Today’s Management Functions and Roles – Developing Economies : Today’s Management Functions and Roles – Developing Economies Dr. H. Kwame Afaglo
©2010
Today’s Management Functions and Roles – Developing Economies : Today’s Management Functions and Roles – Developing Economies Competition for limited resources in the current recessive marketplace has heightened the demand for high performing management, coupled with ever increasing shareholders desire for higher dividends have re-oriented management practices.
As a prima facie, management as a team are responsible to ensuring the achievement of organisational goals and objectives.
Today’s Management Functions and Roles – Developing Economies : Today’s Management Functions and Roles – Developing Economies Current business environment is not only placing goal and achievement within the ambient of managers , however it is demanding measureable production target achievement and within defined time phase at less cost.
The demanding manager’s conditions as:
Attainment of measureable production targets.
Operating at least cost.
Time oriented task.
Today’s Management Functions and Roles – Developing Economies : Today’s Management Functions and Roles – Developing Economies Definition of Management
Thus, emerges a real life management definition as:
Management is a science of achieving maximum returns at minimal cost, within agreed time frame, and abhors wastage.
Today’s Management Functions and Roles – Developing Economies : Today’s Management Functions and Roles – Developing Economies Today’s management is task, result and surplus (profit or breakeven point) oriented and it abhors wastage.
Increased and improved variety of products from competitors has heightened competition, increasing customisation has placed the consumer in the centre of production, and ever increasing demand for higher dividends by shareholders, all places pressure on today’s managers.
Today’s Management Functions and Roles – Developing Economies : Today’s Management Functions and Roles – Developing Economies For an organisation to survive it must factor all the early mentioned conditions in its mode of operation.
Herethe to, products design, functions and style were dictated by the manufacturer. Today, products must be innovative and tailored as desired by consumers for market survival.
Further, customer centrism is not just the pivot of organisational survival but also for
Today’s Management Functions and Roles – Developing Economies : Today’s Management Functions and Roles – Developing Economies attainment of market leadership position.
Choice under variety of product lines or brands is not good enough, in addition, its customisation is become necessary for that market leadership. Dell computers is shown the way for customisation of products, whiles Apple computers is forced to increase its product lines for ipod and iphone brands.
Today’s Management Functions and Roles – Developing Economies : Today’s Management Functions and Roles – Developing Economies Here, developing economies especially African states are yet to increase the varieties of their products (goods and services) and thereafter take advantage of customisation.
Shareholders by virtue of ownership have a forceful say in the direction of the firm and ‘who is who’ in terms of management of firm. Their intention for deciding the direction of
Today’s Management Functions and Roles – Developing Economies : Today’s Management Functions and Roles – Developing Economies management of firm is survival and surplus oriented. Private ownership of organisations propels the growth of economies, unlike most African states where state ownership of organisations is been the practise of the 1970s to 1990s with significant visible presence today. Public shareholder ownership of industry is a vital component
Today’s Management Functions and Roles – Developing Economies : Today’s Management Functions and Roles – Developing Economies of managerial style.
These factors have changed the organisational structure of most firms to operate in other to meet all the demands (consumers – including workers and shareholders) simultaneously.
The flattened organisational structure is about empowering front line staff with enough knowledge based roles that is accompanied with commensurate authority.
Today’s Management Functions and Roles – Developing Economies : Today’s Management Functions and Roles – Developing Economies The scheme as figure 1 is a pictorial representation of what today’s managerial roles are like and who they are responsible to.
In the scheme (figure 1), the customer is most central partner that determines the line and type of products, whiles the shareholders form the outer force on management. The lines indicate the direction of authority and responsibility.
Today’s Management Functions and Roles – Developing Economies : Today’s Management Functions and Roles – Developing Economies Organisational structure of proposed market leadership (Figure 1) Customer Share holders
Today’s Management Functions and Roles – Developing Economies : Today’s Management Functions and Roles – Developing Economies Inferring from figure 1, Management is responsible to their customers and at the same time to the shareholders. Any management team that is not able to satisfy these two parties is definitely out of business.
The role of management is becoming challenging and gradually not just anyone can handle it successfully, but individuals who understand the dynamics and know how
Today’s Management Functions and Roles – Developing Economies : Today’s Management Functions and Roles – Developing Economies to;
plan (strategically and tactically),
organise resources (material and human),
leading (showing the way) and
controlling (coordinating all inputs at least cost and yield maximum returns).
Ability to integrate the above listed functions appropriately and within agreed time frame is what is expected of management globally.
Today’s Management Functions and Roles – Developing Economies : Today’s Management Functions and Roles – Developing Economies Current managerial practices are more role and task focused, whiles there is a gradual deemphasise on position and titles. A manager’s worth is what s/he brings to the organisation and not just the big and flamboyant titles that herethe to attracted big remunerations. Precisely, in organisations where roles and output are measured, some relatively junior members get paid higher than the head of
Today’s Management Functions and Roles – Developing Economies : Today’s Management Functions and Roles – Developing Economies their departments and in some instances than the overall head of organisation. One such firm is Citigroup between 2004 – 2007 ‘who is who’ list.
Planning – Systematic mapping of organisation’s is intended goals and objective for both short, medium and long term is essential. Apparently without an organisational plan, the shareholders
Today’s Management Functions and Roles – Developing Economies : Today’s Management Functions and Roles – Developing Economies will not be able to measure performance, after all any form of achievement (over or under-achievement) will do. But shareholders are always interested in measurable positive achievements and preferably one that is above agreed targets.
Directors are responsible for strategic planning which is long term and Managers execute the day-to-day aspect of the plan (tactical) that cumulatively results in the achievement of the
Today’s Management Functions and Roles – Developing Economies : Today’s Management Functions and Roles – Developing Economies strategic plan.
In that light, management is planned by breaking down of the strategic plan to respective departments and then to line managers, supervisors, and work hands in a downward trend and its reporting line is upward, of which is Management-by-Objectives (MBO). This way the organisational objectives are met.
Today’s Management Functions and Roles – Developing Economies : Today’s Management Functions and Roles – Developing Economies A cost effective managerial approach of achieving organisational goals is the strengthening of front line staff with adequate information as it is down with banks as HSBC. HSBC call centre representatives upon one call from a customer is able to respond adequately to almost all enquiries from bank accounts details through transactions, stock trading to facilities that may be approved with few minutes or declined with explanation within reach.
Today’s Management Functions and Roles – Developing Economies : Today’s Management Functions and Roles – Developing Economies This is an example of MBO that is operating on minimal cost and expecting maximum satisfaction to client and positive achievements that contributes to the overall agreed organisational target for shareholders. A hierarchical organisational structure of a large enterprise tends to face bottlenecks as red tapism, bureaucracy, slow to react to change for increased productivity.
Today’s Management Functions and Roles – Developing Economies : Today’s Management Functions and Roles – Developing Economies Organising – Another function of a manager after planning is the mobilisation of both human and material resources in an orderly manner to work towards completion of task on time and at least cost.
Here, job responsibilities when attached to roles must make provision for some flexibility. With the partial flexibility of job descriptions it will encourage job rotation.
Today’s Management Functions and Roles – Developing Economies : Today’s Management Functions and Roles – Developing Economies Job rotation occurs when individual worker is scheduled on a set of tasks at a time before being moved onto the another set of duties on periodic bases.
It does reduce the level of monotony that normally sets in when one is carrying out the same duty day-in day-out.
Also it serves as a source training which is capacity building for both the individual and staff.
Today’s Management Functions and Roles – Developing Economies : Today’s Management Functions and Roles – Developing Economies Further, should a key staff be absent or late the job will still go on, since another staff can easily step in comfortably.
Material resources when thought off to be employed, it is a manager’s responsibility to ensure it yields optimum results and at least cost.
One of a manager’s cardinal role is being cost effective and think in terms of surplus or profit.
Today’s Management Functions and Roles – Developing Economies : Today’s Management Functions and Roles – Developing Economies Materials to be used must not always be the current or state of the art instrument(s) but the manager’s concept must be ensuring lower running cost and yet efficient. In certain circumstances if not growing number of work environments, human-machine interface is necessary to reduce cost and yield optimum returns. Introduction of robotics into work and domestic environment is become an inevitable occurrence, hence, African entrepreneurs need to catch up the trend and gain competitively from it. Some obvious sight of possible use of robotics in Africa is the fuel dumps, restaurants, access control points and shops.
Today’s Management Functions and Roles – Developing Economies : Today’s Management Functions and Roles – Developing Economies Leading – Besides other functions, managers are also expected to show the way to their colleagues. Also, managers are expected to be good at trouble shooting, since it is a pre-requisite for competitive management. A manager must know which leadership style to adapt in specific situations and when dealing with colleagues. Some circumstances that requires most suitable leadership styles are;
Today’s Management Functions and Roles – Developing Economies : Today’s Management Functions and Roles – Developing Economies Autocratic – When leading an army for a defined project.
Dictatorship – In response time of medical or disaster emergency.
Laser fare – A scientific research project.
Transactional – Investment banking workplace when trading in securities.
Transformational – Behavioural modification centres.
Today’s Management Functions and Roles – Developing Economies : Today’s Management Functions and Roles – Developing Economies Democratic – Managing colleague teachers.
In all leadership styles, managers are to show positive attitude and determination when executing a task, of which colleagues will learn by imitation and co-operate towards completion of task and in good time.
African business managers must encourage competitive from innovation and variety for higher performance and expansion into the leadership position of global marketplace.
Today’s Management Functions and Roles – Developing Economies : Today’s Management Functions and Roles – Developing Economies Controlling – Integrating all the earlier briefed functions into a effective mix, that needs to be monitored on daily bases and evaluated (once or twice a year), with the results as progressively in line with organisational goals.
Checks as monitoring and evaluation serves as the source of measuring performance
Today’s Management Functions and Roles – Developing Economies : Today’s Management Functions and Roles – Developing Economies and gives the opportunity for improvements or change management.
Controlling is the scientific tool of determining managements role before shareholders and consumers objectively.
Further, controlling makes room for performance appraisal of which guides management in developing training needs for colleagues.
Today’s Management Functions and Roles – Developing Economies : Today’s Management Functions and Roles – Developing Economies Roles and functions described are expected of all managers of both Not-for-Profit and for profit organisations.
As a compulsion, African business managers must operate from competitive points and focus on the customers so as to benefit from market leadership. Central governments of most Africa states must also eschew monopolistic tendencies and nationalisation of business entities and foster private entrepreneurship through management development skills.
Today’s Management Functions and Roles – Developing Economies : Today’s Management Functions and Roles – Developing Economies Reference
CliffsNotes.com (2010) Functions of Managers Available from http://www.cliffsnote.com/study_guide/topicArticled-8944.artcled-8848.html Accessed on [13 October 2010]
Wikipedia (2007) Management Available from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Management Accessed on [13th October 2010]
Today’s Management Functions and Roles – Developing Economies : Today’s Management Functions and Roles – Developing Economies Thank you