Notes for BSc CSIT

IMPORTANCE OF ORGANIZING FUNCTION Organizing function is one of the most important basic management functions. It establishes responsibility authority relationship in the organization to ensure effective accomplishment of organizational goals. Correctly established organizing function in the organization encourages expansion, promotion and diversification of business. Following points justify the importance of organizing function. 1. Facilitates specialization: Organizing divides complex work into simple pieces of activities and group them into a job of homogeneous activities. This helps accomplish each job with similar skills and experience with minimum effort and greater efficiency. This facilitates employees to accomplish the job with acquired knowledge, skills and experience. This helps to minimize waste of time, effort and resources. Organizing, thus increases productivity and profitability of the organization. 2. Defines responsibility-authority relationship: Organizing establish

Organizing is grouping the elements of an organization in the best possible manger. It is a process of defining the essential relationships among people, tasks and activities in such a way that all the organization's resources are integrated and coordinated to accomplish its goals efficiently and effectively. Organizing is important for an organization in a number of ways. It provides work clarity by removing duplication and overlapping of efforts. It also ensures the effective allocation of resources and enhances communication among departments or units of an organization. The following are some of the influencing definitions of organizing.   Organizing is the process of creating functional structure of organization required to implement plans and decisions for attaining organizational goals. This is one of the most important basic functions of management More specifically, organizing is a process of determining and dividing the tasks, creating job positions and their link, assign

 Strategic planning is an important component of strategic management. Strategic management is a comprehensive and ongoing management process, aimed at formulating and implementing effective strategies. It is the way of approaching business opportunities and threats. Strategic planning is an organization's process of defining its strategy, or direction, and making decisions for allocating its resources to pursue the given strategy. Strategic management is that set of managerial decisions and actions which determines the long-run performance of an organization.  Formulation of Strategic Plan Strategic plan provides a long-term road map to the organization. Hence, it must be prepared systematically and scientifically. The following steps are normally adopted while formulating a strategic plan. 1. Define vision and mission:  In the first step of strategic plan, vision and mission of the organization are developed. Vision:  Vision is a picture of what an organization wants to be and, i

 Concept of Group Decision Making Group decision making also known as collaborative decision-making is a participatory process in which multiple individuals work together to analyze the problem and find out the optimum solution out of the available work together alternatives. It is based on the assumption that decisions made collectively tend to be more effective than decisions made by a single individual. The number of people involved in group decision making may vary, but often ranges from two to seven. The nature and composition of the groups, their size, demographic makeup, structure, and purpose determine the effectiveness of group decision making. Advantages and Disadvantages of Group Decision Making The following are some of the notable advantages and disadvantages of group decision making. 1. Provides complete information and knowledge: It is said that two heads are better than one. By accumulating the resources of several individuals, groups bring more input to the decision p

 CRISIS HANDLING Crisis refers to an unexpected, non-recurring and unplanned situation. It is a condition of serious problem. Crisis is a problem of greater intensity and wider implications. It may even endanger organizational survival. It creates conditions of uncertainty and difficulties for goal achievement. It requires urgent and immediate attention of management. If existing problems cannot be solved in time, it will be changed to crisis situation. There may be several causes for a crisis situation as internal and external causes listed below: 1. Internal Causes i.Lack of planning or reluctance to deal with the causes of crisis.  ii. Ignoring a problem and its late solution may cause crisis. iii. Technological disturbance also causes a crisis in organizations.  iv. Wrong information while making decision  v.Conflicts between management and Trade unions vi. Communication gap between various levels of management vii. Weak economic condition of organization viii.  Industrial accident

 TYPES OF PROBLEMS There can be various types of problems in an organization. Managers should understand them, causes and probable effects to the organization. Problems can be classified on the various basis as bel 1. On the basis of Frequency On the basis of frequency of occurrence problems can be divided into two types: i. Routine problems: Problems which occur on a regular basis are known as ro problems. Such problems are also known as well-structured problem. They can be for and can be solved through established rules, policies and strategies.  ii. Exceptional problems: Problems which occur occasionally and exceptionally are known as exceptional problems. These problems are also known as poorly structured problems. Such problems cannot be foreseen and cannot be solved by existing rules and policies. Managers use their intuition, creativity, experience and judgment to solve such problems.  2. On the basis of Timeframe On the basis of timeframe of the effects of problems, problems c

Concept of Decision making The act or process of choosing one best alternative from set of available alternatives is known as decision making. In decision making process, each level of management and employee involves according to the needs in their daily working life. It is the most important managerial process for moving the organization from existing state to desired state. It is the managerial response to get rid of problems. There are number of ways of decision making such as rational decisions making, intuitive decision making etc.  DECISION MAKING SITUATIONS/CONDITIONS All decisions take place within the decision environment. In general, the circumstances that exist the deci makers conditions of certainty, risk and uncertainty. They are further explained below: 1. Certainty condition: Decision making under certainty condition exists when decision m knows with reasonable certainty about what the alternatives are and what conditions are associ with each alternative. There is litt

  Concept of Decision making The act or process of choosing one best alternative from set of available alternatives is known as decision making. In decision making process, each level of management and employee involves according to the needs in their daily working life. It is the most important managerial process for moving the organization from existing state to desired state. It is the managerial response to get rid of problems. There are number of ways of decision making such as rational decisions making, intuitive decision making etc.

   PROBLEM SOLVING Problem can be defined as a difficulty or an obstacle existing in a situation. It indicates a perceived between what is and what should be. It is the process of identifying the gap between the actual situa and desired situation. For instance, if the production per unit plant is estimated 100 units per day bu is producing only 80 units then there is problem in the production process. The problem may production plant or in raw material or in process or in human resources doing the job. It is the du managers to identify the problem, its intensity, and causes leading problems. In another words, a pro is known as a question to be answered in various stages of the management. Performance of manage measured on the basis of their ability to solve the problems. Problems come in many forms.   PROBLEM SOLVING STRATEGIES Managers should solve the problems of organization. They must have the adequate skills for analyzing the problems. To do so, problems should be defined clearly

 DECISION MAKING PROCESS Decision making is a continuous process for accomplishing daily activities to long term survival of the organization. Generally, a designed process is required to make the effective decisions. Rational decision making process involves following steps: 1. Identifying and diagnosing the problem: The initial stage in decision making is defining the problems clearly with the causes. The gap between present situation and desired situation should be defined clearly. Clear identification and diagnosing of problem helps to solve the problem easily. Decision made without diagnosing the actual problem and causes cannot be effective. 2. Identifying the alternatives: Every problem may have more than one alternative solutions. As many alternative solutions can be developed, more reliable and effective decision can be made. Therefore, managers should develop every possible alternative regarding the decision issue. Related information regarding potential solutions should be c

 TYPES OF DECISION MAKING Managers make different types of decisions in different situations. Decisions can be classified in terms of frequency of recurrence, nature, importance, time horizon, number of participants in decision making process etc. The various types of decisions are as follows: 1.  On the basis of frequency of recurrence On the basis of frequency of recurrence, decisions can be classified into programmed decisions and non-programmed decisions. a. Programmed decisions: A decision which is fairly structured or recurred with some frequency is called programmed decisions. Such decisions deal with repetitive and routine problems. If a particular situation occurs, managers will often, develop a routine procedure for handling it. Decision makers know in advance what decisions he/she has to take in particular set of situations. Generally middle level and operating level managers deal with such decision and have short-term impact. There is great deal of certainty in programmed

  Programmed decisions: A decision which is fairly structured or recurred with some frequency is called programmed decisions. Such decisions deal with repetitive and routine problems. If a particular situation occurs, managers will often, develop a routine procedure for handling it. Decision makers know in advance what decisions he/she has to take in particular set of situations. Generally middle level and operating level managers deal with such decision and have short-term impact. There is great deal of certainty in programmed decisions.   Programmed decisions are those that are made using standard operating procedures or other well-defined methods. Hence, they are structured. The following are the features of programmed decisions. Decisions are made using standard operating procedures. Deals with frequently occurring situations Used to handle similar and frequent situations  They are normally taken by the lower and middle level management.  Non-Programmed decisions: T hese decisions

Concept of Decision making The act or process of choosing one best alternative from set of available alternatives is known as decision making. In decision making process, each level of management and employee involves according to the needs in their daily working life. It is the most important managerial process for moving the organization from existing state to desired state. It is the managerial response to get rid of problems. There are number of ways of decision making such as rational decisions making, intuitive decision making etc. James Stoner: " Decision making is the process of identifying and selecting a course of action to solve specific problems. " Allen: " Decision making is a work that managers perform to arrive at conclusion and judgment  Styles of decision making  Every manager needs to take decisions taking different assumptions into consideration. Some managers are rational and logical. Such decision makers collect and process the information in a certa

 SWOT is the acronym for strength, weakness, opportunities and threats that are the strategic factors for a company. A SWOT analysis summarizes the key issues of the business environment and the capability of an organization that are most likely to impact the strategy development. Hence, it is also called the situation analysis. SWOT analysis is one of the fundamental parts in formulating plans. Under this, the information about external and internal environme is presented in a structured way. The environmental opportunities threats are identified and evaluated. Similarly, strengths and weaknesses a located through the internal or resource analysis. Finally, a matrix prepared to match the external components with the internal capabilite and develop possible alternatives. The main purpose of SWOT analysis is to identify the extent to which current plan of an organization and its strengths and weaknesses a relevant to deal with dynamic environments. It can also be used to asses whether t

 Techniques/Methods of Environmental Scanning Environmental scanning is a technique for detailed study of the environment. It is done to assess the trend of the environment and prepare the organization accordingly. There are different techniques/methods of environmental scanning. They are discussed below. 1. Executive opinion method: It is also called the executive judgment method. Under this environment is forecasted on the basis of opinion and views of top executives. A panel is formed consisting of these executives. 2. Expert opinion method: Under this environment forecasting is based on opinion of outside experts or specialist. The experts have better knowledge about market conditions and customer taste and preferences. This method is similar to executive opinion method. However, it uses external experts. 3. Delphi method: This method expert opinion method. It involves forming a panel of experts and questioning each member of the panel about the environmental trend. Later, the r

 Environmental scanning can be defined as the process by which organizations monitor their relevant environment to identify opportunities and threats affecting their business. It involves monitoring, evaluation, and dissemination of information from the external and internal environments to key people within the organization. It helps to identify the early signals of potential changes in the environment. It also detects changes that were already underway. It normally reveals ambiguous, incomplete, or unconnected data and information. Since it involves a detailed and micro study of the environment, it is also called as the X-ray of the environment. The environmental uncertainty, complexity and dynamism are studied to assess the trend of environment. It is normally done when there is a high level of uncertainty in the environment. It is a continuous process and helps to evaluate the long-term strategic plan that will be aligned with future business conditions.  The following are some of

 IMPLEMENTATION OF STRATEGIC PLAN implemented effectively which is again equally challenging job. Success or failure of an organization Strategic plan must be formulated to achieve the predetermined goals. For this, formulated plan must be depends on the effective implementation of strategic plan. Unless implemented the plan, it is meaningless to formulate them. Therefore, managers should be aware to implement the plan timely and accurately. The following points are important for the effective implementation of plan:  Successful implementation depends on organizational structure.  Organizational activities should be properly divided, organized and coordinated. Organizational structure should be matched with strategy.  Goals should be determined clearly in qualitative figures as far as possible.  Strategy must be institutionalizing. It should be transferred into actions, plans, policies, procedures and rules which will be helpful for decision makers.  Policies and procedure are powerful

Strategic planning is an important component of strategic management. Strategic management is a comprehensive and ongoing management process, aimed at formulating and implementing effective strategies. It is the way of approaching business opportunities and threats. Strategic planning is an organization's process of defining its strategy, or direction, and making decisions for allocating its resources to pursue the given strategy. Strategic management is that set of managerial decisions and actions which determines the long-run performance of an organization.  Formulation of Strategic Plan Strategic plan provides a long-term road map to the organization. Hence, it must be prepared systematically and scientifically. The following steps are normally adopted while formulating a strategic plan. 1. Define vision and mission: In the first step of strategic plan, vision and mission of the organization are developed. Vision: Vision is a picture of what an organization wants to be and, in b

   TYPES OF PLAN Different plans are prepared for different purposes at different situations. This means, there can be different types of plans depending upon situation, purpose and nature. Plans can be classified into different types on various bases as discussed below: 1. Plans on the basis of managerial hierarchy and authority  As there are three different levels of management i.e. corporate level, department level and operational level, each level prepares plans for different purposes within their responsibility area. Depending upon the level of management, plan; plans can be classified into corporate plan, departmental plan and operational plan. Corporate level plan:  Overall vision, mission, goals and strategies of the organization are prepared by top level i.e. corporate level which are called the corporate plans. They are the long term plans prepared to justify the existence and growth of organization. Such plans set the actions to attain organizational goals and objectives. Co

 Methods of Planning Organizations adopt different methods of planning. Unlike the traditional organizations, modern organizations adopt the decentralized method planning. The following are the principal methods of planning. 1. Top down method: Under this method, the top levels are actively involved in planning process. They formulate goals, policies, programs and strategies of the organization and circulate to the lower levels for their implementation. The middle and lower levels do not participated in planning process. The top down approach assumes that the top levels only have knowledge, skills and authorities of planning. 2. Bottom-up method: This is opposite to the top down method. Under this method, the middle and lower levels formulate plans and lend to the top level for change and adjustment. The top levels donot give any and suggestions to the lower levels. This method assumes that the lower levels have proper knowledge and capability of planning. This is a participatory metho