Decentralized Structure
In 1946, Drucker wrote “Concept of the Corporation,” which explores the evolution of the business corporation and its impact on society. The result of 18 months of interviews and observation, the book discusses the beliefs and management style of Alfred P. Sloan, GM’s creator.
Drucker noted that GM gave its divisions great independence, which was uncommon by the standards of the day. “In over 20 years of work…Mr. Alfred P. Sloan Jr. has developed the concept of decentralization into a philosophy of industrial management and into a system of local self-government.” GM had 50 divisions, and Drucker estimated that all but 5 percent of decisions were within the control of the divisions.
Decisions that did require head office approval had to do with the financial function, pricing, labor costs and capital deployment. Drucker invented the term “profit center” to describe a division, and noted that these groups were held
highly accountable for results.
Showing posts with label General. Show all posts
Showing posts with label General. Show all posts
Delegation
A concept related to authority is delegation. 
- Specifically assign tasks to individual team members.
The manager needs to make sure that employees know that they are ultimately responsible for carrying out specific assignments. - Give team members the correct amount of authority to accomplish assignments.
Typically, an employee is assigned authority commensurate with the task. A classical principle of organization warns managers not to delegate without giving the subordinate the authority to perform to delegated task. When an employee has responsibility for the task outcome but little authority, accomplishing the job is possible but difficult. The subordinate without authority must rely on persuasion and luck to meet performance expectations. When an employee has authority exceeding responsibility, he or she may become a tyrant, using authority toward frivolous outcomes. - Make sure that team members accept responsibility. Responsibility is the flip side of the authority coin. Responsibility is the duty to perform the task or activity an employee has been assigned. An important distinction between authority and responsibility is that the supervisor delegates authority, but the responsibility is shared. Delegation of authority gives a subordinate the right to make commitments, use resources, and take actions in relation to duties assigned. However, in making this delegation,
- Create accountability.
Team members need to know that they are accountable for their projects. Accountability means answering for one’s actions and accepting the consequences. Team members may need to report and justify task outcomes to their superiors. Managers can build accountability into their organizational structures by monitoring performances and rewarding successful outcomes. Although managers are encouraged to delegation authority, they often find accomplishing this step difficult for the following reasons:
- Delegation requires planning, and planning takes time. A manager may say, “By the time I explain this task to someone, I could do it myself.” This manager is overlooking the fact that the initial time spent up front training someone to do a task may save much more time in the long run. Once an employee has learned how to do a task, the manager will not have to take the time to show that employee how to do it again. This improves the flow of the process from that point forward.
- Managers may simply lack confidence in the abilities of their subordinates. Such a situation fosters the attitude, “If you want it done well, do it yourself.” If managers feel that their subordinates lack abilities, they need to provide appropriate training so that all are comfortable performing their duties.
- Managers experience dual accountability. Managers are accountable for their own actions and the actions of their subordinates. If a subordinate fails to perform a certain task or does so poorly, the manager is ultimately responsible for the subordinate’s failure. But by the same token, if a subordinate succeeds, the manager shares in that success as well, and the department can be even more productive.
- Finally, managers may refrain from delegation because they are insecure about their value to the organization. However, managers need to realize that they become more valuable as their teams become more productive and talented.
The 8th Habit - Strategies to Take You from Effectiveness to Greatness
For individuals and organizations, effectiveness is no longer merely an option. Your survival requires it. But to thrive, excel and lead in the Knowledge Worker Age, we must move beyond effectiveness to greatness, which includes fulfillment, passionate execution and significant contribution. Accessing a higher level of human genius and motivation requires a sea change in thinking. A new mind-set and skill set, in short, an additional habit to those featured in The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People
. The crucial challenge is to find our own voice and inspire others to find theirs. This is the 8th Habit
.
The 8th Habit shows you how to tap the limitless value creation promise of the Knowledge Worker Age. It shows you how to solve the major contradictions inherent in organizational life. Most of which are a carryover from the Industrial Age. It will transform the way you think about yourself, your purpose in life, your organization and other people. It explains how to move from effectiveness to greatness.
Read more ......
The 8th Habit Personal Workbook: Strategies to Take You from Effectiveness to Greatness
. The crucial challenge is to find our own voice and inspire others to find theirs. This is the 8th Habit.The 8th Habit
shows you how to tap the limitless value creation promise of the Knowledge Worker Age. It shows you how to solve the major contradictions inherent in organizational life. Most of which are a carryover from the Industrial Age. It will transform the way you think about yourself, your purpose in life, your organization and other people. It explains how to move from effectiveness to greatness.Read more ......
The 8th Habit Personal Workbook: Strategies to Take You from Effectiveness to Greatness
Blogging
Blogging is one of the most important things that you can do online for your business. Whether you're using a blog as the main website for your business, or you're using it as a traffic building device for other websites you need to learn to craft great blog posts.
Blog posts can bring visitors into your website; visitors who will join your feed and participate with your site in the future. When you take the time to create blog posts that suck visitors in, you'll have a great foundation on which to build your online business. Whether you've had a blog for a while and need to update it, or you're brand new to blogging, you'll be able to use my process to get traffic and potential buyers.
If you think you can just throw a few articles up on your blog and be done with it, you're wrong! Standard sites with static article pages don't create community and they don't create a ready body of customers. A blogging platform is not just a substitute for HTML. If you use your blog like a regular site, you're leaving money sitting on the table.
Not only does your blog need to create community but it needs to be sticky as well. Stickiness is a term that web publishers use to describe the ability for your blog to bring return visitors. Let's face it - there are a lot of websites out there from people to choose from! No matter what topic you choose, there are bound to be tons of other sites on the same topic.
Your goal should be to make your blog stand out and get people coming back for more. When you create your blog and your posts, you have two
specific groups of people you need to be targeting - new visitors and old visitors. New visitors need to be able to instantly tell what your blog is about. This means that you need to have a tagline at the top of your blog that explains your focus. This statement, displayed under the title of your blog, will give your new visitors an instant snapshot of what you're about. Make the sign up box for your RSS feed prominent and you'll get new subscribers. Your old visitors need to be catered to as well. Keep your
content fresh and update your blog frequently. When you think about it, each and every post you make is an opportunity to lose or keep visitors. Blog readers are fickle.
specific groups of people you need to be targeting - new visitors and old visitors. New visitors need to be able to instantly tell what your blog is about. This means that you need to have a tagline at the top of your blog that explains your focus. This statement, displayed under the title of your blog, will give your new visitors an instant snapshot of what you're about. Make the sign up box for your RSS feed prominent and you'll get new subscribers. Your old visitors need to be catered to as well. Keep your
content fresh and update your blog frequently. When you think about it, each and every post you make is an opportunity to lose or keep visitors. Blog readers are fickle.
If you don't provide them with something interesting and exciting to read, they will move on to the next blog on the same topic. You need to approach each blog post with enthusiasm and a plan.
Now that you know a little about what a blog should be, it's time to create a plan to develop an exciting, visitor attracting blog that other people will want to link to. The more that other people link to you, the more new traffic you'll get and the more you'll have an opportunity to build a
relationship with your readers.
Leveraging coaching across different cultures
Coaching across cultures means looking for opportunities to unleash more human potential by leveraging cultural differences. The outcome is increased performance and fulfillment. The following case studies illustrate how this can be done in a variety of situations.
Leveraging Unilever and Bestfoods Cultures
Research has shown that “over one merger out of two fails. Two out of three do not produce the value creation promised during the operation. The question of people and company culture is by far the number one failure factor.” In 2000, Unilever acquired Bestfoods for just over US$25 billion. The operation was among the twenty largest mergers and acquisitions worldwide that year.
Rather than de facto imposing its culture, Unilever understood that to make the merger work, cultural differences between the two companies had to be well understood. A task force, with the help of the Hay Group, identified the following differences, realizing that there were many exceptions to those generalizations:
The integration team recognized that all the orientations had potential merits. They considered amalgamating the best of both cultures but soon realized that a context was necessary to make that evaluation. The overall vision and strategy provided that context. What was called for was a new corporate culture that would draw characteristics from Unilever and Bestfoods. To that end, an enriched cultural repertoire has started to develop, leveraging Unilever and Bestfoods cultures. For example, Unilever executives are learning to make quicker decisions whenever extra analysis would only impede action. Bestfoods executives are developing a habit of constructively challenging decisions to avoid engaging in a hasty, inadequate course of action.
Several senior executives focused on the intellectual versus operational rather than to learn from the other culture to enrich their original company culture. Asked one Unilever executive to describe his vision in more specific terms and to spell out his operational priorities. Then, asked Bestfoods executive to articulate a general philosophy and a compelling business case, building on his intuitive ideas and concrete initiatives in order to bring his colleagues on board with his novel approach.
Time will tell how successful the Bestfoods acquisition will prove to be. But it is clear that this eagerness to learn from the other merging company has already strengthened Unilever–Bestfoods. Talent from the acquired Bestfoods has been retained and developed, rather than alienated, as is too often the case.
Leveraging Unilever and Bestfoods Cultures
Research has shown that “over one merger out of two fails. Two out of three do not produce the value creation promised during the operation. The question of people and company culture is by far the number one failure factor.” In 2000, Unilever acquired Bestfoods for just over US$25 billion. The operation was among the twenty largest mergers and acquisitions worldwide that year.
Rather than de facto imposing its culture, Unilever understood that to make the merger work, cultural differences between the two companies had to be well understood. A task force, with the help of the Hay Group, identified the following differences, realizing that there were many exceptions to those generalizations:
The integration team recognized that all the orientations had potential merits. They considered amalgamating the best of both cultures but soon realized that a context was necessary to make that evaluation. The overall vision and strategy provided that context. What was called for was a new corporate culture that would draw characteristics from Unilever and Bestfoods. To that end, an enriched cultural repertoire has started to develop, leveraging Unilever and Bestfoods cultures. For example, Unilever executives are learning to make quicker decisions whenever extra analysis would only impede action. Bestfoods executives are developing a habit of constructively challenging decisions to avoid engaging in a hasty, inadequate course of action.
Several senior executives focused on the intellectual versus operational rather than to learn from the other culture to enrich their original company culture. Asked one Unilever executive to describe his vision in more specific terms and to spell out his operational priorities. Then, asked Bestfoods executive to articulate a general philosophy and a compelling business case, building on his intuitive ideas and concrete initiatives in order to bring his colleagues on board with his novel approach.
Time will tell how successful the Bestfoods acquisition will prove to be. But it is clear that this eagerness to learn from the other merging company has already strengthened Unilever–Bestfoods. Talent from the acquired Bestfoods has been retained and developed, rather than alienated, as is too often the case.
CASCADING THE BALANCED SCORECARD
The effects of constant change on the modern business organization are difficult to overstate. Regardless of size, market, location, or maturity, every company in every industry is facing tremendous change. The electric utility industry is certainly not immune to the new realities, and is facing fundamental change of its own, as many jurisdictions around the world begin to deregulate the industry. As the industry prepares itself for the challenges and opportunities of the 21st century, it has started to examine new strategies, build on previously unconsidered synergies, and look for tools to effect the changes necessary to thrive in this new landscape.
For many companies utilizing the BSC, the method has evolved from a measurement tool to what Robert Kaplan and David Norton describe as a "Strategic Management System." Used in this manner, the BSC allows an organization to link short-term actions with long-term strategy by integrating the system into key management processes. BSC has been linked to many critical systems. For example, the annual business planning and budgeting process is now driven by the Balanced Scorecard. This new system is called "Strategic Resource Allocation," because it provides the opportunity to display how resource allocation decisions directly influence the achievement of strategy. The Scorecard is also linked to the incentive compensation system, and has been cascaded throughout the company to ensure goal alignment at every level.
Perhaps most importantly, the BSC is a powerful communication tool, signalling to everyone in the organization key success measures, and how they can influence them. Kaplan and Norton suggest that a well-constructed Scorecard should tell the story of the organization's strategy through a series of cause-and-effect relationships inherent in the measures. While the development of these measures can prove a challenging task, the results are worth the effort because the Scorecard will then provide a focal point for disseminating strategy throughout the entire workforce.
Producing a series of aligned Scorecards throughout the organization ensures maximum effectiveness of the Scorecard system. By cascading, we are able to use the BSC in all three ways described above: measurement tool, strategic management system, and communication aid.
Many companies started by creating a high-level Corporate Balanced Scorecard, representing the critical drivers of future success for the corporate entity. Consistent with Scorecard theory, the company worked hard to create a document that told the story of their strategy and after minor modifications, they created a multifaceted business performance tool.
At its core, the new Scorecard was a measurement system. Tracking results on objectives and measures helped gauge the effectiveness in fulfilling company strategies. More than that, it allowed the corporation the plans to create a strategic management system by linking the Scorecard to compensation and business planning, management reviews, and other key processes. Finally, the Scorecard served as a powerful communication tool. By distributing the Scorecard, every employee in the company was aware of the company's vision, strategies, and measures of success.
The question to consider was this: Did mere awareness of corporate vision and strategies lead to change at all levels of the organization? Literature on creativity and motivation in the workforce suggests that informed employees do in fact exhibit greater creativity.
To truly maximize the effectiveness of the Balanced Scorecard, it had to align individual employee performance with overall company strategies. The goal was to give every employee the opportunity to display how their day-to-day actions could influence the achievement of the company's key strategies.
That is what the idea of cascading is all about — creating a line of sight from the employee on the shop floor back to the company's long-term strategies. Kaplan and Norton consider cascading the Scorecard an important method of increasing employees' intrinsic motivation; a method that leads to innovation and problem solving. Given these advantages, cascading the Scorecard to ensure goal alignment is a natural extension of the process.
For many companies utilizing the BSC, the method has evolved from a measurement tool to what Robert Kaplan and David Norton describe as a "Strategic Management System." Used in this manner, the BSC allows an organization to link short-term actions with long-term strategy by integrating the system into key management processes. BSC has been linked to many critical systems. For example, the annual business planning and budgeting process is now driven by the Balanced Scorecard. This new system is called "Strategic Resource Allocation," because it provides the opportunity to display how resource allocation decisions directly influence the achievement of strategy. The Scorecard is also linked to the incentive compensation system, and has been cascaded throughout the company to ensure goal alignment at every level.
Perhaps most importantly, the BSC is a powerful communication tool, signalling to everyone in the organization key success measures, and how they can influence them. Kaplan and Norton suggest that a well-constructed Scorecard should tell the story of the organization's strategy through a series of cause-and-effect relationships inherent in the measures. While the development of these measures can prove a challenging task, the results are worth the effort because the Scorecard will then provide a focal point for disseminating strategy throughout the entire workforce.
Producing a series of aligned Scorecards throughout the organization ensures maximum effectiveness of the Scorecard system. By cascading, we are able to use the BSC in all three ways described above: measurement tool, strategic management system, and communication aid.
Many companies started by creating a high-level Corporate Balanced Scorecard, representing the critical drivers of future success for the corporate entity. Consistent with Scorecard theory, the company worked hard to create a document that told the story of their strategy and after minor modifications, they created a multifaceted business performance tool.
At its core, the new Scorecard was a measurement system. Tracking results on objectives and measures helped gauge the effectiveness in fulfilling company strategies. More than that, it allowed the corporation the plans to create a strategic management system by linking the Scorecard to compensation and business planning, management reviews, and other key processes. Finally, the Scorecard served as a powerful communication tool. By distributing the Scorecard, every employee in the company was aware of the company's vision, strategies, and measures of success.
The question to consider was this: Did mere awareness of corporate vision and strategies lead to change at all levels of the organization? Literature on creativity and motivation in the workforce suggests that informed employees do in fact exhibit greater creativity.
To truly maximize the effectiveness of the Balanced Scorecard, it had to align individual employee performance with overall company strategies. The goal was to give every employee the opportunity to display how their day-to-day actions could influence the achievement of the company's key strategies.
That is what the idea of cascading is all about — creating a line of sight from the employee on the shop floor back to the company's long-term strategies. Kaplan and Norton consider cascading the Scorecard an important method of increasing employees' intrinsic motivation; a method that leads to innovation and problem solving. Given these advantages, cascading the Scorecard to ensure goal alignment is a natural extension of the process.
The Balanced Scorecard as a Management System
Many companies already have performance measurement systems that incorporate financial and non-financial measures. While virtually all organizations do indeed have financial and nonfinancial measures, many use their nonfinancial measures for local improvements, at their front-line and customer-facing operations. Aggregate financial measures are used by senior managers as if these measures could summarize adequately the results of operations performed by their lower and mid-level employees. These organizations are using their financial and non-financial performance measures only for tactical feedback and control of short-term operations.
The Balanced Scorecard
emphasizes that financial and non-financial measures must be part of the information system for employees at all levels of the organization. Front-line employees must understand the financial consequences of their decisions and actions; senior executives must understand the drivers of long-term financial success. The objectives and the measures for the Balanced Scorecard are more than just a somewhat adhoc collection of financial and non-financial performance measures; they are derived from a top-down process driven by the mission and strategy of the business unit. The Balanced Scorecard should translate a business unit's mission and strategy into tangible objectives and measures. The measures represent a balance between external measures for shareholders and customers, and internal measures of critical business processes, innovation, and learning and growth. The measures are balanced between the outcome measures-the results from past efforts-and the measures that drive future performance. And the scorecard is balanced between objective, easily quantified outcome measures and subjective, somewhat judgmental, performance drivers of the outcome measures.
The Balanced Scorecard
is more than a tactical or an operational measurement system. Innovative companies are using the scorecard as a strategic management system, to manage their strategy over their long run. They are using the measurement focus of the scorecard to accomplish critical management processes:
1. Clarify and translate vision and strategy
2. Communicate and link strategic objectives and measures
3. Plan, set targets, and align strategic initiatives
4. Enhance strategic feedback and learning
The Balanced Scorecard
emphasizes that financial and non-financial measures must be part of the information system for employees at all levels of the organization. Front-line employees must understand the financial consequences of their decisions and actions; senior executives must understand the drivers of long-term financial success. The objectives and the measures for the Balanced Scorecard are more than just a somewhat adhoc collection of financial and non-financial performance measures; they are derived from a top-down process driven by the mission and strategy of the business unit. The Balanced Scorecard should translate a business unit's mission and strategy into tangible objectives and measures. The measures represent a balance between external measures for shareholders and customers, and internal measures of critical business processes, innovation, and learning and growth. The measures are balanced between the outcome measures-the results from past efforts-and the measures that drive future performance. And the scorecard is balanced between objective, easily quantified outcome measures and subjective, somewhat judgmental, performance drivers of the outcome measures.The Balanced Scorecard
is more than a tactical or an operational measurement system. Innovative companies are using the scorecard as a strategic management system, to manage their strategy over their long run. They are using the measurement focus of the scorecard to accomplish critical management processes:1. Clarify and translate vision and strategy
2. Communicate and link strategic objectives and measures
3. Plan, set targets, and align strategic initiatives
4. Enhance strategic feedback and learning
My First Blog Article
This afternoon I sat down for tea with an old friend whom I had not seen for years. I wondered what he was doing laterly. And to my surprise, he said he was blogging......... He went on to explain what blogging is all about.
A blog is an internet publishing platform where you shared with the netizen about things you like. That caught my interest. A blog is just about the easiest way going to have a website. Using a blog involves creating written content (and, more and more, audio and video). Blogging offers some compelling advantages for business. If it didn’t, nobody else would be doing it. But every day, more and more businesses have blogs.
You write posts, and sometimes your reader comments, and you respond. The ability for visitors to leave comments, and for blog authors to respond to those comments, is one of the hallmark features that makes blogs different from a "regular" website. For many blogs, loyal commenting visitors can form a community based around the blog.
My friend introduced me to Blogger. I registered and started off with this first blog and first article. If you have more advise for me. Please leave your valuable comments to inspire me to learn more about blogging.
Thank you.
A blog is an internet publishing platform where you shared with the netizen about things you like. That caught my interest. A blog is just about the easiest way going to have a website. Using a blog involves creating written content (and, more and more, audio and video). Blogging offers some compelling advantages for business. If it didn’t, nobody else would be doing it. But every day, more and more businesses have blogs.
You write posts, and sometimes your reader comments, and you respond. The ability for visitors to leave comments, and for blog authors to respond to those comments, is one of the hallmark features that makes blogs different from a "regular" website. For many blogs, loyal commenting visitors can form a community based around the blog.
My friend introduced me to Blogger. I registered and started off with this first blog and first article. If you have more advise for me. Please leave your valuable comments to inspire me to learn more about blogging.
Thank you.
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