CRAFTSMANSHIP AND ORGANISATION

CRAFTMANSHIP

In this class Professor Dr. Mandi taught us about importance of craftsmanship and organisation. A craftsman is one who makes his own articles with his manual skills. A tailor, cobbler are the example of craftsmanship. Our aim should be for excellence.

Parameter	Craftsmanship	Organisation
Number of Employee	1	> 1
Work	Non Parallel	Parallel
Kind Of Work	Generic	Specialization leads to greater results
Nature Of Work	Satisfaction	Alienation
Control	Worker	Non Worker
Skilled	Skill	De-skilled
Definition Of Role	No role defined	Roles are exactly defined for individuals. Roles are tied to particular worker.

                                          OBJECTIVES OF MANAGEMENT

 He taught us that how the three E’s are related to each other. Concept of Excellence, Efficiency & Effectiveness:

Excellence = Effectiveness x efficiency

Efficiency is the ability to do things right and effectiveness is doing thing right or we can say choosing the right goals or targets.

To achieve excellence I should be effective as well as efficient. So, for excellence both efficiency and effectiveness are required but if I am not working effectively then however efficient I may be I will not be able to get the desired goal or output. For example- As a manager if I am producing petrol based Cars when the demand in the market is of Diesel car then however efficiently I am making the petrol cars I will not get the desired output from the market.

Be effective: do the right things; focus on end/ result to be achieved.

Be efficient: do the things the right way. Focus on means. Faultless and Speedy use of the means is the measure of efficiency.

Efficiency, like rules and procedures, is relevant only to facilitate effectiveness. It is more important to do the right thing than to do things right.

And Excellence is the combination of both Efficiency and Effectiveness.

So in the words of RANCHO (3 Idiots), one should always run for EXCELLENCE.

Goal Setting: Tower Building

Tower Building Exercise: Two important pillar of an organisation are Employees and Managers. Goal setting by the managers has great impact on the performance of employees and in return on the financial condition of the company. Effective goal setting done by the managers, taking into consideration the needs of the employees, will go a long way in maintaining a good bonding of the employees with their company. It is rightly said that “Most of the employees don’t leave a company but they leave their managers”. So if the goals set by the manager are good, then employee will work to his strength.

 

Tower building exercise was to demonstrate the importance of goal setting in an organisation. Dr. Mandi gave some small cubes and asked us to come forward for the exercise......wait but you have to pay for to be the performer. So one of my friends dared and he extended the bid to 500 which started from 100.

This exercise involved piling up maximum number small cubes one over the other without collapsing the structure. It had to be done by a single person. All the students were asked to estimate the how high the tower can be built. Students came with varied number of estimates ranging from 10 to 30. The tower height achieved was 16. Then the next task was to redo the same project but this time it had to be done blindfolded. Other 7 guys were there to help him, but condition was that they can’t touch him and not even cubes. The students were asked again to estimate the maximum height the tower could achieve. In the end he was able to make only 7 this time.

Conclusions were noted as follows:

1. More than 90% of the students lowered their targets since they thought that the blind folded person will not be able to build a tower higher than the one initially built. In an organization, such employees are considered as “Back Folders” since usually, targets should never be revised after having realized your potential and working effectively towards it. The more we gain knowledge and skills working in the organization, goals should be revised in an upward direction.
2. Some students increased their target this time since they realized their true potential after having performed the exercise at least once. Such minds are called the “Progressive Minds”. Speaking from an organization perspective, it is important for it to have as many "Progressive Minds" as possible.  Having worked in Tech Mahindra, I am aware about how the organization flourished during tough times. It was only possible because of the progressive mind of our Leaders and they made the employees follow the same path.

Being a future manager, I learnt how important it is to set the goals properly for the well-being of the employees and the organization and help the company achieve outstanding performance. Employees should be evaluated on the basis of their skills and their participation in helping the organization achieve its objectives.

So if we keep our goals high for ourselves and though we couldn't meet them we would be definitely landing in a place which will be far better than what we are at the current position :)

Right Approach of Management

Concept of Theory X and Theory Y

In Theory X and Theory Y, There are two types of workers i.e. lazy and efficient. 

Theory X says that worker hate work and they should be forced to work. While Theory Y says that worker like work and they can do work effectively. Further these theories demonstrate that how a manager should manage different workers. Four situations arise from this concept.

Condition 1: When the employees are efficient but the manager thinks they are lazy.

Condition 2: When the employees are efficient and the manager thinks they are efficient.

Condition 3: When the employees are lazy and the manager thinks they are lazy.

Condition 4: When the employees are lazy but the manager thinks they are efficient.

Condition 1: This is the worst case scenario where in an employee is hard working and dedicated towards the organization but the management believes he is lazy and avoids work. As a result the employee morale may go down and he may even leave the organization.

For example: When I was working, my team mates were had a negative impression about manager that he will not support us. So they never went to him even in hard times. So they always used to hide away from manager.

Condition 2: This is an ideal situation where in the employees are hard working and the manger also knows that and supports them.

For example: In my organization whenever a team was to be formed the employee who were good performers were desired by everybody in their team.

Condition 3: This is a detrimental situation where in the employee is lazy and the management tries to supervise and implement control at each and every level to keep them working. Management ties hard to make them work.  

For example: In my organization, there was a different team who were on contract basis. So to get work out of them was a bit difficult task. I was given a task to supervise on them weather they are installing software in proper time or not. They gave me assurances but after a couple of days it was realized he was taking unusually longer time on simple activities and putting blame on non-availability of certain things from our side, so my manager asked me to stand by him and see to it that whatever he requires is provided to him immediately. Thus for the next 3-4 days I did nothing but stand by him thus affecting productivity at some other areas I was looking after.

Condition 4: This is an approach much sought after as it has been shown that even if an employee who looks to avoid work is supported and encouraged by management sooner or later he will get disciplined and contribute productively towards the organization.

In my organization we had an employee who was lethargic and used to avoid work but his manager never reprimanded him instead he always had great time with him. Employee made very good relation with manager, so he didn’t had that much fear. Manager also distributed some of his responsibilities among other employees thus after some time on seeing his colleagues having to do extra work while he having a comfortable time, he himself went to the manager and asked him that he can handle more work.

Theory X and Theory Y are of great relevance to the challenges of the 21st century. 

“For a good manager, his role should be about unleashing what people already have inside them that are maybe suppressed in most work environments.”