Evaluation of the Role of Management in Improving Business Performance

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Amish Patel                                                                                                            BAM

Fran Whiteley

Evaluation of the Role of Management in Improving Business Performance (D1)

What Management is

Management relates to the implementation of decisions and actions through means by which individuals set and fulfil an organisation’s targets through several factors. These elements take into consideration human, technical and financial resources which are reliant upon their respective environment. In other words:

“Management is the effective utilisation and harmonisation of resources to assist in achieving the defined objectives of an organisation to the utmost efficiency.”

The Crux of Management

Within any given business, a manager cannot feasibly strive to complete work by themselves. So in conjunction to this, a manager must alternatively resort to empowerment which is the completion of tasks through the use of delegating tasks to sub-ordinates – giving them the authority and control to carry out tasks. To complete goals effectively, a manager must establish how much of a resource is needed, find them, and manage them so that the task is executed in a way that will raise performance and standards of the business.

I feel that to raise performance a manager must have the imaginative aptitude and good coordination of resources. This in turn will steer a firm one step closer to achieving their aims/objectives. If managers are able to learn to manage in accordance to whatever threats or different situations that they are faced with, then I feel that a manager will be fully equipped and adaptable to handle any given scenario thus contributing to escalating business performance.

Management Functions

Planning

All businesses need to plan regardless of how large they are. For example, contingency plans need to be prepared in the eventuality of a setback which has a direct impact upon the way which the business goes about conducting its business activities normally. By the same token, the importance of strategic planning for an organisation cannot be stressed enough.

The strategic plan acts as a purpose for which the business seizes to exist; it highlights goals and objectives which need to be fulfilled by all the members of staff in order for the business to achieve both its short and long term objectives. This all has a direct impact on the overall performance of an organisation because without a manager planning, there would be utter chaos.

Should any foreseen circumstances occur then contingency plans will come into play in order to keep the business functioning as normally as possible so that it is still generating income.  

Organising

The importance of a manager being able to organise in an organisation is colossal. If a manager is unable or poorly organises certain aspects in their organisation, then the performance of the company is placed at dire jeopardy.

Organising resources involves creating the systems and procedures that will best enable the organisation to make optimum use of its resources. Organising is also fundamentally concerned with creating effective structures which can distinguish effective organisation resulting to enhancing business performance and disorganisation which takes the business downhill.

For e.g. if a manager is skilled in prioritising activities which is deciding what the firm’s most critical activities are in comparison to those that are least important, then it will raise the performance within a business because work will completed effectively in a sequential order; saving the company both time and money and things will be arranged in a good way so everyone knows what to do. Effective organising also makes allocating resources to where they are most required easier, faster and simpler.

Directing

This management function also plays a key role in improving business performance. For e.g. if a manager is not able and does not have the willingness to interact with people both inside and outside the business, then manager’s subordinates are much more likely to feel less influenced, motivated and in effect will become isolated and could also possibly ignore any instructions and tasks that they are told to perform. This could consequently lead to a loss in quality/productivity levels and a drop in business performance.

The solution to improving business performance with regard to the directing function lies in a manager’s ability to influence, motivate, consider people and their ability to communicate. If a manger has good leadership skills then they can encourage and influence workers which would increase performance on a company associated scale.

Controlling

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If a manager does not perform the controlling aspect of the business effectively, then this again like all the other management functions I covered previously will end in a fall in company performance. A manager must be capable enough to measure performance because if they cannot do that then they will not find out how well they are doing in elements such as their productivity and quality levels of their produce.

Also once a manager has measured performance they must also be able to correct it accordingly – standards should be established by clarifying performance criteria. If ...

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