Organization and Management

Organization and Management

This week, we studied the topic of Organization and Management which I think is useful for us.

In my opinion, organization is a structural system with numbers of people who are managed to accomplish objectives. There are 4 points which are people, objectives, structure and management.

People in organization usually play different roles and have different tasks and responsibility. For instance, in a school, some people may be lecturers. They need to teach student knowledge and motivate them to make them keep being progress. And some people may be accountants. Their responsibility is count the money flows in school and ensure school to run well. But it does not mean they just work individually; they need to interact and communicate to finish the same objective.

In most organization, profit is the key objective, but there are also another objective like growth, market share, reputation. For example, Coca cola company used to do some charity works in China is not for profit but the reputation. However, they improve reputation for making people believe and like them and then make more profit.

In organization, structure and management are also vital. A clear and proper structure can make organization achieve goals efficiently and effectively. It reflects management hierarchies and responsibilities just as the picture below. It shows who report to who to make the management system efficient. In terms of management, a good manager is the key to lead team to success. According to Henry Mintzberg, there are three kinds of manager which are informational, interpersonal and decisional. I think a good manager can change management style flexibly according to different situation and different people.

On Thursday, we played a team game in APT class and I applied the knowledge I learned in group. The games’ name called ‘how high can you built’. We were required to use only ten pieces of A4 paper to establish a building, and who build the tallest one who would win. Although there were just 6 people in our group, we are still a small organization. Because we have the same objective and we divide the tasks into everyone. At the beginning, I was the first to came up with an idea and everyone agreed with me.(planning) And then I allocated the tasks to everyone; two people fold the paper, two people build the construction and two people observe  what need to improve and help others.(organizing) After 5 minutes, our construction collapsed. Everyone seemed sad, another group mate said:’ do not worry’ and keep going thinking.(motivation). At last 5 minutes, we enhanced the old method and build it again. And then we won at the last minute.(coordinating and monitoring)

Although we won, we still have some weaknesses. Before the first built, if we think it carefully in the planning part, we would not make it collapse. Moreover, in the last 5 minutes, everyone is nervous and build that with shivering hands. I should be supposed to motivate them more and let them calm down. Next time, I’ll do it better with more manager skills.

Thanks Rob and Vish