Tuesday, January 28, 2020

Efficient managers and effective managers

Efficient managers and effective managers Difference between efficient managers and effective managers Effectiveness and efficiency are mutually exclusive things. For a manager, they are both fundamental preconditions. Being effective means that one is able to properly analyse the evolving environment and selecting the right things as the areas of strategic focus for the enterprise. On the other hand, being efficient requires a carefully carved cultural and operational framework which helps the manager to achieve a particular degree of success, given the level of resources applied to a particular objective. In any business, an efficient manager is one who uses limited resources available viz., time, material and men to get the job done in a more professional manner. This includes securing productive and profitable results in a short span, using funds allotted for a business more legibly yet smartly, and appraising employee performance etc., In other words, an efficient manager would keep the business running even in dire circumstances. An effective manager, on the other hand, is slightly different from the efficient one. The effective manager focuses on productivity rather than increased/balanced profitability. Effective management has various layers in its setup such as motivation, teamwork, communication and objectives. An effective manager is someone who leads, coordinates and filters various activities of the sub-ordinates and decides an appropriate mechanism to work upon. An effective manager usually works without any constraints such as funds, manpower etc. The focus always implies on better management practices and in turn, better output. Effectiveness is a precondition for the success of any manager; however that depends more upon the uncontrollable variables dictated to the manager by the operational environment and his ability to come up with the right choices that would suit his resources built over time. It may be appreciated that a firms resources in terms of manpower and technology as well as capital would have been built up over time and they have a great degree of rigidity. Once you become effective, efficiency can be an easier thing to bring into operation. The two things are in fact complimentary. Efficiency in fact depends upon the lower level managerial abilities and culture while effectiveness is almost always a top management variable. In management, operating in efficient and in effective ways is a key to good performance and to successfully reaching the goals set for the business. While efficiency and effectiveness are similarly desirable characteristics of business behavior, either one is often seen as attainable only at the expense of the other. Looking at the interplay of the two characteristics can give a clear insight into the ideal behavior for a manager when faced with tasks which must be completed quickly, but also completed in such a way that the key goals are attained. Luther Gulick advocates seven elements which make up common management in any organization. He calls it the POSDCORB. Planning a strategy to accomplish the objectives set for an enterprise. Organizing a formal structure of authority, arranged and defined for specific jobs. Staffing / Recruiting and training personnel. Directing/ Decision making and embodying rules, instructions etc., Co-ordinating various parts of work. Reporting through records, research and inspection. Budgeting in form of fiscal planning, accounting and control. These make up the common administrative tasks managers perform in an organization. The effectiveness of each element makes up both an efficient and effective management system. The following make up management behavior. Management of human resources is a social phenomenon. An effective communication channel is always imperative in any kind of an organization. James Pfiffner calls it the heart of management. Chester Barnard remarks it as the foundation of co-operative group activity. For an effective communication, the information passed on must be clear, consistent, adequate, timely, uniform, flexible and acceptable. A manager must make sure that a proper communication channel is present in an organization. This includes avoiding semantic and ideological barriers, two-valued thinking (Halo effect), stereotyping and dogmatism among the employees. Decision-making is a vital part of an efficient management system. Robert Tannenbaum says decision-making involves a conscious choice or selection of one behavior alternative from a group of two or more behavior alternative. A behavior alternative may simply be known as a decision. Decision-making, in more ways or the other, is a singular function of the manager. It is thus very important in an organization. Herbert Simon came up with the fact that every decision has two basic premises a factual premise and a value premise. A fact is a statement of reality while a value is an expression of preference. A manager would go by decisions based on these only. An effective manager goes in for the factual premise because it can be measured empirically, while the value premise, which may determine efficient factors such as profit, loss, employee satisfaction, cost-cutting etc., would be more preferred by efficient managers. Rensis Likert calls motivation as the core of management. Motivation is a psychological process which energizes and activates an individual to achieve formulated objectives. A manager thus plays a vital role as a driving force behind motivation. On this part, both effective and efficient managers must be good motivators, so as to bring about the best in the employees. Classical and modern management thinkers have listed money and a variety of socio-psychological factors as a source of motivation. Motivation also helps to build teams and perform better. Teamwork is another essential part of management. A manager is the undisputed leader of a team. He delegates work to his sub-ordinates, assigns tasks, creates plans and makes decisions. An autocratic manager would do all the above functions by himself. It is not desirable in an effective organizational system. On the other hand, an efficient manager would tend to be a little autocratic in his functions, because of the limited resources available and some other constraints. It is however better for an organization to be more democratic for proper functioning. Importance Managing effectively and efficiently is the way to go about in business. Efficient business tactics would help to know how to deal with finance and personnel in a more productive way. Most successful businesses in the world today are rather efficient than effective. Efficient management practices provide increased sustainability and stability in an organization. It involves novelty in management practices and output. An effective management system takes a long time to fully materialize. It has more to do with the long-term vision of an organization than its present objectives. Effective management also involves setting time benchmarks within the organization, so that a given objective gets completed within a set time. Traditional management practices are usually followed, and the manager sets up an instructional framework within which the sub-ordinates are expected to follow. An effective management system, summarily can be defined as, one which Raises productivity Increases work output from sub-ordinates Functions within a set of rules and regulations Works in a more democratic manner Builds teamwork and effective communication channels A good manager, therefore is one who works both efficiently and effectively simultaneously. It is imperative that he does work in a more systematic manner and adapts himself depending on the organizational situation and environment. What an organization / business would need is an effective mechanism and an efficient output.

Monday, January 20, 2020

The Matrix Essay -- Argumentative Movie Film Matrix Essays

The Matrix The Matrix is a science fiction movie about artificial intelligence computers replacing mankind. I believe that this movie is a common type of display from the media is common paranoia so that they can get a reaction from people and sell their story. In the case of The Matrix, the movie dazzles people with awesome special effects using modern computer technology, which I find ironic. I find it self-conflicting and hypocritical for the media to use modern computer technology for their own good to show people how bad technology is. Amy Bruckman and Howard Rheingold would probably find this movie interesting in that it disagrees and agrees with certain aspects about their beliefs about the use of computers. The Matrix specifically shows how advanced technology such as artificial intelligence (A.I.) may one day get out of the control of the people and become a dangerous enemy to mankind. It turns out that in the movie people believe that they are living normal lives in the 90's as common businessmen and families as we do today, when in reality the time is later in the 21st century and people are hooked up to machines in pods where they are merely interpreting electrical signals which tells them that the they are alive in the 90's. They call this set up The Matrix. The artificial intelligence machines put these people in these pods for their whole lives where they never use a muscle in their body; they only think that they are moving and living normal lives.The reason why the artificial intelligence machines put people into pods is because the sky is scorched and there is no source of electricity, so the A.I. units found an alternate source of energy: humans. The star of the Movie, Neo, is enlightened by one of ... ...ul people can benefit people. Personally, I don't believe that true artificial intelligence can ever be reached. I believe that a computer can be so advanced that it may appear to be thinking on it's own, but only because a man programmed it to think in such away. I don't think that a computer can teach itself common sense and the true ability to reason between right and wrong like humans can. And since I believe this, I see no problem in expanding technology and making online communities as Rheingold and Bruckman would. Works Cited The Matrix. Larry Wachowski, DVD, Warner Brothers, 1999 Bruskman, Amy. "Finding One's Own in Cyberspace" Composing Cyberspace Edited by Rich Holeton, San Fransisco: McGraw Hill, 1998, 171-180 Rheingold, Howard. "The Heart of the Well" " Composing Cyberspace Edited by Rich Holeton, San Fransisco: McGraw Hill, 1998, 151-163

Saturday, January 11, 2020

Factors Leading to Social Illness Among Teenagers Essay

Teenagers nowadays are very different with teenagers before then. Today,teenagers are getting wilder and tend to have more fun than they should.Rotten teenagers smoked, drink alcohols before they reach maturity, goclubbing and partying, have sex before marriage, involved in drugs, and a lotmore unhealthy activities that are not only useless and wasting their time butare also affecting their health. When asked, why do teenagers love this kind of lifestyle, their answerwould be easy, â€Å"Because this is the way teenagers of this era lived†. How sad itis to think about the social ills among teenagers these days. They preferred to be‘in the crowd’ rather than focussing on how to excel brilliantly in theirexaminations.One of the factors of why social ills are getting worse among teenagersthese days is less attention by their parents. This is a major issue. Today’sparents are very busy focussing on their careers until sometimes they seem toforget their responsibilities as parents. Children who feel lonely due to the lack of time spent with their parents will find new ways to live up their life. They start tosmoke, take drugs and socialising. Once they reach adolescence, children startto abuse the freedom that their parents give to them and become a ‘wild child’. Problems happening inside the home could also lead to social ills amongteenagers. Teenagers are easily stressed and depressed with the situation athome. They could be emotionally affected by divorcing of parents, death of family members, pressure by family to maintain good results, and many moreproblems. Because of too much tension, teenagers have the tendency to involvethemselves in the social ills, in order to release their stress and depression.Another factor that also causes the social ills to get worse is the influencesby friends. A teenager may have chosen wrong friends for him. Friends with badreputation and attitude problems will surely influence their friends to join themand have the blast of dating, clubbing, partying, drinking alcohols and manymore social activities that could ruin the innocence of a child. It is very easy toinfluence teenagers on trying new things as at this stage of life, they are still notvery sure of life and have the feeling of wanting to experience every single newthing in life if possible. Therefore, it is very easy to ‘pull’ teenagers into the worldof social ills. This issue must be looked into seriously as young generation of today arethe leaders of tomorrow. How could they lead the country in the future if theycontinue to mingle in social ills which will eventually destroy themselvesphysically and mentally? Serious actions should be taken immediately byparents, teachers, schools, societies and authorities to stop this issue fromgetting worse. Teenagers should be taught the real meaning of life. They need tochange for the sake of better and brighter future of the world.

Friday, January 3, 2020

Effect of Trauma on a Child in A Boys Life by Tobias...

When a child experiences trauma, it stays with them for the rest of their life. When a child experiences abuse, one of the highest forms of trauma, they can do little to stop it from affecting everything they do. Tobias Wolff’s memoir, This Boy’s Life, Illustrates this. While it can be said that Rosemary, the mother of Jack, was in many ways responsible for his life, she herself can not solely be blamed. The trauma and abuse she experienced as a child contributed greatly to her choices, and her son’s life. This shows that adversity in Rosemary’s life lead to her not being able to act normally, and this caused the life of her son. Jack lead a life that would not make most envy him. He suffered from many traumatic events, most of these can†¦show more content†¦This constant presence of a man who abused him and his mother can only add to the grief which the repeated trauma experienced by Jack caused. The relief Jack must have felt when he watched Roy pack his trunk and leave was only to be short lives as his moved onto another abusive man. His mother’s next man is the one seen for most of the book. His name is Dwight. They meet in Seattle were Jack and his mother move to. Dwight seems at first to be a decent enough guy. He invited Rosemary and Jack to visit his family for Thanksgiving and shows her around the town. Dwight convinces Rosemary to let Jack go and live with him and if all goes well she will join him later. On the car ride there Jack gets a taste of what is to come. Dwight drives drunk, swerves to scare Jack, and tells him how he is in for a drastic change. While living with Dwight he is treated very poorly. Dwight is abusive and alcoholic. He forces Jack to do useless task and does into take care of him well. When Jack visits his mother, Dwight makes sure they are never alone together so Jack can’t tell her how life really is. When she moves in and realises how life is there, she does little to change it. The three men his mother chooses impact Jack’s life greatly, mostly in a negative way. All three are abusive, and treat him badly. They all also clearly have some sort of psychological problem. However, the most common theme shared by all, ih how similar they are to Rosemary’s father. Everyman she goes after