What Do Managers Do?
Simply speaking, management is what managers do. But that simple statement doesn't tell us much, docs it? Let's look first at what management is before discussing more specifically
what managers do.
Management involves coordinating and overseeing the work activities of others so that their activities are completed efficiently and effectively. We already know that coordinating and overseeing the work of others is what distinguishes a managerial position from a nonmanagerial one. However, this doesn't mean that managers can do what they want anytime, anywhere, or in any way. Instead, management involves ensuring that work activities are complicated efficiently and effectively by the people responsible for doing them, or at least that's what managers aspire to do. Efficiency refers to getting the most output from the last amount of inputs. Because,
managers deal with scarce inputs-including resources such as people, money, and equipment-they're concerned with the efficient use of those resources. It's often referred to as "doing things right-that is, not wasting resources. For instance, at the
HON Company plant in Cedartown, Georgia, where employees make and assemble office furniture, efficient manufacturing techniques were implemented by doing things such as cutting inventory levels, decreasing the amount of time to manufacture products, and lowering product reject rates. These efficient work practices paid off as the plant reduced costs by mare than $7 million in one year.
It's not enough, however, just to be efficient. Management is all concerned with being effective, completing activities so that organizational goals are attained.
Effectiveness is often described as "doing the ight things-that is, doing those work activities that will help the organization reach its goals. For instance, at the HON factory, goals included meeting customers' rigorous demands, executing world-class manufacturing strategies, and making employee jobs easier and safer. Through various work
initiatives, these goals were pursued and achieved. Whereas efficiency is concerned with the means of getting things done, effectiveness is concerned with the ends, or attainment of organizational goals. In successful organizations, high efficiency and high effectiveness typically go hand in hand. Poor management (which leads to poor performance) usually involves being inefficient and ineffective or being effective, but inefficient. be ducting
Now let's take a more detailed look at what managers do. Describing what manager do isn't easy. Just as no two organizations are alike, no two managers' jobs are alike. Tomer's spite to this, management researchers have developed three approaches to describe with managers do functions, roles, and skills.
Management Functions
According to the functions approach, managers perform certain activities or functions as they efficiently and effectively coordinate the work of others. What are these functions?
Henn Fayol, a French businessman, first proposed in the early part of the twentieth century that all managers perform five functions: planning. organizing commanding. coordinating, and controlling.
Managers are also responsible for arranging and structuring work to accomplish the
organization's goals. We call this function organizing. When managers organize, they determine what tasks are to be done, who is to do them, how the tasks are to be grouped, who
reports to whom, and where decisions are to be made. Every organization has people, and a managers job Is to work with and through people to accomplish goals. This is the leading function. When managers motivate subordinates, help resolve work group conflicts, influence individuals or teams as they work, select the most effective communication channel, or deal in any way with employee behavior issues, they're leading.
The final management function is controlling. After goals and plans are set (planning), tasks and structural arrangements put in place (organizing), and people hired, trained, and motivated (leading), there has to be some evaluation of whether things are going as planned. To ensure that goals are being met and that work is being done as it should be, managers must monitor and evaluate performance. Actual performance must be compared with the set goals. If those goals aren't being achieved, it's the manager's job to get work back on track. This process of monitoring, comparing, and correcting is the con-
trolling function. Just how well does the functions approach describe what managers do? Do managers always plan, organize, lead, and then control? In reality, what a manager.
Is the Manager's Job Changing?
"At Best Buy's headquarters, more than 60 percent of the 4,000 employees are now judged only on tasks or results. Salaried people put in as much time as it takes to do their work. Those employees report better relationships with family and friends, more company loyalty and more focus and energy. Productivity has increased by 35 percent. Employees say they don't know whether they work fewer hours they've stopped counting. Perhaps more in portent, they re finding new ways to become efficient." Welcome to the new worried of managing!
In today's world, managers are dealing with global economic and political uncertainties changing workplaces, ethical issues, security threats, and changing technology. For example,
The ability to work with others.
Deciding individually and in a group work tasks.
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