Social Relations In Business - A study by Artur Victoria

The importance of clear and lucid methods of statement is not appreciated by many young people who are anxious to get on in the world. They take too long in coming to the point. Often this is because they fail to realize exactly what they want to say. They try to make up their minds while talking or writing, instead of doing so beforehand. Some people can only think while they are expressing themselves. This is a bad habit.

Revision and re-writing are useful methods of self-education. Nothing is more irritating to a busy man than a long-winded garrulous letter or visitor, particularly when the writer or caller wants a favor. It is a common error to imagine that one's object can be achieved by a tortuous approach instead of by a plain, direct statement. The result is irritation and an unnecessary waste of time in preliminaries. It does not mean, of course, that the visitor should dash hurriedly into the room and blurt out the object of his visit. Consistently with good manners, he should state his business as quickly and briefly as he can. But he should be careful to state it. Many people occupy so much time in preliminaries and non-essentials that they omit matters of importance. leia todo o artigo

Managing Responsibilities - A study by Artur Victoria

In higher positions, where mental qualities are so important, the thing to be considered is the technical knowledge and experience. The all-round man is not as desirable as the specialist; first, because the specialist knows his particular subject thoroughly, and, secondly, the fact that he has applied his mind to mastering one thing is some proof of his capacity to master another. The specialist even in a humble sphere can always handle his department or his work in the most efficient way. He has acquired expert knowledge; he knows the quickest, surest and most profitable methods. There is nothing haphazard about him. He has developed a capacity for action, a knack of getting things done. It is the lack of that capacity which is at the root of so much disappointment.

The subordinate positions should be looked upon as the training ground for higher posts. For that reason youths of the right caliber should be selected. It is among the youths of average ability, outstanding ability being so rare, that one looks for the coming men. A few of them are certain to be of the kind that makes the most of their opportunities, and they will be in a few years something more than men of average abilities. They will have outstripped the others. leia todo o artigo

Management Business Policy - A study by Artur Victoria

"Education" is not the index of a man's mental powers; while we do not say it in any combative sense, the brain power and mental activity of the "uneducated " successful man of business, speaking generally, are equal to those shown by men occupied in academic pursuits or in the professions. From the very nature of his work he has been led to cultivate close intercourse with his fellow-men, to practice keen observation, to develop imagination, to draw conclusions, and all his mental activities are personal to himself. If he does not dream the dreams of philosophers, of poets and artists, he may have come as near to fundamental cosmic realities as any one of them.

Whatever our mental equipment, it should be supplemented by a good training in the principal business requirements, even if it be only theoretical. It is seldom that anyone person has the opportunity of getting a practical training in every department of a large business house, and no one who aspires to fill a responsible position can hope to be thoroughly qualified if he does not have more than a nodding acquaintance with most of the subjects dealt. leia todo o artigo

Discretion In Human Resources - A study by Artur Victoria

In the hierarchical caricature of employment, we have supposed that the employer retains the bulk of authority to determine the terms of trade in the employment relationship as events unfold; the employee can trust the employer not to abuse that authority despite the lack of market-based discipline because of goodwill, a balance of power, or the employer's desire to protect her reputation.

This - the boss demands and the worker accedes - is the standard caricature image of employment; why else use the term boss? Yet although it is the standard caricature, in other employment relationships, custom and law dictate other decision-making procedures or what, in the jargon of economics, is called governance. There are cases, for example, in which the employee has most of the discretion. One example of this is the relationship between the CEO and the board of directors; the CEO is the employee of the Board, (in large part) it is the CEO who determines what to do on a day-to-day basis. A second example is the relationship between client (employer) and lawyer or physician (employee); the latter will in many, if not most, instances decide what tasks to perform and even what fees to charge. leia todo o artigo

A Successful Manager - A study by Artur Victoria

As a general truth, it may be said that the measure of success of a commercial or industrial business centers is the management. This administration may be in the hands of an individual, or may comprise a body of managers with who rests the general control of the business.

That experience and expert knowledge are indispensable factors need hardly be pointed out. That the man or men possessing initiative, judgment and courage will always hold their position is certain. Every experienced manager knows that it is not enough to see that the business runs smoothly, that efficiency is maintained in the staff, and that the general equipment is of a high order in every other respect. The management in their outlook must be always a long way ahead of their staff, engaged in their day-to-day work. It is the business of the management to look ahead, to originate and plan schemes for future operations.

It is the manager who can visualize what these future opportunities are likely to be, and by letting his fancy or imagination play round them, who evolves fresh plans and activities. He will try to sense by keen observation the trend of his public's requirements, before these even become expressed. Some gifted individuals have an extraordinary intuition in this direction, but the majority only acquire this creative virtue by exercising and cultivating the general habit of reflection, thinking, reasoning, and, having arrived at conclusions, acting. leia todo o artigo

A Successful Beginning In Management - A study by Artur Victoria

The young man with a University education, or who has been too long at a Public School, enters an environment that is too often distasteful after the atmosphere he has breathed. He is mentally antagonistic to his surroundings, because his brain has been organized in other directions; he has formed a habit of mind that is frequently difficult to change. He has to learn to be quick-witted and self-reliant, and accustom himself to irksome routine. He is sometimes slow to learn that business discussions and decisions have no resemblance to argumentative school methods. Although life is a blend of thought and action, it is usually true that the abstract world of thought, and the business world of action, develop different types of mind. As Emerson said, "Commerce is a game of skill which every man cannot play."

The mental faculties that are most in need of training, in nine cases out of ten, are those that tend to alertness of mind, to keen observation, to sustained concentration, to quick decision and a capacity for getting things done. To perform routine methods and follow in old lines is an easy thing; but to think out new lines which are essential from time to time, and to act independently on one's own judgment and take the responsibility of the result, need special gifts. Influences calling for new methods and changes in policy are always at work; in fact, certain quickness in detecting such influences and changing conditions, and providing for them, has been the making of many a large enterprise. leia todo o artigo