Beginner's Guide to Management Essentials: All You Need to Know

The first theory and management practice developed by Tomas Bata and his associates was adopted by the western world during 1905–1932. Bata introduced fundamental changes in management philosophy and techniques, and his principles are embodied in the following: 

• “Our customer – our master.”
• Thinking to the people – labor to the machines.
• The best quality at the lowest prices.
• The best in the world is good enough for us.
• “Every employee is a capitalist”.

However, then came the barriers to implementation. As the organisation grows and the business environment becomes more complex, there is a greater demand for strategic planning. All the employees in the organisation need to understand the direction and the corporate mission of the organisation. Organisations that are able to adopt a disciplined approach to strategic planning evolve successfully as the market changes.

Business risks
Business organisations face a variety of risks and challenges that must be dealt with every day. Some of the risks and challenges are obvious and include the need to maintain demand for products and services, manage resources, and make strategic decisions such as changing or expanding the operation. Some other risks are less obvious but are critical for business success. The risks faced by organisations depend on the type of business. 

Various types are:

Clarify Organisation’s Mission and Values 
The mission statement defines the purpose of the organization. A proper stakeholder analysis is conducted to generate answers to the following questions: 

• Who are our customers?
• What are their needs?
• How can the organization enhance customer satisfaction?

Identify Organisational Mandates 
During this step, relevant regulations, policies, ordinances, charters, articles and contracts that have an influence on the organisation are identified to determine their influence on the organisation and the restrictions placed on it.

Strategy Formulation

• Establish Strategic direction:
  • defines the goals that the company wants to reach;
  • indicates where resources need to be allocated; and
  • focuses on strategic goals as a priority.
• Prioritise resources allocation: Effective allocation of human, financial and material resources.
• Establish standards of excellence: The organisation is able to establish shared values and standards of excellence.
• Meet the challenges of changing the external environment: The strategic plan is flexible enough to manage contingencies for uncertainty and change.
• Establish a basis for control and evaluation: Strategic planning allows the organisation to monitor success and failures. Performance measurements or monitoring of strategic objectives and action plans act as control mechanisms.

Mapping process: This approach is used when the planning team needs or desires to express the relationship among the various options in order to demonstrate how they fit together as a part of a pattern. The approach is to: 

• Generate multiple options for addressing each strategic issue, expressed in terms of action.
• Link the various options using arrows to indicate how they influence each other – each option may be a part of more than one chain.
• The outcome is a map of cause and effect or a means to an ended relationship.
• The options at the end of the chain of arrows are possible goals or even mission statements.

Failure of strategy implementation

• Lack of clarity of implementation
• The stakeholders do not understand the strategy
• The responsibilities have not been clarified
• The hurdles are not recognized
• Commitment from stakeholders diminishes when the strategy is implemented.

The company’s strategy has a strong impact on its competitive advantage. Although it is an exhaustive and time-consuming process, it creates new energy, new ideas and teamwork.

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