Saturday, October 5, 2019
Small and medium sized enterprises and the risks they face in an Essay
Small and medium sized enterprises and the risks they face in an international environment - Essay Example The study of international businesses and internationalization has been traditionally focused on the analysis of large corporations. Despite the growing importance of small and medium businesses, they often remain beyond the scope of scholarly studies. Apart from the fact that small and medium enterprises play a crucial role in the rapid advancement of economies, the prevailing majority of today’s international and multinational corporations have once been small and medium domestic enterprises. These are just some of the many reasons why the place of small and medium businesses in international trade should not be disregarded. More important is the question of risks faced by SMEs as they enter international trade. Recent advancements in technologies and transportation facilitate the subsequent integration of small and medium business forms into international trade communities. Therefore, SMEs should be aware of and be prepared to face international trade risks. Small and medium enterprises: Why so neglected? Small and medium enterprises are generally considered to create a strong foundation for the rapid advancement of economies. It is not surprising that so many developing countries provide SMEs with greater flexibility and freedom from taxation and administration burdens, to speed up their development and contribution to nations’ economic development. However, the current state of research often leaves small and medium-sized enterprises beyond the scope of analysis.... Yet, it should be remembered that â€Å"many MNEs developed from large, mature, domestic firms, and they commanded attention because they wielded significant economic power, especially after World War II†(Chandler 1986; Dunning 1981; Oviatt & McDougall 1994, p.45). Moreover, recent changes in the technological environment and transportation make it easier for domestic small and medium firms to expand to an international level. The growing number of consumers in international business makes international trade extremely attractive for domestic businesses, especially small and medium ones. Today, any small or medium businessman with a sufficient amount of capital can successfully conduct business anywhere in the world or travel to any part of the world, looking for international business opportunities (Oviatt & McDougall 1994). That small and medium enterprises find it easier to capture international business opportunities means the topic of their internationalization is becomi ng more urgent. Scholars in organization science are becoming more attentive to the issues of internationalization and international trade challenges affecting domestic SMEs. However, again, the most common issues considered in today’s research include the effects of public policies on SMEs, the nature and characteristics of entrepreneurial activities across countries, and comparing international and domestic enterprises (Oviatt, & McDougall 1994; Ohe et al. 1991). In light of these issues, a close look at the risks faced by domestic SMEs going into international trade is required. This report will help small and medium businesses going into the international trade
Friday, October 4, 2019
Brand Attributes and Consumer Motivation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words
Brand Attributes and Consumer Motivation - Essay Example One aspect that is very crucial to the success of our brand positioning is that it needs to relate to our target market. The company needs to improve on its technology so that it can employ better techniques of collecting and analyzing the market. This will help the company know what exactly is expected by customers. We need to improve our products and services according to the expectations of our customers while keeping in mind that their expectations continuously change. We also need to research on our competitors attribute in terms of their logo to make sure that our logo is unique to the market and that it is also acceptable in this market. This will help the company mitigate the risk of losing customers to competitors because of confusion in the similarities of the attributes. The company also needs to assess the brand differentiation strategy while keeping in mind the company’s need to generate revenues. While positioning our brand, we need to consider the companyâ€℠¢s market share and market size. This is by looking at the demand of the business activities in a particular market. The company needs to map the products and services in order to identify gaps in the marketplace, understand the competitors, understand if the company is entering a crowded market, and this will also help in understanding the criteria in which customers in a particular market position different brand in the market. This will help the company to make an informed decision on marketing strategies for the brand.
Thursday, October 3, 2019
Preschool Music Education Essay Example for Free
Preschool Music Education Essay Introduction Teaching music to preschoolers contributes to brain development. â€Å"The musician is constantly adjusting decisions on tempo, tone, style, rhythm, phrasing, and feelingâ€â€training the brain to become incredibly good at organizing and conducting numerous activities at once. Dedicated practice of this orchestration can have a great payoff for lifelong attention skills, intelligence, and an ability for self-knowledge and expression†(Ratey, 2001). A group of researchers at the University of California (Irvine) conducted a study that showed that after eight months of keyboard lessons, preschoolers showed a 46% boost in their spatial reasoning (Rauscher, Shaw, Levine, Ky and Wright, 2001). Music Education Module            The curriculum for teaching preschool music education should contain three parts: 1) Singing; 2) Active listening; and 3) Movement. All three of these subsections should work together and build off of the skills learned during the other subsections. The music education curriculum must be fun and engaging for the preschool children, otherwise the children will not give the music activities their full attention and will not retain the cognitive abilities that can be taught through music education.            The preschool music education curriculum needs to be focused around teaching the children songs, preferably nursery rhymes and other educational songs, which will teach the children a skill. Incorporating movement and hand motions into each song that is taught will enhance the skills learned. Learning to sing songs will improve the development of language acquisition, listening skills, and fine motor skills.  Songs that tell a story with hand motions such as â€Å"I’m Bringing Home a Baby Bumblebee†will improve language skills as well as fine motor skills and self expression. Songs that specifically address a certain skill such as counting songs (1,2 Buckle My Shoe) and spelling songs (B-I-N-G-O) should be incorporated into the music curriculum as well.            The preschool music education curriculum must also include active listening to music. Listening to music, particularly classical music, will improve listening skills, auditory discrimination, abstract reasoning, and spatial intelligence. After the children have listened to a musical piece, the experience needs to be reinforced by a series of questions and answers. Asking the children what kind of instruments they heard and what emotions they felt during the song will improve the abstract reasoning skills and teach the children how to evaluate and comprehend what they have heard. Clapping through a rhythm that was in the song they just heard will teach the children about tempo and improve counting and mathematical skills. Conclusion The preschool music education curriculum needs to include all three of the subsections discussed. If the curriculum neglects one of the subsections, important skills will be neglected. Singing and dancing teaches preschool children language skills, fine motor skills, and self expression. Actively listening to music, particularly classical music, improves listening skills, abstract reasoning skills, and spatial intelligence. When developing a preschool music education curriculum, the most important thing is to ensure that the curriculum is fun and engaging for the preschool children. If the curriculum is rigid and boring, the children will lose interest and the teacher will not have their full attention. In order for the preschool children to acquire the skills taught during music education, the children must be engaged in the curriculum.                     References Musically Yours, Inc. (2007, November) Music Preludes. Retrieved January 23, 2008 from http://www.musicpreludes.com/index.html Ratey John J., MD. A User’s Guide to the Brain. New York: Pantheon Books, 2001. Rauscher, Shaw, Levine, Ky and Wright, â€Å"Music and Spatial Task Performance: A Causal Relationship,†University of California, Irvine, 1994
Cross Cultural Management Report On Nandos Cultural Studies Essay
Cross Cultural Management Report On Nandos Cultural Studies Essay The operation of business on a global scale requires that firms should cultivate their international business by respecting the national differences in the countries where they expand to. This is what Nandos had failed to observe. It has rigidly and excessively stuck to its corporate culture exhibited in South Africa. It failed to note that South African s national culture is not the same thing as what applies in countries in European and Asian states . Also , the Nando s management in the South African headquarter had given no room for the management of its firms in other countries to operate freely this has given them no room for innovative strategic marketing planning in observance to the environment in which they operate in . The national culture of South Africa has greatly influenced the corporate culture of the Nando s organization and it thus constituted a negative impact when its adherence and transfer to other national culture that is not compatible , led to the unprofitable business operations in these countries . The level of competition in the fast food industry in contemporary times is getting tense, with expansion in big firms and new entrants to the business. Issue#2 Advertisement issue in Australia and South Africa Nandos is known in South Africa for its humorous but often controversial adverts. One such television advert from 2000, involved a blind woman being led into a pole intentionally and knocked unconscious by her guide dog, which then proceeded to eat the chicken that the woman had just purchased. This caused uproar from people who were concerned that the blind would be offended. The South African Advertising Standards Authority called for the withdrawal of the advert. Several blind people were quoted in the media as finding the advert amusing In Australia, Nandos ran an advertising campaign based around the 2002 political controversy regarding the mandatory detention of illegal immigrants. The detainees had been waging a hunger strike campaign, even resorting to physically sewing their lips closed. Nandos adverts proclaimed that the strikers decided to unsew their lips after hearing the news that with every Nandos quarter chicken combo, Nandos are giving away an extra quarter chicken free. Melbournes Sphere Advertising, said that the ad was designed to spark controversy, saying that they knew that theres a section of our audience thats going to be uncomfortablebut we want to evoke a response. In 2007, there was further controversy in Australia when Nandos aired a sexually explicit advertisement; centered around a family whose mother figure was also a pole dancer. Despite complaints to have it removed, the Advertising Standards Bureau ruled that it did not contain excessive nudity for its M rating. Currently, this advert is still causing a heated debate. It ranges from virulent opposition to Nandos on various blogs to modest reviews in some Australian online directories. Most recently they have created a cheeky campaign for their new Tropico Burger with the former football star Warick Capper as the face of the new promotion. Capper asks the question, Whose buns does the sun shine out of the most? Mine or the Tropico Burger? They have developed a catalogue of commercials on the Nandos Australia Advertising website. During the South African national elections of 2009, Nandos made an advert lampooning ANC Youth League president Julius Malema by using a puppet that resembled him. Malemas lawyers sued Nandos and the original advert was removed. However, an altered version was released, with the puppets face pixelated and the voice altered. The puppet used in the advert was later sold at auction for R100,000 which was donated to an educational charity. Issue#3 How to retain cultures and values while expanding abroad One of the biggest challenges for Nandos was seen as how to retain their culture and values while expanding abroad. As Jane Hume related: My key task is to keep our culture burning within the expanding South African and global context. We want to be global but local, big but small, and decentralized with central reporting andcontrol. Above all, we must retain our close family centred culture, our core values, in the process of globalization, yet adapt to very different cultures. A second challenge for Nandos lay in how to build critical mass in foreign markets. Stores overseas had to begin with simple store marketing, just as South African stores did when Nandos began. In most countries, people were not familiar with Portuguese food, and their advertising had to be a lot more educational than was the case in South Africa. Nandos wanted this education to be done with the same tone, fun and irreverence that was typical for the brand at home. Recognizing the potential pitfall, however, McKenzie noted that no attempt was made to translate humour from South Africa to other countries.They have to find their own level of humour. It is very much a cultural thing. Their advertising should be topical. Only they know the burning issues in their country, the areas that would attract most attention. But it must be packaged in the Nandos way. It was assumed that humour and irreverence were sound positioning strategies worldwide. Issue#4 Is Nandos haram or halalà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.Issue arises in Pakistan and Malaysia A mail from a customer who confidently state with some evidence that nandos is not halal Dear Friends, AOA I am posting an email(un-edited)received from a relative.Comments of brothers will help.To me besideNOT HALAL the acts are CRUAL in a society which claims to be flag bearer of humanity.Commercialization (for cost saving,profits)to save some money cannot be used to induce ZULAM on livings.Here is the text received. Councillor Salim Mulla Chair Regeneration Town Hall, Blackburn BB1 7DY 01254 585321 01254 260208 Email: [emailprotected] Asalaamualaikum Brother and Sisters, After a recent meeting with HMC (Halal monitoring committee) I can confirm that the chicken served by Halal Nandos outlets still is NOTHALAL. HMC personally inspected the slaughterhouse of Freemans and came up with this conclusion. My point of contact is Haroon Rashid. Their chickens are all electrocuted, the power is that much that some of the brains explode and so do nerve endings. They dont do ziba as the chickens flap around too much and it leads to their wings getting damaged. This is definitely not Halal and not the way that Allah says to treat these animals. An extract taken from the Guardian (astaghfirullah) website on the issue of fast-food taking the case of Freemans who is the supplier of Nandos. Newent sits in folds of lush countryside at the far western reach of the Cotswolds hidden from view, is Freemans of Newent. Clifford Freeman and his cousin own this poultry abattoir. It is the largest Halal plant in Britain , employing more than 250 people, slaughtering 300,000 chickens a week, and after considerable persuasion and hesitation Freeman has agreed to show me how it is done. The birds are collected from farms at night, transported to the site in the early hours of the morning, and kept in darkness until they are ready to be killed. Workers hang them upside down by their feet in shackles, suspended from a conveyor belt, or line, which then dangles them through an electrified bath. Their heads are submerged, and a high-frequency current in the water stuns them. The line keeps moving, taking the birds on to the slaughter area, where three men are standing ready to cut their throats. Issue#5 Issue in U.A .E where people are highly responsible and human oriented Dear All, here some informations i got today. I m a regular customer of Nando`s in the Greens. I like the food and (till this day) the concept of Nando`s. Even the home delivery service it was always good. BUTwhat i heard today made me very angry!! The staff of Nando`s in the Greens have to work daily minimum 12 hours, without to get any payment for the overtime (btw..it is against the rules of U.A.E to do so) furthermore almost all of the staff would like to leave the company asap, because of the Manager there and his behavior. Actually there`s one case, where a Lady from the Philippines after 3 years worked as a waiter, wants to leave Nando`s to start a new job in a other company. I saw her crying and asked her what`s wrong with her. She explained me her problem. Her previous contract (incl. labor card, viza and so on) with Nando`s in the Greens is expired and as per the rules of U.A.E, she can leave Nando`s and start to work somewhere else where ever she wants. The problem is the Manager of that branch in the Greens. He is trying to force her to stay there and to renew the contract. They signed already the letter of resignation (both the Lady and the Manager), but still the Manager is forcing her and telling her lies so that she have to stay there and work. His problem is the lack of staff, that is why he wants her to stay there. That behavior of the Manager is inacceptable!! I gave the Lady my phone number and will support her in that case. I have some powerful relatives here in the U.A.E. and until now (Thanks God) i never needed their help, but in that case i will call them and will ask them to help me/us. Anywayi wont visit any Nando`s anymore. Such a concept of modern slavery i wont support!! I will inform all of my friends and relatives about and tell them not to go there anymore! Regards H.Resad Issue#6 Controversies in India regarding their taste Nandos has opened its branch in India recently in 2010. Only one branch of Nandos is operating in India though India is a very large country and highly populated. The main issue which Nandos has to come across is that majority of the Indians are vegetarian and they dont eat chicken because of their customs and religion. Where as Nandos is a restaurant for chicken lover and that is the main biggest draw back to Nandos. Once it happens with Mc donalds that they open their branch in a very wrong area where majority of the people were vegetarian and because of which they face the loss and it all leads to bad publicity that is why Nandos open their one branch and they couldnt have the advantage over the large population because Nandos wanted to play safe Issue#7 Cultural discrimination in Saudi Arabia Nandos is also operating in Saudi Arabia but they arent that successful due to some reasons. As we all know that Arabs are known not be efficient and unproductive people. Thus, less people are hired from Saudi Nationals as employee and waiters and more are hired on international basis as they are considered to be more efficient and more productive. Therefore, there is a cultural discrimination problems leading to cultural issues. As it has been disliked by Saudis as more international are hired rather than locals. Through a survey it was been found out that among Nandos employees only 30 percent Saudi were hired and the majority were internationals. The consequences of this discrimination were really bad as it led to a very bad publicity for Nandos. Lessons and the reasons of their growth A global brand talks about growing the right way http://www.monkeydish.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/article_main_photo/articles/Nandos-Chicken.jpg How do you build a global restaurant chain? Robbie Brozin, the founder of $1-billion-a-year Nandos Chicken, ended the educational component of the Restaurant Leadership Conference with some specific tips for attendees. Nandos specializes in Portuguese-style chicken at its 1,000 stores, only four of which are located in the United States. The chicken is grilled and spiced with peri peri, a hot sauce widely known in Nandos home base of South Africa. Brozin said hell open three more stores this year in his New World foothold of Washington, D.C., guided by what hes learned from operating on four continents. Here are some of the lessons he shared with the 1,400 executives in attendance: You cant build great brands with advertising. At the end of the day, its the people. Nandos looks for hires that are a little different. We spend an inordinate amount of money to motivate our staff. We have a saying: Happy staff equals happy customer equals happy bank manager. How Nandos motivates its employees can vary greatly from market to market (its strongholds are Australia, with about 300 stores; the United Kingdom, 300 stores; and South Africa, also with 300). The constants are an emphasis on having fun and making a difference to the people who please customers one quarter chicken at a time. Partying is encouraged. Design can change a culture. [But] everything you design has to be about the people. He cited such people-pleasing possibilities as the look of the uniforms. You have to be profitable in America, and you have to have it profitable in Australia. The means are often very different, Brozin noted. Yet the brand has to have a common thread. Programmed into the DNA of every Nandos is the focus on chicken and the staff that serves it. Indeed, the absolute key to Nandos success, especially in the early days, was focus, Brozin stressed. He never forgot the objective, or the means to that end: At the end of the day, you have to have an amount of passion. But you also have to have an amount of commitment to making money. Recommendations Thus for organization like Nandos the need to observe people s custom, taste , national culture in carrying out its strategic marketing this is germane for their effective and successful operations as they expand the business . To overcome the issue in India, Nandos should open their outlet in the area where there are less vegetarian and they should introduce more new food stuff which doesnt contain chicken in it and should go fir more vegetables item. And while doing advertisement they should focus on stuff which doesnt contain chicken so that Nandos dont conflict with their custom and religion. To overcome the issue in Saudia, they should hire more Saudis rather than foreigners. In order to increase the efficiency and productivity of Saudis they should arrange more training programs and should give them more and better training in that way they can increase their productivity and they dont have to hire the people from outside and this how they can overcome this problem. To overcome the problems regarding Halal and Haram which is mostly concerned by the Muslim countries such as Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Bangladesh? Nando should spent more on advertising so as to ensure people that the chicken food provided by Nandos is Halal and not Haram. As many people consider their chicken as Haram due to which they have stopped eating it. Therefore, in order to avoid such bad publicity nandos should make people aware of the fact and should provide fool proof reasons that the chicken offered to them is Halal and not Haram Nandos had failed to observe. It has rigidly and excessively stuck to its corporate culture exhibited in South Africa. It failed to note that South African s national culture is not the same thing as what applies in countries in European and Asian states . To overcome this issue they should cultivate their international business by respecting the national differences in the countries where they expand to Nandos is known in South Africa for its humorous but often controversial adverts. This controversies create a lot of problems in South Africa and Australia to overcome this problem they should make different ads in different countries and all those ads should be within the limitation of their culture and should be that much decent that it is acceptable by everyone. They can solve the issue in U.A.E by chaging their manger because the mangaer behavior with the employees were not good and he was not being fair with them and they were nt evn paid for the over time because of which people were running away from Nandos and no one was ready to work over there. This was even affecting their sales because when customer came to know about the unfair with the employees they were so human oriented that they went on protest against nandos which resulted in bad publicity
Wednesday, October 2, 2019
Andrew Marvells To His Coy Mis :: essays research papers
The Non-Discriminatory Nature of Time in Andrew Marvell’s “To His Coy Mistress'; Time passes. Its journey is oblivious to power, weakness, beauty, or mercy. The nature of time itself lies in its unrelenting progression through life, until we are removed from it’s favor and then wither and die. The purpose of most carpe diem poetry is to draw a character’s attention (usually the female) to the pressing nature of time’s progress, as well as illustrating the bountiful rewards of seizing the moment and giving into the momentary passions of life. Andrew Marvell’s poem “To His Coy Mistress'; is a classic example of carpe diem poetry, exemplifying the foreboding nature of time. It’s distinction from similar works, however, lies in its inherent ability to express the ominous nature of time’s advancement in terms of both the male and female’s perspectives. Rather than lament about missed opportunities, “To His Coy Mistress'; actually serves to force one to consider how we compartmentalize time into stages of life, and thus commit ourselves to its mercy without allowing ourselves to relish its immediate rewards. Marvell’s sense of time affects both his characters in unique ways, and therefore unites their plight as a human cause rather than a gender based issue. Andrew Marvell expresses this point by structuring his poem into three components that propose the issues of time’s existence, its limited availability, and finally a solution of sorts. The first section of “To His Coy Mistress'; serves the task of identifying that time is a limited commodity, and thus can not be wasted. Immediately the speaker states openly that “Had we but world enough, and time, This coyness, lady, were no crime'; (1-2). The implication here, if taken at face value, suggests that the mistress’ coyness is a crime only because of the lack of time available. The speaker continues with “We would sit down, and think which way To walk, and pass our long love’s day'; (3-4). The tone of such a verse is overtly suspicious, automatically suggestive of the insidious nature of a man hungry to feed his lust. However, another possibility lies in the direct message Marvell puts forth in his verse. The spoken comments themselves suggest that “We would sit down, and think…'; and “pass our long love’s day'; (3,4). The impression given is one of joint merriment in love. The speaker associates the passion of his coy mistress with his own, creating a sense of understanding and common ground.
Comparing Seamus Heaney’s Digging and Eavan Borland’s In Search of a Nation :: Comparison Compare Contrast Essays
Comparing Seamus Heaney’s Digging and Eavan Borland’s In Search of a Nation    Seamus Heaney’s â€Å"Digging†and Eavan Borland’s â€Å"In Search of a Nation†focus on issues involving identity. Boland’s essay reveals an individual uncertain in her personality, sexuality, and nationality while Heaney’s poem depicts a man who recognizes his family’s lineage of field laborers yet chooses the pen over the shovel. The benefit of reading the two works vis-a-vis reveals how Ireland has influenced their lives.     Heaney’s use of â€Å"digging†provides different metaphorical images. For example, as Heaney sits at the window he hears:        †¦a clean rasping sound        When the spade sinks in to gravelly ground:        My father, digging. I look down                          5        Till his straining rump among the flowerbeds        Bends low, comes up twenty years away        Stooping in rhythm through potato drills        Where he was digging (3). Heaney emphasizes the aspect of time claiming that his father has been laboring for twenty years. He implies that during the twenty years a shift took place from the potato drills to flowerbeds. The shift represents the possible retirement of his father from fieldwork to something more recreational, e.g. gardening, and hints at mortality. The image of a flowerbed invokes a flower arrangement for a gravesite. The imagery coupled with the use of past tense indicates that his father has passed away.    In addition to the aspect of time the fact that he is listening to his father dig suggests a sense of oral tradition that has been passed on to him. Heaney describes his father as being â€Å"Just like his old man†linking himself to his own grandfather (3). Though he has not actively participated in his father’s laboring Heaney would have been able to hear the stories of working in the potato fields. As a result Heaney has learned the historical 1importance of the previous generation. Boland relates well with Heaney in terms of a tradition that in her case is more literary than oral. In her teen years after reading the poem â€Å"The Fool†by Padraic Pearse she unearths deeply seeded emotions of Irish patriotism:        What I see is the way a poem about nationhood has suddenly included me†¦ The        inclusion is not by address or invocation but by a sweeping and self-proposing act of        language that speaks to all the longings I have for grandiloquence and certainty (53).
Tuesday, October 1, 2019
Management a Factor of Production and Also an Economic Resources Essay
Management can be defined in various ways. In the words of Pride et al, management is the process of coordinating the resources of the organization to achieve the primary goals of the organization. It is also defined as the organization and coordination of the activities of an enterprise in accordance with certain policies and in achievement of defined objectives. Taylor defined management as knowing exactly what men do, and the seeing that they do it in the best and cheapest way. Today, however, management is obviously a much more complex problem than the above definition portrays. Griffins(1996) defines it as the process of planning, organizing, leading and controlling an organization’s human financial, physical and information resources to achieve organizational goals in an efficient and effective manner. Management is a dynamic process of getting things done with and through the co-operative effort of others. It involves utilizing the various resources of an organization a nd combining them in such a way that the organization’s goals are attained. Effective management is crucial to an organization’s overall success. Individuals who are responsible for helping organizations achieve their goals are designated MANAGERS. A MANAGER is someone whose primary activities are of the management process. Specifically, a manager is someone who plans, organize, leads and control human, financial, and physical and information resources (Griffin 1996). In order words, he or she is responsible for allocating human and material resources and directing the operations of an organization. Thus, managers are fully responsible for the realization of results through the concerted efforts of other people. Today’s managers face complex, difficult and exciting quality of work life, increased diversity of the workplace, more social and ethical responsibilities, environmental protection and other legal requirements. They plan for the future, explore avenues of motivating employees and strive to increase their company’s overall efficie ncy, effectiveness and productivity. The managerial function is one of the approaches to understanding the dynamic and complex process called management. The managerial functions are general administrative duties that need to be carried out in virtually all productive organization. The most popular approach has been to describe what managers do, which is considered the functional view. It specifies the management process as a sequence of logical and rational steps. The manager’s functions are interrelated and are often performed simultaneously to achieve desired objectives. Fayol (1949) identified five of these functions as: planning, organization, command, coordination and control. Over the years, Fayol’s list of five managerial functions has been updated and expanded by management scholars to include decision- making, staffing, communication, leading and motivating. These functions are briefly explained as follows: a.Planning: This is a dynamic process of deciding today what actions should be taken at sometime in the future and how best to tackle them. Developing a strategy for guiding an organization to a desired posi tion at a given time in the future is referred to as STRATEGIC PLANNING. Planning helps maintain managerial effectiveness by guiding future activities b.Organizing: Once a workable plan has been established or developed, the next phase is to arrange and allocate work, authority and resources among an organization’s members in order to achieve the organization’s goals. Other basic concepts of organizing include departmentalization, chain of command, division of labour, spans of control, coordination and specialization. Proper organizing helps ensure the efficient utilization of human resources. c.Leading: The leading function involves directing, influencing and motivating employees to perform assigned tasks. Managers try to create the atmosphere and peaceful organizational climate, inspire their subordinates by serving as role models and adapt their management style to the demands of the situation. d.Decision-making: Decision making involves choosing from among alternative courses of action. It connects the organization’s present circumstances to actions that will move the organization into the future. Past expe riences plays a major role in determining the choices that managers take. e.Staffing: This is an integral part of the management process. It includes human resources planning, recruitment, selection, orientation/socialization, training and development, performance appraisal and compensation. It is believed that organizations are as good as the people in them. f.Motivating: The term motivation refers to the psychological process that gives behavior purpose and direction. Through motivation, managers try to get people to willingly channel their efforts towards the attainment of organizational goals. g.Communicating: This is the transfer of information and understanding from one individual to another by means of meaningful symbols. It is a process that requires both a sender –who initiates the process and a receiver-who completes the communication link. Managers use the communication process to carry out their functions and roles. For instance, no decision can be implemented until the managers effectively communicate it to the relevant individuals. h.Controlling: The final phase of management process. It involves the following key elements: establishing standards of performance, measuring current performance, comparing this performance to the established standards and taking corrective actions if deviations are detected. The controlling function helps keep the organization on track. Having discussed and defined management and its functions, we look at management as a factor of production. Production is the action of manufacturing, growing, extracting things especially in large quantities. In economics, production means creation or an addition of utility. While factors of production means inputs and finished goods means output. Output depends upon input. Input is the starting point and output is the end point of the production process. The input – output relationship is called production function. Factors of production (or productive inputs or resources) are any commodities or service used to produce goods and services. Factors of production may also refer specifically to the primary factors which are including land, labour (the ability to work) and capital goods applied to production. The primary factors facilitate production but neither become part of the product (as with raw materials) nor become significantly transformed by the production process (as fuel used to power machinery). The requirements or rather the factors of production are usually classified as the following: a.Land: Land is the natural resources available for production. It includes the natural resources within the land such as mineral deposits like coal and iron-ore. Some nations are endowed with natural resources and exploit this by specializing in extraction and production of these resources. For example: the development of the North Sea oil and gas. This is an important factor of production as modern factories extend on one level and require space for storage and parking. The returns or payments to land are called RENT. Land is not only the site of production but also natural above or below the soil. b.Labour: This is the human effort, whether manual or mental that contributes to production. This also includes all human resources; it may be skilled, semi-skilled or unskilled. Local labour markets vary in size and nature of the pool of labour. Cheap, unskilled and semi-skilled labour may be an important location factor for multinational companies while skilled labour is significant in high technology industries. For example, most products are manufactured in China because they offer cheap labour. Industries may be capital-or-labour intensive. Not all labour is of the same quality. Some workers are more productive than others because of the education, training and experience they have received. The reward or payments for labour is called WAGES. c.Capital: To an economist, capital has several meanings – including the finance raised to operate a business. But normally the term capital means investment in goods that can produce other goods in the future. This is also denoted as machinery or tools which are used in combination with labour for the purpose of making goods. It covers all man- made aids to future production. There can be fixed or circulating capital. The former relates to goods such as buildings or machinery while the latter refers to the stock of goods a firm has ready for use in the future, raw materials and components. Capital is the only factor of production which itself is created in the production process. Increases to the capital stock of a nation are called investment. Investment is important if the economy is to achieve economic growth in the long run. INTEREST is the returns for capital. d. Entrepreneurship: This is sometimes referred to as Management. Entrepreneurs are people who organize other productive resources to make goods and services. Some economists regard entrepreneurs as a specialist form of labour input. Others believe that they deserve recognition as a separate factor of production in their own right. The success or failure of a business often depends critically on the quality of entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurship can also be referred to as the managerial, innovative and risk taking qualities which an individual displays when combining the other factors of production in order to generate output. Management skills are a vital factor of labour and production under the heading of entrepreneurship. Management is often included as a factor of production along with machines, materials and money. According to the management guru Peter Drucker (1909 – 2005), the basic task of management is of two folds: marketing and innovation. Innovation in the sense of creation of new products, ideas or services and marketing in the sense that management not only combines the available resources and other factors of production in the most suitable techniques of production in order to produce goods and services but it also ensures that these goods and services get to their final consumers in a perfect shape thereby maximizing profit which is the returns for entrepreneurship. Quite often the term management is used to refer to both the persons who occupy managerial positions as well as activities which managers perform. Management as a discipline consist of the interlocking of functions of formulating corporate policy and organizing, planning, controlling and directing an organization’s resources to achieve the policy’s objectives. Management can be said to be the chief or main factor of production because it controls and directs the other factors of production through various ways: land- it is management that decides the best and most suitable site for production and it also knows and organizes for the expansion of the industry’s production site if need be. Management also sources for capital or funds to run a business, it also sources for raw materials and machines needed for the effective production of goods and services. Management also influences the human behavior which is essential factor of production. Every worker is individually different from the other workers as regards to his ability, knowledge, skills, socio-economic status, attitudes and ideologies. Management is concerned with the integration of individual efforts and how to decentralize them towards achieving the desired goal or result. Most workers tend to perform better when they are being supervised; this supervision is also carried out by management or manager. Finally, having enumerated the role of management in the production process, you will strongly believe the assertion that management is a factor of production and also plays a vital role in an organization. In fact, without management, there will be no production and organization. Management is the chief head of all the factors of production because it is the only factor that assembles and integrates the other factors of production MANAGEMENT AS AN ECONOMIC RESOURCE Economic resources can be defined as the commodities that include goods, services, properties, merchandises and supplies that produce and generate income in the country. These are the assets (things of value) which an economy or business may have available to supply and produce goods and services to meet the ever changing needs and wants of individuals (as in the case of business) and society (in the case of society as a whole) Economic resources are scarce relative to the infinite needs and wants of people and businesses operating in the economy. It is important to use these resources efficiently in order to maximize the output that can be produced from them. According to an economist, management is one of the factors of production, the other factors of production being land, labour, and capital. In a small enterprise, the owner may act as the manager. But in large corporations, there is a divorce between ownership and management. Management is the most active factor of production b ecause it assembles the other factors. The efficient use of land and capital depends upon labour which is in turn governed by management. Management coordinates the other Ms (manpower, methods, markets, materials, machinery and money) of an organization and therefore, it occupies a unique place among the productive factors as can be seen. The efficiency of management factor can be improved through training and development of executives. The importance of management increases with the tempo of industrialization. The economic and social development of mankind since the 2nd world war has occurred as a result of systematic and purposeful work on developing managers. The directors and managers have the power and responsibility to make decisions to manage enterprise. The size of management can range from one person in a small organization to hundreds or thousands of managers in multinational companies. In large organizations, the board of directors formulates the policy which is then implemented by the chief executive officers. Some business analyst and financiers accord the highest importance to the quality and experience of the managers in evaluating an organizations current and future worth. As an economic factor of resources, management makes a productive enterprise out of physical and human resources. Efficient management is the most important input in the success of an organization. The inputs of manpower, materials, machinery and money do not by themselves ensure growth; they become productive through the catalyst of management. Finally, having defined management and discussed management and also economic resources, it is obvious that management is a multipurpose organ that manages a business and manages managers and manages worker and work. Without management, there will be no organization and vice versa. Entrepreneur should ensure that the management team in their organization is effective and efficient in carrying out their duties as managers. The entrepreneur can also engage the management team in on the job training, seminars and other forms of training in order to improve their knowledge and at the long run improve the company productivity. The success and failure of a business often depends on the quality of the management team.
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