Who are Managers and What Do Managers Do In Business?
In a sense, everyone is a manager. People manage their lives by planning, organizing, directing, and controlling their skills, talents, time, and activities. Parents manage their jobs, households, and children; children manage their allowances, and students manage their time if they expect to succeed in various subjects in school.
Likely, you will be employed by some type of organization and, as a result, be working with managers. Understanding what is involved in managing is important even though you probably will not start out as a manager.
Therefore, knowledge of basic management concepts will be beneficial to you either as a worker or as a manager. If you have plans for a management career, you should gain a full understanding of what managers do and what management is all about. What Do Managers Do
There are almost as many definitions of management as there are books on the subject. Most definitions of management do share a common idea-management is concerned with the accomplishment of organization objectives through the efforts of other people. What Do Managers Do
Objectives, or goals, are the final results expected. For example, your immediate objective may be to pass this course, while your long-term goals may be to complete your schooling and obtain a good job.
The objective of business firms is to make a profit by providing goods and/or services to customers. In order for a business firm to achieve this goal, the managers in the firm must perform four main functions:
- Determine what is to be achieved (planning).
- Allocate resources and establish the means to accomplish the plans (organizing).
- Motivate and lead personnel (influencing or directing).
- Compare results achieved to the planned goals (controlling). What Do Managers Do
Thus, management may be defined as the process of planning, organizing, influencing, and controlling to accomplish organization objectives through the coordinated use of human and material resources.
Take the example of Laurie Steen, a university student. Her objective is to pursue a career as a chartered accountant. In order to accomplish her goal, she must first complete her B. Comm, degree.
Next, she must find a job articling in one of the CA firms. While she is working in the profession, she will be taking further specialized accounting courses toward the Uniform Final Examination, which must be passed by all people who wish to become a CA. In order to accomplish her goal, Laurie must be a good manager of her time.
She must plan her schedule, organize her time and financial resources, and evaluate or control her own performance to maintain her grades. What Do Managers Do
Laurie uses management concepts to achieve her objectives. Managers in business and in not-for-profit organizations also pursue objectives but, those of the organization, not their own. Pursuit of a common goal can lead to the grouping of managers.
For instance, the term management is sometimes used to refer collectively to all the managers in a firm. This usage is most often heard in connection with negotiations between workers or unions and their supervisors.
The uppermost managers in an organization - usually called executives - may also be referred to collectively as management. Because management so frequently refers to a firm's top executives, people sometimes forget that managers occupy other positions within large organizations.
Actually. managers operate at most levels within every type of organization large or small, private sector or public sector, business or not-for-profit. There are 3 basic levels of managers.
Because management so frequently refers to a firm's top executives, people sometimes forget that managers occupy other positions within large organization Actually managers operate at most levels within every type of organization large or small, private sector or public sector, business or not-for-profit. There are 3 basic levels of managers. What Do Managers Do
Lower-level managers, often referred to as supervisors or first-line supervisors, are responsible for managing employees in daily operations. What Do Managers Do
In a manufacturing firm, a factory supervisor is responsible for ensuring that the assembly line runs properly and that the right type of product is produced.
In a government office, the supervisor of clerical staff ensures that paperwork is processed correctly and on time. Middle managers, such as department heads, are concerned primarily with the coordination of programs and activities that are necessary to achieve the overall organization goals, as identified by top management. What Do Managers Do
In a manufacturing company, sales managers and production superintendents are middle managers. In government organizations, department heads are middle managers.
Top management includes the chief executive officer, the chairperson of the board, the president, as well as vice-president(s). In not-for-profit organizations, the top manager is sometimes called the executive director. What Do Managers Do
These individuals are responsible for providing the overall direction of the organization. In the final analysis, a manager is anyone, at any level of the organization, who directs the efforts of other people in accomplishing organization goals.
Wherever a group of people work together to achieve results, a manager is present. School principals, meat market supervisors, service station operators, and factory supervisors are managers, just as the presidents of British Airways, London Life Insurance, Imperial Bank of Commerce, and Falconbridge Nickel are managers.
The prime minister is a manager, too, as are government agency heads, university deans, church pastors, and military commanders. Managers are responsible for making decisions concerning the use of a firm's resources to achieve results.
Managers are the catalysts who establish goals; plan operations; organize various resources-personnel, materials, equipment, capital; lead and motivate people to perform; evaluate actual results against the goals, and develop people for the organization. What Do Managers Do
The success of a particular business manager cannot be judged exclusively on short-run output. In other words, a manager may be said to be effective if his or her unit is earning a profit, or reducing costs, or increasing the market share for the company's products, or other such measurable results.
Naturally, these accomplishments are important to any organization. However, a major challenge and, indeed, obligation of any manager is the development of people under his or her direction, and in doing this, long-term goals may be achieved more effectively. What Do Managers Do
Developing competent and well-trained people who can be promoted to more responsible positions is a significant part of a manager's job. This is an excellent long-run measure of the effectiveness of a manager and contributes to the growth and success of the firm whether it is a manufacturing or service organization. What Do Managers Do in business, What Do Managers Do in business, What Do Managers Do in business,
