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A new way of managing your business
Booklet Authored for The Week, June 26th 1994
In the last 50 years, the science of management and the tools and techniques of management have all been highly developed. But they are mainly concerned with maximizing the efficiency with which business is conducted. Today, the concern of management scientists is not so much with efficiency but effectiveness. In other words, the difference between doing things right and doing the right thing. And the emphasis is shifting from purely profit to people-oriented, environment-friendly and community-beneficial management and production practices. In India, this paradigm shift has not really begun as yet. But it is only a matter of time before such concerns begin to play a big role in managing any business, big or small. In any case, if your business, no matter how small it is to survive and grow, you can no longer ignore these trends in the international marketplace. In fact, it would probably be most profitable to incorporate these trends in the way you run your business right away. So try these new ways of managing your business: Jobs must match the profile of people and not the other way around. Flexibility in everything should be the norm. Bureaucratic control should be axed. Hierarchies and rigid organizational structures should be dismantled to make way for flatter structures, where processes become more important than functions and teams form the core-operating unit Designations are not important but responsibilities are. Common goals, objectives and vision unite all people in the organization. Decision-making is highly decentralized. Where people are encouraged to be unconventional, entrepreneurial and creative. Work is considered an end in itself, not as a means to an end. So the need to make work interesting and rewarding emotionally. Constant search for new ideas, learning and change.
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Launching your own business is the ultimate challenge. Managing it and subsequently taking it to greater heights is an even bigger adventure. The rewards, monetary and emotionally, are great. The entire journey is fraught with risks and uncertainty. Danger lurks at every turn. Courage and persistence are required in copious quantities. As the saying goes, fortune favors the brave. These are not the only requisites for success in your business. More than anything else, total receptivity to new ideas is crucial to the survival and prosperity of your venture. In additional, people and customer orientation are indispensable. This is why, throughout this booklet, these themes have been constantly stressed. The tools and techniques of management are abundantly available. Money and finance too are important, no doubt, to start any business. But they will alone not be sufficient for success.
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