How to make decisions

Decisions are never made on a spur of the moment and even if they are they would not be considered robust decisions from any angle. The reason for the necessity of a decision to be robust and well thought out is quite logical. Without any clear thought or planning going in to a decision there are no considerations about what the after effects of that decision would be in the long run.

There is an imperative need for decisions to be based to sound and provable data which can be gathered from a number of tools such as the ones used by my team members and I in the WaveRiders presentation.

However, there should be a consideration of the fact that financial data is not the only data which should be considered when making such big decisions for a company such as WaveRiders. There should be considerations of long term goals etc.

Aasma Sagheer : 20 Apr 2013 13:18 |  Tags: Rdm |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Uncertainty

It seems every company you come across these days is in the pursuit to avoid the unknown. Every company has this fear of some of an unknown event happening which would tarnish the productivity of the company. It is obvious that in order to avoid such uncertainty companies employ certain techniques and methodologies which allow them to be avoided.

It is necessary for management to be well informed about all the current situations internally and externally of the company in order to be able to judge what strategy to adopt.

It is necessary to make the right decisions in the beginning in order to avoid any hassles during production or in the end.

Aasma Sagheer : 17 Apr 2013 14:14 |  Tags: Rdm |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Respect!

WaveRiders as a company (the way I have depicted it to be in my PMA) is quite lagging in its leadership style as it does not empower the workforce to be creative and innovative in its approach.

If anything, MBE has taught me (up till now) the value of the workforce and how they need to be treated fairly in order for an organization to gain long-term success. No company or organization can gain success with an unhappy workforce. There will be no creativity or will to work within an organization if this was the case.

It’s fairly logical. Observing organizations with a high turn over of employees it is obvious it is because the workforce is not happy and wishes to find better means of employment. Gone are the days when money used to hold highest value when it came to worker motivation.

Scientific management is quite outdates even though some of its principles are still applicable in most countries today it developed economies they are less likely to work.

In todays highly educated and fast paced work environment organizations need to LEAD their work force and not manage them like cattle. Workers need to be inspired to motivate them to work. Money is not the answer to everything.

Leaders need to realize the necessity of being an inspiration to their subordinates and to involve them in every phase of the company’s progress towards success.

In my opinion, managers and leaders should treat their workforce the way they would WANT to be treated in order to make them more motivated in the long run.

Aasma Sagheer : 23 Mar 2013 17:16 |  Tags: Le |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Leaders and the workforce

If anything, the evolution of the workforce has taught us it is that no workforce can be forced to become more efficient from the use of threats by management. The workforce has rights and over the past century they have become more aware of their rights and it is due to this reason that the classical styles of management do not apply to today’s workforce or work environment.

There needs to be a good relationship between the leaders and the workforce in order for efficiency to occur. This is not just the opinion of one scholar. It is the opinion of a majority of modern scholars in the field of management of the workforce.

The workforce needs to feel appreciated by their leaders in order for them to put their best efforts in to the success of a company. If there is no trust then there will be no way the workforce would try to improve its performance in the long run.

Aasma Sagheer : 21 Mar 2013 16:36 |  Tags: Le |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Leadership styles from the top to bottom

According to DuBrin (2007), the Transformational leaders role in the way an organization is transformed is by the following methods:

1. Raising people’s awareness
2. Helping people look beyond self interests
3. Help people search for self-fulfilment
4. Help people understand need for change
5. Invests managers with a sense of urgency
6. Committed to greatness
7. Adopt broad perspective
8. Build trust
9. Concentrate resources where most needed

In my opinion these 9 roles of a transformational leader are the stepping stones of what makes an ideal leader and how that leader empowers the workforce and creates a sense of trust and mutual goals between the leader and the workforce.

The workforce should be able to trust the leader if it is to work hard and devote all its energy in making the organization perform better. There needs to be an environment of teamwork and not to achieve selfish interests of the individuals in the organization.

This method of leadership is far superior to most of the methods of leadership out there as the leader tries to address the workforce as team members and to try to create a sense of mutual goals which should be achieved not out of the need for monetary gains for the workers but because they want to perform better and make their leaders aim achievable.

Reference: DuBrin, A. J., 2007. Leadership: Research Findings, Practice and Skills. 5th Edition ed. New York: Houghton Mifflin Company .

Aasma Sagheer : 19 Mar 2013 20:38 |  Tags: Le |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Manager or Leader? How important it is to spot the difference

There are an abundance of leadership theories out there but not all are applicable to the WaveRiders Company and how its management can be made effective.

In my scenario I have described the character of both the WaveRIders CEO and director to build a background picture on which I shall base my reasoning as to which style of leadership or approach would best suit the organization in achieving success through efficient and effective leadership.

I would first like to classify the difference between a manager and a leader as most people would consider them t o be the same when in fact they are NOT!

According to Bennis & Nanus (1985), a manager is someone who makes the workers perform more efficiently. On the other hand a leader is someone who is effective and motivates a workforce and inspires them in achieving a certain goal.

So as you can see there is a clear difference between the two and this is why a leader is so important in an organization to guide the workforce towards efficiency and innovation in the long run.

Based on this I have come to realize how important it is to be an effective leader for the success of an organization in the long run. Organizations tend to focus on the cost of production and other such factors in order to make the organization more effective.

In my opinion through all the literature I have gone through there is a reason why the behaviour of the workforce and its contribution to the organization is so important. The workforce should be able to contribute to the organization in order for innovation and efficiency to come about. And this is only possible is the leader creates an environment within the organization which would promote efficiency and learning within the organization.

Aasma Sagheer : 10 Mar 2013 16:31 |  Tags: Le |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Make a robust decision today and safeguard the future of an organization for tomorrow

There are several types of decisions which an organization can make in order to safeguard itself in the long run against external factors which are not in their control such as the business environment, market trends, customer preference, interest rate fluctuations etc.

These decisions can be categorized as:

• Trial and error
• Conditional
• Delayed
• Cautious
• Made in stages

It basically depends on organizations which one they choose to apply to their organization.

The style of making a decision used by the WaveRiders Company was one which was systematic in its approach. My team and I tried to take in to consideration all the options in front of us such as the market condition, location of factory and the various other factors.

Through this systematic approach the NPV and Decision tree methods of estimating the ideal location were very useful. These methods gave us a clear idea of which location was the most ideal in terms of long term profit and avoiding risk of failure.

The marketing of the new product was considered very crucial to the success of the new product as it is necessary to make a product known to the potential customer. Several methods were considered and the best ones were chosen using the GRID analysis and SWOT analysis.

All in all I feel that to make a robust and effective decision for the long term benefit of ones company it is crucial to look at the numbers, market conditions, economic conditions and have the ability to perceive where the companies standing will be in the future.

Aasma Sagheer : 10 Mar 2013 16:01 |  Tags: Rdm |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Tackling Uncertainties

Robust decisions are generally decisions which are able to tackle uncertainties an organization might be faced with. These uncertainties might be market trends etc. It all depends from company to company.

The main aim for management is to make decisions in light of any uncertainties that may or may not take place in the companies near or distant future. A robust decisions is exactly as what it is named as… “ROBUST” it should be able to tackle these problems so that management is not faced with any new challenges during the course of a products life cycle.

In our decision my tam members and I were able to make a robust decision based on pure facts, figures and logic.

We choose Lymington as it is the least risky if the targets not achieved and even considering all the probabilities using the decision tree we came to the same conclusion.

It is vital that in order to arrive at the best possible decision that the company be assessed thoroughly with its strengths and weaknesses.

Aasma Sagheer : 07 Mar 2013 23:19 |  Tags: Rdm |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Dont judge a book by its cover!

When we started of the RDM course and were handed the briefing sheet for Waveriders. My team members and I read it carefully but decided to go with the option of Exmouth instead of Lymington because at the time it seemed like the most feasible option.

It was only afterwards that when we started to sit in our group discussions and started to work out the numbers and the logic of the two options for the locations that it struck us that we ony made a decision on the face value of both the locations.

Starting off with the decision tree we began to realize which option seemed more logical cost wise. It should be noted that that is the essence of what this decision will be based on as there is no point in choosing an expensive option if it will not even work.

We then moved on the cost benefit analysis which was calculated using the NPV with the data provided in the briefing sheet. The decision we came to was supported by both the decision tree and the CBE we conducted.

Furthermore we used SWOT, Grid and PESTLE in order to figure out how best to market out product in order to gain most sales. The SWOT helped us determine the internal and external weaknesses of our organization.

Aasma Sagheer : 05 Mar 2013 18:04 |  Tags: Rdm |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Alternatives

The methods of Decision trees and the cost benefit analysis are great methods in helping my team and I decide which location to choose, Exmouth or lymington.

Without analysing the locations and the various costs and benefits in both it would not be a robust decision. Robust decisions as far as I have observed up till now consist of strategy, psychology and practicality. The project we are currently working on gives us a mere glimpse in to what would be expected of us in real life.

Making decisions with such a huge amount of money riding on it cannot be made with the mere flip on a coin and his module is teaching us exactly that. The road to practicality is through observing the case and using all the knowledge available to look at alternatives etc and then make a clear decision.

Aasma Sagheer : 03 Mar 2013 23:52 |  Tags: Rdm |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem