Principles of management - Week 8

Chapter 10 - Organizing in the 21st century.

On this chapter we have discussed the following : -The concept of contingency organization design. -Mechanistic and organic organizations. -The role that differentiation and integration play in organization structure. -Centralized organizations versus Decentralized ones. -Delegation and delegation barriers. -The changing shape of organizations.

Some personal thoughts............

This chapter has made me think about past employers.

I really liked the last place I worked for in Israel... my managers were so "people oriented"...

they treated employees with dignity and respect and rewarded employees for their good work.

I also have some unpleasant memories from other workplaces and various managers I - unfortunately - had to work with... but you know what ? maybe it was good to get a chance to work with ALL SORTS of people... because you can only learn from the school of hard knocks...

and you can only benefit and develop better human-relations skills, when you have to

work with people you can't stand ...

Here's an article I wrote , better said "analysis" of my former manager, Mr Ben David, who was

really one of my favorites. Though I did have one incident with him in which he made

me angry - I see it as a onetime-never to happend again - incident, and I think the reason it happened was related to the difficult situation of the tourism field in Israel after the "Intifada" (revolution in the occupied territories) has started.... I think he was at a difficult situation and the incident involved money issues, but was eventually solved.

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A Manager’s analysis

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I have chosen to write an analysis of my former manager in Israel, Mr Amnon Ben David, who is the co-owner and founder of Eshet Incoming – an incoming tourist services company in Tel Aviv. I have worked for Eshet Incoming for approximately 3 years (1999-2001). Mr Ben David’s managerial roles were very diverse, since he was not only one of the owners or the company but also its president and head of the marketing and public relations division. He was personally involved in various projects such as incentive groups, large international conferences that were held in Israel and handled by the company, E-travel websites that were operated by the company and many more. Mr Ben David had fulfilled many roles in the company and therefore had to delegate various tasks to different employees, starting with the vice president, and onto sales people, tour operators and administrative assistants. His managerial functions included the following: Planning – He used to plan the company’s future opportunities well a head, by meeting with travel agents all over the world, providing price-offers to major clients long in advance, negotiate rates with hotels and other tourist-services suppliers long in advance. Forecast future trends in the incoming tourism business and prepare for any crisis that may occur (mostly due to changing political situations). Setting financial goals was also part of the planning stage of his work. Organizing – He used to organize staff meetings and delegate various tasks to different employees. Employees at all levels were anknowledged about future plans, tasks, changes etc’. Leading – He provided a strong backup to employees and served as role model as far as social responsibilities were concerned. He used to put overtime and support the lower level employees, even sometimes assist in the lowest level tasks such as answering phones or emails and negotiating better rates with suppliers in order to gain more clients. Control – He followed up with his tour operators and lower level managers on various projects, and got personally involved in large projects, increasing quality of service and product by giving special personal attention to major clients and / or to problematic clients.When things got out of control due to a heavy mass of work – he hired additional employees and made plans to expand the various departments and nominate sub-managers to each department. Mr Ben David’s ethical and social responsibility approach was a positive one. He rewarded employees and provided positive feedback to those who deserved it. When financial situation allowed it – he knew how and where to give his feedbacks to employees, thus increasing their motivation and loyalty to the company. Although the tourism field usually does not pay overtime – He was fair enough to ignore what the rest did – and legally paid his employees for their overtime. The general atmosphere conducted in the office was very good. The employees were provided with a comfortable working zone and the company had a feel of an open system, allowing tour operators to make their own decisions about their clients, but still be able to consult with higher level managers. Due to the unstable and uncertain situation of the tourism field in Israel – contingency design was definitely a main character of the company. There was a lot of flexibility and freedom to make decisions without getting approvement from management first. The general feel was that lower level employees were trusted to do their job and there was no need to constantly monitor them. As far as Peter’s and Waterman’s *Eight attributes of Excellence* are concerned – My manager’s approach had a lot of them in his way of managing the company: He encouraged flexibility, risk taking, and productivity through people. People were treated with dignity and respect. Enthusiasm, trust and family feeling were fostered. Management stuck to business it knew best. Authority was decentralized as much as possible. Opportunity for creativity was generously allowed. Customer satisfaction was an important issue and as previously mentioned – managers stayed involved in all areas through active informal communication. Human relations were very good too. It sounds like the ideal place / person to work for, my only advice would be to increase personal organization and maybe delegate more in order to clear more time for project planning etc’. I admire his risk taking and think he’s probably the best manager I’ve ever worked for.