Environmental Organization free essay sample

They are often classified into three groups in a hierarchy of authority, and each has different, but related, responsibilities. These three types of managers are grouped into departments (or functions). A department is a group of people who work together and possess similar skills or use the same skill sets to perform their jobs. These include top managers, middle managers and first-line managers. In the succeeding paragraphs levels of managers are discussed:- (a)Top Managers. Top managers are responsible for the performance of all departments and therefore have a cross-departmental responsibility. Because top management is ultimately responsible for the success or failure of the organization, persons inside and outside of the organization closely scrutinize their performance. These individuals typically have titles such as executive vice president, president, managing director, chief operating officer, or chief executive officer. They have to fulfill the following basic responsibilities:- (i)Top-level managers require an extensive knowledge of management roles and skills. (ii)They have to chalk out the plan and see that plan may be effective in future (iii)They have to be very aware of external factors. iv)Their decisions are generally of a long-term nature. (v)They are responsible for strategic decisions. (b)Middle Managers. Middle managers supervise first-line managers. They also work with first line managers to identify new ways of reaching organizational goals. Very often, the suggestions that they make to top management can dramatically increase organizational performance. They may have titles such as regional manager, project leader, store manager, or division manager. Their basic roles are following:- (i)Mid-level managers have a specialized understanding of certain managerial tasks. ii)They are responsible for and carrying out the decisions made by top-level management. (iii)They are responsible for tactical decisions. (c)First Line Managers. First line managers are responsible for the daily supervision of non-managerial employees. They are b asically responsible for following tasks:- (i)This level of management ensures that the decisions and plans taken by the other two are carried out. (ii)First Line Managers decisions are generally short-term but critical for achieving required performance from the working staff. 2. To achieve different organizational goals, these managers from different levels need to focus on their teams, motivate them and get the maximum out of them. Planning, organizing, leading, and controlling are all very important management functions needed to grow a successful business. As a company grows, single managers may find themselves spread out too thinly and will not be able to perform as well as they used to. Thus, it’s important to take note that different types of managers can focus on the different management functions required to produce great results. Functional Area and Managerial Levels in PAF . In PAF, the managerial jobs fall into different levels / categories. The importance of management functions of planning, organizing, leading and controlling differs by managerial levels. The Air Force has about 65,000 active personnel with about 10,000 reserves. The Chief of the Air Staff holds the operational and administrative powers. He is assisted by a Vice Chief of Air Staff and six Deputy Chiefs of the Air Staff who control and administer the Administration, Operations, Engineering, Supply (logistics), Personnel, and Training divisions of the PAF respectively. Functionally PAF is divided into following different branches:- (a) General Duties (Pilot) (b) General Duties (Navigator) (c) General Duties (Air Signaller) (d) Air Defence (e) Engineering (f) Logistics (g) Information Technology (h) Education (i) (j) Accounts (k) Legal (l) Meteorology (m) Administration amp; Special Duties (n) Medical (a)Top Managers. In PAF, planning activities are more important for top managers than for middle or first line managers. This is because top managers set the organization’s overall direction, which needs extensive planning. Top managers are mangers at Air Headquarters level, who are responsible for the performance of all the elements in PAF. They supervise and administer overall PAF planning, work with middle managers to implement the planning and maintain control over the PAF progress as an organization. The Chief of Air Staff is overall commander and manager of PAF. The other Top level managers which CAS appoints for efficient functioning of the Air Force,  they are:- (i) Vice Chief of The Air Staff, (VCAS) (ii) Deputy Chief of The Air Staff (Operations), DCAS (O) (iii) Deputy Chief of The Air Staff (Engineering), DCAS (E) iv) Deputy Chief of The Air Staff (Administration), DCAS (A) (v) Deputy Chief of The Air Staff (Training), DCAS (T) (vi) Deputy Chief of The Air Staff (Personnel), DCAS (P) (vii) Deputy Chief of The Air Staff (Support), DCAS (S) (viii) Inspector General Air Force, (IGAF) (ix) Chief Project Director JF-17 Thunder, (CPD JF-17 Thunder) (x) Director General Air Force Strategic Command , (DG AFSC) (xi) Director General Air Intelligence, (DG AI) (xii) Director General Command, Control, Communication, Computers and Intelligence, (DGC4I) (b)Middle Managers. Middle managers are the managers below the top hierarchical levels and are directly responsible for lower-level managerial work. They directly supervise the activities of first line managers and are responsible for implementing overall organizational plans to achieve organizational goals. Like-wise planning function of management, organizing is also more important for top and middle managers than for the first line managers, as the higher levels of management is responsible for formulation of teams for working together. In PAF middle managers are appointed for following Fields and Commands:- i) Air Officer Commanding Northern Air Command AOC, NAC (ii) Air Officer Commanding Central Air Command AOC, CAC (iii) Air Officer Commanding Southern Air Command AOC, SAC (iv) Air Officer Commanding Air Defence Command AOC, ADC (v) Air Officer Commanding Pakistan Air Force Academy AOC, PAF Academy (vi) Commandant Air War College Comdt AWC (vii) Chairman Pakistan Aeronautical Complex Board, Kamra Chairman PACB (viii) Managing Director APFMD APF (ix) Deputy Director General Civil Aviation Authority, Karachi DDG CAA (x) Director General Logistics JS Headquarters DG Log (JSHQ) xi) Director General Joint Operations (GHQ)DGJO (GHQ) (xii) Director General Air Weapon Complex, Wah Cantt DG AWC (c)First Line Managers. First line managers in PAF are normally the young officers, who operate at the lowest hierarchical level. Leading is more important for first line managers than higher level managers. Since first line managers are in-charges of producing goods or services, so they are responsible to get the job done from their workers. They are also responsible for smooth daily operations. In PAF first line managers are Officer Commanding of units, squadrons and bases as depicted below: Organizational Hierarchy of AHQ Organizational Hierarchy of Commands 4. Following are the organizational structure of different Commands in PAF 5. Center Air Command. 6. Northern Air Command. 7. Southern Air Command. 8. Air Defence Command. 9. PAF Academy. (Words 1164 Approx) Q. 2Explain how Organizations are affected by their environment (Emphasize on : Environmental changes and complexity, Competitive forces and Environmental turbulence). Deliberate upon the effectiveness of PAF in her Environment. Ans. to Q. 2 ORGANIZATIONS AND THEIR ENVIRONMENT Introduction 1. Organizations do not exist in a vacuum, they are embedded in an environment and the work of managers are affected by the environment that surrounds the organization. The term environment refers not only to the physical surroundings of the organization but also to the market in which the organization operates and the nature of the competitive forces that confronts the organization. Environment includes a set of actors and interest groups represented owners, managers, customers, suppliers, etc. , known in the literature, stakeholders, who are directly affected or ndirectly by the organizations work and have the means control over it. Under these conditions organization requires achieving harmony between the organizations external environment (economic, political, technological, legal) and internal (resources, structure, organizational culture, leadership style, manner of exercising the power). Environments are often described as either stable or dynamic. Organizational Environments 2. External Environment. Everything outside an organization’s boundaries that might affect the organizations performance is external environment of that organization. It includes, the General environment and the Task/ Specific environment. (a)General Environment. General environment is the set of broad dimensions and forces in an organization’s surroundings that create its overall context. It includes International dimension, Technological dimension, Political-legal dimension, Socio-cultural dimension, Economic dimension that affect an organization, although these external forces do not affect the organizations to the extent that changes in their Task environment do, organizations must consider them as they plan, and control. b)Task Environment. The task environment includes sectors with which the organization interacts directly and that have a direct impact on the organizations ability to achieve its goals. The task environment typically includes the industry, competitors, customers, techniques of production, suppliers, stock market, raw materials, market sectors, and perhaps the human resources and international sectors. 3. Internal Envir onment. The  conditions,  entities,  events, and  factors  within an  organization  that  influence  its  activities  and  choices, particularly the  behavior  of the  employees. Factors that are frequently considered part of the  internal  environment  include Owners, Board of Directors, Employees, Physical Work Environment, and Organizational Culture. Organization and Environment Relationships 4. Following three basic perspectives can be used to describe how environments affect organizations: 5. Environmental Changes and Complexity. Organizational environment can be described along two dimensions. These two dimensions interact to determine the level of uncertainty faced by the organization. These dimensions are:- (a)Degree of Change. The extent to which the environment is relatively stable or relatively dynamic. (b)Degree of Homogeneity. The extent to which the environment is relatively simple (few elements, little segmentation) or relatively complex (many elements, much segmentation). 6. If the components in an organization’s environment change frequently, it is called a dynamic environment. If the change is minimal, then it is a stable environment. A stable environment might be one in which there are no new competitors, few technological breakthroughs by current competitors, little activity by pressure groups to influence the organization, and so forth. . The degree of complexity refers to the number of components in an organization’s environment and the extent of the knowledge the organization has about those components. Diagram below shows some examples of organizations and their environmental changes and complexity. Effect of Competitive Forces on Organization 8. Michael E Porter proposes that managers should view the organizational environments in terms of five competitive forces. These are as follows:- (a)The Threat of New Entrants. The extent to which new competitors can asily enter a market or market segment. Entrance is easier for market requiring a small amount of capital to open for example a dry cleaner, pizza, hamburger or sandwich shop, etc. It is more difficult when it takes a tremendous investment in plant, equipment and distribution systems e. g. automobile market. Moreover, the internet has reduced the costs and other barriers of entry into many market segments so the threat has increased for many firms. (b)Competitive Rivalry. It is the nature of the competitive relationship between firms in the industry. A larger number of firms increase rivalry because more firms compete for the same customers and resources. In pursuing an advantage over rivals, an organization can choose from several competitive moves like changing prices raising or lowering prices to gain a temporary advantage, improving product differentiation etc. (c)Threat of Substitutes. The extent to which alternative products or services may take the place of or diminish the need for existing products and/or services. Like Personal computers have virtually eliminated the need for calculators, typewriters and large mainframe computers. Hence keeping an eye on industry trends will help spot innovations that could affect industry. (d)Buyer Power. The extent to which buyers of the products or services in an industry have the ability to influence the suppliers. Buyers have virtually no power with products that have very many willing buyers. On the other hand buyers are powerful if buyers purchase a significant proportion of your product or service, or if it is standardized or regulated. (e)Power of Suppliers. The power of the supplier depends on the product being offered. The more restricted the service or product, the more power to the supplier. Suppliers, if powerful, can exert an influence on the producing industry, such as selling raw materials at a high price to capture some of the industrys profits. Environmental Turbulence 9. Turbulence is the extent to which environments are being disturbed by an increasing rate of exchanges between factors. Exchanges result from transfers of resources between organizations. As the rate of exchanges increases in the environment, so does the chance that organizations must change their internal operations. Environment Turbulence is also considered an environmental change which occurs with no warning at all. Like 9/11 incident badly affected travel, international and domestic businesses. Very few organizations have developed crisis plans and special teams to deal with such events. Effectiveness of PAF in Her Environment 10. PAF is an organization that effectively maintains harmony between its external and internal environment. These responses with respect to environment are as follows:- (a) External Environment. PAF has always emphasized to keep herself abreast to latest technology by acquiring new systems. PAF also ensures the efficient working of her equipment /personnel for competitive edge and maintains sound relationships with her equipment suppliers. (b)Internal Environment. The internal environment of PAF includes her structure, culture, personnel and leadership style. The leadership style of PAF is centralized but decentralization occurs in time of crisis. PAF keeps its personnel motivated by compensating and rewarding them time to time. words 1079 approx) Q. 3What is Charisma? Discuss any two leaders whose Charisma has brought success or failure to their nations/followers. Critically analyze the contributing reasons/factors. Ans. to Q. 3 CHARISMA Introduction 1. The word Charisma comes from Greek, meaning divine favor or favor freely given or gift of grace. Some derivatives from that root have similar meanings to the modern sense of  personality charisma, such as filled with attra ctiveness or charm, kindness, to bestow a favor or service, or to be favored or blessed. In 1920s the German sociologist Max Weber defined it as a certain quality of an individual personality, by virtue of which one is set apart from ordinary people and treated as endowed with supernatural, superhuman or at least specifically exceptional powers or qualities that are regarded as divine in origin or as exemplary. Charisma is â€Å"a rare personal quality attributed to leaders who arouse fervent popular devotion and enthusiasm†. It can also be defined as â€Å"Personal magnetism or charm of a leader†. The term charisma has two senses: (a)Compelling attractiveness or charm that can inspire devotion in others. b)A divinely conferred power or talent. 2. Since the 1950s, the term has become widely used, with varying meanings, in religion, the social sciences, the media, and throughout Western societies. In our time, with brands and personalities exerting huge cultural influe nce, charisma is bigger than ever. Corporations large and small recognize that success begins at a personal level, and they realize that charismatic leaders are valuable because they are the ones who can connect with others in a visceral, direct way, creating memorable, profitable experiences. They also know that charisma plus operational ability can make for a very strong leader. Attributes of Charismatic leaders 3. Vision. Charismatic leaders have the ability to sense the gap that exists between what an organization is delivering to its followers, and what the followers need from an organization. This allows the leader to create a vision of a future state that everyone believes will be better than todays environment. 4. Persuasiveness. The charismatic leader often articulates his vision using metaphors and stories in such a way that everyone can understand the vision. The followers see the leader as one that possesses the ability to visualize the future with clarity. The followers are also able to see how they fit into this future state, and believe it will be better than today. 5. Thorough. The charismatic leader is hardworking and thorough in his fields. He is always vigilant about the current prevailing geo-political matters and always works out the options or opportunities for achieving his goals by generally improvising these situations. 6. Self Enhancement/Discipline. Charismatic leaders are known for their self-correcting nature. They judge themselves on a strict scale. They continuously strive to become better. 7. Commitment. The charismatic leader always demonstrate extreme commitment towards the goal and gets the same commitment from the followers towards the leader. This demonstration often takes the shape of some kind of sacrifice on the part of the leader or impending danger on the leader. This sacrifice or danger makes the image of the leader as courageous and dedicated in the eyes of many followers. Charismatic Leaders 8. The charismatic leaders can be both a blessing and a curse on society. Thats because charisma can be used for the good of a company or nation, but also for less-than-honorable reasons too. Following are two examples for charismatic leaders. The first example is about Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah who brought success for his followers through his charisma and second is about Osama bin laden who was charismatic leader but brought failure to his followers. Muhammad Ali Jinnah 9. Muhammad Ali Jinnah was no doubt one of the most charismatic leaders in the recent history. His charisma, as discussed below, brought success to his followers. 0. Vision. Jinnah was a man not only with vision that inspired a dream, but also a man with the drive to achieve that dream. He was selfless in his sacrifices for his people and courageous enough to always be truthful. People followed him and his ideals and eventually acquired a piece of land which they can now call their own. 11. Persuasive. In 1940 the Muslim League, under his inspiring leadership, demanded that India s hould be partitioned and the Muslim majority areas should constitute the sovereign, independent State of Pakistan. It was his ardent advocacy and unbending character, his unshakable determination and his ‘Power of persuasion that brought about the successful fruition of the Muslim struggle in the shape of Pakistan. 12. Thorough/Meticulous. Jinnah proved to be very thorough, hard and shrewd negotiator with the victory and congress leaders. His motto was â€Å"never to give in, never to retreat, always to attack the opponent at his weakest point, and constantly to repeat his own position. † 13. Self Discipline but Flexible. Jinnah was a man of principles and a trendsetter who introduced a new style in politics, and set very high standards and values. He never compromised on principles but as matter of strategy he showed flexibility on less important issues with a view to achieving broader objective. 14. Commitment. Jinnah approach to politics was essentially rational, and he never lost â€Å"touch with, nor control over the realities of the given situation. † Money and office meant nothing to him. Indeed, he never accepted an official position until he became the first governor general of Pakistan in 1947. It was his strong will and complete faith in the righteousness of his cause that eventually helped to create â€Å"a nation with life and vision† out of an â€Å"exhausted, disarrayed and frustrated people† on august 14,1947. Osama Bin Laden 15. Vision. Osama bin Laden had a clear and consistent vision to attack America. He admonished rogue groups who reinterpreted ancient Islamic law regarding collateral damage in the event of an attack into enemy territory. While Islamic law may allow this only in extreme circumstances, these regional groups considered it acceptable to inflict casualties to innocent bystanders, including Muslims during â€Å"normal† operations. 16. Persuasive. When the regional terrorist groups adopted more radical terrorist tactics bin Laden attempted to persuade them to come back into the fold and moderate their behavior. Surprisingly, it seems that he did not attempt to use coercion or punishment as tools in this regard. 17. Meticulous. In order to execute successful terrorist attacks significant training is necessary and bin Laden knew this. He was thorough in his planning. He invested both time and money in people and equipment. The September 11, 2001 attacks are a prime example of meticulous plans executed well. 18. Self Discipline. From the beginning, Osama bin Laden felt that discipline and a code of conduct were necessary which he maintained for himself and demanded from his followers. The al-Qaeda manual obtained in a raid on a Manchester, England house reveals a number of values and behaviors demanded from all members. These included patience, a calm personality, a commitment to the organization, and the Islamic faith. 19. Commitment. Osama bin Laden’s journey from country to country shows his strong commitment to his cause for which he got hundreds of young recruits to strap bombs to their bodies and persuade well-educated men to fly suicide planes like missiles through the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. He developed a vision and remained steadfast in it. He adapted well to contrary events, trained his people, and demanded the best of his men. (Words 1191 Approx)