Ways to Make Management Effective

Lad Kuzela, a US expert in management, says that building better products starts with building better managers. Good management determines a company's success in business.

Inexperienced and inefficient managers must do their best to develop and improve their professional skills. Willingness to understand shortcomings and correct mistakes, theoretical knowledge and practice can help leaders to make management effective.

A manager's two major responsibilities are to direct a company's business activity and to manage personnel, that is to get people to make business activity successful.

According to Therese R. Welter, every manager has his own perspective, stemming from education, experience and personality. The best executives represent a link between business and production. Good managers have an intuition for the market and can see the business as a whole. They understand which idea may be translated into a product and bring in a profit.

To meet the demands of the market, businesses in all sectors of economy – production, trade, services – must be managed properly. Market is constantly changing, and a good manager should rely on professional market research and analysis. Efficient leaders are always in search of business development and improvement. Stagnation can destroy any company. That's why successful firms improve quality and design of articles, put new products on the market, look for new markets, and promote goods world-wide.

Success in business also depends on excellent customer service. Good managers organize work with customers, balancing the interests of a company and consumers.

During the recession CEOs must work out the correct business strategy and tactics. Most of them have strategies for good times. Today they need a new set of skills which will help their companies survive and even remain profitable.

Fred Crawford, CEO of the US consultant firm AlixPartners, says that during the downturn managers should "focus on worst case scenarios." Today Alix's clients are both troubled companies on the brink of bankruptcy and healthy firms worrying about the deepening recession. Alix teams are creating "doomsday plans" for their clients, to help them cope if the economic free fall continues. Companies have to conserve cash, reduce inventory, cut costs and dismiss staff.

Good companies must take measures to get over the crisis. Some of them can attract foreign investments, others can look for new markets, invest overseas and make their companies international. Successful companies do not stop introducing promising technologies and invest in research and development.

In the modern competitive world of business, companies have to form corporate alliances, merge and practice acquisitions to remain profitable.

Company alliances include partnerships and joint ventures. In corporate partnerships firms conclude agreements on collaboration in certain operations and work together in one specific area. In joint ventures companies collaborate in business activities, investing in separate projects and sharing the costs, risks and profits.

A merger is the joining together of two firms into one. It gives the mergees an opportunity to increase market shares and cut costs in certain areas, for example, research and development, and acquire dominance in the sector.

An acquisition or takeover is gaining control of a company by buying most of the shares. In troubled times, we hear of takeovers of small and middle-size firms almost every day.

In relations with subordinates, modern successful managers follow the democratic style of leadership, because it promotes productivity and creativity of employees.

A company operates at a profit, if all people in it (management and workforce) are united by corporate goals, with their work aimed at a company's success. All company departments (planning, finance, manufacturing, marketing, etc.) must work in cooperation, and managers must encourage subordinates to work together.

All modern leaders understand the importance of having an effective team, which consists of loyal, knowledgeable, experienced and creative professionals.

In his article "What Makes a Good Manager?", Bill Gates, the legendary founder of Microsoft, advises to hire carefully and to be willing to fire. A manager needs a strong team, because a mediocre team gives mediocre results, no matter how well managed it is.

According to Bill Gates, a combination of approaches is required to create a productive environment. Sometimes a manager maximizes productivity by giving everybody his or her own office. Sometimes he achieves it by moving his subordinates into open space. Sometimes he uses financial incentives to raise productivity. He keeps his people informed to empower them and stimulate their work.

Personal growth is very important for making a professional career. First of all, it is important to learn. It is never too late to learn. Inexperienced and inefficient managers can take a management course or participate in a corporate management-improvement program. Self-education is also necessary. Managers should read books, newspapers and magazines on management and their speciality. But, of course, theory without practice is useless. Practice will make perfect.

 

Exercise 12. Find in the text the equivalents of these words and word combinations.

Дальновидный, гибкий; завоевывать внутренний и внешний рынки; производство более качественных товаров; неопытные и неумелые менеджеры; делать все возможное; в целом; чтобы удовлетворять спрос на рынке; вот почему; искать новые рынки сбыта;сочетать интересы компании и потребителей; стратегия коммерческой деятельности; выжить и даже остаться прибыльными; внедрение перспективных технологий; совместное предприятие; заключить соглашение о сотрудничестве; тщательно выбирать людей при приеме на работу; быть готовым уволить сотрудника; сочетание подходов; подчиненные, финансовые стимулы; чтобы поднять производительность труда; участвовать в корпоративной программе повышения квалификации менеджеров; персональный рост.

Exercise 13. Answer the following questions in pairs.

1. What can help poor managers to make management effective?

2. What are a manager's major responsibilities?

3. How does a manager use his intuition?

4. What can companies do to improve business activity?

5. How do managers organize customer service?

6. What survival strategies can be used during the recession?

7. What style of leadership do modern successful managers follow?

8. How can a manager create an effective team?

9. How can a manager stimulate productivity?

10. What can managers do for personal growth?

 

Exercise 14. Summarize the text. Use the Writing Language Section.

Exercise 15. Is it possible for a big company to prosper during a recession? What determines survival of businesses? Read the article and find out how the famous computer company IBM is being managed in the crisis situation. What is the main idea of the text?

What's Good for IBM…