For your “Complete” assignment, you are to write a COMPREHENSIVE APA analysis paper including knowledge you gained from the Read and Attend throughout the course (including Unit 5) to address the questions and statements below. A minimum of three scholarly sources are required, and all sources should be cited and referenced in APA format.  Do not self-plagiarize from the previous weeks. 

For support formatting the APA analysis paper, refer to the APA Template under the Resource tab or contact the CPS Librarians. Please refer to the grading rubric for guidance. Upon completion, papers should be posted to the Unit Five Dropbox for grading.

1. Describe how the work of Abraham Maslow influenced management.
2. List and discuss the first four steps in the decision-making process. Give an example of each step.
3. What is groupthink? What steps can be taken to avoid it?
4. Define and describe operations management. 
5. Define the practice of project management and explain why many organizations are turning to this approach.

 

 

Beth Week 5 Outline

1. INTRODUCTION

• Abraham Maslow
• The needs of their human resources in their decision making

Thesis Statement: Irrefutably, understanding how to reconcile operation’s management needs, project management competencies human resources management and effective decision-making skills is crucial to discovering and implementing the epitome of effective management within an organization.

2. BODY

1. The Work of Abraham Maslow

• Generated the fundamentals for new management practice
• Model of leadership and human resource management proposed
• Hierarchy of needs altered how employers perceived employee and overall organizational management
• Shift from using forceful depressing tactics to drive performance
• Focus on utilizing motivation to optimize:
  • employee job satisfaction
  • employee motivation
  • employee productivity
  • organizational performance
• Instead of authoritatively demanding that employees do what they are required
• Inquire how they could meet employee needs to optimize employee motivation
• Abraham Maslow in effect revolutionized the way organizational managements approach management

2. The First Four Steps in The Decision-Making Process

• Make competitive and strategic decisions
• First, identifying the various choices available
• Gathering relevant data is the second level in decision-making
• Thirdly, selecting alternatives comprises more than one choice to consider
• Fourthly, weighing the proof is the next significant level in decision-making

3. Groupthink

• Discern how to eliminate groupthink
• Could counter the effectiveness of decision-making processes
• Groupthink, in relation to decision-making is often described as:
  • when several people reach an agreement
  • the absence of critical reasoning, consequence or substitute’s evaluation
• Risk program includes the means to supervise and discourage groupthink
• Leaders should also engage, authorize and encourage employees to welcome and offer diverse expert opinions

4.  Operations Management

• Mastering operations management is equally important
• Operations management entails the administration of business practices to formulate the highest efficiency level
• Organizational administrations are tasked with:
  • converting resources into commodities and services
  • capitalize on an organization's proceeds for optimized performance and profitability
  •  Employing materials from personnel, resources, and technology
• Having driven, collaborative and enthusiastic employees as well as a reliable decision-making process is crucial

5. Project Management

• Project management can be described as:
• the practice set to plan a project's smooth operation
• realize the business’ goal
• The project management process applies:
  • Mechanism
  • techniques
  • equipment specific to required project stages and demands
• Project management skills provide room for:
  • opportunity evaluation
  • overseeing a variety of organizational processes
  • projects to completion. 
•  Turning to project management for:
  • Planning
  • controlling
  • ensuring overall success across all business functions

3. CONCLUSION

• Understanding how to reconcile project management competencies to:
  • operation’s management needs
  • human resources management
  • effective decision-making is crucial
• discovering and implementing the epitome of effective management within an organization

The Blueprint of Effective Management

Every manager is tasked with the responsibility of not simply leading a team of diverse employees into effectively and efficiently delivering organizational goals but also understanding how to build such motivation and drive within their teams to satisfactorily achieve all the organizational goals optimally. Scholars like Abraham Maslow revealed that turning the focus from satisfying one-sided organizational needs to ensuring that the organization also incorporates the needs of their human resources in their decision making is an effective way that managers can motivate employees into performing as desired. Evidently, how decisions are made within an organization plays a significant role in determining how successful the organization performs. Irrefutably, understanding how to reconcile operation’s management needs, project management competencies human resources management and effective decision-making skills is crucial to discovering and implementing the epitome of effective management within an organization.

Abraham Maslow’s management model

As afore indicated, the Abraham Maslow approach generated the fundamentals for new management practice as soon as its publication went viral. The model of leadership and human resource management proposed in the scholar’s hierarchy of needs altered how employers perceived employee and overall organizational management significantly and permanently (Stoyanov, 2017). The theory prompted organization and their leaders to shift from using forceful depressing tactics to drive performance and to focus on utilizing motivation to optimize employee job satisfaction, employee motivation and consequently optimized employee productivity and organizational performance. Instead of authoritatively demanding that employees do what they are required, the managers familiar with Maslow’s management recommendations started to inquire how they could meet employee needs to optimize employee motivation, job satisfaction and employee performance to ensure long term motivation and employee interest in advancing and meeting the company's needs. The insights of Abraham Maslow in effect revolutionized the way organizational managements approach overall enterprise management.

The First Four Steps in The Decision-Making Process

Beyond strategically employing employee motivation to optimize organizational performance, it is also crucial that an organization masters how to make competitive and strategic decisions if the enterprise is to stay afloat its market competition and hold the competitive advantage. For every organizational decision, there are several steps in an effective decision-making strategy that must be considered for an effective and optimal decision to be reached. First, once the decision maker understand what decision has to be made and the goal of that decision, it is imperative that they begin the decision-making process by identifying the various choices available that could define their decision clearly. For example, the management can decide to do nothing about a problematic system or choose to implement a measurable and timely decision (Trianni et al., 2016). Such deliberations will help a person to meet the aim of the process.

Gathering relevant data is the second level in decision-making. Brainstorming and researching alternative decisions to fit the specific scenario is a great start as the information collected allows one to perform an internal evaluation while observing where the institution made achievements or failed against the projected outcome of the decisions. For example, one could conduct a market investigation or examination from paid consultants for their firms to understand consumer needs. Thirdly, selecting alternatives comprises more than one choice to consider when attempting to attain an objective. For instance, in case an enterprise operates to acquire more involvement in social media, the manager's substitute might entail paid communal advertisements. Narrowing down the decisions is a significant step in reaching a tested and proven effective decision. Fourthly, weighing the proof is the next significant level in decision-making. During such a period, one should observe what firms have conducted in the previous years to succeed in the areas while observing one institution's needs, wants and gaps.

Groupthink

Furthermore, beyond mastering the steps of decision making, organizations must also discern how to eliminate groupthink which could counter the effectiveness of decision-making processes by facilitating the establishment of biased, inaccurate and unreliable decisions often based on emotions instead of credible information. Groupthink, in relation to decision-making is often described as an occurrence that happens when several people reach an agreement in the absence of critical reasoning, consequence or substitute’s evaluation. Fortunately, when an organization's risk program includes the means to supervise and discourage groupthink, the phenomena and its consequences can be avoided (Fox, 2019). Leaders should also engage, authorize and encourage employees to welcome and offer diverse expert opinions to inform critical unbiased decisions.  

Operations Management

Then again, as essential as understanding the urgency of employee motivation, the vitality of having an effective decision-making strategy and the significance of ensuring that decisions made are not biased or corrupted by groupthink, mastering operations management is equally important. While operations management entails the administration of business practices to formulate the highest efficiency level possible in an institution, without motivated employees and an effective decision-making process, managers continue to struggle with achieving their optimized operations management goals and objectives. By the definition of operations management, organizational administrations are tasked with converting resources into commodities and services as effectively as possible to capitalize on an organization's proceeds for optimized performance and profitability (Barnes, 2018). Therefore, operations management encompasses employing materials from personnel, resources, and technology. The process dictates that the management acquires, enhance and supply products to the consumers depending on the customer requirements and the company potential. As such, having driven, collaborative and enthusiastic employees as well as a reliable decision-making process is crucial.

Project management

Lastly, by definition, project management can be described as the practice set to plan a project's smooth operation and realize the business’ goal. The project management process applies mechanism, techniques as well as equipment specific to required project stages and demands (Meredith. et al., 2017). For organizations, project management skills provide room for opportunity evaluation, overseeing a variety of organizational processes and projects to completion.  A significant share of organizations is turning to project management for planning, controlling and ensuring overall success across all business functions by optimizing operations. Understanding how to reconcile project management competencies to operation’s management needs, human resources management and effective decision-making is crucial to discovering and implementing the epitome of effective management within an organization.