Excellence Management in an Organization - Essay Example

I. Excellence Management in an Organization There are many factors that constitute on how to achieve excellence in management. In order to be competitive and for an organization to be successful in the field of management and to be productive, there are lots of things to be considered. Such aspects are the performance of the leaders or managers of the firm and the performance of the firm as whole, safety measures regarding the management, risks that will come along that the organization are going to face and ways to overcome them, and the influence of consultation (Pollock, 2001). In line with these factors that management of organization must consider are the needs of the organization. These needs can be achieved through the knowledge of the management and technological approaches the management would choose (Barclay, 1997). Dealing with those needs is important and constitute to the excellence in management. There are lots of experiments on how to achieve excellence in management was done by the scholars and of the organization and firms. Some findings are the need to change strategies, designs that can be used to evaluate the organizations’ success, measures as standard basis, methods and ways to adapt to a complex environment; whether to stay with their current strategies in a constant environment or to change due to the changing environment, and many more (Resources, 2006). A. Ways to Achieving Management Excellence 1. Excellence through Performance Management One design that will constitute on the excellence in management of an organization is through the giving incentives to the individual. This will be dependent on their performance in their field of work. This is called the pay-for-performance system (William K. Redmon, 2005). For the simple reason, the aim for additional income, the individuals’ development can be achieve by doing this. By doing this, the gap in the individuals’ goal and the organizational goal can be lessen or even better, will be gone. In addition, the costs of goods and services are also in its minimal due to the incentive pays that motivates employees. This motivation factors makes employees to become more productive. In fact, some of the companies are now changing their way on how to pay their employees, from normal salary basis and or hourly basis wage systems, to payment based on the employee’s performance (pay-for-performance system). As of this time, organizations are having difficulty recruiting workers. This may be due to the minimum wage salaries that they offer. Because of this reason, the firms and other organizations are thinking of ways on how to attract new workers and to retain the old ones. Other companies have the way of increasing the employee’s salaries, thus making an addition to their expenses and labor costs. In addition to this, performance of these newly hired workers cannot be said to have reached the organization’s needs. Then the need for performance improvement are then on the play. Here comes the study on how to management motivates employees that will become a great use in achieving organizational goal. Organizations have used incentives using incentives such as additional pay depending on the performance of individual employees (Studies, 2004). What others have done is to give those who are in the hard work for the organization’s goal some incentives in the form of not a monetary value but for the recognition of their behaviors. Such examples of non-monetary value incentives are promotions. Most organizations do such things like this for motivating their employees to be more productive. Together with the individual’s aim for promotion, is the organization having greater profit and lessens the costs of services. Other non-monetary value incentives are recognition of the employees, for example, employee of the month award, best employee of the year, and many more. Such behavioral way of motivations is of great help in achieving excellence in management of an organization. Implementation of a goal through goal-setting program can be used by management to evaluate employee’s performances. Feedback program can be added and to this method. Feedback may be of good or bad based on the goal settled by the organization. For employees perception of this settled goal may have different effects depending on the individual. Some responds to the better productivity, while others have done absenteeism. An increase in productivity means the goal settled by the management served as a challenge and thus motivates the employee for better work. On the other hand, this served as constraints for other workers. Feedbacks however are used to chase away criticism but are used for employee’s performance evaluation. That’s for the reason that criticisms are agents of exploitation that management didn’t want to interfere with the management. What feedback supposed to do is to give an evaluation, whether it may be bad or good, that will serve as a constructive criticism to employees. If the feedback was bad, that doesn’t mean that the employee was bad at all, but to show the deficiency the employee have and to overcome for the employee to overcome this. If the feedback was good, that means that the employees work was recognized and then the tendency of being a more hard working employee will come up to the mind of the employee. This is how behavioral management in an organization plays. An experiment was done regarding this behavioral system. Suggestive selling by waitstaff (waitresses and waiters in a restaurant) was used in the study (Slama, 2007). Beyond their job description, of taking orders from customers, they are asked to sell the restaurants products. Eight waitstaff were studied and had these results: The results regarding the behavioral approach of the management to the waitstaff can be seen, regardless of the outside and personal aspects of the waitstaff (such as going to college and other factors such as having another job e.g. in a real state). Looking only of the server number 3 and number 4, the result can be compared whether the behavioral approach is a success. For the organization as a whole, server number 4 become more productive, and thus given a promotion while server number 3 quit before the end of study. A promotion is a great motivator for employee. But a loss of an employee, maybe because server number 3 didn’t like the process, is also a big loss on the organization. This may come to another problem of recruitment of other applicant for the job the one left. Thus, management has to make an approach that will be of best pay off. The management is responsible for encouraging employees for goal-setting, feedback, and to find reinforcers of low cost for a long period of time (Campus Controller's Office, 2006). A good management must have this concept in mind. 2. Excellence in Management through Organizational Change The usual process of management in an organization is the setting of objectives, definition of procedures, monitoring and evaluating the outcome (outputs of the organization) (Sarah Cook, 2005). This maybe is a good way of managing in an organization in a constant environment. But as far as the environment is changing, this is just an option. An organization that can go with the flow with the environment has longer life than that of an organization resisting changes in the management. An example of this is the introduction of the computers (a change in the environment) and the company producing manual typewriters ( a resistant organization). The company producing the typewriters maybe is not thinking that these would come to happen, since the sale of the typewriter before the computers was introduced was relatively high. And because of this resistance to change, the sales dramatically go down. And the companies producing typewriters are now out of the scene. The focus of the management for excellence through successful changes in an organization is the future. This may be done looking for different ways of how things will be done beyond the usual, normal ways (Paula Green, 2006). This is the reality in life and also in the organization’s life. Advancement in technology, the rapidity in the competition, the expectations of the customers, globalization process, are factors affected by changing environment. As of these days, one organization cannot expect that they had sort of customers and will have these customers to the entire duration of their business. A management would need some sort of control for them to survive the phase of change in this continuously changing environment first, and excellence in this matter follows. B. Criteria for Evaluating Excellent Management in an Organization Excellence in management in an organization means is that there is a need for excellent employees (Joan Gené-Badia, 2001). And given these needs, will be able to deliver and develop excellent products and services. The following are the criteria for an excellence in management in an organization: 1. Strategic Planning – the organization must develop a plan that shall achieve its objectives 2. Effective Delivery – the organization must meet or further achieve on how to bring its objectives to happen 3. Accountability – the organization’s objectives must be understandable by the public and the way of meeting their objectives must be appropriate 4. Innovation – the organization must possess a creative mind and an imaginative perception of original ideas and techniques 5. Sustainability – the organization must make sure that the projects and its elements will continue its life on its own after the time it was used 6. Learning Culture – the organization must be ready for the changing skills, needs and attitudes that will come on its way and will know how to improve it 7. Measurement of Achievement – organizations’ activity must be measured according to the basis the organization structured; effectiveness and efficiency of the activity are the main concern, whether they achieve it or not depending on the outcome 8. Employee/Workforce Development – the organization must motivate all employees; and the result must be evident 9. Enterprise – the organization must develop new methods/ways/approach to come up with new funds for the organizations new activity 10. Leadership – the organization, in relation to management, must create leaders that will search and think of management goals as a whole and not of his own interest; influencing others by showing themselves as an example 11. Customers Intimacy – the organizations goal must include intimacy/familiarity/popularity to the customers in order for them to attract future customers C. What is the best management practice/s? The best management practice can be dependent on how large or small the organization was, and will be dependent on the leaders/managers of that organization. The relationship on the managerial methods to be used and the size of the company are interrelated. Strong leaders and manager are needed in this vast changing environment to that are resistant and are ready for a change that may happen anytime due to the nature of our environment being a fast changing environment. For small businesses little management or a considerable/small amount of leadership are only needed that will highly motivate group of employee in the wok place. The company can conduct small researches for development of programs that are concerned for product creativity or make a group or researchers that will serve as consultants and do research that will help the company in all the sense. For such small businesses, like a sole-proprietorship type of business, such a floor cleaner can be done by the owner as a self-employed worker. In this kind of business, little amount of management or small amount of leadership is only needed. This explains the power span of a leader, wherein in a large organization, a leader’s scope of span is very large due to the number of employees that is under his supervisions compare to that of small businesses wherein employees are in a small number. For production and manufacturing processes in an organization, an enough or suitable amount of management and little leadership is the need. For production of the company, where there are many factors that must be consider (e.g. time of order, lead time, when to deliver, what item need or equipment needs to be ordered, and many more). Here needs an emphasis on the management level of the organization. A little need for management would be due to the not changing supplier or constant supplier of the production needs. For example, the production needs of a certain company have a supplier A and supplier B wherein these two suppliers are the main sources of the equipments and raw materials needed for the production. This stationary supplier lessens the amount of management needed by the company’s manufacturing and production departments. For airlines, insurance companies, banks, car industry, leisure industry, hotel industries, retailers, etc., a need for enough or suitable amount of leadership and management would do the responsibility for the organization. This enough or medium amount of leadership and management would suit the needed requirement for the management on this type on organizations. This is also the most suitable amount of leadership and management for the organizations whose external environment were at a fast change and there is no constant production and demand of consumers around them. Also this needs that amount of leadership and management due to the high amount of human resources and other resources for that kind of business. To further summarize this, a table showing the relationship of the needed amount of management and leadership is shown. This shows the needed amount of leadership in comparison with the amount of management needed suitable for a certain type of business. Amount of Change High Considerable leadership and little amount of management Considerable leadership and considerable management LOW Little leadership or management Considerable leadership and management Low High Amount of different service offerings After knowing what leaders/managers will suite the organization’s needs for excellence, all else follows (e.g. the strategic planning, workforce management, effective delivery, innovation, sustainability of the activity/project, learning culture, and the achievement measurement). II. Management Practices: A. Comparison Let’s take a look at some organizations/companies that won some awards regarding the excellence in management. For the supply chain excellence, the Domino’s pizza chain having the strategy model of high-speed build-to-order delivery services has been recognized. The Domino’s speed won one of the dealings on the supply chain excellence; speed. To measure the excellence in management of the Domino’s, a checklist was made with all the criteria of being excellent in management as the standard basis. Criteria Domino’s (does the company possess the following) YES No Strategic Planning √ Effective Delivery √ Accountability √ Innovation √ Sustainability √ Learning Culture √ Measurement of Achievement √ Workforce Development √ Enterprise √ Leadership √ Customers Intimacy √ Another example of a company that we will evaluate is the Seagate Technologies Inc. The Seagate Technology Inc. products become out of the market and become obsolete. The company faces the deflation when their product (hard drives) dramatically goes down from a hundred dollars worth per unit to the price amounting of three dollars per unit. Criteria Seagate Technologies Inc. YES No Strategic Planning √ Effective Delivery √ Accountability √ Innovation √ Sustainability √ Learning Culture √ Measurement of Achievement √ Workforce Development √ Enterprise √ Leadership √ Customers Intimacy √ Let’s make Microsoft as another example of one of the companies that has been successful for many years. Criteria Seagate Technologies Inc. YES No Strategic Planning √ Effective Delivery √ Accountability √ Innovation √ Sustainability √ Learning Culture √ Measurement of Achievement √ Workforce Development √ Enterprise √ Leadership √ Customers Intimacy √ B. Evaluation The comparison showed by each checklist each of companies have shortly tells us whether they possess the qualities an excellence in management must acquire. An excellence in management in an organization must work out to its integrated range, the organizations NEEDS, the activities/projects RESULTS, human capital/organization WORKS, and the organizations COMPETENCE. Identification of needs must be considered first. After identifying these needs, will be the formulation of objectives that will satisfy the needs of the organization. The works to be done, processes, methods, approaches, to get these results come to the third step. Through the pursuit for excellence of the organization, it will eventually improve its competitiveness in the constantly changing market. As shown in the diagram, the first is to know the needs. The needs will determine the results and then the results will determine if the needs satisfy the resulting output. Also shown in the diagram is the competence can be achieved through empowerment of leaders and managers to do the work (motivation of workers by the leaders and manager). And the work done would define the results. Vice versa, the results will dictate regarding the work, whether the work done is appropriate for the expected result or if there is a need for an improvement. REFERENCES BARCLAY, R. O. (1997) What is knowledge management? , Knowledge Management Associates. CAMPUS CONTROLLER'S OFFICE (2006) Financial Controls. US Sta Cruz Homes. JOAN GENÉ-BADIA, G. J.-S., E PEGUERO-RODRÍGUEZ, JOAN CARLES CONTEL-SEGURA AND CRISTINA MOLINER-MOLINS (2001) The EFQM excellence model is useful for primary health care teams PAULA GREEN, C. (2006) Askew Awards Recognize Management Practices Excellence American Association of Certified Public Managers. POLLOCK, N. (2001) Knowledge Management: Next Step to Competitive Advantage - Organizational Excellence. RESOURCES, B. (2006) Developing an Accessible Technology Plan. Microsoft Corporation. SARAH COOK, H. C., STEVE MACAULAY (2005) Change Management Excellence: using the four intelligences for successful organizational change SLAMA, J. (2007) Suggestive Selling. STUDIES, F. (2004) Federation Study 2001: A Study of the Incentive Merchandise and Travel Marketplace Incentive Performance Center. WILLIAM K. REDMON, A. M. E. D. (2005) Promoting Excellence through Performance Management.  Read More