VIDEO CV

Video CV

A Novice attempt at video CV

Classical theories of Management

         Productivity improvement is the reason behind the evolution of management theories.In the initial years the management expected that the workers should do their work and give the output because at that time, the resources were  abundant and the output was the requirement .soon when the natural resources started reducing and competition appeared the 'law of scarcity' came into picture and the focus of industries shifted from desired output to best output from the resources.This change of mind is the basic reason behind the evolution of management theories which were focused on getting  productivity improvement and hence getting the best output from the resources.

Classical theories of management

Scientific management by Taylor

                   Taylor started the Scientific Management movement, and he and his associates were the first people to study the work process scientifically. They studied how work was performed, and they looked at how this affected worker productivity.

                   In 1909, Taylor published "The Principles of Scientific Management." In this, he proposed that by optimizing and simplifying jobs, productivity would increase. He also advanced the idea that workers and managers needed to cooperate with one another. This was very different from the way work was typically done in businesses beforehand. A factory manager at that time had very little contact with the workers, and he left them on their own to produce the necessary product. There was no standardization, and a worker's main motivation was often continued employment, so there was no incentive to work as quickly or as efficiently as possible.
                    Taylor believed that all workers were motivated by money, so he promoted the idea of "a fair day's pay for a fair day's work." In other words, if a worker didn't achieve enough in a day, he didn't deserve to be paid as much as another worker who was highly productive.

                  "Time and motion" studies also led Taylor to conclude that certain people could work more efficiently than others. These were the people whom managers should seek to hire where possible. Therefore, selecting the right people for the job was another important part of workplace efficiency.The works of  Taylor is also known as 'Taylorism'.

Fayol's  teachings on Administration

Fayol's "14 Principles" was one of the earliest theories of management to be created, and remains one of the most comprehensive. He's considered to be among the most influential contributors to the modern concept of management, even though people don't refer to "The 14 Principles" often today.

The theory falls under the Administrative Management school of thought (as opposed to the Scientific Management school, led by Fredrick Taylor).

Fayol fourteen prniciple of management

Division of Work – When employees are specialized, output can increase because they become increasingly skilled and efficient.
Authority – Managers must have the authority to give orders, but they must also keep in mind that with authority comes responsibility.
Discipline – Discipline must be upheld in organizations, but methods for doing so can vary.
Unity  of Command– Employees should have only one direct supervisor.

Unity of Direction – Teams with the same objective should be working under the direction of one manager, using one plan. This will ensure that action is properly coordinated.
Subordination of Individual Interests to the General Interest – The interests of one employee should not be allowed to become more important than those of the group. This includes managers.
Remuneration – Employee satisfaction depends on fair remuneration for everyone. This includes financial and non-financial compensation.
Centralization – This principle refers to how close employees are to the decision-making process. It is important to aim for an appropriate balance.
Scalar Chain – Employees should be aware of where they stand in the organization's hierarchy, or chain of command.
Order – The workplace facilities must be clean, tidy and safe for employees. Everything should have its place.
Equity – Managers should be fair to staff at all times, both maintaining discipline as necessary and acting with kindness where appropriate.
Stability of Tenure of Personnel – Managers should strive to minimize employee turnover. Personnel planning should be a priority.
Initiative – Employees should be given the necessary level of freedom to create and carry out plans.
Esprit de Corps – Organizations should strive to promote team spirit and unity

Weber's  thoughts on Bureaucracy

Bureaucracy refers to the management of large organizations characterized by hierarchy, fixed rules, impersonal relationships, rigid adherence to procedures, and a highly specialized division of labor.

Weber suggests the characteristics of bureaucracy as following :

1. There is the principle of fixed official jurisdictional areas, which are generally ordered by rules, that is, by laws or administrative regulations.
2. The principles of office hieararchy and of levels of grade authority mean a firmly ordered system of super and subordination in which there is a supervision of the lower offices by the higher ones.
3. The management of modern offices is based upon written documents (“the files”), which are preserved in their original or draught form.
4. Office management, at least all specialized office management – and such management is distinctly modern – usually presupposes thorough and expert training.
5. When the office is fully developed, official activity demands the full working capacity of the official, irrespective of the fact that his obligatory time in the bureau may be firmly delimited.
6- The management of the office follows general rules which are more or less stable, more or less exhaustive, and which can be learned.

Hawthorne Effect

Hawthorne effect.

               According to Hawthorne effect, Individuals may change their behaviour due to the attention they are receiving from researchers rather than because of any manipulation of independent variables.

              This effect was first discovered and named by researchers at Harvard University who were studying the relationship between productivity and work environment. Researchers conducted these experiments at the Hawthorne Works plant of Western Electric. The study was originally commissioned to determine if increasing or decreasing the amount of light workers received increased or decreased worker productivity. The researchers found that productivity increased due to attention from the research team and not because of changes to the experimental variable. The four conclusions they come up with were-

1) Individual aptitude is a poor predictor of job performance. Instead, productivity is strongly affected by relationships and social structure within an organization.

2) Workplaces establish their own cultures and social systems.

3)Organizations establish norms about expected daily productivity. Theses norms strongly affect and predict the productivity of individuals within the group.

4)Relationships between supervisors and workers influence worker productivity and the ways in which workers complete daily tasks. The Hawthorne researchers referred to this as the informal organization and structure within an organization.

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Hawthorne effect in modern world

                While the Hawthorne Effect can be a great way to increase production in the short term, it may be difficult to realize long term benefits. Over time, workers get use to the constant supervision. Their work eventually slows until production returns to normal levels. I experienced this first hand in my previous job working for construction equipment manufacturing unit. Our department had just gotten message that we will be observed by our japenese counterparts for global quality diagnosis.During GQD period each and every worker was working proactively to increase the production to maintain good working environment. After GQD, management soon became frustrated and accused us of not working as hard as we did during GQD.

             Another aspect of the Hawthorne Effect in modern business is the ability to improve worker morale. Many people take great pride in their work. There is a sense of accomplishment to achieve great milestones during the work day. By utilizing Hawthorne Effect methodology, managers can improve their employees sense of being and importance to the company. The key is for managers to be aware of the progress employees make each day and offer praise and gratitude for their hard work and accomplishment.

Valley Crossing

     Continuing his typical style of "Learning with fun",Prof Mandi taught us about the types of leadership and the team building exercise.He taught us how leadership changes roles in an organization and how the timely change leads an organization towards excellence.

Problem Statement

The situation is that persons have to cross the valley. As the picture suggest there is a ditch in between the two mountains. It can be easily deciphered that single person alone cannot cross the valley. In simple terms the task (of crossing the valley) cannot be completed without involving a group of three (min.) persons.The current situation is similar to an organization were a person is more efficient and effective than any other members of the team but assigned task cannot be completed by individual's effort.Unless all others are able to complete the task with him,he has to sit idle.

Strategy to achieve goals:-

Steps to be taken

1. Three people who are one side of a valley have to cross the valley using a rod. The gap between the valleys is more than one step long but less than two steps. At any time, all the three people have to hold the rod and using synchronous movements, cross the valley. 
2. Any person, while on top of the valley (the “risky” position to be in) will be supported by other two people. All the three members here have interchanging roles in the completion of task. As can be noticed in the above image, all the three members have equal distribution of risky, half-risky and safe situations. 
3. The success of this exercise will depend upon how closely the three people work as part of a team, coordinate and communicate with each other through sound/signals and follow a synchronous movement. 

Execution

Once strategy is made then its only about execution. It is pertinent to note that during execution every member should stick to the roles assigned to them. Also they should strictly adhere to the strategy made after deliberation or as a matter of fact group discussion.

If the steps provided in work process are followed then it is quite unlikely that the task may go unfinished.
Concept Learnings-

Types of leadership

One leader and others are followers-

This type of leadership is prominent in an organizations.The work is divided into various departments and MD or CEO supervise the whole process.This type of leadership is easier to follow and gives suitable results.

Shifting leadership
As found in valley crossing exercise, the leadership position goes on shifting from one person to another.This kind of leadership are found in games like football.There are always more than one strikers and they act as a leader according to the situations.
Distributive leadership.
This kind of leadership is most difficult to achieve.In this type,The leader delegates the leadership position to others for time being considering the expertise of particular person for particular task and take it back as soon as the task is completed.In this way he could maximize is resource utilization and could achieve maximum productivity.

Managerial Learning-

Goal Setting
The entire exercise was a successful one because all the group members have clear cut idea of the target they wanted to achieve. Thus it is manager's responsibility to set the goals correct and communicate the same effectively to the team members.The goals should be realistic and ambitious at the same time.

Trust

It can be easily deduced that at any point of time one of the group member will be hanging over the valley. At that point of time if the member loses his cool and become panic stricken that it may lead to catastrophic results. It is trust, faith on the ability of team members that will help him maintain his cool and complete the job successfully.

Team work 

Valley crossing explicitly explains the concept of team work i.e. cooperation, coordination etc. The members have to match their steps, walk in tandem to achieve the desired result. If there had been slight deviation in the synchronization then it would have led to some hiccups.

Time management 

If it was for individual to cross the valley then it would have taken more time for three people to cross it. The management quickly grasped the situation and got the job done by delegating three employees thereby saving considerable time.

Risk management

The valley crossing exercise stressed upon the risk taking abilities also. It explained that the employees took calculated risk of crossing the valley backed by various other traits including but not limited to motivation, determination etc. They would have very well deterred by the ditch in the valley but since risk was taken, they were able to succeed.

THE STORY OF THREE MONKS

The story of three monks

 An organization is formed when we are ready to forgo individual’s selfish goals and look forward collectively to achieve the bigger goal. It is impossible to achieve the bigger goals with the efforts of an individual. Every organization has to go through the phase of evolution and revolution. The success and failure of any organization in such tumultuous period depends on collective effort of every individual of that organization. Even we see in our organizations, there are many departments and if these departments work with each other in harmony, then business as a whole flourishes. The same message is conveyed by story of three monks.

Basis

The film is based on the ancient Chinese proverb "One monk will shoulder two buckets of water, two monks will share the load, but add a third and no one will want to fetch water.

Story

A young monk lives a simple life in a temple on top of a hill. He has one daily task of hauling two buckets of water up the hill. He tries to share the job with another monk, but the carry pole is only long enough for one bucket. The arrival of a third monk prompts everyone to expect that someone else will take on the chorus. Consequently, no one fetches water though everybody is thirsty. At night, a rat comes to scrounge and then knocks the candleholder, leading to a devastating fire in the temple. The three monks finally unite together and make a concerted effort to put out the fire. Since then they understand the old saying "unity is strength" and begin to live a harmonious life. The temple never lacks water again.

Organization

In 1995 to 2000 the TATA MOTORS were going through the tumultuous period. After liberalization, many foreign players entered the market and with their technological superiority started dominating the car market. The TATA motors was facing the whooping losses because of loss of market share. That was the point of self realization for TATA MOTORS. The management of TATA MOTORS decided to look into their loop holes. They divided their whole car making and truck making process into various divisions and starting focusing on individual divisions. It is the collective effort of all the departments that was responsible for products like TATA MAGIC and TATA INDICA. After that the company never look back.

Managerial Learning

1)It is evident that  team work is necessary for successful organization. The animation needs further probing for learning the secret of effective team work.The first lesson for managers is to always remember that all members are not equal. Each has a different capability and should be assigned work accordingly.

2)The second lesson is to assign right work to right people. We saw in the video that when third monk was given task of fetching water he was consuming most of it himself. So he was not the right person for such hard task. Finally not only his work was utilized, he was also not consuming the monastery resource as he was positioned near water pool down the hill.

3)The solution of three monks animosity turned out to be a pulley.This shows that story teller wanted us to realise that the solution not just lie in  hard work but also smart work. Hard work is key to progress but smart work is the magic behind a successful organization. Smart work saves time and energy which can be used for other productive work. Thus smart work brings in efficiency.With the use of pulley the animator wants to convey to us that it is important to remain aware of technologies in our respective field which will greatly enhance efficiency.

4)And most important lesson from the animation is that if I don't do my own work then I should not expect others to do it for me and this will eventually bring downfall of self and organization. After one point of time all three monk had stopped working .This made them consume resources without sharing. This promotes corruption and black marketing. Then the three monk started looking forward to rainstorm for water. The rainstorm can be treated as demand of help from external force or government. This is equivalent to loss of  individual self respect and marks the beginning of downfall of organization.Hence it is important to not only work as a team but also set examples by putting in extra effort at times 

Smart Goals and Pygmalion effect

A goal is a dream with a deadline.
Napoleon Hill

Goal is not only about an objective, it is also about having a well defined plan to achieve that goal that was the inspiration of Dr.  Locke, who studied goal setting for about thirty years. He  speculated that purpose can cause action; thus, He researched the impact goals have on individual activity and on its time performance.

In everything the ends well defined are the secret of durable success.
Victor Cousins

If goals are well defined, it results in more directed efforts to achieve it which also includes forming of a strategy to achieve the goals.

Consider the example of Mahabharata, When Dronacharya asked his disciples to mark the eye of bird with their arrow, he asked individual that what were they seeing; some said they were seeing a bird. Some elaborated it, saying that they were seeing a bird on a tree. It was only Arjun who said, I could see only the eye of the bird and he was the only one who qualified the test.
How to set a goal  

Goal setting should be SMART ,it should serve  the following tests.

Specific:. To set a specific goal you must answer the six “W” questions:

*Who:      Who is involved?

*What:     What do I want to accomplish?

*Where:    Identify a location.

*When:     Establish a time frame.

*Which:    Identify requirements and constraints.

*Why:      Specific reasons, purpose or benefits of accomplishing the goal.

EXAMPLE:  A general goal would be, “Get in shape.” But a specific goal would say, “Join a health club and workout 3 days a week.

you set.

When you measure your progress, you stay on track, reach your target dates, and experience the exhilaration of achievement that spurs you on to continued effort required to reach your goal.

To determine if your goal is measurable, ask questions such as……

How much? How many?

How will I know when it is accomplished?

Measurable - Establish concrete criteria for measuring progress toward the attainment of each goal

Attainable – When you identify goals that are most important to you, you begin to figure out ways you can make them come true. You develop the attitudes, abilities, skills, and financial capacity to reach them. You begin seeing previously overlooked opportunities to bring yourself closer to the achievement of your goals.

You can attain most any goal you set when you plan your steps wisely and establish a time frame that allows you to carry out those steps. Goals that may have seemed far away and out of reach eventually move closer and become attainable, not because your goals shrink, but because you grow and expand to match them. When you list your goals you build your self-image. You see yourself as worthy of these goals, and develop the traits and personality that allow you to possess them.

Realistic- To be realistic, a goal must represent an objective toward which you are both willing and able to work. A goal can be both high and realistic; you are the only one who can decide just how high your goal should be. But be sure that every goal represents substantial progress.

A high goal is frequently easier to reach than a low one because a low goal exerts low motivational force. Some of the hardest jobs you ever accomplished actually seem easy simply because they were a labor of love.

Timely – A goal should be grounded within a time frame. With no time frame tied to it there’s no sense of urgency. If you want to lose 10 lbs, when do you want to lose it by? “Someday” won’t work. But if you anchor it within a time frame, “by May 1st”, then you’ve set your unconscious mind into motion to begin working on the goal.
Your goal is probably realistic if you truly believe that it can be accomplished. Additional ways to know if your goal is realistic is to determine if you have accomplished anything similar in the past or ask yourself what conditions would have to exist to accomplish this goal.

T can also stand for Tangible – A goal is tangible when you can experience it with one of the senses, that is, taste, touch, smell, sight or hearing.

When your goal is tangible you have a better chance of making it specific and measurable and thus attainable.

Pygmalion Effect or Golem effect-

The Pygmalion effect, or Rosenthal effect, is the phenomenon in which the greater the expectation placed upon people, the better they perform. The effect is named after Pygmalion, a play by George Bernard Shaw.

Our goal setting should be done in such a way that one should rate ones potential as unlimited. One should benchmark a target below the potential target. His achievements should be lower than marked target while the historical target should be below the achieved one. If the following trend is not followed and achieved target is above the marked one than the aspirant will not find motivation to achieve a goal he will not strategize his plan which in turn affect the individual as well as group’s performance.

In sociology-Pygmalion effect creates a cyclic effect-Our beliefs about ourselves influence our action, our action toward others influences their beliefs about us. Their beliefs influence their action towards us which in turn enforces our belief about us.

Craftsmanship Vs Modern Management

Craftsmanship and modern management-

 “Rome was not built in a day”. The proverb seems true in a literal sense also. History will testify the fact that the great things are not built by an individual in a day; it is the collective effort of all the people that bear the fruit.

   A Craftsman is a person who is deft in his work. He has honed his skill to the extent that he has achieved an excellence in his work but his individual skill is of no use if you will look at it from business point of view. It is the collective efforts of all the craftsmen that make a strong and successful organization .If the craftsmen from various fields are brought under a single roof then only it is possible to run parallel processes and combine the efforts of every individual to get optimum output in time bound manner. Also, if we consider craftsmanship as the centre of any organization then it will create dependency which is very disastrous for any organization to move ahead.  The recent trend of ‘deskilling’ in businesses clearly speaks of the fact. In deskilling we divide the whole process into smaller processes and deploy each individual to do this processes, in this way no individual develop any skill completely and the dependency on that individual decreases. The welding process can be deskill into ‘edge preparation’ and ‘running a welding torch’ in this way dependency on individual welder decreases. It is  also easier to control any process by deskilling.

    The point of contrast in craftsmanship and modern management is that the employee satisfaction is higher in craftsmanship as compare to modern management.

3E’s of management.

The 3 E’s of management are ‘Excellence’, ‘Effectiveness’ and ‘Efficiency’ .and excellence can be given as product of efficiency and effectiveness.

                                   Excellence = Effectiveness x Efficiency

Efficiency can be given as doing things in a right manner while effectiveness means doing right things. Analogy goes like if velocity has to be defined it is defined by speed and direction, the direction part is given by effectiveness and the speed part is efficiency which focus on rate of doing things Efficiency can be measured as a ratio of output by input but effectiveness is about choosing best option from the available one.