Business Management - Guideline to Effective and Efficient Management

Every transaction or activity carried out by a business is commonly done within the scope of the frame-work laid out by the management. Therefore any activity done outside this is counter productive and will not promote the objectives of the organization.

A manager should set the targets to be achieved by the employees. Objectives should be clearly stated, measurable, prioritized and timed. A good manager constantly checks weather these targets are being achieved and takes corrective measures when called upon. He should be able to predict any impossibility and act beforehand.

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When it comes to purchasing, it should be made from the cheapest source not forgetting to check on quality of the products. Apart from that, sales increasing policies such as displays and advertising budget should be affordable. A sales manager must also set reasonable prices and not exploit customers.

Lack of records can easily bring down a business; record keeping helps in detecting problems in advance. Updating records constantly will help run a business in an organized manner thus improving efficiency.

Apart from being given instructions, staffs also need to be motivated. Good supervision will lower operating costs by reducing the number of errors made while increase quality of work.

In any organization, the secret to getting the most out of workers is by boosting their morale. Once the employees are motivated, they will work hard towards achieving the company's set objectives and thus ensure the success of the business. Some of the ways of motivating workers would include periodic salary increments, rewarding best performing employees, organizing team building activities just to mention a few.

Business Management - Guideline to Effective and Efficient Management

Belsheba is a business management expert. She researches and studies on big and small business organizational strategies. Website: Business Management Solutions [http://moneymakingsecret07.blogspot.com] for efficient business operation.

10 Common Characteristics Of Successful Business People From Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach

It seems that some business people always seem to be prosperous and successful and are able to easily attract clients and more revenue? While other business people seem to struggle constantly and despite their hard work and sincere efforts, they do not prosper and are not successful. Did you ever wonder about why this is true? Could it be an attitude or mindset? Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach recalls from several past books, seminars and workshops that the attitude or mindset one has toward his or her business plays a very critical role in the level of success in that business.

So how can we describe this mindset, which is an intangible thing? Perhaps, if we think about some positive characteristics we see in those we consider to be prosperous and successful, we can develop a mental picture of the attitude or mindset of successful people. Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach offers the following list of ten (10) characteristics that are common among successful business people.

Business

Successful business people:

+ recognize and accept the value of their business and themselves

+ define and trust what they believe is their purpose in business and life

+ visualize and focus on positive outcomes in their business and their life

+ maintain a work and personal life balance

+ develop and maintain a support system of people with similar mindsets

+ maintain a level of self-confidence about their business and personal plans and actions

+ maintain a keen awareness of their vision, mission and goals for their business and their life

+ seek outside advice

+ recognize and admit their limitations

+ exhibit their passion in what they do in their business and personal lives

10 Common Characteristics Of Successful Business People From Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach

Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach encourages you to strive to acquire and demonstrate these characteristics in your business and personal lives. If you would like to learn more about how a strategic thinking business coach can facilitate and guide you in that endeavor, please contact Glenn Ebersole today through his website at http://www.businesscoach4u.com or by email at jgecoach@aol.com

Glenn Ebersole, Jr. is a multi-faceted professional, who is recognized as a visionary, guide and facilitator in the fields of business coaching, marketing, public relations, management, strategic planning and engineering. Glenn is the Founder and Chief Executive of two Lancaster, PA based consulting practices: The Renaissance Group, a creative marketing, public relations, strategic planning and business development consulting firm and J. G. Ebersole Associates, an independent professional engineering, marketing, and management consulting firm. He is a Certified Facilitator and serves as a business coach and a strategic planning facilitator and consultant to a diverse list of clients. Glenn is also the author of a monthly newsletter, "Glenn's Guiding Lines - Thoughts From Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach" and has published more than 325 articles on business.

To find out more about the benefits & rewards of effectively working with a strategic thinking business coach, please contact Glenn Ebersole through his web site at http://www.businesscoach4u.com or jgecoach@aol.com

Traditional Japanese Business Management Systems

The prevailing image of the Japanese management system in very large companies is very similar, if not the same as the management system used in small Japanese companies, because business management systems are, after all, a product of their particular national culture.

This article will at first provide a brief overview of the history of Japanese business and management systems over the course of the late 20th century in order to provide a context in which to base its argument. It is, of course, also important to understand what the prevailing image of the Japanese management system is, and how it came to be so dominant or influential with very large Japanese companies.

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This article will also examine how the prevailing image of Japanese management systems in very large companies are similar to and different from the systems of small companies in Japan. There are some key similarities and differences with each general type of management system, and although there isn't enough space in this essay to introduce all aspects, a general overview and some examples of the similarities and differences between the management systems of both very large and small companies of Japan will be provided.

It is important to first understand how the modern Japanese economy became what it is today. Since the end of World War 2, until about the 1970's, Japan had experienced a profound economic transformation. By the 1980's, Japan had become the second largest economy in the world, to the envy and admiration of other nations. This remarkable period of economic prosperity during the latter half of the 20th century has become known as the Japanese 'Economic Miracle'.

There are a range of arguments made by scholars who have attempted to explain the reason behind Japan's economic success in the late 20th century, and these vary considerably. One of these reasons is that Japan's economic success has been solely as a result of the culture and traditions of Japan. This argument is based on the assumption that culture is the main contributing factor of a nation's economy. Morishima has emphasized that in the context of Japan's economic success, the Confucian tradition of Japan has played a key role, arguing that "religious and ethical systems shape human economic behavior and consequently the nature and performance of their economies". Other ideas have been used to understand Japan's rise to success in the late 20th century such as market regulation, for example, Japan's response to market signals, bureaucratic regulation by selecting and fostering strategic industries and political, economic and social conditions in Japan.

Japan's successful economy started to decline in 1973 during the oil crisis, when the price of oil quadrupled, acting as a catalyst for economic failure in Japan. Effectively, the high price of oil had negative effects on the Japanese manufacturing industry. Japan responded by focusing its attention from energy dependent industry to a more knowledge-based industry, thus averting the crisis from worsening, and enhancing the health of its economy. Japan experienced a 'bubble economy' in the years 1987 - 90. This had come about as the result of asset prices rising far beyond their actual value, particularly those of land and shares. Land prices fell sharply in 1990 when the Bank of Japan increased the official interest rate, thus triggering a massive sell-off of shares. Since this time Japan has faced challenges such as an aging population and the currency crisis in Asia, but has recovered considerably and today still has a strong economy, rivaled by only the United States, China and the European Union.

Almost every business policy that the Japanese are well-known for is as a result of the post-World War 2 economic reconstruction in Japan. The first root factor of the modern Japanese management system is a sense of national identity. This is mainly due to the fact that Japan is an isolated, island nation. Actually, this sense of national identity has existed since feudal times in Japan. The second factor of the modern Japanese management system is the notion of Confucianism; while imported from China long ago, the Japanese have their own version of Confucianism, which is central to understanding the modern Japanese management system. Confucianism in Japan has three main aspects; loyalty, filial piety and respect for learning. Loyalty and filial piety in Japan are reflected in Japanese management with honne and tatemae, or one's own feelings and one's public stance, which may and often differ between each other according to the individual.

Loyalty is also seen in very large companies in Japan, where on graduating from high school or university and entering into employment with a Japanese company, one will usually gain 'lifetime employment' with his or her company, thus reflecting the Confucian aspect of loyalty. In this sense, Confucianism plays a major role with Japanese management practices.

Group orientation, or shudanshugi also plays an important role in modern Japanese business management practices. This is also a prominent attribute in Japanese society, for example to see a group of Japanese tourists in a foreign country, one will notice that the people in the group will always stay close together. This aspect of Japanese culture is of course also very apparent within Japanese companies, and has been deeply ingrained into Japanese society itself since the Tokugawa period. Shudanshugi can be seen with almost any social aspect of Japan, thus it is evident with both large and small Japanese companies.

Although this desire to be part of a group may be also apparent with other countries, Japan in particular sees this group mentality as natural, not an exterior phenomenon as it may be seen with other cultures. Individual responsibility is not important in Japan, as it is in the West. Instead, groups are given the responsibilitie. This is another example of the group-orientated ethics of Japan and the Japanese workforce.

There are also two types of attitudes towards authority in Japan: kengen and ken'i, or simply, formal authority and personal influence. As such, Japanese companies both small and very large tend to be run on ken'i, personal influence, which is different from a general Western perspective, where emphasis is usually placed on delegated authority.

The fourth important aspect of Japanese business culture is based on regional competition, something that has existed in Japan since feudal times. This is not so much an artificial construction of modern Japan, but something that has been rooted in Japanese culture for a long time. For one example, the competition between firms in Japan in the kantou and kansai regions in modern times reflects the regional competition between these same areas as far back as the beginnings of the Tokugawa period. This cultural aspect of modern Japan is probably reflected more visibly in the business management systems more often with very large companies, than smaller companies in Japan.

There are two basic forms of obligation in Japanese society, which can be seen in the business culture of Japan. On refers to a debt that is not able to be repaid, for example one's debt to their parents or the debt incurred from saving another's life. While it cannot be repaid, one will try to repay it. This type of obligation is also apparent with entering into lifetime employment with a very large Japanese company, and is tied in with the Confucian notion of loyalty. The second form of obligation, giri, is incurred from receiving a favour, such as leasing an apartment to a tenant.

Along with the aforementioned aspects of Japanese culture, there are many more aspects present with Japanese culture, and along with it the Japanese management systems of both small and very large companies. In simple terms, Japanese business management styles are a by-product of the Japanese national culture, as such, each type of management system is not much far removed from the other. In fact, we see such cultural aspects in almost any facet of society in Japan.

It is immediately apparent that culture influences business practices and in effect business management systems. Entire theses have been written around this idea. One such example is Kahn's 'Confucian Economic System', used to describe Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore and Korea's cultural links to business practices. Kahn describes the features of these 'neo-Confucian' economies to be related to a number of factors, including sobriety, a high value for education, a desire to succeed, seriousness about life and a hard-working ethic. Along with a culturally ingrained, Confucian sense of loyalty, there is also a sense of harmony in the Japanese workplace, as there are with the group-oriented mindset of Japanese society. This is evidenced by strike-free workplaces in modern Japan, thus placing an emphasis on co-operation and mutual obligation, rather than equality.

The cultural values, relations and structure of modern Japan clearly affect how Japanese society operates, and this is also the case with modern Japanese business management systems in both very large and smaller Japanese companies, as has been proven in this essay. Japan is a very unique country, in that its culture does not completely resemble that of any other one nation, although Japan has borrowed much from other countries to construct its own national identity.

It is apparent that Confucianism plays an important role in Japanese culture and in effect its society, business practices and so on. What has been covered in this essay is only a brief glimpse of the complicated and detailed Japanese business management world, including such cultural aspects as group orientation, authority, regional competition, obligations, and overall, the Confucian-based business culture of Japan, which in itself has many important aspects which are used in Japanese social practices and business management systems alike.

The reason why the prevailing image of Japanese management systems in very large companies and small companies is very similar, if not the same, is because the Japanese economy, and with it the business structure of virtually any kind of business or large company in Japan is directly influenced by Japanese cultural values, relations and structure, in particular, those of Confucian origin.

Many scholars have argued about the reason why Japan has become so successful in the late 20th century, in an attempt to describe the Japanese 'Economic Miracle'. The first argument that is usually presented is that Japan's recent economic success is as a result of her culture and tradition. While it has not been proven beyond doubt that this is the only reason behind the 'Economic Miracle', it is certainly a compelling argument and clearly demonstrates the powerful influence that culture has over the structure of a national society such as Japan.

Traditional Japanese Business Management Systems

Luthor Laine is a former scholar and professional Japanese/English Translator. You can reach him at [http://www.rusasan.com/]