A system is always seeking an equilibrium state, that is, where all the sub-systems are at the optimum level, in tune with and at rest with each other, and the desired output is being achieved. In an open system, this level of equilibrium is never static but is always dynamic. This is because the environment is never static, it is always changing and since the open system is all the time interacting with environment, what may have been an equilibrium level today will not be so tomorrow. It is the concern of the manager to seek this equilibrium level. An individual can make money from home while it is a responsibility of a manager to establish en equilibrium level which helps company to make internet profits.

One of the most important interactions between an organization and the environment is that of information. A manager who has information about the impending government legislation which will affect his organization can suitably modify his decision and avoid costly mistakes. Similarly, a manager who is well informed about his employees’ activities, expectations, opinions and grievances can take corrective action much before a crisis develops. We now turn our attention to this information flow and see how best it can be organized from the manager’s viewpoint.

A system can be closed or open. A closed system is self-sufficient and self-regulatory and has no interaction with the environment in which it exists. The feedback from the output triggers off a control mechanism which then regulated the input to bring back the output to the desired level. 

An open system is one which interacts with the environment in which it exists. All living, biological and social systems are examples of open systems. An organization is an open system and its sub-systems are its various divisions and departments. But at the same time, it is a sub-system of the environmental system within which it operates. The environment itself consists of social, economic, political and legal sub-systems. 

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1.      A number of parts of sub-systems which when put together in a specific manner form a whole system

2.      Boundaries within which it exists

3.      A specific goal or goals. This goal is expressed in terms of an output which is achieved by receiving input and processing it to form the output

4.      Close inter-relationship and inter-dependency amongst the various sub-systems

The inter-relationship of the sub-systems can be define in terms of: 

• The flows which exist among them, such as flow of information, money, materials, etc. The most important of these is the information flow which we shall discuss in the next section.
• The structure within which they related to each other. This structure may be physical, geographic or organizational and shall be dealt with in the section entitled ‘organizing’.
• The procedures by which the sub-systems relate to one another. By procedures we mean those planned activities which affect the performance of the entire system. In the context of an organization, this refers to planning and we shall discuss these under the heading ‘planning’
• The feedback and the control process and mechanisms which exist to ensure that the system is moving towards its desired objectives. In this unit, we have dealt with this in the section on controlling.

The situation may become so hot that the union forces the neighboring units also to join the strike. Thus when a manager takes a decision he never views its impact in isolation but tries to understand and anticipate its repercussions on the entire organization and the environment. The manager understands that his organization is a totality of many, inter-related, inter-dependent parts, and put together for achieving the organizational objectives. This is a nutshell is the very essence of the systems concept. In Term life insurance Company who is selling providing Instant Life Insurance Rates online, if their agents are working with good performance and targeted output, it is in favors of company to remove them from team. 

A system is defined as a sum total of individuals but inter-related parts (sub-systems), and is put together according to a specific scheme of plan, to achieve the pre-stated objectives.

·         to develop familiarity with various types of systems and processes involved in managing an organization

·         to understand the concept of a system and learn what the management information system is

·         to develop an understanding about the necessity of each managerial process and its logical sequencing in relation to the other processes.

·         to identify the major elements of each process

You know the various responsibilities and tasks expected of you as a manager. Now you have to get down to the nitty-gritty of actually performing all these tasks and discharging you responsibilities. For this you must understand the various systems and processes involved in managing. It does not matter whether you manage a private company, a public sector company, or even a non-commercial organization. The essentials of managing remain the same.

In this unit we began by introducing the systems concept and see how it can be applied to organizations. We then move to the all important concept of management information systems and examine it in detail. Later on we shall take up for discussion the management processes of planning, controlling, organizing, Motivating, leading and decision-making.

Your responsibilities a manager arise out of the various social interactions in which your firm is engaged in the pursuit of its business. You may be directly involved in these as in the case of interactions with employees, shareholders, customers, etc. where the interaction is based on a fair and obvious exchange of money, goods and services. The interaction can also be indirect as in case of interaction with society where both the firm and society impinge upon and affect each other in hundreds of different ways. For example a blinds company hires professional manager to bridge for selling of their roman shades and vertical blinds products with the customer. That manager is supposed to keep relation between their clients and company.

A firm which wants to maintain a positive image in the society must assume and discharge with utmost sincerity its social responsibility. Gone are the days when firms confined themselves solely to running their business without a thought for the society in which they existed. Today every firm, big or small, is expected to make its contribution towards a better quality of life for the entire society. Big companies are having their own philanthropy or trust to help needy people.

A truly responsible manager not only takes steps to prevent or minimize any negative impact of his firm’s operations on the society, but also takes the initiative in playing a more positive role towards society. Tata Steel’s attempts at educating people about leprosy through advertisements in newspapers and magazines is an example of the useful and constructive role firms can play in creating a more harmonious society. Many companies have founded educational institutions and free medical facilities for the benefit of society at large. Irrespective of the motivation behind such acts, the result is a tangible benefit for use by all society members.

In times of calamities such as earthquakes and floods, many companies finance teams of doctors and rescue workers for relief work. In our aim towards a peaceful and prosperous society we need business firms who are willing to step our of the narrow confines of their offices into the larger arena of society and take bold decisive actions to create a better quality of life for all of us

All this does not imply that there should be no factories, industry or no economic development. Certainly we need development, economic as well as ecological and environmental. The solution lies in matching economic development with development of the environment. When a firm puts up its factory it must also install a plant for treating and disposing of its industrial waste. When timber merchant cuts 15 trees he must plant at least that many new saplings. Offices who want to use roller shades and woven wood shades and other blinds it looks good if they plan that many new plants in their areas. Nature’s resources are limited. When we consume them faster than they can be replenished or provided anew, it is our responsibility to ensure that our children inherit a world which is healthy, green and safe for all living creatures. 

It is your responsibility as a manager to make sure that the operations of your firm do not in any way obstruct, disturb, disrupt or destroy physical structures (historical buildings, monuments), the flora and fauna, and animal and human life.

Firms behave irresponsibly when they pollute their physical environment by releasing harmful smoke and gas into the atmosphere, discharging toxic effluents into nearby rivers, lakes or seas, and dumping their waste matter in surrounding lands. All these have a detrimental effect on the environment and affect the health of the people by polluting the air they breathe, the water they drink and the food they eat. The Bhopal tragedy where poisonous gas leaking  from the factory of Union Carbide caused the death of thousands of innocent people is and example of the extent of damage which can be caused if proper precautions are not taken. 

The government is only now realizing the irreparable harm which firms, in pursuit of their business, are causing to the environment and the ecological balance. Vast forests have been indiscriminately felled by firms in their narrow, single-minded pursuit of profit. This has created and imbalance in the ecology of the area. Floods have become a recurrent feature in areas which had never been known to be flood-prone.

For Blinds Company who manufactures roller shades, there are specific rules and guidelines and norms from government than for term life insurance agents. The governments’ rules and regulations, norms are made for different types of business and different type of size of industry. It changes with the type, size and category change. 

There be as a responsible manager you must ensure that your company is operating well within the legal framework and is fulfilling all its obligations towards the government. Whether it is a matter of posting a copy of the company balance sheet to the Registrar of Companies or setting up a joint venture in a foreign country, the actions must not violate the laws and regulations. 

The second area of discharging your responsibility towards the government is in the matter of paying regularly and fairly all taxes, dues and duties. The recent raids on large industrial groups are an attempt on the part of the government to unearth unpaid taxes and undeclared assets. A manager who acts in a responsible manner will be ensuring that his firm never has to face such a situation. The manager must strive to make firm a model corporate citizen.

Besides providing the correct information you should attempt to involve the union in the process of managing the firm. You can do this by inviting representatives of the union to sit on the management board. This is known as participative management. The chairman of Japan’s Matsushita Electric Company often makes this little speech to his workers about participative management: 

“Don’t think I run this company. Each of you has a part to play in its management. We need the ideas, skill and knowledge of everyone to make a reservoir of wisdom for more efficient operation, better product and service quality, and effective management. We have a good future if we can work that way.” 

The basic requirement for encouraging participative management is the manager’s positive attitude and creation of an atmosphere which encourages free and frank exchange of views among employees and management.

A responsible manager always advises their union member to go with term life insurance. Only a relationship based on mutual trust and cooperation will best serve the interests of the firm and the union. Window blinds and Roller Shades companies who are having big team size need to have good and smooth relation between manager and union.

The union represents the collective strength of all the individual workers. In dealing with the union the manager must recognize and acknowledge the bargaining power of the union arising out of its collective strength. The union will always bargain with you for the maximum benefit. As a manager you should not try to block this bargaining process but aid it by providing the union with the correct facts and figures about costs and profits and thus aim for a realistic, workable agreement which suits both the parties.

A firm fulfils a need or needs of the society. It exists within the society and has a two-way interaction with it. It seeks inputs in the form of money, men, materials, machines, technology from the society and processes then to produce goods and services for consumption by the society.

Still today already we have discussed on different types of marketing relation with various society segments like responsibility towards customer, responsibility towards shareholders, responsibility towards employees, responsibility towards suppliers, responsibility towards distributors and retailers, responsibility towards industry and competitions. We will talk on other society segments like responsibility towards union, responsibility towards government, responsibility towards society etc…. in next posts.

As a manager it is your responsibility to register your firm as a member of your industry association and comply with all its rules and regulations. The information which you provide to your association must be correct so that the association can improved technology you may consider sharing it with other fellow firms. 

All industry associations are voluntary bodies formed with the idea of providing support to individual firms within the industry. The onus of successfully managing the association is on all managers of individual firm members. You must be always willing to step forward and take an active responsibility in the association. It may impinge on your already tight schedule but it is good to remember that the interests of your firm are best served when the interests of the industry as a whole are served. 

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The distributors and retailers who sell your products are in it for business and they must earn a fair return. Apart from the fixed percentage which you provide to your dealers, target based incentives, commissions and rewards will motivate your dealers to push your products harder. Providing support to the dealers by way of extending credit, sharing promotion cost, after sales service and help for decorating the showroom also form part of your responsibility. You must also nurture and maintain cordial relationship with all your dealers. Many companies hold regular dealer meets in an attempt to build up dealer relations for better corporate gains.

The products that you supply to the distributor must be checked for quality to ensure that second grade or inferior quality goods are not shipped. Outer packaging of the product should protect it from damage in transit, because the dealer will return all spoilt and damaged stock which will eventually reflect negatively in your profits. A company manufacturing and marketing plastic bottles switched over from 5-ply to 7-ply cardboard carton when it started receiving complaints that the bottles were being dented and crushed out of shape in transit. 

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By doing so the firm is not only helping the bank but also helping itself because the health of the bank will determine the health of the firm and vice versa. An added dimension of responsibility towards the banks is that the manger must provide accurate and complete information about the various facets of its business when applying for financial assistance. This will help the bank in assessing the risk and return potential of your project and determine the amount of loan it can sanction. 

Advertising agencies supply creative inputs used in promoting your company’s products. Since their services are not of a very tangible nature, most firms have the tendency to postpone or delay making their payment. As a responsible manager you must check against this tendency. Advertising agencies after all, run a business, like any other, and are your suppliers, and a payment delay from your end puts undue pressure on them and affects the efficiency of their operations.

Escorts Limited and Hero Cycles are examples of how firms can play a responsible role in nurturing the growth of suppliers. As these firms have grown form success to success so have their suppliers. A full-fledged bicycle ancillary industry has been established in and around Ludhiana in response to the needs of Hero Cycles and other cycle manufactures. In some cases firms may even provide the seed capital and other necessary infrastructural support to an individual to start and ancillary industry. There are numerous examples where these small ancillary industries have grown to be as successful and large as the firms to which they were originally supplying.

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Today we continue our discussion on Responsibility towards employees. The thoughts of J.R.D. Tata, Chairman of Tata Steel, expressed in 1943 in a proposal for the creation of a personal Department in the company are noteworthy. 

 “What are the main causes of our difficulties with our workmen? In many respects we have treated our employees exceptionally well. Our rates of pay and bonuses; our hours of work and conditions of service; the accommodation, amenities and medical care we have provided for them and their families, etc., exceeded what any other company in India had done for its employees. Normally, therefore, it would be reasonable to expect that our employees would be appreciative of the liberal treatment and generous term of employment they get at Jamshedpur.  If, instead they are frequently discontented and mistrustful, and hostile towards us, I think we must assume that the fault lies with us and not win with them. It is, therefore, up to us to find out where we have been at fault and them formulate the necessary corrective.” 

Your responsibility as a manager is also to ensure that all dealings with the employees are fair. Whether it is determining the profit linked bonus that is being calculated or the provident fund of a retired employee which has to be paid, you must ensure that the employees are not cheated, harassed or humiliated. 

The fact that we still have child labor, bonded labor, workers suffering from debilitating diseases because of unhealthy, unsafe working environments speaks volumes for our collective failure to discharge managerial responsibility towards our employees. 

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Speaking about the importance of human level personal contact with employees J.R.D. Tata laments:         

“One of the inherent drawbacks of modern industry, with its large and concentrated labor forces, is the difficulty of maintaining personal touch between management and employees. As a result, many petty grievances, negligible individually but substantial in the aggregate, which might have been eliminated by a friendly word or timely action, are allowed to build up a sense of discontent and frustration among the workers.”

Your employees are your must important resource. Their hard work, ingenuity, loyalty and dedication are critical contributions to the success of your firm. In return, you have to ensure that you are giving them a fair deal in term of wages and salaries, and compliance with the statutory obligation of provident fund, gratuity, insurance, bounce, etc. The wages and salaries which you give must, of course, be in accordance with other firms within your industry. Result or productivity linked bonus and incentives are a way to ensure that your employees can share in the growth and prosperity of the firm. 

Apart firm wages, provision of a safe, healthy environment which is conductive to work is your responsibility. These must be proper and adequate facilities such as canteen bathrooms, first-aid room, etc. The extent and importance of these facilities will vary from one organization to another. In an administrative office with 30 employees; you do not require a full-fledge first-aid room. A small first-aid box with minimum accessories will suffice. In contrast, in a factory where the incidence of accidents is bound to be higher, a proper first-aid or emergency room with a doctor is an essential requirement. Realizing the importance of a comfortable working environment, many progressive companies have canteens which provide transportation for employees at their own cost.

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By virtue of the capital invested in your firm, shareholders are owners of your firm. As a manager you have to keep them regularly informed about all important decisions, activities and results. The balance-sheet and the annual general meeting are the usual yearly forums for such information sharing. You have to ensure that the information provided in reports and balance-sheet is correct and authentic, and dose not in any way mislead the shareholders. During the annual general meeting or any other such meeting with shareholders you must encourage them to ask questions about working of the firm and also provide ideas for improvement, and not threaten or intimidate them in any manner.

Except in the case of a proprietorship firm where the capital is fully contributed by the proprietor, in all other companies, capital is collected from a variety of sources. The sources may be friends and relatives of the owners, financial institution and, in case of public limited companies, individual members of the public. All those people who contribute capital to firm are known as its shareholders.

The prime responsibility of the manager is to ensure the security of the shareholders’ capital. The manager must ensure that the firm dose not become bankrupt or it is faced with a situation where the shareholders’ capital is endangered. In other words, the manager must, at least, ensure the survival of the firm.  

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Products manufactured by reputed companies carry stickers saying ‘checked for quality control’,’tested’, ‘O.K.’. Over a period of time the customer starts associating certain level or connotation of quality with particular companies and their brand names. If, however, your products do not enjoy this kind of quality association, you can have the quality ascertained by government bodies such as the Indian Standards Institution which puts its ISI mark of approval on your product after testing for adherence to minimum quality standards. Getting such certifications will go a long way in building the customer’s confidence in your products. 

Having ensured the desired quality of your product, and foxed a reasonable price for it, your next responsibility is to ensure that your product is easily and conveniently available to your customers. Unless you happen to be marketing a product in which your company enjoys a monopoly and no substitute is easily available, persistent non-availability of your product will lead your customers to switch over to the best available substitute.

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