Managing a business comes with its own challenges. Senior managers in business organizations must put in place appropriate strategies to ensure that the business runs smoothly without any internal shocks, and also be aware of relevant externalities that can substantially affect their business.
To achieve this, there are serious decisions to be made, precautions to be taken, actions to be taken to counter certain externalities, etc. This paper explores the role of a senior manager in ensuring that the materials of a business are carefully managed and also suggests ways in which external business shocks can be managed.
As mentioned above, senior managers have a key role to play in ensuring that their business runs smoothly. One of the key things that a manager should be conscious of is the status of materials in the organization. This is especially the case with businesses in the manufacturing industry.
The importance of monitoring materials is therefore very important in such a business, if the business is to make any profits. A senior manager should ensure that he/she works closely with the managers responsible for management of materials to keep record of the status of materials and ensure that appropriate actions are taken as and when required.
It is of essence that store keepers report to the senior manager in a timely manner so that appropriate actions can be taken. This, therefore, calls for appropriate controls initiated by senior management in the business organization to ensure that such reports are generated as and when required.
Information such as the turnover of materials, materials left in the store, materials used per day, etc, should be availed to senior managers at critical times to give room for decision making (Sanders, 2006, p. 45). With proper material management by senior managers, the success of a business is guaranteed.
Another important thing in the management of a business is the management of the external environment of a business. A senior business manager should ensure that he/she is informed of the status and/or changes in the industry in which his/her business operate. A senior manager should especially have a good understanding of the activities that the competitors of the business may be undertaking in order to gain a competitive edge (Sanders, 2006, p. 37).
This is because a competitive edge on the part of competitors means that the business of the senior manager will be losing out on its market share. Additionally, a senior business manager should ensure that he/she gets information on any industrial shocks as early as possible in order to make relevant decisions.
This will ensure that the business is not affected badly by such shocks. For instance, in case the industry in which the business is operating will be experiencing shocks due to power outages, the senior manager should be aware in order to take remedial actions that will mitigate the effect that the shock will have on the business.
In conclusion, it can be confidently argued that information is the key driver of business success. Whether a business realizes supernormal profits or incurs crippling losses may be determined by the kind of controls that a business organization has put in place to ensure that its senior managers get relevant information in a timely manner.
The senior managers therefore have a responsibility to ensure that these controls are working, and also ensure that follow-ups are made on any loophole in the relay of relevant information.