Analysis of Managing People and Organisation: MGT600 Report

This report delves into the multifaceted role of management within an organization, focusing on the challenges and strategies employed by managers. Through an interview with the Human Resource Manager of Optus, a major telecommunications company in Australia, the report examines key aspects of management, including strategic planning, employee motivation, and organizational performance. The analysis incorporates a literature review to provide context and a theoretical framework for understanding management practices. The report identifies challenges such as maintaining employee motivation and adapting to the changing market landscape, while also exploring the application of the contingency theory of management. Recommendations are provided to address these challenges, offering insights into the evolving nature of management and the skills required for effective leadership. The report concludes with an evaluation of the interview findings and their implications for management practice within Optus, and potentially, other organizations.

Running head: MANAGING PEOPLE AND ORGANISATION
Managing people and organisation
Name of the student:
MGT600
The multi-dimensional role of managers
Author note:

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Executive summary
The subsequent report discusses the role of management in an organisation. In order to
demonstrate this, an interview is conducted upon the Human Resource Manager of Optus, a
telecommunication company, Australia. The analysis of the interview have helped to bring
out the various elements of management and the challenges that are related to this job role.
Additionally, some recommendations are also enumerated in the report in order to overcome
these challenges. The report gives a thorough insight of the probable changes that may occur
in the practice of management and the current management activities.The analysis of the
interview have provided certain factors and challenges that the management department faces
time in time. For instance, the challenge of motivating employees and maintaining quality
productivity from employees. These challenges are discussed and some probable suggestion
are also discussed to overcome the challenges.

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Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................3
Analysis......................................................................................................................................3
Literature Review...................................................................................................................3
Interpretation of Interview.....................................................................................................5
Theory and Practice....................................................................................................................7
References..................................................................................................................................9
Appendix 1...............................................................................................................................10

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Introduction
The responsibility of managing and administering staff members and distinctive
departments within a company or an organisation requires years of experience and qualified
skills. This responsibility falls on the shoulder of manager in any organisation. During his or
her job role, it is evident that he or she may come across many challenges. The approach and
strategies that the managers apply in case of such challenges and in order to operate within
the organisation in general, is what differentiates them from one another.
The following report discusses the distinctive challenges that the manager of
Telecommunications Company named Optus have faced over the period of his experience in
the job role of a manager. The various strategic planning and application of these strategies in
coping with the challenges gives an insight what managers in general have to deal in their job
role. The aim of this report is to find out the various concepts and strategies that the managers
abide and execute which helps them in their specific job role. In addition to this, the
following report also aims in finding out the changes or probable changes that may occur in
future in management practice.
In order to fulfil the aim of this report, an interview is conducted upon the Human
Resource Manager (HRM) of Optus Telecommunications Company. The interview comprises
of eight questions that is related to the topic of the report. In consecutive steps, the data
collected from the interview is interpreted and analysed in order to understand and fulfil the
aim of the report.
Analysis
Literature Review
Optus is regarded as one of the significant telecommunications company in Australia.
The services delivered by the company are owned and operated by the company within its
own network base (Optus, 2018). The company was established in the year 1981 and since
then it has flourished to be a successful telecommunications company of Australia. The
company has a clear set of objectives that drives them to deliver a quality service. One of the
key aims of the company is to create a better connected future for Australia and thus helping
the distinctive people, communities around the world (Optus, 2018). The company aims to
fulfil this by investing upon networks and sustainable future (Optus, 2018).

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In order to manage and govern the company towards a successful position, the HRM
of any organisation plays a significant role. Management is considered to be one of the
essential element of any organisation (Rosemann & vom Brocke, 2015). It is the job role of
management that it organises the current organisational activities and plan for achieving
future goals. Now there are a number of procedures that are involved in the job role of
management. According to Bolden (2016), the nature of management comprises of seven
significant elements to it. These elements are the ground mechanism of management upon
which it functions. The first element of management is to measure and analyse the
performance of the employees working in the organisation. The second element is to examine
the future scope or environment that would benefit the company to a significant level.
Thirdly, developing concrete objectives for the company is one of the essential element in
management. According to Strauß & Zecher (2013), setting objectives within an organisation
helps construct a guideline and clear aims that upon which the staff members shall abide by.
In addition to the elements of management, the fourth element comprises of
developing business strategies in order to fulfil the objectives set up. Consecutively, the
strategies are converted into operational tactics. The sixth element of management is to
prepare budget and action plan that would help to initiate the strategies that was set up by the
management. Lastly, the final element is to implement the constructed plan that would affect
the organisation in a significant way.
The elements of management are dependent upon each other for the purpose of
directing the company towards a better scope or platform (Rosemann & vom Brocke, 2015).
Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg.). According to Lawrence & Lee (2013), management is not
merely governing the current activities of the company instead have a much deeper role to
play within any organisation. Management is a continuous planning, organising, controlling
and implementation of appropriate approaches and strategies that would guide the company
towards a successful and profitable route (Lawrence & Lee, 2013).
The significance of management is accepted universally and henceforth, each and
every organisation or company have an establishment of management department of its own
(Schaltegger & Wagner, 2017). It has been observed that the management contributes heavily
upon the successful functioning of any organisation and is responsible for maintaining and
creating a cooperative working environment for the workers (Roper & Payant, 2014). Now,
the job role of management is segregated in distinctive levels and its purpose are

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differentiated accordingly. From quality management to risk management, there are various
criteria where the skills and role of management are established.
Interpretation of Interview
The interview conducted upon the manager of the telecommunication company Optus
highlighted some new elements that the current management practices are going through at
the moment. Following the eight elements of Thought model the following interpretation of
the interview has been constructed –
Purpose
The main goal of this interview that was conducted upon the HRM of Optus was to
find out the major challenges that are frequently faced in the job role and to analyse the
approach and strategies that is practiced in the job role of management. In addition to this, the
current management practice along with probable changes in the field of management is also
discussed from this interview.
Key Question
The questions that were constructed for this interview were more in-depth in nature
(Appendix 1). The questions ranged from personal management experience to the overall
discussion in the field of management. The questions of the interview comprises of
discussion of the current management practices. Furthermore, the probable changes that may
occur in the management field is also discussed. These questions shall give an insight to field
of management and how distinctive approach in management affects the organisations
differently.
Information
The information gathered as a result of the interview gave an insight and helped in
finding out the key challenges that the management department of the organisation faces
generally. The strategies of motivating the employees despite of extreme work pressure is one
of the extreme challenges that most of the management department come across during their
job role. Employees being one of the key asset of the company have a major contribution in
achieving company’s goals and objectives. Therefore, motivating them and increasing their
engagement level towards their work is a significant role that the management has to look
upon.

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Concepts
There are a number of concepts that have been established on the practice of
management of any organisation. The nature of management and its key functioning is the
universally accepted theory. Management is not merely a strategic process of administering
the organisation instead have a much deeper interpretation than that (). The process of
management includes the steps of an in-depth analysing the various activities of organisation
and developing the most appropriate plan or strategy for the organisation. The management
department not only take into account the current activities but also think of the future scope
for the organisation.
Assumptions
It was assumed from the interview that the manager of the company have a positive
experience in the job role of manager. However, it can be assumed that management is not an
easy task to be initiated and require a lot of experience and skills. The individual that takes on
the responsibility and job role of management have a dynamic role to play within the
organisation. The interview furthermore, helped to put an insight towards the probable
changes that the management field may go through. For instance, the increasing competitive
nature of the market have given rise to more complex practice of management and have in
fact have expanded the job role of management.
Implications and Consequences
It has been observed from the interview that even though the job role of management
is significant for the organisation. The dynamic role that it plays within the organisation can
influence the functioning of the organisation to a significant level. The continuous process
that are involved in management may affect the individual that has acquired the job role of
management.
Point of view
The interview conducted upon the HRM of Optus have raised some factors. The
dynamic responsibilities that comprises in the job role of management may sometimes affect
the functioning of it and this may ultimately affect upon organisations performance.
Henceforth, it is necessary that the role of management is equally divided and segregated
upon distinctive individuals so that a proper balance can be maintained throughout the
department.

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Interpretations and conclusions
The interview have brought out many factors that may affect the role of management
to a significant level. Management is one of the most essential element within an
organisation. However, the vast responsibilities attached with this job role may give rise to
increased consequences upon the individual health and ultimately influence the decision
making procedure of the organisation.
Theory and Practice
Managers are becoming smarter with each passing day in the telecommunications
sector. The increased roles and responsibilities of the mangers have made it very difficult to
become a manager. The managers are selected on the basis of effective capabilities rather
than merit. This makes sure that the larger number of managers are better performing in
regards to team handling and team performances. Based on the findings managers have been
seen to be greatly interactive with their team members. The managers have been seen to have
generally good opinions about the capabilities and competencies of their team members. It is
also found that despite the regular disappointments and demotivation most of the teams have
generally good opinions about their managers. This points towards the fact that team bonding
and team coordination levels have risen over the years. Generally this could be attributed to
the fact that modern organizational performance has become almost completely dependent on
the effectiveness of the various teams.
The contingency theory of management greatly provides managerial decision making
outlooks that can determine the progress of teams and organizations (Cairns, Beech &
Montuori, 2016). According to this theory managerial decisions are based on real time
situations rather than singularly applicable decision making methods. Thus, decisions that are
taken by managers across various organizations depend greatly on the business requirements.
Optus being a large company, the same decision making theories are applied to the
managerial situations that are present. Managers of the company were seen to be quite
flexible with their decision making. However, this can hamper employee motivation in many
cases. It was found that the contingency theory cannot be equally productive under all
circumstances. The applications of systems theory was also evident from the findings
concerning the managerial aspects of Optus. Systems theory provides a decision making
framework where all the members within the team are deemed to be part of a whole
(Williams et al., 2014). Thus, the systems theory stresses on the integration of roles towards

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creating better productivity. The findings make it very clear that the two theories are most
commonly used by the managers in the company.
The major identified challenges were employee motivation. The interview pointed to
the fact that the managers were responsible for improving the motivation of their team
members. However, according to the manager this was the most challenging aspect of his
work. Another significant challenge that can also be said to be related to the motivational
factors is growing work pressure. Market competition was also found to be among the
principal challenges being faced by Optus in the present corporate situations. Employee
motivation can be said to one of the biggest issues that organizations operating in the current
corporate scenarios regularly face. It has been found that the current corporate functions of
large enterprises are complicated and much tiresome for employees and managers across all
the operational levels of the organizations. The problems become much severe when
competition increases forcing the company to implement rigorous work schedules for their
employees. This results in the increasing workload of the employees. Naturally, the
employees get much demotivated in the face of such extreme pressure situations. The main
issue is in regards to keeping the workforce motivated despite the rising levels of work.
Despite the fact that incentives are in place to motivate the employees. It becomes much
difficult for the employees to actually be motivated as they are psychologically affected due
to the extreme pressure situations. This was found to be a significant challenge that affected
the managers at the Optus group. At times managers are unable to cope with the situations
and cannot maintain the effectiveness of motivational aspects of their teams. This creates
further problems for the teams as lack of coordination can end up the total failure of
productivity of teams. The attitude of the manager was found to be greatly tested at these
situations. This is mainly because majority of the times even if demotivated, the employees
have to provide performance towards the project being handled. Thus, it becomes necessary
for an effective manager to keep up an attitude that can atleast ensure that the employees are
relatively satisfied to work in the team.
Rising competition levels are causing significant issues among the organizations. This
was the greater understanding that was gathered through the experience. The ground level
impact of pressure creates situations within an organizations that cannot be realized by people
that are not part of the operational process (Kim, Asada & Hirai, 2016). It was realized that
the approach and outlook of the leadership of an organization can be the determining factor
behind the productive performance of organizations. The competitive factors of the market

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that are increasing with the advent of new technological innovations have also been found
through the study of Optus. Learning about the significant aspects of a large company like
Optus helped towards understanding the major operational aspects that organizations
functioning in the telecommunications sector have to consider. Hence, he effective
significance of the major operational factors were evaluated and understood.
Conclusion and Recommendations
The main aspects that were focused in the essay was organizational behavior,
organizational leadership and productive performances of organizations. The interview
helped in the discussion of the ground level managerial issues that affected the functioning of
the teams that in turn helped in increasing organizational productivity. Moreover, the
organizations as effective functional entities that depend on various essential units were
discussed. The findings pointed out towards the theories and practical application of
managerial aspects and the challenge factors that affect the efficiency of organizational
leaderships.
The specific job roles that managers have been effectively discussed and it has been
found that motivation of the employees in the face of extreme pressure situations is an
essential challenge that managers have to effectively tackle. Thus, it can be said that efficient
leadership and effective tackling of challenges is the most important factor that helps towards
organizational progress.
The recommendations that can be made for Optus is to increase their employee base.
Extreme pressure situations can be avoided through larger number of employees. Moreover,
the competitive forces need to be essentially considered before taking any major market
decisions. In the end it can be said that Optus have been able to maintain its productive
functions due to its long standing market presence. The leadership of the organization can be
said to be satisfactory but needs to improve further as the future conditions can be more
challenging.

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References
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integration of social, environmental and economic performance. Routledge.

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