THE MANAGER’S JOB

FOLKLORE AND FACT

MINTZBERG
CLASSICAL VIEW

• Four functions of management:

• Planning
• Organizing
• Leading
• Controls
WHAT ARE ORGANIZATIONS?

• Social interventions.
• Goal accomplishment.
• Group effort.
PROBLEM?

• Is the reality as mentioned on the previous slide?

• Cannot see the connection between the classical view and what managers actually do.
• The classical view goes back to the French Industrialist Henri Fayol – 1916.
• Without an accurate picture of what manager actually do, then how can we train people to become
managers?
• How can we design planning systems?
• How can we improve on the practice of management at all?
• Actually most managers could not answer what they do all day.
• How often can you work without an interruption?
FOLKLORE #1 - PLANNING

• Folklore: The manager is a reflective, systematic planner.

• Fact: Work at a fast pace.
• Fact: Basic chaos – brevity, variety, discontinuity.
• Fact: Pone to action and a dislike to reflective activities.
FOLKLORE #2

• The effective manager has no regular duties to perform.

• Definition of a manager: person who gets work done through others.
• Fact: this is not the reality.
• Fact: managers have a great number of regular duties and responsibilities.
FOLKLORE #3

• The senior manager needs aggregated information which a formal management

information best provides.
• Fact: information overload.
• Assumption: perfect information leads to superior decision-making and decisions –
rational model of decision making.
• Actually managers prefer conversation, telephone, twitter, email over detailed documents
and formal reports.
FOLKLORE #4

• Folklore: management is quickly becoming a science and profession.

• Applying scientific management principles to management.
• The fact is that most managers’ programs such as scheduling time, processing
information, making decisions and so on remain locked inside the manager’s brain.
MANAGER’S ROLES

• As we know there is formal authority that comes with status. There is an organizational
structure with clear lines of authority which constitute legitimate and legalized positions.
• Three broad categories of roles:
• Interpersonal
• Informational
• Decisional
INTERPERSONAL ROLES

• Figurehead – head of the company; Warren Buffett.

• Leader – people like to be led.
• Liason – manager makes contact outside the vertical chain of command.
INFORMATIONAL

• Monitor – environmental scanning; inside information.

• Disseminator – communication role.
• Spokesperson – face of the company; Zuckerberg – Facebook.
DECISIONAL

• Entrepreneur – seeks to improve the unit; to adapt to change; innovate.

• Disturbance handler – resolve conflict.
• Resource allocator – budgeting and release of funds.
• Negotiator – give and take – choices.
SCARCEST RESOURCE

• The challenge is to get control of your time.

• Need to allocate it accordingly.
• Only recourse you really have.
TOWARD MORE EFFECTIVENESS AS A MANAGER

• Integrate the roles.

• Managers need to develop insight into their own work and activities.
• The manager is challenged to find systematic ways to share privileged information.
• Managers are challenged and need to step back and observe.
• Managers need to take a broader view – Facebook; Apple.
• Need to develop a comprehensive picture.
• Managers need to gain control of their own time.
MINTZBERG VIEW ON SKILLS

• Managers need to develop the following:

• Peer relationships
• Carry out negotiations
• Motivate subordinates
• Resolve conflict
• Establish information systems
• Allocate resources
• Create order out of chaos
• Be introspective, learn, and adapt
CONCLUSION

• Time to strip away the folklore about managerial work.

• Need to study it realistically so we can make significant improvements in performance.
TODAY’S SITUATION

• Corporate social responsibility.

• Transparency.
• How to lead?
• How to motivate?
• Diversity.
• Human rights issues.
• Workplace spirituality – employee training.
• Mental health.
• Stress.
TODAY

• Vision.
• Mission.
• Strategic action.
• Direction.
• Return on investment.
• Accountability.
• Following the law of the land.