It will compare, and identify the manager’s work with the human skills theory of Katz, and distinguish any relevant features detailed in Mintzberg’s management roles. Relevant material from Fayol and Taylor has also been considered, and related back to the manager’s work. Research was collected via an interview with Peter Niewand–General Part’s manager–of a privately owned truck dealership, Isuzu. Peter Niewand has been a manager for over 20 years, and has aided in the expansion of this company, directly responsible for the establishment of three, highly successful service centres throughout Brisbane.
Isuzu is a local, Australian-based organisation, and is well known within the service industry. Katz’s human skills Robert L. Katz identified three essential skills that managers require for success: technical, human, and conceptual (Robbins et al, 2006).
The degree, to which these skills are used, would depend upon the management level. Top-level management place emphasis on conceptual skills, as they have to understand and develop ideas, be creative in solving problems, and have the ability to handle intellectual relationships.
Lower level managers mainly concentrate on technical skills, requiring knowledge and understanding of particular skills, techniques, and tools of a particular area. Middle level managers require both conceptual and technical skills, as they need to comprehend the functions of top level, and first level managers. Solid human skills are pivotal in all levels of management, as the ability to interact effectively with people is of the upmost importance; enabling you to enjoy full participation from all involved (Robbins et al. 2006).
The Essay on The Central Principles of Scientific Management, Human Relations and the Socio-Technical Perspective on Work-Organization
1. Introduction Management on work-organization embraces various processes, procedures and practice, including theories, tasks and roles of management, together with rational analysis and other decision-making and etc., aiming to gain the more effectiveness and efficiency of organization as a final goal. The theories of management is the basic knowledge that we should well master first in order to ...
Niewand’s management functions reflect the ideas of Katz, displaying a high, and important usage of human skills. Considerable time is spent ensuring that all team members have the capacity to communicate well, which enables the channels for important feedback, on all aspects of the business, to remain open. He argues that a manger needs his people to place their trust in him, and the way to obtain trust is to be consistent, and act with integrity.
Niewand states that although his position involves many facets, with ample reports to sift through, he would never lose sight of his staff, or their needs; ensuring support and respect within their agreed roles, through the ready application of advice and assistance. Mentoring is considered a critical factor to help aid the motivation of staff, keeping them focused and enthusiastic, while obtaining a mutual respect. Mintzberg’s managerial roles
Investigations by another notable researcher, Henri Mintzberg, led to the identification of ten interconnected, managerial roles, which are used during the daily functions of a manager (Robbins, et al. , 2006).
Mintzberg categorised these roles into three main groups: interpersonal, informational, and decisional, and has been praised for the practicality of his approach in describing the work of a manager (Carroll & Gillen, 1987).
This is evident when comparing Mintzberg’s theories to the following work produced by the manager, Niewand.
The Interpersonal group contained three roles: figurehead, leader, and liaison. Niewand displays a limited involvement as a figurehead, referring issues at hand to his legal department, and only taking actions as instructed. Moderate participation within a liaison role is evident, with Niewand carrying out routine meetings, updates, and informational discussions, in relation to the industry and it’s competitors. The leadership role is reflected the most in Niewand’s work, as he is consistently maintaining a mentoring presence, ensuring his staff remain focused and committed.
The Business plan on Role Of Manager, Management And Organisation
Briefly explain: manager, management and organisation. Discuss why managers are important for the success of an organisation; include examples to demonstrate your understanding.2 Task 2:4 Select one of the following companies or a company you are familiar with and answer the questions: Virgin, BT, any educational institute, or any retail store4 a.Discuss the term organisational structure and its ...
Mintzberg described three roles within the informational group: monitor, disseminator, and spokesperson. Once again, these roles are comparable in some measure, to the work functions of Niewand. A considerable amount of time is spent being a monitor, through routine, monthly account meetings with owners, weekly manager meetings, and financial reporting on all departments; offering an abundant amount of information for processing and actioning. The role of disseminator is acted out moderately, passing information on to others, at a need to know only basis.
The spokesperson role rates highly, as Niewand, and others in the company, would give information and “sell the company as a package” to everyone they come into contact with. Mintzberg allocated four roles under the decisional group: entrepreneur, disturbance handler, resource allocator, and negotiator. Once again, the findings from the interview with Niewand hold relevance within Mintzberg’s management roles. Entrepreneur is played out in a moderate fashion, with Niewand on the constant look out for ways of streamlining the operation, making it more efficient, and remaining effective.
The need for a disturbance handler appears to be of a constant, where all managers collaborate as a group and work together, resolving issues that threaten to have an impact on the company. The role of resource allocator spends a moderate amount of time, although it is restricted directly to Niewand’s department. Negotiator role appears to be an important one, as it requires a great deal of detail and effort. Niewand’s involvement in important tenders with clients is of the upmost importance, displaying a show of unity to the customers, and trying to deliver extra services that may have been outside of the tender.
As indicated by Mintzberg, the respective importance of each role, and the overall responsibility of managers, will differ according to the type of job and management level that they are working at (Carroll & Gillen, 1987).
Management approaches from other theorists Niewand displayed the characteristics of another famous theorist, Henri Fayol. Mintzberg, and others, have criticised the work of Fayol, stating it to be outdated, and not relevant to modern day management (Lamond, 1998).
The Term Paper on The Role of Management and the Union in an Organization
Corporations are important members of the society as they are responsible for providing substantial input in terms of goods and services as well as adding to the growth of the country as a whole. The employees of a company are the only assets which do not have a monetary figure assigned to them yet the benefit accruing from the continued use of the employees is substantial. In a wide range of ...
Fayol’s functions have survived the harsh criticisms, still being published and presented as sound theory, many believe these functions ‘still represent the most useful way of conceptualising the manager’s job’ (Carroll & Gillen, 1937:38, as cited in Lamond, 1998).
Fayol originally presented five functions, that were to cover all aspects of the work performed by managers: planning, organising, commanding, coordinating and controlling; these have been refined down to four fundamental functions: planning, organising, leading, and controlling (Robins et al. , 2006).
The planning function in Niewand’s work, involved the careful, and detailed drafting, of business plans; organising function included reviewing of resources, and setting goals for each employee; leading was established by hands on mentoring, until desired commitment was reached; and controlling was achieved through monitoring, and acting, on numerous reports and meetings. These functions appeared to be of equal, and major, importance in the structure of Niewand’s work. Frederick W. Taylor was another pioneer, who had great input into scientific management.
Through first hand experience, he recognized the need for managers to initiate new systems, start designing jobs, and creating conditions, that would overcome the inferior work carried out by insecure, and self interested workers of the time (Wren, 1994).
Taylor put forward a new system, which consisted of three sections: (1) observation and analysis through time study to set the rate, or standard; (2) a differential rate system of piecework; and (3) paying the performance of workers, not the positions.
The Essay on Organizations group jobs and work functions into groups
1. Chapter 7 addresses organizational structures (how organizations group jobs and work functions into groups). For example, a hospital may have hundreds or thousands of employees while a private physician’s office may have just a few employees. For the organizations below, describe which organizational structure they would likely use and why: • A small physician’s office Smaller hospitals tend to ...
Detailed observations were made on how the best workers performed their work, and the time it was achieved. Using this data, a standard would be set, and then payment of wages was to reflect the quality of work performed. Niewand exhibits certain aspects of Taylor’s system by setting goals, and challenges for his employees, assisting them to achieve their full potential. His hands mentoring enables set standards to be met, and employees are then able to enjoy the appropriate rewards.
In conclusion, evaluation of Niewand’s work indicates certain consistencies with Katz, Mintzberg, Fayol, and Taylor. The human skill set of Katz is being displayed, with Niewand concentrating on effective communication throughout the company, acting with integrity and consistency to gain trust, and mentoring his people closely, to achieve the personal goals of the employees, and of the organisation. Mintzberg’s managerial roles, all show varying degrees of relevance to Niewand’s work, with the decisional group displaying as the most relevant.
Comparisons were also evident with Fayol, as Niewand’s work substantially consists of the four functions: planning, organising, leading, and controlling. The system approach of Taylor is also exhibited, with the continual setting of standards, and goals, for the employees to reach, and then rewarded. Evidence supports that management of today is comparable to the different management theories of the past, all are significant, and all interrelate with each other.
