Научная статья на тему 'Leaders and projects - common issues'

Leaders and projects - common issues Текст научной статьи по специальности «Экономика и бизнес»

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Ключевые слова
ЛіДЕР / ПРОЕКТ / ЗМіНА / МЕНЕДЖЕР / СПіВРОБіТНИК / LEADER / PROJECT / CHANGE / MANAGER / EMPLOYEE / ЛИДЕР / ИЗМЕНЕНИЕ / СОТРУДНИК

Аннотация научной статьи по экономике и бизнесу, автор научной работы — Vacar A.

This article is a small part of a long empirical and practical research and it began from the necessity of models to be followed in organizations and the way they can generate that expected behavior from others. Nowadays, projects seem to be the modern way of doing things in organizations because of their advantages. The article tries to present common issues between leaders and projects, both of them being as determinant factors for organizational success.

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Текст научной работы на тему «Leaders and projects - common issues»



Standards and Codes on Banking Supervision", nr.09/30, 2009 available at https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/scr/2009/cr0930.pdf, accessed April 2016

31. World Bank, 2016a, available at http://www.worldbank.org/ prospects/migrationandremittances, accessed March 2016

32. World Bank, 2016b, Factbook 2016 - Global Knowledge Partnership on Migration and Development: Migration and Remittances

33. World Bank, 2016c, available at http://data.worldbank.org/data-catalog/world-development-indicators, accessed April 2016

34. World Bank, 2016d, Domestic credit provided by financial sector indicator, as a % of GDP available at http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/ FS.AST.DOMS.GD.ZS, accessed April 2016

C. Бурнете, канд. екон. наук, проф. Ушверситет "Лумана Блага" Ci6iy, Румушя

35. World Bank, 2007, "Banking in Ukraine: Changes Looming?", Beyond Transition, vol.18, nr.1, March 2007

36. World Bank, 2016e, GDP Ranking, available at http://data.worldbank.org/data-catalog/GDP-ranking-table, accessed April 2016

Hagiwwna go peflKoneriï 16.04.16 Date of editorial approval 20.05.16 Author's declaration on the sources of funding of research presented in the scientific article or of the preparation of the scientific article: budget of university's scientific project

ГРОШОВ1 ПЕРЕКАЗИ М1ГРАНТ1В: ЕКОНОМ1ЧНА Л1Н1Я ЖИТТЯ, АЛЕ КРИХКА П1ДТРИМКА ДЛЯ КРА1Н, ЩО РОЗВИВАЮТЬСЯ (КЕЙС Б1ЛОРУС1, МОЛДОВИ ТА УКРА1НИ (МАКРОЕКОНОМ1ЧНА ПЕРСПЕКТИВА))

Економ/'чний розвиток насьогоднi в глобальному масштабi сильно залежить в/'д вльного руху факторiв виробництва через нацо-нальнi кордони - в пошуках найвищоУ прибутковостi, в разi капталу, найвищоУ компенсацП, в разi технологiчнuх i управлiнських мож-ливостей, найбльшоУзаробтноУплатою, в разi фiзичноУпращ i т.д.. Хоча останй вже давно перешкоджае рухатися полiтика стриму-вання, що проводиться урядами краУн базування з одного боку, а з iншого боку, бар'ери, зведен проти iммiграцУУ приймаючих краУн. Легiои прац/'вник/'в р/'зних навичок i вмшь прагнуть перебратися в розвинен краУни, щоб знайти бльш високооплачувану роботу, щоб збергати значну частку своУх доходiв i посилати своУм родинам додому. У статтi наводиться порiвняльний аналiз з метою з'ясуван-ня впливу грошових переказiв на економiку трьох краУн колишнього СРСР: Блорусь, Молдова та УкраУна.

Ключовi слова: мiграцiя, приплив грошових переказiв, краУни-одержувачi, економiчне зростання

С. Бурнете, канд. экон. наук, проф. Университет "Лукиана Блага" Сибиу, Румыния

ДЕНЕЖНЫЕ ПЕРЕВОДЫ МИГРАНТОВ: ЭКОНОМИЧЕСКАЯ ЛИНИЯ ЖИЗНИ, НО ХРУПКАЯ ПОДДЕРЖКА ДЛЯ РАЗВИВАЮЩИХСЯ СТРАН (КЕЙС БЕРАРУСИ, МОЛДОВЫ И УКРАИНЫ (МАКРОЭКОНОМИЧЕСКАЯ ПЕРСПЕКТИВА))

Экономическое развитие на сегодня в глобальном масштабе сильно зависит от свободного движения факторов производства через национальные границы - в поисках наибольшей доходности, в случае капитала, высокой компенсации, в случае технологических и управленческих возможностей, большей заработной платой, в случае физического труда и т.д. Хотя последнему уже давно препятствует двигаться политика сдерживания, проводимая правительствами стран базирования с одной стороны, а с другой стороны, барьеры, возведенные против иммиграции принимающих стран. Легионы работников различных навыков и умений стремятся перебраться в развитые страны, чтобы найти более высокооплачиваемую работу, чтобы сохранять значительную часть своих доходов и посылать своим семьям домой. В статье приводится сравнительный анализ с целью выяснения влияния денежных переводов на экономику трех стран бывшего СССР Беларусь, Молдова и Украина.

Ключевые слова: миграция, приток денежных переводов, страны-получатели, экономический рост.

Bulletin of Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv. Economics, 2016; 10(187): 41-47

УДК 658:658.8:637

JEL classification: M21

DOI: https://doi.org/10.17721/1728-2667.2016/187-10/6

A. Vacar, Lecturer, PhD "Lucian Blaga" University, Sibiu, Romania

LEADERS AND PROJECTS - COMMON ISSUES

This article is a small part of a long empirical and practical research and it began from the necessity of models to be followed in organizations and the way they can generate that expected behavior from others. Nowadays, projects seem to be the modern way of doing things in organizations because of their advantages. The article tries to present common issues between leaders and projects, both of them being as determinant factors for organizational success.

Keywords: leader, project, change, manager, employee.

Introduction

These two subjects are very much discussed these days. Leaders are outstanding persons that influence others about doing the right things at the right time and projects are the new way of implement change in organizations because of their characteristics.

According to Nicolescu [4] leadership is known as the process by which a person establishes a purpose or direction for one or more people and motivate them to act with competence and full dedication to achieve it. Also, leadership is one of the defining elements of successful people and is linked to the leader's personality, his ability to influence others, to generate interest, expectations, emotions, to attract the interest of those around him. This involves creating a vision, setting goals, determining the values and principles of action and much effort from all involved. In other word, modern leader succeed in making the transition from dependence to

interdependence and support the professional development of those around him [3].

A good leader stimulates creativity and initiative, emphasizes cohesion within the group, builds opportunities and knows how to harness the potential of those around him. At the core of leadership is teamwork, so it is imperative to build trust in team members by encouraging openness between team members, delegating simple and routine tasks, training for new leaders through support, advice and encouraging new initiatives.

In the opinion of Nastase [3], leader's common traits are: vision, courage, competence, credibility, creativity, communication, transparency, honesty, openness to learning and working with others. All these are considered to be the characteristics of successful leaders.

On the other hand, a project can be defined as a set of activities performed for a fixed period of time which

© Vacar A., 2016

contribute to achieving a common goal and generally requires and investment of resources in order to meet specific objectives [1].

In the opinion of Ogrean and Troanca [5], project's common traits are: working with people, every project is in its own way unique, the project has a limited life, every projects promote change, it requires well-defined targets and in achieving of a project there are necessary a variety of resources.

From these perspectives given above and from others we can say that leaders and projects are determinant factors for organizational success by their characteristics.

Leaders have and know how to use the ability to influence others in order to obtain certain goal, they also know how to use the resources of the organization, and they are proactively. They are agents of change in organizations, giving direct solutions to the problems. Their special characteristics are empathy, authenticity, originality, taking risks, good communicator. The leader emphasis on relationship with people and building a strong and united team.

Projects have also involved resources, are the way of implementing change in organizations, have specific goals and targets in a specific period of time, it involves working with different people, they are unique, and communication is essential in the process of conducting the team.

The research objectives and methodology

In order to observe the use of projects in Romania there were interviewed employees from Romanian organizations through an online research to notice their opinion about operationalization and implementation of change in organizations where they work in. The

investigation was accomplished at national level with the aid and assistance of a market research company with national coverage and the inquiry form were filled using the Internet. The research shows that of the 103 analyzed employees, more than half of those surveyed were female (70%) and in terms of age and it was found that most of them are aged between 20 and 25 years (47%). Most of the respondents are university graduates, faculty level (49%), followed by those with master degrees. Most of the companies to which the respondents belong, are active in service, followed by commerce, the two areas dominating the market with a total share of 55% and most of these companies had in 2011 a turnover of over 10 million lei [11].

The results of the research

Below are given the results of the research conducted at national level, in order to capture the reality of Romanian companies about the way the use or not these concepts analyzed and to see if there are several common issues between them. From the hole research were extracted only some results in this article.

Building on experience gained in time but also understanding the concept of leadership as the role of leader exerted by one person with major influence on other people, according to the results of the research, the majority of managers and employees interviewed (over 78%) consider that leaders are agents of change (Fig. 1). As theoreticians consider leaders as agents of chance, this research proves the same thing.

Do you consider that leaders are agents of change?

Fig. 1. The recognition that leaders are agents of change in organizations by respondents

Source: authorial results

Once known the fact that leaders are determinant figures in implementing change in organizations, the respondents were requested to indicate which of the following actions will mobilize employees for change according to the realities from the organizations they work in. After interpreting the research results according to both managers and employees, the results are similar, highlighting the same point of view among the two target groups analyzed.

The majority of respondents consider that an effective way of determination and mobilization of employees in favor of change would be "the preparing people to adapt the changes that will come" (over 64% of respondents),

followed by action "communicating the progress in the change process" (over 48% of respondents), and then "empowering people to implement change" (over 29% of respondents), results presented in Fig. 2.

An important fact to mention is that from the options offered for analysis respondents pointed as most important the non-financial elements that can be used to motivate and determine change in organizations, rather than financial motivation that obtained only 4% in the present research. This result is extremely important because leaders, through their informal position in the organization, are able to mobilize the team they work with to act in favor of change, and not through financial rewards.

Thinking to the realities of the organization you work in, which of the following actions would mobilize employees to change?

Fig. 2. Actions used in favor of change in organizations, from the perspective of respondents

Source: authorial results

Specifically, change may take the form of projects in organizations. To understand the reality on the use of project management by organizations, projects known as the main element of operationalization and implementation of change, it is important to know the number of projects managed by Romanian organizations within one year.

In a significant majority, over 50% of analyzed respondents did not provide information about the number

of projects managed within one year. There might be various reasons about this fact, either they were not aware of exact data about the topic or unwilling to provide the answer or did not understand the importance of the question in the whole research. Dealing with the other part, most managers and employees indicated that in organizations where they work in, were managed on average between 1 and 10 projects per year (Fig. 3).

How many projects your organization runs on average per year?

Fig. 3. The projects undertaken in organizations within one year, according to respondents

Source: authorial results

In the analyzed organizations, the majority of respondents, both managers and employees, consider that are enough encouraged actions of project organizing. This

is very important because in this way the organization can adapt to changes in the environment, the project is known as a way of implementing change (Fig. 4.)

Do you think that in your organization actions of organizing projects are enough encouraged?

Yes No Don'tknow

Fig. 4. Encouraging organizing projects actions in organizations, according to respondents

Source: authorial results

According to the research, in organizations there is a significant share of people who attended training courses in project management, over 50% of all personnel (Fig. 5).

Are there trained personnel about project management in your organization?

Yes No Don tknow

Fig. 5. The share of trained personnel in project management, according to respondents

Source: authorial results

From all managers interviewed, 75% of them were involved at least in one project and from all employees, only 41% of them were part of a project team as a member (Fig. 6).

Have you been part of a project team so far?

Managers Employees

Fig. 6. The share of respondents that were part of a project team

Source: authorial results

Knowing that a project implements an idea, a plan or a employees, the main reason that determined projects is the strategy, in respondents opinion either managers and necessity, as the continuous need of organization to adapt

to the constantly changing environment in which it operates, and not only for survival but to achieve superior organizational goals regarding efficiency and effectiveness. The second factor that causes projects is the opportunity, as the favorable situation from the external environment

that managers must take advantage in order to achieve specific goals. The third place in the ranking of causes that are generating projects is the management of the organization, through ideas, plans, and strategies for implementing change in organization (Fig. 7).

Knowing that projects are change determinants, which do you think is the main reason that causes them?

Fig. 7. Causes that generates projects in organizations, according to respondents

Source: authorial results

Knowing the specific methods and techniques of project management and the stages of implementing a project, the majority of respondents (over 80%) consider an indispensable factor the planning of all activities of the project from the very beginning of it, before it starts (Fig. 8).

When do you consider useful the detailed planning of the project activities?

Fig. 8. The moment of detailed activities in a project, according to respondents

Source: authorial results

From all specific methods and techniques of project management, the most commonly used among Romanian organizations are: cause and effect diagram, provisional budget, brainstorming technique, SWOT analysis, decisional tree method and Gantt chart (Fig. 9).

Choose from the following methods, techniques and tools useful for planning, implementing and controlling of projects, the ones that apply to your organization.

Fig. 9. Methods, techniques and tools used in organizations to manage projects, according to respondents

Source: authorial results

The main causes identified by respondents, either managers and employees that let to reduced use or even no use of specific methods of project management are: the lack of financial resources, the lack of employee's interest, the lack of plans and long-term strategies, the lack of

theoretical knowledge about project management, the lack of time for organizing projects because of the reduced number of employees in the organization and the lack of project management specialists in organization (Fig. 10).

Choose from the following list the main causes that lead to a reduced or even no use of specific project management methods in the process of implementing change in your organization.

don'tknow

none of these

lack of time for organizing projects

lack of project management specialists

lack of theoretical knowledge aboutproject management

lack of financial resources lack ofplansand long-term strategies lack of employee's interest

Employees Managers

50%

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48%

Fig. 10. The causes that lead to a reduced or even no use of specific project management methods in organizations,

according to respondents

Source: authorial results

Conclusion & Discussion

The purpose of the present article was to observe the use of projects in Romania and there were interviewed employees from Romanian organizations through an online research to notice their opinion about

operationalization and implementation of change in organizations where they work in.

To this point we can state that the majority of the interviewed managers and employees from this research consider that leaders are agents of change in organizations, and in order to determine change in organization leaders have

to consider the following steps as very important: preparing people to adapt the changes that will come, communicating the progress in the change process and then empowering people to implement change.

In the organizations where interviewed managers and employees work, on an average run between 1 and 10 projects per year, and the majority of respondents consider that organizing project actions are enough encouraged, fact that is very important for an organization in order to react promptly to the changes in the external environment, and because the project is one of the well-known method of implementing change in the organization.

Between interviewed respondents, over 50% of the personnel are trained in project management, 75% of managers where involved in at least one project and 41% of employees were part of a project team as a member. The most common used project management methods in Romanian organizations are cause and effect diagram, provisional budget, brainstorming technique, SWOT analysis, decisional tree method and Gantt chart

Although, the project management isn't used in Romanian organizations at its highest potential due to the lack of financial resources managers have to face with, the lack of employee's interest and this is generated by low interested manifested by managers to their employees and their needs. Then, another cause of reduced use of project management is the lack of plans and long-term strategies that should be given from the top management according to the direction in the next period of time that all personnel should be aware off, and another reason might be the lack

A. Вакар, канд. екон. наук, лектор Ушверситет "Лумана Блага" Ci6iy, Румушя

of time for organizing projects because of the reduced number of employees in the organization.

References

1. Androniceanu, A., Abâlutâ, O., Curteanu, D., Popescu, I., 2006, Managementul proiectelor cu finantare externa, ed. a 2-a, Editura Universitarâ, Bucuresti.

2. Carnal, C.A., (2007), Managing change in organizations, 5th ed., Harlow, Financial Times Prentice Hall.

3. Nâstase, M., (2007), Lideri, leadership §i organizatia bazata pe cuno§tin{e, Editura ASE, Bucuresti.

4. Nicolescu, O., Verboncu, I., 2007, Managementul organizatiei, Editura Economicâ, Bucuresti.

5. Ogrean, C., Troancâ, D., 2001, Proiecte economice: managementul proiectelor - note de curs, Editura ULBS, Sibiu.

6. Parry, K.W., Meindl, J.R., Grounding Leadership Theory and Research: Issues, Perspectives and Methods, Information Age Publishing Inc., Connecticut, 2002.

7. Vacar, A., Dumitrascu, D.D., Leadership - a key factor to a successful organization-part I, Studies in Business and Economics, no.7.3, 2012.

8. Vacar, A., Miricescu, D., Leadership - a key factor to a successful organization - part II, Procedia Economics and Finance, volume 6, 2013, doi: 10.1016/S2212-5671(13)00159-7.

9. Vacar, A., Project management - a tool for implementing change in organizations, Studies in Business and Economics, no.8.2., 2013

10. Vacar, A., Leadership - a necessity in projects, Studies in Business and Economics, no.9.2., 2014.

11. Vacar, A., The use of projects in generating change in organizations, Bulletin Of Taras Shevchenko National University Of Kyiv -Economics, no.9(174), 2015, doi: 10.17721/1728-2667.2015/174-9/12.

12. Yukl, G., (2002), Leadership in organizations, fifth edition, Prentice-Hall Inc., New Jersey.

Hafliwwna go peflKoneriï 20.05.16 Date of editorial approval 26.08.16

Author's declaration on the sources of funding of research presented in the scientific article or of the preparation of the scientific article: budget of university's scientific project

Л1ДЕРИ I ПРОЕКТИ - ПОШИРЕН1 ПРОБЛЕМИ

Ця стаття е невеликою частиною довгих емтричних i практичних дослiджень. Виходить з необхiдностi дотримування органза-цйних моделей i насл/'дк/'в, як вони можуть генерувати очшувану поведiнку в/'д 1'нших. В даний час проекти видаються сучасним способом ведення справ в оргашзацях через Ух значн переваг. Стаття намагаеться представити спльн проблеми, мiж л1дерами i проектами, обидва з яких е визначальними факторами для успху оргашзацУУ.

Ключовi слова: лiдер, проект, змша, менеджер, спiвробiтник

А. Вакар, канд. экон. наук, лектор Университет "Лукиана Блага" Сибиу, Румыния

ЛИДЕРЫ И ПРОЕКТЫ - РАСПРОСТРАНЕННАЯ ПРОБЛЕМА

Эта статья является небольшой частью долгих эмпирических и практических исследований. Исходит из необходимости соблюдения организационных моделей и последствий, как они могут генерировать ожидаемое поведение других. В настоящее время проекты представляются современным способом ведения дел в организациях за их значительные преимущества. Статья пытается представить общие проблемы, между лидерами и проектами, оба из которых являются определяющими факторами для успеха организации.

Ключевые слова: лидер, проект, изменение, менеджер, сотрудник

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