Manager Skills

ABSTRACT

The aim of this essay is to investigate whether the work and skills of a manager are the same regardless of the level of their position within the organization. Through research conducted into three main theorists namely Henri Fayol, Henry Mintzberg and Robert L. Katz it is concluded that the core work functions a manager does are the same irrespective of position. The work roles in which a manager occupies within the organization are dependent upon the organization and their position within the organization. The skills that are needed by managers are universal to all managers but the composition of these skills is largely dependent upon the managersЎЇ position.

ÐŽoThe work and skills of managers are the same irrespective of the level of their position within the organizationÐŽ±

Introduction

A managerЎЇs job is essential to the smooth operation and profitability of an organization. Can we say that the work and skills that managers need are the same irrespective of their level within the organization?

The short answer to the question posed above is yes and no. The long answer is that managers of all levels will perform the same basic management work functions. The role and consequently the type of work the manager does will be dictated by the level of their position within the organization and the type of organization. To accomplish these work functions the manager needs core sets of skills, however the composition of these core sets of skills is dependent upon their level within the organisation.

Work Functions of Management

Henri Fayol (1841-1925) first proposed the ideas of an ordered set of management functions (Robbins, Bergman, Stagg, Coulter 2003, p. 41). Through FayolЎЇs involvement as managing director of a large French coal-mining firm he developed a framework of management activities (Robbins, et al., 2003, p. 41). The functions of management that Fayol devised included planning, organising, commanding, co-ordinating and controlling (Lamond 1998, p. 6). The idea of core functions that pervades every level of management was revolutionary when Fayol first wrote it and is still used as a framework for many textbooks (Robbins, et al., 2003, p. 9). Through refinement of FayolЎЇs five management functions it is now recognised that there are four distinct management functions: planning, organising, leading and controlling (Robbins, et al., 2003, p. 9).

Planning is defined as the decision-making process that all managers go through to identify goals and actions that an organization will follow (Robbins, et al., 2003, p. 9; Koontz, OЎЇDonnell, Weihrich, 1982, p. 27). Organizing is the part of management that involves arranging and co-ordinating work to achieve organisational goals (Robbins, et al., 2003, p. 9; Koontz, et al., 1982, p. 28). The manager must influence people so that they will work co-operatively and willingly to achieve these organisational goals, this is known as the leading function (Robbins, et al., 2003, p. 10; Koontz, et al., 1982, p. 29). Finally a manager must always control and monitor a subordinateЎЇs work this is the controlling function (Robbins, et al., 2003, p. 11; Koontz, et al., 1982, p. 29).

Through studies that included more than just observational activities, such as Williams (1956) and Hemphill (1959), it has been shown that managers at all levels undertake planning, co-ordination, control, and problem solving activities (Carrol and Gillen, 1987, p. 40). Through studies into effectiveness of managers it was found that the amount of time chief executive spent in organizational planning was directly related to the firmЎЇs profitability (Carrol and Gillen, 1987, p. 42). Studies into the work practices of a foreman at the General Electric Company found that foreman with higher production records spent more time in long range planning and organizing than foreman with lower production records (Carrol and Gillen, 1987, p. 40). This is yet more empirical evidence to suggest that all management levels of an organization practice the main management functions.

There have been critics to the work pioneered by Fayol who dismiss the notion that managerial work can be condensed into four core functions. One such critic was Mintzberg who dismissed FayolЎЇs work as ÐŽofolkloreÐŽ± (Mintzberg, 1975). Through MintzbergЎЇs observational work of five CEOЎЇs he was able to develop a series of roles that all managers perform (Robbins, et al., 2003, p. 11; Mintzberg, 1975, p. 55). These roles include the figurehead, leader, liaison, mentor, disseminator, spokesman, entrepreneur, disturbance handler, resource allocator and negotiator (Robbins, et al., 2003, p. 12; Mintzberg, 1975, p. 55).

These roles were grouped under three headings: interpersonal roles, informational roles and decisional roles. Interpersonal roles deal with the managerЎЇs interactions with people, this may include but is not limited to training, motivating and disciplining (Robbins, et al., 2003, p. 11; Mintzberg, 1975, p. 54). The informational roles are associated with the managerЎЇs role as a collector and disseminator of information (Robbins, et al., 2003, p. 12; Mintzberg, 1975, p. 55). Works concerning the making of decisions are the decisional roles and would apply to all levels of management (Robbins, et al., 2003, p. 13; Mintzberg, 1975, p. 56).

Mintzberg argues that managers at all levels perform one or more of these roles rather than carry out the four basic functions of management. Through various studies it has been shown that the role in which a manager operates is largely dependent upon their organizational level (Robbins, et al., 2003, p. 13). The roles of disseminator, figurehead, negotiator, liaison and spokesperson are more important at the higher levels of management whereas the role of leader is essential for lower level managers (Robbins, et al., 2003, p. 13). For example sales jobs would require more interpersonal roles than a production managerЎЇs job; the same can be said that informational roles are largely important for staff jobs (Carrol and Gillen, 1987, p. 40).

Management Skills

For managers to accomplish organisational goals they need to draw on a variety of skills. Management skills are related to ones behaviours; they are sets of actions performed by an individual that lead to certain outcomes (McKenna, 2004, p. 664).

Robert L. Katz first conducted research into these skills in 1955 with an article published by the Harvard Business Review entitled