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Text 1.4. Read the text and discuss the question: In what way are the functions of a company director, for example, different from those of a middle manager?

Managerial Levels

The main responsibility of all managers is to use the resources of their organisation effectively and economically to achieve its objectives. However, in most companies, the activities of a manager depend on the level at which he/she is working.

As a business grows and has more people than the owner or chief executive can effectively manage, the problem is solved by introducing a second layer of managers. As the business continues to grow, a third layer of managers is introduced. These managers report to the second layer. In very large companies, there may be 10 or 12 levels of managers between the president and the workers in the factory.

Top managers, such as people in chair and directors, are more involved in long-range planning and policy making. They make strategic decisions concerning the future of the company, the sort of product lines it should develop, how it should face up to the competition, whether it should diversify, etc. It is the job of a company’s top managers to take responsibility for innovation, manage a business’s relations with the outside world: distributors, bankers, investors, neighbouring communities, public authorities, as well as deal with any major crises which may arise. Top managers are appointed, supervised and dismissed by a company’s board of directors.

On the other hand, middle management and supervisors generally make the day-to-day decisions which help an organisation to run efficiently and smoothly. They must respond to the pressures of the job which may mean dealing with an unhappy customer, chasing up supplies, meeting an urgent order or sorting out a technical problem. Managers at this level spend a great deal of time communicating, coordinating and making decisions which affect the daily operation of their organisation. However, there are certain activities common to managers at all levels.

Text 1.5. Read the text. Which point of view concerning managerial functions do you agree with? Why?

Functions of a Manager

Many early writers sought to outline the functions of managers. Chief among them was a Frenchman named Henri Fayol, manager of a large coal company. Fayol’s chief desire was to elevate the status of management practice. He wrote in 1916 a classic definition of a manager’s role. He said that to manage is “to forecast and plan, to organise, to command, to coordinate and to control.” In this way Fayol identified five functions in which managers must be engaged.

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These five functions describe the job of managers in organisations. Until the time of the classical organisation theorists, the work of managers had been as much ignored as the work of blue-collar workers. Fayol and other practising managers sought to define the work of managers by categories of activities, or functions, that they themselves had performed in their management careers. Fayol’s definition is still accepted by many people today, though some writers on management have modified his description. Instead of talking about command, they say a manager must motivate or direct and lead other workers.

An interesting modern view on managers is supplied by an American writer Peter Drucker. He has spelled out what managers do. In his opinion, managers perform five basic functions revealed in the table below.

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In Peter Drucker’s view, successful managers are not necessarily people who are liked or who get on well with others. They are people who command the respect of workers and who set high standards. Good managers need not be geniuses but must bring character to the job. They are people of integrity, who will look for that quality in others.

As is seen, there is no universal agreement regarding the management functions. Some scholars say that the total task of management can be divided into organising, planning, leading and controlling. They say that leading energises the organisation, just as a battery energises an automobile starter. Some authors list the functions of management as (1) the undertaking of risk and handling of uncertainty; (2) planning and innovation; (3) coordination, administration and control; and (4) routine supervision. Other authors also point out such functions as directing, staffing and innovating. They say that directing is the motivational function and management seeks to obtain a high level of production from employees through motivation and proper guidance. Staffing is the process of finding the right person for each job. It involves matching individual qualifications to job specifications. Staffing is an on-going function because performance must constantly be evaluated and employee growth encouraged. Innovating is the creative function. Changing times require new approaches and advanced technologies demand new procedures. Finding new and better ways to do the job and handling the staff are only some of the creative tasks managers often deal with.

Worthy of Note

Managers all the time deal with people, handle information, make decisions, acquire resources and organise work. A manager who only confines his or her interest to one activity or function is highly vulnerable.

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Text 1.6. Read the text and discuss the following problem: What are the most important skills that managers must possess?

Management Skills

The managerial success depends on the quality and skills of those who manage. And knowledge is important in becoming an effective manager. Certain general skills are needed for effective managerial performance, regardless of the level of the manager in the hierarchy of the organisation. However, the mix of skills differs depending on the level of the manager in the organisation. Success at the lower levels of management does not require the same combination of managerial skills as does success at the upper levels. Theorists usually identify three different kinds of basic managerial skills: technical, human and conceptual, needed by managers at all levels. If one studies the day-to-day activities of managers, it will be found that they devote a high percentage of their time to interacting with other people mostly through face-to-face contact. In preparing plans they must consult their colleagues and subordinates. In organising they must work closely with their subordinates to define and guide the relationship among them. The managers accomplish results through and with others. The skilled space technology managers do not design a spacecraft themselves. The manufacturing executives do not build automobiles themselves.

The role of a manager is to assemble the best work team he/she can obtain and then motivate and guide that team to accomplish agreed-upon objectives. For this human skill is essential. Human skill is the ability to communicate, motivate, and lead individuals and groups. An understanding of human relations and organisational behaviour is most important to managers in the middle ranks of the management hierarchy. Because these managers are concerned with directing lower-level supervisors and other middle managers, their jobs are more human than technical in nature. The ability to persuade, negotiate with and coordinate the activities of others is the key to their success.

Many people like to describe the middle manager as a kind of politician. Situated between upperand lower-level management, this individual takes top-management directives, turns them into operational plans and passes them on to the lower management for action. The middle manager must have all the human skills of a politician who is trying to balance the various needs or concerns of groups with different interests. No wonder one researcher has reported that some of the things middle managers want to learn more about include (1) how to relate to people in higher-level positions; (2) how to acquire communication skills on a one-to-one basis, in oral presentations as well as in listening and obtaining information; (3) how to improve their skills in sizing up employees; (4) how to use time more efficiently;

(5) how to become result oriented rather than activity oriented; and (6) how to deal with organisational politics.

However, we should not jump to the conclusion that the successful manager need only possess knowledge and skills in the fields of personnel management and human relations. He/she must also be trained in other fields, such as the technology of the particular industry and possess technical skills. Technical skill is the ability to use the techniques, procedures and tools of a specific field. This skill is particularly important at the lower levels of the organisation where the manager needs to know how the work is done. Only in this way can the manager direct subordinates effectively and assist them when they have problems. Often lower-level managers are given their positions because of their ability to do technical work well. The reason for this is that if these workers know how to do the job, they will also do well in supervising the work of others. After all, at this level of the hierarchy, the main concern of the manager is to get the work done.

In addition, the modern-day executives must have knowledge of the economic, social and political environment in which they live and work, the ability to see the big picture, the complexities of the overall organisation and how the various parts fit together, i.e. must have conceptual skills. Conceptual skill is the ability to plan, coordinate and integrate all of the organisation’s interests and activities. It is most important at the upper levels of the organisation where long-range forecasting and planning are the principal activities. To chart the organisation’s course, the top manager must be able to balance the demands of the organisation’s various departments and units with the demands of the external environment. Some other characteristics of the top manager include

•the capacity to abstract, to conceptualise, to organise and to integrate different ideas into a coherent frame of reference;

•tolerance for ambiguity – the ability to withstand confusion until things become clear; and

•intelligence – the capacity not only to abstract but also to be practical.

Concept check

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1.What is the main duty of the head of any organisation? Do manager’s activities vary? What does it depend on?

2.How many managerial levels may different organised groups have?

3.How do these levels appear and in what cases is it necessary to introduce them?

4.What are specific tasks for different levels of management?

5.What managerial functions does Fayol identify? Comment on each of them.

6.Why do some people disagree with Henry Fayol’s definition of the role of management?

7.In Peter Drucker’s opinion, a manager should be

•able to analyse

•exceptionally intelligent

•keen to improve people’s lives

•interested in other people

•popular

•able to give clear orders

•honest

•good at communicating with people

•able to examine carefully and make judgements

•admired by others

8.Compare H. Fayol’s and P. Drucker’s viewpoints of managerial functions. What do they have in common and what do they differ in?

9.Present some other viewpoints concerning manager’s functions.

10.What can the process of leading be compared to?

11.What does staffing include?

12.What is meant by innovating?

13.Look back at the texts and complete these sentences.

1)To use the resources of the organisation in order to attain its goals is … .

2)Top managers make … while lower ones take … .

3)A manager should change the organisational structure or fire employees if …

4)Fayol’s definition of management is still urgent today, however, … .

5)To select people for the jobs managers need … .

6)To succeed in setting objectives and measuring performance executives must possess … .

7)Leading energises the organisation like … .

8)Staffing is a continuous process because … .

9)Finding new and better ways to do the job is essential because … .

14.Decide whether the following statements are true or false.

1)It is precisely the education that makes the process of management highly effective.

2)The lower levels of management and the upper ones require the same range of managerial skills.

3)Only top managers must have human skills of a politician.

4)In order to be successful for a leader it’s enough to have skills only in the field of human relations.

5)Many lower-level managers hold their positions because they know how to do technical work.

6)Knowledge of economic and political environment is not very essential for modern top executives.

7)The ability to withstand confusion and to know when to act is one of the most important for top managers.

15.What is meant by each of the following terms: technical skill, human skill, conceptual skill? Who would profit most from each? Integrate a discussion of the three levels of managers into your answer.

READIND III

STUDYING MANAGEMENT

Think ahead

Read the statement and express your opinion: Knowledge of basic management principles in the past can help you become a better manager.

Key concepts and terms

Match up the words on the left with the definitions on the right.

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1) time and motion study a) quantity of goods produced

Text 1.7. Look through the text and identify the groups of contributors to the evolution of management as a field of study.

The Evolution of Management as a Field of Study:

Using a Historical Perspective

Both organisational growth and its increasing influence on the economy and standard of living are recent in history; thus, the study of management is relatively new. Nevertheless, how can a manager make sense of all ideas, theories and principles of management? We carry with us a set of attitudes and beliefs about the subject. These lead to generalisations and hypotheses. In turn, theories guide our practical actions. The two are inseparable. Yet where do these theories originate?

An important source of theory is experience, both our own and that of others. Many of the first individuals to study and write about management were practising managers. They described their own experiences and tried to generalise the principles they believed could be applied in similar situations. Even today, great deal of what we know about management comes from the autobiographies and memories of men and women who are or were practising managers. Studying their work provides a rich framework within which we can criticise and develop our own ideas and, in turn, improve our practice.

Now, however, other individuals also are interested in management for scientific reasons. Social and behavioural scientists view the management of organisations as an extremely important social inquiry. These scientists make no value judgement regarding good or bad practice of management.

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Between these two extremes there are individuals who also have contributed to the study of management. They include engineers, sociologists, psychologists, anthropologists, lawyers, economists, accountants, mathematicians, political scientists and philosophers. These three groups of individuals gave birth to three main approaches to management: classical, human relations and quantitative/management science approaches.

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Studying the history of management and the development of management theory is fruitful. While we do not engage in studying the past for its own sake, a historical perspective helps us because it clarifies our view of the present and allows us to explain the way things are.

The history of management thought starts from a search for a universal theory. Today, however, we see that no single theory is accepted. Instead, we have theories devised and developed at different times with applications to different aspects of the management role. We shall discuss three main approaches (classical, human relations and management science) and two integrating approaches (systems and contingency) that have become well known and accepted.

Text 1.8. Read the text and answer the question: What contribution did F. Taylor make to the scientific management movement?

Classical Approach

Introduction

One can trace reference to management principles and problems back to medieval times or earlier. For instance, authors refer to Confucius or Machiavelli. From their writings authors pick out statements about questions of management today. However, we are separated from that era by the Industrial Revolution, a period that transformed everything. The context of management changed considerably. Business developed from small cottage industries to large industrial organisations employing many thousands of staff at one site. With its scale, the factory system posed challenges that had been little experienced in earlier generations. Problems arose in areas such as operational coordination, organisation structure, communication and control. The ideas that emerged were responses to these problems and many remain relevant today.

The views that we now call the classical perspective really developed at the end of the nineteenth century. They resulted from attempts by proponents to establish general principles upon which management practice could be based. Under the classical approach we can identify three management schools, namely, scientific management, bureaucracy and administrative/management principles.

Scientific Мanagement

At the end of the nineteenth century, many industrial plants were mechanised. Yet, they still employed thousands of staff to feed and unload the machines, shift materials and so on. It was in such a context that scientific management was born. No one has had more influence on managers in the twentieth century than the movement’s pioneer Frederick W. Taylor, an American engineer. He set a pattern for industrial work which many others have followed, and his ideas are still of practical importance.

Taylor founded the school of Scientific Management just before the 1914–18 war. When Taylor started work at the end of the nineteenth century, the industrial revolution was in full swing. Factories were being set up all over the USA. There was heavy investment in plant and machinery, and labour was plentiful. He worked for twenty years (1878–1898) with the Midvale Steel Company and then he was a consultant with the Bethlehem Steel Company in Pennsylvania.

Throughout this time, he studied how to improve the efficiency of workers on the shop floor. He conducted many experiments to find out how to improve their productivity. His solutions to these problems were, therefore, based on his own experience. Later, he wrote about his experiments. These writings were collected and published in 1947, in a work entitled Scientific Management.

When he was with Bethlehem Steel, Taylor criticised management and workers. He felt that managers were not using the right methods and that workers did not put much effort into their job. They were always “soldiering”, taking it easy. He wanted both groups to adopt a new approach to their work, which would change their thinking completely. He argued that work should be studied and analysed systematically. The new method was scientific. The way of doing a job was no longer determined by guesswork and rule-of-thumb practices. Instead, management should work out scientifically the method for producing the best results. The new way was as follows.

1)All operations required to perform a particular job were identified, studied, analysed and then arranged in a logical sequence.

2)Using this information, management worked out the time and method for each job as well as the type of equipment to be used.

3)Work was organised so that the worker’s only responsibility was to do the job in the prescribed manner.

4)Workers with the right physical skills were selected and trained for the job.

Taylor’s approach produced results. For example, at Bethlehem Steel, he did an experiment with shovels. He studied the work of two first-class shovellers and then changed their working procedure. In

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the beginning, the men used the same shovels for all the types of materials they handled, whether coal or iron ore. The average load was 38 pounds, and each lifted 25 tons of material a day. By experimenting, Taylor found out that if the men used smaller shovels and carried 21 pounds per load, their daily output increased to 30 tons. As a result, at the beginning of each shift, workers were given different sized shovels, depending on the type of material they loaded, but the load was still 21 pounds. Workers meeting the standards had their wages increased by 60 %. Those who could not reach the standard were given special training in shovelling techniques. If the worker followed the prescribed approach, his/her output increased. By introducing such methods, Taylor and his colleagues greatly increased productivity at Bethlehem Steel. After a few years, the same amount of work was done by 140 workers instead of 500. A worker’s productivity increased, and so did his/her wages. Handling costs of materials were halved, which led to annual savings of $80,000. Taylor made a lasting contribution to management thinking. His main insight, that work could be systematically studied in order to improve working methods and productivity, was revolutionary. Also, he correctly emphasised that detailed planning of jobs was necessary.

Advocates of scientific management argued that such an approach was rational and the benefits from even minor process improvements outweighed the costs of the studies.

Thus, Taylorism was founded on six key ideas:

•observation and analysis of every aspect of the production process;

•experiments to discover the optimal methods;

•standardisation and elaboration of instructions for the workers;

•selection and training;

•payment by results; and

•cooperation between labour and management.

Although scientific management showed how to improve productivity, its failings quickly became apparent. The weakness of this approach was that it focused on the system of work rather than on the worker. It did not consider the social context of work and the workers’ psychological needs for attachment to the work process itself. Feelings of exploitation contrasted with the rational harmony advocated by Taylor. Some managers focused on work measurement, using the notorious “time and motion man” to beat down workers’ pay. With this system the worker becomes a tool in the hands of management.

Another criticism is that the worker has to do the same boring, repetitive job hour after hour, day after day while maintaining a high level of productivity. It leads to de-skilling – reducing the skills of workers. Because the tasks are simplified, workers become frustrated. And with educational standards rising among factory workers, dissatisfaction is likely to increase.

Finally, some people think that it is wrong to separate doing from planning. The two tasks can, and should, be done by the same person. A worker will be more productive if he/she is engaged in such activities as planning, decision-making, controlling and organising.

Yet, the attention to work design, worker development, fair rewards and cooperation has echoes in much modern management literature.

Bureaucracy

Whereas scientific management gained by making a detailed analysis of production processes, the study of bureaucracy looked at the problem of managing the organisation as a whole. Advocates, led by a well-known sociologist Max Weber, argued that there must be one best way to run an organisation.

Weber argued that the most efficient organisation resembled a machine, its rules and controls corresponding to the shafts and rods of the mechanism. This was the rational-legal model of organisation, distinguished from the charismatic (dominated by the leader) and traditional (run on custom and practice) models. Weber worked when many organisations were managed by families with their practices serving personal rather than organisational goals. He saw the need for impersonal, rational management in charge of the ideal organisation, the bureaucracy.

The elements of a bureaucracy are the following.

•Division of labour – definitions of authority and responsibility as official duties.

•Organisation of positions into a hierarchy.

•People assigned to positions based on qualifications, assessed by examination or training and experience.

•Decisions and actions recorded in writing – files provide continuity and memory.

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•Separation of management from ownership.

•All subject to rules and procedures applied impersonally and equally to ensure predictable behaviour.

Weber believed that the rational-legal organisation would be both more efficient and more adaptable to change than any other. The system was rational in that competent managers made decisions according to clear criteria; it was legal because they were appointed by legitimate processes. Yet, the notion of bureaucracy has become discredited in modern times. It is associated with stifling rules and red tape. It is in complex, rapidly changing market environments that zealous adherence to rules leads to a downfall. However, we should not be too critical. The emphasis in Weber’s time was on improving efficiency and consistency whereas for some modern organisations the stress is on innovation and flexibility. Furthermore, many modern organisations incorporate most of Weber’s elements. For instance, applying rules impersonally is fundamental to dealing with personnel issues.

Management Principles: The Theory of Fayol

A different, yet related, approach to the question of running whole organisations examined the practice of management itself. Perhaps the best known among the advocates of general principles applied to practice was Fayol. In General and Industrial Management, he examined and supplied a framework for analysis that included the abilities required of managers, general principles of managing organisations and a statement of management functions (elements of management).

1) Abilities required of managers

Fayol’s first theme is analysis of the abilities required of personnel at different levels and in different types of organisation. His intention is to show that while many people are engaged in management, they are involved to different degrees. He distinguishes management from other abilities required of people in organisations and indicated the need for and the possibility of teaching management as a discipline.

2) General principles of management

Fayol set forth a series of administrative principles that are applied most frequently and determine the “soundness and good working order” of the firm. He was not seeking fixed rules of conduct; rather, he sought for flexible guidelines to thinking and managing both people and work. Fayol intended them to be adaptable to every need. Deciding on the appropriateness of a principle for a particular situation is, in his view, the art of management.

The 14 principles used more frequently according to Fayol were as follows.

•Division of labour: efficiency can be increased through work specialisation.

•Authority and responsibility: authority, which is the right to command, should always be equal to responsibility, which is the obligation or duty to carry out assigned tasks.

•Discipline: in its essence, discipline requires obedience, diligence and a proper attitude on the part of employees and effective leadership on the part of managers.

•Unity of command: everyone should have only one boss.

•Unity of management: for every plan there should be an objective and a manager who is responsible for overall direction.

•Subordination of individual interests to the common goal: the goals of the organisation and the department must take precedence over the personal goals of individual employees.

•Remuneration of the staff: all staff members should receive compensation that is fair and motivates them to do good work.

•Centralisation: organisations should seek that balance of centralization and decentralisation that provides the greatest overall efficiency.

•The hierarchy: there should be a clear-cut chain of command running from the top of the organisation to the bottom.

•Order: a place should exist for everything and everything should be in its place.

•Equity: everyone in the organisation should be treated fairly.

•Stability of staff: since it takes time for people to learn their jobs and function at the highest level of efficiency, the long-term commitment of the staff should be a primary concern of management.

•Initiative: managers need the power both to conceive and to execute a plan of action.

•Esprit de corps: morale depends heavily on harmony and unity of the organisation’s staff.

3) Functions of management

The elements are drawn directly from Fayol’s definition of management we have already discussed in Text 1.5. He gives details of good planning of a business; organising materials and personnel at all levels,

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