NAME: BADRU OLUWASEGUN SOLOMON

PG NO: PG191578945818

COURSE TITLE/CODE: BUSINESS ORGANISATION AND

ADMINISTRATION (MBA 815)

INTRODUCTION
Management practices usually refers to the working methods and innovations that managers
use to improve the effectiveness of work systems. Common management practices include:
empowering staff, training staff, introducing schemes for improving quality, and introducing
various forms of new technology. An entity of instruments to support implementation of
concepts and ideas at all levels of conceptualization and realization of concepts, ultimately
aiming to support organizational processes.

MANAGEMENT PRACTICES IN SELECTED COUNTRIES

JAPAN

The management system in Japan is deeply rooted in historical traditions, some of the other
key practices commonly associated with Japanese management techniques include:

Ringi System

The traditional decision-making process in Japanese firms is referred to as the ringi system. The
system involves circulating proposals to all managers in the firm who are affected by an
impending decision. Proposals are generally initiated by middle managers, though they may
also come from top executives. In the latter case, an executive will generally give his idea to his
subordinates and let them introduce it. Managers from different departments hold meetings
and try to reach an informal consensus on the matter. Only after this consensus is reached will
the formal document, or ringi-sho, be circulated for approval by the responsible managers.

The ringi system requires long lead times, and thus is problematic in a crisis. In recent years the
focus on speeding up decision making has made this approach unpopular at many firms.
Nonetheless, one of its underlying principles remains prevalent. That is, when a decision proves
beneficial, the middle-level managers who initially advocated it receive credit; when a decision
proves unsuccessful, responsibility is taken by top-level executives. This practice is intended to
promote aggressiveness in younger managers.

 in-house training of managers

  consensual and decentralized decision-making
 extensive use of quality control methods
 carefully codified work standards
 emphasis on creating harmonious relations among workers
 lifetime employment and seniority-based compensation

Just-in-Time Production

In the rest of the world, manufacturers made their components "just in case" they were
needed. They filled bins, pallets and warehouses with days' or even weeks' worth of costly
parts, which gathered dust until they were finally needed. The Japanese started making
components "just in time," with parts arriving just as they were needed on the production line.

Bottom-Up Decision Making

Although decision making in Japanese companies is bottom up, the power of the typical
Japanese CEO is so great that no important decision can be made without first considering his
wishes. While proposals are likely to start from lower-level executives, these executives
generally propose what they believe to be the wishes of their superiors. This pattern of decision
making is prevalent all the way down to the lower echelons of management. In other words,
the bottom-up process merely disguises the true decision-making pattern, which generally runs
from the top down.

Enterprise Unions

One distinctive management practice in Japan is the enterprise union, which is organized
around a single plant. Consequently, any given company may have several enterprise unions
representing various portions of its workforce. Enterprise unions generally belong to a larger
federation, but the balance of power is at the local level. Japanese unions are distinct not only
because of their highly decentralized nature, but also because they represent both white-collar
and blue-collar workers, with union membership open to managers up to the section chief
level. The fact that many upper-level managers have moved up through union ranks and may
have even served as union officials highlights the generally less antagonistic relationship
between labor and management in Japan. Combined with a relatively narrow income gap
between managers and workers and the willingness of manager recruits to work on production
lines as part of their training, the open membership policies of Japanese unions contributes to
the fairly harmonious interaction between unions and management. Union membership is
generally associated with lifetime employment guarantees. Membership varies widely by firm
size, and relatively few workers in firms with fewer than 100 employees receive lifetime
employment guarantees. Nonetheless, in large firms the lifetime employment guarantee
creates an environment in which workers are less likely to feel threatened by technological
change. As a consequence, changes in the production process are likely to be undertaken by
management and workers on a cooperative basis. More generally, since semiannual bonuses
and annual wage negotiations are based on a firm's competitive strength, workers have a large
stake in their firm's long-term success.

Use of Quality Circles

The extensive use of quality circles is another distinguishing characteristic of Japanese

management. The development of quality circles in Japan in the early 1960s was inspired by the
lectures of American statisticians W. Edwards Deming and J.M. Juran, in which they discussed
the development of wartime industrial standards in the United States. In Japan, quality circles
consist of groups of about 10 workers who meet weekly, often on their own time. The groups
typically include foremen, who usually serve as circle leaders. Quality circles focus on concrete
aspects of the operations in which they are directly involved, using tables and graphs to
communicate the statistical details of their quality issues. In one common format, problems are
categorized by materials, manpower, and machines. Quality circles provide a means for
workers to participate in company affairs and for management to benefit from worker
suggestions. Indeed, employee suggestions play an important role in Japanese companies. Two
associations, the Japanese Association of Suggestion Systems and the Japan Human Relations
Association, were developed to encourage this process. Japanese employee suggestions
reportedly create billions of dollars' worth of benefits for companies.

GERMANY

German management, as it has evolved over the centuries and has established itself since
World War II, has a distinct style and culture. Like so many things German, it goes back to the
medieval guild and merchant tradition, but it also has a sense of the future and of the long
term. Some of the features of Management Practices in Germany are:

Rigorous Style of Competition

The German style of competition is rigorous but not ruinous. Although companies might
compete for the same general market, as Daimler-Benz and BMW do, they generally seek
market share rather than market domination. Many compete for a specific niche. German
companies despise price competition. Instead, they engage in what German managers describe
as Leistungswettbewerb, competition on the basis of excellence in their products and services.
They compete on a price basis only when it is necessary, as in the sale of bulk materials like
chemicals or steel.

Management Objectives

The German management practice concentrates intensely on two objectives: product quality
and product service. He wants his company to be the best, and he wants it to have the best
products. The manager and his entire team are strongly product oriented, confident that a good
product will sell itself. But the manager also places a high premium on customer satisfaction,
and Germans are ready to style a product to suit a customer’s wishes. The watchwords for most
German managers and companies are quality, responsiveness, dedication, and follow-up.

Co-Ordination with Government

Another feature of the Management Practice in Germany is cooperation or at least
coordination with government. German industry works closely with government. German
management is sensitive to government standards, government policies, and government
regulations. Virtually all German products are subject to norms–the German Industrial Norms
(Deutsche Industrie Normen–DIN)–established through consultation between industry and
government but with strong inputs from the management associations, chambers of
commerce, and trade unions. As a result of these practices, the concept of private initiative
operating within a public framework lies firmly imbedded in the consciousness of German
managers.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

America is one of the most advanced nations of the world. America is infact, leader in modern
management techniques. The economy of America is a free economy and people lead their
lives freely without much social checks and barriers. They want to lead independent life and are
accustomed to the ‘hire and fire’ style of management. Employment on contract basis started
in America, which is being followed by other countries of the world. The features of
Management Practice in the United States of America are:

Quick Decision Making

Process of decision making is quite fast and it is undertaken on individual basis. Decisions are
taken at different levels of management by the people or superiors operating at these levels.
Decisions are made primarily by people and usually only a few people are involved.
Consequently, after the decision has been made, it has to be sold to others, often to people
with different values and different perceptions of what the problem really is and how it should
be solved. In this way, the decision-making is rather fast, but its implementation is very time-
consuming and requires compromises with those managers holding different viewpoints. The
decision that is eventually implemented may be less than ideal because of the compromises
necessary to appease those with divergent opinions. It is true that decision responsibility can be
traced to people, but at the same time, this may result in a practice of finding "scapegoats" for
wrong decisions. In all, the decision power and the responsibility is vested in certain people in
U.S. companies, while in Japan people share both decision power as well as responsibility.

Individual Responsibility and Accountability

The system adheres to bureaucratic and formal organisational structure with the specific line of
individual responsibility and accountability. Organizations in the United States emphasize
individual responsibility, with efforts to clarify and make explicit who is responsible for what.
Job descriptions are perhaps the best evidence of this. Many organizations, especially those
operating in a stable environment, have been rather successful in using the formal bureaucratic
organization structure. As far as the climate is concerned, not many managers make special
efforts to create a commonly shared organization culture. This may indeed be difficult because
professionals-managers as well as technical people-often have a closer identification with their
profession than with a particular company. In addition, the work force often consists of people
with different values derived from diverse heritages. Many U.S. companies have a high
employee turnover rate, which is partly due to the great mobility of the people in this country.
With a relatively short duration of employment with any one company, the loyalty toward the
company is at times rather low. Organizational change is often accomplished by changing goals
instead of processes. But organizations using change agents with a behavioral science
orientation may focus on interpersonal processes to reduce conflicts and improve performance.
In the United States it is quite common to use outside organization development consultants.

Performance Appraisal

Promotions in American companies are based on individual performances. Annual performance

evaluation is undertaken select the most efficient workers. A common practice in U.S.
companies is to appraise the performance of new employees comparatively soon after they are
hired. If performance does not meet the company's expectations, employment may be
terminated. But even for those who have been with a company for many years, performance is
evaluated at least once a year and in many cases their performance gets reviewed periodically
during the year. In general, the focus of performance appraisal is on short-term results and
individual contributions to the company aims. Moreover, differentials in pay increases are often
based on individual performance. These differences in pay may be substantial, especially at
upper levels of management. Promotions in U.S. companies are based primarily on individual
performance. Although progressive companies provide continuous development, training is
often undertaken with hesitation because of the cost and the concern that the trained person
may switch to another company. Thus, employees are often trained in specialized functions
resulting in a rather narrow career path within the company. Finally, in many U.S. companies,
employees feel that they may be laid off during economic hard times which, naturally,
contributes to job insecurity.

INDIA

The Indian economy is ranked 55th out of 140 world economies. This overall economic ranking
according to the Global Competitiveness Index is a significant improvement as India has climbed
16 places in comparison with its previous ranking. Dynamics of many in-dicators are positive,
but for some areas need improving. Very positive trends have been recorded in areas of
institutions where ranking is improved by 10 places, and infrastructure has gone up 6 places.
Some of the features of Management Practices in India are:

Family Promoted Businesses

Unlike other countries, Indian companies are largely led by family promoters. Indian
entrepreneur tends to stay with his business till the end. In India, it is also a norm for the
promoters' children to take over the business, which is less common in the US or other western
countries. The legacy issues are much stronger here than in any other country.

Dexterity

Another unique feature about Indian Management Practice is the dexterity required to operate
a business here. If you can operate a business in India you can do so anywhere. It's not that
Indian managers are inherently more creative than their counterparts elsewhere. But they
operate in a complex, often volatile environment with much red tape. They, therefore, have to
be nimble footed to be able to move with a constantly-changing and evolving policy framework,
low quality of infrastructure that reduces smooth flow of physical and financial capital,
corruption, bureaucratic procedures that increase transaction costs - all hurdles for doing
business in India.

Low wage and Benefits

The Indian management system is also characterized by low wages and benefits for employees.
This explains why employees in India are not always motivated to perform optimally and always
looking to move out of the country to other places where they can get better pay for work
done.

UNITED KINGDOM

Some would argue that since industrialization is a rational, orderly process, striving for universal
efficiency with standardizing effect, managers would clearly be the same sort of people doing
the same kind of things in the same ways. This assumption could be extended to the companies
themselves. Manufacturing companies, these generic units of industrialization, would be much
the same with regard to their structure and general features wherever they are located. At any
rate, this would be true for countries at the same stage of industrial development having the
same sort of political system. For example, organisations throughout Western Europe operate
in similar contexts and under the same pressures which would lead towards uniformity. The
accelerated volume of trade within Europe and increasing collaboration and overlapping
ownership between EU organisations would, naturally, lead to the establishment of a common
‘Western European management’ style. The features of Management Style in Britain are:

Individualism

The origins of individualism, independent thinking and self-confidence in England should be

traced long back into history. The ‘protestant ethic’ and the spirit of capitalism were, in fact, the
major driving forces behind the Industrial Revolution. Britons have a high regard for liberty and
independence. Hence, they have cultivated a strong entrepreneurial mentality and flair. This is
illustrated in the laissez faire economic context which they established for more than two
hundred years, and which opposed government interference and supported unrestricted
economic liberty and free competition. Consequently, the English had traditionally developed
considerable competences in dealing with export markets and responding to foreign
competitors and to a flood of imports without going bust or requiring immediate trade
protection. The surprising successful development and expansion of franchising in England is a
clear reflection of this distinctive capacity of the British entrepreneurs.

Decentralization

Bigness provides vital economies of scale, financial resources and muscle in the market.
However, today it is more flexibility and responsiveness that matter for success. The argument
of size is no longer all-pervasive6. Moreover, recession in the early 1980s made corporate
restructure necessary for survival. British companies responded with leaner and fitter
structures as well as a move towards decentralization. SBUs were the most obvious
manifestation of this transition. The application of decentralised management, in contrast to
functional management, encourages autonomy and entrepreneurship and helps to motivate
people by making them better informed, more responsible and giving them more control. Thus,
UK companies witnessed their managers engaging in initiatives and nurtured the managerial
talent they needed. Decentralization has been proved especially appropriate in sectors which
are subject to rapid technical or market changes, notably services. In retailing, initiative –
innovation – adaptation are by far more significant factors of success than control and
economies of scale, providing, thus, a strong argument in favour of decentralised structures
and approaches to management which UK enterprises have mastered exceptionally well over
the past two decades.

Democratic Management Style

There is a wide agreement that control in British business organisations is relatively dispersed.
In other words, the ‘democratic style’, also referred to as ‘participative’ or ‘semi-constitutional’
is the prevalent one in British firms. It can be reflected on the fact that subordinates are
consulted in decision-making and are given wide opportunities to exercise discretion in their
work. Contrary to the autocratic, paternalistic approach that German firms share, top
management in UK displays a willingness to delegate to lower management and counts on the
subordinates’ strong sense of responsibility. Even in the case of UK’s small, family-run firms
(where a paternalistic pattern is supposed to emerge), British managers (and owners in most
cases) do not portray a pure autocratic style, but rather a mixture of democratism –
autocratism, which is referred to as ‘sophisticated paternalism’. Thus, UK’s family businesses
manage to retain a decentralised decision-making approach while upholding their distinctive
social ethos and religious dissent.

NIGERIA

Nigeria management practices reflect the core values of African culture. These core values
include extended family, human relations orientation, co-prosperity or social mutual concern,
respect for elders and tradition, consensus, competition and hero-worship. The Nigerian
management practices indicates a managerial style that shows a high concern for people,
production and a system where decision-making is by consensus. The model offers an explicit
concept for structuring the character of participation within each phase in management
decision-making. In Nigerian organizations, the importance of clan or ethnic interests over
individual needs is manifested in different ways. Some of the management practices in Nigeria
include:

Quota System or Federal Character

In Nigeria, quota system and catchment area policies are taken into consideration during
recruitment exercises, admission into universities among others, where a fixed number (quota)
is assigned to each state or the local government area (catchment area) that is on advantage
location to the institution bring competed for. Later, a selection of candidates is made based on
the quota system and catchment area policies.

Life Long Employment

Another feature of Nigerian Management Practice is lifelong employment. Employees in Nigeria
are allowed to work for a minimum of 35 years or until they are 60 years old. This aids Job
security and reduces the level of unemployment in the country.

Contingency Approach to Management

Contingency approach also known as situational approach, is a concept in management stating

that there is no universally applicable set of management principles (rules) by which to manage
organizations. Organizations are individually different face different situations (contingency
variables), and require different ways of managing. Contingency approach remains less
common than change management approaches. The contingency approach management is a
view that the organization recognizes and responds to situation variable as they arise. The
contingency approach, which can be seen as an extension of the systems approach, highlights
possible means of differentiating among alternative forms of organization structures and
systems of management. There is no optimum state