GROUP MEMBERS: Zain Khan, Nimra Sarfaraz , Zia-Ul-Haq Abbasi, Ali farhan and Muzamil Jutt.

DAWN BREAD CAPITAL FOODS (PVT) LTD (15-E Naseerabad, Peshawar Road, Rawalpindi-Pakistan)

S.A BUKHARI CEO

RAJA AWAIS NASIM (From whom the interview was taken) FINANCE MANAGER (0332-5027480.awais.mb081069@gmail.com) INTRODUCTION Ans.1: I got hired in this company in year 2005 as Account Assistant. Then I got promoted as Assistant manager accounts. I have done Bachelors in commerce and MBA from Mohammed Ali Jinnah University. Of course the subjects which I was studying and the education field in which I was, it was certain that one day I would be a manager in a company or a bank, so I knew it all along. Ans.2: I did my internship in a bank that helped me a lot in my current job. My education has also guided me in different complicated matters and has helped me in becoming a good and successful manager. Our Ex-Finance manager, Mr. Khalid Waris gave me many tips regarding managing accounts and other stuff. He had a lot of contribution in my training. My colleagues and seniors told me the golden principles of a successful manager and how to carry on managerial role. Ans.3: As I am a Finance Manager, my work is restricted to Finance Department only. The areas which I tend to spend most of my time are making Investment Decision, Budgeting, Financing Decision, Short term funding and Financial Management. Cash, Inventory and Debtors management is also a key area in which I work also. PLANNING

Ans.4: We found that mission statements can affect financial performance, however, not as one might have anticipated initially. Several mediating elements were observed to exist. For instance, commitment to the mission and the degree to which an organization aligns its internal structure, policies and procedures with its mission were both found to be positively associated with employee behavior. It was this latter variable which was observed, in turn, to have the most direct relationship with financial performance. It has certainly an impact on our department also. Our mission statement intends to motivate the behaviors of organizational members toward common organizational goal. It provide us context for strategy. It boosts our confidence and helps us in achieving our goals that are to provide high tech innovative solutions to meet customers requirements and to create sustainable value through growth, efficiency and diversity for all stakeholders. Ans.5: Our company strategic planning process contains the following steps: Mission and Objectives (Guided by the business vision, our firm's leaders can define measurable financial and strategic objectives. Financial objectives involve measures such as sales targets and earnings growth. Strategic objectives are related to the firm's business position, and include measures such as market share and reputation) Environmental Scanning (Internal analysis of the firm, Analysis of the firms industry, external macro environment) Strategy Formulation (To develop a competitive advantage) Strategy Implementation (Implementation involves organization of the firm's resources and motivation of the staff to achieve objectives) Evaluation and Control (Performance measurements, compare the measured results to the pre defined standard, make necessary change)

Ans.6: Strategic planning process has a great impact on our department. Actually we do follow this planning process in our daily routine work. It serves as a guideline. We have our own department level missions and objectives, gathering information, strategy formulation, strategy implementation and evaluation and control. Mission of our department is to provide timely, relevant and accurate financial information to stake holders and top management. Our companys Finance Departments goals are to insure complete and accurate accounting of all transactions and to report all financial information in accordance with state and local laws. Our objectives are: We have no long term or short term loan, so it is our objective to maintain this financial status of having no loan We will invest in other projects outside our organization and get reasonable amount of return on investment To maintain collaboration, mutual respect and productive working relationships Increase in 20.5% of the current revenues in next 3 years

Will acquire 10 leased delivery vans in next 3 years Launching of more different types of frozen food next year Achievement of clean audit Develop accurate budget

Ans.7: Goals are established through our boss and upper management. The meaning of goals and objectives should be clear to us as this will decide that where we are now and where we need to be headed. This encourages us to put substantial efforts. There is exchange of information before making decisions and our ideas are given preference. Goals and objectives given to us support the strategic plan of our organization because our department is an important part of the organization. Finance is the lifeblood of every organization and it cannot further achieve its objectives without accomplishing financial tasks. As in the above mentioned answer of your question, it is clear that how our goals and objectives support the overall strategic process of our company and makes it able to carry on its activities by following the strategic plan. Ans.8: We use monthly and annually planning process in our organization for internal and external reporting. No one can really measure the time being spent planning work but yes a considerable time period is given to plan work and implementing it in the desired direction. ORGANIZATION Ans.9: Our Department is organized into administrative and four divisions: The Office of the Director, Accounting, Revenue, and Financial Management. The Department interacts with and supports all departments and agencies of the organization through the provision of comprehensive financial services. This includes responsibility for the organization's accounting system, treasury management, banking services, debt administration, and investment portfolio management, along with the coordination and implementation of related internal controls. In addition, the Department provides financial oversight for the organizations comprehensive Risk Management and Employee Benefits Programs, as well as accounting and other financial services for the Pension Fund. The Finance Department calculates and publishes the Effective Tax Rates also. We also use ORACLE based customize software to get inter-connected with other departments and to remain organized. Ans.10: (Skip) Ans.11: No, there are no such alternate ways but I think that coordination and understanding among employees and with top management is the only alternate way for a department to be organized if it has no above mentioned (Q.9) divisions and delegated authorities. Job rotation and manual work could help a department to get more organized and to perform better than before. Ans.12: Before becoming a Finance Manager I used to get orders and work from my seniors. I had a good experience regarding delegation due to the interaction of top management and seniors with the subordinates. I am still using that principle after becoming a manager. I have links with my juniors/subordinates and have a very strong mental relationship with them. You can say that

new managers should possess this quality and be aware of the norms and structure of organization. Rules and regulations should be considered. There is a chain of command in every organization and one should follow it. He should be friendly and must assign work according to the abilities and capabilities of employees. We should be in touch with our subordinates and should help them during their training or work. DIRECTING Ans.13: We believe in the fact that communication is extremely important both between and within levels. Those days are gone when some impenetrable barriers kept the departments isolated from the rest of the organization, as silos. To solve organizational challenges and achieve strategic objectives everyone in the organization needs to collaborate closely. It is the need of time as the competition is fierce and it is hard to survive in these conditions. In our organization various ways are used to communicate with employees like face to face communication, emails, printed newsletter, video conferencing, blogs and company website. Within our department we use face to face communication in our common discussions and for providing instructions to subordinates. Employees are free to discuss their problems through emails and can post their queries on the website also. Conferences/meetings are also organized to share ideas and arrange interactive sessions. Blogs are mostly written by our CEO for communicating with the employees. Printed newsletters are also given preference by our employees, as they still value something which they can hold in their hands. As far as my opinion is concerned, all these methods provide effective results in their own respect. If utilized in a proper manner all of these can generate efficient communication. Still, I consider face to face communication to be the most effective way to communicate with employees, since it involves higher level of interaction and exchange of thoughts. Ans.14: All the important organizational and job related information is passed on using the common communication methods just discussed in the previous question. However, some other ways are employee forums, strategic rounding and communication boards. Employee forums include the companywide meetings held regularly to update employees on how the business is progressing, strategic rounding involves the personal connections that leaders make by taking an hour or so to touch base with employees and find out how the workload is carried out and communication boards refer to the bulletin boards placed at common places to inform about the industry changes, organizations activities etc. Keeping employees informed is an important task in any organization. Now, as far as the communication of tasks is concerned we use task publishing. First a list of tasks is prepared, then employee assignment is set and tasks are published on ftp server. Then employees access the ftp server, review published tasks and get down to work. Such a workflow is based on simple collaboration through task publishing. Through this software we are able to save time, money and resources for the sake of information exchange. Ans.15: We have had a good experience with using teams or groups, as we believe in the fact that one individual cannot solve all the problems of the world. Most of the tasks within my own department are also team based for instance budget preparation and risk evaluation etc. It is observed that the major benefits achieved by our organization through team work are,

Higher productivity attained by working together than by working separately or in large unstructured groups. Greater motivation and effort. Increased innovation and creativity. Higher collaboration and focused approach of teams, lead to lesser chances of faults. Flexibility to changing conditions. Fair division of work, resources and rewards.

Teams are not just easily formed rather they have to be developed, facilitated and motivated. The competitive nature of business today provides challenges for all organizations. Highperformance teams help us realize the successful results of our organizational strategy at a lower cost than would otherwise be possible. Our positive experiences have forced us to believe that the synergy developed by high-performance teams produces outcomes where the sum of the result is greater than the sum of the parts. However, we have also faced some minor problems regarding slight conflicts among our team members. This has resulted in somewhat a poor performance of our teams and at times our targets were not met completely. Therefore we made more efforts to train our employees to adjust in the team working environment, which is necessary to achieve success in todays corporate world. Ans.16: Employee motivation is an extremely important area, as job satisfaction and productivity are deeply linked with each other. The common means to motivate the employees are the pecuniary ones, in the form of money or benefits. However, as a manager I consider the non tangible rewards equally important to motivate employees and sometimes they do play a more prominent role. Within my own department I do give preference to both types of rewards according to the needs of employees. Besides the monetary rewards for better performance and creative ideas, we do motivate employees with, An open and interactive culture. Genuine management and leadership. Quality of work life, for instance providing flexible working hours. Fairness at work, including promoting equality and diversity. Diverse and interesting work/tasks. High-quality training and development, for instance encouragement to study for professional qualifications. Consistent and proactive communication. Recognition of work and positive feedback. Opportunity to socialize with people.

Ans.17: Leaders across organizations and regions have differed widely in their personality traits and life stories. Some have been charismatic, some very modest. Some came from poor backgrounds; others grew up amid great wealth. Some of them came by their leadership abilities naturally, and many others worked hard at developing them. But in my opinion the three critical skills that make an effective leadership possible are an inspiring vision of success, excellence at communication and superior judgment. I believe that to lead our organizations effectively through today's economic turmoil, we all will benefit if we master those very same skills. There

is no secret recipe or magical formula to become an effective leader overnight. It is a process of trial and error, successes and failures. Some people are certainly more successful in leadership roles than others because they have polished their skills and developed essential characteristics in themselves. Leadership is deemed to be effective when group performs well, subordinates are satisfied and significant changes occur accordingly. Ans.18: Yes, definitely there is a difference between the two concepts, however both are mostly linked and used in a complementary manner. I think that both go hand in hand and complete each other. Management is basically a method to control things such as planning, organizing, budgeting, reporting and so on. Good management means that, even in the most complex of organizations, things happen in an orderly and controlled fashion. On the other hand leadership is the process of initiating and coping with change, compelling the organizations to face constant changes. The main focus of management is to control complex processes while leadership deals with challenging the existing ways of doing things and setting new targets for the organization. The manager has a short term view and administers, whereas a leader has a long term perspective and innovates. However, I agree with the common belief that today the characteristics of a manager and a leader cannot be separated. People look towards us, not just to assign them a task, but to define for them a purpose. And we must organize workers, not just to maximize efficiency, but to nurture skills, develop talent and inspire results. Ans.19: As I have already explained that roles of managers and leaders are different and require different skills and abilities, but as the conditions are changing both of these concepts need to support each other. They also do have some similarities for instance both involve influence, working with people, concern about effective goal accomplishment etc. Being a finance manager it is important for me to inculcate in myself the characteristics of a leader to gain maximum benefits. Leadership adds an extra flavor to management or in other words it is practiced in addition to management. In the case of typical management, managers only think and workers perform whereas in a leadership both leaders and workers think, do and lead. They broaden their thinking and assume responsibility for their actions. It is important for both managers and leaders to adopt the positive aspects of each other to survive in a competing environment. CONTROLLING Ans.20: The minor problems related to the disciplining of employees are easily managed by me, regarding the routine working issues. However, I report the serious cases to my top management, where it is impossible for me to handle the situation or where I need to ask permission for taking a strong action against a specific employee. These cases occur quite rarely, so I need not to consult the top managers for any solutions. However, as the employees are professionals and competent people, therefore I have not much of an experience related to poor discipline of employees. Ans.21: As far as budget preparation is concerned I assist in preparing reports, compiling and gathering relevant data. The budget is prepared by the head office located in Karachi, based on our data and information. It is my primary responsibility to make sure that the data is accurate,

precise and relevant. If there are some faults in it, then it would result in poor budgets and misallocation of funds. Ans.22: We use Oracle software as MIS for our organization, which has a positive impact on planning, structure and decision making. It helps us in forecasting, product improvement and development. Decision support system is being used by executives for short term and long term decision making. All the employees are restricted to relevant information through our internal networking system. With a good MIS support, the management of marketing, finance, production and personnel becomes more efficient, the tracking and monitoring the functional targets becomes easy. The functional managers are informed about the progress, achievements and shortfalls in the activity and the targets. Business environment is prone to changes and this makes business planning very complex. Some factors such as the market forces, technological changes, complex diversity of business and competition have a significant impact on any business prospects. Our MIS is designed to assess and monitor these factors. The MIS design is supposed to provide some insight into these factors enabling the management to evolve some strategy to deal with them. MIS has certain other characteristics for the top management. It contains forecasting models to probe into the future-the business model for evaluation of the strategy performance by simulation business conditions. Our departments are well connected, highly informed and well integrated through supportive Oracle software used. GENERAL Ans.23: In my opinion good communication, proper organization, team building and leadership are some characteristics of good managers. The qualities of an effective manager are extensive. Today's effective managers are skilled communicators, decision makers, motivators and even guidance counselors. As an effective manager, you provide the goals, the direction on how to achieve these goals and the motivation and guidance required. You set the standards for others to follow. An effective manager will reduce waste, streamline processes and improve the quality of product or service by boosting the morale of the people around him/her. Ans.24: It is funny that how I have always thought that the boss has an easy life and now I am faced with a never-ending series of interrelationships. My days are filled with talking, listening, e-mailing, telephoning, meeting, pleading, negotiating and compromising. On top of that, I am probably the first to arrive and the last to leave, and I have to worry about the whole department not just my performance only. I consider the most difficult part of my job is to keep all the employees on a single track and to be involved in the process of conflict resolution. It is a complicated procedure to judge rightly and resolve the conflicts among employees. Ans.25: Considering my own experiences and by observing others, I can state that planning and controlling are the areas of management that tend to give the first time managers the greatest difficulty. Planning is the initial stage of the management process where the future courses of action are chalked out and it is determined that when, how and who is going to perform a

specific task. It is critical for the first time managers to formulate effective plans and they need to be more careful at this stage. I believe that it is absolutely true that a good plan is half done. Therefore it is imperative for the first time managers to have a clear perspective and to cope with the challenges of this fundamental function of management. Then the second area is of control, where the first time managers may face problems. Generally, control is considered as the most difficult function of management. Formulating a plan, organizing people and establishing the structure does not ensure that everything is going well. Control is making sure that something happens the way it was planned to happen. Control involves setting a target, measuring actual performance and taking corrective actions. The first time managers are new to their positions and it becomes hard for them to maintain the control process and may result in excessive faults and poor outcomes. Ans.26: It is observed that first-time managers display a lot of enthusiasm, determination, selfdiscipline, and of course those key skills that earned them the promotion in the first place. It is important for them to keep on holding to those skills in the future as well. Yet they face an overwhelming variety of challenges that they have not been trained or groomed for when first promoted to managerial positions, as has been in my case as well. They are no longer responsible for accomplishing projects on their own; they are assessed on how they mobilize a team to meet the set targets. The life of a manager undergoes a complete transformation from a solo performer to a responsible parent. The needs of others are given more preference than individual needs of managers. To be successful in their new role, first-time managers must be able to communicate, delegate, mentor, motivate, and solve problems on a team level. Among various skills like empathy, persuasion, leadership etc, I consider communication and problem solving skills to be the most essential for the first time managers. Ans.27: I have always believed in my capabilities to become a manager and after achieving my aim I cherish each and every moment of it. It is remarkably rewarding working with a team of people who genuinely love what they do and are highly talented and dedicated towards the organizational goals. It is a self satisfying experience to solve the problems of my subordinates and enhance my personal skills by working with them. It is gratifying to see the accomplishments of our targets and the contributions we make in the organizations progress. The personal relationship I enjoy with my coworkers and subordinates is also remarkable and I shall always value it. Ans.28: Although being a manger has been my aim and I have worked hard to get here, nonetheless I face many frustrations at the workplace and sometimes get exasperated at various issues. The most prominent of these are the problems I encounter when communicating with some employees. At times there are some serious shortcomings in the communication process and I am not able to convey my thinking to the subordinates in an effective manner, even after trying hard to do so. This is somewhat frustrating for me, since I am not able to identify what the actual problem is, resulting in time wastage. Another aspect which infuriates me is to deal with the employees having low morale. Sometimes it becomes impossible to motivate them and

productivity suffers leading to poor outcomes. It becomes extremely difficult to cope with the challenges created by internal factors and I am unable to find the right forces that motivate such people. Therefore, lack of proper communication and motivational problems are quite frustrating for me as a manager, especially when the deadlines are short and any delays can cause enormous damage to the department and ultimately the organization.