Recommended Advance Management Programme for SPU

Introduction

The Special Projects Unit (SPU) Chief plays multiple roles – a strategist, a policy maker, a negotiator, a motivator; but most importantly, the SPU Chief should be a constant learner. She must carefully study the industry, the environment where the organization operates in, the competitors as well as the critics, the trends and the people she works with.

Hence, she and her organization (SPU) needs an insatiable opportunity for enrichment and development in terms of management; a programme to further her own as well as her staff's ability in creating value within the organization via the many roles each one of them plays.

A programme that would benefit not only the top management but will also enable them to provide systematic ways of approaching the multi-faceted tasks and unique responsibilities of the SPU staff while working in a dynamic environment.

The need for such programme motivated me to come up with a comprehensive proposal for overall progress and development of SPU as an organization. Through my observations, personal experiences while performing my duties as a staff of SPU, and basic research; I have come up with an outline for the abovementioned proposal which I plan to present to the SPU Chief as soon as I have it completed. The programme proposal will cover the fundamental concepts of SPU as a whole, particularly its mandates, the structural organization, the staff, the facilities or office environment, its operations, systems and procedures, the tools & trainings for the management & staff, its resources (financial, technical, human, and material), and other aspects that probably needs improvement.

So far I have yet to come up with the complete Profile (e.g. duration, cost in terms of financial and manpower, etc..); a sound Rationale; a brief Description; Objectives (General & Specific); Methodologies; Gantt chart of activities / workplan; and expected Outputs as well as the scheme to sustain them. Right now I only have a detailed broad outline of the supposedly mandates / roles of the SPU Chief as follows:

Programme Outline

The Job of the SPU Chief, an overview:
The SPU Chief as a strategist
1) Must constantly evaluate the business performance of the organization.
2) Should set the strategic direction for improvement towards progress and development.

The SPU Chief as a Motivator
1) Should be able to shift the direction of the organization with regards to setting of priorities, gaining commitment, and improving results.

The SPU Chief as a Sensor of Market Opportunities
1) Must anticipate the market changes / business trends without compromising the goal of adding value for customers' satisfaction.
2) Should be the Lead and Manager in customer orientation.

The SPU Chief as a Creator of Shareholder Value
1) Must be able to understand the drivers of operating performance such as setting financial policies and developing a value-based management culture.

The SPU Chief as a Strategist and Policy Maker
1) Should constantly detect opportunities and key success factors in the industry.
2) Should develop a sustainable competitive advantage.
3) Should meet the challenges of both local and international growth.

The SPU Chief as an Agent of Change
1) Should drive the corporate change process effectively by making change happen.
2) Must be able to influence her staff in the role of personal management style.

The SPU Chief as a Strategist for Acquisitions
1) Must be able to formulate an efficient yet economical acquisition strategy.
2) Should create synergy among her subordinates influencing them to learn valuing brands and other intangibles.

The SPU Chief as an Architect of Organisation Structure and Systems
1) Must adapt an organisational structure to implement change for improvement.
2) Must be the one to stimulate teamwork among her staff.
3) Should be able to develop managerial talent among her staff.

The SPU Chief as a Negotiator
1) Must constantly learn to develop negotiating skills.

and last but not the least,

The SPU Chief as a Visionary
1) Must always anticipate e-commerce and e-business challenges, opportunities and as well as threats, using knowledge to drive growth and productivity.

The SPU Staff as a Group and an Organization

The SPU staff must learn and adapt to various operations improvement specializing in Lean Supply Chain Management, Regulatory and Compliance, Lean Office Environment, and Information Technology advances.

The SPU staff must identify strategic, operational, and tactical issues preventing goal achievement. They should understand and communicate the need for change and develop solutions to achieve and exceed the organizational goals of SPU.

The SPU staff must accomplish this through a collaborative effort in "value-creation" by clearly defining goals and objectives, identifying the appropriate tools and techniques and then deploying sustainable, results generating solutions.

Thus, consideraton for the following is a must:
Technical Expertise of the Staff
Using Leverage versus Experience
Learning to Avert Pit Falls
Providing Quick Win Solutions
Implementation of Proven Methodology/Techniques
World Class Project Management
Outside Resources (benchmarking/technical)
Creativity/Analytical Skills
Objective Advice

The SPU as an organization should promote learning and best practices across its management and staff. Both the management and the staff must join hands in a continuing interest for learning, sharing knowledge, discussing challenges and opportunities in the pursuit of process excellence. Such collaboration will greatly improve the organization’s process & operations that will deliver superior value to customers and operate a quality managed project management firm. It will also improve customer satisfaction and employee moral which would enable the organization to achieve significant and lasting results, eliminating wasteful activities in the organization.