Kinds of Management

The most common view considers three basic levels; top, middle, and first line managers.

• Top managers

Top managers make up the relatively small group of executives who control the organization Titles found in the group include president, vice president, and chief executive officer (C.E.O).

They establish organization’s goals, overall strategy and operating policies. They officially represent the organization to the external environment by meeting with government officials, executives of other organization’s etc.

The job is likely to be complex and varied. They make decisions about such activities as acquiring other companies, investing, research and development, entering or abandoning various markets, and building new plants and office facilities. They often work long hours and spend much of their time in meetings or on the telephone.

• Middle managers

Probably the largest group of managers in most organization.

Common middle management titles title’s including:

i. Plant Managers

ii. Operation Manager

iii. Head of Division

Middle managers are primarily responsible for implementing the policies and plans developed by top management and for supervising and coordinating the activities of lower level managers. Plant managers for example handle inventory management, quality control equipment facilities, minor union problems and co-ordinate the work of supervisors within the plant.

Note: Thinning ranks of middle managers lowers cost and rid organization of excess bureaucracy.

• First line managers

These managers supervise and coordinate the activities of operating employees.

Common titles are:

I. Foreman

II. Supervisor

III. Office manager

These are the first positions held by employees who enter management from the ranks of operating personnel. They typically spend large proportion of their time supervising the work of subordinates.

Differentiation by Areas of Management

Regardless of their level, managers may work in various areas within an organization for example, marketing, financial operation, human resource, administrative, and other kinds of manager’s at all three levels.

i. Marketing managers

They work in areas relating to the marketing function, getting consumers, and clients to buy the organization products or services.These areas include new product development, promotion and distribution. Marketing is of great importance to virtually all organizations, thus it is critical to develop good managers.

ii. Financial managers

Deals primarily with an organization financial resources. They are responsible for activities such as accounting, cash management, and investments.

iii. Operations manager

They are concerned with creating and managing the systems that create organizations products and services .Their responsibilities include production control, inventory control, quality control, and plant layout and site selection.

iv. Human resource managers

They are responsible for hiring and developing employees. They are typically involved in human resource planning:

♤ Employee recruitment and selection

♤ Training and development

♤ Designing compensation and benefits system

♤ Formulating performance appraisal systems and discharging low performance and problem employees

v. Administrative managers

Also called general managers. They are not associated with any particular management specialty. For example, clinic or hospital administrators.

They tend to be generalized. They have some basic familiarity with all functional areas of management rather than specialized training in any one area.

CRITICAL ROLES AND SKILLS OF MANAGERS

Managerial roles

Managers play ten different roles and these roles fall into three basic categories;

♤ Interpersonal

♤ Informational

♤ Decisional

a) Interpersonal roles

They include figure head, leader and liaison role.

i. Figure head –Taking visitors to dinner, attending ribbon-cutting ceremonies, etc. These activities are typically more ceremonial and symbolic than substantive.

ii. Leader –Hiring ,training and motivating employees. A manager who formally or informally shows subordinates how to do things and how to perform under pressure is leading.

iii. Liaison role –Often involves serving as a coordinator or link between groups or organizations.

b) Informational roles

The three informational roles flow naturally from the interpersonal roles. The process of carrying out these roles place the manager at a strategic point to gather and disseminate information. These roles include the monitor, disseminator, and spokesperson.

i. Monitor – One who actively seeks information that may be of value .The manager questions subordinates, is receptive to unsolicited information, and attempts to be as well informed as possible.

ii. Disseminator – Manager is a disseminator of information, transmitting relevant information back to others in the workplace. Being a monitor and disseminator the manager is vital link in the organizations chains of communication.

iii. Spokesperson –This focuses on external communication. The spokesperson formerly relays information to people outside the unit or outside the organization.

c) Decisional roles

The information acquired by the mangers as a result of performing the informational roles has a significant bearing on important decisions that they make, that is, entrepreneur disturbance handler, resource allocator, and negotiator.

i. Entrepreneur –This is the voluntary initiator of change, then sell it to other skeptical managers inside the compound.

ii. Disturbance handler – Manager handles such problems as strikes, copyright infringements, and energy shortages.

iii. Resource allocator – As a resource allocator, the manager decides how resources are distributed and with whom he/she will work most closely. A manager typically allocates the funds in the unit’s operating budgets among the unit’s members and projects.

iv. Negotiator – The manager enters into negotiations with other groups or organization as representative of the company. For example, managers may negotiate a union contract, an agreement with a consultant, or a long-term relationship with a supplier.

Negotiations may also be internal to the organization. The manager may for instance, negotiate a dispute between two subordinates or negotiate with another department for additional support.