Of all the disciplines associated with operating a business enterprises, it is management that is the most challenging and arguably the most rewarding. Business management refers to all the activities that are associated with the running of a company. Some of these activities include controlling the company, leading it, monitoring its progress, organizing it and, of course, the act of planning. It requires a working knowledge of all the other disciplines.
The first, most significant and fundamental act of management is planning. All other functions stem from planning. However, planning doesn’t always get the attention that it deserves; when it does, many managers discover that the planning process isn’t as easy as they thought it would be — or that even the best-laid plans, of mice and men, often go awry.
I like to compare the act of planning to the cultural holiday of Kwanzaa, which many of us just concluded its celebration. As Dr. Maulana Karenga, creator of the holiday, frequently argues that on the day of “meditation” we must reflect on profound and “centering questions”. Who are we? Are we really who we are? Are we all we ought to be? These are questions of identity, purpose and direction.
Before a manager can tackle any of the other functions, he or she must first devise a plan, which is largely based on these centering questions. It is the blueprint for achieving the goals you have determined and specifically lays out the necessary resource allocations, schedules, tasks and other actions.
A goal is a desired future state that the organization attempts to realize. Goals are important because an organization exists for a purpose, and goals define and state that purpose. It is often said, goals specify future ends; plans specify today’s means.
Planning incorporates both ideas: It means determining the organization’s goals and defining the means for achieving them. Planning allows managers the opportunity to adjust to the environment instead of merely reacting to it. Planning increases the possibility of survival in business by actively anticipating and managing the risks that may occur in the future.
In short, planning is preparing for tomorrow today. It’s the activity that allows managers to determine what they want and how they will achieve it.
Not only does planning provide direction and a unity of purpose for organizations, it also answers six basic questions in regard to any activity:
· What needs to be accomplished?
· When is the deadline?
· Where will this be done?
· Who will be responsible for it?
· How will it get done?
· How much time, energy and resources are required to accomplish this goal?
Once your planning is complete you must decide as to what is the best approach to the actual managing of your business. There are literally hundreds of theories on the most efficient and ethical forms of management developed since the industrial revolution. Peter F. Drucker, known as the father of modern business management, proposed a theory of “managing by objectives”, or MBO’s. In it, he argues that by clearly setting your objectives or goals with the participation and input of your staff your management techniques and strategies should be developed around the achievement of these objectives. That is why planning and goal-setting are so critical. Since managing by objectives introduction in 1953, this theory of management has been adapted by many successful corporations (Steve Jobs was a proponent), it has been refined and improved on, even though there have been significant challenges to several of its components. I have provided reading lists for further study of this topic with one book discussing all relevant and influential theories of business management developed in the last several decades allowing you to choose one that works for you.
Without a management strategy you will be practicing the “Charles Manson Management” strategy, otherwise known as “helter-skelter”, and we all know where that got him.
Further Reading: The Practice of Management By Peter F. Drucker and Management Ideas and Gurus By Tim Hindle
Parents, it’s time to ask ourselves the question – If I can’t ensure that my child is safe from gun violence whether in school, church, restaurants, movies, etc. where should I invest my time and energy. On Sunday, January 6
th in a Clinton Hill restaurant Jason Lewis, 34, father of three children –14, 11 and six years old– was shot and killed. While I’m against murder period – which includes the wars waged by the US, legitimizing murder in other countries – Jason’s murder left me with a lingering emotional pain not experienced when hearing about the random killings or the mass killings. I finally came to the conclusion that if I couldn’t protect my children, allowing them to discover and fulfill their purpose for being on the planet, I had to choose a way to promote sanctity of life and while there are antiwar and other ant imovements, I knew that it had to begin with parent/child/community relationships and it had to begin with confronting and clearing emotional pain. There are simply too many angry young men who have found power in wielding a gun. While we (as community) awake to their needs and contribute to their healing, we must also create and share how we individually and collectively can contribute to the healing in our own families.
Assignment #1 Parent Prep – There are many young men and women who have harbored anger stemming from their interpretation of events from their childhood. This anger influences their interpretations and reactions to people and circumstances. In order to support them in clearing- we, adults, need to clear. So as a parent, teacher, relative, ask yourself, “Do I love this young person, myself enough to take on this challenge?”The assignment is: Find one or more times that your parent, caretaker, teacher or other adult said or did something that hurt – made you angry or made you feel less than. Write as many that you recall. Communicating them is a first step in your clearing and enabling you to clear the young person. Together, we can make a difference. Questions, comments to: parentsnotebook@yahoo.com.
PN Alerts!
***The yearly Jack Kent Cooke Foundation Young Scholars Program honors 50 to 75 seventh-graders who can demonstrate outstanding academic ability, accomplishments outside of the classroom and significant financial need. Those selected receive financial support for educational and extracurricular activities, as well as one-on-one help applying to high schools, colleges, summer programs and more. Young Scholars tell their advisor what they’d like to become. Over the next five years the Foundation uses its considerable resources to help them get there. The application will open on January 17. (Link: http://www.jkcf.org/scholarships/young-scholars-program/how-to-apply/.) Questions – e-mail: jkcinfo@jhu.edu phone: 410-735-6270 web: www.jkcf.org
***Jan. 19
th, 1 – 7:30 pm – Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Birthday
celebrated at Bed-Stuy YMCA, 1121 Bedford Ave. at Monroe Street with MLK and the Visual Voice Arts Exhibition featuring art exhibits, performing artists. Admission FREE. A real treat for the Visual/Spatial and the Musical/Rhythmic Intelligences. For info contact Debbie McFarlane-Khan at 718-789-1697 Ext. 4006 or Bill Simpson 718-398-4237.
***
Jan. 19
th 2 p.m.-6 p.m –TEENAGER AND YOUNG ADULT SUMMIT – Sankofa Academy, 1670 Fulton Street (corner of Schenectady Avenue), exploring questions: The youth of today are the leaders of tomorrow. How are you preparing yourself to lead? What are the problems? Is your school helping or hurting you?
Are you using all of your education resources? Jobs and careers, legal questions about stop-and-frisk. Also, what can you do to make the schools work for you? Social networks for positive interaction students in and out of schools. Speakers, workshops, cultural entertainment SPONSORED BY THE C.P.E. YOUTH SUMMIT. For Information, call (718) 616-9587
*** Jan. 26
th , 10am – 2pm –Workshop Celebrates the sport of Double Dutch!!
in Albany- Learn the rules, techniques, skills and how to collaborate with other teams at Brighter Choice Charter Middle School for Boys, 116 North Lake Avenue. Albany, NY 12206. FREE! E-mail Natalie Jay-Short @ nannysdoubledutchleague@yahoo.com to confirm your attendance and number of athletes and coaches. Call 518-281-6111 with questions. A demonstration at the Albany Devils hockey team game and bowling follows the workshop.
***Jan. 26
th , 9a.m. -1pm
(breakfast at 8:30 a.m.) –NYC Parent Academy Workshop, PS 24-427, 38th St. in Brooklyn, a citywide program in collaboration with Long Island University. For more info on this citywide initiative and topic of workshops go to: www.nycparentacademy.org.
*** ScholarshipsOnline.org, a free online directory
of the latest scholarships and education grants, is publishing available 2013 scholarships for students, parents and teachers. For more details, visit www.ScholarshipsOnline.org.
Diva Williams’ teen son wanted a summer youth job. Needing a health clearance in order to obtain his working papers, Williams made an appointment with their regular doctor at the neighborhood health clinic. When they arrived at the appointment in May 2005, the family found his regular primary care provider had retired.
Dr. Jeannie A. Samedi was assigned to administer the medical exam. “She didn’t wash her hands. My mother, being a nurse and coming from a background of janitors and nurses, I knew that she had to wash her hands,” said Williams. “She appeared to be very unkempt. Her hands were unclean, her fingernails were dirty and she looked disheveled. I asked her to wash her hands before she examined my son, but she didn’t. She got offended.”
When Dr. Samedi began touching her son’s face and neck without washing her hands, Williams interrupted the exam and told her son to get dressed. “I asked her to give me a letter stating he had been seen and she didn’t find anything wrong with him,” said Williams. She scribbled a note and gave it to Williams. Days later, Williams issued a formal complaint against Dr. Samedi.
In the meantime, Williams was contacted by ACS and informed that Dr. Samedi had written in her case history of the family medical background that Williams’ son had a heart murmur. Williams had disclosed that she is the one who had a heart murmur, not her son. Dr. Samedi had also written that her son’s alleged heart murmur would cause him to die of a heart attack without proper medical treatment.
Within days of Dr. Samedi filing the bogus medical and child abuse report, the family began getting several calls from various people claiming to work for ACS. Williams found herself charged with not providing food, clothing, shelter and an education for her son and daughter.
By June, ACS had filed a complaint in family court. In August, Williams sued 14 defendants in federal court for the filed false medical report and its aftermath, including Dr. Samedi, various ACS personnel and Manhattan Family Court Supervising Judge at the time Susan Knipps. According to Williams, none of them answered her federal complaint and she was issued Certificates of Default.
On Feb. 3, 2006, ACS and police broke into her apartment, and arrested Williams and her son and daughter and took them by force to family court.
Williams described the chaotic scene as frightening. Numerous police officers came to her home announcing they were a SWAT team — with guns, Tasers, bats, 9mms — to have her son physically removed. Williams took pictures.
Williams said her son was held hostage in Bellevue Hospital. “He tried to run out. He busted himself in the face because the door (when you get into pediatrics) locks. You can’t get out of the hospital,” said Williams. “They only let him leave after they transferred him to the Children’s Center.”
Williams said during the process, she was given a prescription for 2 pills that she was supposed to take together. “I looked them up. One speeds the heart up, one slows the heart down,” said Williams. “Guess what would have happened to him if I gave them to him? He would have died, and then they would have charged me with manslaughter.”
In addition, Williams said a doctor from Bellevue came to family court, got on the stand and testified she was his doctor. “She came in and testified at a family court hearing without me or my son being there that she is his doctor. We had never seen this woman before a day in our lives,” said Williams. “And the doctor said she had found him to have a heart murmur disease and needed to be immediately operated on.” Williams opined, “That was so that they could solidify them breaking into my house.”
So on Feb. 6, 2006, Judge Susan Knipps issued a warrant against Williams’ son for absconding Knipps’ court-ordered medical appointment. “A warrant issued for my arrest for not taking him to get a heart transplant,” said Williams. “There is still a warrant pending for his arrest for not submitting to a heart transplant exam.”
According to Williams, on Feb. 9, police broke into her apartment, searched it and changed the locks.
Williams said her son was kidnapped again and taken to the Children’s Center on First Avenue where he simply walked out. “He walked out the front door and they haven’t seen or looked for him since,” said Williams. “It was intense. There were numerous times when they sent the police to kidnap him and I had him hide out. This went on until he was 18. To this day, there is still a warrant on file for his arrest. He’s now 23.”
According to Williams, the same precinct that was involved in arresting her son to take him to family court have since engaged in a campaign to harass him with numerous arrests. “The same precinct started arresting him for criminal trespass in his own building. My son, to date, has been arrested more than 50 times,” said Williams. “This is the same kid that was supposed to have heart disease.”
“He’s still getting arrested for coming in his own apartment. I have video of him getting arrested for just standing in the street, minding his business. It just happened after Thanksgiving. Same cops. They don’t even identify themselves. They just walk up to him. It’s on YouTube of my son being arrested and handcuffed. He’s just standing there with his friends talking. They came out of nowhere, no badges, and put handcuffs on him. Just him. Put him in handcuffs, put him in the car and held him for an hour,” said Williams. “He’s still being violated by these very people that said he was going to drop dead and needed a heart transplant.”
To this day, no one has operated on her son’s heart. Dr. Samedi has left the state. “Yet, my name is still in the system as being an unfit parent,” said Williams, “a person who did not give their children food, clothing and shelter.”
Medgar Evers College has failed the Middle States Commission on Higher Education’s 5-year review of the accreditation, receiving a negative warning. The school’s status as a senior college is in jeopardy. Persons speaking off-the-record are saying that President Dr. William Pollard’s days leading Medgar Evers College may be numbered.
Pollard began burning community bridges the moment he arrived. He removed Carver Bank ATMs from the campus. He seized the personal computers of Center for NuLeadership staff and banished the organization from the campus, prompting state and federal lawsuits. He suspended community activities such as the weekly jazz concert series, generating backlash. He bucked tradition by moving the school’s graduation from the campus to Jacob Javits Center, with no tangible benefit to show for it. He unilaterally decided to close off traffic on Crown St. in order to create a grass space for the commuter college, angering homeowning neighbors.
The school’s mission to educate has come into question under Pollard. There have been several student walk-outs, including one caused by a mid-semester financial aid fiasco. On-time graduation rates are flat. A post-Wall Street meltdown spike in enrollment was mismanaged. The college received grant funding for a new Marketing Dept., yet none was created.
Most recently, due to a pending $22 million renovation of the school’s library, over 80% of the library holdings have been transferred to an alternative off-campus site, Queens College, due to lack of space. With the current library unavailable, students are being directed to a smaller library in the proposed Carroll Street space where there will be “no library space” for students to study, to engage in study groups or to be surrounded with the tools of their success—books and computers. For almost two years during the proposed renovation, students will have to search out random “empty rooms” in the Carroll Street Building to read and study, or commune to another CUNY college to access the study materials they require.
Pollard has had several faculty “no confidence” votes.
For many who remember how Medgar Evers College began in a humble storefront and helped it grow into a multibuilding campus in a gentrifying area, a change in the college’s leadership can’t come too soon.
Assemblyman Karim Camara, Chair of the Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic and Asian Caucus.
Days before Governor Cuomo’s “State of the State Address” marks commencement of the 2013 legislative cycle, Assemblyman Karim Camara led a group of African-American and Hispanic legislators, labor leaders and advocates to press a progressive agenda. “The Caucus intends to take the guesswork caused by the Senate leadership uncertainty of whether critical issues facing our communities will be resolved by holding Albany’s feet to the fire on issues such as gun violence, minimum wage, education, stop-and-frisk, the Dream Act, marijuana drug laws and health care,‘’ said Camara, Chair of the Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic and Asian Caucus. “And we will fight to restore millions of dollars that went to vital community initiatives in legislative member items under a new and more transparent ‘New York Neighborhood Initiatives’ program. Hundreds of millions of dollars have been cut from these initiatives for four consecutive years resulting in crippling effects to neighborhoods throughout New York.”
For the first time in New York’s history, the Caucus announced its session priorities in advance of the session and the State of the State, signaling the intention of the Caucus to push a Progressive Agenda Day One. “The Caucus believes that the issues outlined today in our People’s Budget and Priorities must be a part of the Albany discussion at the outset, and releasing these priorities today gives everyone a sense of how they comport with the priorities of others. As a result, New Yorkers will know where there is common ground in Albany and where work needs to be done to establish consensus,” said Camara.
The Caucus added the following new ideas and initiatives to the Progressive Agenda: leading a nationwide state legislative effort on affecting gun control and reducing gun violence; the first-ever Gun Violence Awareness Month in New York; the expansion of Community Schools to New York’s most troubled schools; and the New York Neighborhood Initiatives program. These new ideas and programs will augment the existing agenda that includes the minimum wage, the Dream Act, marijuana drug laws, stop-and-frisk, health care, affordable housing and criminal justice. Camara said that the Caucus will focus on ensuring a progressive New York agenda in four ways: legislative process; substance, educating the public and through budget discussions.
Despite upstate New York being home to several gun manufacturers and the reluctance of the New York Senate GOP, New York is poised to become among the first states to pass new gun control measures in the aftermath of the Newtown, Connecticut school massacre. Governor Cuomo has outlined a gun control agenda that would require regular renewal of gun licenses, broaden the banned category of weapons characterized as assault weapons, limit the size of gun magazines and potentially strengthen mental health record screenings.
“I feel it is most important for the public to be informed [about] what we are proposing to do. All of the issues that have been highlighted here speak to the issues of ‘quality of life’ that our people are experiencing in the communities,” said Assemblywoman Annette Robinson. “We’re talking about increasing the minimum wage, about health care, education, stop-and-frisk, marijuana arrests, a whole plethora of issues that affect the quality of life of our constituents. They need to know that we are online for them to make a difference.”
“We are going into session and we are going to be discussing these issues with the governor. Many of them he has indicated – gun violence, a minimum wage increase and marijuana,” said Robinson. “Hopefully, in the State of the State Address that will take place on Wednesday, they will be included in his State of the State address along with certain other issues that we need to put forward.”
Robinson noted that many of the issues have already been supported on the Assembly side. “The issue is when it goes to the Senate side for it to be supported and passed. Then we can take care of business for the people, and then, of course, it goes to the governor’s office. When it goes to the Senate side it is a different issue. That is what the difference is,” said Robinson. “We are hitting the ground early on these issues so that we can begin the greater discussions as to what needs to take place.”
Robinson stated “New York State voters need “call the governor’s office. They need to call the Senate leader Dean Skelos and let him know ‘We support these initiatives.’ The issues we’re talking about need to be supported on the other side of the aisle. When the leadership speaks to that, it makes a difference.”
“I think it’s important that we talk about the approach, setting the tone for this upcoming legislative session. Some of this legislation is being recycled. Sometimes it is the approach as legislators, advocates and labor leaders that will bring about different results,” said Assemblyman Walter Mosley. “I think that Chairman Camara has taken the initiative to be a lot more proactive. We’re in this together. Ultimately, we want to pass legislation that’s going to benefit the people of our great state. We’ve seen so many times people falling to gun violence, people not being able to make a decent living wage, people not having opportunities for employment or after-school programs. These are all issues within this package of legislation that we are looking forward to not only presenting to the governor and our respective houses, but passing this legislative cycle. It’s time.”
“We felt it was very significant going into 2013 — with perilous economic times we are in and the uncertainty of Senate leadership — that it was very important that we come together as members to assert our agenda,” said Camara.
“We are here to tell the Senate, ‘You cannot wait till March 30 or March 31 to debate these issues. We need to talk about them now.’ We need to pass them now because they have a real impact on New Yorkers.” Camara added, “We can’t wait until midnight negotiations and have these issues held up as carrots or sticks for transactional politics. These issues impact our communities on a daily basis. We have to insist that the bi-partisan coalition follow a progressive agenda. That is what the voters said. Not only did they vote for a president, but they voted for issues that impact our daily existence.”
Camara recommends voters throughout New York State to call the Senate leadership, call the members of the Senate bipartisan coalition “and tell them that you need them to address the issues that Americans and that New Yorkers think are dear to them. New Yorkers made a decision. New Yorkers decided the leadership that they wanted. They decided the issues and now as elected officials we have to follow their wishes in terms of the issues.”
“I think it is valuable for us (as elected officials) to communicate with our constituencies about the things that we stand for. Whether it’s the news or on our websites, they can educate themselves about the things we are going to be pushing for, and then hold us accountable, whether it’s the governor, whether it’s the Senate, the Assembly, the City Council,” said Senator Gustavo Rivera. “They need to be in communication with our offices and with us. Call our offices. Visit our offices [in our districts or] in Albany.”
Rivera added, “It is up to us to make sure we can push forward an agenda, but we need to do it with the support of our constituencies.”
On Monday, Senator Rivera referred to the leadership plan under Republican Conference Leader Dean Skelos and Independent Democrats Conference (IDC) Leader Jeff Klein as a “coalition government” that is “an unworkable arrangement.” Rivera said the scheduled first session was to take place on Tuesday, and then got pushed back to Wednesday.
At the beginning of the week, Rivera said, “We have not even a draft of what this agreement the ‘coalition government’ is going to look like, which I think speaks for itself.” Rivera recalled that “a few weeks ago Skelos said, ‘Our agenda hasn’t changed.’ That should tell you everything you need to know right now. If the Republican agenda hasn’t changed, then they are not going to be pushing for the progressive agenda New Yorkers voted for.”
The Senate GOP/IDC leadership agreement was released close to midnight on Tuesday. The agreement established three separate conferences with the GOP/IDC forming a “majority coalition.” The GOP and IDC would have equal authority to bring legislation to the floor for a vote. The Chairman of the Senate Rules Committee will be the conference leader with the most members, which between the GOP and the IDC is Dean Skelos. Both state Senators Dean Skelos and Jeff Klein have signs posted outside their office that state: “Temporary President of the Senate.”
According to the agreement, the Majority Coalition would receive 71% of member-item allocations, leaving 29% available for the Democratic Conference.
Regarding the unusual rules change, Senate Democratic Spokesman Mike Murphy said, “The rules were made available close to midnight before the vote and we still don’t have all the answers to how this unprecedented and unusual control agreement will work. The people of New York deserve clear answers and deserve to know they will get the progressive government they demanded and the Senate Democrats will work to ensure that happens.”
Senator Bill Perkins held out hope on Monday. “Marriage Equality was not on the agenda of the Republican Senate until the governor decided. So that gives me great faith in the kind of leadership we have in the governor that this agenda can be fulfilled. I am looking forward to working with the governor to make sure that the people of this state get the benefits of this legislation that has been proposed.” Perkins added, “It is very important that the public understand where we are trying to go on behalf of our constituencies around the state. We are very sensitive to how our constituents understand what we are doing.”
