Management Purpose and Importance, Essay Example

Management is the activities and skills to coordinate the efforts of those within the organization, either directly or indirectly assigned to the manager, to accomplish the goals and objectives of the organization.  Management is the human interaction within a business system to utilize the limited resources of capital, time, technology, human resources and physical resources to generate an outcome for the business.  The key focus of the management role is to align those limited resources to the appropriate tasks and activities to meet the goals and objectives of the function they are currently managing while also aligning their goals and objectives with those priorities of the managers up the hierarchical chain of command.

Management can be seen in two halves.  One area includes the management of tasks to achieve an objective.  The other half is the skills and ability to achieve those objectives.  The two halves are distinct and necessary for management.  There are two significant portions of a management positions.  There are the managerial duties as well as the leadership aspects of the position.  Leadership is described by Peter Drucker in a synopsis of management verses leadership in the quote “management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things.”  This simple statement places the emphasis on how leadership in the management role is more than accomplishing goals and objectives but how those achievements are obtained and implemented while also imparting guidance and strategic intent throughout the process. Achieving the objective is measured on whether or not the goal was met.  How the objective was achieved is an entirely different skillset and is measured in a more qualitative way than meeting the objective.  There are some inherent challenges with being a manager and also ensuring success as a manager.  Challenges include utilizing the resources assigned to meet the objectives and expectations established by senior leadership.  Other challenges include managing the people and ensuring they are up for the commitment of the organization on a daily basis.  Interpersonal work relationships must be managed to ensure the performance of those that are being led by the manager is up to par with the organizational standards.  Yet another challenge is the balance to not only align the goals and objectives of the organization but to also ensure that the people and other resources are not underutilized or mistreated throughout the process.  This can be the misappropriation of resources such as natural resources, material, office equipment or other business resources as well as the utilization of the people in the business.

Roles

The goal of the manager is to manage the specific, tactical and operational functions underneath his or her span of control (Zaleznik, 2008).  The manager will more than likely be compared and appraised upon how well he met the metrics established for his or her group and will drive his area of responsibility to meet those key performance metrics.  The metrics for the manager’s area of responsibility do not necessarily take into account his or her leadership ability and how well the leadership skills are being developed and implemented within the manager’s team (Zenger & Folkman, 2009).  The metrics of the manager are encapsulating how well the manager performed on the things that he or she did right and not necessarily doing the right thing.  Metrics and indicators for managers can be a hindrance as well as a way to gain insight into the performance of their organization.  Part of the manager’s responsibility to leadership is to achieve those assigned goals and objectives to the specified performance levels developed by the organization.  If the metrics of the organization do not align with the direction the company is going or how they want to be monitored or controlled, it is up to the manager to use their leadership voice and raise the issues or concerns.  This is a very important aspect of leadership due to the fact that the manager has a voice to the leadership, management understands their area of responsibility and ultimately the manger will drive the culture and actions of their area of responsibility to meet the metrics assigned to their area.  The metrics can drive actions of the organization and ensuring the right metrics are utilized ensures the correct direction of the business unit is established.  When organizations are looking to improve their competitive advantage and improve their business model they look toward the managers of the organization. It is the managers’ role to drive these changes and be the catalyst needed by senior leadership to implement the improvements. Changes could include technological advances, new core business models, improved tools are all great implementations that can be used to improve the rate of success for a business but leadership innovation and managerial acumen propel the organization to another level.  The internal leadership abilities can create a competitive advantage for an organization that a new set of collaborative software tools or best practice framework would not be able to achieve.  Implementing new tools and changes require management’s ability to lead the relentless pursuit of effectiveness and efficiency while continually improving and changing the business.  These managers are leading the charge as well as standing in the forefront of the business driving, guiding and spearheading the business opportunities.

These are some significant reasons why management is important to the success of the organization.  This success or failure hinges on the abilities of management to allocate resources, meet objectives, ensure the quality of the product and the work/life balance of the employees, track and align metrics all for the greater good of the organization.  The manager is ultimately responsible for the success or failure of their area of responsibility.

School of Management

What skills are necessary to be a leader in a management position?  Management takes operational skills but the role of manager can also provide a springboard into other leadership opportunities.  Great managers have the mix of inherent abilities and learned behavior.  Just like the athlete, even those with minimal athletic ability can be taught the basics of running but only those with the tangible attributes such as; muscles, structure, height and stride coupled with that of the intangible attributes like: heart, determination, and mental aptitude could become Olympic athletes.  The school of thought for management can be seen in the same light.  Managers can be taught how to manage teams but to become exceptional managers they must also have the intrinsic value of leadership ability.  Managers can be grown but the level of effort to grow these managers into high performance candidates is dependent on the base level skills sets coupled with the desire and determination to become exceptional.  The skill set is a diverse mix of tangible and intangible traits that are built through experience and training.  They are also formulated through the enhancement of key characteristic traits such as being an extrovert or having a highly technical in background coupled with the ability to outwardly present what the leader has internally to a group of individuals or followers.  Henri Fayol developed a management school of through that revolved around the general principles a manager should follow to organize and utilize their respective operational areas.  The general areas included: division of work, authority/responsibility, discipline, unity of command, unity of direction, subordination of individuality to commonality, salary, centralization of personnel, chain of command, order, equity, stability of the work environment, initiative and esprit de corps (Wren, Bedeian and Breez, 2002).  These key areas formulate the key focal areas for maintaining good order and discipline, aligning organizational objectives with business unit actions, personnel management and the quality of life at the work place.  These fourteen principles of management provide the general guidelines on how to manage responsibility and organize the staff in which the manager is in charge of.  This management school of thought is the basic building blocks for successful management and each area requires thought and actions to fully utilize the beneficial actions of the fourteen principles.

Management is key to the success of the organization and it is the responsibility of the manager to lead his or her people to the objectives of the business unit, align the goals and objectives of their area of responsibility with the organizations strategic intent, manage and lead personnel to be successful, understand and manage the culture of the organization, ensure the safety and wellbeing of the workers in the organization and ultimately be the accountable party for success or failure of the organizational operational activities.

Works Cited

Caroselli, M. (2001). Leadership skills for managers. McGraw-Hill Professional.

Hamel, G. (2007). The future of management. Harvard Business Press.

Hughes, R., Ginnett, R., & Curphy, G. (2012). Leadership: Enhancing the lessons of experience. (7 ed.). Montouri, Amsterdam: McGraw-Hill/Irwin.

Kotter, J. (2012). Leading change. Boston, MA: Harvard Business Review Press.

Kouzes, J. M., & Posner, B. Z. (2008). The leadership challenge. (4th ed.). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Inc Pub.

Lemay, L., (2009). The practice of collective and strategic leadership in the public sector. The Innovation Journal: The Public Sector Innovation Journal 14(1), 2.

Rost, J. C. (1993). Leadership for the twenty-first century. Praeger Publishers. Stahl, J. (2007). Zaleznik, A. (2008). Managers and leaders: are they different? Cambridge, MA: Harvard Business Review.

Wren, D., Bedeian, A., and Breez, J., (2002). The foundations of Henri Fayol’s administrative theory. Retrieved: http://bus.lsu.edu/management/faculty/abedeian/articles/Fayol.pdf

Zenger, J. H., & Folkman, J. (2009). The extraordinary leader, turning good managers into great leaders. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Professional.