In this present age that we live in, the contemporary business setting can change instantaneously due to the current nature of business competition and decisions must be done in a quick, precise and fast manner. With the day to day changes that occur worldwide, it is imperative that organizations set detailed management plans and structure them correctly to coincide with their objectives. A management plan is a guide for an organization to utilize its resources and putting them into action in order to achieve short and long term goals. Having a management plan allows managers to manage every part of the organization from production processes to human resources. This not only promotes new investment opportunities but also internal growth optimization based on business priorities. As stated in Management: A Practical Introduction by Kinicki, Scott-Ladd, Perry, and Williams, (2016), planning has four benefits. These benefits include that planning:
- helps you check on your progress,
- coordinate activities,
- think ahead and
- assists coping with uncertainty.
Due to this, they are necessary for business survival. Plans, however, are theoretically only guides and benchmarks for the desired result the organization wants to attain until they are put into action.
The current business trend focuses on organizations conducting trade globally to achieve a wider and broader consumer base that could potentially benefit the organizations growth financially. However, as a result of globalization, there are also further external and internal factors that affect the organizations performance. These external factors include market size and conditions, competition, government laws and regulation, consumer preferences as well ongoing trends to name a few.
In the normal course of business operations, there are constant factors affecting the organization. Mainly, external forces converge on an organization affecting the way it does its day to day operations. Depending on the impact of these external forces, managers may then be forced to adapt and thus new decisions also have internal consequences. Adapting in the broad sense means effectively understanding what is not working and bringing in change to rectify. As a result of adaptation, current management plans are assessed for flaws and new management plans are then created to overcome the hurdles brought about by these forces. The dilemma then arises wherein managers keep setting new management plans into motion but the world is constantly changing and thus creates a never ending loop for management.
Technology has become a focal point and a major factor in achieving organization goals and plans. It has affected practically all aspects on how the business operates from reducing business costs due to automation to improving communication services. Gone are the days when information took time to send, receive and interpolate. These can now be sent, received and assessed in real time to affect split second decision making. As stated “This calls for an evolutionary approach to the various dimensions and aspects of business, including a new management ethics, a new management philosophy, and a new sense of responsibility on the part of managers” (Of Liechtenstein, 1993). Management then needs to identify, continuously create and pursue further ideas for the benefit of the organization.
Due to the external factors and requirements, as well as the rapid changing business environment, managers must in turn adapt and change to improve. These result in consequences for the organization to instigate improvements to their internal structure. These improvements may involve the production processes, employee allocation and development. Therefore, the organization goes through the process of adapting, a majority of the emphasis turns towards managing staff and resources to improve efficiency and effectiveness. However,
“successful leadership and organizational development strategies include opportunities for assessment, practice of new behaviors in combination with ongoing support and encouragement, timely feedback, and rewards for development and execution of innovation and business performance improvement” (Kantor, S., Kram, K. E. and Sala, F., 2008).
Due to this, there must always be a balance as productivity and employee satisfaction would diminish as there would be increased workload demand on staff and employees. With all the changes arising, employees are expected to complete more tasks at a greater pace and rate than previous. Managers must get stability in the achievement of the organizations objectives with the concerns of employees. “Effective leaders offer and inspire the kind of trust that encourages empowerment and productivity” (Stack, L., 2013). Without the correct communication and staff engagement, there would be negative productivity and employee confidence would hit lows. This is the time that employee turnover rates would be higher and hence more costs would be associated with retraining and rehiring.
Another issue that managers must manage well in setting up new management plans is time. This is especially significant as from the thought process to actual implementation and action of these management plans, the business environment would be continuously moving forward at a fast pace as well. As a result, establishing a timetable would be especially advantageous to create competitive advantages. If management does not effectively manage time, this is where the dilemma again arises of management plans being redundant before they are set into motion.
In light of the external and internal factors that constantly bombard and force the organization to adapt, current management plans should be continuously assessed if any changes need to be made and new plans are then created to counteract and respond. Jayne E. Osborne (1992, p. 21), points out seven strategies in anticipation and response to plan changes:
- Identify real reason for change
- Communicate the change for members
- Prioritize your objectives
- Assign accountability
- Establish a timetable
- Redefine performance standards
- Review changes
These strategies, if correctly followed and done in a timely manner, can facilitate in reducing the redundancy of current and implementation of future management plans.
In summary, we can identify that current management plans are made redundant as soon as they are made due to the speed and complexity that organizations are operating in the contemporary business environment. External and internal forces require the organization to adapt and new management plans must be made in order to counteract these forces. Therefore, management then must make prudent and timely decisions to successfully survive. A progressive learning culture also promotes the improvement of not only staffing but also the organization processes and procedures to align with management plans.