Yet, we know that there are many types of jobs in management. An important determinant of the manager’s job is hierarchical level – vertical differences in their positions.
Top managers are at the top of hierarchy and are responsible for the entire organization. They have such titles as president, chairperson, executive director, chief executive officer (CEO), and executive vice-president. They are responsible for setting organizational goals, defining strategies for achieving them, monitoring and interpreting the external environment, and making decisions that affect the entire organization. It is very important for them to communicate a shared vision for the organization, shape corporate culture, and nurture; an entrepreneurial spirit that can help the company keep pace with rapid change.
Middle managers work at middle levels of the organization and are responsible for business units and major departments. Examples of middle managers are department head, division head, manager of quality control, and director of the research lab. They are responsible for implementing the overall strategies and policies defined by top managers. Middle managers are concerned with the near future, are expected to establish good relationships with peers around the organization, encourage teamwork, and resolve conflicts. Nowadays there is a trend to flatten an organizational structure and to employ project managers. They are responsible for a temporary work project that involves the participation of other people at a similar level in the organization. Due to automation and empowerment, there is no need for close supervision by many middle managers, and it is more convenient to arrange work in projects.
First-line managers are directly responsible for the production of goods and services. They are the first or second level of management and have such titles as a supervisor, line manager, section chief, and office manager. They are responsible for groups of non-management employees. Their primary concern is the application of rules and procedures to achieve efficient production, provide technical assistance, and motivate subordinates. The time horizon is very short, the emphasis is on accomplishing day-to-day goals.
At the horizontal level there is the following distinction. There are functional managers who are responsible for departments that perforin a single functional task and have employees with similar training and skills. Functional departments include advertising, sales, finance, human resources, manufacturing, and accounting. Line managers are responsible for the manufacturing and marketing departments that make or sell the product or service. Staff managers are in charge of departments such as finance and human resources that support line departments.
General managers are responsible for several departments that perform different functions. A general manager is responsible for a self-contained division, such as a department store, and for all of the functional departments within it.
Now let’s see what managers do in order to perform the four managerial functions at different levels. Henry Mintzberg concluded that managerial activity is characterized by variety, fragmentation, and brevity. The average time spent on one activity is less than nine minutes. Henry Mintzberg also developed ten roles of managers: information (monitor, disseminator, spokesperson), interpersonal (figurehead, leader, liaison, decision (entrepreneur, disturbance handler, resource allocator, negotiator) (Daft, page 22). Role is a set of expectations for one’s behavior.
Thus, we have discussed how managers perform their functions at different levels. Now let’s look how the approach to management has been changing throughout history.