RESPONSIBILITY OF A PROFESSIONAL MANAGER

As a part of our talk on role of manager we have already talked on so many important factors and role. Those are belonging to society segment like professional management, manager role, quality management, product management etc… Today we are going to talk on another factor which is also play a important role between the company and consumer and that is the professional manager. 

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.

RESPONSIBILITY TOWARDS SOCIETY-1

The pattern and extent of rainfall is changing, leading to frequent droughts in widespread areas. Rare species of animals, birds and plants have become extinct in the wake of the destruction of their natural habitat. People are deprived of their traditional means of livelihood and the rich cultural heritage is destroyed for ever.

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.

RESPONSIBILITY TOWARDS SOCIETY

Apart form the specific society segments with whom the firm interacts in the course of conducting its business, the manager also has responsibility towards his surroundings and the people living in the vicinity of his factory and office. 

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.

RESPONSIBILITY TOWARDS UNION-1

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. 

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.

RESPONSIBILITY TOWARDS UNION

Your first responsibility towards your employees’ union is to acknowledge it as a friend rather than as a foe of the firm. Most problems with unions arise because of the assumption of the managers that unions have no constructive contribution to make but are interested only in playing a negative role. As a responsible manager you must understand and appreciate the fact that the management and union have a great degree of mutual dependence and the union cannot further its interests at the cost of the firm’s interests and vice versa.  

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.

RESPONSIBILITY TOWARDS INDUSTRY AND COMPETITION-2

Today we continue our discussion on Responsibility towards Industry and Competition. Healthy competition encourages firms to improve their performance and nurtures progress and it is the responsibility of each firm to ensure that the competition it indulges in is fair and ethical. Resorting to unfair practices, trying to push out other firms on the basis of political influence or financial strength may yield some short-term gains but will eventually tarnish the image of the entire industry. All you actions must be guided by concern for the stability and prosperity of the industry.

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.

RESPONSIBILITY TOWARDS INDUSTRY AND COMPETITION-1

Other firms within the industry are your competitors in the market place but are your associates when you have to lobby for or represent and an industry and not as individual firms. Most industries have their own associations at the local, regional, national and international level. The objectives of organizing such bodies are to protect and promote the interests of the industry, seek concessions from government and represent against any discrimination, and provide a forum for sharing and disseminating information on the latest technological and market trends. 

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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RESPONSIBILITY TOWARDS DISTRUBUTORS AND RETAILERS-2

Today we continue our talk on responsibility towards distributor ands retailers. The company had to absorb the increased cost of the heavier carton, but it was more than compensated by the fact that return of stock sharply declined and the distributors had no more cause for complaints. A television marketing company provides service engineers to all its outstation distributors for testing each TV before it is dispatched onwards for dale. This adds an extra cost but ensures that the distributors and retailers receive sets which are trouble-free. 

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.

RESPONSIBILITY TOWARDS SUPPLIERS-2

Today we continue our talk on responsibility towards suppliers. The manager’s responsibility towards suppliers of funds, i.e. banks and other financial institutions is that not only he has to make the interest payments, but make the repayment on time as per the agreed repayment schedules.  

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.

RESPONSIBILITY TOWARDS SUPPLIERS-1

Responsibility towards your suppliers emanates from the fact that their survival and growth (partly or wholly) is dependent upon your survival and growth. Suppliers provide you the raw materials, components and parts necessary for the production of your products. You are dependent upon your suppliers for regular, timely supplies of the specified quality at the agreed price. The suppliers in turn depend on you for providing correct design specification, adequate time for production, fixation of a fair price and prompt and timely payments. This two-way relationship works best when it is based on the realization of mutual dependence and one party does not try to pressurize the other for its own benefit.

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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RESPONSIBILITY TOWARDS EMPLOYEES-2

Today we continue our discussion on responsibility towards employees. Instrumentation Limited, Tata Iron Steel Company and Hindustan Machine Tools have developed beautiful townships in Kota, Jamshedpur and Bangalore respectively with the best possible facilities and amenities for the benefit of their employees. Where the company is situated in a remote, undeveloped area, provision of housing and other facilities is necessary to attract and retain the required work-force. But in many other cases, development of such amenities is a reflection of the growing realization by companies that employees are not simply another resource for production, but are beings with emotions, desires, aspirations and have a life outside the factory too. Only a happy, satisfied human being can be a productive worker. Many firms extend their mantle of responsibility to include the employees’ families too. They contribute towards education and marriage of their employees’ children. 

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.”

RESPONSIBILOITY TOWARDS SHAREHOLDERS-1

Stockholders are granted special privileges depending on the class of stock, including the right to vote (usually one vote per share owned, but sometimes this is not the case) on matters such as elections to the board of directors, the right to propose shareholder resolutions, the right to share in distributions of the company’s income, the right to purchase new shares issued by the company, and the right to a company’s assets during a liquidation of the company.

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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RESPONSIBILITY TOWARDS CUSTOMERS – 2

It is the responsibility of the manager to provide the right match between quality and price. This relationship of quality and price is very important. Japan’s economic recovery and rise to the position of world’s number one position in electronics and automobiles is the result of its winning combination of best quality which competitors can’t match and at process which competitors  can’t match and at process which competitors can’t beat. 

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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COPING WITH INCREASING LEVELS OF ASPIRATION

Improvement in information technology is resulting in an increasing trend towards democratization of the society. People in one part of the world know more about peoples and events in other parts of the world. Similarly, people belonging to one socio-economic segment of society know more than ever before the life styles of people in higher socio-economic segments. Exposed to a better quality of life and a better life style, people from the lower economic segments, especially the younger people, aspire to the same kind of life style.

 

A manager must bear this fact in mind while dealing with blue-collar workers because there is bound to be a vast gap between their levels of aspiration and reality. If the manager is ignorant and insensitive to this gap, the workers’ resentment and frustration is bound to spoil over in ways which can prove disruptive and destructive to the firm’s working.

 

You, as the manager, must understand the nature of aspiration of your workers and try to fulfil them, as far as possible, within the framework of the company and the worker’s job. Giving more autonomy, responsibility, money, status and enhancing the worker’s sense of self-esteem through participation in management decisions can channelise his latent or potential resentment towards more productive ends.