Management

Addressing Challenges involved Planning

To address the problem involved in setting goals that must be accomplished within a set period, it is critical to ensure that the goals set are SMART. They should be specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time-bound. It is critical to set objectives that are achievable based on the available resources, time and money and previous lessons (Haden para 1). Prediction about the future is not easy because the future is always uncertain. However, to know the future, the past can provide very valuable lessons. Analytics also makes predictions more solid, based on reliable data (Callejas para 3). Hence, the predictions should involve collection and analysis of sound data. As a planner, it is important to involve the people in the process of planning. This makes it possible for them to buy into the idea and support the accomplishment. People are most likely to ignore or resist any plan that they are not involved in its making (Haden para 5). The planner should always collect the opinions of the people who are expected to implement or be affected by the plan.

Entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurs mostly start small businesses because of a number of factors, among them limitations in terms of financial resources and fear of the regulations and requirements necessary in running bigger businesses. The difference is that some grow and expand while others remain small.  The most critical factor behind the growth or lack thereof depends on the strategic plan laid out at the beginning of the business (Duffy para 4). It also depends with the amount of resources that the entrepreneur commits into the business and the resources he/she is willing to continue investing. The businesses that grow start small, but the entrepreneur already has a plan to grow it. The entrepreneur is willing to continue investing resources and ideas towards its growth and is not afraid of the regulations in the market (Hamm para 2). On the contrary, there are those entrepreneurs who start their businesses without a growth or expansion plan in mind. These are the entrepreneurs who remain operating small businesses for years without any hopes of expanding.

The Business Environment

The microenvironmental factors are the dynamics that can be influenced by the management of a company. There are three factors that fall in this category, including the suppliers, marketing intermediaries, and competitors. The managers can determine the kinds of relationship to have with those who are involved in supplying them with the inputs necessary for effective production (The Oxford College of Marketing para 1). The management can also have an impact on the marketing intermediaries, those who support the marketing and distribution of the products of the company. The managers can decide on the intermediaries to involve or even not to use them at all. Competition is another factor that the manager is capable of impacting. While the manager may not have an impact on the strategies assumed by the competitors, he has the power to make the business more competitive in order to manage the competition within the market in which the business is operating (Kokemuller para 4). The influence is based on an understanding of the market and the competitors.

Organization Structure and Strategy

It is the new strategy that determines the kind of structure that the organization should have in place to accomplish the tasks of the organization (Shaikh para 2). Hence, it is the strategy and not the structure that should be adapted in the face of change. When the organization is confronted by a new change that requires it to adapt in order to survive, then the firm must come up with an effective strategy. This is the basis for strategic planning which is the process of establishing the direction for the company to follow in the face of change (Shaikh para 2). In fact, whenever there is a change in the environment, the management is expected to come up with a strategy to help it to survive through the change. It is also critical to ensure that the employees buy into the strategy so that they can support its implementation. Without an effective strategy, an organizational structure will not achieve any positive impact on the business.

Organizational Culture

It is possible and easy to know the culture of an organization before you join it and realize that it is a culture that you cannot manage to work in (Watkins para 3). There are two important ways that the culture can be known. One of the ways is by reading about the organization. In the modern day, information is available in many avenues, including the internet. Companies are putting the information out there for those interested in it. Even before applying for any position in an organization, it is important to learn about the organization, and one of the elements to read about is the culture. Another source of the information is the people working for the organization because they know their organization well after having worked for it (Frost para 4). The people can have important insights on the culture inherent in the company they work for because they share the inherent values and beliefs.