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When t comes to productivity, the higher the value of the ratio of outputs to inputs, the higher the productivity of the operation.

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Controlling is actually a process with the first step being to measure performance, then compares measured performance to company standards and last take corrective action.

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Authority allows manager to conduct themselves and processes certain ways. Authority is best when shown wisely and fairly.

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The Vroom-Yetton-Jago model is a visual representation of how much participation to allow subordinates in the decision making process. The model also suggests 5 different styles of decision making.

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Organizational communication directly relates goals, functions, and structure of of human organizations. Organizational success is determined through organizational communication.

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The 4 steps to providing appropriate human resources for an organization are recruitment -> selection -> training -> performance appraisal

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Organization is extremely important to the management system because it is the most used way to activate plans. Henri Fayol developed 16 guidelines for organizing resources.

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A SWOT analysis is a graphic organizer that matches internal organizational strengths and weaknesses with external opportunities and threats.

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Decision making is one aspect of managing that is applied to all 4 of the management functions.

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Culture is the set of characteristics of a given group of people an their environment. Managers must be able to influence people of many different cultures in order to be successful.

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Credit: RawPixel/Shutterstock

The words "workplace culture" often bring to mind companies like Google or Pixar, with bright colors, open offices, company social activities, and an atmosphere of fun as well as hard work. The reality, however, is that a strong workplace culture does not have to be fun-loving to be satisfying - and if the culture is not already satisfying for your employees, then a foosball table is not going to help.

Prem Kumar, senior director of product for employee engagement solutions provider TINYPulse, defined workplace culture as the "ethos of the organization. It's what motivates, inspires and drives your organization. It's a sum of each employee's values, knowledge and interactions with one another."

S. Chris Edmonds, author of " The Culture Engine" and founder of The Purposeful Culture Group, narrows it further: "Culture is how the organization is operating: how people treat each other, what methods are in place [for interaction]." To Edmonds, successful culture, whether your company prefers T-shirts or ties, boils down to trust, respect and dignity.

"Perks are cool, and if we look at Silicon Valley in its heyday, we may think we need things like scooters and world-class chefs, but if people are stabbing each other in the back, it's not a good culture," he said. "It's about leaders treating each employee as a legitimate person and an asset, an attractive player who can be the face of the company."

Kumar added that this attitude is apparent in how a company can embrace diversity: "At its best, workplace culture is not only derived from a diverse employee base but drives them to be better as a collective whole."

Leaders, especially senior leaders, have not been asked to examine the culture aspect of the company, but it's becoming more important than ever. Edmonds said that the inherent impatience of millennials drives the need. The new generations are not content to put in 25 years with a company to get a gold watch. Rather, "they want a place where they are valued, mentored and allowed to work where they do their best. It comes down to trust, respect and dignity," he said.

The first step for any leader looking to improve the workplace culture is to determine the values that reflect the company.

"All of the companies we've found to be truly successful are led by people who embrace that which makes them different and use it as a competitive advantage," Kumar said.

Once you have determined the core values that define your organization, you need to determine what concrete behaviors reflect those values. These too vary by organization. For example, a retailer with the value of "doing more for the customer" might have employees offer to help carry bags to the customer's car, while a mechanic shop with the same value might have free detailing with every repair.

Internally, of course, you can't go wrong with the core values of treating everyone with respect, trust and dignity. However, one company might give management the freedom to give time off for excellent behavior; others might have a group social to celebrate an occasion.

One key behavior TINYPulse studies have found that's central to all successful workplace cultures is transparency. "Transparency at its heart is paying people the respect of bringing them along on your journey - whether it's explaining why a decision was made with honest detail or holding yourself and others accountable. This is key to a great culture," Kumar said.

Printing your company's values on T-shirts and posters is not enough. It's up to the leaders to model them, from the CEO to the direct manager. When management models the defined values and behaviors, employees start to follow suit. Again, the clearly defined behaviors are key, as they make it easy for managers to point out when someone is not following the company values (and give workers the ability to do the same for management).

"Culture is not something you can delegate to HR. You need to [model the behaviors] yourself because managers are looking to you," said Edmonds.

Edmonds noted that an improved culture leads to improved productivity - and that often leads to promotions.

"We regularly see performance go up 30 to 35 percent, and service up 40 percent or more as a result of improving the culture," he said. "The problem is that if the leader who championed the culture moves up, the new leader may change the culture and undo all the good."

Therefore, senior leadership must stay dedicated to the new culture, said Edmonds. "The behaviors have to become ingrained so that it survives the change of leadership and the organization can evolve with its mission."

Karina Fabian

Karina Fabian is a full time writer and mother of four. By day, she writes reviews of business products and services for Top Ten Reviews and articles for Business News Daily. As a freelancer, she writes for Catholic educational sites and school calendars and teaches writing skills. She has 17 published novels of science fiction and fantasy. Learn more at http://fabianspace.com.

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The words "workplace culture" often bring to mind companies like Google or Pixar, with bright colors, open offices, company social activities, and an atmosphere of fun as well as hard work.

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International management can be described simply as performing management activities across national borders. Domestic organizations do not involve international management because they operate out of only one country.

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Sustainability can be defined as the ability to be maintained at a certain level or rate. The attached link shows the worlds most sustainable companies in the world for 2017 ranked by Forbes.

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With 2016 being the second-warmest year on record, and with issues like high executive pay and diversity gaining more awareness, you may be curious to know what companies care most about sustainability. Since 2005, Toronto-based magazine and research firm Corporate Knights has put together the Global 100, an annual list of the world's most sustainable companies. Using publicly available data, Corporate Knights rates large firms on 14 key measures, evaluating their management of resources, finances and employees.

For the ranking, Corporate Knights considers about 4,000 companies with market values of at least $2 billion (methodology details ). It's an intensive research undertaking, taking about 1,000 hours each year to produce. Corporate Knights just released the 2017 edition and will present the results today at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

For the top 20 on the Global 100, open the gallery below. For the full list, see the end of this post.

Siemens, the German industrial conglomerate whose businesses range from power plants to medical imaging machines, took the top spot. It was the most energy-efficient firm in its sector, producing more revenue per kilowatt used than any other industrial corporation. Siemens scored highly on nearly every metric in Corporate Knights' ranking, such as having a low carbon footprint and low employee turnover. The conglomerate is also dedicating a growing portion of its business to creating environmentally friendly infrastructure, with products like green heating and air conditioning systems.

Norwegian insurance company Storebrand ASA came in second. Across all measures, it performed strongest on executive pay. Storebrand's CEO gets paid just 12 times more than the average Storebrand employee. That may sound like a huge gap, but among firms in the MSCI All Country World Index (ACWI), a basket of stocks designed to represent a wide range of companies across the globe, CEOs make 115 times more than their firms' workers.

"Scandinavians tend to be more rational about many business practices," says Corporate Knights founder Toby Heaps, who's critical of firms with sky-high CEO salaries. "I have yet to see compelling academic evidence that you generate additional shareholder returns by paying CEOs excessive salaries."

American networking technology company Cisco ranked third on the Global 100 and fared particularly well on Corporate Knights' diversity measure: 38% of Cisco's senior executives are women, compared with 21% for ACWI companies, according to Heaps. Corporate Knights doesn't currently track racial diversity. Heaps says the available data isn't as reliable, but thinks it's just a matter of time before it becomes standard.

Heaps points out several ways in which Global 100 companies differ from the ACWI basket. At 80% of Global 100 firms, top executives receive higher bonuses if the company meets sustainability targets. Across the ACWI, only 23% of companies offer such bonuses. Global 100 CEOs make eighty times the salary of average employees, while ACWI company CEOs make 115 times the rank and file.

For pension payments, Global 100 firms contribute almost twice as much per employee compared to all ACWI companies. 28% of board seats at Global 100 firms are held by women compared with 21% for the broader ACWI. And Global 100 organizations are 25% more energy efficient.

You might think companies that invest heavily in sustainability might incur higher costs and become less profitable. But the Global 100's stock returns suggest otherwise. If you had invested $100 in Global 100 companies in 2005, it would have been worth $232 at the of 2016. If you did the same for the ACWI, you'd have $208. In other words, the Global 100's cumulative return is 24 percentage points higher than the ACWI benchmark.

The countries with the biggest share of Global 100 companies were the U.S. (19), France (12), the U.K. (11), Canada (6), Germany (6) and the Netherlands (5).
The World's Most Sustainable Companies 2017 - Full List (Company Name | Country | Industry)
1. Siemens AG | Germany | Industrials

2. Storebrand ASA | Norway | Financials

3. Cisco Systems Inc | United States | Information Technology

4. Danske Bank A/S | Denmark | Financials

5. Ing Group | Netherlands | Financials

6. Commonwealth Bank of Australia | Australia | Financials

7. Koninklijke Philips NV | Netherlands | Industrials

8. Johnson & Johnson | United States | Health Care

9. Koninklijke DSM NV | Netherlands | Materials

10. Enagas SA | Spain | Utilities

11. Dassault Systemes | France | Information Technology

12. Derwent London PLC | United Kingdom | Real Estate

13. Centrica PLC | United Kingdom | Utilities

14. McCormick & Co Inc/MD | United States | Consumer Staples

15. Henkel AG & Co KGaA | Germany | Consumer Staples

16. Bayerische Motoren Werke AG | Germany | Consumer Discretionary

17. Credit Agricole SA | France | Financials

18. Nokia OYJ | Finland | Information Technology

19. Natura Cosmeticos SA | Brazil | Consumer Staples

20. Intesa Sanpaolo SpA | Italy | Financials

21. Holmen AB | Sweden | Materials

22. Syngenta AG | Switzerland | Materials

23. Neste Oyj | Finland | Energy

24. Allergan plc | United States | Health Care

25. Kesko OYJ | Finland | Consumer Staples

26. Iberdrola SA | Spain | Utilities

27. Schneider Electric SE | France | Industrials

28. Vivendi SA | France | Consumer Discretionary

29. Television Francaise 1 | France | Consumer Discretionary

30. City Developments Ltd | Singapore | Real Estate

31. TOTAL SA | France | Energy

32. Marks & Spencer Group PLC | United Kingdom | Consumer Discretionary

33. Pearson PLC | United Kingdom | Consumer Discretionary

34. DNB ASA | Norway | Financials

35. POSCO | South Korea | Materials

36. Novozymes A/S | Denmark | Materials

37. Royal Bank of Canada | Canada | Financials

38. L'Oreal SA | France | Consumer Staples

39. Enbridge Inc | Canada | Energy

40. Shinhan Financial Group Co Ltd | South Korea | Financials

41. BT Group PLC | United Kingdom | Telecommunication Services

42. BNP Paribas SA | France | Financials

43. Peugeot SA | France | Consumer Discretionary

44. Prologis Inc | United States | Real Estate

45. Sun Life Financial Inc | Canada | Financials

46. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB | Sweden | Financials

47. Statoil ASA | Norway | Energy

48. Coca-Cola European Partners PLC | United Kingdom | Consumer Staples

49. adidas AG | Germany | Consumer Discretionary

50. National Australia Bank Ltd | Australia | Financials

51. Sky PLC | United Kingdom | Consumer Discretionary

52. Singapore Telecommunications Ltd | Singapore | Telecommunication Services

53. Colgate-Palmolive Co | United States | Consumer Staples

54. Hennes & Mauritz AB | Sweden | Consumer Discretionary

55. Hang Seng Bank Ltd | Hong Kong, SAR China | Financials

56. Assicurazioni Generali SpA | Italy | Financials

57. Accenture PLC | Ireland | Information Technology

58. Toronto-Dominion Bank/The | Canada | Financials

59. Legrand SA | France | Industrials

60. Banco Santander Brasil SA | Brazil | Financials

61. Bank of Montreal | Canada | Financials

62. Eni SpA | Italy | Energy

63. Intel Corp | United States | Information Technology

64. Diageo PLC | United Kingdom | Consumer Staples

65. LG Electronics Inc | South Korea | Consumer Discretionary

66. UCB SA | Belgium | Health Care

67. Takeda Pharmaceutical Co Ltd | Japan | Health Care

68. Novartis AG | Switzerland | Health Care

69. StarHub Ltd | Singapore | Telecommunication Services

70. Sysmex Corp | Japan | Health Care

71. Cameco Corp | Canada | Energy

72. Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson | Sweden | Information Technology

73. Hess Corp | United States | Energy

74. Daimler AG | Germany | Consumer Discretionary

75. Microsoft Corp | United States | Information Technology

76. Reckitt Benckiser Group PLC | United Kingdom | Consumer Staples

77. Wolters Kluwer NV | Netherlands | Industrials

78. Analog Devices Inc | United States | Information Technology

79. Rexel SA | France | Industrials

80. Kering | France | Consumer Discretionary

81. Edwards Lifesciences Corp | United States | Health Care

82. HP Inc | United States | Information Technology

83. Telenor ASA | Norway | Telecommunication Services

84. Apple Inc | United States | Information Technology

85. Astellas Pharma Inc | Japan | Health Care

86. NEC Corp | Japan | Information Technology

87. Amadeus IT Group SA | Spain | Information Technology

88. Varian Medical Systems Inc | United States | Health Care

89. Sonova Holding AG | Switzerland | Health Care

90. Outotec OYJ | Finland | Industrials

91. Merck & Co Inc | United States | Health Care

92. General Mills Inc | United States | Consumer Staples

93. Smiths Group PLC | United Kingdom | Industrials

94. Applied Materials Inc | United States | Information Technology

95. ASML Holding NV | Netherlands | Information Technology

96. Fraport AG Frankfurt Airport Services Worldwide | Germany | Industrials

97. RELX PLC | United Kingdom | Industrials

98. Lenovo Group Ltd | China | Information Technology

99. General Electric Co | United States | Industrials

100. Autodesk Inc | United States | Information Technology
Follow me on Twitter @JeffKauflin or email me at jkauflin[at]forbes[dot]com.

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The World's Most Sustainable Companies 2017

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With 2016 being the second-warmest year on record, and with issues like high executive pay and diversity gaining more awareness, you may be curious to know what companies care most about sustainability. Since 2005, Toronto-based magazine and research firm Corporate Knights has put together the Global 100, an annual list of the world's most sustainable companies.

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The management process is divided into 4 sections called basic management functions that include planning, organizing, influencing, and controlling.

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This article explains why workplace diversity is important. This article even mentions employee surveys as key.

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Diversity in the workplace isn't just a social measure. It's smart business.

So says academic research, and so say managers at some of Wisconsin's most outstanding workplaces.

TOP WORKPLACES 2017: Special section | Full list of winners

"Having a diverse workforce just leads to broader ideas, and allows us to continue to improve and grow," said Jane Peterson, recruiting manager at Steinhafels Inc.

Eileen Ridley, a partner at Foley & Lardner and the big law firm's chief diversity and inclusion officer, agreed.

"No question," she said when asked whether having diverse voices weigh in on issues leads to better solutions. "And quite frankly our clients are looking for more-diverse teams, and understandably so."

Both Foley & Lardner, Wisconsin's largest law firm, and Steinhafels, a furniture retailer with 16 stores, are on the Journal Sentinel's 2017 Top Workplaces roster.

As such, one might expect them to value a diverse staff: Top Workplace firms are chosen based on confidential employee surveys, and embracing diversity benefits a company's reputation, said Lynell Meeth of MRA - The Management Association, a Waukesha-based nonprofit that provides human resources research and training.

And when employees feel more engaged and connected to a company, they're more productive, said Meeth, a human resource business adviser with MRA.

"There's definitely a business impact, a real business impact, when your employees feel as though they belong," she said. "They work to a higher level."

Katherine Phillips, a management professor at Columbia University, has written about research by herself and others that suggest the benefits of both gender and racial diversity.

One study by Phillips and two colleagues found that racially diverse groups of business students significantly outperformed non-diverse groups in evaluating clues and correctly solving a hypothetical murder mystery.

Meanwhile, an analysis of nearly 3,400 companies worldwide by Credit Suisse Research Institute found that firms with women in leadership roles have better financial results than their male-dominated counterparts.

Steinhafels partners with community organizations to help promote job openings to a varied population, Peterson said.

"Our workforce ends up being quite diverse because we do have just such a variety of positions available," she said.

At Foley, with 17 U.S. offices in locations ranging from New York and San Francisco to Detroit and Milwaukee, geography can pose challenges to hiring for diversity. While the firm has had some successes recruiting African-American professionals for Milwaukee, for example, "it's a tougher row to hoe," Ridley acknowledged.

Recruitment, though, should just be the beginning, Meeth said.

"Once you hire individuals and they come to work in your workplace," she asked, "how are you making them feel included, that their ideas matter? How are you collaborating and communicating?"

Foley gets that, as Ridley's title suggests.

"You want diversity, you want representatives of all walks of life," she said. "But we're also very focused on inclusion, meaning once we have a diverse staff we want to make sure that that staff all are included in meaningful work, meaningful contact with clients, meaningful interaction."

That requires constant attention, Ridley said. A partner practicing in a given area of law may grow comfortable teaming up with the same associate all the time, and they may work well together. But comfort doesn't necessarily yield optimal results. In fact, research suggests the opposite.

It's often important to seek a broad, diverse array of perspectives, Ridley said.

"Part of it," she said, "is kind of looking outside of what's, quote unquote, comfortable in the sense of what you've always done, and ensure that you're always providing opportunities for others to participate."

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's 2017 Top Workplaces

2017 Top Workplaces: Danceworks

2017 Top Workplaces: Milwaukee College Preparatory School

2017 Top Workplaces: Milwaukee Jewish Federation

2017 Top Workplaces: Sendik's Food Market

Read or Share this story: https://jsonl.in/2qe1WHk

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Top Workplaces: Workplace diversity is smart business

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Diversity in the workplace isn't just a social measure. It's smart business. So says academic research, and so say managers at some of Wisconsin's most outstanding workplaces. TOP WORKPLACES 2017: Special section | Full list of winners "Having a diverse workforce just leads to broader ideas, and allows us to continue to improve and grow," said Jane Peterson, recruiting manager at Steinhafels Inc.

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How Mark Parker has mastered the aspect of management

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The leadership skills of a female CEO, Mary Berra of GMC.

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General Motors has manufactured more than 500 million cars over the years. The company is celebrating that milestone this week after some recent reverses ... and with a relatively new chief officer in the sdriver's seat. Anna Werner paid her a visit:
We met CEO Mary Barra on what for her is familiar ground: the Detroit-Hamtramck assembly plant she once managed.

"You used to run this plant -- what's it like to come back as CEO?" asked Werner.

"Well, it's a lot of fun," said Barra. "As I walked in, everybody said 'Welcome back.'"

She has spent her entire career with the company, and people like Ed Fleming look at her as one of their own.

"Real proud of the fact that I had interfaced with Mary early in her career, and then to see her make it to that level of the organization, was absolutely phenomenal for us," said Fleming.

Fifty-three-year-old Barra took over in January 2014, making her the company's fifth CEO in six years -- and the first woman to run a major automaker.

Barra started at GM 35 years ago as an 18-year-old intern, then worked her way up from engineer to vice president, getting an MBA at Stanford along the way.

One of her jobs was head of human resources, where she was famous for cutting down GM's 10-page dress code to just two words: "Dress appropriately."

But Barra didn't envision her own future including the top job. "The CEO position was never something that, you know, five years or two years ago I said, 'Oh, that's what I want to do,'" she said.

"Never? Never thought about it?"

"Well, one of my core principles is whatever job you're doing, just own it and do it like you're going to do it the rest of your life," she said. "Because that's what I tell people: do your best and good things happen."

But not always. Just weeks into her new job, Barra faced one of the biggest challenges in GM's history: recalls that would eventually total more than 30 million vehicles.

The most significant recall: 2.6 million older Chevy Cobalts, Saturn Ions and other vehicles with suspected ignition switches that made airbags inoperable -- a defect now linked to 90 deaths and 163 injuries.

Barra was grilled by members of before Congress about what happened:

Senator Barbara Boxer: "Ms. Barra, I really hate to say this, but if this is the new GM leadership, it's pretty lacking. I am very disappointed, really, as a woman to woman, I am very disappointed, because the culture that you are representing here today is a culture of the status quo."

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General Motors has manufactured more than 500 million cars over the years. The company is celebrating that milestone this week after some recent reverses ... and with a relatively new chief officer in the sdriver's seat. Anna Werner paid her a visit: We met CEO Mary Barra on what for her is familiar ground: the Detroit-Hamtramck assembly plant she once managed.