Activity

Maaka Ltd is engaged in the production of cosmetics and healthcare products. The proprietor, Mr. Olupot, established Maaka Ltd in 2010 using his personal and family savings. The company started by employing three people, Mr. Olupot, his wife and their daughter. Maaka Ltd produces a range of products like cleansers, toners, moisturizers, fragrances and lotions. Although it started as a small enterprise, Maaka Ltd has grown and currently employs over 50 people including managers of the different departments, transporters, marketers, researchers, chemists and accountants.

As the company grew, the managers could not perform all the work themselves and this necessitated teamwork. Some managers who believed that they were the only experts in their departments have now started involving their subordinates. That has left them with some time to do other managerial work and plan for their departments.

The proprietor, Mr. Olupot, had been the man behind the finance department for fear that other people would cause financial losses to his company. Stuck with a backlog of un-cleared invoices, he opted to engage professional accountants who helped him to clear the backlog in the shortest time possible and according to his specifications.

Mr. Olupot’s move motivated other managers, even those who thought they were unable to involve their subordinates in decision making. This eased their work. Like Mr. Olupot, they were conscious that their control measures were not adequate to detect the problems arising from delegating to their subordinates. However, the subordinates were excited about the trust, recognition and were longing for similar opportunities since they learn a lot from such exercises. Mr. Wagoma is the manager behind research work. He for one was particularly always reluctant to involve subordinates since some of them were more qualified than him. However, more often than not he failed to meet the company deadlines. This is how he started involving his subordinates. He surprisingly realised that it did not take long before deadlines could be met.

Required:

1. Explain why the managers of Maaka Ltd had been reluctant to delegate to their subordinates.
2. Explain the benefits of delegation to the managers of Maaka Ltd.