Q Bank POM MT 14and Ans

8/10/2019 Q Bank POM MT 14and Ans

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POMMid-term

Question Bank 2014

1. Explain in detail Henry Mintzbergs 3 managerial roles.(Pg. 10-14)

2. What the companies look for in managers and what are the top 10 mistakes that the managers

commit. (Pg. 14-17)

3. Management is an art and a scienceExplain. (PPT/Class Notes)

4. Who is the father of scientific management and what are his 5 Principles? (Pg. 32-34/Class

Notes)

5. Who is the father of modern Operational management and explain his 14 Principles. (Pg. 40 &

Word Doc)

6. Explain the evolution of Human Resource Management by Elton Mayos HawthorneStudies

and Constructive conflict coordination by Mary Parkar Follett. (Pg. 39 to 43/Class Notes)

7. Explain in detail 8 types of Managers. (PPT/Class Notes)

8. According to Thomas Peters & Robert Waterman what are the characteristics of excellent

companies? Explain in detail. (PPT/Class Notes)

9. Which are the top 20 most admired companies in India (2014) and what are the parameters of

their excellence. (PPT/Class Notes)

10.Explain the 8 steps in Business Process Reengineering. (PPT/Class Notes)

11.Explain McKinseys 7 S Framework. (PPT/Class Notes).

12.Explain the 14 insights of William Edwards Deming. (PPT/Class Notes)

13.Explain the 7 steps in the decision making process. (Pg. 121-126)

14.Explain the salient features of Theory X, Y & Z. (PPT/Class Notes)

15.What are the lessons that we can learn from Peter Drucker? (PPT/Class Notes)

16.Explain the Parkinsons Law and what are the 9 ways to beat to overcome it?(PPT/Class Notes)17.Explain Peter Principle and why organizations succumb to it? What are the 5 ways to overcome

it? (PPT/Class Notes)

18.What are the 12 lessons that we can learn from Jack Welch. (PPT/Class Notes)

19.Explain the concept of 6 sigma and how it is applied to Mumbai Dabbawalas.(PPT/Class Notes)

20.What is planning and what are its benefits and pitfalls? Explain the SMART Goals. (113116)

21.What is vision and mission? Explain the various stages of Team Development as advocated by

Bruce Tuckman. (PPT/Class Notes)

22.Explain the salient features of Delphi Technique. (PPT). (Pg. 129 & PPT/Class Notes)

23.What are the 8 steps in planning? (Pg. 122- 126)

24.Explain the following concepts in detail: 1. Tows matrix. 2. Business Portfolio Matrix (BCGMatrix). (Pg. 146-148, 151-154)

25.Explain Porters5 Forces of industry analysis and generic competitive strategies. (Pg. 157 to

160)

26.Explain the concepts of Blue and Red Ocean strategy with examples. (PPT/Class Notes)


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Answers:

3) Management is both a science a science as well as an art. It is a science because it has an

organized body of knowledge consisting of theories and principles. It is an art because it

involves getting results through practical applications of skills and knowledge. The science of

management provides general principles for managing various aspects of business. But their

application depends upon the experience, skills and competence of managers. Thus both artand science and complementary to each other as science teaches to know about the things and

art teaches how to perform those things in practical situations.

MANAGEMENT AS AN ART

1- Existence of theoretical knowledge: art presupposes the existence of certain theoretical

knowledge. Experts in their respective areas have derived certain basic principles which are

applicable to a particular form of art. 2- Personalized application: the use of basic knowledge

varies from individual to individual. 3- Based on practice and certainty: all art is practical. Art

involves the creative practice of theoretical knowledge.

MANAGEMENT AS A SCIENCE

1- Systematically body of knowledge: it's principles are based on a cause and effect relation. 2-

Principles based on implementation: scientific principles were first developed through

observation and then tested through repeated experimentation under controlled conditions. 3-

Universal validity: scientific principles have universal validity and application.

Management is an art because in management your task is to better manage human resources

and organizational matters in your circle of command & control.

It is science because your performance is measured and results are visible. For performance

there would be some system in vogue on the basis of which your Organization is assessed andgraded. So these all are scientific jobs that could be measured in quantitative formats.

So in my point of view Management is both a science and art.

8) The authors research started in 1977 when two groups of people atMcKinsey & Co. were asked to research a general concern with the

problems of management effectiveness and a particular concern with the

nature of the relationship between strategy, structure, and management

effectiveness. One of these groups was asked to review thinking on

strategy, the other was asked to review thinking on organisational

effectiveness.Petersand Waterman were the leaders of the project on

organisational effectiveness. They were basically told to travel

around the world and speak to as many interesting business people as

they could about the subject of Organisation, Structure and People.

They set out to discover the real secrets of management. They examined

43 successful American companies including IBM, Procter & Gamble,

Boeing, Delta Airlines and McDonalds. In their research they looked

for key attributes that most of these companies shared and that made

them successful. They were asked to do a 700 slide, two-day

presentation and then condense it down. When condensed their research
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provided us with the eight attributes ofexcellencethat I spoke of

a minute ago.

What are the eight attributes of excellence?

They are the following:

1. A Bias for Action: This is about getting things done. There must be

a free flow of information and open communication. The open and

informal organisation is more flexible and is able to take quicker

action to changes needed to keep up in todays business world.

Successful companies who want to get things done are not afraid to try

new things and experiment.

2. Close to the Customer: Customer satisfaction is very important

throughout all the roles that the business plays. Many companies

forget about their customers, whereas successful companies have an

obsession with their customers. Excellent product quality and

reliability will make a satisfied customer. Great service will keep

the customer coming back.

3. Autonomy and Entrepreneurship: This is about encouraging risk

taking and innovation.

4. Productivity Through People: This means that everyone is respectful

and enthusiastic towards each other. This creates an atmosphere that

enables good work.

5. Hands-on, Value-Driven: This is about company philosophy and values

being discussed openly. The right values, clearly expressed, will help

define an organisation. Leaders in the organisation are also positive

role models.

6. Stick to the Knitting: This is about the company focusing on doing

what it does best.

7. Simple Form, Lean Staff: This can be hard particularly in large

organisations. But you need to work at making things understandable

for the tens, hundreds or even thousands of people who are making

things happen, i.e. the employees. Also, authority is shared as much

as possible between these employees.

8. Simultaneous Loose-Tight Properties: This is about excellent

companies holding tight to their core values. It is about good

planning and controlling that still allows for worker autonomy and a

less rigid atmosphere

10)Business process reengineering

Step 1: Formulate / Modify business visions, policies, objectives

Step 2: Formulate / Modify business strategies according to changing customer requirements, technology changesand competition
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Step 3: Analyze the existing business process cycles & workflows and determine how they may be modified orrefined

Step 4: Apply IT to setup an optimal Business Information Management Architecture (BIMA) to support thereengineered business process

Step 5: Modify or redesign the existing processes according to the reengineering strategies and develop refinedBusiness Process Automation Systems (BPAS)

Step 6: Apply IT strategies to map BIMA onto an Enterprise Information Management System (EIMS) that isintegrated across the enterprise and that fits into and supports the reengineered Business process cycles andworkflows.

Step 7: Integrate the EIMS with the BPAS to build up the completed reengineered business system

Step 8: Repeat steps 1-7 for continuous BPR due to changing customer demands, technology changes and businessstrategies, which leads to business stability

Since information management is a key factor in BPR, the BPR efforts are enabled & supported by a variety of ITsolutions

Step #1

Criteria for Selecting Processes

Broken Process

Bottleneck and Delays

Cross-functional or cross-organizational units

Core processes that have high impacts

Front-line and customer serving (moment of truth)

Value-adding

New processes and services opportunity

Feasibility

Step #1

Process Data

Basic Overall process data

Customers and customer

requirements

Suppliers and suppliers

qualifications

Breakthrough goals


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Performance characteristics

Cost

cycle time

Reliability

defect rate

Systems constraints

Budgetary

Business

Legal

social

environmental

safety issues

Measure critical process metrics

Cycle time

Cost

Input quality

Output quality

Frequency and distribution of

inputs

Step #1

Select the Process

Review business strategy and customer requirements

Select core processes


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Understand customer needs

No assumption

Select correct path for change

Ask - questionnaires, meetings, focus groups

Step #1

Appoint a BPR Team

Identify process owners

Develop executive improvement team

Provide training to executive team

Step #1

BPR Teams Core Skills

Capacity to view the organization as a whole

Ability to focus on end-customers

Ability to challenge fundamental assumptions

Courage to deliver into unknown areas

Ability to assume individual and collective responsibility

Step #2

Study Current Process

Draft the Process Overview

Define and develop the process in detail

Mission

Scope

Boundaries

Roles

Interactions Interfaces

Set performance metrics


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Understand customers expectations

Step #2

Study Current Process

Document the Process

Cost

Time

Value Data

Workflow

Identify Improvement Opportunities

Quality

Time

Cost

Rework

Step #3

Keep Organisation Aware

Spead the knowledge in the organisation

Cultivate the vision for the future

Keep people informed on developments

Persuade people that BPR is necessary

Reassure people by closely managing BPR

Indicate ncessary actions

Assign responsibilities to key personnel

Step #4

Design the BPR Action Plan

Develop an improvement plan

Appoint process owners


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Simplify the process to reduce process time

Remove no-value-added activities

Standardize process and automate where possible

Up-grade equipment

Plan/schedule the changes

Step #4

Design the BPR Action Plan

Exploit BPR-related Tools developed from

Modelling

Benchmarking

Risk analysis & SWOT

Simulation

Impact Assessment

Lean development

Theory of constraints

Step #5

Rebuild the Process

Step #6

Execute and Follow the Plan

Qualify/certify the process

Test periodically the process

Identify and eliminate emerging process problems

Evaluate the impact on the business on customers

Run periodically benchmarking tests for the process


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Train the employees for maximazing process efficiency

11) McKinsey 7s modelis a tool that analyzes firms organizational design by looking at 7 key internal

elements: strategy, structure, systems, shared values, style, staff and skills, in order to identify if they are

effectively aligned and allow organization to achieve its objectives.

The goal of the model was to show how 7 elements of the company: Structure, Strategy, Skills, Staff, Style,

Systems, and Shared values, can be aligned together to achieve effectiveness in a company. The key point of

the model is that all the seven areas are interconnected and a change in one area requires change in the rest

of a firm for it to function effectively.

Below you can find the McKinsey model, which represents the connections between seven areas and divides

them into Soft Ss and Hard Ss. The shape of the model emphasizes interconnectedness of the elements.

The model can be applied to many situations and is a valuable tool when organizational design is at question.

The most common uses of the framework are:

To facilitate organizational change.

To help implement new strategy.

To identify how each area may change in a future.

To facilitate the merger of organizations.


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7s factors

In McKinsey model, the seven areas of organization are divided into the soft and hard areas. Strategy,

structure and systems are hard elements that are much easier to identify and manage when compared to soft

elements. On the other hand, soft areas, although harder to manage, are the foundation of the organization and

are more likely to create the sustained competitive advantage.

Hard Ss Soft Ss

Strategy Style

Structure Staff

Systems Skills

Shared Values

Strategyis a plan developed by a firm to achieve sustained competitive advantage and successfully compete

in the market. What does a well-aligned strategy mean in 7s McKinsey model? In general, a sound strategy is

the one thats clearly articulated, is long-term, helps to achieve competitive advantage and is reinforced bystrong vision, mission and values. But its hard to tell if such strategy is well-aligned with other elements when

analyzed alone. So the key in 7s model is not to look at your company to find the great strategy, structure,

systems and etc. but to look if its aligned with other elements. For example, short-term strategy is usually a

poor choice for a company but if its aligned with other 6 elements, then it may provide strong results.

Structurerepresents the way business divisions and units are organized and includes the information of who is

accountable to whom. In other words, structure is the organizational chart of the firm. It is also one of the most

visible and easy to change elements of the framework.

Systemsare the processes and procedures of the company, which reveal business daily activities and how

decisions are made. Systems are the area of the firm that determines how business is done and it should be

the main focus for managers during organizational change.Skillsare the abilities that firms employees perform very well. They also include capabilities and competences.

During organizational change, the question often arises of what skills the company will really need to reinforce

its new strategy or new structure.

Staffelement is concerned with what type and how many employees an organization will need and how they

will be recruited, trained, motivated and rewarded.

Stylerepresents the way the company is managed by top-level managers, how they interact, what actions do

they take and their symbolic value. In other words, it is the management style of companys leaders.

Shared Valuesare at the core of McKinsey 7s model. They are the norms and standards that guide employee

behavior and company actions and thus, are the foundation of every organization.

12) Demings 14 point philosophy

The 14 Points

1. Create a constant purpose toward improvement.

Plan for quality in the long term.

Resist reacting with short-term solutions.

Don't just do the same things betterfind better things to do.


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Predict and prepare for future challenges, and always have the goal of getting better.

2. Adopt the new philosophy.

Embrace quality throughout the organization.

Put your customers' needs first, rather than react to competitive pressure and design products andservices to meet those needs.

Be prepared for a major change in the way business is done. It's about leading, not simply managing. Create your quality vision, and implement it.

3. Stop depending on inspections.

Inspections are costly and unreliableand they don't improve quality, they merely find a lack ofquality.

Build quality into the process from start to finish.

Don't just find what you did wrongeliminate the "wrongs" altogether.

Use statistical control methodsnot physical inspections aloneto prove that the process is working.

4. Use a single supplier for any one item.

Quality relies on consistencythe less variation you have in the input, the less variation you'll have inthe output.

Look at suppliers as your partners in quality. Encourage them to spend time improving their ownqualitythey shouldn't compete for your business based on price alone.

Analyze the total cost to you, not just the initial cost of the product.

Use quality statistics to ensure that suppliers meet your quality standards.

5. Improve constantly and forever.

Continuously improve your systems and processes. Deming promoted thePlan-Do-Check-Act approach to process analysis and improvement.

Emphasize training and education so everyone can do their jobs better.

Usekaizen as a model to reduce waste and to improve productivity, effectiveness, and safety.

6. Use training on the job.

Train for consistency to help reduce variation.

Build a foundation of common knowledge.

Allow workers to understand their roles in the "big picture."

Encourage staff to learn from one another, and provide a culture and environment for effectiveteamwork.

7. Implement leadership.

Expect your supervisors and managers to understand their workers and the processes they use.

Don't simply superviseprovide support and resources so that each staff member can do his or herbest. Be a coach instead of a policeman.

Figure out what each person actually needs to do his or her best.

Emphasize the importance of participative management and transformational leadership.

Find ways to reach full potential, and don't just focus on meeting targets and quotas.

8. Eliminate fear. Allow people to perform at their best by ensuring that they're not afraid to express ideas or concerns.

Let everyone know that the goal is to achieve high quality by doing more things right and that you'renot interested in blaming people when mistakes happen.

Make workers feel valued, and encourage them to look for better ways to do things.

Ensure that your leaders are approachable and that they work with teams to act in the company's bestinterests.

Use open and honest communication to remove fear from the organization.
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9. Break down barriers between departments.

Build the "internal customer" conceptrecognize that each department or function serves otherdepartments that use their output.

Build a shared vision.

Use cross-functional teamwork to build understanding and reduce adversarial relationships.

Focus on collaboration and consensus instead of compromise.10. Get rid of unclear slogans.

Let people know exactly what you wantdon't make them guess. "Excellence in service" is short andmemorable, but what does it mean? How is it achieved? The message is clearer in a slogan like "You

can do better if you try."

Don't let words and nice-sounding phrases replace effective leadership. Outline your expectations, andthen praise people face-to-face for doing good work.

11. Eliminate management by objectives.

Look at how the process is carried out, not just numerical targets. Deming said that production targetsencourage high output and low quality.

Provide support and resources so that production levels and quality are high and achievable.

Measure the process rather than the people behind the process.

Tip:

There are situations in which approaches likeManagement By Objectives are appropriate, for example, in

motivating sales-people. As Deming points out, however, there are many situations where a focus on objectives can

lead people to cut corners with quality. You'll need to decide for yourself whether or not to use these approaches. If

you do, make sure that you think through the behaviors that your objectives will motivate.

12. Remove barriers to pride of workmanship.

Allow everyone to take pride in their work without being rated or compared.

Treat workers the same, and don't make them compete with other workers for monetary or otherrewards. Over time, the quality system will naturally raise the level of everyone's work to an equally

high level.

13. Implement education and self-improvement.

Improve the current skills of workers. Encourage people to learn new skills to prepare for future changes and challenges.

Build skills to make your workforce more adaptable to change, and better able to find and achieveimprovements.

14. Make "transformation" everyone's job.

Improve your overall organization by having each person take a step toward quality.

Analyze each small step, and understand how it fits into the larger picture.

Use effective change management principles to introduce the new philosophy and ideas in Deming's14 points.

14) Theory X and Theory Y are theories of human motivation created and

developed by Douglas McGregor at the MIT Sloan School of Management inthe 1960s that have been used in human resource management, organizational

behaviour, organizational communication and organizational development.

They describe two contrasting models of workforce motivation.

Theory X:
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Theory X basically holds the belief that people do not like work and that some

kind of direct pressure and control must be exerted to get them to work

effectively. These people require a rigidly managed environment, usually

requiring threats of disciplinary action as a primary source of motivation. It is

also held that employees will only respond to monetary rewards as an incentiveto perform above the level of that which is expected

From a management point of view, autocratic (Theory X) managers like to

retain most of their authority. They make decisions on their own and inform the

workers, assuming that they will carry out the instructions. Autocratic managers

are often called "authoritative" for this reason; they act as "authorities". This

type of manager is highly task oriented, placing a great deal of concern towards

getting the job done, with little concern for the worker's attitudes towards the

manager's decision.

Theory X can be related to Taylors Scientific Management Theory.

According to Theory X and scientific management Theory what motivated

people at work is money. Workers sole satisfaction will be maximizing hismoney. However in modern organizations, people required more than money

and here comes Theory Y into the picture.

Theory Y:

A more popular view of the relationship found in the work place betweenmanagers and workers, is explained in the concepts of Theory Y. This theory

assumes that people are creative and eager to work. Workers tend to desire more

responsibility than Theory X workers, and have strong desires to participate in

the decision making process. Theory Y workers are comfortable in a working

environment which allows creativity and the opportunity to become personally

involved in organizational planning.

According to another of the authors studied for this project, in which the

"participative" (Theory Y) leadership style is discussed, a participative leadershares decisions with the group. Douglas McGregor thinks that Theory Ymanagers are more likely than Theory X managers to develop the climate of

trust with employees; a critical requirement for human resource development.

It's human resource development that is a crucial aspect of any organization.

This would include managers communicating openly with subordinates,

minimizing the difference between superior-subordinate relationships, creating a


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comfortable environment in which subordinates can develop and use their

abilities. This climate would include the sharing of decision making so that

subordinates have say in decisions that influence them.

For McGregor, Theory X and Y are not different ends of the same continuum.Rather they are two different continua in themselves.

Theory Z:

Theory Z deals with the way in which workers are perceived by managers, as

well as how managers are perceived by workers; is created and developed byWilliam Ouchi. Theory Z offers the notion of a hybrid management style which

is a combination of a strict American management style and a strict Japanese

management style This theory speaks of Ringi System of Management. Thisdecision-making system is the collective decision-making process and is highlydecentralized. Only after the consensus is reached the decision is taken. If the

decision is successful, then the one who has advocated it gets the credit but

interesting part is that in the event of unsuccessful decision-making, top

management takes the responsibility for the failure. Theory Z emphasizes things
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such as job rotation, broadening of skills, generalization versus specialization,

and the need for continuous training of workers.

Theory Z assumes that workers tend to want to build co-operative and intimate

working relationships with those that they work for and with, as well as thepeople that work for them. Also, Theory Z workers have a high need to besupported by the company, and highly value a working environment in which

such things as family, cultures and traditions, and social institutions are

regarded as equally important as the work itself. These types of workers have a

very well developed sense of order, discipline, moral obligation to work hard,

and a sense of cohesion with their fellow workers. Finally, Theory Z workers, it

is assumed, can be trusted to do their jobs to their utmost ability, so long as

management can be trusted to support them and look out for their well being.

Theory Z stresses the need for enabling the workers to become generalists,rather than specialists, and to increase their knowledge of the company and its

processes through job rotations and continual training. In fact, promotions tend

to be slower in this type of setting, as workers are given a much longeropportunity to receive training and more time to learn the intricacies of the

company's operations. The desire, under this theory, is to develop a work force,

which has more of a loyalty towards staying with the company for an entire

career, and be more permanent than in other types of settings. It is expected that

once an employee does rise to a position of high level management, they will

know a great deal more about the company and how it operates, and will be ableto use Theory Z management theories effectively on the newer employees.


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The assumptions of these theories are described below.

Theory X

1. Humans inherently dislike working and try to avoid work.

2. Because people dislike work, they have to be made to work by putting pressure and

controlling their activities closely.

3.

Average people prefers to be directed by others.4. Average people avoid taking responsibility.

5. Average people are unambitious and prefer security at work

Theory Y

1. Work is an activity as natural to people as play and rest.


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2. When suitably motivated people are self directed to achieve organizational objectives.

3. Commitment of employees can be obtained by ensuring job satisfaction for them

4. People learn to accept responsibility and under suitable conditions actively seek

responsibility.

5. People are imaginative and creative.

Theory Z

1. Employees want to build cooperative relationships with their employees, superiors,

colleagues and juniors

2. People require support in form job security and facilities for developing multiple skills

essential for improving performance.

3. People value their family life, culture,traditions and institutions as much as they value

their material gains.

4. People have well developed sense of dedication, moral obligation and self discipline.5. They can make good collective decisions through consensus.

16) Parkinson's law states:

'Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.'

Which means that if you have an assignment due to next week, the assignment will only befinished next week. But if you're given 2 months time for the same assignment, then the

assignment will take 2 months to complete.

Time pressure forces you to complete a task in the given time. If there is no pressure

attached to a task then it will take forever to finish. Therefore, the more time you giveyourself for a job, the more time that particular job will take.

The more time you're given, the more important a task will seem. A task that has to befinished within an hour isn't perceived important, but a task that's to be finished in 2months will become a mental monstrosity.

Complexity also rises in relation to the allocated time, the more time allocated, the better

the perceived quality of the task should be and the more work your mind thinks it will take.

Therefore making it overly complex and difficult.

If you work under time pressure, you have no choice but to do the absolute minimumrequired to get the task done.

'If you wait until the last minute, it only takes a minute to do.'

How you can you beat Parkinsons Law?


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1. Break Down Your Tasks and Deadlines

Parkinsons Law always strikes hardest when you have enormous tasks with far-away

deadlines. It can all seem so intangible, out there and too daunting to even begin.

The best way to fix this is to break those big, monolithic tasks into many smaller, bite-

sized tasks, along with several intermediate deadlines to complete them.

In addition to helping you to review your progress, frequent, achievable deadlines

create a mild sense of urgency during the whole duration of your work, keeping you

naturally engaged and focused on what needs to be done.

Determine the scope of the task or project as soon as possible. Decide what needs to

be doneand by when. This is your breakdown of smaller tasks or your action plan.

Add dates or deadlines to each task, so you can measure your progress towards

completion. Delegate each task where you can, and encourage everyone to make a

start at the earliest opportunity.

Identify what resources are needed for the future completion of your project or task.

Take steps to put them in place straight away. Contact your accountant today. Build

that team now. Order those materials. Each step you take is a step closer to the finish

line. Defy Parkinsons Law by taking action, and beating distant deadlines.

2. Know What Done Means

Its not always easy to know for sure when a task is finished. The more of a

perfectionist you are, the more likely youre a victim of Parkinsons Law: theres

always one more little thing to add, one little refinement to be made. Instead of

quantity of work done (number of pages or hours spent), aim for greater quality, and

when youre happy with it leave it alone. Know where to draw the line so you dont

spend a lot of time overdoing it.


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3. Set Clear Boundaries

Most of the time, Parkinsons Law kicks in when were doing too much stuff at the

same time. The dreaded multi tasking! Avoid at all costs! Days become a jumble of

tasks and hardly any ever get completely finished. And, with the huge number of

distractions that tend to creep in, it only gets worse.

To avoid the effects of Parkinsons Law and to finish tasks sooner, work on them one

at a time, focused and with as few distractions as possible.

Restrict time allocations to tasks. Short bursts of focused activity, under the pressure

of time limits, will make you more productive and effective. Give yourself only five

minutes to answer emails. Youll surprise yourself by how succinct you manage to be:

one word will often suffice. If you are afraid of seeming rude, add a line to appear

along with your automated signature: Please forgive my brief response, but I value

your time as well as mine. Or explain, I am experimenting with minimalism!

Allow yourself only a limited time with your PA. See how that restricted timescale

shifts your focus to pinpoint your priorities. All else falls by the wayside. Which is as

it should be.

4. Challenge Yourself

A tight time limit or deadline forces your brain to figure out ways to get the job done

in the restricted time available. Dont add safety buffers when you estimate and

allocate time for your tasks. If you pad your estimates with spare time and

contingency, that time will be wasted as a result of Parkinsons Law kicking in.You

will simply take as long as you have time available. So keep it tight.

Set almost impossible, yet believable, challenging deadlines for yourself. And

achieve them. Underestimate the time it will takeat least internally within your

business. Its no good telling a client you can complete this project in a week, when


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your team will actually need two weeks. This is not about putting unnecessary

pressure on yourself or staff, or jeopardizing customer relations and accountability by

imposing unrealistic or impossible deadlines.

Your aim is to encourage yourself and other people to work differently, and to take

some risks. It will involve stepping outside your own comfort zone; so appreciate that

for everyonegetting outside the comfort zone means an element of discomfort.

Introduce this as a challenge, not a threat. Encourage yourself and others to rise to the

challenge by making it fun and offering rewards, not by threatening with punishments

and adverse consequences.

5. Create Incentives to Finish Early

One reason Parkinsons Law is so prevalent in businesses is that people rarely have

the right incentives to finish early:

Finished already? Heres more work for you.

Youre fast! Guess we can bring the deadline forward next time!

Even when youre the leader, it can be more desirable to continue perfecting your

current task for as long as possible than to start another. It can act as a security

blanket. Maybe youre avoiding your next task because it seems too daunting, for

example. Its the unknown! Cue: spooky whoo-oo-oo! sounds. But set an example to

your staff. Finish early when you are done.

So build in some incentives to finish each stage of your work. Promise yourself that if

you finish them early, you will give yourself mini-rewards. Take a quick break,

browse the web, go for a walk. Do whatever takes your fancy and enjoy the feeling of

having deserved it. The key here is to associate rewards with results, not with time

spentso dont fool yourself. Make the results tangible in their outcomeyour goal

should be to finish this project, not to spend an hour on it (and still leave it

unfinished).


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6. Know Whats Next

We often hang on too long to a task, simply because we dont know exactly what to

do next. So ensure that you always have a few next actions on your to-do list or in

the pipeline, to keep the momentum going and avoid any stopping to reassess what

you should be doing.

Move on. Enjoy having no time to think. Use instinct and intuition instead to make

your decisions. Then act on them. As Malcolm Gladwell says in Blink: too much

thinking, and too much information just clouds the issue. Your gut reaction is usually

the right one.

7. Consider how you can Use Parkinsons Law to change the rules of the game.

Deliberately use your awareness of Parkinsons Law to achieve things. If you know

how it works, how can you use the law to accomplish incredible things in short spaces

of time?

Set yourself apparently impossible (but achievable) artificial deadlinesand then

announce them publicly. Tell everyone, The project will be finished in three months!

Do or die. Decide on an audacious goal, and tell everyone your deadlineto set up a

public expectation. This also sets you up for public humiliation if you dont complete

it when you say you will. This can be sufficient incentive to ensure that you do it

within that time limit! However, the journey towards that goal and deadline should

proceed from that moment onwards.

17) Peter principle

The Peter Principleis a concept inmanagementtheory in which the selection of a candidate for a

position is based on their performance in their current role rather than on their abilities relevant to the

intended role. They only stop being promoted when they are out of their league in a job they cannot

do. Thus, "Managers rise to the level of their incompetence." This also supposedly explains why so

many of the managers at every company you work for are incompetent.
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in anorganizational structure,the assessment of the potential of an employee for apromotionis

often based on their performance in the current job which results eventually in their being promoted

to their highest level ofcompetenceand potentially then to a role in which they are not competent,

referred to as their "level of incompetence". The employee has no chance of further promotion, thus

reaching his or her career's ceiling in an organization.

Peter suggests that "[i]n time, every post tends to be occupied by an employee who is incompetent

to carry out its duties"[2]and that "work is accomplished by those employees who have not yet

reached their level of incompetence." He coined the term hierarchiologyas thesocial

scienceconcerned with the basic principles of hierarchically organized systems in thehuman

society.

He noted that their incompetence may be a result of the skills required being different rather than

more difficult; by way of example, an excellent engineer may find that he or she made a

poormanagerdue to a limitation of theinterpersonal skillsrequired by a manager to effectively lead

a team.

Rather than seeking to promote a talented super-competent junior employee, Peter suggested that

an incompetent manager may set them up to fail or dismiss them because they will likely "violate the

first commandment of hierarchical life with incompetent leadership: [namely that] the hierarchy must

be preserved".

If you find yourself in a similar position, where you dont really know what youre doing just as all

eyes are set on you, then here are a few tips based on my sometimes-bungling-but-never-boring

experiences.

1. Dont assume authority until it is conferred on you from those onyour team.

This is perhaps the most important lesson any person new to managing should learn. While

someone above you has deemed it appropriate to leave you in charge of a handful of people, the

people you will be working with on a daily basis probably had no say in the decision.

Even if you are technically above them on the hierarchical ladder, you do not truly become a leader

until your employees see you as one. It is absolutely essential to curry favor with and gain respect

from your colleagues before theyll listen to you.

2. Listen carefully and always ask questions.I really did not know what I was doing when I first started my new position. After a few weeks, I was

soon becoming the perfect Peters Principle poster girl.

Since I did not yet possess the management skills, I figured out early on that Id have to learn by

listening to my colleagues carefully and observing other managers who were skilled and respected.
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Main point: you can effectively avoid becoming a victim of the Peter Principle by making a

commitment to learning from others.

3. Get to know your teammates strengths and weaknesses.

As this Business Weekarticlenotes, its important to demonstrate to those who you will lead that

youre going to take charge and make substantive changes to team operations that will make

everyones job more efficient and enjoyable.

The best way to give this impression from the beginning is to make a genuine attempt to get to

know everyone by meeting with each team member individually. Become acquainted with their

personal work-related aspirations, their working styles, their weaknesses and any other information

that will help you manage more effectively.

4. Always own up to mistakes.

Theres no escaping the fact that you are going to screw things up fairly often when you first start.

The quickest ways to lose respect from your colleagues is to cover up your mistakes, pass the

blame around, or simply just portray an image of yourself that you havent yet lived up to.

If you want your team to admit to their own mistakes and correct them, then youll have to do the

same yourself.

5. Understand that you cant make everyone happy.

While being liked is an instrumental component of succeeding as a manager, you will often be

forced to make decisions that not everyone will agree with. Dont kowtow to others desires just

because you want to please everyone. Assess every decision you make and by all means consult

others opinions. But in the end, once youve chosen a particular plan, stick to it until significantevidence demonstrates its not working.

Of course, even if youre a completely incompetent manager, youll likely still keep your job for

awhile. But eventually youll lose your sense of personal accomplishment, and your colleagues will

begin to resent you, especially those who feel that they can do a better job than you can. So

commit yourself to rising to the challenge and striking out into uncharted waters and youll

eventually excel in your work.

18) When Jack Welch took over GE in 1981 and became the youngest CEO in GEs history, the legendary

leader made a resolution to transform GE into the worlds most competitive enterprise. Welch is a strategic

thinker, business teacher, corporate icon and management theorist. If leadership is an art, then surely

Welch has proved himself a master painter. With his unique leadership style and character, Welch made

history during his 2-decade journey at GE. While most leaders talk a good game on leadership, he lived it.

In this article, we feature Welchs 12 lessons and howthey contributed to the largest corporate makeover in

history.

LEAD, Not MANAGE

Welch doesnt like the term manage. To him, it conjures up negative images, such as keeping people in

the dark and controlling and stifling people. Welchs goal is to lead, create a vision and make people

passionate about their work. Leadership, according to Welch, can be found in anyone as long as they

contribute, come up with good ideas and can energize, excite and inspire rather than enervate, depress and
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control.

Below are tips to become a great leader like Welch:

Articulate a vision and lead others to execute it

Dont manage very little details

Involve everyone and welcome great ideas

GET LESS FORMAL

When people voice their ideas, or call him Jack instead of Mr. Welch or when his Work-Out process isutilized, the corporation gets less formal. Jack doesnt wear ties to work, he often holds informal meetings

and encourages everyone to lighten up. Informality inspires people to have more ideas and it is one of the

keys to GEs success.

How can we get less formal?

Brainstorm with colleagues and bosses

Hold more informal meetings

Consider occasional informal get-togethers

Dont TOLERATE Bureaucracy, BLOW it Up!

Bureaucracy, the cancerous element of an organization, can create waste and slow the decision making

process, leading to unnecessary approvals and procedures that make a company less competitive. Welch

stressed that each employee should work on getting rid of bureaucracy every day. Bureaucracy can be the

most stubborn disease, but we can simplify and remove complexity and formality to make a company more

responsive and agile.To kick bureaucracy and simplify things:

Drop unnecessary work

Work with colleagues to streamline decision making

Make your workplace more informal

Face REALITY. Stop Assuming

When Welch joined GE, the company was assumed to be in good shape, but Welch saw a sinking ship and

many troubles-the company was losing its market value and there was too much bureaucracy. Instead of

kidding himself and assuming that things would improve, Welch made a resolution and created a face

reality decree. He laid out strategies and initiatives that made things better.

Here are suggestions to help us see things as they are and not to assume:

Look at things with a fresh eye

Dont fall into the false scenarios trap

Leave yourself with several options

SIMPLIFY Things

Welch didnt think business had to be complicated, thus, his goal at GE was to de-complicate work. He

developed and initiated a signature program that made GE a simpler organization. To Welch, business can

be exciting and simple, without jargon and complexity.

Isnt simplifying things great? It allows our organizations to move along faster. Lets try Welchs advice:

Simplify the workplace

Make meetings simpler

Eliminate complicated memos and letters

CHANGE- An Opportunity, Not a Threat

When Welch joined GE, many didnt understand why he needed to make changes. They saw things as a bed

of roses, while Welch saw the reality and faced it. He initiated the necessary changes to make GE a far

more flexible and competitive organization. He made change a part of GEs shared value. Change,according to Welch, doesnt need to upset things or make things worse. It canmean opportunities, good

ideas, new business or new products.

So, what are we going to do to cope with change?

Know that change is here to stay

Expect the least expected, but move quickly to stay a step ahead

Prepare those around you for the inevitable change that will affect their lives

Lead by Energizing Others, not Managing by Authority

Leadership does not mean control or command. Welch called his leadership ideal boundaryless, which

means an open organization, free of bureaucracy and anything that prevents the free flow of ideas, people


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and decisions. He did not support the i-am-the-boss-and-you-will-do-what-i-say style. He preferred

inspiring others to want to perform.

To make others passionate about doing their jobs:

Never lead by intimidation

Let others know exactly how their efforts are helping the organization

Send handwritten thank-you notes to colleagues and customers

Defy, not Respect TraditionAs the heir of the worlds most sacred corporate institutions, Welch had a choice of whether to respect the

companys tradition and long-standing reputation for excellence or defy a century of history, rocking the

existing boat. Welch made the riskiest move - defying most every aspect of the companys history to make

GE the most competitive enterprise in the world. To him, what worked in the past would not necessarily

work in the future.

Lets look at Welchs tips for success:

Hold a why do we do it that way? meeting

Invite colleagues from your department to contribute one idea on changing something important at the

company

Dont be afraid to buck conventional wisdom

Dont Make Hierarchy Rule, but Intellect

Welch thinks it is a horrible way to run a business when managers rule and the staff listen and do what the

managers say. To him, it prevents good ideas and creative solutions to problems. Welch believed business isabout capturing intellect and that the organization must encourage people to articulate their ideas and

solutions. To do so, Welch turned GE into a learning organization in which ideas and intellect rule over

tradition and hierarchy.

How we can immerse ourselves in learning?

Spend 1 hour per week learning what competitors are doing

Offer a reward for the best idea

Work for organizations committed to training and learning

Pounce Everyday, Dont Move Cautiously

In todays lightning-paced competitive arena and wired world, Welch knows there is no time to deliberate or

consider thoughts. He wants his employees to pounce everyday, move faster than competitors to win

business, please customers and snap up opportunities. His strategies were to remove the shackles from

employees feet so they could move quickly.

How to live this edict?

Live with a sense of urgency

Make decisions faster

Work harder

Put Values First, not Numbers

Certainly Welch cares about the numbers, but he doesnt want to spend too much time on figures and not

enough time on values. GEs values are not based on antiquated ideas about etiquette and proper behavior.

Instead, the values include pleasing customers, disdaining bureaucracy, thinking globally and being open to

ideas.

To balance the attention of numbers and values:

Dont harp on the numbers

Lead by examples

Let values ruleDont try to Manage Everything, Manage Less

This means no micro managing details. Companies should encourage their employees to have their own

opinions and think for themselves. Welch believes it is the responsibility of the company to provide the tools

and training employees need to perform their jobs better. In the end, it is the managers job to create the

vision and let their team act on it. It is best to stay away from over management.

To avoid being a micro-manager:

Dont get bogged down in meaningless details

Manage less

Empower, delegate, get out of the way

Q Bank POM MT 14and Ans

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