UMAN3011 - Understanding Management: Report on Business Practices

This report, based on the UMAN3011 coursework, delves into the multifaceted aspects of understanding management, using the fictional case of 'Bonk Wear' cloth-making firm. It explores the nature of the business, the roles and responsibilities of the manager and owner, and the benefits of strategic planning. The report examines the advantages of a sole proprietorship business structure, organizational culture, and the impact of leadership styles, particularly transformational leadership. It further discusses the importance of effective communication within an organization, including various communication methods and the implications of downsizing. The reflexive summary highlights the acquired knowledge of business management, emphasizing the importance of a well-defined vision and mission, and the need for transparent communication to foster employee engagement and productivity. The report uses the provided references to support its arguments and findings, and offers insights into practical business management scenarios.

Running head: Understanding management
Understanding management
Student name
Institution
Date

Understanding management
Table of Contents
Nature of the business................................................................................................................................1
Organizing responsibility as the manager and the owner of Bonk Wear.....................................................1
Planning benefits.........................................................................................................................................3
Business structure and the advantages of the adopted structure...............................................................3
Organization culture....................................................................................................................................3
Behavior..................................................................................................................................................4
Values......................................................................................................................................................4
How leadership style impacts culture..........................................................................................................4
Vision.......................................................................................................................................................4
Mission....................................................................................................................................................4
Communication...........................................................................................................................................4
Ways in which manager can communicate to his group.............................................................................5
Holding a hall meeting.............................................................................................................................5
One on one or email................................................................................................................................5
Benefits of effective communication...........................................................................................................5
Reasons for effective communication of employees downsizing................................................................5
Reflexive summary......................................................................................................................................5
Reference....................................................................................................................................................6

Understanding management
Nature of the business
Bonk Wear is a cloth making firm located in the north of Naij city in Jas. We specialize in clothes making
and fashion design wear from raw cotton and our market is distributed evenly both locally and abroad.
Our products vary in various aspects to meet consumer needs in terms of age, gender, and events as
well weather and climate of their location.
Organizing responsibility as the manager and the owner of Bonk Wear
As the owner and the manager, I have to take the responsibility of ensuring that the raw cotton is
available for processing and the processing machine are there and in good condition. In case of faulty
machine I take the duty of seeking for a technician for repair. Apart from the physical resources
organizing, I also organize my employees by delegating them duties to work as per my plan; I give the
direction to follow as per my plan.
Planning benefits
As the manager I have to map the steps to take for the purpose of improvement and achievement for
now and the future of the Bonk Wear cloth maker.
Having the plan will help me have a strategic focus to the market and the production in the business.
Also in case of issues that require change, it will be possible to manage the steps to handle this.
It’s important to acknowledge that you cannot do everything at a go. With a proper business plan I will
be able to set the priorities of the business and identify what step should come before the other, this

Understanding management
will help to minimize inconveniences in performance of duties. Proper plan will also help me to manage
the business resources having a clear map of what resources should be used under what sector.
Business structure and the advantages of the adopted structure
Bonk Wear is a sole proprietorship business structure under my family ownership and management. This
implies that me and my family came up with the idea, sourced the capital, and implemented it without
involving a third party from outside the family.
The reason I opted for this business structure is the understanding that, many people in one premi9ses
may at one time fail to agree on one decision or the process take long time before the decision is made.
Definitely this will east into the processing time and therefore a loss will be counted. In some cases
different mind have different goals and objectives, unifying this minds is not an easy task. With sole
proprietorship, it will be easy for me to make decision and implement it at a go.
Family matter most, a family man should have something for the children inheritance, and with sole
proprietor it is easy to transfer the ownership of the business from one person to the other. This
business structure also has an advantage of not paying the corporate tax. Registration of sole
proprietorship has minimal legal requirements.
There is nothing important as the peace of mind both at work and home. Peace of mind dictates your
morale at work and hence the productivity. In Bonk Wear I am my own boss, no one will be at the door
harassing me in the morning when am late for the job while even attending to other important matter.
Therefore I will be able to manage my time and balance the time for the business and that of personal
issues. Also unlike in other business structures, it is possible to have a fami9ly member representative in
the business while in other duties. The profit gained by the business is for me and the family, no sharing
of the profit with anyone. At the end of the trading period some of the business owners feel to have

Understanding management
contributed more than others toward the success of the business (Hopkin, 2018). They therefore end
up victimizing the others with the feeling that they should take a bigger share than the others. Bonk
Wear structure is the answer to this inconveniences. The capital required at the set up is relatively low
compared to other business structures.
Organization culture
According to Edgar Schein’s we have the following types of organization culture.
Behavior
This is the most observable culture. It includes the dress code, the technology employed and the layout
of the organization.
Values
Values refer to preferences given to particular aspects of the organization.
Management culture refers to the values and traits that creates and define a unique social environment
from the view of an outsider and the psychological environment in the view of the employees. The
culture of any organization dictates how the members interact with others and work.
How leadership style impacts culture
My leadership style is the transformational one. Personally, I aim at transforming the existing ideas,
practices and thought as well as the culture with close engagement of the employees to improve the
performance of the organization.

Understanding management
It has been proven that employees treat your work the way you treat them. If you care for them, then
no doubt they will care for your work with motivation and morale of work at heart (Hair and Lukas,
2014).
Vision
To dress the world regardless of the income amount they generate and able to spend.
Mission
To provide a transparent working environment for our employees by ensuring they are well equipped
with the knowledge to deal with the current and future challenges on cloth making.
Mission and vision of our organization acts like the direction giver to our employees, regardless of their
position in the organization, it help us to keep in the scope of work with the generated desire to achieve
(Kloppers, and Strydom, 2017)
Communication
Communication refers to the relaying of information from the management to staffs or the outsiders
and vice versa. Effective communication refers to the relay of the necessary information on time in the
right time and mode without alteration and a feedback on the same effected. For instance a decision by
the management to downsize the number of staffs due to losses as the business looks forward to merge
with another business need to be done on good time and mode for the following reasons (Goetsch, &
Davis, 2014).

Understanding management
Ways in which manager can communicate to his group
Holding a hall meeting
This refers to a face to face communication of the manager and the employees. It remains being the
most effective communication type because the manager can get immediate feedback from the
employee’s reaction. It also gives a room for the use of facial expressions and gestures (Rushton,
Crouche & Baker, 2014).
One on one or email
Research shows that there exist a group of people who understand things better when addressed on
one to one basis. Here they can ask question for clarity and better understanding of the concept. When
the organization is too big to achieve this, emails are used as an alternative (Hatten, 2015).
Benefits of effective communication
It will help to build a positive attitude in the mind of the staffs on the importance of the decision on
merger. The objective here will be to convince the staffs that if the business continues performing that
way, at one point it will have to close due to losses and for it to be in the safe side there is need for a
merger with another healthy business and this will be only possible with a reduced number of
employees.
Effective communication in this case will also help in avoiding catastrophe. Imagine a situation where
you are informed of this and it has to be affected the following day in your company. Definitely it will
cause trouble. Protest and demonstration in the streets against your business; however if this was done
timely the issue could be avoided (Buil, Catalán, & Martínez, 2016).

Understanding management
Making this clear is vital. A business without effective communication is more likely to suffer from
rumors. In most cases rumor are always negative and can adversely affect the business. With clear of
understanding of what is going on the staffs are more likely to understand the step taken and why.
It also ensures transparency. Therefore the employees affected will not view it as being biased to them.
Reasons for effective communication of employees downsizing
If the employees to be affected are also informed on time they will be able to seek for a job somewhere
else before the decision is implemented. Most employees entirely depend on the job they are employed
to do for the living. Communicating to them of downsizing in emergency manner will raise uproar
(Scarborough, 2016)
Reflexive summary
Learning of this course has been an eye opener to my business management mind. I have developed the
knowledge of business management and well understand the role of the manager in the business. I can
now fully assume the role of the manager and be able to carry out the duties of planning, organizing,
leading and controlling of the business activities effectively (Haldorai, Ramu & Murugan, 2018).
The course has brought to my understanding that business culture is not an overnight event gain. It is
gained and developed gradually in reaction to the external forces affecting the business. Later the new
employees just join the business and easily adapt to the culture. The desire to achieve by the employees
is determined by the manager by clearly defining the goals of the organization and communicating it to
the employees. When the employees understand the vision and the mission of the institution they are
working for, the productivity raises as there is a shared common goal to achieve (Buil, Catalán, &
Martínez, 2016).

Understanding management
This course has also equipped me with the knowledge of business communication of ideas and decision
effectively. I am now able to appreciate the need for effective communication by the management to
the employees rather than a situation where the manager acts like a dictator, making decision and
implementing them at a go without informing the employees in advance. From my knowledge in this
course, possibly this is what contribute to the spreading of bad rumors about the organization and at
times results to protest and demonstration of the workers against the organization.
Reference
Buil, I., Catalán, S. and Martínez, E., 2016. The importance of corporate brand identity in
business management: An application to the UK banking sector. BRQ Business Research
Quarterly, 19(1), pp.3-12.
Daft, R.L. and Marcic, D., 2016. Understanding management. Nelson Education.
Goetsch, D.L. and Davis, S.B., 2014. Quality management for organizational excellence. Upper
Saddle River, NJ: pearson.
Greenberg, J., 2014. Behavior in Organizations: Global Edition. Pearson Higher Ed.

Understanding management
Hair Jr, J.F. and Lukas, B., 2014. Marketing research (Vol. 2). McGraw-Hill Education
Australia.
Haldorai, A., Ramu, A. and Murugan, S., 2018. Social Aware Cognitive Radio Networks:
Effectiveness of Social Networks as a Strategic Tool for Organizational Business
Management. In Social Network Analytics for Contemporary Business Organizations (pp.
188-202). IGI Global.
Hatten, T.S., 2015. Small business management: Entrepreneurship and beyond. Nelson
Education.
Hopkin, P., 2018. Fundamentals of risk management: understanding, evaluating and
implementing effective risk management. Kogan Page Publishers.
Rudansky-Kloppers, S. and Strydom, J.W., 2017. Multiple-choice Questions for Introduction to
Business Management. Oxford University Press Southern Africa.
Rushton, A., Croucher, P. and Baker, P., 2014. The handbook of logistics and distribution
management: Understanding the supply chain. Kogan Page Publishers.
Scarborough, N.M., 2016. Essentials of entrepreneurship and small business management.
Pearson.