Outdoor Training

A trend in employee development has been the use of outdoor training. The primary focus of such training is to teach trainees the importance of working together, of gelling as a team. Outdoor training typically involves some major emotional and physical challenge. This could be mountain climbing, paint ball games, or surviving a week in the jungle. The purpose of such training is to see how employees react to the difficulties that nature presents to them. Do they face these dangers alone? Do they freak? Or are they controlled and successful in achieving their goal? The reality is that today’s business environment does not permit employees to stand alone. This has reinforced the importance of working closely with one another, building trusting relationships, and succeeding as a member of a group.

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.

Global and Local Focus

The development toward global markets, global products, and global strategy implies a need for global organization, or at least geographic diversification. Global organization allows companies to weather downturns and risks in particular markets and to develop synergies on a worldwide basis. A global focus requires adjustments in all internal and external activities. There is little about organization that is unique to global enterprises; it’s just that the efforts take on a higher complexity and difficulty. It is hard to be sensitive to local conditions and also confirm to expectations of the corporation as a whole.

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.

Bounded Rationality

Bounded rationality involves neuro-physiological limits on the one hand and language limits on the other. The physical limits take the form of rate and storage limits on the powers of individuals to receive, store, retrieve, and process information without error … Language limits refer to the inability of individuals to articulate their knowledge or feelings by use of words, numbers, or graphics in ways  which permit them to be understood by others. Despite their best efforts, parties may find that language fails them (possibly because they do not posses the requisite vocabulary or the necessary vocabulary has not been devised) and they resort to other means of communications instead. Demonstration, learning-by-doing, and the like may be the only means of achieving understanding when such language difficulties develop. (Williamson).

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.

 

Micro-Macro Dilemma

Producers and consumers making free choices can cause conflicts and difficulties. This is called the micro-macro dilemma: what is good for some producers and consumers may not be good for society as a whole.

Each year thousands of people are killed with handguns. Yet there are producers who make and sell handguns at a profit. And there are many consumers who feel strongly about their right to own guns. But others argue that handguns are a threat to society. They want handgun sales banned sale of all weapons limited. Should gun producers be allowed to sell guns to consumers who want them?

Such decisions don’t have to involve a matter of life and death to be important. People want the convenience of disposable products and products in easy-to-use, small-serving packages. But these same “convenient” products and packages often lead to pollution of the environment and inefficient use of natural resources. Should future generations be left to pay the consequences of pollution that is the result of “free choice” by today’s consumers?

Questions like these are not easy to answer. The basic reason is  that many different people may “have a stake” in the outcomes—and social consequences—of the choices made by individual managers and consumers in a market-directed system.

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.

 

Human Capital

The economic growth, employment levels and the availability of a skilled workforce are inter-related. Economic growth creates employment, but economic growth partly depends on skilled human resources – a country’s human capital. The concept encompasses investment in the skills of the labor force, including education and vocational training to develop specific skills.

Personal and national success are increasingly correlated with the possession of skills. Skilled individuals can command a premium salary in periods of high economic activity. Worldwide, unemployed levels remain high, while organizations have difficulty filling vacancies which require specific expertise. A shortage of skilled people can act as a limiting factor on individual organizations and on the economy as a whole. Small firms are also vulnerable because their owners do not possess basic marketing and finance skills. It is in the interest of any country to maximize its human resources by investing in the skills of its workforce, its human capital. Human capital is one component of a country’s overall competitiveness.

The most successful developing countries are investing heavily in the education and technical skills of their population. Skills requirement are particularly critical at the managerial level.

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.

 

Termination of Agency Agreement

1. Termination by expiration of the specified period in which the agent has to act. The courts say that the agency was for a “reasonable” time if no specific duration was stated in the agency agreement. The meaning of “reasonable time” is construed by the courts on a case-by-case basis, depending on the nature of the agency, the difficulty of accomplishment, and other controlling factors.
2. Termination by specific agreement to do so between the principal and the agent.
3. Termination by death or legal incapacity (insanity and so on) of either the principal or the agent. Most courts also hold that bankruptcy of either the principal or the agent terminates the relationship. However, the agent may still dispose of the principal’s property that is being held at the time of the bankruptcy.
4. Termination through revocation by the principal. The agency contract is one that the principal is allowed to end at any time without giving any reason.
5. Termination by withdrawal of the agent. This may be done at any time in an agency at will. If the agent is operating under a contract for a specified time of service or until a certain event is accomplished, the agent will be liable of damages to a principal who was not at fault in bringing about the termination.
6. Termination by loss or destruction of the subject matter or by change of circumstances. The agent’s authority is lost if the subject matter is seriously disabled, lost, or destroyed.
7. Termination by rescission. The general rules of law concerning rescission apply to agency contract.

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.

 

Strategies to Cause Change

In developing a strategy for change, it is always useful to define clearly what is to be changed. Is it knowledge, attitudes, behavior, or entire group or organizational processes? Each of these is increasingly difficult to change, and each requires proportionately more time to consummate. In most instances, each of these four types of change requires that those preceding must be changed first.

The change process involves three general stages. The first is “unfreezing,” or developing a willingness and readiness for change. The second is the change process itself, which involves new learning. The third is “refreezing,” or the consolidating of the learning from stage two.

Structural strategy means the redesign of the authority, task, and other structures to accommodate changes in the external and internal environment. This approach is sometimes efficacious in localized difficulties, but it has limitations when the nature of change requires adjusting to a deeper level of contingency-severity rather than just adapting to a configuration change in the external environment at the same contingency-severity level.

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.

 

Leadership Styles

An effective leader recognizes that there are variations in leadership styles. The three basic styles are autocratic, free rein, and democratic. Autocratic leaders make decisions on their own, without consulting others. Democratic leaders involve their subordinates in making decisions. Free-rein leaders believe in minimal supervision, leaving most decisions to their subordinates.

The best leadership style is one that varies with the circumstances, changing according to three elements: the leader, the followers, and the situation. Some leaders are simply unable to encourage or even allow subordinates to participate in decision making. And some followers do not have the ability or the desire to assume such responsibility. Furthermore, the particular situation helps determine which style will be most effective. Problem requiring immediate solutions may have to be handled without consulting subordinates. With less time pressure, participative decision making may be desirable.

A democratic leader may be forced by circumstance to be autocratic in making a particular decision. Managers are increasingly moving toward a more democratic style of leadership. They find that workers involved in decision making tend to be more interested in the overall organization and may be more motivated to contribute to organizational objectives that those not involved in decision making.

No single best style of leadership exists. The most effective leadership style depends on the power held by the leader, the difficulty of the tasks involved, and the characteristics of the workers. Extremely easy and extremely difficult situations are best handled by leaders who emphasize task accomplishment. Moderately different situations are handled by leaders who emphasize participation and good working relations with subordinates.

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.

High Stress Level

A small business is likely to provide a living for its owner, but not much more. There are always worries about competition, employee problems, new equipment, expanding inventory, rent increases, or changing market demand. In addition to other stresses, small business owners tend to be victims of physical and psychological stress. The small business person is often the owner, manager, sales force, shipping and receiving clerk, bookkeeper, and custodian. Many creative persons succeed or fail, not because of their business concepts, but rather because of difficulties in managing 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.

The Lacking Commitment

Why do so many senior people appear hesitant and half-hearted? Why are the communications concerning change programs so anemic, especially when coming from those who have little difficulty in putting their points across in other contexts?

We have to get at the roots of ambivalence. The reasons for concern, quiet dissent, and reluctance to commit need to be probed:

• Apparent support may only mean that those concerned are crawlers, bootlickers and toadies. There is often reluctance to accept the reality that all manner of loathsome and self-serving creatures inhabit the corridors of corporate bureaucracy. Their wiles, and the games they play, which are so transparent to outsiders, and destructive of external relationships built upon mutual trust and respect, go unnoticed or are ignored within.
• Those who appear difficult may be the individuals with intellectual reservations. These could relate to the application of a program in a particular area, or to an initiative as a whole. The objectors could be the ones who have thought it through and uncovered missing elements. An implementation process needs to incorporate a means of listening to, and learning from, those who have valid objections.
• Also, not all customers have the same preferences. What is added value for one person may be regarded as an expensive luxury by other.

Bland ‘motherhood’ statements suggest people have not thought through what needs to be done. People judge by what they see rather than on the basis of what is said. The informal messages, the examples and the symbols, can undercut formal communications.

Too often the changes of attitudes that are sought are not reflected in the language used by managers, the anecdotes and war stories that make up the mythology of a company, in symbols such as the allocation of parking spaces or use of exercise facilities, and in how a myriad of day-to-day matters are handled. Changing structures and processes may not be followed by attitudes where managers themselves, and particularly senior managers, refuse to act as role models.

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.