Every organization, for profit or not, needs to establish an administrative process that seeks to optimize the use of productive resources and beat time and competition. The new millennium is increasingly demanding with companies and they must respond to such volatile consumers, with products and services that go beyond their demands.
The sequence of steps is called the Basic Process of Business Administration and includes the following:
- Corporate culturization. Planning. Organization. Direction and Coordination. Control and Continuous Improvement.
Each of the steps requires a priority focus on human talent. In such a way that a synergy is generated between the vision of the managers and the effort of their workers. Let's briefly see each of the steps to follow:
- Corporate Culturization: It is the stage of sharing, managers and workers, the mission, vision and general objectives of the company.
Corporate values should be jointly defined, previously analyzed and proposed by employers, to seek the awareness of staff in pursuit of them. Only with clarity of values and work commitment, a productive and pleasant organizational climate is achieved.
- Planning: It is the second stage where, in a participatory manner, managers and middle managers examine the current situation of the company, identifying strengths, weaknesses, as well as the desired results at the end of a period. This entails defining the objectives, goals, the necessary strategies and the required times. When planning is done in a participatory manner, it produces a sense of belonging, which is definitive for the worker to commit to their work and their employer.Organization: It is the stage where work is divided by areas or departments in a clear and interactive way, and assigning staff to each of them, specifying the requirements for each position, the functions they must fulfill, their responsibilities and salary assignments, to direct efforts towards the objectives,as well as your responsibilities. An intelligent organization is one that works, not with employees, but with people who are conscious and committed to their daily work in the company Direction: It is the stage of orientation of the personnel and productive resources towards the optimal progress, understanding the leadership of the managers, the delegation for the coordination of work, staff motivation, organizational communication, creativity and innovative mentality of work teams. Training, executive development and job wellbeing have a significant impact on organizational efficiency and effectiveness. The overall coordination of the running of the company is where management talents and abilities should shine, especially in the selection of personnel, recognition and celebration of quality,where the stimulus is a true work motivator.Control and Continuous Improvement: This stage, which is the last, can become the first, since information and new business knowledge are emerging from its successful progress that are channeled towards new plans and objectives. In the first place, the control that ranges from the calculation of budgets, activity schedules, design of internal controls, establishment of indicators, going through data and statistics recording, performance evaluation, until reaching partial or final results that allow analysis of successes and mistakes, of causes and effects, to make the pertinent decisions. The natural result of good controls is an information base for continuous improvement.
BASIC CONCEPTS.
BUSINESS PLANNING: What is it?
Planning ranges from raising the awareness of the work team to the company's purposes, through the definition of objectives and the actions required to achieve them. For this reason, the formulation of Objectives must be a highly participatory process where employers share the vision, the mission of the company and its general objectives with their clients, and that on the other hand, the workers, aware of it, are ready to give the best of themselves for the organization that offers them their job opportunity. It is a crucial point that requires knowledge and talent on the part of management.
Planning is the administrative process of diagnosing the current situation of the company and proposing the desired results (Objectives). The activities necessary to achieve the objectives are called Strategies.
Questions prior to Planning: Planning requires asking a series of questions whose answers can indicate the way forward:
- Why Plan How To Plan When To Plan Where To Plan Who Should Plan?
BASIC PRINCIPLES OF PLANNING:
You must always have a course that everyone knows to reach the desired levels in the best possible way.
The integration of objectives, productive resources and human talent saves time, money, and efforts in the search for results.
Planning is a key function of the Administrator to guide projects and respond to the expectations of their owners, clients, workers and the community.
Planning is the bridge between the company today and the future of the work team.
Only good business planning indicates the best path to success.
CHARACTERISTICS OF BUSINESS PLANNING:
Participatory: Because both the objectives and the actions to be followed must be everyone's task, and Based on the mission, vision and desired results.
Integrative: Because it must associate all the productive resources.
Realistic: Because plans must be feasible, achievable.
Specify: Because the objectives must be measurable, quantifiable.
Motivating: Because the general purposes of the company must drive the enthusiasm of the staff to increase the collective performance towards its objectives.
Flexible: Because the facts, internal, external, or global require to face them, the changes that take place must allow adapting the plans to the new circumstances. Timed: Because a sequential calendar of activities must be set.
Futuristic: Because you must anticipate the facts, taking into account trends, and using your imagination to see the future and opportunities before others.
FORMULATION OF OBJECTIVES:
The beginning of the administrative process has a special interest in creating plans that become a true path that brings the employer and his team closer to collective success. Within the Planning, the Formulation of Objectives stands out, as points of arrival of the company at the end of the period that is being worked on.
For the formulation of Objectives, the Company's Policies, its Vision and Mission must be taken into account, so that the objectives really correspond to what the organization requires or intends.
Company Policies: Understood as the general criteria or principles that govern the activities and decision-making of the entire organization: as an example, only branches of the company are opened in cities with a population greater than 30,000 inhabitants, or only discounts are granted for prompt payment to large clients.
Vision: It is the brief but precise expression of what the company wants to become in a given time, to contribute to the satisfaction, well-being and progress of its customers and communities in its area of influence.
Mission: It is the brief but concrete expression of the work of the organization and the commitment of the human team, in its search to offer excellent products and services.
The Objectives of the Company: They must be consistent with its Vision and Mission, and can be defined as the desired results in a given period, according to the eyes of its owners and managers, and taking into account factors such as customer expectations, availability of productive resources and market trends, to name a few variables. An example of an overall goal might be: Increase youth apparel line sales by 30% during the last quarter of the year, or Increase investment in production equipment by 100% in the following year.
Specific Objectives: They are the decomposition of the general objective into the so-called intermediate goals, in such a way that their gradual and successive achievement leads the company to the general objective. For example, taking up the first general objective mentioned in the previous paragraph, to increase sales in the last quarter of the year, it is defined to advance a training of the sales team in Handling customer objections, in the month of September, or it will double investment in advertising during the months of October and November.
It is the responsibility of the administrators: setting plans, but it is also their duty to ensure the participation of the company's staff in their preparation, as well as to achieve high levels of commitment to them.
It is essential for the good running of the company, the congruence that must exist between the plans, objectives and their concordance with the vision and mission of the organization.
CHARACTERISTICS OF THE OBJECTS:
For the objectives to fulfill their mission, they must meet some characteristics:
- They must be clearly formulated Their structure must correspond to the needs and capacity of the company, that is, they must be proposed so that they are interdependent They must be expressed quantitatively in such a way that they are measurable They must have a deadline to focus efforts during the period They must be prioritized, that is, that is, prioritize their urgency or priority. They must be controllable, that they can be reviewed and audited, and They must be motivating, so that once they are socialized with the staff, they become a factor that encourages them.
Objectives Examples: The general objectives of Quintocom SA for the second period of 2007 is to achieve sales of $ 5,000,000 in the main products and $ 2,000,000 in other products, and for this, its specific objectives are:
Increase the number of sellers, Innovate the advertising strategy, and Carry out pay 2 and take 3 promotions.
La Cacharrería Ideal intends to open two new offices in nearby municipalities in 2008, and the specific objectives are formulated as follows:
Investigate the target market, calculate the required investment budget, Examine the suitable personnel for these locations and prepare a sales forecast for three years.
FORMULATION OF STRATEGIES:
Once the general and specific objectives have been defined, the leadership of the administration must focus on defining a Strategic Plan that contains a set of plans and activities duly programmed to harmonize the progress and optimal use of resources:
The Strategic Plan brings together the macro plans of the organization and, generally, its term is from 1 to 5 years. Example: Open new retail locations in 5 municipalities in the North of the Department of the Valley during the next year, or Maintain the advertising leadership in nutrition products during the next three years.
The Operational Plan (or Tactical): includes the plans of one or several departments, for the short term: less than 1 year. Example: The production department intends to increase the number of finished products by 25% in the second half of the year. The Marketing department establishes a large advertising campaign (the amount is specified) by the end of the year…
STEPS FOR THE FORMULATION OF STRATEGIES:
Like any administrative process, the formulation of strategies must obey a sequence of steps that we can propose as follows:
- Recognition of the current situation of the company. This can be achieved through a general Diagnosis, using tools such as the FADO matrix (Identification of Strengths, Threats, Weaknesses and Opportunities), and carrying out evaluations of various aspects such as the financial structure of the company, status of the production equipment,. staff performance levels, and many more Study of customer and market prospects. It is achieved by researching and taking into account the opinions, needs and expectations of our clients. Trends mark possible changes in the design of products or in the provision of services that entrepreneurs must visualize in order not to run the risk of becoming obsolete. Definition of the structure of objectives and strategies. Based on the first two steps,the company can structure its plans and objectives, seeking to establish an appropriate path to follow during a certain period. The relevance of plans and objectives must be reflected in their hierarchy and priority. Establishment of the sequencing in time of the programmed actions. With a well-analyzed and calculated schedule, objectives and strategies can be articulated. Calculation of the financing costs of the plans. It is a fundamental step for the future development of plans and objectives since it is the process of quantifying the economic amounts required for each of the objectives and plans. A well-dimensioned Budget, with the contribution of the personnel involved in the key processes of the company, constitutes a route that optimizes the flow of cash and productive resources. Assignment of Responsibilities.It is the step that closes the strategy formulation process, appointing the people who will be in charge of the development of activities to achieve business objectives and plans.
Bear in mind: Planning is determining a way forward. Who avoids establishing routes, can get anywhere. Being an Administrator is the guide of a group and is being responsible to demanding businessmen and an expectant community
