Tuesday 20 August 2013

14 ways of achieving Success !!!

Fayol's Administrative Management:


In my previous blog, I have talked about Weber’s Bureaucratic Management Approach. The other important theory which constitutes the part of Classical theory of management is:

Fayol Administrative Management:  focused on improving management efficiency.
Fayol Administrative Management differed from scientific management as it is focused on efficiency through management training and behavioral characteristics.
According to Henri Fayol, there are five functions of management, viz.,
  1. Planning
  2. Organizing
  3. Commanding (Directing)
  4. Coordinating and
  5. Controlling
Fayol's 14 Principles of Management
Fayol developed 14 principles of management in order to help managers manage their affairs more effectively.  The fourteen principles include:
  1. Division of work: In a division of labor, the process is broken down into a no. of stages, and workers are assigned to particular stages. Cooperative labor is specialized into specific, circumscribed tasks, which individuals in specific roles accomplish.  The key points are-
·         Divide work in to specialized tasks and assigned responsibilities to specific individuals.
·         Division of work leads to specialization, and specialization increases efficiency, and efficiency improves the productivity and profitability of the organization.
EXAMPLE:
An example of the division of labor in the workplace is how workers at a candy factory have very particular tasks. One might monitor the caramel, while another monitors the chocolate, and another sees to packaging. When the worker monitoring the caramel no longer sees how his work contributes to the larger product, he is said to be alienated from his labor.


  1.  AUTHORITY & RESPONSIBILITY- Authority means power to take decision ,Responsibility means obligation to complete the assign job on time  .The key points are-
·         Delegate authority along with responsibility.
·         There should be a balance between Authority (Power)and Responsibility (Duties)


  1. DISCIPLINE- Discipline refers to general rules and regulations of an organization.  It also means developing commitment in the employees towards organization and towards each other.  Discipline is required at every level of organization, not only at a subordinate level. The key points are-
·         Maintain good discipline in order to make expectation clear and punish violators.
·         If there is no self-discipline, then discipline should been forced through penalties, fines, etc.

  1. UNITY OF COMMAND-An employee should be responsible to, and also receive orders from only one superior. Any orders by the chief librarian to a professional assistant should be transmitted through an assistant librarian, who is in charge of the section. The key points are-
·         Each employee has one and only one Boss / Commander
·         In other words, a subordinate must report to only one superior."Too many cooks spoil the soup."

  1. UNITY OF DIRECTION- 
    1. Unity of command depends on working of staff together properly but unity of directions is provided by means of properly arranging the organization so that there is one head and one plan to make it sure that coordination effort would be achieved. The key points are-
    ·         All activities which have the same objective must be directed by one manager, and he must use one plan.
    ·         Direction also means leading.
    ·         No wastage of resources and efforts of employees

  1. SUBORDINATION OF INDIVIDUAL INTERESTS TO GENERAL INTEREST-  Interest of the organization must supersede the interest of individuals. All employees should work towards the interest of an organization. Employees should know that their growth depends upon the company’s growth. The key points are-
·         When at work only the matters related to the job or duties should be focused, pursued and thought.
·         The individual interest should be given less importance, while the general interest should be given most importance.

  1. REMUNERATION-Salaries to employees and method of payment should be fair enough comparable to other staff of the parent body with equivalent qualifications. Employees should be given incentives for successful efforts .The key points are-
·         Payments of salaries and incentive for workers in appreciation of their service.
·         This policy should give maximum satisfaction to both employer and employees.


  1. CENTRALIZATION- Centralization of administration may be carried out in varying degrees, depending upon the local situation. Anything that increases the importance of the role of a subordinate should be decentralized. On the other hand anything that decreases the importance of the role of a subordinate should be centralized. The key point to know is that decisions are made from the top.
  1.  SCALAR CHAIN- This principle implies that authority and responsibility should flow in a clear unbroken line from the highest executive to the lowest rank. This refers to hierarchy. A hierarchy consists of a series of steps, extending in an unbroken line from chief librarian to the lowest employee an attendant. This line serves as a mean of communication .The key points are-
·         Scalar chain refers to the number of levels in the hierarchy from the ultimate authority to the lowest level in the organization.
·         Having a formal chain of command from top to bottom.

  1. ORDER- Order refers to the best possible arrangement to achieve the most efficient operation of the organization. As regards movement of materials, it would be economical if order section and cataloguing section are located side by side. The key points are-
·         All personnel and materials must have designated place.
·         There should be “a place for everything and everything in its place”, and the "right man in the right place



  1. EQUITY- : In dealing with employees treatment of equality must be put into practice. Justice must be combined with friendliness and kindness by those in executive towards staff. Salary scales must be based on education, ability, experience and level of responsibility. The key points are-
·         Equality of treatment without indiscrimination for the gender, creed or ethnicity.
·         Equity creates loyalty and devotion in the employees.

  1. STABILITY- Stability of staff is an important factor .Rapid turnover of staff should cause anxiety. In this context it is better to fill up some positions in a library with mediocre persons, who will stay with the library relatively for long periods. At the same time there should be promotion avenues for competent persons .the major objective is to-
·         Ensure the Employee loyalty and longevity.


  1. INITIATIVE- : It is essential that initiative of employees must be cultivated and encouraged. Incentives may be offered in this regard. Provision of incentives can stimulate output, leading to greater efficiency and effectiveness. The key points are-
·         Thinking out a plan and do what it takes to make it happen.
·         And management should also encourage others to take   initiative.

  1. ESPIRIT DE CORPS- This principle refers to strength in unity, being an extension of principle of unity of command. It Promotes unity of interest between management and employees.
Example: Library administration should create environment which leads to harmony and unity. Equity, initiative, unity of command and leadership qualities of the senior staff can do much to promote esprit de corp.


Conclusions: The principles of management are universally applicable. These are flexible and not absolute. These are applicable regardless of changing conditions. These form basis of scientific management. We all know that a building cannot sustain stability without proper foundation; an organization also cannot be stable in its long run and achieve its long term goals without following these 14 principles of management. Organization and these principles are like complimentary goods which complete each other; one is useless without the other, like car & petrol.

MY DIGITAL CV!!!

Dear All,
Please my digital CV attached at place:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDJSY3sGmX0
would like to hear for your suggestions,

Thanks and regards,
Himani Maheshwari

Thursday 15 August 2013

The Development of Bureaucracy!!!


In my previous blog ,I have talked about Taylor’s scientific management theory. The other important theory which constitutes the part of Classical theory of management is:

Bureaucratic Management -Max Weber (1864-1920)

He was one of the pioneers of modern sociology to design an organizational form, called "a bureaucracy."

According to him Bureaucratic management approach emphasized the necessity of organizations to operate in rational way instead of following the arbitrary whims and intentions of managers. He found different characteristics in bureaucracies that would effectively conduct decision-making, controlling resources, protecting workers and accomplishment of organizational goals.


Max weber described five principles of Bureaucratic management approach.

 Principles of Bureaucratic Management Approach
  1. Proper Division of Labor
    Division of labor should be fixed and there should be a balance between power and responsibilities.
  2. Chain of Command
    The chain of command or organizational hierarchy should be made in such a way that information related to decision flows from top to bottom.
  3. Separation of personal and official property
    Owners and organization's assets are separate and has to be treated as same by the owner or the organization.
  4. Application of Consistent and Complete Rules
    There should be proper rules and regulations in the organization for running the organization. These rules should be followed in every part of the organization and they are equally applicable to every member of organization.
  5. Selection and Promotion Based on Qualifications
    The selection and promotion of workers should be based on equalization's like; skills, experience, age. It should not be influenced by personal relations and benefits.
Features of Bureaucratic Organization
Based on  the principles the characteristics or features of Bureaucratic Organization are as follows:-

  • High degree of Division of Labor and Specialization.
  • There is a well-defined chain of command.
  • It follows the principle of Rationality, Objectively and Consistency.
  • The relationship among the member of the organization is Formal and Impersonal relations. And it’s based on positions and not on personalities.
  • Rules and Regulations are well defined and it indicates the duties and rights of the employees. These rules apply to everyone from to bottom of organization and must be strictly followed.
  • Selection and Promotion is based on Technical qualifications.
  • Only Bureaucratic or legal power is given importance.
Criticism of Bureaucratic Organization

Bureaucratic Management Approach of Max Weber also has some fault-lines and received criticism for it.

  • The emphasis only on rules and regulations.
  • There will be unnecessary delay in decision-making due to formalities and rules of Bureaucratic Organization. 
  • Coordination and communication hampered because of too much formality and rules.
  • Bureaucracy involves a lot of paper work and has just too much level of authority which results in lot of wastage of time, effort and money. Not ideal for efficiency.
  • Because of its too much formality, Bureaucratic approach is not suitable for business organizations. Bureaucratic model may be suitable for government organizations.
  • Too much importance is given to the technical qualifications of the employees for promotion and transfers. Dedication and commitment of the employee is not considered.
  • Limited scope for Human Resource (HR). No importance is given to informal groups and neither any scope is given to form one.

Max Weber’s bureaucratic approach worked as a solution to problems of traditional administrative systems. But it was not the prefect or “close to perfect” solution. The bureaucratic structure gives all the importance and power to the top level management.

Evolution of progress!!!

Evolution of Management

The driving force behind the evolution of management theory is the search for better ways to utilize organizational resources
In this lecture Dr Mandi elaborated how the management has evolved over the years. Management and organizations are the products of historical and social times and places.

 The various management theories he talked in the lecture are-
1.The Classical theory of management
a) Scientific Management
b)Bureaucratic Management
c)Administrative Management
2.Neo-Classical Theory
a) Human Relations
b)Behavioral Science Approach
3.The Modern Management Theories
a) Quantitative Approach
b) System Approach
c) Contingency Approach
d) Operational Approach
dealing with each of the management theories in  detail-

Scientific Management:


One of the earliest of these theorists was Frederick Winslow Taylor.
 He was the one to start with Scientific Management movement. He studied how work was performed, and how it affected worker productivity. 





He provided the following four principles as follows:


1)   Replace working by "rule of thumb," or simple habit and common sense, and instead use the scientific method to study work and determine the most efficient way to perform specific tasks.
2)   Rather than simply assign workers to just any job, match workers to their jobs based on capability and motivation, and train them to work at maximum efficiency.

3)   Monitor worker performance, and provide instructions and supervision to ensure that they're using the most efficient ways of working.
4)   Allocate the work between managers and workers so that the managers spend their time planning and training, allowing the workers to perform their tasks efficiently.



Taylor believed that if the amount of time and effort that each worker expends to produce a unit of output can be reduced by increasing specialization and division of labor, the production process will become more efficient. 

 Although Taylor's method led to dramatic increase in productivity and higher pay in number of instance but Workers and unions began to oppose his approach because they feared that working harder or faster would exhaust whatever work was available Causing layoffs. job became more Monotonous and repetitive.
Management theories have evolved from an emphasis on authority and structure to a focus on employee .Dr Mandi explained that:
Scientific management deals with-“Analysis and Diagonosis of work”
He mentioned work study principles can improve the efficiency at a work place, the various steps to perform time and work study are:
1.   Break and analyze every individual action necessary to perform a particular task into each of its component actions
2.   Find better ways to perform each component action
3.   Reorganize each component action so that it is more efficient-less cost of time and effort



The goal of scientific management was to maximize the efficiency with which each individual task was performed.
I will be covering other parts of Classical theory of management in my next blog.





Tuesday 23 July 2013

3 Idiots – Crossing the Valley!!!


The important learnings from activity are:

Ques 1) what is TeamWork?

The process of working together with a group of people in order to achieve a goal.The team work is often a crucial part of a business as it is often necessary for colleagues to work well together, trying for the best in any circumstances. Team work often means people will try to cooperate, using their individual skills and providing constructive feedbacks, despite any personal conflicts between the individual.
'Teamwork’ and requires the most complex co-ordination between team players.

Ques2) Why have teamwork ?




Team work is important because it helps us synergie, it compliment sour individual weakness, it does help in productivity and it helps one build new and better skills. Well its one thing to create a team but quite different  to create teamwork in the workplace.

To put it in simple words, a team doesn’t work without teamwork.

Description of Activity:
The activity consists of three individuals, connected only by a pole, attempting to cross a valley.
The activity has three people who are given a long rod which is carried by them on their shoulders, and then they have to cross a small crater as a group. There each person gets to be in motion for a few seconds without using their legs. The burden of the person in air is borne by the other two participants.

If we consider each of the idiots crossing the valley as /\ , we can see that the following scenarios are obtained :-



Thus, we see that in the above case three situations arrive, 
                                      one where the person is fully safe denoted by --.-.-
                                       one where the person is half safe denoted by------
         and one where the person is taking a dangerous step, denoted by        


The Scenario:


Step-1
All three are safe
Step-2
Front one is Half safe.
Middle and Last one is fully  safe

Step-3
Front one is Fully Risky;
Middle one and Last one is Fully SAFE

Step-4
Front one and middle one are HALF RISKY;
Rear one is SAFE

Step-5
Front one SAFE:
Middle one is Fully Risky; Last one is SAFE.

Step-6
Front one SAFE;
Middle and Last one is Half Safe

Step-7
Front one and Middle ones are Fully Safe;
Last one is Fully Risky

Step-8
Front and Middle one is safe;
Last one is half risky

Step-9
All three are Safe


We have the following observations and learnings to make:-

1)    Structuring the Task  and roles in a Team:

1.       Role of First Person = Role of second Person = Role of Third person : No differentiation  was done in designing the team tasks. Nobody was overloaded or relaxed.
2.       All  3 members’ tasks  were designed to be - Easy, Lighter, Clear and Systematic.
3.       3 team members are equally responsible in their contributions for the overall task completion
4.       All three members have equal distribution of different kinds of situation :
      High Risk 01 times
      Half Risks 02 times
      Fully Safe 02 times
5.   Communication and feedback is essential while working in a team.
6.   Every member is indispensable in completing the task.
7.   There were equal instances when one needed each other.

2)Team Excellence:
Team excellence comes by proper designing of team tasks, team roles, preparation and execution of the tasks. Excellence is DESIGNED by the managers.

1)      Clear, Elevating Goal
2)      Results-Driven Structure
3)      Competent Team Members
4)      Unified Commitment
5)      Collaborative Climate
6)      Standards of Excellence
7)      External Support and Recognition
8)      Leadership
Five Stages of team work

Pshychologist bruce teckman came up with five key stages through which team moves. They are
1.       Forming
2.       Storming
3.       Norming
4.       Performing
5.       Adjourning 



I conclude By:
 Teamwork is mainly about situational leadership, letting the person with the relevant core competency for a situation take leadership.