Throughout my studies of organization, I have learned that the managers role has a lot more to it than just keeping a schedule and a tidy workplace. When it comes to organization in an organization, I have learned that managers must ensure that they are maintaining resources, and using these resources in an effective manner. Managers must also take note of the human resources sides of organization. For example, they must know how to build an efficient workforce, and then learn how to manage an effective workforce. Through all of this organization that managers must do, I have learned just how important the organization aspect of a company is.
- Sayuz
Wednesday, October 17, 2018
Building Human Capital and Driving Performance
In order for a manager to effectively use his or her workforce, the manager will need to build human capital in an efficient manner that will allow employees to live up to their full potential. Daft and Marcic define human capital as "the economic value of the combined knowledge, expertise, skills, and capabilities of employees." (Daft & Marcic, p. 309) Looking at myself as an organization, I can build my own human capital be gaining more knowledge and skills in certain areas. This can be done through classes that I take at school, such as this one that teaches me about the Fundamentals of Management. I can gain more experience and skills by joining various clubs that are offered, or obtaining a leadership position of sorts. Managers at organizations typically build human capital by finding the best talents and increasing their skills through training programs and other opportunities. To drive performance, further actions must be taken. As an organization myself, I can drive my own performance by incentivizing tasks. For example, I might reward myself for a couple of hours of studying with an hour of a video game break. This can translate directly to an organization with managers incentivizing employees with salaries and bonuses.
Further going on the lines about building an effective workforce, it is important to take note of the changing social contract. In the past, employees could "contribute ability, education, loyalty, and commitment and expect in return that the company would provide wages and benefits, work, advancement, and training throughout the employee's working life." (Daft & Marcic, p. 314) In short, employees were guaranteed certain positions and promotions in the past. Looking at the organizational climate today, it is more likely that something in the corporation could happen that could prevent these actions for the employees. For example, a company might go out of business, or be acquired by another company. In these cases, the employee might be let go by the company. Other factors that have led to the loss of positions in organizations include downsizing, outsourcing, rightsizing, and restructuring. This changing social contract both makes sense to me, but is also stressful in other regards. For example, stability in a job is something that I would value. However, i understand that working in other organizations can lead to development and growth in a person, which is another virtue that I like. While stability is a nice comfort to have, there is a fair trade-off when it comes to the growth of an employee. This is why I believe the changing social contract is not too bad of a thing for employees to worry about.
The last important factor in human resources is maintaining an effective workforce and managing diversity in the workplace. Daft and Marcic state that the key way to maintain an effective workforce "involves compensation, wage and salary systems, benefits, and occasional terminations." (Daft & Marcic, p. 329) I believe that all of these systems hold true, and can be related into my own life as well. To remain efficient while I am doing work, I like to allow myself some sort of wage, such as a short break time. Organizations can also keep up efforts of employees by offering bonuses for accomplishing some tasks. Diversity in the workplace is also important for the culture of the organization. The diversity can be broadened and managed in an organization by creating environments in which everyone feels welcome. Keeping diversity is important because it will allow for new perspectives and new ideas. I keep myself diverse in my life by being open to people no matter what their background is. I like to listen to everyone and keep new ideas in my life, which is what managers do in a diverse organization.
- Sayuz
Sources:
Daft, Richard L. Management. 9th ed., Cengage Learning, 2018.
Further going on the lines about building an effective workforce, it is important to take note of the changing social contract. In the past, employees could "contribute ability, education, loyalty, and commitment and expect in return that the company would provide wages and benefits, work, advancement, and training throughout the employee's working life." (Daft & Marcic, p. 314) In short, employees were guaranteed certain positions and promotions in the past. Looking at the organizational climate today, it is more likely that something in the corporation could happen that could prevent these actions for the employees. For example, a company might go out of business, or be acquired by another company. In these cases, the employee might be let go by the company. Other factors that have led to the loss of positions in organizations include downsizing, outsourcing, rightsizing, and restructuring. This changing social contract both makes sense to me, but is also stressful in other regards. For example, stability in a job is something that I would value. However, i understand that working in other organizations can lead to development and growth in a person, which is another virtue that I like. While stability is a nice comfort to have, there is a fair trade-off when it comes to the growth of an employee. This is why I believe the changing social contract is not too bad of a thing for employees to worry about.
The last important factor in human resources is maintaining an effective workforce and managing diversity in the workplace. Daft and Marcic state that the key way to maintain an effective workforce "involves compensation, wage and salary systems, benefits, and occasional terminations." (Daft & Marcic, p. 329) I believe that all of these systems hold true, and can be related into my own life as well. To remain efficient while I am doing work, I like to allow myself some sort of wage, such as a short break time. Organizations can also keep up efforts of employees by offering bonuses for accomplishing some tasks. Diversity in the workplace is also important for the culture of the organization. The diversity can be broadened and managed in an organization by creating environments in which everyone feels welcome. Keeping diversity is important because it will allow for new perspectives and new ideas. I keep myself diverse in my life by being open to people no matter what their background is. I like to listen to everyone and keep new ideas in my life, which is what managers do in a diverse organization.
- Sayuz
Sources:
Daft, Richard L. Management. 9th ed., Cengage Learning, 2018.
Creativity
Growing up, I was always a creative child. My creativity first appeared in school with my art work in early elementary school. At home, this would also translate to building cool structures out of Legos, as well as building my own Hot Wheels tracks. Looking a little further down the line, my creativity came out in the form of music. I played both guitar and violin from an early age, and I would frequently do a little improvisation with various chords until I found a group of them that sounded good together. Now, I like to write my own lyrics to rap over beats. I am also very interested in coding, and my efforts with making programs are a bit more creative than other people's. In fact, when I am tasked with a programming objective, I like to think of various approaches before I start to code my idea.
Creativity is an important virtue in any organization. As Daft and Marcic have stated, more and more organizations have been trying to build creativity by allowing "an internal culture of playfulness, freedom, challenge, and grass-roots participation." (Daft & Marcic, p. 281) In fact, managers at Google have even allowed employees to spend 20 percent of their time working on any project they choose so that creativity will remain alive. An abundance of creativity will allow new ideas and technologies to become established in this world, which will make life easier and can allow for further efficiency as well. By remaining creative, new innovations will continue to come about, and this world will evolve for the better.
- Sayuz
Sources:
Daft, Richard L. Management. 9th ed., Cengage Learning, 2018.
Creativity is an important virtue in any organization. As Daft and Marcic have stated, more and more organizations have been trying to build creativity by allowing "an internal culture of playfulness, freedom, challenge, and grass-roots participation." (Daft & Marcic, p. 281) In fact, managers at Google have even allowed employees to spend 20 percent of their time working on any project they choose so that creativity will remain alive. An abundance of creativity will allow new ideas and technologies to become established in this world, which will make life easier and can allow for further efficiency as well. By remaining creative, new innovations will continue to come about, and this world will evolve for the better.
- Sayuz
Sources:
Daft, Richard L. Management. 9th ed., Cengage Learning, 2018.
New Ideas or Behaviors
Growing up, I have always kept an open ear for new ideas. I believe that sometimes the best idea lies in the mind of someone other than yourself. I have always lived in diverse towns, which includes hearing all sorts of different ideas. In some instances, I will agree with what I have heard and be thankful that I was able to hear this idea, since I might not have came up with it myself. In my courses at university, I am exposed to new ideas on a daily basis.
Being able to listen to new ideas and even adopt some is a critical skill every successful manager has. Managerial implications of listening to new ideas include having a more efficient time running an organization. Since the manager of an organization is most in charge of implementing new ideas, it is important for a manager to be open to these ideas. This will also lead to a more inclusive feel for the employees as they will feel like their opinions are being heard.
As a manager myself, just because I am open to new ideas from other sources, this does not mean I would implement any idea thrown at me. It is important to think and discuss all of these ideas, but if the person proposing the idea has background information on what the implications of these new ideas could be, then it would be easier for me as a manager to accept and implement these ideas.
When it comes to change in any circumstance, whether it is a change in personal routine or one in an organization, it is important to critically analyze what effects this change could have. Daft and Marcic believe that "implementing change is typically one of the most difficult aspects of management," (Daft & Marcic, p. 291) and this is true because some managers are especially resistant to change. Daft and Marcic share a similar viewpoint as me when they state that the main reasons for resistance to change to be a lack of understanding, varying goals, and uncertainty. (Daft & Marcic, p. 292) Looking at these reasons, the biggest underlying factor for my resistance to change is a lack if==of understanding. If I do not have any knowledge about the outcomes that a certain decision will bring, then I would be more hesitant to take that action. However, with enough background information on actions, I will be more susceptible to making changes.
- Sayuz
Sources:
Daft, Richard L. Management. 9th ed., Cengage Learning, 2018.
Being able to listen to new ideas and even adopt some is a critical skill every successful manager has. Managerial implications of listening to new ideas include having a more efficient time running an organization. Since the manager of an organization is most in charge of implementing new ideas, it is important for a manager to be open to these ideas. This will also lead to a more inclusive feel for the employees as they will feel like their opinions are being heard.
As a manager myself, just because I am open to new ideas from other sources, this does not mean I would implement any idea thrown at me. It is important to think and discuss all of these ideas, but if the person proposing the idea has background information on what the implications of these new ideas could be, then it would be easier for me as a manager to accept and implement these ideas.
When it comes to change in any circumstance, whether it is a change in personal routine or one in an organization, it is important to critically analyze what effects this change could have. Daft and Marcic believe that "implementing change is typically one of the most difficult aspects of management," (Daft & Marcic, p. 291) and this is true because some managers are especially resistant to change. Daft and Marcic share a similar viewpoint as me when they state that the main reasons for resistance to change to be a lack of understanding, varying goals, and uncertainty. (Daft & Marcic, p. 292) Looking at these reasons, the biggest underlying factor for my resistance to change is a lack if==of understanding. If I do not have any knowledge about the outcomes that a certain decision will bring, then I would be more hesitant to take that action. However, with enough background information on actions, I will be more susceptible to making changes.
- Sayuz
Sources:
Daft, Richard L. Management. 9th ed., Cengage Learning, 2018.
My Resources
Going back to the definition of organizing, one of the aspects of the definition is the deployment of organizational resources. As the manager of my organization, I will have to deploy my available resources in such a way that I can efficiently and effectively accomplish my plans and goals. Looking at what I am best at, I can say that I like to approach objectives from numerous different angles, which gives me a cross-functional way of deploying my resources. When working on a task at hand, instead of using only one resources, I like to use a combination in order to efficiently accomplish the task. For example, in school when I am working on programming assignments, most of my peers mostly use their knowledge as a big resource. I on the other hand like to combine this resource with that of creativity, so that I might find a solution that is more efficient. By using cross-functional resources, I am not limited to creating solutions just one specific way. In fact, this deployment strategy assists in furthering my thinking and finding solutions I might not have thought of before. This is similar to how Daft and Marcic explain cross-functional teams in the organization of a company. Daft and Marcic describe how these teams consist of employees from various functional departments and resolve mutual problems. (Daft & Marcic, p. 255-256) Through the use of this team, resources are not being limited to only the knowledge of one department, but rather the knowledge from various different fields.
Although this seems like a set plan when it comes to deploying these resources, I know that there will come times in which something might get in the way of this plan. For example, matrix approaches can lead to frustration and confusion from dual chain of command, which can result in many meetings with more discussion than actions. (Daft & Marcic, p. 258) Since I am the only one in the organization, this will not be a problem for me, since I will be making all of the decisions myself. When looking at other structural approaches, such as the divisional approach, it will be more difficult to cope or guard against the disadvantages. Some of these disadvantages include "less technical depth and specialization." (Daft & Marcic, p. 258) In order to cope with this, I will need to recognize when there is a need for further specialization. In these cases, I will have to shift what resources I am using, and in some instances use more of one resource than another. This goes to show that one way to cope against disadvantages of deploying resources includes flexibility. I need to acknowledge that there is more than one way to accomplish tasks, and some ways might involve shifting my resources to focus more heavily on one. I know through doing this, I will be able to effectively cope with any resource deployment problems that may arise.
- Sayuz
Sources:
Daft, Richard L. Management. 9th ed., Cengage Learning, 2018.
Although this seems like a set plan when it comes to deploying these resources, I know that there will come times in which something might get in the way of this plan. For example, matrix approaches can lead to frustration and confusion from dual chain of command, which can result in many meetings with more discussion than actions. (Daft & Marcic, p. 258) Since I am the only one in the organization, this will not be a problem for me, since I will be making all of the decisions myself. When looking at other structural approaches, such as the divisional approach, it will be more difficult to cope or guard against the disadvantages. Some of these disadvantages include "less technical depth and specialization." (Daft & Marcic, p. 258) In order to cope with this, I will need to recognize when there is a need for further specialization. In these cases, I will have to shift what resources I am using, and in some instances use more of one resource than another. This goes to show that one way to cope against disadvantages of deploying resources includes flexibility. I need to acknowledge that there is more than one way to accomplish tasks, and some ways might involve shifting my resources to focus more heavily on one. I know through doing this, I will be able to effectively cope with any resource deployment problems that may arise.
- Sayuz
Sources:
Daft, Richard L. Management. 9th ed., Cengage Learning, 2018.
Organization
A large factor when it comes to efficient management is the organization of how a company is handled. Daft and Marcic define organizing to be "the deployment of organizational resources to achieve strategic goals." (Daft & Marcic, p. 244) Since organization is a key tool for managers, there are numerous different organizing principles, as well as concepts. Using these organizing principles we can form an organizational structure. Looking at myself as both the manager, and all aspects of the organization, I am organized in a very high central authoritarian way. This is simply because as the manager of myself, I make all of the decisions that I will enact upon. Another factor in the organization of a company is the departmentalization of it. This is defined by Daft and Marcic to be "the basis for grouping positions into departments and departments into total organization." (Daft & Marcic, p. 250) Among the numerous types of decentralization approaches, I believe I follow most closely to the matrix approach, which takes aspects from both the functional and the divisional structures simultaneously. I am involved in various different activities, such as schoolwork, jobs, and extra-curricular activities. While these can be seen as divisional groupings because of how each activity is within its own sub-group, it turns out that some of the skills needed for one activity can be shared with another. This is why I believe as an organization, I follow the matrix approach of organizing and decentralization.
- Sayuz
Sources:
Daft, Richard L. Management. 9th ed., Cengage Learning, 2018.
- Sayuz
Sources:
Daft, Richard L. Management. 9th ed., Cengage Learning, 2018.
Wednesday, October 3, 2018
Summary and Synthesis
After studying the fundamentals of planning and applying them to my own life, the biggest take-away for me is just how important the planning process of goal setting and achieving is. This applies both to an organization, as well as to my own goals. I have described numerous different planning methods, along with what these plans look like in regards to my own, which helps give me a basis to go into when trying to accomplish my goal. Since I have plans of action to follow, I have no doubt that I will be able to successfully accomplish my goal, as well as any other goals that I set in the future.
- Sayuz
- Sayuz
Bad Decision Making
Since there are many opportunities in ones life to make decisions, there will come times when a bad decision is made. While one will always be faced with the potential to make a bad decision, these decisions are easier to avoid with some knowledge about why these decisions are made. According to Daft and Marcic, there are factors to know about that can help avoid these, such as, "being influenced by initial impressions, justifying past decisions, seeing what you want to see, perpetuating the status quo, being influenced by problem framing, and overconfidence." (Daft and Marcic, p. 227-228) The biggest of these factors for myself to take account of is overconfidence. There have been times in the past where I was fully confident that I understood all of the implications of a choice, only to realize later that I failed to think about other factors. To combat this, I know I will have to take more time when making important decisions, as well as listen to the ideas of more people so as I have more information about the problem at hand. By translating these managerial decision making factors into my own life, I know that I will have more success in avoiding making bad decisions.
- Sayuz
Sources:
Daft, Richard L. Management. 9th ed., Cengage Learning, 2018.
Decision Making Model
Managers have a bevy of different decision making models to assist them with running an organization. These models include the classical model, administrative model, and political model. My preferred model for decision making out of these three is the classical model, which is defined to be "based on rational economic assumptions and manager beliefs about what ideal decision making should be." (Daft & Marcic, p. 217) This model follows four underlying assumptions that focus heavily on what I emphasized about the way that I choose to make decisions in my previous post. Primarily, this model follows logic and makes rational decisions that are well formulated and thought through. Although this is seen as the ideal, rational model for most managers and organizations to follow, it is often unattainable in the real world. The biggest weakness of this model is that it does not necessarily describe how managers actually make their decisions, but instead it emphasizes how they should make them. I do not think this is that difficult to overcome because since I am in charge of my own decisions and decision making process, I am able to more effectively follow this model. Moreover, this model can serve as a guideline for decision making in organizations, which will help with the success of the organization.
- Sayuz
Sources:
Daft, Richard L. Management. 9th ed., Cengage Learning, 2018.
Programmed v. Non-programmed
For managers, most of their decisions turn out to be in one of two categories: programmed and non-programmed. Daft and Marcic define programmed decisions to "involve situations that have occurred often enough to enable decision rules to be developed and applied in the future." (Daft & Marcic, p. 214) In this case, programmed decisions are those that typically are routine decisions and do not have as large of implications as a non-programmed decision would. Non-programmed decisions are defined as being "made in response to situations that are unique, are poorly defined and largely unstructured, and have important consequences for the organization." (Daft & Marcic, p. 214-215)
Looking at my own life and the decisions I have to make, I would say I have a fair balance of both programmed and non-programmed decisions I make. For the most part, it seems that my non-programmed decisions have bigger factors for uncertainty in terms of implications that could come from it, so these are the decisions that I spend more time making. For instance, some non-programmed decisions I will need to make include what classes I want to take to further strengthen my skills, or what company I want to work for when I graduate. Since I like to keep myself fairly organized and my life scheduled, I do make a great deal of programmed decisions as well such as knowing that I need to spend certain hours a day studying for a test, or knowing when to start my assignments so that I get them done in a timely manner.
- Sayuz
Sources:
Daft, Richard L. Management. 9th ed., Cengage Learning, 2018.
Looking at my own life and the decisions I have to make, I would say I have a fair balance of both programmed and non-programmed decisions I make. For the most part, it seems that my non-programmed decisions have bigger factors for uncertainty in terms of implications that could come from it, so these are the decisions that I spend more time making. For instance, some non-programmed decisions I will need to make include what classes I want to take to further strengthen my skills, or what company I want to work for when I graduate. Since I like to keep myself fairly organized and my life scheduled, I do make a great deal of programmed decisions as well such as knowing that I need to spend certain hours a day studying for a test, or knowing when to start my assignments so that I get them done in a timely manner.
- Sayuz
Sources:
Daft, Richard L. Management. 9th ed., Cengage Learning, 2018.
Decision Making Approach
In the organizational world, managers are tasked with making decisions all the time. As the manager of my own organization, I will more often than not have to make decisions myself that could either positively or negatively impact me and my surroundings. In the words of Daft and Marcic, "decision making is the process of identifying problems and opportunities and then resolving them." (Daft & Marcic, p. 214) Below, I will state my approach to decision making.
When it comes to making important decisions, I do not rush into one choice right away. Surely easy things such as what I want to eat for lunch can be decided on the spot, but decisions that have a greater impact on me, my future, and those around me are treated with much more thinking. When having to make a decision, I like to be able to find out more than one scenario in dealing with a certain problem. I greatly value the ideas of others, because I believe that there is always someone who knows a little bit more about the topic than yourselves. James Ryan once said in his Harvard Business Review, "We listen just long enough to form a quick opinion, and then we either endorse or oppose what has been said." (Ryan) By opening myself up to the thoughts that other people might have, I am allowing myself to think critically about my choices. By seeking out all of the information about my decision and all of the implications that come with it, I will have a greater understanding about what path to take. Daft and Marcic once said that managers must take accountability for their actions in order to be a great manager, and likewise, once I come to a decision, I will take on full accountability for the repercussions of it. Another factor that defines my decision making process is that once I make a decision, I will stand by it. At the point where I make a decision, I will be firm in my belief in it being the best choice because I will have done numerous evaluations and applied a lot of critical thinking to my choices.
- Sayuz
Sources:
Daft, Richard L. Management. 9th ed., Cengage Learning, 2018.
Ryan, James E. “5 Questions Leaders Should Be Asking All the Time.” Harvard Business Review, 29 Aug. 2017, hbr.org/2017/04/5-questions-leaders-should-be-asking-all-the-time?utm_campaign=hbr&utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social.
When it comes to making important decisions, I do not rush into one choice right away. Surely easy things such as what I want to eat for lunch can be decided on the spot, but decisions that have a greater impact on me, my future, and those around me are treated with much more thinking. When having to make a decision, I like to be able to find out more than one scenario in dealing with a certain problem. I greatly value the ideas of others, because I believe that there is always someone who knows a little bit more about the topic than yourselves. James Ryan once said in his Harvard Business Review, "We listen just long enough to form a quick opinion, and then we either endorse or oppose what has been said." (Ryan) By opening myself up to the thoughts that other people might have, I am allowing myself to think critically about my choices. By seeking out all of the information about my decision and all of the implications that come with it, I will have a greater understanding about what path to take. Daft and Marcic once said that managers must take accountability for their actions in order to be a great manager, and likewise, once I come to a decision, I will take on full accountability for the repercussions of it. Another factor that defines my decision making process is that once I make a decision, I will stand by it. At the point where I make a decision, I will be firm in my belief in it being the best choice because I will have done numerous evaluations and applied a lot of critical thinking to my choices.
- Sayuz
Sources:
Daft, Richard L. Management. 9th ed., Cengage Learning, 2018.
Ryan, James E. “5 Questions Leaders Should Be Asking All the Time.” Harvard Business Review, 29 Aug. 2017, hbr.org/2017/04/5-questions-leaders-should-be-asking-all-the-time?utm_campaign=hbr&utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social.
Environmental Implications
Although I have a goal in place with different plans set to help me accomplish it, unexpected situations can happen at a moments notice in the real world. For organizations, sudden changes in the corporate environment can play a big factor into totally skewing pre-existing plans. Likewise, the same can happen to me on a smaller scale. According to Daft and Marcic, organizations take precautions to avoid steering too far off course with things such as contingency plans, scenario building, and crisis planning. (Daft & Marcic, p. 172-174)
I know that there is a great possibility of an event that comes up that can hinder my plans, so like a manager would, I know that I have to form contingency plans in order to get back on track. Daft and Marcic state contingency plans to "define company responses to be taken in the case of emergencies, setbacks, or unexpected conditions." (Daft & Marcic, p. 172) To avoid these setbacks being too great of a hurdle, I will have to come up with secondary plans if my previous ones fail. For example, if I cannot get any internships in Minneapolis next summer, I have a contingency plan of doing the same internship I did in Kansas City last year, next summer.
By making other plans in case of emergencies, I am making sure that I do not stray too off course from my goal. Similar to how these actions have an effect in organizations, I believe this is the best way to sustain goals and plans in a turbulent environment.
- Sayuz
Sources:
Daft, Richard L. Management. 9th ed., Cengage Learning, 2018.
Plans
As I mentioned in my earlier blog post, every goal needs planning to be achieved. I also touched upon three different types of plans that I will rely on, but I will go into further details about these plans in this post.
Strategic Plan:
My strategic plan is to graduate in May 2021 with a job in Computer Science lined up
As I talked about earlier, strategic plans are the long-term plans to assist with the overall goal.
Tactical Plan:
Tactical plans are made to help execute the major strategic plans and they generally accomplish a branch of the strategic plan. In organizations, this is like a sub-team setting goals for within their own branch of a handful of people, but having these goals play a bigger role in the overall achievement of the big goal of the organization. Applying this to my own life, I can set academic tactical plans for myself such as enrolling in all of the necessary courses for me to graduate on time with my degree, or keeping my GPA above a 3.5 to ensure that I can land a job with a company that has a mission that I am genuinely interested in. Looking at other branches of my life, such as networking, I can set other tactical plans such as building a strong LinkedIn profile and following, or establishing and maintaining good relationships with my professors.
Operational Plan:
Operational plans are used to achieve operational goals, which are usually smaller and more precise, as well as easily measurable. (Daft & Marcic, p. 166) In the organizational world, these plans are used by managers to give specific departments or individuals goals of their own to achieve, which will in turn help to accomplish the overall company goal. An operational goal I have for myself includes spending at least an hour a day practicing my coding skills. I believe this is easily measurable and by setting this for myself, I will feel more assured in my ability of being able to achieve my long-term goal.
- Sayuz
Sources:
Daft, Richard L. Management. 9th ed., Cengage Learning, 2018.
Strategic Plan:
My strategic plan is to graduate in May 2021 with a job in Computer Science lined up
As I talked about earlier, strategic plans are the long-term plans to assist with the overall goal.
Tactical Plan:
Tactical plans are made to help execute the major strategic plans and they generally accomplish a branch of the strategic plan. In organizations, this is like a sub-team setting goals for within their own branch of a handful of people, but having these goals play a bigger role in the overall achievement of the big goal of the organization. Applying this to my own life, I can set academic tactical plans for myself such as enrolling in all of the necessary courses for me to graduate on time with my degree, or keeping my GPA above a 3.5 to ensure that I can land a job with a company that has a mission that I am genuinely interested in. Looking at other branches of my life, such as networking, I can set other tactical plans such as building a strong LinkedIn profile and following, or establishing and maintaining good relationships with my professors.
Operational Plan:
Operational plans are used to achieve operational goals, which are usually smaller and more precise, as well as easily measurable. (Daft & Marcic, p. 166) In the organizational world, these plans are used by managers to give specific departments or individuals goals of their own to achieve, which will in turn help to accomplish the overall company goal. An operational goal I have for myself includes spending at least an hour a day practicing my coding skills. I believe this is easily measurable and by setting this for myself, I will feel more assured in my ability of being able to achieve my long-term goal.
- Sayuz
Sources:
Daft, Richard L. Management. 9th ed., Cengage Learning, 2018.
Overall Plan & Resources
While many people and organizations alike set goals, not all of these goals become achieved. One of the biggest factors to achieving goals is the availability, or lack thereof, of resources. To guarantee that this does not stop me from achieving my dreams, I will outline here the necessary steps and resources I will need in my tenure to completing my goal.
Step 1: Create a challenging but attainable goal
I have already completed this step with my blog post regarding my goal. I believe that actually having a goal written down will make it more concrete and will make the person setting the goal more likely to accomplish it.
Step 2: Announce my goal to friends and family
By following this step, I am making my goal publicly known, which holds me accountable to actually following through with it. Like Daft and Marcic talked about earlier, managers must be held accountable for their actions. (Daft & Marcic, p. 132) As a good manager would act upon what they say, I will do the same by accomplishing this goal that I have declared.
Step 3: Create a detailed plan
Setting a goal itself is not merely enough to achieve it. As we see in organizations, once a goal is agreed upon, these organizations make many plans so they know how to achieve these goals. This initial planning process is similar to that of strategic planning for organizations. As Daft and Marcic have said, "strategic planning tends to be long term and may define organizational action steps from two to five years." (Daft & Marcic, p. 164) Since my goal will not be completed until at least two years from now, I believe that this part of the planning phase is most similar to strategic planning. More specific plans would align with tactical planning, which are plans that are "designed to help execute the major strategic plans and to accomplish a specific part of the company's strategy." (Daft & Marcic, p. 165) In terms of relating tactical planning back to myself, some examples of these plans might be "earning an A or above in my Machine Architecture class," or "doing a summer internship in Minneapolis in the summer of 2019." To help me achieve these smaller goals, I might set some operational plans for myself. These are even smaller, quantitative goals that can be achieved in a short amount of time. Examples of these goals for me might include "do one programming task of the day everyday," or "upload a mini project to GitHub once a month." With all of these plans, I am confident that I can achieve my long-term goal, just like an organization feels by setting up all of its plans.
Step 4: Ask for guidance when needed
The biggest resource I believe I will need to achieve my goal is other people. I am grateful that I have many resources available, such as upperclassmen friends in my major, my parents, and my academic adviser and course professors. I know there will come times when I need to make a decision regarding the steps in my plan, much like managers need to make critical decisions for the goals and plans of the organization. Whenever I need to do this, I know I can reach out to any of the people I mentioned above and they will provide me with good advice that will lead to my success.
- Sayuz
Sources:
Daft, Richard L. Management. 9th ed., Cengage Learning, 2018.
My Mission
As I've learned from my time in my Fundamentals of Management class, every organization has, or should have, a mission statement. Daft and Marcic define a mission statement as a "broadly stated definition of purpose that distinguishes the organization from others of a similar type." (Daft & Marcic, p. 164) Similarly to what I did with organizational goals, I will use this definition to create my own mission statement below.
My mission statement is: To use my knowledge of computer science to work in an industry in which I can better the lives of people through innovative technologies.
I believe my mission defines me in the aspect of what I would like to do with my life. Upon reaching my goal, which I previously discussed in my last post, my mission statement will live on with me until I retire. This mission statement captures my willingness to help others. While there are numerous jobs available in every industry for Computer Science majors, I want to work for an industry that will actually improve the lives of the masses through technological breakthroughs. I do not want to be one of those programmers that just make fun applications or games, but rather I would want to have a big impact on people's lives.
By defining a goal and a mission statement, I am acting more in relation to organizations of today. Similarly to these organizations with well defined goals and missions, I am on the pathway to success.
- Sayuz
Sources:
Daft, Richard L. Management. 9th ed., Cengage Learning, 2018.
- Sayuz
Sources:
Daft, Richard L. Management. 9th ed., Cengage Learning, 2018.
My Goal
These next few blog posts will deal with goal-setting and planning, as we are currently discussing planning, one of the most important fundamentals of management, in my class. Every organization has a goal in mind, whether it is to maximize profits or help out the community. Similarly to organizations, I have goals of my own, just like the majority of college students. According to Daft and Marcic and research they have looked at, they believe that effective goals meet the criteria of being "specific and measurable..., expressed in quantitative terms,... be precisely defined and allow for measurable progress. Effective goals also have a defined time period." (Daft & Marcic, p. 168) Following this advice, I have made my own goals that I would like to achieve.
My main goal that I am striving towards right now is graduating college by May of 2021 with a BS in Computer Science, and a job lined up to start after that summer. This has been my goal ever since I became interested in Computer Science, which was around 6th grade. I had always been fascinated with technology growing up and I knew I would love to learn to be able to manipulate technology to make my life easier. I believe I will stick with this goal and not change it because I have a deep passion for this major, and I do not see myself graduating with any other field of study. If the only thing somebody were to know about me is this goal, then they might think that I am someone who is more "nerdy" or "geeky" than most people, and in a way, I am. Looking beyond that, I believe this goal of mine demonstrates that I am someone who sets out to do anything that I want to do, no matter how difficult it might be. I also think this shows that I have a true passion for the field of technology, and being able to make a difference in people's lives through the powers of it.
- Sayuz
Sources:
Daft, Richard L. Management. 9th ed., Cengage Learning, 2018.
My main goal that I am striving towards right now is graduating college by May of 2021 with a BS in Computer Science, and a job lined up to start after that summer. This has been my goal ever since I became interested in Computer Science, which was around 6th grade. I had always been fascinated with technology growing up and I knew I would love to learn to be able to manipulate technology to make my life easier. I believe I will stick with this goal and not change it because I have a deep passion for this major, and I do not see myself graduating with any other field of study. If the only thing somebody were to know about me is this goal, then they might think that I am someone who is more "nerdy" or "geeky" than most people, and in a way, I am. Looking beyond that, I believe this goal of mine demonstrates that I am someone who sets out to do anything that I want to do, no matter how difficult it might be. I also think this shows that I have a true passion for the field of technology, and being able to make a difference in people's lives through the powers of it.
- Sayuz
Sources:
Daft, Richard L. Management. 9th ed., Cengage Learning, 2018.
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