Chevron Management Plan
To be an excellent manager, the management team in a company or business must possess a wide-range of skills ranging from organizing, controlling, planning, leading, communicating and motivating the employees to attain the set goals. Chevron Corporation, generally referred to as Chevron, is a multinational energy corporation situated and headquartered in California, in The United States of America. Founded in 1964, the company operates in roughly 200 countries all over the world. The multinational company is well known for its engagement in gas, oil and geothermal sector. Its dealings include chemical manufacturing and its sales; large scale exploration and production; generation of power as well as transporting, refining, and marketing. Chevron is among the best oil companies at the national as well as the international level. Over the last decade, it has been placed as America's 3rd largest company by leading business researchers. Chevron’s approach to management in various levels is remarkable. The basic functions of planning, organizing, controlling and leading the employees are the key drivers in the achievement of world class performance. For any company to succeed, the management program must be well crafted as it is critical to realizing company’s goals and objectives. For there to be success in management, leadership is the sole largest factor required for this. In Chevron, leaders establish the company’s vision and set goals that continually challenge the whole institution to develop as it attains world class results.
The first primary function of management is leading the taskforce that drives the company to success (Herring, 2008). The leaders develop/lead employees by directing the system processes of management. This helps to set priorities and additionally monitors progress on procedures that aim at attaining the highest positive impacts. The company leaders clearly reveal their dedication through personal commitment with the workforce and by demonstrating care for the health, welfare and safety of all employees as they help propel the company forward. Through company’s policies set by the management team (which leadership is part of), they show the same level of commitment in the protection of the environment, and process safety risk prevention. Through good leadership, employees are influenced to engage in work behavior by the management so as to reach the organizational goals. There are different types of leadership. The styles of leading have changed in comparison to the past. Some companies may still drag the old practices of autocracy. However at Chevron, managers exercise participative styles of management which focuses on interaction with different departments and leaders, as well as motivate the workforce. An interaction between the top management, middle management and with the employees will assist in creating a sense of belonging to all the groups involved, especially the employees in the company. As they get involved in decision making and policy implementation, they contribute more to the organization.
Planning in Chevron Management
At Chevron Corporation, consultative management is applied at all levels of decision and policy implementation processes. A management style is the method and means by which management performs its function of directing, controlling and coordinating (Davidson et al., 2009). Consultative management is a common style of management exercised by involving different teams in the development of procedures, processes and job safety analysis of all tasks. Planning is the most important part in management as it stipulates what needs to be done, when and for how long. Planning is crucial at Chevron Corporation, as a good plan allows the organization to know how to allocate the limited resources and settle on the best means to achieve its growth and success that is witnessed today. Before Chevron Corporation became a success in the oil and energy production industry, so much effort was put in planning (to set the goals), decision on the options available and also plan on allocation of resources were made. Some of the planning procedures include preparedness for potential emergencies, health and safety planning for all employees. The executive crisis management committee carries out yearly drills to prepare for a range of scenarios that may affect the corporation or require coordination across multiple operating companies.
The third management function is organizing the taskforce. This is not easy as it involves syncing all departments in the company to work as one in harmony, such, when none of them overrides the other. Chevron Corporation operates a number of vertically integrated companies. This means that the subsidiary companies operate oil related products also in large scale. Organization is crucial, for there has to be the harmony of processes especially in a company where oil companies have integrated in order to increase competitiveness at the global level. The organization at Chevron Corporation is commendable as the company maintains a high level of organization thanks to the integrated management.
The other function in management is controlling, which entails verifying whether all processes occur in conformities with the adopted plans, issuing instructions and establishing principles (Bartol et al., 2008). At Chevron Corporation, controlling ensures an effective and efficient utilization of managerial resources so that the planned goals are achieved. Here, the deviation of actual performance from the standard performance is measured and reported to top management. This function helps to discover the cause of a deviation and then the corrective action is to be taken.
Conclusion
In conclusion, management is a tough job that requires perfect harmony of the key primary functions in planning, organizing, controlling and leading the taskforce to achieve the set of a company’s goals. The four functions are inseparable in management. Without either of the four, the others are a meaningless exercise. In a large multinational corporation like Chevron, management must be at its best in order to ensure smooth running of the day to day activities. This paper supports how the company carries out its daily routines and how the management is organized from planning to control, and how it maintains the top rankings in the risky oil business.