talks of aspects of strategic management

1. Distinguish between managerial level, managerial functions and operative functions
Every organisation hires, pays, maintains and separates its employees. This means every
organisation - big or small in some or other forms performs certain personnel functions. In the
past, owners of organisation did not pay much attention toward this issue for various reasons like
disorganized labor market. Lack of human consideration, exploitative tendency etc. Since then a
great upheaval occurred marking the arrival of modem age, which experienced revolutionary
change in almost all walks of life. The development need, rise of trade union movement,
socialistic pattern of society, human relation movement and welfare state concept emphasized
the need for greater and scientific attention toward personnel functions. Consequently,
organisations started making use of the knowledge of personnel management for effective
utilisation of human resources. Result of the use of the knowledge was so encouraging that other
enterprises followed the suit. The role and importance of personnel management for any
organised venture can be explained in the following way (Weihrich & Koontz, 2005).
Personnel Management aims at abstaining and maintaining capable and effective work force,
motivating employees individually and in groups to contribute their maximum to the fulfillment
of organisational goals while advancing towards their own individual and group goals and
integrating them with organisation in such a manner that the employees and their groups feel a
sense of involvement with the organisation.
In fact, the personnel functions differ from concern to concern, but certain broad functions
applicable to all. Organisations can be listed. However, these functions can he broadly grouped
under two heads as Managerial Functions, and Operative functions

2. i) Managerial Functions
1) Planning
Planning is regard to the human resource function involves deliberate determination
of objectives, planning of human resource requirements, recruitment, selection, training
etc. It also involves forecasting of personnel needs, changing values, attitudes and behavior of
employees and their impact of organization
2) Organizing
Organising function is a process by which group of human brings allocates its tasks among its
members identifies relationships and integrates its functions towards the achievement of
common goal. It calls for designing the structure of relationship among jobs through delegation
of authority, communication and accountability, man power planning, managing job positions
and providing physical facilities. Thus organising establishes relationships among the employees
so that they can collectively contribute to the attainment of the organisational goals.
3) Directing
Directing as a managerial function involves building sound industrial and human relations
among people working in the personnel area of organisation. It includes leading motivating,
communicating, guiding and reorienting personnel job for their better performance towards
accomplishing organisational objectives. The personnel manager has to coordinate various
managers’ different levels as for as personnel functions are concerned.
4) Controlling

3. Controlling function is concerned with regulating activities in accordance with the personnel
plans in respect of operating goals. It includes checking, verifying and comparing actuals with
the plans, identifying deviations if any and correcting them. Thus operations are adjusted to
predetermined plans and standard through taking corrective measures. Auditing, training
programmers, analyzing, labor turnover records, directing morale surveys, conducting separate
interviews are some of the means for controlling the personnel management function.
ii) Operative Functions
(1) Procurement
Procurement is concerned with the obtaining of the proper quality and quantity of personnel
necessary it in order to accomplish objectives and functions of an organization. It also includes
the determination if human resources requirements and their recruitment, selection and
placement (Jones & George, 2003).
(2) Development
Development deals with increasing the skill and competence of those personnel through training
and other programs. Management development is future oriented and concerned with education.
These activities attempt to instill sound reasoning process-to enhance one's ability to understand
and interpret knowledge - rather than imparting a body of facts or teaching a specific set of
motor skills. Development therefore focuses more on the employee's personal growth
(3) Compensation

4. Compensation provides for their adequate and equitable remuneration in order to secure their
best contribution to the achievement of the organisation's objectives. Fixation of compensation or
wage rates for different categories of employees in a cooperative society is an important task of
management. The employees are not only concerned with wages received but also concerned
with the level of wages received by same level of employees in similar societies. Hence wage
structure may be considered very important. The relative wage rules should be fixed carefully,
because they have implications for promotion, transfer, seniority and other important personnel
matters.
(4) Integration
The basic objective of manpower management is to secure maximum performance from the
employees willingly to accomplish the objectives of an organisation. This is possible through
better integration between the organisation and its employees. An effective integration between
the two is the function of three things-motivation, leadership and communication. In recent years
the human relation exponents have revolutionised the ways and means of dealings with
employees and organisations have become innovative in seeking effective integration of
employees for greater performance and productivity. Hence, managerial job has become more
complicated and challenging (Agbaeze, 2007).
(5) Maintenance
It refers to maintaining the abilities and attitudes already created and improving the conditions
established through health safety, welfare and benefit programs.
(6) Human relations

5. Human relation with the management denotes the collective relationship between management
and employees in a cooperative society. It means absence of disputes between the two parties
and the existence of understanding. Benefits arrived at from good human relations are the
economic progress of a country, maintaining their cooperative democracy, formulation of
informal personal policies, encourage collective bargaining, help government in making laws for
broadly unfair practices of unions and employers, rightful recognition of trade unions that will
boost the discipline and morale of workers.
b) What are the needs and importance of management principles s given by Koontz and o
Donnell (15 marks)
The importance and need of management principles in the field of management cannot be
overemphasized. The main concern of these principles is to bring about improvement, efficiency,
effectiveness and productivity in the operations of organisations (Drucker, 1989). Some of the
key importance of these principles is as outlined below:
1. Division of Labour. This involves the separation of skill areas into functional areas based on
specialization. According to him, this will eliminate any uncertainty in the organisation.
Division of labour also involves the specialization of the workforce, thereby creating specific
personal and professional development within the labour force which entails increasing
productivity and leads to increases in the efficiency of labour. By separating a small part of
work, the speed and accuracy in the workforce’s performance increases. This principle applies to
the employees at both the technical as well as managerial levels.

6. 2. Authority and Responsibility. Henri Koontz and o Donnell postulated that authority and
responsibility are important, both as a result of manager’s position as well as other forms of
informal authority that emanates from personal expertise, technical knowledge, leadership
abilities, etc.Koontz and o Donnell opines that where there are clear divisions of the levels of
authority and responsibility, uncertainty in organization will be reduced or even eliminated
entirely. This reduces the tendency of any manager usurping another person’s authority.
3. Unity of Command. The principle of unity of command emphasises that each organizational
member should have only a single superior whom he/she reports to. Proponents of this concept
believe that it lessens conflict, confusion havoc within the organisational hierarchy and creates
greater feelings of personal responsibility for results or accomplished tasks. Although, possibility
of dual command exist in many because this practice is often inevitable. The chief problem with
dual command is however the difficulty in the responsibility and authority of organisation
managers.
4. Line of Authority. By line of authority, we are referring to the chain of command from the top
level down to the bottom of an organisational structure. The efficiency of communication in
organisations is greatly influenced by the length of the chain of command. An organization with
a flatter structure (lesser levels) will be able to disseminate information at a faster pace. Also, its
planning, controlling functions will be carried on much quicker too. This is because there are
fewer interactions which invariably mean quicker decision making too.
5. Centralisation. This refers to concentrating power and authority at the top hierarchy of an
organisation. Koontz and o Donnell opines that authority should not be so much concentrated at
the top managerial hierarchy. This is so since centralisation entails only managers at the top

7. hierarchy are charged with the making of most decisions, particularly, important decisions. This
indicates danger as the lower level managers or subordinates have little or nothing at stake or are
not participants in decision making. However, its chief advantage is that it permits top hierarchy
the opportunity to have a good control over the affairs of the enterprise which means prompt and
appropriate response to problems and issues within the enterprise (Koontz, O’Donnell &
Weihrich, 1980).
6. Unity of Direction. This refers to having a single guiding plan. By this principle it means that
tasks that have the same aim need to come under a single head and a common plan as guide. The
rationale behind this principle is to be focused and controversies that will arise with organisation
members working at cross purposes.
7. Discipline. This refers to respect for organisational members so as to ensure reliability and
hard work which are needed to achieve organisational goals.
In specific terms discipline entails obedience, proper conduct in relation to thers and respect of
authority. Discipline is virtually essential for the smooth functioning of all organizations.
8. Equity. Where subordinates are loyal and committed to their duties, it is quite normal for top
management to treat them with respect, fairness, impartiality, etc. When this occurs, the
workforce is encouraged and motivated to attain higher levels of performance.
9. Order. Here, the emphasis is on the arrangement of organisational resources – human and
material. Koontz and o Donnell’s concern was with orderliness that could result into efficiency
and resourcefulness in organisations. Hence, he recommended the use of organisational charts.
Order will also enhance proper career planning and development along career paths.

8. 10. Subordination of Individual Interests to the Common Interest. The concern here is due to the
fact that there is diversity in interests of organisation members. The principle is emphasizing the
superiority of the interest of the organisation over and above those of individuals and groups if
the organisation is to survive.
11. Initiative. Initiative simply means the possibility to subordinates to exercise creativity
without direction or control from superiors.It is key ingredient in the ability to survive in any
keenly competitive environment.
Utilizing the initiative of employees can add strength and new idea to organizations because
initiative is a source of strength for the organization because it provides new and better ideas.
Koontz and o Donnell opined that managers must be encouraged to exercise their initiative
potentials. Thus, being able to strike a balance between order and initiative is a vital managerial
tool.
12. Remuneration. Koontz and o Donnell posited that the remuneration system which has
important implication must be fair enough to encourage efficiency and productivity He proposed
bonus and profit sharing plans as a system of rewarding employees.
13. Stability of Tenure. Koontz and o Donnell argued that high labour turnover in organisations
results from poor or bad management. He therefore recommended for long term employment. He
believed this to be a factor that can bring about the development of skills that can improve
organisational sense for proper utilization of resources. The tenure of service should not be too
short and employees should not be moved from positions frequently. Koontz and o Donnell
argued that an employee cannot render useful service if he is removed before he becomes

9. accustomed to the work assigned to him and that such removals may to a large extent lead to
labour turnover.
14. Esprit De Corps. This is a French word meaning “in unity there is strength”. It emphasises
the feelings of commitment or devotion with interest to a common cause among members of an
organisation or group or team. This team spirit is usually is a catalyst that helps develop an
atmosphere of mutual trust and understanding and can be used to initiate and aid the processes of
management functions.
c) Explain ten emerging trends in strategic planning and implementation (10 marks)
After World War II, when military strategy came into the business world as strategic planning,
so did these constraints. As a result, strategic planners focused on predicting the future based on
historic trend lines; invested heavily in gathering all available data; and produced a small number
of directives issued from the top, for the rest of the organization to execute. There are many
emerging issues that pose challenges to strategic planning. For instance, Economic and
Demographic Challenges, information technology among others are some of the challenges.
This approach to strategic planning was a reasonably good fit for much of the business world
from the fifties through the eighties. But with the rise of high-tech tools and increased
globalization in the nineties, the world began to change, and now it looks quite different indeed.
The future is no longer reasonably predictable based on the past—in fact; it is liable to be
startlingly different. Good data is easy to access and cheap to acquire. Communication is rapid,
indiscriminate, and constant (Dess, 2006).

10. The world has become a more turbulent place, where anyone with a new idea can put it into
action before you can say “startup” and launch widespread movements with a single Tweet. This
has left organizational leaders with a real problem, since the trusted, traditional approach to
strategic planning is based on assumptions that no longer hold. The static strategic plan is dead.
This has led to increasingly polarized attitudes about the value of having a strategy at all. Some
leaders are valiantly trying to save strategic planning by urging us to focus even more on
rigorous data analysis. Others deny the value of strategy, arguing that organizations need agility
above all else (an attitude that famed strategist Roger Martin).
We think that what is necessary today is a strategy that breaks free of static plans to be adaptive
and directive that emphasizes learning and control, and that reclaims the value of strategic
thinking for the world that now surrounds us. Martin acknowledged this point at the Skoll World
Forum in 2010 when he said: “Every model is wrong and every strategy is wrong. Strategy in a
way helps you learn what is ‘righter’. People think you can prove a strategy in advance. You
can’t”
The approach we developed in working with our clients at Monitor Institute is what we call
adaptive strategy. We create a roadmap of the terrain that lies before an organization and
develop a set of navigational tools, realizing that there will be many different options for
reaching the destination. If necessary, the destination itself may shift based on what we learn
along the way.
Creating strategies that are truly adaptive requires that we give up on many long-held
assumptions. As the complexity of our physical and social systems make the world more

11. unpredictable, we have to abandon our focus on predictions and shift into rapid prototyping and
experimentation so that we learn quickly about what actually works. With data now ubiquitous,
we have to give up our claim to expertise in data collection and move into pattern recognition so
that we know what data is worth our attention. We also know that simple directives from the top
are frequently neither necessary nor helpful. We instead find ways to delegate authority, get
information directly from the front lines, and make decisions based on a real-time understanding
of what’s happening on the ground. Instead of the old approach of “making a plan and sticking to
it,” which led to centralized strategic planning around fixed time horizons, we believe in “setting
a direction and testing to it,” (Ball, McCulloch, Frantz, Geringer & Minor, 2004) treating the
whole organization as a team that is experimenting its way to success .
This approach wouldn’t surprise anyone in the world of current military strategy. Recent
generations of military thinkers have long since moved beyond the traditional approach, most
notably famed fighter pilot John Boyd. He saw strategy as a continuous mental loop that ran
from observe to orient to decide and finally to act, returning immediately to further observation.
By adopting his mindset (with a particular emphasis on the two O’s, given our turbulent context),
we can get much better at making strategy a self-correcting series of intentional experiments
(Aguilar, 2003).
To provide structure to this fluid approach, we focus on answering a series of four interrelated
questions about the organization’s strategic direction: what vision you want to pursue, how you
will make a difference, how you will succeed, and what capabilities it will take to get there. The
skills and mindset for today’s strategic planning will come from continuously asking ourselves
these questions about our organizations, programs, and initiatives. Once we accept Dwight D.

12. Eisenhower’s sage advice that “Plans are useless, but planning is everything,” we will be ready
to adapt to whatever curveballs the twenty-first century sees fit to throw.
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business
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Ball, D. A; McCulloch, W. H. (Jr)., Frantz, P., Geringer, J. M. and Minor, M. S. (2004)
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