Principles of Management

Management is an art that keeps the project, its resources, budget, timeline and other project components in sync with the expected or planned values. An effective management is the cornerstone of the project that garners its success. That is why every company seeks skilled managers to shoot up their revenues. It is the task of a manager to employ his skills and knowledge in effectively managing the project. However, there are certain management principles that need to be followed by a manager to ensure proper management. A principle is considered as a fundamental truth supported by logic that ascertains cause and effect relationship among different variables in a particular situation. Henry Fayol focused on 14 principles which every management must follow. These principles offer guidelines to the managers that facilitate sound decision making. These are as follows:
Authority and Responsibility:
Authority and responsibility must go hand in hand. If an individual is given the authority to perform the assigned task, he must have the responsibility to get the work done and vice-versa. The manager is ineffective if he has responsibility but no authority while he may become irresponsible if he has authority without responsibility.

Remuneration:
If the remuneration paid is reasonable, rewarding or fair, then the workers may get motivated to perform more productively for the organization by putting their maximum efforts.
Division of Work:
Proper division of work is very necessary for every organization. The work must be divided into compact jobs and the jobs must be allocated to those persons only who best fit in it leading to proper utilization of natural resources and enhanced efficiency of work.
Equity:
Every employee must be treated with equality and management should not go for nepotism or favoritism because it may affect an employee’s confidence and morale.
Discipline:
Every organization needs to maintain discipline as it leads to the establishment of clear rules among the employees and proper supervision of all the levels that facilitate smooth run.
Centralization:
Every organization must have a proper proportion of centralization and decentralization. If there is immense centralization in an organization, the subordinate’s role will be diminished in decision-making and vice-versa.
Unity of Command:
An employee must be accountable to one superior only. Dual command, division in loyalty or duplication of work must not occur as it may lead to delay, chaos, confusion or irresponsibility.
Scalar Chain:
There must be a chain of superiors ranging from top to bottom level leading to a proper flow of command and communication. It also leads to gang plank (flow of communication between two individuals of the same level).
Unity of Direction:
A group having the same objective must be governed by one superior with one plan of action. Without unity of direction, action and efforts towards the goal will be useless.
Stability of Tenure:
Every employee takes time to fit into some job so the period of the job must be fixed. The stability of tenure will help to increase confidence and loyalty from employee’s side towards the position he stands in.
Initiative:
Every employee must be encouraged to take initiative in the organization’s processes. It leads to the enhancement of their confidence and allows them to be an asset to the firm.
Subordination of individual interest to general interest:
To achieve the organization’s goals, organization’s interest must be above the employee’s personal interests.
Esprit De Corps:
Esprit De Corps, Unity of Strength, or team spirit must be fostered. It motivates the workers to work harder.
Order:
There must be the ‘rule of right man in the right place’ leading to the smooth functioning of the organization with no chaos.

Here at MIT School of Distance Education, we realize the value of these principles and we make sure that every future manager is well-accustomed to these principles. Our PGDM, PGDBA, courses and even the PGCM courses include exclusive and lucid lessons on these principles.

4Ps of Marketing and their significance

Marketing is one of the core components of an organization that is a major revenue driver. An effective marketing refers to selling the right thing at the right time and place to the right person. Marketing is all about meticulous planning and perfect execution. The elements whose presence is indispensable in the marketing plans are the product which is to be sold; the priceat which the product is to be sold; the channel of distribution of the product and the techniques of promoting the product to be sold.

The 4P’s, namely, product, price, place and promotion together form a perfect marketing mix and these are interrelated to one another. Any change in one P affects another. Here’s a look at 4 Ps and their

1.  Product Concept

The product concept is a combination of planning, producing and developing the product or service to satisfy the ultimate need or want of the customer. It includes both tangible and intangible elements:

• Product range
• Warranty against defects
• Size and design of the product
• Branding
• Quality
• Packaging and Labelling
• After sale services

2. Price Concept

Price concept is a very important element of the marketing mix as it relates to the policy, price and strategies associated with the product. It is dependent on the standard of living and the power of purchasing of the customer. The price of the product is determined by:

• Firm’s Objective
• Cost of Production
• The demand of the customer
• Competition

3. Place Concept

It is common for the product to be transported from the producer to the customer. Therefore, place concept contains two things- physical distribution and the channel of distribution.

Physical distribution is associated with interrelated activities like storage, control and movement of unfinished or finished goods for their timely availability at the required place.

Channel of Distribution is the path through which the goods will be transferred from the place of production to its consumption.

4. Promotion Concept

It involves informing the consumer about the product and influencing him/her to purchase the product. The flow of communication can be both personal and impersonal.

For the most effective promotion of products, one must keep in mind that a number of promotional activities must be used simultaneously so that if one is ineffective, the other can take its place. As the business environment is dynamic, so should be the techniques. Therefore, you need to choose them wisely.

The major elements of promotion are:

• Advertising
• Publicity
• Sales Promotion
• Personal Selling

Significance of 4Ps of Marketing

• Once the needs and desires of the customer are verified, the 4Ps together helps the firm in shooting up its revenues.
• As the business environment changes, so do the needs of the customer. The 4Ps forms a balance between the firm and the market.
• Since the 4Ps are interrelated to one another, an integrated approach towards marketing is formed.
• 4Ps together lead to customer-oriented marketing as a link is formed between the firm and customer.

Since a marketing strategy is incomplete without an even mix of 4Ps, we emphasize on these concepts. The candidates who pursue PGDM or PGDBA in Marketing Management from MITSDE are accustomed to these concepts so that they turn out to be proficient marketing managers.

Important aspects of Project Management

A career in project management is one of the most sought-after careers in the present scenario as it is a lucrative field that is full of opportunities. Companies operating in diverse niches look for Project Managers for seamless execution of every single project. So, most of the candidates are in the race to become Project Managers. However, people have a lot of misconceptions about project management. It is believed that anyone who can prepare Microsoft projects is capable of becoming a project manager. Actually, it is a lot more than that. One must be able to plan, execute, control, organize, monitor and prepare reports in order to manage the projects efficaciously. Apart from this, a strategic approach, field-specific knowledge, leadership traits and the ability to handle problematic situations are the virtues that make up an ideal project manager. Our PGDM in Project Management instills all these managerial skills.

Our course accustoms the candidates to various aspects of Project Management which are as follows:

1.  Planning the project

Planning is the most important step in any project. Planning the project refers to the creation of project blueprint and formulation of the goals of the project and approaches to be followed.

2.  Scope of the project
The scope of the project indicates the significance of the projects and the activities that need to be undertaken during the course of the project. The process of determining what is necessary and what is not is quite a regular process. A clear understanding of project goals avoids confusions and allows the team to focus on the main things.

3. Time management
Every activity needs to be completed within the given time period. Exceeding the time limit will never benefit the customer and it leads to wasting your time as well. Thus, the timeline should be allotted to every single task and it must be ensured that deadlines are respected.

4.  Resources required
The project manager must keep a good synchronization with the available resources as well as stock them as soon as their stocks are low. Optimum utilization must also be done in order to avoid facing their shortage. The manager must even know the time period for which the resources will last in order to ensure effective management.

5. Effective Communication
Communication has a huge role to play in project management. It is a two-way process and therefore requires the presence of both speaker and listener. If the speaker wishes to convey any information to the listener, he must speak to the point and clear. Proper communication is a must to obtain successful results.

6. Quality of the project
Quality plays a crucial aspect in the successful completion of the project. The customers/clients would never compromise on the quality of the project and they’ll always demand high-quality. Furthermore, in today’s era, nobody has the time to sit and read the whole data. If you can convey the necessary information by making use of fewer words, then people will automatically start paying heed to your work.

7. Cost
Every project must be cost effective. Every activity requires investment, but a project will gain profit only when it is ensured that expenses are minimal. Furthermore, if you are successful in providing good services within a minimum budget, then the customers will always come to you. Crossing the limit of the budget won’t be good for both the parties.

8. Risks
The risk factor is very common in every project. So, good management skills are required to deal with such unwanted risks. The project manager must be skilled in dealing with different adverse situations or risks that might occur while working on any project.

We at MITSDE, teach the candidates to manage each aspect of the project with our unique distance education course in project management so that they end up being successful project managers.

Why is Retail Management important?

Retail Management is an art that includes the formulation of apposite strategies to bring customers into the store and to make buying as well as selling of products a seamless process. All the procedures which facilitate the clients or customers to easily buy different products from retail stores come under the category of Retail Management. It is significant for every retail firm as it makes shopping a hassle-free process for both the customers and the sellers. Furthermore, it garners repeat business for the retail firm.

Good Retail Management attracts the customers, gratifies them, leads to repeat business and is the best form of indirect promotions as happy customers will always recommend the store to their friends/relatives. However, the customers can never feel happy about their purchase if their experience at that particular store wasn’t worthy of it. Especially the youth of today, they just don’t like the idea of being kept waiting. Thus, everything at the retail store must be well managed and properly organized in order to lure the customers to visit the store again.

Advantages of Good Retail Management

1.  Customer satisfaction

The biggest advantage of retail management is customer satisfaction. Efficacious planning and management prevent the situation where the customers need to be kept waiting. Even if there are a lot of people in the store, as in case of festivities, managing the orders is the key to success. It is the task of retail manager to ensure that the customer executives assist the customers and attend everyone properly.

2. Hassle-free shopping

It helps the customers to find all the products easily in the store. All the products are arranged properly by categorizing them according to their price, quantity, brand etc, so the customers can easily find the desired products in no time. The retailers won’t even need to get up and fetch the product for their customers. Just the way a customer feels satisfied after a good shopping experience, it also helps in saving the retailer’s time.

3. Prevents unnecessary chaos and shoplifting activities

Proper Retail Management prevents a lot of unnecessary crowd and chaos in the shop. The customers enter, pick up their favorite products, pay the bills and leave with a smile. That’s an example of effective retail management. This kind of management also keeps a check on the shoplifters.

4.  Proper accounting

When the retailer maintains a database where everything from all that was brought into the shop for sale to all that was sold is mentioned, it makes the daily calculations and accounting less complicated and accurate.

5.  Well-organized store and inventory management

In case of proper retail management, various shelves on which the different categories of the products are placed, are well labeled. This allows the buyers to locate the products all by themselves. Furthermore, it ensures that the shop is well stocked. The customers should never be told that the particular product is out of stock at any point of time as that allows them to go to other stores.

Retail Management is imperative in the modern context as there is stiff competition in the retail sector. Thus, it becomes essential for all the retail stores to hire Retail Managers who can apply their skills and take the businesses towards success.  In such a scenario, a course in Retail Management can prepare you to shine in this ever-rising sector. MIT School of Distance Education offers 18-months PGDM in Retail Management that sharpens the candidate’s skills in marketing, strategy planning, brand management, supply chain and other aspects related to retail. Our distance learning course gives you a competitive edge that facilitates you to make your spot in top companies.

5 reasons HR management is imperative for every organization

The manpower is the biggest asset of any organization and its efficacious management acts as the cornerstone behind the success of the business. A Human Resource Manager has a key role to play in almost every sector of an organization. It is the work of an HR Manager to hire the right candidates, train them, address their problems and encourage them persistently to work hard for the success of the company. Effective HR management boosts employee retention rate thereby reducing the employee attrition rate. All these factors contribute to the growth of the organization in the long run.

There are various other reasons why Human Resource Management is imperative for every organization. The top 5 reasons are listed below:

1. Formulation of right strategies

A perfectly brainstormed and meticulously implemented business plan ensures the success of the organization, and an HR manager is the one who acts as the strategy maker.  HR managers possess a high level of knowledge and they are expected to use this knowledge to ensure the achievement of organizational goals with the optimum use of manpower. They are expected to formulate result-driven strategies that facilitate the achievement of the desired goals.  They participate in the various decision-making process including recruitment, training & development, outsourcing, as well as the formulation of collaboration strategies according to the demands of the business.

2. Managing Safety and Risk

Why do employees get injured while working? Is it their fault or the company’s fault? Well, every task involves certain risks but it is the duty of an HR manager to create a safe working ambiance that guarantees organizational safety. If there is complicated work environment with lack of sanitation and safety, then employees don’t feel secure to work at that place. It is, therefore, the work of the HR manager to manage the working conditions of the company and keep the employees motivated. The employees should also be trained to properly handle dangerous machines or equipment, which is done by the HR managers.

3.  Employees Training and Development

It is quite obvious that a sound employer-employee relationship is a must to render organizational success. It is the task of HR managers to train the employees thereby making them confident enough to fulfill their duties. The HR managers train the employees and develop their skills so as to make them capable to satisfy organization’s needs and become the asset for the company. An HR manager addresses the queries of the employees and acts as their counselor. This fosters the employer-employee relationship.

4. Employee Satisfaction

Every organization is successful if the employees are working to their optimum productive level. It is a common management ideology that ‘happy workers are more productive’.  Well, it is the role of HR managers to satisfy, motivate, and encourage the employees. They build a sound employee-employer bond that keeps the employees satisfied.

5. Hiring Processes

An HR manager’s key job is to hire the best candidates for each position. The HR managers first research and analyze the number of vacancies in an organization and the skill required to fill each position. They then interview the candidates and make decisions regarding the right candidates. These right candidates, later on, play vital roles in shaping the success of the organization.

Thus, HR management is the core of any organization. That is why an HR manager is considered as a key person in any organization and they are paid a lucrative salary in return. Hence, HR Management has become a sought-after course. We at MITSDE, offer 18 months PGDM and 24 months PGDBA in HR Management. Our distance learning course is better than an MBA as it is flexible, affordable and an industry-specific course that is updated regularly according to the ongoing trends. So, pursue our HR management course and land in a career of your dream.