MANAGERIAL LEVELS, ROLES AND FUNCTIONS

Business organizations, irrespective of size, have many managerial levels in its structure created through the process of delegation of authority from top to lower levels. Authority, responsibility, functions, roles and relationships characterize each level. Depending on the level at which the position lies the nature and contents differ. With the upward movement in the organizational hierarchy, the managerial position accomplishes a central role. As the contribution of the manager amplifies authority enlarges and higher the responsibility. Different managerial positions lying in the chain of command may be classified into various groups or levels of management.

•  An organization usually has two important management levels- operative and functional. 
• The functional level deals with the process of determining primary objectives, framing basic policies, vital decision-making and controlling and coordinating activities of personnel. 
• The operative level of management is concerned to implementation of plans and decisions. 
• Generally, the levels of management consisting of various managerial positions in the structure of an organization differ from one organization to another.

 There are broadly three levels of management:

1. Top level management
2. Middle level management
3. First line management

Top Level Management is responsible for the overall management of-the organization. They establish operating policies and monitor the organization’s interactions with the business environment. The top level managers are accountable to the owners and responsible for overall management of the organization. They elect their representatives as directors which constitutes the top level of management. In addition to the Board of Directors, other functionaries of the top management include managing director, general manager or Chief executive to assist directors.

a)      Usually titles of top managers include ‘chief executive officer’, senior vice-president’ or ‘president’.

b)      The ownership group generally occupy the top level management,.

c)      In a joint stock company, equity shareholders are the real owners of the company.

d)     Top management is the highest level in the managerial hierarchy and the ultimate source of authority in the organization. 

The top level management performs the following major functions:

Formulating a corporate plan for the entire organization that covers all areas of operations

Deciding upon the matters vital for the survival, profitability and growth of the organization Deciding about the structure of organization and creating various positions there in

Exercising overall managerial control through reviewing over all financial and operating results

Making the decisions concerning disposal and distribution of profits

Selecting key officials and executives for the company

Coordinating various sub-systems of the organization

Maintaining liaison with outside parties having a stake in business

Formulating basic policies and providing direction and leadership to the organization as a whole

Middle Level Management

The middle management guides the activities of lower-level managers. Middle managers’ principal responsibilities are to direct the activities that implement organizational policies and balance the demands of their superiors with the capacities of their subordinates.

Middle level management includes of administrative officers, departmental head, deputy heads and foreman and etc

These executives are mainly concerned with the overall functioning of their departments and perform as a link between top and first level managers.

The activities of middle level managers focus around determining departmental goals and devising ways and means for accomplishing them.

Middle level managers perform these functions:

(i)                 Preparing departmental plan that cover all activities of the department within the basic framework of the corporate plan.

(ii)               Establishing departmental goals and decide upon various ways and means achieve these goals to contribute to organizational goals.

(iii)              Performing all other managerial functions relating to departmental activities for securing smooth function of the entire department.

(iv)              Issue detailed orders and instructions to lower level managers and coordinate the activities of various work units at lower level.

(i)                 Middle level managers explain and interpret policy decisions made at the top level to lower level managers.

First Level Management is the lowest level in an organization. Individuals are responsible for the work of others. First level managers are often called, supervisors or supervisory management.  Examples of first-line managers are the "foreman" or production supervisor in a manufacturing unit, the technical supervisor in a research laboratory, and clerical supervisor in an office. 

a)     First-line managers direct operating employees only because it is concerned mainly with personal oversight and direction of operative employees.

b)      They do not supervise other managers.

c)     It consists of work supervisors, office superintendents, foremen, sales team leader, accounts officers etc.

d)     They directly guide and control the performance of rank and file workers.

e)     They issue orders and instructions and guide day to-day activities.

f)       They also represent the grievances of the workers to the higher levels of management.

Functional and General Managers

The managers may also be classified on the basis of the scope of their activities

Functional Managers

A functional manager discharges the responsibility for only one organizational activity like production, marketing, sales, finance or human resource. A function manager heads the people and activities may be clubbed in a common set of activities.

General Managers The general manager supervises a company, a subsidiary, or an independent operating division and is responsible for all activities of all function areas of management. In a small company there may be only one general manager sufficient in the position of president or executive vice-president. However, a large organization may require several general managers, each heading a relatively independent division. A large food company, for example, may consist of a grocery-products division, a frozen-food-products division and a refrigerated-products division, each having a different general manager responsible for each. Similar to the chief executive of a small company, each-of these general managers have the responsibility for all the activities of the unit/division.                                                                                        

Supervisory management performs the following functions:

(i)                 Plan day to day work

(ii)              Assign jobs and issue orders and instructions

(iii)           Maintain close personal contacts with workers to ensure discipline and team-work.

(iv)           Supervise and guide workers

(v)              Evaluate operating performance

(vi)           Communicate the grievances and suggestions of workers to higher authorities

(vii)         Send reports and statements to higher authorities

Management Skills, Knowledge and Performance

A. Managers require a knowledge base which provides a context for the manager's activities. It can comprise information about an industry, upcoming technology, company practices, plans, goals, objectives, culture of the company, the personalities of important organization members and major suppliers and customers.

B. Every manager needs all three types of key skills to perform the tasks and activities associated with the positions of a manager. The following diagram shows the requirement of relevant skills for different levels.

1. Technical skills refer to the ability to use the procedures, techniques and knowledge relating to a specialized field such as computers, accounting, engineering etc. They are more relevant at lower levels of management since these managers are dealing directly with employees carrying out the organization's work.

2. Human skills are a manager's ability to work well with others both as a member of a group and as a leader who gets things performed through others. Since every manager interacts straight with subordinates this skill acquires special importance. Managers with good human skills are able to get the best potential out of individuals. They understand how to communicate, motivate, lead, and inspire the employees. These skills are equally relevant at all levels of management.

3. Conceptual skills are skills related to the ability to visualize the organization in a comprehensive manner, discern interrelationships among organizational divisions, and comprehend how correctly the organization positions itself into the wider context of the industry, society, and the world. They are the ability to coordinate and integrate all of an organization’s interests and activities.

According to Robert Katz although all three of these skills are essential to a manager, their relative importance depends mainly on the manager’s rank in the organization.

Technical skill is most important for the lower levels. Human skill is important for managers at every level as they must get their work done primarily through others, their ability to utilize the technical skills of their subordinates is more important than their own technical skills. The value of conceptual skills increases as one move up the ranks of a management system on the basis of hierarchical principles of authority and responsibility.

Mintzberg conducted a study on the roles of managers in different types of organizations and concluded that, to a considerable extent, the jobs of many managers are quite similar. All managers perform various roles, have formal authority over their own organizational units and derive status from that authority. This status makes all managers involved in interpersonal relationships with different managerial levels who in turn provide them with the information they need to make decisions. According to Mintzberg, a role is ‘an organized set of behaviors’ associated with a particular position. Mintzberg divided ten managerial roles in three categories.

1.      Interpersonal roles

2.      Informational roles and

3.      Decisional roles

Interpersonal roles help managers keep their organizations running smoothly and grow directly out of the authority of a manager’s position and involve developing and maintaining positive relationships with significant others. These are roles that involve people (subordinates and persons outside the organization) and other duties that are ceremonial and representative in nature. The interpersonal roles include:

• Being a figurehead 
• Leader, and 
•  Liaison.

1)      The figurehead performs ceremonial duties as head of the unit such as greeting visitors, attending subordinate weddings, taking customers to lunch.

2)      The Leader builds relationships with employees and communicates with them. This role includes selecting, training, and motivating.

3)      The liaison maintains a network of contacts outside the work unit to obtain information. This role includes dealing with people other than subordinates or superiors, peers within the organization, as well as suppliers or clients outside it/

Informational roles consist of getting, collecting and disseminating information so that managers can serve as the nerve centers of their organizational units. Managers require information to make intelligent decisions, and other people in their units or organizations depend on information received or transmitted through them. The three informational roles include:

• A monitor,
• A disseminator, and
• Spokesperson.

1)      The monitoring whereby managers constantly look for useful internal and external information about issues that can affect the organization. They question subordinates and collect unsolicited information usually through networks of contacts. The role of monitor usually makes managers the best informed members of their groups.

2)      The disseminator transmits information internally that is obtained from either internal or external sources .In the role of disseminator, managers distribute to subordinates important  information they would not otherwise know. Keeping superiors well informed is one important aspect of this role

3)      In the role of spokes person managers transmit information to people outside their own groups. Another is communicating with the world outside the organization.

Decision-Making Roles involve making significant decisions that affect the organization. For managers, information is the "basic input to decision-making’. Managers perform four decision-making roles.

The four decision-making roles include:

1.      Entrepreneur,

2.      Disturbance handler,

3.      Resource allocator, and

4.      Negotiator

1)    The entrepreneur acts as an initiator of change, the designer and encourager of innovation. As entrepreneurs, they try to improve their units. When for example, managers receive a good idea; they might launch a development project to make it a reality. In this role they initiate change of their own free will.

2)    The disturbance handler takes corrective action when the organization faces important, unexpected difficulties. As disturbance handlers, they respond to problems beyond their control, such as strikes, bankrupt customers, breaches of contract, and the like.

3)    The resource allocator distributes all types of resources to different divisions and units of the enterprise. As resource allocators, managers decide how and to whom resources, including the managers' own time, should be given. Managers also screen important decisions subordinates make.

4)    The negotiator represents the organization in major negotiations affecting the manager's areas of responsibility. A company president might, for example, deal with a consulting firm; or a production head might draw up a contract with a supplier. Managers spend a lot of their time as negotiators because only they have the knowledge and authority this role demands.

Thus all managers perform interpersonal, informational and decision-making roles in all sorts of organizations.

J.F. Stoner has given an elaborate definition of management on the basis of managerial functions when he says,’ Managing is the process of planning, coordinating resources and activities, leading and controlling the efforts of organizational members and the use of other organizational resources in order to achieve stated organizational goals. 

Planning and Decision Making: Planning as a management function involves determining the organizational goals and deciding how best to achieve them. Planning consists of deciding aims and objectives, selecting the correct strategies and programs for the purpose of achieving the aims,   determine and allocate the resources to ensure that the plans are communicated to all concerned. Decision making involves selecting a course of action from various alternatives available. Planning is composed of certain steps including:

• Establish goals defining desired future state.
• Divide the goals into sub-goals
• Ascertain where the organization wishes to be at a given time in the future.
• Developing a strategy to achieve these goals known as strategic planning.

Organizing: Coordinating Resources and Activities: This management function is related to organize the human and other resources essential to carry out the plan.  The process of organizing is concerned with determining the process of grouping activities and resources in the best interests of the organization. The basic elements of organizing are work specialization, departmentalization, span of control, line and staff roles and authority relationship. Organizing involves the following steps:

Discuss different ways of getting work in organizations

• Explain how all these various elements and concepts fit together to build an overall organization framework.
• Consider the issues associated with organizational development and chan

Leading: This management function involves motivating subordinates, managing employees, influencing individuals or teams as they work, using the most effective communication channels, or dealing with employee behaviral issues. Leading is the set of processes used to get members of the organization to work together to advance the interests of the organization. Managers direct and influence the activities of the subordinates, create proper atmosphere to assist subordinates to contribute their best. Leading function consists of four different activities:

•  Motivating people to put as much effort as they can and given employees the opportunity to attain individual goals and rewards through their performance on the job.
• Encourage organization performance
• Creation of groups in the company and then deal with group members and activities
• Communicate for the achievement of organizational goals.

Controlling: Controlling involves monitoring real performance, comparing actual performance to determined standards and taking corrective action, if necessary.  The management must ensure that the organization is performing in such a way as to arrive at its destination within a given time. If there exists deviation between the actual and the standard, the deviations are identified and corrective steps have to be taken. Managers attempt to ensure that the organization is moving towards its goals. If some part of their organization is on the wrong track, managers try to find out its cause and set things right.