The Nature of Managerial Work 2-1. After studying this chapter, you should be able to: Understand the different roles and activities commonly required

MGT 450 – SPRING 2016CLASS 3 - CHAPTER 2

The Nature of Managerial Work

2-1

Learning ObjectivesAfter studying this chapter, you should be able to:

Understand the different roles and activities commonly required for managers.

Understand how managerial roles and activities are affected by aspects of the situation.

Understand how managers cope with demands, constraints, and choices confronting them.

2-2

Learning Objectives (Cont.)

Understand the importance of external activities and networking for managers.

Understand how managers solve problems and make decisions.

Understand how managers can make effective use of their time.

2-3

Activity Patterns for Managers

Hectic work pace – Continuous requests for information, assistance, direction, and authorization

Varied and fragmented work content – Interruptions occur frequently, conversations are disjointed, important activities are interspersed with trivial ones

2-4

Copyright© 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice-Hall Leadership In Organizations

5


Many reactive activities – - Problems occur in a mostly random order;- Managers choose to react to some problems when they become aware of them, others are postponed or ignored; - There are more problems that a manager can handle at

any given time;- Managers are more likely to respond to a problem when there is immediate pressure for action due to a crisis,

deadline, or the demands of the boss.


6


Peer and outsider interaction- Managers typically spend considerable time with persons other than their subordinates or their bosses

- Managers spend considerable time with outsiders such as customers, clients, suppliers, subcontractors, government officials, civic leaders and other business leaders.

These elements frequently lead to:Disorderly and political decision processesInformal and adaptive planningInvolving emotions and intuition


7

Henry Mintzberg

Born: 2 September 1939Cleghorn Professor of Management Studies at the Desautels Faculty of Management (since 1968)McGill University, Montreal, Canada

“Companies are communities. There's a spirit of working together. Communities are not a place where a few people allow themselves to be singled out as solely responsible for success.”

Henry Mintzberg’s Taxonomy of Managerial Roles

Leader

Liaison

Figurehead

Monitor

Disseminator

Spokesperson

Entrepreneur

Disturbance Handler

Resource Allocator

Negotiator

2-8

Copyright© 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall Leadership in Organizations

9

Mintzberg - Taxonomy of Managerial Roles

Coding the content of activities observed in a study of executives:

Expected Rolls of a Manager

1. Leader – responsible for making their organizational sub-unit function as an integrated whole in the pursuit of its basic purpose;

2. Liaison – Intended to establish and maintain a web of relationships with individuals and groups outside of a manager’s organizational unit


10

Henry Mintzberg - Taxonomy of Managerial Roles

3. Figurehead – Leaders are expected to perform symbolic duties of a legal and social nature

4. Monitor – Managers continually seek information from a variety of sources to keep up to date on the changing nature of the business – and to perform SWOT analyses from time to time;

5. Disseminator – Leaders have special access to information not available to subordinates


11

Henry Mintzberg - Taxonomy of Managerial Roles

6. Spokesperson – Leaders are expected to transmit information and express value statements to people outside of their organization

7. Entrepreneur – The leader acts as an initiator or designer of controlled change to exploit opportunities for improving the existing situation

8. Disturbance Handler – The leader deals with student crises that cannot be ignored


12

Mintzberg’s - Taxonomy of Managerial Roles

9. Resource Allocator – Leaders exercise their authority to allocate resources such as money, personnel, material, equipment, facilities, and services

10. Negotiator – Leaders have the authority to impact negotiations requiring a substantial commitment of resources

DECISION MAKING AND PLANNING BY MANAGERS

2-13

• Emotions and intuition are often involved

• Important decisions are disorderly and political

• Routine decisions often involve problems for which ready made and low risk solutions are available

• Most planning is informal and adaptive

How Managers Make Decisions

Contrary to images of an orderly rationalprocess, decision-making is oftencharacterized by:

Disorderly processes Incomplete or slanted information Incomplete analyses Reliance on past solutions Difficulty reaching agreement

2-14

Role Conflict & Core Components

Demands and constraints and choices define the job of a manager and strongly influence the behavior of the manager

Demands – the required duties, activities and responsibilities

Constraints – Characteristics of the organization and the external environment, e.g. rules, policies, regulations, laws, availability of resources, physical locations, etc.

Choices – e.g. Required vs. optionalEstablishing prioritiesProper delegation of responsibilities

Demands and constraints are situational influences on the leader and affect the scope of the leader’s choice of actions

2-15

Other Determinants of Managerial Work

1. Management level – Executive, senior, mid, 1st line supervisors

- High level managers have more responsibility for making important decisions, establishing objectives, & planning

strategies

- Lower level managers have less discretion and freedom of action and must operate within the constraints imposed by formalized rules and policy decisions

2-16


17


2. Organizational unit size – Span of control, multi-site, conglomerate, global, etc.

As span of control increases upper-level managers make more autocratic decisions, but use more delegation

As the size of a work unit increases, so does the administrative workload

Managers of large work units have less opportunity for interacting with individual subordinates and maintaining interpersonal relationships with them,.


18


3. External dependenciesOther units must do their job before we can do our job

As interdependence increases with other subunits, coordination with them becomes more important and there is more need for mutual adjustments in plans, schedules and activities


19


4. Crisis situations Terrorist attack, extreme weather, labor strife or

bankruptcy of principle supplier

In many crisis situations, officers were more directive, autocratic, and goal-oriented

20

GUIDELINES FOR MANAGERS

Understand the reasons for demands and constraints

Expand the range of choices – Plan A, Plan B, Plan C, etc.

Determine what you want to accomplish

Plan your time smartly

Prioritize your must-do, should-do, & want to-do lists

Limit unnecessary activities

21

MORE GUIDELINES FOR MANAGERS

Identify important problems that can be or must be solved

Look for connections among problems

Experiment with innovative solutions – (If five managers agree on a business solution, four of them are unnecessary)

Take decisive action to deal with crises

22

END OF CLASS 3

Homework Assignment

a. Re-read Chapter 2b. Read and be prepared to discuss Chapter 3c. During class 5, team 1 will lead the discussion on the

material covered in Chapter 2. d. Team 2 will analyze the Case Study that is printed at the end of Chapter 2.

Documents

The Nature of Managerial Work 2-1. After studying this chapter, you should be able to: Understand the different roles and activities commonly required