ESSAY

ESSAY

ESSAY

Question 1

Quite a few organizations still look at management training in new country as a nuisance or as something that is not taken seriously … Yet we know that an untrained manager can create real problems for an enterprise and that a properly trained manager can make a real difference. Why an organization would approach managerial training in a cavalier fashion is beyond me but we do know that people are frequently thrown into managerial positions without a lick of preparation with potentially devastating consequences (a vice president of human resources observation)!

Because of rapid changes emerging from the world's ultra-competitive marketplace, individual managers and executives are being asked to change their approach to running their operations and managing people (Longenecker and Simonetti, 2001). The “new” managers, we are told, must learn to be coaches, team players, facilitators, process managers, human resource developers, visionary leaders and entrepreneurs among other things. They must be more bottom-line driven, more innovative and more focused on the human dynamics of the organization (Chapman, 2001).

When managers are not properly trained a host of “negative people issues” emerge including a loss of teamwork/cooperation, communication breakdowns, a loss of morale and increased workplace stress. When managers are in positions of authority and are not properly trained, a loss of focus on customer needs and operational profitability can easily occur, along with increased costs and lost business opportunities. Fourth, poorly trained managers create or fail to address quality problems or allow performance barriers to continue without resolution. They may not have the ability or focus to practice continuous improvement in their operation which is sorely needed in most enterprises these days. Fifth, poorly trained managers can breed absenteeism and turnover problems (often pivotal to organizational performance), frequently ignore or break organizational policies which affect morale and productivity and can even create potentially severe legal problems/exposure for the enterprise.

Finally, untrained managers who learn via trial and error often develop bad habits because they never learn the most efficient and or effective ways to deal with issues or because they misinterpret feedback they might receive from the situation. Worse yet, subordinates who are trained by these managers can also learn and develop bad habits by observing the behaviors and the decision processes of these managers. This means that at some point these bad habits must be broken and new habits developed if these managers are to survive and the organization is to prosper.

Organizations that want to effectively compete in the ultra-competitive business environment of the twenty-first century must pay careful attention to management training in new country. A managerial training system should be incorporated into the corporate culture if an organization wishes to avoid the negative individual and organizational consequences caused by ineffective training practices (Longenecker et al., 1998b). Effective training requires knowledge, time, and discipline, and is best achieved when managers at all levels and HR managers function in unison to achieve the common goal to create a high performance management work force. Training must be planned and budgeted for all ...