MAS holdings: An overview

MAS holdings An overviewMAS Holdings is a large apparel manufacturer in Sri Lanka, whose partners are to a fault round other well-kn protest fashion brands in the world including Victoria Secret, Gap, Inc., Nike etc., as introduced by Watson and Story (2006). Its active us website also states that MAS is now a large in South Asian in undergarment and sportswear manufacturing industry with more than USD 700 million of revenue every year. The partnerships history was described thoroughly by Watson and Story (2006), from which a number of reasons for its success could be figured out. However, the factors standing out from those reasons were from its management activities. This assignment is going to analyse the above aspects with the MAS case tuition by Watson and Story (2006).The first thing to be discussed is how the MASs manager helped it flourish. In this case, the roles of a manager in the general context of commerce should be considered. According to Mintzberg (1973) in Bodd y (2008), there are 10 roles for a manager to play in total. Those roles are divided into 3 briny categories studyal roles, interpersonal roles and decisional roles and so described by Mintzberg (1973) in Boddy (2008). Informational roles are required from managers for the information inside and outside of the organisation to be received and transferred. This includes monitor (finding and acquiring information), disseminator (passing the information acquired) and spokesperson (passing the information to out of the company). Interpersonal roles are required from managers to build and maintain traffichips among people in the company and also with people outside, which establish of figurehead (representing the organisation in formal events), leader (making people do their jobs and help them to improve) and liaison (net workings between the business and its stakeholders). Decisional roles are required for managers to make well(p) decisions for the firm including entrepreneur (crea ting new things, making significant transfers, catching opportunities and indicating development routes), disturbance handler (solving accidental problems or changes), resource allocator (distributing the resources of the organisation to the castigate-hand(a) sector with the right amount and in the right time) and negotiator (convincing the stakeholders). Mintzberg (1973) suggested in Boddy (2008) that every manager plays all of these roles, however the priority of apiece role may vary depending on his/her position.In the case study of MAS by Watson and Story (2006), there were a variety of evidences supporting the application of the above roles. Firstly, the informational roles could be prove by the way the production line was supervised The supervisors walk through each cluster of machines, making notes. They sync their Palm Pilots to the central database to post their lines sure efficiency and productivity numbers on the electronic boards overhead. (Watson and Story (2006) , varlet 5), which showed the monitor and disseminator roles. With this method, the production management of MAS became very professional that enabled itself and its partner to infinitely track the production progress and make changes when necessary to increase efficiency or to meet the new demand, while creating a good image for MAS as a reliable manufacturer. On the other hand, the interpersonal roles were proved mainly by leadership. In this aspect, the MASs managers, especially the Amaleans who chose follow an ethical business concept, act to motivate the employees by a very high-quality working environment and by the provision of life supports, training, education, as well as promotion prospects, which helped some model(prenominal) persons like TNS Kumari to noticeably change their poor lives. As a result, this again created another good image for MAS, this time as a business doing the right thing (not the sweatshops bias in apparel industry at that time), attracted more loc al talent who tend to seek opportunities overseas and maintain strong relationships between the company and employees, which were important for further development. Last but not least, the decisional roles were proved mainly by entrepreneurship. The entrepreneurship of MASs managers is illustrated through the fact that the Amaleans started their own business, created new units (two IT branches, an own brand Amante in 2007 as introduced in Amante page on MAS Website) looked for and caught opportunities (creating joint ventures with several famous fashion brands then learn from them the modern technology and business practice) and decided the paths of development (concentrating on lingerie manufacturing, reaching high technology by partnership with Speedo). These were some of the major decisions that boost MASs growth from a USD 6 million annual revenue firm in 1990 to an over USD 570 million annual revenue one in 2005, according to Exhibit 2, page 18 in Watson and Story (2006).The se cond topic of this assignment is the management snuggle. As Worthington and Britton (2009) said, in the general business context, there are 3 main approaches classical approach, merciful relations approach and systems approach. According to Worthington and Britton (2009), the classical approach is based on scientific management and bureaucracy, which were studied by Taylor (1856-1915) and Weber (1864-1920) respectively. The motive means increasing productivity by the one best way to do the job and by rewarding employees financially toward the common achievement of the organisation. The last mentioned insists on the formality of the organisation (the hierarchy). Next, the human relations approach, instead, focuses on the people, the social and psychological effects on their performance including motivations, leadership, communications and group dynamics and the unceremonious relationships in the formal environment, which was early studied by Elton Mayo (1880-1949). Lastly, the systems approach views the organisation as a collection of various correlative sections and if a change occurs with one section, the other sections will also have to change accordingly in order that the overall performance will not be undermined. This approach is considered to appear later and to be more complex than the two first ones.In the MAS case study by Watson and Story (2006), in respect of the definitions of different management approaches above, the human relation approach appeared to be most considerable. This approach was obviously supported by the concept of an ethical business in faction with several extra benefits which gives MASs employees a lot of incentives. Consequently, in the case study, it was mentioned that despite the cost of this business practice Even Sharad, the former CFO, thought that retribution came in different forms employees who embraced the company culture, higher productivity, lower downtime. At this point, the level of employees satisfaction s hould be measured, which can be done by Maslow needs hierarchy in Worthington and Britton (2009). There are 5 levels in this hierarchy physiological, safety, love, esteem and self-actualisation. As can be seen from the case study, most of these motives of MASs workers were met. For physiological needs, they were working in well-designed factories, able to have free breakfast and lunch as well as to use the on-site medical centre. For safety, the well-designed factories and the medical centre also gave a hand, in addition to the abuse-free working environment and the right to stop the production line when there are troubles. For love, the strong relationships had been built between the employees and the company itself, the employees and managers and the employees with each other through the friendly working environment and many extra activities. For esteem, the workers were assured that they were working in an ethical business with high boil standard and they also had chances to par ticipate in MAS Women Go Beyond programme. For self-actualisation, they were able to attend different kinds of classes or training and to have promotion opportunities. These examples made the human relations approach in MAS evident.In conclusion, the prosperity of MAS was notably influenced by the proper of different management theories, of which the most outstanding are the roles of managers and the human relations approach. While the roles of managers were well played in MAS and help sharply strengthen the business, the human relations approach did that from the very inside of the firm the satisfaction of each of the people working for it. MAS would still need these advantages for its further development and the way it runs might be a notable example for other companies.REFERENCEAbout us n.d Online MAS Holdings. Available http//www.masholdings.com/ Accessed 11 November 2009.Amante n.d Online MAS Holdings. Available http//www.masholdings.com/ Accessed 11 November 2009.Boddy, D. (20 08) Management An Introduction. 4th ed. Harlow Pearson Education.Watson, N. and Story, J. (2006) MAS Holdings Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility in the Apparel Industry. INSEAD.Worthington, I. and Britton, C. (2009) The Business Environment. sixth ed. Harlow Pearson Education.