MANAGEMENT

LEARNING CONTRACT

 

Subject : Managing change

Name : Adviser :

Date Due :

 

Learning objective

v    Analyze what change is

v    To analyze change and what can it do for a company

v    Analyze the good things change can bring

v    Describe the negative effects of change

v    Identify the challenges that change will bring

v    Identify to how to manage change

v    Describe how leadership can be related in changes

 

Strategies and resources

v    Arranging visits from and to specialists or experts

v    Case study to help focus on the ways in changes may affect organization and me

v    Gather information from external sources and produce a report on the findings

v    Questioning, reframing and redefining

v    Using conceptual abilities

  What to be assessed

v    Change and its effects

v    The company and change

v    Learning points

  Criteria of assessment

v    Written document

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Introduction

Today's supermarket represents the last word in modernization of the nation's largest industry which is the food industry. It is housed in a modern building designed and erected specially for supermarket purpose, complete with parking lot. Customers entering the store pass through an automatic door which opens magically without manual effort, or through the newer air curtain door. The interior of the store, including fixtures, has a pastel decor. Low gondolas and wide, spacious aisles make all parts of the store visible. Much electrical and refrigerated equipment has been installed for the convenience of customers and the preservation and display of various foods. Meat cases, dairy cases, and in most stores, produce cases are completely refrigerated. Frozen food cases have been added to meet the changing pattern of food retailing which is proceeding through the cycle from fresh and canned foods to convenience foods which include frozen vegetables, fruits, juices, dinners and specialty items. Fluorescent fighting and spot lights are utilized to illuminate the store to a pleasant brilliance and increase the merchandise appeal. Cash registers with special check stand conveyor equipment have been installed to speed the customer through the greatest bottleneck of the store-the checkout lane (1963). 

 

No effort has been spared to keep products fresher, display them in more accessible and appealing ways, and provide convenience for the customer. The typical supermarket opened today cost in excess of $250,000 to build and required an overall investment of approximately $500,000. Building cost for the total store area averages $11.00 per square foot.  The overall investment averages over $21.00 per square foot (1963)

 

The competitive situation in food retailing dictates an expensive new store promotion to attract customers and establish the habit of shopping in the store regularly. The amount spent to promote an opening varies greatly, but figures range from the planned weekly sales to two or three times that amount. This expenditure is usually considered an investment cost which is written off over a period of time. The impact of non-food retailing in the supermarket has been extremely powerful in the past few years. These departments were introduced as emergency measures and stayed on to help combat the rising costs which face supermarket operators. Health and beauty aids, house wares, hosiery, and soft goods have added greatly to store volume. Supermarket operators are expanding their non-foods departments rapidly, and a few companies are developing junior department stores (1963).  

 

Supermarkets have existed in the developing world, however, they are not built on the complex structure within an economy but are linked either by consumer characteristics and sources of supply to other economies. In many developing economies, supermarkets exist to serve both communities of foreigners and residents of upper economic and social classes The supermarket is dependent upon certain conditions within the economy, some state of development, as well as dependent upon certain institutional arrangements within the marketing system. For example, a supermarket, if people really talk about the North American version, depends upon the availability of transportation for shoppers. In terms of the marketing conditions, it requires a production system which is able to provide a regular flow of mass produced or mass-process merchandise. It is dependent upon a clear marketing system which includes ease of communications, brand identification, and efficiencies in transportation and storage. There are other factors as well (1990). 

 

Change and businesses

Organizations are continually struggling to adapt themselves better to their external environment. Because the management of an organization cannot completely control its environment, they are continually having to introduce internal organizational changes which allow them to cope more effectively with new challenges presented from outside by increased competition, advances in technology, new government legislation, and pressing social demands. Most frequently organizational changes are introduced in reaction to these environmental pressures. In some cases, however, changes are made in anticipation of future pressures. This latter course, while more difficult to pursue because employees do not recognize its immediate importance, is a standard that can often be applied to organizations that lead rather than follow their industries.

 

Such proactive organizations can be said to engage in attempting to change their environments as well as themselves (1970). The second goal of organization change, to achieve modifications in behavior patterns, becomes obvious if one recognizes that an organization's level of adaptation is not improved unless many of its employees behave differently in relationship to each other and to their jobs. Organizations do not operate through computers but through people making decisions and every organization has its unique patterns of decision-making behavior.

 

These patterns stem from both formal and informal ground rules which specify how a good manager or employee should behave in relating to others and in making decisions. Thus, any organization change, whether it be introduced through a new structural design or a training program, is basically trying to get employees to adopt new patterns of behavior and ground rules for relating to each other and to their jobs. For organization wide effects to be felt, these new behavior patterns must emerge not only within superior-subordinate relations, but between and within work groups, and extend out to include larger subsystems of the total organization (1970).

 

In efforts to respond to the new economy, organizations are structuring and managing themselves differently from the traditional approaches of the past. An organization is now challenged to be a quality organization, to be a learning organization, to be customer focused, to be at the forefront of the technology revolution and yet to be a flatter and leaner organization. The environmental rules have changed and so have the design of organizations, management philosophies, and the techniques used to manage in this new environment. In short, there have been and continue to be a number of organizational change efforts ( 2002). If history is a guide, no more than a third of today’s major corporations will survive and thrive in an important way over the next 25 years. Those that do not survive will die a death of transformation as they are acquired or merged with part of a larger, stronger organization.

 

The demise of these companies will come from a lack of competitive adaptiveness. To be blunt, most of these companies will die or be bought out and absorbed because they are too slow to keep pace with change in the marketplace. By 2020, more than three-quarters of the Standard & Poors (S&P) 500 will consist of companies we don’t know today. These are new companies drawn into the maelstrom of economic activity from the periphery, springing from insights unrecognized today. Over recent years failures of change have been reported. The failure of many change programs has been linked to a variety of factors, such as lack of vision and commitment from senior management, limited integration with other systems and processes in the organization, and ill-conceived implementation plans ( 2002).

 

Leadership and organizational change

Leadership is interpersonal influence, exercised in situation and directed, through the communication process, toward the attainment of a specified goal or goals.  Leadership always involves attempts on the part of a leader to affect the behavior of a follower or followers in situation. This definition has the virtue of generality. It does not limit the leadership concept to formally appointed functionaries or to individuals whose influence potential rests upon the voluntary consent of others. Rather, it is applicable to all interpersonal relationships in which influence attempts are involved. Relationships as apparently diverse as the superior-subordinate, the staff-line, the consultant-client, the salesman-customer, the teacher-student, the counselor-counselee, the husband-wife, or the parent-child are all seen as involving leadership. Leadership has components. It includes Interpersonal Influence, Exercised in Situation, The Communication Process, and Directed toward the Attainment of a Specified Goal or Goals (1961).

 

Leaders conquer the context the turbulent, ambiguous surroundings that sometimes seem to conspire against us and will surely suffocate us if we let them while managers surrender to it. Leaders investigate reality, taking in the pertinent factors and analyzing them carefully. On this basis they produce visions, concepts, plans, and programs. Managers adopt the truth from others and implement it without probing for the facts that reveal reality. There is profound difference or a chasm between leaders and managers ( 1997). A good manager does things right. A leader does the right things. Doing the right things implies a goal, a direction, an objective, a vision, a dream, a path, a reach. Most losing organizations are over-managed and under-led. Their managers accomplish the wrong things beautifully and efficiently. They try to climb the ladder but reach the wrong wall. Managing is about efficiency. Leading is about effectiveness. Managing is about how. Leading is about what and why ( 1997).

 

Management is about systems, controls, procedures, policies, and structure. Leadership is about trust and about people. Leadership is about innovating and initiating. Management is about copying, about managing the status quo. Leadership is creative, adaptive, and agile. Leadership looks at the horizon, not just the bottom line. Leaders base their vision, their appeal to others, and their integrity on reality, on the facts, on a careful estimate of the forces at play, and on the trends and contradictions. They develop the means for changing the original balance of forces so that their vision can be realized. A leader is someone who has the capacity to create a compelling vision that takes people to a new place, and to translate that vision into action. Leaders draw other people to them by enrolling them in their vision. What leaders do is inspire people, empower them. They pull rather than push ( 1997). 

 

In organizational change leadership is vital and necessary so that the effect of change will be a good one. Good leaders help the organization in creating changes and help it adjust well.  When changes are done there is a possibility that its effects are not the one a company expects. The leaders are then the ones who create alternatives so that the effect will not cause other problems for the company. They find out what went wrong in the desire for the company to change. Then they counter it by creating another action that is related to the change desired.

 

Advantages of the organizational change

The organizational change brings different benefits to PNS this include better products and services offered to clients, increase of income, increase of clients, and competitive advantage. The organizational change helps the company give better service to the clients. In organizational change a thing that can be replaced is the quality of the products the company offers. PNS has a chance to improve the product it offers to clients. By undergoing organizational change the company then has the chance to improve techniques they have in serving the clients. Another benefit of the organizational change is increase on profit and income. The improvement in service, products, and corporate image attract more clients that will purchase and avail the company’s services. More people buying the company’s products means added income and profits to the company. Thus the company gains one of its goals. Moreover organizational change brings more clients for the company.

 

Organizations concerned with either survival or growth have for years considered customers as an important constituency. Much of the emphasis has been on the organization’s responsibility to the customer as key to customer satisfaction and retention and thus shareholder value. A study involving the agency element of responsibility is a good example of this focus. The study examined the relationship between how companies reacted to customer complaints and how customers felt about those reactions. The study found that the company reactions that held the company answerable for the problem yielded the most favorable pattern of customer reactions. More recently, the rise of the total quality management movement has heightened the importance of customers as stakeholders in their own right, shifting the focus from agency to obligation and broadening the concept of customer to include internal customers and suppliers (2001).  One of a company’s goals is to attract clients and by creating organizational change this can be achieved. Lastly organizational change brings competitive advantage. Competitive advantage helps a company survive in a business environment. It makes a company be unique among others.

 

Disadvantages of organizational change

Organizational change brings different disadvantage to PNS. This includes personnel discomfort, disorganization to the company, and confusion in the organization. Organizational change can bring personnel discomfort.  The employees or personnel are the ones that the client has direct interaction with. They are the ones that offer the product and services to the clients. Personnel are guided through personnel management. Personnel Management is the development of a set of values that regards individual employees as important productive entities; the conscious utilization of these value judgments in making decisions affecting those individuals; and the acquisition of a pattern of thinking, or rational analysis, which attempts to achieve the most effective and satisfactory utilization of human talents ( 1972). When changes occur not all Personnel can be comfortable and the tendency is they complain or do unnecessary things. Another disadvantage of organizational change is disorganization to the company. When there are changes the usual flow of things is not followed thus disorganization occurs. Lastly a disadvantage of organizational change is confusion. The unrest and disorganization leads to confusion in the company. It disrupts the ability of the company to give proper service to its clients. 

 

Managing Change

Change management need not be seen as a mechanism for achieving a specified and predictive outcome. Nor need it be conceived of as a continuing process of aligning and realigning the organization with its environment. Instead by linking managerial choice to the management of change, organizations can open up a much wider spectrum of opinions. In the change process managers are said to decide upon approaches for change. For example these may be autocratic or democratic, bottom-up or top-down. In addition managers must consider mechanisms for achieving their preferred approaches and must, in this complex and emergent world, consider carefully the outcomes of the process they have managed. Managers must consider the outcomes of the changes achieved in the light of the initial objectives they chose to pursue, since in a complex and emergent world there is likely to be some gap between these (1998). Change should be gradual and taken with enough consideration. Hurried change leads to more problems and leads to negative effects. Change without proper planning leads to conflict within the company thus the goal cannot be clearly reached. Over time the management of change has developed as a discourse that focuses on several key stages or elements of change. There is, of course, some disagreement on how to approach the study of the management of change but the dominant model focuses on issues of adoption, implementation and outcomes ( 2003).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Action learning Portfolio

Introduction

Performance appraisal is the process by which an employee’s contribution to the organization during a specified period of time is assessed. Some organizations actually use the term performance appraisal, whereas others prefer to use terms such as performance evaluation, performance review, annual review, employee appraisal, or employee evaluation. Strategically, it is hard to imagine a more important organizational system than performance appraisal. Organizations strive to do the following at all levels. One is to design jobs and work systems to accomplish organizational goals; two is to hire individuals with the abilities and desire to perform effectively; and third train, motivate and reward employees for performance and productivity. It is this sequence that allows organizations to disperse their strategic goals throughout the organization. Within this context, the evaluation of performance is a control mechanism that provides not only feedback to individuals but also an organizational assessment of how things are progressing ( 2002).

 

Without performance information, managers of an organization can only guess as to whether employees are working toward the right goals, in the correct way, and to the desired standard. One of the most important activities of today’s organizations is maintaining and enhancing the workforce. After all the effort and costs involved in the recruiting and selection process, it is important to develop employees so that they are using their fullest capabilities, thus improving the effectiveness of the organization. The development of a standard performance appraisal process will help organizations improve their bottom-line performance, uplift motivational efforts, and resolve most morale problems (2002).

 

In the future, the only successful organizations will be those that are able to increase productivity through improving the performance of their human resources. Therefore, all managers need to understand and appreciate the importance of performance appraisal as well as the various goals associated with effective performance appraisal. Moreover, HRM personnel can best serve their role as a center of expertise by ensuring that everyone in the organization has confidence in the performance appraisal systems used and that their performance appraisals fulfill their goals. Employee job performance is an important issue for all employers. However, satisfactory performance does not happen automatically; therefore, it is more likely with a good performance management system. Performance management is the integration of performance appraisal systems with broader HRM systems as a means of aligning employees’ work behaviors with the organization’s goals. Thus, a performance management system consists of the processes used to identify, encourage, measure, evaluate, improve, and reward employee performance at work.

 

There is no one best way to manage performance. Whatever system is adopted needs to be congruent with the culture and principles that pervade the organization ( 2002). Performance management is an outgrowth of management controls whose purpose is to ensure that work is progressing according to the organization’s plans. Controls should therefore be designed to alert the organization and its managers to problems or potential problems before they become critical and to give managers time to take corrective actions. Controlling is similar to planning in many ways. The major difference between controlling and planning is that planning takes place while work is ongoing.  The paper will discuss about portfolio management. The paper will also conduct a swot analysis of the company. The information acquired will then be used to create a conclusion.

 

Portfolio Management

Portfolio management means screening and purchasing assets, funding their acquisition, and supervising the resulting holdings. The principal task in managing any portfolio is to generate a return commensurate with investment risk or uncertainty, but putting the principle to work in practice differs according to investor purpose and the nature of the assets held. The portfolio may be composed of assets which are mainly marketable or mainly non-marketable, and in addition some of the assets may have highly specific characteristics. Whatever the case, a governance structure which meets the portfolio’s requirements will need to be selected. Thus, portfolio management involves acquiring and financing an appropriate mix of assets, striving to generate as high a return as possible on them while simultaneously controlling the portfolio’s aggregate risk. These tasks vary in kind according to a financier’s purposes and the assets he acquires (1991). Managing portfolios of marketable securities principally involves selecting, purchasing and trading desirable investments to generate a target level of income while minimizing risk.

 

With marketable securities, asset specificity is not usually an important issue because in most cases an unsatisfactory investment is simply sold in the market place.  There are exceptional circumstances in which a block of market securities assumes a high degree of asset specificity: if the holding represents a large proportion of an issue, selling it off may not be a straightforward matter. Apart from these exceptions, which are discussed below, the main functions of a marketable securities portfolio’s governance structure are monitoring financial data, identifying which securities should be bought or sold, and timing the transactions  ( 1991).

 

Managing a portfolio of non-marketable assets involves all of the above tasks except active trading. In addition, it poses the special governance needs of managing assets which cannot readily be liquidated. Moreover, management has a variety of ways to influence the income pattern of the aggregate portfolio by using a variety of derivative securities ( 1991). The investment portfolios managed by some financial holding companies represent a third category portfolios composed of a small number of large, closely held investments. These investments exhibit high degrees of asset specificity for at least two reasons. As already mentioned, any sufficiently large block of securities is not usually as easy to trade at market prices as is a smaller proportion of the same issue. Second, blocks of shares are often purchased so the owners can exercise a higher degree of control over the issuing firm than can an ordinary small shareholder. The nature of the investment is thus closely related to the individual characteristics of the firm issuing the securities. Hence, portfolios of large, closely held investments require the use of highly capable, but generally costly, governance structures ( 1991).

 

Portfolio management has its limits. As in the investment world, actually doing portfolio management is by no means straightforward, but it is a coherent way to deal with inherent uncertainty and multiple objectives. Choices must be made because there are conflicts. Maintaining near-term readiness can conflict with building future year capabilities. Worldwide shaping activities can shortchange modernization and transformation of U.S. military forces. Overzealous transformation efforts can mean low readiness until forces, doctrine, and the personnel system adjust ( 2002).

 

SWOT analysis

Strength

Strengths are the strong points of the business. To know the strengths of the things that should be known includes the sources of the company’s revenue, the market share of the company in various product lines, the availability of strong brands of a company, the effectiveness of the advertisement of the brand or product, the availability of pool of skilled workers, the morale of the employees, the innovativeness of the company and the ability of the company to withstood international competition.  The company is known for its strong financial background. This strong financial background gives it advantage against competitors. It makes the company look good than other companies. The strong financial background gives a company a positive image towards the investors and clients.

 

A strength of the company is its brand that has been established. This helps the company be chosen by more people; more people get to know about the company and they purchase the products and services it offers. Moreover strength of the company is the good company image. Image is important for any company. It assists in the profitability of the company. People who see a positive image in a company tends to buy from its store. A strength of the company is its good pricing strategies.  Inconsistencies between overall marketing strategy and product or service pricing strategy frequently produce failure in the marketplace. The company that has positioned itself as a high-end or premium quality provider but then drops prices when confronted with competitive pressures is undermining its own market position, confusing customers, and giving away margins. Similarly, pricing strategies that focus on quickly recouping the initial investment in a product or service often result in prices that are too high given the firm's desired position in customers' minds ( 1990).  The pricing strategies help the company have better relationships with the clients. It also gives them uniqueness against other companies. Lastly a strength of the company is strength of business interception. This gives the company further assurances when it decides to close.

 

Weakness

Weaknesses are the current problems of the company. To determine the weakness of the company the things that should be known includes the products that are least profitable, areas of the company that is not able to recover cost, the weak brands, the ability of the company to raise money when it needs to, the ability of the company to stand price pressures against competitors, the ability of the company to create new ideas, the faith of employees in management and the ability to compete with other companies in the technology front. A weakness of the company is limited communication & operational co-ordination in place between subsidiaries. Communication is the process of sharing ideas, information, and messages with others in a particular time and place. Communication includes writing and talking, as well as nonverbal communication such as facial expressions, body language, or gestures, visual communication the use of images or pictures, such as painting, photography, video, or film, and electronic communication such as telephone calls, electronic mail, cable television, or satellite broadcasts. Communication is a vital part of personal life and is also important in business, education, and any other situation where people encounter each other. Businesses are concerned with communication in several special ways. Some businesses build and install communication equipment, such as fax or facsimile machines, video cameras, CD players, printing presses, personal computers, and telephones. Other companies create some of the messages or content that those technologies carry, such as movies, books, and software. These companies are part of the media or telecommunications industries ( 1989).

 

Organizational communication is important in every business. People in organizations need to communicate to coordinate their work and to inform others outside the business about their products and services. These kinds of communication are called advertising or public relations. Societies have attempted to regulate communication through customs and laws since ancient times. Today many societies regard freedom of communication as a basic human right and have enacted laws to protect this right. As new communication media have developed, such as television and cellular telephony, US’ Federal Communications (FCC) and its counterparts in other countries has grown to supervise and regulate those industries as well in an attempt to keep pace with advances made in communications technology and changes in the industry ( 1989). 

 

Communication is important within an organization. It makes sure that all the people and subsidiaries of the organization are still within the same goal. When there is limited communication & operational co-ordination in place between subsidiaries people tend to do things they want thus nothing good happens in the company. Another weakness of the company is the lost of direction. This is a big weakness since competitors might exploit this and use this against the company. This also removes the reason for existence of the company. Lastly a weakness of the company is the no reliable feedback mechanism to check the company’s implemented plans. The company should always check back if it plans are working so that they won’t waste any time. Not checking plans is a waste of time, ideas and finances. 

 

Opportunities

Opportunities are those events or situations that may arise in the future. To determine the opportunities of the company the things that should be known includes competitive position of the company, new technologies that the company can innovate for low costs, the capacity and opportunity to extend brands, the capacity to implement incentive plans to boost employee effectiveness, the ability of the company to move up the value chain, the ability of employees to be multi-skilled to reduce levels of redundancy, opportunities to cooperate with companies that are not competitors for both companies to be beneficial. An opportunity for the company is a greater awareness of personal hygiene in many food markets. This can help in increasing the income of the company. It can also help in the increase of potential clients for the company. Another opportunity of the company is larger stores are offering the customer one-stop shopping concept. This can divert the attention of the clients to the company. It makes the clients uninterested of the other companies thus they purchase from the company and increase its profits.

 

Threats

Threats are problems that may arise and should be avoided. To determine the threats of the company the things that should be known includes the capacity of employees to be adequately trained, the capacity of the company to withstand sudden changes in the environment, the ability of the brands to withstand price competition, the financial being on the verge of liquidity, is the company considered a good employer, and the ability of the company to cope up with technological changes.  A threat to the company is new entrants. These new entrants can create more problems for the company and give the company more difficulties.

 

Another threat to the company is high rent in some store locations. This can cause the company financial problems. It can add to the financial burden of the company.  It can also be a cause for the company’s image to be ruined.  Moreover a threat to the company is E-commerce in continually improving in retail market. This decreases the number of clients they have. Since purchasing can be done easier and simpler. E-commerce can be good for clients but it may not be good for companies who don’t know how to use it. Lastly a threat to the company is competitors in mall stores are merging to form even larger groups. They can give the company additional problems because the things they might offer are not found within the company. Competitors merging give them additional strength against the company.

 

Conclusion

Strategically, it is hard to imagine a more important organizational system than performance appraisal. Organizations strive to do the following at all levels. One is to design jobs and work systems to accomplish organizational goals; two is to hire individuals with the abilities and desire to perform effectively; and third train, motivate and reward employees for performance and productivity. A strength of the company is its brand that has been established. Another strength of the company is its good pricing strategies. Lastly a strength of the company is strength of business interception. A weakness of the company is limited communication & operational co-ordination in place between subsidiaries. Another weakness of the company is the lost of direction. Lastly a weakness of the company is the no reliable feedback mechanism to check the company’s implemented plans. An opportunity for the company is a greater awareness of personal hygiene in many food markets. Another opportunity of the company is larger stores are offering the customer one-stop shopping concept. A threat to the company is new entrants. Another threat to the company is high rent in some store locations. Moreover a threat to the company is E-commerce in continually improving in retail market. Lastly a threat to the company is competitors in mall stores are merging to form even larger groups.

 

References

http://researchkorner.blogspot.com/2014/02/management.html