A manager can be compared to the captain of a ship who has first to set the course to reach the destination and then steer the ship along the course. Similarly, a manager has to, first of all, set objectives which the firm must achieve. Objectives provide the direction in which the firm must move. Having decided upon the objectives, the manager must constantly monitor the progress and activities of the firm to ensure that it is moving in the desired direction. This is the first and foremost task of every manager.
If you are a part of the top management team then you will be very actively involved in this task through the process of defining the mission and objectives for the entire organisation. If you are a manager reporting to the top manager, it is your task to see that the actions of the people who work for you in your department or division are in the desired direction. It is your task as a manager to prevent all such actions which take your company away from the direction set by the top management.
A large American multinational company has its subsidiary in India which manufactures and markets a popular line of cosmetics and cough and cold medication. It maintains a large farm in Uttar Pradesh for production of a medicinal plant which is used as an active ingredient in all its medication. Control over this essential raw material gives the company a substantial cost advantage. To derive further cost advantage it was proposed that the company set up its own printing press for printing the packaging labels. The proposal was in the final stage of approval till the top management team realized that printing was not their business. Diversification into printing would only .take the company farther away from, and not closer to, the desired direction. Production and marketing of medication was their main line of business and the farm made an essential contribution. However, printing was not such a critical activity that it required the company to have full control over it.
This illustration highlights the fact that all actions and decisions must be evaluated on the basis of their contribution towards achievement of the company's objectives. However, this illustration should not give you the idea that objectives or direction once set will hold well for all times to come or that any movement away from the current line of production or activity is always undesirable. The key point is that all movements and actions must be consistent with achievement of the objectives. To ensure consistency it is important that the manager carefully thinks through each alternative course of action, to evaluate its potential to contribute towards attainment of objectives.
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