Chaos Theory: The Uncontrollable Factor in the Development of Management Systems

Failures in project management systems can be superficially explained by anything from a lack of project detail to managerial conflicts. However, this failure often has deeper roots. Until we begin to recognize this uncontrollable factor it will be difficult to master the implementation of any management system. This factor is known as the "Chaos Theory" or simply "chaos". Chaos Theory could be considered a core management theory for the 21st century. According to Wheatley (1992) when management tries to control chaos by "shoehorning" it into a specific structure, an organization is bound to fail. Controlling chaos this rigidly is actually limiting information gathering (Stuart, 1995) and creating the illusion of management. According to McNamara (1999), Chaos Theory recognizes that events...

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Retail Operations - Effective Branch Manager Support and Guidance

Performance and behaviour management is by far the most difficult aspect of any manager's job and the reluctance to 'grasp the nettle' when performance or behaviour issues emerge is certainly a concern in many organisations. But at the end of the day that is what managers are paid to do and not doing so will certainly affect service, team morale, sales and ultimately the bottom line.Why does this reluctance exist, why do so many mangers back away from confrontation? The problems and challenges that need to be overcome are many and the common reasons and 'excuses' for not doing so are as follows:It is Risky - There is a worry in the back of the manager's mind that discussions could turn into heated arguments and that they may open themselves up for harassment or bullying accusations. There...

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The Importance of Project Closeout and Review in Project Management.

The well known English phrase "last but not least" could not better describe how important the project closeout phase is. Being the very last part of the project life-cycle it is often ignored even by large organizations, especially when they operate in multi-project environments. They tend to jump from one project to another and rush into finishing each project because time is pressing and resources are costly. Then projects keep failing and organizations take no corrective actions, simply because they do not have the time to think about what went wrong and what should be fixed next time. Lessons learned can be discussed at project reviews as part of the closeout phase. Closure also deals with the final details of the project and provides a normal ending for all procedures, including the...

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Revenue Management Is A Sign Of Success

Nitty-gritty of Revenue ManagementRevenue management first noticed and accepted by the airline industry. Many travel and hospitality companies have been focused to the "adapt or perish" hymn while moving towards revenue management. Today, revenue management processes and systems are implemented in number of industries, including manufacturing, advertising, energy, hi-tech, telecommunications, car rental, cruise line, railroad and retail. In the future, companies that ignore revenue management will be at a serious disadvantage.Actually, revenue management is the concept of adopting the number of implementation of emerging and changing business...

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Top 10 Management Problems in the 20th Century

The 20th century enterprise does not manage business reality! Business reality is defined by two entities:- Results: The specific economic outputs from the totality of the business- Performance Solutions: The invested capital specifically utilized to produce specific resultsThe enterprise must organize and manage results and performance solutions in order to organize and manage business reality.The failure of the 20th century enterprise to organize and manage business reality creates unsolvable management, business, and performance problems. The 20th century enterprise defines both the performance solutions utilized and the results produced as...

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