MBA Program

Course: Management Theories and Practices (MBA611)

Individual Assignment I (25%)

By:
ID No.

Submitted to:

February, 2022

Injibara
 1. Executive Summary

This term paper is intended to describe the practices and challenges of management functions in
Banja woreda finance office, where I am a staff member in procurement team. I have put my
observations using the sub contents as given by the course instructor and put the
meaning/concepts of each management functions and the practices and challenges of the same in
the institution alongside. As my observation and analysis, the management functions in the office
are found to be better. This is clearly manifested in fully achieving the set office objectives and
as a result scoring the first rank for five consecutive years among parallel other offices. The
stability of the employees in the institution is also a result of positive management functions in
the sector. However, this does not mean that the institution is perfect and without challenges. My
observation and experience indicated that there are identifiable defects related to controlling
and planning management functions. Therefore, it is recommended that the office management
has to continue its strengths in one hand; and take corrective measures to correct the identified
challenges.
 2. Background of the organization

Banja woreda office of finance is one of the key governmental offices having the mission of
equity budget allocation and administration; and envisioned with inclusive development
emanated from effective and efficient budget utilization. It is located in western part of Amhara
regional state. It is one of the 16 woreda offices in Awi zone, which report to the zonal finance
department. The organizational structure of the office is mainly divided in to four major sub
divisions; budget administration, finance, audit and procurement. In addition, there are eight
experts directly reporting to the office head/vice head. The total number of professional positions
in the sector is 70. The number of positions that are currently covered by professional employees
is 60 that shows there is clearly 10 vacant positions.

In terms of competency Banja woreda finance office has secured the first rank for the last five
consecutive years among other 16 parallel offices that directly report to zonal finance
department. The main reason for such strength is the shared commitments of the management
and the whole staffs to become better performers. The office is one of the stable institutions in a
sense that the employees feel happy to be here, so that, the turnover is very minimal. The office
is recognized as center of excellence; parallel offices usually learn and adapt best practices.

The organizational structure is shown in the next page, figure 1.

 Figure 1: Banja woreda Finance office organizational structure

Office Head

Vice office head

Secretary Secretary
Planning and M&E expert

Budget preparation & Finance Team Procurement & Audit team

administration team inventory team

Team leader Team leader Team leader Team leader

Secretary Secretary
Secretary

Budget Gov’nts’ Finance Cashier Docume Loan Procurement Inventory Inventory Audit Secretary
admin cooperation officers ntation officer officers administration secretary officers
experts expert

IT Expert Security Driver Information guider Cleaner

Source: Own draw (2022)

 3. Planning function

Planning is the function of management that involves setting objectives and determining a course
of action for achieving those objectives (Manahan (2014). Planning requires that managers be
aware of environmental conditions facing their organization and forecast future conditions.

 The practice

The practice of planning in office of finance in the woreda is mandated to the planning,
monitoring and evaluation supportive case worker. The position holder collects annual plans
from each work processes and combines to make institutional plan. This organized plan for
formality is evaluated with all the staff members and seldom to be corrected. After the planner
completes all the planning issues, the managerial involvements are for formality and to record
things in to the minute to defend the evaluation from the zonal department and the woreda civil
service.

 The challenges

The basic challenge in the planning function of management in the office includes a weak
attention given to the planning function and missing to link the annual plans with the
organizational strategic plan. Besides, once the strategic plan is documented, there is no
experience in adjusting it with changing situations. Even if the plan is prepared by the case
worker, usually the direction comes from the zonal department or regional bureau. The other
basic challenge in the planning function is lack of comprehensiveness. This is to mean that
mostly the planning is focused on physical activity than other elements of planning, putting
ambitious plans beyond the capacity, poor evaluation of the implementation, and lack of priority
setting can be cited as the challenges of planning function in the office based on my observation
and long experience in the office.

4. Organizing function

Organizing is the function of management that involves developing an organizational structure

and allocating human resources to ensure the accomplishment of objectives; the structure of the
organization is the framework within which effort is coordinated (Flores, 2013). As seen the
figure 1 the structure is usually represented by an organization chart, which provides a graphic
representation of the chain of command within an organization. Decisions made about the
structure of an organization are generally referred to as organizational design decisions.

 The practice

When we look at the practice in Banja woreda finance office the structure is designed by the
regional bureau and sent to the office; hence there is no role in organizing/designing the structure
of the organization. The role of the managers after receiving the structure and the job description
is allocating human resources/staffs based on allocation criteria; that may include experience,
qualification, efficiency, commitments and personal behavior.

 The challenges

The challenges of organizing function in the office include when re-structuring comes better jobs
will be given based on intimacy, family, friendship or other misbehaves. During the last
restructuring such applications were created some abnormalities. The other is job description and
the person appointed may sometimes get mismatched and some jobs may not get appropriate
professional (for instance auto mechanics). The other major challenge related to organizing
function is having vacant positions due to resource constraint. As a result, some staff members
will get over duty without additional payments.

5. Staffing function

According to Hanna (1988) the staffing function of management pertains to recruitment,

selection, training, development, appraisal and remuneration of personnel. It involves the
determination of manpower requirements of the organization and providing it with adequate
competent people at all its levels. Thus, manpower planning, procurement (i.e., selection and
placement), training and development, appraisal and remuneration of workers are included in
staffing. The responsibility for the efficient planning and execution of staffing function rests
upon every manager at all levels.
  The practice

The staffing function of management is not conducted by the office management. The only role
of the office management is determining the necessary positions to be recruited. The staffing
assignment is given to another independent office called human resource development office.
The office serves the whole woreda offices, it is a single pool service. Therefore, the recruitment,
appraisal, remuneration of personnel and selection activities are the services of the human
resource and development office. But the other activities including training, development, are
functions of our office.

 The challenges

This day staffing is one of the basic challenges. Based on my observation and appeals usually
heard the following are serious challenges related to the staffing function of management

o Corruption – is one of the challenges related with staffing is corruption. It is heard that
corruption is mostly made during writing selection criteria to favor a certain applicant,
making a long-term temporary appointment to evade a competitive merit-based process,
restricting advertising timeframes to limit who is able to apply.
o Lack of trainings – most of the staffs in the office need to have trainings in their
respective jobs, but it is rare to gain training in the office.
o Wrong/Feck documentation – this time it is a common to find people having wrong
degree documents intended for promotion and other related purposes.
o Talent gap – specific job positions require unique skills. In our office auto mechanics job
position has been notified many times but still the position is vacant.
o Lack of promotion – because of many reasons including budget, lack of advancement
opportunity is the most commonly cited reason employees begin to look for new jobs in
our office.

6. Directing function

Directing function of management refers to the process of instructing, guiding, counseling,

motivating and leading people in the organization to achieve its objectives. It is one of the key
managerial functions that should be performed by every manager. It involves supervision,
motivation, leadership and communication (Seldom, 2012).

 The practice

When we look at the practice of the directing management function in Banja woreda finance
office, we can say that there is no distinctive significant problem. It is because the office ranked
first from other 16 parallel offices for more than five years. Ranking first for consecutive five
years is not an easy task; it needs motivated staffs, respected leaders, and good team spirits. In
fact, the practice of the directing function in the office differs from one team to the other. The
difference emanates from the behaviors of the team leaders. For instance, the finance team is a
reference team for experience sharing and employees are better motivated and there is a clear
team spirit than the others.

 The challenges

To my observation and experience the major challenges in directing function in the office
includes; lack of consistency in motivation and guidance, recognition problem for some staff,
lack of strict daily plans, poor communication, and weak reward system can be mentioned as the
problems of directing function of management.

7. Controlling function

Controlling involves ensuring that performance does not deviate from standards. Controlling
consists of three steps, which include establishing performance standards, comparing actual
performance against standards, and taking corrective action when necessary. Performance
standards are often stated in monetary terms such as revenue, costs, or profits but may also be
stated in other terms, such as units produced, number of defective products, or levels of quality
or customer service. The measurement of performance can be done in several ways, depending
on the performance standards, including financial statements, sales reports, production results,
customer satisfaction, and formal performance appraisal. Managers at all levels engage in the
managerial function of controlling to some degree (Peter, et. al., 2010).
  The practice

The controlling function of the office can be said better. The most important controlling
instrument in the office is a bi-annual result-based plan agreement made between the office
heads and the team leaders, and the team leaders with experts. On the agreement there are
standards to be adhered, activities to be performed and results to be achieved. Based on the
agreement evaluations will be made at the end of each six months.

 The challenges

The most important challenge of controlling function in my office is a loose monitoring and
evaluation system. Leaders are going to evaluate their employees at the end of a semester or the
year. However, continuous monitoring, guidance and support for their staff are not often
practiced. The other problem in controlling is leaders become shameful to control their
subordinates because of their intimate social life. However, at the end of the year a kind of dis
agreement/conflicts arise when the issue of efficiency or result is given.
 8. Conclusions

Overall, our staff is recognized as a better performer staff that has been seen in its consecutive
years result achievements. In the office there is stability, team spirit and a shared commitment to
achieve the planned objectives. As a result, the office has been winning rewards from the parallel
office competition for the consecutive five or more years. Therefore, even if not perfect, the
office is a better achiever whether the office leaders change or not. During these first ranking
years leaders were changed at least twice. However, the result does not change that shows the
team leaders and experts‟ commitment and strength. Nevertheless, there are also identifiable
problems that should be dealt with and to be corrected in the office. Among other things a loose
monitoring practice and a formality evaluation practice should get solved in order to make the
office more effective.
 9. Recommendations

Managers who oversee teams commonly face several challenges related to productivity and
communication. Knowing how to recognize these challenges and address them helps increase a
manager's confidence and ability to lead a team. The following are some of the recommendations
forwarded to the office to solve the identified management challenges.

1. Strengthening the planning section – the planning section should get due recognition to solve
the planning defects identified.
2. Develop strong monitoring and evaluation system – the monitoring and evaluation should not
be conducted for formality. It has to strengthen the capability of the office through strong
monitoring and evaluation systems.
3. Developing motivation and guidance – I believe that motivation/directing is a key
management function that can make staffs encouraged. Therefore, developing motivation
through rewards should be developed.
4. Support and guidance should be a routine activity of leaders – evaluating staff members at
the end of the year does not have meaningful results. There should be a continuous and a
daily supportive guidance in the office.
5. Developing a continuous capacity development – trainings as part of staffing should be
planned and delivered to the concerned experts. Through a continuous capacity development,
the talent gaps can be solved.
 Reference & Bibliography

Flores (2013). Fundamentals of management theories, practice and cases. Manila: purely books
trading and publishing corp.

Hanna, D., (1988), „Understanding how organizations function‟, Designing organizations for
high performance, Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, Reading.

Lamond, D, “A Matter of Style: Reconciling Henri and Henry,” Management Decision 42, no. 2
(2004): 330–56.

Manahan (2014). Principle of management, simplified. Quezon city J-creative labels and printing
corp.

Mintzberg, H. The Nature of Managerial Work (New York: Harper & Row, 1973); D. Lamond,
“A Matter of Style: Reconciling Henri and Henry,” Management Decision 42, no. 2 (2004): 330–
56.

Peter D. H. (2010). Job Satisfaction and Motivation of Health Workers in Public and Private
Sectors: Cross-Sectional Analysis From Two Indian States. Human Resources for Health, 8(27).
doi:10.1186/1478-4491-8-27

Sedem, A. K. (2012). The Effect Of Motivatıon On Retention Of Workers in the Private Sector:
A Case Study Of Zoomlıon Company Ghana Ltd. Kwame Nkrumah University.