NATIONAL ECONOMICS UNIVERSITY *** FINAL ASSIGNMENT INTEGRATED SKILLS Group 6 – Management Styles Group members Nguyen Le Ngoc Mai – 11193283 Vo Bich Ngoc – 11193864 Luu Thi Ngoc Yen 11195889 Class TT5[.]
NATIONAL ECONOMICS UNIVERSITY -*** FINAL ASSIGNMENT INTEGRATED SKILLS Group – Management Styles Group members: Nguyen Le Ngoc Mai – 11193283 Vo Bich Ngoc – 11193864 Luu Thi Ngoc Yen - 11195889 Class: TT5 Ha noi, 05/2020 TABLES OF CONTENTS I Introduction Brief background 1.1 About Chago Tea & Cafeteria 1.2 About the store Problem statement II Analysis The root cause of the problem and its effects 1.1 Management Style and Work Culture I.2 Unprofessional staff Existing solutions III IV Listing the solutions 2.2 Evaluating the existing solutions 7 Recommendations and Implementation plan Evaluating each recommendation Implementation plan 10 REFERENCES 2.1 Conclusion 12 13 9 I INTRODUCTION Brief background 1.1 About Chago Tea & Cafeteria Chago Tea & Cafeteria is a milk tea brand which was originated in Taiwan, a country in which produces thousands of world’s famous milk tea brands The brand has been on Vietnamese market for years (since 2015) and has presented in over 15 provinces and cities with 30 stores Cha go Tea & Cafeteria was able to attract many Vietnamese young people with its crafted innovations of the classic milk tea since then 1.2 About the store The store is a franchise store of Chago Tea & Cafeteria, which was established on July 23rd, 2018 by Nguyen Hoai Nam at 125, Tran Khat Chan Street, Hai Ba Trung District, Hanoi Despite the vast space of the store, it gives the customers a warm and cozy feeling with both natural and artificial light The interior is decorated with wooden furniture and bold paintings on the walls to create a hint of retro vibe – which is popular amongst young people these days Its target customers are teenagers and young adults Problem statement The store has about ten staff members and all of them are part-time employees who work only about five to six hours per day Although the relaxed atmosphere in the store is what makes the staff feel comfortable and welcoming, it is also what brings troubles to the store’s manager Combine this and the fact that the middle-manager is having a maternity leave, the situation is more likely to be out of control Besides, as the manager constantly shows tolerance and mercy when an employee does something wrong, the employee gradually lose the respect for her Therefore, some difficulties in management have occurred over time: - - - Excessive use of cell phones during work hours leads to poor performances and productivity: Throughout their shifts, the employees usually their job distractedly and hastily in order to go back to their cell phones as fast as possible Irresponsible behaviors from dispensing counter employees causes waste of ingredients and thus affects negatively on the store’s production costs: The employees are supposed to cook tapioca pearls every two hours so the pearls would not go off, but some of them cook in excessive amount to lessen their work But once the manager comes around, they throw away all the pearls to get away Habit of being tardy has been formed, which makes great impact on work efficiency: Some employees see the manager’s leniency as a chance to show their tardiness They often go to work late and give excuses get off earlier than usual II ANALYIS The root cause of the problem and its effects 1.1 Management Style and Work Culture 1.1.1 Management Style Management styles are the characteristic ways of making decisions relating to subordinates Managers have to perform many roles in an organization, and how they handle various situations will depend on their style of management Strategies, efforts, or direction are used by the manager to create an efficient workplace and to achieve organizational goals The style of the manager will influence the style of the key personalities, and according to the chain reaction is to other members of the organization The store is managed by “Democratic style” management Managers solve issues or makes changes with the aid of asking the recommendations and feedbacks of employees during working process, respecting the freedom expression of employees, always putting employees’ benefits on top to ensure job satisfaction and create a friendly and effective working environment They also create conditions for employees to develop their capacity; employees are encouraged to speak out their personal opinions and ideas This style of leadership causes discipline, loss of responsibility, and accountability for employees' work When the team fails for some reason under this leadership style, there tends to be a lot of blame that is passed around Taking responsibility for failure should lie with the leadership, but it is often passed along to the person who offered the idea that failed and those who supported the idea Should this occur, the morale of the individuals being blamed becomes even lower and negative responses become more common 1.1.2 Work Culture Work culture is essential to employees because they can only be satisfied with their current job when it suits the company culture Employees tend to love their work when their needs and values are consistent with the values and goals of the business From there, they tend to develop relationships with colleagues better and work more effectively On the other hand, if working for a company where they not fit into the company culture, the joy in work that gives them will certainly diminish The store has a comfortable, pleasant, friendly, dynamic and modern working environment Managers are also very attentive to the staff, ensuring job satisfaction Working culture is also creative, flexible, and suitable for young people who want to promote their values and strengths However, this adaptable work culture has made the employees' discipline and responsibility seriously degraded 1.2 Unprofessional staff Employees work with a lack of responsibility to the job, not dedicated in completing the assigned work They also abuse their rights, not respect the provisions of store, and show attitude to the managers In addition, internal store personnel also have problems Personnel in the shop, among the shifts, not unite, show signs of division, dismantle; old employees bully new ones, entice new employees to quit The lack of accountability, unpolished and unprofessional work of staff has caused many damages to the store, especially affecting the relationship between managers and employees Building a store, product quality, service and professionalism takes a lot of time and effort Unprofessional service attitude or lack of professionalism will make customers feel dissatisfied This will make them equate the weakness of an employee with your store Unprofessional service attitude or lack of professionalism will make customers feel dissatisfied This will make them equate the weakness of an employee with the store If the reputation was compromised in this way, it would be difficult to justify and regain reputation It will take a lot of effort and time to recover, which is taking into account the case you still have enough capacity to perform Unprofessional employees not only affect store profits and business, but also reduce the morale of hard-working employees The remaining members of the group will have to take on the work of the weak, thereby giving birth to discontent, not wanting to dedicate anymore or possibly worse In the long run, professional employees can leave if their workload becomes overloaded, while the managers have to deal with the problems that unprofessional workers bring up, such as using the phone during working hours, using store materials, not focusing during working hours, customer service attitude and lack of responsibility Non-proactive workers always disrupt management and business Instead of spending a lot of time focusing on core issues, managers spend time training employees who are ignorant and constantly asking questions This causes managers losing their productivity, affecting the development of the company They cannot run or execute big plans due to spending too much time tracking down annoying employees Another potential instability is the waste of human resource training and capacity building for weak employees The continuous training and fostering expenses will cost the company time and money, not to mention the time consuming of training staff In addition, the training sessions may not be completed completely Existing solutions 2.1 Listing the solutions Define policies for technology use Limiting or prohibiting use of cell phones during work hours Since the store is a food and beverage business, employees are expected to give the customers undivided attention If not, their careless behavior might cause inconvenience for the customers, which leads to negative consequences on the business’ reputation and profits However, employees are allowed to use cell phones during break Temporary pay cut Cutting or making a pay deduction for offences relating to damage or loss of property Manager can use the act as a warning for each time an employee has a ruleviolating behavior and the loss is recovered from the pay of the employee At present, the employees are fined 50,000 VND for each mistake they make, which is higher than their salary of 16,000 VND per hour Consider termination Put an end to the employee’s duration within the business If an employee repetitively has rule-violating behavior or show little to no improvement over time and is deemed unsuitable for the job, the manager can choose to require the employee to leave The manager had to dismiss quite a few of their staff since the business’ opening for being unprofessional and overstepping boundaries 2.2 Evaluating the existing solutions Every solution has its own advantages and disadvantages that manager should be aware of in order to build a smart employee discipline strategy The first solution which is defining policies for technology use has quite concise benefits It can keep use of personal cell phones at bay, reduce it to a reasonable limit so that it will not distract work process Once the use of cell phones is limited, it will bring profits to the business as undivided attention promises improved performances, increased productivity and satisfied customers However, the new policy might cause trouble to both employees and manager in some situations The staff can be irritated with being separated from their phones and social media since all of them are young adults, so the manage must think the policies through thoroughly in order for the policies to work The second existing solution can be considered negative in some places, but it is definitely beneficial for the business The pay cut will give the employees at fault a sense of responsibility and duty, make them self-reflect on their inappropriate behavior Besides, by disciplining this way, the store may be able to reduce its production costs and increases its profits a small amount Still, the cut may cause disagreement since no employee is fond of pay cut, but it will certainly encourage them to fix their own behavior in the future The last solution is the final resort to both because it brings the least benefits to either the employees or the business As the employees will be made redundant, the business might be slowed down temporarily due to lack of staff, and manager will also have to face some difficulties since it takes time, money and effort to recruit new staff for the store However, on a more positive note, the manager will be able to eliminate the incompatible employees and opt for more appropriate ones for the business in the future III RECOMMENDATIONS AND IMPLEMENTATION PLAN Evaluating each recommendation Hiring a new middle-manager As of right now the middle-manager of the store is taking a maternity leave The store is selecting in each shift a shift leader to her part Therefore, the first solution that can be considered is to hire a new one to take her place It can reduce the amount of work the general manager is having at the moment In a small business such as this, it is a common issue where the low financial resources prevent employer from hiring more staff As a result, the employer often takes too many responsibilities on himself or herself This has proven to cause stress to the manager The work efficiency will also be reduced if the tasks are not organized smartly Hiring a professional to the job will be more efficient than letting students it However, this recommendation has a lot of drawbacks One of them is that the middle-manager will only be absent for about six months, and she has proven to be efficient at her job In addition, as the salary of the middle-manager is 7,000,000 VND, it will add into the financial burden of the business It will also take the new one some time to get used to the rules of the store Hiring another person seems like a waste of time and resources Restricting phone usage policy Currently, the store is dealing with employees’ excessive use of phones by deducting their salary This is not the best method, but in this case, it is the most appropriate one The entire staffs are between 18 and 22 years old They are young and can easily get distracted by messages and social media They also lack professional work ethic due to their inexperience As a result, the managers must apply strong measures to handle this situation and cannot count on them to change their habits voluntarily Monetary penalty will give them the strongest incentive to reduce their phone usage They will be more careful when their salary is endangered Therefore, in the future, the employer should continue implementing this method at the store The current penalty rate is 50,000 VND per error Given that the average salary of a part-time staff is 2,500,000 VND per month, if the employees make only one mistake of using their phone excessively a day, they can lose more than 50% of their monthly pay Although some might consider this solution as punitive, and it can easily lead to employee complaint, it is necessary to train employees on their self-control and professional work ethic It can also help them focus on doing the assigned tasks and not letting distractions affect the business While applying this solution, the managers must always monitor its effectiveness and make decisions whether to lower or higher the penalty rate so as to keep the employees happy but still get them off their phone Changing management style from democratic to autocratic The core cause of the problem is the leniency in leadership style Therefore, in the long term, the manager needs to change the way she manages the store, from democratic style to autocratic style Although democratic style has its own advantages as it creates a comfortable, stress-free work environment for the employees, this is not the best way to manage a small beverage store such as Chago This style can only be applied to a business when the personnel’s are highly trained and needs less supervision In this case, all the employees are young adults Their sense of self-discipline is low and they lack professional work ethic, so democratic style can lead to work inefficiency The employer has been too lenient on her staff, and it has made her subject to cleaning up after lazy workers Meanwhile, applying the autocratic style of management can bring this small business many positive effects Employees need to have respect for their boss if she wants them to listen to her The style not only improves overall communication as well as productivity but also counters team inexperience Leadership style depends largely on each manager’s personality, so it might take some time for the leader to fully change her style However, when she runs a small business, this can determine her success or failure Therefore, in order to thoroughly solve the problem of unprofessional behaviors among staff members, the manager needs to find out the most suitable management style for her store so as to ensure the success of the business and maximize the profit In short, after evaluating each solution’s strengths and weaknesses, the best solution to solve the store’s problem of unproductive and irresponsible employees is to change the management style from democratic to autocratic Implementation plan The process of changing one’s management style will take time and effort Unlike changing external factors such as the store’s location or items on the menu, the store now needs to change its management style, which often goes along with the employer’s belief and personality It will be harder, as it is the internal factor that needs to be changed This is the implementation plan to successfully change the style The first thing the employer must is to recognize that the fault lies in her too lenient way of managing the staff Her belief of wanting to create a stress-free environment is not wrong, but it is not suitable when dealing with employees who are young and inexperienced They haven’t had any professional work ethic, and instead of providing it for them to learn, she decided to be lenient with their needs She must keep an open mind and try out another way to successfully run a business of that size – autocratic style It can help to teach them to be professional during work hours and improve the quality of their work The problem lies within the employer, so she must change her mindset first She can achieve it by practicing it every day and seek out advice from people who have been successful at managing their business The next thing is to restrict the store’s policies Changing to autocratic style means that the employees now have to work in a stricter environment, and the policies are what show that the best In specific, the store needs to continue implementing the phone restricting policy The monetary penalty may be effective, but it can easily cause employee’s dissatisfaction However, it is important to keep a close watch on the 10 effectiveness of the method in order to adjust this policy accordingly This will help to avoid unhappiness within the workplace, which is against the store’s original purpose of helping employees develop their professional work ethic In addition, the general manager as well as the shift leaders should have a longterm plan to improve their leadership skills There are high levels of frustration often found in an autocratic environment, even if the workers are inexperienced The productivity levels may be higher, but with no say in the process, resentment will quickly build To overcome this challenge, the managers need to their best in motivating the staff All the shift leaders need to pay close attention to this They are young and inexperienced, but it’s still their responsibility to lead the staff and help the manager Instead of doing all the work at the store, they must know how to persuade others to take part in the tasks Employee satisfaction will be improved if the leaders work on their skills, such as charisma, confidence and persuasion Over time, they can become more charming leaders who will gain more respect from the staff and increase the business efficiency In conclusion, the business should change its management style from democratic to autocratic so that managing young and inexperienced employees can be more effective It needs to restrict its policies and continues implementing monetary penalty to address employee phone usage problem All managers and shift leaders need to improve on their leadership skills to successfully applying autocratic styles without causing employee dissatisfaction 11 IV CONCLUSION Effective leaders understand the importance of conveying the values and ensure that these values connect with employees and their needs The management of change processes also depends on the type of organization being considered Different change management procedure is successful in different settings In other words, success can be determined by the ability of the organization to fit and adjust well in its changing environment An innovative organization is one in which the forces of change like learning are truly recorded, while the force drives results from its environment To stay updated with the rapidly growing business environment, it has now become a necessity to properly manage employees in the workplace In an effort to excel in the global economy, organizations have evolved from human resources to human resources to ultimately human resource management Therefore, it is important for staff relations to emphasize knowledge and personal management at an individual level to gain a competitive advantage 12 REFERENCES Bob C (2017), 10 Types of Workplace Culture: Which is Best for YOUR Business?, 24/04/2020 https://www.subitup.com/blog/workplace-culture/ Glynnis P (2018), The Top Management Styles: Which Ones Are Most Effective?, 24/04/2020 https://www.workzone.com/blog/management-styles/ Kendra C., Amy M., LCSM (2020), The Democratic Style of Leadership, 24/04/2020 https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-democratic-leadership-2795315 Natalie R (2019), 22 Advantages and Disadvantages of Democratic Leadership Style, 25/04/2020 https://connectusfund.org/8-advantages-and-disadvantages-of-democratic-leadershipstyle (2020), 10 Common Leadership Styles, 24/04/2020 https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/career-development/10-common-leadership-styles 13