Introduction
Success or failure of any business institution largely depends on the effectiveness, efficiency and organizational structure of the business. Due to the current volatile and competitive market conditions, all business institutions are doing their level best to improve on their management to enable them meet the current market demands and keep their brand competitive.Management is a wide term and it is always more convenient to deal with each aspect of management at a time.
This paper discusses different management concepts: effectiveness and efficiency, organizational structure, management skill mapping and capacity building as well as organization behavior. The paper will also examine Mirvac Companyand how it has used these concepts to achieve its success in real estate development.
Management
Management,according to Draft (2007),is the “attainment of organizational goals in an effective and efficient manner through planning, organizing, leading, and controlling, organizationalresources” (Draft, 2007, 6). For any organization to be successful, the management has to optimize the organization’s resources by focusing them towards the mission, vision and core objectives of the organization.
Proper planning of the available resources both physical and human is essential. The leadership in any organization plays the role of planning and making sound decisions, does the organization and controls by overseeing that every detail is implemented as planned (Draft, 2007, p.6).
Organizational structure
One of the most important aspects of management is the organizational structure. Organizationalstructure determines the effectiveness of the management team. Different business bodies have different organizational structures depending on the nature of their services (Murray, Poole and Jones, 2006, p. 4).
How the management team is structured through divisions such as senior managers, assistant managers, CEOs and other various leaders of different departments in different levels in regard to different functions of every section of management determines how information, authority, and delegation of duties arecarried out in a company (GriffinResources, 2010, p. 4).
Efficient and effective management
It is worth noting that efficient and effective management is essential for success and that the two have to be given equal priority since one without the other may result to management failure. Kreitner(2006) argued that management should be effective in delivering on the target by focusing only on important aspects of the core business of a company whilst at the same time using the available resources wisely.
On the other hand he suggested that management should be efficient at utilizing the available resources by wise allocation of resources to the relevant fields (Kreitner, 2006, p.8).
Organizational behavior
Success in any organization also depends on how it handles the concept of organizational behavior. It can be argued that human resource in any company has the potential of failing or propelling the company into success (Martin, 2005, p. 42). Ranganayakulu (2005) viewed organizational behavior as a study relating to:
The impact that individuals, groups and structure have on behavior within organizations, for the purposes of applying such knowledge towards improving organization’s effectiveness. (Ranganayakulu, 2005, p.1)
Management at Mirvac
Mirvac (2011) is one of the leading companies in real estate development. The company based in Australia dates back to 1972.Mirvac has grown with time and has secured a global position as a model company both in financial and management success. Such a success can only be an achievement of quality leadership and management.
A report by Mirvac (2011)claimed that“For over 39 years, Mirvac has produced some of Australia’s most renowned residential projects including Walsh Bay in Sydney, NSW; Ephraim Island on the Gold Coast, QLD” (Mirvac, 2011, p.1).
Effective and efficient management calls forknowledgeable and enlightened management team and it is the responsibility of the company to empower its management team. Mirvac ensures effective management by empowering its employee leadership and professionalism through professional development strategies.
It is claimed that one of the aims of the strategy is to ensure that “Mirvac people have the appropriate leadership and personal skills at all levels of management to lead others and manage themselves and their areas of responsibilities” (Mirvac, 2007, p.13).
Mirvac (2007) has put a lot of effort in ensuring that the management structure in all its branches is geared towards achieving the company’s goals and objectives.
Their learning and development concept acknowledges the different needs and requirements of all levels of management structure and focuses their efforts towards developing leadership capacity of each level starting from the top management. It is claimed that they offer“specialized learning and development activities throughout the year including liability awareness training for Directors and senior executives” (Mirvac, 2007, p.16).
Mirvac (2007)has also taken special efforts to ensurethat the management has excellent managerial skills. This is accomplished through a partnership withBond University to form MirvacSchool of sustainable development whereby courses directly related to the development of managerial professional skills purposely for Mirvac people are offered. This plan ensures smooth management since the management team and all the employees are not only adequately trained but specifically for Mirvac(Mirvac, 2007, p.15).
Real estate development just like all other ventures, is usually very competitive and sustaining a company’s brand calls for continual reviewing and restructuring of the management structureto enable the company meet the challenges of the modern, dynamic and competitive market (Murray, Poole, and Jones, 2006, p.4). Mirvac (2009) sustains its market position by regularly restructuring its management structure.
It is reported that in year 2009“Mirvac’s sustainability personnel were restructured to reflect Mirvac’s revised business strategy”(Mirvac, 2009, P.5). The company changed the roles ofmanagers at different levels of management with the aim of improving the effectiveness and the efficiency of leadership and management in the company (Mirvac, 2009, P.5).
It is worth noting that any company cannot attract and retain good management team without offering attractive remunerations, benefits and good working conditions. Mirvac (2009) appreciates the important role of the management team and tries to attract the best professionals by offeringattractive remunerations, employee benefits and effective performance appraisal processes (Mirvac, 2009, P.6).
It is also possible to argue that one of the ways of improving the management system and structure is by ensuring that every level of management is handled by the right person who has the skills for that particular post (Koontz and Weihrich, 2006, p.7). It is reported that Mirvac (2009)has a skill mapping and learning management system that covers all the employees starting with top leadership.
A report by Mirvac (2009) claims that “Common competency areas have been defined andthe expected behaviors mapped for each band;these competencies and skills are used to definethe requirements of each position, alongside the keyperformance indicators” (Mirvac, 2009, P.7).
Good effective management calls for integration of cultural values in the working environment as well as zero tolerance to all kinds of discrimination. The management of Mirvac (2009) cuts across all cultural boundaries and this could be one of the reasons why the company has achieved sound leadership and management in all their areas of investments.
As a matter of fact, Mirvac (2009) believes that “equity and cultural diversity at the workplace makes good business sense and are part of sound management practice” (Mirvac, 2009, P.7).
Decision making in any organization plays a very major role in the success or failure of an organization. The management structure at Mirvac allows for efficient and effective making of decisions from the seniormost position to various levels of management and finally to the workers. Different departments and sections of investments are headed by managers who are answerable to other senior managers above them and this facilitates transfer of decisions and information from top to the bottom.
Conclusion
Success or failure of any business calls for effective and efficient management and management structure. Different concepts of management including efficient and effective management, organizational structure, management skill mapping and capacity building are usually employed. Success of Mirvac Company has been discussed in terms of how they use these concepts.
The company has achieved success by empowering its employee leadership and professionalism, continual restructuring of organizational structure, cultural values, leadership empowerment through training as well as effective management team achieved through attraction of the right professionals. Mirvac should be viewed as a role model company which has used sound management to achieve its success.
Works Cited
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Koontz, H and Weihrich, H. (2006) Essentials of Management. India: Tata McGraw-Hill Education.
Kreitner, R. (2006) Management. New York: Cengage Learning.
Martin, J. (2005) Organizational Behavior and management. Web.
Mirvac. (2007) Sustainability Report. Web.
Mirvac. (2009) Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability Report. Web.
Mirvac. (2011) Company Profile. Web.
Murray, P., Poole, D and Jones, G. (2006) Contemporary issues in management and organizational behavior. Australia. Cengage Learning.
Ranganayakulu, K. (2005) Organizational Behavior. India. New York: Atlantic Publishers & Dist.