Managers are corporate heads responsible for the overall task performance of employees serving under them within the organizational environment. They use organizational resources to lead these individuals to achieve organizational goals and objectives. The following discussion describes the role of managers in their respective organizations. This discussion borrows significantly from Mintzberg’s 10 ideas of managerial roles in the workplace.
First, managers act as figureheads with the social and legal responsibility for providing inspiration. For instance, they could serve as the outstanding individuals that lead crumbling organizations into financial success. For example, as a notable Senior Manager at Apple Inc., Steve Jobs acted as a figurehead that inspired the company into becoming a mogul in Smart technologies. Currently, the company exists as a top developer and distributor of smart devices among them phones, watches, software, and personal computers (Powers 45-46).
Second, managers are leaders tasked with managing the performance and responsibilities of their subordinates. It remains their primary responsibility to assign duties and resources to subordinates based on individual competence and level of responsibility. Edward Powers notes that managers believe in such allocative mechanisms as performance enhancers (45). Given the above example, Steve Jobs assigned roles to various developers working under him at Apple to help advance his vision.
Third, managers act as liaison persons for external and internal stakeholders for overall organization management. These stakeholders are contacts that provide the required network useful in ensuring organizational performance. For instance, as liaison persons, managers will identify and evaluate investors interested in buying into the organization. Fourth, managers are the official evaluators of their respective organizations in today’s dynamic business environment. They monitor individual departments to assess overall productivity and welfare for successful change management. For instance, the sales manager of a daily publication would observe the change in productivity following a transition into web-based publishing. The move would be useful when comparing the effects of this development on print newspaper sales (Mind Tools 3-5).
Fifth, managers act as the appropriate disseminators of information at the organizational level. They are both the sources and recipients of primary information that would help improve the state of operations within the organization. For instance, a hospital manager will write a memo aimed at encouraging multidisciplinary collaboration to reduce employee burnout. Sixth, managers act as the official spokespersons for their respective organizations. Given this role, they have the sole responsibility of engaging the public on issues that affect the organization. For instance, Tim Cook, the chief executive of Apple Inc. serves as the organization’s official spokesperson during its annual product launches (Mind Tools 3-5).
Seventh, managers have formal and informal responsibilities of developing and controlling organizational change. This role would include new idea generation, problem solution, and idea implementation. For instance, the manager of a startup technology firm would help their team generate new ideas surrounding the development of their pioneer product. Eight, managers would serve as resolution handlers in cases of organizational conflict. They have a responsibility of taking charge as mediators to challenging situations so appropriate solutions. For instance, in school administration, it is the role of the administrator to settle scores between students and members of their staff (Mind Tools 3-5).
Furthermore, managers act as the primary players in the resource allocation and distribution process. Mind Tools notes that they determine the various yet effective ways of managing the process in a move that would spur productivity. For instance, it is the role of the human resource manager to allocate office space in ways that optimize organizational performance. Finally, managers have a responsibility of negotiating and directing their teams, departments, and organizations. Mind Tool’s take on Mintzberg’s roles is that managers negotiate for deals and ideas on behalf of their representative units. They are the voices through which such units achieve their goals in line with the overall organizational objectives. For instance, organizations would use departmental heads to act official negotiators on issues affecting the performance of their departments (Mind Tools 4).
Works Cited
Mind Tools. "Mintzberg's Management Roles: Identifying the Roles Managers Play." Mind Tools (2016): 1-8. PDF Document .
Powers, Edward. "Innovating Our Thinking About Management: A New Model." SAM Advanced Management Journal (2014): 40-47. PDF Document.
