Personal and Managerial Effectiveness - Book Report/Review Example

Personal and managerial effectiveness Table of Content Prospective career in the field of finance 2 Comparison between different career paths 3 Obstacles in different career paths 7 Challenge with international team 9 Recommendation to the future graduates 11 Own career plan and its justification 12 13 Reference 14 Prospective career in the field of finance Growth in industrialisation has lead to an upsurge in financial activities. This necessitates the demand for professionals who have an in-depth knowledge of finance. If described in a nutshell, finance can be described as “application of numbers of financial and economic principle to maximise the wealth or overall value of a business” (Groppelli & Nikbakht, 2000, p.3). The field of finance can be broadly segregated into three heads which are Corporate Finance, commercial banking and investment. Corporate finance: This field of finance is involved in creating value for the organisation. The people who build their career in corporate finance assist the organisations in arranging money for running and growing the business. Their job responsibility includes analysing and planning the company’s future financial needs and efficient handling of cash. The professionals involved in corporate finance needs to have a sound knowledge in problem solving skills, and this makes it one of the most highly demanding jobs in the present job market (Idaho State University. n.d.) The ones who build their career in corporate finance dream to achieve the position of Head Finance Manager in the company. A company can be private or public, profit making or non-profit making, family build or large organisation, but the knowledge, skill and ability required for a finance manager is more or less same (Megginson & Smart, 2008, P.5). Commercial Banking: The banking industry has undergone drastic change in the last few centuries due to high rate of globalisation. In the present world, banks are not confined to just saving or lending money, rather there are many other services offered by the banks to fulfil diversified demand of customers. Commercial banking sector provides employment to a large number of people and day by day this sector is flourishing (Idaho State University. n.d.). The professional who are engaged in corporate banking industry take job responsibilities in the field of leasing, credit card banking, trade credit and international finance (Idaho State University. n.d.). Investment: Investment is one of the best fields which offer several career options like investment manager, stock broker and financial planner. An individual employed in any of these jobs can offer services to a specific company or even to an individual. These professionals require high analytical skills with good practice knowledge of different analytic tools (Idaho State University. n.d.). Hence it can be concluded that financial sector offer a diversified range of job opportunities and a proper training in any one of these can help an individual to achieve his desired goal. Comparison between different career paths Several job opportunities are available in the financial sector; some of them are discussed here. Each career graph has a well defined hierarchical structure which is unique. For example if an individual has higher analytical skills and enjoys analysing the data related to capital market, such person is more likely to develop his or her career in capital market. Such individual will start his career as a stock market broker as this is the entry level job. On the other hand the individual who has a keen understanding of money management and is more attracted by the financial activities taking place in an organisation, he or she will love to enter in the field of corporate finance. The entry level job for building a career in corporate finance is back office jobs or jobs related to accounts. Such exposure helps the individual to understand the process in which an organisation conducts business, the source and application of capital. With time when these individuals reach a higher post, it becomes very easy for them to take appropriate decisions which best suits the environment. There are many individuals who prefer security over other things. For them the banking sector provides a good opportunity. To enter banking sector one has to apply for clerical post where the person gets to understand how a bank perform its activities, what are the different services offered to the clients and what are the different financial product available. Many a time this kind of job requires direct interaction with the client, hence one should have the ability to give patient hearing to the client. There are certain individuals who have a desire to have their own firm, so they try to acclimatize themselves in the particular field of their choice and then develop their career in that specific field. For example the individual who has a good understanding of tax and account related matters will do courses such as chartered accountancy so as to acquaint himself with the tax related problems. Initially such person will start their career as tax consultant, but latter he or she can start his/her own consultancy firm and build a bright future. Obstacles in different career paths Each and every career path has its specific requirement in terms of knowledge, skills and personal ability (KSA). The main reason for using KSA is to determine what are the requirement of a particular job and whether one posses the knowledge, skill and the ability to take the job responsibility (Gatewood, Feild & Barrick, 2007, p.329). On the basis of the different KSA and personal ability required for different career graphs, the possible obstructers are discussed below: The career graph for the position of General Manager Finance needs certain specific qualification from an individual. For example the individual needs a great deal of understanding of finance and money management to take up the job responsibility of branch General Manager. For this the practical knowledge is not enough, one needs to enhance the theoretical knowledge to understand how capital can be arranged at less cost and how excess of fund can be effectively used for generating good amount of future cash flow. So the individual need to take up certain courses like MBA in finance, or master degree in financial management. These courses are quite costly and needs high mental labour. Another problem with these courses is the high course fee which everyone cannot afford. The career plan for attaining the position of managing director of Asset Managing Unit (AMU) is highly risky because the movement of securities and other listed financial instrument is highly fluctuating. The decision which seems good at one moment turns to be useless in the next moment. Hence the individual should have a strong financial backup to absorb such frequently occurring losses. For becoming a portfolio manager, one has to devote 100 percent of their attention to gather information and analyse them. Many a time a small technical fault of the software leads to a great loss for the client as well as for the company, so one has to be adept in handling this software which requires high investment. Another career plans which also has certain obstacles, is the one that leads to the designation of regional manager in a financial institute or a corporate bank. Since the banking industry is considered one among the safest sector the competition automatically is quite high. Hence to attain the higher post, an individual has to wait for a long time. Due to dense network of banks, frequent transfer is common and the employees have to change their location at regular intervals. This leads to various family related problems which distorts the balance between personal and professional life. The ambition to be the owner of a tax consultancy firm is also highly challenging due to high degree of competition. The biggest difficulty is to achieve the degree of chartered accountant because this is a demanding profession and thousands of candidates try hard to qualify it. The whole course demands vigorous mental stress and long hours of study. The second problem is capital required for setting the consultancy and developing a strong client base. To attract the clients, different consultancies use different competitive methods which result in cut throat competition. After analysing different career paths and the respective obstructers related to them, it can be concluded that none of the path is easy and all need high degree of determination and sound planning to overcome the obstruction. Challenge with international team As businesses are crossing the boundaries and are entering the international market, the management have to handle different team members who belong to different cultures. This makes the task of the management more challenging and difficult. The six vital component of international business are 1. Trust 2. Success 3. Attitudes towards time 4. Commitment 5. Group activity 6. Decision making (Lynn, 1998, p.2). When an individual is in the lower hierarchy of a career plan, he or she has to work with the employees who belong to different culture, who uses different languages, whose food habits and living style are different and most importantly their ethical standards are different. Again when an individual reaches higher position in the career plan, he or she has to manage a team which comprises of international clients. The managers need to be careful while tackling international team because their requirements are diversified. First of all the managers should understand the respective value system of the employees who belong to different culture. This will help the managers or the leaders to manage and motivate the team members effectively. Conflicts are common among the team which have members from diversified cultural backgrounds, therefore it becomes a major challenge for the managers to identify the conflicting element and develop a harmonious organisational culture. In such a team communication also becomes a problem and often results in delayed decision making. Management have to ensure that different communication channel (vertical as well as horizontal) functions smoothly otherwise decision making becomes a lengthy process. Recommendation to the future graduates A candidate who is pursuing graduation should understand importance of career mapping. One should make a plan for reaching the desired job in the future. This path assists the individuals to reach the goal in a strategically planned manner and there comes the role of career mapping. In nutshell it can be said that “career mapping separates each stage of your journey into manageable parts, thus making it easier for you to achieve success during each phase of the search” (Mann & Bombela-Tobias, 2005, p.3). While developing a plan first and foremost thing that needs to be understood is ones strength & weakness. Analysis should also be conducted to determine the opportunity and threat one receives from the corporate world. Then one should be able to analyse ones dream job or the job which will result in ultimate satisfaction. This is important because the rest of the career plan will be based on the ultimate career destination. The next step should be identification of all the jobs an individual should take-up to attain the destination. For each and every job KSA needs to be executed and the candidate should find out what further courses he or she needs to do. These jobs are the mile stones in the career graph hence the whole plan needs to be divided into small time durations. This plan should be realistic and achievable. There must be certain amount of flexibility in career plan so that as and when required minor changes can be made. It is the candidate’s responsibility to evaluate the plan so as to identify the any loops holes existing and the way it can be removed. Own career plan and its justification After having completed my graduation in finance, I decided to develop my career in corporate finance. My dream is to become an efficient GM finance in a good multinational organisation. I feel that in order to understand business, one need to have good understanding of how the company works, where it incurs costs, which are the profit centres and what are the sources of funds. After graduation I will enter a multinational company as an accounts officer. After two years of work, I have a plan to enrol myself in a MBA program. As I wish to work simultaneously, hence evening classes will be more suitable for me. Such course will add an extra edge to my KSA and I will make myself eligible for higher positions. Through my performance I will prove to the management that I have the ability to bear higher job responsibilities. I believe learning is a cognitive process, so according to the changes taking place in technology I will go on updating myself. This will help me to attain the ultimate destination in my career. I feel this is the best career plans for me because it is based on my strength and weakness, my ultimate career goal and my inner ability to take higher responsibility in life. Reference Gatewood, D. R., Feild, S. H. & Barrick, M. R. 2007. Human Resource Selection. 6th ed. Cengage Learning. Groppelli, A. A. & Nikbakht, E. 2000. Finance. Barron's Educational Series.  Idaho State University. No date. Finance - College of Business. [online]. Available at http://cob.isu.edu/Default.aspx?section=Programs_and_Departments_Finance_Careers [Accessed on 13 February 2010]. Lynn, E. October 7th – 9th 1998. Six Key Aspects of International Business Contact. The Challenges of International Management Teams – How Different Cultures Affect Business Decisions. [pdf]. Available at: http://www.lct-consultants.org/files/challenges_of_int_man_teams.pdf [Accessed on 14 February 2010]. Mann, A. M. & Bombela-Tobias, M. R. 2005. The complete job search guide for Latinos. Barron's Educational Series. Megginson, L. W. & Smart, B, S. 2008. Introduction to Corporate Finance. 2nd ed. Cengage Learning. Read More