Work culture may be defined as a reflection of shared beliefs, values, norms and traditions within the organization. It manifests itself in both tangible and intangible ways, forming the foundation for all the actions and decisions within an organization. Organizations with strong well defined work culture enjoy greater employee loyalty and satisfaction and are in a position or deliver unbeatable customer service. They are excellent breeding grounds for leadership talent and work... Read more

In organizations, planning is the process of setting goals and choosing the means to achieve those goals. Without plans, managers cannot know how to organize people and resources effectively. They may not even have a clear idea of what they need to organize. Without a plan, they cannot lead with confidence or expect others to follow them. And without a plan, managers and their followers have little chance of achieving their goals or knowing... Read more

Globalization has arrived. Trade and flows of capital are freer than earlier, despite a few hiccups once in a way. Multinational corporations are setting up their shops in India and Indian companies are extending their operations in other countries – there are India-based companies in USA, in Europe and in the eastern countries such as China. Virtual Proximity: When should a firm think of setting up a manufacturing plant or... Read more

Peter Drucker and other management consultants and theorists used to argue that the most important question for managers to ask was: What’s your business? The emphasis on clearly defining what business an organization was in captured the creative and intellectual imagination of an entire generation of management thinker. The literature of the file is filled with stories about consultants who made a fortune by offering insights such as, ‘you are not in the... Read more

Robust, progressive and forward looking companies are doing what is the need of the hour-managing cost. Efficient cost management includes spending where it is absolutely necessary, streaming processes and also cutting flab. The big problem is that cost-control requires discipline and most firms lack that. They also lack the vision and the leadership that are central to this. It seems like every time one firm starts a cost cutting campaign another firm is... Read more

Planning is a particular kind of decision making, that addresses the specific future that managers desire for their organizations. We listed planning as the first of the four major activities in the management process – planning, organizing, leading and controlling. We might think of planning as the locomotive that drives train of organizing leading and controlling activities. Or we can envision planning as the taproot of a magnificent oak tree, from which grow the... Read more

A strategic plan embodies and revolves around the statement of a strategy for an organization. Strategic planning is a process for producing this strategy and updating it as necessary. Strategy as the Grand Plan: The concept of strategy is ancient. The word itself comes from the Greek strategeia, which means the art or science of being a General. Effective Greek generals needed to lead an army, win and hold territory,... Read more

With a corporate strategy managers stake a claim for their organization’s place in the future. You can think of a corporate strategy as an idea about how people at an organization will interact with people at other organizations over time. So it is very important to understand that a corporate strategy says something of substance that guides people in their day-to-day work over an extended period of time. In this article, we are writing... Read more

In making decisions, all managers must weight alternatives many of which involve future events that are difficult to predict, such as a competitor’s reaction to a new price list, interest rates in three years, or the reliability of a new supplier decision making situations are frequently categorized on a continuum ranging from certainty (highly predictable), through risk, to uncertainty (highly unpredictable). Certainty: Under conditions of certainty, we know our objectives and have... Read more

The problem finding process is often informed and intuitive. Four situations usually alert managers to possible problems. 1. A deviation from past experience means that a pervious pattern of performance in the organization has been broken. This year’s sales are falling behind last year’s expenses have suddenly increased; employee turnover has risen. Events such as these are signals to the manager that a problem has developed. 2. A deviation from a set plan means,... Read more