Responsibility Of Top Management Research Articles

Defining the Minimum Winning Game in High-Technology Ventures

Based on a combination of exploratory field research and executive experience, we propose that defining the Minimum Winning Game (WMG) is a difficult yet critical responsibility of top management to keep a high-technology venture focused and able to learn from its ongoing efforts in the face of rapidly evolving technological and market uncertainties. We also propose that achieving the MWG requires the intelligent balancing of three drivers of strategic action: technology development, product development, and strategy development. Finally, we propose that instilling the discipline necessary to define the MWG and balance the drivers of strategic action is facilitated by the use of a strategy-making process informed by key data gathering and analysis tools such as the market requirement document (MRD) and the product requirement document (PRD).

Knowledge management and the information professional

Knowledge management is a new discipline which aims to base the design and work processes of organisations on the knowledge requirements and opportunities of the dynamic global economy. Knowledge Management has an impact on all areas of the organization and therefore should be a top management responsibility. However, due to the apparent attractiveness of the concept, it has been taken on board by many sub-disciplines. Information professionals belong to those who feel that they have a right to claim responsibility on their own for knowledge management. By doing so, they tend to neglect the more far-reaching importance of this new concept. In this presentation we shall argue that information management and knowledge management or quite distinct concepts. However, we shall also argue that information management can fulfill an important role within the broader concept of knowledge management. We shall point out the areas in which this is the case, and discuss the best approach for information professionals to contribute in this area.

REDESIGNING COMMUNITY COLLEGES TO COMPETE FOR THE FUTURE

Redesigning community colleges to meet changing needs and expectations is a key top management responsibility. New competitors are challenging existing boundaries and changing market rules. Colleges that cannot change from within will be at a disadvantage in fast‐moving markets. To get ahead of these markets, they will need to find new ways of creating value while simultaneously creating flexible structures and processes. Organizational development, of course, cannot be accomplished solely through structural change. People and cultures enter the equation and through routine behavior help or hinder the process of redesign. If community colleges are organized in layers that insulate them from their environments, how can top management redesign the institution to compete in a new market? The answer to this central question is the topic of this article. The key premise is that community colleges will need to get into motion if they are to create the kind of organization that will be successful in the future. Organizational tinkering, where much of the current interest lies, is too deeply enmeshed within current organizational designs to produce sufficiently radical change. Without more thought to totally different ways of organizing, managing, and leading, not only will new designs be under exploited, but they may well reinforce the current limitations of community colleges.

Total cash management: a company-wide system for forecasting, managing, and improving cash flow

Improving the Productivity of Company Cash. How Your Business Will Benefit from TCM. The Real Value of Cash to Your Business. How Your Operating Decisions Impact Cash Flows. Better Expense Control is the Road to Cash Flow. Turn Accounts Receivable into Cash. TCM for Marketing--Increase Sales Through Pricing. Creative Inventory Management Will Produce Cash. Payroll, Benefits and the Cash Role of Human Resources. Mergers and Acquisitions--Top Management's Responsibility. Purchasing and Leasing Fixed Assets--Where's the Payoff? The Financial Manager's Role in Total Cash Management. Developing the TCM Team. Forecasting Cash Flows and Cash Balances. Managing Your Bank the Way You Manage Your Cash. Put Your Excess Cash to Work--Fast! Is Short-Term Borrowing a Solution to Cash Flow Problems? Easing Your Problems by Using Long Term Debt and Equity. Summary--Cash Is King: Install TCM Now! Appendix: Reporting Cash Flows. Using SFAS 95 as a Management Tool.

Strategic Management for Academic Libraries: A Handbook

Concepts Definition, Objectives, Alternatives Top Management Responsibility Focus on the Academic Library Contexts Context of Institutional Management Context of Users & their Needs Context of the Environment Techniques Assessing the Strategic Position Visualizing the Future Costing Library Operations & Services Making Access Allocation Decisions References Index

Moving an Engineering Firm: A Checklist

Without proper planning, moving an engineering firm can be a disastrous experience. The responsibilities of top management are many, such as choosing a move coordinator and dealing with office politics. In turn, the move coordinator must be prepared to devote much time and energy to the move, oversee selection of an internal move team, make sure communication is given to the staff, work with the designers, choose the moving company, organize a time table, and make sure that clients and others are informed of the move in a timely fashion. Furthermore, an engineering firm, as opposed to other types of firms, has special considerations that must be taken into consideration, such as moving the large amount of drawings. Every step of the move needs to be preplanned, including the steps before the move, during the move, and after the move. A checklist, detailing these steps, can be an efficient tool in ensuring a successful move.

The strategic dimension of transactional information systems: some organizational implications

. Often information systems (IS) are classified in three groups: (a) transactional, used mainly for co-ordination and resource allocation purposes at the operational level of a company; (b) tactical, often employed to support the resource procurement activities typical of middle management; and (c) information systems for strategic decision making, designed to help in the planning and strategy design processes which are the direct responsibility of top management. In general, the amount of care and management attention that companies give to these different types of systems is proportional to their position in this hierarchy: little attention is devoted to the mundane transaction-pushing systems and exquisite care is put into developing the sophisticated decision making aid for the CEO and his/her staff. The IS/IT literature has been reporting quite commonly cases in which companies have attained or lost great competitive advantages by way of their transactional information systems [for example, Emery Worldwide, Baxter Healthcare ASAP system, and Frontier Airlines]. The aim of this paper is to identify actions that companies can take to realize potential benefits of their IS, in particular from their low-level, transactional IS. Among other actions, we will conclude that companies would be better off if they: (a) have the IS department at the right place in the organization, staffed with people knowledgeable about the basic nature of the business in which the company is engaged; (b) are sensible to what can be called ‘strategic maintenance’ of systems, (c) set up a formal procedure for IS planning to ensure coherence between IS plans and business plans, derived, in turn, from business strategy, and (d) keep abreast of the relevant technology. Several examples taken from European companies are used to illustrate these conclusions.

Our Most Important Resource: People

Engineering leaders are enjoined to take the ethical high road—to establish and live by codes of ethics their professional colleagues can respect, endorse and follow. Responsibilities of top management to employees in an engineering firm are listed, as follows: getting exciting, challenging jobs; providing resources needed to do those jobs; giving engineers confidence in their futures in the firm; exploring new opportunities for work and growth; keeping the firm responsive, competitive, productive, and profitable; and, maintaining high standards for work and business practices. Adhering to high ethical standards is seen to be good for business. Furthermore, it can help improve the national climate by addressing the widespread mistrust in institutions, professions, government and people so characteristic of contemporary life. By their involvement on many levels of American life, engineers are well positioned to perceive and to attempt to remedy this erosion in values. The author presents four rules for ethical engineering practice.

Corporate planning in the U.S. regional airline industry

This article is based on the author's doctoral research into corporate planning practice in the United States regional airline industry. The research results are organized around five key areas of concern: management's approach to planning, the organization for planning, the planning process, the areas for which plans are prepared, and planning obstacles and benefits. The principal finding is that, as expected, corporate planning is accepted as part of top management's responsibility, and has been receiving more time and attention, especially during the past 3 years.

The State of the Art in Management Education Applicable to Aerospace Activities

During the past two years, there has been a sharp acceleration to the interest which industry has displayed in the subject of management education. This can be attributed to these factors: —(a) A more widespread realisation of the gap developing between the UK and a number of foreign economies, as manifested by diverging rates of the major economic indicators.(b) The attainment of top-management responsibilities by a younger generation of managers, many of whom had been given some earlier training and who were more conscious of its value than the incumbents of the job from earlier generations.(c) The publication of the Franks, Robbins and (in the aerospace industry) the Plowden reports.(d) The impact of the Industrial Training Boards making it manifest, in terms of serious levies, that training was an economic necessity and therefore must be investigated thoroughly.Notwithstanding the widespread awakening of interest, it is very belated and sets numerous problems. The problems are in two areas—scale and quality.

New Developments in Personnel Management.

The article looks at new developments made in personnel management. The author notes the difference between people management and manpower management. The responsibilities of a chairman are listed, including the introduction of panel members, making opening statements, and facilitating the participation of others. The importance of a healthy industrial relations in an organization is noted. Responsibilities of top management are listed, including organization, the management of goals, morale, and motivation, and the evaluation of employees.