Management Activities

1. Management Activities Unit 3 – Chapter 8 ‘The tragedy in life doesn’t lie in not reaching your goal. The tragedy lies in having no goals to reach’

2. Management Activities • Managers at all levels of an organisation will need to engage in certain activities. • These are referred to as management activities and consist of: • Planning • Organising • Controlling

3. 1. Planning • Planning is the management process of deciding on the organisation’s goals and setting out the means of achieving them.

4. Steps involved in planning • Analyse the present situation using the SWOT analysis. • Set Objectives. • Devise Strategies. • Implement the plan.

5. SWOT Analysis • Conduct a one page SWOT analysis on a business of your choice.

6. 1. SWOT Analysis This is analysing the situation the business is in • Strengths - Something the business owns or does well (excellent staff). • Weaknesses - Something the business does badly or lacks (not enough money). • Opportunities - Something in the outside world that the business can avail of (new countries join EU). • Threats - Something outside the business which can prevent it from succeeding (competition)

7. Types of Plan • Mission Statement • Strategic Plan • Tactical Plan • Operational Plan

8. Mission Statement • This is the fundamental objective and philosophy of the business. “The Adidas Group strives to be the global leader in the sporting goods industry with sports brands built on a passion for sports and a sporting lifestyle”.

9. Strategic Plan • This is the Major plan for the entire business

10. Tactical Plan • This is a short-term (less than a year) plan for one section of the business. Generally written by middle management.

11. Operational Plan • Projecting future sales and ensuring that the correct quantity of goods is available to meet the market demand. This is short term planning e.g. weekly sales budgets.

12. Class Work • Using Coláiste Einde as an example, come up with the Mission Statement of the school. • What Strategic plan for the school does the Board of Management and Principal have? • What Tactical plan (if any) do teachers in your opinion have? • Do you have your own long-term and short-term plans? Think of Maslows Hierarchy.

13. Principles of Planning (SMART) a) Specific All plans must be based on clear and precise objectives and the methods of achievement. E.g. Identify the goals of management for the firm. b) Measurable It must be possible to measure reasonably accurately the success of the plan. c)Achievable Objectives must be achievable i.e. not too high or not too low. d)Relevant Plan must be relevant to the needs of the organisation e)Timed A timescale gives focus. It must be possibe to achieve an objective in the time frame. Progress should be checked regularly against the time frame.

14. f)Flexible The plan must be flexible enough to allow for unexpected changes where necessary. g)Control Procedures The plan should include control procedures, so that performance can be checked against standards. h)Communication There must be proper communication with those involved in operating the plan.

15. Benefits of planning • When planning, weaknesses become apparent and steps can be taken to remedy them. • If all management and staff are given an input, the final plan will have everyone's support. • Planning helps to create a positive thinking amongst the employees. They are willing to accept change, which leads to greater efficiency. • The existence of a business plan will streamline the operation of a business, as well as being necessary to raise capital. • If plans are accurate, sales and profits should be on target with projections.

16. 2013 Question 4 Discuss the importance of the management activity of planning for EducaPrint Ltd. • Answer: Definition: Planning is the management process of deciding on the organisation’s goals and setting out the means of achieving them; it involves the putting in place of strategies that allow you to achieve the stated goals and objectives. Planning ensures that EducaPrint Ltd considers its future and how it will achieve continued success. Planning gives EducaPrint Ltd purpose and direction and reduces risk and uncertainty.

17. SWOT analysis is an initial step in the planning process. The aim of EducaPrint Ltd is to play to its strengths and opportunities while seeking to minimise the impact of weaknesses and threats. • Mission Statement: This is a visionary statement outlining who the business is, what the business does and where the business is going e.g. EducaPrint Ltd is a business publishing schoolbooks and eBooks in Ireland. The mission statement would give an insight to the stakeholders into the core values and culture of EducaPrint Ltd. • Strategic Planning: This is long term planning covering a period of five years or more. It is usually drawn up by senior management and it outlines how the long-term goals of the firm are to be achieved e.g. EducaPrint Ltd may decide to expand its successful business model into the UK publishing market.

18. Tactical Planning: This is short-term planning which breaks the strategic plan into shorter more manageable periods. It deals with the ‘now’ part of the plan. It is usually drawn up by middle management e.g. EducaPrint Ltd might attempt to target a new group of customers next year. • Contingency Planning: This is back-up planning to cope with emergencies/ unforeseen events and unexpected circumstances. Contingency plans benefit EducaPrint Ltd by preventing disruptions to business and thereby preventing loss of profits and possible business collapse e.g. EducaPrint Ltd may have alternative suppliers of paper available for its traditional print books.

19. 2. Organising • Definition • Organisational Structures • Functional • Product • Geographic • Matrix • Organisation charts • Chain of command • Span of control • Delayering • Advantages of Organising

20. Organising • Organising means bringing people and resources together in an effective way to achieve a common objective. • It involves: (i)Coordination – which is ensuring that all the staff of an organisation are working together to achieve the goals of the business; and (ii)Delegation – which is the passing on of authority or power and responsibility of certain tasks to subordinates.

21. To organise a business managers must identify work to be done and establish an organisation structure,delegate and establish a clear chain of command

22. Organisational Structures • Organisational structures identify the different departments in an organisation and sets out who answers to whom within and organisation.

23. Reasons for Organisational Structure • To identify all the tasks that have to be done. • To ensure that the necessary financial and human resources are made available to carry out the tasks. • To ensure that the firm is efficiently run.

24. What an Organisation Chart Shows: • Senior managers • Middle managers • Junior or supervisory managers • Areas of responsibility • The chain of command • Span of control • Line position • Staff position

25. Functional Organisational Structure Arranging the business according to what each section or department does

26. Benefits? • Answer this question!

27. Product Organisational Structure Organising according to the different products made

28. Benefits? • Answer this question!

29. Geographical Organisational Structure • Divides organisation according to the geographical markets it services

30. Benefits?

31. Matrix Organisational Structure • Combination of functional and product structure. Groups from different functions or departments are formed into teams to deliver a product or service to customers.

32. Matrix Organisational Structure

33. Benefits?

34. Organisation Charts • Chain of command – shows the direction in which orders are passed down from the top to the bottom, and how feedback is sent back up.

35. Organisation Charts Span of control refers to the number and range of people who report to any one person “In the hierarchical business organization of some time in the past it was not uncommon to see average spans of 1 to 4 or even less. That is, one manager supervised four employees on average. In the 1980s corporate leaders flattened many organizational structures causing average spans to move closer to 1 to 10. That was made possible primarily by the development of inexpensive information technology.” - Wikipedia

38. Factors affecting Span of Control • Geographical location • Technology • Capability of workers • Similarity of task

39. Delayering • Delayering is a reduction in the number of levels in an organisation's hierarchy. • Delayering does not necessarily involve stripping out jobs and cutting overheads. But it does usually mean increasing the average span of control of senior managers within the organisation. This can, in effect, chop the number of layers without removing a single name from the payroll.

40. Benefits of Delayering De-layering can offer a number of advantages to business: • It offers opportunities for delegation, empowerment and motivation as the number of managers is reduced and more authority is given to shop-floor workers • It can improve communication within the business as messages have to pass through fewer levels of hierarchy • It can reduce costs as fewer employees are required and employing middle managers can be expensive • It can encourage innovation • It brings managers into close contact with the business’ customers

41. Disadvantages of Delayering The disadvantages of de-layering are: • Senior managers have to deal with a wider span of control and an increased workload. This may cause stress. • Managers' jobs may be lost through redundancies and this may lead to industrial relations problems. • Control becomes more difficult as the span of control increase.

42. Advantages of Organising • Clarity in Working Relationship: Organising clarifies the working relations among employees. It specifies who is to report to whom. Therefore, communication becomes effective. It also helps in fixing accountability. • Optimum Utilisation of Resources: Under the process of organising the entire work is divided into various small activities. There is no possibility of any activity being left out or any unnecessary duplicating any job. Consequently, there is optimum utilisation of all the available resources (e.g., material, machine, financial, human resource, etc.) in the organisation. • Adaptation to Change: This becomes possible only because of the fact that there is a clear chain of authority for the manager’s right from the top to the lower level.

43. Effective Administration: The process of organising makes a clear mention of each and every activity of every manager and also of their extent of authority. • Development of Personnel: Under the process of organising, delegation of authority is practiced. It provides opportunities of taking decisions to the subordinates. By taking advantage of this situation, they try to find out the latest techniques and implement them. Consequently, it helps them to grow and develop. • Expansion and Growth: The process of organising allows the employees the freedom to take decisions which helps them to grow. They are always ready to face new challenges. This situation can help in the development of the enterprise. This helps in increasing the earning capacity of the enterprise which in turn helps its development.

44. 3. Controlling • Definition • Principles/Steps of Control • Areas of Control in Business • Stock • Quality • Credit • Costs • Staff • Budgetary • Advantages of Controlling

45. Controlling • Controlling is a management activity that involves measuring the performance of the business to make sure the stated goals are being achieved and taking appropriate action if there are deviations i.e. if the goals are not achieved. • This ensures that the firm will stay on course to achieve the objectives set out in its plans. • How do you control your own targets?

46. Steps of control • Set out clear objectives • Identify targets and standards that are to be achieved. • Monitor and measure performance regularly. • Compare actual performance with the objectives that were set. • Take corrective action if not achieving objectives. • Revise plans to ensure adequate resources are available to achieve targets.

47. Enterprise controls • Controls should be found in the following areas of business.

48. Types of Controls used in Business Stock control Quality Control • This is to ensure that stock levels are adequate to meet the needs of customers. • The degree of excellence that meets the customers requirements on all issues except price.

49. Types of Controls used in Business Credit control Financial control • The aim of credit control is to make sure customers pay their bills on time and eliminate bad debts. • To control the budget of the company for a specific period.

50. Stock Control • Stock control is a system to ensure that a firm carries sufficient stocks at all times to meet customers needs. • The most economical level for a business is called the optimum level of stock. • Businesses should have a maximum and minimum level of stock. • Re-order level is the level at which new orders should be placed. • Just-In-Time (JIT) manufacturing is having the materials in stock just before they are required. E.g. car manufacturing.