Leading, influencing & motivating

In this lecture we learned deep into the various roles of a leader and their qualities that make a leader that others will want to follow, to understand what inspires current leadership behaviors in an organization. We even examined he different leadership type and styles.

Leadership in practice: management is the process of decision making to make the most of all resources “good managers make things happen ”. it is at the core of all managerial and supervisory activities by giving vision and direction to their followers, they energies to set and enforce absolute standards of behavior, presentation, attitude and performance. Leaders mainly promote positive, harmonious and productive working relations with their employers within the business.
Leadership types:

Ø  Traditional

Ø  Known leaders

Ø  Appointed leaders

Ø  Bureaucratic leader

Ø  Functional/expert leader

Ø Informal leader

There are some approaches to people management:

Ø Classic approach-

·        Lower-level management(efficiency leads to productivity ).

·        Comprehensive analysis of management (developed by Henri Fayol).

·        Criticisms : neglects to consider critical interpersonal skills.

Ø Behavioral approach-

·        Hawthorne studies(1924-1932)

·        Examined the working environment to improve productivity.

Ø Management science approach 

The main reasons productivity improved:

1.     The subjects found working in the room enjoyable

2.     The new supervisory relationship during the experiment allowed the subjects to work freely, without fear

3.     The subjects realized that they were taking place in an important an interesting study

4.     The subjects seemed to become friendly as a group

The human variable

Understanding the human variables is key to motivation and influencing. Employees affect an organization productivity and harmony plus support within social groups was evident in both Hawthrown Studies. Inspired the Human relations movement –a people oriented approach + understanding employee’s needs. They even inspire Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.

Considered the role of a leader and how to inspire employees to work in tangent was the main topic in this lecture of mine.

Retail management

Retail managers are responsible for the day-to-day running of stores or departments. The aim of any retail manager is to maximize profit while minimizing costs. Retail managers ensure promotions are accurate and merchandised to the company’s standards, staff is fully versed on the target for the day and excellent customer care standards are met.

Depending on the size of the store, and company structure, retail managers may also be required to deal with human resources, marketing, logistics, information technology, customer service and finance.

The various processes which help the customers to procure the desired merchandise from the retail stores for their end use refer to retail management. Retail management includes all the steps required to bring the customers into the store and fulfill their buying needs.

Retail management makes shopping a pleasurable experience and ensures the customers leave the store with a smile. In simpler words, retail management helps customers shop without any difficulty.

As retailers face ever increasing challenges, more than ever choosing and implementing effectively the right expansion strategies for your business is crucial. We work closely with you to understand the key drivers and risks for your individual businesses, helping you to develop the most commercially appropriate routes to market.

The  term management has been defined in many ways. In general, management is the process of getting things accomplished with and though people by guiding and motivating their effects towards common objectives, successful  managers will assure you that their employees are their most important asset. Most successful managers recognize that they are only as good as the people they supervise. In most endeavors, one person can accomplish relatively little therefore, individuals join forces with others to attain mutual goals. In a business, top-level managers are responsible for achieving the goals of the organization, but this requires the efforts of all subordinate managers and employees. Those who hold  supervisory positions significantly influence the effectiveness with which people work together and use resources to ­attain in short, the managerial role of a supervisor is to make sure that assigned takes are accomplished with and through the help of employees.

Corporate Social Responsibility

Corporate Social Responsibility is about how companies manage the business processes to produce an overall positive impact on society.
Companies need to answer to two aspects of their operations. 1. The quality of their management - both in terms of people and processes (the inner circle). 2. The nature of, and quantity of their impact on society in the various areas.
Corporate Social Responsibility is the continuing commitment by business to behave ethically and contribute to economic development while improving the quality of life of the workforce and their families as well as of the local community and society at large.

1. Social responsibility becomes an integral part of the wealth creation process - which if managed properly should enhance the competitiveness of business and maximize the value of wealth creation to society.
2. When times get hard, there is the incentive to practice Corporate Social Responsibility more and better - if it is a philanthropic exercise which is peripheral to the main business, it will always be the first thing to go when push comes to shove.

Operating a business in a manner that meets or exceeds the ethical, legal, commercial and public expectations that society has of business. A concept whereby companies decide voluntarily to contribute to a better society and a cleaner environment. A concept whereby companies integrate social and environmental concerns in their business operations and in their interaction with their stakeholders on a voluntary basis.

But as with any process based on the collective activities of communities of human beings (as companies are) there is no 'one size fits all'. In different countries, there will be different priorities, and values that will shape how business act. And even the observations above are changing over time. The US has growing numbers of people looking towards core business issues.
 It is a key difference, when many business leaders feel that their companies are ill equipped to pursue border’s societal goals, and activists argue that companies have no democratic legitimacy to take such roles. That particular debate will continue.

Culture, context & Communication

In my lecture on Consumer Culture, context & communication I learned    how the culture is defined and developed in an organization. Even the importance of communication and how it is processed inside the firm by exploring the communication medium, the employee’s behavior even their well-being within the work place. In the other side how the professionals interact towards their employees with their managerial style. Mainly “The way the things are done in the organization”.
What is competing values?
Competing values is about understanding how to appreciate conflicting values and integrate them successfully so that the organization is open to collaborate and growth.
The goal is that leaders should become adroit at two conflicting values (DeGraff identifies a total of four competing values). We train leaders so that they develop the ability to oversee teams that work towards opposite goals, integrating them when the timing is right, so that each value can be developed successfully. The result is companies that are creative, while meeting high quality control standards and that are open and collaborative, but also maintain their competitive edge.

The communication process:
effective communication is vital to all businesses. The communication process involves: sender, message, medium, receiver and feedback.
There are a number of parts to any communication. For instance, sending a text message involves:

-the sender - the person writing the text
-the receiver - the person to whom the message is addressed
-the content of the message - for example, news, information, an invitation
-the format of the message - in this example it is text but many other different ways are possible
-the communication channel through which the message is sent - in this case a mobile phone network
-The medium - how the message will be sent, in this case it is in writing.

This is how communication manifests in an organization.