Reading Reaction Journal#5
Risk Management



Summary:


The author starts the article with the definition of risk management as "the process of measuring or assessing risk and developing strategies to manage it". Then he mentions examples of these strategies like avoiding the risk and decreasing the negative effects of the risk. The author clarifies that there are many different kinds of risk management. However, in spite of these kinds, all organizations have risk management. The author describes the ideal risk management and what its process is. It has two steps; the first one starts with establishing the context. The second one identifies possible risk. He also explains that not all plans will be successful but experience and the actual loss results will make different decisions to deal with risk. The author states that the ideal risk management deals with resources by decreasing spending and increasing the reduction of the negative results of risk. The risks should be assessed and prioritized properly in order to save time. Finally, the author clarifies that organizations cannot avoid all risks, so they have to learn how to cope with them.



Reaction:



I think risk management is one of the most important departments in any company or even government departments. I also think that the budget of risk management is the most difficult part because you want to reduce the complications and at the same time reduce expenses. The director of risk management needs to be careful in estimating the risks because in cases of mis-appreciation of risk, losses will be large and devastating. On the other hand, he does not need to waste time on risks that are not possible to happen. Recently, I understood the importance of risk management because of what happened to my favorite city, Jeddah, two weeks ago; heavy rain poured on the city, which led to huge damage in the east and south areas of Jeddah. The reason is that the companies which planned and built these areas did not estimate the likely risk of the absence of the drainage system. What happened was devastating, and because of that 120 people have died so far, a large number of houses and shops were destroyed, and thousands of families have been forced to leave their houses because of the floods. In fact, although I agree with the author that people cannot avoid all risks, but they have to accept some degree of it, I think establishing a drainage system and assessing the risks of not establishing the should have been one of the first priorities of the responsible company.



Reference:


Tabije, I (2008 May1). Risk Management. Retrieval on Dec 08, 2009, from Best Management Articles http://risk-management.bestmanagementarticles.com/a-389-risk-management.aspx

Reading Reaction Journal#4

How to Maximize Employee Performance
While Minimizing Employee Stress


Summary:


The author clarifies that managers and business owners mistakenly think that when they reduce employee stress, the productivity will reduce. He also mentions that when companies try to bring out the best on their employees, they will be more productive. The author also explains that the important way to increase productivity is by understanding the factors that influence employees. Then he stated the ideas that organizations can implement to increase employee productivity like giving employees the power over their jobs, communicating clearly about important things, talking with their employees about company's issues to let them feel part of the company, encouraging employees to talk freely and support one another, helping employees designing their jobs and making sure that employees received enough resources and training to perform their jobs perfectly.



Reaction:


I really enjoyed reading this article for several reasons. First, I learned some important methods to keep my employees creative and having less stress. I believe that the key of successful work is organizing the work. By organizing, we can improve the company and the employees' performance. I think for me to be a professional manager, I have to be organized. For example, I will start my work by interviewing the employees and giving them as much freedom on their work as possible to make them feel challenged to succeed. I think one of the reasons people are successful managers is that they get confidence and respect from employees. I also think that when I give the employees the freedom to design their jobs, they will be creative and their job will not be boring. I also support the idea of talking with employees because when there are barriers between the employees and their managers, they will be stressed out and their productivity will decrease. I remember one of my friends was working in a company but there was a big distance between him and his supervisor. Therefore, he hated that job and did not feel comfortable.




Reference:


Lee D. (2009, November). How to maximize employee performance while minimizing employee stress. Retrieval on Nov.30, 2009, from Human Nature @ work http://www.humannatureatwork.com/Workplace-Stress-4.htm

Reading Reaction Journal# 2

Your guide to effective project management


Summary:
In this article, the author describes project management as a method that defines project goals, and designs a plan to manage risk and delivers measurable outcomes. He also explains that a project manager is necessary in every project and he needs to work hard to succeed. He says that following project management methods lead to success. He also explains the difference between the professional project manager and the inexperienced project manager. In addition, he talks about the project management resources and their importance. He points out that it is a useful resource when a project manager is responsible as the owner of the project. The author also explains the ten critical bases for effective project management like making time, defining roles, establishing the budget, evaluating risks early, deciding the resources and goals, recording the channels of communication and tracking the deviations. Lastly, the author explains the ways to get back the cost of project management services and to succeed.



Reaction:
Project management is one of the important fields of management. For that reason, I picked up this article. I learned from this article a lot of information about project management like the definition of project management and the qualities of professional project managers. I actually agree with the author that the project manager needs to be responsible and consider himself as the owner of the project; I really liked this part. The project manager will work hard to succeed because when we do something for ourselves, we will try to make it perfect as much as we can. I also agree that the project manager needs to evaluate the risks because it may happen anytime in the future and he must know how to find solutions for problems. I felt I have to know and get all these principles. Furthermore, the author at the end mentioned something interesting that when we follow the methods of project management, we can get the money back and this is an important thing for any person working in business – not to lose money. In fact, this article is useful for me at my studying in management and in my working after that. However, I realized that I need to learn more about this field to expand my knowledge and make myself ready for a position like this.

Reference:
Vaslet, S. (2008 November). Your guide to effective project management. Retrieval on Oct. 29, 2009, from Nova Scotia Business Journal, Page 21http://. www.nsbj.ca

Reading Reaction Journal#1

Summary
This article talks about the difference between managers and mentors. The author first described the roles of sales manager. He suggested that the focus should be on training and coaching more than supervising. The article mainly focuses on to be successful in sales. The author pointed out the importance of time management. In this article, the author mentioned his experience in sales management.


Reaction:
I chose this article because I want to major in management. I found it interesting because it discuses significant issues in management's world like the importance of training, individual differences and time management. I actually agree with the author that managers should pay attention to training and coaching more than supervising. I think it is easier to sales managers to supervise than to train but the second one has more benefits. I personally think that when a sales manager coaches the sales people effectively, the mistakes will be less and the productivity will be more. I believe in this in all fields. In fact, there are basics rules for every work to succeed. I also agree with author about the importance of time management. I think like it is the key for the success. From the experience of the author, I think I have to put on my mind that not all the first tries will be successful remarkably. Sales managers and sales persons have to be patient and serious. This article gave me new information about how can I as sales manager help my sales people.

Reference:
MacKeigan,E. (2008 November). Managers and mentors fundamentally different. Retrieval on Oct 29, 2009 from Nova Scotia Business Journal, • Page 7. Success in sales. http://www.nsbj.ca

Reading Reaction Journal#3

How HR Professionals Make High Performance Organizations

Summary:

The author tries in the introduction of the article to illustrate the importance of the human resources field and human resources professionals although industry leaders are against this. He explains the reasons of this importance like the need of companies to be fast, flexible, focused and smart; they also nowadays compete on other features than productivity like knowledge and service. The author introduces the importance of the employees by calling them "human assets" that human resource professionals have to care about to respond quickly to marketplace change. He also points out the importance of corporate culture by the examples that Kathleen Hubbard listed. Furthermore, creating this corporate culture should be on the top of the list of HR professionals. The author explains the roles to be carried out by the human resource professionals like knowing the staff's needs, and knowing how they can be successful and productive, and what causes them to fail, by asking these questions then for the best for them. The author also states that creating chances and an appropriate environment in the workplace is one of the most important duties undertaken by human resources professional. Lastly, he affirms that guiding managers through this process and helping them will lead the company to competition in today's marketplace. The author listed some questions for the management team to ask itself.


Reaction:
I agree with the writer about the importance of human resources professionals in all organizations. The distribution of tasks at work and the knowledge of every person's needs is a challenging task that requires expertise in this field. After I read this article, I think for me to be a HR professional, I have to be patient, knowledgeable and neutral. For example, I will start my work by giving the employees a survey to fill out. This survey contains questions about their likes, dislikes, desires, fears and so on. I think one of the most important things to be director of human resources is how to determine everyone's place to let him/her feel the desire of the collective success of the work. For example, I worked with the principal of a school for a full academic year and I was impressed by his way, in his attempts to make all the decisions that concern the school, in which people discussed in groups to make every teacher feels important and responsible, even if his job is far from the administrative work; that way success is attributed to all. In fact, creating the right environment to work is fruitful; there is a good example, which is Google company; it created a spectacular place for its employees with all facilities and amenities like restaurants, swimming pool, fitness room and bedrooms for those who want to have their naps, the result was that the employee worked more than expected and they were enjoying their work so their productivity was higher.

Reference;
Lee, D.( 2009 November). How HR Professionals Make High Performance Organizations. Retrieval on Nov.17, 2009, from HumanNature@work http://www.humannatureatwork.com/Human-Resources-Management-Articles-1.htm