Management

Talent management functions like the kidney that hires the good personnel and fires

the bad ones.

The two kidneys are the vital organs in the body amongst other functions cleanse the

blood of toxins and keep it chemically balanced. The kidneys are sophisticated

reprocessing machines and process the blood to filter out the wastes and extra water.

Similarly a good talent management system will hire the good personnel, retain them and

remove the bad ones.

Good management is not just about recruiting the right people to do the right jobs. This is

particularly important during challenging times when staff budgets are cut to the bone. A

strong management team must also have the discipline and insight to identify the dead

wood in the company, and to be able to take firm action to remove them. These

executives are those who have being entrenched in the system because of their job

security and seniority are just cruising along and marking time. They do not have active

and productive contributions as well as add value to the company. Most managers

acknowledge that the most difficult task is firing of employees, particularly somebody

that they have worked with closely for several years. Usually, the people that you did not

fire are the ones that make your life miserable.

In many organisations, the decision-making power resides at the top. Empire-building by

yes-men becomes the main preoccupation of the day. In the corporate intrigue of power

struggle for status and position, the good personnel who may have differing views are

stifled.

In talent management, the CEO has to look beyond himself and his abilities. He is smart

if he hires the right people who may be better than he in those competencies to execute

tasks that he himself is unable to do. He is then able to extend “his arms and legs” within

the organisation to get things done in more efficient manner.

This philosophy is shared by Jack Welch as he felt that smart people hire smart people.

He said: “Every time you hire someone that is not better than you, you have missed an

opportunity, because if you got all the answers, who the hell needs anybody else.” GE’s

core competence is the development of people and Welch’s greatest legacy was to

transform GE as the training ground of the world’s top business honchos. For example,

the other two candidates, namely Robert Nardelli and James McNerney who did not get

Welch’s job left GE to become CEO of The Home Depot and 3M respectively.

Hiring the right person takes good skill in recruitment. Sometimes, even with good

evaluation and hiring efforts, the employers do make the wrong hire. In such situation,

you need to try to redeem the situation or live with it or fire the employee and start the

recruitment process all over again.

However, in the situation of lean staff budget, you do not have the luxury of carrying

“dead wood”. It maybe necessary to fire the wrong recruit. Jack Welch saw nothing

wrong in delayering and downsizing incompetent people. To him, downsizing and

delayering were absolutely necessary, and not firing workers who were a part of a losing

business would have been more heartless than letting them go past the age of 50. Welch

the self-actualizer is also Welch the pragmatist and he sees these decisions as necessary

threads in the fabric of business. . “That is business,” added the GE Chairman. He also

explained it this way: “I think the cruelest thing you can do to somebody is give them the

head fake….nice appraisals….that’s called false kindness. A removal should never be a

surprise.”

On the other hand too, retaining the people that you want to keep has become a key issue

for organisations. When the key and talented people leave, there is a loss of experience

and knowledge as well as continuity. Yet, companies would rather spend the valuable

resources to recruit new talent from competitors than retaining the talent that they already

have.

Stress in every individual varies, depending upon circumstance and how they perceive life and work pressures. What is a “buzz” to one person may be the stress for another, and so it is important for every individual to manage their own stress through recognizing the causes and understanding the effects of stress on them and to others. Personal stress management is all about identifying personal stress and its effects, as well as practicing some simple yet powerful and effective stress management methods.

The advantages of managing one’s personal stress levels are various, and touch not only oneself but the people around them as well. The pressures of every day life is not going to disappear, but the way a person analysis and deals with pressures is necessary for good personal stress management. Here are two simple steps for personal stress management:

Know what stress is and how it affects you physically and emotionally

It is important to know that stress is a part of daily life and it can never be completely eliminated -accept this fact. The key is to know how to handle it when it confronts you; keep in mind that stress is the body’s reaction to change, and it will vary with different situations. Not all stress is “bad”, and not everyone has the same stress stimulator as you do.

Learn to identify your stress “triggers” and spot its signs. You can make a diary or list of your top stressors, rank them, and take note of how you respond to these stressors. Be aware of how it affects your emotional state and physical well-being. When one is able to analyze and understand how they react to their stressors, it makes it possible to come up with helpful and effective stress reducers that will help prevent the negative effects of stress.

Take action and de-stress

Know you own mind and think differently about things. Avoid too much pessimism and look at the better side of situations that confront you. Taking off stress means making positive choices and steps to diminish stress in your life.

De-stress through great activities for the mind and the body such as exercise, healthy diet, fun hobbies, booking oneself a mental holiday like a peaceful and quiet time alone, and other alternative ways of relaxing.

Effective personal stress management comes from within and one’s determination to overcome their own stresses. An individual who feels de-stressed and “in control” is more productive and healthier than those people who don’t.

The prevailing image of the Japanese management system in very large companies is very similar, if not the same as the management system used in small Japanese companies, because business management systems are, after all, a product of their particular national culture.

This article will at first provide a brief overview of the history of Japanese business and management systems over the course of the late 20th century in order to provide a context in which to base its argument. It is, of course, also important to understand what the prevailing image of the Japanese management system is, and how it came to be so dominant or influential with very large Japanese companies.

This article will also examine how the prevailing image of Japanese management systems in very large companies are similar to and different from the systems of small companies in Japan. There are some key similarities and differences with each general type of management system, and although there isn’t enough space in this essay to introduce all aspects, a general overview and some examples of the similarities and differences between the management systems of both very large and small companies of Japan will be provided.

It is important to first understand how the modern Japanese economy became what it is today. Since the end of World War 2, until about the 1970’s, Japan had experienced a profound economic transformation. By the 1980’s, Japan had become the second largest economy in the world, to the envy and admiration of other nations. This remarkable period of economic prosperity during the latter half of the 20th century has become known as the Japanese ‘Economic Miracle’.

There are a range of arguments made by scholars who have attempted to explain the reason behind Japan’s economic success in the late 20th century, and these vary considerably. One of these reasons is that Japan’s economic success has been solely as a result of the culture and traditions of Japan. This argument is based on the assumption that culture is the main contributing factor of a nation’s economy. Morishima has emphasized that in the context of Japan’s economic success, the Confucian tradition of Japan has played a key role, arguing that “religious and ethical systems shape human economic behavior and consequently the nature and performance of their economies”. Other ideas have been used to understand Japan’s rise to success in the late 20th century such as market regulation, for example, Japan’s response to market signals, bureaucratic regulation by selecting and fostering strategic industries and political, economic and social conditions in Japan.

Japan’s successful economy started to decline in 1973 during the oil crisis, when the price of oil quadrupled, acting as a catalyst for economic failure in Japan. Effectively, the high price of oil had negative effects on the Japanese manufacturing industry. Japan responded by focusing its attention from energy dependent industry to a more knowledge-based industry, thus averting the crisis from worsening, and enhancing the health of its economy. Japan experienced a ‘bubble economy’ in the years 1987 – 90. This had come about as the result of asset prices rising far beyond their actual value, particularly those of land and shares. Land prices fell sharply in 1990 when the Bank of Japan increased the official interest rate, thus triggering a massive sell-off of shares. Since this time Japan has faced challenges such as an aging population and the currency crisis in Asia, but has recovered considerably and today still has a strong economy, rivaled by only the United States, China and the European Union.

Almost every business policy that the Japanese are well-known for is as a result of the post-World War 2 economic reconstruction in Japan. The first root factor of the modern Japanese management system is a sense of national identity. This is mainly due to the fact that Japan is an isolated, island nation. Actually, this sense of national identity has existed since feudal times in Japan. The second factor of the modern Japanese management system is the notion of Confucianism; while imported from China long ago, the Japanese have their own version of Confucianism, which is central to understanding the modern Japanese management system. Confucianism in Japan has three main aspects; loyalty, filial piety and respect for learning. Loyalty and filial piety in Japan are reflected in Japanese management with honne and tatemae, or one’s own feelings and one’s public stance, which may and often differ between each other according to the individual.

Loyalty is also seen in very large companies in Japan, where on graduating from high school or university and entering into employment with a Japanese company, one will usually gain ‘lifetime employment’ with his or her company, thus reflecting the Confucian aspect of loyalty. In this sense, Confucianism plays a major role with Japanese management practices.

Group orientation, or shudanshugi also plays an important role in modern Japanese business management practices. This is also a prominent attribute in Japanese society, for example to see a group of Japanese tourists in a foreign country, one will notice that the people in the group will always stay close together. This aspect of Japanese culture is of course also very apparent within Japanese companies, and has been deeply ingrained into Japanese society itself since the Tokugawa period. Shudanshugi can be seen with almost any social aspect of Japan, thus it is evident with both large and small Japanese companies.

Although this desire to be part of a group may be also apparent with other countries, Japan in particular sees this group mentality as natural, not an exterior phenomenon as it may be seen with other cultures. Individual responsibility is not important in Japan, as it is in the West. Instead, groups are given the responsibilites. This is another example of the group-orientated ethics of Japan and the Japanese workforce.

There are also two types of attitudes towards authority in Japan: kengen and ken’i, or simply, formal authority and personal influence. As such, Japanese companies both small and very large tend to be run on ken’i, personal influence, which is different from a general Western perspective, where emphasis is usually placed on delegated authority.

The fourth important aspect of Japanese business culture is based on regional competition, something that has existed in Japan since feudal times. This is not so much an artificial construction of modern Japan, but something that has been rooted in Japanese culture for a long time. For one example, the competition between firms in Japan in the kantou and kansai regions in modern times reflects the regional competition between these same areas as far back as the beginnings of the Tokugawa period. This cultural aspect of modern Japan is probably reflected more visibly in the business management systems more often with very large companies, than smaller companies in Japan.

There are two basic forms of obligation in Japanese society, which can be seen in the business culture of Japan. On refers to a debt that is not able to be repaid, for example one’s debt to their parents or the debt incurred from saving another’s life. While it cannot be repaid, one will try to repay it. This type of obligation is also apparent with entering into lifetime employment with a very large Japanese company, and is tied in with the Confucian notion of loyalty. The second form of obligation, giri, is incurred from receiving a favour, such as leasing an apartment to a tenant.

Along with the aforementioned aspects of Japanese culture, there are many more aspects present with Japanese culture, and along with it the Japanese management systems of both small and very large companies. In simple terms, Japanese business management styles are a by-product of the Japanese national culture, as such, each type of management system is not much far removed from the other. In fact, we see such cultural aspects in almost any facet of society in Japan.

It is immediately apparent that culture influences business practices and in effect business management systems. Entire theses have been written around this idea. One such example is Kahn’s ‘Confucian Economic System’, used to describe Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore and Korea’s cultural links to business practices. Kahn describes the features of these ‘neo-Confucian’ economies to be related to a number of factors, including sobriety, a high value for education, a desire to succeed, seriousness about life and a hard-working ethic. Along with a culturally ingrained, Confucian sense of loyalty, there is also a sense of harmony in the Japanese workplace, as there are with the group-oriented mindset of Japanese society. This is evidenced by strike-free workplaces in modern Japan, thus placing an emphasis on co-operation and mutual obligation, rather than equality.

The cultural values, relations and structure of modern Japan clearly affect how Japanese society operates, and this is also the case with modern Japanese business management systems in both very large and smaller Japanese companies, as has been proven in this essay. Japan is a very unique country, in that its culture does not completely resemble that of any other one nation, although Japan has borrowed much from other countries to construct its own national identity.

It is apparent that Confucianism plays an important role in Japanese culture and in effect its society, business practices and so on. What has been covered in this essay is only a brief glimpse of the complicated and detailed Japanese business management world, including such cultural aspects as group orientation, authority, regional competition, obligations, and overall, the Confucian-based business culture of Japan, which in itself has many important aspects which are used in Japanese social practices and business management systems alike.

The reason why the prevailing image of Japanese management systems in very large companies and small companies is very similar, if not the same, is because the Japanese economy, and with it the business structure of virtually any kind of business or large company in Japan is directly influenced by Japanese cultural values, relations and structure, in particular, those of Confucian origin.

Many scholars have argued about the reason why Japan has become so successful in the late 20th century, in an attempt to describe the Japanese ‘Economic Miracle’. The first argument that is usually presented is that Japan’s recent economic success is as a result of her culture and tradition. While it has not been proven beyond doubt that this is the only reason behind the ‘Economic Miracle’, it is certainly a compelling argument and clearly demonstrates the powerful influence that culture has over the structure of a national society such as Japan.

Want to get unstuck? Last week, we talked about being able to recognize the signs that you – or people you’re trying to work (or live) with – are resisting a change that needs to happen.

Here are 6 steps you can take to confront resistance and leave it sniveling in your dust.

1. Own it. Recognize and accept that you are in resistance. When we deny resistance or ignore it, resistance owns us. Example: When other things keep bumping the thing you need to do from your list, that’s resistance. When we don’t own it, it’s so easy to believe that those things were urgent and postponing the change unavoidable, day after week after month. When you own that you are in resistance, you are better able to see how your priorities may be interfering with the bigger picture.

2. Know the cost of staying in resistance. What happens if you don’t make the change? What are the predictable outcomes of remaining on your current path?

Yes, financially, but also in terms of:

other impacts on your business
lost opportunity
state of mind
physical and emotional energy
health and wellbeing
impact on others
what else?

3. Know WIIFM – (What’s In It For Me) While you do want to know the potential negative impacts above, fear is not ultimately the best motivator for the long haul. What are the predictable positive outcomes for you if you successfully create the change you want to see?

Yes, financially, but also in terms of:

sense of accomplishment
creation of new opportunity
state of mind
physical and emotional energy
health and wellbeing
impact on others
what else?

4. Get specific and Get positive. What is the specific action you need to take? This step trips up a lot of people. For example: increasing revenue, landing a job or losing weight are not actions. These are goals that can help define direction, but we often mistake these for what we need to do. You can’t actually DO any of these things, they are the outcomes of other actions.

Positive actions you might take to create revenue are making a certain number of calls a day to set up meetings with prospective clients. And developing a strategy for converting meetings into business.

Stopping something you do is a negative rather than a positive action. You’ll be more effective if you plan the action you will take instead of the one you want to stop.

5. Tell the story of the change you want to see. In detail. the most basic tool of change and any other thing you want to create is the word. And it’s most powerful form is the story. Start to paint a detailed visual picture using words, for yourself and others. Repeat this, allowing it to develop and guide your actions and decisions. When you start to live the story the change you want to see begins to materialize.

6. Take away the option of not changing. When we say we’re going to do something but we allow something else to distract us and we accept that excuse, we allow the option of not doing what we need to do. Instead, commit to taking action, whether or not other things come up. If not acting isn’t an option, you’ll be amazed at the change you can create.

Spending lots of time in planning your office will result to a very organised system where information is nicely organised as files in their respective computers while all of the other peripherals work fine and are easily accessible. This is a great start for any business system, but once documents start to get printed, sorting it all can be a bit overwhelming especially in the days ahead when documents start to pile up as more outputs are made.

Sorting and managing documents require a lot of manpower and will require multiple people to carry out the tasks. These people will often need to put their current roles to a halt just to help manage these documents which can affect the overall performance of a business. Neglecting to do any document management can also cause problems in the long run. Some of the most important document management solutions offered by these companies are the following.

Archiving: Archiving is very useful for documents that need to be set aside for backup purposes. Many companies do this on their own, but one of the major problems is the often lengthy time it takes to retrieve these documents. Relying on another service to handle the archiving will yield great benefits when it comes to document retrieval. This not only saves valuable space, but also makes easy for any documents to be shared regardless of when they were archived. Security is emphasised as well ensuring that unauthorised people have no access to the documents. This applies to boxes and files as well.

Good document management solutions companies will use improved bar-coding technologies to make archives very easy to access even if it is mixed in thousands of other documents. The company handles the complicated index process by placing every single file in a unique, but reachable location for quick retrieval. Adding more documents for archiving won’t affect the indexing either.

Document Destruction: Old documents can take up valuable space and contribute to some unnecessary storage costs. Destroying these documents using the common methods may solve the problem, but even deleted data can be visible and accessible if taken into a closer analysis. These companies provide solutions for secure deletion to ensure that no trace is recoverable. The process must also comply with environmental standards which mean that waste should be recycled appropriately.

Organisation: Disorganised batches of documents require a lot more administration which means more costs devoted to that. Good services dedicate their time in formulating plans on how documents should be organised and setting those plans into action. Some solutions may be directed towards specific industries such as those that need to carefully organise health records of patients. These documents can be securely stored and scanned whenever it is needed in case of emergency.

Although some money needs to be invested in these document management solutions, costs should actually lower whilst other human resources in the company can focus on more important tasks while professionals handle all of the document management needs to keep your business running efficiently and smoothly.

Unstable economies around the world have turned everything into a challenge for the different industries we have today. Some companies have been holding up pretty well while others have simply shut down. While the economy itself is the main driving issue, in some cases, it can all be a simple case of not-so-promising financial prospects worsened by mismanaged employees.

We all know that employees are always the backbone of any business. Having good people working in a company, when combined with the right system, can provide successful business even through economic turmoil. For this reason, job experts always recommend the use of workforce management tools which make checking on staff easier and more effective.

There are many ways workforce management tools can help manage a business, whether large or small scale. For example, it can determine staff availability in relation to rotating shifts, allowing a company to maintain a balance in terms of employee work schedules. The software can also analyze and predict the volume of transactions per period and determine a number of people that will be required to handle such transactions. The tool can even get as specific as planning breaks in between shifts.

While workforce management tools offer various advantages, their best benefit yet is allowing a company to effectively handle its staff’s performance. These tools can easily manage information such as employees’ attendance, tardiness, and quality of work. They have the capability to report a general evaluation of how an employee has been performing at work while taking into consideration little pieces of information and consolidating them into a single, meaningful and purely objective assessment of how this employee has been doing. On top of that, these tools allow a manager to see whether or not specific objectives or goals that have been set for a particular department or worker to accomplish have, indeed, been accomplished. This makes the process of managing human resources much easier and more efficient.

Beyond a company’s products or services are the employees who make the system work in order for these products and services to be accessed by the market. Hence, it is paramount importance that management tools are in place in order to make sure that this system is working well. Otherwise, no matter how good a product or service is, it may never be as good as letting the market itself experience it through the workers who make such connection possible on a day-to-day basis. Hence, to extend the life of a company’s relationship with its market, it has to use the right tools to check on its workers because it is through them, after all, that this relationship is even possible.

Project management (PM) is a well planned approach for a process from start to end. It is concerned with the planning and guiding of the project from start to finish. Any process needs to be guide in usually five stages. They are initiation, planning, execution, controlling and closing. PM can be applied to almost all type of projects but especially it is applicable in software development projects to control the complex process. It is an organized effort and it is planned very carefully. To accomplish a specific project, PM is essential.

PM is handled by project manager to implement the project successfully towards its goal. For successful completion of any project it is necessary to have a proper PM. The main objective of the PM is to attain its goal successfully.

Numbers of approaches are there to manage the activities of the project. They are:

The traditional approach-This approach aims towards the completion of the project in sequence or in traditional manner. For the completion of the project there are five stages in this approach. They are:

* The stage of initiation

* The stage of design or planning

* The stage of production or execution

* Monitoring and controlling systems

* The stage of completion

Extreme PM- To execute project task, the critical chain project management give more emphasis to human and physical resources. By this method of planning and managing projects all the constraints are exploited and priority is also given to it. In critical chain project management all the projects are planned and managed only when the resources are ready.

Extreme PM- Complex type of project is handled in extreme PM. In this PM experts always try to identify the different models which is ‘light weight’ such as Agile Project Management.

Scrum techniques and extreme programming for the development of software are used in this method. It is the combination of management of human interaction and process modeling.

Event chain methodology- The complement to the critical path method and the methodologies of critical chain project management is another method that is Event chain methodology. This PM deals with the model of uncertainty. The main focus of this management is towards identifying and managing the events or the chain of events which will affect the schedule of the project. Event chain methodology follows the following principles:

* Event chains

* Tracking with events

* Probabilistic moment of risk

* Tracking with events

* Event chain visualization

It is pretty obvious that there are many managers out there who are at different starting points in their careers. Knowing where to start as you move your career along can be a bit tricky.

Because what’s just right for a new manager, still getting their basics right, will be very different for a seasoned manager who – when being very honest – will know exactly where they have their weaker points that will need attention.

Please remember, wherever you are up the ladder of success, there will always be something that you can develop, regardless of the level of experience you have and the interest you take in your own future growth.

It can be much more challenging when you feel things aren’t going as well as they might and then try to pass the blame to anything that will take it. Like your employees; outside influences; the weather even (it has been known!).

Where you are new, you’ll look for an experienced hand to guide you quickly to help you make a great start. You will be able to absorb all sorts of information and it will all be very valuable.

You know that it’s important to reflect on what you are learning and sense how it is serving you. It is easy to get distracted, of course, and you will need to be choosy. It’s also worth taking time out to reflect on your behaviors, to check out whether the ‘how’ of the ways you do things is the most appropriate and productive.

For those more experienced, you see things in different ways, from a position of ‘been there, done that’. Much experience is invaluable for you and the key to check here is whether what you do has served you well – no, really, check it out with your people – so that you can select other options to make the difference going forward.

It just depends on you to take a few minutes out of your week to find what you need to move forward, that’s all. When you find that specific little gem you can improve – even just a little – you really will find that it’s been worth your while.

It’s worth noting that the very action you take to improve your performance shows that you are one of the small percentage who are prepared to take their career into their own hands.

With that level of a pro-active spirit, aligned with the activities and learning you can find – often very inexpensively – out there, you have much greater opportunities to be successful than many of your colleagues.

And that is immensely valuable, both financially and for your own fulfillment too, as well as the development and growth of your own people, which you will inevitably begin to support them with as part of your focused development.

Management development is a fascinating activity for managers – of any age or experience – to get involved in and the most valuable and rewarding comes from grasping the nettle and taking personal responsibility for your own growth.

Whenever I need a quote for an article or a speech, I start by checking Albert Einstein. My other favorite-but for totally different reasons-is Yogi Berra. Einstein is quoted as saying that if he had only one hour to save the world, he would spend 55 minutes defining the problem and only 5 minutes finding the solution.

Oftentimes, we think we know what the problem is: We don’t have enough money or resources; we don’t have the time. But in point of fact, those aren’t the problems-they are the result of the problems.

How to get to the heart of the matter?

There is much written in both management and scientific circles about defining problems. They range from the practical (Rephrase the problem) to the whimsical (”Problem-solve your problem statement”). Most, however, warn against avoiding solutions until the problem has been defined.

Iris Lloyd who was (and may still be) a management analyst in the Management and Organizational Division of the National Bureau of Standards, suggested in a 1978 article in the Public Administration Review, that perhaps defining the problem was actually the wrong way to approach complex management problems.

She suggests that oftentimes “working on them incrementally as open-ended problems” can solve problems more effectively. These solutions, she says may not be elegant, but they are “realistic responses to real life situations.”

Lloyd agrees with most of today’s management gurus (and me) that too often we mistake the symptom for the problem. But for her, a larger issue is that too often we are too quick to set boundaries around what we think the problem may be. This, she says, limits us and does allow us to see the problem as part of a larger situation and to consider total effects. Or, as my husband always reminds me, “Beware of unintended consequences” that happen largely because of failure to consider the bigger picture.

Define the problem? Go with the flow? I think I’ll let Yogi have the last word. “If you ask me anything I don’t know, I’m not going to answer.”

Appointing team leaders is a tricky task that in a manager’s job description. You want to choose the right person for the job, without inciting bitterness and rivalry among other members of the team. While there is always the chance that someone will think that they can do a better job than your appointed leader, you must stand firm in your choice. Here are some management solutions that can help make decisions like these a little easier.

Let the majority rule – If your team consists of a large number of people, have them take a vote on who would be the best leader. When egos are at stake, give them a stipulation that they cannot vote for themselves. Secret ballot is the best way to get a definitive answer as to who everyone thinks will be best for the job, and the team members are often right.

Alternate regularly – Unless there is a reason that the same person must be in charge on every project, let people take a turn in heading up the team. You might be surprised at who turns out to be a natural leader, and does an outstanding job. Those who are less aggressive at taking leadership roles can sometimes be the strongest when placed into that capacity.

Go with your gut instinct – Sometimes, in watching that actions and interactions of your employees, a team leader becomes apparent. If your instinct tells you that someone has what it takes to make a project happen or get a job done, go with your gut. Usually the outward signs of someone who would do well in a leadership position are apparent and they have already unofficially taken on that type of role with coworkers.

While there are no management solutions that are the perfect answer for every organization, these tips should give you a solid base to help you find a way that works for you and your teams. It may take some trial and error to find the exact right solution, but once you have found a tactic that works for you, choosing team leaders will be a much easier job to complete.