12 Managerial Functions, Skills and Roles

Dr.Vishal Kumar

13.1 Learning Objective

13.2 Introduction

13.3  Managerial Functions

13.4  Managerial Skills

13.5 Management skills continuum or Managerial skills and levels of management

13.6 Roles of Managers

13.7 Managerial Roles

13.8 Henry Mintzberg 10 managerial roles

13.9 Summary

13.1 Learning Objective

After completing this module, students you will be able to:

i.  Understand brief introduction and types of managerial functions

ii. Understand various Managerial Skills

iii. Understand the role of Managers. And also

iv. Know about the Henry Mintzberg 10 managerial roles

MANAGERIAL FUNCTIONS, SKILLS AND ROLES

13.2 Introduction

The world is changing dramatically and is in the process of complete transformation. The impossible things of yesterday are becoming possible today and impossible things of today will become possible tomorrow. It is righty said that change is the only permanent aspect of nature. Now a day, the concept of ‘Global Kutumbh’ is gaining importance over the concept of self-sufficient nations. Management of economies and organizations is bound to cop-up with the radical transformation by developing new mantras of management in the global perspective after carefully analyzing the real challenges faced by the managers of today and tomorrow.

Before studying the managerial functions, we must know the real challenges of today and tomorrow which are/would be faced by the mangers. In this changing dynamic world, the challenges would also continue to change and in every organization there may be different challenges which a manager has to identify before taking any action or decision. Some of the challenges faced by managers are challenges of globalization, challenges of information age, challenges of quality revolution, challenges of providing able leadership and purposeful direction, sustainable growth, process value addition and reengineering the organization. It is very important for a manager to be a thinker, a doer and a people oriented man.

13.3 Managerial Functions

Managerial functions refer to the roles and responsibilities of managers and to perform these functions effectively managers need certain skills. Management is a creative process which integrates and uses various available resources effectively to accomplish certain goals. For this, an individual is responsible to develop ideas and get things done through others. This individual is called manager. So, any person who performs the functions of planning, organizing, staffing, directing and controlling for the accomplishment of pre-determined organization goals is called as manager. Manager is not actually to do the work but guide others to do things correctly.

According to Peter F. Drucker that every job should be designed as an integrated set of operations which are varied enough to reduce boredom. The workers should be given a sufficient measure of freedom to organize and control their work environment. It is the duty of every manager to educate, train and develop people below him so that they may use their potentialities and abilities to perform the work allocated to them. He has also helped them in satisfying their needs and aspirations through incentives and other things. He must provide proper working environment to the subordinates so that they work to the optimum level. So, the job of the manager is very complex and requires some extra-ordinary qualities to get the desired results. The manager should have the capacity and capabilities to meet the challenges of his job.

Manager is getting things done through others. He prepares plan, build an organization, help and motivate the employees according to plans for the purpose of achieving organizational goals.

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• Planning: In planning a manager performs informational and decisional roles he makes decisions on the basis of information, which he collects earlier.
• Organizing: In organizing, he performs decisional role by allocating duties and resources to organizational units and makes way for the coordinating of these units.
• Directing: In directing, the manager performs interpersonal and informational roles by interacting with his subordinates, leading, motivating and communicating them.
• Controlling: In controlling, he shares informational role. Manager must ensure that performance  is  accordance  with  the  plans  adopted,  the  instructions  issued  and  the principles established.

The staffing function has not been included in role approach as this function tends to be included in human resource management area though every manager is involved in some aspects of staffing like performance appraisal, on the job training etc.

13.4 Managerial Skills

Skill is the ability of a manager to utilize managerial knowledge to get better results, more efficiency, and overall prosperity to the organization. The following are the essential skills that managers need to carry out their responsibilities efficiently and effectively:

• Technical Skills
• Human Relations Skills (behavioral Skills)
• Conceptual Skills

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Conceptual skills deal with the ideas, technical skills with things and human skills with the people. Conceptual and technical skill is needed for good decision making whereas human skill is necessary for a good leader.

1. Technical Skills: A technical skill is the ability to understand and perform a specific kind of activity. It refers to specialized knowledge and proficiency in using various methods, procedures and techniques for doing specific jobs. In a production department, this would mean an understanding of the technicalities of the process of production. In higher functional positions, such as the position of a marketing manager or production manager, the conceptual component, relating to these functional areas become more important and the technical component becomes less important. So when we talk on skills possessed by supervisors and foremen, civil engineers, surgeons, we have technical skills in mind. These skills can be acquired through formal education and developed through practical work experience.

2. Human Relations Skill: Human relations skill is needed to interact with the people at all levels. In simple words, it is the ability of a manager to work with, motivate and counsel people. This skill develops in the manger ability to recognize the feeling and sentiments of others, to judge the possible reactions to, to examine his own concepts and values which may enable him to develop more useful attitudes about himself. Human relations skills are needed not only to deal with subordinates but also during interactions with superiors, peers, and outsiders. Managers can develop human skills by intensive and extensive interactions with people, listening to their viewpoints, empathizing with their feeling and extending a helping hand in situation of crisis.

3. Conceptual skills: It refers to the ability to take a broad and far-sighted view of the organization and its future, his ability to think in abstract, his ability to analyze the forces working in a situation, his creative and innovative ability and his ability to assess the environment, the organization, and his own job, so that he can set appropriate goals for his organization, for himself and for his team. Conceptual skills utilize analytical and decision making abilities of managers in increasing organizational effectiveness. This skill can be developed by proving opportunities to managers to handle challenging situation in the organization and formulate generalization from real situations.

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So, the job of a manager demands a mixture of many types of skills such as decision making skills, people management skills, communication skills, time management skills etc, whether he belongs to a business organization, an educational institution, a hospital or a club.

13.5 Management skills continuum or Managerial skills and levels of management

There are various levels of management and managers at various levels perform all the functions of management though in different degrees. So, the level of skills required at different levels will be different. It is clear that technical skills deal with things, human skills deals with human-beings or people and conceptual skills deals with structure of ideas. It is also very clear that all managers use technical, human and conceptual skills in performing management functions. As it is shown in the below diagram, conceptual skills are more important for managers working at the higher level and technical skills are more important at the supervisort level. It is so because higher level managers are mainly concerned with the overall functioning of the organisation, while supervisors have the basic responsibility of getting jobs done by core workers and therefore they must possess technical skills.

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So it is very clear from this diagram that conceptual skills are highly important for top management which is responsible for formulating long term plans and policies for the organization. Human skills are important at all levels of management. Technical skills are most important for the first line management which has to administer the use of equipments, tools, processes and procedures.

13.6 Roles of Managers

Now the question arises. What Do Managers Do?

Peter Drucker suggested that the task of managers in the following manner:-

Setting of objectives: the first and foremost role of manager is to set objectives, to establish the goals of the group or organization and offer ways to meet those goals.

Designing the Organizational structure: Second the most important role of a manager is to organize the tasks, saying who will do what and when.

Motivation and Communication: Third important role of the manager is to perform the directing  function  i.e.  motivation  and  communication.  Motivation  stimulates  the performance of job. There must be a free flow of communication with the workers. So mangers ensure proper and effective communication and he must encourage others to accomplish their work and engage with others.

Performance Appraisal: The manager assesses the performance, that is , the manager devises ways in which to measure the performance of the organization against the organization’s goals and objectives. The manager has to control the workers if there is any difference between standard of performance and actual performance. The control ensures the right performance.

Develop people including himself: Peter F. Drucker has advocated that the managerial approach to handle workers and work should be pragmatic and dynamic. The workers should be given a sufficient measure of freedom to organize and control their work environment. It is duty of every manager to educate, train and develop people worked under him.

13.7 Managerial Roles

Managerial roles are the organized set of behavior that is associated with the position of manager. The work of managers at all level is extremely complex and open minded, at times more artistic than scientific. Although the specific activities of managers at different levels vary, they have important elements in common. Each plays a similar role that is generally accepted as appropriate in a given situation. In the late 11360s, Henry Mintzberg conducted a precise study of managers at work. He found that managers perform ten different and highly inter-related roles attributable to their jobs. Overall there are ten specific roles performed by managers which are included in the following three categories. These roles are briefly explained in the following diagram:

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13.8 Henry Mintzberg 10 managerial roles

1.      Interpersonal roles

2.      Informational roles

3.      Decisional roles

Now we will discuss it in details

1.      Interpersonal roles: The need for interpersonal roles arises because of the constant interactions that a manager has with people, both inside and outside of an organization. In this the manager is responsible for managing relationships within and outside the organization. In other words, interpersonal roles are those roles that allow a manager to interact with his or her employees for the purpose of achieving organizational goals. Three of the manager’s roles involve basic interpersonal relationships:

A.    Figurehead Role: In figurehead role manager performs symbolic legal or social duties such as greeting visitors, signing legal documents, attending the wedding of an employee, taking an important customer to lunch and so on. All social, inspiration, legal and ceremonial obligations are performed by the managers in this role. In this light, the manager is seen as a symbol of status and authority.

B. Leader Role: As a leader role managers motivate the subordinates and leading them in the direction of goal accomplishment. In simple words, this role describes the manager’s relationship with subordinates. As a leader, the manager must bring the needs of the subordinates in accord with those of his organization.

C. Liaison Role: In a liaison role, a manager acts as a link to integrate the organization, internally as well as externally. Within the organization manager integrates different units and individuals of the organization and outside the organization, a manager integrates the organization with its environment to assess the state of competition, social changes, government polices and legislative enactments, etc. in other words, a manager serves as a liaison between the organization and outside contracts such as customers, suppliers, community and others.

2.  Informational Role: The second category of managerial roles is informational roles. The informational roles include those roles in which a manager must generate and share knowledge to successfully achieve organizational goals. Basically the need for informational roles arises because a manager has to constantly receive and pass on useful information to the relevant people and institutions. Under informational roles, a manager has to perform three roles i.e as a monitor, disseminator and spokesperson.

A. Monitor Role: It refers to the managers continually seeking and receiving relevant information in order to be well informed. In simple words, in this role a manager acts as a monitor and receives information from various sources such as journals, magazines, newspapers etc. This information is monitored so that it becomes useful for the information.

B. disseminator Role: As disseminator, a manager transmits information to those who need it through memorandum, phone calls, meetings, notices, circulars, manuals etc. in simple words, the manager passes on important information to subordinates. Some of this is factual information but some is based on the manager’s analysis and interpretation of events. In either case, it is manager’s responsibility to ensure that subordinates have the information they need to carry out their duties.

C. Spokesperson Role: Managers act as a spokesperson or representative of the organization. They transmit information to people outside their units which have some stake in the organization. These stakeholders can be government officials, labour unions, financial institutions, suppliers, customers, etc. The manager must win their support by effectively managing the social impact of his organization. Thus, a manager performs the role of a spokesperson by representing his organization to outside world and explaining the plans, policies, actions, and results of the organizational activities.

3.Decisional Role: The need of decisional roles arises because a manager has to solve organizational problems with a view to providing it with the necessary strength to withstand internal and external pressure. Information is the basic input to decision making for managers. Therefore decision making roles of managers are as follows:

A. Entrepreneur Role: In this role, a manager does not merely adapt to his surrounding situation but proactively looks out for innovation. So, as an entrepreneur, manager constantly looks for profitable ventures and is prepared to undertake risks too. Thus , when demand for his product falls off the manager does not cut back his production but seeks new outlets or new products in order to maintain production.

1. Disturbance Handler: As role of disturbance handler, a manager takes charge immediately when his organization faces a major disturbance or such as loss of a key executive, cancellation of an order, a strike, the destruction of a facility, etc. thus, as a disturbance handler, a manager intervenes when unexpected situations may arise.
2. Resource Allocator Role: In this role, a manager must divide work and delegate authority among his subordinates. He must decide who will get what. A manger decides the priorities of organizational activities and allocates physical, financial and human resources to those activities.
3. Negotiator Roles: The manager at all levels has to spend sufficient time in negotiations. As a negotiator, a manager represents his unit or organization in negotiating deals with in the organization and also with external agencies such as contractors, suppliers, bankers, etc., with the purpose of gaining advantage for organization.

13.9 Summary: Peter Drucker has identified five basic operations in the work of a manager. They are setting objectives, designing the organizational structure, performing the directing function in the form of communication and motivation, performance appraisal and develop people including himself. All these operations require experience, analytical and leadership skills on the part of the manager. The functions of a manager may be stated as roles performed by him. A role consists of the behavior patterns expected of a manager within an organization. Henry Mintzberg conducted a comprehensive survey on the subject of managerial roles and integrated his findings with the result of a study of five practicing chef executives. He identified ten roles performed by managers at all level under three heads. These heads are Inter-personal roles, Informational roles and decisional roles. The skills of a manager changes from level to level in the organization. Managers at the top level require more of conceptual and design skills whereas at the lower level technical skills are more needed. Managers working at the middle level act as a bridge between the top level and lower level.

Suggested Readings

• Billy E. Geotz, planning and control: McGraw Hill Co. Inc., New York, p. 63. Tripathi P.C. Principles of Management, Tata McGraw Hill, 2008.
• Davis, R.C., The fundamental of Top Management, Harper and Bros. 1951, New York, p.53.
• Kumar Arun and Rachna Sharma, Principles of Management, Atlantic publishers, 2000 Stephen P. Robbins, Organization Theory, The structure and design of organisations,Prentice Hall Inc., Englewood Cliffs 1983, p 95.
• Henri Fayol, General and Industrial Management, Sir Issac Pitman and Sons, London, 1949, p.34.
• Pujari Saritha, “Five functions of management”
• Pakhre Jayshree, “Management concepts- the four functions of management” Tim Barnett, “Management functions”
• Ryan, “Functions of management- The importance of top 5 functions, 2014
• Newman and Summer Jr., The process of Management, Englewood Cliffs N.J., Prentice Hall Inc. 1961, p 59.