business management

business management

Enhancing Organizational Performance through Effective Business Management

1. Introduction to Business Management

In tumultuous times, where entire industries face major changes, a compelling vision of how a company can shape a different future is essential. Business corporations are organized in such a way as to carry the vision, mission into society. An organization’s goal is the desired future state for the organization. Objectives are the specific means used to achieve the organizational goals. Business, government, and other organizations, as well as individual users, human resource management, and aspects of organizational behavior, are concerned as a part of the scope of management. Business management is often associated with business. Management is a universal part of any effort conducted by groups of individuals jointly for the individual and for the collaborative benefit. Management describes the operation of an organization and the activities of individuals involved in an organization.

Business management is the process by which an organization gets its tasks done. Management is defined as the act of using other people’s resources to accomplish goals, at least in the area of work. There are four major functions of management which are planning, organizing, leading, and controlling. Managers are employed by all types of organizations, from small businesses to government, and from charities to multinational organizations of all types. Managers aim to get the best from the people, money, equipment, and facilities with which they work. Management works particularly in the area of business corporation because most businesses are conducted by individuals other than owners. The study of management originated primarily from the need to teach business students about the craft of getting things done, of accomplishing an organization’s vision and mission.

2. Key Concepts and Theories in Business Management

Action plans are the formal goals that guide all levels of managers at each level. A good mission statement, linked to good action plans (i.e., those directly related to the mission of the enterprise), can clearly lead to enhanced performance and hence success. It is in the best interest of everyone involved, therefore, including shareholders, employees, customers, suppliers, and other stakeholders, to facilitate the planning and problem-solving processes. Such a unique organizational infrastructure tends to provide a competitive advantage. Information overload is indeed a difficult and challenging task, especially if the quantity of information needs to be heavily filtered. The focus of this chapter is providing the foundational concepts and theories linked to business management, which, when applied to enhanced organizational performance, can be built. These concepts are explored in relation to problems occurring in both private and public sectors.

The goal of any organization is to meet stakeholders’ demands and remain in shape. The precise definition of its shape may vary depending on what the purpose of the organization is, and this more specific definition will lead to a more refined mission statement. A mission statement is an important success factor because it guides the planning process. Once an organization has a well-defined mission, it can then develop a strategic business unit (SBU). An SBU, also known as a small business, is a distinct part of an enterprise that has its own specific business mission with a well-defined target market and products or services. Key action plans related to the SBU can then be developed, including job assignments and performance targets. Alternatively, they can be made without reference to a business or SBU if they apply to the enterprise as a whole.

3. Strategic Planning and Decision Making

Related to executives and various businesses in practice, research is fragmented, with little consensus on terms or concepts such as performance, strategic decision making, and other related issues. The result of this lack of consensus is that for every paper or report, performance has been defined in different ways and with varying measurement scales, making historical comparisons difficult and the development of a single theory impossible.

There are a variety of roles which objectives can perform. For example, objectives should help to focus the managers’ attention on the specific areas where attention and action are needed. Objectives need to function as coordinating devices to help harmonize the activities of different managers and provide well-defined relationships. It is necessary to use objectives in evaluation and control. This gives managers and staff ready and proper standards for judging performance. Finally, objectives serve as motivation for research.

Strategic planning poses competitive implications for decisions, as it associates with proactive planning as well as strategic choice. Planning decisions need to ask: what are the long-term objectives of the college, what areas does it get involved in, what markets does it serve, what products does it offer, and what market position does it aim for? What are the growth policies and how is performance to be optimized within the resources? Strategic decisions are those which can be anticipated, if there is a good understanding of the organization’s strategic posture, environment, and constraints. The strategic plans that are developed should lead to long-term objectives of an organization as well as policies under which they are implemented. Of course, not all of the formal planning decisions are strategic planning decisions. But it seems certain that all strategic planning decisions are a part of the formal school managerial planning process.

4. Effective Leadership and Team Management

Leadership skills are fundamental qualities that good managers should possess. Even the best-structured organization or team will falter and fall apart if it is not properly led, just as good leaders can succeed without close attention to the details of team structure. Organizations can rely a great deal on individuals and their heroics, but the chances of winning, maintaining and repeating such successes in the commercial world depend very much on the effectiveness of the organization or team and on the responding capabilities of the managers.

An organization’s fortunes depend on the skills and personalities of the people who are appointed to manage it, as much as they depend on the expertise and experience of the staff. It is the managers who help employees to function together in order to achieve a common good, that of the organization that employs them. Effective managers must therefore be chosen and then trained and developed in the relevant ways and nurtured in a systematic and continuing manner.

5. Innovation and Change Management

The benefits of innovation are evident in products, systems, manufacturing processes, finance, marketing, and in the design and delivery of customer and employee services.

Performance management is more focused here in demonstrating the added value of human resources function by promoting improved corporate performance through innovation. Performance management incorporates the use of various innovations in order to deliver successful outcomes. Through the strategic integration of organizational characteristics, processes, and systems, innovation plays a critical role in overall performance management.

Innovation in response to the ever-changing needs of organizations and the changing environment in which they operate comprise incentive programs such as quality circles and reengineering. Such programs stem from attempts to seek and manage change that will lead to improvements in both the object, subjective performance, and strategic direction of the company.

Innovation management refers to the active stimulating, formula, and design direction of the activities supporting innovative activities. The foremost objectives of innovation management are that the product is put into operation economically and reliably by securing the best possible product quality along with the optimum timing.

Innovation and creativity are key factors in initiating change and in delivering results to employees, clients, and other stakeholders. The old saying that “the only constant is change” is just as true for organizations as it has been over time. Organizations that are capable of managing change effectively not only survive but thrive.