Category: Management Skills

Business Description

The business has developed out of the need to create employment for young people in Amman who happen to be gifted in calligraphy. The idea is a personal product that has been in existence since childhood. The following is therefore a description of the business from its inception, structure, and ownership.

The company that is to be established will be under the name H.T, which is derived from the initials of the partnership. The source of the capital is from a local bank in Amman coupled with savings of the partners. The main product of the business will be male jewellery.

This decision is based on the market need for this product since business environment in the UK has much of female jewelleries and less of the male jewelleries (Bean 2007, p.17). The available outlets for the jewelleries are also rather expensive and monotonous since the trade is dominated by a handful of companies offering similar products.

When established, this business will provide the population with a choice when shopping for jewellery besides creating a sense of satisfaction since each product will be unique. The bulk of shoppers in the UK has also changed with more and more men being involved in shopping and making financial decisions.

With the well performing economy, the population will have more money at its disposal. The company to be set up aims to put in place an effective marketing strategy to attract buyers of all ages and ethnicities.

Amman was chosen to serve as the headquarters for the business and as a source of labour raw material and resources required (Government in Jordan 1978 p.13) because it provides a good centre for the trade. Amman is known globally for her beautiful handmade ornaments, which have mostly been womens ornaments (Jordan 1989, p.28).

The population is largely gifted in making the ornaments. This makes the marketing strategy for the capital and the country in general (Skinner 2003, p.15: South 2008, p. 12). Calligraphy is an art that dates back in the country to the Middle Ages as evidenced by the discovery of ancient works of art in the prehistoric sites in the country (Herr 1983, p.45).

The works of art have however been marketed in the country alone without exploitation of the international market. The jewellery will be made from different raw materials for start. Clients will be given the choice of selecting the kind of jewellery they want. Traditionally, the jewellery has been made from metals such as gold, silver, and bronze.

This decision made the pricing high for the common market. This business enterprise targets to make cheap jewellery for the low income markets in the UK, as well as the upper class market thus creating a room for choice between the materials used.

The capital required is estimated at a hundred thousand US dollars distributed in terms of equipment, labour, and export price. The three costs represent the largest financial requirements of the company.

Buildings

The company intends to start the trade by using an old warehouse that has been renovated. The warehouse is big enough to house the offices of the company in one section and the manufacturing area in one part. The floor size is also enough for storage.

There are also plans to purchase more offices in some of the office blocks in downtown Amman with other plans being in the advanced stage to acquire a warehouse in the outskirts of London. This will constitute the main buildings owned by the company. The rest will be acquired depending on the demand, market, and quantity produced.

Assets

The assets that the company intends to acquire and own include tools used for the moulding of the metallic jewellery, engraving tools, brushes, cameras, protective clothing, land for setting up the business, and a warehouse for storage of the goods waiting to be exported to the UK.

The company also intends to acquire a van to transport the products to the airport. With time, more will be acquired to facilitate the movement of the staff and the trade equipment. Some of the other assets that the company intends to acquire include cranes to move the large boxes, forklifts, and advertisement assets.

Goals and Objectives

The company has come up with goals and objectives to guide it in the future developments. These have been described as long-term and short term with the time period to be achieved defining the two. In the long-term goals, the company targets to be the leading export company in Jordan dealing with calligraphy.

The other goal includes increasing the net worth to a billion dollar company with branches all over the UK and elsewhere in Europe. The company also targets to be the leader in research and development in the country of Jordan creating employment to a mere thousand people both here and in the UK.

The short term goals for the company are those to be achieved within a period of a year. The first short-term goal is to double the gross sales every two months. Secondly, the company targets to double the profit margins within the same period.

The sales of jewellery is the third short-term goal. The company targets to make more than a thousand sales within the first two months of its inception in the UK. The fourth short term goal is to control a large market share of the male jewellery within the first year.

The last short-term goal involves the introduction of new products into the market with the company targeting to introduce womens jewellery in the market by the end of the same year.

Philosophy

The companys philosophy is based on the need to create employment for the youth in Amman by providing cheap and quality jewellery for the UK market. The current image of the company is that of a small firm with the desire to expand in the UK.

The image the firm intends to create is that of a large company and a market leader in jewellery and supply of ornaments in the UK. The company is focused on achieving its set goals and objectives as governed by the laws formulated by the partners.

Legal structure

The business is a partnership with members being drawn from the Capital, Amman, and having the common interest of making money and being self-sufficient. The partners include H.K and T. A from whom the business name is derived. Each member bases the sharing of the profits and other running costs on the contributions.

The members however own business in equal proportions. Therefore, the sharing of the profits is on a 50-50 basis. The legal structure is not fixed. However, the company welcomes any likeminded shareholders and partners.

The contributions they make will define the proportion of the profits they get after each sale. This will benefit the company by increasing its market share and capital base besides enabling it to expand to other markets.

Location

The business is to be set up in the outskirts of Amman, with an outlet in the capital of the UK. These locations were selected for several reasons. Amman was selected, as described above for its cost in terms of labour and human resource.

The cost of the building, and other things needed to set up the location were relatively cheap compared to the prices elsewhere. The building location is on a lease from the previous owner, and plans are underway to fully process it.

The neighbourhood is friendly and sparsely populated. This will provide an adequate environment for business. The floor space will consist mainly of the manufacturing area, and will therefore mostly house the labourers.

The transportation facilities in place include pulleys for hauling large boxes, which will contain the raw materials and the completed works. The site also has ample space for parking, which will accommodate the vehicles transporting the Jewellery to the airport. It is also close to the airport.

Thus, security in the area is also adequate. There are other businesses in the same location though they are mainly involved in the pottery business. The site is advantageous because the raw materials are just in the neighbourhood. A smelting plant is located in the vicinity to provide raw materials for the metallic jewellery.

The second site in London was chosen because of the strategic position to enable and facilitate in the marketing of the jewellery. This will however be changed with time to the centre of London where there are more customers and distribution outlets for the company products.

Production Plan and Quality Control

The production plan for the company from delivery of the raw material to the final product is short because most of the products will be handmade thus requiring no sophisticated process. The raw materials will depend on the particular product.

For the bracelets, the raw material will mainly be silver and gold with iron being a major component. They will be moulded into shapes and cut using simple tools. Coating the resulting materials will then be made using the desired metals or alloys.

The accessories to make them appear beautiful will then be added by the artisans followed by engraving of the ornaments by the use of calligraphy. This process will be followed for most of the jewelleries except for those requiring special processes.

Quality control will be assured by ensuring that there is a quality control department in the company for checking the quality of products besides ensuring that only those that meet the set standards make it to the market.

The quality assurance in the company will also work in collaboration with the quality assurance departments in both countries involved in the field of the jewellery trade.

Management and Organisational Plan

The management framework for the company will include the manager, sales representatives, and other key officials in the management. The finance section will have to be manned by one of the members.

To begin the company, few numbers of the staff will be involved in management since this will be expensive for the company to maintain.

The full time personnel will be the labourers involved in making the jewellery. They will constitute the largest number of employees.

Part-time workers will be utilised in the finance section. Personal responsibilities and those of the other partners will involve making the jewellery though this plan will later change to management functions after getting adequate labourers.

Business Opportunities

The business has a variety of opportunities in the region where it will be opened. The following is a description of the potential customers, the geographical area, and the competition.

Potential Customers

The population of the UK and London in particular is very large. Thus, it will provide the market needed by the jeweller. The purchasing power of the UK citizens is larger than that of Jordan as presented by the GDPs of both counties (Riley 2002, p.13: Sant 2004, p.76).

The market also has a large appetite for handmade jewellery. It therefore suits the perfect consumer group. The choice to market the jewellery for the male sex is based on the theory that the male sex also has a higher purchasing power compared to its female counterparts in this country.

The average male also considers owning a piece of handmade jewellery from Amman to be prestigious and in fashion. Ammans items and generally those from tm the Middle East are also fast moving here with stocks running out in the few centres offering them.

There are varieties of customers in the business having different requirements in the way they prefer their jewellery to appear. Most of the customers prefer golden and silver jewellery. For those who cannot afford them, the company hopes to create gold-coated and silver-coated versions of the ornaments that it will produce.

Geographical Area

The company targets to conquer the market in London before proceeding to other markets within the UK. These are the long-term goals in the companys framework. The plan is to establish outlets across London in the shortest time possible.

This will involve a lot of strategic planning and re-investment back to the company. Other cities planned for expansion include the financial centres around the country.

Business Competitors

The business faces stiff competition from other companies in the region providing the market with similar products (Campedelli 2010, p.43). These are more established in the market. Their prices are competitive.

To deal with competition, the company intends to lower the running costs by operating from Amman and exporting the jewellery to the UK using cheap cargo flights.

Since the innovation uses labourers without the use of machines, the operating costs are set to be lower in relation to those for other companies thus maintaining the lower prices (Duhigg 2012, p.29).

The other criteria of dealing with the competition will involve the limitation of the number of administrative employees and establishment of a strong marketing policy (Steingold & Bray 2001, p.32).

Marketing Strategy

As indicated above, due to high competition in the industry, the business will have to adopt an elaborate marketing strategy to ensure success in the market (Marketing handbook 2006, p. 19). The strategy will be implemented in the pricing, costing, sales projection, and marketing plan.

In developing the company, a research into the unmet need of handmade male jewellery in the UK preceded. This established that the products offered in the market were monotonous with fewer than ten companies offering handmade products.

The market, though not significantly large now, had a chance for expansion with the shares meant to rise (Blythe 2006, p.18). The company has embarked on an ambitious project to open up new markets in the UK by approaching market partners and evaluating the need for mergers and added partners.

The market stands to be affected by the invasion of newer products from china, which are selling at a considerably cheaper price based on Chinas cheaper technology.

This could however be overcome by the use of cheaper raw materials and production of more attractive jewellery with the option of having most of them custom-made to meet the needs of each client.

National Economic Trends in the UK

The UKs market is experiencing a growth. This means that more and more men will be able to spend on accessories such as jewellery. This will increase the market to a greater size besides reducing competition (ICC financial survey 1979, p.12). The population is also shifting with the aged in the populace contributing a large number.

The economy is also noted to be stabilising after the effect inflicted by the global crisis a few years ago (Book 2009, p.29: McLean & Nocera 2010, p.13: Shiller 2008, p.19). Employment rate is also reported to be improving. Thus, more and more people are able to earn a living.

The economy of Jordan is also reported to be performing well. The unique characteristic is the high unemployment in the country especially around Amman.

This project therefore will exploit the existing economic conditions in both countries to produce a well performing business leader in the male jewellery section.

In the year 2011 alone, the British economy improved from the previous years after being facilitated by the increase in the production and manufacturing sectors. The value of imports to this country has risen over the years. Jordan continues to be a major source of imported handmade jewellery to the UK (Amman et al 1996, p.32).

The projected growth rate for the Jewellery market in the UK is 2% every year. This is a positive thing for the company (Amman et al 1996, p.32). As it stands, the jewellery market has a total size of over 4.5 billion pounds (Harrison 2010, p.29). This means that the market is performing well and is set to improve.

The largest share of the jewellery section is made up of precious metals such as silver and gold. Even in the tough economic times in the UK, the jewellery market is described as growing at a fast rate, which is also encouraging. After precious metals, other categories with recorded growth include watches and costume jewellery (Amman et al 1996, p.32).

The marketing plan will be as indicated above. This will involve commercials, adverts, and personalised marketing strategies. Salespeople will also be included in the marketing of the company. Their role will be to sell the company to the large public. There will also be competitions on the streets where the winner walks away with prizes as a way to promote the company.

Business Operations

The business will operate based on the written-down operations schedule. Each employee will have a designated task in the company. The operations will be organised in the form of the functioning of the company.

Operational Function

For the business to be operational, an elaborate structure will be provided with the inclusion of all employees and the supporting staff. In the manufacturing area, the personnel will consist of the labourers involved in the making of the jewellery.

They will be housed in the warehouse in the company grounds. Their day will start at 8 am to 5pm. The company will start with a handful of employees before proceeding to employ more in the manufacturing section within the next years.

The service to be offered will mainly be the provision of the jewellery. In some special cases, delivery will be made at a fee. The other services to be offered to the clients will be shipping to the desired places. This will however start once the appropriate marketing procedures are in place.

To increase the companys market share, other services to be offered will include the engagement of personal information on the jewellery. The other significant service that the clients will receive includes the provision of accessories that match their taste and fashion. This will be initiated through the marketing strategy that will be set up in the companys agenda.

For the personnel, the company plans to ensure that they are provided with adequate payments to retain them. This will be met through aggressive marketing to ensure that the company has a large profit margin. Housing will be provided to them after the company establishes market control.

For those without this provision, the company will embark on the payment of house allowances. Workers will initially work on a contract that will be renewed every six months. Based on the success of the company, most will be retained as permanent employees.

The other incentives that the company will use to lure and maintain gifted artisans will be the use of gifts and special payments in the form of commissions for goods sold. This means that each employee will be paid in commission as a percentage of goods sold and made in addition to the regular salary.

The employees will also work for five days a week with the weekend and extra hours worked being paid as overtime. A working schedule will also be made for the workers who will be consulted before the timetable is set up.

Technology

In this section, the technology and application to be used in the company and its operations will be discussed. Since the company will mainly provide handmade materials to market, the technology to be used is simple and readily available. The most important of this will include electric drills and engraving equipment.

Since most of the calligraphy will be handmade, electrical appliances will have a limited use thus cutting down power consumption and or saving on the much-needed capital. The other tools to be used include hammers and chisels. They will be used to give the jewellery the required shapes by making the engravings.

The other technology to be used include the transport pulleys and forklifts that will be utilised during transportation and packaging of the finished products. Mechanisation will be needed in the packaging of the jewellery, moulding the shapes, and coating the alloys.

Electric saws will be utilised during the initial manufacture of jewellery from the raw materials to make the metallic frames on which to engrave and attach any added ornaments. The company will also utilise computers and office ware to keep track of finances, processes of manufacturing, as well as distribution.

Finances

This section covers the financial structure in the company in the present, past, and the expected financial situations.

Capitalisation Plan

This summarises the financial need of the company including the capital and any added expenses in the running of the business. The main means of raising the required capital in the business is through acquisition of a loan from a local bank here in Amman (Forstater & Forstater 2007, p.31).

This will fund 95% of the project with the rest of the money coming from the pockets of the partners. A bank loan provides the best opportunity to fund a business (Allman 2006, p.23: Banks 2011, p.13). The bank will be paid in a schedule that will be agreed upon based on the companys returns and the loan size.

The estimated time for payment of the loan is projected to be five years when the company is projected to have stabilised to become self-sufficient. The capital gathered will be split between paying labourers, buying raw materials and new equipment, as well as acquiring the new warehouse.

To begin with, the company will lease the warehouse and obtain the raw materials from the smelting plant. This will cost around 50,000 dollars with the bulk of it being the raw materials. The rest of the money will cater for the shipping costs, the distribution, as well as the marketing of the products.

Personal contribution to the business will be 20,000 dollars from personal savings. The rest of the money will be gotten from partners and the profits made in the first sales. The partners will make the products in the first few months.

When the company has established itself, more labourers will be added on to provide their services. The estimated cost of materials is at 20,000 dollars. Advertisements and other marketing strategies are estimated at 5,000 dollars including offers, sale prices, and payment for the sales officers involved in the process of selling the brand to the male customers in the UK.

In the purchase of fixed assets, the building and land on which it stands will be valued with the company willing to spend about 20,000 dollars for the same. This is however not fixed, as the company is still in the process of working out the final price with the original owners of the asset.

The money will also be used to purchase the technology to be used in the manufacturing process with the main utility being the electrical equipment.

The purchase of the initial gold and silver raw materials will be made using capital from the loan because it serves the biggest proportion of the money being spent. Transport costs and tax levied on the final products to the market will also be included in the loan though this is estimated not to be over 10,000 dollars.

The companys vehicle to be used to transport the final products to the airport to get raw materials is no included in the budget. Raw materials and jewellery will be transported using the locally available means of public transport.

Cabs and rental cars will be used in doing this and in the transport of personnel to and from the airport. In the UK, transport to the outlets will also be via public means. This will continue until the company makes enough money to buy a van and other modes of transporting the jewellery.

Security is a major component of capital. Jewellery is expensive and a target for theft. To avoid this, some of the money will go towards hiring guards during the transit of the precious metals and in the transport of the jewels to the final destination in the UK.

The purchase of insurance for the company and employees will also be a significant step needed to cover any loss of the raw material, the jewellery, and other assets both in the production and in marketing processes because any loss will be a setback for the company.

The company will also set on a risk-reducing plan by ensuring that the market is evaluated adequately before entry and production of little jewellery to test the market. Contingency plans for the company will also be made should the company fail to make the targeted profits for the first year.

This will involve laying off any employed on a contract basis and using the amount of money spared to pay any remaining part of the loan.

The table below shows the source and cost of assets.

References

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Allman, B 2006, Banking, MN: Lerner Publications Co., Minneapolis.

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Bean, R 2007, United Kingdom, National Geographic, Washington, D.C.

Bienkowski, P 1991, Treasures from an ancient land: the art of Jordan, Stroud, A. Sutton Pub, Gloucestershire.

Blythe, J 2006, Marketing, SAGE Publications, London.

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Campedelli, M 2010, Appliedcaligraphy & graphic design, Links International, Barcelona.

Duhigg, C 2012, The power of habit: why we do what we do in life and business, Random House, New York.

Forstater, M, & Forstater, M 2007, Economics, Chicago Review Press, Chicago.

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Harrison, B 2010, Finding a role?: the United Kingdom 1970-1990, Clarendon, Oxford.

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Nowadays, there are a number of various occupations in different fields of work. Each occupation requires a unique set of skills and qualities. The potential employees should have most of those qualities and skills for the successful fulfillment of their duties. It is important for any employee to clearly separate the duties and to be aware of the tasks and activities expected to be done. The current study covers three different management positions and compares the knowledge, skills, and abilities that each occupation requires from the position holder.

The main task of a financial managers position is to coordinate, plan, and direct the accounting, banking, investing, and other finance-related activities of the company. Another task of the financial manager is to recruit the staff, data analysis of the budget, directly work with business customers, and maintain a good relationship with them (Financial Managers, 2021). The main technological skills are the ability to use accounting software, data analysis software, and good presentation skills. Knowledge in economics, mathematics, administration, and management is essential for this occupation. In contrast, the social and community service manager position is mainly to supervise the organizations program, including budget, policies, directing social workers. The technology skills include client information database software, presentation, and spreadsheet software (Social and Community Service Managers, 2021). The required knowledge is psychology, administration and management, education and training, and customer service.

The human resources managers duties are more specific, including coordination of human resources and staff of the organization. The position is a bridge connecting management position holders and employees, resolving the questions and problems related to work or contracts. Also, the human resource manager can give advice to other managers regarding the policies related to the employees of the organization. A specific technological skill is human resources software. In terms of knowledge, law, and government, personnel, and human resources, education and training knowledge is required.

My organizational skills allow me to easily handle managing positions. Being detailed and highly focused is advantageous for social and community service management since determining policies, preparing reports require considering every related detail. Sometimes, I overthink the projects delaying their delivery, which might cause problems in all three positions. Also, weak networking with peers is a big disadvantage for all positions since all managing occupations require good relationships and networking with other staff. To sum up, three managing positions have both common and specific features and requirements, which a professional should meet. I, personally, better suit for the social and community service management occupation.

References

Financial Managers. (2021). Web.

Social and Community Service Managers. (2021). Web.

Abstract

Studying is an intricate task for every student. The ability to create time and concentrate on a subject for long hours presents a challenge to students. As a result, it is priceless for every student to possess adequate study and time-management skills to enable them to fulfill the dream of the much-coveted success enjoyed by academic bigwigs. However, due to the multiplicity of the models for time management, each student should possess basic concepts of time management and effective studying to structure the means by which they will achieve their dreams.

Introduction

Students in learning institutions face numerous challenges, the greatest of them being performed in the examination process. As a result, many scholars have come up with models to help students develop habits that enable students to attain the proficiency and skills necessary for success at the examinations. Students should thus find ways to allocate sufficient time for study to enable them to prepare for career challenges.

Body

Time management counts as the most important of skills in any situation (Rivera & Chandni, 2007). The ability to manage the available time resources is the recipe for efficiency and effectiveness, in addition to reduced pressure and disappointments. As posited by Blerkom (2008), good time-management skills are a medium for saving time. Such a scenario is characterized by the ability to perform more tasks and fulfill all commitments in time.

The availability of time to students is constrained by the number of hours in class as well as the volume of assignments associated with their specialization. Thus, it is imperative to appreciate the need for a proficient time management technique. By evaluating how one currently uses their time, he or she can discern how time is spent. Such an analysis will include the approximate time duration for each of the activities that a student engages in.

In a college setting, the reduction in the in-class learning sessions comes in the way of efficient use of time. Most students fail to appreciate the fact that this is compensated by increased out-of-class assignments. Therefore, students should strive to maintain a time-log, which summarizes all the activities carried out during the day, as suggested by Goodman (1947). By so doing, a student can discard those activities deemed unnecessary. Over time, a student succeeds in dedicating prime time to studying as well as activities that make a positive contribution to the learning process as postulated by Blerkom (2008). The relationship between effective use of time and learning has become a subject of concern in most educational institutions. As a result, schools are constantly inventing ways of improving time management with an aim of engaging students in activities that promote the learning process.

Success in studying is hinged on the ability to concentrate on the current task. Distractions occur because of physical or psychological processes that occupy our minds at certain points during the study process. As a result, the effective learning process is impaired. The span of concentration is calibrated by the ability to develop an interest in the subject of study. In the ideal situation, students graduate from light concentrations to deep concentration in the absence of any form of distraction.

The contemporary world presents many facets of distractions that interfere with the learning process. For example, a student may have to stop reading to answer a phone call, reply to a text message or check their email. Such a cycle, marked with numerous interruptions is a sign that a time-management strategy is lacking. The student will end up tired from long hours of study while on the contrary, effective learning is negligible (Goodman, 1947).

To improve concentration levels, change of the subject of study, location of study, and time of study are strategies that can be applied individually or severally. The inability to focus over the required period, on a specific task and at will demarcate the challenges related to concentration. As a rule, each student should develop a strategy that enables him or her to rekindle focus during study time (Perry, 1997). The possibility of losing focus is common, thus prompting students to develop a mechanism through which they can regain their concentration.

As posited by Chan (2007), students should find it in their personality to stay motivated to achieve their goals. In the absence of motivation, the need to manage their time will be minimal. Without specific goals to drive their need to study, it is easy to be carried away by college life. Since studying is complicated by the outcome of the assignments and tests availed, performance in these tests should not come in the way of effective learning (Tanriogen & Iscan, 2009).

The inability to appreciate the relevance of the study material assigned accentuates the lack of concentration among students as outlined by Blerkom (2008). Each learning institution has a counseling department that is of invaluable assistance to students in relation to their career aspirations. As a resource, it assists the students to develop a motivating sense of purpose as well as guiding them through their career choices.

The degree of learning is based on five characteristics as postulated by Goodman (1947). The students aptitude and ability to understand the content of the course they are undertaking. As a result, students should choose subjects whose complexity matches their apt and ability. As asserted by Nonis & Hudson (2006), failure to do so will lead to poor grades and lowered motivation to study. In all areas of study, students should learn perseverance as an important study skill. Therefore, the student should be able to avail the required amount of time for completion of course work and sufficient personal research (Atkinson, 2002).

As outlined by Perry (1997), the main business of a student is to learn. In addition to other responsibilities, students should dedicate a larger proportion of their time to studying. By so doing, they will develop a liking for the subject of study and acquire knowledge helpful in the future. Quality and quantity matter the most when it comes to studying. Since the institution offers an opportunity for them to learn under quality conditions, the responsibility rests on their shoulders.

Conclusion

Time management is a strategic tool. Since time is a resource, the efficient use of time separates the performance of most individuals in work and play. In a school setting, the available time resources provide the opportunity for students to impress the examiners, thereby winning the favor of employers. Failure to manage time in school could lead to unfavorable grades. Without the skills and competence, the ability to attract the targeted employer diminishes substantially.

References

Atkinson, W. (2002, September). Dont let time manage you. Career World, 31(1), 14.

Blerkom, D., L., V. (2008). College Study Skills: Becoming a Strategic Learner Massachusetts: Cengage Learning, 2008 ISBN: 978-1-413033-366

Chan, J.F. (2007). How to manage your priorities. New York: American Management Association.

Goodman, L. (1947). Time and learning in the special education classroom. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.

Nonis, S.A., & Hudson, G.I. (2006). Academic performance of college students: influence of time spent studying and working. Journal of Education for Business, 81(3), 151.

Perry, J.A. (1997). First things first: prioritizing and time management. Black Collegian, 28(1), 54.

Rivera, C., & Chandni Chowk, D. (2007). Time management. Global Media.

Sweidel, G.B. (1996). Study strategy portfolio: A project to enhance study skills and time management. Teaching of Psychology, 23(4), 246-248.

Tanriogen, A., & Iscan, S. (2009). Time management skills of pamukkale university students and their side effects on academic achievement. Eurasian Journal of Educational Research, (35), 93-108.

History of Changes

The impressive development of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in the non-oil segment results in the improvement of the construction activity (Haddad 2014). The discovering of the oil resources contributed to the dramatic transformation of the country in the sphere of industry and economics. The willingness of the government to reduce the oil dependence consequently led to the investments into the non-oil sector (Haddad 2014).

The constructing industry received the priority and became the significant part of the UAE economics. Being the engine of the economic development of the country, constructing industry enjoys incredible popularity over the last decades (Gorgenlander 2011).

Since project management is an essential element in construction, employees engaged in these positions need to build up the skills corresponding to the high level of the industry development (Ochieng, Price & Moore 2013; Yousif, Hossan & McNeil 2015). Wippel et al. (2014) have examined the specific features and innovative methods that are implemented into the working process of the project managers of the construction sector and found that despite the immense progress in the field, improvements are still welcomed.

Problems of Practice

Although the construction industry provides many benefits to the country’s economy, it is to make an accent that the industry faces numerous problems and issues.

The book A Strategic Analysis of the Construction Industry in the United Arab Emirates Opportunities and Threats in the Construction Business provides the detailed analyses of the peculiarities of the construction in the United Arab Emirates with the PESTEL analysis to demonstrate that there exists the lack of properly made decisions due to the insufficient level of expertise among 30% of the project managers (Gorgenlander 2011). To address the problem, the UAE firms are constrained to attract expatriate workers (Wippel et al. 2014).

New Initiatives

With the existing problem of the lack of expertise among some of the project managers in the UAE construction industry, corporations resolved to invest more in the accumulation of human resource well-prepared for working out the newly-aroused issues in the industry (Jaeger & Adair 2013).

The studies presented in Yousif et al. (2015) provide an understanding that technological change and the drive to the low-carbon solutions impacts the skills in demand for the project managers in this industry. In addition, Yousif et al. (2015) state that the UAE constructing corporations began to work on building the proficiencies in the project managers enabling them to use innovative construction methods and new materials and technological solutions.

Proposed Changes

The UAE companies engaging in the construction area need to focus on elevating the proficiency rates among the local project managers to eliminate unnecessary disbursements on attracting expatriate employees (Ochieng, Price & Moore 2013).

Research That Has Been Carried Out In the Recent Past

In the recent past, solid research has been conducted on the congruence between the existing level of project managers’ competence and the requirements placed on them by the current economic situation (Gorgenlander 2011).

Research Gap

Evaluation of the scope of the existing literature suggests the conclusion that there exists a research gap in the field of practical solutions for educating the highly qualified project management employees. To eliminate this gap, this research aims to analyse the survey with the UAE construction industry leaders and generate the new knowledge as for the strategies that can apply to cultivate the new generation of the highly proficient project managers.

Aim and Objectives

The main aim of this research is to investigate the relationship between the development of the managers’ skills in the construction industry and the economic environment in the UAE. To achieve the stated above goal, the following objectives will implement:

1. To collect the data regarding the development of managers’ skills and proficiency in the field of construction over the past five years.
2. To measure the congruity between the current level of managers’ proficiency and skills and the economic climate in the United Arab Emirates.
3. To identify the existing knowledge gap as for the research theme understanding and propose further investigations to eliminate this gap

Methodology

To achieve the aim, the mixed method of the research design with the literature analysis and survey will be implemented. The combination of the qualitative and quantitative approach will provide the better involvement into the issue and help to collect the data from applicable sources.

Contributions

Project managers’ skills in the UAE generally correspond to the requirements. However, certain gap still exists. To eliminate the existing gap, construction corporations resort to attracting expatriate workers. However, attracting foreign assignees places additional expenses on companies. Current economic situation when the oil prices go down on the daily basis places the need to invest more funds in raising the local human resource to occupy the vacant positions in the construction project management.

Reference List

Gorgenlander, V 2011, A strategic analysis of the construction industry in the United Arab Emirates opportunities and threats in the construction business, Diplomica Verlag, Hamburg.

Haddad, E 2014, A critical history of contemporary architecture: 1960-2010, Ashgate Publishing, Burlington.

Jaeger, M. & Adair, D. 2013, “Cross cultural construction project management in the GCC countries: a local perspective on western project parties”, International Journal of Construction Project Management, vol. 5, no. 1, pp. 67-83.

Ochieng, E, Price, A & Moore, D 2013, Management of global construction projects, Palgrave Macmillan, New York.

Wippel, S, Bromber, K, Steiner , C & Krawietz , B 2014, Under construction: logics of urbanism in the Gulf Region, Ashgate Publishing, Burlington.

Yousif, Y.A., Hossan, C. & McNeil, N. 2015, “Evaluation of leadership styles in the construction sector of UAE”, International Journal of Business and Management, vol. 10, no. 12, pp. 71-79.

Introduction

Eric Schmidt moved from Novell to Google after he was employed by Sergey Brin and Larry Page, the founders of Google. He had also worked as a Novell’s Chief executive officer, where he was in charge of management, technology innovation and implementation of policies. Eric’s aim ate Google is to form a company’s infrastructure which will be used to improve and maintain the effective developments within the company and allowing the product values and standards to stay high.

In company with the two founders, Eric shares roles for Google’s daily processes. Eric experience at Novell ended a record of 20 years of success as technology specialist, industrialist and developer of enormous technologies and his great achievements and experienced goes together with Google’s requirements as an energetic and fast developing search engine with an exclusive corporate culture.

Eric Schmidt also worked at Sun Microsystems in a position of corporate executive officer where he showed great skills in managing the innovation of modern technologies. He also worked as a member of research panel at Xerox Palo Alto Research Center (PARC) (Bloomberg, 2012).

Eric pursued his undergraduate degree, electrical engineering, at Princeton University and later went to university of California, Berkeley to do his masters and Ph.D. in computer science.

He joined the National Academy of Engineering in 2006, after he was acknowledged from his contribution on “the development of strategies for the world’s most successful Internet search engine company” (Bloomberg, 2012).In 2007, he became Hellman Follow at American Academy of Arts and Sciences and he presently cheers the New America Foundation’s board of directors (Bloomberg, 2012).

Management Styles and Skills

Understanding Employees

Eric’s achievements in all his former companies and now Google can be mainly contributed by his efforts at energizing software engineers. He is familiarly alert to their weaknesses and strengths, for instance the employees’ mania of being honest and specific.

When workers are being ask anything, they are more probably to provide the answer to just that particular question and are so particular about being honest. Anybody who does not understand this conducts can consider that the engineer is hiding some facts or even cheating. Most professionals consider that society stereotypes technologists and engineers possess inappropriate social skills and they are very social within their society (Ahmed, 2011).

They communicate successfully among other fellows and are put into several and separate sub-groups such as UNIX people, Linux Aficionados, and other sub-communities. Engineers often like publicity and they are intensely concerned in contributing to any impact, and creating the universe the better place. This management skill, which Eric employs, offers advantages on the “Vision-Direction” aspect. It aids Eric create a vision which his fans and partners are more probably to follow and be motivated by.

Create Effective and Fair Work-Related Promotions

Eric concluded that most engineers have never thought of having bigger positions like being managers or executives. The companies’ common way of promoting employees into managers is considered by engineers as unattractive. Eric proposed an effective system which will be used for promotion of employees and not related to the executive ladder.

Eric proposes acknowledgement of employees for their productive work they do to the company and the company should implement some motivating events like stock options grants. Most successful and active employees should be offered some incentives to acknowledge their performances. These strategies would boost their morale and would create them to be more innovative and active.

These strategies were implemented by Eric while working at Novell and it showed good results where it boosted the morale of employees and later was seen from the income and performance of the company. Although the management attempts for these cognitions are minimal, it acts as a major incentive booster to the employees who are being acknowledged and improving their confidence and dedication to the company (Ahmed, 2011).

Allow Employees to Adjust

This leadership style is designed to understand company’s employees. Engineers often prefer to work on complex issues and they are stimulated by the challenge created by inflexible problems. They also work on issues which are important to them. A manager with good understanding of the desires of his employees can convert the issue into one which the employees or engineers addicted to. The manager requires articulating a demanding and important end product, but count out the particular steps the employees should follow.

This permits the employees to understand and internalize the objective using their innovative powers in attaining the leader’s objectives. This management strategy has being greatly used by Eric in all his positions to achieve company’s goals. Currently at Google, Eric has placed the company’s objective as “…Organizing the worlds information making it universally accessible and useful” (Carlson, 2009). Google’s engineer indexing millions of web pages may simply make out using Eric’s praiseworthy objective.

As a sensible issue, the aim of creating information generally available is a more consequential objective for the engineer involved in building his spot on the society, instead of an ordinary objective of rising Google’s incomes by $400 million dollars. Eric believes this relocation of possession to be very vital to both the company and engineers.

Let the Employees to Work outside the business Hierarchy

The effective approaches to manage the employees are to allow them to work outside the business structure and this management type is mostly used by Eric to manage his engineers. He opposes limitation of employees since it makes them not to research more about the up-to-date technologies which should be innovated to meet the rapid change in the technology setting. The group leaders are answerable to the manager in the ordinary company hierarchy but it is not compulsory for them to spend all their time on the supervisors’ precedence.

Through permitting engineers to select their own teams, it satisfies the engineers’ desire to fit in. As the participants joined without being directed by the management, they have a high likelihood of performing to their best. The employees as well have the freedom to work on an issue which interests them the most.

Eric has allowed engineers at Google to have the freedom of spending 25% of their time to research for fields they believe interesting (Ahmed, 2011). This allows them to gain innovative spirits, hence providing Google unique competitive benefit over its opponents. Software history changes frequently, where people turn up with excellent brands of software. This effective technique of organizing groups has allowed Google produce creative and inventive results such as iGoogle and Google+.

Assess Team’s Outcomes by a Trusted Employee

Although the earlier management skills raise the likelihood of team achievement, it is not reliable. Groups of excellent engineers will become unsuccessful if they follow incorrect concept or have ineffective implementation. Analyzing and reviewing the steps frequently permit to identify issues. The problem is the way to communicate these undesirable issues to the team members and the management approach used by Eric is to allow the processes of the teams be evaluated by a person the team choices and respect.

Most companies have at least one person who is most referred or generally respected than anybody else and this person has an approach of articulating codes and fine reminiscences. Teams are free to obtain responses or results even though the conclusion goes against them and this method mostly offers advantages in the Pride-Self-respect dimension (Carlson, 2009).

Conclusion

The above discussion on the management skills and styles used by Eric Schmidt talked about just engineers because they are workers he mostly manages. However, these types of management strategies can also be used in all kinds of employees. Briefly, Eric offers wide range of styles and skills except “Protection-Security.”

However, the exclusion of “Protection-Security” dimension in his styles of leadership is not a big issue as it can initially appear because this factor has more significance during conflicts or crisis. Vision-Direction is the factor which gains most from leadership skills and styles employed by Eric.

Other elements which also gain from these types of managements are Achievement-Effectiveness, Inclusion-Belongingness and finally Pride-Self respect in that order. Successfully facilitating daring (arranging global information) and important (creating it collectively available) objectives permits the engineers at Google to be motivated and very dedicated.

Through applying Eric’s objective and vision, Engineers would enhance their own understanding recognizing a series of inventive results. These expanded targets guarantee the consumers that they will obtain the highest and most applicable search products. Therefore Eric Schmidt, in his position as a person in charge, has expressed the correct conditions allowing his engineers’ achievements and as a result the Google’s accomplishments.

References

Ahmed, M. (2011). Eric Schmidt (Ex CEO and current Chairman – Google) management style and CIO. Web.

Bloomberg. (2012). Eric E. Schmidt Ph.D. Web.

Carlson, N. (2009). Google CEO Eric Schmidt: “We Don’t Really Have A Five-Year Plan” (CLIP). Web.

Summary

In the book by Rees and Porter, management has been described as the process by which individuals (leaders) make things happen through the use of other individuals (Graham, 1988). It usually involves organising, coordinating and controlling. Rees and Porter (2008) argue that managers usually have an escalator-type progression into their managerial positions.

A specialist is that individual who is usually involved in a particular activity within the organization. Many organizations are structured in such a way that employees perform specific (specialized) activities. Managers in such organizations also manage specialized activities.

The journey of a manager is seen as one that begins with the individual having worked in an organization or department that involved the use of a specialised skill. When getting into a managerial position, the individual is most likely advancing specialist skills acquired through training and experience. The terms managerial escalator define the process by which such specialists develop into managers.

A specialist in a particular field may become competent with time and get the opportunity to do minor supervisory roles. For example, an engineer may advance into a section head. This way, the individual acquires certain managerial responsibilities but still maintains the same (junior) position.

After a certain period of time, the individual may get an actual promotion within the same organization or in another organization. At this point, the individual may have informally accumulated certain managerial responsibilities. This movement from a specialist into a manager describes the escalator-type progression into particular position.

However, these managers (former specialists) may not engage in specialist activities. They would only be mainly involved in the management of other specialists within the organization (Mead, 2005).

They may need to combine their specializations with managerial duties. This way, they become managerial hybrids. However, managers are required to put the organization’s priorities before their own in order to avoid conflicting with the interests of the organization.

Management positions usually require the manager to have some level of specialist knowledge in order for the individual to be sensible and to be respected by his subjects. Such specialist skills are useful since they enable the manager to have an understanding of the environment in which they work.

However, the aspect of being a specialist may act as a handicap to the managers. This is mainly due to the fact that the manager may not get the right balance between managerial and specialist activities. One of the problems associated with specialists is that they may acquire specialist skills over a long time but be less able to use them over time.

The managerial side of certain specialist skills may also be considered low for the managerial job. This is due to the fact that managers with specialist skills may have worked for many years but actually acquired limited managerial skills.

In situations where specialists are forced into acquiring managerial positions, there is a need for an alternative career progression. However, such dual structures may not be available in practice. If available, it might be difficult to separate the specialist duties from the managerial ones. Top management positions (such as the chief executive officer) are usually occupied by individuals without specialist knowledge.

However, such managers also require a good understanding of their organization in order to manage its operations. Another conflict that may arise between specialist and managerial responsibilities is the job titles. Other job titles in specialised positions do not sound like management positions in any aspect.

The position of ‘site engineer’, for example, may not be compared to the position of ‘site manager’ since one sounds like a management position while the other does not and yet both represent the same position.

One of the key questions that the authors (Rees and Porter) are trying to answer includes the major process that is involved in the management of employees. They were also seeking to explain how individuals become managers. They explained this using the concept of the managerial escalator.

The authors also examined some of the drawbacks associated with specialist career structures and one of them included the fact that specialists are less likely to be recruited for top management positions in the organizations.

One of the basic concepts used by the authors is the concept of managerial escalator that explains how managers are developed from specialists. The authors’ point of view with respect to the issue is that most organizations have employees and managers who are involved in specialised activities.

They are also of the view that managers are usually the specialists who have climbed the ranks within the organization or in other organisations. However, they believe that such managers may not be very good in managing a diversified organization. They may also cause problems in the organizations in various ways.

The authors also argue that having high level of technical knowledge in particular areas does not necessarily mean that the individual would make a good manager. The individual might actually lack managerial aspirations.

One of the assumptions that the authors have made is that a good manager is one that has found the balance between being a specialist and being involved in managerial activity. One fundamental conclusion made by the authors is that managers should not only have quality training but also quantity training.

References

Graham, P 1988, Dynamic Managing – The Follett Way, Professional Publishing, Guardian.

Mead, R 2005, International Management: Cross Cultural Dimensions, 3rd ed., Blackwell Publishers, New York.

Rees, D & Christine, P 2008, Skills of Management, Cengage Learning, New York.

A manager needs to use different criteria when making decisions that have an impact on his firm’s operations. A manager needs to identify the specific problem that exists in the firm which needs to be solved. After identifying the problem, a manager needs to brainstorm with other members of the organisation to come up with probable solutions.

A consultative process makes all participants in the firm have more confidence in the manager’s leadership (DuBrin, 2003, p. 65). A manager needs to look at benefits and problems of every proposed solution before settling on the most appropriate one. A manager needs to understand all benefits and risks likely to be experienced by his organisation after the decision has been implemented.

An effective manager needs to understand the industry his firm operates in to ensure he makes appropriate decisions that advance its interests.

He needs to take note of different issues in the industry to find out how they impact on his firm’s operations. Jones and George (2006) reveal that a manager needs to rely on accurate information to expand his knowledge on various matters in the market (p. 87). A manager needs to study both short term and long term trends in the industry to understand how they are likely to impact on his firm’s performance.

It is vital for a manager to understand his firm’s vision to ensure that he makes appropriate decisions that help it achieve its objectives in the industry. He needs to allow other stakeholders in his firm to participate in making crucial decisions that enable his firm to make positive progress in the industry.

The assumption by an automobile manufacturer stating that the demand for SUV’s will continue to rise due to an increase in fuel prices is not backed up by accurate statistics. The manufacturer needs to do a lot of market research to validate this assumption, before its managers make any decisions regarding this issue. A leader should not use assumptions that have not been verified through elaborate marketing research to make choices that impact greatly on a firm’s operations.

He needs to use statistics gathered from different consumers to understand the best course of action his firm needs to pursue in the market. Pastinen (2010) reveals that managers need to develop effective systems that help them coordinate all activities their firms are involved in (p. 59).

These systems will help a firm understand financial as well as strategic implications of choices it makes in different markets. Therefore, the SUV manufacturer needs to assess all risks it is likely to experience before it decides to manufacture more vehicles.

An airline that makes an assumption that some travellers are willing to travel without additional amenities should conduct more market studies. However, the airline’s managers need to take time to find out if there are any major changes in the industry before making a drastic decision.

Managers need to compare services offered by other airlines to get more evidence that shows this assumption is credible and likely to benefit the firm’s operations in the long term. They also need to find out how the airline’s loyal customers are likely to react to such news and if this shift is likely to affect the quality attached to its brand in the market. Ultimately, the managers need to decide whether to market the airline as a low cost service provider or to maintain its current identity in the industry (Rue & Byars, 2003, p. 67).

References

DuBrin, A.J. (2003). Essentials of management. Peterborough, Canada: Thomson.

Jones, G.R., & George, J.M (2006). Contemporary management. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.

Pastinen, M. (2010). High-performance process improvement. London, UK: .Springer.

Rue, L.W., & Byars, L.L. (2003). Management: Skills and applications. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.

Abstract

Risk management failures are common in organizations that fail to plan effectively. Risk management is defined by several theorists as the assessment and quantification of the various risks that an organization runs and also the prescription of measures to reduce or avoid the risk in question (Alexander & Sheedy, 2005; Lam, 2003; Roehrig, 2006; (SAA, 2009).

This paper looks at a scenario where an organization failed to manage its risks effectively leading to a huge loss. The case study seeks to link theories of risk management to actual field experience. Throughout the paper, I shall seek to identify the particular causes of the loss and the measures which the organization would have taken to mitigate the loss.

Introduction

Hubbard (2009) describes risk management as the “identification, assessment, and prioritization of risks followed by coordinated and economical application of resources to minimize, monitor, and control the probability and/or impact of unfortunate events or to maximize the realization of opportunities.”

Risk is defined as the result of an uncertainty in an organization which could be financial, legal, natural or a deliberate act of a competitor or adversary (Crockford 1986; Gorrod 2004). Many organizations that practice risk management are mostly concerned with those risks that are well within their control and those which can be quantified and assessed.

The criterion in risk management is similar in all organizations due to the standardization of the process. The ISO standard requires that risk management is done in five steps (SAA 2009; Institute of Risk Management 2002). First, the risk manager identifies and characterizes the threats that the organization is faced with.

Next, he or she assesses the vulnerability of the organization’s critical assets to the identified threats. The third step involves determining risk which involves establishing the expected consequences of a threat materializing. The next step involves identification of ways to reduce the risk established. Finally, the manager prioritizes strategically all risk reduction measures.

The identification of risks plays an important role in risk management. Once the risk that is likely to cause problems is identified, the risk manager should work from the source of the problem or the problem itself (Alberts et al. 2008; Charles 2004). Therefore, there are two ways of analysis risk; source analysis and problem analysis.

Source analysis involves investigation of the internal and external elements of the system that are vulnerable to risk such as employees, project stakeholders e.t.c that can be considered risk sources (Van Deventer et al. 2004).

Problem analysis looks at identifiable threats e.g. threat of accidents, loss of money, stealing of private information e.t.c. These threats are extrinsic to the company and involve customers, shareholders and government entities all of which are outside the organization’s control (Moteff 2005).

The method of identifying risks generally depends on the industry practice (Hutto 2009) and thus various industries use any of the following methods; objective-based risk identification which is based on the organization’s objectives (Dorfman 2007).

Scenario-based identification that looks at market scenarios (Hopkin 2010), taxonomy-based identification which analyzes risk sources through taxonomy and best-practices approach (Borodzicz 2005), common risk checking where the particular industry provides a list of known risks (Stulz 2009) and finally, risk charting which combines all the approaches above with an aim of identifying resources which are at risk (Charles 2004).

Risk assessment is the natural successor to risk identification. An identified risk has to be assessed for the two factors of probability and severity (Stulz, 2009). Probability is the likelihood of occurrence while severity is the magnitude of loss that would ensue upon the attaching of risk. Risk assessment helps in prioritization of risks and the drafting of a risk management plan.

Since it is difficult to evaluate rates of occurrence of all risks and also determining the severity of losses for immaterial risks, risk assessment heavily relies on best educated opinions and statistical information (Lam 2003). In quantification of risks, risk managers rely on several formulae that have been adopted as part of risk management practice (Stulz 2009).

Risk determination is often considered a part of assessment but the two are different in their aims. While assessment looks at severity and probability, determination seeks to ascertain the particular consequences that come with the attaching of a particular risk (Charles 2004).

Once the risk manager finds out the magnitude of the loss and severity of the risk, he or she now determines whether the organization should consider ways of risk reduction or ignore it altogether. Risk determination is therefore an integral part in prescribing risk reduction measures. After all the above steps, the organization then decides what method to use to reduce risk.

Stulz (2009) states the several ways an organization can reduce risk such as; risk avoidance where the organization ceases to engage totally in a particular activity that has been deemed risky, risk reduction where measures are put in place to reduce losses that may occur if the risk were to attach, risk sharing through outsourcing and/or insurance and risk retention where the organization accepts the risk and budgets for it.

Finally, the risk manager has to prioritize all the risk reduction measures for all the risks identified so as to ensure sufficient allocation of enough resources for serious risks. Implementation of the risk management plan is another important part of risk management since without it the whole process would be defeated.

Risk management failure therefore occurs from the failures in one of the above steps (Alexander & Sheedy 2005). It can be concluded that a failure to properly identify, assess, determine, prescribe appropriate risk reduction measures and prioritize amounts to risk management failure.

A failure in risk management could prove to be a nightmare for any organization and thus should be avoided at all costs. This paper shall look into such a failure and establish which part of risk management was faulty.

Case study: The Toyota Recall Debacle

The Toyota recall case popularly known as ‘pedalgate’ in the US occurred between November 2009 and February 2010. It involved three recalls of several vehicle models made the Toyota Motor Corporation. The reason for the recalls was a reported unintended acceleration in some Toyota models.

The first of the three recalls was made on 2^nd November, 2009 and was intended to correct an incorrectly placed floor mat which could lead to an entrapment of the accelerator model leading to accidental acceleration.

The second was made on 21^st January, 2010 after it was established that accidental acceleration was also caused by the mechanical sticking of the vehicle’s accelerator pedal. The third recall was made in February, 2010 and was intended to correct the anti-lock brake software for three of Toyota’s hybrid models.

In total, Toyota recalled around 9 million vehicles from the US, Europe and China. The spate of recalls was triggered by 50 fatalities reported in the US which the National Highway Transport and Safety Authority (NHTSA) attributed to manufacturer errors in vehicle design.

However, Toyota had already identified these errors in its October Defect Information Report (DIR). Due to the media attention given to the debacle, there were numerous other reported incidents of accidental acceleration though further investigations revealed that driver error was the most common fault.

The Toyota models recalled first included the Camry, Avalon, Corolla, Matrix, RAV4,Sequoia, Tundra and Highlander. The second recall expanded the list to include the Venza and Highlander and also extended the recall to Europe and China. In Europe, recalls were made for the Yaris, iQ, Auris, Aygo, Verso, Corolla, RAV4 and Avensis. The third recall was for the hybrid vehicles which are the Prius, Sai and Lexus HS 250h.

All in all, Toyota suffered massive losses from these recalls. Multiple law suits were filed against it and the sale of its multiple-recalled vehicles was suspended in various markets. The company estimated that the entire debacle would cost them over $ 2.47 billion dollars in actual losses.

However, the greatest loss was the denting of customer confidence in Toyota vehicles which saw reduced sales. The value of Toyota shares also slumped by over 15% during the entire period.

Causes of the recall: A case of failure in risk management

The massive recall of 9 million units of Toyota vehicles was caused by serious design flaws made in Toyota’s assembly plants. While the vehicles were of different designs, they shared common features such as an accelerator pedal and braking system. This should have been adequately foreseen by the company’s management as a substantial risk.

Additionally, the company failed to provide an override system in the recalled products leading to multiple recalls for the same products which further increased the company’s losses. The problems of unintended acceleration and inefficient braking system could have been solved through providing an alternative system but the company insisted on ‘cosmetic’ repairs rather than well-researched mechanical changes in design.

The managerial problems that led to Toyota’s huge loss and dented image are thus threefold. First, the company did not have a risk management plan to foresee this kind of situation.

Secondly, the top managers went for cost cutting as the company’s priority instead of safety and quality and finally, the management failed to look for stopgap measures to end the problem immediately leading to frustrated customers and further losses.

Theories of organizational risk management failure

According to Stulz (2009), the occurrence of a huge loss in a company does not necessary indicate a failure in risk management or that a mistake was made. However, such a loss can be used as evidence of a failure in risk management in almost all circumstances.

While effective risk management is not a guarantee against failure, a good risk manager does his or her best to ensure that the people who determine the organization’s risk appetite, the top management, understand the risks, the probability of their occurrence and the magnitude of loss (Scott 2007).

According to Mullins (2007), the ultimate decision as to whether to take risk or avoid it lies with the senior management of the organization. It is not part of the risk manager’s mandate to decide which risks to ignore but he/she is tasked with establishing all the risks (Tompkins 2005) and presenting all the information gathered to the management to decide on the next course of action.

The failure of risk management therefore lies mostly on the decisions of the top management (Yukl 2006). Therefore, decentralization of decision making through a ‘middle’ organizational structure as compared to a top-down decentralized system is a viable way to reduce risk.

French et al (2008) state that among the leadership skills required of managers, the manager’s directorship role plays a vital part in an organization’s strategy development. The directorship role includes decision making and formulation of strategy.

Decision making skills of the manager are very vital for risk management. This involves; working with all the available information, avoiding ‘jumping’ into conclusions, knowing their risk preferences, considering all points of view and optimizing the limited resources (Herbert 1997).

When there is a failure in decision making, then the management of risk is put into jeopardy. Since risk involves assets and resources of the organization including its employees, good leadership skills are also needed to manage them effectively.

A poor leader is likely to have a significant part of his workforce being a risk to the organization rather than an asset (Yukl 2006). Disgruntled employees pose the risk of financial loss through underperformance or malicious activities that stem out of their dissatisfaction with their managers (Weick 1979).

Stacey (2007) states that proper strategic management can also be an effective way to avoid risk. Poor strategic management is thus a risk management failure in the sense that the organization lacks direction and is thus vulnerable to risks that come from uncoordinated leadership and lack of goal-oriented strategies.

Stulz (2009) categorizes risk management failures into five groups; failure by use of inappropriate risk metrics, poor measurement of known risks, overlooking risks, poor communication to top managers and poor management of risk. The first four failures can be attributed to the risk manager while the last part is the fault of the top management.

Appropriate risk management involves using the right risk metric. Risk metrics inform the risk manager what kind of risk he or she should assess that is relevant to the organization. Measurement of a wrong metric whether accurate or not will definitely result into a failure in risk management since it will not relate to the organization’s dynamics.

Poor measurement of a known risk on the other part places the organization in a precarious situation since the organization’s management will not get accurate information to make the right decision regarding the risk. Just like poor measurement of known risks, miscommunication results in the top management making the wrong decision due to the provision of inaccurate data by the risk manager.

Relating theory to the Toyota case

Using Stulz’s (2009) theory on risk management failure, there is a failure in risk management in as far as measuring appropriate metrics is concerned. The company did not construe that their ‘lean’ manufacturing system that was designed to cut costs would be a risk in the long run.

Using similar parts for all its models and centralizing the supply chain was a foreseeable risk that any risk manager would have identified and quantified. However, due to the lack of a risk management plan in the first place, the organization was already exposed to the risk without an adequate remedy.

Huczynski & Buchanan (2007) state that an organization’s top management should embrace leadership and management styles that are strategically sound for the organization.

Through this, the organization should attempt to decentralize its decision making since it is economically sound that those close to the subject matter are in the best position to make a decision about it e.g. owners of dealerships in the US are more likely to make correct sales decisions that the company’s executives in Japan.

However, Toyota’s top-down organizational structure vested all decision making to the top management in Japan thus centralizing the system which increases risk.

Another theory by French et al (2008) and Montana & Charnov (2008) states that an organization is naturally dependent on the leadership skills of its top management. Therefore any organization that is run by leaders who have not honed their directorship, supervisory, communication, negotiation, coordinating and motivation skills runs a risk. These leaders are a risk in themselves (Yukl 2006).

In Toyota’s case, the top management failed to provide leadership in the sense that it did not recommend a thorough research into the causes of the accidental acceleration but instead it preferred easier ‘quick fix’ measures such as replacing floor mats instead of a holistic inquiry into the mechanical systems of the vehicles.

Measures to avoid risk management failure at the organizational level

An organization needs to be dynamic (Fincha & Rhodes 2005). It must at all times move with the changing times. To do so, its top-level management needs to possess sufficient leadership skills (Argyris 1976; McGrath 1962; Mumford1986; Hackman & Walton 1986). The first step to avoid risk at an organizational level should be an enterprise wide risk management plan (Olson 2003).

Most organizations have annual plans but these are usually insufficient in meeting the demands of the time (Borman & Brush 1993). With the current financial crisis, managing risk should be on the minds of organizational leaders since it would be difficult to absorb losses while all players in the industry are struggling.

In Toyota’s case, the company should have put in place a risk management plan which would have enabled it to put in place measures that would counter the effects of their lean manufacturing system that requires uniform supply and design. A thorough risk assessment would have assisted the company to establish that its policy would eventually lead to loss.

Alternatively, the company should have decentralized its operations such that only few vehicles or models would have been affected by the design flaws. Its top managers should also have had the foresight to see that the uniform supply and distribution system would run a risk in the event of manufacturer error. The poor leadership provided by the company’s top executives was thus the main cause of the risk management failure.

Conclusion

Toyota’s loss is a good example of a failure to properly manage risk. Organizations should embrace the risk management measures of avoidance, transfer, retention and/or reduction depending on the nature of the risk so as to avoid suffering similar losses. Reducing risk should always start as an initiative of the organization’s leadership and thus proper risk management is a product of good leadership (Hatch 2006; Robbins 2004).

References

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Hackman, J., and Walton, E. (1986) Leading groups in organizations. San Francisco, Jossey-Bass. Print.

Hatch, M. (2006) Organization Theory: Modern, symbolic, and postmodern perspectives. Oxford, Oxford University Press. Print.

Herbert, S. (1997) Administrative Behavior: A Study of Decision-Making Processes in Administrative Organizations. London, The Free Press. Print.

Hopkin, P. (2010) Fundamentals of Risk Management. Kogan, Page. Print.

Hubbard, D. (2009) The Failure of Risk Management: Why It’s Broken and How to Fix It. New York, John Wiley & Sons. Print.

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McGrath, J. (1962) Leadership behavior: Some requirements for leadership training. Washington, D.C, U.S. Civil Service Commission. Print.

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Mullins, L. (2007) Management and Organization Behaviour. Harlow, FT: Prentice Hall. Print.

Mumford, D. (1986) Leadership in the organizational context: Conceptual approach and its application. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 16(6), 508-531.

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Robbins, S. (2004) Organizational Behavior – Concepts, Controversies, Applications. Washington, D.C, Prentice Hall. Print.

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Exectuive summary

Jordan Events is an events management company that manages corporate, professional and personal events. The company will be located in Jordan and will organize, design, plan and manage events for companies, corporate organizations and weddings among others. It will offer high quality services at affordable prices and services will be structured to meet specific client needs.

The goals of the company will be to achieve customer satisfaction and exceptional quality of services, so as to lead in the events management market (ADAMS & MALLEN 2008, p.137). Staff at the company will be highly trained individuals in various fields including interior designers, artists and florists.

The company will focus on recruiting highly trained individuals to enable it attain the set goals and objectives. The services of Jordan Events will be advertised through print media, television and social network sites. In addition, the company will develop an interactive website to market itself and the services it offers.

Objectives

The general objectives of Jordan Events include the following:

1. To capture the Jordan market and be the leading events management company in the Middle East region.
2. To provide exceptional event management services to clients and exceed their expectations by offering superior services.
3. To be the preferred events management company in Jordan.
4. To offer different products that suits all types of meetings.

Keys to success

Jordan Events will design mechanisms that will enable it succeed in attaining the objectives it has. The keys to success include:

• High training of individuals, capable of delivering high quality services. All the permanent staff the company will employ on permanent basis will have college degrees.
• Efficiency in service delivery so as to ensure that the operating costs are minimized.
• The company will offer affordable prices and different banquets to ensure that it attracts and retains clients.

Mission

Jordan Events has the mission of being the preferred events management company in Jordan and Middle East region, with the best quality services that meet the local and international standards.

Business Description

Background and history of the business

Jordan Events is an events management company that is a fresh entrant in the market and manages events for corporate clients, individuals and businesses. The company is in the final stages of registration and documentation. It plans to begin operations in early 2013 by opening three branches in Jordan. In the next three years, the company will expand operations in Middle East region by opening more branches in principle cities.

The company has a vision of being the leading events management company in the region. It will ensure that it does this by offering high quality services in the region. There will be flexibility in the products offered by the company and will be tailor made to suit specifications of the clients (FISK, GROVE & JOHN 2008, p. 129).

The company is owned jointly by three brothers, all of whom have worked in the hotel, tourism and hospitality industries. The three brothers have held managerial positions in their previous jobs and thus have a wealth of experience in management.

Business goals

The main goal of the company is to be the preferred events management company in Jordan and Middle East region. The company will have to offer the best services in the region so that it becomes the preferred events management company. It will, therefore, create a strong brand by first operating few branches in Jordan then expand later. The other goal of Jordan Events is to acquire a large market share within a short time.

The company will aim at acquiring at least 10% market share annually over the next 5 years. The company noticed that the already existing event management companies in the region have not developed strong brands, and thus will not put up much competition (ROLL 2006, p. 147).

Acquiring 10% market share annually for a period of 5 years will enable the company earn high revenues and profits. The company projects that the number of clients who need events management services will increase over the 5 year period as more people recognize the service.

Products

The products and services that Jordan Events will offer vary. The company will offer the following services:

1. Destination and location sourcing services
2. Hotel and venue management
3. Arrangement and stage management
4. Exhibition services
5. Guest management services
6. Event designing and communication services

The company will handle different types of functions when offering these services. It will manage ceremonies, weddings, business meetings, product launches and festivals. It will also manage occasions such as workshops, company inaugurations and graduation ceremonies.

The clients will be engaged in the organization of the events to enable building of suitable concepts that will satisfy them. In addition to these services, the company will offer consultancy services to clients on how to organize their functions. The company will also offer training to individuals on how to successfully organize and manage events.

Supplier information

The company will develop contact with different companies in different industries to be suppliers of services and products it will need. The company will develop contacts with organizations that will be able to offer high quality services and products at affordable prices. The main suppliers will be the following:

Public address and communication services limited:

This company will provide communication equipment that the company will use in clients’ events. The company has vast experience in the line of business it is involved in. It offers high quality service and is affordable. The equipment this company has such as speakers are of high quality and of latest models.

Jebel Amman Hotel:

This company will offer catering services in the events Jordan Events will manage. It is a five star hotel located in Jordan and is affordable.

Jordan Tents and Stands Limited:

This company is located in Jordan and offers tents and chairs for hiring. The quality of the tents and chairs that this company has are new and in good conditions. The price it charges per tent is affordable. Jordan Events will hire tents from this company for outdoor functions that it will manage.

The company will sign contracts with these suppliers for a period of 5 years. The contracts will, however, be renewable based on the quality of service they provide and satisfaction of Jordan Events.

Agreement and ownership structure

Jordan Events is owned by three brothers who are the executive directors. The three brothers contributed capital equally and formed a partnership. Under the agreement, all profits and losses that Jordan Events makes will be shared in equal proportions among the three. The three will have equal rights in decision making and no major decision will be made without consultation.

Legal considerations

The company must be first registered and obtain certificate from the registrar of companies before it begins operations. The name ‘Jordan Events’ will undergo search in government records to ensure that no other company exists with such a name. In addition, the company will employ the services of a lawyer to scrutinize all contracts the company will sign. The legal officer will also scrutinize the partnership agreement to ensure that there are no gaps.

Business opportunities

Potential customers

The target market for Jordan Events is wide and includes organizations, businesses and individuals.

• The company will target organizations, both local and international, that have meetings such as conferences. It will mainly target conferences that have 200 participants and above. It will target meetings that are either one day or are for a long period.
• The company has identified that the number of companies that require event management services has increased in Jordan and Middle East region. In a study the company undertook, the numbers of companies that need the services increase by 5% annually. These companies need these services when making product launches, during their annual general meetings (AGM) and when making major news and new developments. The rapid growth of the region has led to increase in the number of organizations in different sectors. The company will target all these companies to be clients.
• The company will offer events management services to individuals. The company found that there are many people who want well planned weddings and ceremonies that take place in scenic places.

The company will target readers of business and wedding magazines in Jordan and Middle East region. It will place adverts showcasing the services it offers in these magazines. The adverts will give details that aim at enticing these readers to seek event management services from Jordan Events. Additionally, it will target individuals who use social network sites such as Twitter.

Geographical area

The company will be located in Jordan, a region experiencing tremendous growth in recent years. The population of Jordan has increased and this means the number of potential clients of the company is high (WALKER & FIRESTONE 2009, p. 53). The geographical features in the region provide scenic and appropriate places the company will hire to provide outdoor event management services.

The already existing event management organizations in the region are not yet well established and thus Jordan Events will be able to gain market share easily (FLOOR 2006, p. 98). Surveys by hospitality department in the Ministry of Tourism and Hospitality project that the events management subsector will grow at a rate of 15% annually. This provides Jordan Events a good opportunity to be a leading events management company in the region since it has resources and adequate capital.

The numbers of companies that are likely suppliers to Jordan Events are numerous. This will enable the company to get lower prices for the services that they will offer. In case the suppliers were not locally available, Jordan Events would have been forced to seek suppliers from either China or India. However, these countries are located far from Jordan and thus the services would have been expensive for Jordan Events. The central location of Jordan in Middle East region is strategic and can enable the company to expand with ease.

Bussiness competitors

The company will face competition from both local and international events management companies. The main local competitors will include Events Unlimited, Shahin and Shahin, Jordan EcoTuors, Dilloona and Gala Events and Classic Flowers Jordan. Others will be Al Ramz Group Jordan, OrangeRed Jordan and True Vision Conferences Company among others.

The international event management competitors of Jordan Events will include Pinkmoon Corporation, Global Vision Jordan, International Fairs and Promotions Jordan, Petra Events Management and Events Unlimited Jordan.

The only a few of these event management companies have managed to develop strong brands in the region. The market share that each of the companies have is less than 10% and there is no market leader. The likely strong competitors in the market are Shahin and Shahin, Talal Convention Center, Global Vision Jordan and International Fairs and Promotions. These companies have vast resources and facilities and will thus challenge Jordan Events.

Marketing strategy

Pricing strategy

The company will offer low prices for events management services that it will offer. The idea is to offer the most affordable prices while offering high quality service (KIMBALL 2011, p. 127). This means that the general strategy will be to have high number of clients and be efficient in operations. The goal of the management will thus be to operate optimally at very low costs. Overhead costs and wastage of resources will be minimized at Jordan Events so that it can be a low cost service provider.

The products will also be structured in a way that allows flexibility in price. Therefore, price will be set depending on the budget clients want to maintain (ALLEN 2009, p. 41). The company will use different information technology system in managing different activities of the company. This will assist the company in reducing costs on material such as stationary and thus reduce the overall operating costs. The result is that the company will offer lower prices (SMITH 2012, p. 171).

Additionally, the company will contract suppliers with low prices with the aim of saving and reducing operation costs. However, the suppliers will offer high quality services so as to satisfy Jordan Events’ expectations. The quality of service that the company will offer will always be high. This will attract many clients and will assist the company in retaining the customers. Once the number of clients increases, the company will be able to offer cheaper prices due to high numbers (MILLS 2002, p.129).

Sales projections

The company has made projections of the sales it expects in the next three years. After a period of 8 months, Jordan Events expects that the value of sales will increase. The company will engage in an intensive marketing campaign once it begins operations. In addition, executive sales persons will be employed to market the products and increase sales.

The first table shows the sales projections that the company expects in the first three years. It can be seen that the value of sales projected increases from year 1 through to year 3. The company projects that sales will increase by 38.4% between year 1 and year 2. The projections indicate that sales will increase by 45.78% between year 2 and year 3.

The company expects that the environment in the region to continue being stable and conducive for business. The company noted that political, economic and social events in the region can adversely affect the sales of the company. Notably, the social unrest in Syria and confrontation between Iran and Israel are among the events that can adversely affect the sales of the company.

The second table shows the projected costs of sales. These include the costs of hiring venues, salaries and wages and advertisement fees. It can be seen from the table that the costs increase from year 1 to year 3 indicating increase in business. The increase in projected cost of sales from year 1 and Year 2 is 47.6%. The increase in the projected cost of sales from Year 2 to Year 3 is 24.76%. This is likely because the company will be highly efficient in operations after Year 2.

Marketing plan

The Middle East region and Jordan has a vibrant market that enables rapid growth of businesses. The region is centrally placed in Middle East with highly developed infrastructural facilities. The residents of the region embrace technological developments especially the rapid growth in information technology. This will make it easier for Jordan Events to market the products and services that it offers in the market.

The company will hire an advertising agency to design broadcast adverts. Initially, these will aim at introducing the company in the market. The adverts will emphasize the existence of the company, “Jordan Events”, in Jordan. Once the company starts receiving clients, the adverts will shift focus to promoting the company as the leading events manager in the region. Much of the introductory adverts will be done through television since it is considered “hot media” and has high influence in shaping peoples opinions (BERGER 2007, p. 32).

The company will also place adverts in different magazines, especially wedding and business magazines. These will target businesses, both local and international, and individuals who want to do weddings. A few billboards will be strategically placed in major cities in Jordan to promote the company.

The general aim of the adverts will be to create brand awareness (FERRELL & HARTLINE 2011, p. 682). In addition to these methods, the company will develop an interactive website that will enable clients find information about the products (TOKORO 2010, p. 96). The website will be made colorful and with attractive features to entice clients. It will include a gallery section through which clients can see the various arrangement and decoration styles the company can manage to make.

The other marketing strategy that the company will employ is the establishment of contacts with various hotels, magazines, and tours and travel agencies. These organizations can refer clients to Jordan Events to manage their functions.

The owners of the company have worked in the hotel and hospitality industry and thus have already established a few contacts. It will also employ qualified and highly experienced sales persons to market the company, the product and the services. Finally, the company will use social network sites to market the products and services that it offers.

Business operations

Operational function

The company will begin business operations in early 2013 once it finalizes registration and satisfies all official requirements. The company will ensure that it obtains all necessary documents and satisfies government requirements before it begins actual operations. The company will have three executive directors, who are the owners of the company.

One director will be the Chief Executive Officer, another one will be the Chief Financial Officer and the last one will be the Chief Operations Officer. The company will hire a consultant to assist the company define the roles of each one of them. There will be other directors employed be the company. These will include Human Resources Director, Business Sourcing Director, Sales Director and Strategy and Organizational Development Director.

The company will develop an interactive system of operation and all employees will have e-mail addresses (PERRET 2007, p. 443). The aim of this is to increase the flow of information within the company and to enable first implementation of decisions (ZHANG 2006, p. 256).

The company will also employ line managers to increase efficiency in operations, and enable connection between the management and the staff (BOHLANDER 2010, p. 39). The offices of the company will be located within the Central Business Districts (CBD) of cities to enable accessibility.

Services offered

The services that Jordan Events will offer are numerous and of high quality. The company will offer the following services:

Destination and location sourcing services

The company will develop contacts with hotels and acquire extensive knowledge about hotels in the region. It will develop a bargaining ability with the hotels so as to use hotel facilities at affordable prices (STIVING 2011, p. 5). It will negotiate on the behalf of clients and sign contracts to enable clients use hotel facilities.

Hotel and venue management

The company will manage the venue of meetings before and during the meetings. It will ensure all guests have accommodation and that all facilities such as bathrooms are functioning appropriately. Jordan Events will also ensure that the venue is secure and that catering services are available.

Arrangement and stage management

The company will provide high quality presentation services to all clients it offers services to. It will develop contact with companies offering public address services and will employ individuals with high experiences in setting meeting venues. The company will also be able to coordinate all speakers used in events and will ensure all guests have good site to the stage.

Exhibition services

Jordan Events will manage exhibitions at conferences for clients. It will be capable of managing conferences with over 150 exhibition sites. The company will manage booking of space, setting of exhibition sites and the venue. To ensure success in managing exhibitions, the company will contract stand designers to erect stands of different sizes for the clients (ABRAHAM, GALE & KRELL 2005, p. 180).

Guest management services

The company will manage the guests that clients have in a professional and satisfying manner. The company will include a registration portal in the website it will design to assist in registration and management of guests. The company will manage guests’ accommodation, meeting agenda and discussion sessions (FORD, STURMAN & HEATON 2012, p. 127).

Event designing and communication services

The company will assist clients in designing their functions (WOLF, WOLF, WOLF & LEVINE 2005, p.79). It will assist clients in developing theme, in designing seating arrangements and in decorating event venues. In addition, it will make arrangement for communication facilities and in advertising the event through the media.

The company will handle different types of functions when offering these services. It will manage ceremonies, weddings, business meetings, product launches and festivals. It will also manage occasions such as workshops, company inaugurations and graduation ceremonies. The clients will be engaged in the organization of the events to enable building of suitable concepts that will satisfy them. In addition to these services, the company will offer consultancy services to clients on how to organize their functions. The company will also offer training to individuals on how to successfully organize and manage events.

Personnel

The company will employ highly qualified personnel to undertake the functions in various departments. The company will employ most of the staff on permanent and pensionable basis. The employees must, however, work for a period of one year on contract after which performance will be reviewed. If the employee’s performance satisfies the board, the employee’s contract is renewed on permanent terms of employment.

The employees will have college degrees in various fields. The only employees who are not required to have college degrees are grounds men and seat fillers. They will also be employed on temporary basis depending on need (CARTER 2007, p. 37). The managerial level staff, including directors, will be expected to hold Masters Degrees in areas related to business.

The staff will be handsomely rewarded for their services and will be provided with medical cover by the company. They will be taken through various trainings and team building sessions annually to increase their competence and motivation (LELAND & BAILEY 2006, p. 78).

Technology

The company will used Information Communication Technology (ICT) Systems in operating the company (TASSIOPOULOS & DAMSTER 2004, p. 425). It will adopt a Customer Relation Management System (CRM) to maintain contact with clients. The system will enable customers make inquires and give feedback to the company (SHARP, 2002, p. 7). In addition, clients will be able to make bookings for Jordan Events services online.

This is because the system will be linked to the company website and will be available online. The company will also make it possible for the clients to make payments for services via the internet (GRÜNEWÄLDER 2008, p. 5). The company will also use a Warehouse Management System (WMS) to manage inventory. The staff will be able to know the location of all property of the company through this warehouse management system. The system will ensure the safety of all company property and will ease operations in the company.

Additionally, it will use an internet based Human Resources Management System (HRMS) in managing the employees (BARBEITO 2004, p. 30). The system will enable the human resources manager contact staff through their e-mails. The employees can also request and manage leave days through the human resources management system.

The offices will be fitted with computers, printers and other appliances that enable easy operations. The company recognizes that these are likely to reduce the operation costs in the long run. The company will also use development of internet technology in marketing the services it offers (DAMM 2011, p. 38). It will post adverts in the internet through the company website and through social network sites such as Twitter and Face Book (BAIRD 2009, p. 10). These will ensure rapid popularity of the company and the brand “Jordan Events”.

It will acquire latest electronic equipment such as cameras, speakers and microphones to supplement those that it will hire from suppliers. The company will acquire these equipments from top suppliers. It will acquire high quality equipments that will ensure customer satisfaction is achieved (BOWDIN 2006, p. 408). Managerial staff will be provided with iPods or Smart Phones so as to increase the speed of communication in the company.

The iPods and Smart Phones will also enable them know changes and trends in the market. This will enable them make informed decisions and keep the company ahead of competitors (ALLEN 2002, p. 131). The company will be technology driven. The directors will be ready to adopt any technology that will lead to improvement in operations and increase in efficiency (MEEGAN 2009, p. 9).

Finances

Projected profit and loss

The statement above gives the projected profit and loss account of Jordan Events for the first three years of operation. In the first year, it is projected that the company will make a loss of JD 21,406. The sales for the first year are projected to be JD 650,750 while the costs of sales for the same year are projected to be JD 301,662.

The projected gross margin the company will attain in the first year is JD 349,098. However, the operating expenses for the company during the first year are projected to be high. This is why the company is likely to make a loss in the first year.

In the second year, it is projected that the company will make a profit of JD 50,507 after tax. The likely reason for this is that the company will be operating efficiently and will have acquired a considerable market share. In the third year, the projected profit after tax is JD 247,454 which represents a 79.59% increase from year 2.

During the third year, the management expects that the company will be operating optimally, efficiently and will have acquired a large market share. After the third year, the company’s management is likely to begin the expansion process as indicated in their objectives.

Projected cash flow

Projected balance sheet

Capital was obtained through equal contribution by the owners.

List of References

ABRAHAM, D., GALE, J & KRELL, T 2005, Organizational transformation and e-business implementation, Emerald Group Pub., Bradford, UK.

ADAMS, L & MALLEN, C 2008, Sport, recreation and tourism event management: theoretical and practical dimensions, Butterworth-Heinemann, Oxford.

ALLEN, J 2002, The business of event planning behind-the-scenes secrets of successful special events, Willey & Sons, Toronto.

ALLEN, J 2009, Event planning: the ultimate guide to successful meetings, corporate events, fund-raising galas, conferences, conventions, incentives and other special events. Mississauga, Wiley & Sons, Ontario, Canada.

BAIRD, T 2009, The truth about facebook: how to use facebook for marketing and advertisting, and much more – the facts you should know, South-Western Cengage Learning, Mason, OH.

BARBEITO, C 2004, Human Resource Policies and Procedures for Nonprofit Organizations, John Wiley & Sons, Hoboken, MA.

BERGER, A 2007, Media and society: a critical perspective, Rowman & Littlefield, Lanham.

BOHLANDER, G 2010, Managing human resources [Hauptbd.], South-Western Cengage Learning, Mason, OH.

BOWDIN, G 2006, Events management, Elsevier, Amsterdam.

CARTER, L 2007, Event planning, Ind, AuthorHouse, Bloomington.

DAMM, S 2011, Event management: how to apply best practices to small scale events, Diplomica-Verl, Hamburg.

FERRELL, O & HARTLINE, M 2011, Marketing strategy, South-Western Cengage Learning, Sidney.

FISK, R., GROVE, S & JOHN, J 2008, Interactive services marketing, Houghton Mifflin, Boston, MA.

FLOOR, K 2006, Branding a store: how to build successful retail brands in a changing marketplace, Kogan Page, London, UK.

FORD, R., STURMAN, M & HEATON, C 2012, Managing quality service in hospitality: how organizations achieve excellence in the guest experience, Cengage Learning, Clifton Park, N.Y.

GRÜNEWÄLDER, A 2008, Implementing CRM systems Approaches and potential problems, GRIN Verlag GmbH, München.

KIMBALL, C 2011, Start your own event planning business, Jere L. Calmes, Irvine.

LELAND, K & BAILEY, K 2006, Customer service for dummies, Wiley, Hoboken, MA.

MEEGAN J 2009, Sustainable Event Management, Earthscan, London, UK.

MILLS, G 2002, Retail pricing strategies and market power, University Press, Melbourne.

PERRET, F 2007, Essentials of logistics and management, CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL.

ROLL, M 2006, Asian brand strategy: how Asia builds strong brands, Palgrave/Macmillan, Basingstoke.

SHARP, D 2002, Customer relationship management systems handbook, Auerbach, Boca Raton, FL.

SMITH, T 2012, Pricing strategy: setting price levels, managing price discounts, & establishing price structures, South-Western Cengage Learning, Australia.

STIVING, M 2011, Impact pricing your blueprint for driving profits, Entrepreneur Press, Irvine, CA.

TASSIOPOULOS, D & DAMSTER, G 2004, Event management: a professional and developmental approach, Juta Academic, Landsdowne.

TOKORO, M 2010, Open systems science: from understanding principles to solving problems, IOS Press, Amsterdam.

WALKER, J & FIRESTONE, M 2009, Jordan, Lonely Planet Publications, Footscray.

WOLF, P., WOLF, J., WOLF, P & LEVINE, D 2005, Event planning made easy: 7 simple steps to making your business or private event a huge success: from the industry’s top event planners, McGraw-Hill, New York, NY.

ZHANG, P 2006, Human-computer interaction and management information systems: foundations, Sharpe, Armonk, NY.

Planning

Planning is an important aspect of organizational management. In management, the word planning is used to refer to the process of setting specific goals and objectives that specific groups of an organization have to achieve by putting effort in the process of their performing their roles and duties (Dessler, 2004). In the process of planning, it is the management that comes up with specific goals and objectives.

These goals and objectives have to be in line with the mission and vision statements of the organization. In addition, the management also comes up with specific strategies and methods that will be used to achieve the set goals and objectives. Finally, the process of planning also has to include a means through which the level of progress will be measured.

This is essential as it ensures that an organization is working towards achieving the set goals and objectives that it has set. If the progress is not as expected, corrective measures should be put in place to ensure that the goals and objectives are realised.

According to the study conducted by Peter et al (2009), it is essential to involve employees in the process of planning. This is because they are part and parcel of the organization. As a result, it is essential for them to fully understand the nature and extent of all operations that the organization is involved in.

Involving employees in the process of planning also ensures that they understand the goals and objectives of the organization, their importance, means through which they can be achieved, the roles that they have to play, the expected outcomes and most importantly, what needs to be done and how it should be done (Dessler, 2004).

Involving employees in the process of planning is also essential since the management can get their point of view. Employees are the ones who work on the ground.

They are therefore the individuals who are in the best position of formulating strategies and coming up with ideas of achieving the goals and objectives of the organization. Involving the employees in the process of planning also boosts their morale. This in turn increases their productivity.

Planning is a programme that is used to influence the future status of an organization. A plan can be used to achieve short-term and long-term goals and objectives of an organization. A plan utilizes the resources and capabilities that an organization has and maximizes their contribution to achieving a desirable state of the organization.

It is through planning that an organization attains a competitive advantage over its rivals, grows, develops and becomes sustainable in the long run (Dessler, 2004). It has been said that a well designed plan is the mid-way of attaining the goals and objectives of an organization (Dessler, 2004). Planning thus ensures that the acts of an organization are based on facts rather than speculation.

There are several essential steps that should be involved in the process of planning. First, the management should establish specific goals and objectives that have to be achieved within a specified time period. These objectives should be stated in qualitative or quantitative terms depending on the nature of the organization and what it wants to achieve.

These goals and objectives should be simple, measurable, attainable, realistic and achievable within a specific time period (Peter et al, 2009). The second step is to establish the premise of planning. In this step, the management determines the possible factors that may hinder the organization from achieving the set goals and objectives.

Here, the management takes a careful look at its operations, resources and capabilities and tries to identify the weaknesses and threats that it may face internally or externally. With this information, the management comes up with means of solving and avoiding these problems. The organization also comes up with intermediate plans.

These are a number of short-term plans that will act as a stepping stone of achieving the long-term plan. Finally, the organization chooses a specific course of action, implements it and appraises its effectiveness. This is achieved by collecting feedback information from various departments. Here, the management will be able to know whether the plan is in course or has deviated.

IKEA is the worlds leading manufacturer and retailer of furniture. The organization has implemented a strategic plan that has helped it to be sustainable in the furniture industry. To ensure that the operations of the company are effective and efficient, the company has maintained a stable organization structure and culture. The managerial strategy of IKEA is formal, non-hierarchical and based on teamwork (Peter et al, 2009).

This ensures that all the employees have a duty of care and respect for one another. As a result, employees at IKEA do not have titles or get special privileges. There is also effective communication among the employees. This ensures that the correct information if passed from one employee or department to the other. As a result, the efficiency of operations within the organization is maintained (Gofman and Mets, 2010).

IKEA also believes in recruiting young employees who are creative and innovative (Egan, 2000). This not only reduces expenditure on salaries but also ensures that the company remains the best in terms of creativity and innovation (Jugger, 2009).

The future goal of the company is to expand its operations into many more countries. It is projected that IKEA will be opening 20-25 stores annually in the near future (Schein, 2005). This will guarantee the sustainability of the company in the long run.

Leadership

Leadership is the role played by an individual or a group of individuals in motivating and giving directions to other members of staff so that they can achieve the goals and objectives that have been set by the organization (Weick, 2005). It is a social process where an individual or a group of individuals aid or support other people below them in order to achieve a common goal or objective.

Leadership is the concept that has been least understood the whole of mankind’s civilization. Many researchers have tried to come up with concepts and theories to explain this phenomenon. It is due to this fact that several myths about leadership have been advanced. There is a myth that leadership is inborn. According to this myth, there are those individuals who are born with leadership qualities.

As a result, they are able to influence and direct other individuals on the right path. Another myth is that leadership is the process of possessing power over others. Such individuals therefore have the capability of controlling the actions of others in a way that they feel is best. Finally, there is a myth that leadership is the process of instilling positive directions in people.

According to this myth, leaders are individuals who are equipped with knowledge and interpersonal skills. They are able to analyze a situation and come with measures and strategies that will lead to a better outcome. Management normally advocates for this third myth of leadership (Dessler, 2004).

An organization can adopt different styles of leadership. There is the autocratic leadership style where leadership is concentrated on the leader. He is the one who makes all the decisions for the organization.

Such a leadership style is seen by many scholars to be oppressive especially on employees who are on the lower level of management. An organization can also have decentralized leadership. Here, leadership is spread over the different departments of the organization. However, there is an ultimate body that all the departmental leaders have to report to.

Strong leadership is essential for the success of any organisation. Therefore, for organisations to be profitable and sustainable in the long run, they need to have a good leadership model and a strong leader to guide them (Koestenbaum, 2002). This can be achieved by having a personal philosophy of leadership for excellence by the leaders of these organisations.

Leaders should be innovative while facing challenges, achieve the objectives and missions of the organization, enforce team work to his staff and take risks to gain rewards (Kouzes and Posner, 2007). These are the qualities required by leaders to ensure that their organisations are stable and sustainable.

Martha Steward Living Omnimedia (MSO) is an organization that is involved in a variety of activities that aim at improving the lives of women and their families in the United States. MSO had a concrete leadership during its inception and the years that followed. The company has a team of consultants and advisors all of who were lawyers.

These include individuals such as Allen Grubman, Sharon Patrick and Charlotte Beers (Kouzes and Posner, 2007). With their experience coupled with their negotiation capabilities, they have been able to make many deals that led to the growth of the company. Through their efforts, they were able to negotiate a deal with Time, Inc. to join MSO.

The publicity that Time Inc. had was essential for the early success of MSO. As a result of the efficiency of leadership that was being experienced during this period, the company grew at a fast rate. In addition, the employees were motivated to work for the company.

They were proud to be associated with the brand. Due to this fact, they worked hard to ensure that the quality of their goods and services is maintained at a high level. They also enjoyed a conducive working environment that was free of crisis and criticism.

Organization

For an organization to be successful in the short run and in the long run, it must have a strong organization structure and culture. Organizational structure is a framework which an organization uses to run its operations (Wether and Chandler, 2006).

It entails the ways and means through which an organization arranges its authority lines, communication, roles, duties and responsibilities of individuals and departments and how all these are incorporated into a single unit.

Different organizations choose different organizational structures. The choice of an organization structure depends on the goals and objectives which the organization wants to achieve in the short run and in the long run. Generally there are two forms of organization structures. There is a centralized form of organization structure and a decentralized form of organization structure (Dessler, 2004).

In centralized organization structure, all the power of the organization is concentrated on the top managerial levels. Due to the amount of power they have, the top management level exercises tight control over the affair of all the divisions or the departments which constitute the organization.

On the other hand, power in decentralized organization structure is distributed among all the departments or divisions of the organization who work in unity to achieve the goals and objectives of the firm.

Apple Inc. for example, has a decentralized form of organization structure (Wether and Chandler, 2006). The organization is headed by a Chief Executive Officer. This is the position that Steve Jobs held until his death. Below the CEO, there are 10 senior vice presidents who head different departments.

Marketing, Industrial design, CFO, Software engineering and hardware engineering are some of the departments that Apple Inc. has. Each one of these departments is independent. However, their specific goals and objectives are always in line with the overall goals, objectives, mission and vision of the organization.

In every department, employees work together as a team (Wether and Chandler, 2006). Different teams perform different tasks which the organization is involved in.

Through teamwork, these different groups work together to ensure that the goals and objectives which have been set up by the organization. This gives different teams an opportunity to make decisions concerning their operations increasing their loyalty to the firm and at the same time it fosters ownership.

Organization culture is also an important aspect of an organization (Dessler, 2004). Organization culture plays a critical role in determining what an organization is and the relationship that it has with its stakeholders. In management, organization culture is a term that is used to refer to the attitude, beliefs, psychology and behaviour that an organization believes is best suited to follow in order to accomplish its goals (Schein, 2005).

It is through this culture that an organization develops the means through which it deals with the members of staff, stakeholders and other interested parties in general (Black, 2003). The employees at Apple Inc. have an organization culture that aims at ensuring consumer satisfaction.

To achieve this, these employees have good public relations skills, have respects among themselves and to their stakeholders and most importantly, they are loyal to the organization. This has made Apple Inc. to have a competitive advantage over its rivals.

Control

Control is also another essential factor in the process of management. It is through control than the operations and activities of an organization are conducted in the manner in which they were designed. Traditionally, organizations used to control their organizations with the use of quantitative methods. This was achieved through the use of budgets, standard costs and marketing quotas (Black, 2003).

Due to this fact, control was viewed as a function of the accounting system of an organization. If the operations of an organization deviated from its budget, the management would investigate the causes of these problems and put corrective measures in place to restore the expected performance.

However, at the present moment, most organizations use a mix of qualitative and quantitative measures as a means of control. Feedbacks from employees and customers have, for example, been used to check the performance of an organization.

It is from these feedbacks that an organization knows its strengths and weaknesses. This information is crucial as it improves the overall performance of an organization. In addition, organizations have the human resource department that check the conduct and behaviour of employees.

To ensure that there is a smooth running of the organization, Nike Corporation has to monitor and control all its operations. To achieve this, the company has internal and external control systems that ensure that all the operations that are conducted at the company are in accordance to the set rules, regulations and standards.

At the same time, the company has specific goals and objectives that have to be achieved within specified time periods. The company also has a budget that controls its revenue and expenditure. It also has copyrights for its products and logos. This protects their brands and properties from unfair competition and counterfeits.

References

Black, R. (2003) Organizational Culture: Creating the Influence Needed for Strategic Success. London: Penguin Books

Dessler, G. (2004) Management: principles and practices for tomorrow’s leaders. New York: Prentice Hall

Egan, J. (2000) Relationship Marketing. ã Harlow: Financial Times Prentice Hall

Gofman, A. and Mets,T. (2010) Consumer Behavior. Journal of Consumer Marketing, 27 (2), 157–168.

Jugger, S. (2009) The Power of Consumers. Admap Magazine, 14 (2), 51-55.

Koestenbaum, P. (2002) Leadership: The inner side of greatness, a philosophy for leaders. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Kouzes, J., and Posner, B. (2007) Leadership challenge. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Peter. J.P., Olsen. J.C. and Grunet. K.G. (2009) Consumer Behaviour and Marketing Strategy. Boston: Mcgraw-Hill international.

Schein, E.H. (2005) Organization Culture and Leadership. New York: Jossey-Bass

Weick, K. E. (2005) Sensemaking in Organizations. Organization Science, 2 (1), 405- 420.

Wether, W and Chandler, D. (2006) Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility: Stakeholders in a Global Environment. Miami.Sage