Asparagus and Kidney Stones

Asparagus and kidney stones seem to be a subject that is up in the air. Asparagus has been noted as beneficial to kidney stones and it has also been noted as being something to avoid if you have kidney stones. This controversy seems mainly due to the simple fact that there is more than one kind of kidney stones. It seems that if you have a certain type of kidney stone that you will want to go out of your way to avoid asparagus, as it will only worsen your condition. If you eat asparagus with the wrong type of kidney stones you may be setting yourself up for a surgical procedure when it could have been avoided. This is the most important detail when approaching the subject of asparagus and kidney stones.

The types of stones that can be dealt with using asparagus are known as uric acid stones. These stones form in urine that is simply too acidic. So, if you are prone to these sorts of stones you will want to steer clear of foods like spinach, rhubarb, sorrel, beet greens, chocolate, and even green tea. All of these foods are rich in oxalic acid which leads to the formation of uric acid stones. If you do happen to eat any of these foods, avoid eating these with foods that are high in calcium simultaneously.

If you do find that you have developed this type of kidney stone, this is the time to utilize the asparagus. At this time, other good foods to ingest are cherries, strawberries, apples and apple juice. These foods will help bring your urine to a more acceptable and less troublesome alkaline level. There is no particular recipe for preparing the asparagus when ingesting it for relief of this health problem. It can be eaten raw or prepared a number of ways. The only way of preparing this food that should be avoided is by steaming. Steaming is bad for any vegetable, as it steams the nutrients and other important dietary compounds right out of the vegetable.

Asparagus and Kidney Stones

Now, on the other hand, if you are being affected by stones that were formed by eating too many alkaline types of food, avoid asparagus! In this scenario, asparagus will irritate and worsen the problem rather than be of any help. Any foods like asparagus, cucumber, radish, tomato, spinach, rhubarb, or any other vegetables with strong aromas are a bad idea on this end of the spectrum.

If you are unsure about which stones you suffer from, save yourself some trouble and get to the doctor. Home remedies are great as long as you know exactly what you are dealing with. However, if you are being affected by kidney stones for the first time, you will want to get yourself tested to pin point the problem. It is much better to be safe than sorry in this situation. When you run the risk of potentially making your symptoms and condition worse, proceed with extreme caution for your own safety.

Asparagus and Kidney Stones
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What is Organizational Innovation?

Defining Innovation

Organizational innovation refers to new ways work can be organized, and accomplished within an organization to encourage and promote competitive advantage. It encompasses how organizations, and individuals specifically, manage work processes in such areas as customer relationships, employee performance and retention, and knowledge management.

At the core of organizational innovation is the need to improve or change a product, process or service. All innovation revolves around change - but not all change is innovative. Organizational innovation encourages individuals to think independently and creatively in applying personal knowledge to organizational challenges. Therefore, organizational innovation requires a culture of innovation that supports new ideas, processes and generally new ways of "doing business".

What is Organizational Innovation?

The Benefit of an Innovative Organization

In promoting a culture of innovation organizations should foster:

- Cross functional team building while discouraging silo building

- Independent, creative thinking to see things from a new perspective and putting oneself outside of the parameters of a job function

- Risk taking by employees while lessening the status quo

The value and importance of knowledge and learning within organizational innovation is crucial. If innovation is about change, new ideas, and looking outside of oneself to understand ones environment, then continuous learning is a requirement of organizational innovation success.

The value of learning and knowledge can only be realized once put into practice. If new organizational knowledge doesn't result in change, either in processes, business outcomes, or increased customers or revenues, then its value hasn't been translated into success.

The road to organizational innovation lies in the ability to impart new knowledge to company employees and in the application of that knowledge. Knowledge should be used for new ways of thinking, and as a stepping stone to creativity and toward change and innovation.

Steps to Innovation

To determine how supportive your current environment is in fostering innovation read the frequently asked questions and answers below, about how to build an organizational culture that encourages innovation.

1) Is a climate of innovation supported by senior management?

a. That means, that such activities as risk taking and small ad hoc work groups that brainstorm and talk through ideas need to be promoted, supported and encouraged in the organization.

2) Do managers routinely identify and bring together those individuals more oriented toward innovation those willing to think new ideas and act on them?

a. Identifying new thinkers and individuals oriented toward change helps to ensure an outlet for innovation by supporting these individuals and giving them and like-minded colleagues the time and opportunity to think creatively. This is tantamount to becoming an innovative organization.

3) Is there a process in place monitoring innovation teams and identifying what has and hasn't worked as a result of them?

a. Maintaining and monitoring innovation is important. This requires checks and balances that identifies how innovation is developed and managed and processes that capture what did or didn't work. In order to be able to continue to innovate in a changing environment, continually monitoring the internal and external environment to determine what supports or hinders innovation is key.

4) How can an organization be strategic and focused on it goals yet build and develop an innovative culture?

a. The value of a strategic focus remains important to a company's success. In fact, clear direction and understanding of a company's mission can help fuel innovation - by knowing where in the organization innovation and creativity would provide the most value. An innovative organizational culture creates a balance between strategic focus, and the value of new ideas and processes in reaching them.

5) Is there a single most important variable or ingredient that fuels an organization toward an innovative culture?

a. Similar to other successes of an organization, what drives innovation are the people of the organization. First, management must set the expectation of innovation and creativity and then "doing business" is about how to improve processes, products and customer relationships on a day-to-day basis. This mindset itself will create an ongoing culture of innovation.

What is Organizational Innovation?
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With 20 years experience as a business and learning needs analyst, Ruth offers a strategic business approach to learning. Ruth's knowledge of adult learning methodologies, and strong analytical skills, ensures she quickly understands the "big picture" of how business goals align to learning.

Importance of Supply Chain Management in Modern Businesses

Supply Chain Management (SCM) as defined by Tom McGuffog is "Maximising added value and reducing total cost across the entire trading process through focusing on speed and certainty of response to the market." Due to globalization and ICT, SCM has become a tool for companies to compete effectively either at a local level or at a global scale. SCM has become a necessity especially for manufacturing industry when it comes to deliver products at a competitive cost and at a higher quality than their competitors. Here are some of the reason SCM has become important to today's manufacturing industry:-

Competitive Edge through Core Competencies

Today's business climate has rapidly changed and has become more competitive as ever in nature. Businesses now not only need to operate at a lower cost to compete, it must also develop its own core competencies to distinguish itself from competitors and stand out in the market. In creating the competitive edge, companies need to divert its resources to focus on what they do best and outsource the process and task that is not important to the overall objective of the company. SCM has allowed company to rethink their entire operation and restructure it so that they can focus on its core competencies and outsource processes that are not within the core competencies of the company. Due to the current competitive market, it is the only way for a company to survive. The strategy on applying SCM will not only impact their market positioning but also strategic decision on choosing the right partners, resources and manpower. By focusing on core competencies also will allow the company to create niches and specialization of core areas. As stated in the Blue Ocean Strategy outlined by Chan Kim, in order to create a niche for competitive advantage, companies must look at the big picture of the whole process, and figuring out which process can be reduce, eliminate, raise and create.

Importance of Supply Chain Management in Modern Businesses

As an example stated by Chan Kim, the Japanese automotive industries capitalise on its resources to build small and efficient cars. The Japanese automotive industries gain competitive edge by utilising their supply chain to maximise their core competencies and position itself in a niche market. The strategy works and now Toyota Motor Corporation, a Japanese company, is considered to be the number one auto car maker in the world beating Ford and General Motors of the United States.

Value Advantage

SCM has allowed business nowadays to not just have productivity advantage alone but also on value advantage. As Martin Christopher in his book, Logistics and Supply Chain Management: Strategies for Reducing Cost and Improving Service' states, 'Productivity advantage gives a lower cost profile and the value advantage gives the product or offering a differential 'plus' over competitive offerings.' Through maximizing added value and also reduce the cost in the same time, more innovation can be added to the product and process. Mass manufacturing offers productivity advantage but through effective supply chain management, mass customization can be achieved. With mass customization, customers are given the value advantage through flexible manufacturing and customized adaptation. Product life cycles also can be improved through effective use of SCM. Value advantage also changes the norm of traditional offerings that is 'one-size-fits-all.' Through SCM, the more accepted offerings by the industry to the consumers would be a variety of products catered to different market segments and customers preferences.

As an example, the Toyota Production System practiced in Toyota, evaluates its supply chain and determines what is value added activities and what is not value added activities. Non added value activities are considered to be 'Muda' or waste and therefore must be eliminated. Such non added value activities are overproduction, waiting, unnecessary transport, over processing, excess inventory, unnecessary movement, defects and unused employee creativity. The steps taken to eliminate waste are through Kaizen, Kanban, Just-in-time and also push-pull production to meet actual customer's demands. The Toyota Production System revolutionise the Supply Chain Management towards becoming a leaner supply chain system that is more agile and flexible towards meeting the end users demands.

Importance of Supply Chain Management in Modern Businesses
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Risk Management Within an Organisation

Introduction

This manual is written to advise on an approach to managing risk, with regards to procedures to follow in conducting risk analyses and treatment.

Background of my Organisation

Risk Management Within an Organisation

I will focus my attention on the management of risks for my company in general. My company is involved in the trading of steel products, mainly for construction purposes, as well as the sales and purchases of agricultural products such as beans, maize and rice. With regards to these products, letters of credit (LCs) have to be initiated regularly for such products to be sold overseas. As part of the accounting and finance function, my responsibilities are not only in the proper accounting treatment of such transactions, but also as part of the team involved in a new trade financing project to ensure the smooth flow of these transactions from the opening of LCs, the financing as well as the delivery of these products. Such a flow will involve the cooperation of both the operations and the accounting and finance departments.

Purpose of Risk Management

Business risk relates to exposure to certain events that will have a negative impact on the strategies and objectives of the company. Hence business risk is due to two factors: the probability of an event occurring as well as the seriousness of the consequences (Bowden, Lane and Martin, 2001). There are several risks that are more specific to my organization, and are shown as follows:

1. Strategic risk, such as poor marketing strategy and poor acquisition strategy, as a result of poor planning (Bowden et. al, 2001). Poor marketing and acquisition of different grades of steel and agricultural products can prove the downfall of the organization.

2. Financial risk, such as lack of credit assessment and poor receivables and inventory management, as a result of poor financial control (Bowden et. al, 2001). Inadequate credit assessment of potential trade and other debtors as well as low debtors' turnover can be a poor reflection of the company's strategy and objectives.

3. Operational risk, such as poor practices and routine actions, as a result of poor human actions (Bowden et. al, 2001). Non-conformity to the organization's safe practices or even willful actions by employees can create potential operational and financial losses to the company.

4. Technical risk, such as equipment and infrastructure breakdown and fire destruction, as a result of failure of physical assets (Bowden et. al, 2001). Such risks can be prevalent in my organization if appropriate actions are not taken to prevent these technicalities. Unfortunately, many organizations tend to focus too much on the performance and cost dimensions of technical risk and manage them too heavily (Smith and Reinertsen, year unknown).

5. Market risk, such as inadequate market research, which is the risk of not meeting the needs of the market, assuming that the specification has been satisfied (Smith and Reinertsen, year unknown). This risk may be more important compared to others, however it is less manageable due to the risk being less objective and quantifiable compared to say technical risk

As a result of such risks mentioned above, coupled with the advancement in technology and competitive pressures, risk management has taken a more important role in the existence of businesses today (Bowden et. al, 2001). Risk management relates to the logical and systematic way of establishing context, identifying risks, analyzing risks, evaluating risks and lastly, treating risks. This approach also involves communicating and consulting the findings as well as monitoring and reviewing the treatment of risks. This approach to managing risks is known as the AS 4360 method (Bowden et. al, 2001).

Risk Management

Step 1: Definition of Context

This relates to the establishment of context in terms of strategic, organizational and risk management (Bowden et. al, 2001). The strategic context is concerned with the relationship between the organization and its parameters in terms of financial, operational, competitive and social context (Bowden et. al, 2001). In the case of my organization, we are concerned with our financial objectives (i.e. sales turnover of US million with a profit margin of at least 12% annually), products with high quality and good customer satisfaction, as well as good market position (one of the top suppliers of steel in the regional construction industry). The strategic context also requires the organization to identify the stakeholders, which includes the owners, employees, customers, suppliers as well as the local community (Bowden et. al, 2001). In addition to that, my organization will have to be accountable to our shareholders and the media as well, since we are a local listed company.

The organizational context will be concerned with wider goals, objectives and strategies of the company as a whole (Bowden et. al, 2001). In this context, we have to establish and implement sufficient key performance indicators (KPIs) and critical success factors (CSFs) that are suitable to the different aspects of the business. There are a couple of KPIs that are commonly used in my organization:

1. Revenue and profit targets: These are mentioned above.
2. Customer satisfaction: Surveys are sent quarterly to our suppliers and customers to ensure at least 90% customer overall satisfaction.
3. Stocks update and on-time deliveries of goods: Sufficient stocks are maintained and retrieved from suppliers and deliveries have to be made on time to customers at least 98% of all sales orders.
4. Timely submission of monthly accounting and sales records to head office: The deadline of submission of such reports is usually the 5th of each month, which has to be strictly adhered to.

On a wider basis, such KPIs are also linked to CSFs in my organization, which includes the following:

1. Maintaining a healthy position in our markets: This is mentioned above.
2. Supportive top management open to marketing and financing ideas: The directors and senior management have a fortnightly meeting with lower management on possible ideas and brainstorming on ideas and possible financing from banks on certain products.
3. Sufficient funds and resources in place: Funds have to be in place for LCs, which are converted to trust receipts, which have to be settled within certain tenure, coupled with adequate manpower and technologies for proper functioning of the organization.

With these KPIs and CSFs in mind, the various activities of the can be further segregated into smaller teams and activities to provide a more logical flow for better analysis (Bowden et. al, 2001). In my organization, the sales teams are broken up into smaller groups in charge of various products for steel and agricultural aspects. This is also done likewise for the finance department, which has smaller teams in charge of receivables, payables and other administrative functions.

Step 2: Identification of Risks

This process aims to identify all events, which might affect the organization as a whole. In such a scenario, there is a need to identify all causes and potential situations (Bowden et. al, 2001). After which, we will proceed to link the risks, both threats and opportunities, with key criteria that will have a direct impact on the organization (Bowden et. al, 2001). There is also a requirement to approach these risks with proactive and reactive responses (Bowden et. al, 2001). There are several tools that can help with identifying risks, namely brainstorming, checklists and judgements based on experience.

In my organization, there are several tools used to identify risks. For the finance department, there is a quarterly checklist used on different risks involved, which can include the amount of tax incurred and tax credits agreed with the tax authorities, the amount of receivables and stock updates and how efficient their respective turnovers are. Provisions for such items are also raised based on prior experience. For the marketing and operations department, weekly meetings are conducted whereby brainstorming and systems analysis are used to identify possible risks with regards to competition, changes in prices and tastes of customers as well as the safe-guarding of stocks at our premises. It is further recommended that a product plan with a product manager be put in place, with rankings are given to the priority of such risks and the inputs, processes and outputs should be investigated in greater depth (Bowden et. al, 2001).

It is mentioned that a test market will be useful if there is a high degree of uncertainty about the eventual sales of the new product as the launch date approaches (Cooper, year unknown). My organization is currently looking at possible new sales of liquor and diesel for its overseas markets. However, these possible sales are not considered new products in the existing markets. With speed and the competitive environment being important facts, a test market may not be applicable in our scenario (Cooper, year unknown).

In addition to the launch of possible new products, there are several pitfalls in considerations for my organization:

1. Lack of market orientation. These are possible risks considering insufficient market analysis and not understanding customer needs and wants.
2. Poor quality of execution. With regards to my organization, the grades or quality of the flammable new products might be filled with deficiencies, hence not meeting customers' needs.
3. Moving too quickly. A too hasty approach to launch these products might render too many mistakes in the process and compromise the quality and timing of the promotional activities (Cooper, year unknown).

Step 3: Risk Analysis

This step involves the estimation of the likelihood and consequence of possible risk events. These are often evaluated using the current controls in place (Bowden et. al, 2001). Such controls are needed to ensure effective operations, reliable reporting systems and proper compliance with rules and regulations (Bowden et. al, 2001). In my organization, controls in place will include past records, market analysis given by traders from different countries, published literature in the form of accounting and marketing magazines and internal and external auditors' reports.

There are several techniques that are used to establish likelihood and consequence, namely structured interviews, multi-disciplinary groups of experts, assessments using questionnaires and computer modelling (Bowden et. al, 2001).

The decision tree technique can also be used whereby the expected net present value (NPV) of cash flows associated with each individual outcome is shown (Vlahos, 2001). This technique is useful for the following reasons:

1. It improves our understanding of each outcome and makes assumptions more forthcoming.
2. It is useful for documenting and communicating thoughts on uncertainty and also helps generate alternatives for better value enhancement.
3. Managers can monitor each stage of the project and make appropriate analysis with regards to decisions made at each point
4. The outputs in terms of expected NPVs generated can be used as potential inputs for projects selection (Vlahos, 2001).

This technique is highly recommended for my organization in two ways:

1. This can be used in decisions made by the marketing department in terms of which products to obtain for potential markets.
2. The finance department will also find it useful in terms of the different ways of financing (i.e. direct cash financing, using LCs or trust receipts) in consideration for the building of the trade finance project.

There are two types of risk analysis, mainly qualitative and quantitative (Bowden et. al, 2001).

Qualitative Technique

A qualitative method makes use of words or descriptive scale and comes in the form of a ranking structure, alternating between Rare and Almost Certain. Such a method is concerned with raking likelihoods and consequences (Bowden et. al, 2001). With regards to construction projects, which can be applicable to my organization, the consequences can range from insignificant (whereby there is no injuries and minimum financial loss), moderate (injuries with medical help required and moderate financial loss) to catastrophic (death with significant financial loss). Such a qualitative table with various likelihood and risk levels matrix can be useful in the following scenarios:

1. Initial screening guide to identify possible risks for further analysis.
2. Where the level of risk does not justify the time and effort required for more analysis.
3. Insufficient numerical data, which renders a quantitative analysis useless.

For the qualitative analysis, the management and staff with regards to the risk events at different levels must work through the risk-ranking matrix. Each likelihood and consequence criteria should be considered in order to put events in the appropriate category (Bowden et. al, 2001).

However, there are several disadvantages associated with this technique:

1. It may not be too accurate as events within the same category may have substantially different levels of risk.
2. There may not be a common basis for comparison of risk i.e. on dollar basis or number of deaths.
3. There is no clear justification with regards to the process of 'weighing' risks
4. There could be different interpretations with regards to the meaning of different consequences i.e. the word catastrophic can mean a great deal to some people, while others might take it more lightly.
5. It can be difficult to translate the findings from this technique to match that of a quantitative method (Bowden et. al, 2001).

With these pitfalls mentioned above in mind, I would think that it will be better to consider the qualitative technique as more of an initial screening exercise which should be used concurrently with the quantitative technique.

Quantitative Technique

This approach takes the product of likelihood and consequence, with the consequence expressed as an actual variable (Bowden et. al, 2001). Such a technique is more reliable as it relies on numerical values, with estimates of frequency being made in terms of event frequency (Bowden et. al, 2001).

There are several drivers of risks, namely, technology, people, systems, organizational factors and external factors (Bowden et. al, 2001). In my organization, some drivers of risk might include how updated my computer versions of accounting and sales systems, the competency and educational levels of the employees, the number of new ideas by lower management accepted by higher management and possibly the amount of pollution our products might cause to the environment.

The quantitative analysis is further broken down into likelihood and consequence criteria. For the likelihood criteria, it is expressed as a probability instead of frequency, thus ensuring that risks are compared on a similar basis (Bowden et. al, 2001). With similar small events likely to occur, the likelihood of them occurring can be considered as one event. With regards to my organization, examples of such similar events might include:

1. 20 deliveries which are not made on time (more than 30 minutes) to customers resulting in losses of ,000 each for transportation costs
2. 5 deliveries of wrong grades of products to customers resulting in losses of ,500 for transportation and bank charges.

For the consequence criteria, it can be considered in terms of an event leading to possible death or severe losses i.e. financial or reputation losses. In the case of the two examples for likelihood criteria given above, the related consequence criteria are as follows respectively:

1. Free deliveries made for the next trip.
2. Appropriate discounts given for these batches of products sold.

The consequence criteria can also be expressed quantitatively in terms of non-performance or failure to achieve certain KPIs, reflecting on the organisation's priorities in accepting varying degrees of risks. In my organisation's case, the free deliveries and discounts given could jeopardize not only the revenue and profit targets, but also in terms of customer satisfaction (which are important KPIs). As such the consequence criteria can be expressed as the mean or expected value (Bowden et. al, 2001). This is consistent with the Monte Carlo method, which can be used to obtain the distribution of the project or product value associated with trading operations (Vlahos, 2001).

Step 4: Risk Evaluation

Risk evaluation is concerned with identifying which risks must be treated and can be calculated using the product of likelihood and consequence (Bowden et. al, 2001). The risks can be compared with previously established criteria. Different softwares such as the Monte Carlo approach, the sensitivity analysis and the probability distribution can be used to show the effects of major risks for evaluation (Bowden et. al, 2001).

Step 5: Treating Risks

There are several methods of treating risks, namely avoidance, accepting, reduction and transfer of risks (Bowden et. al, 2001).

1. Avoiding risks. In my organization, avoiding such risks would involve possibly not importing highly flammable products such as liquor or diesel (which are part of the consideration for new products) as part of sales and speculating in foreign exchange fluctuations.
2. Accepting risks. Certain risks may be unavoidable. In my organisation's case, we have huge sales transactions in Myanmar, which has just experience a major military and governmental coup. Hence sales in Myanmar may be volatile. These are potential risks, which are already factored in our business considerations.
3. Reducing risks. Currency fluctuations are imminent when trading with overseas counterparts for my organization. Hence LCs and hedging are done frequently in order to mitigate such risks for products purchased and sold to other countries.
4. Transfer risks. For my organization, this is done in terms of insurance coverage for stocks, which are housed in our premises.

Some other popular treatment of risks will include audit compliance programs, contractual obligations and conditions, preventive maintenance, quality assurance and contingency planning (Bowden et. al, 2001). Such treatments of risk are also maintained within my organization.

The different options for treatment of risks should be evaluated and risk treatment plans should be planned and prepared (Bowden et. al, 2001). Such a plan should consider detailed base implementations, risk assessment in terms of threats and opportunities in terms of priorities and recommended proactive and reactive contingency plans. (Bowden et. al, 2001).

The risk treatment schedule and action plan should include the following:

1. The different duties and responsibilities for implementation of plan. Preferably, the plan should involve a project leader and different members in charge of one aspect of the project reporting to the leader.
2. The resources to be utilized.
3. Work breakdown structure for the activities
4. Budget allocation
5. Schedule for implementation
6. Details of the mechanism and frequency for proper compliance to the treatment schedule (Bowden et. al, 2001).

Step 6: Communicating and Consulting

For this stage, stakeholders need to have a common understanding of the project or product situation. Consultation from stakeholders as well as experts is required for better opinions, with communication needed for better coordination (Bowden et. al, 2001).

Such an approach is required for several reasons:

1. To prove that the process is conducted in a systematic manner.
2. To provide records of risks and proper organizational records.
3. To provide relevant decision makers with a proper risk management and action plan for approval and implementation.
4. To provide accountability.
5. To facilitate further monitoring and review.
6. To provide audit trail.
7. To share information (Bowden et. al, 2001).

This report should include the following:

1. Executive summary
2. Scope of project
3. Methodology of study
4. Contextual issues of the project including the restraints
5. Success factors chosen
6. KPIs for each success factor chosen
7. Target and tolerance
8. Any assumptions
9. Top ten risks across all CSFs for the project or product plan
10. Vulnerabilities in phases of the project
11. Responsibilities for managing risks in phases
12. Primary and secondary drivers triggering each risk
13. Existing controls
14. Tables and figures (Bowden et. al, 2001)

Step 7: Monitoring and Reviewing

For the final step, there is a need to develop and apply mechanisms to ensure ongoing review of risks i.e. project leaders should provide a consistent update of the current situations (Bowden et. al, 2001). The effectiveness of the risk management process should be consistently monitored and reviewed (Bowden et. al, 2001).

Conclusion

Risk should be managed on an active basis. Risk management will involve identification of areas of high risks ahead of time, interpreted to the greatest degree possible, with the best technical or marketing talent allocated to the problem, have the problems solved as quickly as possible, and be provided with a contingency plan in case something cannot be resolved (Smith and Reinertsen, year unknown).

Reference List

Bowden, A., Lane, M. and Martin, J. (2001) Triple Bottom Line Risk Management. Wiley.

Cooper. (year unknown). New Products: Problems and Pitfalls. Pg 22-49.

Cooper. (year unknown). To test or Not to Test. Pg 123-129.

Smith, P. and Reinertsen, D. (year unknown). Managing Risk. Pg 207-21.

Vlahos, K. (2001). Tooling up for Risky Decisions. Pg 47-52.

Risk Management Within an Organisation
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Management Consultant - Understanding the Role and Responsibilities of a Consultant For Management

If you want to start a career in management consulting, it would work to your advantage if you know your roles and your responsibilities. Read on and find out!

- Conducting analysis and research.
- Data collection.
- Conducting interviews with clients, their employees, and their management team.
- Facilitating workshops and assisting focus groups.
- Organizing business presentation and business proposals.
- Managing a highly motivated, results focused team.
- Consolidation of metrics needed for planning and business reviews.
- Identifying and isolating pressing issues.
- Formulating and implementing solutions or recommendations.
- Assisting clients in putting plans into action.
- Managing programmers and existing projects.

Keep in mind that management consultants are mainly involved in providing objective expertise, advice, and specialist skills with the aim of improving business performance and maximizing its growth.

Management Consultant - Understanding the Role and Responsibilities of a Consultant For Management

As a consultant, you are expected to operate across a wide variety of services which include marketing, financial and management controls, business strategy, e-business and operations, information technology, and supply-chain management.

As a management consultant, your day to day activities are often varied and complex as consultancy is project-based and essentially entrepreneurial in nature. Your projects can last from 2 weeks to one year depending on the needs and demands of your clients. For some projects, organizations may choose to hire just you or a group of management consultants. You may also be asked to work on your client's site or offer your expertise using other mediums like internet, email, and phone. So, it is important that you know how to use these technologies to easily fill the unique needs of each of your clients.

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Risk Classification and Types of Pure Risks

Risks can be classified in many forms.

Fundamental vs Particular
Fundamental risk is a type of risk that affect a large number of people in an economy. Earthquake and war are the examples of those. If it is originated from nature of society, namely act of war and unemployment risk, then it is not insurable. Meanwhile, fundamental risks as a result of physical or natural causes may be insurable.

On the other hand, particular risk is a risk that affect only individual. For instance, fire, robberies and thefts. These risks are all insurable.

Risk Classification and Types of Pure Risks

Dynamic vs Static
Risks can also be classified by dynamic and static. Dynamic risk occurs due to changes in economy that causes financial loss to certain people. It exists as a result of adjustment to misallocation of resources in the economy. In modern times, one of the clearer examples is the rapid change in information technology industry. Many companies were made victims while others were emerged as new successes.

Static risk, on the other hand, happen even though there are no changes taking place. During market boom or collapse, there are people making losses. These types of losses are due to natural perils like earthquakes, typhoon or moral hazards like cheats. Static risk brings no benefits to the society, only pure losses.

Pure vs Speculative
Risks can also be categorized as pure or speculative. In pure risk, there is either a possible loss or no loss. In contrast, there are possibilities of gain or loss in speculative risk. Pure risk can be insured while speculative risk can't. However, the pure risk consequences of speculative risk is insurable. For instance, decision to manufacture a brand new product involves speculative risk, either gaining from the product or making losses. So, it is not insurable. But if the factory is burnt down by fire and as a result, cannot supply to the dealers, these losses are considered as a pure risk and therefore insurable.

There are basically 3 types of pure risks that concern an individual

Types of Pure Risks

Personal Risks
They incur losses like loss of income, additional expenses and devaluation of property. There are 4 risk factors affecting this:

1. Premature death. This is death of a breadwinner who leaves behind financial responsibilities.
2. Old age / retirement. The risk of being retired is not sufficient savings to support retirement years.
3. Health crisis. Individual with health problem may face potential loss of income and increase in medical expenditures.
4. Unemployment. Jobless individual may have to live on their savings. If his savings is depleted, the bigger crisis is awaiting.

Property Risks
It means the possibility of damage or loss to the property owned due to some causes. There are two types of losses involved.

1. Direct loss which means financial loss as a result of property damage.
2. Consequential loss which means financial loss due to the happenings of direct loss of the property.
For instance, a shop lot which is burnt down may incur repair costs as the direct loss. The consequential loss is being unable to run the business to generate income.

Liability Risks
A person is legally liable to his wrong doings which cause damages to third party's body, reputation or property. He can be legally sued and the most horrible thing is there is no maximum in the compensation amount if you are found guilty.

Knowing how the risks are classified and the types of pure risks an individual is exposed to will surely give you a fundamental on the risk topics and prepare yourself to further acquire the knowledge of how to manage risk.

Risk Classification and Types of Pure Risks
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For more information on risk management, visit http://www.101lifeplanning.com/insurance-planning/insurance-planning.php
To view the importance of a life insurance, visit http://www.101lifeplanning.com/insurance-planning/what-is-the-importance-of-life-insurance-policy-to-you-and-your-family.php

Functions of Management - "Strategic Manager"

Many critics would say that the term "strategic manager" is an oxymoron. Those critics, however, have a narrow view of what a Manager or management team can do, especially since the best conceived corporate strategies often fail because the organization lacks the capability to execute those strategies. This is precisely why management is strategic. But one must not forget that management is also tactical in nature. Managers can play the role of coach, counselor, advisor, and change agent. This paper will discuss the four functions of management: planning, organizing, leading and controlling.

Change is part of the evolutionary cycle of everyday life. Today, more and more organizations are faced with a dynamic and changing environment that is necessary to maintain their existence in the competitive economic world of business. These organizations realize that change is here to stay and know that if they do not change they will not survive. Whether employees like it or not, managers, supervisors, and leaders have to implement organizational changes. Nicolo Machiavelli once said, "There is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct or more uncertain in its success, than to take the lead in the introduction of a new order of things" (European History Quotes (2006). In the controlling function of management, managers must be able to provide managerial control, manage technology and innovation, create and manage change. To be successful change agents in any institution, managers must know the technical requirements of the change and understand the attitude and motivational demands for bringing it about. Change agents are risk takers who identify areas of needed change in the organization.

They demonstrate flexibility in goal setting and support and reinforce the individual efforts of subordinates during the change process. In addition, change agents recognize the need for change and identify the options and resources available to implement a change, as well as identify and implement appropriate strategies to minimize and overcome resistance to change (Wiest, D.,April-June 2006). For many organizations, change management initiatives first introduced organizational development (OD) concepts into the organization. In most cases, such change increased the demand for management activities in the area of training and development as the need for new skills emerged; managers have responded by providing such training either directly themselves or by bringing in OD consultants and trainers as needed. The role of the manager grew to become more consultative as the demand for managing change effectively across the organization grew. As a result, managers must assist leaders, staff and employees in planning and managing such "change initiatives" in parts of the organization or for the overall organization, thus engaging in OD work (Hawthorne, P. , 2004). Thus, the need for the organizing function in which managers must help to create an organizational structure with agility, human resources management, and a diverse workforce.

Functions of Management - "Strategic Manager"

Companies must be prepared to provide assistance to their employees in various situations. Mangers must lead and to do so must be able to provide leadership, motivate for performance, instill teamwork and communicate effectively. Often times it is a good idea for an empathetic and specially trained staff member to act as a counselor. This counselor would need to establish guidelines for the organization's response to the employee's situation, to make a list of resources that employees might need. It would also be advisable for the individual to make time for workers who are in need of this benefits or support. Many times this individual is a member of the human resources department. Whether dealing through issues such as death, performance management or employee relations, HR must provide these tactical roles for employees. But the role of counselor or advisor must also reach the levels of upper management. "The hierarchical model emphasizes the HR role as agent and advisor to corporate management while the professional model centers on the management of the relationship between the corporation and critical external groups" (Eisenstat, R. ,Autumn 1996) In many companies, the most basic role for the management function has been as an agent for, as well as an advisor and support to, top management. Managers must be able to think through the implications of business issues.. They must be able to investigate it, analyze it, intellectually incubate it, document it, base recommendations on it, and run it up the flagpole. Managers must concentrate on the critical problems of running the business. With administrative and operational efficiencies in place, the attention of managers has turned to other aspects of management. Faced with rapid and constant change, many organizations are seeking improvements in workforce productivity in order to maintain a competitive advantage and, as a result, turning to their managers to help redesign the management function in fundamental ways.

Managers must not only keep up with the pace of business, but also lead the way. They must move faster than even the fastest business teams, anticipating needs and providing solutions before executives ask for them. The clients and customers consider all of their needs to be top priority. Service quality requires them to be respectful of their requests, and to be as responsive as can be. Certainly they need to enable clients to meet their needs promptly and effectively. But they may do this by referring certain tasks to others who can perform them more quickly and efficiently, because of their expertise and service delivery systems. Managers can use technology (email, direct data base access, etc.) to enable employees and their departments to be more self-sufficient. They may also quickly reframe employees' requests as problems they themselves can solve, without our further involvement (Walker, J.,Sept 1999). Here lie the many functions of managers.

Functions of Management - "Strategic Manager"
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References:

Eisenstat, R. (Autumn 1996)What corporate human resources brings to the picnic: four models for functional management. In Organizational Dynamics, 25, p7(16).

European History Quotes ( 2006) retrieved December 8, 2008 from http://answers.yahoo.com Hawthorne, P. (Summer 2004)Redesigning library human resources: integrating human resources management and organizational development. In Library Trends, 53, p172(15).

Walker, J. (Sept 1999)Perspectives.(human resources management)(Column). In Human Resource Planning, 22, p4.

Wiest, D. (April-June 2006)The challenges of a change agent. In Topics in Emergency Medicine, 28, p125(4).

Paul Resurreccion is a life-long learner and student of online education. As a manager and business professional he has provided strategic leadership for various organizations.

To learn more about Paul Resurreccion or online educational opportunities designed at building wealth check out my website:

http://www.resorxnenterprises.com

Thanks!
Paul Resurreccion - Managing Director, Resorxn Enterprises

Exceptional Project Management - Risk Management

Risk management is an important aspect of successful project delivery. This article introduces the concepts of risk and risk management and describes how the application of risk management techniques increases the likelihood that a project will succeed in delivering its objectives.

What is Risk?

Risk is the possibility of suffering harm or loss. Risks are inherent in every project and can be considered to be anything that will adversely impact the progress or objectives of the project.

Exceptional Project Management - Risk Management

What is Risk Management?

Risk management can be defined as "the culture, processes and structures that are directed towards realising potential opportunities whilst managing possible adverse impacts".

From a project management perspective, risk management is a continuous activity throughout the life of the project that seeks to identify potential risks to delivery, evaluate their likely impact, develop mitigation plans and monitor progress.

Identifying Risks

Finding risks is an ongoing process. Everyone involved in the project should be encouraged to think about possible problems that might arise and adding them to the "risk register", which is a list of all known project risks.

A risk is initially placed into an "open" status when it is added to the risk register and remains in this state until it has been fully reviewed and a mitigation strategy has been put in place.

When a risk is registered, the person creating the entry also assigns an estimate of the probability of the issue occurring and the magnitude of the impact on the project if the risk does eventuate. The scale used to represent the probability and magnitude may vary between organisations and projects however I recommend you keep them simple so that anyone involved in the project can understand and utilise them.

If you are a project manager then you should strongly consider running regular risk workshops with the project team and also key stakeholders. These workshops are used to brainstorm finding additional risks and to assist with development of mitigation strategies.

Evaluating Risks

Generally it is the responsibility of the project manager to ensure that all new risks are properly evaluated once they have been added into the risk register. On larger projects there may be a dedicated risk manager who holds this responsibility.

The first step in evaluating new risks is to validate the risk. This includes ensuring that the risk is not duplicated in the register and also identifying and separating out issues, which are impacts that have actually occurred rather than those that might occur in future.

Once a risk has been determined to be a valid new item on the register, then the probability and magnitude estimates from the risk creator are also reviewed to ensure they are appropriate and consistent with other risks.

Monitoring and Control

Each risk on the register should be allocated to an owner, who has responsibility for determining the appropriate mitigation strategy and also for monitoring the risk on an ongoing basis. Make sure that the risk owner is someone who is in a position to understand and respond to the specific risk being assigned to them and also ensure they are aware of and agree ownership of the risk.

For each risk, ensure there is one or more mitigation strategies identified. This may be as simple as determining that the impact of the risk is negligible and nothing further is to be done, however in most cases an active strategy will be required to reduce the probability of the risk occurring or to address the possible impact. It is essential that clear and realistic dates are set for achieving each mitigation.

On a regular ongoing basis, preferably weekly, the risk register should be reviewed to determine whether actions have been taken and whether the probability or impact of a risk should be adjusted.

Escalation

Any risk that is evaluated as having a potentially significant impact on the project or that is viewed as highly likely to occur should be escalated to the appropriate group or individuals. Similarly, any risk where the required actions are overdue should also be escalated. The escalation path will depend on your project governance structure and is likely to include a project or programme office, project sponsor and steering committee.

Improving Certainty of Delivery

Good risk management increases the likelihood or project success by decreasing the probability and impact of negative events on the project. By proactively identifying and preparing for potential issues throughout the life of your project you will be well prepared for challenges as they arise and can reduce the chance of potential threats becoming real problems.

Exceptional Project Management - Risk Management
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Christopher Young is a senior consultant and executive coach with a broad knowledge and experience in financial services, project and change management, personal empowerment and information technology. His areas of focus include developing highly successful leaders, creating high-performance teams and implementing best practices in process improvement, project management and software development process.

White Water Consulting ( http://www.whitewater.com.au ) is one of Australia's leading project management consulting firms, specialising in exceptional delivery of projects for the Financial Services market.

Achievement Coaching and Consulting ( http://achievementcoaching.com.au ) assists professionals to reach their individual goals of enhanced business performance and personal satisfaction.