THE MANAGER'S ROLE /3 000 3HAK0B/
Our society is made up of all kinds of organizations, such as companies, government departments, unions, hospitals, schools, libraries, and the like. They are essential to our existence, helping to create our standard of living and our quality of life. In all these organizations, there are people carrying out the work of a manager although they do not have that title. The vice-chancellor of a university, the president of a students' union or a chief librarian are all managers. They have a responsibility to use the resources of their organization effectively and economically to achieve its objectives.
Are there certain activities common to all managers? Can we define the task of a manager? A French industrialist, Henri Fayol, wrote in 1916 a classic definition of the manager's role. He said that to manage is «to forecast and plan, to organize, to command, to coordinate and to control». This definition is still accepted by many people today, though some writers on management have modified Fayol's description. Instead of talking -about command, they say a manager must motivate or direct and lead other workers.
Henri Fayol's definition of manager's functions is useful. However, in most companies, the activities of a manager depend on the level at which he/she is working. Top managers, such as the chairman and directors, will be more involved in long range planning, policy making, and the relations of the company with the outside world. They will be making decisions on 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. These strategic decisions are part of the planning function mentioned by Fayol.
On the other hand, middle management and supervisors are generally making the day-to-day decisions which help an organization 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 affecting the daily operation of their organization.
An interesting modem view on managers is supplied by an American writer, Mi". Peter Drucker. He has spelled out what managers do. In his opinion, managers perform five basic operations. Firstly, managers set objectives. They decide what these should be and how the organization can achieve them. For this task, they need analytical ability. Secondly, managers organize. They must decide how the resources of the company are to be used, how the work is to be classified and divided. Furthermore, they must select people for the jobs to be done. For this, they not only need analytical ability but also understanding of human beings. Their third task is to motivate and communicate effectively. They must be able to get people to work as a team, and to be as productive as possible. To do this, they will be communicating effectively with all levels of the organization - their superiors, colleagues, and subordinates. To succeed in this task, managers need social skills. The fourth activity is measurement. Having set targets and standards, managers have to measure the performance of the organization, and of its staff, in relation to those targets. Measuring requires analytical ability. Finally, Peter Drucker says that managers develop people, including themselves. They help to make them bigger and richer persons.
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In Peter Diucker'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 standard. 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.
FREDERICK W. TAYLOR: SCIENTIFIC MANAGEMENT
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No one has had more influence on managers in the twentieth century than Frederick W. Taylor, an American engineer. He set a pattern for industrial work which many others have followed, and although his approach to management has been criticised, his ideas are still of practical importance.
Taylor founded the school of Scientific Management just before the 1914-18 war. He argued that work should be studied and analysed systematically. The operations required to perform a particular job cold be identified, then arranged in a logical sequence. After this was done, a worker's productivity would increase, and so would his/her wages. The new method was scientific. The way of doing a job would no longer be determined by guesswork and rule-of thumb practices. Instead, management would work out scientifically the method for producing the best results. If the worker followed the prescribed approach, his/her output would increase.
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, first as a labourer, then as a Shop Superintendant. After that, 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. The new way was as follows:
1. Each operation of a job was studied and analysed;
2. Using this information, management worked out the time and method for each job, and the type of equipment to be used;
3. Work was organized so that the worker's only responsibility was to do the job in the prescribed manner;