The Marketing Concept

The marketing concept is the philosophy that firms should analyze the needs of their customers and then make decisions to satisfy those needs, better than the competition. Today most firms have adopted the marketing concept, but this has not always been the case.

In 1776 in The Wealth of Nations, Adam Smith wrote that the needs of producers should be considered only with regard to meeting the needs of consumers. While this philosophy is consistent with the marketing concept, it would not be adopted widely until nearly 200 years later.

To better understand the marketing concept, it is worthwhile to put it in perspective by reviewing other philosophies that once were predominant. While these alternative concepts prevailed during different historical time frames, they are not restricted to those periods and are still practiced by some firms today.

There are 5 different concepts of marketing, each of which vary in the function that they deal with. For example – production concept deals with production and selling concept deals with selling. Each of the concept was developed as per the need of the market. As the market changed, so did the concepts of marketing. And today, we have an opportunity to look at all 5 concepts of marketing and what they represent. 

What is Marketing

Marketing, more than any other function, deals with customers.
A simple definition of marketing is managing profitable customer relationships.
Marketing is all around you.

Marketing Defined
Marketing must be understood in the new sense of satisfying customer needs.
We define marketing as the process by which companies create value for customers and build strong customer relationships in order to capture value from customers in return. 

Understanding the Marketplace and Consumer Needs
There are five core customer and marketplace concepts.

1. Customer Needs, Wants, and Demands
Human needs are states of felt deprivation. They include basic physical needs, social needs, and individual needs.
Wants are the form human needs take as they are shaped by culture and individual personality.
When backed by buying power, wants become demands. Given their wants and resources, people demand products with benefits that add up to the most value and satisfaction.
Outstanding companies go to great lengths to learn about and understand customers’ needs, wants, and demands. They conduct consumer research and analyze mountains of customer data.

Organizational Control Techniques

Control techniques provide managers with the type and amount of information they need to measure and monitor performance. The information from various controls must be tailored to a specific management level, department, unit, or operation.

To ensure complete and consistent information, organizations often use standardized documents such as financial, status, and project reports. Each area within an organization, however, uses its own specific control techniques, described in the following sections.

After the organization has strategies in place to reach its goals, funds are set aside for the necessary resources and labor. As money is spent, statements are updated to reflect how much was spent, how it was spent, and what it obtained. Managers use these financial statements, such as an income statement or balance sheet, to monitor the progress of programs and plans. Financial statementsprovide management with information to monitor financial resources and activities. The income statement shows the results of the organization's operations over a period of time, such as revenues, expenses, and profit or loss. The balance sheet shows what the organization is worth (assets) at a single point in time, and the extent to which those assets were financed through debt (liabilities) or owner's investment (equity).

Financial audits, or formal investigations, are regularly conducted to ensure that financial management practices follow generally accepted procedures, policies, laws, and ethical guidelines. Audits may be conducted internally or externally. 

Management and Society; The External Environment

Every time managers plan, they take into account the needs and desire of members of society outside the organization as well as the needs for material and human resources, technology and other requirements in the external environment. They do likewise to some degree with almost every other kind of managerial activity.
All managers, whether they operate in a business, a government agency, a church, a charitable foundation, or a university, must, in varying degrees, take into account the elements and forces of their external environment. While they may be able to do little or nothing to change these forces, they have no alternative but to respond to them. They must identify, evaluate and react to the forces outside the enterprise that may affect its operations. The impact of the external environment on the organization is illustrated. The constraining influences of external factors on the enterprise are even more crucial in international management.
Managers operate in a pluralistic society, in which many organized groups represent various interests. Each group has an impact on other groups, but no one group exerts an inordinate amount of power. Many groups exert some power over the business. There are many stake holders or claimants in the organization, and they have divergent goals. It is the task of the manager to integrate their aims.
Working within a pluralistic society has several implications for business. Various groups such as environmental groups keep business power in balance. Second, business interests can be expressed by joining such as the Chamber of Commerce. Third, business participates in projects with other responsible groups for the purpose of bettering society; an example is working towards the renewal of inner cities. Fourth, in a pluralistic society there can be conflict or agreement among groups. Finally, in such a society one group is quite aware of what groups are doing.

Line/Staff Authority Empowerment and Decentralization

Although the term authority has various connotations, in the organizational context, authority is defined as the power to make decisions which guide the actions of others. Power, on the other hand, is the ability of individuals to influence the beliefs and actions of others. Power can be legitimate, expert, referent, reward, or coercive. Various authority relationships exist in an organization, many of which are related to line and staff functions.

Line functions are those which are directly responsible for accomplishing the objectives of the enterprise, while staff functions are advisory in nature. The main staff functions are investigation, research and giving advice to line managers on how to accomplish tasks. Functional authority involves conferring rights upon individuals or departments to control the processes and practices pertaining to personnel in other departments. Instead of making recommendations to the line managers or superiors, functional authority allows staff personnel to issue instructions to line managers directly. Although line managers and staff personnel are expected to work together for accomplishment of organizational goals, there are many factors which contribute to the conflicts between line and staff personnel. The line managers have clashes with the staff personnel as they feel that staff personnel are not accountable for their actions. Moreover, line managers feel that staff personnel invade their territory and dilute their powers. Since staff personnel may not have experience of the operational activities, their recommendations and ideas may lack applicability. 

Change Management

The business landscape of the 21st century is characterized by rapid change brought about due to technological, economic, political and social changes. It is no longer the case that the managers and employees of firms in this decade can look forward to more of the same every year. In fact, the pace of change is so rapid and the degree of obsolescence if organizations resist change is so brutal that the only way out for many firms is to change or perish. In this context, it becomes critical that organizations develop the capabilities to adapt and steer change in their advantage.

The role of senior managers becomes crucial in driving through change and ensuring that firms are well placed with respect to their competitors. However, it is the case that in many organizations, senior managers actively resist change and in fact thwart change initiatives due to a variety of reasons which would be explored in subsequent sections. This essay examines the barriers to change by senior managers and discusses approaches to mitigate such resistance. The essay begins with a discussion n the role of senior managers as barriers to change and then outlines some approaches on how to get the senior managers on board for change.

Effective Organizing and Organizing Culture

Importance of Organization Culture
A common platform where individuals work in unison to earn profits as well as a livelihood for themselves is called an organization. A place where individuals realize the dream of making it big is called an organization. Every organization has its unique style of working which often contributes to its culture. The beliefs, ideologies, principles and values of an organization form its culture. The culture of the workplace controls the way employees behave amongst themselves as well as with people outside the organization.

• The culture decides the way employees interact at their workplace. A healthy culture encourages the employees to stay motivated and loyal towards the management.
• The culture of the workplace also goes a long way in promoting healthy competition at the workplace. Employees try their level best to perform better than their fellow workers and earn recognition and appreciation of the superiors. It is the culture of the workplace which actually motivates the employees to perform.
• Every organization must have set guidelines for the employees to work accordingly. The culture of an organization represents certain predefined policies which guide the employees and give them a sense of direction at the workplace. Every individual is clear about his roles and responsibilities in the organization and know how to accomplish the tasks ahead of the deadlines.
• No two organizations can have the same work culture. It is the culture of an organization which makes it distinct from others. The work culture goes a long way in creating the brand image of the organization. The work culture gives an identity to the organization. In other words, an organization is known by its culture.
• The organization culture brings all the employees on a common platform. The employees must be treated equally and no one should feel neglected or left out at the workplace. It is essential for the employees to adjust well in the organization culture for them to deliver their level best.
• The work culture unites the employees who are otherwise from different back grounds, families and have varied attitudes and mentalities. The culture gives the employees a sense of unity at the workplace. Certain organizations follow a culture where all the employees irrespective of their designations have to step into the office on time. Such a culture encourages the employees to be punctual which eventually benefits them in the long run. It is the culture of the organization which makes the individuals a successful professional.
  
• Every employee is clear with his roles and responsibilities and strives hard to accomplish the tasks within the desired time frame as per the set guidelines. Implementation of policies is never a problem in organizations where people follow a set culture. The new employees also try their level best to understand the work culture and make the organization a better place to work.
• The work culture promotes healthy relationship amongst the employees. No one treats work as a burden and moulds himself according to the culture.
• It is the culture of the organization which extracts the best out of each team member. In a culture where management is very particular about the reporting system, the employees however busy they are would send their reports by end of the day. No one has to force anyone to work. The culture develops a habit in the individuals which makes them successful at the workplace.

Factors Affecting Organization Culture
Culture represents the beliefs, ideologies, policies, practices of an organization. It gives the employees a sense of direction and also controls the way they behave with each other. The work culture brings all the employees on a common platform and unites them at the workplace.
There are several factors which affect the organization culture:

• The first and the foremost factor affecting culture is the individual working with the organization. The employees in their own way contribute to the culture of the workplace. The attitudes, mentalities, interests, perception and even the thought process of the employees affect the organization culture. Example - Organizations which hire individuals from army or defence background tend to follow a strict culture where all the employees abide by the set guidelines and policies. The employees are hardly late to work. It is the mindset of the employees which forms the culture of the place. Organizations with majority of youngsters encourage healthy competition at the workplace and employees are always on the toes to perform better than the fellow workers.
• The gender of the employee also affects the organization culture. Organizations where male employees dominate the female counterparts follow a culture where late sitting is a normal feature. The male employees are more aggressive than the females who instead would be caring and softhearted.
• The nature of the business also affects the culture of the organization. Stock broking industries, financial services, banking industry are all dependent on external factors like demand and supply, market cap, earning per share and so on. When the market crashes, these industries have no other option than to terminate the employees and eventually affect the culture of the place. Market fluctuations lead to unrest, tensions and severely demotivate the individuals. The management also feels helpless when circumstances can be controlled by none. Individuals are unsure about their career as well as growth in such organizations.
• The culture of the organization is also affected by its goals and objectives. The strategies and procedures designed to achieve the targets of the organization also contribute to its culture. Individuals working with government organizations adhere to the set guidelines but do not follow a procedure of feedback thus forming its culture. Fast paced industries like advertising, event management companies expect the employees to be attentive, aggressive and hyper active.
• The clients and the external parties to some extent also affect the work culture of the place. Organizations catering to UK and US Clients have no other option but to work in shifts to match their timings, thus forming the culture.
• The management and its style of handling the employees also affect the culture of the workplace. There are certain organizations where the management allows the employees to take their own decisions and let them participate in strategy making. In such a culture, employees get attached to their management and look forward to a long term association with the organization. The management must respect the employees to avoid a culture where the employees just work for money and nothing else. They treat the organization as a mere source of earning money and look for a change in a short span of time.

Changing Organizational Culture
A common set up where individuals from different back grounds, educational qualifications, interests and perception come together and use their skills to earn revenue is called an organization. The successful functioning of an organization depends on the effort put by each employee. Each individual has to contribute his level best to accomplish the tasks within the desired time frame.

Every organization has a unique style of working which is often called its culture. The beliefs, policies, principles, ideologies of an organization form its culture.

The culture of the organization is nothing but the outcome of the interaction among the employees working for quite some time. The behaviour of the individual with his fellow workers as well as external parties forms the culture. The management style of dealing with the employees in its own way also contributes to the culture of the organization.
Employees working for a considerable amount of time in any particular organization tend to make certain rules and follow some policies as per their convenience and mutual understanding. Such policies and procedures practised by the employees for a long time to make the workplace a happier place form the culture. The culture often gives the employees a sense of direction at the workplace.

Organization culture however can never be constant. It changes with time.
Let us understand the concept with the help of an example.
Organization A was a well-known event management firm. Tom, Sandra, Peter and Jack represented the management. All the four were in their mid-thirties and thus emphasized on hiring young talent. No wonders this organization followed a youth culture. The employees were aggressive, on their toes and eager to do something innovative always. The organization followed a macho culture where the employees performing exceptionally well were appreciated and rewarded suitably. Appraisals and promotions came in no time and feedbacks were quick. The management also encouraged in formal get-togethers, dinners to bring the employees closer and increase the comfort level.

After proving their mettle for quite some years, Tom, Sandra and Peter decided to move on for better opportunities. Tim, Maria, Sara all in their fifties stepped into their shoes and took the charge along with Jack, the only member left from the previous team. They did not somehow approve the previous style of working. They brought their own people from their previous organizations and thus caused problems for the existing employees. The management strongly supported punctuality and did not quite promote parties; get-togethers at workplace. There were no feedbacks or rewards. The employees lacked enthusiasm and never bothered to do something innovative.
Is there any change in the work culture ?
A change in the management changed the entire style of working.

Reasons for changes in work culture

• A new management, a new team leader, a new boss brings a change in the organization culture. A new employee but obvious would have new ideas, concepts and try his level best to implement them. He would want the employees to work according to him. His style of working, behaviour and ideologies would definitely bring a change in the work culture.
• Financial loss, bankruptcy, market fluctuations also lead to change in the work culture of the organization. When an organization runs into losses, it fails to give rewards and appraisals to the employees as it used to give earlier.
• Acquiring new clients might cause a change in the work culture. The employees might have to bring about a change in their style of working to meet the expectations of the new clients.
• The employees on their own might realize that they need to bring a change in their attitude, perception and style of working to achieve the targets at a much faster rate. Such self-realization also changes the work culture.

Communication

Communication is a human skill and the ability to communicate effectively is one of the major skills of a manager.  According to research, managers spend between 70% - 90% of their working hours in communication broken down as follows:  5% writing, 10% reading., 35% talking, 50% listening.  Such communication plays a vital role in managerial decision-making.  People often communicate through signals such as facial expressions, gestures etc.

Communication is a word derived from the Latin word ‘communis’, which literally means ‘common’, ‘to share’, ‘impart’, ‘convey’ or ‘transmit’.  It is the process through which two or more persons come to exchange ideas and understanding among themselves.

Communication is the sum of all the things one person does when he wants to create understanding in the mind of another.  It involves a continuous process of telling, listening and understanding.

The word communication describes the process of conveying messages (facts, ideas, attitudes and opinions) from one person to another so that they are understood.
Communication involves more than transmission and receipt of message.  Correct interpretation and understanding are more important.  Hence the greater the degree of understanding, in the communication, the more likelihood the human action intended will proceed in the desired direction.

Communication involves more than transmission and receipt of message.  Correct interpretation and understanding are more important.  Hence the greater the degree of understanding, in the communication, the more likelihood the human action intended will proceed in the desired direction.

The Communication Process
Communication process consists of some interrelated steps or parts through which messages are sent form sender to receiver. The process of communication begins when the sender wants to transmit a fact, idea, opinion or other information to the receiver and ends with receiver’s feedback to the sender. The main components of communication process are sender, message, channel, receiver and feedback. In the following, some definitions of the communication process are quoted:

Robert Kreitner defined, “Communication process is a chain made up of identifiable links. The chain includes sender, encoding, message, receiver, decoding, and feedback.”
In the opinion of S. K. Kapur, “The communication process is the method by which the sender transfers information and understanding to the receiver.”

According to Bovee, Thill and Schatzman, “The communication process consists of six phases linking sender and receiver.”

C. B. Mamoria has pointed out the parts of communication process by saying, “That communication process model is making up of seven steps or parts: a. the communication b. Encoding c. The message and the medium or channel, d. reception by the feceiver e. decoding f. Action and g. feedback.”

The following diagram represents the communication process

Thus, it is clear that communication process is the set of some sequential steps involved in transferring message as well as feedback. The process requires a sender who transmits message through a channel to the receiver. Then the receiver decodes the message and sends back some type of signal or feedback.

Steps or elements of communication process

The communication process refers to the steps through which communication takes place between the sender and the receiver. This process starts with conceptualizing an idea or message by the sender and ends with the feedback from the receiver. In details, communication process consists of the following eight steps:

1. Developing idea by the sender: In the first step, the communicator develops or conceptualizes an idea to be sent. It is also known as the planning stage since in this stage the communicator plans the subject matter of communication.
2. Encoding: Encoding means converting or translation the idea into a perceivable form that can be communicated to others.
3. Developing the message: After encoding the sender gets a message that can be transmitted to the receiver. The message can be oral, written, symbolic or nonverbal. For example, when people talk, speech is the message; when people write a letter, the words and sentences are the message; when people cries, the crying is the message.
4. Selecting the medium: Medium is the channel or means of transmitting the message to the receiver. Once the sender has encoded his into a message, the next step is to select a suitable medium for transmitting it to the receiver. The medium of communication can be speaking, writing, signaling, gesturing etc.
5. Transmission of message: In this step, the sender actually transmits the message through chosen medium. In the communication cycle, the tasks of the sender end with the transmission of the message.
6. Receiving the message by receiver: This stage simply involves the reception of sender’s message by the receiver. The message can be received in the form of hearing, seeing, feeling and so on.
7. Decoding: Decoding is the receiver’s interpretation of the sender’s message. Here the receiver converts the message into thoughts and tries to analyze and understand it. Effective communication can occur only when both the sender and the receiver assign the same or similar meanings to the message.
8. Feedback: The final step of communication process is feedback. Feedback means receiver’s response to sender’s message. It increases the effectiveness of communication. It ensures that the receiver has correctly understood the message. Feedback is the essence of two-way communication.

Importance and Growth of Communication
The importance of communication in organizations, is well recognized, - “it serves as the lubricant fostering the smooth operations of the management process”. Some of the important reasons are:

• Forms the basis for coordination: Increasingly large and complex organizations with high degree of specialization and division of labour with large number of employees require effective coordination which can only be achieved through communication.
• Smooth working of the enterprise: Process of communication makes cooperative action of people possible. Without communication organized activity ceases to exist.
• Basis for Decision-making: Communication is the primary requirement for decision-making.  In its absence, it may not be possible to take any meaningful decision, as information must be received before any decision can be made or implemented.
• Increases managerial efficiency: Communication is essential for quick and systematic performance of managerial functions. Management conveys the goals, targets, instructions, job allocations and responsibilities, and performance of subordinates through communication.
• Promotion of cooperation and industrial peace: High productivity is the aim of management.  This can only be achieved when there is industrial peace in the organizations and mutual cooperation between management and workers. Downward communication helps management tell workers their expectations while upward communication helps workers put their grievances, suggestions or reactions to management.
• Establishment of effective leadership: Communication is the basis of direction and leadership.  It is a process of influencing others behaviour.  By developing communications skills and using them, managers become effective leaders.
• Morale building and motivation: Communication is the basis of participative and democratic pattern of management.  It improves good human relations in industry. An efficient system of communication enables management to change attitudes, motivate and build morale – hence employee satisfaction.

Factors Responsible for Growing Importance of Communication

• Growth in size of organizations: Complex and large organizations have several levels in the hierarchy, and many employees.  Direct contact is not possible, hence a communication system to direct all their activities.
• Growth of trade unions: Cooperation between organizations and trade unions is essential for industrial peace.  This can only be achieved through an efficient communication system e.g. collective bargaining process, negotiations etc.
• Technological Developments: Rapid change in technology affects the composition of groups, relationships between managers and subordinates, and methods of work.  The necessary adjustments in the social, organizational and physical aspects of work can only be possible through communication.
• Emphasis of human relations in industry: The growing importance of human relations in industry and the desire of management to maintain it has necessitated communication. The change of employer relationship from master-servant to partnership or associates helps in the attitude change process.
• The work of research psychologists and sociologists: Their findings and conclusions have increased knowledge of the nature and process of communication.

CHANNELS OF COMMUNICATION
Communication Channels
The major channels of communication are:
1. Words.
Words are like a map that purports to represent a certain territory.  The map is not the territory but the representation and so are words.  The meaning of a word is easy when it represents a tangible object e.g. cup or book but more difficult when it refers to abstract concepts such as management, labour, levels etc.  People will assign different meanings to the same word because they have different frames of reference due to background, culture, education, experience or associates.  Words constitute the most important symbols in the communication process.  They can be oral or written.  The important skills required are:  Reading, writing, speaking and listening.

Verbal/Oral Communication
Refers to exchange of ideas between sender and receiver through oral words – face to face or telephone, radio call e.t.c   In Organizations this can take the form of; personnel instructions, management conferences, interviews e.t.c.

Advantages.

1. Easy to clarify a point.
2. High degree of potential for speedy exchange of information – timely.
3. Effective as can be used together with non-verbal communication e.g. gestures, guttural sounds, tone of voice etc.
4. Popular – preferred by managers and supervisors.  Gives opportunity to employees to ask questions and participate in the discussion – boosts morale.

Disadvantages.

1. Absence of any permanent record of communication.
2. Not taken seriously by receiver hence objective of communication is not achieved.
3. Possibility of misquoting or misinterpretation especially where relations may be strained between superior and subordinate.

Written Communication
When communication is put in written form it becomes written communication.  In organizations, these appear in the form of; - letters, circulars newsletters, reports, budgets, rulers, orders, regulations, policies, schedules, manual, etc. Includes other symbols such pictures, graphs, charts etc

Advantages.

1. Stored as record for future reference.
2. Communication effort is minimized by simultaneous communication to various points e.g. a circular to all employees.
3. Enables communication between distantly placed parties without much cost.
4. Orderly and binding on subordinates.
5. Enable superiors to take suitable actions based on recorded communications.

Disadvantages.

1. Time consuming in preparation and understanding (reading and interpreting).
2. Chance of misunderstanding.
3. Can be more costly than oral communication.

2. Actions
Actions can be used as a non-verbal form of communication e.g. body language, facial expressions, gestures, tone of voice/pitch of voice, etc.  It can also take the form of physical actions such as location of one’s desk, removal of equipment or furniture, searching drawers/opening ones cabinet/office, delays etc

A manager is the center of attention to subordinates.  All observable acts communicate something to the observer whether intended or not by the supervisor. When unexplained actions by management occur, a vacuum of meaning is thereby created which is filled by the receiver’s own interpretation of the actions. If an action is not explained, the receiver will supply the missing signal by creating one of his own.

3. Pictures
Pictures are powerful means of conveying meaning and understanding to other people.  This is demonstrated by cartoons, films, TV, photographs etc.

Important, accurate and comprehensive reports, have been given little attention because of the complexities of reading, but the use of charts, graphs, posters etc. can convey more meaning sometimes than volumes of long, uninterrupted passages of writing. 

A chart or graph has the advantage of depicting many complex relationships in one picture, contrasts, trends, etc can be seen and grasped more clearly.

Common Pictures in Business are: curves, bar graphs, columns, circles, pie charts, pictorial, maps, organization charts, ranking and frequency distributions.

4. Numbers.
It has generally been found that people are impressed by numbers – figures and statistics.  Acceptance and belief – also confidence tend to rise for a report that has data statistics e.g. percentages, proportions, etc.   Numbers however can be misleading as they can be manipulated by unscrupulous people.  Skillful use of numbers can be applied to lead or mislead.

TYPES OF COMMUNICATION
Several types of communication can be identified in a business organization.

According to organizational structure.

• Formal communication: Associated with the formal organizational structure.  Information travels through the officially recognized positions in the organization chart.  E.g. orders, instructions, decisions, rules, procedures, policies etc maybe written or oral.
• Informal communication: Also known as the ‘grapevine’.  They are free from all sorts of formalities.  Based on friendship, membership of a group/club, or origin of place, e.g. opinions, views, comments, suggestions, complaints, rumours, whispers, gossip etc may use symbols such as glance, gestures, nod or silence, anonymous letters etc.

According to direction of communication.

• Downward communication: Communications that flow from superiors to subordinates.  Include orders, instructions, ruled, policy directives etc.  They are directive in nature.
• Upward communication: Reverse of downward communication, flows form subordinates to superiors.  Includes reaction and suggestions from workers, grievances, and disputes.  They maybe in the form of reports, proposals, memorandums, etc.  Upward communication is now considered to be a main source of motivation.
• Horizontal communication: Refers to communication between persons at the same level in the management hierarchy.  Also known as lateral or cross-wise communication e.g. meeting of general managers, Divisional heads etc. can be oral or written.

According to way of expressions

• Oral/verbal communication: Exchange of ideas/information occurs through face to face conversation or mechanical media e.g. Telephone, loud speaker, radio call etc conferences, seminars, workshops, interviews, consultations are other media.
• Written communication: Takes the written form (black & white) includes written words, pictures, graphs, diagrams, maps, etc.  They may take the form of circulars, personal letters, memos, manuals, reports etc.
• Grapevine Communication: The informal channel of communication is also known as the grapevine.  It results from the operation of social forces at the workplace.  The term arose during the days of the American Civil war when intelligence telephone lines were strung loosely from tree to tree like grapevine plants and the message was usually distorted, hence any rumour was popularly referred to as the grapevine.  Today all types of informal communication are referred to as the grapevine.

Although the grapevine exists outside the official  network, it continuously interacts with it.


Advantages:

• Operates with much greater speed than the formal communication network.
• Appropriate for some subject matters which do not require the formal channel e.g. when management wants to sound out the feelings of employees before formalizing a rule or policy.
• Satisfies the needs of persons who like to mix up with others freely and ‘chat’.
• Can compensate for an inadequate or non-existent formal communication network.

Disadvantages.

• Disorderly and unreliable hence cannot be acted on.
• Difficult to assign responsibility for false information as it is hard to pinpoint the source.
• Negatively affect productivity as rumours can lower morale and much time is taken in “rumour mongering”.

Barriers to Communication

Communication does not always give the desired results due to certain barriers or obstacles. These are classified as follows:

• Semantic  Barriers: These arise from the linguistic capacity of the parties e.g.
• Badly expressed message – lack of clarity and precision, poorly chosen and empty words, phrases, careless omission, lack of coherence, bad organization of ideas, bad sentence structure, inadequate vocabulary, jargon, etc.
• Faculty Translation – managers often receive communications from superiors which must be translated into appropriate language suitable for lower levels of employees e.g. policy decisions etc.  If the translation is faulty or inaccurate, it is misunderstood.
• Unclarified  assumptions – uncommunicated  assumptions are common in most messages, so others have to “read between the lines”.
• Specialists language (jargon) – some groups eg. Legal, insurance or personnel develop a special, peculiar and technical language of their own.  This increases their isolation thus building a communication barrier.

Emotional/psychological barriers.
The meaning ascribed to a message depends upon the emotional or psychological status of the parties involved e.g.

• Premature Evaluation – the tendency to evaluate (judge) communications instead of being neutral during the interchange of ideas.  Such evaluation interferes with the transfer of information form the sender.
• Inattention – the pre-occupied mind of the receiver and resultant non-listening is a major chronic psychological barrier.  It is the reason why people fail to respond to notices, circulars, memos etc.
• Loss by transmission and retention – when communication passes through various levels in the organization, successive transmission of the same message decreases accuracy.  In oral communication about 30% of the message is lost.  Poor retention is also common.  Employees retain about 50% of information which superiors retain about 63%.
• Undue reliance on the written word – written word cannot substitute for face-to-face relationships.  Employees do not accept management’s views through publications unless level of trust and confidence is very high.
• Distrust of Communication – arises out of illogical decisions or frequent changes of the original communication by the communicator.  Repeated experience of this kind gradually conditions the receiver to delay action or to act unenthusiastically, hence making communication unsuccessful.
• Failure to communicate – managers may fail to transmit needed messages because of laziness, procrastination, hoarding information to embarrass, or assuming that everybody knows.

Organizational barriers.

• Organizational Policy – general organizational policy regarding communication acts as an overall guideline to all.  However if the policy is not supportive to the flow of communication in different directions, communication flow would not be smooth and adequate.
• Organizational rules regulations – These affact the flow of communication by prescribing the subject matter to be communicated, the channel of communication, restrictions on what and who to communicate, etc.  These specifications may cause delays and work against the willingness of persons to convey the message.
• Status Relationships – the superior – subordinate relationship may block particularly upward communication.  The greater the difference between hierachical positions, the greater the possibility of communication breakdown.

Organizational facilities/communication infrastructure.
Personal barriers.

Barriers in superior: e.g. 

• Attitude of superiors – this affects the flow of messages in different directions.  Unfavourable attitude means messages would not flow properly to and from superiors/subordinates.
• Fear of challenge to authority – superiors, when ambitious and want to maintain their power and authority may withhold information coming down the line or going up if it will expose their weaknesses.
• Insistence on proper channel – in exercise their authority superiors insist on communication passing through them. However, if by passed they may block other communication as they see this as thwarting of their authority.
• Lack of confidence in subordinates – generally, superiors perceive their subordinates as less competent and incapable, hence their suggestions, advice etc are ignored.  This works against upward communication.
• Ignoring communication – sometimes superiors consciously and deliberately ignore communication from their subordinates to maintain their importance.  This works against the willingness of subordinates to communicate.
• Lack of time – superiors feel whether correct or otherwise that their workload is heavy and have little time to talk to subordinates.
• Lack of awareness – superiors sometimes lack awareness about the significance and usefulness of communication in different directions in general, hence blocking the flow of communication.

Barriers in Subordinates: e.g.

• Unwillingness to communicate – subordinates may feel that the information may have adverse effect on their future relations with the superior, or there is no mutual trust and confidence with superior etc. He would not be willing to communicate.

McClelland's Theory of Needs

In his acquired-needs theory, David McClelland proposed that an individual's specific needs are acquired over time and are shaped by one's life experiences. Most of these needs can be classed as either achievement, affiliation, or power. A person's motivation and effectiveness in certain job functions are influenced by these three needs. McClelland's theory sometimes is referred to as the three need theory or as the learned needs theory.

Achievement
People with a high need for achievement (nAch) seek to excel and thus tend to avoid both low-risk and high-risk situations. Achievers avoid low-risk situations because the easily attained success is not a genuine achievement. In high-risk projects, achievers see the outcome as one of chance rather than one's own effort. High nAch individuals prefer work that has a moderate probability of success, ideally a 50% chance. Achievers need regular feedback in order to monitor the progress of their acheivements. They prefer either to work alone or with other high achievers.

Affiliation
Those with a high need for affiliation (nAff) need harmonious relationships with other people and need to feel accepted by other people. They tend to conform to the norms of their work group. High nAff individuals prefer work that provides significant personal interaction. They perform well in customer service and client interaction situations.

Power
A person's need for power (nPow) can be one of two types - personal and institutional. Those who need personal power want to direct others, and this need often is perceived as undesirable. Persons who need institutional power (also known as social power) want to organize the efforts of others to further the goals of the organization. Managers with a high need for institutional power tend to be more effective than those with a high need for personal power.

Thematic Apperception Test
McClelland used the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) as a tool to measure the individual needs of different people. The TAT is a test of imagination that presents the subject with a series of ambiguous pictures, and the subject is asked to develop a spontaneous story for each picture. The assumption is that the subject will project his or her own needs into the story.

Psychologists have developed fairly reliable scoring techniques for the Thematic Apperception Test. The test determines the individual's score for each of the needs of achievement, affiliation, and power. This score can be used to suggest the types of jobs for which the person might be well suited.

Implications for Management
People with different needs are motivated differently.

• High need for achievement - High achievers should be given challenging projects with reachable goals. They should be provided frequent feedback. While money is not an important motivator, it is an effective form of feedback.
• High need for affiliation - Employees with a high affiliation need perform best in a cooperative environment.
• High need for power - Management should provide power seekers the opportunity to manage others.

Note that McClelland's theory allows for the shaping of a person's needs; training programs can be used to modify one's need profile.

ERG Theory

ERG Theory
To address some of the limitations of Maslow's hierarchy as a theory of motivation, Clayton Alderfer proposed the ERG theory, which like Maslow's theory, describes needs as a hierarchy. The letters ERG stand for three levels of needs: Existence, Relatedness, and Growth. The ERG theory is based on the work of Maslow, so it has much in common with it but also differs in some important aspects.

Similarities to Maslow's Hierarchy
Studies had shown that the middle levels of Maslow's hierarchy have some overlap; Alderfer addressed this issue by reducing the number of levels to three. The ERG needs can be mapped to those of Maslow's theory as follows:

Motivation

What is Motivation?
Motivation is the word derived from the word ’motive’ which means needs, desires, wants or drives within the individuals. It is the process of stimulating people to actions to accomplish the goals. In the work goal context the psychological factors stimulating the people’s behaviour can be -
desire for money success recognition job-satisfaction team work, etc
One of the most important functions of management is to create willingness amongst the employees to perform in the best of their abilities. Therefore the role of a leader is to arouse interest in performance of employees in their jobs. The process of motivation consists of three stages:-
A felt need or drive A stimulus in which needs have to be aroused When needs are satisfied, the satisfaction or accomplishment of goals.
Therefore, we can say that motivation is a psychological phenomenon which means needs and wants of the individuals have to be tackled by framing an incentive plan.
Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs
If motivation is driven by the existence of unsatisfied needs, then it is worthwhile for a manager to understand which needs are the more important for individual employees. In this regard, Abraham Maslow developed a model in which basic, low-level needs such as physiological requirements and safety must be satisfied before higher-level needs such as self-fulfillment are pursued. In this hierarchical model, when a need is mostly satisfied it no longer motivates and the next higher need takes its place. Maslow's hierarchy of needs is shown in the following diagram:

The Directing Function

The Directing Function
Introduction
The difference between successful and unsuccessful organizations is the presence or absence of dynamic and effective leadership. The function of management is being viewed as not simply a set of practices and policies, but a crucial component in the total organization strategy.  To play its role of enabling the organization gain and sustain competitive advantage, all managers have to play a leadership role especially in the present business environment which is getting increasingly flexible, innovative and dynamic. Leadership is a concept that has generated much interest among academics and practicing managers, politicians and sociologists among others.  In this lecture we shall examine some key aspects of leadership. To do so the following set of objectives will be the main focus

Functions of Controlling

Functions of Controlling

It implies measurement of accomplishment against the standards and correction of deviation if any to ensure achievement of organizational goals. The purpose of controlling is to ensure that everything occurs in conformities with the standards. An efficient system of control helps to predict deviations before they actually occur. According to Theo Haimann, “Controlling is the process of checking whether or not proper progress is being made towards the objectives and goals and acting if necessary, to correct any deviation”. According to Koontz & O’Donell “Controlling is the measurement & correction of performance activities of subordinates in order to make sure that the enterprise objectives and plans desired to obtain them as being accomplished”.

The managerial function controlling always maximise the use of scarce resources to achieve the purposeful behaviour of employees in an organisation. In planning stage, it is decided that how the resources would be utilised but where as in the controlling stage it is observed that whether the resources are being utilised in the same way as planned or not. Thus, control completes the whole sequence of management process.

Controlling consists of verifying whether everything occurs in confirmities with the plans adopted, instructions issued and principles established. Controlling ensures that there is effective and efficient utilization of organizational resources so as to achieve the planned goals. Controlling measures the deviation of actual performance from the standard performance, discovers the causes of such deviations and helps in taking corrective actions According to Brech, “Controlling is a systematic exercise which is called as a process of checking actual performance against the standards or plans with a view to ensure adequate progress and also recording such experience as is gained as a contribution to possible future needs.” According to Donnell, “Just as a navigator continually takes reading to ensure whether he is relative to a planned action, so should a business manager continually take reading to assure himself that his enterprise is on right course.”

Therefore controlling has following steps:

Establishment of standard performance. Measurement of actual performance. Comparison of actual performance with the standards and finding out deviation if any. Corrective action.

Features of Controlling Function Following are the characteristics of controlling function of management.

Controlling is an end function- A function which comes once the performances are made in confirmities with plans. Controlling is a pervasive function- which means it is performed by managers at all levels and in all type of concerns. Controlling is forward looking- because effective control is not possible without past being controlled. Controlling always look to future so that follow-up can be made whenever required. Controlling is a dynamic process- since controlling requires taking reviewal methods, changes have to be made wherever possible. Controlling is related with planning- Planning and Controlling are two inseperable functions of management. Without planning, controlling is a meaningless exercise and without controlling, planning is useless. Planning presupposescontrolling and controlling succeeds planning.

Roles of Manager

Henry Mintzberg identified ten different roles, separated into three categories. The categories he defined are as follows

Interpersonal Roles - The ones that, like the name suggests, involve people and other ceremonial duties. It can be further classified as follows Leader – Responsible for staffing, training, and associated duties. Figurehead – The symbolic head of the organization. Liaison – Maintains the communication between all contacts and informers that compose the organizational network.  Informational Roles - Related to collecting, receiving, and disseminating information. Monitor – Personally seek and receive information, to be able to understand the organization. Disseminator – Transmits all import information received from outsiders to the members of the organization. Spokesperson – On the contrary to the above role, here the manager transmits the organization’s plans, policies and actions to outsiders.  Decisional Roles - Roles that revolve around making choices. Entrepreneur – Seeks opportunities. Basically they search for change, respond to it, and exploit it. Negotiator – Represents the organization at major negotiations. Resource Allocator – Makes or approves all significant decisions related to the allocation of resources. Disturbance Handler – Responsible for corrective action when the organization faces disturbances.

A manager's job is never static, and is always in movement. At any given time, a manager may be carrying out some combination of these roles to varying degrees, from none of their time to 100 percent of their time. Over their working life, a person may hold different management positions that call upon different roles.

Top level managers consists of the board of directors, president, vice-president, CEOs and others. They are responsible for controlling and overseeing the entire organization. They develop goals, strategic plans, company policies and make decisions on the direction of the business. In addition, top-level managers play a significant role in the mobilization of outside resources and are accountable to shareholders and the general public.

Middle level managers consist of general managers, branch managers and department managers. They are accountable to the top management for the functions of their departments. They devote more time to organizational and directional concerns. Their roles can be emphasized as executing organizational plans in conformance with the company's policies and objectives. This includes being able to define and discuss information and top management policies with lower management and, most importantly, provide lower level managers with guidance and inspiration for high performance.

First level managers consist of supervisors, section leads, foremen, and the like. They focus on controlling and directing. They usually have the responsibility of assigning employees tasks, guiding and supervising employees on day-to-day activities, ensuring quality and quantity production, making recommendations, and solving employee problems.

Control Process

The basic control process involves mainly these steps:

The Establishment of Standards: Because plans are the yardsticks against which controls must be revised, it follows logically that the first step in the control process would be to accomplish plans. Plans can be considered as the criterion or the standards against which we compare the actual performance in order to figure out the deviations. Examples for the standards Profitability standards: In general, these standards indicate how much the company would like to make as profit over a given time period- that is, its return on investment. Market position standards: These standards indicate the share of total sales in a particular market that the company would like to have relative to its competitors. Productivity standards: How much that various segments of the organization should produce is the focus of these standards. Product leadership standards: These indicate what must be done to attain such a position. Employee attitude standards: These standards indicate what types of attitudes the company managers should strive to indicate in the company’s employees. Social responsibility standards: Such as making contribution to the society. Standards reflecting the relative balance between short and long range goals. Measurement of Performance: The measurement of performance against standards should be on a forward looking basis so that deviations may be detected in advance by appropriate actions. The degree of difficulty in measuring various types of organizational performance, of course, is determined primarily by the activity being measured. For example, it is far more difficult to measure the performance of highway maintenance worker than to measure the performance of a student enrolled in a college level management course. Comparing Measured Performance to Stated Standards: When managers have taken a measure of organizational performance, their next step in controlling is to compare this measure against some standard. A standard is the level of activity established to serve as a model for evaluating organizational performance. The performance evaluated can be for the organization as a whole or for some individuals working within the organization. In essence, standards are the yardsticks that determine whether organizational performance is adequate or inadequate. Taking Corrective Actions: After actual performance has been measured compared with established performance standards, the next step in the controlling process is to take corrective action, if necessary. Corrective action is managerial activity aimed at bringing organizational performance up to the level of performance standards. In other words, corrective action focuses on correcting organizational mistakes that hinder organizational performance. Before taking any corrective action, however, managers should make sure that the standards they are using were properly established and that their measurements of organizational performance are valid and reliable. At first glance, it seems a fairly simple proposition that managers should take corrective action to eliminate problems - the factors within an organization that are barriers to organizational goal attainment. In practice, however, it is often difficult to pinpoint the problem causing some undesirable organizational effect.

Barriers for Controlling

There are many barriers, among the most important of them: Control activities can create an undesirable overemphasis on short-term production as opposed to long- term production. Control activities can increase employees' frustration with their jobs and thereby reduce morale. This reaction tends to occur primarily where management exerts too much control. Control activities can encourage the falsification of reports. Control activities can cause the perspectives of organization members to be too narrow for the good of the organization. control process rather than the means by which corrective action is taken.

Requirements For Effective Control

The requirements for effective control are:

Control should be tailored to plans and positions. This means that, all control techniques and systems should reflect the plans they are designed to follow. This is because every plan and every kind and phase of an operation has its unique characteristics. Control must be tailored to individual managers and their responsibilities. This means that controls must be tailored to the personality of individual managers. This because control systems and information are intended to help individual managers carry out their function of control. If they are not of a type that a manager can or will understand, they will not be useful. Control should point up exceptions as critical points. This is because by concentration on exceptions from planned performance, controls based on the time honored exception principle allow managers to detect those places where their attention is required and should be given. However, it is not enough to look at exceptions, because some deviations from standards have little meaning and others have a great deal of significance. Control should be objective. This is because when controls are subjective, a manager’s personality may influence judgments of performance inaccuracy. Objective standards can be quantitative such as costs or man hours per unit or date of job completion. They can also be qualitative in the case of training programs that have specific characteristics or are designed to accomplish a specific kind of upgrading of the quality of personnel. Control should be flexible. This means that controls should remain workable in the case of changed plans, unforeseen circumstances, or outsight failures.Much flexibility in control can be provided by having alternative plans for various probable situations. Control should be economical. This means that control must worth their cost. Although this requirement is simple, its practice is often complex. This is because a manager may find it difficult to know what a particular system is worth, or to know what it costs. Control should lead to corrective actions. This is because a control system will be of little benefit if it does not lead to corrective action, control is justified only if the indicated or experienced deviations from plans are corrected through appropriate planning, organizing, directing, and leading.

Short Question and Answers

Short Question and Answers

1 Define Management? It is a process of designing and maintaining an environment in which individuals working together in groups efficiently accomplish selected aims. 2 Name the various managerial functions? Planning, Organizing, Staffing, Leading, Controlling. 3 What are the different managerial skills.? Technical skills,Human skills, conceptual skills, Design skills. 4 Define productivity? Productivity is defined as an output to input ratio within a time period with consideration for quality.

Essentials of Directing

Essentials of Directing

Directing is said to be a process in which the managers instruct, guide and oversee the performance of the workers to achieve predetermined goals. Directing is said to be the heart of management process. Planning, organizing, staffing have got no importance if direction function does not take place. Directing initiates action and it is from here actual work starts. Direction is said to be consisting of human factors. In simple words, it can be described as providing guidance to workers is doing work. In field of management, direction is said to be all those activities which are designed to encourage the subordinates to work effectively and efficiently. According to Human, “Directing consists of process or technique by which instruction can be issued and operations can be carried out as originally planned” Therefore, Directing is the function of guiding, inspiring, overseeing and instructing people towards accomplishment of organizational goals. Directing means giving instructions, guiding, counselling, motivating and leading the staff in an organisation in doing work to achieve Organisational goals. Directing is a key managerial function to be performed by the manager along with planning, organising, staffing and controlling. From top executive to supervisor performs the function of directing and it takes place accordingly wherever superior – subordinate relations exist. Directing is a continuous process initiated at top level and flows to the bottom through organisational hierarchy.