MANAGEMENT LECTURE NOTES

1. Definition of management

The act of getting people together to accomplish desired goals and objectives using available resources

efficiently and effectively. The art of getting things done through and with people.

2. principles of management

A Principle refers to a foundation statement of truth that provides guide and to the thought of actions.

i. Division of labor

This principle emphases specialization of jobs. Work of all kind must be divided, subdivided and

allocated to people according to their expertise and experience in a particular area. This makes

work simpler and efficient.

ii. Authority and responsibility

Authority refers to the ability to implement the decisions and to give orders. Responsibility refers

to the obligation to perform the job assigned. This principle emphasizes that managers should be

given chance to practice authority and responsibility in order to achieve the organizational se

goals and objectives.

iii. Principle of one boss/unity of command

Subordinates should receive orders from more than one boss. Unity of command creates

harmonious relationships between the superiors and subordinates.

iv. Unity of direction/unity of operation

There should be one plan for a group of activities having similar objectives and such activities

should be grouped together under the charge of one manager.

v. Principle of equity

Managers should be fair, kind, justice and impartial when dealing with their subordinates.

vi. Discipline

These principle emphases that managers and employees should execute the organization activities

while adhering the organizational rules and regulations.

vii. Principle of order

This refers to the systematic arrangement of worker and materials. These principal emphases that

the right men (employees) should be selected for the right tasks.

viii. Initiative

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Employees should be encouraged to initiate action in the worker assigned to them without being

asked to do so. Also the management should provide opportunity to the employees to suggest

ideas and experiences plus new methods of work.

ix. Remuneration

The method of remuneration should be fair to the workers. There should be reasonable

satisfactory rewarding of the employee efforts. Remuneration should accord satisfaction to the

employee and the employer.

x. Stability tenure

Employees should not be frequently moved from one job condition to another. They need time to get

used to the new work and to succeed in doing it better.

xi. Scalar chain

Scalar chain refers to the flow of authority (Orders, requests and messages) from lowest level to

the highest management levels.

xii. Subordination of individual interests to general interests

There should be reconciliation between personal interests and group interests. Employees are not

recommended to use organizational resources for their personal interests but rather develop the

interest of the organization.

xiii. Espiritdecorps (Team work)

This ensures team work and mutual understanding among the employee of the organization. This

in turn increases production and improves quality of services and products.

xiv. Centralization and decentralization

Centralization is when the central management retains most the decision making authority while

decentralization involves the dispersal of the decision making authority to all the levels of the

organization. The degree of centralization or decentralization may depend on factors like size of

the organization, experience of the employees, etc.

3. FUNCTIONS OF MANAGEMENT

The following are functions of management

i. Motivation

ii. Supervision

iii. Planning2

iv. Organizing

v. Staffing

vi. Direction

vii. Co-Ordination

viii. Control

MOTIVATION

Refers to the process of creating work environment that attracts employees to work. Motivated employees

always work hard to ensure that organizational goals and objectives are realized while sticking to

organizational rules and regulations.

Effective ways of motivating

a. Proper recognition of employee‘s contribution to the organization by the management is highly

morale boosting.

b. Always notice and give praise for a job well done i.e. give a bonus if possible

c. Always praise as quickly as the job is well done

d. Relate praise to good performance

e. Do not let staffs who are performing poorly to be happy with their performance

f.

SUPERVISION

Supervision refers to as the process of guiding and teaching health providers at the place of work to

enable them perform their work better. It emphases a two way communication between the supervisor

and the supervisee.

Supervision can also be referred to the act of one person watching over the work of the other person who

is less skilled when performing a particular task of work. I.e. highly qualified professional overseeing the

work of a junior professional. Examples when medical students go for hospital attachment, Clinical

placement of medical students & when student teachers go for school practice.

Types of supervision:There are majorly three types of supervision namely:-

i. Educational supervision: This refers to the assessment of skills & needs, provision of learning

experiences, upgrading of knowledge & skills of the supervisee.

ii. Administrative supervision: Refers to the monitoring of work and workload, assuring work

completion, quality control, appropriate implementation of agency policies and procedures

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iii. Supportive supervision: This refers to the provision of support, understanding, assistance & emotional

needs. The Supervisor provides employees with support needed to achieve organizational goals.

Examples of supervisors in the health setting

i. Clinical mentors

ii. Clinical instructors

iii. Senior members of a profession for example:-

iv. Senior laboratory assistant

v. Senior laboratory technician

PLANNING

Planning; is the process of selecting priorities &results (Goals, objectives) how there results will be

achieved? Planning helps to determine the course of action to be adopted to achieve organizational

objectives. It is involves making decision on what to do, when to do, how to do and who doit.

Planning is a process of looking ahead. The primary objective of planning is to achieve better results. It

involves the decision regarding organizational objectives and developing policies, procedures, programs,

budgets and strategies. Planning is a continuous process that works at all levels of management.

Types of plans

i. Short range plans

ii. Medium range plans

iii. Standing plans

iv. Single use plans

v. Strategic plans,

vi. Administrative

vii. Operational plans.

The process of planning involves a number of steps:

i. Identify main goals to be achieved

ii. Laying down specific objectives

iii. Developing strategies and methods to achieve objectives

iv. Mobilize Recourses needed to carry out methods

v. Identifies activities and responsibilities (lists of interventions and division of labor).

vi. Set date for completion of activities

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vii. Indicators

viii. Monitor and Evaluate then re-plan

ORGANISING

The function of organizing is to arrange, co-ordinate, direct and control the activities of all factors of

production i.e., men, materials, machines and money in order to achieve the targets of the enterprise/unit.

Therefore Organizing is “the process of identifying and grouping work to be done, defining and

delegating responsibility and authority and establishing relationships for the purpose of enabling people

to work most effectively together in accomplishing objectives.”

The process of organization involves the following steps:

(i) Identification of the work to be performed.

(ii) To group the work of similar nature.

(iii) To assign these groups of activities or work to individuals

(iv) To delegate authority and fix responsibility at various levels.

(v) To co-ordinate these authority-responsibility relationships of various activities.

STAFFING

Staffing is the process of recruiting the employees by evaluating their skills, knowledge and then offering

them specific job roles accordingly.

Functions of Staffing

i. The first and foremost function of staffing is to obtain qualified personnel for different jobs position in the organization.

ii. In staffing, the right person is recruited for the right jobs, therefore it leads to maximum productivity and higher performance.

iii. It helps in promoting the optimum utilization of human resource through various aspects.

iv. Job satisfaction and morale of the workers increases through the recruitment of the right person.

v. Staffing helps to ensure better utilization of human resources.

vi. It ensures the continuity and growth of the organization, through development managers.

DIRECTION5

DIRECTING is said to be a process in which the managers instruct, guide and oversee the performance

of the workers to achieve predetermined goals. Directing is said to be the heart of management process.

Planning, organizing, staffing have got no importance if direction function does not take place.

CO-ORDINATION

Coordination is balancing and keeping together the team by ensuring suitable allocation of tasks to the

various members and seeing that the tasks are performed with the harmony among the members

themselves.

The important features of coordination are:

i. It is essential for group efforts and not for individual efforts.

ii. It is a continuous and dynamic process.

iii. Coordination emphasizes the unity of efforts

iv. Helps in the integration of functions

v. It is the responsibility of every manager in the organization

CONTROL

Controlling is the process of monitoring,comparing, correcting performance and taking action to ensure

desired results. It seeks to sees that the right things happen, in the right ways, and at the right time.

Importance of controlling

The value of the control function can be seen in three specific areas:

Planning

Empowering Employees

Protecting the workplace

The process of controlling involves the following steps:

(i) Setting standards of performance.

(ii) Measure actual performance of the enterprise.

(iii) Compare the actual performance with the standard set.

(iv) Find deviations, if any, and Taking corrective

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4. HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

Human: refers to the skilled workforce in an organization.

Resource: refers to limited availability or scarce.

Management: refers how to optimize and make best use of such limited resource so as to meet the

organization goals and objectives.

Therefore, human resource management is meant for proper utilization of available skilled workforce and

also to make efficient use of existing human resource in the organization

DEFINITION

Human Resource Management is the process of recruiting, selecting, inducting employees, providing

orientation, imparting training and development, appraising the performance of employees, deciding

compensation and providing benefits, motivating employees, maintaining proper relations with

employees and their trade unions, ensuring employees safety, welfare and health measures in compliance

with labor laws of the land.

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Human resource officer or Manager is responsible for human resource management in the organization.

FUNCTIONS of human resource management

i. Human Resource Planning,

ii. Job Analysis

iii. Recruitment

iv. Job Interviews

v. Selection Of Human Resources

vi. Orienting

vii. Training

viii. Compensating

ix. Providing Benefits And Incentives

x. Appraising

xi. Retaining,

xii. Career Planning

xiii. Quality Of Work Life

xiv. Employee Discipline,

xv. Black Out Sexual Harassments

xvi. Human Resource Auditing

xvii. Maintenance Of Industrial Relationship

xviii. Looking After Welfare Of Employees And Safety Issues, Communicating With All Employees At

All Levels And Maintaining Awareness Of And Compliance With Local, State And Federal Labor

Laws.

Core responsibilities of Human resource management

Planning for staffing needs

Employee Recruitment and Selection

Employee Compensation and Benefits

Employee Training and performance evaluation

Rights of an employee

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5.

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Performance evaluation is also called as performance appraisal of employees. Human Resource

Managers can adopt various methods for assessing the performance of the employees So as to take

decisions with regard to compensating and rewarding employees, training of employees if

performance is poor and it would take corrective actions on employees whose performance is poor.

In order to evaluate the performance of employees, HR managers first have to set up performance

standards for comparing with actual performance of employees to find out gaps of employee

performance. Performance evaluation or appraising performance of employees is the core and major

task when compared with other human resource management functions.

Types of appraisal

1. Traditional methods of Performance Appraisal2. Modern Methods of Performance Appraisal3. 360 Degrees Performance Appraisal

How to Give an Effective performance appraisal?

i. Define Expectations

Define what is expected of the employee

• Make sure goals are measurable and observable

ii. Create Goals

• Discuss the goals with the employee

• Obtain the employee’s agreement and signature

iii. Provide Written Evaluations

• Every six months, discuss performance

• for struggling employees, consider once-a-month evaluations

• Ensure written performance reviews reflect the entire evaluation period

iv. Maintain a Performance Record

• Make written notes throughout the year

• Do both praising and correcting—in real time

v. Ensure Integrity of Evaluation

• Written comments should be factual, detailed, and constructive

• Performance criteria shouldn’t be changed after the review

• Evaluations shouldn’t digress from the measures initially defined

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Benefits of performance appraisal

i. Let’s employees know their performances stand

ii. Acknowledges good work

iii. Tells employees how they can improve there work by providing an opportunity to address

the performance problems

iv. Warn others that they must improve

v. Develop workers/ employees professionally towards achieving the company‘s goals.

vi. Enhances communication between managers and their subordinates

vii. Improving the employees‘ morale (motivation of the employees)

viii. During the performance appraisal program, Training needs are identified and addressed

Job analysis

is a systematic process of gathering all the data & information pertaining to the job for preparing of  job specification which determine the skills, qualifications & traits for job  and preparation of job description which describes the duties and responsibilities so as to recruitment and selection of employee, give satisfaction on the job, and feel motivation while doing the job

Job design  

is the process of deciding on the content of a job in terms of its duties and responsibilities; on the

methods to be used in carrying out the job, in terms of techniques, systems and procedures and on the

relationships that should exist between the job holder and the superiors, subordinates and colleagues.

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Job enlargement, job enrichment, job rotation, and job simplification are the various techniques used in a

job design exercise.  Job design goal is to minimize physical strain on the worker by structuring physical

work environment around the way the human body works.

6.Recruitment & selection

Recruitment & selection - Recruitment and selection of the human resources for an organization is the

major and basic function of human resource management. Human resources planning and recruiting

precede the actual selection of people for positions in an organization

Recruiting

Is the process of inviting qualified job seekers by using different platforms like issuing notification in

regular newspapers or employment newspapers which are exclusively meant for employment news and

notifications, television media, online and on social networking websites which have become mostly used

resources for recruitment and hiring people?

There are two major source of recruitment of employees

i. Recruitment through internal sources

ii. Recruitment through external sources.

Internal recruitment is the process of inviting or giving chance to the people relating to concern

organization or to the people relating to the existing employees or directly giving opportunity to

the existing employees.

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External recruitment is the process of inviting job seekers who do not belong to or anyway related

with an organization, which simply means inviting outside candidates.

Subsequently, selection of right person form the pool of candidates by administering various

selection tests like preliminarily screening, written tests, oral tests and interviews etc

Induction & Orientation

Induction of Employee is the first step towards gaining an employees' commitment, Induction is

aimed at introducing the job and organization to the recruit and him or her to the organization.

In a nutshell, it covers the organization’s history, philosophy, mission and vision, and the managerial

style of the organization. Inform the financial benefits and different taxation policies offered.

Addresses trainings offered, performance expectations, and the work schedules of the organization.

Educate new employees on the laws, regulations and company policies that applies to their role.

Highlight the different safety and security aspects related to the work environment

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Orientationis the planned introduction of new employees to their jobs, coworkers, and the organization

so as to alien an employee with their job role.

Explain the role employees have to play to achieve organization's goals.

Portray the organization structure demonstrating the various departments, the people involved and

their respective designation. It covers all the information starting from customer profile, to the

competitors’ product and services.

N.B: Socialization is a process of making employees to mingle up with everyone for team-spirit

7. MOTIVATING EMPLOYEES

Motivation: Stimulate the desire and energy in employees to be continuously interested in a job and to

exert persistent effort in attaining a goal.

motivating factors for employees are

i. To have a healthy and good working environment

ii. To have good monitory benefits

iii. Compensation and rewards

iv. To have encouragement and support from management

v. To have a chance of professional growth and raise.

vi. Job security & stability

vii. Financial compensation

viii. Work appreciation by employer

ix. Interesting work

x. Good & healthy relationship with colleagues

xi. Good work-life balance

xii. Good relationship with superiors

xiii. Learning & training opportunities

xiv. Career development

xv. Financial stability of employer

Job rotation is the human resource management technique in which employee is moved between two or

more jobs in a systematic and planned manner. The objective is to expose an employee to different

experiences and wider variety of skills to enhance job satisfaction and to cross-train them.15

Advantages of job rotation of an employee are

i. Eliminate boredom of an employee

ii. Encourage development

iii. Gives employees a break from strenuous job duties

iv. Helps HR manager identify where employee work best and gives HR manager a backup plan if an

employee leaves.

8. RESOLVING CONFLICTS

Resolving conflicts among employees is major task of human Resource Management. HR manager

could follow the below steps for resolving conflicts. According to recent study human resource

managers are spending considerable amount of their job time on resolving conflicts in between

employees as diversity in conflicts are in raise and showing impact on performance of employees and

on organization.

i. Understanding the cause, root and nature of the conflict.

ii. Encourage employees to solve conflicts themselves.

iii. Do not widen or magnify conflicts, Nip it in the bud quickly.

iv. Give an opportunity to both sides to say and listen to them

v. Determine the real cause of issue, together.

vi. Check your employee handbook for solution and guidance.

vii. Come to a solution.

viii. Put it on paper for make them binding and for future reference in such cases.

ix. Train them how to communicate and avoid conflicts

x. HR manager should be an idealistic and set an example himself.

9. IDENTIFICATION TRAINING

This involves finding out what people needs to learn about so that they can better to execute their duties

to achieve the organization objectives. It could be customer care; it could be safety precautions & could

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be how to perform a particular test in the laboratory. Etc. This is recommended for trainers, managers,

supervisors and other specialists who are responsible for finding out the training needs of an organization.

Basic considerations for identification training include:-

Review of the Performance appraisal: This gives an insight of how the employee is performing

Job description: This enables you to know what is actually needed for the job. I.e. skills, rules and regulations, duties, etc.

Competence: Enables you to tell the competencies needed for a particular task and the competences the employee has and to identify the ones that needs training.

10. Methods of Training & Development employees

on-the-job methods

o job rotation

o coaching

o job instruction

o committee assignments

o apprenticeship

o internship

off-the-job methods

o classroom lectures

o audio-visual

o simulation

o vestibule training

o case studies

o role playing

o programmed instructions

Sensitive training

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11. Management Development for employees

On the Job Methods [MD]

o Job Rotation

o Mentoring

o Job Instruction Technique

Off the Job Methods [MD]

o Case Studies

o Business Games

o Simulation

o In-basket Method

o Sensitivity training

Executive Development

12. DELEGATION OF AUTHORITY

Delegation refers to assigning a certain task to the other person providing proper authorization and

keeping in mind that it should be effective and result oriented.

Benefits of delegation to the delegator

i. Relives you of some of the work load, time pressure and stress.

ii. Allows you to devote you energy to high pay off tasks

iii. Prepares people to handle tasks and responsibilities in your absence

iv. Prepares people to take up your job so that you can move up.

v. Allows you to assess the delegatees‘potential.

Benefits of delegation to the delegatees

i. Develop their skills, abilities, expenses, perspectives and judgments

ii. Prepares them for greater responsibilities, authorities and promotion

iii. Raises their involvement and visibility within an organization

iv. Helps them feel more trusted and significant

v. Builds their motivation 18

vi. Motivation involves creation of an atmosphere or environment that encourages the organizational

members to perform their tasks.

Benefits of delegation to the organization

i. Improves decision making and execution through wider involvement.

ii. Develops organizational reliance by developing more skilled staff members

iii. Creates a climate of trust and empowerment among the organization employees

iv. Demonstrates a belief in the value and importance in the people.

v. Allows for easier and more effective promotion and succession planning

vi. It also motivates the delegatees and the whole work team

Tasks to be delegated should be (SMART)

i. Specific

ii. Measurable

iii. Appropriate

iv. Reachable

v. Time bound

When not to delegate

i. Always avoid delegating tasks that are:-

ii. Sensitive and personal in nature

iii. Require a degree of risk and decision making that is unfair to the delegatees.

iv. That requires your personal expertise

v. That requires personal leadership

vi. That has legal restrictions

Why managers fear to delegate

i. The task may not be performed at their standard

ii. Personal security. Here managers want to be seen working long hours and prefer to do all the

work themselves.

iii. Managers have negative attitude towards their subordinates. They think they are not interested.

iv. They avoid losing their jobs

v. They do not want to expose their secrets

vi. Selfishness

Principles of delegation 19

i. Delegate authority in the light of the results expected

ii. Select the subordinates in the light of the job to be delegated

iii. Maintain open line of communication

iv. Reward effective delegation

Steps of delegation

Step1; Know what to delegate

In every business there are some things that are delegated and other that cannot be delegated. For

example you should probably think twice before delegating tasks that involve sensitive confidential client

information and you may not want to delegate a task that hasn‘t fully been fully defined.

Step 2; Take time to decide on who you choose

This step is one of the most important and most difficult. It takes a lot of time to find people you can

delegate to that meet all the necessary criteria for successful relationship. The following factors are

considered when deciding whom to choose:- Trust, Necessary skills, Adequate availability, Work ethics

comparable to yours & Positive performance history

Step3; Provide documentation and clear instructions

In business continuity planning having documentation that clearly outlines the details of the work and

provides all the necessary information is important in delegation. Also take time to review some specifics

and answer some questions that may arise.

Step4; Track work and provide feed back

When you have found your team and assigned it with work, don‘t simply forget about it. It makes sense

to follow along with the work being completed to ensure it is being done correctly and to your

specifications. Keep monitoring the work and provide feedback for improvements and your goal should

be to remain available to all parties so that you can address any potential questions or problems.

Step 5 Make it on going

Your business responsibilities change, so your delegation needs will also change. Therefore on a regular

basis make a regular analysis of your business to be in position to anticipate the needs and be ready to

handle challenges.

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13. TEAM WORK

Refers to work performed by a group of people with different strength towards achieving a common goal.

Importance of team work

i. Better results are realized (quality results) ii. People perform to their best thereby increasing production

iii. High involvement of all the employees iv. Ideas sharing hence employees complement each other while executing their duties. v. Less conflict between the employees

vi. Employee satisfaction i.e. working as a team motivates employees

14. TIME MANAGEMENT

What is Time Management?

Time Management refers to managing time effectively so that the right time is allocated to the

right activity.

Effective time management allows individuals to assign specific time slots to activities as per

their importance.

Time Management refers to making the best use of time as time is always limited.

Time Management plays a very important role not only in organizations but also in our personal

lives. Time Management includes:

i. Effective Planning

ii. Setting goals and objectives

iii. Setting deadlines

iv. Delegation of responsibilities

v. Prioritizing activities as per their importance

vi. Spending the right time on the right activity

Benefits of Time Management:

i. Time Management makes an individual punctual and disciplined. One learns to work when it

is actually required as a result of effective time management. To make the judicious use of time,

individuals should prepare a “TASK PLAN“ or a “TO DO“ List at the start of the day to jot down

activities which need to be done in a particular day as per their importance and urgency against

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the specific time slots assigned to each activity. A Task Plan gives individuals a sense of direction

at the workplace. An individual knows how his day looks like and eventually works accordingly

leading to an increased output.

ii. One becomes more organized as a result of effective Time Management. Keeping the things at

their proper places minimizes the time which goes on unnecessary searching of documents,

important files, folders, and stationery items and so on. For better time management, individuals

keep their workstations, study zones, cubicles, meeting areas clean and organized. People learn to

manage things well as a result of Time Management.

iii. Effective Time Management boosts an individual’s morale and makes him confident. As a

result of Time Management, individuals accomplish tasks within the stipulated time frame,

making them popular in their organization as well as amongst their peers. People who understand

the value of time are the ones who manage to stand apart from the crowd. Individuals who finish

off work on time are looked up to by others and are always the centre of attention everywhere.

iv. Individuals who stick to a time plan are the ones who realize their goals and objectives within

the shortest possible time span. Managing time effectively helps employees to meet targets way

ahead of deadlines and finish off task just when it is required.

v. Effective Time Management helps an employee to reach the pinnacle of success quickly and stay

firm at the top for a longer duration. An employee who works just for the sake of working fails to

create an impression and is never taken seriously at work. Effective time management plays a

pivotal role in increasing an individual’s productivity. Output increases substantially when people

manage their time well.

vi. Better Time Management helps in better planning and eventually better forecasting.

Individuals learn to plan things well and know where exactly they stand five years from now.

vii. Research says that individuals who accomplish tasks on time are less prone to stress and

anxiety. Remember there is no point in wasting time and cribbing later. Finish off pending work

on time and then you would have ample time for your friends, relatives and family members.

viii. Time Management enables an individual to prioritize tasks and activities at workplace. It is

foolish to stay overburdened. Do not accept anything and everything that comes your way.

ix. Time Management helps an individual to adopt a planned approach in life.

Time Management Techniques:

i. Set your Priorities. Know what all needs to be done on an urgent basis. Prepare a “TO DO” List

or a “Task Plan” to jot down tasks you need to complete against the time slot assigned to each

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activity. High Priority Tasks must be written on top followed by tasks which can be done a little

later. Make sure you stick to your Task List.

ii. Make sure you finish your assignments within the stipulated time frame. Tick the tasks you

have already finished. Treat yourself with a chocolate if you finish your assignments ahead of

deadlines.

iii. Understand the difference between urgent and important work. Manage your work well. Do

not begin your day with something which is not so important and can be done a little later. First

finish off what all is urgent and important. Do not wait for your Boss’s reminders.

iv. Stay focused. Do not leave your work station if some urgent work needs to be done. Going for

strolls in the middle of an urgent work breaks continuity and an individual tends to loose his

focus. Individuals who kill time at work find it difficult to survive workplace stress.

v. Do include time for your tea breaks, net surfing, and personal calls and so on in your daily

schedule. It is important. Human being is not a machine who can work at a stretch for eight to

nine hours. Assign half an hour to fourty five minutes to check updates on social networking sites,

call your friends or family or go for smoke breaks etc.

vi. Set realistic and achievable targets for yourself. Know what you need to achieve and in what

duration? Do not lie to yourself. Assigning one hour to a task which you yourself know would

require much more time does not make sense.

vii. Do not overburden yourself. Say a firm no to your boss if you feel you would not be able to

complete a certain assignment within the assigned deadline. Don’t worry, he will not feel bad.

Probably he can assign the same to any of your fellow workers. Accept tasks which you are really

confident about.

viii. Be disciplined and punctual. Avoid taking unnecessary leaves from work unless there is an

emergency. Reach work on time as it helps you to plan your day better.

ix. Keep things at their proper places. Files must be kept at their respective drawers. Staple

important documents and put them in a proper folder. Learn to be a little more organized. It will

save your time which goes on unnecessary searching.

x. Do not treat your organization as a mere source of money. Change your attitude. Avoid

playing games on computer or cell phones during office hours. It is unprofessional. Do not work

only when your boss is around. Taking ownership of work pays you in the long run.

xi. Develop the habit of using an organizer. It helps you plan things better. Keep a notepad and a

pen handy. Do not write contact numbers or email ids on loose papers. You will waste half of

your time searching them. Manage your emails. Create separate folders for each client. Do not

clutter your desktop.23

Skills necessary for effective Time Management:

i. Stay Organized

The workstation must be kept clean and organized.

Keeping important files organized helps you retrieve them immediately and thus saves time which

goes on unnecessary searching. Staple important documents together.

Do not keep stacks of files and heaps of paper on your desk. Throw whatever you don’t need.

Keep stationery items and your personal belongings like cell phone, car keys, wallet at their

proper places.

Develop the habit of using an organizer. Plan your day well in advance.

Never write on loose papers. Keep a notepad and pen handy.

ii. Learn to Prioritize

Set your priorities. Do not work just for the sake of working.

Prepare a “Task Plan” or a “To Do” List the moment you settle down for work. Jot down all the

activities you wish to do in a single day as per importance and urgency.

High priority tasks must be attended to immediately. Do not start your day with something which

does not require your immediate attention.

Tick off completed tasks. It gives you a sense of relief and satisfaction.

An employee must understand the difference between high and low priority tasks and also

between important and urgent work.

Do not indulge in irrelevant activities. You will waste your entire day and the output would be

zero.

Be clear about your roles and responsibilities at the workplace.

iii. Be Punctual and Disciplined

Being punctual helps you complete tasks way ahead of deadline.

Avoid taking too many leaves from work. Such an attitude is completely unprofessional.

Make sure you are there at your desk five minutes before your actual time.

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Strive hard to complete tasks on time. Do not keep assignments pending and wait for the last

minute.

iv. Take Ownership of work

Do not work only when your boss is around. Work for yourself. The dedication has to come from

within.

Be responsible for your work and learn to accept your mistakes.

If you have accepted something, then it becomes your responsibility to complete it within the

allotted time slot.

v. Be a little Diplomatic

Do not accept everything which comes your way. A polite “NO” in the beginning will save your

reputation later.

The employees must be delegated responsibilities as per their specialization and background. This

way they take more interest and eventually finish work on time.

vi. More Focused

Be a little focused and concentrate on work. Do not waste time by loitering and gossiping around.

Do not take long personal calls at work. Finish off work and leave for the day on time. You will

have ample time to catch up with your friends or log on to social networking sites. Playing games

while you are at work is something which is not expected out of a professional.

vii. Be reasonable

No individual can work for the whole day. Do include some time in your daily schedule to speak

to your team member sitting next to you.

Do not over burden yourself

Effective Time Management at Workplace

i. Know your targets well. Do not hesitate to speak to your Boss if targets are unrealistic and

unachievable within the allocated time slot. It is always better to discuss things at the initial stages

than cutting a sorry figure later on. Accept tasks only when you are confident.

ii. There is absolutely no harm in discussing work with your fellow workers. You can’t do almost

everything on your own. Distribute work amongst your team members. It is foolish to over burden

25

yourself. One must share his work load with others to finish assignments within the stipulated time

frame. Know your capabilities.

iii. Organize yourself. Be very careful about your files, important documents, visiting cards, folders etc.

Keep them at their proper places so that you do not waste half of your time in searching them.

iv. Be loyal to your organization. Do not work only when your superiors are around. Remember you

are getting paid for your hard work. Concentrate on your own work rather than loitering and

gossiping around. Do not waste time by playing games on computer or finding out what your fellow

worker is up to.

v. It is absolutely okay to call up family members or friends once in a while but make sure you do not

end up in long phone calls while at work. Phone calls and messages are one of the biggest distractions

at work.

vi. Plan your things well in advance. Do not work just for the sake of working. The first thing an

employee should do in the morning is to jot down what all tasks he need to do in a single day against

the time slot assigned to each task. Preparing a Task Plan right at the start of the day always helps and

provides you a sense of direction at work. A “TO DO” List suggests you way forward. Tick off

completed assignments. Make sure you finish tasks within the assigned deadlines.

vii. Keep a notepad and pen handy. Avoid writing on loose papers. You will never find them when you

actually need something. Prefer using an organizer as it helps you plan your work better.

viii. Eat only during lunch hours. Eating while working not only makes you feel sleepy but also breaks

continuity.

ix. Be punctual. Avoid taking frequent leaves from work unless it is an emergency. Make it a habit to

reach office on time.

x. Do not keep things pending at your end. Escalate matters immediately which need approval of

higher authorities. Do not keep ignoring things. They would create problems for you sooner or later.

Time Management Tips for Students

i. Set a goal for yourself. Know what you want to achieve in life. Take a pen and paper and write

down where you want to see yourself five years from now. Setting an objective for yourself gives

you a sense of direction.

ii. Organize your study space. Arrange books and study material properly at their respective

places. Stationery items must not be scattered on the table.

iii. Plan your studies. Understand what all subjects are important and need to be done first. Go

through your syllabus carefully. Find out the weightage of each subject and prepare a Task plan 26

accordingly. Jot down what all subjects you think should be covered in a single day against

specific time slots. Make sure you cover important topics first and then come to relatively easier

ones. Beginning your day with something which is not that important is a sheer waste of time.

iv. Tick off subjects you have already completed. Give yourself a pat on your back.Remember

self-motivation is one of the greatest tools for success.

v. Avoid munching while studying. Prefer fruits, salads rather than calorie laden burgers, wafers,

pizza etc. They make you feel sleepy and also add to your weight.

vi. Do a SWOT Analysis of yourself. There is no harm in writing your weaknesses. Understand in

which all areas you need to work hard. Ignoring difficult subjects is of no use. You have to do

them anyways.Assign extra time to critical subjects. Be logical.

vii. Remove all sources of distractions from your study zone. Prefer not to keep magazines,

comics, novels, CDs, video games in your study room. Studying and watching television

simultaneously is nothing but a waste of time.

viii. Do include some time for relaxation as well. No individual can study continuously at a stretch.

One needs time to relax and unwind.

ix. Assign some time for revision as well. Revision is essential and it makes you perfect.

x. Do not go for long calls during study time. One needs to set his /her priorities. Understand what

is more important for you? Remember you will have ample time to catch up with all your friends

once you clear your entrance exams and get into one of your dream business schools.

xi. Make sure your study space is well lit and ventilated. Dark corners make you feel sleepy and

one finds it difficult to concentrate in studies and eventually wastes half of his/her time.

xii. It is essential to choose the right time for studies. MBA preparation is no joke and requires

focus, concentration and planning. Prefer studying in the morning hours with less or no

disturbance

Tools used in time management

i. Clocks and watches

ii. Computes can be used to alert a person when a task is to be done

iii. Calendar and appointment books are used in planning and preparation including setting goals.

iv. Daily time log

v. Work plan

vi. Daily time log

27

vii. This is a time management tool that shows the day of the week and time when the task is to done.

viii. Work schedules

ix. This is a table that summarizes the tasks to be performed, duration of each activity and the

responsible staff. It is major used for intermittent or irregular activities/ events

Time wasters

Time is a very precious resource. Your attitude and behaviors affects how you use your time.

Below are some examples of ineffective use of time:-

i. Interruptions /distractions: These are caused by colleagues, workmates or family members who

may interrupt you concentration and focus. This can be avoided by stopping them i.e. telling them

when it‘s not okay to interrupt.

ii. Poor planning: Planning is so critical when you‘re to accomplish something .i.e. planning in

advance provides direction proceeding towards the goal.

iii. Perfectionism: Practicing perfection wastes a lot of time i.e. it may involve one to perform a test

several times to achieve perfection.

iv. Procrastination: This involves waiting up the last moment. This tends to create crisis or a

problem that may not otherwise exist. And ends up wasting considerable time.

v. Trying to do everything for your self: Taking on the workload all by your self will consume a

lot of time. Learn to say no to do some tasks and to delegate tasks that others can do for you.

vi. Crisis management: Crisis refers to unforeseen emergency. This is always brought about by poor

planning

vii. Too much socializing: Although we all love to make friends and enjoy our relationship by

allowing yourself too much freedom in this area will wind up spending a large percentage of your

work time socializing.

viii. Not valuing your own time: Others will not respect your time if you do not communicate that

your time is important .watch your actions, commitments and behaviors, are they ways of

communicating the right message.

ix. Lack of skills: Organizing, prioritizing, decision making and problem solving skills are all

critical in supporting effective use of time

x. Other causes of time wasting include

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Telephone calls

Meetings without agenda

Inability to say no

Problems in locating documents

Ineffective delegation

Improving and reducing waiting time in health facilities

In most health facilities clients must wait for a long time to receive services and they frequently express

dissatisfaction with the length of waiting. But there are many ways to improve quality and reduce waiting

time:-

i. Service providers should reach at the facility before their clients

ii. Prepare client area i.e. cleaning, restocking, sterilizing, setting up equipments, etc

iii. Setting up systems in place for serving clients with emergencies

iv. Filling documents in way that allows easy locating of records

v. Clients should be informed about delays due to procedure

Time tables

i. It is a time management tool that specifies the following:-

ii. The day of the week when carryout the task

iii. The time of the day when to carry out the task

iv. Duration for which the task will be carryout

v. The person to carry out the task

15. WORK P LAN

A work plan describes a project to accomplish and outlines how it will be done. It is also known as a

project plan or proposal report. Work planning involves dividing work to accomplish into a logical

sequence of steps including:-Time for completion of each step and the overall project, who does what and

when? & and a budget

Components of the work plan

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i. Stating the goal of the project ii. Objectives of the project – shows what is to be accomplished

iii. Methods iv. Resources. v. An action/ strategy section which explains how thing are to be accomplished.

vi. Schedules/Time frame vii. Indicators

Steps for developing work plan

i. Review all the goals and objectives of the project developed.

ii. Brainstorm activities and tasks required to implement the project.

iii. Organize the tasks and activities under each goal/ deliverables of the project.

iv. Estimate the time limits for each task

v. Assign team members to the different tasks

vi. Estimate the budget or resources required for each task

vii. Look at the entire work plan and give it a reality check

viii. Submit the work plan to the committee for their review.

Advantages of a work plan

i. Helps to ensure that you project will be completed on time within the budget and meet expected

outcomes.

ii. Helps you to use your time effectively throughout the project.

iii. foresee and prepare for most activities

iv. Ensure sufficient and appropriate staff resources are available

v. Ensures work is done in the right order and determines which part of work can be done

simultaneously.

vi. Measures your progress against the plan.

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16. INVENTORY MANAGEMNET

i. Inventory refers to stock of goods, commodities, or other economic resources that are stored or

reserved at any given period for future production or for meeting future demand.

ii. Inventory planning is the determination of the type and quantity of inventory items that would

be required at future points for maintaining production schedules. Inventory planning is generally

based on information from the past and also on factors that would arise in future.

iii. Inventory management is the function of directing the movement of goods through the entire

manufacturing cycle from the requisition of raw materials to the inventory/stock of finished goods

in such a manner as to meet the objectives of maximum customer service with minimum

investment and efficiency.

In inventory control is primarily concerned with the inventory cost control. The objectives of inventory

control are: - Purpose/Benefits/Motive of Holding Inventors

i. To minimize financial investments in inventories.

ii. To ensure availability of the supply of stock at all time.

iii. To allow flexibility in production scheduling.

iv. To ensure that the value of the material consumed is minimum.

v. Reduce surplus stock.

vi. The Transaction Motive which facilitates continuous production and timely execution of sales

orders.

vii. The Precautionary Motive which necessitates the holding of inventories for meeting the

unpredictable changes in demand and supplies of materials.

viii. The Speculative Motive which induces to keep inventories for taking advantage of price fluctuations,

saving in re-ordering costs and quantity discounts, etc.

Types of inventories

1. Direct inventories – these include items which play a direct role in the manufacturing process and

become an integral part of the finished goods, e.g. raw materials, work in progress inventories,

finished goods inventories, spare parts.

2. Indirect inventories – include those items necessary for manufacturing but do not become an

integral component of the finished product e.g.

a. Lubricants

b. Machinery/equipment

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c. Labor

Inventory decisions

i. How much of an item to order?

ii. When to replenish the inventory of the item?

Inventory control terminology

i. Inventory or stock cost; There are several:

ii. Purchase/Production cost – cost of purchasing a unit of item

iii. Ordering/Acquisition/Set-up cost – costs related to acquisition of purchased items i.e. those of

getting an item to a firm’s store e.g. transport, loading and off-loading, inspection.

iv. Inventory carrying/ holding costs – costs associated with holding a given level of inventory e.g.

warehousing, spoilage, security, pilferage, administrative, insurance, depreciation.

v. Stock-out cost/ shortage costs – incurred due to a delay in meeting demand or inability to meet

demand at all because of shortage of stock loss of future sales, cost associated with future

replenishment.

vi. Order cycle – the time period between placements of 2 successive orders.

vii. Lead time – time between placing an order and actual replenishment of item. Also referred to as

procurement time.

viii. Time horizon – this is the period over which the inventory level will be controlled.

ix. Maximum stock – the level beyond which stocks should not be allowed to rise.

x. Minimum stock level/buffer stock/safety stock – level below which stock should not be allowed

to fall. It is the additional stock needed to allow for delay in delivery or for any higher than

expected demand that may arise due to lead time.

xi. Reorder level – point at which purchased order must be sent to supplier for the supply of more

stock. The level of stock at which further replenishment order should be placed.

xii. Reorder quantity – the quantity of the replacement order.

xiii. Average stock level

xiv.

Average stock level= Minimum stock level+ Maximum stock level2

xv. Physical stock – no. of items physically in stock at any given time.

xvi. Stock replenishment – rate at which items are added to the inventory.

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xvii. Free stock – the physical stock plus the outstanding replenishment orders minus the unfulfilled

requirements.

xviii. Economic order quantity (EOQ) – the quantity at which the cost of having stocks is minimum.

xix. Economic batch quantity – quantity of stock within the enterprise. Company orders form within

its own warehouses unlike in EOQ where it is ordered from elsewhere

Meaning and Nature of inventory

In accounting language it may mean stock of finished goods only. In a manufacturing concern, it may

include raw materials, work in process and stores, etc. Inventory includes the following things:

(a) Raw Material: Raw material form a major input into the organization. They are required to carry out

production activities uninterruptedly. The quantity of raw materials required will be determined by the

rate of consumption and the time required for replenishing the supplies. The factors like the availability

of raw materials and government regulations etc. too affect the stock   of raw materials.

(b) Work in Progress: The work-in-progress is that stage of stocks which are in between raw materials

and finished goods. The raw materials enter the process of manufacture but they are yet to attain a final

shape of finished goods. The quantum of work in progress depends upon the time taken in the

manufacturing process. The greater the time taken in manufacturing, the more will be the amount of work

in progress.

(c) Consumables: These are the materials which are needed to smoothen the process of production.

These materials do not directly enter production but they act as catalysts, etc. Consumables may be

classified according to their consumption and criticality.

(d) Finished goods: These are the goods which are ready for the consumers. The stock of finished goods

provides a buffer between production and market. The purpose of maintaining inventory is to ensure

proper supply of goods to customers.

(e) Spares: Spares also form a part of inventory. The consumption pattern of raw materials, consumables,

finished goods are different from that of spares. The stocking policies of spares are different from

industry to industry. Some industries like transport will require more spares than the other concerns. The

costly spare parts like engines, maintenance spares etc. are not discarded after use, rather they are kept in

ready position for further use.

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Risk and Costs of Holding Inventors

i. The holding of inventories involves blocking of a firm’s funds and incurrence of capital and other

costs. It also exposes the firm to certain risks. The various costs and risks involved in holding

inventories are as below:

i. Capital costs: Maintaining of inventories results in blocking of the firm’s financial resources. The

firm has, therefore, to arrange for additional funds to meet the cost of inventories. The funds may be

arranged from own resources or from outsiders. But in both cases, the firm incurs a cost. In the

former case, there is an opportunity cost of investment while in later case the firm has to pay

interest to outsiders.

ii. Cost of Ordering: The costs of ordering include the cost of acquisition of inventories. It is the cost

of preparation and execution of an order, including cost of paper work and communicating with

supplier. There is always minimum cot involve whenever an order for replenishment of good is

placed. The total annual cost of ordering is equal to cost per order multiplied by the number of order

placed in a year.

iii. Cost of Stock-outs: A stock out is a situation when the firm is not having units of an item in store

but there is demand for that either from the customers or the production department. The stock out

refer to demand for an item whose inventory level is reduced to zero and insufficient level. There is

always a cost of stock out in the sense that the firm faces a situation of lost sales or back orders.

Stock out are quite often expensive.

iv. Storage and Handling Costs. Holding of inventories also involves costs on storage as well as

handling of materials. The storage costs include the rental of the godown, insurance charge etc.

v. Risk of Price Decline. There is always a risk of reduction in the prices of inventories by the

suppliers in holding inventories. This may be due to increased market supplies, competition or

general depression in the market.

vi. Risk of Obsolescence. The inventories may become obsolete due to improved technology, changes

in requirements, change in customer’s tastes etc.

vii. Risk Deterioration in Quality: The quality of the materials may also deteriorate while the

inventories are kept in stores.

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Inventory Management

It is necessary for every management to give proper attention to inventory management. A proper

planning of purchasing, handling storing and accounting should form a part of inventory management.

An efficient system of inventory management will determine

a. what to purchase

b. how much to purchase

c. from where to purchase

d. Where to store, etc.

There are conflicting interests of different departmental heads over the issue of inventory. The finance

manager will try to invest less in inventory because for him it is an idle investment, whereas production

manager will emphasize to acquire more and more inventory as he does not want any interruption in

production due to shortage of inventory. The purpose of inventory management is to keep the stocks in

such a way that neither there is over-stocking nor under-stocking. The over-stocking will mean reduction

of liquidity and starving of other production processes; under-stocking, on the other hand, will result in

stoppage of work. The investments in inventory should be kept in reasonable limits.

Objects of Inventory Management

The main objectives of inventory management are operational and financial. The operational objectives

mean that the materials and spares should be available in sufficient quantity so that work is not disrupted

for want of inventory. The financial objective means that investments in inventories should not remain

idle and minimum working capital should be locked in it. The following are the objectives of inventory

management:

i. To ensure continuous supply of materials spares and finished goods so that production should not suffer

at any time and the customers demand should also be met.

ii. To avoid both over-stocking and under-stocking of inventory.

iii. To keep material cost under control so that they contribute in reducing cost of production and overall

costs.

iv. To minimize losses through deterioration, pilferage, wastages and damages.

35

v. To ensure perpetual inventory control so that materials shown in stock ledgers should be actually lying

in the stores.

vi. To ensure right quality goods at reasonable prices.

vii. To maintain investments in inventories at the optimum level as required by the operational and sales

activities.

viii. To eliminate duplication in ordering or replenishing stocks. This is possible with help of centralizing

purchases.

ix. To facilitate furnishing of data for short term and long term planning and control of inventory.

x. To design proper organization of inventory. A clear cut accountability should be fixed at various levels

of management.

Tools and Techniques of inventory Management

Effective Inventory management requires an effective control system for inventories. A proper inventory

control not only helps in solving the acute problem of liquidity but also increases profits and causes

substantial reduction in the working capital of the concern. The following are the important tools and

techniques of inventory management and control:

1. Determination of Stock Levels.

2. Determination of Safety Stocks.

3.  Determination of Economic Order Quantity

4. A.B.C. Analysis

5. VED Analysis

6. Inventory Turnover Ratios

7. Aging Schedule of Inventories

8. Just in Time Inventory

Determination of Stock Levels

Carrying of too much and too little of inventories is detrimental to the firm. If the inventory level is too

little, the firm will face frequent stock-outs involving heavy ordering cost and if the inventory level is too

high it will be unnecessary tie-up of capital. Therefore, an efficient inventory management requires that a

firm should maintain an optimum level of inventory where inventory costs are the minimum and at the 36

same time there is not stock-out which may result in loss of sale or stoppage of production. Various stock

levels are discussed as such.

(a)   Minimum Level: This represents the quantity which must be maintained in hand at all times. If

stocks are less than the minimum level then the work will stop due to shortage of materials. Following

factors are taken into account while fixing minimum stock level:

Lead Time: A purchasing firm requires some time to process the order and time is also required by

supplying firm to execute the order. The time taken in processing the order and then executing it is

known as lead time.

Rate of Consumption: It is the average consumption of materials in the factory. The rate of consumption

will be decided on the basis pas experiences and production plans.

Nature of Material: The nature of material also affects the minimum level. If material is required only

against special orders of customer then minimum stock will not be required for such materials.

Minimum stock level = Re-ordering level-(Normal consumption x Normal Re-order period).

(b) Re-ordering Level:  When the quantity of materials reaches at a certain figure then fresh order is sent

to get materials again. The order is sent before the materials reach minimum stock level. Reordering level

is fixed between minimum and maximum level. The rate of consumption, number of days required to

replenish the stock and maximum quantity of material required on any day are taken into account while

fixing reordering level. Re-ordering Level = Maximum Consumption x Maximum Re-order period.

(c) Maximum Level: It is the quantity of materials beyond which a firm should not exceed its stocks. If

the quantity exceeds maximum level limit then it will be overstocking. A firm should avoid overstocking

because it will result in high material costs. 

Maximum Stock Level = Re-ordering Level+ Re-ordering Quantity -(Minimum

Consumption x Minimum Re-ordering period).

(d) Danger Level: It is the level beyond which materials should not fall in any case. If danger level arises

then immediate steps should be taken to replenish the stock even if more cost is incurred in arranging the

materials. If materials are not arranged immediately there is possibility of stoppage of work.

Danger Level = Average Consumption x Maximum reorder period for emergency purchases.

(e) Average Stock Level

The average stock level is calculated as such:

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Average Stock level = Minimum Stock Level +½ of re-order quantity

2. Determination of Safety Stocks

Safety stock is a buffer to meet some unanticipated increase in usage. It fluctuates over a period of time.

The demand for materials may fluctuate and delivery of inventory may also be delayed and in such a

situation the firm can face a problem of stock-out. The stock-out can prove costly by affecting the smooth

working of the concern. In order to protect against the stock out arising out of usage fluctuations, firms

usually maintain some margin of safety or safety stocks. Two costs are involved in the determination of

this stock i.e. opportunity cost of stock-outs and the carrying costs. The stock out of raw materials cause

production disruption resulting in higher cost of production. Similarly, the stock out of finished goods

result into failure of firm in competition, as firm cannot provide proper customer service. If a firm

maintains low level of safety frequent stock out will occur resulting in large opportunity coast. On the

other hand larger quantity of safety stock involves higher carrying costs.

3. Economic Order Quantity (EOQ)

A decision about how much to order has great significance in inventory management. The quantity to be

purchased should neither be small nor big because costs of buying and carrying materials are very high.

Economic order quantity is the size of the lot to be purchased which is economically viable. This is the

quantity of materials which can be purchased at minimum costs. Generally, economic order quantity is

the point at which inventory carrying costs are equal to order costs. In determining economic order

quantity it is assumed that cost of a managing inventory is made of solely of two parts i.e. ordering costs

and carrying costs.

(A) Ordering Costs: These are costs that are associated with the purchasing or ordering of materials.

These costs include:

(1) Inspection costs of incoming materials.

(2) Cost of stationery, typing, postage, telephone charges etc.

(3) Expenses incurred on transportation of goods purchased.

These costs are also known as buying costs and will arise only when some purchases are made.

(B) Carrying Costs: These are costs for holding the inventories. These costs will not be incurred if

inventories are not carried. These costs include:

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(1)    The cost of capital invested in inventories. An interest will be paid on the amount of capital locked

up in inventories.

(2)    Cost of storage which could have been used for other purposes.

(3)    Insurance Cost

(4)    Cost of spoilage in handling of materials

Assumptions of EOQ:  While calculating EOQ the following assumptions are made.

1.       The supply of goods is satisfactory. The goods can be purchased whenever these are needed.

2.       The quality to be purchased by the concern is certain.

3.       The prices of goods are stable. It results to stabilise carrying costs. 

Economic order quantity can be calculated with the help of the following formula:

Where, A = Annual consumption in rupees.

              S = Cost of placing an order.

               I = Inventory carrying costs of one unit.

Illustration 1:  The finance department of a Corporation provides the following information:

(i)                 The carrying costs per unit of inventory are Rs. 10

(ii)               The fixed costs per order are Rs. 20]

(iii)             The number of units required is 30,000 per year.

Determine the economic order quantity (EOQ) total number of orders in a year and the time gap between

orders.

Solution: The economic order quantity may be found as follow                                  

         A = 30,000

         S =  Rs.20

         I  =  Rs.10

                   Now, EOQ = ( 2 x 30,000x 20) ¸ 10 )1/2  = 346 units

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So, the EOQ is 346 units and the number of orders in a year would be 30,000/346 = 86.7 or 87 orders.

The time gap between two orders would be 365/87 = 4.2 or 4 days.

4. A-B-C Analysis

Under A-B-C analysis, the materials are divided into three categories viz, A, B and C. Past experience

has shown that almost 10 per cent of the items contribute to 70 percent of value of consumption and this

category is called ‘A’ Category. About 20 per cent of value of consumption and this category is called

‘A’ Category. About 20 per cent of the items contribute about 20 per cent of value of consumption and

this is known as category ‘B’ materials. Category ‘C’ covers about 70 per cent of items of materials

which contribute only 10 per cent of value of consumption. There may be some variation in different

organisations and an adjustment can be made in these percentages.

The information is shown in the following diagram:

Class No. of Items (%) Value of Items (%)

  A        10         70

  B        20         20

  C        70         10

 

A-B-C analysis helps to concentrate more efforts on category A since greatest monetary advantage will

come by controlling these items. An attention should be paid in estimating requirements, purchasing,

maintaining safety stocks and properly storing of ‘A’ category materials. These items are kept under a

constant review so that substantial material cost may be controlled. The control of ‘C’ items may be

relaxed and these stocks may be purchased for the year. A little more attention should be given towards

‘B’ category items and their purchase should be undertaken a quarterly or half-yearly intervals.

5. VED Analysis

The VED analysis is used generally for spare parts. The requirements and urgency of spare parts is

different from that of materials. A-B-C analysis may not be properly used for spare parts. Spare parts are

classified as Vital (V), Essential (E) and Desirable (D) the vital spares are a must for running the concern

smoothly and these must be stored adequately. The non-availability of vital spares will cause havoc in the 40

concern. The E type of spares are also necessary but their stocks may be kept at low figures. The stocking

of D type of spares may be avoided at times. If the lead time of these spares is less, then stocking of these

spares can be avoided.

6. Inventory Turnover Ratios

Inventory turnover ratios are calculated to indicate whether inventories have been used efficiently or not.

The purpose is to ensure the blocking of only required minimum funds in inventory. The Inventory

Turnover Ratio also known as stock velocity is normally calculated as sales/average inventory or cost of

goods sold/average inventory cost. 

7. Aging Schedule of Inventories

Classification of inventories according to the period (age) of their holding also helps in identifying slow

moving inventories thereby helping in effective control and management of inventories. The following

table show aging of inventories of a firm.

AGING SCHEDULE OF INVENTORIES

Item

Name/Code

Age

Classification

Date of Acquisition Amount

(Rs.)

%age to

total

011

002

003

004

005

0-15 days

16-30 days

31-45 days

46-60 days

61 and above

June 25,1996

June 10,1996

May 20,1996

May 5,1996

April 12,1996

30,000

60,000

50,000

40,000

20,000

15

30

25

20

10

2,00,000 100

 

9.      Just in Time Inventory (JIT)

JIT is a modern approach to inventory management and goal is essentially to minimize such inventories

and thereby maximizing the turnover. In JIT, affirm keeps only enough inventory on hand to meet

immediate production needs. The JIT system reduces inventory carrying costs by requiring that the raw

materials are procured just in time to be placed into production. Additionally, the work in process

inventory is minimized by eliminating the inventory buffers between different production departments. If

41

JIT is to be implemented successfully there must be high degree of coordination and cooperation between

the suppliers and manufacturers and among different production centers.

Risk in Inventory Management

The main risk in inventory management is that market value of inventory may fall below what firm paid

for it, thereby causing inventory losses. The sources of market value of risk depend on type of inventory.

Purchased inventory of manufactured goods is subject to losses due to changes in technology. Such

changes may sharply reduce final prices of goods when they are sold or may even make the goods

unsaleable. There are also substantial risks in inventories of goods dependent on current styles. The

ready-made industry is particularly susceptible to risk of changing consumer tastes. Agricultural

commodities are a type of inventory subject to risks due to unpredictable changes in production and

demand.

Moreover, all inventories are exposed to losses due to spoilage, shrinkage, theft or other risks of this sort.

Insurance is available to cover many of these risks and if purchased is one of the costs of holding

inventory. Hence, the financial manager must be aware of the degree of risk involve infirm investment in

inventories. The manager must take those risks into account in evaluating the appropriate level of

investment.

Summary of inventory management

 Inventory includes and refers to raw material, work in progress and finished goods. Inventory

management refers to management of level of these components.

The inventory management involves a tradeoff between costs and benefits of inventory. In a

systematic approach to inventory management, a financial manager has to identify (i) the items

that are more important than others and (ii) the size of each order for different items.

 Two important techniques of deal with the inventory management are ABC Analysis and The

Economic Order Quantity (EOQ) model.

The EOQ model attempts to find out the number of units to be ordered every time in order to

minimize the total cost of ordering and carrying the inventory.

 

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LEADERSHIP STYLES

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1. Autocratic Leadership/Autocratic or Authoritarian Leader/DICTATORSHIP

Where leaders have a lot of power over their people. Staff and team members have little opportunity to make suggestions, even if these would be in the team's or the organization's best interest

Advantages of autocratic style of leadership are:

a. It provides for quick decision-making because here only one person i.e., the leader takes decisions.

b. Mostly subordinates like to work under centralized authority and strict supervision.

c. As there is no consultation with subordinates, confidential matters can be kept secretly.

d. Leadership gives strong motivation and satisfaction to the leader who dictates terms.

e. At lower levels, only less competent subordinates are required.

f. This style may yield positive outcome if great speed is needed.

Disadvantages of Autocratic Style of Leadership

a. The basic problem with the autocratic style of leadership is that subordinates are not informed about why they are asked to do a particular work i.e., the purpose for which the work is required to be performed.

b. Jobs are assigned, facilities provided, instructions issued without consulting the person who is performing the job.

c. Subordinates are forced to follow the directions given by the leader blindly though the directions given may not be of proper one. This will ultimately produce feelings of helplessness and frustration among the employees.

d. The success of this type of leadership depends entirely upon the efficiency of the leader.

e. Subordinates tend to evade responsibility and initiative.

Full potential of subordinates and their creative ideas are not utilized.

g. Organizational continuity is threatened in the absence of the leader. This is because, subordinates get no opportunity for their development.

2. Bureaucratic Leadership

Bureaucratic leaders work "by the book." and ensure that their people follow procedures precisely.

This is an appropriate leadership style for work involving serious safety risks (such as working with machinery, with toxic substances, or at dangerous heights) or where large sums of money are involved. Bureaucratic leadership is also useful in organizations where employees do routine tasks (as in working in the lab).

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The downside of this leadership style is that it's ineffective in teams and organizations that rely on flexibility, creativity, or innovation.

Much of the time, bureaucratic leaders achieve their position because of their ability to conform to and uphold rules, not because of their qualifications or expertise. This can cause resentment when team members don't value their expertise or advice.

Charismatic Leadership

A charismatic leadership style is where these leaders inspire enthusiasm in their teams and are energetic in motivating others to move forward. This ability to create excitement and commitment is an enormous benefit.

The difference between charismatic leaders and transformational leaders lies in their intention. Transformational leaders want to transform their teams and organizations. Charismatic leaders are often focused on themselves, and may not want to change anything.

The downside to charismatic leaders is that they can believe more in themselves than in their teams. This can create the risk that a project or even an entire organization might collapse if the leader leaves. A charismatic leader might believe that she can do no wrong, even when others are warning her about the path she's on; and this feeling of invincibility can ruin a team or an organization.

Also, in the followers' eyes, success is directly connected to the presence of the charismatic leader. As such, charismatic leadership carries great responsibility, and it needs a long-term commitment from the leader.

Democratic/Participative Leadership

Democratic leaders make the final decisions, but they include team members in the decision-making process. They encourage creativity, and team members are often highly engaged in projects and decisions.

There are many benefits of democratic leadership. Team members tend to have high job satisfaction and are productive because they're more involved in decisions. This style also helps develop people's skills. Team members feel in control of their destiny, so they're motivated to work hard by more than just a financial reward.

Because participation takes time, this approach can slow decision-making, but the result is often good. The approach can be most suitable when working as a team is essential, and when quality is more important than efficiency or productivity.

The downside of democratic leadership is that it can often hinder situations where speed or efficiency is essential. For instance, during a crisis, a team can waste valuable time gathering people's input. Another downside is that some team members might not have the knowledge or expertise to provide high quality input.

Laissez-Faire Leadership

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This French phrase means "leave it be," and it describes leaders who allow their people to work on their own. This type of leadership can also occur naturally, when managers don't have sufficient control over their work and their people.

Laissez-faire leaders may give their teams complete freedom to do their work and set their own deadlines. They provide team support with resources and advice, if needed, but otherwise don't get involved.

This leadership style can be effective if the leader monitors performance and gives feedback to team members regularly. It is most likely to be effective when individual team members are experienced, skilled, self-starters.

The main benefit of laissez-faire leadership is that giving team members so much autonomy can lead to high job satisfaction and increased productivity.

COMMUNICATION

Objectives of the topic

At the end of this topic, you should be able to:

a) Define communication

b) Discuss the elements that constitute communication

c) Explain the importance of communication in academics and in life in general

d) Outline the important principles of communication

e) Discuss the various types of communication

What is Communication?

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The term communication comes from a Latin word ‘communicare’ which means to make common or share. Therefore, communication is a process by which meaning is exchanged between individuals or an individual and a group through a common system of symbols, signs and behavior.

The definition of communication is shared in the Webster's Dictionary as "sending, giving, or exchanging information and ideas," which is often expressed nonverbally and verbally.

A plethora of authors have defined communication including Gamble and Gamble, who define communication as a desirable or accidental transfer of meaning.

Communication is also a process of sharing or exchanging ideas, information, knowledge, attitude or feelings through certain signs, symbols and behavior.

Communication is more than transfer of ideas and thoughts; it is a dynamic process of action and interaction towards desired goals.

Key phrases of definition

a) Communication is a process: it is an activity which is an exchange of meaning that is dynamic. Communication is therefore not static. Communication as a process is a concept whose critical element is the changing nature of its occurrence.

b) Communication involves meaning: meaning is shared understanding of message. The understanding of the meaning of another person‘s message only occurs when you elicit common meanings for words, phrases, and non-verbal messages.

c) Communication is a system of symbols, signs and behavior: the system may be in form of language, gesture, demeanor, facial expressions e.t.c.

Importance of Studying Communication

Communication is central to human life. You cannot avoid communication and you will engage in communication nearly every minute of every day in your life. In addition, communication plays a major role in every aspect of your life. Effective communication therefore both enhances your daily life and at the same time solves problems in your professional and personal life. Communication experts believe that poor communication is at the root of many of our problems.

Therefore there are various reasons why studying communication is important:

a) Studying communication helps in understanding and insight of oneself and others.

Self awareness is the way we see ourselves. Most of our self knowledge comes from communication with ourselves (intrapersonal communication) and communication with other people (interpersonal communication). The message and feedback we receive from others helps improve our self concept.

b) Studying communication and using it effectively can lead to more positive feelings of ourselves. Effective communication can improve our self worthby enabling us to positively project ourselves in what is called image management.

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c) Studying communication can increase our knowledge about human relationships because studying communication includes learning about how people relate with one another and about what communication is appropriate for a given situation. d) Studying communication can teach us important life skills. For instance it can help us acquire problem solving skills. Studying communication is also instrumental in helping us acquire important life skills such as decision making skills, public speaking e.t.c. All these skills are important in academic and career development. e) Studying communication can help us succeed professionally. Employers regard highly written, oral and other communication competencies. The ability to listen and analyze messages is usually considered an essential professional skill. Entrepreneurs too regard communication skills as top priority skills for success. f) Poor communication may lead to misunderstanding, frustration, being ignored by others, unsuccessful careers, among many other negative consequences

Elements of Communication Elements of communication are the components that constitute the communication process. These are: a) People

These are the participants in the communication process. People are involved in communication in two roles. They are sources and receivers of messages. Sources initiate/compose the intended message. S/he encodes the message, while receivers are the intended target of messages, i.e. a receiver is the person who receives, decodes, comprehends and attaches meaning to the message sent. The participants‘ knowledge, interest and emotional state will affect how the message is sent or received. In the communication process, people are sources and receivers of a message simultaneously and continually. b) Message

This is the verbal or non-verbal form of idea, thought or feeling that one person (source) wishes to communicate to a group of people (receivers). The message, therefore, is the content of interaction. A message may be easy to understand or long and complex, it may also be intentional or un-intentional. c) Channel

This is the means by which a message moves from a source to a receiver. It is also called the medium of transmission. The medium may be in form of sound waves (in oral-auditory messages) or as light waves (in visual communication such as written communication).

Feedback This is the receiver‘s verbal, non verbal or written response to the message from the source. Feedback is part of any communication situation such that even non-response is feedback. e) Code

This is the systematic arrangement of symbols used by the source or receiver to create meaning in the mind of another person(s) or receiver(s). The code may be in form of i) Language you choose to communicate in e.g. English, Kiswahili or Sheng. ii) Grammatical structure, for instance, a statement, question etc. iii) Words and phrases you choose to use. iv) Non-verbal codes you may choose. f) Encoding and decoding

Encoding is the act of putting ideas and thoughts into a code, while decoding is interpreting/making sense those ideas or thoughts.

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Noise Noise is any interference in encoding or decoding process that reduces the clarity of a message. Noise can be in the form of: i) Physical noise, which can be in form of distracting sounds or sights. Such noise is usually easier to prevent in a speaking or listening situation. For example, closing doors to a noisy room, wearing ear plugs etc. ii) Psychological/noise, mental and emotional interferences that distract communication, such as day dreaming, pain, hunger and the like. iii) Semantic noise, which is the use of expressions that are unknown to the receiver or are too complex in grammatical structure. They include language differences, inattention and misunderstanding caused by different interpretations of a word or an expression. Cultural diversity can also lead to semantic noise.

Principles of communication There are important properties of communication that we need to keep in mind as we study and employ communication. The properties constitute the invaluable attributes of communication: a) Communication is inescapable: communication is always occurring in human life at various levels, for instance, at the intra-personal level when you are thinking, planning, meditating, as well as when you are observing, gathering information and making conclusions. It also occurs at the interpersonal level as you interact with one another. b) Communication is irreversible: you cannot take back something once it is communicated. Even if you can, what has been communicated cannot entirely be erased. Traces of the effect of the communication will always remain. c) Communication is dynamic: all elements in communication (i.e. setting, participants, their knowledge, their roles etc) affect each other as communication progresses. d) Every communication interaction has a content dimension and relationship dimension: Content dimension is the information or message that a source desires to communicate, which has to be packaged in a strategic manner to elicit a desired reaction. The relationship dimension of communication constitutes the elements in the communication that seek to signal and acknowledge the state of the social relation between the communicating parties. The relationship dimension ‗oils‘ the attainment of communication goals. For instance if you lecturer entered into the lecturer room with an unzipped trousers and you wanted to alert him to this fact, you will not just blurt out to him the content of what you want to say to him! You will need to do a lot of damage control about the awkward situation, while at the same time recognizing his superior position in relation to you as a student. Just think of the exact kind of language you would use and point out the content and relationship dimension of what you will say.

Communication is contextual: communication does not occur in a vacuum. It involves various aspects of context of communication. The context of communication is the environment in which communication takes place. The context of communication involves: i) Psychological context: that is the needs, desires, values, personality, and so on that people communicate and bring to the communication activity. ii) Situational context: this involves the place and time of communication, which affects what and how we communicate. iii) Environmental context: this involves the physical features of the communication setting, such as, noise level, cultural context, objects available in setting e.t.c. f) Communication is complicated: Communication is complicated in several respects. For instance: i) It involves choice about multiple aspects of message i.e. we have to make verbal and code choices, as well as non-verbal behavioral aspects to be used in communication. We also have to make choices of channel, and all these aspects must be combined strategically in order to pass across a unified message

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ii) Communication is also complicated because of our differing perception of the same object that we may wish to communicate about. Types of Communication Categories of non-verbal communication Non-verbal communication can be divided into 5 categories: 1. Paralanguage

This includes non-verbal communication such as tone, pitch, quality, rate of speech, laughing, crying, belching or even hesitating or sighing. Paralanguage can help reinforce a verbal message, for example, a father says, ―awwww‖ to his daughter who has just fallen. 2. Kinesics/body language

Body language is the gestures, movements and mannerisms by which a person communicates with others. Physical attributes such as appearance, facial expressions, eye contact and posture all contribute to kinesics or body language. For example: Physical appearance includes clothes, jewelry and grooming. Wearing the appropriate clothing to specific events demonstrates taste and style.

Facial expressions indicate our emotions: happy, sad, confused, angry etc. Eye contact may convey confidence, honesty and interest in the conversation. Gestures can express many things: a friendly wave to say hello etc. Posture sends a message. Standing or sitting erect denotes that you are paying attention to the matter at hand, leaning forward conveys increased interest. 3. Environment Our environment communicates many different messages. For example: A large desk in a corner office with windows communicates high status within an organization Fast food restaurants are deigned to move customers through quickly by using plastic seats that is comfortable for about 10 minutes 4. Touch

Touch, or haptic communication, is a primary method for achieving connection with people, indicating intention, or expressing emotion. The use of touch can be culturally bound. For example: In a business setting, the most appropriate form of communication is the handshake Haptic communication is status-driven. That is, a manager may give an employee an encouraging pat on the back, but not vice versa

People in business must avoid touch that could be considered condescending or sexual harassment 5. Space Space, as it relates to non-verbal communication, is the physical distance maintained with others. How you use space to communicate depends on: Cultural norms Your relationship with the receivers of your communication The activities involved

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Space generally falls into 4 categories: a) Intimate distance: this distance is reserved for personal expression with those we know well b) Personal distance: this distance is used for casual and friendly conversations c) Social distance: this distance is used in the workplace for business-related conversations, small meetings and social functions. It is also used for other conversations that are not personal in nature d) Public distance: this distance is usually for public speaking. In a personal conversation, this distance would constitute a huge communication barrier

Pointers for using non-verbal communication Avoid conflicting signals: messages are made stronger when both the verbal and non-verbal communications convey the same thing. Care should be taken not to intimidate people by encroaching on their personal space. Interpretation of the non-verbal cues and messages we receive is an essential responsibility of any communicator. Perception is the cornerstone for interpreting non-verbal signals.

c) Other types of communication categorized by direction of flow

Communications creates links between people for different functions or purposes. If several links are missing, broken or not aligned properly, the communication becomes wobbly and may eventually break. The following are communication situations that represent a different flow of communication depending on the purpose: i) Upward communication

This is communicating with people who rank above you, such as your boss or instructor. ii) Lateral or horizontal communication

This is communicating with people who are at the same rank or level as you – your co-workers or classmates. iii) Downward communication

This is communicating with people who rank below you, such as the people you might manage at work. iv) Internal communication

This is a communication situation that takes place in a company or an organization. Internal communication is the transmittal of information between and among persons

within a business or organization. It is used to accomplish company goals and objectives. For example, managers communicating deadline on assignments or employees seeking promotions. v) External communication

This is the transfer of information to and from people outside the company or organization. The goal is to persuade the recipients to respond favorably to company needs. For example, a job advert tries to attract qualified personnel to fill a certain position. vi) Cross-cultural communication

This refers to communicating, either in writing, verbally or non-verbally, with people who are from a culture different from your own. This calls for an understanding and respect of cultural differences and being adaptable. vii) Grapevine communication

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This refers to informal communication within a company/organization, where information spread bypasses the formal communication structure. It spreads in random ways, irrespective of the authority levels. NOTE: The direction your communication flows at any given time will influence how you communicate – the words you use and the method you choose. The objectives of communication Whether we are speaking, writing, persuading, informing, entertaining, explaining, convincing, educating or any other objective behind the particular communication, we always have four general objectives:

To be received (heard or read) To be understood To be accepted To get action (change behavior or attitude) Specific barriers to communication Human communication is fraught with problems and difficulties such as: 1. Differences in opinion

Our worldviews are largely determined by our past experiences. As vast as these experiences are, so are the perceptions and interpretations of the world that people have. Age, nationality, culture, education, occupation, sex, status, personality etc, all bring to bear the difference in perception. 2. Jumping to conclusions

We often see what we expect to see, thus hear what we expect to hear, rather than what is actually intended. This may lead us to unnecessary conclusions. 3. Stereotyping

Our experiences could run us the risk of treating different people as if they were the same. 4. Lack of knowledge

Communication is adversely affected if it is exchanged between persons whose knowledge of the particular subject is varied or whose backgrounds regarding the subject are too different. It requires skill on the part of the communicator to be aware of the discrepancy between the levels of knowledge, thus communicate accordingly. 5. Lack of interest

This is lacking alertness to the message being sent. As an effective communicator, you should avoid assuming that your interest in the specific subject is everyone‘s interest, thus angle your message to appeal to the interests and needs of the receiver. 6. Difficulties with expression

This refers to difficulty expressing or conveying your message as clearly as possible. It includes lack of vocabulary as well as lack of confidence, both of which can be overcome by improving your vocabulary and preparing carefully respectively. 7. Emotions

Both the receiver and communicator could harbor strongly felt emotions that could prevent almost anything from being communicated. Such emotions could entirely distort the communication and should be avoided. However, any audience knows that a speaker without emotion and enthusiasm is likely to be a dull speaker. Emotion just needs a clear balance.Communication is adversely affected if it is exchanged between persons whose knowledge of the particular subject is varied or whose backgrounds regarding the subject are too different.

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It requires skill on the part of the communicator to be aware of the discrepancy between the levels of knowledge, thus communicate accordingly. 5. Lack of interest

This is lacking alertness to the message being sent. As an effective communicator, you should avoid assuming that your interest in the specific subject is everyone‘s interest, thus angle your message to appeal to the interests and needs of the receiver. 6. Difficulties with expression

This refers to difficulty expressing or conveying your message as clearly as possible. It includes lack of vocabulary as well as lack of confidence, both of which can be overcome by improving your vocabulary and preparing carefully respectively. 7. Emotions

Both the receiver and communicator could harbor strongly felt emotions that could prevent almost anything from being communicated. Such emotions could entirely distort the communication and should be avoided. However, any audience knows that a speaker without emotion and enthusiasm is likely to be a dull speaker. Emotion just needs a clear balance.

Have you presented only one idea in each sentence? Have you avoided "business" and technical terms? Have you used the reader's language? 2. Completeness

Complete communication includes enough details so that the recipient will not need to ask for more information. For example – if you receive a message from your lecturer asking you to pick your graded papers on Wednesday, how do you know which Wednesday it should be? To be complete, a communication should answer the following questions: Who? What? Where? When? Why? How? or How much? Ask the following key questions to test how complete your communication is: Have you given all the facts? Have you covered the essentials? Have you answered all his/her questions? Did you PLAN what you said? 3. Conciseness

Concise communication avoids unnecessary words that could hamper the same communication. Such extra words may clutter the message and distort it all together. Conciseness makes the message more understandable and comprehensible. For conciseness:

Eliminate wordy expressions Include only relevant material Avoid unnecessary repetition

Look at the following examples: WORDY

CONCISE

Due to the fact that BecauseIn due course Soon

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At this time NowFew in number fewOn a weekly basis WeeklyIn spite of the fact that AlthoughUntil such time as UntilMeet together Meet

All communication should be consistent in FACT, TREATEMENT and SEQUENCE. Consistency in fact refers to agreement with a source document or an established fact. For example, an exam scheduled for 31st April should be questioned since April has only 30 days. Consistency in treatment means treating similar items the same way. For example using the courtesy title (Mr., Mrs., Miss., or Ms.) with names of all recipients of a letter or indenting all paragraphs in a report. Consistency in sequence refers to the arrangement of listings such as alphabetical, chronological or numerical order. For example, if an exam is scheduled for 3days, the dates should be given in chronological order: June 14, June 15 and June 16.

5. Correctness This refers to all the information in the message being accurate – the content, the spelling, the capitalization and the punctuation. The following guidelines can ensure your communication achieves correctness: Use the correct level of language Check accuracy of figures, facts and words Maintain acceptable writing mechanics There should be proper grammar, punctuation, spelling and paragraphing

Ask the following questions to test for correctness: Have you checked all facts for correctness? Have you spelled the reader's name correctly? Have you verified all numbers and amounts? Is the appearance of the letter effective? Is it clean, well-spaced? Have you checked your spelling, punctuation, grammar, etc.? 6. Consideration

This refers to the use of the ‗You-attitude‘ instead of the ‗I‘ or ‗We-attitude‘. Consideration applies sympathy, the human touch and understanding of human nature. It means the message is sent with the receiver in mind. You should try to visualize your readers; their desires, problems, emotions, circumstances and possible reaction to your communication

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The following actions can ensure that your communication is considerate: Focus on ‗You-attitude‘ instead of ‗I‘ or ‗We‘ Show audience benefit or interest in the receiver Emphasize positive pleasant facts

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Look at the following examples: NEGATIVE EMOTION/EXPRESSION

TRANSFORMS INTO

Anxious A little concerned, expectantConfused CuriousDestroyed Set backDisgusted SurprisedFailure LearningI hate I preferInsulted MisunderstoodLost SearchingPainful UncomfortableStressed BusyGOOD WORD GREAT WORDAttractive GorgeousConfident UnstoppableCurious FascinatedFast BallisticFortunate Blessed

Courtesy This refers to the building of goodwill at all times. Be sincerely tactful, thoughtful and appreciative Use expressions that show respect Choose non-discriminatory expressions

Ask the following questions to test your communication for courtesy: Will it win good will? Have you used positive, "pleasant-toned" words? Have you used "I appreciate," "please", and "thank you" somewhere in your message? Would you enjoy reading what you have said?

LISTENING AND CRITICAL THINKING Definition of Listening Hearing is the act of receiving sound. Listening is the act of receiving sound, constructing meaning and responding to the spoken message. Listening also involves the ability to retain information as well as react emphatically to the spoken message. Importance of Listening in our lives a) Listening is an essential task for effective communicators. We actually do spend the largest part of our time listening, for instance it has been observed that college students spend up to 50% of their time listening. b) Listening helps us build and maintain relationship. Part of our ability to build and retain relationships involves our ability to understand and respond empathetically to messages from others. c) Listening can help us determine whether people we are communicating with are honest or deceitful. d) Listening is an essential skill for success in academics and business world. e) Listening is directly linked to our ability to remember information.

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The Listening Process The listening process involves receiving oral stimuli (music, words or sounds) in the ear (Hearing). The ear translates the vibration from oral stimuli into sensation that is registered by the brain (Listening). The brain, using attention and working memory, interprets the sensation and gives it meaning (Interpretation). The interpreted message is then stored in short term memory for immediate use (Retaining) or long term memory for future recall (Recalling).

Types of Listening There are various types of listening, which can be used for various purposes either independently or in combination. These are: a) Active listening – It involves listening with a purpose and comprises: i) Listening carefully using all our available senses. ii) Paraphrasing what we hear both mentally and verbally. iii) Checking our understanding to ensure accuracy. iv) Providing feedback positively or negatively. b) Empathetic listening – It is a form of active listening where we attempt to understand the other person by perceiving their world view as if it is our own. It is putting ourselves in the shoes of another person in order to feel and understand what the person is going through. This kind is very useful in sustaining relationships, counseling process, resolving disputes, as well as dealing with traumatic situations. c) Critical listening – This is listening that analyses, evaluates, critiques or challenges a speaker‘s message by evaluating its accuracy, meaningfulness and utility. This goes hand in hand with critical thinking and it involves asking question such as: i) Is the speaker‘s message possible? Is it realistic? ii) Does the speaker back up his or her claims? Are these claims reliable? iii) Is the speaker credible or an authority?

iv) Is the message free of contradiction and inconsistencies? Critical listening is very useful when we are confronted with persuasive messages such as advertisements, political communications, propaganda and the like. d) Listening for enjoyment – This type of listening helps us to relax like when we enjoy listening to, for instance, music. e) Reflective listening

This refers to attentively listening to the speaker‘s actual words, as well as tone of voice, and observing the body language and emotions displayed. Reflective listening is particularly an important tool in one-on-one situations. It is not practical in a speaker-audience situation. f) Passive listening

This means concentrating at a low level and absorbing just enough of the speaker‘s words to stay involved in a conversation or speech. Such listening is characterized by: - Listeners remembering little of what is said - Listeners let the speaker‘s inflection or tone of voice signal when they should react by nodding, smiling or saying, ―I see‖ - Listeners may suggest that the speaker has the listener‘s attention, even though that may not be the case

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Overcoming listening barriers

Becoming an effective listener requires conscious effort and practice.

Listening barriers are any distractions that interfere with listening, for example:

Not concentrating on what is being said

Being distracted by noise

Talking instead of listening

Having preconceived thoughts and opinions

Not being interested in what is being said

Improving listening skills

1. Paraphrasing: this is summarizing the speaker‘s message in your own words and allowing the speaker to correct any discrepancies from the intended message. That is, the listener crystallizes his/her own understanding of the content presented.

2. Evaluate your skills: everyone has listening weakness; you must therefore identify your weaknesses.

3. Prepare yourself physically and mentally: listening is a combination of physical and mental activities.

4. Set listening priorities: because you are bombarded with several messages at once, decide which ones deserve your focus.

5. Make efficient use of available time: do not rush through your conversation as you may lack full understanding of the message.

6. Listen attentively: be attentive and show interest in the speaker‘s message.

7. Listen for ideas and feelings: look out for factual information as well as the speaker‘s tone of voice.

8. Establish eye contact: do not stare at the speaker, instead, glance away periodically to reflect on the topic.

9. Use body language to show you are listening: body language can convey you level of interest. Employ appropriate non-verbal cues.

10. Overlook personal characteristics of the speaker: do not prejudge a speaker on the basis of distracting personal characteristics such as mannerisms, voice, speech patterns or appearance.

11. Choose strategic seating: posture can affect listening; therefore choose a physical location that is conducive, comfortable and practical.

12. Ask questions if permitted: this helps clarify the speaker‘s information.

13. Take notes: note down key ideas or concepts for further referenci

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7. Listen for ideas and feelings: look out for factual information as well as the speaker‘s tone of voice.

8. Establish eye contact: do not stare at the speaker, instead, glance away periodically to reflect on the topic.

9. Use body language to show you are listening: body language can convey you level of interest. Employ appropriate non-verbal cues.

10. Overlook personal characteristics of the speaker: do not prejudge a speaker on the basis of distracting personal characteristics such as mannerisms, voice, speech patterns or appearance.

11. Choose strategic seating: posture can affect listening; therefore choose a physical location that is conducive, comfortable and practical.

12. Ask questions if permitted: this helps clarify the speaker‘s information.

13. Take notes: note down key ideas or concepts for further referenci

iii) Refreshing your understanding of a text after you have read it in detail.

You can skim:

Introductory paragraphs – to give the general theme

Concluding paragraph

Transitional paragraphs

Subheadings

Italicized, underlined and boldfaced items

As an efficient reading strategy, skimming is a very useful skill both for recreational and study reading. In study reading, it is useful for the following reasons:

It can be used at the preliminary stages of selecting texts for research or selecting reserved and supplementary literature. It helps determine which texts merit more careful and thorough reading and which specific parts of those texts are worth spending time on.

It can be used as an exercise for improving speed and therefore performance and for coping with high quantity work. It can enable a reader cover a lot of material in a short time, therefore saving time.

It is one of those skills used in the reading for the main idea only when the supporting details or other extraneous materials are not important.

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c) Active/detailed reading – This technique is used in serious study. It calls for an active involvement in the reading process. In this type of reading you need to interrogate or think over what you read so as to both evaluate what you have read and facilitate recall of read material. This is the kind of reading that is most extensively used at university during study. As you use this type of reading the following tips are important.

Always make notes

ii) Pick out what you think are the important points of what you are reading by highlighting these points.

iii) Record main headings as you read, this helps you to see the flow of your reading and notes.

iv) As you prepare for active reading note down questions you want the material to answer.

v) After you have read a section of text and have made a summary of what you have read in your notes, skim through the text and check how accurate your summary is. As you do this, fill in gaps that you may notice in your notes.

d) Extensive reading is purposeful, organized, wide reading of long texts such as journals, novels, magazines, periodicals etc, especially those that relate to one‘s area of study, to enrich one‘s vocabulary, which is basic to all good reading.

e) Intensive reading is a concentrated, thorough and comprehensive reading style. It is applied when one wants to understand the contents of the reading deeply. It is an intellectually involving affair into hat the reader will be trying to evaluate how the ideas involved could be applied or adapted to different situations. It is also analytical, critical and interpretive. It could involve a paragraph, a whole passage or even a whole book, like in the case of a literature book.

Financial Management

Definition:-

Financial Management means the efficient and effective management of money (funds) in such a manner as to accomplish the objectives of the organization. It is the specialized function directly associated with the top management

It is the planning, directing, monitoring, organizing, and controlling of the monetary resources of an organization

Tips for Effective Fundraising

HAVE A PLAN- A fundraising plan should include an assessment of your existing resources (i.e. volunteers, website, staff‘s expertise, etc.)

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UNDERSTAND WHAT WILL MOTIVATE POTENTIAL DONORS- Do they give casually? Do they give because they value impact? Do they give because they have some personal ties to your work? Do they give only to small organizations?

MAKE COMMUNICATIONS TIMELY, RELEVANT & PERSONALIZED- Do not bombard donors with constant email updates or contact them only when you desperately need additional funds. Rather, communicate with them in a timely and relevant manner.

USE YOUR EXISTING NETWORKS- If you have a volunteer network or other contacts in the U.S., consider how they can help you spread the word about your work or connect with new donors

HIGHLIGHT IMPACT- The Money for Good report shows that donors who donate to international not-for-profits are ―High Impact‖ donors

Tips for fundraising strategies

Have a positive attitude

Be honest

Make it participatory

Be strong on statistics

Be thankful

Ensure follow up

Know your donors

Potential sources of funding

Charity walk

Proposal writing

Membership fee

Subscription fee

Corporate sponsorship

Individual donations

Private sector foundations and companies

Government

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Budgeting

A budget is a spending plan that you decide upon. It is based on how much you make in income and what your monthly expenses are. By understanding your monthly income and expenses, you will be better able to manage your cash flow and determine how much debt, if any, you can assume.

Budgeting is the process of creating a plan to spend your money. Creating this spending plan allows you to determine in advance whether you will have enough money to do the things you need to do or would like to do or it can simply refers to Budgeting is simply balancing your expenses with your income.

Importance of budgeting

It ensures that you will always have enough money for the things you need and the things that are important to you.

It will also keep you out of debt or help you work your way out of debt if you are currently in debt.

Budgeting forces an in-depth understanding of where your money is being spent.

Budgets usually represent a detailed analysis of how a company expects to spend money in future time periods.

Budgets often allow organizations to have a financial roadmap for business operations.

A major benefit to using a budget is the ability to limit how much money is spent on certain operations and activities.

Budget planning will allow for greater control of income and expenses.

Essentials of budgeting When doing or making budgeting understand the following:-

Budget Planning-drafts all the necessary items

Bank Reconciliation-understand how much money you have

Make a comparison with the past budgeting drafts.

Consider the priorities in allocation.

Persistence and Patience for Successful Money Management

Types of budgets

There are many types of budgets but in this study we shall concentrate on only two:-

1. Operational budgets-covers revenues and expenses surrounding the day-to-day core business of an organization i.e.

Recurrent expenditures- spending on utilities such as water, electricity, fuel etc

Capital expenditures- capital developments or assets e.g. lab equipments, motor vehicles, generators, etc.

2. Financial budgets-A financial budget outlines how a business receives and spends money on a corporate scale, including revenues from core business plus income and costs from capital expenditures.

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Profit and loss account-an account in the books of an organization to which incomes and gains are credited and expenses and losses debited, so as to show the net profit or loss over a given period.

Balance sheet-a statement of the assets, liabilities, and capital of a business or other organization at a particular point in time, detailing the balance of income and expenditure over the preceding period.

Types of budgets

There are many types of budgets but in this study we shall concentrate on only two:-

1. Operational budgets-covers revenues and expenses surrounding the day-to-day core business of an organization i.e.

Recurrent expenditures- spending on utilities such as water, electricity, fuel etc

Capital expenditures- capital developments or assets e.g. lab equipments, motor vehicles, generators, etc.

2. Financial budgets-A financial budget outlines how a business receives and spends money on a corporate scale, including revenues from core business plus income and costs from capital expenditures.

Profit and loss account-an account in the books of an organization to which incomes and gains are credited and expenses and losses debited, so as to show the net profit or loss over a given period.

Balance sheet-a statement of the assets, liabilities, and capital of a business or other organization at a particular point in time, detailing the balance of income and expenditure over the preceding period.

Improves managerial decision making because emphasis is on future events and associated opportunities.

Encourages delegation of responsibility and enables managers to focus more on the specifics of their plans and how realistic the plans are, and how such plans may be effectively achieved.

It promotes labor relations i.e. Helps management become aware of the problems faced by lower levels within the organization.

Provides early signals of upcoming threats and opportunities.

Provides measures of self-evaluation for the organization.

Allows for thinking how to make operations and resources more productive, efficient, competitive, and profitable. It leads to cost reduction

Disadvantages

Time required- It can be very time-consuming to create a budget, especially in a poorly-organized environment.

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Budgets are only as good as the data being used to create them. Inaccurate or unreasonable assumptions can quickly make a budget unrealistic

Budgets need to be changed as circumstances change.

Managers can become too preoccupied with setting and reviewing budgets and forgetting to focus on the real issues of winning customers.

Can be platforms for exaggeration and inflation of figures leading to collapse of an organization

Accountability

Accounting -is an information science used to collect, classifies, and manipulates financial data for organizations and individuals.

Accountability-The obligation of an individual or organization to account for its activities, accept responsibility for them, and to disclose the results in a transparent manner. It also includes the responsibility for money or other entrusted property.

Responsibility- A duty or obligation to satisfactorily perform or complete a task (assigned by someone, or created by one's own promise or circumstances) that one must fulfill, and which has a consequent penalty for failure.

Accounting system- involves the transformation of an economic data of an entity into economic information.

Accounting involves the following aspects:-

Identification of transactions.

Analysis of each transaction into its component aspects.

Recording of transactions in a significant manner in proper books of accounts.

Classifying recorded data into proper accounts and posting them to the books of final entry (ledger)

Summarizing the contents of each account into balances.

Reporting the summarized data as information (financial statement)

Interpreting the information for users who would like to make decisions.

LABORATORY ORGANIZATION AND LAYOUT

Refers to equipping and arranging laboratory facilities and articles, dividing the laboratory into sections in a design that prevents occurance of accidents and that increases quality of the results.

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A good laboratory must provide a safe working environment that complies with the standards and it should be properly equipped with the following:-

Reliable electricity supply

The electricity connections for the laboratory should be carried out by a qualified engineer and the electricity wires should have sound insulation materials.

Electrical sockets should be strategically located and allows you to place your instruments and equipments where you need them.

Good ventilation system

Adequate ventilation supplied by wall vents and large windows that can be opened.

Emergency equipments

o Should have eye wash and safety shower and should have plumbed drains. These should e strategically located

o Floors should be slip resistant.

o Fire extinguishers which are appropriate for chemical and equipments in use and should be placed near the entrance of each laboratory, mechanical and electrical rooms.

o Others

o Laboratories with highly toxic gases should be equipped with alarmed vapor sensors.

Adequate lighting system

Furniture and fixtures

Bench tops and surface tops should have the following features

o Chemical resistant

o Heat resistant

o Easy to clean

o Laboratory top surfaces should be made from chemical guard materials such as Formica

o Bench areas should have knee space to allow room for chairs near fixed instruments or equipments or procedures requiring prolonged operation.

o Hand washing sinks for particular hazardous chemicals or biological agents.

o Wet laboratories and dark rooms should have solvent resistant covered floor the walls should be none porous and painted with durable, impervious paint.

Floor and walls of the laboratory

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Floors for the working area should be laid with vinyl materials

o Adequate floor and bench space and storage area.

o A well-constructed floor with a surface that is none slippery impermeable to liquids and resistant to those chemicals used in the laboratory.

o It should be a wall and the entire floor should be accessible for washing. Floors should be chemical resistant and heat resistant.

o The walls should be none porous and painted with durable, impervious paint.

Reliable water supply

Also protective and safety measures must be included in the design

Must have good storage facilities i.e. storage for reagents and consumables, records, computers, e.t.c

Laboratory space

Note

Also in the laboratory there must be adequate arrangement to provide and monitor special conditions required for different testing:-

o Microbiology testing area

o Chemistry testing area

oHaematology testing area

o Parasitology testing area

Note

The following are important in making the workplace better.

o Shelves should start 0.6meters above the working bench, be placed 0.45 meters apart and should measure 0.3metres in width.

o Also the overall size for the laboratory should be adequate for the workload, staff number and the equipment.

o It should have two doors at each end of the laboratory. The other acts as an escape door in case of fire outbreaks.

MAIN SECTIONS OF THE LABORATORY

RECEPTION AREA

o Sits for clients

o Table record books

o Enough space 66

o Specimen collection requirements

At the reception specimens are received or collected and the following are done there namely:-

o Checked for leakage

o Checked for surface contamination

o Cross-checking for the laboratory request form against the specimen and the relevant details entered into the register.

o Specimen reception area

o It should be equips with a table with a surface that is impervious to water, washable and resistant to disinfectants

WORKING BENCH

This is where specimens are processed. It contains facilities necessary for smear preparation, specimen decontamination, incubation facilities, and culture media preparation.

Laboratory benches should be 0.9meters high and 0.5meters wide.

Benches and shelves and cupboards should be well constructed and kept free of insect and rodent infestation. Benches should be made as clear as possible to provide maximum working area and to facilitate cleaning.

Should be constructed in the middle of the laboratory

The proposed the dimension should be:-90centimeters high, 400centimeters length and 125 centimeters width with a sink near the outlets. Also construct working benches along the walls of the working laboratory.

STORE ROOM

o Storage facilities

o Enough space

o Shelves (lockable)

o Suitable storage facilities including ventilated locked store for storage of chemicals.

o Cabinets for chemical storage should be of solid, sturdy construction, hardwood or metal shelving is preferred.

o Some may require ventilation

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Considerations when storing laboratory chemicals and reagents

o General materials

o Solvent resistant

o Possibly need ventilated storage

o Solid shelving for storage

o Fire extinguisher mounted near entrance of work or storage area and when labeled.

Corrosive chemicals

Should be stored in low cabinets and shelves

Radioactive materials

Physically separated from eating and drinking places.

Biological agents

o Hand washing sinks and space for waste management

o Allow spacing within the building for any central chemical and biological or radioactive waste storage needs.

o Flammable liquid storage needs should be defined in advance so that the laboratory space a suitable number of flammable storage reagents.

Note

The storage facilities under the work benches and above should be 1.6 meters to be arranged in the appropriate locations in the wash rooms and media preparation rooms for storage of glass ware and chemicals.

WASH UP ROOM

This is where disinfection and sterilization of materials and articles for discarding and recycle is done:

o Enough space

o Sinks and basins

o Draining racks

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Disinfectants

o Cleaning materials

Laboratory sinks

o Enough sinks for hand washing

o Laboratory sinks and tops should be made from polypropylene materials. This has high resistance to inorganic salts, concentrated bases and mineral acids.

o Stainless steel sinks are preferred. The gas supply tanks should be located outside of the laboratory.

Laboratory doors

All laboratory doors must open outwards

Note

For laboratories using radioactive materials,

Eating and drinking areas should be completely separated and conveniently located.

PLANNING FOR PROCUREMENT OF REAGENTS, CHEMICALS AND CONSUMABLES

In Uganda when planning to procure consumables and reagents, the HMIS-order form is used. This order form has four sections. Only health workers (usually senior staffs are authorized to order for equipments and supplies .ordering requires the following skills:-

Listing requirements from knowledge of past use and use to estimates present use. This knowledge of consumption of supplies can be obtained from the stock card for individual supplies and from monthly summary register of items whose consumption quantities are difficult to estimate for example stains and antiseras reagents.

Use of catalogue

Is a book which contains a list of articles available for purchase from a certain supplier/ place it‘s used whenever certain things are ordered from a distance. The government store or private store or manufacturer or shops may publish a catalogue.

SELECTION AND PROCUREMENT OF EQUIPMENTS AND SUPPLIES

This involves selection and purchase of equipments and how to keep them in a good working order. In developing countries equipments are procured in one of the three ways:-Purchased nationally through local suppliers (agents)

Purchased from an oversee manufacturer or distributor

Procured through donor body.

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Purchased nationally through local suppliers (agents)

Here the supplier imports the equipment and checks it on arrive and demonstrates to the purchaser and he / she specifies the following:-

Power requirements, Mentainance requirements, provide User manual.

The authorized supplier will usually stock essential replacement parts and repair facilities.

Purchased from an oversee manufacturer or distributor

This is the only available method to developing countries. Because there is no local supplier for the equipment that is needed. This method increases the greater chance of equipment and availability of information about new equipments. It is associated with a disadvantage of no after sale assistance such as installation, repair facilities may not be available locally.

Procured through the donor body.

o It is particulary important that equipment is not accepted when: -

o Its running and mentainance costs are unaffordable.

o The information it provides is of limited use or difficult to interpret,

o No spares or it is unsafe. Donation means of procurement should be used when there are good communication means between the donor and the recipient

RECIPIENT RESPONSIBILITIES

o Should have clear specifications of the equipment

o Should ask for advice from a qualified equipment technician

o Should specify clearly which items should accompany the equipment

o Should ensure the donor is clearly informed about the specifications

o Should communicate to the donor the alternative preferences

CONSIDERATION MADE BEFORE SELECTING AND PROCURING EQUIPMENTS

Discuss and decide on what is required basing on

Why the equipment is needed, how it will be used, who will be responsible for its mentainance, Anticipated work load, Local power supplies and climate (temperature ranges), Health and safety

considerations, Storage Space and ventilation facilities, whether equipment will require special facilities e.g. pure water, voltage stabilizer, etc.

Provide supplier, manufacturer or donor with sufficient information

o What functions the equipment will perform and work load

o Level of skill of the persons who will be using the equipment

o Details about the local facilities (power supplies)

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o Information about the climate and environment (temperature ranges)

Ask the manufacturer for information and illustrations

Cost of the equipment, replacement parts and if required consumables.

Cost of transporting the equipment and insuring it in transit, Expected working life of the replacement parts, Source of spare parts, consumables and details of the nearest authorized repairer, Power requirements and performance specifications i.e. how the equipment is used, Installation information, Control checks required, Mentainance schedule, Warranty supplied, etc

Evaluate and discuss the information received from the supplier.

o Whether equipment has features that are needed

o Whether purchase price and operating costs can be afforded

o Whether equipment will be cost effective

o Whether equipment appears easy to use and to maintain

Select the most appropriate equipment for the job

I.e. relevant, affordable, simplest and easiest to use and maintain

If the supplier is a local supplier

o Request for demonstration

o Study carefully the user manual

o Ask about any after sale services

o Discuss the terms of payment

If an oversee distributor

o Indicate how you would like the equipment to be transported

o Ask how soon after placing the order the equipment will be dispatched

o Request for a copy of user manual

PRIORITIZATION OF COMMODITIES FOR PROCUREMENT

o Commodities to purchase are determined by carrying out the following:-

o Carrying out a physical count

o Determine the average monthly consumption

o Use the stock on hand and the average monthly consumption to determine months of stock. 71

o Identify the fast moving commodities

HOW TO DETERMINE AMOUNTS TO ORDER

o Determine the amounts of these commodities needed by multiplying average monthly consumption by the period when regular supplies are needed determine the quantity to order

o Translate the quantity into the supply store units

Multiply the quantity by the store packing units

o Determine the total amount of these vital commodities

PLACING AN ORDER

o Never rush into placing an order

o Order correctly in writing using an order number

o Use suppliers‘ code numbers as well as descriptions

o Make sure all the items that are required are specified and ordered

o Order the essential replacement parts

o For electrical equipment state the voltage requirements

o Keep a copy of the order form.

COMPLETION OF ORDER FORMS OR REQUISITION FORMS

o Listing the requirement from the knowledge of past use and estimating present use.

o Make several lists of items according to the place of purchase

o Write down each type of required item.

o Estimate the quantity of each item

o Estimate the cost

o List in tabular form the required items, their quantities, price per unit and the total price.

o Also an order form can supplied together with the catalogue. Different stores or firms have their particular order forms.

Ordering for prepared reagents

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This allows you to order for prepared reagents in the corresponding packing units. In this section you will be required to specify quantities needed of each of the prepared reagents.

The order frequency is dependent on the: - Consumption rate, Potency and expiry date of the reagent.

Ordering for laboratory glass ware, consumables and equipment

This allows you to order for laboratory glass ware, equipment and expendable supplies used for daily running of the laboratory. The order frequency is dependent on the funds available and rate of consumption.

PROCESSING OF COMPLETED ORDER FORMS

o Send the completed form to the incharge of the health sub district (HSD)

o The HSD reviews and approves order forms from health units to ensure that the details of order are correct and that the total cost is within the facility credit limit.

o The order is then sent to the DDHS

o The DDHS reviews and approves orders and forwards the orders to National Medical Stores one month before the specified NMS delivery dates.

o NMS delivers the marked consignments to the district/ HSD on the agreed route as per national delivery schedule.

How to complete the HMIS order form

Completed by: Laboratory staff responsible for ordering laboratory commodities

Purpose: to request laboratory commodities from National Medical Stores

When to perform: order can be placed every after two months. Note The order must be prepared six weeks before expected delivery.

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HMIS-ODER FORM Name/ level of health facility

Date HSD/district Funding source Others specify

NMS code Item description

Packing unit

Unit cost(UG X)

CurrentStock units

Quantityordered

Total cost(UGX)

Issue a voucher

it is a special form on which issues are recorded.ie the date of issue, what is issued, its quantity, its page number in the ledger, where it is to be used, who is responsible, signature of the person who is responsible for its use, also duplicate the copies of the issue voucher and give to the head

of department who receives the equipment and record in the inventory for the receiving and using section.

INVENTORY MANAGEMENT

Refers to documenting and keeping track of movement materials or delivery of raw materials to be used into operational process. Tracking materials as they are used to create finished goods also helps to identify the need to adjust ordering amounts before the raw materials gets dangerously low.

An inventory refers to a list of items that are kept in a certain place. Each section of health centre keeps an inventory of its expendable and the none expendable materials

CONTROL OF EQUIPMENTS AND SUPPLIES

One of the best ways to control costs is to keep an inventory at a level which the supplies will neither run out nor stay on shelf for long enough to reach their expiry date. It helps managers to keep minimum and maximum amounts to keep on hand.

An inventory card system is used to keep track of the status of all supplies such as reagents, media, equipment and disposable supplies.

This stock card includes the following information: - Name of the item, Name of the supplier, Catalogue number of item, Maximum and minimum amounts to keep at hand. Actual amount of product at hand and date when the physical count was made, Date when it was ordered, Amount that was ordered

REVIEWING THE STOCK STATUS

This can be done mainly by carrying out a physical count

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Months of stock

Refers to the number of months tests and related supplies currently available will last basing on the present consumption rate. When you review your stock status you need to determine how many months of stock you have in your facility. This can be known by counting the stock available as you carry out a physical count/ inventory.

By reviewing your stock status, you will be in position to determine if your facility is under stocked, over stocked or adequately stocked. If your are under stocked you place an emergency order if you are over stocked you need to redistribute the stock to other facilities. To help maintain adequate stocks, maximum months of stock, minimum months of stock and the emergency order point have to be established.

Maximum amount of stock/maximum stock levels refers to the largest amount of commodity a facility should hold at one time. Maximum months of stock for HIV =6months

Maximum months of stock for lab reagent = 5months

The minimum months of stock /minimum stock levels refers to the least amount of commodity the facility should hold at any one time. Minimum months of stock for lab reagents = 2months and Minimum stock for HIV tests = 3months

Emergency point

Refers to the level where the risk of stocking out is likely to happen and the emergency order should be placed immediately.

Amount to order = a maximum stock level – balance on stock card

Example

If the maximum stock level is 27 tins and 17 tins remains then order 10.

CALCULATING THE AVERAGE MONTHLY CONSUMPTION AND DETERMINING THE MONTHS OF STOCK

AMC = current month of usage +previous 2months of usage

3

Or

AMC = Total stock issued during 3 months

3

Adjusted AMC = consumption per day x 30

Months of stock = stock on hand (SOH)

AMC

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EXAMPLE

It is now end of may (31st may 2008) and time to place an order for lab reagents and consumable supplies. You have reviewed your stock cards for each reagent and you have determined the following for field stain B.

4th -3-2008 balance on hand was 3500mls

10th – 3-2008 quantity out was 1000mls

22th – 3-2008 quantity out was 500mls

30th - 3-2008 quantity out was 500mls

5th -4- 2008 quantity in was 4000mls

8th -4 -2008 quantity out was 500mls

11th – 4 – 2008 quantity out was 1000mls

14th – 4 - 2008 quantity out was 700mls

23rd- 4 – 2008 quantity out was 1000mls

3rd - 5-2008 quantity out was 300mls

15th – 5- 2008 quantity out was 200mls

29th – 5-2008 quantity out was 500mls

31st – 5 – 2008 balance of hand was 1300mls

Calculate the average monthly consumption Solution AMC = stock issued during 3 months 3 Stock issued during March 1000mls +500mls +500mls = 2000mls of field stain B Stock issued during April 500mls +1000mls+700mls +1000mls =3200mls of field stain B Stock issued during May 300mls +200mls + 500mls = 1000mls AMC = consumption during 3 months 3 AMC = 2000mls+3200mls +1000mls 3

6200mls

3

Calculate the maximum and minimum stock level

MSL = AMC X5 76

MSL= AMC X2

Determine the facilities‘ stock status (months of stock)

Months of stock = SOH

AMC

SOH =1300mls + 1500mls + 800mls =3600mls of field stain B

a).What observation do you draw from the above stock

HOW TO COMPLETE A STOCK CARD

Starting a new stock card

Enter the facility name, financial year, page number, if you add another stock enter page hence two stock cards, recording the transaction and complete the information relating to the transaction.

Enter the Folio number, card number, Description of the commodity, Special conditions of the commodity, Strength / size of the commodity.

Determine the AMC (average monthly consumption) to use to determine the minimum and the maximum stock to order. Quantity to order = maximum stock – current stock

Note

Expiry dates. The commodity with the shortest expiry date should be used first

Issue unit

Write the individual dispensing unit for the laboratory commodity. For example one pregnancy test kit, 1000mls of carbolfuchsin.

RECORDING TRANSACTION

One transaction is recorded per row.

Select the stock card that matches the laboratory commodity for the transaction you want to record.

The following information must appear on the stock card about the transaction

Date of the transaction, where the product is coming from or where it is being sent, Voucher number for the commodity, Quantity in/received, Quantity out/ issued, Losses and adjustments

BALANCE ON HAND

Calculate the stock balance .if the laboratory commodities were received, add the quantity received to the previous stock balance.

If the laboratory commodities were issued subtract the quantity issued from the previous stock balance.

If balance commodities were lost or adjusted, add or subtract the quantity from the previous stock balance

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For all items when a physical count of the stock is made. This is done periodically to check the accuracy of the stock card.

Remarks

Additional comments about the transaction may be added in this column.

Remarks Additional comments about the transaction may be added in this column.

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STOCK CARD HealthUnit name--------------

Financial year-------------

Folio No----------

Item description--------------

Special condition---------------

Expertly date-----------------

LOGISTICS SYSTEM

This refers to the structure through which a quantity of supplies is moved to different levels according to schedule. Information about the quantities issued at different levels or dispensed to clients is gathered to determine the quantity and schedule of different deliveries.

LMIS

Refers to a system of information and how information is used.

KEY LOGISTICS CONCEPTS

Pipe line

Refers to the entire chain of storage facilities and transportation links though which supplies move from the manufacturer to the consumer. Including the port facilities, central warehouse, regional warehouse, all service delivery points and transport vehicles.

Lead time

Refers to the time interval between the new stock ordered and when it is received and available for use.

Pull/ allocation system

In a pull system, the quantities to be issued are determined by the personnel who issues the supplies

ESSENTIAL DATA ITEMS

There are three essential data elements that provide information for making logistics decisions

Stock on hand

The quantities of usable stock available at all the levels of the system.

Rate of consumption

The average quantity of stock dispensed to users during a particular time periode

Losses and adjustments

Are the quantities of stock removed from the pipe line for any reason other than consumption by clients. I.e. due to expirery, damage, etc

Types of LMIS records

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Stock keeping records

These keep information about products in storage. Examples include:-stock cards, ledgers, bin cards and inventory control cards.

Transaction records

These keep information about the products being moved for example packing slip, receiving report, issue voucher and requisition voucher.

Consumption records

These keep information about products being consumed for example the daily consumption log activity register.

LOGISTICS CYCLE

Enabling environment

I.e. policies and legal frame work

Selection of products

Procure products

Store (Inventory control) i.e. ware house and storage

Transportation and distribution

Product use

At the centre there is support (LMIS).i.e. organization support i.e. financing an donor stake holders

PRODUCT FLOW CHART (LABORATORY REAGENTS AND SUPPLIES)

Donors /partners /MOH

Procurement agent

National medical stores/ joint medical stores-----NGO facilities

DDHS office /store

MOH FACILITIES

Importance of information collected by LMIS

The information is used in product selection

The information is use in the decision making process

Used for procurement

Used for distribution of products

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ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE VARIOUS STAKE HOLDERS OF THE LOGISTICS

NMS

It‘s a procurement agent for CDC donated supplies

Provides storage for facilities

Receives orders from the laboratory facility through a pull system

Processes the order, picks and packs per health unit

Ships laboratory supplies to district facilities

Provides distribution reports for ministry of health and donors

JMS

Procurement agent for CDC donated supplies

Stores reagents and supplies for NGO facilities

Processes orders from NGO facilities

Provides distribution reports to MOH and donors

Maintains inventory.

MOH

Provides the overall policy

Carries out support supervision

Tracts the accountability reports

Tracts the procurement plans

Carries out commodity selection

DDHS/DLFP

Verifies the order forms from health facilities

Sends order forms to national medical stores

Receives reagents from NMS

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Informs the NGO facilities to collect their reagents

Health unit

Ordering laboratory reagents and supplies

Receives, records and stores reagents and supplies

Maintains accurate and up-to date stock cards

Records daily tests done using the laboratory register books

Submits summary of the tests performed t the end of the month using the monthly summary forms

Conducts regular physical inventory taking of the store.

KEEPING LABORATORY EQUIPMENT IN WORKING ORDER

The commonest causes of equipments not working properly in district laboratories are:-

Incorrect use of equipment

No one trained to take responsibility and care for the equipment

Lack of proper replacement parts

No regular cleaning, inspection and mentainance of the equipment damages by un stable power supply.

WAYS OF KEEPING LABORATORY EQUIPMENTS OPERATIONAL

Prepare standard operating procedures and the other relevant information for each equipment.

o Date the equipment purchased, name and address of suppliers, its cost and details of the model

o How to operate the equipment and how to check for its performance and calibrate it before use.

o How to clean the equipment to inspect it regularly

o List relevant safety precautions 82

o List the essential replacement parts

o How to maintain the equipment

o Name and address of the address of the authorized repairers.

o Locate the equipment in a safe and secure place where it cannot easily be damaged

o In case of a fault stop using the equipment and investigate the cause of the fault.

o Report as soon as possible such that the equipment can be put right.

o Keep the equipment clean and protect from it from corrosions, insect damages, dust, rodent damages, etc

CONTROLLING AND MENTAINANCE OF LABORATORY EQUIPMENTS

Expendable equipments must be controlled to avoid wastage. None expandable equipments must be maintained to keep them in good working order. To control and maintain equipments, the following skills are needed:-

o Care for equipments by cleaning, inspecting and maintaining in good order.

o Defects must be reported immediately and equipment has to be returned to its original place after use.

o Use of inspection check list and inspection schedule

o Detecting discrepancies and explaining them

The frequency inspecting depends on whether the item is consumable or long lasting and whether it is liable to break down. Consumable items need to be checked frequently to avoid wastage and extravagance. Long lasting items for example chairs can be checked once a year.

Equipments and machines that are liable to break down need regular and more frequent checking.

IMPORTANCE OF LABORATORY EQUIPMENT PREVENTIVE MENTAINANCE PROGRAMS

o Less unexpected break downs

o Improved performance with regards to standards

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o Greater safety by preventing hazards

o Improved effectiveness of the equipment

o Less waste of reagents improved relationship between the laboratory and those requesting the tests

RECORD KEEPING

Each entry activity relating to investigation should be recorded. All photo graphs, sketches, charts, graphs and other materials if any must be permanently recorded

Definition of a record and a document

MEDICAL LABORATORY RECORD KEEPING

A medical record refers to the compilation of facts about the patient‘s life and health. It includes documented data on past and present illnesses and treatment written by the present health care professional.

Also refers to the creation, storage and retrieval of information that relates to individual patients or groups of patients in the health setting

IMPORTANCE OF MEDICAL RECORDS

Medical records are used to provide information about the health of the patient in the country. Collected information forms basis for development of health facility plans.ie

o Management and financing of health facilities

o Medical research and production of health care statistics

o Medical legal purpose

o Determining quantities of supplies to order.

o Needed by government in planning the countries health requirements and to solve health related problems

Previous record orders make it possible to make subsequent orders. These

Records show supplies addresses, item reference numbers, packing units and the normal quantities required.

Balance in the stock ledger shows when to order more supplies. This prevents taking long without necessary equipments.

TYPES OF MEDICAL RECORDS

o Laboratory request form

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90 Ishaka Adventist School Of Allied Health Science 2018

o OPD registers

o IPD registers

o Laboratory registers

o Referral forms

oEtc

TYPES OF MEDICAL LABORATORY RECORDS

o Attendance register

o Laboratory investigation register

o Maintenance of equipments and log books

o Accident records

QUALITIES OF GOOD RECORDS

o Relevant

o Completed

o Presentable

o Understandable

o Timely

o Communicable

ROLES OF THE STAFFS IN RECORD KEEPING

o Generate information

o Record information into the appropriate forms or registers

o Analyze, utilize and disseminate the information.

IMPORTANCE OF THE STOCK CARD RECORDS 85

o Manages stock in the store

o Provides information about the received commodities i.e. who sent the commodities, who received the commodities, quantities received, date when received, etc

o Provides information about the issued out commodities i.e. who issued the commodities, commodities issued to who, date when issued, quantity issued

o Provides information about the stock on hand and basing on this the amount of stock to order can be determined and provides information for calculating the months of stock

o Provides information about the losses and adjustments made in the laboratory

LABORATORY INVESTIGATION REGISTER

o Provides information about the number of patients received every day

o Provides information about the daily consumables

o Provides information about the patient

o For research purposes

o Use for legal purposes

o Provides information on calculating the average consumption monthly

MONTHLY SUMMARY REPORTS/RETURNS

o Provides information about the number of tests performed monthly

o Provides information about the volume of reagents used monthly

o Guides on the volume of reagents to order from national medical stores

STOCK RECORDS

A stock card is used to track the number of laboratory commodities in the store. Each time there is a change to the laboratory commodity quantity in the stores, it must be recorded on routine a stock card.

There should be a stock card for each commodity that is consumed on routine basis at the facility. The information tracked will facilitate the management of the inventory at the facility.

Note

(Stock in hand + stock received) – Stock used =balance left 86

In relation to small health centers, the things for which we need to get stock records include:-

o Bandage and dressing

o Laboratory supplies and chemicals

o Food supplies

It is very important that the amount of supplies is adequate for the demand. In many situations, this is difficult to plan. Especially where supplies are easily available some careful thought can make it much simpler. Some questions can help in planning:-

o How essential is the item? I.e. like those for diagnosis of malaria is very important.

o How long does it take from ordering to arrive?

o How often do you order supplies?

o When is the best season in your year to order for them?

o What quantity of that item do you need every month?

STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES

Sometimes a there referred as local laboratory bench manuals. There up to date step by step procedures followed when operating equipment or when performing a test.

COMPONENTS OF THE STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES

o Test of the procedure

o Value of the test

o Specimen to use

o Principle of the test

o Reagent or stain

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o Controls

o Method of the test

o Reporting of the results and interpretation

o Sources of errors

IMPORTANCE OF FOLLOWING STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES

o To improve and maintain the quality of laboratory service to patients and to identify problems associated poor work performance.

o To provide the laboratory staff with written instructions on how to perform consistently a procedure.

o To prevent changes in the performance of the test this may occur when new members of staff are appointed

Note

o SOPS help to avoid short cuts being taken when performing the test.

o To make clinical and epidemiological interpretations of test results easier by standardizing specimen collection techniques, test method and test reporting.

o To provide written standardized techniques for use in training of laboratory personnels.

o To facilitate the preparation of a list and inventory of essential reagents chemicals and equipments.

o To promote safe laboratory practice.

STORAGE AND RETRIEVAL OF RECORDS

o Record books

o Computer

oArchieves

PROCEDURES FOR PROPER STORAGE

Store by alphabetical order

Store by type for example: - powders, liquids, frequent use,

Guide lines

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o Clean and guard from rodents, insects, etc

o Guard from water penetration

Guide lines

o Clean and guard from rodents, insects, etc

o Guard from water penetration

o Keep dry, leak proof, well ventilated and away from direct sun light.

o Provide fir e safety equipments and train

o Latex products should be away from electricity commodities

o Maintain limited cold chain storage

o Storage areas should be to authorize personnel.

o Flammable products should be away from others and from the laboratory.

o Label items with expertly dates and separate the expired from the none expired.

o Corrosive chemicals should be stored away from the flammable chemicals

o Ware protective gargets when handling the reagents.

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