'resources'

Question

Hi,Please have a look at this:"The fact is that in some organisations the senior managers see themselves as competing against one another. In tough times they compete for resources by doing things such as hiding information to make themselves look better while blaming their peers in subtle ways."What does 'resources' here mean? Does it mean 'practical abilities'?Many thanks,Nessie.

RayH · Accepted Answer

nessie000What does 'resources' here mean?

Anything they need to do their jobs. Money, people, office space, time, equipment, etc.

Nessie000 · Answer

Thank you very much, RayH

By the way, I have something else to ask (involving the last sentences - so I post it here):

"The fact is that in some organisations the senior managers see themselves as competing against one another. In tough times they compete for resources by doing things such as hiding information to make themselves look better while blaming their peers in subtle ways. Discussions in meetings can degenerate into personal attacks. Emotion can run high. As a leader you must suppress the bickering and internal competition, and mold your direct reports into a team that can stand the test."

What does the bold part mean?

Many thanks once again,

Nessie.

RayH · Answer

nessie000and mold your direct reports into a team that can stand the test."

"direct report" is a bit of "business speak" that I find distasteful, to say the least.

A "direct report" is a person who works under someone. If Fred works for Joe then Joe would speak of Fred as his (Joe's) direct report.

So, it means:
mold--form, shape, convert

your direct reports--those who work directly for you
into a team

that can stand the test--will do what the managers want done

Here is a more or less direct translation:

Convert those who work directly for you from a group of individuals into a team that will do what management wants done.

Nessie000 · Answer

Thank you very much, RayH.

But I still have a question to ask: 'to stand the test' here means 'to do what the managers want done'? Then how does that relate to the idea in former sentences? (How useful is it to the matter of managers 'attacking' each other?

Many thanks,

Nessie.

RayH · Answer

"The fact is that in some organisations the senior managers see themselves as competing against one another. In tough times they compete for resources by doing things such as hiding information to make themselves look better while blaming their peers in subtle ways. Discussions in meetings can degenerate into personal attacks. Emotion can run high. As a leader you must suppress the bickering and internal competition, and mold your direct reports into a team that can stand the test."

The whole point of this rant is to impress on the audience that their job is to see to it that their "direct reports" don't engage in the undesirable behavior described (blaming each other, hiding information, etc.) and thus are able to do their jobs efficiently.

'resources'

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