Introduction to Organisations and Management

How does organisations affect us ? Well look around you. The building you stand in is built by organisations. From the little things, such as papers, to the big things, such as planes, are made by organisations; where people work together for a common goal. Organisations are usually run by groups of people people, striving for a common clear goal, managed by people with higher authority , under a structure of which the organisations work within.

In Boddy, organisations are described as "a social arrangement for achieving controlled performance towards goals that create value". Of course, many academics or even just normal people with opinions, think organisations shouldn't be described as such, however, characteristics of organisations are usually similar, as highlighted in bold above.

Investments are made, where people join, money for capitals created, materials and etc. are put into an organisation and then they are made to undergo a process of management and production creating an output of goods, services, goodwill, waste products and etc. , given out and the where it is affected by external environments and of course feedback from customers and such will be given back to the company as an input to better their job.

Different organisations are created for different purposes. It could be commercial (such as supermarkets and chain stores), charity (such as orbis), protective (such as military), etc.. They all have to be well managed as well as efficient to be successful; where management can be defined as a process of dealing with people or resources for a certain issue


Mintzberg published his Ten Management Roles in his book, "Mintzberg on Management: Inside our Strange World of Organizations" in 1990, and the ten roles are :

Figurehead
Leader
Liaison
Desseminator
Monitor
Spokesperson
Entrepreneur
Disturbance Handler
Resource Allocator
Negotiator

And these are categorised in 3 categories where
Figurehead, leader and liaisons fall under Interpersonal
Desseminator, Monitor and Spokesperson falls under Informational
Lastly, Entrepreneur, disturbance handler, resource allocator and negotiator falls under Decisional

Henri Fayol proposed that there were six primary functions of management and 14 principles of management

Functions of management

1. to forecast and plan
2. to organize
3. to command or direct
4. to coordinate
5. to develop output
6. to control (French: contrôler: in the sense that a manager must receive feedback about a process in order to make necessary adjustments and must analyse the deviations)

Principles of management

1. Division of work. Work should be divided among individuals and groups to ensure that effort and attention are focused on special portions of the task. Fayol presented work specialization as the best way to use the human resources of the organization.
2. Authority. Managers must be able to give orders. Authority gives them this right. Note that responsibility arises wherever authority is exercised.
3. Discipline. Employees must obey and respect the rules that govern the organization. Good discipline is the result of effective leadership, a clear understanding between management and workers regarding the organization's rules, and the judicious use of penalties for infractions of the rules.
4. Unity of command. Every employee should receive orders from only one superior.
5. Unity of direction. Each group of organisational activities that have the same objective should be directed by one manager using one plan.
6. Subordination of individual interests to the general interest. The interests of any one employee or group of employees should not take precedence over the interests of the organization as a whole.
7. Remuneration. Workers must be paid a fair wage for their services.
8. Centralisation. Centralisation refers to the degree to which subordinates are involved in decision making. Whether decision making is centralized (to management) or decentralized (to subordinates) is a question of proper proportion. The task is to find the optimum degree of centralisation for each situation.
9. Scalar chain. The line of authority from top management to the lowest ranks represents the scalar chain. Communications should follow this chain. However, if following the chain creates delays, cross-communications can be allowed if agreed to by all parties and superiors are kept informed.
10. Order. People and materials should be in the right place at the right time.
11. Equity. Managers should be kind and fair to their subordinates.
12. Stability of tenure of personnel. High employee turnover is inefficient. Management should provide orderly personnel planning and ensure that replacements are available to fill vacancies.
13. Initiative. Employees who are allowed to originate and carry out plans will exert high levels of effort.
14. Esprit de corps. Promoting team spirit will build harmony and unity within the organization.

First Friday Class

"Another freezing day; another day to get lost in the maze", I thought as I walked - eyes moving up and down from the map. I figured everyday's probably going to be the same for the induction week, but those assumptions about having a dull day vanished when Mr. Vish appeared through the door of the classroom. My interest peaked when he suddenly unzipped his bag and poured a bunch of queer items on the table.

Strangers from foreign places + a comical lecturer + handful of unusual items ?
ANYTHING CAN GO WRONG !

As the lecturer went on with the instruction, my mind wandered off as my eyes focused on what was on the table; specifically the block of wood with springs. And when Mr. Vish instructed us to start removing those item from the table, I grabbed the block of wood and toyed with it until I realized something..

I've no idea what in the world to do with it !

Yet again another brilliant move from yours truly, brain. In that 30 mins, my team and I brainstormed. Ideas ebbed and flowed through the conversations sounded by voices of panic and anxiety from different people of different backgrounds.

An epiphany struck us just in the nick of time, and all of us managed to salvage from bits and pieces each other's ideas and created the ultimate armor for American Football players. I was dumbfounded that we managed to achieve this unusual task as a team and from the comments of our fellow classmates, it sounded like we did a good job creating a product that people would purchase. Clearly enough it made me realize what the lecturer said was true-- creativity does play a huge role in Business.