STUDENTS' CORNER - 18

Order

Order is the next principle of management we have to look into this week. Order is a kind of discipline without which no work can be completed in right time in the right way for the right customer. Order implies total grasp of the situation that includes work and workers.  It is well-thought out sequence of actions that aim at goal.

First requirement for an order to be, the materials required for job must be made available in right time at the right quantity; second, on the spot, the right people must be present in the required strength. For example, if ten workers are required, the ten must be there, no matter any worker happens to be on leave. Only when the required quantity of materials and men are there on the work spot, in the right time at that, then, the organization is considered to work in order. Such organization will be productive in nature in the sense that it will be moving towards its goal without much difficulty, without many huge hiccups.

 On the other hand, if either right quantity of materials is not there, the production will be affected; same will be the result if the necessary number of employees fails to turn out for work.  Such a situation is described as chaotic, disorderly, confused and mismanaged.  No business house can thrive in such situations in the dog eat dog market.

 They talk about two kinds of order that must be attended to in any organization:  Material Order and Social Order for Human Resources.

 The Material Order is said to be present if all the materials required for production are available in the right time in right quantity with right quality assured. Immediate availability of the materials presupposes a series of actions that must be taken in advance. First, right inventory must be prepared in the sense no unnecessary stocking of materials must be there since it locks up capital which could have been more profitably used. Neither should be the under stock of materials which would hamper production. Right inventory saves money and time for administration.

There is one more significant point about the Material Order:  a place for a thing and a thing for a place.

 It implies that the space must be judiciously used lest it is wasted with unwanted things crowding in. Before a thing is added to the company, a right place must be chosen so that it can be fully utilized causing least disturbance to the work.

 Social Order for Human Resources expects right people at the right place in the organization in the right time. Under staffing negatively affects the total performance of the company and overstaffing is a burden on the finance of the company, besides being an unproductive addition.  Getting the right people poses a great challenge to the Human Resources Department. Compromise in quality either of personnel or of materials ends up in damage to the fame of the company. Once the brand image of the company is dented because of faulty administrative moves, it is extremely difficult to restore the old name.

 From the points discussed above, it must be clear that order is vitally pertinent to any organization to sustain itself in the highly competitive environment.

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