Tag: management

Strategies for eCommerce Business Management

 by Shashikant Nishant Sharma 

In the digital age, ecommerce has revolutionized the way businesses operate, providing a platform for buying and selling products and services online. However, the management of an ecommerce business requires careful planning, execution, and adaptation to succeed in a highly competitive market. This article discusses key management strategies that can help businesses thrive in the ecommerce landscape.

Customer-Centric Approach: Successful ecommerce businesses prioritize customer satisfaction. Understanding customer needs, preferences, and expectations is crucial for tailoring products, services, and overall user experience. Implementing robust customer relationship management (CRM) systems, gathering customer feedback, and analyzing data can provide insights into customer behavior, enabling businesses to personalize offerings and enhance customer loyalty.
Seamless User Experience: A seamless and user-friendly website or mobile app is vital for ecommerce success. Businesses must invest in responsive design, intuitive navigation, fast page loading times, and secure payment gateways to ensure a smooth shopping experience. Regular usability testing, optimization, and incorporating user feedback help identify and address any usability issues, improving customer satisfaction and conversion rates.
Effective Inventory Management: Efficient inventory management is essential for ecommerce businesses to meet customer demands while minimizing costs. Employing inventory management systems and implementing demand forecasting techniques can help optimize stock levels, avoid stockouts, reduce holding costs, and streamline order fulfillment processes. Real-time inventory tracking ensures accurate product availability information, minimizing the risk of disappointing customers with out-of-stock items.
Streamlined Order Fulfillment: Timely order fulfillment and reliable shipping processes are critical for customer satisfaction. Ecommerce businesses should establish partnerships with reliable logistics providers to ensure prompt delivery and order tracking. Integration between the ecommerce platform and the fulfillment process, along with automated order processing, can improve efficiency and reduce errors. Providing customers with transparent shipping updates and clear return policies further enhances their experience.
Data-Driven Decision Making: Effective management of an ecommerce business relies on leveraging data insights. By utilizing analytics tools, businesses can track key performance indicators (KPIs), analyze sales trends, customer behavior, and website performance. This data-driven approach helps identify areas for improvement, fine-tune marketing strategies, optimize pricing, and enhance overall business operations.
Marketing and Customer Acquisition: To stand out in the competitive ecommerce landscape, businesses must invest in marketing and customer acquisition strategies. Utilizing search engine optimization (SEO) techniques, paid advertising, social media marketing, and content marketing can increase brand visibility, drive traffic to the website, and attract potential customers. Effective use of data analytics and customer segmentation allows businesses to target their marketing efforts, maximizing the return on investment.
Mobile Optimization: As mobile usage continues to rise, optimizing ecommerce websites and applications for mobile devices is crucial. Mobile responsiveness, intuitive navigation, and mobile-friendly payment options ensure a seamless experience for customers accessing the platform through smartphones and tablets. Mobile optimization strategies also include leveraging mobile apps, push notifications, and location-based marketing to engage with customers and enhance their mobile shopping experience.
Cybersecurity and Data Protection: With the increasing risk of cyber threats and data breaches, ecommerce businesses must prioritize cybersecurity and data protection. Implementing robust security measures such as encryption, secure payment gateways, and secure user authentication helps safeguard customer information and build trust. Compliance with data protection regulations, such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), is essential for ensuring customer privacy.
Continuous Innovation and Adaptation: The ecommerce landscape evolves rapidly, and successful businesses must adapt to changing trends and technologies. Continuous innovation in product offerings, customer experience, and technology implementation is vital to stay competitive. Monitoring market trends, keeping an eye on competitors, and actively seeking customer feedback enables businesses to identify opportunities for improvement and implement necessary changes.

Fayol's Principle of Division of Work – Meaning, Example, Explanation

Principle of Division of Work
In context of this article, let’s revise the meaning of following words:Division of something (e.g. an object, a process, work, etc.) means to divide, chop or break it up into smaller parts to facilitate a better understanding, easier handling and operation, and focused observation on a fixed set of goals. It is a way to separate things apart based on some established criteria like quality, quantity, nature of work, so on. It untangles, simplifies, and narrows down various complexities that were involved prior separation. It helps to ease and enhance the efficiency of managing a giant complex task through smaller chunks that are easy to handle.
Work is any assigned job, task, duty, goal or an objective one is supposed to accomplish (achieve) before the deadline (on-time) and as expected at the expense of one’s mental and physical labour to earn the desired reward (usually monetary but not always) in return.
With this understanding, let’s grasp the meaning of division of work:
Image credits © Gaurav Akrani.Division of Work means to divide or break up a single complicated job into different smaller specialised tasks.
Here, each of these smaller tasks is handled separately probably by an expert or a team working under his command.
In case, these tasks are dependent on each other’s completion, they are achieved separately and procedurally one after another.
When all smaller tasks complete as expected, they all together help to accomplish the single complicated job.
Study the following image depicting an example of division of work.
Image credits © Gaurav Akrani.
Consider for an example, for the first time in your life you have planned to construct a beautiful dream house at your favourite location. Before initiating the actual phase of construction work, you do some pre-research regarding how to build a house systematically. You figure out which crucial steps you’ll need to carry out and professional services you’ll need to access, communicate, negotiate and hire. After getting acquainted with the basic construction procedure and having the necessary funds in hand, you start further planning accordingly.
You divide the combined work of house construction as follows:First, you hire an Architect to prepare the layout plan of your house as per your needs.
Once the house plan is ready, you then contact and hire a civil contractor to build your house as per the approved plan.
When primary construction phase ends, you finally hire an interior designer to enhance the beauty or aesthetic feel of your dream house.
The division of work does not stop at the above three steps else it further bifurcates into numerous specialised works as listed below.
Architect divides his work of preparing the layout plan of house among:Draftsman,
3D-Designer,
Structural Designer, etc.
Civil contractor divides his work of house construction among:Civil Engineer,
Supervisor,
Masons,
Labours,
Welder,
Electrician,
Plumber, so on.
Interior Designer realises his creative aesthetic concept from:Carpenter,
False Ceiling installer,
Painter,
Tiler,
Windows installer,
Handyman,
Electrician,
Landscaper, etc.
In fact, efficient completion of each of the above listed numerous specialised works overall helps to progress gradually and ultimately finish the single difficult job of a house construction.
Explanation of Henri Fayol’s Principle of Division of Work:
Image credits © Gaurav Akrani.In French, Henri Fayol originally called it ‘La Division Du Travail’ in his influential book ‘Administration Industrielle et Générale.’
According to Fayol, the ‘Division of Work’ or ‘Specialization’ is of the natural order. That is this principle is present and seen operating in nature too.
It is noticeable in the animal world. If a creature is highly developed, then its organs are also highly differentiated to efficiently carry out numerous specialized bodily functions to sustain the whole body itself. For example, a unicellular animal called Amoeba is physically less complicated than a multicellular Human Being. In other words, the Human body has more specialized organs compared to Amoeba‘s body.
It is also noticeable in our human societies or communities. When society grows from its primitive stage to a developed (civilised) one, new dedicated social organs (agencies) also start appearing and developing within its sphere by dividing and replacing the functions of old organs. For example, when a small town transforms into a giant metropolitan city the role, functions, scale of operation of its local administrative body also expands, divide and becomes much more complicated than its previous stage.
When an entrepreneur starts a company, most of the important business activities at the initial phase of setup are personally managed and handled by himself. However, as the company grows, he hires staff to support such a growth. He assigns his newly appointed staff various duties and some key responsibilities that earlier he was personally handling and managing. In other words, he now doesn’t do the same work he was earlier doing else he now get it done from his qualified staff instead. As the activities of the company expand further, newer branch offices, departments, positions, personnel, etc. also starts expanding and widely replacing the functions of a single person who once founded the business. For example, Mark Zuckerberg, who founded the Facebook.
The objective of the division of work is to get more work done in a better way with the same effort and become productive.
If a person is engaged routinely in the same type of occupation, after some time, as a consequence of his routine he automatically acquires some expertise, skill, sureness, accuracy and precision over how to do it in a better and efficient way. Such an ability develops as a result of his numerous hours of work and regular practice. Knowledge acquired through routine work process makes him more competent than those who lack such an experience.
According to Henri Fayol, when there is a change in individual’s occupation (work) it results in the phase of adaptation that demands efforts for adjusting to the new job. Each change of routine work reduces the output, decreases the yield or productivity of an individual. However, an individual’s performance can be regained through quality training, regular practice, earned experience, and passage of time.
Division of work helps to reduce the number of objects (*) towards whom some attention and efforts need to be focused and directed. It is the best-recognized means (way) to make the best use of individuals and teams (groups of people) in most work-related environments. Note: (*) Here, objects are those individuals whose regular job (duty) has been changed or altered and on whose shoulders newer responsibilities are laden, and are, therefore, going through the phase of adaptation.
The principle of Division of Work not just applies to the technical work. It is also applicable to all other types of jobs where there is a need or demand for less or more individuals who specializes in different areas and have the essential set of skills or talents.
As a consequence, the division of work mainly results in:Specialization of functions – Here, tasks are separated into different functions or roles according to the expertise of one’s nature of work.
Separation of powers – It means there is a distribution of authority.
The advantages of division of work are now universally recognized.
Even though the principle is applicable in most work-related scenarios, it is still subjected to limitations like:Doing the same type of work for a longer period makes it monotonous.
Since labor or work is divided, it greatly increases interdependency.
Also, since the focus in only on executing one’s assigned part of work, there is a lack of the spirit of collective responsibility.
Conscious of such limitations or shortcomings, Sir Henri Fayol, recommended using:The principle of division of labour in moderation and not in excess.
One’s wise judgement earned from years of work experience.
References (2)
Following authoritative books were referred to compile this article and are also recommended for further clarity on the Principle of Division of Work:Henri Fayol. Administration Industrielle et Générale. Part 2. Chapter No.1. Page No.26 and 27.
Constance Storrs. General and Industrial Management, 2013 Edition. Part II. Chapter No.IV. Page No.19 and 20. Martino Publishing. ISBN 978-1-61427-459-9.

Management By Objectives (MBO) – Peter Drucker MBO

 

The Concept Of Management By Objectives (MBO)


The concept of MBO is closely connected with the concept of planning. The process of planning implies the existence of objectives and is used as a tool/technique for achieving the objectives. Modern managements are rightly described as ‘Management by Objectives’ (MBO). This MBO concept was popularized by Peter Drucker. It suggests that objectives should not be imposed on subordinates but should be decided collectively by a concerned with the management. This gives popular support to them and the achievement of such objectives becomes easy and quick.


management by objectives


Management by Objectives (MBO) is the most widely accepted philosophy of management today. It is a demanding and rewarding style of management. It concentrates attention on the accomplishment of objectives through participation of all concerned persons, i.e., through team spirit. MBO is based on the assumption that people perform better when they know what is expected of them and can relate their personal goals to organizational objectives. Superior subordinate participation, joint goal setting and support and encouragement from superior to subordinates are the basic features of MBO. It is a result-oriented philosophy and offers many advantages such as employee motivation, high morale, effective and purposeful leadership and clear objectives before all concerned per-sons.


MBO is a participative and democratic style of management. Here, ample a scope is given to subordinates and is given higher status and positive/participative role. In short, MBO is both a philosophy and approach to management. MBO concept is different from MBC (Management by Control) and is also superior in many respects. According to the classical theory of management, top management is concerned with objectives setting, directing and coordinating the efforts of middle level managers and lower level staff. However, achievement of organizational objectives is possible not by giving orders and instructions but by securing cooperation and participation of all persons. For this, they should be associated with the management process. This is possible in the case of MBO and hence MBO is different from MBC and also superior to MBC.


MBO is an approach (to planning) that helps to overcome these barriers. MBO involves the establishment of goals by managers and their subordinates acting together, specifying responsibilities and assigning authority for achieving the goals and finally constant monitoring of performance. The genesis of MBO is attributed to Peter Drucker who has explained it in his book ‘The Practice of Management’.


red squareDefinitions Of Management By Objectives MBO :-


  1. According to George Odiome, MBO is “a process whereby superior and subordinate managers of an Organisation jointly define its common goals, define each individual’s major areas of responsibility in terms Of results expected of him and use these measures as guides for operating the unit and assessing the contribution of each of its members.”
  2. According to John Humble, MBO is “a dynamic system which seeks to integrate the company’s needs to clarify and achieve its profits and growth goals with the manager’s need to contribute and develop himself. It is a demanding and rewarding style of managing a business.”


red squareFeatures Of Management By Objectives MBO :-


  1. Superior-subordinate participation: MBO requires the superior and the subordinate to recognize that the development of objectives is a joint project/activity. They must be jointly agree and write out their duties and areas of responsibility in their respective jobs.
  2. Joint goal-setting: MBO emphasizes joint goal-setting that are tangible, verifiable and measurable. The subordinate in consultation with his superior sets his own short-term goals. However, it is examined both by the superior and the subordinate that goals are realistic and attainable. In brief, the goals are to be decided jointly through the participation of all.
  3. Joint decision on methodology: MBO focuses special attention on what must be accomplished (goals) rather than how it is to be accomplished (methods). The superior and the subordinate mutually devise methodology to be followed in the attainment of objectives. They also mutually set standards and establish norms for evaluating performance.
  4. Makes way to attain maximum result: MBO is a systematic and rational technique that allows management to attain maximum results from available resources by focussing on attainable goals. It permits lot of freedom to subordinate to make creative decisions on his own. This motivates subordinates and ensures good performance from them.
  5. Support from superior: When the subordinate makes efforts to achieve his goals, superior’s helping hand is always available. The superior acts as a coach and provides his valuable advice and guidance to the subordinate. This is how MBO facilitates effective communication between superior and subordinates for achieving the objectives/targets set.


red squareSteps In Management By Objectives Planning :-


  1. Goal setting: The first phase in the MBO process is to define the organizational objectives. These are determined by the top management and usually in consultation with other managers. Once these goals are established, they should be made known to all the members. In setting objectives, it is necessary to identify “Key-Result Areas’ (KRA).
  2. Manager-Subordinate involvement: After the organizational goals are defined, the subordinates work with the managers to determine their individual goals. In this way, everyone gets involved in the goal setting.
  3. Matching goals and resources: Management must ensure that the subordinates are provided with necessary tools and materials to achieve these goals. Allocation of resources should also be done in consultation with the subordinates.
  4. Implementation of plan: After objectives are established and resources are allocated, the subordinates can implement the plan. If any guidance or clarification is required, they can contact their superiors.
  5. Review and appraisal of performance: This step involves periodic review of progress between manager and the subordinates. Such reviews would determine if the progress is satisfactory or the subordinate is facing some problems. Performance appraisal at these reviews should be conducted, based on fair and measurable standards.


red squareAdvantages of Management By Objectives MBO :-


  1. Develops result-oriented philosophy: MBO is a result-oriented philosophy. It does not favor management by crisis. Managers are expected to develop specific individual and group goals, develop appropriate action plans, properly allocate resources and establish control standards. It provides opportunities and motivation to staff to develop and make positive contribution in achieving the goals of an Organisation.
  2. Formulation of dearer goals: Goal-setting is typically an annual feature. MBO produces goals that identify desired/expected results. Goals are made verifiable and measurable which encourage high level of performance. They highlight problem areas and are limited in number. The meeting is of minds between the superior and the subordinates. Participation encourages commitment. This facilitates rapid progress of an Organisation. In brief, formulation of realistic objectives is me benefit of M[BO.
  3. Facilitates objective appraisal: NIBO provides a basis for evaluating a person’s performance since goals are jointly set by superior and subordinates. The individual is given adequate freedom to appraise his own activities. Individuals are trained to exercise discipline and self control. Management by self-control replaces management by domination in the MBO process. Appraisal becomes more objective and impartial.
  4. Raises employee morale: Participative decision-making and two-way communication encourage the subordinate to communicate freely and honestly. Participation, clearer goals and improved communication will go a long way in improving morale of employees.
  5. Facilitates effective planning: MBO programmes sharpen the planning process in an Organisation. It compels managers to think of planning by results. Developing action plans, providing resources for goal attainment and discussing and removing obstacles demand careful planning. In brief, MBO provides better management and better results.
  6. Acts as motivational force: MBO gives an individual or group, opportunity to use imagination and creativity to accomplish the mission. Managers devote time for planning results. Both appraiser and appraise are committed to the same objective. Since MBO aims at providing clear targets and their order of priority, employees are motivated.
  7. Facilitates effective control: Continuous monitoring is an essential feature of MBO. This is useful for achieving better results. Actual performance can be measured against the standards laid down for measurement of performance and deviations are corrected in time. A clear set of verifiable goals provides an outstanding guarantee for exercising better control.
  8. Facilitates personal leadership: MBO helps individual manager to develop personal leadership and skills useful for efficient management of activities of a business unit. Such a manager enjoys better chances to climb promotional ladder than a non-MBO type.


red squareLimitations of Management By Objectives MBO :-


  1. Time-consuming: MBO is time-consuming process. Objectives, at all levels of the Organisation, are set carefully after considering pros and cons which consumes lot of time. The superiors are required to hold frequent meetings in order to acquaint subordinates with the new system. The formal, periodic progress and final review sessions also consume time.
  2. Reward-punishment approach: MBO is pressure-oriented programme. It is based on reward-punishment psychology. It tries to indiscriminately force improvement on all employees. At times, it may penalize the people whose performance remains below the goal. This puts mental pressure on staff. Reward is provided only for superior performance.
  3. Increases paper-work: MBO programmes introduce ocean of paper-work such as training manuals, newsletters, instruction booklets, questionnaires, performance data and report into the Organisation. Managers need information feedback, in order to know what is exactly going on in the Organisation. The employees are expected to fill in a number of forms thus increasing paper-work. In the words of Howell, “MBO effectiveness is inversely related to the number of MBO forms.
  4. Creates organizational problems: MBO is far from a panacea for all organizational problems. Often MBO creates more problems than it can solve. An incident of tug-of-war is not uncommon. The subordinates try to set the lowest possible targets and superior the highest. When objectives cannot be restricted in number, it leads to obscure priorities and creates a sense of fear among subordinates. Added to this, the programme is used as a ‘whip’ to control employee performance.
  5. Develops conflicting objectives: Sometimes, an individual’s goal may come in conflict with those of another e.g., marketing manager’s goal for high sales turnover may find no support from the production manager’s goal for production with least cost. Under such circumstances, individuals follow paths that are best in their own interest but which are detrimental to the company.
  6. Problem of co-ordination: Considerable difficulties may be encountered while coordinating objectives of the Organisation with those of the individual and the department. Managers may face problems of measuring objectives when the objectives are not clear and realistic.
  7. Lacks durability: The first few go-around of MBO are motivating. Later it tends to become old hat. The marginal benefits often decrease with each cycle. Moreover, the programme is deceptively simple. New opportunities are lost because individuals adhere too rigidly to established goals.
  8. Problems related to goal-setting: MBO can function successfully provided measurable objectives are jointly set and it is agreed upon by all. Problems arise when: (a) verifiable goals are difficult to set (b) goals are inflexible and rigid (c) goals tend to take precedence over the people who use it (d) greater emphasis on quantifiable and easily measurable results instead of important results and (e) over-emphasis on short-term goals at the cost of long-term goals.
  9. Lack of appreciation: Lack of appreciation of MBO is observed at different levels of the Organisation. This may be due to the failure of the top management to communicate the philosophy of MBO to entire staff and all departments. Similarly, managers may not delegate adequately to their subordinates or managers may not motivate their subordinates properly. This creates new difficulties in the execution of MBO programme.


red squareEssential Conditions for Successful Execution / Implementation of MBO Or…


red squareQ.How To Make MBO Effective?


  1. Support from all: In order that MBO succeeds, it should get support and co-operation from the management. MBO must be tailored to the executive’s style of managing. No MBO programme can succeed unless it is fully accepted by the managers. The subordinates should also clearly understand that MBO is the policy of the Organisation and they have to offer cooperation to make it successful. It should be a programme of all and not a programme imposed on them.
  2. Acceptance of MBO programme by managers: In order to make MBO programme successful, it is fundamentally important that the managers themselves must mentally accept it as a good or promising programme. Such acceptances will bring about deep involvement of managers. If manages are forced to accept NIBO programme, their involvement will remain superfluous at every stage. The employees will be at the receiving-end. They would mostly accept the lines of action initiated by the managers.
  3. Training of managers: Before the introduction of MBO programme, the managers should be given adequate training in MBO philosophy. They must be in a position to integrate the technique with the basic philosophy of the company. It is but important to arrange practice sessions where performance objectives are evaluated and deviations are checked. The managers and subordinates are taught to set realistic goals, because they are going to be held responsible for the results.
  4. Organizational commitment: MBO should not be used as a decorative piece. It should be based on active support, involvement and commitment of managers. MBO presents a challenging task to managers. They must shift their capabilities from planning for work to planning for accomplishment of specific goals. Koontz rightly observes, “An effective programme of managing by objective must be woven into an entire pattern and style of managing. It cannot work as a separate technique standing alone.”
  5. Allocation of adequate time and resources: A well-conceived MBO programme requires three to five years of operation before it provides fruitful results. Managers and subordinates should be so oriented that they do not look forward to MBO for instant solutions. Proper time and resources should be allocated and persons are properly trained in the philosophy of MBO.
  6. Provision of uninterrupted information feedback: Superiors and subordinates should have regular information available to them as to how well subordinate’s goal performance is progressing. Over and above, regular performance appraisal sessions, counseling and encouragement to subordinates should be given. Superiors who compliment and encourage subordinates with pay rise and promotions provide enough motivation for peak performance.

Planning First Primary Important Function Of Management

1. What is Planning?
A plan is a determined course of action for achieving a specific objective. An individual may prepare a plan for his journey or tour or for a family function. Similarly, a business unit may prepare a plan to achieve a particular objective. It is called a business plan which includes production plan, sales plan, and so on. A business unit prepares a master plan for the whole unit. Such master plan is again divided into departmental plans for actual execution. Planning is a process of thanking to action. It is a means to achieve well defined objectives. Business plan and business planning move together.
Planning is the primary function of management and occupies the first position in the management process. It is the starting point of the whole management process as other management functions are related to planning function. Planning, in simple words, means to decide the objectives clearly and to prepare a plan. Thereafter to take suitable steps for the execution of the plan. Planning function is performed by managers at all levels. It is deciding the objective to be achieved and taking suitable follow-up steps for achieving the same.

Planning is, now, universally accepted as a key/passport to success, progress and prosperity in business as well as in all other aspects of life. It acts as a base of all purposeful human activities. The concept of planning is old enough. Planning was advocated by Confucius almost 2500 years ago. He said “A man who does not think and plan long ahead will find trouble right at his door”. Thus, planning is the centre around which all business activities move.
In planning, various business problems are studied, decisions are taken regarding the future course of action and business activities are adjusted accordingly. Thus, planning means deciding in advance the objectives to be achieved and preparing plans/programmes for achieving them. In other words, planning is the process of foreseeing desired objectives – anticipating problems and developing solutions. It serves as a core of the whole management process.

Planning bridges the gap from where we are to where we want to go. In the absence of planning, events are left to chance. A plan is to-day’s projection for tomorrow’s activity.


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2. Definitions of Planning

  1. According to Koontz and O’Donnell, “Planning is deciding in advance what to do, how to do it, when to do it, and who is to do it. Planning bridges the gap between where we are and where we want to go. It makes it possible for things to occur which would not otherwise happen”.
  2. According to George R Terry, “Planning is the selecting and relating of facts and the making and using of assumptions regarding the future in the visualization and formulation of purposed activities believed necessary to achieve desired results”.
  3. According to Philip Kotler, “Planning is deciding in the present what to do in the future. It is the process whereby companies reconcile their resources with their objectives and opportunities”.

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3. Need of Planning

The need of planning is universally accepted in the business as well as in other aspects of life. The following points justify the need of business planning/planning in business:

  1. Planning is needed for survival and growth of a business unit in an orderly manner.
  2. Planning is needed in order to face new problems/difficulties developed due to growth of markets, market competition, changes in consumer expectations and so on.
  3. Planning is needed in order to face challenges created by changing environmental factors/forces.
  4. Planning is needed as it acts as a pre-requisite to good management. It is needed as it is the core of the whole management process.
  5. Planning is needed in order to achieve the objectives decided by the management. It is also needed as it ensures accuracy, economy and operational efficiency in busin6s management.

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4. Importance of Planning in Business Management

The importance of planning as an element in the management process is universally accepted. It plays a positive role in the management of a business unit. Planning brings stability and prosperity to a business unit. It brings unity of purpose and diverts all efforts in one direction for the achievement of certain well defined objectives. Planning also improves the performance of a business unit. In fact, in the absence of planning there will be disorder, confusion, inefficiency, wastage of human efforts and material resources. Planning is rightly treated as the pre-requisite to efficient management. The fact that large majority of business units use planning as a tool of management indicates its utility and importance. Planning brings safety to business operations. It is the only way for survival in the competitive business world.

Planning is important as it is more than a mere theoretical exercise or paperwork. It has practical utility and creative value. Planning is also a rational and intelligent activity. It is, now, rightly treated as a highly professionalized aspect of business management.

Planning is important but planning alone is not adequate. It should be supplemented by suitable follow-up actions on the part of managers. Planning may not be able to solve all managerial problems, but it certainly helps the thoughtful managers in overcoming various managerial problems. A plan will remain on paper if suitable follow-up steps are not taken at different levels for its execution. Thus, planning is a means and not the end in itself

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5. Advantages of Planning

  1. Facilitates quick achievement of objectives: Planning facilitates quick achievement of business objectives. In the planning process, the objectives to be achieved are clearly decided / finalised and plans are prepared and executed for achieving such well defined objectives. Planning ensures achievement of objectives in an orderly and quick manner.
  2. Brings unity of purpose and direction: Planning brings unity of purpose and direction before the entire organisation as it is for achieving certain well defined goals. Planning diverts all resources in one direction for achieving well defined objectives.
  3. Ensures full utilisation of resources: Planning ensures effective/maximum utilisation of available human and material resources. It eliminates wastages of all kinds (of material resources and human efforts) and this ensures fuller utilisation of available resources.
  4. Avoids inconsistency in efforts: Planning avoids inconsistency in efforts and also avoids possible frictions and duplications. It ensures economy in business operations.
  5. Raises competitive capacity/strength: Planning raises competitive potentialities of a business unit. It enables a business unit to stand with confidence in a competitive market. It keeps ready solutions for possible problems and enables a business unit to function with confidence.
  6. Promotes managerial efficiency: Planning promotes managerial efficiency. It covers all managerial functions and helps management to execute future programmes in a systematic manner. It makes managerial direction and control effective.
  7. Avoids hasty decisions and actions: Due to planning, hasty decisions and haphazard actions by managers are avoided. It also encourages systematic thinking by the managers. Planning facilitates effective delegation of authority, removes communication gaps and thereby raises overall efficiency. It even encourages innovative thinking among managers.
  8. Ensures effective control on the Organisation: Planning ensures effective control on the whole organisation. It fixes targets in clear terms and draws plans and programmes for achieving them. This facilitates effective control on the functioning of the business unit.
  9. Acts as an insurance against future uncertainties: Planning acts as an insurance against future uncertainties. It takes care of all business uncertainties. In fact, in planning, future problems and situations are studied in advance and alternative solutions are kept ready. This enables management to face any type of critical situation with ease and confidence.
  10. Facilitates other managerial functions: Planning facilitates other managerial functions. It is the basic managerial function and other managerial functions such as organising, etc. move as per the plans prepared. It acts as a motivating force behind other managerial functions.
  11. Improves motivation: Planning facilitates participation of managers and workers in the normal functioning of an enterprise. It develops team spirit and raises morale and motivation of employees. Workers know what is expected from them. This ensures high degree of efficiency from them. Planning also provides training to managers. It serves as a tool for manpower development in an Organisation.

    1. Planning ensures survival, stability and progress of a business unit.
    2. Ensures uniform decision-making.
    3. Acts as a key to solve problems and challenges faced by a business unit.
    4. Sets performance standards for functional departments.
    5. Planning enables a business unit to adjust itself with ever changing business environment.

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6. Limitations of Planning

  1. Time-consuming and costly: It is argued that planning is a lengthy process as it involves collection of data, forecast, research and analysis. Similarly, planning is essentially the job of highly paid experts. As a result, planning is a time-consuming and costly activity. Only large firms can undertake planning due to heavy cost and lengthy procedure involved in it.
  2. Ineffective due to environmental changes: Business environment changes frequently and plans are required to be adjusted as per the changes in the situation through suitable modifications. However, such revision/modification creates a number of problems. Such adjustments in the operational plan are always costly, time-consuming.
  3. Dangers of unreliable data: Planning needs accurate data from internal and external sources. The quality of planning depends on such accurate feedback. If the information supplied by various departments is unreliable, the planning process will be adversely affected. Planning based on incomplete information may prove to be even dangerous. In brief, plans based on unreliable data are not useful /effective. Securing reliable information is always difficult and this brings deficiencies in the entire planning process.
  4. Encroachment on individual freedom and initiative: Planning is a centralized process. At the lower levels, plans are to be executed as per the directives issued. This affects individual freedom and initiative at the lower levels. Employees at the lower levels act as instruments for the execution of plan prepared by the top level managers. People are asked to become cogs in the machine with little scope for initiative or independent thinking.
  5. Delays actions: Planning is a lengthy process. As a result, the actions to be taken for execution are delayed. Planning is not useful when quick decisions and actions are required.
  6. Unsuitable to small firms: Small firms prefer to function without long term comprehensive planning as they find planning rather costly and time-consuming. They prefer to face the situations as they come. Similarly, quick decisions and prompt actions are necessary in the case of certain business activities. Here, long term planning is not suitable.
  7. Limited practical value: It is argued that planning is too theoretical and has limited practical utility. Planning takes long time for preparation and the situation changes when such plans are ready for execution. Planning for example, is not suitable in the case of speculative business. It is also not useful for taking quick benefits of business opportunities. In brief, planning has limited practical value.
  8. No guarantee of expected results: Planning is for achieving certain well defined objectives. However, there is no guarantee that the objectives will be achieved within the specific time limit by using planning as a tool. Actual performance may not be as per the expectation due to various reasons. Thus planning has an element of uncertainty. Planning leads to probable results and not the expected results. It gives benefits but may not be exactly as per the expectation. Thus, there is no guarantee that planning will give 100 per cent positive/expected results.
  9. Generates frustration: At the lower levels, plans are imposed on the employees. No consideration is given to their difficulties, views and opinions. The targets may be too ambitious and the employees may not be able to achieve them in spite of best efforts. This leads to frustration among employees at lower levels.
  10. Involves huge paper work: Planning involves huge paper work in the preparation of master plan and departmental plans.
  11. Danger of overdoing: Sometimes, planners overload the work. Elaborate reports are prepared without practical utility.

The advantages of planning are more important/significant while its limitations are few and also not of serious nature. Moreover, these limitations can be minimized. The practical utility of planning is universally accepted. It is not fair to give up the concept of planning due to certain limitations. The better alternative is to make it more effective, purposeful and result oriented.

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7. Steps in Planning Process

Planning is a lengthy process which moves gradually and step by step approach is usually adopted. These steps are like stations in the journey of planning process. Usual steps in the planning process are as briefly explained below:

  1. Classifying the problems: The planning process starts with clear understanding and classifying business problems faced by a business unit. Identification of problems or opportunities by managers justifies the need for action. It is like the diagnosis of the health problem of a patient by his doctor. Planners have to understand the problems of the Organisation first and, then, prepare a plan to deal with the problems in the light of the prevailing business environment.
  2. Determining the objectives: In this second stage in the planning process, the planners decide the overall objectives to be achieved. Planning is always for achieving certain well defined objectives and naturally objectives must be spelt out precisely. Objectives act as pillars of the entire planning process. Business objectives may be decided in terms of profit, sales, production or market reputation. Objectives may be defined in quantitative or qualitative terms.
  3. Collecting complete information and data: The planners have to collect information relating to problems facing the business unit. Such information is necessary and useful for analyzing the problems in depth and also for accuracy in planning. Information can be collected from internal and external sources. Reliable, updated and adequate data make planning process result-oriented.
  4. Analyzing and classifying the information: At this stage, the information collected is analyzed and interpreted systematically for drawing specific conclusions. This facilitates purposeful use of information, while preparing alternative plans. Irrelevant information can be discarded through such analysis.
  5. Establishing planning premises: Planning premises are various assumptions and predictions about the future business situation. Such premises act as background for planning activities. The planning premises are expected to supply relevant facts, information and data on the basis of which forecasts are prepared and future trends are indicated. Planning premises reduce uncertainties in the planning process. Planning premises are three in number viz., (a) Controllable permises, (b) Semi-controllable permises, and (c) Uncontrollable premises.
  6. Determining alternative plans: Here, the planners prepare and keep ready alternative plans suitable for use under different situations. The best among the available alternative plans is used for actual execution. The preparation of alternative plans is essential as one plan is normally not adequate under all types of situations. It is a type of stand-by arrangement useful for meeting any emergency situation.
  7. Selecting operating plan and preparing derivative plans: After study of the business environment and the alternative plans available, the planners select the best plan for actual execution. This decision is a delicate one and must be made with proper care. After the selection of operating plan, the planners have to prepare derivative plans. Such plans are related to different departments/activities and constitute sub-sections of the operating plan. The division of overall plan into derivative plans is necessary for effective execution.
  8. Arranging timing and sequence of operations: Timing involves fixation of starting and finishing time for each job or piece of work. Sequence of operations ensures proper flow of work. This step in planning process is important as it brings coordination in the activities of different departments. The timings and sequence of operations must be communicated to concerned departments, managers and staff for implementation of the plan.
  9. Securing participation of employees: Planning needs willing participation of all employees and departments. For this, information regarding the operative plan should be given to employees well in advance. Here, the internal communication system should be used extensively. For such participation, employees should be associated with the planning process.
  10. Follow-up of the proposed plan: The purpose of follow-up is to make periodical review of the execution process. It is useful for understanding actual progress and deficiencies in the process of execution of the plan. This also facilitates adoption of suitable remedial measures as and when required.

Business Software and its Types

 Business Software and its Types

Business Software

While running the business a lot of things are required to perform a business function. Business software is one of them. It is a software or group of a computer programs used by business users to perform business functions. It helps to make the functioning of a business easy to create, promote, sell, market, manage and scale the business. It’s become a mandatory part of the business because it helps to increase productivity, reduce operational costs, bring innovation and solve customer problems faster.

Earlier, business operations were performed manually, which operation was not as accurate, fast, flexible, productive, and cheaper as compared to computer software. But today we can see, with the help of business software the operation and management of the business are fast, cheaper, and automatic. The speed of innovation is fast now due to new technology and the internet, that’s why almost every company launches new products and services every week or month. 

Tasks can be performed without any human resources, as several operations can be managed by a single person using technical software without the help of labor. It helps the companies to save the cost of operation and fasten productivity. 
Each business software is created on the bases of the uses and goals of the business. The software is designed in such a way that it is focused, structured, or programmed on solving complexities and challenges of the present and future. It helps to manage the bills, stocks, accounts, sales and purchases, profit and loss statements, tax, cost, etc., of business.
 
There is various business software that is categorized by various business needs like account management, billing, customer support, employee management, marketing, research, and development, sells, etc.


Various types of business software

  • Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Software

While running a business it is very important to listen to your customers. You can easily do this through CRM software by analyzing how your business interacts with your customers. It helps to reach potential customers, which is very useful to grow your business.

  • Accounting Software

Accounting software helps to monitor business performance by tracking real-time expenses, revenue, and the bottom line. With this, accountants can ensure books contain relevant data, and the business remains profitable.

  • Human Resource Information Software

  As HR is one of the most essential parts of any business, implementing a human resources software program can help to monitor several tasks like Recruitment, employee onboarding, record keeping, training, and payroll, by digital documentation.

  • Communication Software

Effective internal and external communication is a key to growing your business. This can be done by communication software, which helps the employees to collaborate with others. It helps to engage with customers, partners, teams, and others involved in operations, from any part of the world. This software is useful to expand market reach and get in touch with other businesses.

  • Schedule Management Software

It allows business managers to access employees’ schedules from anywhere at any time. It helps to identify top performers and is useful to control payroll.

  • Project Management Software

It is very difficult to organize complex tasks in an organization. This software helps to keep an eye on a detailed overview of the entire project and who is assigned to which task. This help to find where your resources are used and useful to manage each step of the project.
 

  • Sales, Marketing, and PR Software

This software is very useful to analyze sales, marketing, and PR. This helps you to analyze which area of your marketing needs to improve and help to study sales data.


Thus, we came across various types of business software and it depends on the particular business which software is useful for them and how they can use them to grow their firm.

What is Land Suitability Analysis

and suitability assessment is a method of land evaluation, which identifies the major limiting factors for planting a particular crop. Land suitability assessment includes qualitative and quantitative evaluation. In the qualitative land suitability evaluations, information about climate, hydrology, topography, vegetation, and soil properties is considered and in quantitative assessment, the results are more detailed and yield is estimated. At present study we prepared land suitability assessment map for rain-fed wheat and barley crops based on FAO “land suitability assessment framework” using parametric method and machine learning algorithms in Kurdistan Province, located in west of Iran. This is a unique study that compared two machine learning-based and traditional-based approaches for mapping current and potential future land suitability classes. Moreover, potential yield of rain-fed wheat and barley crop were computed by FAO model.

1. Introduction

Rapid population growth in developing countries means that more food will be required to meet the demands of growing populations. Rain-fed wheat and barley, as major grain crops worldwide, are planted under a wide range of environments and are a major staple source of food for humans and livestock [1][2][3][4]. The production of such staple crops influences local food security [5]. Rain-fed wheat and barley are cultivated on approximately 6 and 0.64 million ha in Iran, respectively [6]. They are well adapted to the rain conditions of western Iran, where mean precipitation is 350–500 mm. The production of rain-fed wheat and barley per unit area in Iran is low compared to developed countries worldwide [2]. One of the main causes for this low yield is that the suitability of land for their cultivation has not been determined. To overcome this problem, land suitability assessment is needed, which can help to increase crop yield by growing these crops in the locations that are most suited to their growth [7].

The first step in agricultural land use planning is land suitability assessment which is often conducted to determine which type of land use is suitable for a particular location [8]. Land suitability assessment is a method of land evaluation, which identifies the major limiting factors for planting a particular crop [9][10]. Land suitability assessment includes qualitative and quantitative evaluation. In the qualitative land suitability evaluations, information about climate, hydrology, topography, vegetation, and soil properties is considered [11] and in quantitative assessment, the results are more detailed and yield is estimated [12]. The FAO land evaluation framework [13][14] and physical land evaluation methods [15] have been widely used for land suitability assessment.

Land suitability maps provide the necessary information for agricultural planners and are vital for decreasing land degradation and for assessing sustainable land use. There is a lack of land suitability mapping and associated information in Iran because land suitability surveying and mapping in Iran have followed the traditional approach [16][17][18][19][20]. In the traditional approach, abbreviation of the soil variability through a soil map unit to a representative soil profile may cause the precision of the land suitability maps to be lacking and ignores the continuous nature of soil and landscape variation, resulting in the misclassification of sites and discrete and sharply defined boundaries [21][22]. Moreover, the traditional approach is time-consuming and costly [23].

Machine learning (ML) models are capable of learning from large datasets and integrate different types of data easily [24][25]. In digital soil mapping framework, these ML models have been applied to make links between soil observations and auxiliary variables to understand spatial and temporal variation in soil classes and other soil properties [24][26][27][28]. These ML models include artificial neural networks, partial least squares regressions, support vector machines, generalized additive models, genetic programming, regression tree models, k nearest neighbor regression, adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system, and random forests [26][27][28]. It should be noted that random forests and support vector machines have been the most commonly used techniques in the digital soil mapping community in the last decade due to their relatively good accuracy, robustness, and ease of use. The auxiliary variables can be obtained from digital elevation models(DEM), remotely sensed data (RS), and other geo-spatial data sources [24][29][30][31][32][33][34][35].

2. Discussion

Although in recent years, ML models have been widely used to create digital soil maps [24], little attempt has been made for using ML models to digitally map land suitability classes [36][37]. For instance, Dang et al. [38] applied a hybrid neural-fuzzy model to map land suitability classes and predict rice yields in the Sapa district in northern Vietnam. Auxiliary variables included eight environmental variables (including elevation, slope, soil erosion, sediment retention, length of flow, ratio of evapotranspiration to precipitation, water yield, and wetness index), three socioeconomic variables, and land cover. Harms et al. [39] assessed land suitability for irrigated crops for 155,000 km2 of northern Australia using digital mapping approaches and machine learning models. They concluded that the coupling of digitally derived soil and land attributes with a conventional land suitability framework facilitates the rapid evaluation of regional-scale agricultural potential in a remote area.

Although Kurdistan province is one of the main agriculturally productive regions of Iran and holds an important role in the country’s crop production rank, the mean yield of rain-fed wheat and barley in these regions is lower than 800 kg ha−1 [40]. Land suitability maps can classify the areas that are highly suitable for the cultivation of the two main crops and can help to increase their production. However, such information is commonly scarce in these semi-arid regions.

References

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Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector/Services relating to Health, Education, Human Resources.

For inclusive growth and employment, spending on social services as a share of GDP and investment in social infrastructure are of prime importance. The social sector pursues economic and social goals and is involved in providing social services to disadvantaged groups and communities, whether in urban or rural areas. Recent Economic Research focuses on social services including education, sport, arts and culture; public health and medical, family welfare; water supply and drainage and environmental sanitation; hotel; Urban Development; SC, ST and OBC welfare, labor and labor benefits; social security and welfare, nutrition, disaster relief, etc.

As education and health are two major areas of concern in the context of social sector development and human development achievements, this article explores their situation in India.

ISSUES REGARDING DEVELOPMENT AND MANAGEMENT OF SOCIAL SECTORS

In this regard, issues related to the development and management of social sectors/services are as follows:

1) Fundamental changes in the design of policies/programs needed to approach all segments of society.

2) Expand outreach equitably through people participation, outreach, use of technology, and direct transfer of benefits.

3) Access to education at all levels in rural and urban areas with necessary reforms of the education system to encourage career development.

4) Intensify efforts to impart skills needed to face the 4th industrial revolution, which is a fusion of the physical, digital and biological worlds.

5) An increase in total formal employment in the economy.

6) Challenges of providing both access to health care and access to quality health care nationally.

7) Construction rate of pucca structure housing in rural and urban areas.

EDUCATION

The liberalization of India’s economy has had a major impact on the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth, with its economic growth accelerating f. The literacy rate has increased from 77.7% in 2020, while primary education universalization has largely been achieved and the dropout rate has decreased. However, despite significant progress, strong exclusions and disparities exist. Combining accessible affordability and quality assurance with good governance and adequate funding is always a concern.

HEALTH

Significant progress has also been made on the medical side, some diseases have been eradicated or are on the verge of eradication. There have been significant declines in the Index of Fertility (ISF) and the Infant Mortality Rate (IMR), and life expectancy has fallen from 36.7 years in 1951 to 69.66 In 2019. These achievements are impressive, but at the same time, our failures are more prominent. As such, this volume brings together the contributions of leading Indian scholars on a wide range of social issues, including the link between growth, poverty, and the social sector; efficiency of social sector spending in India; disparities in health status; Protecting IPRs in Health Innovations; pollution and health; universal primary education; problems encountered at higher education levels; and child labor issues.

ROLE OF CONSTITUTION IN ENSURING ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL JUSTICE

The right to health is not directly included as a fundamental right in the Constitution of India. The maker of the Constitution placed this obligation on the State to ensure economic and social justice. The fourth part of the Indian constitution is the Directive Principles of State Policy which has imposed obligations on the states. If we just look at these terms, we see that some of them are directly or indirectly related to public health. The Indian constitution does not stipulate the right to health care as a fundamental right. The Constitution orders the State to take measures to improve the health care conditions of the people. Thus, the preamble of the Constitution of India, among other things, aims to ensure social and economic justice for all its citizens. It provides a framework for achieving the goals set out in the introduction. The preamble is amplified and developed in the Guiding Principles of State Policy.

Article 38 of the Indian Constitution places on the state the responsibility that states must ensure social order to promote the welfare of the people, but without public health we cannot achieve this. this. This means that without public health, everyone’s happiness is impossible. Article 39(e) concerned workers to protect their health. Article 41 imposes on the State the obligation to provide public assistance mainly to the sick and disabled. Article 42 provides for the protection of the health of children and mothers through the maternity regime. In India, the guiding principle of state policy under Article 47 states that the primary duty of the state is to improve public health, ensure justice, the human condition at work, and prolong time sickness, old age, disability and maternity benefits are also being considered. In addition, state duties include the prohibition of intoxication and drugs harmful to health. Section 48A ensures that the state strives to protect and enforce a pollution-free environment for good health.

Emotional Intelligence in the Workplace

Some people in our life are appreciated for being very understanding as a friend or colleague, lending an ear, and empathizing with our life events and struggles. Chances are this friend must be having a very high degree of Emotional Intelligence. Emotional Intelligence is the ability to perceive, understand and manage our emotions as well as influence others’ emotions in a positive way. This is different from general intelligence and its Intelligence Quotient (IQ) which represents abilities such as general knowledge, visual and spatial processing, working and short-term memory, and reasoning. While IQ is considered by many to be a decisive factor in achieving success in life, EQ (Emotional Quotient) is also an essential quality in areas including education, management and leadership. In fact, many companies include it in their required criteria, testing the EQ of applicants during their hiring process. A high EQ is considered an important quality for managers and business leaders.

According to psychologist and author, Daniel Goleman, emotional intelligence includes five components. These five components are:

Self-Awareness

A person is said to be self-aware when they are highly aware of their own behaviour, habits and feelings. You can understand your strengths and weaknesses. You are aware of why you feel the way you do and how your actions can impact people around you. Being self-aware helps you in your work as it also keeps you humble and grounded.

Self-Regulation

Self-regulation refers to having good control over one’s actions and decisions. You think and react rationally, giving a lot of thought before making important decisions. As a manager or leader at your workplace, this quality helps manage critical situations and adapt to changes at work. It helps you make correct decisions, considering all possible consequences. You can stay calm, ease tensions and hold yourself accountable, particularly when you receive constructive criticism at work.

Motivation

A motivated individual is goal-oriented, giving it their all to achieve their end-goal. You maintain high standards of quality for your work and remain passionate and driven towards your aim. Self-motivation also means you are working for your personal development rather than material accomplishments like money, fame or status.  

Empathy

Empathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings of someone else. You listen to what others have to say and you can put yourself in their situation to understand what they must have gone through. An empathic person is not too judgmental, a trait that helps them work well with their colleagues by helping them progress and providing constructive criticism.

Social Skills

Social skills are essential for good communication and teamwork. Social skills help you become good listeners, engage verbally and maintain a good rapport with your team-mates. You can take up the leadership role if needed, supporting the whole team and managing conflicts diplomatically.

When a person is able to manage their emotions well and exhibit a high degree of EQ, it also influences people around him/her to act the same. This helps in maintaining positive relationships in the work environment. A well-developed EQ is crucial for achieving your work goals, particularly in group projects. Anybody can develop a good Emotional Quotient with practice and care. Small habits like listening, understanding and reflecting on your actions can help in improving your emotional skills.

Social Media Management

In this highly digital era that we live in, every company is trying to make use of social media to increase its presence and gain clients. At this point, social media management is something every management student and prospective job seeker should be knowing about.

Social Media Management is the process of using social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook and Instagram to create, publish and then analyze content for a company. It includes analyzing social media audiences and developing a strategy to create and distribute content for social media profiles, and engage with users. Efficient and well-organized management of social media actually gives many good opportunities for companies to profit more. Brands and companies can use social media to increase brand awareness and store visits. In a company, a Social Media Manager takes on the task of social media management. Social media managers need to be skilled professionals at social media marketing, management and advertising so that the company can reach its goals such as increasing social media revenue and user engagement. They could be working as a consultant or an in-house employee.

  • Social media helps brands engage with users all over the world. This is something traditional marketing and advertising cannot achieve as well as social media networks. Certain platforms like Instagram and Pinterest also help brands connect with niche audiences.
  • With this kind of extensive reach, the brand can now align their marketing initiatives with user behaviour.
  • Not to mention how convenient and cost-effective a social media initiative is. Setting up an account, posting content and engaging with users through chats and comments are all free of cost. Advertising on social media is a very profitable way of building a strong online following.

Major social media platforms used by brands and companies include Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and Pinterest. There are several paid and unpaid tools that help in managing social media networks by scheduling posts, content, responding to inquiries and comments, etc.  

Photo by Kaboompics .com on Pexels.com

Here are 3 essential steps that will help a brand gain useful information about its social media strategy and direct it through the right path:

Reviewing the company’s social media through an audit:

Conducting a social media audit will help a company understand how effective its marketing strategy is. The audit would include listing all the social media profiles of the company and reviewing social media analytics regarding top-performing posts, engagement, publishing frequency follower growth, traffic sources, average response time, audience interests and demographics. Analyzing this data and reviewing competitor’s social media presence aids the brand in improving its social media management and identifying where it might be wasting its resources.

Researching Target Audience:

Having a good idea about who your audience is, is essential for efficiently managing social media. It helps in creating relevant content and boosting customer relationships. Without knowing your target audience you are basically wasting a lot of time, money and resources.

Determining the Right Social Media Platforms:

While a company should definitely have social media profiles on top networks like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, it should put most effort on networks that is used most by its audience. Not every platform may work well for the brand’s vision and marketing strategy. It should prioritize and put in effort for every platform according to how frequently its audience uses them. Brands that cater to a niche audience can also make use of such platforms that connect with its specific audience demographics.    

The story of Air India

On 15th October 1932 Jehangir Ratanji Dadabhoy Tata, a prominent figure in Indian commerce, completed one of the most historical flights of Indian aviation, from Karachi to Bombay thus laying the foundation stone for Tata Air Services. What would later become of this venture, couldn’t possibly be foreseen by the founder himself. From Tata Air Services to Tata Airlines up until Air India, the story of this majestic airline is a long road full of twists and turns.
Tata Airlines was regarded as one of the most prosperous airlines in the world, gaining recognition from the United States and London to being an inspiration for Singapore Airlines as well. The experience, as described by travelers was one to remember. From an exquisite ambiance and top-notch cuisine to decorations of artworks, this airline was coined the “Palace in the sky”.


So what went wrong? Things took an unsettling turn when in 1953, the Government of India decided to nationalize the corporation. J.R.D. Tata was disheartened. Being an avid aviator himself, he was being asked to give up his dream, the company he founded. But, be as it may, Tata continued to be the Chairman of the airlines with little or no say in important matters. With the politicians and less experienced managers sitting at the top, the company’s downfall could have been easily predicted.


Air India went on to incur huge amounts of debts. In 2007 alone, the company bore a massive Rs. 541 crore loss, almost double of what another airline, Indian Airlines suffered. Since both of these companies were under the control of the government, to compensate for these losses it was decided to merge them into one, which would be known as National Aviation Co. of India Ltd.Even so, the government suffered major drawbacks, and could not reimburse its investors. Before this merger, the downfall of the airlines was already imminent. The poor leadership was unable to make wise decisions, and with unnecessary expenses and incompetency to manage the situation, the company suffered a total loss of 770 billion dollars.
This situation was finally put to bed by the government when it decided to privatize Air India in 2017. Over a long process of bidding and legal processes, finally, on 8th October 2021, the airline was sold to its original owner, the Tata group for Rs. 180 billion. Now we wait, and let the airline unfurl its fate. Will it emerge once again on the top, or will it keep scraping the bottom of the barrel? Only time will tell.

School of Engineering and AtalBihari Vajpayee School of Management and Entrepreneurship at J.N.U

 Union Education Minister of India, ShriRameshPokhriyal ‘Nishank’ laid the foundation stone of the buildings for School of Engineering and Atal Bihari Vajpayee School of Management and Entrepreneurship at Jawaharlal Nehru University today through a virtual program.Vice Chancellor, JNU, Prof. M. Jagdish Kumar,Rector I Prof.ChintamaniMahapatra, Rector II Prof. Satish Chandra Garkoti, Rector III Prof. Rana Pratap Singh and the deans of the new schools, Prof. UnnatPandit and Prof. SatyavratPatnaik were present on the occasion.

ShriPokhriyal expressed his delight at the  naming the School of Management on the name of late Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who was not only an efficient and visionary Prime Minister of India, but an inspiring author too. The Minister mentioned that engineering and management education will complement each other and willinspire the youth to become entrepreneurs and self-reliant.He hoped that the proposed building with world-class facilities will be endowed with technology-based pedagogy and development of learners.

ShriPokhriyalalso congratulated Prof. M. Jagadesh Kumar for taking the University to new heights of progress and initiating realization of National Education Policy 2020 with new initiatives.

Exhorts IIM students to align their careers with the aspiration of the country

 The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone of the permanent campus of IIM Sambalpur today via video conferencing. Governor and Chief Minister of Odisha, along with Union Ministers Shri Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’, Shri Dharmendra Pradhan and Shri Pratap Chandra Sarangi were also present on the occasion.

Speaking on the occasion, the Prime Minister said that the permanent campus of the IIM Sambalpur will not only showcase the culture and resources of Odisha but will also give Odisha a global recognition in the field of management. He said that recently the country witnessed a trend of Indian multi-nationals as opposed to the earlier trend of outside multi-national coming to India. Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities are seeing startups and India has seen more ‘unicorns’ in recent troubled times, rapid reforms are taking place in agriculture field. In such a scenario the Prime Minister asked the students to align their career with the aspiration of the country. In this new decade, it is your responsibility to give Brand India a global recognition, the Prime Minister said.

The Prime Minister dwelled at length on the students’ role in making the local rise up to the global level. He asked students to work on the ideas of improving tourism in the light of the immense local potential in the Sambalpur area. He asked them to work on the local products which have great potential such as local handicraft, textiles and tribal art. He also asked them to work on the better management of abundant minerals and other resources of the region as all this will contribute to the Aatamnirbhar Bharat Campaign. IIM students will need to find innovative solutions for making local global as they can work as a bridge between Aatamnirbharta Mission, local products and international collaboration.  “You have to show your management skills with the mantra of Innovation Integrity and Inclusiveness”, Shri Modi said.

The Prime Minister talked about the new management challenges in the light of new technologies like additive printing, changing production techniques, logistics, and supply chain management. These technologies coupled with digital connectivity, and work from anywhere concept have turned the world into a global village. India has undertaken rapid reforms in recent months and has tried not only to keep pace with the changes but also tried to anticipate and surpass them, the Prime Minister added.

The Prime Minister said that that the changing work styles are impacting demands on management skills and top-down or top-heavy management skills are being replaced by collaborative, innovative and transformative management. With bots and algorithms in picture, technological management is equally important as human management.

Shri Modi asked the student to research the way Covid crisis was handled in India with innovation and collaboration at such a big scale. He asked them to study how capacity and capability was expanded in such a short time. He expressed happiness that the country is coming out of the short-term approach of problem solving and how the focus now is on long term solutions. He gave example of Jan Dhan accounts and how LPG connection coverage in the country improved from 55 per cent in 2014 to 98 per cent today, to illustrate his point of mass scale innovation, planning and implementation. “Management is not just handling big companies but management also means taking care of lives”, the Prime Minister said.

The Prime Minister added that it is important to understand the challenges before the country to become good managers. For this, it is essential that higher educational institutions have a wider scope and are not focused merely on their expertise. The National Education Policy, the Prime Minister said, emphasizes on broad-based, multi-disciplinary and holistic approach to remove silos in the professional education that have emerged over a period of time. 

Congratulating everyone on the occasion of foundation laying today, Shri Pokhriyal said IIM Sambalpur will strongly contribute to the growth and development of the country. He expressed confidence that Institution will definitely be recognized globally for its remarkable contribution in providing quality education. He highlighted that under the able leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, Government has given utmost priority to the development and upgradation of educational facilities. In this context, he mentioned about the significant increase in the number of seats across institions and in the number of engineering, medical and management institutions in over last 6 years.

Urging students to invest in team building, he said this will strengthen the bond and enhance the spirit of association. He also urged to stress on value addition at every level by leveraging technique, skill and innovation. Calling upon everyone to stay alert towards the global developments and changes, He emphasized on the need to up-skill, update and upgrade oneself to face the global challenges. He called upon students to move ahead following the motto of ‘nation first – character must’ for success and for establishing India as a Vishwaguru. He said that the country is moving steadfast on the path of progress. He also spoke about New Education Policy and reiterated that it is built on the strong foundational pillars of equity, quality and accessibility.

Shri Dharmendra Pradhan remarked that today is the historic day for everyone. Highlighting Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi’s clarion call for an Atmanirbhar bharat, he urged students to walk in the direction given by Prime Minister to achieve the goals of self reliant India. Saying that the Sambalpur region is rich in minerals and surrounded by lot of economic activities, He hoped that IIM Sambalpur will endeavour to develop a new entrepreneurial ecosystem and emerge as a focal point of Atmanirbhar Bharat.  He hoped that institution will strive to implement the spirit of New Education Policy.

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Summary of Union Budget 2021-22




The Union Minister for Finance & Corporate Affairs, Smt Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Union Budget 2021-22 in Parliament today, which is the first budget of this new decade and also a digital one in the backdrop of unprecedented COVID-19 crisis.

This year’s Budget lays focus on the seven pillars for reviving the economy – Health and Wellbeing, Physical and Financial Capital and Infrastructure, Inclusive Development for Aspirational India, Reinvigorating Human Capital, Innovation and R&D, and Minimum Government Maximum Governance. Several regulations around the securities market are proposed to be merged as a single code. Several direct taxes and indirect taxes amendments were also proposed.



Our FM starts the budget2021 announcement by mentioning the challenges during the pandemic and the vision of the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana.
FM says that India has two vaccines made available and two more will be made accessible soon.
FM reiterated that the government is fully prepared to support the economy’s reset.
FM says the Budget2021 is based on 6 pillars.
Starting with healthcare & wellbeing:
Spending’s been increased
New scheme with an outlay of Rs.64K crore to be spread over 6 yrs
The above is in addition to the National Health Mission.


Support to rural & urban health centres
FM announces the Jal Jeevan Mission with an outlay of 2.87 lakh crores aiming to provide full-fledged water supply to all urban local bodies with household tap connections.
The FM proposed Rs1.41 lakh crores over a period of 5 Years for the Urban Swacch Bharath 2.0.


An amount of Rs.1.47 lakh crores, over a 5-year-period, from 2021 has been assigned for initiatives such as wastewater treatment, reduction in plastic waster, reduction in pollution and the like.
The Scrapping Policy has been announced in the Budget2021. The voluntary vehicle scrapping policy aims to remove inefficient vehicles so as to reduce vehicular pollution and oil import bills.
FM proposes an amount of Rs.35000 crore to manufacture and make accessible the COVID19 vaccine.


To strengthen nutritional content, delivery, outreach, and outcome, Government will merge the Supplementary Nutrition Programme and the PoshanAbhiyan and launch the Mission Poshan 2.0. Government will adopt an intensified strategy to improve nutritional outcomes across 112 Aspirational Districts.



Universal Coverage of Water Supply and Swachch Bharat Mission:

The Finance Minister announced that the JalJeevan Mission (Urban), will be launched for universal water supply in all 4,378 Urban Local Bodies with 2.86 crore household tap connections, as well as liquid waste management in 500 AMRUT cities. It will be implemented over 5 years, with an outlay of Rs. 2,87,000 crore. Moreover, the Urban Swachh Bharat Mission will be implemented with a total financial allocation of Rs 1,41,678 crore over a period of 5 years from 2021-2026. Also to tackle the burgeoning problem of air pollution, government proposed to provide an amount of Rs. 2,217 crore for 42 urban centres with a million-plus population in this budget. A voluntary vehicle scrapping policy to phase out old and unfit vehicles was also announced. Fitness tests have been proposed in automated fitness centres after 20 years in case of personal vehicles, and after 15 years in case of commercial vehicles.



Physical and Financial Capital and Infrastructure:

AatmaNirbhar Bharat-Production Linked Incentive Scheme

Finance Minister said that for a USD 5 trillion economy, our manufacturing sector has to grow in double digits on a sustained basis. Our manufacturing companies need to become an integral part of global supply chains, possess core competence and cutting-edge technology. To achieve all of the above, PLI schemes to create manufacturing global champions for an AatmaNirbhar Bharat have been announced for 13 sectors. For this, the government has committed nearly Rs.1.97 lakh crore in the next 5 years starting FY 2021-22. This initiative will help bring scale and size in key sectors, create and nurture global champions and provide jobs to our youth.



Textiles:

Similarly, to enable the textile industry to become globally competitive, attract large investments and boost employment generation, a scheme of Mega Investment Textiles Parks (MITRA) will be launched in addition to the PLI scheme. This will create world class infrastructure with plug and play facilities to enable create global champions in exports. 7 Textile Parks will be established over 3 years.

Thus, the budget was widely acclaimed and appreciated.

How to improve your lifestyle ?-Managing workload

The busy schedules become headache though they include your interest matter and work. This can be because of improper management of work and making a load out of it. Procrastination is a major reason of work load. The deadlines at the end confuses the project and lowers the enthusiasm of a person. This results in bad quality of work and dissatisfaction.

Lifestyle needs a change if you feel bored of your job and find it a burden on you. It is the same job you might have applied for with great interest and enthusiasm and wanted to join in quick. The same joy can be brought back by simple steps.

  • To start with, you should avoid procrastination. It is the worst habit to possess. Once done, you will repeat it for the sake of comfort. However leaving everything to the future will lead no path besides getting you in a trap and creating chaos. Take responsibility and make it a habit to do tasks on-the-spot. This will help manage multiple things at a time and make way for more.
  • While doing a task, try to make it as interesting that it appears new to you each time you start. Add your own flavor to it by applying innovation and creativity. doing the same job with regular tasks would become fun once you try it the other way keeping the basics same but improving the presentation.
  • To increase your workplace productivity, a positive and enriching environment is a must. Clear the clutter from the work desk sort out all your online and offline stuffs. It can be deleting unnecessary e-mails, pictures, apps or messages from your device or removing useless files and pages from your office room or desk. Replace unnecessary items with important ones and make sure to add positivity to your environment by keeping green plants nearby and attaching colorful frames on your walls. Be in contact of things that bring energy and joy to you and avoid dull colors and bad company. Make friends who are enthusiastic and determined towards their work.
Photo by George Milton on Pexels.com

Always make sure you have time for yourself in between the work. It is important in order to re-energize yourself and start the rest of it-afresh. Being engaged for long hours decreases the capacity and productivity. A break is a must. It may include taking a little walk around or having a short meal, having a chat with your friends or fellow workers or whatever is preferred.

A healthy diet is the key to a healthy mind. Eat healthy and nutritious food which not only fills your stomach but provides you with energy and increase your productivity. Green vegetables help improve focus and make the mind sharp. On the other hand, Fruits also provide essential vitamins to the body. Avoid caffeine to wake up in the morning. Apples are a better substitute for them as per a study.

Enjoy your holidays by planning hangouts with friends and family. This will refresh the mind and prepare for the upcoming busy schedules.

Listen to music to stress-out and involve yourself in social interactions at workplace. It is good to remain involved and make your presence felt among others’. Work continuously to improve yourself and achieve more with hard work and dedication.

It is often hard to manage work and family altogether but it is important to earn to run a family. There are many responsibilities on a working person besides issues arising during the tenure. Conflicts can occur often and sorting them out leaving the work can be frustrating for a busy person. However people should try keeping work and family apart and not letting small things affect their lifestyle. There are lot more of such things that may disturb the mind like road traffic and irregularity of an employee but in order to be successful, one should know how to tackle them on a daily basis. Patience and mindfulness are important characteristics of a leader or even a common worker nowadays.