Management
Important features of successful teams can be specified as effective leadership, availability of resources, mutual trust, appropriate atmosphere, intensive communication, and clear goals (Marr, 2009). The following diagram illustrates the most common features and characteristics present in successful teams. References Marr, B. (2009) “Managing and Delivering Performance”, Butterworth-Heinemann
The importance of teamwork can be explained in a way that it “builds morale and actually results in getting more accomplished with the resources you have because the team members develop ownership of the solution to a problem and want make it work” (Lindh et al., 2009, p. 1011). According to Badaki (2007, p.192) as taken from Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary teamwork can be defined as “work done by several associates with each doing a part but all subordinating personal prominence to the efficiency of the whole”. Business Dictionary (online, 2012), on the other hand, defines teamwork as “the process of working collaboratively with a group of people in order to achieve a goal”. References Badaki, F. (2007) “Team Art: The Science of Success in the Primary Human Organisations” Azuri Editions Lindh, W.Q., Pooler, M., Tamparo, C. & Dahl., B.M. (2009) “Delmar’s Clinical Medical Assisting” Cengage Learning Teamwork (2012) Business Dictionary, Available at: http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/teamwork.html
A team can be defined as “group of people who work together to achieve a common goal or objective, who produce high-quality results, and who enjoy doing so” (Lewis, 2004, p.66). An alternative, more comprehensive definition of the term has been proposed by Halverson and Tirmizi (2008, p.4) as taken from Bailey and Cohen (1997, p.241) as “a collection of individuals who are independent in their tasks, who share responsibility for outcomes, who see themselves and are seen by others as an intact social entity, embedded in one or more social systems and who manage their relationships across organisational boundaries”. Winning team members believe their goal is relevant, possible, and worthy of effort and sacrifice” (Miller, 2009, p.60). Teams have become the main units to rely on to achieve organisation’s aims and objectives in today’s workplaces. In order for a team-work based project to be successful it is important that various talents and skills are gathered and good working atmosphere is created for them, taking into account the fact that different kind of motivation is required for each role and providing the relevant kind of motivation (Shermon, 2004). Sharma (2009) mentions team life cycle to consist of the following stages: forming, storming, norming, performing, adjourning. Roles and Relevant Skills that are Important for the Team There are different roles to be played within the teams in order for the teamwork to be a successful one. Belbin (1981) distinguishes ‘plant’, monitor evaluator, co-ordinators, resource investigator, implementers, completer finishers, team-workers, shapers, and ‘specialists’. There are also other classification offered by other researchers as well, however, Belbin’s work is considered to be the most comprehensive in that aspect. Each of above characters should be present within a team for the team to function in an efficient manner. However, if looked at individually the personalities…
Cycles of Failure and Cycles of Success and their Implications on Service Profit Chain. This article outlines the key drivers of success for service organisations exploring issues in the works of Schlesinger and Heskett (1991) “Breaking the Cycle of Failure in Services”. The implications of these issues on the Service Profit Chain are analysed in the report using the case of The Savoy hotel and a range of other service organisations. Key Success Drivers for Service Organisations A service organisation can be defined as “two or more people are engaged in a systematic effort to provide services to a customer, the objective being to serve a customer” (Wright and Race, 2004, p.4). Characteristics used to distinguish between manufacturing and service operations include tangible and intangible nature of output, consumption of output, nature of work, degree of customer contact, customer participation in conversion, and measurement of performance (Mishra, 2009). It has to be stressed that “the ability to manage skills and resources more effectively and efficiently was always the critical driver of success for any service organisation” (Magilo et al., 2010, p.438). Moreover, due to the specific characteristics of service organisations as described above, the role of human resources and personal interaction with customers is greater in service organisations compared to manufacturing businesses. Accordingly, the levels of employee skills and capabilities can be justly specified as crucial success factor for service organisations. Service organisations like Savoy hotel have traditionally relied on consistent quality as a key success driver, whereas for other organisations such as investment banks such JP Morgan effectively micromanaging the corporate culture has proved to be a significant driver for success. Generally, additional success drivers relevant to most types of service organisations include effective leadership, establishing strategic relationships with customers, creativity and others (Forgas et al., 2008). Cycles…
‘The Grange’ needs to adopt a Decision Support System (DSS). This system is used as an analytical model, for the specialization of databases within the hotel.DSS is made so that it can help the managers with decision making, this system does not make the decision but it provides insights and judgments to manager. DSS also provide support to the manager especially when they are making semi-structured and unstructured business decisions. Decision Support System (DSS) will provide the management team of ‘The Grange’ to create an interactive modeling process for the hotel and its expansion plan. For example, if The Grange uses a DSS software package for decision making regarding expansion plans, the software is going to alternatives to the manager regarding the outcome and this is going to help the management team to make the right decision. What happens is that in this system the manager enters different variables to see different outcomes. But if we look at it from the demand response it is quite difficult to comprehend since the decision makers are not very determined to demand pre-specified information while making the right decision. Therefore the management team will not have the right information that they need in advance and this might lead them to make a wrong decision. Hence with the help of DSS the management team at ‘The Grange’ will be able to find the information they need to help make the right decision regarding the expansion plan. Information System Diagram (DSS) Therefore DSS was created so that they are considered to be ad hoc and would respond quickly when there is a need. And lastly the DSS is controlled by the individuals who make the decision within the company. DSS supports the decisions in a direct manner to a specific decision making styles and…
Work-life balance is no longer only a management buzzword, and it has become one of the most pressing HR issues globally. This is because intensifying level of competition has increased the amount of demand and pressure for organisations and their individual members. At the same time, it is understood that “for many employees throughout the world, balancing their work and personal lives is a significant concern” (Mathis and Jackson, 2011, p.67). First of all, it needs to be specified that “work-life balance can be seen as the reconciliation between paid work and life, or the balance that needs to be orchestrated between work and non work demands” (Al-Araimi, 2011, p.119). Organisations differ in terms of their approach and the level of their involvement in achieving work-life balance for employees. It has been stated that “those organisations who have recognised work/life balance as important, report they have increased the availability of flexible work options, such as part-time work, flexible starting and finishing times, study leave, paid parental maternity leave, and team work, and their employees have increasingly accessed these options” (Budhwar, 2004, p.245). Maintaining work-life balance is a considerable HR issue for UK organisations. It has been identified that “UK workers work the longest hours in Europe, and many managers and professionals claim to be working more than 60 hours per week” (Flexibility.co.uk, 2012, online). Moreover, according to a research conducted by Bupa, a leading international healthcare group, more than six million UK employees are chained to their desks, and only thirty per cent take a lunch hour (Bupa, 2012, online). At the same time, the numbers of alternative working patterns are increasing as a response and partial solution to this issue. Specifically, it has to be noted that “in the UK, around 3.5 million people are working full-time or part-time…
Morley and Parker (2010) define information system as a discipline that is formed from elements of business and computer science and is developing to form a separate area of scientific study. It has been stated that “healthcare information systems and healthcare processes are closely entwined with one another. Health care processes require the use of data and information and they also produce or create information” (Wager et al, 2009, p.65) Three basic components of system are explained by Bagad (2010) as input, process/transformation and output. In information system inputs are data that are going to be transformed. The process component of an information system transforms input into an output. Output is considered to be the final product of a system. In case of an information system, an output would be obtaining necessary information in a desired format (Currie, 2009). Explanations of all of the components of information system are offered by Stair et al (2008) in the following manner: Components of information system Definitions Data Input the system takes to produce information Hardware A computer and its peripheral equipment: input, output and storage devices; hardware also includes data communication equipment Software Sets of instructions that tell the computer how to take data in, how to process it, how to display information, and how to store data and information Telecommunications Hardware and software that facilitates fast transmission and reception of text, pictures, sound, and animation in the form of electronic data People Information systems professionals and users who analyse organisational information needs, design and construct information systems, write computer programs, operate the hardware, and maintain software Procedures Rules for achieving optimal and secure operations in data processing; procedures include priorities in dispensing software applications and security measures Source: Stair, R.M, Reynolds, G & Reynolds, G.W. (2008) “Fundamentals of Information Systems” fifth…
Secondary data authors have proposed specific strategies public sector organisations can use in order to increase customer satisfaction levels. The most popular recommendations proposed by secondary data authors include adopting business approach towards the issues of customer services, increasing the level of funding of customer services, institutionalising training and development programs for public sector customer service representatives, outsourcing customer services operations to the private sector, and increasing the level of accountability of public sector customer service managers. Adopting Business Approach towards the Issues of Customer Services The most popular recommendation found during the literature review in terms of increasing the quality of customer services in public sector organisations relates to the adoption of relevant business principles. Recommendations of this nature have been offered by authors like Kassel (2010), Sims (2010) and Starling (2010). The authors point to the high customer service standards in the private sector, and argue that the duplications of those practices by public sector could offer the benefits of increased levels of customer services. However, there is a serious shortcoming associated with the works of above mentioned authors. Specifically while they give a recommendation of adopting business approach towards the issues of customer services they recommendation is very general and authors fail to offer any specific guidance in terms of how the business approach could be efficiently adopted by public sector organisations. Increasing the Level of Funding of Customer Services Beevers (2006), Flynn (2007) and Bovaird and Loffler (2009) associate the issues of lower customer services quality in public sector compared to the level of customer services of private sector to the amount of funding organisations in each sector attract. The authors convincingly argue that private sector organisations justly associate the achievement of their organisational objectives with the level of customer satisfaction that is directly…
The main time management challenges include interruptions, distractions, procrastination and dealing with lateness. Let’s analyse each of these challenges in detail. Interruptions and Distractions Authors define interruption as “when an external force, such as phone ringing or a person walking into your office and asking a question, breaks your attention” (Evans, 2008, p.35). Negative impacts of interruptions and distractions in effective management of time have been mentioned by Green and Skinner (2005), Limoncelli (2006), Butler and Hope (2007), Mancini (2007), Rivera (2007), Tracy (2007), Alexander and Dobson (2008), and Becker and Mustric (2008). It has been also noted that “a distraction takes your attention away from the task in front of you to focus on something else, often something more interesting” (Evans, 2008, p.35). Green and Skinner (2005) consider the loss of focus to be the greatest disadvantage of interruptions. Limoncelly (2006) defends this viewpoint by confirming that “interruptions are the natural enemy of focus. They steal time from us both directly and indirectly” (Limoncelli, 2006, p.12). The major interruptions and distractions for successful time management identified during the literature review include phone calls, unexpected visitors, meetings, mail and e-mail, internet and family obligations. Phone Calls In relation to dealing with phone calls Rivera (2007) recommend using voice mails and setting aside a specific time during the day to return the calls. Rivera (2007) argues that the advantages of such an approach include being more prepared to deal with the caller through having time to think about the issue before returning the call. A more proactive approach is recommended by Becker and Mustric (2008), who recommend setting specific times for during the day for receiving the call as well, and communicating this time to usual contacts. Tracy (2007), on the other hand, recommends to be avoiding small talks…
The most popular time management principles include prioritisation, goal setting, planning, making to-do lists, concentration and focus, keeping a time log, delegating, and remaining organised. Prioritisation Prioritisation can be explained as “ranking responsibilities and tasks in their order of importance” (Seaward and Seaward, 2011, p.331). Tracy (2007) and Becker and Mustric (2008) highlight prioritisation to be the most basic time management principle. Downs (2008) asserts that without prioritisation it is easy for professionals to find themselves in an inefficiency trap that involves being busy the whole day, but achieving very little at the end of the day. In other words, the author convincingly argues that if an individual is not engaged in prioritising the tasks he or she needs to accomplish during the day, the individual may be tempted to do easier and/or more enjoyable tasks first, although such task may not be important in terms of achieving personal and organisational objectives. Yager (2008) links prioritisation practice to Pareto Principle. The Pareto Principle, also known as 80/20 rule, is a term coined by M. Juran is named after Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto for his observations in 1906 that 80 per cent of the wealth in Italy was controlled by 20 per cent of population (Boone and Kurtz, 2010). The idea has been developed to cover the viewpoint that 80 per cent of results came from 20 per cent of overall efforts. Authors note that “while the ratio is not always 80:20, this broad pattern of a small proportion of activity generating non-scalar returns recurs so frequently as to be the norm in many areas” (Rivera, 2007, p.42). Accordingly, the advocates of Pareto Principle that include Mancini (2007), Rivera (2007), Dodd and Sundheim (2011) and others who recommend managers to identify the type of their activities that yield the most results, and give priority…