How to Manage Business Activities to Achieve Result - Sample

Question: You are newly appointed a a managing director of 'ABC company', a recruitment company. Some of the issues in the ABC company are as follows: Managers blamed for ABC company.s deficits The report blames poor management. Inadequate leadership and ineffective management are the causes of the worst deficits in the company. The problems have lef to reduction of thousands of jobs, close services and delay operations. Further, senior officials had taken their eye "off the ball", relying on short-term fixes to solve growing financial problems. It is crucial that boards and management get the basics right because financial failure is often a reflection of wider organisational failure. With the above scenario, you are entrusted with the task of advising on changes to be made to the organisation. You are required to develop a number of business processes for ABC company to improve effectiveness and efficiency of the overall performance of company and provide solutions. Answer: Introduction Here in this assignment, the researcher will try to effectively discuss how effectively managing activities in the workplace help in enhancing efficiency and productivity of the organization. The present study will be focused on the management structure of ABC Company, a renowned recruitment organization. In the first part of the assignment, the researcher will try to review the existing organizational structure of and culture of ABC. The researcher will also explicitly discuss the aims, objectives and mission of the company. The researcher will also try to recommend plans for projecting organizational objectives and goals for the company and alignment opportunity of human and capital and other necessary resources. In the later part of the assignment, the researcher will critically depict the system requirements which ensure quality standards of the company. The researcher will also try to include discussion on the improvement opportunities for the company which will stay in perfect alignment with the goals and objectives of the company. Here at this juncture, the researcher will conduct a risk assessment according to the legislation, regulation of the company. In the concluding part of the assignment, the researcher will involve discussions on the health and safety policies of the company. Identification of all Major Positions in the Departments and Drawing of an organizational chart The organizational structure of ABC follows a decentralized and functional structure in which the management of the company follows a hierarchical pattern at the top of which stays Chief Operation Manager. Under the top hierarchical position of Chief Operation Manager, there are positions for Finance and Administration Manager, Sales Manager, Technical Manager and Human Resource Manager. Under the strict supervision of Finance and Administration Manager, the employees of the company from the finance and administration department operate. The company staffs who work in the finance department of the organization use to maintain a strict eye on the overall income and expenditure of the company. The administrative level employees of the company provide an overall monitoring process over the daily business activities of the organization. The Sales manager of ABC Company has the responsibility of handling a team of sales executives who use to visit the promising clients of the company in o rder to persuade them to avail the services of the company. The technical manager of the company has the responsibility of maintaining an overall control over the installed information system of the company. The technical manager, along with his/her technical team, has to successfully analyze the requirement of the present information system, the necessary improvement that the present system demands and the resource capacity that the company has with which it can successfully bring improvements in the system. The Human Resource Manager of ABC Company has the responsibility of recruiting the most competent workforce for the company. The HR manager of the company also has the duty of evaluating the performance of the employees, reviewing the salary structure of the employees, handling their grievances and providing proper training opportunity to them (Paul, 2011). Figure 1: Organizational Structure Chart (Source: Created By Author) The functional structure of the ABC Company operates through a clearly distinct style in which no body attached with a specific department of the company prefers to interfere in the activities of other departments. Still there are ample traces evident in which it is categorically found that the employees of the company maintain a healthy workplace culture. The employees of the company use to extend their hands of support for other employees and a sense of camaraderie is clearly traceable. The company has ample faith in its management line and thus leaves the authority of making organizational decision on the shoulders of the mangers. However the managers prefer to adopt a participative leadership style and involve the subordinate employees in the organizational decision making process. Despite the availability of a healthy organizational culture inn ABC, the company has to suffer immensely from operational inefficiency. It is often claimed that the inadequacy of competent management in the upper level of the organization and the ever existent financial demands compel ABC Company to operate through several ups and downs. The employees of the organization even have to suffer greatly due to the inefficiency of mangers of the company. The company needs to impart immediate improvements in the present organizational structure so that the effectiveness and the efficiency of the management level employees of the company can be greatly enhanced (Uri.edu, 2015). Explanation of and Relationship between different Functions/Processes: ABC Company follows a functionalist organizational structure in which the employees of the organization are organized according to the roles which they are going to play in the company. The employees working in a particular linear structure of the company uses to perform same organizational duties and report to a single frontline manager. The companys each and every distinct department is usually managed by the head of that very department. The head of each and every department of the organization is answerable to the companys Chief Operations Manager. However, in case of making necessary decisions regarding the very operation of the department, the head of that very department has been given the responsibility of making the final decision. The employees of the organizations working in the different departments of the organization often have to involve themselves in collaborative work and a distinct sense of camaraderie is evident among the employees of the company (Page, 2010). Aims, Objectives and Missions of ABC Company and a Process Map As far as the aims of the ABC Company are concerned, the mission statement of the company clearly exposes that the company has the aim to provide quality service to its customers. The company wants to provide proper job opportunity to those who use to come with high hope to the recruitment company. The company tries to place its candidates only in those organizations where the candidate can gain ample opportunity of growth in their respective organizational position (Rieley, 2014). The company has a mission to provide improved level of customer satisfaction by fulfilling the commitment it uses to make for its customers. As far as the business objectives of ABC Company are concerned, the company wants to achieve a handsome 10% growth in the UK market within the coming five years of time. The company wants to enhance its client base at least by 15 % within the next three years of time. The company has a plan of business expansion in developing countries like China and India. The compan y is particularly careful about reducing the volume its customer complaint by an understandable margin. There are various business processes distinct in the very structure of ABC Company. The activities of the company can be broadly divided in three business processes. The processes are management process, operational process and supporting process. The researcher in this present study will try to critically discuss the supporting process of the company which tries to provide effective help to the operational process of the company. Among the major support processes of the company, the one which can get a special mention in this present study specifically deal with the selection of industries in which the company can find ample recruitment opportunities for its clients. The market survey executives of the company use to conduct a filtering process through which they try to highlight those companies from the very industry which have ample openings for bright and talented individuals. The process map of the very support activity can be successfully drawn in the following way: Figure 2: Support Process Map (Source: Created by Author) Elements Required Building a Quality Gateway In order to identify those elements which can build a quality gateway, it is really important to have a look at the Critical Success Factors (CSF) which ABC Company possesses. The CSF will enable the researcher to understand the quality of the companys final output. Among the major CSF of ABC, the first one is probably the companys ability to provide company specific recruitment to its clients. The company provides its clients the opportunity to select not only the industry in which they want to go to but also the specific company in which the clients wish to find a place. The second important critical success factors of ABC probably its successful implementation of an information system by accessing which the clients themselves can understand the present status of their recruitment process. The IT based system of the company allows its clients to apply online to their preferred jobs (Lewis et al. 2009). There is no doubt that the companys information system provides quick solutions to the grievances of the customers. The company, however, fails to maintain an operational efficiency due to the inability of the human resources of the company in providing speedy human operational processes. The third important critical success factor of ABC brings to the fore the closeness of the company with the various associations of the business organizations operating in the different parts of the country. From this healthy relationship, the company gets benefitted in numerous ways. The business organizations of the country prefer to select candidates from this very recruiting company. Even the news of employment creation in those organizations comes quicker to this company. By evaluating the CSF of ABC Company, it can be easily concluded that the companys final output is not altogether free from faults. The company needs to make certain improvements in the final outcome so that quality gateway can be established (Lin, 2014). Plan to Promote Goals and Objectives for ABC Company By evaluating the primary objectives of ABC Company, it can easily be mentioned that there is a dire necessity of implementing a proper plan through which the company can successfully achieve its goals and objectives even by fulfilling legal, ethical and regulatory requirements. In the very first stage of the planning process, the company needs to determine its objectives properly. It is really important to have a proper destination in front of the eyes even before starring the journey of visiting the destination. In the very next stage of the planning process, the company needs to fix its course of action necessary to achieve the objectives. In the next level, it is really important for the company to analyze what resources it has in order to fulfill the actions. If the necessary resources are available, the company should go for the implementation of the plan (Page, 2010). Recommendations Related to the Alignment of People and Other Resources: The theoretical concept of SMART objective brings to the fore the fact that it is really necessary to ensure that the objective which a business organization fixes in front of it should be specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time bound (Armandi, 1981). Figure 3: SMART Objectives (Source: Cameron, 1980, pp76) By following the very concept of SMART objectives, ABC Company needs to fix its objectives wisely. As far as the specific objectives of the company are concerned, the company should make subtle changes in the management pattern of the company. The company needs to reshuffle the managerial responsibilities among the existing manager and the newly appointed managers of the company. The measurable objective of the company should include that by 2018, the company should increase its existing client base by 15%. The achievable objectives of the company should include added customer satisfaction, better operational efficiency and speedy customer grievance handling process. The realistic objectives of ABC Company should include objectives like ensuring business growth in the UK market by 10% within 2020. The time bound objectives of the company could be like by 2020 the company will launch a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system which will successfully handle customer grievances and provide solutions to them in no time. Appropriate System to Achieve Objectives in the Most Efficient Way ABC Company should implement a proper system in order to fulfill both its short term and long term objectives. The company should design a system which will surely bring pace in the existing organizational operation process. The company can think of installing an IT based system which will increase the overall productivity and efficiency of the company to a great extent. The companys existing workforce should be given proper training about how to utilize this system. The new system should involve steady customer grievance handling process, easier process of application and online review of the vacancies that are available in the clients preferred sectors. Activities Meeting the Operational Plan through Effective Monitoring and Control In order to carry out the work activities which will help to ensure that the company is able to fulfill the demands of the customers to a great extent, it is essential to note the company is strictly following the operational plan and bring efficiency in the work process. The way in which the company can expect better efficiency in the existing organizational process should include the rectification measures in such a way that the chances of error can be reduced to a great extent (Paul, 2011). Systems required managing and monitoring Quality Standards of ABC Company In order to ensure the quality standard of ABC Company, the existing operational systems of the company needs to go through a transformation stage. It is indeed necessary to mention that the very first transformation should be imposed on the existing information system of the company. ABCs existing information system becomes back dated in compared to that of other recruitment agencies. In order to bring effectiveness and efficiency among the employees of the company, it is indeed necessary for the company to impart a tech based operational process which will automatically bring out the efficiency of the employees. Quality Culture to Ensure Continuous Monitoring, Evaluation and Development The operational efficiency of a business organization relies largely on the existing organizational culture of the company (Lin, 2014). A supportive and healthy organizational culture ensures increased efficiency and productivity from the employees of the very organization. Here, the managers and the employees of ABC Company is often charged with inefficiency. It is the employees and the managers of the company amongst them a sharp trace of unhealthy organizational culture is clearly evident. The maintenance of a healthy organizational culture will surely help them to increase their efficiency and a sense of fellow feeling and interdependence will help them to act as an entire unit. Recommended Improvements in alignment with the Organizations Objectives and Goals and Elements that Bring Continuous Improvements In order to bring healthy organizational culture in ABC Company, it can be recommended that the interconnectedness between the employees and the managers of the company needs to be increased. The employees and the managers of the organization have to give stress on the total unity of the organization. Here it is necessary to include that in the improvement plan section; it is recommended that the company should install a new information system which will successfully channelize information in every part of the organization. The very recommendation will prove to be effective here also as the new information system will enable the employees and the managers of the organization to clear miscommunication amongst them. Wider Implications of Proposed Changes within the Organization The wider implications of the impending changes can be felt in different ways. The impending changes would undoubtedly bring effective changes in the existing organization. Along with it, the changes will increase the overall productivity of the employees to a great extent. The changes will also help the organization to gain a well communicated set of workforce on whose shoulders the responsibility of the company can be undoubtedly bestowed The Way to Carry Out Risk Assessments Risk assessment is a procedure which needs to be implemented before every organizational transformation process (Jensen, 2003). Here also, it is equally necessary to check whether the companys existing operational function gets hampered due to this change implementation process or not. The implementation of a new information system will surely not bring any risk for ABC. However the company must have to ensure that it is not going to public any potential unsafe information. The Data Protection Act, 1998 should be strictly followed by the organization. Systematic Review of Organizational Health and Safety Policies and Procedures It is indeed necessary to review the existing health and safety policies of a business organization, as it ensures that the company is paying acute attention to the wellbeing of its employees (Camall, 2002). Here by evaluating the health and safety policies of ABC, it is found that the company is particularly careful about providing a safe workplace to the employees of the organization. However, in case of the providing medical benefits to the employees of the company, the company is only partially successful. Medical coverage is available only for those employees who are facing injury during the work hour. Practical Application of Health and Safety Policies and Procedures for ABC Company Certain improvement measures can be implemented in case of the safety and security policies of ABC Company. The company can think of implementing a medical coverage for its employees even when the employee is facing injury or physical harm outside the premises of the organization. The practical application of the health and safety policies of the company is indeed necessary to evoke faith in the minds of the employees. Conclusion Organizational productivity and effectiveness is a combined effort in which each and every part of a business organization must have to participate. The individual efficiency of the employees and the managers plays an important role in ensuring the desired performance of an organization. When an organization feels that its existing operation process is not in right shape, there is a necessity to implement changes in the organizational process and for this the business organization must have to formulate a proper planning. Reference Armandi, B. (1981). Organizational structure and efficiency. Washington, D.C.: University Press of America. Cameron, K. (1980). 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