Is Management a Profession?

Basic Business Cents

Debate rages in academic circles on whether management is a profession similar to medicine, education,and law. Managers like to think of themselves as professional but there are many different characteristics. Management as a profession does not have a certification examination or barriers to entry like law and medical. It has no code of conduct; it has no yes-or-no criteria.

Business management is not expertise in a narrow field but ability to integrate excellence in a number of fields such as finance, marketing, engineering, production, quality, inventory control, and personnel. This raises the interesting question, “How does one prepare to become a professional business manager?”

Three areas should be integrated into a manager’s preparation, formal education, learning from others, and experience.

Although education is provided in individual fields as listed above, the most popular formal program is the Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree. Most MBA students have prior work experience. Each is building on a different base, learn different things, and go on to different careers. The universities recognize and build upon their experience and knowledge and use collaborative learning so the students can learn from each other. Harvard is noted for their case studies of real world situations and has been the leader in this group analyses and development of approach for solutions.

The London School of Business sent teams of students to analyze my company for several years.  We welcomed their scrutiny because we learned much from them. They expressed their views strongly and caused some discomfort to some of our people with their critique, but it was a very beneficial process and only made us better. Hopefully, they also gained some knowledge.

Another preparation step is to learn from others. This learning can be done informally by helping friends and acquaintances analyze their business problems and offering solutions or in a formal setting like SCORE®. This is a national organization that provides mentorship to small businesses at no charge. Consultants always learn from their clients so volunteering to help has dividends.

Collaborative sharing of experiences can also be informal or in a formal setting like the CEO Roundtable. This organization charges a modest fee and has a paid moderator for groups of about twelve heads of non-competitive organizations. They have monthly meetings and discuss a problem at one of the organizations, which the moderator selects from interim one-on-one meetings with each CEO. They focus on one problem each month but all gain because problems are often common from organization to organization.

Experience is the third step in preparation is experience. Always take time to analyze what you learned dealing with a problem. Develop your own theory on the best solution and compare it to what actually worked. Do not report a problem without a proposed solution so that you appear to be part of the solution and not a part of the problem. Volunteer for assignments so that you can learn. Identify the next desired position and prepare for it.

The profession of business management is indeed different than that of law, education, and medicine. Certification of qualification for business management would be problematic and arbitrary. It would be counter-productive and dysfunctional because it would inhibit cooperative learning. Management preparation must be a collaborative effort in each of three steps: formal education, learning from others, and experience.

Achieving Job Satisfaction

A friend stated recently that his Dad worked his entire life at a job he hated. What a shame! We spend so much of our life at work that it should be something that we enjoy and receive satisfaction from doing something well and worthwhile.

Our job, our career, should bring us pride in what we do. Our accomplishments should be something our children like to talk about. Our work should bring fulfillment to our life. How do we find that work?

Let us talk first about our managers’ role in helping us achieving that pride in our work. After they hired us and placed us in the present position, they have a responsibility to help us achieve our job satisfaction and happiness. A question the manager should ask is, “Do I work in the system or on the system.” Typically, the employee is given a work process and does the best he/she can within the guidelines of that process. The manager’s primary job is to manage the process and not the employee. The employee will do the very best they can; they can’t help it. No one goes to work to do a poor job, but is often limited by his or her work processes. The managers therefore need to focus their attention on improving the work processes that will allow their employees to do better. Oh, and by the way, how does the manager receive more job satisfaction, micro-managing the employee or improving the process that allows the employee to do better? No doubt, the manager receives more job satisfaction by process improvement, which provides more productivity and pride in work by the workforce. Education, training, and positive feedback in real time also play a part in work improvement and employee satisfaction. Delegation of authority as the employee is capable and ready can give the employee an opportunity to blossom and grow.

Now for the employees’ responsibility: attitude, pride in work, enthusiasm, and happiness are all important in work productivity and quality. First, prepare yourself for promotion. Learn the requirements of the next position you desire and lay out a plan to improve you qualifications. Take advantage of education and training opportunities, learn from others, apprentice or intern, and volunteer to gain experience.

If that desired opportunity is not available where you work, don’t be afraid to seek it elsewhere. Gone are the days where we do the same job for our lifetime for most people. Most people today will have several different careers in their life as they seek opportunities leading to better work fulfillment. Technology is eliminating many jobs, social media is changing marketing and communications, and improved and innovative knowledge through electronics means is changing the work world. Display initiative and prepare yourself for change that will bring opportunities.

Money and titles are not the most important; job satisfaction and enjoyment are. Position yourself into an upward cycle of enjoyment in what you do, which leads to becoming a more productive employee, which leads to more satisfaction and pride in your work, which leads to becoming a better employee, which leads to ………..

Benefitting from Internships

Who doesn’t like win-win situations?  How about win-win-win?

Some years ago, my company hired the daughter of a friend from across the lake. She was required in her college curriculum to intern with some company for a summer in her specialty, marketing. That was one of the best hires that we ever made. She was willing to work for no pay because the internship experience was required for her graduation, but we could not do that in all fairness to her and did pay a modest amount. She brought new, creative ideas that were successful and taught us as we taught her. From that time on, we hired one or two interns every summer.

An internship can be defined as a method of on-the-job training for white-collar and professional careers, similar to apprenticeships for trade and vocational jobs. These positions may be paid or unpaid and are usually temporary. Interns can be found in colleges, local high schools, and the post-graduate staff. Lance Bagstad, Superintendant of Park Rapids Public Schools, shared that recent legislation, requiring schools and businesses to work together in providing students with college and career readiness skills, is opening the doors for collaboration. Tried and proven school-to-work opportunities still flourish but can be enhanced through partnerships and likeminded goals. It might take a little digging to find intern positions but once the students unlock the process, they will have contacts and understanding that can be used year after year.

Win #1 is for the hiring organization. High on the list for most organizations is how to improve marketing and bring in more revenue. The marketing world is changing as it transforms into the electronic world. Who understands computers and application programs that take advantage of speed and amplification of communications like young people? Students interested in careers in marketing, technology, or preferably both, are ideal intern candidates, but other fields are also beneficial to many businesses. Students can bring current academic views and employees can learn from them. Most interns are eager to learn, display initiative, are intelligent, energetic, and extremely grateful for opportunities to grow.

Win #2 is for the interns. Learning and living real world character values of responsibility, accountability, and commitment resonates in an internship for young people. They gain knowledge and practical application of that knowledge which will help them in their remaining classes at school, make a little money, and gain satisfaction from being productive. Students can use an internship to determine if they have an interest in a particular career, create a network of contacts, or gain school credits. Not to overlook is the benefit in applying for career opportunities after graduation. The experience, display of initiative and other ideal traits will be duly noted by interviewing parties.

Win #3 is for the local community. Internships create jobs! Students share experiences with other students and school staff, which add to their knowledge. They create interest and excitement for career employment among other students. Perhaps most important to the community is creating interest among the students in working for local companies and keeping this promising talent in the local area.

Rarely do we have opportunities that cost little in time and money that offer these benefits to our organization, to the local youth, and to our community. Our local school is very open to partnering with businesses to provide the win-win-win for all. Try it and see for yourself.

Changing Times

People don’t resist change; they resist being changed!

Too often, people do not recognize, nor respond to, change that is upon them and they are changed by others from outside their normal sphere of competition. An example is the computer industry. At one time IBM, Univac, NCR, Burroughs and a few others ruled the market. They did not react to the change of the users who desired smaller computers and distributed computer usage. Hence they were replaced by DEC, Data General, Varian, and a few others supplying minicomputers. That group did not react to even smaller and more user-friendly microcomputers as provided by Apple, IBM (they made a comeback), Dell, and Hewlett Packard.  Only Apple made the transition, in fact led it, to the next generation of tablet computers and smart phones. Apple is now joined by Samsung and others, as we see more and more serious competition from around the world.

Change is here; it will always be here, but at an ever-increasing pace. Some of the changes are: more focus on short-term thinking fueled by the increased speed brought about by the electronics world, social conscious, environment concerns, limited budgets, weather instability, on-line sales/marketing, and competition from anywhere in the world. Awareness of how these and other changes might change your business is critical, as is how you react to lead the way.

Recognizing the changing trends and willingness to change are two different subjects. Like most in the four generations of the computer industry, you can wait until your business is obsolete as other more adventuresome businesses move in, or you can lead the way. The change required is usually radical, not superficial, and must be made quickly. Leaders take a risk but the risk of followership is well-demonstrated. An example of the value of quick action is Nike teamed up with Apple to develop sensors in their shoes to transmit to Apple’s products to log speed, distance, calories burned, and other data. Other competitors are left behind with less desirable partners with whom to react.

Authors Elie Ofek and Luc Wathieu in Harvard Business Review, July-August of 2010, listed a 4-step process to address trends in business.

1.     Identify the Trends that Matter. Ask yourself, what trends have potential to reshape your business, and how profound are they, short-term or long-term trends.

2.     Conduct Experiments. One experiment would be a radical change that satisfies needs that customers might not yet know that they need. The second is a more conservative approach to reacting to perceived customer needs.

3.     Compare the Results. Examine what you have learned from the experiments. The first experiment might have uncovered a new market in which you can become the leader, or it might not. You might learn valuable information, which will enable you to more intelligently conduct the next experiment.

4.     Isolate Potential Strategies. With this new perspective, you can take action on a broader basis.

Change is not an option and you can change or be changed, the choice is yours.