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MANAGING PROJECTS

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Projects represent nonroutine business activities that often have long-term strategic ramifications for a firm. In this chapter, we examined how projects differ from routine business activities and discussed the major phases of projects. We noted how environmental changes have resulted in increased attention being paid to projects and project management over the past decade. In the second half of the chapter, we introduced some basic tools that businesses can use when planning for and controlling projects. Both Gantt charts and network diagrams give managers a visual picture of how a project is going. Network diagrams have the added advantage of showing the precedence between activities, as well as the critical path(s). We wrapped up the chapter by showing how these concepts are embedded in inexpensive yet powerful software packages such as Microsoft Project. If you want to learn more about project management, we encourage you to take a look at the Web site for the Proj...
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Motivation: Goal Setting and Reward Programs

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Goal setting is a process intended to increase efficiency and effectiveness by specifying the desired outcomes toward which employees, departments, teams, and organizations should work. The goal-setting model emphasizes the challenges provided for the individual: goal difficulty, goal clarity, and self-efficacy. Setting difficult but clear and achievable goals for individuals who believe that they have the ability to complete their tasks leads to high performance. Four moderators—ability, goal commitment, feedback, and task complexity—influence the strength of the relationship between challenging goals and performance. If the individual has the ability, is committed to the goal, and is given feedback on progress toward achievement of the goal—and if the task is complex—high performance will result. All four moderators must be present to motivate an employee to achieve goals. Four mediators direction, effort, persistence, and task strategy—facilitate goal attainment. These four characteristics channel or focus the employee’s motivational efforts. Performance, rewards, satisfaction, and consequences complete the model.
Goal setting is a key mechanism for increasing job satisfaction and performance because it permits employees to be self-motivated. Five requirements must be in place for goal setting to have positive benefits for the employee and organization: the employee’s knowledge and ability, the employee’s commitment to a goal, feedback on the task, establishment of subgoals on complex tasks, and a leader who removes obstacles that prevent employees from reaching their goals.
Reward programs represent a powerful means for motivating high levels of individual and team performance. Reward programs, in particular, are designed to enhance performance: informal rewards, profit sharing, skilled-based pay, and flexible benefits. Informal rewards come about through interactions with others—coworkers, superiors, and customers. Profit sharing gives employees a portion of the department’s or organization’s profits. Skilled-based pay programs compensate an employee according to the number and level of job-related skills they have mastered. The value of these skills is determined by the organization. Flexible benefit programs allow employees to choose the benefits that are important to them.

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OPERATIONS AND SUPPLY CHAIN STRATEGIES

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MANAGING QUALITY

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BUSINESS PROCESS

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