Provided by Gideon Njini FCCEA, Cameroon

Managing People in a Small Organisation

“Introduction”

The nature of management in Small organisations is unique. One person may be in charge of almost every aspect of management, including the management of personnel. This paper is prepared, with tips to refresh the minds of employees who hold leadership positions and also intervene on employees concerns and welfare of the group. To manage people in a work environment requires the ability to recruit, develop, motivate and maintain people to work for the organisation. The manager should have experience to organise and to control teamwork, to direct and inspire, and to handle problems which may arise. Sometimes, people join an organization through voluntary (free will) or legally binding (contract). Whether recruited or voluntarily working for an organization, the aim is to contribute to the attainment of the organization’s objective, through carrying out assigned tasks.

The Civil Society and the informal sector

“The Forth Sector”

From a systems approach point of view, the civil society and the informal sector are sub systems of society. Together with the state and the business sub sectors, these three make up the complete whole society. By definition, a society is a highly structured system of human organization for large-scale community living that normally furnishes protection, continuity, security, and a national identity for its members. In terms of who furnishes protection, continuity and security, the state authorities takes charge. The businesses (profit making) organizations are of the second sector, after the state. The civil society is made up of many groups, some of which are work related (Trade Unions and trade unionism movements), some professionally related, and political or social groups, etc; below these groupings is the informal sector, whose members carry out subsistence activities in unclassified ways.

Accounting for Donar funds in a project environment

Project Accounting in developing nations

A project is a time-limited initiative that is undertaken to create a unique service. While planning and organising to achieve project objectives, accounting is used as a key service to mobilise resources for project execution. Problems needing solutions are numerous especially of those community peoples in perennially neglected rural sectors of developing nations. Charities, foundations, trusts and the international concern development organisations, together with Community Based Development Organisations in different jurisdictions are a direct response to assist governments in reducing human misery, and to improve the welfare of indigenous peoples.

Hidden elements of the recent past global crisis

A Call to take the lead

This paper has been prepared in reaction to the recent past global financial crisis. It will explore accountants’ role and related tools of trade, the accountant’s duties in validating and processing quality financial information that matches quality inputs for clients’ desired outcome of the company production process. The paper will examine the role of company management on successes or failures, and misguided actions of company employees. It will also provoke ideas from peers for improvements, to strengthen new thoughts and directions to mitigate business failures. The term accountant is used to describe professionally trained and duly certified accountant(s).

Financial Management Practice and Good Governance

Champion the course of separation of duties

A good governance system is one that respects and follows the due process of organisational policies and procedures. It should have checks and balances, and there must be segregation of duties. Good governance does not favour concentration of functions on one individual, it encourages cut off points where each employee respects the limits of his or her authority in the organisation.

Decentralisation and local authorities in Africa

In Africa, some states are in the process of decentralising the central government decision making process to offer more acceptable “local services”

Government authorities owe their populations the responsibility to plan, facilitate and to sustain the provision of communal services. This is usually achieved through several methods, one of which is decentralisation. In Africa, some states are in the process of decentralising the central government decision making process to offer more acceptable “local services”, though engaged in the process; the programmes are not very effective in some states. This paper examines decentralisation and appeal to state authorities in the process to take appropriate responsibilities towards realising the programme; to institute grassroots-central government link to an effective decision making process.

Literacy: A tool for Empowerment

Non literates suffer in silence and can not freely express themselves, worst still, and they are marginalsied by their communities

Literacy is the ability to read and to write; to communicate and be communicated through a community or universally accepted and meaningfully understood written words by one, two or more people. One is said to be literate when they have the freedom to communicate and be communicated without passing through an intermediary. Freedom of expression is limited when one passes on a message and it is translated or coded by a third party before forwarding to the final receiver. A message through third parties may loss its intended flavour as expressed by the original sender. People who have limits in expressing or interpreting messages in a community based or universally accepted language lack a personal tool to do more for themselves and their communities.

Provided by Felix Hanson FCCEA, Ghana

Financial Awareness

A Thesis extract presented to The Brighton School of Business & Management

An organisation, Competition and the Business Environment in my opinion has three distinct aims. Firstly, to develop an understanding of the context in which firms operate. Secondly, to build a stock of knowledge about the different components of the Business Environment and to investigate how firms interpret the Business Environment as well as their role within it, since this will affect both how they deal with changes in it, and how they go about `managing' it to achieve their strategic objectives. For instance, behind every environmentally damaging project or company stands a financier and activists who are increasingly calling them to account. Ricardo Bayon looks at recent campaigns, and asks the banks for example on how they are responding to this unwelcome attention.

With the subprime mortgage crisis of 2007, whose effects continue to be felt throughout the capital markets, it is demonstrating to many Hotels, Holiday Camps and Guests House financial executives the downside of risk. Up to the point when Hospitality industries felt the impact of this crisis, finance-related risks such as credit risk, put risk, interest rate risk, basis risk, and failed auction risk were perhaps underappreciated by managers and board members alike. The importance of understanding risk on the Hospitality enterprises is well recognised. But not all senior industry financial leaders recognise the importance of fully understanding the organisation's financial risk position. Insufficient attention to overall financial risk, particularly in a challenging environment, can lead to strategic and financial decisions that greatly increase the day-to-day risk of operating the hotels and guesthouses. To illustrate this point, consider the following scenario. A hotel in a rapidly growing region has positive business fundamentals, such as a good staff and good commercially security insured clients’ volume. But competition from organisations eager to capture a piece of the growing market has increased during the past decade. To handle growth and solidify its long-term competitive position, the hotel has been steadily increasing capacity and investing in its facility, programmes, equipment, strategies, and staffing. Because this hotel has been borrowing and spending aggressively, its financial position is not particularly strong. The hotel may make a small profit, but its balance sheet has been weakened by its aggressive spending to defend its market position.
The leaders of such industries often are highly focused on what it takes to stay competitive and serve the community over the long run, and they too often are inattentive to the total amount of risk the organisation is taking as it tries to move to its desired strategic position. As a result, the organisation's risk position may be much greater than its financial position would warrant. Industry leaders may be borrowing more money than the business can really afford, and the type of borrowing, structured to lower the cost of capital, may be significantly increasing the total amount of financing risk. The leaders also may be making strategic decisions that lead to reduced profitability, or even operating losses. When an organisation in this high risk-leveraged condition encounters an unanticipated event risk, the financial harm will almost always be greater than expected. To ensure that their organisations are appropriately focused on risk, guesthouses and Holiday Camp senior financial executives should raise the following questions:

• What risks should financial leaders address as part of their financial oversight responsibilities?
• What creates risk related to an organisation's financial performance?
• What might occur if risk is not properly understood or effectively managed?
• How much risk is too much risk and how much risk may not be enough?
• Can risk be managed to strategic advantage, and if so, how?

Do Businesses Fail Because of Bad Management?

An Opinion by Felix Hanson, FCCEA

Auditors’ primary responsibility is to provide assurance about the reliability and relevance of an entity’s financial information and internal controls. In an environment characterised by rapid change, global competition and improved information technology, measures of an entity’s current state and recent past are relatively less important than measures of what are likely to happen in the near and distant future.

Pan African Christian University, School of Business:

End of First Semester Examinations: December 2010

Provided by Ruth MacFadyen, UK

Managing Change

Brief History of Management Theory & Practice

The classic definition of ‘Management’ (Henri Fayol 1916): “To manage is to forecast and plan, to organise, to command, to co-ordinate and to control”. In today’s social climate, Fayol’s ‘command’ is dropped in favour of ‘motivation’ (Brech 1957) or ‘directing and leading’ (Koontz & O’Donnell 1976). There are many management theories – the Classical theorists were primarily concerned with the structure and activities of formal organisations; the Human Relations approach was based on the theory that people’s needs, their motivation and behaviour are the decisive factor in achieving organisational effectiveness; by the late 1960’s, the Systems theorists were challenging the earlier studies – they viewed organisations as complex systems, interacting with their environment. They did not rule out ideas suggested by classical or human relations theorists, but emphasised that they must be evaluated in the context of the organisation’s need to adapt to change. The current view is that there is no one theory which can guarantee the effectiveness of an organisation. Management has to select a mix of theories which meets the needs of the organisation and its external and internal pressures at any particular period in its development.

The Concept of Change

In recent years, organisations have come to be viewed as much more human and irrational than the flawlessly designed, neat boxes shown on organisational charts. Like human beings, organisations are dynamic, self-adjusting systems. The total organisational system includes at least four basic components – its tasks, structure, technology and its people. Since all four components are closely inter-related, changing any one of them will affect all the others. Modern management must predict and correct for the widespread effects of what may appear to be only a modest change in any one component. The beginning of administrative wisdom is the awareness that there is no one optimum type of management system (Tom Burns). Things go wrong; equipment breaks down; crises destroy the peace; competitors do the unexpected. People are real; they don’t move in unison; they cry and spit. The concept of Change in any organisation must, by its very nature, be ongoing, self-adjusting and dynamic, interacting with its environment.

Project Management

The Role of the Board of Management in facilitating and leading organisational management and change It is essential for management to facilitate and lead the smooth implementation of organisational governance and change in a fully informed manner - through planning, control, co-ordination, communication and motivation. The effectiveness of the system may be judged by quality of objectives, achievement of purpose, effectiveness of operations and quality of morale and well-being.

Planning

Strategic planning looks ahead to identify optimal courses of action, and to avoid the unexpected by adequate preparation. The concept of the Business Development Plan is a well established tool in general business administration. Businesses who have been involved in producing their own Business Development Plans have learned a good deal about themselves along with an understanding of where they have come from, where they are, and where they realistically plan to go. Many Business Development Plans start with a ‘Mission Statement’, conduct a ‘SWOT’ analysis [identifies Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats], include budgetary control and proposals and details of staff profile and management structure. Participation in the production of a Business Development Plan is an excellent means of streamlining the management of an organisation, of recording and monitoring statistics, of providing a structured business-like approach to Meetings and Training Sessions, and giving general overall confidence and commitment. Quote from Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland Alice asked: ‘Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?’ Cheshire cat replied: ‘That depends a good deal on where you want to get to.’ [Alice clearly left home without her Business Development Plan!]

Control

Control is a review process for assuring that desired results are obtained by measuring and correcting deviations between actual performance and planned performance.

Co-ordination

Co-ordination is the orderly arrangement of group effort to provide unity of action in the pursuit of a common purpose.

Reviewing the Structure/Operations

The Philosophy which Guides the Decision-making Process

Objectives: very broad and very far-reaching

Objectives are the philosophies of management concerned with the end results. They may be laid down for the concern as a whole, as well as for specific areas of operation. If objectives are too specific, they become policies. Objectives represent the ultimate goals of management and help shape policies.

Then Policies: not so broad and not so long-term

Policies represent the courses to be followed in an attempt to achieve the objectives. A policy is an aspect of planning – a guide for making administrative decisions – an established way of doing things. Policy involves ethical considerations, and declaration of policy can affect the whole morale of an enterprise. Policy formulation provides a pattern within which delegation of authority can be made and controlled, and instills confidence in the system.

Then Rules & Procedures: more precise and may be on a Day to day ad hoc basis

Communication

It has been estimated that, in a highly civilised society, four-fifths of the working day is spent on communicating. It is essential in modern management, to ensure that information is communicated to all appropriate parties in the most suitable method. Poor communications lead to misunderstanding and confusion, mistakes, wastage and accidents. Employees become frustrated and morale drops – lack of motivation and low productivity. Employees leave and labour turnover increases until the situation is recognised by management and attempts are then made to improve communications, perhaps too late. The meaning of your communication is the response you get!

The Business Development Plan

The concept of the Business Development Plan is well established in General Business Organisation. In producing such a Plan, a business develops an understanding of where they have come from, where they are, and where they plan to go.

Many Business (or Practice) Development Plans begin with a ‘Mission Statement’ – this is generally a short, memorable phrase which catches the attention and indicates the strategic aim of the organisation.

A Business may have a Mission Statement and a Vision Statement – these are very different.

The Mission Statement should be a statement of business strategy, moving towards developing that Vision, and should provide the answers to these questions, from the Client’s perspective:- What do we do? How do we do it? For whom do we do it? Dictionary definition of Mission – Purpose, reason for being.

A Vision Statement should declare the ultimate aims of the business, growth, values, employees – it describes where the goal-setters want to see themselves in the future. It may describe how they see events unfolding over 10 or 20 years if everything goes exactly as hoped. Vision is related to achievement. Dictionary definition of Vision – An Image of the future we seek to create.

An example – the Mission and Vision Statements of Glasgow Science Centre

MISSION –

To promote Science and Technology through thought-provoking, fun and exciting experiences that inspire all to explore and understand the world around them.

VISION –

A dynamic science centre that inspires, challenges and engages and sets the global benchmark for science communication.

The Mission Statement should be memorable, and should, along with positive leadership, be capable of motivating by communication, inspiration and empowerment, and should be capable of stimulating action and participation of those within the organisation who can make a difference.

The Mission Statement should evoke the following questions:- What effect does this have on each Department? How will you behave differently to work towards achieving our goals?

The Practice Development Plan should include some detailed background on the historical development of the business. This would be of particular interest and relevance to a Firm which is experiencing major structural changes. The next step is to conduct a ‘SWOT’ analysis – to identify our Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. It can be very useful to involve as many members of the Team as possible right from the beginning, and much can be gained from having a general ‘think-tank’ meeting. This stage can also be established by the completion of individual questionnaires by everyone involved, at every level, sometimes with some surprising, positive results.

From there, the skeleton gradually takes on some substance, some meat on the bones, and it is possible to identify some Key Objectives for special consideration and planning. Objectives can be short-term, medium term or long term. As a result of the self-adjustments which take place once the Plan gathers momentum, it is probable that the time-scales of some objectives will begin to change when the stated objectives begin to take shape and the order of priorities moves around.

Some examples of heading of Specific Objectives:- (a) Development of Services provided for Clients (Marketing) (b) Premises (including Health & Safety and Furnishings / décor) (c) Information Technology and Equipment (d) Team Training and Development (e) Financial Budgetary Control and Planning

The Plan should:- (1) Specify what each objective is (2) Detail the action required to achieve the desired outcome (3) Specify a realistic time-scale (4) Nominate a reliable and enthusiastic co-ordinator for each objective, to monitor and progress the action plan and to report back at meetings.

Details of the Management Structure and Staff Profile should be included, and this is also a practical starting point in identifying Team Training and Development needs.

There is also scope for positive development of general staff relations by having regular staff meetings at staff level only, where issues can be raised, appropriate minutes produced and taken to Partnership level.

Through the medium of the Practice Development Plan, we begin to ‘see oorsels as ithers see us ‘ – a vision to be used wisely!

Copyright © Ruth MacFadyen. All rights reserved.