Who Is a Manager?
A manager is person responsible for work performance
of group members.
Has formal authority to commit organizational resources.
Management is process of using organizational
resources to achieve objectives through the functions of
planning, organizing and staffing, and leading.
Levels of Management
1. Top-level managers (executives) are empowered to
make major decisions.
2. Term C-level manager refers to top-level manager
with “chief” in title.
3. Middle-level managers are layer between top- and
first-level managers.
4. First-level managers or supervisors manage
operatives.
Types of Managers
Functional managers supervise workers in special
activities, such as accounting.
General managers are responsible for groups performing
a variety of functions.
Administrators are managers in public and nonprofit
organizations.
Entrepreneurs and small-business owners.
Team leaders are catalysts and facilitators.
The Process of Management
Managerial work is a process—a series of actions that
brings about a goal.
To achieve that objective, the manager (a) uses four
types of resources, and (b) carries out the four
managerial functions. (See slides 6 and 7. )
Resources Used by Managers
Managers use four types of resources:
1. Human resources (the workers)
2. Financial resources (the money)
3. Physical resources (tangible goods and real estate)
4. Information resources (data used to accomplish the
job; as knowledge workers, managers need
information resources)
The Four Managerial Functions
1. Planning is setting and attaining goals.
2. Organizing and staffing obtains human and physical
resources to get job done.
3. Leading influences others to achieve organizational
objectives. Leaders also execute to accomplish goals.
4. Controlling ensures that performance conforms to
plans.
Executives plan the most; supervisors lead face-to-face the
most.
The Seventeen Managerial Roles
Planning: (1) strategic planner, (2) operational planner.
Organizing and staffing: (3) organizer, (4) liaison, (5)
staffing coordinator, (6) resource allocator, (7) task
delegator. (Talent management is concentrated in
staffing coordinator and resource allocator roles.)
The Seventeen Managerial Roles,
continued
Leading: (8) motivator and coach, (9) figurehead, (10)
spokesperson, (11) negotiator, (12) team builder, (13)
team player, (14) technical problem solver, (15)
entrepreneur.
Controlling: (16) monitoring, (17) disturbance handler.
Managers take on right role at right time.
Managerial Roles Currently Emphasized
Managerial work has shifted substantially away from the
controller and director role.
Current emphasis is on being a coach, facilitator, and
supporter.
Many managers today work as partners with team
members to jointly achieve results.
Influence of Management Level on Managerial Roles
Manager’s level of responsibility influences which role he
or she is likely to engage in most frequently.
Most important roles for top-level managers are liaison,
spokesperson, figurehead, and strategic planner.
First-level manager might emphasize roles of motivator
and coach, and technical problem solver.
Management as a Practice
Management more of a practice than science or
profession.
Managers use some systematic knowledge, but rely also
on intuition.
Management not a profession in sense of being licensed
occupation.
Public trust would be gained if management became a
profession that followed an ethical code.
Management as a Practice,
continued
Management would become more professionalized with
use of evidence-based management—the systematic use
of the best available evidence to improve managerial
practice.
Would mean that managers rely on both scientific as well
as local business evidence.
Study and research would be required.
The Five Managerial Skills
1. Technical skill involves and understanding of or
proficiency in specific technique.
2. Interpersonal skill is manager’s ability to work
effectively as a team member and to build cooperative
effort in the unit. Multiculturalism is important subset
of interpersonal skill.
The Five Managerial Skills,
continued
3. Conceptual skill is ability to see the organization as
total entity (the “big picture”). Needed for strategic
planning.
4. Diagnostic skill is investigating a problem and choosing
course of action to solve it.
5. Political skill is ability to acquire power to achieve
objectives. Understanding of people is required.
Should be a supplement to job competence.
Development of Managerial
Skills
Experience and education—including formal training—
both required for development of management skills.
Managerial skills can be learned from book or lecture, but
should then be applied using the general learning model,
as shown next.
General Learning Model
1. Conceptual information and behavioral guidelines
2. Conceptual information shown by examples
3. Skill-development exercises
4. Feedback on skill utilization from others
5. Frequent practice plus making adjustments from
feedback
