Doughnut Structure

Although most organization charts are constructed in the shape of a pyramid, extending downward from the board of directors or president, some firms have doughnut structure—an organization chart made up of concentric circles that represent top management, staff personnel, and functional areas and that reflect a more flexible structure—people see themselves working in a circle as if around one table. One of the positions is designated chief executive officer, because somebody has to make all those tactical decisions that enable an organization to keep working. The doughnut design is made up of concentric circles, in which the center ring consists of top management. The second ring is composed of important staff personnel, such as legal, personnel, research and development, and electronic data processing, whose services are used by all departments. The third ring consists of managers of functional areas, while remaining rings comprise department and other supervisory managers

My Consultancy–Asif J. Mir - Management Consultant–transforms organizations where people have the freedom to be creative, a place that brings out the best in everybody–an open, fair place where people have a sense that what they do matters. For details please visit www.asifjmir.com, and my Lectures.

Modern Retailers

Economies of scale and information technology have given top retailers enormous power. Sophisticated computer systems can tell retailers instantly what they are selling in each of their numerous stores, how much money they are making on each sale, and, increasingly, who their customers are. They no longer are lumbered which stock they may not be sold, or run out of items customers want to buy.

My Consultancy–Asif J. Mir - Management Consultant–transforms organizations where people have the freedom to be creative, a place that brings out the best in everybody–an open, fair place where people have a sense that what they do matters. For details please visit www.asifjmir.com, and my Lectures.

Glass Ceiling

Glass ceiling is a term used to reflect why women and minorities aren’t more widely represented at the top of today’s organizations. The glass ceiling is not, however, synonymous with “classic” discrimination. Rather, the glass ceiling is indicative of “institutional and psychological practices, and the limited advancement and mobility of men and women of diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds.”

My Consultancy–Asif J. Mir - Management Consultant–transforms organizations where people have the freedom to be creative, a place that brings out the best in everybody–an open, fair place where people have a sense that what they do matters. For details please visit www.asifjmir.com, and my Lectures.

Strategic Issues

Since strategic decisions overarch several areas of a firm’s operations, they require top management involvement. Usually only top management has the perspective needed to understand the broad implications of such decisions and the power to authorize the necessary resource allocations.

My Consultancy–Asif J. Mir - Management Consultant–transforms organizations where people have the freedom to be creative, a place that brings out the best in everybody–an open, fair place where people have a sense that what they do matters. For details please visit www.asifjmir.com, and my Lectures.

The New Trend

Today, everything has changed. Globalization, the internationalization of markets and corporations, has changed the way modern corporations do business. To reach the economies of scale necessary to achieve the low costs, and thus the low prices, needed to be competitive, companies are now thinking of a global (worldwide) market instead of a national market. Instead of using one international division to manage everything outside the home country, large corporations are now using matrix structures in which product units are interwoven with country or regional units. International assignments are now considered key for anyone interested in reaching top management. As more industries become global, strategic management is becoming an increasingly important way to keep track of international developments and position the company for long term competitive advantage.

My Consultancy–Asif J. Mir - Management Consultant–transforms organizations where people have the freedom to be creative, a place that brings out the best in everybody–an open, fair place where people have a sense that what they do matters. For details please visit www.asifjmir.com, and my Lectures.

A Line Organization

A line organization is one in which there are direct two-way lines of responsibility, authority, and communication running from the top to the bottom of the organization, with all people reporting to only one supervisor. The most obvious example is the army, which has a clear line of authority going from general to colonel to major to lieutenant to sergeant to corporal to private. A private reports to a corporal, the corporal to a sergeant, and so on back up to the generals. A line organization has the advantages of having clearly defined responsibility and authority, of being easy to understand, and of providing one supervisor for each person. The principles of good organizational design are met.

Disadvantages include for being too flexible, of having few specialists or experts to advise people along the line, of having lines of communication that are too long, and of being unable to handle the complex decisions involved in an organization with thousands of sometimes unrelated products and literally tons of paperwork.

My Consultancy–Asif J. Mir - Management Consultant–transforms organizations where people have the freedom to be creative, a place that brings out the best in everybody–an open, fair place where people have a sense that what they do matters. For details please visit www.asifjmir.com, and my Lectures.

Women at Workplace

Traditionally, stress-related health problems have been considered a masculine phenomenon. Heart attacks, stomach ulcers, burnout, and strokes were all considered diseases of men in the workplace, and indeed are the reasons why elderly widows outnumber wid-owners by almost five to one. However, with the equal responsibilities women are taking at work now, they are also being exposed to at least equal amounts of stress. If anything, in fact, stress levels faced by career women can be considerably greater than those levels imposed on men.

While women are being given equal hiring opportunities and equal rates of promotion to the middle management levels, they seem to encounter a “glass ceiling” preventing their climb up the corporate ladder. In other words, they have been granted equal access, but not equal ascent. In fact, only 2% of top management in major corporations is female. This reflects a modest advance of women in selected fields such as financial services, telecommunications, retailing, advertising, public relations, and publishing.

My Consultancy–Asif J. Mir - Management Consultant–transforms organizations where people have the freedom to be creative, a place that brings out the best in everybody–an open, fair place where people have a sense that what they do matters. For details please visit www.asifjmir.com, and my Lectures.

Fraction

A fraction consists of two numbers separated by a horizontal or slanting bar. In either event, the number to the top or left of the bar is called the numerator while the number below or to the right of the bar is called the denominator.

There are at least four different interpretations for a fraction:

• A part of a whole;
• A part of a group;
• Division of two numbers; and
• Ratio of two numbers.

There are three different kinds of fractions:

• A proper fraction – a fraction with a numerator less than the denominator;
• An improper fraction – a fraction with a numerator greater than or equal to the denominator;
• A complex fraction – a fraction consisting of a fractional numerator, a fractional denominator, or both.

My Consultancy–Asif J. Mir - Management Consultant–transforms organizations where people have the freedom to be creative, a place that brings out the best in everybody–an open, fair place where people have a sense that what they do matters. For details please visit www.asifjmir.com, and my Lectures.

Top Management Attitudes

Whether employees behave ethically depends largely on the actions and attitudes of top management. For instance, if a code of ethics tells employees that bribing overseas clients is against company, but management looks  the other way when bribes are successful in winning large contracts, the code is likely to be taken seriously. Also, companies must not encourage unethical behavior by setting unrealistic goals that can be met only by cutting ethical corners, and they must not condone cheating to help the company.

My Consultancy–Asif J. Mir - Management Consultant–transforms organizations where people have the freedom to be creative, a place that brings out the best in everybody–an open, fair place where people have a sense that what they do matters. For details please visit www.asifjmir.com, and my Lectures.

Customer-Oriented Companies

How do companies become market oriented? It begins with the business culture. Consider top management’s values, employees, inter-departmental dynamics, organizational systems, and response to the environment. A dual emphasis on the customer (satisfy/delight the buyer) and on the competition  is needed, as well as  a long-term view. The Japanese are known for long-term marketing plans, which often will outlive the executives in the company sculpting the strategy.

Recognizing that today’s customers are quite smart and sophisticated, and they are looking for companies that: 1) create maximum value for them based on their needs and wants, and 2) demonstrate that they value their business.

My Consultancy–Asif J. Mir - Management Consultant–transforms organizations where people have the freedom to be creative, a place that brings out the best in everybody–an open, fair place where people have a sense that what they do matters. For details please visit www.asifjmir.com, and my Lectures.