Management 201 Fundamentals of Management Term Report

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Obviously, the achievement of organizational goals must be done in an effective and efficient manner. According to Borwick (2013), the two ways to improve what one is doing is by becoming more efficient and effective. He describes efficiency as doing something faster and with less waste and describes effectiveness as doing something that improves the final outcome of the job. In terms of management, therefore, this would mean acquiring organizational goals by using the least amount of resources and still achieving what the organization set out for. At TruEagle, efficiency and effectiveness is achieved by ensuring that all the departments within the organization know what their roles and priorities are. For example, the Creative Director must know the upcoming and the current fashion trends and in due term work with the Marketing manager to ensure that the products are marketed in the right way to the right people. Mr. Shewakramani elaborated on this point and drew out the whole process of planning for a new collection. First step is fashion evaluation which involves looking at fashion trends, mood boards and everything that is popular. Next step is looking at this from a marketing point of view and how these products will be marketed using social media platforms, print advertising etc. Finally, they move into the production process and then start working on photoshoots, look books etc. Each role, therefore, is specified and everyone knows their responsibilities which smoothens operations on the whole. Moreover, it is important to ensure that this whole process does not take a lot of time and in order to ensure that it does not, there has to be effective and efficient communication between the fashion, marketing and product development people.

In organizations, there are typically three levels of management: top level, middle level and first line managers. Hence, these three levels of managers form a hierarchy whereby the managers are ranked in terms of their importance and authority. Top managers are at the top of the hierarchy and so have the most authority and are responsible for the entire organization. They make the organization-wide decisions and set plans and goals that affect the whole organization. Middle managers are beneath the top level managers and their main job is to supervise managers that are directly below them. They are responsible for finding the best ways to use organizational resources to achieve goals. First-line managers are at the lowest level of the hierarchy and so have the least level of authority. They are responsible for managing the work of non-managerial employees who directly work on the production of the company’s products. TruEagle does not have a very elaborate management hierarchy since it is still a relatively new venture. There is the CEO whose major contribution to the company is basically providing it with capital investments and signing off on all the payments. At the end of the day, the CEO does decide on the overall plan and the goals that the company will follow for the next season. The Brand Design Manager, Mr. Shewakramani himself, the Marketing Manager and the Creative Director, are all considered middle managers in this company. At TruEagle, these managers are considered the most important, even more than the CEO, because they oversee the four main aspects of the company: Design, branding, marketing and production. These managers along with the first-line managers, which include apparel designers, online-store managers etc., ensure good quality of the products before launching them in the market. The managers also make sure that the products are marketed and priced in the right way. The middle managers communicate what the CEO wants to the first-line managers.

So what exactly defines a “good manager” at TruEagle? Good managers are essential to every organization. A good manager is someone that creates an exceptionally hardworking, efficient, effective and productive atmosphere in their organization and encourages the workforce to push above its weight. Graban(2014) speaks from his own experience when he says that bad managers tell people what to do, good managers tell them how to do it but great managers include people in the decision making process. The goal of a good manager should, therefore, be to lead, inspire and develop members to the organization so that organization goals are achieved and targets are met. Likewise, according to Mr. Shewakramani, a good manager is someone who explains the roles of the different employees in detail as well as providing knowledge and wisdom in terms of decision making and ensuring they do their job according to set standards.

According to managerial concepts, there are four main approaches to management: classical, behavioral, quantitative and contemporary approach. Most organizations usually follow a mix of these approaches. The classical approach entails two management theories: the scientific theory, which involves redesigning the work process to achieve efficiency, and the administrative theory, which involves the creation of an organizational structure that will lead to efficiency and effectiveness. The behavioral approach considers the employees to be the company’s most valuable asset and focuses on how managers should behave in order to motivate employees to achieve organizational goals. Whereas, the quantitative approach focuses on the management science theory which makes use of rigid quantitative techniques, such as Total Quality Management (TQM) to help managers maximize use of organizational resources. Lastly, the contemporary approach includes the organizational environment theory which involves the set of forces and conditions in the environment (open and closed systems) that the managers have to learn to control. Like most organizations, TruEagle uses a mix of these approaches. Managers specially focus on TQM because quality of products is most important for TruEagle. It keeps up with current fashion trends and thus only produces the kind of apparel that people prefer. Furthermore it makes sure that the most resource efficient ways of production are used. Before the garments are ready to be put up on sale, rigorous checks are made to ensure the quality. The scientific method given out by the scientific theory is used to make sure that employees meet quality standards so that efficiency is achieved. Like any other company that operates in the fashion industry, even for TruEagle, creativity is of utmost importance. This is where the behavioral approach comes in. Time to time the middle managers motivate their employees to be creative. This means that whenever employees have any innovative idea in terms of designs and new trends, these ideas are taken to the managers and then a meeting is held between all the managers to decide whether to go through with the idea or not. This way,