ZeePedia

MANAGERIAL ROLES IN ORGANIZATIONS:Informational roles, Decisional roles

<< MANAGEMENT AND MANAGERS:Why Study Management?
MANAGERIAL FUNCTIONS I.E. POLCA:Management Process, Mistakes Managers Make >>
img
Principles of Management ­ MGT503
VU
Lesson 1.3
MANAGERIAL ROLES IN ORGANIZATIONS
Management Roles:
Managers fulfill a variety of roles. A role is an organized set of behaviors that is associated with a particular
office or position.
Dr. Henry Minzberg, a prominent management researcher, says that what managers do can best be
described by looking at the roles they play at work. The term management role refers to specific categories
of managerial behavior. There are three types of roles which a manager usually does in any organization.
Interpersonal roles are roles that involve people (subordinates and persons outside the organization) and
other duties that are ceremonial and symbolic in nature. The three interpersonal roles include being a
figurehead, leader, and liaison.
Informational roles involve receiving, collecting, and disseminating information. The three informational
roles include a monitor, disseminator, and spokesperson.
Decisional roles revolved around making choices. The four decisional roles include entrepreneur,
disturbance handler, resource allocator, and negotiator.
In the late 1960s, Henry Mintzberg concluded that managers perform 10 different, but highly interrelated
roles.
Follow-up studies of Mintzberg's role categories in different types of organizations and at different
managerial levels within organizations have generally supported the notion that managers perform similar
roles.
However, the more traditional functions have not been invalidated. In fact, the functional approach still
represents the most useful way of classifying the manager's job.
As depicted in following table, Mintzberg delineated ten managerial roles in three categories.
a.
Interpersonal roles grow directly out of the authority of a manger's position and involve
developing and maintaining positive relationships with significant others.
1)
The figurehead performs symbolic legal or social duties.
2)
The Leader builds relationships with employees and communicates with, motivates, and
coaches them.
3)
The liaison maintains a network of contacts outside the work unit to obtain information.
b.
Informational roles pertain to receiving and transmitting information so that managers can serve
as the nerve centers of their organizational units.
1)
The monitor seeks internal and external information about issues that can affect the
organization.
2)
The disseminator transmits information internally that is obtained from either internal or
external sources.
3)
The spokesperson transmits information about the organization to outsiders.
c.
Decisional roles involve making significant decisions that affect the organization.
1)
The entrepreneur acts as an initiator, designer, and encourager of change and innovation.
2)
The disturbance handler takes corrective action when the organization faces important,
unexpected difficulties.
3)
The resource allocator distributes resources of all types, including time, funding,
equipment, and human resources.
The negotiator represents the organization in major negotiations affecting the manager's
4)
areas of responsibility
d.
The four major functions of management--planning, organizing, leading, and controlling provide
the purpose for managers taking the roles they do.
7
img
Principles of Management ­ MGT503
VU
Professor Mintzberg explained his concept with the help of table; it is given on next page:
Mintzberg's
Examples of Identifiable
Managerial Roles
Role
Description
Activities
Interpersonal
Symbolic head: obliged to Greeting  visitors:  signing
Figurehead
perform  a  number  of legal documents
routine duties of a legal or
social nature.
Leader
Responsible
for
the Performing  virtually  all
motivation
of activities
that
involve
subordinates: responsible subordinates
for staffing, training, and
associated duties.
Liaison
Maintains  self-developed Acknowledging mail: doing
network
of
outside external
board
work:
contacts  and  informers performing other activities
who provide favors and that involve outsiders
information.
Informational
Monitor
Seeks and receives wide Reading  periodicals  and
variety of internal and reports: maintaining personal
external information to contacts.
develop
thorough
understanding
of
organization
and
environment.
Disseminator
Transmits
information Holding
informational
received from outsiders or meetings: making phone calls
from  subordinates  to to relay information.
members
of
the
organization
Spokesperson
Transmits information to Holding  board  meetings:
outsiders on organization's giving information to the
plans,  policies,  actions, media.
results,
Decisional
Entrepreneur
Searches organization and Organizing  strategy  and
its
environment
for review sessions to develop
opportunities and initiates new programs
"improvement  projects"
to bring about changes
Disturbance
Responsible for corrective Organizing  strategy  and
handler
action when organization review sessions that involve
faces
important, disturbances and crises
unexpected disturbances
Resource
Responsible
for
the Scheduling:
requesting
allocator
allocation
of authorization:
performing
organizational resources of any activity that involves
all kinds ­ making or budgeting
and
the
approving all significant programming
of
organizational decisions
subordinates' work
Negotiator
Responsible
for Participating
in
union
representing
the contract negotiations
organization  at  major
negotiations
8
Table of Contents:
  1. HISTORICAL OVERVIEW OF MANAGEMENT:The Egyptian Pyramid, Great China Wall
  2. MANAGEMENT AND MANAGERS:Why Study Management?
  3. MANAGERIAL ROLES IN ORGANIZATIONS:Informational roles, Decisional roles
  4. MANAGERIAL FUNCTIONS I.E. POLCA:Management Process, Mistakes Managers Make
  5. MANAGERIAL LEVELS AND SKILLS:Middle-level managers, Top managers
  6. MANAGEMENT IDEAS: YESTERDAY AND TODAY, Anthropology, Economics
  7. CLASSICAL VIEW OF MANAGEMENT:Scientific management
  8. ADMINISTRATIVE VIEW OF MANAGEMENT:Division of work, Authority
  9. BEHAVIORAL THEORIES OF MANAGEMENT:The Hawthorne Studies
  10. QUANTITATIVE, CONTEMPORARY AND EMERGING VIEWS OF MANAGEMENT
  11. SYSTEM’S VIEW OF MANAGEMENT AND ORGANIZATION:Managing Systems
  12. ANALYZING ORGANIZATIONAL ENVIRONMENT AND UNDERSTANDING ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE
  13. 21ST CENTURY MANAGEMENT TRENDS:Organizational social Responsibility
  14. UNDERSTANDING GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT WTO AND SAARC
  15. DECISION MAKING AND DECISION TAKING
  16. RATIONAL DECISION MAKING:Models of Decision Making
  17. NATURE AND TYPES OF MANAGERIAL DECISIONS:Decision-Making Styles
  18. NON RATIONAL DECISION MAKING:Group Decision making
  19. GROUP DECISION MAKING AND CREATIVITY:Delphi Method, Scenario Analysis
  20. PLANNING AND DECISION AIDS-I:Methods of Forecasting, Benchmarking
  21. PLANNING AND DECISION AIDS-II:Budgeting, Scheduling, Project Management
  22. PLANNING: FUNCTIONS & BENEFITS:HOW DO MANAGERS PLAN?
  23. PLANNING PROCESS AND GOAL LEVELS:Types of Plans
  24. MANAGEMENT BY OBJECTIVE (MBO):Developing Plans
  25. STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT -1:THE IMPORTANCE OF STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT
  26. STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT - 2:THE STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT PROCESS
  27. LEVELS OF STRATEGIES, PORTER’S MODEL AND STRATEGY DEVELOPMENT (BCG) AND IMPLEMENTATION
  28. ENTREPRENEURSHIP MANAGEMENT:Why Is Entrepreneurship Important?
  29. ORGANIZING
  30. JOB DESIGN/SPECIALIZATION AND DEPARTMENTALIZATION
  31. SPAN OF COMMAND, CENTRALIZATION VS DE-CENTRALIZATION AND LINE VS STAFF AUTHORITY
  32. ORGANIZATIONAL DESIGN AND ORGANIC VS MECHANISTIC VS VIRTUAL STRUCTURES
  33. LEADING AND LEADERSHIP MOTIVATING SELF AND OTHERS
  34. MASLOW’S NEEDS THEORY AND ITS ANALYSIS
  35. OTHER NEED AND COGNITIVE THEORIES OF MOTIVATION
  36. EXPECTANCY, GOAL SETTING AND RE-ENFORCEMENT THEORIES
  37. MOTIVATING KNOWLEDGE PROFESSIONALS LEADERSHIP TRAIT THEORIES
  38. BEHAVIORAL AND SITUATIONAL MODELS OF LEADERSHIP
  39. STRATEGIC LEADERSHIP MODELS
  40. UNDERSTANDING GROUP DYNAMICS IN ORGANIZATIONS
  41. GROUP CONCEPTS, STAGES OF GROUP DEVELOPMENT AND TEAM EFFECTIVENESS
  42. UNDERSTANDING MANAGERIAL COMMUNICATION
  43. COMMUNICATION NETWORKS AND CHANNELS EFFECT OF ICT ON MANAGERIAL COMMUNICATION
  44. CONTROLLING AS A MANAGEMENT FUNCTION:The control process
  45. CONTROLLING ORGANIZATIONAL PERFORMANCE THROUGH PRODUCTIVITY AND QUALITY