Management Topics

By extracting and cataloguing data, organisations can pinpoint and evaluate relationships, patterns and trends so they can glean insights and draw conclusions based on the data and use these to make informed decisions. Such data can include information on: - Processes, Products, People, Materials - Market, Suppliers, Customers, Competitors - Costs, Prices, Revenue - ……… It’s an interesting innovative work, to collect and convert irrelative tinny pieces of data into insights and recommendations leading to right decision. But how do data analysts actually turn raw data into something useful? There are a range of methods and techniques that data analysts use depending on the type of data in question and the kinds of insights they want to uncover. In this article we summarize the main concepts, tools, and techniques of data analytics. ...Read More

What do you think motivates your people to come to work each morning? Do you believe that they get great satisfaction from their work and take pride in doing the best possible job? Or do you think that they see it as a burden, and simply work for the money? These assumptions about your team members can have a significant influence on how you manage them. In the 1960s, social psychologist Douglas McGregor developed two contrasting theories that explained how managers' beliefs about what motivates their people can affect their management style. He labelled these Theory X and Theory Y. These theories continue to be important even today. ...Read More

Maslow first introduced his concept of a hierarchy of needs in his 1943 paper "A Theory of Human Motivation" and his subsequent book Motivation and Personality. This hierarchy suggests that people are motivated to fulfill basic needs before moving on to other, more advanced needs. Maslow was much more interested in learning about what makes people happy and the things that they do to achieve that aim. ...Read More

In a study published in 2018 entitled “Analyzing the Aftermath of a Compensation Reduction” researchers found that if companies cut wages due to crises, the most productive employees would leave to look for better opportunities with competitors, while the less productive employees (who can’t get any other opportunities) would remain, which causes a great loss to the company, so the best choice for companies in crisis is to lay off the least productive employees instead of wage cuts, ...Read More

Have you ever had a great idea but didn't know where to start with it? The solution to this is to structure your ideas and draw up a concrete plan. Process mapping can be helpful in process organization. The process mapping is similar to a work breakdown structure. It is a visual representation of the workflow and can help you identify problems and areas for improvement. Process mapping can be helpful when brainstorming, making decisions, or planning projects as part of a team. The resulting process maps (also called process maps) are also useful for process documentation, training new employees and process improvement. ...Read More

The Feasibility study represents the need for business organization to evaluate and determine if a given project is economically feasible. It is an integral part of the business process and is conducted to assist decision makers to assess and analyze all the implications of the proposed project with a focus on the potential impact, based upon which the organization decides if the project should be implemented or not. ...Read More

Strategic Analysis is: ‘… the process of conducting research on the business environment within which an organization operates and on the organization itself, in order to formulate strategy.’ BNET Business Dictionary ‘… a theoretically informed understanding of the environment in which an organization is operating, together with an understanding of the organization’s interaction with its environment in order to improve organizational efficiency and effectiveness by increasing the organization’s capacity to deploy and redeploy its resources intelligently.’ Professor Les Worrall, Wolverhampton Business School ...Read More

The concept of leadership is as old as human history. No matter whether in a company, parties, the sports club or in the family. Without organization and leadership, there is chaos. No wonder that a number of management concepts have mushroomed to this day. One of the most famous macro concepts includes the so-called management-by techniques. Basically, management-by techniques describe different procedures and behaviors that are used in a company to cope with management tasks . In the following, we will take a closer look at the five most important management-by techniques in order to see how these management techniques essentially differ. ...Read More

Job dissatisfaction occurs when an employee does not feel content in their job. People have expectations of what their job should be like. When these expectations are not met, it can lead to feelings of disappointment and frustration, resulting in job dissatisfaction. Job dissatisfaction can arise from a variety of reasons, such as: - Being underpaid. - Limited career growth. - Lack of interest. - Poor management. - Unsupportive boss. - Lack of meaningful work. - Lack of opportunities for growth or incentives for meaningful work. - Poor work-life balance. The EVLN model (Exit, Voice, Loyalty, Neglect) identifies four different ways that employees may respond to dissatisfaction: ...Read More

As a leader, it is your responsibility to provide the environment that enables your team members to feel challenged and engaged by their work. So let's take a look at things you can do to ensure people feel inspired, these are the seven costless secret employee motivation techniques that work. ...Read More

According to Inverted-U theory – also known as the Yerkes-Dodson Law – there's a subtle relationship between pressure and performance. When people experience the right amount of pressure, they often perform brilliantly. However, if there's too little or too much pressure, performance can suffer or people can suffer. Pressure is different from stress; the Inverted-U Theory shows that pressure can be positive – up to a point. Stress, however, is never positive. ...Read More

A team is a group of people working together with equal commitment, toward a common goal or set of targets. Hiring team members based on their knowledge and technical skills is not enough to assure team capability to achieve its goals, different behavior styles of individuals play an important role and affecting the way to access their common targets. Experts indicated that the most successful teams were made up of a diverse mix of behaviors, Understanding the behavior style of yourself and others helps you optimize advantages and avoid weaknesses Here are 4 main behavior styles you meet in every workplace, Though each behavioral style is unique, it’s uncommon to find a person who exhibits every characteristic of one style. Usually, you’ll find that an individual is a mixture of all 4 – but with one leading behavior.

I will be the first to admit that I still have a few cases of 8-track tapes. For those too young to know what 8-track tapes are, please ask your parents. As a customer who purchased a lot of music, my needs were simple. I wanted clearer sound and something smaller to store. The music industry responded and introduced the cassette. The cassette was indeed smaller. It did not fade out and then back in with that annoying “click” that my 8-track tapes used to have. I was pleased with my cassette collection. Then suddenly, the music industry introduced something called a CD – a compact disc. The CD offered better clarity, more storage capacity and the ability to jump to specific songs, or shuffle the order of their play. Best of all, one never had to rewind! The point is simple. As a customer, my needs changed. In the move to CDs, I did not realize my needs had changed but the music industry, through research, keeping up with the competition and advances in technology, delighted me with new product offerings. Even today as my CDs are dust covered because I only use Spotify, new advances in music technology are being made to further address music customer needs. By: J. DeLayne St ...Read More

The process you use to develop your strategic plan is as important as the plan itself. That’s why many organizations turn to the Hoshin Kanri approach, which focuses on creating a plan that takes into account both the daily management of the organization and the tactics necessary to reach those goals that will have the most significant impact. The result is a set of specific action plans and resources necessary to achieve your business breakthrough. Although some organizations tweak the approach to meet their specific needs, most often the Hoshin Kanri planning process consists of the following seven steps. ...Read More

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are metrics used to periodically track and evaluate the performance of a business or organization toward the achievement of specific goals. They are also used to gauge the overall performance of the company against other comparable companies within the industry. Key Performance Indicators can either be internal or external. Internal KPIs are used to gauge internal goals in the departments or sections, but will also impact achieving the core goals of the company. KPIs help to mobilize employees to work toward the achievement of core objectives. External KPIs are used to gauge departmental/section performance in relation to the overall core objectives of the company. KPIs vary from one company to another, depending on their particular goals and chosen performance criteria. ...Read More

In the Wall Street Journal Bestseller Book Open Source Leadership (2017, McGraw-Hill), Rajeev Peshawaria and the Iclif Leadership and Governance Centre make a convincing argument that the breakneck speed of the 21st Century requires a more autocratic style of leadership. An autocratic leadership style is characterized by the decision-making process, with choices being made by a single person. In contrast, a democratic style of leadership means members of the group take a more participative role in the decision-making process, often through consensus or majority. To be accurate, the book talks about leaders needing to become a ‘Positive Autocrat’ where there is a balance between compassion and mission. Specifically, a Positive Autocrat is clear and relentless on their leadership values and purpose, while retaining the empathy and humility about everything else. Supporting skill sets include listening and reflecting, forgiving more often, earning the right to be autocratic, and giving people freedom within a framework. While I agree wholeheartedly that this is the style of leadership that makes change happen, positive autocracy still contains the word ‘autocrat’. And, positiv ...Read More

Also called: process flowchart, process flow diagram Variations: macro flowchart, top-down flowchart, detailed flowchart (also called process map, micro map, service map, or symbolic flowchart), deployment flowchart (also called down-across or cross-functional flowchart), several-leveled flowchart A flowchart is a picture of the separate steps of a process in sequential order. It is a generic tool that can be adapted for a wide variety of purposes, and can be used to describe various processes, such as a manufacturing process, an administrative or service process, or a project plan. It's a common process analysis tool and one of the seven basic quality tools. Elements that may be included in a flowchart are a sequence of actions, materials or services entering or leaving the process (inputs and outputs), decisions that must be made, people who become involved, time involved at each step, and/or process measurements. ...Read More

I’ve spent years negotiating many types of deals and living with the results as well as observing the negotiating styles and skills of other senior leaders. With that perspective, I thought I would share what I have learned about being an effective negotiator. ...Read More

Pareto Chart is based on the Pareto principle (also known as the 80/20 rule), which is a well-known concept in project management. According to this principle, ~80% of the problems can be attributed to about ~20% of the issues (or ~80% of your results could be a direct outcome of ~20% of your efforts, and so on..). The 80/20 percentage value may vary, but the idea is that of all the issues/efforts, there a few that result in maximum impact. This is a widely used concept in project management to prioritize work. ...Read More

Research has indicated that the percentage of Americans who are stressed at work is high—and it’s only getting higher. According to the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health, 29 to 40% of Americans report being "extremely stressed at work. Work stress has significant health consequences that range from relatively benign (like getting more colds and flus) to potentially serious (such as heart disease and metabolic syndrome). While stress at work is common, finding a low-stress job is hard (if not impossible). A more realistic approach is to adopt effective coping strategies to reduce stress at your current job. Here are some stress management techniques you can try if you are finding it hard to cope with work stress. ...Read More

Time – it’s a concept that everybody understands differently. But everyone is agreement of one thing: We need more of it. Here's how you can manage your time more effectively. Everybody wants to increase their productivity and work more efficiently. While there is no one-size-fits-all method to time management – everybody needs to find out for themselves which method(s) work best for them – there are certain do’s and don’ts that you can use as a guide to more effective time management. ...Read More

Situational Leadership® is a common-sense, contingency-based leadership model that consists of four common leadership styles. Two points of clarification in that regard: 1. Unfortunately, “common sense” is anything but “common practice.” 2. “Contingency-based” basically means the correct answer to the question: a. “What is the best leadership style?” b. Answer: It depends! A Situational Leader employs one of four leadership styles that provide him or her with the highest probability of success in every situation they encounter. Those situations are a function of the task that needs to be performed, in conjunction with the task-related ability and willingness of the follower identified to perform it. Based on the objective assessment of those parameters, and with the responsibility of successfully and effectively influencing the follower, the leader responds to the situation with one of four leadership styles. Those styles are operationally defined by Task/Directive Behavior and Relationship/Supportive Behavior: • Task/Directive Behavior – the extent to which the leader tells the follower what to do, how to do it, where it needs to be done and when it needs to be completed ...Read More

Being promoted to manager for the first time is both exhilarating and challenging. It takes smarts to move up the corporate ladder but transitioning into your new role means mastering a new skill set. No matter what kind of business or field you work in, these 15 tips will help you navigate the managerial waters. ...Read More

Leading a team is often a tiring and demanding venture. With so many moving pieces, finding the right balance from week to week can feel overwhelming. Luckily, there are numerous techniques to make team management much simpler and more rewarding. As you put together a team for your project you will begin to see the best ways to assist them, what goals to set, and how to effectively communicate with each other. These strategies improve as time progresses, but there are some steps you can take to expedite the process. ...Read More