the organizations to attract, retain and develop their essential talents respectively, thereby leading to success. However, most organizational leadership and management is thoroughly unable to provide the right kind of leadership that is appropriate for the future state since most managers are highly deprived of these fundamental competencies. The changing nature of effective organizational leadership in particular makes it even hard for organizations to attain the right kind of leadership that is tailored towards providing future leadership. In this respect, organizations continuously seek to develop leaders by leveraging on individual competencies, and by promoting the collective capabilities of teams, group networks, and organizational leadership accordingly. The capacity of the organization to choose the right leadership culture also is a very fundamental aspect that determines success or failure of the organization (Valentino & Brunelle 2004, p.393), especially because different leadership cultures are appropriate for different purposes. The bottom line is that, as organizations evolve to the preferred future states, they are increasingly faced with the need of adopting the right kind of leadership culture that matches the unfolding future challenges (Patnaik 2011, p.79). In addition, teamwork is yet an increasingly fundamental challenge facing organizations today, since the difference between the successful organization and the ineffective one is the ability to integrate systems, collaborate with partners, and coordinate across the supply chain. Effective managers and teams must be able to agree on outcomes and way forward through collaborative efforts to address the common challenges facing the organizations. Organizations are pretty much constrained in their options for moving forwards, in the face of competing forces in the highly competitive and dynamic business environment, particularly because building up the right teams and collaborations is a most daunting task ever for the management. Establishing the right kinds of collaborations, particularly between management and workers, and within individual teams has much more business returns because different individuals bring their vast knowledge, skills, expertise, and talents into the teams, further enhancing organizational performance. Aligning teams to focus on achieving success through innovation and growth is also a difficult endeavour since not all individuals in the teams will be excited and clear about strategy and growth, thereby causing frictions within the teams (Johnson 2011, p.8). Organizations are seemingly concerned about developing unity between teams and between employees since uncoordinated teams inevitably result to inefficiencies in terms of disagreements even on simple routine tasks. In this respect, organizational management aims to establish the appropriate frameworks that encourage the development and growth of collaborative worker relationships, for them to be able to work together effectively. Apart from that, goal setting is also a greater challenge that organizations have to deal with today, to achieve their desired future state in the global business environment; knowing what is to be achieved is the single most fundamental precursor to organizational success. However, given the turbulent business environment situation, organizations are seemingly challenged by the current situation of continuously shifting goal posts due to the significant and complex changes in the global business environment. Setting the appropriate goals that can be achieved effectively within given timeframes is the difference between what successful organizations do and what failing ones do. Nonetheless, personal development plans are central to effective organizational performance since organizations are able to leverage on their strengths while consistently identifying and enhancing their weaknesses accordingly. Organizations are increasingly finding it hard to establish strategic plans for their future due to high uncertainty and the complex nature of the global business environment. The role of leaders in the current order, therefore, becomes leading people, strategic planning, inspiring commitment, and managing change; effective managers are those that are able to lead their people side of the organizations towards achieving organizational goals. Effective leadership should be able to provide a strategic vision for the organization and to inspire their staff towards that vision through staff motivation initiatives, to promote overall organizational performance and to reduce turnover, thereby ensuring sustainability of the organization. Nonetheless, change management is a crucial aspect of management today since effective managers must be able to manage the change process effectively to align the organizations to the unfolding future situations in the global environment. Part B Personal Skills Audit Skill Summary Competence/Confidence Examples How to develop Written communication -I communicate clearly and concisely in writing through various formats, passing intended messages effectively to different audiences without being misunderstood. -Written communication is a basic fundamental competence because it enables me to express both my personal and professional goals, and development plans clearly and concisely My competence in written communication can be rated at five on a scale of one to five. -For instance, I communicate effectively with my team members and work mates through written communication by passing crucial information with utmost clarity -Written communication is particularly important when it comes to drawing strategic plans and clearly communicating the strategic vision to others since it inspires commitment and motivation towards the organizational goals and objectives I can enhance my written communication skill further through extensive reading to expand my knowledge of words and through frequent writing practice to gain competence Oral communication/ Presentation skills -During oral presentations, I communicate with clarity and effectiveness by summarizing information to the best of my capability and communicating it as clearly as possible driving the points down for my audience’s comprehension -oral presentation skills are valuable competencies because they promote participation in teamwork thereby yielding fruitful interactions My competence in oral communication/presentation skills can be rated at four on a scale of one to five. -I use my oral communication/presentation skill mostly when speaking with people at the workplace or delivering presentations in panel discussions at the workplace -interpersonal skills are of utmost importance for the functionality of teams at the workplace; oral communication skills in particular, are of central significance for participation in teams, to contribute personal skills and competences towards accomplishing tasks I can further increase my level of confidence in oral communication/presentation skill through increased participation in teams and also through conscious deliberate effort to communicate with peers at the workplace Time management -I know how to plan or schedule my time by prioritizing my tasks and focusing on producing high-quality work within set timeframes. -Effective time management leads to promptness in decision making and short lead times accordingly My competence in time management can be rated at five on a scale of one to five. -I plan for the completion of both my individual and group tasks at the workplace to ensure that they are completed on time to meet organizational goals and objectives -Time taken to complete tasks is of critical importance since short lead times are a potential source of competitive advantages to the organization I can enhance my time management skill through routine practice to enhance my skills and competence at specific task performance to reduce the overall time taken to compete tasks Problem solving -When faced with complex challenges, I can find logical, practical, and genuine solutions -problem solving skills distinguish effective leaders from ineffective ones, especially because they are appropriate for managing change effectively by providing innovative approaches My competence in problem solving can be rated at four on a scale of one to five. -I exploit my problem solving skill at the workplace to provide logical, practical, and realistic solutions to complex problems facing the organization. -Risk management, the process of identifying loss exposures or fault lines in the organization and responding in the most decisive manner that averts adverse effects (Akhter 2010, p.128), benefits greatly from my problem-solving skill I can improve my problem-solving skill by constantly contributing input to the management through collaborative relationships with the managers Teamwork -I fit in well with my teams because I am an excellent team player who can work together with others to achieve common objectives -Cooperating in teams is an effective way of accomplishing tasks due to the pooling of individual talents, skills, and expertise accordingly My competence in teamwork can be rated at five on a scale of one to five. -I work collaboratively with peers at the workplace and with my team members to achieve common objectives for the organization -The potential value of teamwork in today’s organizations cannot be overestimated, particularly because the concept of teamwork is a vital ingredient to business success today (Johnson 2011, p.8) I can enhance my teamwork capabilities by improving my communication skills, particularly oral/presentation skills, and contributing to team discussions constructively Leadership -My leadership skills are based on a multi-faceted approaches and techniques, which I explore in leading my teams towards organizational goals. -leadership skills are essential especially because they facilitate smooth operations and functioning of the organization My leadership competence can be rated at five on a scale of one to five. -I explore my leadership skills in leading teams at the workplace towards the achievement of group tasks to achieve organizational goals and objectives -The task of leadership has evolved greatly over the years and effective leadership today must encompass the roles of leading people, strategic planning, inspiring commitment, managing change, I can improve my leadership capabilities through participation in many teamwork abilities and through leadership training programs at the workplace IT skills -I am proficient in Information Technology such basic Microsoft Word, Excel, and Access -In addition to advanced packages of accounting and finance -the rapid changes taking place in the IT area needs constant awareness My IT skills can be rated at four on a scale of one to five. -I use IT skills in my daily practice at the workplace to accomplice tasks such as data entry and processing, inventory keeping, among a host of other tasks -IT skills are a fundamental aspect of management and operations today since they provide opportunities for providing innovative and practical solutions to complex challenges I can enhance my IT skills further through training programs at the workplace and through regular refresher courses to update my knowledge given the rapid change in information and technology Information skills Besides being able to access sources of information quickly and easily, I can also evaluate the credibility of the different sources of information My information skills can be rated at five on a scale of one to five. -I engage my information skills at the workplace to locate specific information that the organization can leverage on to enhance performance such as consumer trends and attitudes -Business audits are fertile grounds for the application of the information skills audit since it enables the identification of specific areas that need boosting and those strengths that can be leveraged on for performance in the organization (Russ and Karen 1999 p.1) I can further enhance my information skills by researching extensively to understand the emerging themes and buzzwords in the current system, and through enhancing my IT skills Independent Learning I do not rely on anybody to gain knew knowledge because I am intrinsically motivated to improve myself through completion of tasks on my own with minimal input or supervision from my seniors My independent learning capacity can be rated at five on a scale of one to five. -I take every day at the workplace as a new learning experience to gain new insights on processes and operations in the chain of production -Lack of experience can inevitably bring about an unacceptable level of self-efficacy in the decision making process because the on-going changes in the business world require both tacit knowledge and codified knowledge of global issues affecting businesses (Harvey et al 2007, p.43) I can enhance my independent learning skill through deliberate own initiative to gain much deeper understanding of organizational processes without relying on extrinsic motivation and other incentives. References Russ, A.P., and Karen, M. (1999), Managing Your Business: Brokers cite four top practice management challenges, and we offer three suggestions, On Wall Street, pp. 1. Simmons, J., (2001), Facing today's challenges. Risk Management, 48(5), pp. 21. Harvey, M., et al., (2007), The role of curiosity in global managers' decision-making, Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies, 13(3), 43-58.  Valentino, C.L. & Brunelle, F.W., (2004), The Role of Middle Managers in the Transmission and Integration of Organizational Culture, Journal of Healthcare Management, 49(6), pp. 393-404. Beheshtifar, M., Nasab, H. Y., & Moghadam, M. N., (2012), Effective talent management: A vital strategy to organizational success. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 2(12), 227-234. Powell,W.R., (2007), The impact of managerial leadership in strategic direction on organizational effectiveness, Futurics, 31(1), pp. 1-32. Patnaik, J.B., (2011), Organizational culture: The key to effective leadership and work motivation, Social Science International, 27(1), pp. 79-94. Johnson, C.D., (2011), The Teamwork Fallacy: Not All Teams Get Things Done, Techniques, vol. 86, no. 7, pp. 8-9. Akhter, W., (2010), Risk Management in Takaful", Enterprise Risk Management, vol. 2, no. 1, pp. 128-144. Read More