FOLLOW UP
1.Imagine you are Mrs. Phipps. Write a letter in reply to Letter A, saying that your company is not happy about having to pay charges and you have decided to switch your account to another bank which does not make charges.
2.Imagine you are the Managing Director of John Best Ltd, a company which makes office furniture. Your company has just won a new contract worth £400,000, but in order to carry out the work you need to buy new equipment and recruit extra staff. Write a letter to the bank and ask if you can increase the overdraft facility to £50,000.
UNIT 3. The profile of an effective manager LEAD IN
1. Discuss these questions.
1.What is manager’s role in an organization?
2.What activities a manager is responsible for?
The manager
Managers work in an organization. Therefore, before we can identify who managers are, it is important to clarify the term organization. Robbins S.P. (1991) defines an organization as: «a systematic arrangement of people to accomplish some specific purpose». We can divide organizational members into two categories: operatives or managers. Managers differ from operatives by the fact that they direct the activities of others.
There are two big classifications of managers: the horizontal classification only looks at the responsibilities. We can distinguish the functional manager and the general manager. The functional manager is responsible for a whole of similar activities, for example, financial director, commercial director... While the gener-
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al manager is responsible for different functional areas, he is often concentrated on one business activity and acts as a product manager or a division manager. In the vertical classification, we need to differentiate first-line managers, middle managers, and top managers. The difference between these three groups is based on the statute of subordinates.
Furthermore, we should pay attention to the difference between a successful and an effective manager. As Luthans F. (1988) proved, a successful manager is not necessary an effective manager. The former is a manager who has been promoted relatively quickly while the latter has satisfied, committed subordinates and high performing units. In general, we could say that an effective manager is one who attains the organizational goals.
Manager's job
It was Henry Fayol, in the early part of this century, who was the first to give a global view about the job of manager. He observed that managers performed 5 management functions: they plan, organize, command, coordinate and control. In the mid-1950s these management functions were reduced to the basic four known as the management process.
The planning component encompasses defining the goals, establishing appropriate strategies and developing different plans to coordinate the activities. Furthermore, managers are responsible for designing an organization's structure, which clarifies what must be done and by whom. As the job of manager implies directing activities of others, the leading function is very important. It consists of motivating subordinates, resolving conflicts and selecting effective communication channels. Eventually, a manager has a controlling function. He has to ensure that the assumed goals will be achieved. Therefore the manager has to monitor the different activities. Also keep in mind that an effective manager must be able to perform all four activities simultaneously.
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―Conceptual skills: the ability to analyze complex situations and to provide the necessary knowledge to facilitate the decision-making.
―Interpersonal skill: as a manager you should be able to direct others, so motivation, communication and delegation skills are absolutely needed.
―Technical skills: the ability to apply specialized knowledge or expertise.
―Political skills: the ability to build the right relationships with the right persons. Those connections result in higher chances of getting additional resources and power.
―Controlling the organization's environment and its resources.
―Organizing and coordinating.
―Handling information.
―Providing for growth and development.
―Motivating employees and handling conflicts.
―Strategic problem solving.
The main characteristics of the effective manager
In the following part we will discuss some of the main manager's characteristics based on the theories which were discussed in the first part of our paper. We have summarized different visions and found out that all theories named the following important characteristics:
―decision making skills;
―conflict Management skills;
―flexibility and creativity;
―developing of managerial knowledge and manager's teaching role;
―motivation of employees;
―communication skills;
―developing trust inside the organization.
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Operations Management
Operations management consists of all the activities that managers are engaged into creating products (goods, services, and ideas). Operations are as relevant to service organizations as to manufacturing firms. In fact, production is the conversion of resources into goods or services.
1.A technology is the knowledge and process the firm uses to convert input resources into output goods or services. Conversion processes vary in their major input, the degree to which inputs are changed and the number of technologies employed in the conversion.
2.Operations management often begins with the research and product development activities. The results of R&D may be entirely new products or extensions and refinements of existing products. The limited life cycle of every product spurs companies to invest continuously in R&D.
3.Operations planning is planning for production. First, design planning is needed to solve problems related to the product line, required production capacity, the technology to be used, the design of production facilities, and human resources. Next, operations planning focuses on the use of production facilities and resources. The steps in this periodic planning are (1) selecting the appropriate planning horizon, (2) estimating market demand, (3) comparing demand and capacity, and (4) adjusting output to demand.
4.The major areas of operations control are purchasing, inventory control, scheduling, and quality control. Purchasing involves selecting suppliers and planning purchases. Inventory control is the management of stocks of raw materials, work process and finished goods to minimize the total inventory cost. Scheduling ensures that materials are at the right place at the right time — for use within the facility or for shipment to customers. Quality control ensures that products meet their design specifications.
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5. Automation, the total or near-total use of machines to do work, is rapidly changing the way work is done in factories and offices. A growing number of industries are using programmable machines called robots to perform tasks that are tedious or hazardous to human beings. The flexible manufacturing system combines robotics and computer-aided manufacturing to produce smaller batches of products more efficiently than the traditional assembly line.
COMPREHENSION
1.Answer the following question. Then compare your answers with the class.
1.What is a manager?
2.Where does a manager work?
3.What types of managers can be named?
4.What is an effective manager?
5.What is a successful manager?
6.What is the difference between successful and effective manager?
7.What are the main characteristics of the effective manager?
8.What are the functions of a manager?
9.What is operations management?
10.What role do managers play in the organization?
2.Insert the necessary word or word combination
1.Managers work in an …
2.We can divide organizational members into two categories: … or …
3.Managers differ from operatives, by the fact that they … the activities of others.
4.We can distinguish the functional manager and the … manager.
5.Eventually, a manager has a … function.
6.The planning component encompasses … the goals, … appropriate strategies and … different plans to coordinate the activities.
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