“A manager’s job can be described from various perspectives: Function, Roles and

Essential Skills”. Explain how Mintberg’s managerial roles are played while usi
ng Kat’s three essential managerial skills by a manager in performing four funct
ions of his/her job in achieving organisational goals and objective 1.Introducti
on: For the world to be in this great advancement in technology, healthcare, edu
cations… are significantly attributed to the multinational organizations across
the globe. The success of these organizations raises a question, “How would thes
e organizations be able to manage their giant systems in order to achieve such s
tunning accomplishment?” The answer lies on their great managers. The managers h
ave sailed these vast ships to success by playing Mintberg’s managerial roles wh
ile using Katz’s three essential managerial skills in performing four managerial
functions.
2. Body: From Mintberg’s closely observation, he concluded that managers play te
n different roles in three basic categories: interpersonal, informational and de
cisional. A manager s job is varied and complex. Managers need certain skills to
perform the duties and activities associated with being a manager. What type of
skills does a manager need? Research by Robert L. Katz found that managers need
ed three essential skills. These are technical, interpersonal and conceptual ski
lls. Having the skills to play the roles, what managers essentially do is planni
ng, organizing, controlling and leading. So, how are the managerial roles, skill
s and functions relate to one another in an organizational system? 2.1 Manageria
l roles: Managers must engage in formulating and implementing task activities re
lated to their positions. In an attempt to understand the diversity of activitie
s managers must execute, Henry Mintzberg examined managerial activities on a dai
ly basis. His study enabled him to identify ten different
but, coordinated sets of roles. These ten roles can be separated into three gene
ral groupings: interpersonal roles, informational roles, and decisional roles. 2
.1.1 Interpersonal roles: The three interpersonal roles are primarily concerned
with interpersonal relationships. Figurehead role The figurehead role is enacted
when activity of a ceremonial nature is required within the organization. An ex
ample is the head chef of a prominent restaurant greeting customers at the door.
While the figurehead role is routine, with little serious communication and no
important decision making, its importance should not be overlooked. “At the inte
rpersonal level, it provides members and non-members alike with a sense of what
the organization is about and the type of people the organization recruits.” (ht
tp://www.trimitra.com/articles/roles.html, viewed on 21 March) Leader roles The
leader role is to inspiring and motivating employees to achieve organizational g
oals effectively. According to European Management which shows a vivid example o
f the significance of leader in Interpersonal role, in the success of Welch, Bar
nevik and Branson, the three people know how to exert their best leader role. Th
ey recognize the importance of their roles as cheerleaders, coaches and mentors.
They changed the way their subordinates work in their respective companies by c
hanging their attitude. Furthermore, they instilled in their employees a kind of
pride that goes beyond the monetary games. Liaison role: “Quite often, managers
are required to obtain information or resources outside their authority. The li
aison role is enacted when managers make contact with other individuals, who may
or may not reside in the organization, in order to complete the work performed
by their departments or work units” (http://www.trimitra.com/articles/roles.html
, viewed on 21 March). An interior designer contacts with a statistic company to
figure out a new craze. Ultimately, the liaison role enables a manager to devel
op a network for obtaining external information
which can be useful for completing current and future work activities. It mainta
ins work flow of the organization. 2.1.2 Informational roles: The three informat
ional roles are primarily concerned with the information aspects of managerial w
ork. Monitor, disseminator, and spokesperson are the three informational roles t
hat a manager may assume. These informational roles are created to deal with inf
ormational activities. It is responsible for gathering, receiving, and transmitt
ing information that concerns the organization. Monitor role A manager assumes t
he monitor role by continually seeking information or activities and events that
may identify opportunities or threats to the functioning of the organization. M
uch of the manager s gathering of information is achieved through the network of
contacts that has been established through the interpersonal roles. Learning th
rough casual conversation at a golf game, or daily reading are all examples of t
he kinds of information gathering involved in the monitor role. Disseminator rol
e The information gathered must be assessed, evaluated and transmitted according
ly to members of the organization. That is when disseminator role comes in. The
manager may inform the marketing vice-president about the specific marketing str
ategy a competitor is planning to execute. Or reading The Wall Street Journal ma
y inform the manager that a recession is looming and thus enable him to inform s
ubordinates that temporary layoffs may occur. Spokesperson role Occasionally, a
manager must assume the spokesperson role by speaking on behalf of the work unit
to people outside the organization. This might involve representing the organiz
ation’s policies and purposes. A spokesperson may present the educational sponso
ring for a university in an attempt to polish the organizational image and recru
it potential employees. 2.1.3 Decisional roles:
There are four decisional roles which are regarded as the most important set rol
es among: the decisional roles of entrepreneur, disturbance handler, resource al
locator, and negotiator. Entrepreneur role: The entrepreneur role comes in when
the manager wants to improve the work unit. This can be accomplished by adapting
new techniques for a particular situation or modifying old techniques to improv
e individual or group activity. Managers usually learn of new or innovative meth
ods through information gathered in the monitor role. A president establishes a
new pension plan to improve employee morale. Disturbance handler role: The distu
rbance handler role establishes the manager as a responder to adverse change. Or
ganizations, unfortunately, do not run so smoothly that managers are expected to
be staying alert to react to the change. In these cases, the manager is require
d to act quickly to bring stability back to the organization. A personnel direct
or must negotiate with striking employees dissatisfied with the procedures for l
aying off employees. Resource allocator role: The resource allocator role is ass
umed when it comes to decide how resource is distributed. Resources may include
money, time, power, equipment, or people... In most cases, organizations are und
er conditions of resource scarcity; thus, decisions on the allocation of resourc
es can be critical for the success of the organization. The manager must strive
not only to appropriately match resources with subordinates but also to maximize
the available resource. American president Barack Obama must allocate finite mo
netary package wisely to the American industries to help American economy get ov
er the economic recession. Negotiator role: The role of negotiator is assumed wh
en it comes to negotiation. The negotiator will request particular needs on beha
lf of the organization for the organization. For instance, the president of a re
al estate company will negotiate to get a more affordable price of constructiona
l materials.
2.2 Managerial Skills: Managers need certain skills to perform the duties and ac
tivities associated with being a manager. Katz once said that what a manager can
accomplish is based on the skills that the manager possesses. What type of skil
ls does a manager need? Research by Robert L. Katz found that managers needed th
ree essential skills. These are technical, interpersonal and conceptual skills.
Technical skills: Technical skills are the most fundamental type of skills. Tech
nical skills provide an individual with expertise to perform specialized tasks w
ithin a specific work domain (Byrd et al., 2004; Maimon, 1986). In fact, it is t
echnical competence by an individual is a prerequisite for promotion rather than
managerial knowledge and competencies (Hill, 2003; Rosen et al, 1976; Stumpf an
d London, 1981). O’neal (1985, p. 51) stated that without these fundamental skil
ls, “managers cannot effectively plan, direct, control, or assess work activitie
s”. Interpersonal skills: Interpersonal skills are defined as the ability to wor
k cooperatively with others, to communicate effectively, to resolve conflict, an
d to be a team player. “Human skills are primarily concerned with people” (Katz,
1955). It consists of teamwork, dealing with conflict, communications, and crea
ting organizational climate. According to Mann (1965), Interpersonal skills incl
ude an understanding of behavioral principles, interpersonal relations, motivati
on, and communication. Conceptual skills: Conceptual skills is the ability to us
e information to solve business problems, identification of opportunities for in
novation, recognizing problem areas and implementing solutions, selecting critic
al information from masses of data, understanding the business utilization of te
chnology, understanding the organization s business model. While technical skill
s focus on things and human skills focus on people, conceptual skills focus on i
deas and concepts (Yukl, 2002)
2.3 Managerial Functions:
With the armed skills, managers are able to function effectively and efficiently
.
Planning function: The initial managerial function- determining what should be d
one in the future-is called planning. It consists of setting goals, objectives,
policies, and other plans needed to achieve the purposes of the organization. In
planning, the manager chooses a course of action through various alternatives.
Planning is primarily conceptual. It means thinking before acting, looking ahead
and preparing for the future. Not only does planning include deciding what, how
, when, and by who works to be done, but it must also include “what if” scenario
s. Organising function: Once plan has been made, the question, “how will the wor
k divided and accomplished?” arises. The supervisor must specify various job dut
ies, assign them and give subordinates the authority they need to carry out thei
r tasks. Organizing means arranging and distributing work among members of the w
ork unit to accomplish the organizational goals. Leading function Leading means
guiding the activities of employees toward accomplishing objectives. The leading
function of management involves guiding, teaching, and supervising, subordinate
s. This includes developing employees to their potential by directing and coachi
ng those employees effectively. It is to increase employees’ morale, job satisfa
ction and at the same time achieve the objectives of the department. Leader role
is played in leading function. Controlling function: Controlling may come last
in the process of management. Controlling ensures that actual performance is in
line with intended performance and taking corrective action. As the organization
s move towards it goals, managers must monitor the progress to ensure that it wi
ll
arrive at its “destination” at the appointed time. Controlling function would be
carried out by technical skills
The significance of management is well above mentioned – it is undeniable and in
dispensable for an organization’s success. The art of management consists of the
three skills, the ten roles and the four functions. The three set of components
are perfectly aligned and thus bring success to any individual manager who poss
esses them from all level of management. Conceptual skills facilitate a manager
to play decisional role in planning function and organizing function as it provi
de him a broader vision, perspective, understanding and various alternatives whe
n it comes to solve a business problem, to indentifying opportunities…etc. Inter
personal skills facilitate a manager to play interpersonal role in leading funct
ion as it provides him the art of dealing with man: communication, handling conf
lict, morale boosting…etc. Technical skills help a manager to play his informati
onal role skill as once information is gathered, it needs to be assessed and eva
luated; thus technical skills is prerequisite to analyze must monitor organizati
on’s progress. a new stream of information. Technical skills enable a manager to
carry out controlling function as a manager
3.Conclusion: In the nutshell, Managerial sets of skills, roles and functions ar
e three sets of constituent of management which are extremely well linked. A com
petent manager must possess the skills to play the roles in performing the funct
ions. By fulfilling that, the organization will ultimately improve the overall p
roductivity and therefore achieving the incredibly dazzling success across the w
orld.
References:
Byrd, TA., Lewis, B.R. and Turner, D.E. (2004), “The impact of IT personal skill
s on IS infrastructure and competitive IS”, Information Resource Management Jour
nal, Vol. 17 No.2, pp. 38-62. Chris van Overveen - Senior Consultant Trimitra Co
nsultants (http://www.trimitra.com/articles/roles.html, viewed on 21 March). Hil
l, L.A (2003), Becoming a Manager: How New Managers Master the Challenges of lea
dership, 2nd ed., Harvard Business School Press, Boston ,MA. Jack Welch, chairma
n and CEO of General Electric, 1982 Maimon, Z.(1986), “Business studies and the
development of managerial skills”, Studies in Educational Evaluation, Vol.6 No.
1, pp. 83-97 Mann, F.C (1965), “Toward an understanding of the leadership role i
n formal organization”, in Dubin, R., Romans, G.C, Mann, F.C. and Miller, D.C. (
Eds), Leadership and Productivity, Chandler Publishing, San Francisco, CA, pp.68
-103 O’Neal, M.A. (1985), “Managerial skills and values – for today and tomorrow
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giant with a portfolio covering global market, 1987 Richard Branson, chairman o
f Virgin, one of top five brand names in the UK, 1972 Katz, R.L. (1955), “Skill
of an effective administrator”, Harvard Business Review, Vol.33 No. 1, pp.33-42.
Yukl, G. (2002), Leadership in Organization, 5th ed., Prentice-Hal, Upper Saddl
e River, NJ. Leaders Who Make A Difference European Management Journal Vol14 No
5 October 1996 Management Articles