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Business and Management

TRAINING IN MANAGEMENT

Training is the process of helping employees to acquire more knowledge of the job and to learn or sharpen the needed skills, attitudes and values associated with the efficient performance of their job and new employees, as also existing employees, often need training as a means of their progress in their jobs and careers and it is an important element of the staffing function and many organizations make formal or informal arrangements for providing training to their managerial and non-managerial personnel. Training is practical education and it is a technique that brings out the hidden abilities in a person and teaches him to use his skills effectively. Training is an art and the trainer selects the best methods for training, keeping because of the requirements of the job and the ability of the concerned persons. Training is an activity which changes the outlook and behavior of persons and training may be understood as the practice of theoretical knowledge and the importance of training is well-recognized all over the world but the methods of training may vary from job to job and from industry to industry and typically, a separate training department under the charge of an expert in training techniques is established for the purpose. As Dale Yoder said, “Training is the process by which manpower is filled for the particular jobs it is to perform”.

METHODS OD TRAINING

1. On-the-job Method

On-the-jib methods are the methods that are applied, while the employee is working and it means Learning while doing and training is provided by superiors to subordinates and it is economical and less time consuming and it is used where jobs are simple, as in case of plumbers and motor mechanics.

a. Apprenticeship Programme

   Under this method, trainees are apprentices and they work under the direct supervision of the experts, who guide and help them in learning the job.

 b. Internship Training

In this method, professional institutes enter into arrangements with big business enterprises and send their students to these industrial enterprises to gain practical work experience.

c. Job Rotations

It is shifting the trainees from one department to another department or from one job position to another job position.

d. Induction Training

 It is training to help a new employee to settle down quickly into the job by becoming familiar with fellow workers the job and its environment including other people and machines in the business.

2. Off-the-Job Methods

Off-the-road jobs methods are used away from the place of work and it means Learning before doing and it is provided by experts either from within or from outside the organization and it is more expensive and more time consuming than on-the-job and it is used where jobs are complex involving the use of sophisticated machinery.

a. Vestibule training

 Under this method, training is given in a classroom and where the actual work environment is stimulated, a supplicate model of the workshop is prepared and instead of using original equipment, employees are trained on the dummy models.

b. Programming Instruction

The total information amount the job is broken into meaningful small units and are arranged in a logical sequence from simple to complex and the trainee goes through these units one by one by answering questions or by filling the blanks.

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Business and Management

INFORMAL ORGANIZATION


Informal organization refers to relationships between individuals in the organization based on interest, personal attitudes, emotions, prejudices, likes, dislikes, physical location, the similarity of work et. The informal organization comes into existence because of the limitations of the formal structure and it represents a natural grouping of people in working situations and the birth of small groups in an organization is a natural phenomenon. The informal group may overlap because an individual may be a member of more than one informal group. Informal groups come into being to support and supplement the formal organization. The formal and informal organization are inextricably interlinked. As Joseph L. Massie said, “Informal organization has been defined as any human interactions that occur spontaneously and naturally over long periods of time”.

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CHARACTERISTICS OF INFORMAL ORGANIZATION

The main characteristics of informal organization are:

  1. It has no place in the formal chart.
  2. It is definite and has no structure.
  3. It is a network of personal and social relations.
  4. It has its own rules and traditions.
  5. It provides for social satisfaction to its members.
  6. An informal organization arises spontaneously.
  7. It is an integral part of a total organization and management cannot eliminate it.
  8. It is based on personal attitudes, emotions likes and dislikes etc.

  ADVANTAGES OF INFORMAL ORGANIZATION

The informal organization is a psycho-social system and the main advantages of an informal organization are:

  1. Informal organization evolve short cuts and eliminate various individuals and departments.
  2. Informal organizations help in solving work problems of members.
  3. Informal groups recognise talented workers as their leaders.
  4. A manager can build better relations with his subordinates through informal contacts.
  5. Informal groups do not allow managers to cross the limits of authority.
  6. Informal groups often fill up the communication gaps which might arise in the organization.
  7. The informal organization may fill in gaps, if any, in the abilities of managers.
  8. Informal groups develop certain norms of behaviour which differentiate between good and bad conduct and between legitimate and illegitimate activities.
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LIMITATIONS OF INFORMAL ORGANIZATION

Informal groups have negative aspects too. They may create problems for the organization as mentioned below:

  1. Informal groups generally tend to resist change and change requires new skills but informal groups want to maintain the status quo and this creates obstructions in implementing new ideas and thus organization’s growth.
  2. An informal leader may turn out to be a troublemaker for the organisation and to increase his influence, he may work against the policies of management, and try to manipulate the behaviour of his followers.
  3. Every member of an informal group is also a member of the formal organization and sometimes role conflict may arise because the ideas, expectations and requirements of both the organizations may be opposite to each other.
  4. An informal group exerts strong pressure on its members for conformity and the members may become so loyal to their group that following the group norms may become a part of their life.
  5. Informal communications may give rise to rumours which may create conflict and misunderstanding among the people and rumours may prove dangerous for the organization. 
Business and Management

SCIENTIFIC MANAGEMENT


The origin of scientific management dates back to the year 1832 when Charles Babbage discussed the principles of scientific management in his book “The economy of manufactures”. In real sense, scientific management owes its origin to Frederick Winslow Taylor, who is commonly regarded as the father of scientific management.

MEANING OF SCIENTIFIC MANAGEMENT

Scientific management may be regarded as a set of scientific techniques that are supposed to increase the efficiency of an enterprise. Under scientific management, the selection of men, machines, materials is made by a scientific approach. Here, all the organizational activities are performed by rationality and proper discipline, this scientific management is a logical approach towards the solution of management and it assumes that the methods of scientific inquiry, analysis and experimentation can be applied to the activities of managers. It means approaching the problems of management in the manner and spirit of scientific research using tools such as definition, analysis, experiments, etc. It is ‘Scientific Management’ as opposed to ‘Traditional Management’ based on the rule of thumb, trial, error. As said by Peter F. Drucker “The cost of scientific management is the organized study of work, the analysis of work into its simplest elements and the systematic management of the worker’s performance of each element”.

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We can summarise scientific management as:

  1. Scientific study and analysis of work.
  2. Scientific selection and training of employees.
  3. Standardization of raw material, equipment, and working conditions.
  4. Reasonable remuneration to employees.
  5. Scientific management is an economical method that makes the best possible use by integration and coordination of available resources.
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MAIN CHARACTERISTICS OF SCIENTIFIC MANAGEMENT

1. A definite plan: To achieve predetermined definite objectives, management needs a definite plan, and the plan should be goal-oriented.

2. A definite objective: In scientific management, every organization has to establish the basic objectives and efforts are to be made by applying physical and human resources to achieve these predetermined objectives.

3. A set of rules: To make scientific management more effective, a set of rules are framed and these sets of rules are tested and verified as regards their effectiveness in the real business situations by a group of persons.

4. Economy: The main aim of scientific management is to achieve the economy of time, money, and labor, and the technique of economy is used for producing maximum at a minimum cost.

5. Scientific analysis and experiment: Before starting any work, the utility, effectiveness, and suitability of plans are to be tested and analyzed, and thus by scientific analysis and experiment, we can choose the best course of action.

6. Increase in efficiency: The techniques of scientific management help in increasing the efficiency of workers and new techniques and improved tools are used for increasing efficiency.

7. Time study: Time study is concerned with labor productivity and according to it, an estimate is made of the amount of work required to be done to perform a job.

8. Cooperation: In the present competitive situation, efforts should be made to establish a cordial relation between labor and capital. Cooperation is essential for efficient management and group efforts for group benefit can be the active cooperation of each individual.