Unit 1. BUSINESS ORGANIZATION
Text 1. What is a business organization?
During the life every person is more or less connected with various organizations; there is no organization without people, there no people which are not connected with an organization. Here we will speak about a business organization (a commercial enterprise), exercising the function of managing production, distribution and sale of goods and services for the buyers’ benefit and sellers’ profit. If a group of people wants to form of an organization, they should consider the following conditions: a) presence of at least two persons; b) presence of at least one general goal; c) presence of a team of members who have intention to work together in order to achieve this general goal.
Any organization is a system and its main characteristics include: a) interrelationship between the organization and environment; b) labor division (horizontal and vertical); c) management.
In fact, an organization is the unity, which operates successfully, if it is managed efficiently.
The components of the success of any organizations are: efficiency, economy and productivity.
To succeed, any organization must change for the better all the time, and it is the task of its management to lead their organizations to the win. Actually, to succeed, a firm must be managed successfully. The essential elements of any organization are as follows: a) organizational structure; b) people; c) objectives; d) technology.
Organization is known to be the framework of responsibilities, authority and duties through which all the resources of an enterprise are brought together and coordinated for the achievement of management objectives.
The well-known model of an organization is like a tree, where the crown of the tree is the embodiment of business units, the trunk represents core products and the roots constitute core competence.
The typical organization can be described in terms of;
Hierarchy
(an organization is headed by; he/she reports to/ is under / is accountable to/ is assisted by/ is supported by);
Functions/responsibilities (
he/she is responsible for/ is in charge of/ takes care of);
Titles:
Executive Board (Am) – Board of Directors (Br);
President (Am) - Chairman (Br);
Chief Executive Officer (Am) – Senior Vice-President (Am) – Managing Director (Br);
Vice-President of Finance (Am) – Finance Director (Br)
Sales Director (Am) – Sales Manager (Br).
Affiliates
(it is a parent company; it is a subsidiary);
Structure
(functional; line and staff; project and matrix structures, etc)
To operate effectively, people must know their duties, responsibilities and their authority, and that is the main reason why a company needs its structure. There are companies with a simple organization structure – with a single manager, ad there are companies with a team of managers with a wide manager’s span of control, which becomes richer with company’s growth.
The span of control (span of responsibility) refers to the number of subordinates who can be effectively supervised directly by one manager, supervisor or other person in authority. The wider is the span of control the better is the managerial activity, and the more superior’s time is saved. It is the fact that the span of management is the narrowest at the top and the widest at the bottom. For example, Managing Director may have accountable to him just three of four departmental executives whereas a foreman may be responsible for the supervision of fifteen or more workers).
Every organization has its own life cycle, which includes the following stages: Formation, Growth, Maturity and Decline
. Like a human, a business organization goes in its activity through its birth, growth, maturity and dying down.
It is the well-known fact that business can be privately owned in three forms, the widely practiced are as follows: sole proprietorship, partnership and corporation. Additionally, there are different ‘hybrids’ like franchise, limited partnership, joint venture and cooperative.
Basic kinds, forms, styles and structures of business organizations:
- Organization by forms of business
: sole proprietorship; partnership; corporation
- Kinds of business organization
: joint stock companies; holdings; limited partnership; franchises; joint ventures; cooperatives.
- Basic structures of business organization
: line structure; functional structure; line and staff organization structure; departmentalization by product, territory or customer; matrix organization structure.
- Styles of business organization:
bureaucratic; contingency; just-in-time (JIT)
Any business organization exists only as long as it satisfies customers’ needs, either present or able to be created, and at a price attractive to the market. The actual practice does not lead to the most efficient form of a business organization, so proprietorships, partnerships and corporations have their advantages and disadvantages. They have structure, through which the activities of personnel at all levels can be utilized in an orderly and controlled manner to the benefit of the enterprise as a whole.
Sole proprietorships
are the most numerous form of business organization. No charter and permit are needed and there are no particular legal requirements for organizing or conducting a sole proprietorship. When started, many sole proprietorships are conducted out of the owner’s home, garage, or van and inventory may be limited and may often be purchased on credit.
Advantages:
1) easy to start; 2)flexible; 3) is owned by one person, which has a total control; 4) profits belong to the owner.
Disadvantages:
1) limited resources;2) difficulties in raising capital, hiring professionals and in management; personal responsibility and financial liability are unlimited; 4) instability, great risk of loosing capital.
Partnership:
In a partnership, two or more people share ownership of a single business. Like in proprietorships, the law does not distinguish between the business and its owners. The partners should have a legal agreement that sets forth how decisions will be made, profits will be shared, disputes will be resolved, how future partners can be bought out, pr what steps will be taken to dissolve the partnership when needed.
Advantages:
1) capabilities are expanded because of more than one owner; 2) ability to share capital, experience, pressure and work; 3) financial liability is limited; 4) the ability to raise funds may be increased; 5) prospective employees may be attracted to the business if given the incentive to become a partner.
Disadvantages:
1) difficulties in supporting of uniformity in management; 2) distinction in duties and profits are not easy to define (conflicts); 3) difficulties in getting loans from the banks; 4) partners are jointly and individually liable for the actions of the other partners; 5) profits must be shared with others; 6) partnerships may have a limited life; it may end upon the withdrawal or death of a partner.
1. General partnership.
Partners divide responsibility for management and liability, as well as the shares of profit or loss according to their internal agreement. Equal shares are assumed unless there is a written agreement that states differently.
2. Limited Partnership
. ‘Limited’ means that most of the partners have limited liability (to the extent of their investment) as well as limited management decisions, which generally encourages investors for short term projects, or for investing in capital assets. This form of ownership is not often used for operating retail or service businesses. Forming a limited partnership is more complex and formal than that of a general partnership.
3. Joint venture
. Joint Venture acts like a general partnership, but it is formed for a limited period of time or a single project. If the partners in a joint venture repeat the activity, they will be recognized as a continuing partnership and distribute accumulated partnership assets upon dissolution of the entity.
4. Corporation
. A corporation
is chartered by state in which it has headquarters. It is considered by law to be a unique entity, separate and apart from those who own it. A corporation can be taxed; it can be sued; it can enter into contractual agreements. The owners of a corporation are its shareholders. The shareholders elect a board of directors to oversee the major policies and decisions. The corporation has a life of its own and does not dissolve when ownership changes.
Advantages
:1) limited financial liability; 2) ability to sell shares; 3) easy to borrow from bank; 4) delegation of authority; 5) succession; 6) synergy and high salaries. 7) corporations can raise additional funds through the sale of stock
Disadvantages:
1) not easy to organize and ‘untwist’; 2) “double taxation” (corporate tax); 3) strict legal regulation; 4) corporations are monitored by federal, state and some local agencies, and may have more paperwork to comply with regulations
It is obvious that corporation is the dominant form of a large-scaled business organization it terms of a present market. The number of organizations has been growing constantly, and there is no reason why growth should not continue indefinitely. In the context of an organization the responsibility, authority and duty can be considered as the basic obligations.
Responsibility
must be defined as an obligation to make sure that authority is used in the proper way and that duties are properly carried out as well. In this sense, a chief executive takes full and ultimate responsibility for the effective operating of the organization.
Authority
must be stated as a power to assign duties to subordinates and to ensure their carrying out. And definitely, the delegation of authority is an important part of any job.
Duty.
This is the obligation to obey the orders and instructions. In most organizations the number of orders and instructions grows with great rapidity to meet changing requirements and circumstances.
When organization is small it will be centralized: that is it will consist of one unit, and responsibility and authority for all activities will remain with a chief executive. With growth and development the unit should be split into parts with a level of authority (decentralization), or the larger the unit may be planned (centralization). Some business organizations are highly centralized with power concentrated in their head offices.
It is necessary to mention that the business of any organization is to establish an organization structure.
In business, the organization structure means the relationship between positions and people, who hold these positions; it shows who reports to whom.
The organization structure is often too broadened; it is difficult to understand the subordination. While growing up, there is a tendency to increase the number of levels of management, to ensure the effective supervision in the organization. However, in recent years many organizations have adopted ‘flatter’ organization structure reducing the number of management levels.
The organization structure is always of multiple levels. Generally, a company is made up of three groups of people: shareholders; management; workforce
.
In any case, it is useful for top managers to answer the key questions from time to time:
- Is our organization structure clear and understandable?
- Does it correspond to our business strategy?
- Is our subordination clear and if so, to what level?
- Are the sphere and span of control rational enough?
- Do our managers’ responsibility levels correspond to their power and competence?
The simplest and the oldest form of organization, line organization
, represent a clear line of responsibility and authority of each level and above and below each level, it works only for small firms.
The next form is a functional organization
with various departments: finance, marketing, production, etc. It is common for rather small firms, as well.
The best-known form is the mixed one: the line-functional form.
The major advantage of a line-functional structure is that it is simple with different chain of command and easy to control; the functional specialists are not involved in routine running of an organization, this is the responsibility of line management. The most known disadvantage constitute its unclear lines of authority: many superiors over the workers and difficulties in speedy decision-making. Moreover, the staff functional officers may try to seize the whole power. This form works for large companies.
Some large-scaled companies use departmentalization by territory, product or customer.
For example, the product lines organization structure is effective in terms of a changing market. It is focused on the efficient decision making inside and outside the organization.
Today the main types of structure used by most organizations are the project and matrix ones.
The project structure
is temporally organized for a concrete problem solving. The matrix structure
does not have a traditional hierarchy. The authorities move vertically from top to bottom, and there is more freedom for the staff to innovate and carry out competitive objectives. (Схема). The matrix structure organizes the business into project groups lead by project leaders, and ensures sufficient and strategic adaptability.
As for the styles,it is usual to consider three main styles of organization:
Bureaucratic organization
is the concept where formal procedures are strongly prescribed.
Contingency organization
is aimed at ‘the law of situation’, its structure is fluid and strongly influenced by the environment; its response to change is opposite to the first organizational style.
Just-in-Time organization
(JIT)
requires staff to take a high responsibility for their work; it is focused on tight relation with suppliers, on the high standard of a product quality and on the interaction between supply and demand. This style includes a process, through which products are delivered to customers; they are precisely timed to meet demand. There are many points of interaction between all these links.
Organization as the management object
An organization and its personnel constitute the main objects of management. There are two basic models of organization as management objects:
Organization as the mechanic structure Organization as the working team
Operational management Personnel management
Organization as the complex hierarchy Organization as the public organization
Strategic management Employees’ involvement in activities
It is worth summing up: any organization is a corporate enterprise that has a legal identity; it operates as one single unit, and all members take part in its activities and management; additionally any organization should be established on the basis of the expected work-load. It is interesting to note that, according to Philip Kotler, there are three types of organizations:
- organizations, which make things happen;
- organizations, which watch things happen;
- organizations, which wonder things happen.
A company’s board of directors helps management to develop business plans, economic policy objectives, and business strategy. A board of directors often selects the chief executive of the business, supports him, reviews his performance, and may dismiss him.
Through regular meetings, the board helps ensure effective organizational planning and sees that company resources are managed effectively. The board of directors also sees that the company meets regulatory requirements that apply to that business. The board of directors also must assess overall performance of the corporation.
Directors monitor a company’s financial performance and the success of its products, services and strategy. Directors are expected to follow developments that can affect business. They must set aside any potential conflict between their personal or individual business interests to support the well-being of the business which they serve.
The most effective board of directors will be a group of professionals who bring a breadth of skills, experience and diversity to a company. As a company grows and changes, the governing board also will change to meet changing needs and circumstances.
Major duties
of Board of Directors are:
1. Select and appoint a chief executive; to review and evaluate his/her performance; to offer administrative guidance and determine whether to retain or dismiss him
2. Govern the organization by broad policies and objectives.
4. Account to the public for the products and services of the organization and expenditures of its funds.
1. Determine the Organization’s Mission and Goal.
2. Select the Executive
3. Support the Executive and review his/her performance
4. Ensure effective organizational planning
5. Ensure adequate resources
6. Manage resources effectively
7. Determine and monitor the organization’s products and services.
8. Enhance the organization’s public image
9. Assess organization’s performance.
There is no standardized list of the major functions and responsibilities carried out by position of chief executive officer. The following list is one perspective and includes the major functions typically addressed by job description of chief executive officer:
1. Board administration and support
.
Chief executive officer (CEO) supports operations and administration of Board by advising and informing Board members, interfacing between Board and staff, and supporting Board’s evaluation of chief executive.
2. Program, Product and Service Delivery
. CEO oversees design, marketing,promotion,delivery and quality of programs, products and services.
3. Financial, Tax, Risk and Facilities Management
.
CEO recommends yearly budget for Board approval and prudently manages organization’s resource within those budget guidelines according to current laws and regulations.
4. Human Resource Management
. CEO effectively manages the human resources of the organization according to authorizes personnel policies and procedures that fully conform to current laws and regulations.
5. Community and Public Relations.
CEO assures the organization and its mission, programs, product and services are consistently presented in strong, positive image to relevant stakeholders.
6. Fundraising (non-profit specific).
CEO oversees fundraising planning and implementation, including identifying resource requirements, researching funding sources, establishing strategies to approach funders, submitting proposals and administrating fundraising records and documentation.
1. What is an organization?
2. In what way are people and positions they hold connected?
3. What components does the model of organization include?
4. What are three principal forms of business organization?
5. What is a sole proprietorship?
6. What are advantages and disadvantages of sole proprietorship?
7. What is a partnership?
8. What are the limited partnership and general partnership?
9. What are the advantages and disadvantages of partnership?
10. What is a joint venture?
11. What is a corporation?
12. Who are the owners of a corporation?
13. What is necessary to form a corporation?
14. Who oversees the major policies and decisions?
15. What are advantages and disadvantages of corporation?
16. How many styles of organization do you know and what are they?
17. What is most promising long-term organizational style?
18. Describe the kinds of organization structure.
19. What can you tell about Responsibility, Authority and Duty?
20. Do managers consider any organization as a management object?
21 Does an organization have a life cycle?
22. What are the responsibilities of a board of directors in a corporation?
23. What are major duties of a board of directors?
24 What can we call an effective board of directors?
25. What are typical functions of CEO?
1. bring
(together
) сводитьвместе
2. crown
n
(of the tree)
кронадерева
3. embodiment
n
воплощение, олицетворение
4. trunk
n
стволдерева
5. core
n
сердцевина,
6. root(s)
n, pl
корни
7. core competence
(y) ключеваякомпетенция
8. hierarchy
n
иерархия
9 be accountable
(to smb
.) подотчетныйкому-либо
10.affiliate
n
.
1)филиал, отделение; 2) компаньон
v
.
1) принимать в члены, объединять, присоединять к.. (with
)
11.
span
of
control
предельный объем ответственности
12. maturity
зрелость, совершенность, законченность
13. sole
proprietorship
единоличная собственность
14.departmentalization
n
разделение на отделы
15. matrix
матричная организационная структура
16.
advantages
n
,
pl
преимущества
17
. disadvantages
n
,
pl
недостатки, невыгодное положение
18.
in
orderly
manner
в должном порядке, надлежащим образом
19.
assets
n
,
pl
активы, средства, ресурсы, фонды, капитал
20.
liabilities
n
,
pl
обязательства, ответственность за что-либо
21.
breach
the
contract
нарушить контракт
22
. judgment
n
мнение, оценка, суждение
23.
inventory
n
инвентаризация, опись всего имущества
24
. set
forth
v
излагать, формулировать, объяснять
25.
dissolve
v
прекращать деятельность, распускать
26.
withdrawal
n
отзыв, выход, уход, изъятие
27.
assume
v
допускать, предполагать, принимать на себя
28
. be
chartered
здесь
: даровать привилегии; давать разрешение на
29.
be
sued
преследоваться в судебном порядке
30.
oversee
v
наблюдать, надзирать, следить за…
31.
synergy
n
успешные совместные усилия, синергизм
32.
raise
funds
занимать деньги, находить средства
33.
comply
(with
)
v
подчиняться требованиям, делать уступки
34.
obey
orders
повиноваться приказаниям
35.
routine
n
обычный порядок, рутина, однообразная работа
36.
seize
the
power
захватить власть
37.
contingency
organization
организация, основанная на ситуационном подходе.
38.
just
-
in
-
time
точно в срок, точно по графику.
39.
breadth
n
широта, широкий размах
40.
administrate
v
управлять, контролировать
Unit 2. Corporate vision, mission, and image.
Every company cannot avoid the answering the vital question: what is our company vision
, what do we intend to achieve? While answering this question, top management must understand what character of business their company has and should have. By developing of strategic vision they should identify who they are; what they do and where they go, in order to direct the organizational course, to form the corporate unique vision and mission. In order not to mix up corporate vision and mission, they must know that vision
speaks about what a company will be in five or ten years as a result of staff’s efforts and energy.
Undoubtedly, any company corrects its activity in the course of time. The corporate vision includes:
- form of its business;
- basic direction of a strategy, in short;
- firm’s performance guiding lines, etc.
Vision Statement
is sometimes called a picture of your company in the future but it’s so much more than that. Your vision statement is your inspiration, the framework for all your strategic planning. A vision statement may apply to an entire company or to a single division of that company. Whether for all or part of an organization, the vision statement answers the question, “Where do we want to go?”
What you are doing when creating a vision statement is articulating your dreams and hopes for your business. It reminds you of what you are trying to build.
While a vision statement doesn’t tell you how you’re going to get there, it does set the direction for your business planning. That’s why it’s important when crafting a vision statement to let your imagination go and dare to dream – and why it’s important that a vision statement captures your passion.
Unlike the mission statement, a vision statement
is for you and the other members of your company, not for your customers or clients.
When writing a vision statement, your mission statement and your core competencies can be a valuable starting point for articulating your values. Be sure when you’re creating one not to fall into the trap of only thinking ahead a year or two. Once you have one, your vision statement will have a huge influence on decision making and the way you allocate resources.
.Examples:
A vision statement for a company offering whale watching tours: Within the next five years, ZZZ Tours will become the premier eco-tour company in ________, increasing revenues to 1 million dollars in 2010 by becoming internationally known for the comfort and excitement of the whale-watching tours it offers.
It is evidently that that mission
formulation is desirable for any company because it determines what a company operates for.
Therefore, a company should realize its destination, in other words, formulate its mission. A firm of any kind runs its business executing the specific mission. In fact, mission is the destiny of a company, the main aim of its activity
.
There are many kinds of mission, which are common to all the companies, but nevertheless, any company should work out its own mission and acquaint the staff and its consumers with it.
As it was mentioned above, company mission shows its role in the society and environment. In the extensive interpretation, mission is the philosophy and destiny of any organization; in the narrow interpretation – it is spirit of its existing.
Its components are as follows:
- product/service (What are they?)
- target customers (Who are they?)
- technology (Does a firm use the traditional or new technology?)
- competitive advantage (What is it in comparison to other competitors?)
- philosophy (What are the firm’s important values, strivings and principles of ethics?)
Company mission helps formulate a slogan, a company lives and operates with. “McDonald’s is a big family! It cares of its staff in and out the work!” (McDonald’s); “Quality is our life style!” (Philips Electronics); “We’re providing people with cheap vehicles!” (Ford).
Mission is a useful tool, which realizes a system approach of company management to goals and objective. For example, mission can involve the aim-providing the individual clients with service of the highest quality.
As a rule, mission reflects two or three factors:
- unsatisfied market needs;
- potential customers;
- competitive advantage (e.g.: in product)
It is worth stating that corporate mission isn’t dogmatic; it can be reviewed if market changes require that.
Company can formulate its mission for three main purposes:
- to understand the business spheres a company works in;
- to explain its strategic vision;
- to determine the moment a company should change its strategic course.
Care is also needed to note that different firms have different objectives
. The diversity of objectives depends upon a company mission. In the first place we have to name:
- survival for as long as possible;
- maintenance and increase in profits;
- increase in the market share and sales;
- long-term growth.
This is most likely that the increase in the market share and in sales volume is the basic objective to ensure the survival, growth and profitability. The firm with a large market share is competitive enough and has better long-term prospects. As it was said above, a company must elaborate its objectives, like the following:
- to improve the standard of living;
- to maintain a balance of payment positions;
- to achieve the reasonable price stability;
- to maintain reasonable full employment.
To gain the important place among the competitors, a firm must set the long-range and short-range goals.
There are seven key places where a firm usually puts its long-term goals: market position, innovations, marketing, production, finance, HR, management.
Any company has to meet changes and take into account a forecast on its future business. The most firms have a variety of objectives. While planning their activities, they should note the compatibility between the objectives and circumstances at a given point of time. The flexibility in decision-making is a preference. The objectives permit to have maximum productive capacity, change the demand and expenditure with regard to an individual consumer.
They must be concrete, measurable, planned, compatible and accessible.
A company creates its strategic priorities
to distribute its resources in effective way. The corporate objectives and strategic priorities have a common purpose – to serve the customers and meet their needs.
The strategic priorities constitute the wish to be innovative; they form a company mini-strategy (MOS
),
together with the company mission and objectives. The mini-strategy helps develop a company strategy, as a whole
MOS : Mission /Objectives
/Strategic priorities
MOS
is known to represent “a managerial bridge” between the strategy and tactics; it helps set the mind at company’s main goals in everyday activities.
To sum up, it is worth noting that corporate mission must be realistic, concrete and specialized. It must stimulate staff to do business for their company and customers. The vision, in turn, reflects the company’s foresight and identifies its future development for 5-10 years. The company management transforms the mission and vision into strategic objectives.
As for image,
it is a concrete figurative idea (external and internal) that helps to understand the point and goal of company’s activity. Company image should demonstrate its ability to gain stable positioning in competitive market. In other words, image represents a firm’s corporate identity.
As “Marks and Spenser” Co. states: “Our mission is our basic customer benefits. We respect them and meet their needs providing them for maximum service”. Peter Drucker? The famous guru in management, prices “M&S” as the best world company in the sphere of management. He notes that its course intends the stable growth and success.
What is success? How can we define it?
Every large-scale company follows “a spin of success”:
- definition of effective demand;
- concentration on the problem;
- competence;
- success.
The main problem is in the centre of a spin, i.e. the main problem definition
. It is one of the most important parts; the more is known about it, the better. In other words, it is an effective demand – the strongest demand in the market. A company should find it, decide what to do for its satisfaction and, finally do it better than its competitors.
The next step is concentration on the problem
. A company starts making decisions and … “the spin starts turning”.
The third stage is a competence.
In fact, any company needs to be competent in solving the problem and taking business direction.
A set of competences has been developed;
1. Relationship building establishes mutual understanding and builds long-term relationships with key decision makers;
2. Professional judgment - knows who the “real client is at all times and uses this knowledge to operate effectively.
1.Task management skills – control the process of delivery to the client.
2.Team skills – encourages openness and co-operating working;
3. People development – gives staff responsibility and autonomy appropriate to their level of competence.
1. Drive and commitment to results –goes beyond client’s expressed requirements and meets their real need.
2. Resilience – recover crisis situations; is resourceful at time of pressure and stress.
1.Communication skills – speaks clearly and with impact( influence);
2. Social confidence – is perceived to enjoy the company of a wide range of people.
1.Analytical thinking – analyses large amounts of complex data, extracts essentials;
2. Proactive thinking –comes forward with ideas unprompted by clients.
While in operation, a company should be able to analyze its customers, competitors, changes if the environment it acts in, and to control its activities by answering the questions: What impedes (prevents) the profitability increase? After that it can define its corporate strategy.
Only then a company faces its business success. Developing spiral, success attracts the new success, like a magnet.
The company’s success depends on how all its strategies match its corporate mission. In turn, it is extremely important for the top management to have a clear understanding of corporate mission in order to create a basis for formulating corporate strategy.
The most important task of top management is to motivate the personnel, instill self-confidence in staff, and make guiding line turn into accessible objectives.
1. What is meant by the mini-strategy and vision?
2. What’s special about mission and why is it so vital?
3. Why are your company’s objectives so important?
4. What are the strategic priorities?
5. What can be considered as a bridge between the strategy and practice?
6. Why is it difficult for company to do the strategic choice?
7. In what way can a company achieve its goals?
8. Why is it important to watch over a company image?
9. What is meant by “a spin of success”?
10. What competences are essential for a manager to be a success?
Vocabulary to Unit 2
4.
destiny
n
судьба, предназначение
5.
in
course
of
time
в ходе времени; по прошествии времени
6.
vision
statement
заявление о мировоззренческой концепции компании
7.
inspiration
n
1) вдохновляющая идея; 2) влияние, воздействие
8.
framework
n
1) структура, строение; 2) система взглядов, рамки
With the framework of smth
– в рамках, в пределах чего-л.
9.
apply
v
применять, использовать, употреблять (
to
)
10.
articulate
v
ясно выражать, излагать, формулировать
11.
guru
n
учитель, наставник, ведущий специалист
12.
intention
n
намерение
13. key
-
mission
n
основная миссия
14.
set
the
direction
определять направление развития, цель
15.
level
of
demand
1) уровень требования; 2) уровень спроса
16.
craft
(
a
vision
)
проявить мастерствов определении концепции компании
17.
dare
v
1)осмеливаться, сметь; 2)пренебрегать опасностью, рисковать; 3) бросать вызов кому-л.
18.
capture
n
захват, поглощение
capture
v
захватить силой, завладеть. e
.
g
.
to
capture
the
attention
привлечь внимание
19.
passion
n
здесь:
пыл, энтузиазм
20
. destination
n
предназначение, назначение, цель
21.
acquaint
(with
) v
1)знакомить; 2) извещать, информировать.
22.
expenditure
n
расходы, издержки, траты
23. target
n
цель
24.
elaborate
v
1)детально разрабатывать,2) конкретизировать, развивать, уточнять
25
. survival
n
выживание, долговечность
26
. forecast
n
предсказание, прогноз, прогнозирование
27
. preference
n
предпочтение, преимущество
28.
intention
n
намерение
29.
permanent
adj
.
постоянный, долговременный
30.
priorities
n
,
pl
приоритеты
31.
productive
capacity
- производственная мощность
32.
expenditure
n
затраты, издержки, расходы
33. standard of living
уровеньжизни
34accomplish goals
достичьцелей
35.
with
regard
to
в отношении чего-либо, касательно
36.
be
a
useful
tool
быть полезным орудием, инструментом
37.
concrete
adj
.
конкретный, определенный
38.
measurable
adj
.
измеримый, умеренный, не особенно большой
39.
accessible
adj
.
доступный, понятный, достижимый, поддающийся
40.
be
common
adj
.
быть общепринятым, распространенным
41.
evidently
adv
.
несомненно, явно, очевидно
42.
be
innovative
проявлять новаторские качества
43.
be
obligatory
быть обязательным
44.
diversity
of
objectives
многообразие целей, устремлений
45
official
confirmation
официальное подтверждение
46.
match
the
goal
соответствовать цели
47.
compatibility
совместимость, сочетаемость
48.
set
the
mind
решиться сделать что-либо
49. official confirmation
официальное подтверждение
50. compatibility
n
совместимость, сочетаемость
51. foresight
n
предвидение, дальновидность, предусмотрительность
52
. figurative
adj.
образный, символический, фигуральный
53.
corporate
identity
отличительная черта, своеобразие, лицо компании
54.
perceive
v
воспринимать, осознавать, постигать. Syn
: realize, become aware
55. proactive thinking
упреждающеемышление
No one existing organization can ignore the influenceof the environment. A company is not an isolated economic unit which operates in the general economic system; the components of external and internal environment affect it. This influence one cannot overestimate. The firm lies at the heart of economics; there is a close interaction between the business system (a firm) and various factors (e.g.,
environmental components). These aspects are vital for the success and dynamic development; to create the efficient marketing offerings (in product and service) and efficient control a company should take them into account. In fact, any company’s activity is dependant on the external environmental factors; the most important of them are as follows:
Economics, Politics, Market, Technology, Social factor, International factor. Law and Nature.
There are two types of the external
environment, which impact any company’s activity: direct-action environment
and indirect-action environment
Direct-action environment:
suppliers, consumers, unions, competitors. The direct-action environment represents the immediate firm’s environment and impacts its activities. The business environment and company’s activities interact and adapt one for another.
Indirect-action environment:
law and government factors, economic conditions, political factors technology, socio-cultural factors, international factors.
The external environment is very complex, and it is the task of company management to take it into account and react to it. The external environment has its features: volatility; uncertainty;
interrelatedness; complexity.
In fact, in today’s market, any company has to deal with the inflation, competitors, public values, government policy etc.
The internal
environment of an organization bears a relation to the structure, objectives, business processes, technology and people.
Actually, a company produces goods and services, organizes sales and gets the profit. In other words, it realizes the aims of its activity by taking a responsible attitude towards the environmental changes. It is an important area for study and management because of problems all firms face in their activities.
The team of executives should take the both: the external and internal environment factors into consideration.
Moreover, the changes in the environment must lead to changes in a company
strategy, if a company wants to achieve its objectives and survive.
Generally, every company can be defined by variety of aspects:
- Name of a company.
- Type of proprietorship.
- Year of foundation.
- Years in business.
- Headquarters.
- Core product/service.
- Growth rate.
- Workforce.
- Turnover.
- Current and future projects.
Some firms include in a company description as well their pre-tax profits, market share, target market, strengths and weaknesses, opportunities and threats, image and business strategy, management style, recent and future developments.
However briefly, a company can present the information about its:
- Location
- MOS (mission, objectives, strategic priorities).
- Business strategy
- Business activity
- Markets
- Product range
- Turnover
- Workforce
Some managers consider an organization to be like a triangle.
Money
Personnel
In fact, the basic components of any organization are:
- people that work for an organization;
- objectives that an organization has to achieve;
- management that enforces the personnel to achieve these objectives.
No doubt, an organization is, first of all, a social institute. The key role of its management is the mobilization of all resources for achievement of basic objectives, effective adaptation to the environmental changes, and decision-making.
Any organization has the following resources at its disposal: human; material; energy; financial; informational; technological; time.
All these resources ensure its stable work. The main aspect here is the human one, it provides creativity, produces economic results, and is inexhaustible. The process of management should be focused on mobilization of all resources that could lead to the optimum result with minimum costs.
Before developing its strategy, a company should consider all its strong and weak points, pool all corporate resources, which enlarge or limit its spectrum of possibilities.
The effective strategy ensures the best correlation between the market conditions and company resources.
In fact, any organization is known to create value for their clients through the sphere of its activities. The value can be calculated according to the number
of buyers, willing to pay for a company’s product
. Actually, a firm starts to organize its entire value chain by managing its activities, and finally, gains the competitive advantage. The firm’s value chain is closely connected with the whole value system.
Supplier Value Chains – Firm Value Chains – Channel Value chains – Buyer Value Chains.
There are many points of interaction between all there links that represent the independent activities.
1. What are the external environmental aspects?
2. Can you name the factors of direct and indirect-action environment?
3. What is meant by a business environment?
4. Why can no one existing firm ignore the influence of the environment?
5. In what way can a company take the environment aspects in account?
6. What factors constitute the base for threats and opportunities?
7. What are the aims of a company activity?
8. Why a protection of environment so important for a company?
10.Why the protection of the environment vital for the future generations?
11. What are your company’s activities?
12. What kind of resources does any company use?
13. What points should a company take into account before developing its strategy?
14. What are the resources, which enlarge company possibilities?
15. Which of resources can limit a spectrum of possibilities?
16. What is a value chain?
17. Do you agree that the most important component of every firm is its personnel?
Unit 4 Planning
1. Goals.
Goals are specific accomplishments that must be accomplished in total, or in some combinations, in order to achieve some larger, overall results preferred from the system, for example, the mission of an organization.
2. Strategies or activities.
These are the methods or processes required in total, or in some combination, to achieve the goals.
3.
Objectives.
Objectives are specific accomplishments that must be acco0mplished in total, or in some combinations, to achieve the goals in the plan. Objectives are usually “milestones” along the way when implementing the strategies.
4.
Tasks.
Particularly in small organizations, people are assigned various tasks required to implement the plan. If the scope of the plan is very small, tasks and activities are often essentially the same.
5.
Resources (and Budgets
). Resources include the people, materials, technologies, money, etc., required to implement the strategies or processes. The costs of these resources are often depicted in the form of a budget.
No doubt, planning plays a vital role in company management. Any company has objectives and it plans to achieve then. One of the key tasks of the top management of a company is to make major decisions affecting the future of the organization. Before planning its future, every company should define its strengths, what it can do best of all. For example, top management must decide which markets to enter and which to pull out off; how expansion is to be financed; whether new products will be developed within the organization or acquired by buying other companies.
Before doing any kind of strategic planning, the management must decide what is the mission and purpose of their organization, what it should be in the future. Deciding the mission and purpose is the foundation of any planning process.
Having decided on its mission and purpose, an organization will have to work out certain more specific objectives. As soon as it has established its more specific, medium-term objectives, the company can draw up corporate plan. Its purpose is to indicate the strategies the management will use to achieve its objectives.
Usually, a company plans, conducts research and controls to minimize its risk, found out its customers’ needs and take important decisions; all this is the essential part of running the successful business.
Planning takes into consideration:
- objectives;
- ways to achieve them;
- resources needed;
- timing and control.
Planning must be based on reliable data of marketing research. There are strategic
, operational
and tactical
types of planning, they impact on each other, but there effects differ: operational and tactical plans can be changed without changing strategy, but if the strategic plan is altered, the tactical and operational plans are to be changed as well. In most cases plans should be modified according to the relevant market situation.
It is worth noting that sometimes planning is based on the following:
- good understanding of your firm’s future;
- precise marketing planning
- passion;
- all ideas must be reasonable and clear cut.
In fact, passion can make damage to strategic planning. Someone else can invent the same thing while you test your invention again and again. Additionally, many executives who try to think reasonably and directly are short of silly ideas. These ideas might look stupid just at the first glance, but they prove to be clever in the course of time, having been used in marketing policy.
In reality, in the process of planning we are often wrong not about the conclusions, but about the intentions. Realistic results can be received from a mixture of facts and figures, calculations and discussions to ensure the effectiveness. Whatever parts of marketing planning we use, we can see that every part plays its own important role.
In fact, planning is a continuous process; it needs a lot of information. The purpose of planning is to show where a firm is at a given moment and where it is going if it faces no big changes. Moreover, it must show where a company should go in the light of market changes, and when it should get there.
The purpose of strategic planning is vary wide and includes thorough analysis.
There are various kinds of analyses, which help a company to plan its activity.
The situational analysis
examines the company’s positioning in a market with regard to internal and external marketing environment. It deals with the factual market position, customer behavior, competitors, suppliers and intermediaries. It is a kind of “a snap-short” of company’s actual activity
STEEP
analysis investigates the s
ocial-demographic, t
echnological, e
conomic, e
cological, e
thical and p
olitical factors; in other words, it is the analysis of company’s macro- environment.
SWOT
analysis: Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats, reveals the strong and weak features of a company, its market opportunities and threats. The Strengths and Weaknesses represent the internal characteristics, which a company can control, whereas the Opportunities and Threats represent the external characteristics; these factors are beyond company control.
All these analyses prepare the process of planning. The environmental
analysis and marketing audit
lead to the objectives as the starting point of the marketing plan.
Some examples of objectives are as follows:
- profitability objectives;
- objectives for survival;
- market share objectives;
- objectives for growth, etc.
All of them must be very SMART:
- S
pecific;
- M
easurable;
- A
chievable;
- R
ealistic;
- T
imed.
Whether the system is an organization, department, business, project, etc. the basic planning process typically includes similar nature of activities carried out in similar sequence. In a large corporation, the following phases would be carried out in the corporate offices, in each division, department, group, etc. However, these phases do not comprise the complete, ideal planning process.
1. Reference Overall Singular Purpose (“Mission”)
During planning, planners are to have in mind (consciously or unconsciously) some overall purpose or result that the plan is to achieve. For example, during strategic planning it’s critical to reference the mission, or overall purpose of the organization.
2. Take Stock Outside and Inside the System
.
This “taking stock” is always done to some extent, whether consciously or unconsciously,. For example, during strategic planning, it’s important to conduct an environmental scan. This scan usually involves considering various driving forces, major influences that might effect the organization.
3.
Analyze the Situation.
For example, during strategic planning, planners often conduct “a SWOT analysis”. During this analysis, planners also can use a variety of assessments, or methods to “measure”, for example, the health systems.
4.
Establish Goals.
Based on the analysis and alignment to the overall mission of the system, planners establish a set of goals that build on strengths to take advantage of opportunities, while building up weaknesses and warding off threats.
5. Establish Strategies to Reach Goals.
The particular strategies (or methods to reach the goals) chosen depend on matters, affordability, practicality and efficiency.
6. Establish Objectives Along the Way to Achieving Goals.
Objectives are selected to be timely and indicative of progress toward goals.
7. Associate Responsibilities and Time Lines With Each Objective.
Responsibilities are assigned, including for implementation of the plan, and for achieving various goals and objectives. Ideally, deadlines are set for meeting each responsibility.
8. Write and Communicate a Plan Document.
The above information is organized and written in a document which is distributed around the system.
9. Acknowledge and Celebrate Accomplishment of the Plan.
This step is frequently forgotten, which can lead to increasing frustration and skepticism on the part of those people who are responsible to carry out the plan.
Text 4. How to Ensure Successful Planning and Implementation.
Guidelines
A common failure in many kinds of planning is that the plan is never really implemented. Instead, all focus is on writing a plan document. Too often, the plan is put aside collecting dust on a shelf. Therefore, most of the following guidelines help to ensure, that planning process is carried out completely and is implemented completely.
1. Involve the right people in the planning process
. It is critical that all parts of the system continue to exchange feedback in order to function effectively. Get Input from everyone who will be responsible to carry out parts of the plan, along with representative from groups who will be affected by the plan.
2. Write down the planning information and communicate it widely
. Even if managers do communicate their intention verbally, chances are great that others won’t completely hear or understand what the manager wants to be done. Also, as plans change, it’s extremely difficult to remember who is supposed to be doing what and according to which version of the plan. Therefore, it’s critical to write plans down and communicate them widely.
3. Goals and Objectives should be SMARTER
. A SMARTER goal or objective is:
Specific
:
For example, it is difficult to know what someone should be doing if they are to pursue the goal to “work harder”. It’s easier to recognize “Write a paper”.
Measurable
. It’s difficult to know what the scope of “Writing a paper” really is. It’s easier to appreciate that effort if the goal is “Write a 30-page paper”.
Acceptable
. If I’m to take responsibility for pursuit of a goal, the goal should be acceptable to me.
Realistic.
Even if I do accept responsibility to pursue a goal that is specific and measurable, the goal won’t be useful to me if, for example, the goal is to “Write a 30-page paper in the next 10 minutes”.
Time frame
. It will mean more to others if I specify that I will write one page a day for 30 days, rather than including the possibility that I’ll write all 30 pages in last days of the 30-day period..
Extending
. The goal should stretch the performer’s capabilities. For example, I might be more interested in writing a 30-page paper if the topic of the paper will extend my capabilities.
Rewarding,
I’m more inclined to write a paper if the paper will contribute to an effort in such way that I might be rewarded for my effort.
4. Regularly review who’s going what and by when?
Plans should specify who is responsible for achieving each result, including goals and objectives. Dates should be set for completion of each result, as well. Responsible parties should regularly review status of the plan.
5. Note deviations from the plan and replan accordingly.
It’s OK to deviate from plan. The plan is not a set of rules. It’s overall guideline. So it’s important to notice any deviations and adjust them to the plan accordingly.
6. Evaluate planning process and the plan
.
During the planning process regularly collect feedback from participants. During regular reviews of implementation of the plan, assess if goals are being achieved or not. Finally, take 10 minutes to write down how the planning process could have been done better, file it away and read it next time you conduct the planning process.
7. Recurring planning process is at least as important as plan document.
Far too often, primary emphasis is placed on the plan document. This is extremely unfortunate because the real treasure of planning is the planning process itself. During planning, planners learn a great deal from ongoing analysis, reflection, discussion, debates and dialogues around issues and goals in the system.
8.Acknowledgement and celebration.
It’s easy for planners to become tired and even cynical about the planning process. One of the reasons for this problem is likely that far too often, emphasis is placed on achieving the results. The process can seem like having to solve one problem after another, with no real end in sight. Acknowledge that the process at this stage has really come to end and celebrate your accomplishment!!
Executive support in strategic planning implementation is critical to its success. Executives must lead, support, follow-up, and live the results of the strategic planning implementation process. These are additional ways executive leaders can support the strategic planning implementation process. .
- Sponsor portions of the planning or the strategic planning process, as an involved participant, to increase active involvement and interaction with other organization members.
- If personal or managerial actions or behaviors require change for the vision statement, mission statement, values, and goals to take hold in the organization, “model” the new behaviors and actions. (Senior managers must walk the talk.)
- Establish a structure which will support the move to a more strategically thinking and acting organization. This may take the form of a Steering Committee, Leadership Group, Core Planning Team or Guiding Coalition.
- Change the measurement systems, reward, and recognition systems to measure and reward the accomplishment of the new expectations established through the strategic planning process.
- Develop a performance development planning process within your performance management system to communicate, reinforce, and provide a structure that supports the articulation and accomplishment of the strategic planning goals.
- While every person in your organization cannot make their voice heard on every issue within the strategic planning, you must solicit and act upon feedback from other members of the organization. Integral in the strategic planning process must be the commitment of each executive to discuss the process and the plans with staff members. Too often, executives hold information closely and consolidate their own dysfunctional power within the organization at the expense of other company employees’ feelings. (And then they ask: how can I get my staff to “buy-in” to these new expectations?)
- Recognize the human element inherent in any change – the change from reactionary to strategic thinking is a huge leap. People have different needs and different ways of reacting to change. They need time to deal with and adjust to change.
- If training is part of the strategic plan, senior leaders must participate in the training that other organization members attend, but, even more importantly, they must exhibit their “learning” from the sessions, readings, interactions, tapes, books or research.
- Lastly, and of immense significance, be honest and worthy of trust.
Throughout the strategic planning process, treat people with the same respect you expect from them. And you will enjoy the 29 percent greater return than non-strategic planning companies, predicted earlier. With your vision statement, mission statement, values, strategies, goals, and action plans developed and shared, you’ll all win, both personally and professionally.
1. Name some basic terms used in the process of planning and explain their meaning.
2. Explain why does the planning in company management play a vital role?
3. What should planners take into consideration before starting the planning process?
4. What types of planning do you know an what are their effects?
5. What are the main points of different types of analyses?
6. Name some typical phases in planning process.
7. What are guidelines to successful planning?
8. How can executives support planning implementation process?
1. accomplishment
C,
n.
достижение, успех
Syn.: achievement, progress
2.
overall
results
общие, суммарные результаты
3.
milestone
C, n
веха, верстовой столб
4. assign
tasks
давать задания, поручения,
5.
scope
C, n
масштаб, размах, область действия
Syn
.:
range
,
scale
,
size
6. depict
v
изображать
Syn.: describe, to picture
7. pull
out
v
выйти из к-либо предприятия, отказаться от участия
8.
expansion
C, n
расширение, рост, развитие
9.
acquire
v
приобретать, покупать
Syn.: get, obtain.
10.
medium
-
term
adj
.
среднесрочный
11. impact
v
сильно воздействовать, влиять
12. passion
C
,
n
здесь
: энтузиазм, страстность
13. think reasonably
мыслитьздраво
14. in
the light of
… в свете ( чего-либо)
15.
market
positioning
позицирование товара, компании на рынке
16.
with
regard
to
относительно, в отношении, касательно
Syn.: with respect to, in respect of, concerning
17.
snap
-
shot
C, n
моментальный снимок
18.
strength
C, n
сила, достоинство, сильная сторона
19.
weakness
C, n
слабое место, недостаток
20.
opportunities
Pl,n
возможности, перспективы
21.
reveal
v
обнаруживать, показывать
22.
beyond
prep
по ту сторону, за пределами
23.
sequence
C, n
последовательность, очередность
24.
reference
v
делать ссылку на что-либо, упоминать
25. overall singular purpose
единаявсеобъемлющаяцель
26.
have
in
mind
помнить, держать в уме
27.
take
stock
1)критически оценивать; делать переучет товара
28.
to
some
extent
до некоторой степени, в некотором роде
29.
conduct
a
scan
провести исследование, внимательно изучить
30.
driving
forces
движущие силы
31.
alignment
C, n
выверка, выравнивание, регулировка
Syn.: adjustment
32.
build
up
weaknesses
здесь
: устранить, заблокировать слабые
слабые места, недостатки
33.
ward
off
threats
отражать /отвращать опасности/угрозы
34.
affordability
доступность, возможность позволить себе
35.
frustration
C, n
чувство неудовлетворенности, срыв (планов)
Syn.: disappointment
36.
pursue
a
goal
преследовать цель
37.
pursuit
C, n
стремление, поиски
38.
to
stretch
capabilities
увеличивать/усиливать способности,
потенциальные возможности.
39.
guideline
C, n
общий курс, направление, генеральная линия
40.
deviate
from
…
v
отклоняться от чего-либо
41.
recurring
process
периодический, повторяющийся процесс
42.
reflection
здесь:
размышление, обдумывание
43.
acknowledgement
n
подтверждение, признание
44.
Steering
Committee
организационный, подготовительный комитет
45.
guiding
coalition
руководящая группа, коалиция
46.
expectations
pl
,
n
надежды, ожидаемые результаты
47. reinforce
v
укреплять, усиливать
Syn.: strengthen, intensify
48.
solicit
v
требовать, запрашивать
Syn.: demand
49.
act
(
up
)
on
v
действовать в соответствии с чем-либо
Unit 5. On Management and Managers.
Nowadays the English word “management” is well known all over the world. It means “управление” in the Russian language. The definition of management is the central point of discussion today. It is undoubtedly that there is the difference between what is meant by “management” and by administration. Harold Koonz, the theorist of management, gives the following definition: “Managing is the art of getting things done through and with people in formally organized groups”. E.F.L Brech offers another definition: “Management is a social process entailing responsibility for the effective and economical planning and regulation of the operation of the enterprise”.
Some authors view management as a skill whereas the other theorists state that it is an art. What is not a doubt is the fact that management is both: the skill and the art of directing human activities by the achievement of predetermined goals. It deals with the process of making decisions.
As for “administration”, it is not easy to define and made clear the distinction between that and management. “Administration” is used in the field of narrower activity of regulation day-to-day operations of any organizational section. It is also used to describe the various top functions in public service; it is the part of management and it is rarely taken to be involved in decision policy-making. Finally, it should be noted that “management” and “administration” are in close interrelation.
Senior executive officers ( general and top functional managers)
Middle management (departmental managers)
The purpose of management
follows from the main objective of business activity: that is the profit maximization. The desire for money obliges entrepreneurs look for new management techniques or use the better from the old ones to protect their business interest.
But it isn’t the sole management objective;
the other objectives are subservient to this. There is a number of interested parties to formulate the objectives: not only managers and stock holders but also: consumers, suppliers, employees etc. Therefore, management must unite the interests of all these groups. So, management objectives can be seen to be socio-economic
. The organizational policy is shaped out of the combination of objectives and social factors. It is true to say that top managers develop the policy and objectives, according to the accepted firm’s philosophy, so, the agreeing and policy formulating are the important responsibilities of any objectives executives.
It is sufficient to say that the objectives
represent what a company has to achieve and policy
is how to go about achieving them.
In a traditional company there are policy committees: the finance committee, the marketing committee, the personnel committee, the production committee and so on. They coordinate all the efforts for successful policy-making process. In the modern rapid technological development and change, any organization must have specific and clear goals to be profitable and successful.
According to Peter Drucker, success is the result of doing the right thing
, whereas the effectiveness is caused by doing things right.
Taking into account that management concept, a team of executives ensures the complete way of running business.
It is commonly stated that the theorists consider management in many aspects:
MANAGEMENT:
AS FUNCTIONS (ACTIVITIES);
AS PROCESS;
AS MANAGEMENT ORGAN;
AS CATEGORY OF PEOPLE;
AS SCIENCE AND ART
Experience shows that the main management components are as follows:
Organizational structure, HRM, Finance, Business plan, Marketing economy, Logistics.
Strategic management is one of the special parts of management. It is aimed at the mission, external environmental problems, long-range planning, people, information technologies, at strategy development and its implementation in the market in the situation of changing environment.
One of the main aims of strategic management is to make people to things efficiently, the essence of its functions is coordination of all individual efforts fro the achieving company’s strategic objectives.
The five major goals of strategic management are shown below:
As for the five functions of strategic management
, they are as follows:
- Strategy planning;
- Organization of strategic plans implementation;
- Coordination of actions by strategic plans implementation
- Motivation by results achieving;
- Control of strategy implementation.
In fact, for any company it is vital to have its strategic vision,
so the executives have to answer the basic questions: How do we see our company? What are we going to do and to achieve? In What way can we achieve our objectives?
The strategic management principle, known in the best-managed companies, is: to achieve a sustainable competitive advantage, which contributes to a company performance better than the short-term profitability.
It is obviously that at first a company conducts the analysis of the environment, formulates its vision, mission and objectives, then it determines its strategic priorities, in other words it forms the mini-strategy of a company (MOS – mission, objectives, and strategic priorities).
The next step is the choice of techniques a company uses to achieve goals.
Doing so, a company determines the chain of actions for its staff for its successful operation into the market..
Taking all this into consideration, a company forms the strategic plan, formulates its strategy and starts its implementation. This plan represents the so-called “time schedule” of the company for a long period. The strategy implementation is a dynamic process, and the firm should control it continuously, taking into account the current situation. A company, willing to succeed, should analyze and estimate the results of its strategic plan, and include the proper changes in its implementation.
All these steps are of vital importance and they are in close interaction with each other. In no doubt is the fact that strategic management determines the company policy in a whole.
Additionally, it is well known that company uses the operational management
considering the internal resources, and the entire company activity is based on the results of strategic management. Strategic management and operational management can be viewed as the two sides of the same coin. The main differences between them are as follows:
The main goal of a strategic management
is the company survival in the long-term perspective, whereas the main task of the operational management
is producing of product to ensure its profitability.
The strategic management
is concerned at (with)
the external resources; the operational management i
s concerned with (at) company’s internal recourses.
The basis of a strategic management
includes personnel, information system and market; the basis of the operational management
involves functions, organization structure, technologies etc. As it was said above, despite the differences, these two kinds of management are closely connected and necessary; they interact continually.
For the successful running of business, strategic management must beimplemented byskilled and professional managers, who:
- Upgrade their skills in the strategic planning, strategy development, implementation and evaluation;
- Create the enabling environment for organizational growth and staff development;
- Apply their knowledge from the policy to practice.
In fact, the quality of company’s activity depends on the professionalism of its managers, and the significant improvement in management sometimes contributes more than any other factor.
In Conclusion, let us list some of the necessary managerial qualities and competences needed to master the strategic management:
- professional competence;
- good interpersonal and communication skills;
- analytical thinking;
- ability to manage people and time;
- knowledge of foreign languages;
- ability to compete efficiently.
Those are the most important competence, which any manager must master.
As for a span of control, it refers to the number of subordinates of a manager; six is the optimal number here. Six subordinates can be supervised by a manager most effective, but it depends on the business situation.
However, it is fair to say that managers are known to call innovative, daring, imaginative and even geniuses, if their decisions lead to the great results, but when their predictions haven’t come true, they can be called reckless, talentless and even charlatans. In making decisions, managers have to deal with huge numbers of unknown and uncertain factors and risk by conducting research of the competitive market. Nevertheless, they must exercise thought and judgment in order to introduce staff to support the company policy.
The ability to develop and implement effective strategies, procedures and work processes turned top management into the ruling business class of the 21st
century. The traditional economies consider managers become the driving force in a global business environment.
Our society is made up of all kinds of organizations, such as companies, government departments, unions, hospitals, school and the like. In all these organizations there are people carrying out the work of a manager although they do not always have that title. They have responsibility to use the resources of their organizations effectively and economically to achieve objectives.
Are there certain activities common to all managers? Can we define the task of a manager? There is a classic definition of the manager’s role. It says: “To manage means to forecast
and plan
, to organize
, to command
, to coordinate
and to control.
”
This definition is still accepted by many people today, though some writer on management have somewhat modified this description. Instead of talking about command
, they say a manager mustmotivate
ordirect
and lead
other workers.
In most companies, the activities of a manager depend on the level at which he/she is working.
Top managers
such as the chairman and directors are more involved in long range planning, policy making and the relations of the company with the outside world. They make decisions on the future of the company, the sort of product lines it should develop, how it should face up to the competition, whether it should diversify etc. These strategic decisions are part of the planning function mentioned in classic definition.
Top managers: president, vice-president, chief executive officer (CEO) and members of the Board.
Middle management and supervisors
are
generally making the day-to-day decisions which help an organization to run efficiently and smoothly. They must respond to the pressures of the job which may mean dealing with an unhappy customer, chasing up supplies, meeting an urgent order or sorting out a technical problem. Managers at this level spend a great deal of time communicating, coordinating and making decisions affecting the daily operation of their organizations.
Middle management includes: division manager, department head, plant manager and operation manager.
Across the same levels in the organization we can find, a project manager,
who is in charge of developing a certain project; a functional manager
, who is charge of a major function, such as a department in the organization; a product manager,
who is charge of a group of closely related products. General Managers
are in charge of numerous functions within an organization or department.
First- line managers
are those who coordinate and supervise the activity of operating employees. They spend most of their time working with employees, answering questions and solving day-today problems. Most first-line managers are former operating employees who were promoted into management. Common titles for first-line managers include: office manager, supervisor, foreman, and project manager.
In the opinion of Peter Drucker, a famous American writer on management, managers perform five basic operations.
Firstly, managers set o
bjectives.
They decide what these objectives should be and how the organization can achieve them. For this task, they need analytical ability.
Secondly, managers organize.
They must decide how the resources of the company are to be used, how the work is to be classified and divided. Furthermore, they must select right people for the jobs to be done. For this, they not only need analytical ability but also understanding of human beings
.
The third task is to motivate
and communicate
effectively. They must be able to get people to work as a team, and to be as productive as possible. To do this, they will be communicating effectively with all levels of the organization – their supervisors, colleagues and subordinates. To succeed in this task, managers need social skills
.
The fourth activity is measurement.
Having set targets and standards, managers have to measure the performance of the organization, and of its staff, in relation to those targets. Measuring requires analytical ability.
Finally, managers develop people
, including themselves. They help to make people more productive, and to grow as human beings
. They make them bigger and richer persons.
Successful people are not necessarily people who are liked or who get on well with
others. They are people who command the respect
of workers and who set high standards. Good managers need not be geniuses but must bring characte
r to the job.
There are four major functions of managers: planning, organizing, leading and coordinating and controlling.
1) Planning
includes identifying goals, objectives, methods, resources needed to carry out methods, responsibilities and dates for completion of tasks. Examples of planning are strategic planning, business planning, project planning, work force planning, promotions planning etc.
2) Organizing resources
in order to achieve the goals in an optimal fashion. Examples are organizing new departments, human resources, office and file systems, re-organizing business, etc.
3) Leading
includes setting direction for the organization, groups and individuals and influencing people to follow this direction.
4) Coordinating
the organization’s systems, processes and structures to reach effectively and efficiently goals and objectives.
5) Controlling
includes constant monitoring and adjustment of systems, processes and structures accordingly. Examples include use of financial control, performance management processes, measures to avoid risks etc.
A role is one of several behaviours a manager displays as he/she functions in the organization.
There are ten kinds of roles managers play in their organizations:
Interpersonal roles:
executive; leader; connective.
Information roles
: receiver; disseminator; representative.
Decision making roles
: entrepreneur; remover; negotiator.
Sometimes a manager has to “wear different hats” in interaction with various members of the organization. Below some of the role will be named:
1.Figurehead role.
As a head of a unit, the manager must perform certain ceremonial duties. He may be requires to entertain visitors, attend a subordinate’s wedding or jubilee celebrations, or participate in a group luncheon.
2.Leadership role.
Manager plays this role by working to improve employees’ performance, reducing conflicts, providing feedback on performance, and encouraging growth.
3.Liaison role
. Managers interact with others besides superiors and subordinates; they work with peer level managers in other departments, staff specialists, other department employees and outside contacts.
4.Monitor role.
The manager is constantly monitoring the environment to determine what is going on. He collects information both directly, by asking questions, and indirectly, through unsolicited information.
5.Spokesperson or Representative Role.
The manager speaks for his/her work unit to people outside the work unit. One part of this role is to keep superiors well informed and a second aspect is to communicate outside the organization.
6.Entrepreneur Role.
In this role the manager initiates activities that will allow and encourage the work unit to use the ideas or methods most advantageously.
7.Disturbance Handler Role.
If some parts of the work environment, such as schedules, equipment, contracts, etc. get out of control, the manager must handle these crises as they develop.
8. Resource Allocator role.
The manager is responsible for determining who in the work unit gets the resources, and how much each person gets. These resources include money, facilities, equipment, and access to the manager’s time.
9. Negotiator Role.
Managers are required to spend a good portion of their time in this role. Negotiating may be required on contracts with suppliers or on reallocating resources inside the organization, and so on.
The hallmark of good supervision is effective delegation. Delegation is when supervisors give responsibility and authority to subordinates to complete a task, and let the subordinates to figure out how the task can be accomplished.. Effective delegation develops people who are ultimately more fulfilled and productive. Managers become more fulfilled and productive themselves as they learn to count on their staffs and are freed up to attend to more strategic issues.
Delegation is often very difficult for new supervisors, particularly if they have had to scramble to start the organization or start a major new product or service themselves. Many managers want to remain comfortable, making the same decisions they have always made. They don’t want to risk losing any of their power and stature (ironically, they do lose these if they don’t learn to delegate effectively). Often, they don’t want to risk giving authority to subordinates in case they fail and impair the organization.
However, there are basic approaches to delegation that, with practice, become the backbone of effective supervision and development.
Below the following general steps are listed to accomplish delegation:
1. Delegate the whole task to one person
. This gives the person the responsibility and increases their motivation.
2. Select the right person
. Assess the skills and capabilities of subordinates and assign the task to the most appropriate one.
3. Clearly specify your preferred results
. Give information on what, when, who and where. You might leave the “how” to them. Write this information down.
4. Delegate responsibility and authority
- assign the task, not the method
to accomplish it
. Let the subordinate complete the task in the manner they chose, as long as the results are what the supervisor specifies. Let the employee have strong input as to the completion date of the project.. Note that you may not even know how to complete the task yourself- this is often the case with higher levels of management.
5. As an employee completes the task and renders an account to you summarize,
their impression
of the project and the results you prefer.
6. Get ongoing non-instructive feedback
about progress on the project.
This is a good reason to continue to get weekly, written status reports from all direct reports. These reports should cover what they did last week, plan to do next week and analyze potential issues. Regular employee meeting provides this ongoing feed back as well.
7. Maintain open lines communication.
Don’t hover over the subordinate, but sense what they are doing and support their checking in with you along the way.
8. If you’re not satisfied with the progress, don’t take the project back.
Continue to work with the employee and ensure they perceive the project as their responsibility.
9. Evaluate and reward performance.
Evaluate results more than method. Address insufficient performance and reward successes.
1. What is the difference between what is meant by the “administration” and “management”?
2. What points does a hierarchy of objectives of managerial objectives include?
3. Why is it important for any company to identify the economic on its management objectives?
4. What is the difference between the organizational objectives and company policy?
5. What are the key points of strategic management?
6. What is strategic management focused on?
7. Why is it vital for any company to have its strategic vision?
8. What are major steps of the effective strategic management?
10. Can you name the difference between strategic and operational management?
11. What are strategic competences?
12. Why are managers considered to be a driving force in business environment?
13. What are the activities common to all managers?
14. What are the responsibilities of top managers? Name their titles?
15. What are the responsibilities of middle managers and supervisors?
Name their titles.
16. What are the responsibilities of first-line managers? Name their job positions.
17. Name five basic operations performed by managers.
18. Describe four major functions of managers.
19. What kind of roles does a manager play in company activity?
20. What duties does a “figurehead” role imply?
21. How do you understand a “leadership” role?
22. What is meant under “monitor” role?
23. How do you understand “disturbance handler” and “liaison” roles?
24. What is the essence of delegating authority?
25. What are general steps helping to accomplish delegation?
1. get things done
добитьсявыполнениячего-либо
2. definition
C, n
определение
3. enterprise
n
предприятие
4. predetermined goals
заранееопределенныецели
5.
subservient
adj
.
подчиненный, зависимый
6.
essence
C, n
сущность, существо вопроса
7. sufficient
adj.
достаточный
8.
sustainable
adj
.
устойчивый, жизнеспособный
9.
time
schedule
график работ, расписание
10.
upgrade
v
повысить статус, качество; модернизировать
11.
enabling
Part
.
I
дающий возможность, облекающий правом
12.
daring
n
смелость, отвага, мужество
Syn
:
courage
,
boldness
13.
imaginative
adj
.
одаренный богатым воображением; воображаемый
14. genius
гений
15. prediction
C, n
предсказание
Syn: forecast
16. reckless
adj.
безответственный; необдуманный
17.
forecast
прогноз
18.
foreman
мастер, бригадир, прораб, начальник цеха
19.
set
objectives
определять цели, задачи
20.
succeed
(
in
)
v
добиться цели, результатов, преуспеть
21.
measurement
C, n
система мер, измерение
22.
target
C, n
цель, задача, план
23.
human
beings
люди, человеческие существа
24.
get
(on
…
with
) v
ладить с кем-либо
25.
command
the
respect
вызывать уважение
26.
figurehead
номинальный глава
27.
liaison
C,n
контакт, связь, посредник
28.
unsolicited
information
предоставленная добровольно информация
29.
spokesperson
C,n
представитель, оратор
30.
disturbance
handler
разрешающий проблемы
31.
hallmark
C, n
признак, клеймо
Syn: symbol
32.
scramble
v
протискиваться, пробираться с трудом
33.
stature
C, n
рост, высота, телосложение
Syn
.: height
,
build
34.
impair
v
ослаблять, снижать, портить, уменьшать
Syn
.: decrease, deteriorate
35. backbone
n
главнаяопора, основа, суть
36.
assign
v
поручать, распределять, назначать на ….
Unit 6. Leadership
Leadership is needed at all levels in organization. It is likely, however, that the leadership qualities required by a supervisor or manager are not the same as those required by the chief executive of a company. It is, therefore, difficult to define leadership satisfactory.
A typical definition is that the leader “provides direction and influences others to achieve common goals”. A chief executive must indeed give ‘direction’ but he must do much more than that. He has to create a ‘sense of excitement’ in the organization and convince staff that he knows where the business is going. In addition he must be a focus for their aspiration. As Peter Drucker, an American writer, says, “Leadership is the lifting of a man’s vision to higher sights, the raising of a man’s performance to a higher standard, the building of a man’s personality beyond its normal limitations.
When psychologists and other researchers first studied leadership, they tried to find out if leaders had special personal qualities or skills. The results of their research were disappointing. It became clear that there was not a set of qualities distinguishing leaders from non-leaders. Some studies had suggested, for example, that leaders were more intelligent, more self-confident, had better judgment etc. than other people. But, it was pointed out, that many people with these traits do not become leaders. And many leaders do not have such traits!
Professor of Psychology and Management at the University of Washington, Fred Fiedler, has identified two basic leadership styles:
Task-motivated leaders
‘tell people what to do and how to do it’. Such leader gets their satisfaction from completing the task and knowing they have done it well. They run a ‘tight ship’, give clear orders and expect clear directives from their superiors. This does not mean that they show no concern for other people. But their priority is getting the job done.
Relationship-motivated leaders
are more people-oriented. They get their satisfaction from having a good relationship with other employees. They want to be admired and liked by their subordinates. Such leaders will share responsibility with group members by encouraging subordinates to participate in decision and make suggestions.
Fred Fiedler emphasized that both styles of leadership could be effective in appropriate situations. There was no best style for all situations. Effective leadership depended on matching the leader to the task and situation.
There were identified some characteristics of senior executives of some top companies, which made them good leaders. Firstly,
the leaders were ’visible’
.
They did not hide away in some ivory tower at Head Office. Instead they made regular visits to plants and sites, tours round their companies and talked to employees. Leaders made their present felt.
Besides being visible, the leaders of these top companies provided a ‘clear mission’
. In other words, they knew where the organization was going and persuaded staff to follow them. Sometimes, they spelled out the mission in written statement which covered the main principles of their organization, the clear definition of their long-term objectives and such matters like employees, clients, creativity, market position and profitability.
Finally, successful organizations have clear values
. And it is the job of the leader to show what they are. “You have to keep telling people your values. If you repeat it often enough, it does go down the line. The leader is not only someone who ‘lifts a man’s vision’. He/She must also protect and promote the organization’s values.
Leadership styles can be classified on the basis of how leaders use their authority. The three basic styles are described as autocratic, democratic and free-rein leader.
The autocratic leader
is defined as one who commands and expects compliance, who is dogmatic and positive, and who leads by the ability to withhold or give rewards and punishment.
The democratic, or participative, leader
consults with subordinates on proposed actions and decisions and encourages participation from them. This type of leader is seen as ranging from the person who does not take action without subordinates’ concurrence to the one who makes decisions but consults with subordinates before doing so.
The third type
of leader uses his or her power very little, if at all, givingsubordinates a high degree of independence, or free rein,
in their operations. Such leaders depend largely on subordinates to set their own goals and the means of achieving them, and they see their role as one of aiding the operations of followers by giving them necessary information and acting as a contact with the group’s external environment.
“A leader is best when people barely know he exists. When his work is done, they will say: we did it ourselves.”
- Lao Tzu
Leadership Defined
“Leadership is influencing people to get things done to a standard and quality above their norm and doing it willingly.”
As an element in social interaction, leadership is a complex activity involving:
1. a process of influence
2. actors who are both leaders and followers
3. a range of possible outcomes - the achievement of goals, but also the commitment of individuals to such goals, the enhancement of group cohesion and the reinforcement of change of organizational culture.
What is Leadership? Three simple one-line answers |
1. The easy answer 2. The leadership in organizations answer 3. The complex (and more accurate) answer |
| Three Levels of Leadership in Organizations |
1. Team 2. Operational 3. Strategic |
| Text 3. Characteristics of an Effective Leader |
· Gives direction, sets an example, and shares risks or hardship on an equal footing
· Wins respect without courting popularity
· Leads by example; practices what he or she preaches
· Listens with understanding; willing to discuss and solve problems; open to ideas; gives time to listen
· Supports and helps; backs you up; is on your side; remembers your problem
· Uses team approach; helps group reach better decisions; facilitates cooperation
· Avoids close supervision; does not overboss; does not dictate or rule by the book
· Delegates authority; trusts group; relies on their judgment; permits group decision; has faith in the creativity of others
· Communicates openly and honestly; tells you what he thinks; you can trust what he says
Brings out best in his men; has common touch with the work
Effective Leadership as a Source of Competitive Business Advantage
Leadership is imperative for molding a group of people into a team, shaping them into a force that serves as a competitive business advantage. Leaders know how to make people function in a collaborative fashion, and how to motivate them to excel their performance. Leaders also know how to balance the individual team member’s quest with the goal of producing synergy - an outcome that exceeds the sum of individual inputs. Leaders require that their team members forego the quest for personal best in concert with the team effort.
Text 4 Role, Task, Responsibility, and Source of Power
of a Leader
· The role
of a leader is to create followers.
· The task
of a leader is to bring about constructive and necessary change.
· The responsibility
of a leader is to bring about the change in a way that is responsive to the true and long-term needs of all stakeholders.
· The greatest source of power
available to a leader is the trust that derives from faithfully serving followers.
Learning to Lead
Effective leaders recognize that what they know is very little in comparison to what they still need to learn. To be more proficient in pursuing and achieving objectives, you should be open to new ideas, insights, and revelations that can lead to better ways to accomplishing goals. This continuous learning process can be exercised, in particular, through engaging yourself in a constant dialogue with your peers, advisers, consultants, team members, suppliers, customers, and competitors.
Leading others is not simply a matter of style, or following some how-to guides or recipes. Ineffectiveness of leaders seldom results from a lack of know-how or how-to, nor is it typically due to inadequate managerial skills. Leadership is even not about creating a great vision. It is about creating conditions under which all your followers can perform independently and effectively toward a common objective.
James O’Tool, a noted management theorist proposes a new vision of leadership in the business world - a values-based leadership that is not only fair and just, but also highly effective in today’s complex organizations. It is based on:
· your ideas and values;
· your understanding of the differing and conflicting needs of your followers;
· your ability to energize followers to pursue a better goal that they had thought possible;
· your skills in creating a values-based umbrella large enough to accommodate the various interests of followers, but focused enough to direct all their energies in pursuit of a common good.
Building Better Leaders through Attributes
Leadership attributes are the inner or personal qualities that constitute effective leadership. These attributes include a large array of characteristics such as values, character, motives, habits, traits, motives, style, behaviors, and skills.
Results
-based Leadership
What is missing in most leadership-related writings and teachings is the lack of attention to results. Most of them focus on organizational capabilities - such as adaptability, agility, mission-directed, or values-based - or on leadership competencies - such as vision, character, trust, and other exemplary attributes, competencies and capabilities. All well and good, but what is seriously missing is the connection between these critical capabilities and results1
. And this is what results-based leadership is all about: how organizational capabilities and leadership competencies lead to and are connected to desired results.
Coaching
- a Vital Skill for Leaders
The new breed of leaders recognizes that autocracy no longer works, yet that employee empowerment alone is not enough. The skills of coaching have lately been rediscovered by more effective organizations and teams. You cannot be a leader without followers, and you have to delegate appropriately. The leader is best placed to enhance the performance and learning abilities, on the job, of colleagues. Coaching aims to enhance these abilities. “It involves providing feedback, but it also uses other techniques such as motivation, effective questioning and consciously matching your management style to the coachee’s readiness to undertake a particular task”.
Text 5 .Super-Leadership
- Leading Others to Lead Themselves
Super-leaders help each of their followers to develop into an effective self-leader by providing them with the behavioral and cognitive skills necessary to exercise self-leadership. “Super-leaders establish values, model, encourage, reward, and in many other ways foster self-leadership in individuals, teams, and wider organizational cultures”.5
An important measure of a leader’s own success is the success of his or her followers. The strength of a leader is measured by the ability to facilitate the self-leadership of others. The first critical step towards this goal is to master self leadership. If leaders want to lead somebody, they must first lead themselves.
| Key Benefits of Super-Leadership |
· high team performance and flexibility · high follower development and self-confidence · high team creativity and innovation · high long-term performance · high ability of the team to work independently in absence of leader |
Why Super-Leadership? Super-leadership is a new form of leadership for the era of knowledge-based enterprises distinguished by flat organizational structures and employee empowerment. A super-leader is one who leads others to lead themselves through designing and implementing the system that allows and teaches employees to be self-leaders. “The function of leadership is to produce more leaders, not more followers” Empowered Self-Leadership The best organizations have a theory and practice of leadership that subscribes to and promotes the concept that leadership exists at all levels within the organization. “Everyone provides leadership for those responsibilities that have been assigned to them. For the highest performing organizations, even the lowest-ranked staff within an organization must assume leadership and attention to detail for their responsibilities in a manner similar to the most senior and powerful”. With super-leadership, followers are treated - and become - self-leaders. |
Text
6
. The Difference between Managing and Leading
“Understanding people will help you make the shift from managing to leading a business.”
Leaders
are the heart of business. The essence of leadership means inspiring a group to come together to common goal. Leaders motivate, console and work with people to keep them bonded and eager to move forward. That means setting a direction, communicating it to everyone who will listen (and probably many who won’t) and keeping people inspired
when times get tough.
Managers
are the brains of the business. They establish systems, create rules and operating procedures, and put in incentive programs and the like. Management, however, is about the business, not the people; the people are important as a way of getting the job done.
Most business executives and owners have a mix of management and leadership skills. Both skill sets are necessary to run a successful business. Leadership skills provide the direction,
while management skills provide the systems
that let a company grow with success.
Unless you have the luxury of hiring managers and concentrating solely on leadership, you‘ll still be managing. But now, you must also lead. And, in many ways, your leading – which produces no tangible results – is more important than your managing.
Only the top executives can set direction in a company. Setting direction is different from setting goals. A goal is concentrate and measurable. “We must sell 10 widgets
by next Tuesday” Direction is broader. Leaders set direction with a vision, a mission and operating principles that embody the company’s direction and values.
For instance, a mission statement for the imaginary “Personal Assistant Inc.” company might sound like this: “We free people from life’s drudgery, freeing them to live a life of doing only things they do best”. This mission doesn’t give measurable goals, but rather points to an overall direction – it gets people exited and moving in one direction. A Personal Assistants employee wouldn’t suddenly decide to diversify into heavy farm machinery; it doesn’t fit the mission. Yet the mission is broad enough that the company can create a rich set of offerings over many decades.
Specific projects and products may come and go, but the mission gives the company an enduring direction.
As a business owner, you need to know your business direction. It might be broad, sweepingand world-shattering.
Or it might be smaller and local. But your job is to set the direction for everyone around you and communicate it well.
People sometimes forget a company direction in the heat of excitement over a new ideas or market development that happens once or twice, it’s not a problem. But too many diversions can cause a company to lose focus and end up serving many different customers, none of them well.
Your job is to bring people back to the company direction gently and consistently and always challenge them to evaluate ideas and decisions with respect to the decision. If Personal Assistant proposes asking clients to give 24-hour notice when they have a project, the leader simply asks: “Does this help us free clients from drudgery or make more for them?” The team can then decide (or even ask customers) whether the suggestion aligns
with the mission.
Keep in mind that people easily lose sight of the big picture when they get caught up in life’s daily details. As leader, you must know how to bring them back and make sure they know the way.
There’s much more to a business leader’s job, but you’ll start off on the right foot by developing a direction, aligning your organization behind the common goal and bringing them back when they stray
.
Setting direction sounds easy, but it requires vigilance
and work. And you’re the only one who can do it. Pointing the way and rallying the troops forward are two primary responsibilities of a successful leader.
Text
7
. How to be a Successful Leader.
All good leaders have this in common, positive self-esteem. It is vital to your success as a business person and a human being. You must feel about yourself to accomplish great things and have control over your life.
1. Goals are the means to use to-reach your dreams. Do not make your goals unrealistic.
2. Use small successes to generate lager ones.
3. Keep pushing yourself to allow you to reach your full potential. There is a price to pay to be successful, and that price is hard work. Do not be afraid of it.
4. Being positive is an attitude that can be controlled by you.
5. Surround yourself with positive people and block out all negative ones you come in contact with.
6. Good habits should be second nature.
7. Make sure that every day you are in control. Be focused and don’t put things off until tomorrow. It can be a bad habit.
8. Communicating is a powerful force, and that doesn’t mean you should be doing all the talking. You must listen.
9. How you relate to people in your business is extremely important. Treat them with respect.
10. A good leader will learn from others. Do not allow your ego stop you from seeking advice from people that have been there before you. Learn from their mistakes.
11. Pressure and stress are two different animals. Pressure makes a person more focused. Stress robs you of it and harms your performance.
12. Anyone can be great for a short time, but to be successful over the duration of your life, you must be persistent. The essence of persistence is not to quit. Take this word out of your vocabulary.
13. How you handle adversity is a sign of your maturity. Do not be afraid of it, meet it head on and take immediate action, because it won’t go away by itself.
14. If you fail, accept it. You learn by failure and you’ll be better prepared and wiser the next time around.
15. Keep striving for excellence.
Text
8
. Leadership and organizational values
“Organizational values” is an over used and perhaps an abused term in companies across the world. You find a well decorated and eye catching board carrying values statement or credo statement in every executive’s room and at many prominent places in a company. Why are values so important and how are they useful for the organization?
Values signify the principles or moral standards of a person, group or organization that are considered to be valuable or important. Values are basic beliefs and convictions which govern behavior of people in their work, dealing and decision making. But is it sufficient? Is the leadership role limited to facilitating the process of strategic planning in an organization?
Organizational values establish standards of behavior, which serve to encourage or discourage certain behaviours. In other words organizational values help people to identify priorities at workplace.
Leaders are not only the source but also the most important means of establishing organizational values. Leaders not only set direction for the organization, they also establish the means to achieve the goals. These represent the beliefs and behaviours that can not be compromised for the sake of results. It is through this handle of values that leaders shape people’s behaviour and build organizational culture.
For example, Masaru Ibuka, the founder of Sony, had spelt out his ideology during 1946 – long before Sony had made its first profits, as teamwork, technological innovation, ethical and fair practices, and emphasis on ability and performance. This ideology had driven Sony for no less than three decades.
Putting the values in writing is important and more important is to create common understanding of the values in the organization. Leaders must clearly communicate why the value is important for achievement of goals. In other words leaders clarify the meaning of the quoted values for the organization. J&J credo says service to customers is their top priority, even ahead of their shareholders. The credo statement clearly articulates organization’s responsibility towards each of the stakeholder.
Leadership must very clearly specify the positive behaviours and negative behaviours with respect to the values and must put in mechanisms to encourage positive behaviours. The legendary Jack Welch’s story of linking individual performance with compliance to organizational values is well known. At GE he said that there is always a second chance for people who acted according to GE values and yet could not deliver the results. And those who achieved the results by exhibiting positive behaviours with respect to values are people who go up the ladder. Decision was equally easy with people who could not deliver on either aspects – they had only way to go – out. Difficulty was with people who delivered on performance but not believing in GE values. Such people would be warned to mend their ways and if they still persisted with their old behaviours, the direction for them was the same – out.
No matter how genuine and moral your values be, no matter how well articulated your values be, no matter how well you communicate your values, as leader, what really matters is how you behave. People see, believe and do what you do, not what you say. However well articulated and publicized your values might be, it is only when people see their leaders “living the values
”, and do they understand the spirit
behind and understand the significance of values in the game plan of the company.
Ability to “walk the talk
” is ultimate test of leaders’ character. As the famous Hewlett-Packard story demonstrates role-modeling behavior by its co-founder Bill Hewlett, when he broke open a lock put on a store room and placed the lock with a short note on the manager’s desk. The note read that locked store rooms do not reflect the HP value of respect for employees.
It is through such exemplified role modeling behavior that leaders create leaders at all levels which are in fact the extension of their own personality. The philosophy of leaders thus becomes a way of life for the organization. This is what differentiates winning leaders from the rest.
1. What does leadership consist of as an element of social interaction?
2. What is leadership?
3. Name three levels of leadership in organization?
4. What are the main characteristics of an effective leader?
5. Why is it necessary to learn how to lead?
6. What does a value-based leadership mean and what is it based on?
7. What are leadership attributes?
8. How do you understand result-based leadership?
9. Why is coaching a vital skill for a leader?
10. What person can we call a super-leader?
11. What are key benefits of super leader?
12. What does the essence of leadership mean?
13. What is the essential role of managers in business?
14. What does leadership skill provide versus managerial skill?
15. What is the difference between setting directions and setting goals? Who performs these tasks?
16. What rules must be followed to be a successful leader?
17. What do organizational values mean?
18. Why are they important?
19. Why is the role of leaders important in establishing organizational values?
20. How can leader encourage people to leave by values?
21. What does the ability “walk the talk” mean?
1. sense of excitement
чувствоволнения, воодушевления
2. convince
v
убеждать
3. aspiration
n
,
C стремление, сильное желание (достичь ч-л
.)
4.
distinguish
v
различать, находить отличия
Syn.: differentiate
9. persuade
v
убеждать, уговорить
Syn.: convince, induce
10. free-rain leadership
лидерство «свободныхповодьев»
Syn.:
laissez
-
faire
leader
– либеральный руководитель
11. concurrence
n
1)согласованность; 2)стечение обстоятельств
12.
willingly
adv
.
охотно, с готовностью
13.
outcome
n
итог, последствия, результат
Syn.:
result
,
consequence
15.
enhancement
n
повышение, прирост; улучшение
16.
cohesion
n
сцепление, связь, сплоченность, единство
17.
consequence
n
последствия, результат
18.
outboss
v
здесь
: переусердствовать
19.
facilitate
v
облегчать, содействовать, способствовать
Syn.:
help
,
assist
20.
excel
v
превосходить, превышать; выделяться
21.
exceed
v
превышать, переступать пределы, превосходить
22.
forego
(forewent
,
foregone
)
предшествовать
23.
insight
n
интуиция, понимание, проницательность
24.
revelation
n
открытие, разоблачение, раскрытие (тайны
)
25.
energize
v
побуждать к действию, проявлять энергию
26.
attribute
n
свойство, отличительная черта
27.
attribute
(
to
)
v
объяснять (чем-л
.), относить (to- за счет ч-л.)
28.
array
n
совокупность, набор, комплект
29.
coaching
n
кураторство, наставничество
30.
breed
n
поколение, потомство
breed
v
воспитывать, обучать, пестовать
31.
cognitive
skills
когнитивные, познавательные навыки
32.
flexibility
n
гибкость, приспособляемость
33.
in
absence
в отсутствие, за неимением, недостатком
34.
tangible
results
ощутимые, реальные результаты
35.
embody
v
воплощать, олицетворять; объединять, включать
36.
drudgery
n
тяжелая, монотонная работа
Syn.: labour
37.
diversify
v
вводить разнообразие, диверсифицировать
38.
enduring
direction
устойчивый курс, направление
39.
sweeping
adj
.
1) широкий, с большим охватом; 2)огульный
40.
world
-
shattering
пошатнувший мир
41.
align
v
ставить в ряд, равняться, вставать в один ряд
align
oneself
with
действовать заодно
42.
lose
sight
упустить из виду, потерять
43.
stray
adj
.
заблудившийся
stray
v
сбиться с пути, отбиться, отклониться
44.
vigilance
n
бдительность
display, exercise, show vigilance
проявлятьбдительность
45. push
(oneself
) v подталкиватьсебя
46.
relate
to
… реагировать, соотносить, определять соотношение
47.
persistent
adj
.
устойчивый, стабильный; упорный
48.
adversity
n
бедствия, неприятности, несчастья
handle
adversity
справляться с неприятностями
49.
maturity
зрелость
50.
belief
n
,
C
вера, доверие; мнение, убеждение
Syn.: conviction; opinion
51.
compliance
n
одобрение, согласие; соответствие
52.
walk
the
talk
поступать в соответствии с убеждениями/
провозглашаемыми принципами
Unit 7. Business Culture and Business Ethic.
Culture in general is concerned with beliefs and values on the basis of which people interpret experiences and behave. Broadly and simply put, “culture’ refers to a group or community with which you share common experiences that shape the way you understand the world.
The same person, thus, can belong to several different cultures depending on his or her birthplace, nationality; ethnicity, family status; gender, age; language, education; physical condition, religion, profession, place of work and its corporate culture.
Culture is a “lens” through which you view the world. It is central to what you see, how you make sense of what you see and how you express yourself.
Four cultural dimensions.
Cultures – both national and organizational – differ along many dimensions. Four of the most important are:
1. Directness (
get to the pointversus
imply the massages.
2. Hierarchy
(follow orders versus
engage in debate)
3. Consensus
(dissent is accepted versus
unanimity is needed)
4. Individualism
(individual winners versus
team effectiveness).
Cross-Cultural Communication Challenges.
Culture is often at the root of communication challenges. Exploring historical experiences and the ways in which various cultural group have related to each other is key to opening channels for cross-cultural
communication.
Becoming more aware of cultural differences, as well as exploring cultural similarities, can help you find yourself in a confusing situation, ask yourself how culture may be shaping your own reactions, and try to see the world from the other’s point of view.
Cultural Shock.
Failure to identify cultural issues and take action can lead to a culture shock. In order of priority, the most often found symptoms of culture shock are:
- feeling isolated
- anxiety and worry
- reduction in job performance
- high nervous energy
- helplessness.
Not coping with culture shock symptoms when they appear can lead to a very negative situation.
Respecting Differences and Working Together.
Anthropologists discovered that, when faced by interaction that we do not understand, people tend to interpret the others involved as “abnormal”, “weird” or “wrong”. Awareness of cultural differences and recognizing where cultural differences are at work is the first step toward understanding each other and establishing a positive working environment. Use these differences to challenge your own assumptions about the “right” way of doing things and as a chance to learn new ways to solve problems.
Research indicates that there is a strong correlation between components of trust
(such as communication effectiveness, conflict management)
and productivity.
Cultural differences play a key role in the creation of trust, since trust is built in different ways and means different things in different cultures.
For instance, in the U.S., trust
is “demonstrated performance over time”. Here you can gain the trust of your collegues by “coming through” and delivering on time on your commitments. In many other parts of the world, including many Arab, Asian and Latin American countries, building relationships is a pre-requisite for professional interactions. Building trust
in these countries often involves lengthy discussions on non-professional topics and shared meals in restaurants. Work-related discussions start only once your counterpart has become comfortable with you as a person.
Cultural differences in multicultural teams
can create misunderstandings between team members before they have had a chance to establish any credibility with each other. Thus, building trust is a critical step in creation and development of such teams. As a manager of a multicultural team, you need to recognize that building trust between different people is a complex process, since each culture has its own way of building trust
and its own interpretation of what trust is.
Harnessing the Power of Diversity.
Diversity
is aspecialized term describing a workplace that includes people from various backgrounds and cultures, and/or diverse businesses. You can find a strategic competitive advantage
in organizational and cultural context by seeking to leverage, rather than diminish, opposite forces. “An important but widely overlooked principle of business success is that integrating opposites, as opposed to identifying them as inconsistencies and driving them out, unleashes power.” This is true on both a personal level
(the balanced manager is more effective than his peer at one end of the control spectrum) and on organizational level
as well.
Text 2. The role of corporate culture and ethics in business world.
Every company strives for its own organizational style, philosophy and traditions, for its special way of problem solving, its values and internal socializing.
All those components constitute the policy of in-company communication and belong to its culture. The core of a corporate culture represents the staff convictions and company philosophy. Any company can strengthen its principles of activity by selection of new team workers, which aim and behavior will be suitable for its corporate culture. It’s well known that the internal environmental factors are closely connected with a corporate culture and include all organizational resources. Finally, choosing a company, people choose a life style; corporate culture can shape not only their approach to work, and career forming, but also their life.
Therefore corporate culture represents values, convictions, rules and behavior standard. In some companies, corporate culture is very strong, and all staff members know their goals, and work day-to-day to reach them. Moreover, corporate culture influences the work of everyone and affects everything; in other words, the strong corporate culture impacts the whole business and, finally, leads to success.
- corporate vision, mission and goal;
- strategy;
- work maintenance;
- education and experience of personnel;
- personality of employer;
- economic conditions;
- nation and culture of staff members;
- business environment.
Corporate culture allows to differ one organization from another and helps save and strengthen organizational values.
However, corporate culture is put to the changes in course of time. A company has seven key-points to change corporate culture. The employer together with employees should:
- understand the “old” corporate culture;
- listen to people, who know some ideas relating to the new corporate culture;
- “keep the nose to the wind”, “probe the ground” and search the better traits of corporate culture;
- not wait for miracle;
- foresee for 5-10 years;
- be patient (and the win comes)!
The effective corporate culture intends the strong management level and high morale – the marks of corporate ethics.
Ethics is the system of moral principles, rules of conduct, and morality of choices that individuals make..
Business ethics
is the application of morale standards to business situations. Business ethics has become a matter of public concern.
All business people face ethical issues daily, and they stem from a variety of sources. Although some types of issues arise infrequently, others occur regularly. Let’s take a closer look at several ethical issues.
1. Fairness and Honesty.
Fairness and honesty in business are two important ethical concerns. Besides obeying all laws and regulations, business people should refrain from deceiving, misrepresenting or intimidating others.
2.
Organizational Relationships.
A business person may be temped to place his or her personal welfare above the welfare of the organization. Relationships with customers and coworkers often create ethical problems – since confidential information should be secret and all obligations should be honoured. Unethical behaviour in these areas includes not meeting one’s obligations in a mutual agreement, and pressing others to behave unethically.
3.
Conflict of interest
. Conflict of interest results when a business person takes advantage of a situation for his /her own personal interest rather than for the employer’s or organization’s interest. Such conflict may occur when payments and gifts make their way into business deals. A wise rule to remember is that anything given to a person that might unfairly influence that person’s business decision is a bribe, and all bribes are unethical.
4. Communication
. Business communications, especially advertising, can present ethical questions. False and misleading advertising is illegal and unethical, and it can infuriate customers.
5. Relationships
. Business ethics involves relationships between a firm and its investors, customers, employees, creditors and competitors. Each group has specific concerns, and each exerts some type of pressure on management.
Investors
want managementto make financial decisions that will boost sales, profits and returns on their investments.
Customers
expect a firm’s products to be safe, reliable and reasonably priced.
Employees
want to be treated fairly in hiring, promotion and compensation.
Competitors
expect the firm’s marketing activities to portray its products truthfully.
All these expectations are relatively easy for management to respond in ethical manner when the business is good and profit is high. However, under the pressure of circumstances ethical behaviour may be compromised.
What affects a person’s inclination to make either ethical or unethical decisions is not entirely clear. Three general sets of factors influence the ethics of decision making.
First,
an individual’s values, attitudes, experiences, and knowledge influence decision making.
Second
, the absence of an employer’s official code of ethics may indirectly encourage unethical decisions.
Third,
the behaviours and values of others, such as coworkers, supervisors and company officials, affect the ethics of a person.
If you are a manager you should stick to the following rules in our everyday activities.
- Don’t order, ask and be polite.
- Remember that people work with you, not for you. They like to be related as associates, not slaves.
- Keep your promises, both important and less important promises.
- Criticize, if you must, only in private – and do it objectively. Never criticize anyone in public or in anger.
- You should say “Good morning” when you came in and “Please” and “Thank you” at every opportunity.
Today people understand the business ethics as the integral part of their daily work, and managers should serve as role models preferring the key elements of ethical behaviour; they should act in supporting their corporate culture. As for the firms, they should not be obstacles for that activity in local and international market. Remember
: the more bureaucratic a firm is, the greater the danger would be for unethical staff behaviour within it.
People at work must apply the socially acceptable, tension reducing behaviour: they must be capable of keeping their instincts under a relatively tight control and maintain the favourable social environment; they must prevent irritability and arousal in communication and focus on systematic decline of any conflicts. The English proverb says: people
are lonely because they build walls instead of bridges.
There is the rub.
The rules of the game, what behavior is ethical and accepted, the mood of the organization, and the enthusiasm of employees are all contained in the culture. So, culture can be a powerful, hidden asset or it can be a liability - a time bomb waiting to go off. If your leadership team has not actively created a corporate culture to support the company’s purpose, then chances are that the culture is a hidden liability. This is the foundation for all actions and decisions within a team,
department, or organization.
Dress Code
Work Environment
Benefits
Perks
Conversations
Work/Life Balance
Titles & Job Description
Organizational Structure
Values
Private Conversations (with self or confidants)
Invisible Rules
Attitudes
Beliefs
Worldviews
Moods and Emotions
Unconscious Interpretations
Standards of Behavior
Paradigms
Assumptions
The energy fields that make up a group’s culture are dynamic and change continuously. Culture is created and constantly reinforced on a daily basis through conversations, symbols, rituals, written materials, and body language. It is the small, mundane actions and behaviors that create a culture and can shift a culture.
Creating and sustaining a healthy, vibrant culture requires reinforcement of the culture through daily and proactive conversations and communications. The failure to discuss the values, purpose, and rules within a group often leads to a culture that is at cross purposes with the stated intention of the group. Poor communication creates a lot of confusion and often a crisis of meaninglessness
Since a culture is created every time a group of people come together to form a team, a company will have many sub-cultures that exist within its main culture. For example, the marketing and technology teams may have different worldviews, jargon, work hours, and ways to do things. A big challenge for today’s company is to create a strong, cohesive corporate culture that pulls all of the sub-cultures together and ensures that they can work as a unified team.
Most companies try to “fix” perceived problems by addressing the parts of the corporate culture that are easy to see. Some quick-fixes include holding Friday beer bashes and company picnics or adding fringe benefits and perks. None of these actions will have a powerful or lasting effect on a company’s culture.
The CEO and leadership team of a company have a powerful impact on culture through their conversations and behaviors. Business leaders can pro-actively create a thriving culture by understanding what culture is (and is not) and learning how to have fundamental business conversations. Unfortunately, most business leaders receive little to no education on how to have powerful conversations that generate culture and actions. Culture building can be learned, but it takes an honest commitment from the leadership team of an organization.
1. What is culture concerned in general?
2. What different cultures can a person belong to depending on his/her birthplace?
3. What cultural dimensions do you know?
4. How can awareness of cultural differences and similarities help you in business?
5. What are the symptoms of cultural shock?
6. How do we usually interpret others when we don’t understand them?
7. How is the word “trust” understood in different countries?
8. Why is it considered especially important to build trust in multicultural firms?
9. What does the term “diversity” describe?
10. What components constitute in-company communication policy and its culture?
11. What does corporate culture represent?
12. What factors influence the organizational culture?
13. How is ethics defined?
14. What ethical issues do business people have to face daily?
15. What do fairness and honesty mean in business?
16. What ethical problems can relationship in organization create?
17. In what situations can conflicts of interests occur?
18. What kind of ethics problems can a company face with in its relation with outside world?
19. What factors influence the ethics of decision-making?
20. What rules related to culture should you as a manager stick to?
21. How do people understand business ethics today?
22. Why do you unethical behaviour prevails in bureaucratic organizations?
23. What must people do to avoid conflicts at work?
24. Why can a corporate culture become a hidden liability? What can be done to avoid it?
25. Name visible manifestation of culture and explain how you understand them.
26. Name invisible manifestation of culture and explain how you understand them?
27. Why can poor communication within a company create confusion or even crisis?
28. What kind of sub-cultures can be created within a company?
29. How can CEO and leadership team influence corporate culture?
1.
dimension
n
измерение, величина, размах, аспект
2.
directness
n
прямота, открытость, откровенность
3.
consensus
n
единодушие, согласие
4.
dissent
n
несходство взглядов, расхождение, разногласие
5.
unanimity
n
единодушие, единство (во взглядах
)
6.
challenge
n
вызов, проблема, сложная задача
7.
explore
v
исследовать, анализировать, устанавливать
8.
anxiety
n
беспокойство, тревога, опасение
9.
weird
adj
.
странный, непонятный, причудливый
10.
awareness
n
знание, осведомленность, понимание
11.
assumption
n
допущение, предположение
12.
correlation
n
взаимосвязь, соотношение, корреляция
13.
trust
n
доверие, долг, ответственность, надежность
14.
harness
v
использовать ( в определенных целях
)
15.
diversity
n
разнообразие, разновидность, многообразность
16.
seek
v
добиваться, стремиться, пытаться, искать
17.
leverage
v
усиливать, использовать в качестве рычага
18.
diminish
v
занижать, недооценивать, преуменьшать
19.
unleash
v
высвобождать, дать волю
20.
inconsistency
n
несовместимость, противоречивость,
21.
strive
v
- прилагаться усилия, стараться, бороться с …
22.
impact
v
влиять, сильно воздействовать
23.
probe
the
ground
прощупывать почву
24.
stem
(
from
,
out
of
)
v
происходить от, являться результатом чего-л.
25.
infrequently
adv
.
редко, не часто встречаться
26.
fairness
n
честность, справедливость, совестливость
27.
honesty
n
правдивость, искренность, честность
28.
obey
v
повиноваться
29.
ethical
concerns
этические отношения
30.
deceive
v
обманывать, вводить в заблуждение
31.
misrepresent
v
искажать, представлять в ложном свете
32.
intimidate
v
запугивать, наводить страх, угрожать
33.
welfare
n
благополучие, благосостояние, соц. Обеспечение
Syn.: prosperity, well-being
34. bribe
n
взятка, подкуп
35.
mislead
v
вводить в заблуждение; вести по неправильному пути
36.
infuriate
v
выводить из себя, приводить в ярость
37.
boost
v
поднимать, помогать подняться, поддерживать
38.
portray
v
изображать, описывать
39.
inclination
n
тенденция, склонность, предпочтение
40.
entirely
adv
.
всецело, полностью, вполне
41.
stick
to
..
v
держаться, придерживаться, оставаться верным…
42.
associate
n
коллега, партнер, соучастник, сторонник
43.
obstacle
n
помеха, препятствие, преграда
44.
tight
control
строгий контроль
44.
irritability
n
раздражительность
45.
arousal
n
пробуждение
46.
rub
n
камень преткновения, препятствие, затруднение
Syn.: obstruction, difficulty
47. liability
n
здесь
:
помеха, источникнеприятностей, обуза
48.
hide
(hid- hidden) v
прятаться, скрываться
49.
perks
n
Pl
привилегии, льготы
50.
mundane
adj
.
мирской, светский, принадлежащий миру моды
51.
meaninglessness
n
бессмысленность, бесцельность
52.
cohesive
adj
.
связанный, сплоченный, связующий
53.
perceived
problems
осознанные, понимаемые проблемы
54.
bash
- ам
. гулянка, веселое сборище
Syn
.:
party
55.
thriving
culture
процветающая, бурно развивающаяся культура
Unit 8. Socio-psychological climate within and outside
a company.
It is the vital task of executives to create a company morale , they should “lend an ear” to each staff member, use “carrot and stick” motivation, otherwise staff will be unable to operate profitable, and that, in turn, will influence company existence in the whole. Top managers should pay great attention to the organizational conflict management, which can change the whole face of any firm. The conflict management must provide step by step measures to capture the “right” staff morale as the important task of in-company communication.
There are different ways companies can reduce their employees’ burnout and ensure the social and psychological climate (SPC) within a company:
- to allow employees to talk freely to one another, and motivate them;
- to reduce personal conflicts at work any time;
- to talk openly to employees and keep the promises;
- to recognize and reward employees for their accomplishments and contribution;
- to treat all employees on principle of equal competitive condition;
- to mind a source of dislike and don’t put pressure on staff to take your decision;
- to be able to build an effective team of professionals and coordinate their work;
- to create training programs;
- to succeed with crisis action approach;
To hire the experienced personnel, respect them equally and do not care which sex they are.
This is a good advice and it helps any company to form the trustful internal relations; due to it professional executives should set the true tone in up-to-date business. But the point is – they first should know “how to manage their personal stress”
.
People, according to their nature, education, experience, habits, life style, vary widely; and that can open the door to misunderstanding. When individual identity needs and ethics are ignored they can move to self-centered, uncaring, non-cooperative behaviour; and on the contrary, if the intellectual and identity needs are in agreement, ethical decisions are easily to make, and individuals stand on their principles. Otherwise, they become egoistical, self-centered, interested only in their own well-being; they resist any change in their organization, and that is to be taken into account.
By managing people, it is important to distinguish between the attitude and behaviour: the way we view things is called “attitude”, the way we do things is
known as “behaviour”.
To achieve its objectives, a firm should have its code of discipline drawn up and agreed with all employees and written into their service contracts. The shortest way to achieve and maintain a good staff discipline is to ensure a high morale that is the important task of any company.
Monitor your work hours
The first visible, undeniable sign that things are out of hand is that you’re working too many hours. Note how many hours you are working per week. Set a limit and stick to that limit. Ask your peers or boss for help.
Recognize your own signs of stress
Different people show their stress in different ways. Some people have “blow ups”. Some people get very forgetful. Some people lose concentration. For many people, they excel at their jobs, but their home life falls apart. Know your signs of stress. Tell someone else what they are. Ask them to check in with you every two weeks to see how you are doing. Every two weeks, write down how you are doing—if only for a minute. Stick in it a file.
Get a mentor or a coach
Ideally, your supervisor is a very good mentor and coach. Many people have “been there, done that” and can serve as great mentors to you.
Delegating is giving others the responsibility and authority to carry out tasks. You maintain the accountability to get them done, but you let others decide how they will carry out the tasks themselves. Delegation is a skill to learn. Start learning it.
Communicate as much as you can
Have at least one person in your life with whom you are completely honest. Hold regular meetings with staff - all of them in one meeting at least once a month, and meet at least once every two weeks with each of your direct reports. A common problem among new managers and supervisors (or among experienced, but ineffective ones) is not meeting unless there’s something to say. There is always something to communicate, even if to say that things are going well and then share the health of your pets. New managers and supervisors often assume that their employees know as much as they do. One of the first signs of an organization in trouble is that communications break down. Err on the side of too much communication, rather than not enough.
Recognize what’s important from what’s urgent
Fix the system, not the problem. One of the major points that experienced manages make is that they’ve learned to respond to what’s important, rather than what’s urgent. Phone calls, sick employees, lost paperwork, disagreements between employees all seem to suddenly crop up and demand immediate attention. It can seem like your day is responding to one crisis after another. As you gain experience, you quit responding to the crisis and instead respond to the problem that causes the crises. You get an answering machine or someone else to answer the phone. You plan for employees being gone for the day—and you accept that people get sick. You develop a filing system to keep track of your paperwork. You learn basic skills in conflict management. Most important, you recognize that management is a process—you never really “finish” your to-do list—your list is there to help you keep track of details. Over time, you learn to relax.
Recognize accomplishments
Our society promotes problem solvers. We solve one problem and quickly move on to the next. The culture of many organizations rewards problem solvers. Once a problem is solved, we quickly move on to the next to solve that one, too. Pretty soon we feel empty. We feel as if we’re not making a difference. Our subordinates do, too. So in all your plans, include time to acknowledge accomplishments - if only by having a good laugh by the coffee machine, do take time to note that something useful was done.
All managers will have to deal with difficult employees during their careers. First, there will always be difficult employees. Second, it’s your job as the manager to deal with them. If you don’t deal the problem, it will only get worse.
Why Are Difficult Employees Like That?
Difficult employees are that way simply because it is a behavior that has worked for them in the past. They may not know any other behavior or they may choose this behavior when they think it will be most effective. You will be successful in dealing with difficult employees only to the extent that you can make these undesirable behaviors no longer effective for them. In many ways, it’s like dealing with children. If every times a child screams, its parents give it candy, what will the child do when it wants candy? It will scream, of course. The same is true for the employee who “blows up” whenever anyone disagrees with him. When he does that people stop disagreeing with him and he thinks he has won.
Evaluate
It is important when dealing with difficult employees to act quickly. Often you will need to act almost immediately to neutralize a dangerous situation. However, it is always appropriate to think before you act. Clearly if an employee comes to work with a gun, you will need to act more quickly than when someone complains that another employee is always taking credit for her work. In either case, take the appropriate amount of time to evaluate the situation before you act. You don’t want to make it worse.
Recognize that most employees can be “difficult” from time to time. This can be caused by stress on the job or away from it. Some employees are difficult more often than others. It is not always your least-productive employees who are difficult. So take a moment to evaluate each situation for the unique situation it is.
Do your homework
Always act on facts. Don’t base your actions on gossip or rumor. The person spreading the gossip is a difficult employee in their own way. If you have not seen the inappropriate behavior yourself, look into it. Ask the people reportedly involved. Collect all the facts you can before you act.
Don’t use the fact that you haven’t seen the inappropriate behavior as an excuse to delay doing something. It is important to act promptly.
Make sure you aren’t part of the problem. It will be much more difficult to remain calm and impartial in confronting the difficult behavior if you are partly responsible. If that’s the case, be sure you acknowledge your role in it, at least to yourself.
Develop a plan
You’re a manager. You know the value of planning. This situation is no different. You need to plan the timing of the confrontation. You need to select a quiet, private place where you won’t be interrupted. You need to decide whether you need to have others, like an HR representative, present in the meeting. Plan the confrontation and then make it happen. When you have prepared, it is time to act. You do not need to act impulsively, but you must act quickly. The longer an inappropriate behavior is allowed to continue, the harder it will be to change it or stop it.
Confront the problem
Don’t put it off. It may not be pleasant, but it’s an important part of your job. It will not “fix itself”. It can only get worse. You have planned this confrontation. Now you need to execute.
Deal with the behavior, not the person.
Your goal is to develop a solution, not to “win”. Focus on the inappropriate behavior; don’t attack the person.
Use “I” statements like “I need everybody on the team here on time so we can meet our goals” rather than “you” statements like “you are always late”.
Don’t assume the inappropriate behavior is caused by negative intent. It may be from fear, confusion, lack of motivation, personal problems, etc.
Give the other person a chance to develop a solution to the problem. They are more likely to “own” the solution if they are at least partially responsible for developing it.
Try to draw out the reasons behind the behavior.
As you talk with the difficult employee, actively listen to what they say. Stay calm and stay positive, but remain impartial and non-judgmental. Ask leading questions that can’t be answered in one or two words. Don’t interrupt.
When you do respond to the difficult employee, remain calm. Summarize back to them what they just said, “so what I understand you are saying is”, so they know you are actually listening to them.
If you can find out from the difficult employee what the real source of the inappropriate behavior is, you have a much better chance of finding a solution.
Sometimes these confrontations will go smoothly, or at least rapidly, to a conclusion. Other times it will require several sessions to resolve the problem.
Repeat as necessary.
Minor problems, like being late for work, you may be able to resolve with a simple chat in your office with the employee. An office bully, who has used that behavior successfully since elementary school, may need more than one confrontation before a solution can be reached. Be patient. Don’t always expect instant results. Aim for continuous improvement rather than trying to achieve instant success.
Know when you are in over your head
Sometimes the underlying issue with a difficult employee will be beyond your capabilities. The employee may have psychological problems that require professional help, for example. Learn when to keep trying and when to refer the employee to others for more specialized help. Your company may have an EAP or you may need to use resources from the community
Know when you are at the end
While the goals is always to reach a mutually acceptable solution that resolves the difficult employees inappropriate behavior and keeps your team at full strength, sometimes that is not possible. When you reach an impasse and the employee is not willing to change his or her behavior then you need to begin terminations procedures in accordance with your company’s policies.
Coming to a Solution
The desired result from confronting a difficult employee’s inappropriate behavior is an agreed upon solution. You know that this inappropriate behavior will continue unless you and the employee agree on a solution. The employee needs to know what is inappropriate about their behavior and they also need to know what appropriate behavior is. The need for a manager to communicate clearly is always high. It is especially important in these situations. Make very sure the employee understands the requirements and the consequences.
1
. Winning too much
: The need to win at all costs and in all situations.
2
. Adding too much value
: The overwhelming desire to add your 2 cents to every discussion.
3
. Passing judgment
: The need to rate others and impose your standards on them.
4
. Making destructive comments:
The needles sarcasm and cutting remarks that we think make us witty.
5
. Starting with No, But, However
: The overuse of these negative qualifiers which secretly say to everyone that I’m right and you’re wrong.
6
. Telling the world how smart we are:
The need to show people we’re smarter than they think we are.
7
. Speaking when angry
. Using emotional volatility as a management tool.
8. Negativity or “Let me explain why that won’t work”:
The need to share our negative thoughts even when we weren’t asked.
9.
Withholding information
: Refusing to share information in order to maintain an advantage over others.
10
.Failing to give proper recognition:
The inability to give praise and reward.
11
. Claiming credit that we don’t deserve
: The most annoying way to overestimate our contribution to any success.
12
. Making excuses
: The need to reposit our annoying behaviour as a permanent fixture so people excuse us for it.
13
. Clinging to the past:
The need to deflect blame away from ourselves and onto events and people from our past; a subset of blaming everyone else.
14
. Playing favorites:
Failing to see that we are treating someone unfairly.
15
. Refusing to express regret
: The inability to take responsibility for our actions, admit we’re wrong, or recognize how our actions affect others.
16
. Not listening
: The most passive-aggressive form of disrespect for colleagues.
17. Failing to express gratitude
: The most basic form of bad manners.
18
. Punishing the messenger
: The misguided need to attack the innocent who are usually only trying to help us.
19
. Passing the buck
: The need to blame everyone but ourselves.
20
. An excessive need to be “me”:
Exalting our faults as virtues simply because they’re who we are.
1. Why is it important to create the “right” morale in a company?
2. What are the ways which can help to ensure social and psychological climate inside a company?
3. What is the difference between “attitude” and “behaviour”?
4. What things can help a company to form the trustful internal relations?
5. How can misunderstanding arise in a company?
6. What difficulties is a first-class manager often confronted with?
7. What are the main guidelines to manage your self?
8. Why is the ability to monitor your time important for a manager?
9. How can you explain the rule “communicate as much as you can”? Why is the ability to communicate so important for managers?
10. How can you recognize what’s important from what is urgent?
11. What does it mean “acknowledge accomplishments?”
12. Why are some employees “difficult”?
13. Should you listen to gossip and rumor? What would be your actions in such situations?
14. Explain the rule “Draw out the reason behind the behaviour”?
15. Name and explain habits that can complicate interpersonal relations?
1.
moralen
моральное состояние, нравственная атмосфера
2.
lend
a
ear
уделить внимание, выслушать
3.
carrot
and
stick
морковка и кнут, пряник и кнут
4.
burnout
n
переутомление, изнеможение
5.
mind
v
возражать, иметь что-либо против…
6.
succeed
(
in
)
v
достигать цели, преуспевать; быть приемником
7.
keep
promises
сдержать обещание
8.
trustful
relations
доверительные отношения
9.
identity
needs
потребности личности, индивидуальные потребности
10.
stand
on
principles
придерживаться принципов
11.
well
-
being
n
благосостояние, благополучие, процветание
12.
attitude
(
to
,
towards
) позиция, отношение к чему-либо
13.
technical
expertise
техническая квалификация, компетенция, опыт
14.
managerial
expertise
управленческая компетентность, опыт
15.
stick
in
the
middle
держаться в середине
16.
undeniable
неоспоримый, несомненный, неопровержимый
17.
undeniable
sign
явный признак
18.
be
out
of
hand
выходить из под контроля
19.
peer
n
равный по положению, статусу
20.
blowups
n
вспышки гнева, раздражения
21.
excel
v
отличаться, выделяться
22.
assume
v
допускать, предполагать
23.
quit
v
прекращать что-либо делать
24.
take
credit
for
получать похвалу за что-либо
25.
gossip
n
слухи, сплетни
26.
rumour
n
молва, слухи, толки
27.
reportedly
по сообщениям, как сообщают
28.
remain
calm
and
impartial
оставаться спокойным и беспристрастным
29.
non
-
judgmental
adj
.
не поверхностный
30.
smoothly
adv
.
спокойно, учтиво, вежливо;
31.
bully
n
хвастун, задира, забияка
32.
instant
success
мгновенный успех
33.
impasse
тупик, безвыходное положение
Syn.: dead end, deadlock
34.
consequence
n
последствие, результат
35.
overwhelming
adj
.
подавляющий, превосходящий, несметный
36.
rate
(
smb
.
) v
давать оценку кому-либо
37.
impose
v
навязывать, навязываться
38.
cutting
remarks
резкое, саркастическое замечание
39.
smart
adj
.
толковый, сообразительный
40.
emotional
volatility
эмоциональная неустойчивость
41.
withhold
v
утаивать, скрывать; воздерживаться от…, отказывать
42.
overestimate
v
переоценивать
43.
fixture
n
постоянное качество
44.
cling
to
…
v
держаться за что-л., цепляться
45.
deflect
blame
away
отвести от себя вину, оправдаться
46.
gratitude
n
благодарность, признание
47. subset
подмножество
48.
pass
the
buck
переложить ответственность на другого
49. exalt
v
превозносить, восхвалять
Conflicts in a work environment are inevitable. Whenever people must work together, there will be degrees of conflicts. Why? Because people will not always be in perfect agreement on all issues, goals or perceptions.
Conflict is neither positive nor negative. If conflict is managed correctly, it can be helpful in meeting the organization’s goals.
In order to handle conflicts, a manager needs to understand why conflict occurs. The sources of conflict include shared resources, differences in goals, differences in perceptions and values, disagreements in role requirements, nature of work activities individual approaches and the stage of organizational development.
Knowing the potential sources of conflict is important to a manager, but developing strategies for dealing with conflict is essential to the organizational climate.
In order to manage conflict, the manager must first analyze the following factors:
1. The type of conflict –between individuals, between individuals and groups, or between work groups.
2. The source of conflict – shared resources, differences in goals, role conflict, etc.
3. The level of conflict – how heated the situation is.
When these factors have been determined, the manager’s challenge is to select the appropriate strategy. The manager may attempt to reduce the level of conflict or resolve the conflict. In special situations he may attempt to increase the level of conflict.
1.Limited resources
.
Conflict can arise in organization because limited resources must be shared by the organizational members. A manager of a work unit depends on the allocation of money, personnel, equipment, materials, and physical facilities in order to accomplish objectives.
Some managers, despite the system used for allocations, will inevitably receive fewer resources than others. This can lead to lack of cooperation and eventually open conflict.
2. Differences in goals
.
Individuals may have goals different from those of the organization they work for. An individual’s goal may require promotion within a three-year period. The organization may have a tradition of “seasoning” an employee over a longer period. There may be conflict in this situation.
4. Nature of work activities
.
Conflict can result between individuals and groups concerning the quantity of work assigned as well as relationship among the work units in performing the work. Individuals and groups compare the workloads each has relative to the other. If there is inequity there can be conflict.
If the work is not on time or is of poor quality, open conflict can result. Another conflict situation can be created when two work groups or individuals are placed in competition with each other. If management has set it up so that both groups have the opportunity to win, positive results can occur. But if it is a win-lose situation, conflict may be the outcome.
5. Individual approaches
.
People have different styles and approaches in dealing with others and with situations. One person may be reflective, speak little, but deliver words of wisdom when ready to talk about a topic. Another person may be combative in nature, with an argumentative approach, immediate response with little thought, and pressure for agreement.
- Do not avoid the conflict, hoping it will go away
.
Trust me. It won’t. Even if the conflict appears to have been superficially put to rest, it will rear its ugly head whenever stress increases or a new disagreement occurs. An unresolved conflict or interpersonal disagreement festers just under the surface in your work environment. It burbles to the surface whenever enabled, and always at the worst possible moment. This is not an option.
- Do not meet separately with people in conflict
.
If you allow each individual to tell their story to you, you risk polarizing their positions. The person in conflict has a vested interest in making himself or herself “right” if you place yourself in the position of judge and jury. The sole goal of the employee, in this situation, is to convince you of the merits of their case.
- Do not believe, for even a moment, the only people who are affected by the conflict are the participants.
Everyone in your office and every employee, with whom the conflicting employees interact, is affected by the stress. People feel as if they are walking on egg shells in the presence of the antagonists. This contributes to the creation of a hostile work environment for other employees. In worst case scenarios, your organization members take sides and your organization is divided.
How to Mediate and Resolve Conflict
Meet with the antagonists together
.
Let each briefly summarize their point of view, without comment or interruption by the other party. This should be a short discussion so that all parties are clear about the disagreement and conflicting views. Intervene if either employee attacks the other employee. This is not acceptable.
Ask each participant to describe specific actions they’d like to see the
other party take
that would resolve the differences. Three or four suggestions work well. An example is, “I’d like Mary to send the report to me by Thursday at 1 p.m. so I can complete my assignment by my due date of Friday at noon.” A second example is, “I would like to have responsibility for all of the business development and follow-up with that client. The way the work is divided now causes Tom and I to never know what the other person is doing.”
Sometimes, as in the second example above, you, as the supervisor, must own some of the responsibilities
for helping the employees resolve their conflict. Always ask, “What about the work situation is causing these staff members to fail?”
- If the situation needs further exploration
, use a process in which you ask each participant to additionally identify what the other employee can do more of, less of, stop and start.
- All participants discuss and commit
to making the changes necessary to resolve the conflict. Commit to noticing that the other person has made a change, no matter how small. Commit to treating each other with dignity and respect. It is okay to have reasonable disagreements over issues and plans; it is never okay to have personality conflicts that affect the workplace.
- Let the antagonists know that you will not choose sides, that it is impossible for a person external to the conflict to know the truth of the matter. You expect the individuals to resolve the conflicts proactively
as adults.
If they are unwilling to do so, you will be forced to take disciplinary action that can lead to dismissal for both parties.
- Finally, assure both parties that you have every faith in their ability
to resolve their differences
and get on with their successful contributions within your shared organization. Set a time to review progress.
Mediating a conflict is challenging, but as a manager or supervisor, the role of mediator comes with your territory. Your willingness to appropriately intervene sets the stage for your own success. You craft a work environment that enables the success of the people who work there. Conflict mediation is an example of “practice makes perfect.”
1. Do you agree that conflicts in a work environment are inevitable? Can you give reasons and explain sources of such conflicts?
2. What factors must be analyzed in order to manage conflict?
3. What conflict situations do you know? Can you give your own example?
4. Should you, as a manager, intervene in conflict?
5. Should you wait for conflict to go away?
6. Why is it not advisable to meet people in conflict separately? Do you agree with this advice?
7. Why do conflicts affect everyone in the office, not only conflicting parties?
8. What recommendations for resolving conflicts do you know?
9. Who are mediators and why is their role important for creating a good work environment?
Vocabulary to Unit 9
1. inevitable
adj.
неизбежный, неминуемый
2.
perception
n
1)восприятие, ; 2) понимание, осмысление, осознание
3.
be
helpful
in
smth
быть полезным в чем-либо
4.
handle
a
conflict
справляться с конфликтом
5. heat the situation
накалятьситуацию
6. resolve the conflict
решитьконфликт. Syn.: settle, solve
7.
allocation
n
распределение, размещение, выделение средств
8.
eventually
adv
.
В конечном счете, в итоге, в конце концов
Syn.: ultimately, in the end
9. overtime work
hours
сверхурочные часы работы
10.
obvious
adj
.
очевидный, явный
Syn.: evident
11.
workload
n
объем работы
12.
inequity
n
несправедливость, пристрастность
13. outcome
n
итог, последствие, результат
Syn.: result, consequence
14.
words
of
wisdom
мудрые слова, благоразумие, здравый смысл
15.
combative
adj
.
боевой, агрессивный, воинственный
16. be reflective of
adj.
мыслящий, размышляющий
Syn.: thoughtful, intellectual
17. argumentative approach
аргументированный, логический подход
18. response
n
ответ, отклик; реакция
19. turf wars
борьбазавлияние
20.
escalate
v
расширять, обострять (ситуацию, конфликт)
21.
intervene
v
вмешиваться, возникнуть (с целью помешать)
Syn.: interfere
22.
burble
v
бормотать, болтать, трещать
23. vested interests
заинтересованные круги
24.
walk
on
egg
shell
ходить очень осторожно, быть осмотрительным
25.
commit
to
(
doing
smth
)
v
держать обещание, выполнять обязательства
26. proactively
adv.
проактивно, упреждающе
Unit 10. Cross-cultural Differences
Intercultural learning can be viewed as following a process. The starting point, level one,
is a state of unawareness – a state of not recognizing that cultural differences exist. It is an attitude of ‘our way is the only way’ or ‘everyone is like us’.
Through intellectual contact, communication and observation, people can move to level two
, a state of being aware of the differences. This is an attitude of ‘other people have different ways of doing things from us’.
From awareness comes level three
, tolerance. This is the attitude of ‘they are different from us’, but without attaching any judgment of better or best.
When individuals are transplanted into a new culture for whatever reason, they are likely to experience a culture shock, which can be an extremely disappointing situation. The individual is faced with three basic choices: tolerating and adapting to the new culture, remaining, but with a negative attitude towards the host culture or returning to the home culture.
From tolerances of differences, the final level – four
– is possible. This is a state of using our differences positively to achieve team work and the attitude is one of ‘let us work together in an integrated manner’.
Roots of cultural differences
. Cultural differences evolve because given groups of people develop different values and basic concepts for understanding the worlds around them and for guiding their action. These differences can become barriers between cultures because of four human factors.
First,
the psychological processes and defense mechanisms or the individual can result in suspicion and distrust.
Second,
barriers are often reinforced by group dynamics, that is, the predisposition of groups to close ranks against other groups and to stereotype them.
Third,
barriers may be built up as a result of the competitive nature of business. All parties are not going to get everything they want, so they must fight, compete or find collaborative forms of working together.
National cultures can also be broken down into different subcultures, such as regional, class, generational, and professional.
The increasing internationalization of business over last decades has brought about such themes as globalization and transnational companies.
We are often led to believe that the world is gradually becoming a smaller global village where some universal principals of being an effective manager apply.
However, within this global village, there still appear as many different approaches to business as there are national cultures. For example, ‘management by objectives (MBO)’ is regarded as a sound management practice in many cultures, but is seen as ‘losing face’ in others.
For a business to succeed in a multinational or international environment, it has to be able to identify and quantify the values, beliefs, expectations and ways of doing business of everybody involved. Responding to the complexity, diversity and ambiguity of cultures becomes a crucial task of management and training alike.
Managing a truly global multinational company would obviously be much simpler if it required only one set of corporate objectives, goals, policies, practices, products and services. But local differences often make this impossible. The conflict between globalization and localization has led to the invention of the word ‘glocalization’. Companies that want to be successful in foreign markets have to be aware of the local cultural characteristics that affect the way business is done.
A fairly obvious cultural divide is the one between, on the one hand, the countries of North America and north-west Europe, where management is largely based on analysis, rationality, logic and systems, and, on the other hand, the Latin cultures of southern Europe and South America, where personal relations, intuition, emotion and sensitivity are of much greater importance.
The largely Protestant countries on both sides of North Atlantic (Canada, the USA, Britain, the Netherlands, Germany, Scandinavia) are essentially individualist. In such cultures, status has to be achieved. You don’t automatically respect people just because they’ve been in a company for 30 years. A young dynamic, aggressive manager with an MBA (a Master in Business Administration degree) can quickly rise in the hierarchy.
In most Latin and Asian cultures, on the contrary, status is automatically accorded to the boss, who is more likely to be in his fifties or sixties than in the thirties. This particularly true in Japan, where companies traditionally have a policy of promotion by seniority. A Japanese would also want to take the time to get to know the person with whom he was negotiating, and would not appreciate an assertive American who wanted to sign a deal immediately and take the next plane home.
In northern cultures, the principle of pay-for-performance often successfully motivates people. The more you sell, the more you get paid. But the principle might well be resisted in more collectivist cultures, and in countries where rewards and promotion are expected to come with age and experience.
Singaporean and Indonesian manager objected that pay-for-performance caused salesmen to pressure customers into buying products they didn’t really need, which was not only bad for long term business relation, but quite simply unfair and ethically wrong.
Another example of an American idea that doesn’t work well in Latin countries is matrix management
. The task-oriented logic of matrix management conflicts with the principle of loyalty to the all-important line superior, the functional boss. You can’t have two bosses any more than you can have two fathers. For example, French managers would rather see an organization die than tolerate a system in which a few subordinates have to report to two bosses.
Speaking about people’s relationships with their boss and their colleagues and friends, we can distinguish between ‘universalists’ and ‘particularists’. The former believe that rules are extremely important; the latter believe that personal relationships and friendships should take precedence. Consequently, each group thinks that the other is corrupt. Universalists say that particularists ‘cannot be trusted because they will always help their friends’, while the second group says of the first ‘you cannot trust the; they would not even help a friend’. There are many more particularists in Latin and Asian countries than in Australia, the USA, Canada, or north-west Europe.
In Asian countries most of decision-making takes place behind the scenes. In China it may be necessary to have government involved in any decisions taken. And in India people are sometimes late for a scheduled appointment.
Greetings, gestures and terms of address are all potential hazards when meeting people of other cultures.. While we are familiar with short firm handshake in this part of the world, in the Middle East the hand is held in a loose grip for a longer time. In Islamic cultures, showing the soles of your feet is a sign of disrespect and crossing your leg is seen as offensive.
The difference between understanding a culture and ignoring its conventions can be the measure of success or failure abroad. In Western cultures we believe in empowering people and rewarding them for using initiative, but other cultures operate on the basis of obeying direct orders.
You can easily talk yourself into trouble at a business meeting in Japan. For them the most senior person at the meeting will say very little, and the person doing most of the talking is not very important. In a country like Japan, the notion of personal space which we value so much simply has no meaning. With a population of 125 million condensed into a narrow strip of land private space for the Japanese is virtually non-existent.
‘Do and Don’t’ while you are on a business abroad
Do
: -
show an interest in, and at least an elementary knowledge of the country you are visiting.
- Learn a few words of the language – it will be seen as a compliment.
- Be sensitive to countries who have bigger and better-known neighbours, and try not to confuse Canadians with Americans, New Zealanders with Australians, Belgians with French.
- Familiarize yourself with the basic of business and social etiquette. As a starting point, learning how to greet people is very important.
- Assume you won’t meet any communication problems because you speak English. You may think you are paying somebody a compliment by telling them their business is going a bomb. Americans will conclude you think it is failing.
- Appear too reserved. As Americans are generally more full cheerful than their European colleagues, they may equate reserve with lack of enthusiasm.
Cross-cultural management, as defined concept, is no more than twenty years old. It came into being because in the past decade international companies have become truly international. They are not just exporting; they are opening offices in other countries or buying into joint ventures. As a result, they employ lots of foreign employees, many of them local hires, and have their own employees living and working in other cultures.
Cross-cultural management training teaches, explains, consults and conveys modes of communication to people so they can better understand a culture foreign to them.
We all understand, intellectually, that things are done differently abroad, yet many people tend to forget this in the heat of daily business. Not all conflict is caused by cultural differences – some people just can’t get along – but often it is. Employees must be taught how to manage and be managed across cultures.
Culture is like the air you breathe but only when you put your head under water do you realize that you’ve been breathing air and now you are deprived of it. The same is true for culture: when we are in our home countries, we are swimming in culture without seeing or sensing it since it’s how we were brought up. Only when you leave your country, or start working with foreigners in your home country, do you become aware of your own culture.
When a foreign company opens an office in Russia, for example, it imports its culture here. Not only do the expatriates working here experience culture
shock,
but so do the Russians working in the company. Naturally the experience of working and interacting differs depending on whether you work for a German, French, or Japanese company.
One always carries his/her culture and it is always done on the subconscious level. When you come into a new culture, you are shocked because it confronts your own. If you try to push your culture onto the people and environment around you, people will find you difficult. The key to understanding any culture is information- you must look around and ask questions, even if you think they are stupid questions.
If no one explains you how another culture functions, you will not know how to interpret the way its people interact with you; you may seem like they just don’t like you. There are lots of avenues to describe culture: history, traditions, nature, and even ways of society. Knowing even some of them helps reduce conflict because people start to understand more about the culture, and, more importantly, become more open minded. They may still not like their colleague as a person, but at least it isn’t because he is American, French, or Chinese.
Cross-cultural management doesn’t claim to solve all communication issues and get rid of all workplace conflicts. But it does one thing for sure: it brings to light the cultural issues many of us keep hidden. It teaches people to accept the fact that differences do exist.
When you are going to work in an international company, first of all, you should anticipate that you are probably not going to understand what is going on. It is natural for people who do not understand to start blaming somebody else. To combat this, you need lots and lots of solid communication.
First, the company leader need send pioneers – people with international knowledge and experience working abroad. Many foreigners put the blame for their bad experience on the country they are going to, when it is really the fault of living and working abroad for the first time. Living abroad is not easy.
Whether you settle on a joint venture or take on a local partner, sit down and discuss your cross-cultural issues, and come up with a strategy. When you hire locally, first choose those who have experience in an international environment. It is much more difficult to open an office directly, rather than taking on a partner or creating a joint venture, due to the laws and regulations. Foreigners encounter difficulties in any country. Don’t jump to conclusions and blame your host country for your problems. First consider how foreigners are treated in YOUR country.
In northern European cultures it’s considered professional to keep business and family separate, but not in Russia. Here, people expect to be able to discuss personal problems at work and think it’s fine if their boss calls late at night or on the weekend to talk about business. In other countries, at half past six workers are in private time.
This means what you, a foreign manager, might consider good business management, is actually not. Family and work are more mixed in Russia – it’s what you call a diffused culture – and this may create conflict.
In Russia if you want to succeed in business as a manager, you must show interest in your employee’s life. You must ask your employees how their granny feels and whether their children did well in their exams. And this goes both ways; employees also expect to take an interest in your personal life.
If you manage your staff in this way, should you ask an employee to come in Monday at 8 AM instead of 9 AM to settle important issues, the employee will agree gladly because he or she is grateful to help and feels connected to you personally.
Of course in Russia there is a style of management, called management by walking around, that builds on this more personal work environment. In this model, employees expect the boss to know everything; the boss is like a teacher. Overseas, your typical teacher may take time to think about a student’s question, but in Russia if you ask the teacher a question he is expected to answer at once, even if he doesn’t have the right answer. That what your worker will expect of you.
Relationships between manager and employees in Russia versus the West.
Work in Russia is very hierarchical. The boss always remains your boss, and you know and feel your status. In the West, business-unit like organization is popular. People work cooperatively on projects, adopting different roles at different times
This has a huge impact on performance assessments. In a business-unit-type organizations people are eager to praise their colleagues’ performance because they hope their colleagues will do the same for them in the future. In Russia one must be more careful and assessments may be muted – everyone looks average.
As some theorists assume there are inner-oriented and outer oriented cultures. Americans tend to be internally oriented, they manage by setting objectives targets: you do the job on time and you get a bonus, in other words: you control your destiny. Russians tend to operate with a more external orientation.
Problems arise as the foreign managers, looking critically at how each group operates, decide to assign cultural blame. Foreigners think Russians are lazy, Russians claim foreigners can’t understand their country. In the end everyone gives up, saying, “this is just how thing are in Russia”, which is the worst conclusion to draw.
The only way to handle such a situation is anticipate it; you know you are tasked with creating one effort across culture, so get ready to deal with it. At start, work out a flexible strategy for handling the cultural differences, coming up with several scenarios just in case one doesn’t work out. This is a great tool to use in all countries where people feel they are being controlled by nature, like in Russia.
Having a poor understanding of the influence of cross cultural differences in areas such as management, PR, advertising and negotiation scan eventually lead to blunders that can have damaging consequences.
It is crucial for today’s business personnel to understand the impact of cross cultural differences on business, trade and internal company organization. The success or failure of a company, venture, merger or acquisition is essentially in the hands of people. If these people are not cross culturally aware then misunderstandings, offence and a breakdown in communication can occur.
The need for greater cross cultural awareness is heightened in our global economies. Cross cultural differences in matters such as language, etiquette, non-verbal communication, norms and values can, do and will lead to cross cultural blunders.
To illustrate this we have provided a few examples of cross cultural blunders that could have been avoided with appropriate cross cultural awareness training:
- An American oil rig supervisor in Indonesia shouted at an employee to take a boat to shore. Since it is no-one berates an Indonesian in public, a mob of outraged workers chased the supervisor with axes.
- Pepsodent tried to sell its toothpaste in Southeast Asia by emphasizing that it “whitens your teeth.” They found out that the local natives chew betel nuts to blacken their teeth which they find attractive.
- A company advertised eyeglasses in Thailand by featuring a variety of cute animals wearing glasses. The ad was a poor choice since animals are considered to be a form of low life and no self respecting Thai wouldn’t wear anything worn by animals.
The soft drink Fresca was being promoted by a saleswoman in Mexico. She was surprised that her sales pitch was greeted with laughter, and later embarrassed when she learned that Fresca is slang for “lesbian.”
- When President George Bush went to Japan with Lee Iacocca and other American business magnates, and directly made explicit and direct demands on Japanese leaders, they violated Japanese etiquette. To the Japanese (who use high context language) it is considered rude and a sign of ignorance or desperation to lower oneself to make direct demands. Some analysts believe it severely damaged the negotiations and confirmed to the Japanese that Americans are barbarians.
- A soft drink was introduced into Arab countries with an attractive label that had stars on it—six-pointed stars. The Arabs interpreted this as pro-Israeli and refused to buy it. Another label was printed in ten languages, one of which was Hebrew—again the Arabs did not buy it.
- U.S. and British negotiators found themselves at a standstill when the American company proposed that they “table” particular key points. In the U.S. “Tabling a motion” means to not discuss it, while the same phrase in Great Britain means to “bring it to the table for discussion.”
In addition to interpersonal cross cultural gaffes, the translation of documents, brochures, advertisements and signs also offers us some comical cross cultural blunders:
- Kellogg had to rename its Bran Buds cereal in Sweden when it discovered that the name roughly translated to “burned farmer.”
- When PepsiCo advertised Pepsi in Taiwan with the ad “Come Alive With Pepsi” they had no idea that it would be translated into Chinese as “Pepsi brings your ancestors back from the dead.”
- American medical containers were distributed in Great Britain and caused quite a stir. The instructions to “Take off top and push in bottom,” innocuous to Americans, had very strong sexual connotations to the British.
- In Italy, a campaign for Schweppes Tonic Water translated the name into “Schweppes Toilet Water.”
- In a Yugoslavian hotel: The flattening of underwear with pleasure is the job of the chambermaid.
- In a Bangkok dry cleaner’s: Drop your trousers here for best results.
- In an East African newspaper: A new swimming pool is rapidly taking shape since the contractors have thrown in the bulk of their workers.
- At a Budapest zoo: Please do not feed the animals. If you have any suitable food, give it to the guard on duty.
In conclusion, poor cross cultural awareness has many consequences, some serious others comical. It is imperative that in the global economy cross-cultural awareness is seen as a necessary investment to avoid such blunders as we have seen above.
1. What levels are there in the process of intercultural learning?
2. What a re the roots of cross-culture differences?
3. Are there any universal principles to deal with cross-cultural problems?
4. What is a crucial task of management in multinational environment?
5. How can you explain the concept of ‘glocalization’?
6. How do managerial principles differ in north-American and north-west European cultures on the one hand, and in Latin south-European and south- American cultures, on the other hand?
7. What is the difference between Protestant cultures and Latin and Asian countries?
8. Why is the American concept of pay-for-performance unpopular in Italy, and in Asia?
9. Why the idea of “matrix management” doesn’t work in France?
10. Why do ‘universalists’ disapprove of ‘particularists’?
11. What things can be of potential hazard when you are dealing with people of other cultures?
12. What can be a measure of your success when you are abroad? Why?
13. What you should do and shouldn’t do while you are on business abroad?
14. What was the reason for appearance of the concept of cross-cultural management?
15. In what situations do you become aware of your own culture? Why?
16. What does a “culture shock” mean? Give your examples?
17. What does cross-cultural management teach people?
18. How to cope with cultural issues when your company is coming into a new culture?
19. What does “walking around” style of management mean? Do you think it useful or not?
20. How do relationships between a manger and employees differ in Russia from those in western cultures?
22. What consequences can a poor understanding of cross- cultural differences lead to?
23. Why is the awareness of cross-cultural differences so important in present global economy?
24. Can you give some examples of misunderstandings in cross-cultural relations?
Vocabulary to Unit10
1.
unawareness
n
неосторожность, опрометчивость
2.
observation
n
высказывание, замечание, наблюдение
3
. tolerance
n
терпимость, толерантность
4. distrust
n
недоверие, сомнение, подозрение
5. suspicion
n
подозрение; Syn.: doubt
6. defense mechanism
защитныймеханизм
7. predisposition
n
предрасположение, склонность
8
. close ranks
сомкнуть ряды
9. collaborative
adj.
общий, объединенный, совместный
Syn.: combined
10.
management
by
objectives
управление по целям, целевое управление
11.
lose
face
ударить лицом в грязь, потерять престиж, быть униженным
12.
quantify
v
определять количество, измерять, мерить
13.
ambiguity
n
неопределенность, неясность, двусмысленность
14.aggressive manager
энергичный, предприимчивыйменеджер
15. on the contrary
наоборот
16.
accord
n
одобрение, согласие, договоренность
17.
assertive
adj
.
1)чрезмерно настойчивый, самоуверенный
2) позитивный, утвердительный
18.
matrix management
матричное руководство
19.
precedence
n
превосходство, старшинство, ранг, приоритет
23. hazard
n
риск, опасность
24. offensive
adj.
обидный, оскорбительный
25.
convention
n
собрание, соглашение, договоренность; правила поведения
26.
empower
v
поручить, давать возможность; оказывать поддержку
27.
obey
orders
подчиняться, повиноваться приказам
28. be condensed
бытьсжатым, кратким
29.
go
a
bomb
потерпеть провал, фиаско
30.
equate
v
уравнивать, считать равным, приравнивать
31.
be
deprived
of
быть лишенным чего-либо
32.
expatriate
n
эмигрант, экспатриант, переселенец (в другую страну)
33.
get
rid
of
smth
избавиться от чего-либо
34.
come
up
with
smth
сравняться с (чем-л.
); предлагать (план, проект
)
35.
blunder
n
грубая ошибка, промах, просчет
36.
oil
rig
буровая установка
37.
berate
v
бранить, ругать, поносить (кого-л.)
38.
mob
n
толпа, сборище, большая группа людей
39.
outraged
adj
.
оскорбленный, взбешенный
40.
chase
v
гнаться, преследовать
41. sales pitch
партиятовара
42. be at a standstill
бездействовать
43.
cultural
gaffes
-
ошибки, оплошности при межкультурном общении
Syn: blunder
44. innocuous
adj.
безобидный, безвредный
45.
flatten
v
1)сглаживать; 2) снижать активность, становиться вялым
46
. connotation
n
подтекст, скрытый смысл
| ! |
Как писать рефераты Практические рекомендации по написанию студенческих рефератов. |
| ! | План реферата Краткий список разделов, отражающий структура и порядок работы над будующим рефератом. |
| ! | Введение реферата Вводная часть работы, в которой отражается цель и обозначается список задач. |
| ! | Заключение реферата В заключении подводятся итоги, описывается была ли достигнута поставленная цель, каковы результаты. |
| ! | Оформление рефератов Методические рекомендации по грамотному оформлению работы по ГОСТ. |
| → | Виды рефератов Какими бывают рефераты по своему назначению и структуре. |