Human Resource Development and Effective Management - Essay Example

Running Head: EFFECTIVE MANAGEMENT Effective Management Name Course Lecturer Date Introduction Managers are individuals who are in charge of others whether human beings or things. On the other hand, management can be defined as the act of operation that involves human, fiscal and physical resources in order to attain organizational purposes through the planning, organizing, leading and controlling functions. Management is available in each kind of organization. Managers are there to ensure smooth running of the business functions. As such, the concept behind management is to aid every to work towards the common corporate goal. Therefore, a manager must strive to achieve all objectives of the business as management may take various facets. It may involve promoting employees to even changing the method the functions of company`s operation. An effective manager in this case should be able to execute the four functions of a management which includes planning, organizing, leading and controlling. These functions are equally important and should be coordinated to ensure management as a whole operates. Managers should therefore employ strategic planning to make sure these functions are constantly achieved and updated (Conner, 2000). The best strategic planning constitutes of problems, analyzing the root cause of this challenge, creating solution to the problem, and devising a set of inventiveness to handle the problem (Young & Simon, 2005). In this assignment, the paper seeks to outline the concept of effective management. It will be divided into three parts. The first part looks at one of the Apple`s co-founder, who is has also acted as a Chief Executive Officer in the company Mr. Steve Jobs. His management attributes as displayed at Apple Computers Company will be discussed. The second part discuss importance of training and development in mounting effectual management traits, and the third part constitutes of planning a Human Resource Development program to prepare individuals aspiring for management positions. 2. Steve P. Jobs as an effective Manager In 1976 Steven P. Jobs and Steven Wolzniak build a circuit board in Jobs garage. The circuit board became popular that lead to development of Apple II personal computers (PC). Thus, in 1977 the two founded Apple Computer to make and sell the PC. By 1985, Apple`s sales had risen to nearly $2 billion. Jobs task aimed at leading the planning process to develop new and enhanced PCs, a management style that saw him forced out of Apple. His history as a founder and manager of Apple, and other companies illustrates the management vision, traits, skills that managers ought to posses to attain the best in their tasks. Steve Jobs concentrated on creating on a positive unusual performance beyond expectation of both stakeholders and outside observers. On leaving apple he developed PC maker NEXT and Pixar which both became a huge success in the market. In both companies, Job created a patent vision for managers to follow, and to apply so as to put the vision into practice. He also emphasized the culture of collaboration, innovation and creativity. In 2000 when Jobs returned to Apple, it was only worth $5 billion which rose to a value of nearly $200 billion by today. By 2010 nearly 2 million iphone applications had been created making apple the leader in the Smartphone market. The company`s new iPad tablet also brought the management style of Steve Jobs on the limelight as a However, financial performance is not the only sign of Apple`s achievement. Despite owning only a 9% share of PC industry market, the company also boasts of a 73% in the U.S. MP3 player market and 11% of the global market share in smart phone. Additionally, Apple prides in winning several awards such as “best company” awards for innovation, management and marketing under Steve Jobs management. As such, Steve Jobs was termed a visionary and know for his perfectionist attitude despite harsh conditions that demands quick solutions. For instance when Apple was harshly hit in 2000, he still believed in the better future and went ahead to bring about products like ipod, itune and macintosh. 3. Factors that contributed to Steve Jobs Success as a manager a) Steve Jobs as Inspirational Manager Throughout his tenure at Apple, Jobs framed the firm`s strategy as a story. His ‘think different’ message rendered ability to continuously deliver on his mission and vision. b) Organizational Culture as Steve Jobs’ Leadership Prop Many managers tend to only focus on customers, finances, and competitors as their strategy. However, understanding of an organization`s culture helps stir it potential for a positive deviant performance. Jobs built a culture driven by a vision and innovation for purposes of great products whereby employees are rewarded for creativity, risk taking and experimenting. As such, Jobs describes Apple`s culture as a one dominated norm of innovation. This clearly shows he well understand his organization`s culture (Wooten, 2011). c) Steve Jobs as a Manager Who Seizes Opportunities According to Gallo (2009), a positive approach to planning challenges strategically involves a mager to identify the opportunities in external enviroment and put strategically prepare the organizatin to sieze them. As such, Steve Jobs focused on how Apple could create new markets, products, services and customers. His management sytle made sense in regard to external trends and forces, when he built scenarios and strategies that differentiated Apple with other companies. d) Conceptual skills Steve Jobs was without doubt a talented in conceptual skills. While many managers mainly concentrate on the product, cost, its functionality and market, Jobs gave equal weight to visual and artistic appearance of the company`s products, hence making Apple`s product different from the rest in the market. e) Team-manager as jobs leadership style This was made possible by Jobs being close to his team. This relationship aimed at eliminating the notion that he is at a higher level than the rest of the workers. The closeness also helped in judgment about the customers’ likes and dislikes. In many instances Jobs chose to wear jeans and t-shirts to ensure closeness to his team. f) Steve Jobs Communication Jobs well written and rehearsed speeches and key notes are delivered when necessary. Know to be selective, give few interviews and public appearances, he delivers the promises and does not create a false (Practical Management , 2010). Conclusively, Steve Jobs was a manager who highly employed positive deviant performance. Analysts in the industry have argued that the success of Apple is embedded in Steve Jobs` approach to the company`s strategy. With his pillars of core of capabilities, seizing of opportunities and an organizational culture that enables the attainment of Apple s goal. He has been termed as a risk taker who achieved extraordinary success that went beyond expectations of stakeholders and the outside world. Steve Jobs can be attributed to Concepts of PCs, graphical line and ease of use Revolutionary products like iPhone and iPod. iPhone was flagged as a revolutionary and paranormal creation that is literary 5 years ahead of any other mobile phone Concept of organizational owned Apple galleries and sites for music sale as well as digital hub strategy 3D animated movies – Pixar (Wooten, 2011). As of today, Apple is one of the most successful corporations of the recent decades. This achievement has been greatly attributed to it leadership and management style from the key individuals in the organization such as Steve Jobs. 4. Training and Development In view of the above, people aspiring the role of management ought to have interpersonal, communication and organizational expertise to effectively lead others, and for the general corporate goal development. Good communication from managers keeps the employees engaged. Training and development of communication skills for people aspiring management role is of great essence. Training is a step to ensure managers recognize their responsibility as communicators. Secondly, it motivates individuals managers is the next step. This shows the managers how improving communication can cause the financial rewards and achievement of goals. Inspirational managers crafts compelling, rational narratives that interlaces the firm`s inherent mission and significance proposition as an overriding theme of the business strategy. For instance, Apples annual reports in 2009 indicates it formal strategy as; “Bringing the best personal computing, mobile communication, and portable digital music and video experience to consumers, students, educators, businesses, and government agencies through its innovative hardware, software, peripherals, services, and Internet offerings.” As such, the manager brings the organization`s strategy to life by adopting narratives that integrate metaphors, speechifying, and images. For instances, Steve Jobs “ think different” slogan inspired the employees to ensure their products got distinguished from the rest in the market place. Training and developing individuals to become inspirational managers is vital (Young & Simon, 2005). Moreover, to be able to identify and seize the opportunities from external environment necessitates the manager to not only think about the needs of stakeholders, but also how the business can reinvent additional markets, merchandises, clientele and services. As such, aspiring managers should be trained to create scenarios and devise strategies that distinguish the company from the rest. Training on making long term strategies will enable in initiating trends and creating the future. This means the manager will lead the organization in creating the products and services the potential consumers never knew they wanted. The training must also constitute of risk taking aspects to embrace the creative interruption by changing the game in the industry. Training and development also entails the skill to understand the business dynamics and the main achievement factors that compel performance by context mapping of the macro-environment to evaluate the insinuation of the economy, social cultural trends, worldwide marketplace and demographics. Additionally, training on seizing opportunities involves the knowledge of competitors’ line of attack. This is imperative as it will help the managers in identifying where the potential available spaces are and acquire first movers’ advantages for seizing opportunities. Obsessing about the competitors’ strategic action plan helps the company in avoiding complacency (Stavros & Hinrichs, 2009). 4. The following are the steps involved in Preparing people aspiring Management Positions; a) To identify job performance skills which are required, and assess the potential trainee’s skills, in order to develop specific, measurable performance and knowledge goals to be founded on the identified deficiencies. b) Developing of instructional design which include formulated content for training program, sourcing content materials including; workbooks, exercises, and activities. Most preferred training techniques include on-the-job training, computer-assisted or programmed learning. c) The third step will involve validation to put the designed program into check to test and try it for the purposes of knowing its effectiveness as a training approach. d) At this step the program is implemented. e) Evaluation by which organizational leadership assesses program’s achievements and failures and formulates remedial activities which are required. Further, according scholars, to ensure a utmost positive impact, on-job training can be broken down accordingly in four main steps. These include; i. learner Preparation; ii. Present the Operation/ Job / position requirements; iii. Practical Activity, and iv. Conducting Follow up. 5. Conclusion Generally, drawing, developing, and maintaining management talents are a priority for any organization. To continue being competitive, business ought to continually build up it people by identifying their very best and preparing them for tomorrow s global challenges. Indeed, a conference Board study in 1998 constituting of 516 higher managers and human resource executives from 33 nations concluded that developing managers and leaders as the most imperative HR goal for worldwide business success (Conner, 2000). Success in any business comes in when the right people are placed in their area of high potentiality. As such, training and development helps people in understanding their specific role in the position. This means a better delivery and high performance. Therefore, training and development programs are supposed to involve every possible manner that can help in achieving the needed skills for the management position. In view of the above, monitoring and assessing as well as presenting the right development program is very important to the both individuals and entire company. This ensures that it is relevant to the trainee position. References Conner, J. (2000). Developing The Global Leaders of Tomorrow. Journal of Human Resource Management Vol 39, Nos. 2 & 3 , 146-157. Gallo, C. (2009). The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs. New York: McGraw Hill. Practical Management . (2010). Steve Jobs, CEO Apple. Retrieved 12 3, 2012, from practical-management.com: http://practical-management.com/pdf/Leadership/Steve-Jobs-Apple.pdf?format=phocapdf Stavros, J. &. (2009). The Thin Book of Soar: Building Strengths–based Strategy. Bend, Oregon: Thin Book Publishing Company. Wooten, L. P. (2011). Building a Company the Steve Jobs’ Way: A Positive Deviance Approach to Strategy. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan. Young, J. S. (2005). iCon Steve Jobs. Manhattan: John Wiley & Sons. Read More