Research Korner: Managerial and Interpersonal Skills

Role of the Managers in Achieving Organizational Goal

Role of the Managers in Achieving Organizational Goal According the study conducted by the Fortune Magazine, in achieving the goals of any organization; it must develop an excellent business plan,   marketing strategies and effective implementation. It has been proven by the business analysts that the bankruptcy of any business entity depends on the way how the company implements its plan and marketing strategies in the people and within the organization.  In relation to this, company managers play a very essential role in the development and growth in the business.  The managers have various functions in the organization.  They are the one who do the planning, organizing, recruiting, directing and controlling the entire organization.  Without their expertise in these fields the company would fall down sooner or later.  They serve as the backbone of the organization, and their main responsibility is to utilize properly and wisely the business capital and resources of the entire organization.  As a result, to be able to achieve the main objectives and goals of the company and that is to create a long term solid management-employee relationship,   production, increasing sales,  and especially make big profits for the organization.  (http://www.matrix.co.il/en-us/News/Headlines/Pages/PracticalManagementofOrganizationalGoals.aspx)   As a matter of fact, role of the managers in the organization vary, they are the one who ensures that every details and information that affect the organization and the working force would be delivered to the employees in a regular basis.  This is by having a good communication line between the management and the employees. In addition to that, the managers are also in charge of resolving any problem or conflict that arises among the employees.  As well as addressing issues between the management and the employees.  They also decide for what is being done to improve the working performance of the workers and staff along with deep understanding about their sentiments, concerns or appeals.  The managers should give total support system to the working force.  They should also provide continuous education to their employees such as seminars and trainings to help the employees to become better and more effective with their jobs.  Managers can motivate the working force to achieve excellence as one of the goals of the organization; and that is by maintaining a healthy working culture and relationship between the management and the employees.  In the same manner, they must set good examples to the entire organization so as their subordinates would treat them with high regard and respect.  (http://www.matrix.co.il/en-us/News/Headlines/Pages/PracticalManagementofOrganizationalGoals.aspx)   Furthermore, the organization must see to it or must check if all the things that have been discussed above are properly and appropriately formulated as to compliment with the result of the organizational production and performance.  In line with this, the Business Performance Management (BPM) has implemented business methods that are applicable in measuring the business performance of any organization.  Whether the goals and objectives of the company are successfully achieved or not after a given period of time. The Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) determine these factors.  This is like a dashboard that act as the main element for checking business performance in every industry as well as comparing with the goals of the company if they are both aligned with each other to achieve best results.  The following factors are crucial in improving the organization. Organization managers must think of streamlining or reformation of their plans and strategies if they think that they have not been effective and did not bring favorable results to the company.  They must provide a new set of brilliant ideas and marketing strategies that will surely give more valuable outcome.  Visibility of all the data of the various departments can help in determining and analyzing possible problems that possibly hinder the company’s growth and development, by then, proper solution would be applied right away before they become major issues.  In the same way, Information sharing provides the organization a solid formula of achieving its goals; since all employees get unified into one in decision making process.  Real coordination and cooperation in the business make remarkable changes among the lives of the managers and the employees.  Most especially it leads to the success of the entire organization.  Moreover, concern for user needs is also important. All the people in the organization must use the dashboards for them to improve their business performance and production. (http://www.matrix.co.il/en-us/News/Headlines/Pages/PracticalManagementofOrganizationalGoals.aspx)   Consequently, managers of different departments must have regular contacts with various government offices, suppliers and other people outside the company that are responsible in the regular flow of the business. Above all, the managers must be authoritative to be able to perform the tasks assigned to them by their superiors.  Proper delegation of authority will get their subordinates do the tasks adequately and successfully. (http://www.matrix.co.il/en-us/News/Headlines/Pages/PracticalManagementofOrganizationalGoals.aspx)     References: (http://www.matrix.co.il/en-us/News/Headlines/Pages/PracticalManagementofOrganizationalGoals.aspx) (http://www.matrix.co.il/en-us/News/Headlines/Pages/PracticalManagementofOrganizationalGoals.aspx) (http://www.matrix.co.il/en-us/News/Headlines/Pages/PracticalManagementofOrganizationalGoals.aspx) (http://www.matrix.co.il/en-us/News/Headlines/Pages/PracticalManagementofOrganizationalGoals.aspx)

Role of the Managers in Achieving Organizational Goal

Role of the Managers in Achieving Organizational Goal According the study conducted by the Fortune Magazine, in achievin...

Importance of Cultural Intelligence (CQ) that is Beneficial to a Tourism and Hospitality Manager in the New Walt Disney, Shanghai

Importance of Cultural Intelligence (CQ) that is Beneficial to a Tourism and          Hospitality Manager in the New Walt Disney, Shanghai Cultural Intelligence is the ability of a person to adapt different cultures, as well as his broad awareness and understanding about the differences of various cultures in the world.  Cultural Intelligence requires exceptional skills in interpersonal and cross- cultural communication.  Moreover, many people and professionals who have been working worldwide are basically moved from one culture or country to the other.  These people are able to succeed in their international career certainly because of their outstanding skills and ability to communicate well to different people with different cultures. (www.culturalinteligence.org) This is the most desired and sought after characteristics for Tourism and Hospitality Managers in New Walt Disney in Shanghai.  If you prefer to work in New Walt Disney in Shanghai, you must be aware of the fact that there are different nationalities who travel from different places in the world just to see personally the new launched theme park in Shanghai and aside from the Chinese people, there are many other foreign individuals who are longing to see the new tourist attraction of China nowadays.  In this connection, being Tourism and Hospitality Manager of the place, it is your utmost responsibility to be mindful enough of cultural differences of your different clients.  First and foremost, you must have the excellent skills of communicating with them; be ready to learn new experiences and ideas that will certainly help you to perform better in your job in New Walt Disney- Shanghai.   Learning visitors’ different behavior, traditions and principles of doing things are perfect example of cultural intelligence.  Second, the bottom line of learning cultural differences is the respect that you give to other people regardless of who they are without loosing your own sense self respect and values.  Third, being Tourism and Hospitality Manager in New Walt Disney in Shanghai, you ought to learn of course the Chinese language.  You can not communicate with the Chinese effectively, if you do not know how to speak their own language, because not all Chinese speak and understand English language.   Better yet that you have that ability to speak multiple languages for the sake of other visitors who do not know how to speak English language as well. (www.culturalinteligence.org) Besides, if you want to work in any place In China, you have to know the various customs and practices that the Chinese people have been doing in their country.  When it comes to marriage and family, they have very close family relationships.  As a matter of fact, Chinese people really give importance to loyalty to the family.  Also, strict family planning law is implemented for every Chinese couple to have only one child in the family.  In order to practice effective family planning program college students are not allowed to marry until they finish their degree.  Sons are given more importance than daughters, and most parents want their children to be more educated and richer than them.  When it comes to food, common dishes such as tofu, noodles, maize, meal, rice and steamed bread are always available within the country.  Those dishes made with pork, chicken, beef and fish are well liked but quite expensive.  Chopsticks are used for meals.  (www.hollywoodreporter.com/Disney-breaks-ground-shanghai-resort) Generally, the Chinese bow their heads slightly or nod politely when they greet other person or people.  Ni hao ma? Which means ('How are you?') is a normal greeting used by them.  The Chinese be likely formal in their self introduction to other people; they usually use their full names in introducing themselves, the same thing they do when addressing other people.  Furthermore, they are commonly addressed by their family name and titles. Additionally, promptness is very important when they are invited in any occasion.  Guests tend to be more composed and refrain from any loud conversations.  They do not accept valuable gifts from strangers, only small gifts such as cigarettes, chocolates, cakes, wine, tea or fruits that are given by their friends or relatives.  The hosts usually open the gifts when the visitors are already gone.    Chinese do not stay late in any evening occasions since they are early risers.  .  (www.hollywoodreporter.com/Disney-breaks-ground-shanghai-resort) Chinese are fond of sports that include swimming, soccer, table tennis and shadowboxing that gives good form of exercise and meditation. They also love theaters, ballets and imported movies.   They are also fond playing “majiang” or (mah-jongg) the most famous table game in the country.   When it comes to holidays, January 1 is the Chinese first official public holiday of the year.  The Chinese New Year is celebrated every January or February they depend their celebration on the Chinese lunar calendar. They also celebrate different holidays such as March 5 as Feast of Excited Insects, International Women’s Day is celebrated every March 8, Labor Day is observed every May 1 and many others holiday celebrations in their country.   (www.hollywoodreporter.com/Disney-breaks-ground-shanghai-resort)   These are only some of those important customs and traditions in the Chinese culture that you should learn and respect when you are visiting or working in their country.  Remember, if you want to become excellent in your job as  Tourism and Hospitality Manager in New Walt Disney in Shanghai you must learn to adapt these things.  References: www.culturalinteligence.org/What%20is%Cl.htm www.hollywoodreporter.com/Disney-breaks-ground-shanghai-resort-176223 www.hollywoodreporter.com/Disney-breaks-ground-shanghai-resort-176223 www.hollywoodreporter.com/Disney-breaks-ground-shanghai-resort-176223 www.hollywoodreporter.com/Disney-breaks-ground-shanghai-resort-176223

Importance of Cultural Intelligence (CQ) that is Beneficial to a Tourism and Hospitality Manager in the New Walt Disney, Shanghai

Importance of Cultural Intelligence (CQ) that is Beneficial to a Tourism and Hospitality Manager in the New Walt Disney, Shang...

Bill Gates on What Makes a Good Manager?

Bill Gates on What Makes a Good Manager? Distributed by New York Times Special Features 1. Choose a field thoughtfully. Make it one you enjoy. It's hard to be productive without genuine enthusiasm. This is true whether you're a manager or employee. 2. Hire carefully and be willing to fire. You need a strong team, because a mediocre team gives mediocre results, no matter how well managed it is. One common mistake is holding onto somebody who doesn't quite measure up. It's easy to keep this person on the job because he's not terrible at what he does. But a good manager will replace him or move him to a set of responsibilities where he can succeed unambiguously. 3. Create a productive environment. This is a particular challenge because it requires different approaches depending on the context. Sometimes you maximize productivity by giving everybody his or her own office. Sometimes you achieve it by moving everybody into open space. Sometimes you use financial incentives to stimulate productivity. A combination of approaches is usually required .One element that almost always increases productivity is providing an information system that empowers employees. When I was building Microsoft, I set out to create an environment where software developers could thrive. I wanted a company where engineers liked to work. I wanted to create a culture that encouraged them to work together, share ideas and remain highly motivated. If I hadn't been a software engineer myself, there's no way I could have achieved my goal. As the company grew, we developed supportive cultures in our international operations and in sales and marketing, too. 4. Define success. Make it clear to your employees what constitutes success and how they should measure their achievements. Goals must be realistic. Project schedules, for example, must be set by the people who do the work. People will accept a ``bottom-up'' deadline they helped set but they'll be cynical about a schedule imposed from the top that doesn't map to reality. Unachievable goals weaken an organization. At my company, in addition to regular team meetings and one-on-one sessions between managers and employees, we use mass gatherings periodically and e-mail routinely to communicate what we expect from employees. If a reviewer or customer chooses another company's product over ours, we analyze the situation carefully. We say to our people, “The next time around we've got to win. What will it take? What's needed?” The answers to these questions help us define success. 5. You have to like people and be good at communicating. This is hard to fake. If you don't genuinely enjoy interacting with people, it'll be hard to manage them well. You must have a wide range of personal contacts within your organization. You need relationships--not necessarily personal friendships--with a fair number of people, including your own employees. You must encourage these people to tell you what's going on (good or bad) and give you feedback about what people are thinking about the company and your role in it. 6. Develop your people to do their jobs better than you can. Transfer your skills to them. This is an exciting goal but it can be threatening to a manager who worries that he's training his replacement. If you're concerned, ask your boss: “If I develop somebody who can do my job super well, does the company have some other challenge for me or not?” Many smart managers like to see their employees increase their responsibilities because it frees the managers to tackle new or undone tasks. There's no shortage of jobs for good managers. The world has an infinite amount of work to be done. 7. Build morale. Make it clear there's plenty of good will to go around and that it's not just you as some hotshot manager who's going to impress others if things go well. Give people a sense of the importance of what they're working on--its importance to the company, its importance to customers. When you achieve great results, everybody involved should share in the credit and feel good about it. 8. Take on projects yourself. You need to do more than communicate. The last thing people want is a boss who just doles out stuff. From time to time prove you can be hands-on by taking on one of the less attractive tasks and using it as an example of how your employees should meet challenges. 9. Don't make the same decision twice. Spend the time and thought to make a solid decision the first time so that you don't revisit the issue unnecessarily. If you're too willing to reopen issues, it interferes not only with your execution but also with your motivation to make a decision in the first place. After all why bother deciding an issue if it isn't really decided? People hate indecisive leadership so you have to make choices. However that doesn't mean you have to decide everything the moment it comes to your attention. Nor that you can't ever reconsider a decision. 10. Let people know whom to please. Maybe it's you, maybe it's your boss and maybe it's somebody who works for you. You're in trouble--and risking--paralysis in your organization, when employees start saying to themselves: ``Am I supposed to be making this person happy or this other person happy? They seem to have different priorities.''    I don't pretend that these are the only 10 approaches a manager should keep in mind, or even that they're the most important ones.  There are lots of others. Just a month ago, for example, I encouraged leaders to demand bad news before good news from their employees.  But these 10 ideas may help you manage well, and I hope they do.     Source: (http://www.business.ulster.ac.uk/businst/pub_service_mgt/bmg341/27%20Bill%20Gates%20on%20What%20Makes%20a%20Good%20Manager.doc) Summary: According to Bill Gates in order to become a good manager, there are different factors to be considered such as physical and social skills. He believes that it is important to make sure that someone loves what he or she is doing. It is also important for a leader to be strong by hiring and firing employees or subordinates when needed. It is also important for the manager to focus on the different important aspects that are related to his subordinates in order to make productive environment. In addition, it is also vital for the manager to focus on planning, where in all of the goals and objectives will be explained to the subordinates. In terms of abilities and skills, it is important for a manager to be impressive in communication. This is because of the fact that it can help the manager to know his or her subordinate better, therefore it can help to prevent any misunderstanding and chaos, which will lead to developing his or her subordinates to do their job better, and help to build good morale, that is important in satisfaction. Therefore, it can be said that Bill Gates focuses on the primary responsibilities and roles on planning the different process to success as well as motivating the employees. Thus, it can be applied by any leader who has any approach in managing and controlling his or her people. It is important to focus not only on the success of the project or the company, but it is also is also important to focus on the performance and feelings of the employees by the process of communicating or knowing their opinions and feelings, at the same time building a good environment which will bring out the best in them which will help the entire organization to have a productive human resource, which will lead to maintenance of competitive advantage and good performance in the given industry.   Similarities and Differences:             Chapter 11 Management Development and the article of Bill Gates about What Makes a Good Manager both focused on the three important roles: interpersonal, informational and decisional. It focuses on the roles of the manager in communicating with the employees with the goals, objectives and aims of a given project, at the same time the different decision-making process about what should be done and not, including the daily operation and the process of hiring and firing. Thus, it can be said that both of the articles focus on he three basic skills of a manager such as conceptual skills or the intellectual abilities; human skills or the ability to work with other people; and technical skills or the ability to apply different skills in a  given area (Kroon 1995, p. 21).             The main difference between the two articles is that the article by Bill Gates does not focus on the importance of operational and need analysis of the managers. This is because Bill Gates mainly focus on the different abilities and skills of a manager in order to become a good leader for their subordinates or employees. It does not stated the fact that managers are also employees who have their needs and demands in order to ensure good performance, primarily the issue of satisfaction. In that case, it is important to take note the fact that managers are also taking up different training, mentoring and coaching programs which will help them to be a better manager, which will help them to focus on managing different important resources that are vital in the continuous process and performance of a company.   References Kroon, J 1995, General Management, Pearson, South Africa University of Ulster, Bill Gates on What Makes a Good Manager?, viewed 13 April 2009, <http://www.business.ulster.ac.uk/businst/pub_service_mgt/bmg341/27%20Bill%20Gates%20on%20What%20Makes%20a%20Good%20Manager.doc>

Bill Gates on What Makes a Good Manager?

Bill Gates on What Makes a Good Manager? Distributed by New York Times Special Features 1. Choose a field thoughtfully. Make it o...

People-Oriented Manager

People-Oriented Manager               People-oriented managers focus more on the people who are doing the work. They are on a day to day basis interacting with not just employees but also members. They encourage employees to use all of their talents and skills and to be productive in an organization where learning is a priority.             According to (2003), people-oriented leaders ask themselves the following questions routinely: <ul type="disc" style="margin-bottom: 0in"> <li class="MsoNormal" style="color: black; text-align: justify; line-height: 200%"> Do your employees consider you a great manager? </li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="color: black; text-align: justify; line-height: 200%"> Do you refer to yourself as a people person? </li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="color: black; text-align: justify; line-height: 200%"> Do you take the time to get to know the people you work with and supervise? </li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="color: black; text-align: justify; line-height: 200%"> Do you know their strengths and talents along with their weaknesses? </li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="color: black; text-align: justify; line-height: 200%"> Do you attempt to make employees fit better into an organization by identifying what people are good at and placing them in positions where they can use their strengths and talents to benefit the organization? </li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="color: black; text-align: justify; line-height: 200%"> Do you gain a measure of satisfaction from seeing others excel with your help?</li> </ul>             People-oriented leaders should know their employees' strengths and talents and they place people in positions that take advantage of those positive characteristics ( 2003).             In addition, according to  a Seattle-based Internet management consultant, ‘the people oriented manager is likely to succeed with the following personal and professional attributes ( 2002). 1.    The person has consistency of ideas but is capable of changing the mind. He/she makes decision but easily accepts the input from others, also. 2.    He/she sees information as a tool to be used and not as a power to be hoarded. 3.    He/she is an extrovert. Management is a people skill. It is not a job for someone who does not enjoy people. 4.    The person is honest and straight-forward. His/her success depends heavily on trust for others.             Moreover, a people oriented manager is earnestly concerned for the employees of all level and at the same time he/she has maximum concern for the growth of the industry. He/she generates all learning opportunities for people in the industry through their involvement, commitment and creativity, which are the pre-requisites for a rapid growth of an organization.             Furthermore, people-oriented managers tend to have more team-oriented management styles. They are most comfortable when they are teaching, coaching, helping, communicating, advising, persuading, motivating, entertaining, guiding, leading, selling, inspiring.             In an article of  (2005), for example, Ian Smith the General Manager of Dhamecha’s barking depot, was such a people-oriented manager. He has come to know many customers and even become his personal friends for several years. According to Smith, “being a depot manager is a very people-oriented job because you are constantly dealing with customers, suppliers and staff.”             Being the manager,  values his customers giving them the right price and good service especially with customers coming from far away. Availability also is importantly his pride.             Moreover, one of the aspects of his job values most is the autonomy he is given by head office in running the depot, and he ensures that members of his team are given as much freedom as possible to take decisions affecting their areas. Even staff working in the aisles is given responsibility for their areas.             As for I being a people-oriented manager, is having a good relationship with the customers, suppliers and his staff. He also is concern of the growth of his staff giving them small responsibilities that would enable them to practice their talents and improve them as well.

People-Oriented Manager

People-Oriented Manager People-oriented managers focus more on the people who are doing the work. They are on a day to da...

Consulting Career

Consulting Career 1.0 Contextualization A consultant can provide the expertise that can help to make the difference between a winning changes and a loser (Osborn 2002).. The said aspect can help short-term and middle-term changes that demands specialized skills to save money in the long run by bringing in an outside consultants that have the skills that the present staff do not have. The process starts by finding the expertise and then screens the candidates, the biggest challenge focuses on the process of successfully integrate a consultant into your team. Based on the gathered information, the author wishes to work for Capfor (www.Capfor.com).  This firm is a Human resource consulting firm that provides helps and assistance on human resources problems and issues in the international market. Accordingly, the author finds this as consulting institutions that can enable the author to improve the consulting skills. Since, the author would like to be involved in human resource management issues and problems, the author found this firm an effective firm to enhance my potentials. This firm is known in the consulting firms and they are already popular in international market. 2.  Building consulting competencies This part of the paper composes of the three main aspects. The first one is about the turbulences in the consulting firms and how these can influence the career of a consultant. It consists of the actual career transition and changes as well as the consultancy cycle. The evaluation of the author’s consulting skills and global competencies and improvement of the vital competencies that is needed as consultant based on the author’s perception. Secondly, this part will also consider the final competency to be consider the branding of the career of the consultant. 2.1 Turbulences in the consulting firms and effect on the consultant’s career & actual career transition cycle In the consulting firms, turbulences were primarily established by the restructured approach in larger firms.  There was a need for the firms to become effective and efficient because of the general enhancement of the global and business environment to be more profitable and gain competitive advantage (Littler 1997).  The new type of psychological contract is defined by greater autonomy between the employee and the firm and is more focused on short term as well as circumstantial tasks.  In this regard, the employment will stay as long as value can be provided to the industry (Hiltrop 1995). The consultants should know about this issue to be able to cope and focus on their competencies and to stay attractive in the global market. As a consultant, this can be attained by the consideration of the career mobility, flexibility and continuous leaning and enhancement as well as the stable contribution of added development (Marchant 1999). In this regard, it can be said that the author needs to evaluate the performance regularly in terms of the four kinds of expectations of the market.  The author is still studying and are currently starting on the consulting career and do not have enough experience, hence the author is not completely knowledgeable in the transition cycle. Accordingly, the first step for a career cycle is preparation that illustrates the readiness of an individual for changes. The second one is about the emotional aspects, specifically for the second encounter. The third period is adjustment, that aims on recognizing misfit and follows to personal transitions or innovation and the last phase is stabilization that consists settling with the current transition cycle and is utilized as preparation for the next transition cycle. In this regard, the author will adhere to the management consulting and attempt to use the practical experience from work experiences in the HR management and knowledge of her consulting study as mainly general skills. The special Human resources solution from consulting firm can be characterized as Tshaped – that adheres to specialization and generally practical as well as theoretical knowledge. It can be said that with inadequate experiences, there is a need for improvement in special skills to meet client requirements.  Herein, specialist and generalist skills can be considered that are essential for becoming flexible and adhere to the needs of the firm and the future clients (Czerniawska 2002).  With the continuous changes in the marketplace, the author considered the adjustment aspect as the transition cycle.   2.2 Consulting Skills and Global Competencies             Accordingly, there are various types of criterion that clients are looking for an effective consultant. Studies have shown that quantitative benefit was the main priority in Mauritius for clients.  This was followed by specialized know- how, human resource management and the qualitative profit. The instruments and methods introduction was considered less interesting for clients. In a study by Czerniawska & Toppin (2005), they have found that consultants should be proud consultants, which starts from being successful in delivering best value to their clients. It is said that the following pinnacles are essential and vital in today’s consulting firms: human resource management, human resource enhancement teamwork, interpersonal relationships, specialist knowledge and transfer as well as enhancement in the clients place, performance measurement, recruitment and training production, motivation and allocation of resources in a sensible and practical manner. Essential and vital decision criterion for the agreement to consulting contexts are specialized and solution competences, consultants’ personality and quality, the efficiency of the firm and others. Figure 1 – The emerging segmentation of the consulting market (Source: Czerniawska 2002, p. 35) Capfor characterizes itself as ‘niche firm’ which focused on the consultancy needs of specific firms and as an ‘enabling firm’ whose consultancy  offer client management with a platform of knowledge as well as pertinent recommendations on that to make strategic decisions (Beswick 2006). For Capfor the special knowledge of specific firms, such as multinational corporations, is very essential and vital. Generally, consultant’s knowledge can be divided into consulting skills as well as global competences in wider aspects. . In table A1 global competences and the according actions for enhancement of these capabilities are listed. To the six competences provided, managing the organizational adaptability, complexity, competitive process, multicultural teams, uncertainty, personal and organizational learning from Rhinesmith (1993), the authors have added global risk and market entrance management. These competences are essential and vital for Capfor because the consultancy is operating in international market. The author needs to exercise and master all eight global competences to be able to become theoretically knowledgeable and to improve the consulting craft/   Table A2 in appendix illustrates the technical skills from the author as well as the relevance to the Capfor group. Human resource management is very essential and vital for Capfor because they are core competences of the firm.  The author has little knowledge with in these aspects. Learning by doing will enable the author to become more confident in this job. The author could utilize some theoretical knowledge as well as some practical experience in human resource management and interpersonal skills. The author has little knowledge with human resource management and processes (Block 1999). For Capfor, human resource management is very important because the recruitment of new employees in the clients’ places is not part of the tasks from Capfor. Other aspects in this area, can take part in a course of human resource management to enable the author become knowledgeable in this context. The author needs to evaluate the various courses to find out the most suitable and recognized specialization in this area. In table A3 the interpersonal skills are also listed. Interpersonal skills are noted as high and medium essential for Capfor and the author has little knowledge with it. In order to gain interpersonal skills, active listening is an important skill of the author, support and counseling, constructive confrontation, assertiveness, and managing stress are good interpersonal skills that the author has experienced as part of the courses and while intervening with consulting practices. The author has less experience with managing teamwork process (Block 1999). Analysis shows that the author requires more practice for being more sensitized about the interpersonal, technical and more importantly consultancy skills. Working for Capfor will be a good opportunity to enhance these skills. The consultancy skills in the various stages as well as their values to Capfor are illustrated.  Contracting skills including negotiating client demands, and others as well as skills in discovery stage are medium essential and vital for Capfor because its clients often already know what they need. On one hand, skills in feedback and skills in decision stage are also valuable for clients from Capfor. Based on evaluation, the author has good consultancy skills but the author will be enhanced after getting to know the clients from Capfor better and with more experiences and practice (Block 1999).   2.3 Strengths in Client’s Perception Human resource management, strategic management, changes management, research management and are strengths of the author and the firm Capfor. Human resource management and strategic management generation are key services from Capfor and the company is known for being interesting for further enhancement for the author. Capfor wants to generate a brand in human resource management, and strategic management consulting in the multinational corporations. All employees must also have the strengths from the firm and their main competencies. Such brands need to be underlined since the clients from Capfor require consultancy service mostly in these contexts. The strategic management and marketing strategy need to be linked to the business approaches (Greiner & Poulfelt 2005). Capfor presents its main specialization in human resource management, marketing and strategic management consulting on their homepage and also in client conversations. Herein, the branding must be evaluated and monitored regularly to keep the established branding priorities as well as coordinate the excellent direction. It is recommended that new consulting services should be considered and enhances the existing brand strategy.  This should be promoted at the homepage of the company and during conversations with clients and partners (Weiss 2002).   3. Managing the consulting process Generating client readiness, determining and dealing with resistance as well as contracting meetings are three problems and issues that must be considered in the consulting process. They are characterized in this part during the four consulting stage contact and research, enhancement of the strategic management strategy, considering feedback to the success as well as the whole program which include adjustments in this time. After the first contact with the client the readiness of the client must be evaluated and its motivation in the new development, e. g. realization of a new human resource management strategy, should be considered. The importance of such changes for the client can be noted by knowing who will be involved in the specific changes and the role as well as responsibilities that they should consider. Moreover, the client expectation of the result of the changes and why the client decided for these changes at this time need to be evaluated. The level of knowledge regarding such changes and how well previous context proceeded and what problems as well as issues need to be noted about the new changes are also essential and vital to discover (Erwee 2006). Resistance is also present during the changes if the work with various interest groups is needed, specifically if emotions are very high. Resistance indicators include passive behavior of employees, providing unstructured information, timing and schedule issues or measuring methods before accepting the proposal.  There are various ways on solving these issues and these should also be tackled during consultation process.  It is a normal reaction of people to changes, only the reasons in the specific conditions should be analyzed to find the most appropriate solution/ (Erwee 2006). Accordingly, change resistance can occur during all stages but mainly in the beginning when the client does not really know what to do and trust need to be generated. Capfor mostly conducts international human resource management consulting- this means most of the time Capfor does not meet the client face to face. There are two approaches for the initial contact with the client, for instance, through another client or as a result of their internet or online advertisements or recommendation from other clients. The clients’ problem will be evaluated and assessed and information about the client is evaluated. Then the problem and issues will be structured and a procedure program will be generated. To provide the proposal for carrying out the changes, e. g. the strategic management plan contract meetings with the strategic management manager can take place by teleconferencing or client visits. The meeting may start with the introduction of its purpose/objective and duration and the roles of the employees involved. Then the presentation starts and followed by discussion of other issues. The essential factors need to be considered to make the changes successful and what the consultant can contribute and there are limits. After negotiation, mutual expectations of the client and the consultant an agreement should be set. Contract meetings or agreements about the continuation of changes can be required after period was set and for progress reevaluation progress (Erwee 2006). However a review about each contract meeting should also be considered by the consultant. After getting the deal with the enhancement of a new strategic management strategy, Capfor can also seen a questionnaire with all questions to client, and if needed they also send a survey to the main client. The answers will be used as a basis for decision making about the ideal strategic management strategy for the client. The strategic management plan with actions as well as consequences and an implementation plan will be generated and sent to the client for discussions/workshops comfort of the client. If all the needs of the client are considered, the decision for the implementation of the strategic management strategy is given and the operative realization can being In this stage, regular control of progress should be considered by reevaluations and inputs from staffs of the client, action plans will be adjusted in accordance with implementation support and inclusive motivation programs will be given. Before the changes are implemented for the consultant, the client and the consultant will have the time to talk about the success of the changes and the client evaluates the performance and the benefits of the new program for the firm. The consultant ‘s role in this stage is to do their own review and send the invoice to the client and contact the client again once or twice to get feedback about the change over a longer time. The duration of the changes still depends on various client situations but generally this takes three to six months.   4. International Human resource management The analysis of management across culture is the basis for a good global consulting and international human resource management. Though, global societies and international consulting are becoming similar in different manners, there are still cultural differences and diversities that are barriers to cooperation with national firms (Greiner & Poulfelt 2005; Czerniawska 1999). The main goal is to combine diverse cultural values without damaging their distinctiveness and uniqueness (Erwee 2006). Capfor works globally in the marketplace.  The Mauritian office has business contacts with the neighboring countries which have similarities with their culture and attitude but they are nations with their own history, norms, beliefs, customers and language. To be able to cope with these, Capfor utilizes the contractor who is appropriate to the national culture of the client and can fulfill the needs of the client. The author will evaluate if other partners from neighboring countries show differences to the Mauritian people and try to find out if they are more individualists or collectivists. Trivadis (2002) notes that national cultures have differences/ Cultures which include the beliefs, values, norms, and language as well as the individual behavior have an impact on the organizational behavior and the global competencies of the firm to adjust with their clients. The objective of Capfor is to communicate with all essential and vital clients and to be hired and accepted by them because of their excellence and professionalism and the high quality of work. Their behavior is also important for the clients to choose them.  It is important to define and identify the different roles and responsibilities of the consultant with accordance to the decisions of the company. It is important to focus on the limitations and span of the responsibilities of the consultants due to the fact that it will be hard for the developer to magically fit everything that is broken or build everything that the organization needed. That is why it is important to focus on open and smooth communication process in order to make sure that all processes and decisions of the Capfor is based on the objectives, ethics and values of the company. Consultants can help to draw on his or her experience to transfer information and then insight from one organizational setting to another, and then he can often to bring to the smaller organization analytical skills that are too expensive to develop and maintain the system. In addition to that, a single consultant mostly possesses the complete range of insights and skills that are needed to examine the total adaptive characteristics of an organization. That is why it is important that the top management to understand the overall adaptive process that it does not fragment outside advice by process of implementing recommendations in one area without the tying the said changes into related parts of the organizational system (Miles & Snow 2003, p. 158). Analysis shows that turbulences in the consulting firms have specific effects on the career of a consultant.  The consulting skills, competencies as well as branding from the author were compared with that of the company (Capfor) and the needs of their target clients’ needs. Furthermore, it also evaluated that competences should be generated for maintaining the employability of the author to be a consultant in the company. Consulting process issues as well as the cross cultural management especially were analyzed. In this regard, this course has been able to provide good analysis for competences in consulting and determine consulting gaps which need to be trained in becoming an effective consultant.  It gave great information in consulting and motivated the author has a successful future in consulting firms.   References: Beswick, R 2006, interview with him, August 2006, Surich. Block, P 1999, Flawless consulting: a guide to getting your expertise used, Jossey-Bass/Pfeiffes.   Czerniawska, F 1999, Management consultancy in the 21 century, MacMillan Business, Hampshire.   Czerniawska, F 2002, Management consultancy: what next? , Palgrave, MacMillan Business, London   Czerniawska, F & Toppin, G 2005, Business Consulting – a guide to how it works and how to make it work, The Economist Newspaper Ltd in association with Profile book Ltd, London.   Erwee, R 2006, Management consulting study book, Distance Education Centre, USQ, Toowoomba, Australia.   Frohman, AL & Johnson, LW 1993, The Middle Management Challenge: Moving from Crisis to Empowerment, McGraw-Hill, New York.   Greiner, L & Poulfelt, F 2005, the contemporary consultant: handbook of management consulting: insights from world experts, South Western, Mason, Ohio.   Hiltrop, J 1995, The Changing Psychological Contract: The Human Resource Challenge of the 1990’s, European Management Journal, vol. 13, 3, pp. 286-95.     Littler, CR, Wiesner, R, Vermeulen, L, Dunford, R & Bramble, T 1997, The Effects of Downsising: Cross-Cultural Data From Three Countries, Academy of Management, Boston.   Marchant, T 1999, ‘Managers’ careers in the context of organisational turbulence, Australian Journal of Management and Organisational Behavior, vol. 2, no. 4, pp. 43-60,   Miles, R, Snow, C & Meyer, A 2003, Organizational Strategy, Structure, and Process, Stanford University Press. Osborn, M 2002, Five Tips on Managing Consultants, TechRepublic, viewed 3 November 2008, <http://articles.techrepublic.com.com/5100-10878_11-1050530.html> Rhinesmith, S 1993, a manager’s guide to globalization, Irwin Professional Publishing, New York, pp. 213-21.   Weiss, A 2002, How to establish a unique brand in the consulting profession: powerful techniques for the successful practitioner, Jossey-Bass/Pfeiffer, San Francisco.

Consulting Career

Consulting Career 1.0 Contextualization A consultant can provide the expertise that can help to make the difference between a winn...

PR Assignment

The role and function of the PR Manager of certain global company is serious one and takes a lot of responsibilities as it needs to be realized in order for the company to grow and stay focus for their goals and vision for the future. The situation implies that the company's current website is now two years old and it did not added value to the business. The imperative basis in rebuilding the company's website as requested by the CEO is a crucial consideration to viewed about as websites are example of great tool in linking management to the staff as well as to the suppliers and respected customers, it provides a more concise and updated process of business situations and activities that is geared towards the success of the company and what business they provide, there is ample need to re-assess as well as update the company’s site – a website that will be able to start in making money and achieve communication goals for the company respectively.  There is really a need to redevelop the website of two years and consider all possible aspects in making it innovative into the present market as companies are now being moved and affected by globalization and changes of technology facts in today’s business world and the society as a whole sense.             Moreover, it is then ideal for PR manager to be equipped with adequate and effective knowledge as to how to go about the company’s website redevelopment as well as website restructuring as critical as possible and the proper addressing of communication to the PR manager regarding such plans in dealing to resolving issues and or problems concerning the company’s website as useful process for redesigning the site in giving support to site’s content and structure. Thus, the value of integrating any of the security issues as well as Information Technology issues as needed to be address well and to possible look for online presences of similar companies in certain expertise also, it is vital for the PR Practitioner to have appropriate promotional plan of the company’s website development.               The site have the power and influence to incorporate certain Internet services as the individual have the ability to retrieve papers as well as observe images also listen to music sounds as well as the viewing of programs that jog on virtually in terms of providing computer and software hardware to do something in clicking websites and locating search engines through the use of certain hypertext links can be the crucial feature exclusive and radical regarding website. The company site can provide faster communication with important people involved in process and can submit online queries of something through sending and respond in the same manner of communication. The increase of quantity and quality of available information on the Internet and the presence of known services on the Internet. There must be able to evaluate web sites critically and to examine the technical aspects of the site, the authority of the writer and the validity of the writer's content and know as to whether the site provides the information they need to solve their information problem and if it does not, how the process could be varied to obtain the needed outcomes. (2004)         Plan for redeveloping and redesigning the site             Thus, being the PR manager of large global company, as it is evident that the website is old and does not add value to the company as of the present then, I have several imperative points to propose to the management upon how to address updates and changes of the website being used as well as provide assumptions regarding web security process and its concerns in order for the company to achieve positive indication and outcomes in terms of redeveloping and designing for newer packaging of the website. In addition, being the PR manager there is ample need for planning out website development in such ways as discussed below. As it is a fact that such range of organisations developing better Web site is growing and the company will develop the site by using appropriate skills and resources required for designing a much better web site. As PR manager, there is the need for me to have adoption of certain non-formal web site development model as well as suitable usability methods. The plan will imply the web model identifying the stages and tasks of site development. I will see to it that the management of the company will have precise understanding of certain web user and information provider requirements as it is one of the factor for site progress and the need for the management to integrate and examine usability methods in detail and small-scale in-house development environment will have to be considered.                     The site plan out will have its updated company homepage that will contain all the necessary information in communicating to people who are potential business partners, distributors, suppliers and of course loyal customers. The management will have to change modes in writing and publishing the web site in order to feel that such web presence is desirable and is increasing market communication as it will be sufficient due to growing recognition that web site should be achieving precise company objectives and goals (1997). The PR manager will have to advice the company to use such platform autonomous network delivery as the management need to take control of such document presentation of company activities and have ample management of hardware and software platform. The proposal to blend internet and PC elements  as it is applicable that the company’s web site design will be seen to have combined the needed elements such as good content; visual appearance as well as usability. The plan that such usability must be evaluated at interrelated levels, site-level usability and page-level usability ( 1998) and note down visual appearance of web interfaces as significant for business value and dynamics (1995; 1997). There must be understanding of factors that influence the behaviour of users undertaking specific tasks, such as purchasing on-line via e-commerce site. The need to require interpretation and selectivity on part of web developer and that as a PR manager, the awareness that web site which follows design guidelines is not inevitably usable.                   The experience of redesigning a complex website demonstrates the important role of usability testing. Aside, usability testing raises the awareness of how a site is used and provides a model for periodic evaluation. The website brings together thousands of distinct, but often related, resources and services and aims to deliver them in a logical and easy-to-use manner. The driving goal of the website redesign was to move all the information on the site to a content management system (CMS). The comprehensive scope of the task provided an opportunity to test presumptions about vocabulary and the organization of information on the site, as well as a chance to implement several desired interactive features as the conversion from an HTML-based site to a CMS-driven site was such a fundamental change, it was felt that a usability component was essential. The redesign process             Then, consensus to update the design and organization of the old website and the shared desire to move to an open-source CMS instigated discussions about a new website. It will be agreed that the new site should provide more interactivity for the user, such as a search feature and a drop-down FAQ list, one with more content geared toward information literacy and instruction with less library lingo, and one that offered a stronger identity for the library. Whereas the old site required the user to choose a broad subject area to begin their search for resources as the new site should have more ways to get into the resources. Because of the magnitude of the change to the website, the decision that usability testing should be part of the design and development process.                   The underlying and essential change to a CMS-driven website merits attention before discussing the usability component of the design process. Running the website out of a database eliminates the need for individual HTML files, as pages are served up dynamically via PHP scripts. The staff responsible for designing the database prepared separate scripts for displaying different categories of information, like for example, resources, news and events as there facilitates the ease of making global changes to the website by requiring that changes be made only once. While decidedly more powerful, such a website does not allow for infinite customization to harmonize the structure of the website. This is particularly important in light of usability testing as site usability was not just about feature it had to do with the entire site and its underlying structure and it had to be addressed via the entire site and assuming a partnership role in the testing process brought results that were relevant and that led to a substantive understanding of the dynamics of the website.       Ideas for site content and structure             Moreover, measurements of usability are required for interactive and browsing systems, like for instance speed of task completion is not likely to be an appropriate measure for a browsing task. The same is true of research in hypermedia, much of which is conducted in fairly small hypertext systems rather than the large distributed environment of the Web (1997). The ideas to have transfer of knowledge and skills from existing media for technical information. The management  will see to that the site structure and content will gear towards balance communication of involved parties for the business and the presence of dynamic, open-ended online publication having web the concept of finished product can be inappropriate due to technological change and change in user needs and expectations which necessitate the continual development of a site.  (1999) suggests that web is facing an imminent usability crisis and that there are not enough user interface professionals to avert this potential crisis as often web developments are undertaken with only limited resources in terms of time, money and expertise.       Then, user dissatisfaction may lead to the site failing to meet its business objectives, it is possible to characterise professional site development environment: -       Limited development team – both in terms of the number of people involved and in terms of site development experience as the development will typically involve people with a wide range of backgrounds -       Limited local user population – the site is likely aimed of external user population rather than being an Intranet application and the user population is to be dispersed -       Business objective – the site has some form of identifiable “business objective” even though the site may not be commercial in nature -       External host – in many cases the site will be hosted by some external company rather than on a server owned by the organisation developing the site Hence, being the PR manager, ideas for site structure and content is crucial for the company as there needs to:  ( (1999) -       make it possible to design reasonably without having much expertise -       train more people in good web design -       live with good designed sites that are easy to use                 Given the dynamic technical basis of the Web and the changing expectations of the users, it is likely that evolutionary development will form part of the long-term development of most Web sites. Given an appropriately framed development model, inexperienced developers may be able to reduce the complexity of their applications and improve their usability and maintainability. PR manager can incorporate such media development models like the HDM (1993), RMM (1995) and OOHDM (1996) as the latter is based on software engineering and or database tools and concepts and requires specialist skills. The synthesized structure is applicable as approaches will lead to the following: Ø  establishing the need for change before adopting certain solution Ø  gathering of useful information before site development takes place Ø  developing and evaluation is necessary before creating the complete site Ø  implementation will occur once the design decisions have been finalized Ø  maintaining continuously after site has been launched Furthermore, in order to be appropriate to the small scale professional site development environment the usability methods need to be: Simple – methods must be easily applied and should use facilities that are available Effective – methods should identify only genuine usability problems and should identify significant usability problems Participatory – methods should involve real users and information providers where possible Reusable – ideally a single method will be applicable               The launching of the company site should not be the end of the process as the user interactions with the site can be used to identify changes in user behaviour, business objectives may change, competitors’ sites may be updated, use analysis can identify parts of the site that users either cannot find or do not want to use. In many ways effective site is potentially an ideal vehicle for ongoing usability evaluation, though the loss of potential repeat visits due to an initial negative experience must be considered. Value-added features             Accordingly,  (1997) states that, web site should contain something of value to potential customers A good Web site should contain something of value to potential as well as existing customers to entice them to revisit. The advantage of offering free information is that clients will have to provide their names and addresses which will enable the accounting firm to develop a list of potential clients to pursue. The Web site should provide added value to existing and potential clients to make them return to a firm’s Web site. To propose having such useful information that is continuously being maintained keeps clients visiting the Web site. The PR managers’ advice and information can enhance the quality image of the firm and there is imperative to provide ways to communicate with existing and potential clients as tradeoff has time and resources required to maintain and improve the site on a continuous basis.      Graphics The need to enhance company image through better site appearance             The technological image could be greatly enhanced by the attractiveness of Web site with inclusion of logos, pictures or colour improves the Web site’s appearance. Moreover, regular maintenance of the Web sites is necessary to keep potential clients visiting the firm’s Web site and need to take more advantage of the features of the Internet by utilizing graphics. The need to use helpful linkages brings potential and existing clients back to the firm’s Web site. The interactivity between client and firm afforded by free information or advice or by signing up for newsletter helps the accounting firm to develop a list of potential clients. It helps the firm determine if they are meeting the needs of existing clients. Addressing Issues of Security or IT             The understanding of user needs and information provider needs as web site produced should be user centred, catering for actual user needs, tasks and expectations and recognising actual user constraints. A site which fails to meet the needs of its users is unlikely to meet its business objectives. The information provider needs as company site should meet business objectives in producing the site includes meeting of user needs. Like for instance, end-user of the site expects to have purchases online directly from  the company but, there intends to provide only an online product list and a list of suppliers perhaps the manufacturer lacks the infrastructure to handle small orders and is not cost-effective.   Moreover,(1997) present a user-centred design process for Web sites: -       early in the project to determine the evaluative criteria users apply to the Web sites that they use -       after a preliminary design of the Web site to elicit feedback and comments and/or to evaluate certain aspects of the site -       when the Web site is operational to elicit continual feedback and suggestions for additions and/or modifications to the site             The model applies equally well to information provider needs and demonstrate that success has, or has not, been achieved. The measure of success is still the number of hits a page or site receives with respect to measuring the achievement of business objectives, it is both easy to define and to quantify. It is also clear that the information provider needs and the user needs are interdependent. In order to have a realistic chance of achieving its business objectives, an information provider must consider user needs when defining those objectives. On the other hand, company will afford the luxury of web site that satisfies user needs but serves to achieve their objectives. The sites can be analysed to determine perceived strengths and weaknesses and to derive an informal set of desirable (1993), the use of developers or information providers may reflect their subjective opinion, rather than those of real users. The use of real users will also reduce the chances of deriving features from sites which do not meet user requirements.                 The company site is likely to be a dynamic entity; underestimating the cost of maintaining a Web site has been identified as a common mistake in Web development (1998) and poor maintenance can lead to a decline in site quality over time. Procedures for organizing files and directories on the server, keeping links updated, adding, deleting and revising materials, file and directory naming conventions and checking the currency of content must be considered. The empirical validation of the effectiveness of methods and of the framework will be required before the experiential evidence of web developers can be formalised into an accepted development approach. One particular issue that must be faced is the demonstration that the identification and correction of usability problems by such methods leads to Web sites that meet both user and information provider needs more effectively. A reliable method for grading the severity of usability problems would also enhance the cost-effectiveness of solving these problems. These areas both require empirical investigation. A further important area for investigation is how effective particular usability methods are under varying conditions (1998). The issue of identifying combination of complementary methods and the benefits afforded by such combinations as the development model can be refined into a validated toolkit for the development of usable Web sites.   Online Preferences             The potential customers can locate the firm by searching web sites similar to searching yellow page advertisements, as the site page allows for the inclusion of more information about the firm and greater creativity in presenting the information. The Web site can include information that would be in the yellow pages, but also adds an interactive element that may be valuable to potential and existing clients. The contents of each Web site were examined for value-added features. Finally, the contents were examined for the use of graphics, colour, animation which enhance the technological image of the firm and contribute to the attractiveness of the Web site. In using the Internet as an advertising medium and vehicle of communication, accounting firms need to provide not only their physical address but also the e-mail address. One way to obtain potential clients’ names and addresses for further solicitation is through e-mail queries. Promotional Plan of site             The need for advancement in Internet technology provide companies with a new tool for direct marketing and advertising that may be cost effective and provide maximum delivery to targeted customers. In particular, the accounting profession has enthusiastically taken advantage of this new medium of marketing. The plan to imply content analysis of web pages using some factors identified in previous research as influencing clients’ choice and other factors identify as effective in Web-based promotion. The promotion of company web page URLs and E-mail addresses to determine whether the Web sites contained factors that influence client choice and have features that have been identified as important in using the Web as an effective advertising medium.               Aside, referrals is a factor in business and word-of-mouth referrals by current clients and professionals in the community can convey a favourable image of an accounting firm’s quality of services particularly to convey a positive image of the accounting firm as the web site cannot convey an overall image of quality of services as referrals would, but it can convey the image that is technologically adept. As the PR manager, it is important to improve business image and attract clients within the local area; general interest in the Internet; better serve the firm’s current clients; complement current advertising and attract clients and the improvement of service to existing clients by transmitting information and forms through sites and e-mail communication. There shows that advertisements should communicate their experience, areas of specialization, range of services, reputation, available resources, location and availability. Websites enable firms to include more information, in a more imaginative format, than conventional advertisements. While a Website cannot convey an overall image of quality of services, it can convey the impression that the firm is technologically adept.  Being the PR manager, there is the need to do more to promote website as there indication that company is not doing enough to promote their web site.                   The management should pay more to register their Website and ensure that the firm’s name appears in the first page of the search engine. A good company site should contain something of value to potential as well as existing customers. Providing advice and information, which is regularly updated, enhances the image of the firm and provides a way to communicate with customers. Getting people to sign up like newsletters will help the management to develop a list of potential clients and to determine if the needs of clients are being met. Then, before establishing a presence on the Internet, the management should determine its marketing strategy, determine what the objectives of the Web site should be, their strengths, areas of specialization and service products they want to offer. The Web site should be developed consistent with their goals and products and visit other firms’ Web sites and read about Web site development to determine what makes an effective Web site and they must make appropriate commitment of time and resources to profitability exploit the capability which Internet marketing offers.

PR Assignment

The role and function of the PR Manager of certain global company is serious one and takes a lot of responsibilities as i...