英文资料ERP在企业中的应用

1、 In the early part of this century, a French industrialist by the name of Henri Fayol wrote that all managers perform five management functions: they plan, organize, command, coordinate, and control. In the mid-1950s, two professors used the functions of planning, organizing, staffing, directing, an

2、d controlling as the framework for a textbook on management that for twenty years was the most widely sold text on the subject. The most popular textbooks still continue to be organized around management functions, although these have been condensed generally to the basic four: planning, organizing,

3、 leading, and controlling. Lets briefly define what each of these functions encompasses. If you dont have any particular destination in mind, any road will not get you there eventually. Since organizations exist to achieve some purpose, someone must define that purpose and the means for its achievem

4、ent. Management is that someone. The planning function involves defining an organizations goals, establishing an overall strategy for achieving these goals, and developing a comprehensive hierarchy of plans to integrate and coordinate activities. Managers are also responsible for designing an organi

5、zations structure. We call this function organizing. It includes determining what tasks are to be done. Who is to do them, how the tasks are to be grouped, who reports to whom, and at what level decisions are made. Every organization includes people, and managements job is to direct and coordinate t

6、hese people. This is the function of leading. When managers motivate subordinates, direct the activities of others, select the most effective communication channel, or resolve conflicts among members, they are engaging in leading. The final function managers perform is controlling. After the goals a

7、re set (planning function), the plans formulated (planning function),the structural arrangements delineated(organizing function),and the people hired, trained, and motivated(leading function),something may still go wrong. To ensure that things are going as they should, management must monitor the or

8、ganizations performance. Actual performance must be compared with the previously set goals. If there are any significant deviations, its managements job to get the organization back on track. This process of monitoring, comparing, and correcting is what we mean by the controlling function. Managemen

9、t begins by reviewing its current human resource status. This is typically done by generating a human resource inventory. Because of the availability of sophisticated computer information systems, its not too difficult a task for most organizations to generate a human resource inventory report. The

10、input for this report is derived from forms completed by employees. Such reports might include the names, and specialized skills of each employee in the organization. This inventory allows management to assess what talents and skills are currently available. Another part of the current assessment is

11、 the job analysis. Although the human resource inventory is concerned with telling management what individual employees can do, a job analysis is more fundamental. It defines the jobs within the organization and the behaviors that are necessary to perform those jobs. For instance, what are the dutie

12、s of a purchasing specialist? What minimal knowledge, skills, and abilities are necessary to be able to adequately perform this job? A job analysis seeks to determine the kind of people needed to fill each job and provides information for preparing job descriptions and job specifications. A job desc

13、ription is a written statement of what a jobholder does, how its done, and why its done. It typically describes job content, environment, and conditions of employment. It focuses on the job. In contrast, a job specification focuses on the person. It states the minimum acceptable qualifications that

14、a jobholder must possess to perform a given job successfully. The job specification identifies the knowledge, skills, and abilities needed to do the job effectively. The job description and job specification are important documents when managers begin recruiting and selecting. The job description ca

15、n be used to describe the job to potential candidates. The job specification keeps the managers attention on the list of qualifications necessary for a person to be able to perform this job and assists in determining whether or not candidates are qualified. There are several methods for analyzing a

16、job. Theres the observation method in which employees are either watched directly or filmed on the job. Employees can also be interviewed individually or in a group. A third method is the use of structured questionnaires on which employees check or rate the items they perform in their jobs from a lo

17、ng list of possible task duties. Another method is the use of a technical conference, at which experts-usually supervisors with extensive knowledge of a job-identify its specific characteristics. A final method is to have employees record their daily activities in a diary or notebook, which can then

18、 be reviewed and structured into job activities. Financial managers try to minimize the amount of funds held in the form of cash since it does not earn interest. However, some funds must be available each day in the firms checking account to pay bills and to meet the payroll. Periodically, larger am

19、ounts of cash must be available to pay taxes, provide stockholders with dividends (if the firm is a corporation).or make interest payments due on loans or mortgages. While the typical firm will use an interest-earning checking account for these funds, such accounts typically earn less interest than

20、other investments. The general principle underlying cash management is to minimize the amount of cash required for business operations so that more can be used in interest-producing investments. In order to minimize the firms cash needs, the financial manager should pay bills as late as possible and

21、 collect money owed to the firm as quickly as possible. These actions lead to efficient cash management-as long as they do not damage the firms credit rating or cost more than they save. One of the least expensive ways for firms to manage finances themselves is by finding out where and how their cas

22、h is working for them. Banks are now selling desktop computers to larger companies, giving financial managers access to balances on banks accounts throughout the world. Excess funds that are not earning interest can be instantly moved elsewhere. Midsize companies use lock-boxes, which are essentiall

23、y local addresses where customers can make payments. Companies that receive large numbers of small checks can bypass banking delays caused by mailing this way. Still another new method of managing cash is the controlled disbursement account, a system that lets a firm know how many checks and in what

24、 amounts will clear what banks at what time. Firms can then keep funds invested until the minute outstanding checks clear. All this may seem like a lot of extra work and expense, especially for smaller firms, but it can make the difference between making money or losing it. Alan Burkhard, president

25、of a job-search firm called The Placers Inc., realized he had to start paying closer attention to managing the companys cash, because his cash management system was no longer equal to the task of serving a rapidly growing company.” Every single week we had to pay salaries and payroll taxes for every

26、 temp we placed in a job. But it was taking us 60 or 90 days or longer to collect our bills from the companies that were hiring these temps. We were basically giving our customers an interest-free loan to cover their payroll costs.” In other words, instead of the cash earning interest for Placers, i

27、t was earning interest for the customers. The Placers Inc. situation is not unique. In fact, one study found that companies with annual sales of as little as $2 million kept an average of $40000 in accounts that were not earning interest. With better cash management, these funds could be allocated i

28、n other ways that could bring greater profits to their owners. In response to competitive pressures, a growing number of organizations are adopting a unique philosophy concerning quality termed total quality management (TQM). Many companies who have adopted this philosophy generally follow three pri

29、nciple concerning quality. First, the objective of quality control is to achieve a constant and continual improvement in quality. Meeting the same quality standards yeas after year is not sufficient. Instead, the goal is to provide higher and better quality for customers. Second, the focus of qualit

30、y improvement and quality control extends beyond the actual product or service that an organization provides. The focus of quality is on every process in the organization. Accounting systems, promotion activities, R&D processes, and virtually all other activities in the organization are the focus of

31、 quality improvement. Third, employees bear a major responsibility for quality improvement. Quality becomes an integral element of every job in the organization. Implementing total quality management involves four elements of a quality control system: communicating the need for quality, training emp

32、loyees in the skills and knowledge of quality, securing employee involvement in quality, rewarding for quality. However, the breadth of the quality focus and the challenge of continual improvement require extra efforts. For example, an integral part of the TQM system is the quality audit, a careful

33、study of every factor that affects quality in an activity or process. Audits are conducted in every department and division to identify existing and potential contributors to quality problems and to discover new ways to further improve quality. Like the traditional quality control system, employee training is emphasized. However, because employees are key participants in quality improvement efforts, raining focuses on problem-solving skills and techniques such as data collection met