Budgeting as a Performance Management Technique

Budgeting as a Performance Management Technique â€Å"Financial measures are inadequate for guiding and evaluating organisations’ trajectories through competitive environments.† Kaplan and Norton (1996: 24) In the introductory quotation, Kaplan and Norton, in their call for a balanced performance management scorecard employing financial, customer, internal business process, and learning and growth perspectives, cite one reason why finances, including budgeting, are increasingly ineffective when used to the exclusion of other factors. The Beyond Budgeting Round Table (â€Å"BBRT – Beyond Budgeting Round Table† 2007: n.p.), self-described as â€Å"an independent, international research collaborative†, and others have identified additional drawbacks associated with focusing on budgeting as a performance management tool. This essay begins by identifying and discussing those drawbacks then continues with a discussion and evaluation of a proposed solution proposed by the BBRT. Over the past two decades the pace of competitive change has been occurring at an ever-increasing rate, but the budgetary processes of many organisations have not changed (Coombs 2005: 34). Coombs suggests that traditional budgetary processes add little value because they limit an organisation’s ability to react to environmental changes. Increasing numbers of organisations recognise this problem as indicated by expressions of dissatisfaction with existing budgeting processes (Fraser 2001: n.p.). Fraser claims that, as organisations realise the diminished value of budgeting in performance management, they are acknowledging the increasing costs of, and time required by, the current budgeting process. Parmenter (2003: n.p.) claims that increasing numbers of organisations in Europe, Asia, New Zealand, and the United States believe that the budget is a hindrance to management. Fraser (2000: n.p.) contends that the budgeting process, as part of the conventional performance improveme nt model, is too rigid to respond to rapid changes in today’s economy. In â€Å"About Beyond Budgeting – The Budgeting Problem†, the BBRT (2007: n.p.) identifies and describes problems with the traditional budgeting process. These problems are associated with budget management time and cost, user value, shareholder value, flexibility, business costs, product and strategy innovation, focus, relationship to strategy, culture, and ethics: Budgeting Time and Cost. The budgeting process is time consuming. Estimates of time consumed are as high as five months for each cycle, occupying 20 to 30 percent of financial managers’ and senior managers’ time. As an example of the cost of the traditional budgeting process, Ford Motor Company calculated the annual cost of its budgeting at US $1.2 billion. User Value. Although the budgeting process provides an element of control to some managers, the people who actually use budget information realise little value. For instance, almost 80 percent of finance staff time is spent on lower value activities with the small remainder devoted to higher-order activities such as financial analysis. Shareholder Value. Budgets concentrate on internal targets, which are heavily influenced by prior period budget results, rather than focusing on maximising value to customers and shareholders. Flexibility. Budgets are often too inflexible to support quick responses to changing environmental factors. Only one-fifth of all organisations change their budgets within the related fiscal period. Business Costs. Not fully spending budgeted amounts is discouraged in many organisations leading to a failure to adequately question budgetary requests. In this way, unnecessary business costs are protected rather than reduced. Product and Strategy Innovation. Traditional budgetary practices discourage risk taking because emerging opportunities are too often not reflected in current period budgets. Focus. The focus of budgets is frequently on sales goals instead of customer satisfaction. Although most organisations recognise the importance of customer satisfaction, individuals are often not rewarded on this factor; rather, they are rewarded on achieving sales targets. Relationship to Strategy. Budgets are often â€Å"divorced† from strategic decisions due to the poor support that budgets provide to organisational strategy. Culture. Traditional budgeting creates and maintains dependency cultures in organisations because people are deemed successful when they strictly adhere to budget figures. Ethics. The high importance of meeting budgetary goals may cause people to behave unethically, even fraudulently. Fortunately, there is an alternative to the traditional budget model. Coombs (2005: 34) suggests that this alternative should create and support a â€Å"performance climate†. The alternative should empower managers and encourage entrepreneurship throughout the organisation; should be externally-, rather than internally-, focused; and should provide an environment that promotes individual motivation. Claiming that it is â€Å"at the heart of a new movement searching for ways to build lean, adaptive and ethical enterprises that can sustain superior competitive performance†, the BBRT has developed a solution to increase the effectiveness of performance management in the twenty-first century (Fraser 2001: n.p.). Two concepts underlie the BBRT solution (â€Å"About Beyond Budgeting – Concepts† 2007: n.p.): adaptive processes and devolved networks. The BBRT recommends replacing fixed budgets with adaptive processes incorporating ambitious, regularly reviewed targets based on benchmarks, peer goals, and previous fiscal period results. The BBRT also recommends replacing centralised decision-making and performance accountability with devolved networks, which are achieved through decentralisation, to increase productivity, motivation, and customer service. The BBRT’s concepts of adaptive processes and devolved networks each embody six principles (â€Å"About Beyond Budgeting – The Principles† 2007: n.p.). Adaptive process principles include: (1) formulating goals based on maximising performance potential, (2) evaluating and rewarding based on contracts for relative improvement, (3) conducting action planning in a continuous and inclusive manner, (4) ensuring resource availability, (5) coordinating actions across the organisation based on customer demand, and (6) basing management controls on effective governance and ranges of performance indicators. Devolved network principles include: (1) instituting a governance framework with clear principles and boundaries, (2) establishing a high-performance climate, (3) delegating decision-making authority, (4) assigning decision-making responsibility commensurate with authority, (5) expecting accountability for customer results, and (6) creating information systems that supp ort ethical behaviour. The inadequacy of traditional budgeting as a performance management tool, considering the ever-increasing pace of environmental change faced by most organisations, is well supported by research conducted by the BBRT and others. The concepts and principles offered by the BBRT seem solid if somewhat limited in scope in that the BBRT, in heavily focusing on budgeting, does not furnish a comprehensive solution for the array of performance management issues faced by today’s managers despite its implicit call for such a holistic approach in its purpose of â€Å"searching for ways to build lean, adaptive and ethical enterprises that can sustain superior competitive performance†. Perhaps incorporating the BBRT’s recommendations into Kaplan and Norton’s broader balanced performance management scorecard approach, (1996: 44)—financial, customer, internal business process, and learning and growth perspectives—would yield a significantly stronger and more comprehensive approach for modern organisations. References Beyond Budgeting Round Table (2007) â€Å"About Beyond Budgeting – Concepts†, available from http://www.beyondbudgeting.plus.com/BBRTweb4/bbconcept.htm [Accessed: 7 March 2007]. Beyond Budgeting Round Table (2007) â€Å"About Beyond Budgeting – The Budgeting Problem†, available from http://www.beyondbudgeting.plus.com/BBRTweb4/bbprob.htm [Accessed: 7 March 2007]. Beyond Budgeting Round Table (2007) â€Å"About Beyond Budgeting – The Principles†, available from http://www.beyondbudgeting.plus.com/BBRTweb4/bbprinc.htm [Accessed: 7 March 2007]. Beyond Budgeting Round Table (2007) â€Å"BBRT Beyond Budgeting Round Table†, available from http://www.beyondbudgeting.plus.com/BBRTweb4/index.htm [Accessed: 7 March 2007]. Coombs, Hugh (2005) â€Å"Budgets Should Be Geared for Rapid Response†, Western Mail, June 18, 2005. Fraser, Robin (2000) â€Å"Beyond Budgeting: Organizational Devolution and Performance Management†, Strategic Finance, October 1, 2000. Fraser, Robin (2001) â€Å"Figures of Hate: Beyond Budgeting†, Financial Management (UK), February 1, 2001. Kaplan, Robert S., and Norton, David P. (1996) The Balanced Scorecard, Boston: Harvard Business School Press. Parmenter, David (2003) â€Å"Abandon Budgets and Set Your Enterprise Free†, New Zealand Management, October 1, 2003.

Becoming an Effective Leader Essay

My job title is Training Co-ordinator for an organisation called Lifeskills Centres, I assess in the following areas; business administration, customer service, management, delivering level 2 and 3 and also any supporting key skills needed. I am responsible for my caseload of learners; their progress, learning and achievement of the qualification. I must cater each programme to suit the needs of the individual learner, I do this by setting each new starter off on initial assessments so that I can see what level they are currently at which will help me decide which course is the most suitable and which approach will be the most beneficial for the learner. I am also responsible for creating strong professional relationships with the learners new employers and maintaining relationships with existing employers this is for two reasons so they would recommend us to other employers so we gain a good reputation and so that they will want to use Lifeskills as a training provider for all of their staff and will not use a different organisation as it is a competitive market. I also advertise vacancies for our employers who have had good experiences in the past with apprentices and would like to recruit a new one. I agree with the employer all of the details to go on to the advert and interview all of the candidates and trial period the suitable ones for a week before sending them to the employer themselves to interview and then make the final decision. Within my role I use a number of different leadership styles in different situations and with different people in order to progress and achieve what needs to be achieved for example; I use the leadership style autocratic when I come to the end of the programme and I tell my learners what I want and what needs to be done and how it needs to be done, this is when the learners are short of time if they are leaving the organisation and don’t have much time to complete and it works the best when they want to achieve and are highly motivated. I have used the leadership style democratic when I had a group of learners in one particular placement where I was finding it hard to make them progress as they wouldn’t complete any work unless I was there  with them and they had no motivation towards the qualification. I discussed with the learners my concerns and asked how they thought we could move forward and they suggested one to one meetings, I informed the learners that this would be too time consuming and that I could afford to have a morning or afternoon out of the month for me to come in to the organisation and support them and motivate them to complete the knowledge questions, technical certificate and key skills side of the qualification. The learners confirmed that this was an effective method and I informed them that I will observe them twice a month but they do not have to complete any written tasks for me between observation as it will be done on the one morning / afternoon per month. I used this leadership style so that they felt they were included and to help me gain more respect from them and I do not think that it came across as a weakness from myself I think it showed that I was honest and realised that there was something not right and then discussed and implemented a solution. Lastly the leadership style I use not very often but I do still use is delegative which is where I let the learners make their own decisions on how they can progress through their qualification. I usually use this style when a learner has progressed from a level 2 qualification with myself on to a level 3 so they know the way the programme works and we have a comfortable relationship I also allow some level 3 learners to reference their own work in to their files. Application of emotional intelligence in shaping performance I employ the two aspects of emotional intelligence when dealing with learners and colleagues at all times as I must first understand myself and my goals, intentions, responses and behaviour and understand others and their feelings to be able to manage my learners and their progress. I empathise with learners and use the understanding of their emotions to motivate them and inspire them to complete their work. I am aware of my own feelings and emotions and control these to make sure that I do not behave in a way that is unacceptable towards learners or colleagues, I may not have to say anything to communicate how I am feeling as it can be portrayed in my body language and facial expressions which is also something that I have to control. Based on Goleman’s theory to be an effective leader I must be aware  of my own feelings and emotions and manage these to make sure that my emotions do not show in my behaviour if they are unacceptable. I must motivate myself which I do by meeting appraisal and review targets and setting myself my own goals to achieve. I must also manage other peoples emotions I do this by building a relationship with my learners and getting to know what they like and what annoys them so I can recognise this and stop it from becoming an issue where possible, it also makes the learners feel valued and that I care about the way they feel. It is also stated in Maslows Hieracy of needs that to work to your full ability and progress in your job and grow as a person you must have the following; Be in a healthy state, feel safe, feel like you belong somewhere and have some form of social life (friends, family, relationships) and have self esteem before you are able to grow personally. I must make sure that I show all learners that I care about each of them as an individual and that there progress and growth means a lot to me. I think an area that I personally have to work on is when I worry and panic about things for example we were mock inspected and I felt very anxious about it, I must make sure that this feeling does not come across to learners or employers and that the rest of my work doesn’t suffer from it. I also try to understand and manage the employers I deal with emotional intelligence as I want to build a relationship with them and trust so I make sure that I empathise with them and try not to do anything possible which may annoy them for example if I can see that an employer is very busy instead of updating them after the appointment with their learner I will ask if they would like an update via email as I can see they are really busy and then they can decide how they would like the feedback. Setting direction and gaining commitment I communicate and set direction for my learners by visiting them fortnightly, observing them work, showing them what each observation will cover or link in with, giving them feedback on their performance and setting them targets for the next appointment. I provide ongoing support via email and over the telephone to learners when I am at work but not at an appointment with them and review their progress and set targets formally at their ten week reviews which gives them clear direction and motivation to meet the targets they  agree by the next review. I provide support and tutorials to learners for the whole of the technical certificate and functional skills they complete and also offer training on the telephone, prioritising techniques and assertiveness skills as I have noticed that this is an area for development that employers ask for and the learners too. I also motivate and gain commitment from learners and try and persuade new employers to take on new learners by using myself as a role model example, as I began my career by completing an administration level 2 apprenticeship and have completed enough qualifications and worked my way up to becoming a Training Co-ordinator. I communicate and set direction and motivate employers by keeping them up to date with the learner’s progress and exactly what I have been doing with the learner after each visit where possible and including them in the qualification by asking for witness statements and also asking them to participate in the learner’s reviews. With my colleagues I communicate direction in standardisation meetings where we share best practise on how to cover and assess certain units that we may find difficult or what we have found that works very well. I try to motivate my colleagues by being hardworking and genuinely enthusiastic about my learners achieving and my job .

Diploma 5 health and social care Essay

If any of your personal information changes you must report them to your employer. Some examples of this may be if you move house and your address changes also if you get married and change your name or you change your name for any other reason then you must inform your employer so that the information they have is current and up to date. 3. The procedure that a staff member would follow if they wished to raise a grievance within the work place would be, firstly we have a lady within the company who deals with all grievance’s so you would take your issue to her and grapevines policy states that all concerns must be acknowledged within the first 48 hours it then must be investigated within 5 days and then you will receive a letter within 7 days of the outcome or next steps if appropriate. It also then states that the investigation must be fully concluded within 28 days of the first day the grievance was reported. If you are then unhappy with the outcome then you may appeal the decision within a 7 day period the appeal will then take place with a different manager and their decision at appeal is final with no further right to appeal. 4. The agreed ways of working with my employer around the following topics are as follows Data protection – states that all personal information for service users should be kept securely within the home but the service users should have the right to access any of their personal information at any time. Service users must also be protected when passing through any electronical devices in which refer to the service users through their initials rather than full name. Read more: Describe different working relationships in social care settings  essay Staff personal files must be kept securely within the building and locked away in a cupboard that only the management team have access to. Also any computers that are used for work must be password protected. Grievance that a service user may have- if a service user wishes to make a complaint they can ask a staff member or someone they trust to support them to write an account of what they are making a compliant about they would then give it to the manager or a senior member of the team if they wish to. The home manager would then involve an advocate or social worker if appropriate it would then be dealt with and the service user would then be informed where needed of the outcome. Conflict management- if there is any conflict within the team the manager would hold a meeting with all members involved separately to gather statements of the on goings. They would then try to hold a meeting with all parties together and act as a mediator between them to try to resolve matters informally. If the issues cannot be resolved it would then go to the lady who deals with grievances in which she would contact mentor who would give appropriate advice on actions to take. They could expect the outcome to be heard within 7 days. Anti-discriminatory practice- not to discriminate against anyone, weather this be race, religion, sexuality, gender, transgender, age, disability, ability, we follow and adhere to the equality act 2010 and treat each person as an individual in their own right. Health and safety- to undertake training in manual handling, food hygiene, first aid, coshh, to be aware of your own health and safety, to report any health and safety matters to the manager, to report and remove anything that may be of any danger, to look out for health and safety of the service users we support. Whistleblowing- you can report any matters of concern internally and externally and you can keep your complaint confidential, you have the right to be protected where reasonably possible. Confidentiality- any information about any of the service users should be kept confidential unless it’s in their best interest or safety to disclose information. All staffing information should be kept confidential for example things like supervisions and appraisals. 5. My role contributes to the overall delivery of the service as I manage the day to day running of the service and strive to deliver the best service possible this means that starting from recruiting staff to assuring quality within the service. My job consists of making sure that any new recruits within the team go through the robust recruitment process we have in place, I also monitor the training of the staff making sure all training is up to date and they have all relevant training that they require to be able to carry out their roles. I also supervise the staff and monitor the quality of the service being received. However the upmost importance of my role is to ensure that the highest quality of care is delivered to the individuals we support making sure that their needs are being met. I also write, review and update care plans and risk assessments where needed working together with the individuals we support. I also audit different areas of the service including health and saf ety, medication and parent and client surveys. I also spend time liaising with other professionals this may be social workers, GP’s, community nurses, CLDT. So overall my role contributes to keeping a smooth running of the service making sure a good quality of care is received. 6. A) By following best practice within my role I can influence the quality of the service. I do this by making sure I keep myself up to date with current legislation and training that we are required to adhere to. My role is about setting an example and being a role model for the staff team I manage. By following best practice this helps to keep staff motivated and also means this helps to build good, healthy and professional relationships and trust within the staff team and the individuals we support. By following best practice you are more likely to deliver a high level of care that is expected which means this lays down a good reputation for the company, a well-supported and confident staff team, happy clients and a generally well managed and or ganized service. B) By not carrying out the requirements that are expected in my job role can suggest that this could lead to bad practice and minimum quality. It is also likely that there will be a low morale within the staff team which will lead to a low quality care service being provided. The individuals we support rely on us to support them with their needs and with a poor service being received they will have a lack of trust within the team this could then lead to unsettled behaviors and a lack of stability. It could also affect the company as a whole as the reputation of the company could go down which could result in financial difficulties. 7. Your own practice must be influenced by national factors so that all legislation and rights and regulations are followed. Documents such as occupational standards state that the person must have the correct skills and qualifications to be able to carry out their job role; they must have a full and detailed job description which states what is expected of them. Codes of practice are set out for employer’s responsibilities in the regulation of social care workers. The codes of practice for social care workers are a list of statements that describe the standards of professional conduct required as they go about their daily work. By following these it reflects good practice. Your work must be influenced by legislation and government initiatives as these are laws that we are expected to follow to protect the people we support and also ourselves. We are accountable for our actions so we need to make sure we are skilled for the job to prevent bad practice. 8. Representative bodies that influence my area of work are CQC and the health and safety executive. 9. CQC- The care quality commission’s job is to make sure that all care provided by hospitals, dentists, ambulances, care homes and services in peoples own homes and elsewhere meets national standards of quality and safety. The health and safety executive oversees all aspects of health and safety including environmental health, RIDDOR, COSHH. 10. Three aspects of employment covered by law a re Employment law Disability discrimination act Human rights act 11. Three main features of current employment legislation are To protect the employer and the employee To ensure fair and equal rights, such as abiding by working hours, holidays, maternity rights. The right to a contract of terms and conditions 12. Employment law exists to give protection to both the employer and employee. To ensure that both parties have fair and equal rights. If employment laws didn’t exist you could face bullying and discrimination and you could be sacked at any time for no reason. 13. Sources of information available in relation to employment responsibilities and rights are the contract you have with your employer, staff handbooks, independent unions and citizen’s advice. Winterbourne view is a serious case where by adults with learning disabilities were seriously abused physically and mentally. The abuse consisted of victims being showered in the cold, having mouthwash poured into their eyes, dragged around on the floor, slapped and kicked and restrained under chairs. They were also forced to take their medication as they were pinned down by the staff members. These individuals were tortured and even after the abuse being reported by a nurse who worked within the home the abuse still went un-noticed by the regulator CQC. The public concern was that CQC failed to investigate the case despite being informed of some of the abuse that was being taken place within winterbourne view. The other concerns were that the affect that this case has had on the families themselves who had their children or other family members being taken care of by the so called carers that had been abusing these individuals. The families felt guilty for not recognizing the abuse and being able to do nothing about it. The public lost faith, trust and respect for CQC in this case for failing to investigate the abuse in depth. The families are now speaking out demanding this should not ever happen again. CQC have now said that they have more people and better systems of working that make them stronger they say that they have recruited 229 extra inspectors so that they can check more services more frequently. They are also doing more unannounced inspections on care services. They now have a specialist team in place that deals with whistleblowing to ensure each case is tracked and chased up. This case has now bought to the attention of pretty much everyone as in carers, CQC, families, the general public and people in care themselves that this sort of abuse does actually happen and it has helped to make people recognize signs of abuse it has raised a greater awareness of abuse throughout society. Since the case happening CQC have changed their systems and have taken and investigated hundreds of calls from whistleblowers. It has also made other care providers take a look at their own work force meaning that carers have now been put through more courses and making sure they know the systems of working about reporting abuse. People now have more confidence to speak out as they have seen the effects the abuse has caused for many people.

Cyrus The Great And Socrates - 1687 Words

Despite the fact that Cyrus the Great and Socrates led exceedingly different lives in different areas of the world, both of these men were very much free thinkers and prospered in their respective endeavors as a result of the extraordinary knowledge they possessed. In particular, to better understand Cyrus’s ascension to and maintaining of the throne, it’s useful to draw parallels between his knowledge and the knowledge of Socrates presented via Plato’s Gorgias. I will argue that Cyrus’s success as leader of the world’s most powerful empire could not have come to fruition without his utilization of the Socratic method of thought and questioning throughout his development as a boy, youth, and mature man. Specifically, I will connect†¦show more content†¦For example, as a young boy about to embark on his first hunt Cyrus proceeds to inquire enthusiastically of the older guards concerning, â€Å"...which animals one should not approach and which one should pursue boldly† (35). After perceiving the advice of his â€Å"attendants†, Cyrus almost immediately goes against the counsel of the more experienced guards and leads chase to multiple animals including a deer and boar. Now, in doing so the first instinct of the reader is to assume naivety and immaturity on the part of Cyrus; however, inspecting this occurrence through the text of Gorgias, a much different conclusion can be reached. Recall that in the same way that Socrates asks questions of his peers and considers their respective answers with thoughtful skepticism, so too does Cyrus take the answers he receives with a grain of salt and instead treats them as yet another route he may take if he chooses to do so. This Socratic questioning period that Cyrus undergoes during his boyhood is crucial in understanding the development of Cyrus as a tremendously successful king as it illustrates the fact that he will not be commanded by another human being nor will he fall victim to his own ignorance in being close-minded. Second, as a young man we can see Cyrus’ gradual accrual of wisdom as he begins to use fewer words and is more interested in learning than to always emerge victorious, â€Å"He did not run fromShow MoreRelatedEssay about The Strong Willed Queen Tomyris of the Massagetea689 Words   |  3 Pagesmost important women in history. Her name was Queen Tomyris of the Massagetea. She stood in the way of the conquests of Cyrus the Great. She lost her son to Cyrus in the war. Despite that, she challenged him to another fight to keep her kingdom free. She got vengeance for her son and protected Greece from capture by Cyrus. In doing this she shaped the known world. 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