Classical school theory
The classical school theory states that employees in an organisation only need economical and physical needs and that the need of job satisfaction and socialising is non existent or isn't of concern to the management. This has resulted in employees becoming specialised in their sector of the work hence giving a higher productivity levels and better results. (businessdictionary (2010) Classical school of management)
One case study that reflect this theory could be the Nike one. Nike, a company that makes all sorts of sportswear world wide, closed its factories in the US and moved production to Asia in 1984. It used Asian labours paying them wages that were below minimum wages. These workers were working in very poor conditions were they were allowed to drink only twice and go to the toilet only once, per eight hour (1 shift). The wage is so low that workers would skip one meal a day. Amongst those workers were children and women. Here you can see that the management managing these factories believe that money will only motivate workers and that their needs are not essential. Poor families and people have no other choice then to work like that to get money and support their families. This is a clear classical school example with child slavery and abuses. (ihscslnews (2010) Nike's use of child labour)
Human relation theory:
Unlike the classical school theory, this one is the complete opposite. This theory states that employees are even more motivated when their social needs are met. These included employer-employee relationship, rewarding employees for good work, being more flexible with them and more friendly. This theory has been proven to be very successful as when management use this approach employees feel more useful with more responsibilities, they feel part of the work place and this will motivate them to return the favour by doing good work.
(encyclopedia (2010) Human relations theory)
One case study reflecting the use of this theory is the M&S employee benefit package. M&S feel that their employees do a great job for them and therefore they are looking after their employees by giving them a range of benefits such as competitive rates of pay, performance related rewards, employee discounts, pensions, bonuses and more. These will motivate workers better as they feel part of the company, and are happy with their working environment. As a result of this, there is a better production and performance. (corporate.marksandspencer (2010) Rewards & Benefits).
Scientific management Pros and cons:
Advantages:
1. This type of management would reduce production costs on a large production scale, as employees will be monitored and therefore quality products are more likely to be the output, wit minimal wastage.
2. Conflicts and disagreements are largely reduced, as employees do what management tell them to do and if they don't like it they can leave.
3. It is easier when recruiting as different employees have different tasks and therefore when some one gets employed, they will only be doing one task repeatedly and therefore during the recruitment time it is easier for managers to select the one, reflecting on the task that needs to be completed.
4. This type of management has all the tasks and everything pre-planned and as a result delays are less likely to happen and the waste of time is significantly reduced.
5. This effectiveness will obviously bring higher profits which could be used to invest in the business or lifestyle of the owner.
(dailyojo (2010) What are the advantages of scientific management in business)
Disadvantages:
1. Fail to recognise ideas of employees, this would really demotivate employees as they will feel like robots or slaves working for a company.
2. Fail to acknowledge employees variance, employees are not always doing the same thing, as doing some thing over and over again gets boring and on the long run very frustrating. By failing the acknowledge that employees need to vary their tasks, level of staff leaving the company will definitely increase.
3. Fails to appreciate the social context of work and higher needs of workers, by doing so, employees will feel like dogs or slaves who are not even rewarded or even given any attention for the good productivity. moral will go down resulting in demotivation leading to a decrease in production.
4. Human rights breach, now days by treating employees like that it would be a human right breach and therefore companies could get sued. However it is still in use but in a more sophisticated way, blending in with the law.
(transtutor (2009) Criticism to Scientific Management)
Conclusion:
Eventhought the classical school theory is good due to the point that time wastage, conflicts are minimised and productions increased, on the long run, the level of staff leaving the company will be high as well as production decreasing due to demotivation from employees; whereas the human relation theory waste time on looking after employees but the result of that are even greater than of classical school theory, as employee will be happier and more motivated resulting in high level of production and performance. In conclusion if i was a manager i would rather go for the human relation theory.
References:
(businessdictionary (2010Classical school of management [online] available at: http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/classical-school-of-management.html [accessed: 01/02/2010])
(ihscslnews (2010Nike's use of child labour [online] available at: http://ihscslnews.org/view_article.php?id=32 [accessed: 01/02/2010])
(encyclopedia (2010Human relations theory [online] available at: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O18-humanrelationstheory.html [accessed: 04/02/2010])
(corporate.marksandspencer (2010Rewards & Benefits) [online] available at: http://corporate.marksandspencer.com/mscareers/rewards_benefits [accessed: 04/02/2010])
(dailyojo (2010) What are the advantages of scientific management in business [online] available at: http://dailyojo.com/articles/what-are-the-advantages-of-scientific-management-in-business.html [accessed: 04/02/2010])
(transtutors (2010) Criticism to Scientific Management [online] available at : http://www.transtutors.com/homework-help/Industrial+Management/Principles+of+Management/criticism-to-scientific-management.aspx [accessed: 04/02/2010])
Sunday, 31 January 2010
Wednesday, 27 January 2010
Entreprise week event
5% Idea 95% Effort (LetterChocBox)
During Entreprise week i attended 2 events. My favourite one was the second one i attended which was called 5% Idea 95% Effort. At this event a young entrepreneur called Nicolas, gave a presentation of how his business succeeded. Nicolas is from a familly with a entrepreneurial background, and therefore had a lot of knowledge businesswise. He started his first business at 22 and then went on in the alcohol industry couple of years later, where he became bankrupt. However one day he came with the simple idea of sending chocolates through post for any special occasions. This idea was just an idea that any one could have thought of. He invested a lot of money to make this product and to bring it onto the market, and very rapidly demand for his product grew. One year on, he has a turnover of a million pound a year and is currently exporting his product to 20 countries. He is expecting his turnover to be 4 times higher next year (4 million). He has no high costs as his company is virtual, and has no staff. This company is run by four people. (his friends and familly). He told the audiance that "the reward is very big however in order to get that level of reward he has to be constantly working". He has also said that "an entrepreneur has to take risks in new ideas, if you don't take risks you don't have a chance to move up the ladder." The presentation in that Nicolas did included designs of his products, costs he had, The way he marketed and advertised his product, how he is marketing his product in other countries than the U.K. language barriers that he had managed to pass, The way he outsources to keep his business going and reducing costs inmensly. And at the end of the the presentation nicolas told the audience that he brounght samples of his product however he only had 20. He therefore threw them around the room, and the lucky ones would catch em, talking about lucky i managed to catch one, which i shared with the freinds.
By going to this event, it has really made me ware of the real world and how things can be achieved if business rules were followed appropriatly and used cleverly. This entrepreneur is the cleverest person i have met in my life so far. listening to him and his success has made me think businesswise, i have started saving which i never used to do and i take money more seriously. I have already started to think about what i could do after my degree, ways of earning money. This person has really inspired me to think, to be more aware of the business suroundings, and to save money on the long run.
Conclusion:
Nicolas, the entrepreneur, is a very successful businessman who made his success by purely using his brain. Thinking of a simple idea that any one could have thought of, and using his brain cleverly to minimise costs to a maximum, he is now a very wealthy man from being a man in debt due to the failure of his alcohol business. In conclusion, he has inspired me to think more and to look at things in different ways. This person was successful by using his brain, and maybe if more people started using their brains then they could be more wealthier and the world would be a better place.
During Entreprise week i attended 2 events. My favourite one was the second one i attended which was called 5% Idea 95% Effort. At this event a young entrepreneur called Nicolas, gave a presentation of how his business succeeded. Nicolas is from a familly with a entrepreneurial background, and therefore had a lot of knowledge businesswise. He started his first business at 22 and then went on in the alcohol industry couple of years later, where he became bankrupt. However one day he came with the simple idea of sending chocolates through post for any special occasions. This idea was just an idea that any one could have thought of. He invested a lot of money to make this product and to bring it onto the market, and very rapidly demand for his product grew. One year on, he has a turnover of a million pound a year and is currently exporting his product to 20 countries. He is expecting his turnover to be 4 times higher next year (4 million). He has no high costs as his company is virtual, and has no staff. This company is run by four people. (his friends and familly). He told the audiance that "the reward is very big however in order to get that level of reward he has to be constantly working". He has also said that "an entrepreneur has to take risks in new ideas, if you don't take risks you don't have a chance to move up the ladder." The presentation in that Nicolas did included designs of his products, costs he had, The way he marketed and advertised his product, how he is marketing his product in other countries than the U.K. language barriers that he had managed to pass, The way he outsources to keep his business going and reducing costs inmensly. And at the end of the the presentation nicolas told the audience that he brounght samples of his product however he only had 20. He therefore threw them around the room, and the lucky ones would catch em, talking about lucky i managed to catch one, which i shared with the freinds.
By going to this event, it has really made me ware of the real world and how things can be achieved if business rules were followed appropriatly and used cleverly. This entrepreneur is the cleverest person i have met in my life so far. listening to him and his success has made me think businesswise, i have started saving which i never used to do and i take money more seriously. I have already started to think about what i could do after my degree, ways of earning money. This person has really inspired me to think, to be more aware of the business suroundings, and to save money on the long run.
Conclusion:
Nicolas, the entrepreneur, is a very successful businessman who made his success by purely using his brain. Thinking of a simple idea that any one could have thought of, and using his brain cleverly to minimise costs to a maximum, he is now a very wealthy man from being a man in debt due to the failure of his alcohol business. In conclusion, he has inspired me to think more and to look at things in different ways. This person was successful by using his brain, and maybe if more people started using their brains then they could be more wealthier and the world would be a better place.
Sunday, 24 January 2010
Team Working
Successful team work:
A time when i worked in a team which was successful was when i was doing A levels. We had to do a presentation in economics about macro and micro economy. This presentation was very successful. the reason for this is because every one did what they had to do on time, communication was perfect as we were seeing each other at school every day and issues could be discussed during free periods. When we were first assigned this presentation, we didn't know each other and got to know each other very fast. We then concentrated on the main objectives and started to organise to who does what. We were in a group of four and therefore splitted the research and the writing between us. When every one had done their tasks we regrouped together to put what we had found out together and to start creating the presentation. it took us two days to do create the presentation. when all this was finished we had 4 days left ti rehears our presentation, and when the time came every one did their bit and everything went well. in order to build confidence we rehearsed in front of other friends during our free periods.
Tuckman's Theory:
This theory explains how a team works together to complete objectives step by step, from the start to the end. This model was developed by Bruce Tuckman in 1965.
Tuckman's theory includes five stages: Forming, Storming, Norming, Performing and Adjourning. The fifth stage was added to the model later. (teambuilding (2009) Forming - Storming - Norming - Performing)
All the stages:
Forming:
This is the start where the team is created and their task is allocated to them. At this stage team members may not know each other and therefore they will start to get to know each other when planning their task.
Storming:
This is the phase where the team will bring out ideas and may have different opinions from other team members which could lead to conflicts between the team members. It could also be the opposite where team mates support each others ideas and become more close as a result of working together. At this phase there is a risk of ongoing conflicts which may never recover, and at the worst some teams are stuck at this phase and therefore may try something quick and improvised of low quality, just for the sake of of the team.
Norming:
At this stage team members will be more focused towards their objectives and and will try to put everything together. In order to reach this stage, team members will have to understand that working together and contributing towards everything is vital for their success. Hard leadership is needed in between the storming and norming phase.
A time when i worked in a team which was successful was when i was doing A levels. We had to do a presentation in economics about macro and micro economy. This presentation was very successful. the reason for this is because every one did what they had to do on time, communication was perfect as we were seeing each other at school every day and issues could be discussed during free periods. When we were first assigned this presentation, we didn't know each other and got to know each other very fast. We then concentrated on the main objectives and started to organise to who does what. We were in a group of four and therefore splitted the research and the writing between us. When every one had done their tasks we regrouped together to put what we had found out together and to start creating the presentation. it took us two days to do create the presentation. when all this was finished we had 4 days left ti rehears our presentation, and when the time came every one did their bit and everything went well. in order to build confidence we rehearsed in front of other friends during our free periods.
Tuckman's Theory:
This theory explains how a team works together to complete objectives step by step, from the start to the end. This model was developed by Bruce Tuckman in 1965.
Tuckman's theory includes five stages: Forming, Storming, Norming, Performing and Adjourning. The fifth stage was added to the model later. (teambuilding (2009) Forming - Storming - Norming - Performing)
All the stages:
Forming:
This is the start where the team is created and their task is allocated to them. At this stage team members may not know each other and therefore they will start to get to know each other when planning their task.
Storming:
This is the phase where the team will bring out ideas and may have different opinions from other team members which could lead to conflicts between the team members. It could also be the opposite where team mates support each others ideas and become more close as a result of working together. At this phase there is a risk of ongoing conflicts which may never recover, and at the worst some teams are stuck at this phase and therefore may try something quick and improvised of low quality, just for the sake of of the team.
Norming:
At this stage team members will be more focused towards their objectives and and will try to put everything together. In order to reach this stage, team members will have to understand that working together and contributing towards everything is vital for their success. Hard leadership is needed in between the storming and norming phase.
Performing:
This stage is very hard to reach. In order to reach this stage, communication between team members should be very good, all decisions should be made together with minimum conflict. At this phase team members would be performing their task at a very high and professional level
Adjourning:
This is the stage where the project is finished and the team can break up. This is meant to be depressing where the team members have to leave each other, but it could also be a happy moment as not all teams get along and therefore some may be relived that they finished working with a more team members they didn't like. Now days team members often celebrate at the end of a project, probably in my point of view, to the success they gained for the hard work they did.(teambuilding (2009) Forming - Storming - Norming - Performing)
In my own experience i would say that the group i was in managed to get to the norming phase. At the start we planned things, and started to get ideas on how to get past our tasks and got to know each other better, we passed to the storming stage quit quickly. However we did spend some time at the storming stage due to communication problems and in my experience this was a very long and frustrating phase; but we managed to sort things out and moved to the norming stage where we we sat together with all the ideas and every one understood that the task needed to be completed and therefore they got on with the work. unfortunately we didn't make enough effort ti get to the performing stage, however we managed to pass our assignment.2 Companies where team work has highly contributed towards the success of a company:
One company that has been successful using team work is Rackspace Hosting. Rackspace Hosting is a IT company company that delives IT services. They mainly use team work, and care about each other. their colleagues are like family and their work place is enjoyful.
"An 81% My Team factor score ranks the company seventh. Opportunities to have fun and relax together build team spirit as colleagues swing through the tree tops at an outdoor adventure forest or jet off for a weekend abroad. There is a sense of family in teams (78%), colleagues are fun to work with (86%) and really care about each other (84%)."
(business.timesonline (2009) Rackspace Hosting)
Denplan is another company that uses team working for its success. Denplan is is a dental care service and says "Staff give a top 10 factor score of 81% for the My Team category and say that colleagues really care for each other (84%)." In dental practice u see the use of team working now days and by looking at the review, it can be seen that this company has a great team enthusiasm which helps it towards its success.
(busines.timesonlin (2009) Denplan)
Conclusion:
Team working is a really easy way to get tasks completed, however it doesn't always go as good as people say. Conflicts will arise within a team and if these conflicts are not resolved in the interests of the team members involved this may gradually escalate and team members will stop co operating with each other and start to do things their own way and this may bring the team down to a point where they may fail their tasks. On the other hand if the team manages to sort their issues out and get to a level where they co operate with each other, then this will only make their task easire. In conclusion team working gives a real advantage towards the success of a task, however, if not properly done the team may fall giving very bad results.
Reference:
(teambuilding (2009) Forming - Storming - Norming - Performing [online] available at: http://www.teambuilding.co.uk/Forming_Storming_Norming_Performing.html [accessed: 25/01/10])
(business.timesonline (2009) Rackspace Hosting [online] available at: http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/career_and_jobs/best_100_companies/article5703349.ece [accessed: 27/01/10])
(busines.timesonlin (2009) Denplan [online] available at: http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/career_and_jobs/best_100_companies/article5702590.ece [accessed: 27/01/10])
Friday, 8 January 2010
Personality
Personality: is the pattern of collective character, behavioral, temperamental, emotional, and mental traits of a person. (thefreedictionnary (2009) personality)
There are two types of personalities. one as the nature and the other one is the nurture.
Nature:
This states that peoples personalities and behaviour are inherited and evlove as the genes evolve, and therefore a persons personality is made up from the previous generations personalities (familly). (buzzle (2009) nature vs nurtur theories)
Nurture:
This states that a person has no personality when they ae born and that as a person grows they
personality will be developped through their influences with other people, their environment, their beliefs wether religious or political and so on.
There is a nice explanation on the net about this topic on the link below, i would recomend any that don't understand this topic to view. its simple and understandable.
http://www.buzzle.com/editorials/9-1-2005-75919.asp
The other views are the nomothetic and the idiographic view.
The nomothetic view:
This view suggests that people have more or less the same types of personalities, however the way their traits structured is unique and that is the only unique thing about a persons personality. (wilderdom (2009) personality traits)
The idiographic view:
This view on the other hands states that every person have their unique sets of traits and it is impossible to compare some ones personality to another person. (wilderdom (2009) personality traits)
In my point of view the nurtur is more domineant as i believe that peoples personalities develops through the environment they are in and the influence around them. for example a person that hangs around with gangsters will have an attitude and do what ever he wants to do where as a person that has been educated and hangs around with decent people will have manners respect others, give a chance to others. therefore i believe that personality is more to do with the influence and evironment around us.
Online tests:
I did both of the tests and they are alright but not that accurate on my personality, i am more of laid back guy but consider to finish my priorities first before laying back.
the second test was more accurate i believe.
I wouldn't recomend these tests to use as a selection tool as it may be wrong and employers relying on these tests may get the wrong person for the job. People can also easily lie on these tests and therefore it is not reliable.
Conclusion:
Personality is something that, in my point of view arises through the surrounding and experiences and influence of other people around us. personality of a person can always change, that is why people say: "people change" and therefore in conclusion, the nurtur view is more dominant in our society than the nature one.
Rreferences:
(thefreedictionary (2009) personality [online] available at: http://www.thefreedictionary.com/personality [accessed: 08/01/10])
(buzzle (2009) nature vs nurture theories [online] available at: http://www.buzzle.com/editorials/9-1-2005-75919.asp [accessed: 08/01/10])
There are two types of personalities. one as the nature and the other one is the nurture.
Nature:
This states that peoples personalities and behaviour are inherited and evlove as the genes evolve, and therefore a persons personality is made up from the previous generations personalities (familly). (buzzle (2009) nature vs nurtur theories)
Nurture:
This states that a person has no personality when they ae born and that as a person grows they
personality will be developped through their influences with other people, their environment, their beliefs wether religious or political and so on.
There is a nice explanation on the net about this topic on the link below, i would recomend any that don't understand this topic to view. its simple and understandable.
http://www.buzzle.com/editorials/9-1-2005-75919.asp
The other views are the nomothetic and the idiographic view.
The nomothetic view:
This view suggests that people have more or less the same types of personalities, however the way their traits structured is unique and that is the only unique thing about a persons personality. (wilderdom (2009) personality traits)
The idiographic view:
This view on the other hands states that every person have their unique sets of traits and it is impossible to compare some ones personality to another person. (wilderdom (2009) personality traits)
In my point of view the nurtur is more domineant as i believe that peoples personalities develops through the environment they are in and the influence around them. for example a person that hangs around with gangsters will have an attitude and do what ever he wants to do where as a person that has been educated and hangs around with decent people will have manners respect others, give a chance to others. therefore i believe that personality is more to do with the influence and evironment around us.
Online tests:
I did both of the tests and they are alright but not that accurate on my personality, i am more of laid back guy but consider to finish my priorities first before laying back.
the second test was more accurate i believe.
I wouldn't recomend these tests to use as a selection tool as it may be wrong and employers relying on these tests may get the wrong person for the job. People can also easily lie on these tests and therefore it is not reliable.
Conclusion:
Personality is something that, in my point of view arises through the surrounding and experiences and influence of other people around us. personality of a person can always change, that is why people say: "people change" and therefore in conclusion, the nurtur view is more dominant in our society than the nature one.
Rreferences:
(thefreedictionary (2009) personality [online] available at: http://www.thefreedictionary.com/personality [accessed: 08/01/10])
(buzzle (2009) nature vs nurture theories [online] available at: http://www.buzzle.com/editorials/9-1-2005-75919.asp [accessed: 08/01/10])
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