Management as a Basis of Fire and Rescue Services - Assignment Example

Management as a Basis of Fire and Rescue Services [Name] [ID number] [Course number] [Professor’s Name] [Date of Submission] Management as a Basis of Fire and Rescue Services Different countries in the world are very strict on their fire protection measures. It is always their top priority to keep safety of their people. Arson is actually one of the gravest crimes one could possibly commit; and it is growing fast (Barking-Dagenham.com.uk, 2006) all over the globe because of there are some cases that were proven that was done for the purpose of getting the money out of the insurance companies, meaning planned, because the insurance companies do pay a lot into the victims of arson. This paper aims to discuss effective management strategies of fire and rescue services in the United Arab Emirates comparing them to the internationally applied ones in the United Kingdom. This aims to know which technique implementation is more effective by acquiring knowledge of their organizational background and other necessary aspects to meet good comparison. Discussing the following shall be relevant in evaluating these national and international fire rescue and operations agencies differences. Section 1 Classical management theories, being classical or old are still applicable nowadays as their formulation never dies to be on almost all management sorts. Three of the most common are Frederick Taylor, Henry Grant and Frank Gilbreth (Cliffs.com, 2008 c.). The theory predicts the behavior of the organization as it is an effective tool to predicting how each component, the workers; behave individually to contribute to a certain output. These theories were developed during the industrial revolution when problems regarding efficient productions in factories began to arise regarding how to make workers more productive and the formulation of effective way on how to train them. UK was equipped by competitive managers, with established background who echo that there must be good relationship with the workers to achieve what has been achieved and to gain much better perspectives. Human resource management or staffing must exist hand-in-hand with human relation approach in order to maintain good working relationship in the office between managers and their working force and to reach the goal of the organization and at the same time developing the skills of the workers (Cliffs.com, 2008 c.). Strengthening the human relations within the workplace could be a good step in planning for contingencies. Contingency is a term describing an event that could happen, but is actually or generally not expected. In an ever changing world, no one is sure about the possible events that might be encountered, especially in the business world, where there is competition. Imagination of the manager and for example a developer should be rich, so that when the organization can at least prevent a significant downfall. It is merely important the sense of preparedness; possible criticisms can be heard once a contingency plan is not prepared. Big time organizations must have contingency because under them are smaller companies who are dependent to them might be dragged down. The system must have the following ingredient to affectively catch the taste of the customers: a manager, motivational atmosphere, a lead staff, and proper delegation of tasks to the workers. He must be responsible enough to plan necessary team building, because the workplace, no matter how someone enjoys his task, is toxic. McGregor wrote Theory X and Theory Y to explain human behaviors at work. Theory X describes authoritarianism inside the office. He mentions that this is a negative management style because the workers’ motivation will just be fear: will just try to do things because of the consequences, one of which is punishment (McGregor, 2008). On the positive sense is Theory Y, the work force moves for the good of everyone. They are motivated to do their work and they do not find it just a routine. With this the term group effort is equated to achievement, but they do not dwell much on the word responsibility because they would like to do those things because of willingness to participate in the growth of the organization. The only flaw in this is that the full potential of an individual is not recognized that much, because team effort is implemented. But then it is good that each worker of the organization works for a homogenous reason (Chapman, 1995). Proper motivation is one of the crucial components for a work force. Maslow described it in his Hierarchy of needs motivational model. This emphasizes the responsibility of an employer to create a motivational atmosphere at the work place. He published this book for the benefit of the workers in order for them to realize their potentials as individuals which he said is the most important of all. This work of Maslow became a reference for many management areas and discipline, which are work oriented. Summarized on the model are the needs an individual should enjoy in the office so as to have a proper motivation. Modifications were made to meet the needs of the present world, but still the basic foundation is the 1960s model. Maslow emphasized that the pattern should be followed accordingly with no step/s to be jumped on. The proper integration of Classical management theory/ies, human relations approach, and the hierarchy of needs must coexist for an effective management and growth of not just the organization, but mutually with the workers. Figure 1. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Diagram (Maslow, 2008) Section 2 Two possible type of leadership are democratic or autocratic. Still debatable, researchers have been presenting arguments regarding which one is better. A government might choose to be profit oriented, pertaining to autocracy; or maximize its social welfare system which of democratic setting. The government is the biggest company in the country, and the economic power depends on how the two types of government are ran or applied. An autocratic manager shall be mechanical in implementing the rules for profit maximization, the communication strategies underneath this type is a top-down. It has actually multiple levels of management. Autocratic organizations tend to be centralized in profit, and employees are focused on completing their tasks without having to think of the reason for doing such: vision, mission, and objectives. Decision making is characterized by slow movement, because the top leader decides for even the minutest detail. This paralyzes the movement of the organization because execution of tasks is dependent on only one person (CHES, 2008 c.). For a democratic organization, the decisions are carried out from bottom to top. The top leader receives the reports, but do not have to decide for it again. He thinks of possible solutions to the problem, but this does not merely depend on him. Other small details are no longer a concern of the top leader. He dwells on deciding for more crucial issues on the bigger aspect, and his subordinates will decide for the less complicated ones. A top leader must not be the major controller; his mind should encompass more mature roles such as giving inspiration in the visions of the organization. This will also elevate self esteem of the workers to accept delegation, them being more than willing to accept tasks (CHES, 2008 c.) The idea of laissez-faire in an economic point of view has negative and positive impacts balancing or overpowering each other depending on which participants in the economy is being talked about (Dixit, 2007; Holroyd, 2002). On the basis of the company’s owner, laissez faire is abusive in the sense that exploitation of the workers’ service can be done. He may or may not increase the salary whenever needed because the government cannot penetrate on their decisions. Result: workers being abused (Lee, 2008). The behavior of the workers is not taken into consideration (Dixit, 2007). In this system, there is no understanding between the management and the workers. Instead of learning and improving themselves through the leadership of their managers, they gain nothing (Lee, 2008). Workers on the other hand notice this kind of system, and moves for the fall of the management. They will certainly leave their offices and look for a better management (Holroyd, 2002). Section 3 Motivation is an important value that every worker must possess in order to succeed in the organization. Individual motivations are alright, but then the work force must be homogenous on their goals which can be brought about by team building. Although this is a work also of the top leader/head, the managers can have the initiative to do some team building even on an everyday basis by just sharing insights before or after work, in order to boost the confidence of the workers if they are productive that day, and to get beck whatever frustrations they have. Effective communication is a basic for the managers to deliver in the team building clearly what they have to know about the goals of the organization. It is highly recommendable that a shift from Classical Management to Human Relations Management is adapted since everyone can have growth in the latter’s perspective. In my point of view, a worker might choose to stay and enjoy in the organization when given importance. Section 4 The International Fire security in U.K. has been dealing with fire cases very seriously because of the huge damage it caused them. According to the data presented by the Association of British Insurers, 36.36% of the total damage caused by fire was due to arson and the remaining percentage was due to accidents as investigated by their fire security departments. The Community Charter for Fire Protection dealt with this as a challenge by promising the business sector of implementing more successful Fire and Rescue Services. Their vision is to provide necessary intervention rather than prevention. They are giving much importance in protecting lives instead of just thinking of them to be seen as a great fire prevention force, leading towards the larger scope of attaining sustainability of jobs and resources. They were able to get the support of Federation of Small Businesses for this noble cause. The Confederation of British Industry also absorbs the principles of the Charter for Fire Protection. UAE also acknowledges the need of giving importance to building up the fire security force in such a way that they seek achievement in giving their customers the proper care. They encourage attendance to seminars into which awareness could be enhanced. It was an alarming case for them since the increase in the middle of 2007 was 17% over the last year which imposes an average of 52 fires in a month (Intersec, 2008 c.). Due to this, the Dubai Civil Defense will conduct fire safety awareness activities like state-of-the-art trainings to deepen the knowledge of the fire fighters through handling of technologies. Conclusion Fire security and service strategies of companies went through a lot of motivational strategies in order for them to have proper mindset in the services they cater. The crucial part here is that lives take part in their work, giving them much motivation to accomplish their tasks. The managers used the human relations approach in dealing with their workers. A successful fire department needs workers of a heart of a volunteer, not that of the paid personnel. In this type of job, one should realize the importance of life and their crucial roles in its preservation. UK and UAE had been doing their best to give the proper services their customers need. The funding of this is highly prioritized because of the technologies they invest for more effective trainings for the fire security officers and the companies. Bibliography Read More