Name: Anas Alam Faizli Center of Graduate Studies

Student ID No. CGS 00385017 MPM Intake: January 2009

JANUARY SEMESTER 2009 ORGANIZATIONAL AND BUSINESS MANAGEMENT BMOM5203 ASSIGNMENT (45%)

LECTURER YBHG DATO DR ABDUL KUDDUS AHMAD

STUDENT ANAS BIN ALAM FAIZLI

Name: Anas Alam Faizli Center of Graduate Studies

Student ID No. CGS 00385017 MPM Intake: January 2009

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Question 1: Managerial Functions & Roles

03
Question 2: Management Theories

08
Question 3: Human Resource Management

N/A
Question 4: Leadership

17
Question 5: Motivation

26
Question 6: Control

32
Question 7: Strategic Planning

N/A

Name: Anas Alam Faizli Center of Graduate Studies

Student ID No. CGS 00385017 MPM Intake: January 2009

Question 1: Managerial Functions & Roles

Is your university lecturer a manager? Discuss in terms of managerial functions, managerial roles, and skills. [TOTAL: 100 MARKS] According to Theodore Levitt, management consist of the rational assessment of a situation and know what is to be done, strategies to achieve the goal, marshalling of resources, control of the activities and finally motivating the resources to do the work. According to Certo & Certo (2006), management is the process of reaching organizational objectives by working with people and other resources. Majority of the academics agrees that management has the following three main characteristics. 1. It is a process or series of continuing and related activities (management functions). 2. It involves and concentrates on reaching organizational goals (goal attainment). 3. It reaches these goals by working with and through people and other organizational resources. (organizational resources) A discussion and explanations of the above three characteristic follows. The process of management is easily identified in the four management functions which are planning, organizing, influencing and controlling. Planning is the process of outlining what is needed to be done, its duration, when to start and end. This involves short term and long term. The purpose is to ensure that the activities chosen to be executed will bring the organization closer to its objectives. A famous proverb put this better than anybody else quoting that Failing to plan is planning to fail. Planning involves detailing the steps required to achieve the objectives and executing it. There are also a good set of tools and proven theories to assist in better planning. Planning for lecturer involves preparation, teaching, assessment, implement quality, and manage resources as appropriate. Lecturer need to prepare and outline their activity for the whole semester. They need to plan on how many classes that is going to be conducted, and how the subjects are going to be taught. Dato Dr Abdul Kuddus (2009) in preparing for his class discover that the majority of his class student is above thirty and by knowing that he knows that most of the students have left school but however have abundant knowledge and experience in

Name: Anas Alam Faizli Center of Graduate Studies

Student ID No. CGS 00385017 MPM Intake: January 2009

management. Having had prepared this information will assist him in conducting his classes. Organizing is the process of assigning the activities to its resources and is a mechanism to put the plan to act. Everybody will be assigned to a task and is required to ensure that it is executed and will contribute to the organizational goals. Good organizing skills will come with better understanding of responsibility, authority and delegation roles. This is also compounded with the need to understand how to manage organization changes, stress and in some cases also human resources. Lecturer will need to discharge his duties and the objective is to ensure that his students understand and passes the subject. This is done via three methods. All reading materials are available online and all the students can easily access and have the ability to study on their own using the course guide that is prepared by the lecturer. An online forum is also created where the lecturer and students can communicate every day. Questions are asked from the books and the students are required to answer it in the forum. This will also contribute to the final total marks. In order to answer these questions the student will need to read the book, request guidance from the lecturers and also attend the classes and seminars. Classes are also held every fortnight where the lecturer will spend at least three hours covering three to four chapters of study. Influencing is another management functions. This involves motivating, leading and directing. This is critical as a better influencer will get a higher productivity level. There are many characteristics that influence the success of influencing such as leadership, motivation, group, teams and corporate culture, the requirement to understand people and attitudes and also the ability to encourage and be innovative in influencing the students. Lecturers are responsible for influencing the students and are required to guide the students in the appropriate direction. Direct involvement in classes creates a human oriented work between the lecturer and the students. Incentives such as early bird bonus can also appeal to the student and will increase their productivity level and motivates the students. The way the classes are conducted will have positive effects and lecturers will use this opportunity to show, guide and lead the students for their academic objectives. Controlling is the continuing process of control and monitoring of the activities that has commenced. Control is the activity of managing or exerting control over something. According to Roberto Mockler, controlling is a systematic effort by 4

Name: Anas Alam Faizli Center of Graduate Studies

Student ID No. CGS 00385017 MPM Intake: January 2009

managers to compare performance to standards or plan and determine the variation and take remedial action required to ensure it will achieve organizational objectives. In order for control to be successful, lecturers is required to measure the performance of the student. This can be done during each class and also during middle of the semester where the students submit their assignment. By this time the lecturer will be able to assess the students performance and would be able to compare the performance with the current average performance of the university. If the current performance is under average, the lecturer need to provide solutions such as extra class, or modifying the syllabus and even explaining to the students on where they go wrong. Lecturer or the university can also provide guidance for students on tutor basis. This is an ongoing process which commence right before the first class and after the end of each semester. The four basic management functions are all inter-related and cannot be separated. The lecturer will need to execute all four management functions in order to be successful. Organizational resources can be categorized in four basic types human, monetary, raw materials and capital. According to Certo & Certo (2006) management is defined as course of actions taken in order to accomplish organizational goals by working with and these four basic types of resources. Lecturer need to utilize these resources in order to achieve organizationals objectives. We have dicussed how lecturers and managers are alike in their main characteristics in discharging their duties, but how do lecturers manager effectively or efficiently? Effective is defined as producing an intended result or having a striking effect. In managerial terms, effective means how manager use their resources in meeting organizational goals. The continuum ranges from effective to ineffective. Lecturer needs to minimize the resources but at the same time getting the same effect. That is how online academic materials is very helpful. The same amount of students can have access to the library and will be able to download the same materials over and over again. If it is hardcopy, only one student can borrow the book at one time. Online teaching is effective where everybody will have the flexibility to access the materials when they have the time. Time does not required to be synchronized in order to get everyone to share the same materials.

Name: Anas Alam Faizli Center of Graduate Studies

Student ID No. CGS 00385017 MPM Intake: January 2009

Effeciency is defined as being effective without wasting resources. In managerial terms, efficiency is measured by the level of resources wasted or unused during the production process. The lower this is the more efficient the manager is. Lecturer also needs to have good succession plan for academic succession. Senior lecturers should assist in the academic development of junior lecturers. Improving the teaching quality and the academic level of the lecturer also will increase the level of efficiency in teaching the subject matters. With good grooming university will be able to produce more subject matter experts in the field. Most local university now even made it compulsory for lecturers to outline their 10 years plan and must include completing of their doctor of philosophy degree or Ph.D Lecturers have full understanding of what their organization objectives are and will assist in achieving these objectives. Understanding of planning, organizing, influencing and controlling will assist in carrying it out appropriately. As lecturers perform these inter-related functions as managers they will achieve their organizational objectives. How do we define lecturers management skill? There are two views which are applicable to this, a class view and a contemporary view. A classic view explains that manager without skills cannot perform while managers with skill will perform well. These three skills are required for successful manager to perform and are broken down as Technical, Human and Conceptual skills. Technical skills are skills involving the ability to apply specialized knowledge and expertise to work related. Lecturer need to have a good strong knowledge of the subject matter, only then will the lecturer be able to give good guidance, support and teaching of the subject. Without good technical skill the lecturer will have difficulties when presented with something out of the book or an extension of the subject. A good lecturer must have a good know how of the subject matter indefinitely. Human skills are skills that are used for working with people. Lecturer is required to have these skills as they interact highly with students and colleagues. It is all about human skills. If the lecturer does not possess these skills it will definitely bring a communication gap between the lecturer and the students. Conceptual skills are the understanding of seeing the organization as a whole. Lecturers need to be able to understand how everything falls into place and understand the various functions of each department. This will also assist heavily when the lecturer is required to assist to market their university or in getting research 6

Name: Anas Alam Faizli Center of Graduate Studies

Student ID No. CGS 00385017 MPM Intake: January 2009

or study grant from the government. By having an in-depth understanding of the organizationals requirement, the lecturer will be more effective in working in-line with the organizationals needs. A contemporary view of management skills refers that there are three basic types of major activities that modern manager performs which are task-related activities, people-related activities and change-related activities. These are all functions that lecturer and managers are required to perform. Task-related activities are critical management related duties in organization which includes short-term planning, building organizational objectives and performance monitoring. As explained previously, lecturers are required to prepare coursework, organize the teaching methods and monitor the performance of the students. People-related activities are efforts in managing people in organizations. This includes support and encouraging. Lecturers are required to give support and encouragement to students from time to time. Most university had also created a special department in charge to assist students. These usually offer guidance and consultation to the students. Change-related activities are about modifying organizational components such as new strategies and visions and everything about changes to the existing establishments. Lecturers are always required to give input to help the university in improving their existing syllabus, research grants, infrastructures and also upholding the quality in the university. From time to time, changes are required to adapt to the changes in the academic world. There is also competition from other university which calls for changes to be made. Having outlined all the managerial function, roles and skills it is evident that my university lecturer is a manager.

Name: Anas Alam Faizli Center of Graduate Studies Question 2: Management Theories

Student ID No. CGS 00385017 MPM Intake: January 2009

Read Case Study Family Feeling Faces Challenges at Smuckers in Certo, Modern Management, 10e, pg. 46-47, and answer all questions at end of case.

a.

Does the human relations movement offer any insights for the co-CEOs as they move ahead with their expansion plans? [35 marks]

Human relations movement refers to a group of people who do study and research on the behavior of people at the workplace in groups. This study is a part of their research in organizational development. It started with the Hawthorne study which was conducted between 1924 and 1930 (Certo & Certo, 2006). According to Elton Mayo (1933), human relations movement is defined as informal organization, social norms, acceptance and sentiments of a group that will determine the individual work behavior in achieving organizational success. Smuckers history is a success story. It started in 1897 with a small horse-drawn wagon of selling apple butter, continued by his sons and grandsons into a major multinational corporation with more than $2 billion USD in annual sales in 2006. The tradition of Smuckers is all about family and people, just as the CEO and the co-CEOs are all from family members, they also foster family feeling among its workers where feeling of belonging is fostered. Having this as their key tenet, it is unquestionable how the Smuckers feeling for human relations is very deep. When Smuckers co-CEOs Tim and Richard, the founders great-grandsons is going for the expansion plan, human relations movement was key. Tim Smucker was quoted saying Our growth basic beliefs are not just about growing the company. Its about individual growth and respect for the individual ideas. This lead to Smuckers listed at the top of Fortune magazines list of 100 best companies to work for in 2004. For five years from 1999 to 2004, Smucker had a total return of 100% over and never had layoffs. Thanks to a gimmick-free management with the coCEOs, Tim and Richard Smucker who took the reins in 2001. According to the coCEOs this is simply because they adhered to a simple code of conduct established by their father and former CEO, Paul Smucker. "The play-well-with-others approach, as precious as it comes across to an outsider, has clearly won over employees," says FORTUNE writer Julia Boorstin. 8

Name: Anas Alam Faizli Center of Graduate Studies

Student ID No. CGS 00385017 MPM Intake: January 2009

Plant supervisors have been known to have barbecues when celebrating new records and success, managers always have congratulation lunches and gifts. Every year Smucker will have big celebration for Chrimas and New Year which invites this family feel. Director of operations Brian Kinsey, who spent ten years at P&G, one of the companies that is acquisitied by Smucker commented that. "At first I was skeptical, but this family feel in Smucker is for real." This however doesnt come without obstacles. In 1994, Smuckers bought frozen pie business from Kellog in order to expand their product beside its mainstream jams and jellies. Smucker is strongly knitted by its family value which is deep and have been cultivated over the years. CEO after CEO in Smucker has been continuously building in its human relations movement. When the acquisition materialized, the family feeling does not build over night. Decision making is no longer a consensus between workers and managers and the message does not spread across as it used to be. The company is becoming bigger very fast. Compounded by this, the timing was also not right and in two years, they had to sell back the newly acquired business. Smucker did not stop at this but still continuously looking for new ventures and acquisition as Tim believes that there will be limitations if you are only in one category of business. From time to time they had to lay off managers and employees as new acquisition is finalized. This was not easy for Smucker as they are deeply rooted with the family bonding in the company. An acquisition with The Multifoods for USD 840 million alone has brought in additional 2,300 employees alone in 2004. With this big expansion, the co-CEO knows they have an uphill task to execute. By expanding their product line and business, Smucker will need to optimize their workforce and manpower. This is such a difficult decision for the Smucker. Being a company that is so deep in peoples relation all lay off was done fair and they do follow-up to all laid off employees. They even released a public statement when they lay off employees in California reassuring that they will do their level best to assist and offer aid to all effected employees. Smucker have been talking to the government to ensure that all laid off employees will get benefit in some form that will aid their grievances. Smucker also assisted in helping these employees by giving good recommendations and testimonials which will assist the employees when looking for another job. They also helped looked for new job for the employees. 9

Name: Anas Alam Faizli Center of Graduate Studies

Student ID No. CGS 00385017 MPM Intake: January 2009

Quoting the co-CEOs Richard and Tim Smucker A shared set of values keeps the family-owned business running smoothly. The co-CEOs concept where two CEO shares power is an arrangement that is doom to fail implemented elsewhere. But for the Smuckers this has been for five generation already and might continue. Most Smuckers are already rising in the management ranks and looking ahead the co-CEOs might out-perform their late father Paul Smucker, previous CEO of Smucker. In human relations movement study, perhaps the Smuckers knows the best.

10

Name: Anas Alam Faizli Center of Graduate Studies b.

Student ID No. CGS 00385017 MPM Intake: January 2009

From the perspective of the system approach to management, what potential problems might Smuckers encounter as a result of having only family members serve as CEOs? [30 marks]

System is derived from the Greek word synistanai which means to bring together or combine. Formal recognition of the system approach to management is introduced by Whitehead in 1925. Four major concepts are pivotal in system approach, specialization, grouping, coordination and emergent properties. Specialization is when the system is divided into various smaller parts to allow more focus and detailing of each component. This allows more details to be imparted in the subject matter by going into details of each component. Grouping is identifying each component into a group to avoid complexity and easier identification. A component that has a typical or uniform common notion can be grouped together and bear the same identification. This will make faster and easier identification when components are grouped together. Coordination and interfacing is required as the components and subcomponents of the system are grouped together under one identity. Emergent properties are dividing a system into subsystem allowing for a bigger and complex structure. Ludwig von Bertalanffy (1968) explains that a system is a number of interdependent parts functioning as a whole for some purpose (Certo & Certo, 2006). Ludwig further divided the system into open and closed where open systems interact with its environment continuously while closed system does not interact with their environments and usually is isolated. Markus Schwaninger (1996) defined that system approach to management will assist individuals integrating different perspectives and enabling for sustainable human activity. The main bodies of the management system comprises of inputs, transformation process, output and obtaining feedback after completing the cycle. By having only family members served as CEO will mean the same concept, ideas, and tradition. The CEO will lack perspective as everything has been done the same way over and over again from day one. Majority of the top management comes from Smucker family. This is to an extent that five out of seven top executives in Smuckers are either cousins or siblings. 11

Name: Anas Alam Faizli Center of Graduate Studies

Student ID No. CGS 00385017 MPM Intake: January 2009

Despite this setback however, the Smucker is on the list of one of the best companies around in treating its employees year after year. This is evident as it makes it name into the top of Fortune top 100 companies. Perhaps having the CEOs with the same mindset throughout the generations brought something unique to the way Smucker treat its employees. The organization is so appealing and attractive that even its location is far and remote in Orrkvile, Ohio many young talented and educated executives came to Ohio in search of an employment with Smucker and once they are there, seldom leaves the place and the company. When Smucker tries to improve their organization by using scientific method and mathematical techniques, there is however limitation to its achievement because all the CEOs and the top board which is from the same family line is looking things at the same angle and are so accustomed on how things was done and will continue to be executed. When the succeeding CEO look at the management approach using scientific method while trying to observe the system which the behavior must be explained to solve the problem, there is not much initiatives or reform that they can bring. The scope and eyes are still the same. They depended much from Smucker long experience and legacy. This is totally opposite to Inaba and Toyoda when they bring changes and transform Toyota method of doing and running the automobile business. Smucker are deeply molded with how things were done. When they try to go further with management problem studies using large number of variables, they can only comprehend a set of existing variables that has been instilled in a long tradition of Smucker. What they can do is to solidify the management level. After all the acquisitions Smucker has various discipline and multi branding in the company. They started with peanut butter but now they have jelly, cooking oils and many household brands. Grooming of able managers from the lower rank by doing training and job rotation could bring more ideas and new perspectives. This will definitely help bring new approach and will definitely give better input to its scientific method and mathematical techniques in order to bring new management approach. It will also add flavor and strengthened Smucker already world class way of management, managing by using all attributes from the human relations movement.

12

Name: Anas Alam Faizli Center of Graduate Studies

Student ID No. CGS 00385017 MPM Intake: January 2009

By fostering deep family values and considering each employee as important family members, Smucker today is now run by the fifth generation since Jerome W Smucker, the founder of Smucker. They have also gone public listed. Each family member will have the opportunity to have share in the company, work for the company or sell the shares. This will definitely prevent any problems with the family being broken apart fighting for pieces of the company. However, looking at the future, there might be a non-family members that will take the helm in the future like what happened to Toyota when Fujio Cho was appointed President. Richard Smucker is quoted as saying that it is not preconceived that the company is going to be run by a family member, although that would be nice. If it is not, weve got good employees who can take over. In addition to that also Smucker has now practice having an independent board where a different perspective or angle from non family members can be heard and shared. This should be welcomed by Smucker as their management ranks are all Smuckers and had little exposure to external business environment. With the never ending fast expansion, Smucker need to welcome external business review to assist in the re-organizational exercises. Smucker tried from time to time to introduce this but still fail to apply the management science techniques to study the incoming problems which are inherent as the acquisitions and mergers realized. The co-CEOs must be open, responsive and alert to the companys external environment such as its suppliers, consumers, customers and competitors are ever dynamic. Failing to do so they will never be able to understand and have an overall risk assessment or review of how the company is growing in face of the open competitive market and customers. The adaptation that Smucker could bring is more suited to its existing brand name.

13

Name: Anas Alam Faizli Center of Graduate Studies

Student ID No. CGS 00385017 MPM Intake: January 2009

Can Smuckers top executives learn from the classical approach to management in the context of the companys five basic values? Explain in detail. [35 marks]

[TOTAL: 100 MARKS] According to Certo & Certo (2006), the classical approach to management can be viewed from two perspectives which are the lower-level management analysis and comprehensive analysis. The lower level management analysis is a study on the ideal way of executing an activity using scientific method by arranging new work methodology to improve efficiency and maximize production. Comprehensive analysis defines comprehensive principles of management which is based on planning, organizing, commanding, coordination and control. R. Kannan noted that classical approach to management is a traditional process of learning through observation and experiment. Nature or environment is considered uniform and by observing it we will get the same result and can conclude the relationship between the two. Smucker has been using five basic values in guiding its company strategies and activities: quality, growth, ethics, independence and people. Henri Fayol noted that quality must cover seven aspects which are health, cleverness, moral qualities, general knowledge, management capacity, activities and having the strongest skills in the function managed. Quality has always been the number one priority in Smucker. Smucker has always strived to be a number one in the brand that they have. When they started with apple butter they uplifted it as number one brand in America. Following the acquisitions that they have, they assimilated the new brand and capture the same market. They re-introduced it with higher quality, re-model it and along with Smucker legacy push the brand to the top. An example is when they purchased over Crisco, Jif and Pilsbury. It is an iconic brand but is undeveloped. Smucker bought it, transformed it and made name for the brand. Smucker also have all seven qualities that Fayol has prescribed in their management implementation. Smucker has always believed in growth. This is proven with their never ending acquisition and one of the most successful was when they completed the acquisition of Multifoods. This acquisition alone increased Smuckers personnel by 2,300 new 14

Name: Anas Alam Faizli Center of Graduate Studies

Student ID No. CGS 00385017 MPM Intake: January 2009

employees and added few brands into its fold. Smucker sale in 2006 rose to USD 2 billion dollars. One of Fayols proposed management functions is organizing. Smucker did a good job in organizing all the newly acquisited companies and integrated it seamlessly within its organization. Ethics has always been the bonding sense of family feeling in Smucker. As an example when they lay off employees in a California plant, Smucker issued a public statement stressing that they will ensure fairness and will assist as much possible to the affected employees. This is understandable when you have a board of executives lead mostly by family members. Independence is also a set of values highly held in Smucker. Taylor proposed that it is the managers work to assign jobs to the employees that is befitting to the employee. If the job is suitable, then the employees will have better performance and will be independence when executing the job. Another example is the acquisition which went wrong in 1994 was an idea led by Richard. His father, then the CEO gave the freedom and independence for Richard to lead the way. Despite the failure, it was a very high learning curve for Richard and Tim, now co-CEOs of Smucker. As quoted rightly by Adam Osborne The most valuable thing you can make is a mistake, you cant learn anything from being perfect. The then failure was the starting point for Smucker which lead to other numerous acquisitions. From 1897 to date, Smucker has always placed people as their number one priority. This is also proven with dedication and commitment from Smucker in following human relations movement theories. With deep family value, all employees are treated with a sense of belonging to the company. Taylor made three key assumptions about human behaviour at work which man is rationally economic and is concerned with maximizing money, people responds as a group and people can be treated like machines in a standardized fashion. One of Smuckers five basic values which is People can be seen where Smucker uphold its employees with deep family bonding feeling over the generations. These five basic values have been guiding Smucker for more than a century and are proven successful in fostering family bond which is a key tenet in Smucker organization. A study has shown that only three percent of family-run businesses will make it to the fourth generation, but Smucker beats the odds and by today it has five of Smuckers generation in the CEO lineage. In an interview with BusinessWeek (2004), Richard and Tim explained how Smucker survived against the odds. There 15

Name: Anas Alam Faizli Center of Graduate Studies

Student ID No. CGS 00385017 MPM Intake: January 2009

are three things that keep Smucker successful. First is that Smucker have a strong independent board of directors, second is that they have strong religious faith and third is that they have a strong matriarch in the family. These three reasons have been inside individual Smuckers for five generations.

16

Name: Anas Alam Faizli Center of Graduate Studies Question 4: Leadership

Student ID No. CGS 00385017 MPM Intake: January 2009

Read Case Study Toyotas Drive for Global Leadership in Certo, pg. 377-378, and answer all questions at end of case. a. How would you describe Akio Toyodas leadership style? Explain. [35 marks] Akio Toyodas leadership style can best be described as a combination of a transformational and entrepreneurial leadership. Transformational leadership is a leadership that inspires the entire organization and affects the employees belief by gathering their wills and encouraging employees to perform to their leaders vision. (Certo & Certo, 2006, pp 370) Transformational leaders motivate employees by synchronizing the leaders vision with their employees, pulling to the idea rather than pushing it. Transformational leadership can also be related to showing of charisma, intellectual stimulation, and individualized consideration with the ability to bring changes in an organization. Transformational leader are often required to turn around companies or to transform the entire organization for new concept or strategy. Toyoda has a high standard of moral and ethical conduct and is held by Toyotas employees in high regard exemplifying his charisma. He also has a strong vision for the future and is always challenging Toyotas norm by intellectual stimulation. This is shown when he is set to abandon kakushin or revolutionary change which is the prior President's approach to redesigning plants and operations. He believes that Toyota is over concentrating on high technology, superior but costly processes and too excited in expanding the market and making decision with very few top executives. Toyoda is set to change this and to set Toyota for building reliable, practical, affordable vehicles for the mainstream consumer. Toyoda believe that this is what the consumer wanted and what he is determined to give. Toyoda has been known to push Toyotas global standing among other automobile competitors, taking Toyota further than its Japanese roots and has been emphasizing styling and performance in Toyotas automobiles. This shows that Toyoda is willing to bring changes and is willing to change the entire concept of the organization. Toyoda ensured that his employees understand why the need of the changes exemplified his vision and brings the corporation for change. Toyota employees embrace this and set for this new vision of transforming Toyota. 17

Name: Anas Alam Faizli Center of Graduate Studies

Student ID No. CGS 00385017 MPM Intake: January 2009

Entrepreneurial leadership is a leadership style that the leader acts as if he is self employed. This leadership calls for strong leaders who act as if they are playing a critical role in the organization. Entrepreneurial leadership has a strong urgency to achieve and perform. Best described by (Oliver Cromwell, 1599 -1658), who once remarked, He who stops being better, stops being good. Entrepreneurial leader takes their own initiatives and makes their presence felt by the employees, demonstrate creativity and consistently pursue new opportunities. Entrepreneurial leader take risk and is always open for new ideas and provide direction to their subordinate. Even if they fail, it will be used as a lesson learnt for future endeavors. Toyoda is a strong believer of genchi genbutsu or see it for yourself which is a Toyotas key tenet meaning to get out of your desk and see the source of the problem yourself. Thats exactly what Toyoda did when he visited a Toyota dealership in Ann Arbor, Michigan. He wanted to personally investigate a pickup truck recall. Toyoda made the trip so secret that even Toyotas public relations staff didnt know he was there. While at the dealership, he reportedly got down on his hands and knees to examine the undercarriage of a truck and getting dirty at it (Micheline Maynard, 2009 New York Times). As John C Maxwell rightly put A leader is the one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way. This fits seamlessly into collaborative culture and methods. He is also challenging old Japanese executive method where top Japanese executives are rarely seen but he can be seen everywhere from office, at site, at dealership shops and also even plants and loading docks. In his recent appointment as President of Toyota in January this year, he announced that he would pop up everywhere as he did in Ann Arbor. Toyoda also said that I want to be president closest to the site,'' and I'll try to make changes without being tied down by the past. Toyoda behave as if he is self employed. He could have easily used his power to ask his subordinates to visit the sites but he prefers to see it himself. Toyoda reflected how the role he is playing in the organization as very critical. This reflects on his entrepreneurial leadership. This shows how Toyoda is determined to bring changes to Toyota. One of his early initiative and reform plans is also to revamp the entire senior management of Toyota. He plans to change his four executive vice presidents and many of his 19 senior managing directors. In bringing changes he will need followers that will assist him in 18

Name: Anas Alam Faizli Center of Graduate Studies

Student ID No. CGS 00385017 MPM Intake: January 2009

influencing the grassroots and empower the employees to understand Toyodas vision. The new appointed vice presidents and managing directors will aspire and share the same vision like Toyoda and will be a great asset in helping him achieve this vision of transforming Toyota again. Having committed to this new vision then only his employees will be able to understand and aspire to achieve Toyodas vision. This also fits into Toyodas transformational characteristics. Transformational Leaders are always visible and will stand up rather than hide behind their troops. They show by their attitudes and actions how everyone else should behave. They also make continued efforts to motivate and rally their followers, constantly doing the rounds, listening, soothing and enthusing. (Bass, B. M.,1985). Taking the helm when Toyota announces first global sales drop in 10 years, Toyoda is perfect for the job. Watanabe, his predecessor describes Toyoda as the best person to lead as he can bring a new point of view (entrepreneurial) and has the ability to act (transformational). Toyoda during his senior management tenure in China played a vital role in completing the merger. The prior joint venture that he had is troubled by a financial problem partner. Toyoda pushed for another partner and by influencing the top management and government officials he completed the merger. Toyoda behaved as if he is taking the risk that he will lose the whole venture but will receive huge returns if one is made. Toyoda took the risk, played a critical role. Toyoda have a strong urgency to achieve and perform and he couldnt sit idle and watch the venture to collapse. Instead of waiting he took the risk and made the profit. Managers with entrepreneurial leadership have a strong screen of opportunity and have a high need for excellence (McClelland, 1983). He also revamped the entire concept of how department heads can now report directly to executive president and has successfully eliminated the long bureaucratic process. The moves that Toyoda made really impacted on how things were done in China. This proves how he positions himself in order to materialize Toyotas organizations objectives which are a trait of a transformational and entrepreneurial leader.

19

Name: Anas Alam Faizli Center of Graduate Studies b.

Student ID No. CGS 00385017 MPM Intake: January 2009

Where on the continuum of leadership behaviour (Fig. 15-2) would you place Yoshi Inaba, and why? [30 marks]

In 1938, Lewin and Lippitt proposed classifications of leaders based on how much involvement leaders placed into task and relationship needs. This range of leadership behaviors was expressed along a continuum by Tannenbaum & Schmidt in 1973, ranging from boss-centered to subordinate-centered. The furthest on one side is boss centered or dictatorial while the furthest on the other end is subordinate centred or democractic. According to Certo & Certo (2006, pp 357), this continuum ranges from full authority and decision making by the boss to full freedom to subordinates. Generally, the continuum moves from dictatorial to autocratic to a democratic leadership. In order to choose the most appropriate style the leader must consider four factors which are forces in the manager, forces in the subordinate, situation and time pressure. Forces in the manager are about the belief the leader have in his employees capabilities. The higher the confident level of the manager in his subordinates, the higher the forces is. Forces in the subordinate are about the level of subordinates capability and ability. If the subordinate is capable, independent and is ready to make decision, then the forces is higher. Situation is about the environment that the organization, the leader and the subordinate is in. Environment can play pivotal role to affect how the three components interface and interact with each other. Time factor is about the time limit the leader has to make the decision. If there is a pressure for immediate decision it might mitigates against a more consensus participation as this will take time and the leader usually will opt for singular decision. The continuum gives advantage to the manager for a range of choice of involvement with subordinates. It also allows the manager to have higher focus for relevant criteria such as the forces and time. The manager can also emphasize more effort for employee development and empowerment. However the continuum theory is also limited that it only involves the initial step of assigning the task and not the following processes which is usually the determining factor of its effectiveness. It also does not count any social bonds or politics in office and the continuum is simpler in theory rather than the complex reality. 20

Name: Anas Alam Faizli Center of Graduate Studies

Student ID No. CGS 00385017 MPM Intake: January 2009

Yoshi Inabas leadership behavior fits into subordinate-centered leadership based on the Tannenbaum and Schmidt Leadership Continuum. Inaba is defined as a leader that Manager defines limits, ask the group to make a decision. This was shown when he first came to Toyota US Division and proclaims that he is very concerned on instilling a bottom-line orientation where subordinates are highly involved in decision making process. He took the unprecedented step and released all profit and expense data to all U.S. sales personnel. This is not something that other Japanese executive would ever do. He simply goes against the tradition and proves that he has in him the ability to go against the current and make changes. Sharing the data was done to instill the understanding to all the personnel on how their actions will affect the financial performance of Toyota as a whole. Inaba hoped that when the personnel understand and have a better conceptual view of the organization, they will be more productive and will produce in the way that the organization wanted and aspire (Certo & Certo 2006). The limit has already been defines by Inaba as each executive is aware of their roles as sales executives but however he inspired each sales executive by giving them the information of all profit and expense data. By doing this, Inaba is defining the problem and is asking the group to make a decision on their day to day operations. The employees will have a better room to give ideas to Inaba and will have a group decision making. However, there is a danger that the subordinate might took that the manager intention is not genuine and the subordinate would just follow the manager ideas. In proving that Inaba is genuinely asking his subordinate to get involved, that is why Inaba disclosed all the expense and profit data to his employees and invites his employees to have a more feeling of belonging with Toyota. Inaba is a subordinate centered leader as he have complete faith in his subordinate and expects them to contribute in the decision making process. This is pivotal that majority of his decision come under Group Consult. He often gave information to his employees and will ask for their feedback. This did not backfired but instead gave Inaba more input from the grassroot level which is pivotal for his managerial decisions. Under Inaba's leadership, Toyota U.S. profit increased drastically and doubled which is a significant contribution to Toyota as a whole. This accounted for up to 80 per cent of the company's global profits in recent years. Employees under Inaba had well perceived that Inaba is a manager that is a subordinate centred. Inaba has instilled a feeling of come forward to his employees. 21

Name: Anas Alam Faizli Center of Graduate Studies

Student ID No. CGS 00385017 MPM Intake: January 2009

There is also an instance where Inaba received feedback from his officials in U.S. division to give discount to rental car companies that buy in volume. The employees are willing to give feedback to Inaba as they are aware that Inaba will make decision partnership with his employees. Inaba get the group together and go through all the details. Data and information are brought in. Inaba is commited that sales are not about volume but about return and profits and define that this is the limit. Having understands these, the group engaged in a serious discussion within the boundary that sales are about return and profits. Apparently the decisions to give discount to rental car will only increases volume but not return and profits. After some further investigation however, the group decided not to give away for discount. This decision was only implemented after Inaba and his employees agree and arrive at the decision. This inevitably shows that Inaba defines the limit and ask the group to make a decision and fit into a subordinate centered continuum behavior where the manager defines the limits and ask the group to make a decision.

22

Name: Anas Alam Faizli Center of Graduate Studies c.

Student ID No. CGS 00385017 MPM Intake: January 2009

Do you think Fiedlers position power, task structure, or leader-member relations was the most important aspect of Gary Conviss leadership at the Georgetown plant? [35 marks] [TOTAL: 100 MARKS]

The first comprehensive contingency model for leadership was developed by Fred Fiedler which is an expansion of the leadership flexibility theory. The Fiedler contingency model proposes that effective group performance depends on the proper match between the leaders style (characteristic) and his position of power and the demand of the situation. Fiedler considers situational control the extent to which a leader can determine what his or her group is going to do to be the primary contingency factor in determining the effectiveness of leader behavior (Fiedler and Garcia 1987; Fiedler et al. 1994). Fiedler divided into three primary factors which is to be considered when moving leaders into situations appropriate for their leadership style which are leader-member relations, task structure and position power. (Certo & Certo, 2006). Looking at Fiedlers contingency theory Convis fits into Octant number one where his leader-member relations are strong, he manages in a structured task structure and he has a strong position power. Leader member-relation is most fitting and most important to Gary Convis. Convis has a high degree of confident that he is well accepted by his employees. His management style is to lead by example and not to ask others to do what he will not do himself which is an extension of the genchi genbutsu or see it for yourself which is a key tenet at Toyota. Convis is very determined to catch up with Tsutsumi factory in Japan which is currently the most effective and efficient manufacturing plant of Toyota. Convis fits squarely in the manufacturing plant, he is well accepted and everyone loves him. His employees also love Convis as he is very easy to connect to. Employees can knock his door anytime and despite his busy schedule he will always make time for his employees. He also does not shy away from the manufacturing floor. He will visit it whenever he can and that is why he connects well with workers. (Peggy Ferris, 2000). He was also quoted as saying this, As you become global, you need to simplify things as much as possible, because you're getting spread out, literally, from a core 23

Name: Anas Alam Faizli Center of Graduate Studies

Student ID No. CGS 00385017 MPM Intake: January 2009

where you have really dedicated knowledge among a small number of people. In almost every facet of our manufacturing process, this kind of revolutionary thinking is going on. We will draw from the expertise and experience of our Kentucky members which Im confident will deliver it to me. Nobody can blame Convis for having his level of confident; he is very well accepted by his employees, and his dedication for people is overwhelming. Convis hopes to help develop people who can practice the Toyota way in America and work to support Toyotas globalization and employees empowerment. Convis also do coaching whenever he tries to give out instruction and orders. He is always involved in all the daily activity and project at the Georgetown plant. Furthermore, Convis is always accessible to the employees where he adopted the open door policy. One of the employment security policy that Convis brought also reinforces a new set of human relationships in which managers learn to respect their employees. Convis said that this is a last horizon for managers to overcome. Convis put it in his stride that his key concept is respect for the worker, for the team member. He work with people, listen to them for their ideas and to work with them to support theirs. Almost eighty percent of NUUMI employees were taken from General Motors (GM) laid-off employees but upon a survey which was conducted, 93 percent of the workers said they will not go back to GM. This is contributed highly because of the leader-membership and the different cultural style in Toyota. All this outlines leader-membership relation for Convis is strong and is most important aspect of Convis leadership as he himself put it that his number one priority is building trust over his people. Task structure is the degree to which the activity to be conducted is outlined, briefed and explained clearly. In a typical manufacturing plant, all activities have a high level of task structure. This is necessary as all job designs have been crafted specifically for each employee. This is critical to ensure no redundancy and the level of efficiency in the manufacturing plant is maintained. Convis is a strong advocate of Toyota Production System (TPS) where it is comprised of two pillars which is Just in Time and Jidoka. Jidoka outline to ensure a separation of between humans and machines scope of work. TPS is a very highly structured process and its main objectives are to design overburden, inconsistency and wastage elimination.

24

Name: Anas Alam Faizli Center of Graduate Studies

Student ID No. CGS 00385017 MPM Intake: January 2009

TPS abhors that the right process will produce the right result. The MIT researchers found that TPS is so effective that it coined it with the term Lean Production to indicate the radically different approach and highly structured production. John Davine, CEO of Dana is quoted as saying that Gary is the leading experts in lean manufacturing and management system and also including the TPS. Position power is determined by on how the leader has the power to reward or punishes his employees. However, Convis do not believe in punishing his employees but only believes in rewarding his employees; if an employee fails to deliver, it is the processes which are wrongly setup and not the employee. He was quoted as saying You listen to them, you work together. You dont blame them. Maybe the process was not set up well, so it was easy to make mistake. This put convis position of power as strong where he has the power and control to punish or reward his employees. This is evident when he is appointed as the President and no one of Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Kentucky and have the highest authority in the manufacturing plant. Choosing not to give punishment does not indicate that he does not have the power to do so but instead shows that he have the power to do so. Convis contribution in Toyota at the Georgetown plant was well rewarded when he become president of the manufacturing plant. He is the first American to serve in the top spot at any of Toyotas plant. When he got his promotion, his supervisor, Mr Kan Higashi told him to manage as if he has no power. This was the very foundation of his leadership.

25

Name: Anas Alam Faizli Center of Graduate Studies Question 5: Motivation

Student ID No. CGS 00385017 MPM Intake: January 2009

Ms Zee, MBA graduate from OUM, came home to manage her family business upon the death of her father. She found the morale and productivity of the employees low due much to the autocratic leadership of her father, who built the company from scratch, and his long illness. Discuss how she could motivate the staff and get the company going again. theories) [TOTAL: 100 MARKS] (Identify the type of business of the company, and cite

According to Certo & Certo (2006, pp. 382), Motivation is the inner state that causes an individual to perform and ensure the accomplishment of some objectives. Motivation cannot be seen but it is inside everybody and it triggers the level of performance / work output in achieving their objectives. The higher the motivation levels the higher the result of the employees work output. Because the result of the employee that counts, Motivating employees is of the number one priorities to achieving organizations objectives. Plainly put, understanding an employees need is a key in order to nurture an individuals motivation level and a good manager needs to focus on this. Being able to understand ones need and know how to satisfy the need proves essential for a manager to motivate its employees. Ms Zees family business is involved in the furniture business, manufacturing and distributing to furniture companies around Johor and Selangor. The base of her business is in Teluk Ramunia, Johor which is located approximately 130km from Johor Bahru and 60km from Kota Tinggi the nearest town. Her father named the business Lenthall. Lenthall has developed from a small two storey building company to a big organization with a factory spanning 2 acres of land and employing more than 70 workers. Ms Zees father has no qualification and has risen from ground to become one of the leading entrepreneurs in the furniture business in Johor. Her fathers autocratic leadership which depends on his authority and power as business owner limits his effectiveness as a leader. Lenthall has stop flourishing for the past 5 years of its life where the customer based is shrinking and the furniture design has not changed. Ms Zee is convinced that with her MBA degree that she have, she can turn around the company to embrace the new millennium with innovative and creative design. 26

Name: Anas Alam Faizli Center of Graduate Studies

Student ID No. CGS 00385017 MPM Intake: January 2009

She will combine both autocratic and democratic leadership as she does not want to limit her effectiveness as a leader and a motivator using the Tannenbaum & Schmidt continuum. She is also confident that the employees that she has are capable to help her achieve this by practicing the motivational and Influential skills she learnt during her study. The only stumbling block would be her fathers previous autocratic leadership which has nullifies and blocked the innovative and self development of its employees. Autocratic leadership is least desirable when building human relationship as one person has control over all of the workers and no one is permitted to make any suggestions or offer any opinion despite the fact that it may benefit the group. The communication line is also one way where the leader tells you what to do and only highlights the employees mistake. Graham (1995) suggested that specific leadership styles motivate employees differently and encourage specific sets of responses. Time is changing and she needs to embrace and catch up with the new market demands for new furniture design and concepts. Her father tends to ignore his employees input and ideas and assume all his employees as mere followers and is unable to contribute ideas and believe in Douglas McGregors Theory X where all assumptions are bad. Ms Zee furniture business is divided into 5 divisions which is Administrative (Human Resource & Finance), Procurement, Logistic & Distribution, Warehouse & Production and Design & Engineering. Under her is 5 managers reporting directly to her and is in charge of their own division. Needs-Goal theory explains that motivation begins with an individual feeling a need. This need will be the motivator in achieving the goal. This will continue until the need is significantly reduced. (Certo & Certo, 2006) Layman Porter and Edward Lawler developed a complex model called The PorterLawler Theory of motivation which an extension from Equity and Expectancy theory. The model suggested that there are five components that affect motivation: efforts, perception, performance, reward and satisfaction. The employee will have an expected value of a reward, and this will be followed by performance which will be admitted by rewards, both intrinsic and extrinsic. Intrinsic is rewards that is directly from doing the task while extrinsic is reward which are extraneous to the task.

27

Name: Anas Alam Faizli Center of Graduate Studies

Student ID No. CGS 00385017 MPM Intake: January 2009

The need in Lenthall varies from different department and different layer of working levels. Understanding of the Needs-Goal and Porter-Lawler thoery is vital for Ms Zee in crafting the motivational requirement for each of her department. She started with her Admin division as this department is in charge of providing salary and basic needs to all her employees. She discussed with her admin managerial team and using the Maslow theory she is trying to improve what Lenthall can offer to its employees. Maslow explains that by satisfying the human physiological needs, security and social needs in order of hierarchy will motivate an employee. The higher the needs are satisfied the more motivated the employee would be. The current benefit package seems to concentrate on extra monies if an employee performs an overtime work. Ms Zee quickly realizes that this is only beneficial to the direct labour which works in the warehouse. Her father satisfy himself by seeing all his workers work until late of the night. Ms Zee disagree, she prefers productivity over quantity of worked hours. Thus, the overtime pay rate is reduced significantly while the basic rate is increased significantly for the direct labours. Her finance presented her with the calculation and it is only 2% increase of the total expenditure and Ms Zee quickly agrees. She is confident that this will prove motivating and will provide her with a good result. The workers will inherently be happy as they will be able to work less hours but will be receiving better pay. Ms Zee also proposed for reward scheme to increase the productivity level of her workers. Ms Zee then discussed on relieving some of her authorities to her direct managers in charge of the divisional department in order to provide self esteem and selfactualization to its employees. Prior to this, all decisions are solely by her father. This will provoke a long term motivator in her direct managers as suggested by Maslow. The managers, having more authority at hand will definitely be getting the job satisfaction and the feeling of appreciated and belonging to the company. The managers need for power will definitely be satisfied as suggested by McClelland Acquired Needs Theory. She also introduces flextime for her employees where an outgoing permit concept is implemented. All employees that have to go out during working hours will get an outgoing permit and signature from their direct supervisor will be allowed a release of 2 hours. This will definitely be a bonus to the employees as they normally have to take leave of one day to do some chores which only takes less than an hour to do 28

Name: Anas Alam Faizli Center of Graduate Studies

Student ID No. CGS 00385017 MPM Intake: January 2009

but have to be done on weekdays. The direct supervisor however will be responsible to ensure that this is not abused. Douglas Fleuter concluded that flextime will contribute to greater job satisfaction and productivity. Other research also concluded that this will increase productivity. Ms Zee then visited her procurement department. Previously all Lenthall sourcing is done by direct negotiation with a supplier from Sarawak. She realizes that this is financially a constraint and the prices are usually higher from the market value. Furthermore, her design & engineering department usually have to compromise on their requirement to accept whatever the sole supplier have to offer. This happened as her fathers previous tie with the supplier is close bonding. Ms Zee decided to put an end to this and introduce a competitive bidding strategy. She relieves her authority and encourages her employees to be proactive in sourcing for suppliers which could provide technically sound requirements as per design & engineering request. By having this, Job enrichment is given to her Procurement department. Besides doing the same thing over and over again their new Job Design will give Lenthalls procurement department more interesting work with options to visit Lenthalls future supplier. Job Enrichment as suggested by Herzberg is a process of incorporating motivators into a job situation. Texas Instruments, Volvo, IBM, MMTC and many others reported success in motivating organization members through job enrichment program. Ms Zee also allows for job rotation for young executives looking for promotion in her organization by completing rotation. Ms Zee found out that Lenthalls logistic & distribution division constitute mostly workers with the age of 35 and above and are mostly with a family to support. Lenthall have 8 lorry drivers and are working long hours every day. She decided to employ an additional 3 employees to assist the existing task force. Despite the fact that Lenthall is only supplying to Selangor and Johor will change as Ms Zee is planning to expand Lenthalls business cover the whole of Peninsular. She also decided to increases the incentive if a destination requires more than 6 hours of driving. This reward will surely have a positive reinforcement on her workers as their need for cash and incentive is higher in order to provide for their family. Ms Zee also decided to revamp her warehouse and production line. Previously one worker will do the entire cycle of chain from cutting, fitting, assembling, polishing and fittings the furniture. She decided to makes jobs simpler and specialized to increase the productivity and turns the existing setup into a furniture assembly line. 29

Name: Anas Alam Faizli Center of Graduate Studies

Student ID No. CGS 00385017 MPM Intake: January 2009

However, a worker after a timeframe could be rotated to another position to evade job boredom. Ms Zee understands wells that Job Design is one of the strategies that a manager can use to motivate organization members. One of the most important changes required in Lenthall is at Ms Zees design & engineering department. Ms Zee introduced a new setup where custom made furnitures is constructed upon request from customers. She also encourages her employees to be more creative by providing monetary incentives. If a design sells well, the employee would be given incentive of one ringgit for furniture sold (monetary incentives). Her father use to control all the design and this decreases the creativity level of her employees and she decided to go away with it. All new design will be with limited production and if proven to be a success she will increase the production line. With this, new designs can be tested on the market and open the room for her employees to be more creative. Ms Zee knows that to motivate her employees, she will keep five specific principles of human motivation: 1. Felt needs motivates the behavior in satisfying the needs 2. Degree of motivation is determined by individual perceived value and probability of the result of the behavior 3. Perceived value of a reward is determined by both intrinsic and extrinsic rewards that result in need satisfied and is a motivational factor 4. Individuals can only accomplish a task if they understand what the task requires and have the ability to perform the task and will feel motivated 5. The perceived fairness of a reward influences the degree of satisfaction generated when the reward is received (Certo & Certo, 2006) On an overall basis, Ms Zee has given a new breath of air for Lenthall. Her employees are all capable and have been working in Teluk Ramunia for years. Citing Argyris maturity-immaturity continuum Ms Zee need to utilize the fact that her subordinate is well ready and is aspired to occupy better position with more room for power and self decision. Argyris maturity-immaturity concluded that as individual mature they will have increasing needs, behave in different ways, have deeper and lasting interest and is more willing to take control over their own destiny like from an infant growing to be a full adult. 30

Name: Anas Alam Faizli Center of Graduate Studies

Student ID No. CGS 00385017 MPM Intake: January 2009

In her inauguration speech, she made it clear to all the employees that she is dedicated and committed to bring change to the company and to embrace the future. She proclaims that the time has come for a change and will need the full commitment from each employee. Quoting Victor Hugo dictum that Greater than the tread of mighty armies is an idea whose time has come", Ms Zee is set to transform her company and motivate its employees. Within a year, Ms Zee successfully doubled her companys income, minimizes expenses and expanded throughout Peninsular of Malaysia and also Sabah & Sarawak.

31

Name: Anas Alam Faizli Center of Graduate Studies Question 6: Control

Student ID No. CGS 00385017 MPM Intake: January 2009

The examination performance of your private secondary school has been declining for the past few years. Discuss the controlling process to make it a high quality institution.

[TOTAL: 100 MARKS] Private secondary schools is defined as independent schools which is not administered by the government, state or federal level and have the right to select their own student. It is funded by charging their students with tuition fees. The fees are usually high but however because of its performance, parents with better income choose to send their children to private schools rather than government schools. In this case we will visit Al-Amin a private secondary school established in 1991. For the past few years the numbers of students who scored above 5 As for Penilaian Menengah Rendah (PMR) and 5 As for Sijil Peperiksaan Malaysia (SPM) has declined and the average grades for all subject has also dropped. Control is one of the four basic managements functions namely planning, organizing, control and influencing. Control is defined as making something happen the way it was planned to happen (Certo & Certo, 2006). Planning and control is said to be the Siamese twins of management. This is because without planning control ability and process is impaired. Planning and control is inseparable because planning set the organizational objectives and controls exerts measures and ensure that the organizational objectives are achieved as per plan. Murphy Law states that anything wrong will go wrong. A well operated system does not mean it does not have any flaws. This put high alarm on managers to ensure that measurement of performance and corrective action is done continuously to ensure its continuous performance. Controlling is defined as the process which is required to be executed in order for control to be effective. The control process involves carefully collecting information about a system, process, person, or group of people in order to make necessary decisions. According to EFL Breach, Control is checking current performance against pre-determined standards contained in the plans, with a view to ensure adequate progress and satisfactory performance.

32

Name: Anas Alam Faizli Center of Graduate Studies

Student ID No. CGS 00385017 MPM Intake: January 2009

Managers set up control systems that consist of four key steps. Further explanation follows: Establish standards to measure performance. Managers are required to define specific goal to be achieved. Performing above the standards will be excellent and below standard will be poor. Achieving the standard will be categorized as good. The examination performance of Al-Amin has been declining for the past few years. A private secondary school performance is measured by its examination result. The number of As achieved by its student during the critical examination of PMR and SPM reflects highly on the schools academic achievement. Its average grade attained by its student is also a form of measurement. A standard of continuous improvement is required to facilitate continuous improvement and to overtake other competitors. The target set for the first year is to improve a minimum of 10% from the previous years performance. Measure actual performance. Many organizations have formal reports, monthly, quarterly and annual reports to indicate the current performance measurement that management will review regularly. These measurements should be inter-related with the standard set as target. Al-Amin will measure its standard by the examination performance of its students measuring a number of As achieved and the average grades acquired. A key performance indicator (KPI) will also need to be setup to measure these performances. For the year, Al-Amin performance for PMR is 20% above 5 As and for SPM is 16% above 5 As and the average grade is B- and at 64 points. Compare performance with the standards. This step involves comparing the actual performance to the standards that has already been setup. With statistical figure and a quantifiable measurement this can be easily compared. The current performance requires and additional 10% of improvement for Al-Amin to achieve the standard for the year. This will be carried forward for the next year as Al-Amin policy for continuous improvement in academic excellence. Take corrective actions. When performance has a variation from the standard, management must decide what changes need to be implemented. In education system that is examination centric, the score and grades will be the determining factors of the students and the schools performance. In order for Al-Amin to improve, there are corrective actions need to be taken which Al-Amin seems to be

33

Name: Anas Alam Faizli Center of Graduate Studies

Student ID No. CGS 00385017 MPM Intake: January 2009

lacking at which is discipline, teachers qualification, the class size, structure of the homework and the selection of student in every years intake. Discipline is a critical set of value in a person which is important for a student. If a student is discipline, he will follow a set of conduct outlines by the school or the regulation in his surrounding. Al-Amin needs to step up on disciplining the students as part of their education philosophy. Al-Amin should introduce a set of punishment for minor infringement such as withdrawal of priviliges, community service or detention in school. Students are also encouraged to speak up in classes but in a polite manner and relationship between students and teachers will need to be nurtured to improve the environment of education in Al-Amin. Teachers qualification and quality plays a pivotal role in the performance of the teacher. Previously Al-Amin even hires SPM leavers with teaching experience. These teachers however could not cope and provide to the quality requirement. For a private secondary school teachers should have a minimum degree in education or degree in technical or science matters depending on the subject taught. Continuous training and teachers improvement will also now be one of Al-Amin organizational objectives. Teacher are encouraged to further study and includes attending Ministry of Education sanctioned Degree or Masters courses. Having the correct qualified teacher is important as noted by Henry Brooks Adams A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops. Teacher quality can be improved with experience and self development program initiated by Al-Amin. A journal by Jennifer Buckingham, 2004 on Class Size and Teacher Quality explained that the teachers quality plays a significant pivotal role in academic excellence of the students and even the interaction level of the students and plays a major role of the students growth academically and even personal life development. Class size plays a role in the relationship, focus and the quality of teaching environment. If a class is too big, this will be more difficult to achieve. Al-Amin need minimize its class size from the previous 35 students to a maximum of 25 students. This will ensure more focus from the teacher to the students is obtained. Teacher will have difficulties in teaching big classes and students will get less focus if the class size is too big. Positive outcomes were found for small classes where the small classes have superior academic outcomes (Center of School Assessment, 1986; Chase, Mueller & Walden)

34

Name: Anas Alam Faizli Center of Graduate Studies

Student ID No. CGS 00385017 MPM Intake: January 2009

Homework is previously in the hands of the teachers and there is no set of rules to follow. Homework that is given to the students need to be in a structured manner and is related to the course and syllabus and also encourages the students to have a self learning. If the homework is given in an interactive and attractive manner, the likelihood of the student doing the homework without the feeling of exerted pressure in meeting the deadline will be less and the result will increase dramatically. A homework that is issued without added value will prove only as burdensome to the students and the students might choose to ignore it. Selection of students is pivotal in a private secondary school. The number of applicants for Al-Amin for first year intake is more than 500 every year as opposed to the existing seats of 140. A good selection of students by having an aptitude test and selecting Ujian Penilaian Sekolah Rendah (UPSR) performers will be a good indication that the student will continue to excel. Previously Al-Amin do not have any aptitude test but only depends on the UPSR result which at sometimes might not reflect the actual capability of the student at the point of intake. This proposed corrective measure is among the steps Al-Amin can take to ensure a continuous improvement in Al-Amin examination performance and improving the quality of its students. An organization such Al-Amin which needs to improve on its quality standards need to have three types of management control which is pre-control, concurrent control and feedback control. Pre-control as its name is a control before the work is being performed. This is also known as feed-forward control and steering control. Plainly put, a pre-control is a set of rules placed and aim at eliminating predicted problems. As explained before AlAmin needs to have a more stringent set of rules in selecting its first batch of students. An aptitude test will be very helpful in order for the teachers to be able to select the most potential from the big pool of applicants. Al-Amin also needs to employ qualified and experience teachers which can assist Al-Amin to produce better examination results. Concurrent control takes place as the work is being performed. This involves regulating the ongoing activities and ensures that they conform to organizational standards. This control is designed to ensure that employee work activities that produce results. Al-Amin has various methods of measuring the student performance from first year intake until their final SPM examination. Homework and assignments 35

Name: Anas Alam Faizli Center of Graduate Studies

Student ID No. CGS 00385017 MPM Intake: January 2009

are given for every subject following the course guide. There are monthly examination, middle of the year and final examination. Each of this assignment and examination will serve as a benchmark where the teacher could assess the students performance. There is a syllabus for each course, which states the goals for the course. In addition, there are grading criteria for each course too and which the teachers will use as target and benchmark for the students development. Remedial classes will be held for weak students and under performers and also for the teachers. Among other controls which Al-Amin will exert to improve the quality is by having personal guidance by counselors setup by Al-Amin to assist problematic students. This will improve the psychological being of the students and assist student to study better. Regular assignments will also be hand out with proper explanation and follow up by the teachers. By doing the assignment the students will refer to the syllabus and the course guide and will unconsciously trigger the students to study. A learning environment that is conducive are also important in order for the teachers to ensure that the best of quality teaching is given to the students. This also includes upgrades of infrastructures at the labs and the school library. More books coverage to be increased by the schools to cater more extra readings for the students. As Sir Richard Steele correctly quote Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body. Parents program are also setup to get feedback from the parents and the students will also be encouraged to give feedback to the school with regards to anything from the teachers teaching skills to the infrastructure issues such as a non working toilet. Extra curricular activities will also be improved to attract students feel at home effort and nurture the student cohesiveness and self development. Feedback control or post control is a control that reflects on past performance of the organization. In order to exercise this control management needs to look at the history of the organization over a period of time. There are times however that post control is the only viable control. Al-Amin using the KPI will have a good benchmark to monitor the students performance. As the students move from first year to second year and so on, a graphical and statistical formal report of the students can be generated. With this the student weak points can be identified and using remedial classes, counselors and also motivational programs this will improve the post control.

36

Name: Anas Alam Faizli Center of Graduate Studies

Student ID No. CGS 00385017 MPM Intake: January 2009

Having outlined all of the controlling process and the types of control how do Al-Amin ensure that the controlling will be successful? Al-Amin needs to ensure that the correct organizational activities are being focused on. The standard set is in achieving better examination result, thus good structured assignment, homeworks and exam should be the focus and also the improving of teaching and quality of education in Al-Amin to be priority number one. The corrective actions that have been outlined must be done in a timely correct manner. If the corrective action is not promptly the action which is to be corrected might have aggravated into a bigger problem or the remedial actions cease to be valid. Communication is equally important to ensure the success of controls. In short, for control to be successful all participants, teachers, students, parents and the management must have the understanding and working knowledge of how the control process operates. After the implementation of the controlling process for a year, Al-Amin performance has risen for PMR to 32% above 5 As and for SPM is 28% above 5 As and the average grade is B and at 69 points.

37

Name: Anas Alam Faizli Center of Graduate Studies

Student ID No. CGS 00385017 MPM Intake: January 2009

REFERENCE

1. Certo, S & Certo T (2006) Modern Management 10e, Pearson Prentice Hall. 2. Henry S. Dennison, Elton Mayo (2006) Management & Organizational History 3. Emil Paun and Anca Nedelcu , Management Of Adult Education Institutions, University of Bucharest (2003) 4. Entrialgo, Montserrat, Fermandez, Estaban & Vazquez, Camilo (2000). Characteristics of Managers as Determinants of Entrepreneurial Orientation, Enterprise & Innovation Management Studies 5. Bass, B. M. (1985). Leadership and performance beyond expectation. New York: Free Press. 6. Brown Cartwright S., and Cooper, C. (1992). Mergers and Acquisitions: The Human Factor. Oxford, England: Butterworth Heinemann.

38