The Controlling Function
The most brilliantly conceived strategic plan is only likely to be achieved if the organization has an effective controlling process that monitors performance and keeps the company on target.
Strategic Planning Options
There is a wide range of corporate strategies that can be utilized, depending on the needs and circumstances of a particular company. Once a strategy has been determined, an organization may then elect to utilize one or more specific techniques for ...
Expert Systems
Expert systems are designed not just to support decision making, but to suggest actual decisions.
Globalization and Competition
As steel has given way to microchips and globalization has become a worldwide economic reality, managers have had to deal with a host of new challenges. Among the most critical has been the need to produce as efficiently as the competition, which mi...
Leadership Case Study: Virgin Group of Companies
As the founder, chairman and chief executive of the Virgin and Voyager Group of Companies, Richard Branson has started or become a partner in nearly two hundred ventures. His leadership style has been described as "inspired delegation." Perhaps the ...
Leadership Case Study: Ritz-Carlton Hotel
Horst Schulze, former president and chief operating officer of the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, is a classic example of a leader who came up through the ranks and knows how to connect with employees. During his tenure with the Ritz-Carlton, Schulze c...
Just-In-Time Inventory Management
Maintaining appropriate levels of inventory is a fundamental aspect of operations. In order to insure a smooth flow of work and delivery to customers, companies need to keep some amount of both raw materials and finished product on hand. But histori...
Job Performance and Rewards
Sometimes it's very challenging to determine if an employee has met established goals, particularly if that individual is part of a larger team. And it can be especially challenging to appropriately reward individual job performance within the conte...
Job Descriptions
It's important that those seeking to fill a position are in clear agreement as to what the job is about. Job descriptions and specifications become the basis for determining which applicants best fit the needs of the organization.
Unethical Behavior
People sometimes fail to consider the moral or ethical dimensions of behavior because they assume any action that doesn't violate the law is acceptable. While legal statutes are codified and enforceable by the judicial system, ethics principles are ...