Lecture Note-public Enterprise Management
CHAPTER ONE
PREAMBLE TO THE STUDY
The origin of public enterprise could be traced to early twentieth century when government intervened in economic management through departmental organizations, which did not involve creating autonomous public bodies. In the alternative, it granted license to a private enterprise for the management of natural or national monopolies and where public bodies were involved in managing economic ventures, such bodies did not enjoy financial autonomy.
Public enterprise made a very strong appearance after World War I for a variety of reasons, including managing the consequences of the war, especially the economic crisis of the 1930s. However, public enterprises sector developed rapidly because of the spread of Keynesian Interventionist.
Between the two World Wars, political and ideological consideration prompted the establishment of parastatals in the former colonial metropolis. The movement toward the establishment of public enterprises received a new impetus after World War II for reasons related to both ideological considerations and economic efficiency.
CHAPTER TWO
PLANNING PROCEDURE
Planning procedure in Public Enterprise Management
Planning
In a simple sense, planning means preparing for the future at present. It includes the selection of objectives, policies, procedures and programmes from among alternatives. A plan is a predetermined course of action to achieve a specified goal. It is an intellectual process characterized by thinking before doing. It is an attempt on the part of manager to anticipate the future in order to achieve better performance. Planning is the primary function of management.
Definitions of Planning
Different authors have given different definitions of planning from time to time. The main definitions of planning are as follows:
- According to Alford and Beatt, “Planning is the thinking process, the organized foresight, the vision based on fact and experience that is required for intelligent action.”
- According to Theo Haimann, “Planning is deciding in advance what is to be done. When a manager plans, he projects a course of action for further attempting to achieve a consistent co-ordinate structure of operations aimed at the desired results.
- According to Billy E. Goetz, “Planning is fundamentally choosing and a planning problem arises when an alternative course of action is discovered.”
- According to Koontz and O’ Donnell, “Planning is an intellectual process, conscious determination of course of action, the basing of decision on purpose, facts and considered estimates.”
- According to Allen, “A plan is a trap laid to capture the future.”
Wikipedia defined Planning (also called forethought) as the process of thinking about and organizing the activities required to achieve a desired goal. It involves the creation and maintenance of a plan, such as psychological aspects that require conceptual skills. There are even a couple of tests to measure someone’s capability of planning well. As such, planning is a fundamental property of intelligent behavior.
Also, planning has a specific process and is necessary for multiple occupations (particularly in fields such as management, business, etc.). In each field there are different types of plans that help companies achieve efficiency and effectiveness. An important, albeit often ignored aspect of planning, is the relationship it holds to forecasting. Forecasting can be described as predicting what the future will look like, whereas planning predicts what the future should look like for multiple scenarios. Planning combines forecasting with preparation of scenarios and how to react to them. Planning is one of the most important project management and time management techniques. Planning is preparing a sequence of action steps to achieve some specific goal. If a person does it effectively, they can reduce much the necessary time and effort of achieving the goal. A plan is like a map. When following a plan, a person can see how much they have progressed towards their project goal and how far they are from their destination.
Characteristics of Planning
The main characteristics or nature of planning is given below:
Planning is an Intellectual Process
Planning is an intellectual process of thinking in advance. It is a process of deciding the future on the series of events to follow. Planning is a process where a number of steps are to be taken to decide the future course of action. Managers or executives have to consider various courses of action, achieve the desired goals, go in details of the pros and cons of every course of action and then finally decide what course of action may suit them best.
CHAPTER THREE
Coordination
Conceptualizing Coordination
Coordination is the unification and integration of the efforts of group members and to provide unity of action in the achievement of common goals. It is a hidden force which binds all the other functions of management. No function of management can be efficiently performed unless the activities under the function are coordinated. Coordination is helpful in achieving the objectives of the organization. Coordination is a process and it is not fixed. Individual activities are not applied in coordination, it prefers group activities. The managers have to make special efforts for coordination. Coordination does not come automatically. Coordination leads to unity of action. It is essential at every level of management in order to achieve the organizational goal.
CHAPTER FOUR
Instrument of control
Meaning of control
Control or controlling, is one of the managerial functions like planning, organizing, staffing and directing. It is an important function because it helps to check the errors and to take the corrective action so that deviation from standards are minimized and stated goals of the organization are achieved in a desired manner.
According to modern concepts, control is a foreseeing action whereas earlier concept of control was used only when errors were detected. Control in management means setting standards, measuring actual performance and taking corrective action.
REFERENCES
- Abdullahi, M. Y., & Agbebaku, H. U. (n.d). MGS 720 Public enterprise management Lectures notes. Lagos, Nigeria: National Open University of Nigeria.
- Adamolekun, L. (Ed.) (2002). Public administration in Africa: Main issues and selected country studies. Ibadan: Spectrum Books Limited.
- Advanced Audit and Assurance (n.d. Retrieved on 10th November 2017 from icanig.org
- Chand (n.d). Retrieved on 24th of November 2017 from http://www.yourarticlelibrary.com/management/management-by-objectives-mbo- advantages-and-disadvantages/35358
- Drucker, P. (1974). Management: Tasks, responsibilities, practices. London: Heinemann.
- Edugba (2017). 10 Definetive Rules for Successful Corporate Management Retrieved on 24th Of November, 2017from https://www.educba.com/successful- corporate- management/
- Ekhater, V.E. (2002). Rudiments of public administration. Kaduna: Joyce Graphic Printers and Publishers Co.
- Obikeze, O.S. & Anthony, O.E. (2004). Public administration in Nigeria: A Developmental Approach. Onitsha: Book Point Ltd.
- Fareed Siddiqui (2015). Importance of control in an organization. Retrieved on 14th of December, 2017 from http://fareedsiddiqui.expertscolumn.com/
- Fabura, B.A. (1984). Strategy Formulation and Political Intervention in State-owned companies. In LDCs RVB. Newsletter and Research Paper, 4 (1). 10-15.
