International Business

Archive for the ‘management’ Category

It has been stated oft that the key to having strong institutions, programs and systems is to have equally strong structures. However, irrespective of how strong the structures are, they need equally strong leadership to achieve the kind of results expected of them. This is what has been achieved by the management team behind the successful running of financial asset management systems collections. It is inconceivable where these systems would have been had the management team operating them been weak in any way.

It is interesting to note that the management teams that have been in charge of financial asset management systems collections over the years have modelled their kind of leadership around experience, customer oriented and ethical practices. The result has been the emergence of a workforce and systems that have driven financial asset management systems collections into periods of sustained growth. The continued growth has led to the expansion and spreading of this company throughout different states.

Financial asset management systems collections have also been employing personnel into its management team who have clocked several years in the industry. They realize that such successful people tend to bring with them the experience required to make financial asset management systems collections reach even higher and greater heights than the current levels. Not only that but the people employed as part of financial asset management systems collections are those who have demonstrated a willingness and ability to put clients’ needs and aspirations before theirs.

Some of the management team members that have served financial asset management systems collections have also had close business interactions with Fortune 100 clients. The clients listed as falling within the category of Fortune 100 are those with a nationwide if not international appeal with stringent needs and demands. The ability of these people to work with such clients has lifted the profile of these management team members such that by the time they come to be part of financial asset management systems collections, they have attained wide array of experience.

Such management team members have also proven to be quite effective in combining professional collection services with effective customer care. At times, getting the right kind of balance between quality service provision and the relevant customer is a difficult proposition for most people. However, this is not the case with financial asset management systems collections management team members who know how to offer strong, reliable and effective leadership when required to do so.

Stakeholders are those groups of people or institutions that have a stake in your company (where you are not always aware of). There are many general theories about stakeholder management and methods to implement. When dealing with change, a simple stakeholder “view” could help you in controlling the change.

Such a view will look like a spider. It shows the contexts of your organization (the core) and the legs of the spider are pointing to the stakeholders. In the view below, the spider lost one leg:

Clients (Business Clients or Consumers) Competitors Employees (Management) Third parties (Suppliers and Business partners) Capital suppliers, Investors, Shareholders Government (local, national, International) Communities (environmental, professionals)

The Employee-category is different in the sense that this relation is internal, where the others communicate with the world outside.

For planning a change, it is important to know what you must do regarding these relations. You could see this as a complicated version of Client Relationship Management, where different clients groups have different roles. Each relation must be managed in a different way.

Managing this stakeholder context is managing the important network your company ‘got’ entangled in during its business cycle. This context provides valuable information that supports the change management process.

The stakeholder view can be used for both small businesses as for large caps. To manage each relation you must be well prepared, but you do not have to know everything in advance. In a way you need to manage expectations. You also need to listen very well to the stake that is in the game. You cannot negotiate with relations if you do not know how you value the relation.

To give one example:

A bank is changing its strategy. Many of the local branches will be closed due to the fact that internet is a growing channel. Yet there are a group (community) of elderly people than – although not belonging to the main focus group (80%) will resist in this new approach.

If you have not included them in the stakeholders view, you will have to do a lot of rework once you think you go live. They, representing maybe only less than 20%, will give you a lot of exceptions to handle.

Management might not on the face of it appear to be that difficult compared to the technical aspects of the role. Yet succeeding as a manager is as much about who you are and how you behave as it is about what you do. So what are some of the key management qualities?

Quality 1: Honesty

You will have to deal with many problems and challenges. From time to time you will have to make some tough choices. Those that you manage will look to you for re-assurance that everything will be okay. It is not always going to be possible to do that so learn to be honest with people.

Quality 2: Act with integrity

Acting with integrity is about behaving in a way that demonstrates professionalism. There will be times, especially when under pressure where you might be tempted to breach your own standards. Notice when this is happening and catch yourself before you say or do something that conflicts with your values.

Quality 3: Reliability

Your team will look to you for support and help when things are difficult for them. Be there for them and show them that they can rely on you through good and not so good times.

Quality 4: Being accountable

Part of the deal of being a manager is being accountable for what is and what is not delivered. If you are happy taking the rewards that comes with a management role, it is important to make sure that you are willing to take responsibility for results.

Quality 5: Resilience

Good managers have a knack of bouncing back from setbacks and disappointments. In other words they are resilient. They believe in themselves and what they can achieve and see setbacks as an obstacle to overcome.

Quality 6: Determination

Getting results requires both inspiration and determination. Determination is a willingness to keep looking for ways to get the result you want, even when the odds appear to be stacked against you.

Quality 7: Common sense

The final quality that good managers have in abundance and is often overlooked is common sense. When faced with a host of challenges, it is all too easy to lose sight of the obvious solutions.

Bottom line – All managers face challenges. What sets apart those that excel from those that flounder are their qualities. So what qualities are you going to develop?