My Digital CV

Name - Abhinav Sirohi

PGDIM, NITIE, Mumbai (Class of 2015)

Contact- abhinav.sirohi.nitie@gmail.com

LinkedIn - http://www.linkedin.com/pub/abhinav-sirohi/b/6bb/884

A free world-class education for anyone anywhere- KhanAcademy

Khan Academy : Evolution of Teaching

Salman Khan, who founded the Khan academy, is harnessing the power of the internet to teach 100,000 pupils a month from the comfort of their own home.

Pupils watch the lessons on their computers and then get together in the classroom to work through exercises and receive tutoring from their teacher.

Beginnings :

Khan Academy began in 2006 as a tidy collection of math and science tutorial videos from its founder Salman Khan, a hedge-fund analyst who had posted the material to help friends and relatives. Its popularity snowballed, and in recent years Khan has beefed up the software that sits behind and around the video lessons, delivering interactive practice exercises and enabling conversation and remote teaching.

Organisation Structure :

 From just two programmers at the beginning of 2011 and five programmers a year ago, Khan is up to 20 coders now, not counting 15 summer interns. It could use more engineers, but has deliberately slowed its hiring to preserve its laid-back workplace culture, which includes group outings for bowling, movies, and board games.

In many ways, Khan Academy resembles a software startup more than a traditional nonprofit. Workers say the pace of software development can be intense – “I am working as hard as I was at Facebook, if not harder,” says Juan – and the salary is calibrated to match that intensity.

“We compensate extremely well, especially for this area,” says Ben Kamens, who quit Fog Creek, a well-regarded New York software boutique, to join Khan as lead developer, bringing a programmer coworker along with him. “Life here is pretty good and we wouldn’t be able to hire the team we’ve hired if that wasn’t the case.”

Khan is constantly peppered with unsolicited overtures from people interested in helping to improve the academy’s code base, Kamens says, a wide spectrum of developers including the very seasoned and very young. That’s partly because Khan invites contributions to its source code, freely available on GitHub, but also because the organization is at the center of the hot, fast-emerging online education movement.

How it works for students: Watch the video- 

The Khan Advantage :

There are no textbooks and no teacher lecturing. The students watch the Khan video for homework the night before to learn a concept. Then, they come to class and do problem sets called modules and they can get one-on-one help. There is less lecturing and more interaction. What you think of as homework, you do at home, and what you would normally do in the classroom, you do at home (they call it “flipping the classroom”). You are able to rewind or pause the video if you miss something or aren’t understanding something. Computer lab at the school is open until 10 PM.

In addition, the teacher can help with the student’s progress. The teacher doesn’t have to assume that everyone understands everything. She can see who needs help and how long each student took on each problem with this software. The teacher then can have mini workshops with those few students that need help in a certain area of math. They are gathering data from these classrooms and those who are watching the videos online. There have been 41 million visits in the past 18 months from people in the United States alone.

It’s really neat to see how the future of education is changing for the better because of technology, specifically through Khan Academy. I think that I would’ve done much better in math with this type of learning. It sounds like the software really helps the teacher see what students need help and in what areas. That way the students who are excelling can continue learning new material and the students who need help can get one-on-one help from the teacher.

"A global classroom- A free world-class education for anyone anywhere."

For more information you can visit the website - https://www.khanacademy.org/

Fayol's Principles of Management

Henri Fayol (1841-1925), On Theory of Administration

Henri Fayol was a French mining engineer and director of mines. He developed a general theory of business administration, known as “Fayolism”, which was independent of the theory of Scientific Management. Fayol was one of the most influential contributors to the modern concepts of management who stressed that the theory of administration was equally applicable to all forms of organised human cooperation. His major publication was Administration Industrielle et Generale, 1916.

The 14 Principles of Management by Fayol:

1.       Division of Labor

1. Henry Fayol has stressed on the specialization of jobs.
2. He recommended that work of all kinds must be divided & subdivided and allotted to various persons according to their expertise in a particular area.
3. Subdivision of work makes it simpler and results in efficiency.
4. It also helps the individual in acquiring speed, accuracy in his performance.
5. Specialization leads to efficiency & economy in spheres of business.

2.       Party of Authority & Responsibility

1. Authority & responsibility are co-existing.
2. If authority is given to a person, he should also be made responsible.
3. In a same way, if anyone is made responsible for any job, he should also have concerned authority.
4. Authority refers to the right of superiors to get exactness from their sub-ordinates whereas responsibility means obligation for the performance of the job assigned.
5. There should be a balance between the two i.e. they must go hand in hand.
6. Authority without responsibility leads to irresponsible behavior whereas responsibility without authority makes the person ineffective.

3.      Principle of One Boss

1. A sub-ordinate should receive orders and be accountable to one and only one boss at a time.
2. In other words, a sub-ordinate should not receive instructions from more than one person because -

-  It undermines authority
-  Weakens discipline
-  Divides loyalty
-  Creates confusion
-  Delays and chaos
-  Escaping responsibilities
-  Duplication of work
-  Overlapping of efforts

3. Therefore, dual sub-ordination should be avoided unless and until it is absolutely essential.
4. Unity of command provides the enterprise a disciplined, stable & orderly existence.
5. It creates harmonious relationship between superiors and sub-ordinates.

4.       Unity of Direction

1. Fayol advocates one head one plan which means that there should be one plan for a group of activities having similar objectives.
2. Related activities should be grouped together. There should be one plan of action for them and they should be under the charge of a particular manager.
3. According to this principle, efforts of all the members of the organization should be directed towards common goal.
4. Without unity of direction, unity of action cannot be achieved.
5. In fact, unity of command is not possible without unity of direction.

Basis	Unity of command	Unity of direction
Meaning	It implies that a sub-ordinate should receive orders & instructions from only one boss.	It means one head, one plan for a group of activities having similar objectives.
Nature	It is related to the functioning of personnel’s.	It is related to the functioning of departments, or organization as a whole.
Necessity	It is necessary for fixing responsibility of each subordinates.	It is necessary for sound organization.
Advantage	It avoids conflicts, confusion & chaos.	It avoids duplication of efforts and wastage of resources.
Result	It leads to better superior sub-ordinate relationship.	It leads to smooth running of the enterprise.

Therefore it is obvious that they are different from each other but they are dependent on each other i.e. unity of direction is a pre-requisite for unity of command. But it does not automatically comes from the unity of direction.

5.       Equity

1. Equity means combination of fairness, kindness & justice.
2. The employees should be treated with kindness & equity if devotion is expected of them.
3. It implies that managers should be fair and impartial while dealing with the subordinates.
4. They should give similar treatment to people of similar position.
5. They should not discriminate with respect to age, caste, sex, religion, relation etc.
6. Equity is essential to create and maintain cordial relations between the managers and sub-ordinate.
7. But equity does not mean total absence of harshness.
8. Fayol was of opinion that, “at times force and harshness might become necessary for the sake of equity”.

6.       Order

1. This principle is concerned with proper & systematic arrangement of things and people.
2. Arrangement of things is called material order and placement of people is called social order.
3. Material order- There should be safe, appropriate and specific place for every article and every place to be effectively used for specific activity and commodity.
4. Social order- Selection and appointment of most suitable person on the suitable job. There should be a specific place for every one and everyone should have a specific place so that they can easily be contacted whenever need arises.

7.       Discipline

1. According to Fayol, “Discipline means sincerity, obedience, respect of authority & observance of rules and regulations of the enterprise”.
2. This principle applies that subordinate should respect their superiors and obey their order.
3. It is an important requisite for smooth running of the enterprise.
4. Discipline is not only required on path of subordinates but also on the part of management.
5. Discipline can be enforced if -

-  There are good superiors at all levels.
-  There are clear & fair agreements with workers.
-  Sanctions (punishments) are judiciously applied.

8.       Initiative

1. Workers should be encouraged to take initiative in the work assigned to them.
2. It means eagerness to initiate actions without being asked to do so.
3. Fayol advised that management should provide opportunity to its employees to suggest ideas, experiences& new method of work.
4. It helps in developing an atmosphere of trust and understanding.
5. People then enjoy working in the organization because it adds to their zeal and energy.
6. To suggest improvement in formulation & implementation of place.
7. They can be encouraged with the help of monetary & non-monetary incentives.

9.       Fair Remuneration

1. The quantum and method of remuneration to be paid to the workers should be fair, reasonable, satisfactory & rewarding of the efforts.
2. As far as possible it should accord satisfaction to both employer and the employees.
3. Wages should be determined on the basis of cost of living, work assigned, financial position of the business, wage rate prevailing etc.
4. Logical & appropriate wage rates and methods of their payment reduce tension & differences between workers & management creates harmonious relationship and pleasing atmosphere of work.
5. Fayol also recommended provision of other benefits such as free education, medical & residential facilities to workers.

10.   Stability of Tenure

1. Fayol emphasized that employees should not be moved frequently from one job position to another i.e. the period of service in a job should be fixed.
2. Therefore employees should be appointed after keeping in view principles of recruitment & selection but once they are appointed their services should be served.
3. According to Fayol. “Time is required for an employee to get used to a new work & succeed to doing it well but if he is removed before that he will not be able to render worthwhile services”.
4. As a result, the time, effort and money spent on training the worker will go waste.
5. Stability of job creates team spirit and a sense of belongingness among workers which ultimately increase the quality as well as quantity of work.

11.   Scalar Chain

1. Fayol defines scalar chain as ’The chain of superiors ranging from the ultimate authority to the lowest”.
2. Every orders, instructions, messages, requests, explanation etc. has to pass through Scalar chain.
3. But, for the sake of convenience & urgency, this path can be cut shirt and this short cut is known as Gang Plank.
4. A Gang Plank is a temporary arrangement between two different points to facilitate quick & easy communication.

12.   Sub-Ordination of Individual Interest to General Interest

1. An organization is much bigger than the individual it constitutes therefore interest of the undertaking should prevail in all circumstances.
2. As far as possible, reconciliation should be achieved between individual and group interests.
3. But in case of conflict, individual must sacrifice for bigger interests.
4. In order to achieve this attitude, it is essential that -

-  Employees should be honest & sincere.
-  Proper & regular supervision of work.
-  Reconciliation of mutual differences and clashes by mutual agreement. For example, for change of location of plant, for change of profit sharing ratio, etc.

13.   Espirit De’ Corps (can be achieved through unity of command)

1. It refers to team spirit i.e. harmony in the work groups and mutual understanding among the members.
2. Spirit De’ Corps inspires workers to work harder.
3. Fayol cautioned the managers against dividing the employees into competing groups because it might damage the moral of the workers and interest of the undertaking in the long run.
4. To inculcate Espirit De’ Corps following steps should be undertaken -
• There should be proper co-ordination of work at all levels
• Subordinates should be encouraged to develop informal relations among themselves.
• Efforts should be made to create enthusiasm and keenness among subordinates so that they can work to the maximum ability.
• Efficient employees should be rewarded and those who are not up to the mark should be given a chance to improve their performance.
• Subordinates should be made conscious of that whatever they are doing is of great importance to the business & society.
5. He also cautioned against the more use of Britain communication to the subordinates i.e. face to face communication should be developed. The managers should infuse team spirit & belongingness. There should be no place for misunderstanding. People then enjoy working in the organization & offer their best towards the organization.

14.   Centralization & De-Centralization

1. Centralization means concentration of authority at the top level. In other words, centralization is a situation in which top management retains most of the decision making authority.
2. Decentralization means disposal of decision making authority to all the levels of the organization. In other words, sharing authority downwards is decentralization.
3. According to Fayol, “Degree of centralization or decentralization depends on no. of factors like size of business, experience of superiors, dependability & ability of subordinates etc.
4. Anything which increases the role of subordinate is decentralization & anything which decreases it is centralization.
5. Fayol suggested that absolute centralization or decentralization is not feasible. An organization should strike to achieve a lot between the two

 Keep Following !! 

Top 7 Benefits of Organizational Structures !!

While there are many different structures that organizations can adopt, depending upon the type of organization including whether it is a service organization or a manufacturing organization, a well structured organization has many benefits.

1.   Proper Coordination:

It has a built-in system of “checks and balances” so that the progress towards the attainment of objectives is evaluated along the way so that any required adjustments can be made and any new decisions required can be taken

2.   Easier Communication:

Since the lines of communication and flow of authority are clearly identified on the organizational chart, the inter­communication is both clearer and easier and it eliminates ambiguity.

 3.   Minimum Conflicts:

Since each person is assigned a particular job to perform, the responsibility of performing that job rests solely with him. It results in traceability of outcomes and the work interdependency of that particular task is reduced to a minimum.

4.   Eliminates overlapping and duplication of work:

Duplication exists when work distribution is not clearly identified and the work is performed in a haphazard and disorganized way. Since a good organizational structure requires that the duties be clearly defined and assigned, such duplication of work is eliminated.

5.   Decreases likelihood of “run-arounds:”

The run-arounds occur when we do not know who is responsible for what and we are not sent to the right people in the first instance for getting some work done. However, in a well-organized company where the responsibilities are clearly established, this does not occur.

6.   Facilitates promotions of personnel:

Since the organizational chart clearly pinpoints the positions of individuals relative to one another, it is easier to know as to which level a person has reached at any given time in the organizational hierarchy. Furthermore since each job is well described in terms of qualifications and duties, the promotional stages can be more clearly established.

7.   Effective Planning:

Since the goals are clearly established and resources clearly identified, both short term as well as strategic planning becomes more focused and realistic and such planning contains the provision to permit changes to be made in the right direction including expansion and contraction of facilities, operations and activities when it becomes necessary.

All about Organizational Structures !!

Objective – To Share my learnings on Organizational Structure

Organizational Structure is all about designed tasks, lines of authority, duties and supervision in achieving organizational objectives. Organizational structure is formed by how the organization is designed around these activities and lines of authority so there can be various types of organizational structures according to their needs. There are six major elements of organizational structure or design.

Work Specialization

It means that your labour is specialized in one task and they do that repeatedly and becomes expert of it. So organizations have to decide what type of work force is required to perform the tasks. Work specialization improves the efficiency and eventually employee productivity.

But there is also dark side of being work specialized, it creates monotonous and employees get bored of repeating the same task gain and again. In contemporary environment and organizational structure, managers keeping assigning variety of tasks to employees and keep shifting their jobs to overcome the problems.

Departmentalization

Similar sort of activities are group and performed under particular departments. Now it is to be decided that what types of activities organization is involved in, and according to that departments are created. There are various factors on the basis of which organizations may create their departments in their organizational structure.

They may create Functional departments like marketing, finance, HR, IT etc. One more type of departmentalization can be based on types of customers, like end consumers, business customers. Further Geography based departmentalization includes creating departments according to different geographic regions the business is operated. Then there is also product departmentalization based on various product lines. Process departmentalization is based on different processes of business for instance in textile sector ginning, weaving, dying, printing etc.

Chain of Command

Chain of command describes the line of authority in the organization and answers the question that who reports to whom? This element of organizational structure define lines of authority and represents that how much authority is delegated down the line. Upper management empowers employees so they can take decisions. It helps employees identifying that whom they are answerable and from where orders would come.

Span of Control

Span of control defines that how many employees are working under one manager. It also identifies the levels of management in organizational structure. Based on the number of employees under one managers, span of control can be termed as narrow or wider. In narrow span of control manager has less number of employees to supervise. It brings closer supervision but increases the cost since company has to hire number of managers with high salaries. Whereas in wider span of control, there are large number of employees under one manager, in this case efficiency is improved and cost is reduced. Wider span of control is best suitable im situation when managers are experienced and skilled, workers are skilled too and organization is not geographically dispersed.

Centralization/Decentralization

These elements of organizational design decides on how much decision making authority is to be delegated down the line into the hierarchy. Centralization refers to that decision making is done at the higher levels of organization. In such organizational structure, top management considers it wiser to be decision maker rather authorizing employees to do this. Decentralization is opposite of it as it allows giving authority to the employees to make decisions in different scenarios. This helps workers be more efficient and respond to queries and problems immediately.

Formalization  

Formalization refers to the extent of rules and regulations being implemented in an organization. Nowadays organizational structures tend to be less formalized with less rules and regulations and more flexible towards employee's timings, policies of working hours, dress codes, attendances and holidays.

SKY-WALK - Learn more on TEAM WORK

Objective: To learn the concepts of TEAM-WORK through a simple looking SKY-WALK (Valley Crossing) exercise.

When Proff. Mandi asked us to go through his blog on Sky Walk exercise, my first reaction after looking at the picture of the exercise was ITS EASY.  But you should also look the exercise first-

As shown in the figure above, 3 people have to cross the valley which is more than 1 step long but less than 2 steps long. Also they have to carry the rod along with them.. When the first person will come exactly on the top of the valley, he will be hanging and other 2 will be holding them. Similarly it will happen for the other two people when they will come exactly at the top of the valley. All the three members have interchanging roles in the completion of the task .If we look closely at the table of the steps of the exercise we would notice that the here friends have equal distribution of Safe, Half Safe, Risky.

I hope you all also found it easy but believe me it is not!!

This is how it was demonstrated in the class-

 Image- Three batch-mates performing the activity

The risk and safe zones for each of the different 9 steps in order of performing the activity can be better understood by this-

It is clear that each member of the team has equal distribution of different   kinds of situation:

• SAFE- 6 times
• HALF SAFE- 2 times
• RISKY- 1 times
• All three members have the same role in terms of effort and risk. Nobody was overloaded or relaxed.
• Every member is indispensable in completing the task.
• There were equal instances when one needed each other.

My learning and the take away from this exercise –

Planning- A major learning of this exercise is that proper planning. A high skill level is required as the all the movement must be synchronized for completing this task.

Communication: All the three members should communicate and coordinate with each other properly otherwise the performance of the team will be effected and can also be fatal.

Leadership: As for any team, the role of a leader is very important in giving direction and motivation to the team. But in this exercise, when asked who will be the leader, the general response was that the first person who takes the first step is most important and should be considered as a leader. But what about the role of the last person or the second person. Are they not important? They are, and, in fact very important.  

So it emphasizes that roles of all team member are very important and distributed equally and a clear leader cannot be established.

Now here I should talk about a new concept of leadership which was discussed –

Distributed leadership is primarily concerned with mobilizing leadership at all levels in the organisation not just relying on leadership from the top.

    Distributed leadership is not delegation

     Distributed leadership is an organisational condition 

    Distributed leadership does not mean everybody leads

    Distributed leadership has many organisational configuration

While creating teams, a common misunderstanding is that we assume that distributed leadership means delegating certain tasks. Not so. It does not cover the functional distribution, rather it describes a process where leaders are a by-product of shared activity, discussion or dialogue rather than the routine handing out of tasks.

Cohesiveness- The feet movements of each person must be synchronized. All the efforts of the team members must be in perfect sync for the achievement of the common goal.

Do write a feedback. Keep learning-Keep Sharing !!!