MANAGEMENT ROLES

Managers perform certain generic roles in any organisation. 

The extent of these roles will be determined by the type of managerial position they hold within the organisation - 

• CEO, 
• Senior manager or 
• Front-line manager. 

However, the principal aim of any manager's role is to achieve the objectives of the organisation.

The generic management functions which all managers perform may be described as the 'POLC CCM' functions or roles as discussed earlier.

CORPORATE CULTURE

Corporate culture may be formal or informal depending on the expectations of the organisation

The corporate culture of an organisation may be defined as 'the system of shared values' that exists within the corporate structure of an organisation. The existence of a corporate culture implies that there is a common set of values and norms that form the basis for all work practices and procedures that are carried out within the organisation. It also implies that there are clearly established ideals and beliefs that all employees, managers and owners of the organisation believe are the keys to the successful operation of the organisation. These values represent: how employees believe they will be treated by management how managers treat each other how customers will be treated and how customers expect to be treated how the organisation interacts with other organisations and government agencies how the organisation views the wider environment and the level of corporate ethics and social responsibility that is evident in the actions of the organisation The existence of a corporate culture for an organisation enables the many and varied sections or departments of an organisation to feel a sense of belonging to each other rather than acting as independent units. Corporate culture is an intangible term, i.e. it can not be touched or seen visibly. However, there are many signs or symbols that tell us about the corporate culture of an organisation The corporate culture is something that evolves from the initial establishment of the organisation and the formulation of the mission and vision statement. In some instances, stakeholders view the organisation differently from how the organisation perceives itself. There may be, as a result, a difference between what is supposedly the 'official' culture and what the 'actual' culture is within the organisation. Changes to the environment within which the organisation operates may have an impact on the culture of the organisation. The organisation must be flexible and be able to adapt to these changes for the benefit of all stakeholders of the organisation. The corporate culture of an organisation is, however, difficult to alter and a significant change process would have to be implemented to achieve this. Management has a direct role to play in the development or change in the corporate culture. Management will act as a role model for their employees and their behaviour should mirror what the organisation is attempting to achieve through its goals and objectives. Management must provide the necessary infrastructure to train and to educate the employees with respect to this corporate culture and to ensure that they are properly motivated.

Management uses of objectives

Management uses these objectives to clearly define, for its employees and other management levels, the tasks that have to be performed and the targets that have to be achieved. 

These objectives will then be used to measure or to assess the performance of the organisation as a whole, a team of employees or managers, or individual employees or managers. 

As a result of this evaluation, the organisation may revise its objectives for the next time period and then draw up a revised strategy for the organisation to follow.

There are a number of advantages or benefits to an organisation of establishing objectives. These include:

• Performance expectations of both managers and employees are clearly stated and defined

• Communication and liaison between managers and employees is made easier by establishing a common set of objectives

• Planning at all levels - strategic, tactical and operational - is made easier and an evaluation of the planning process may be undertaken

• The objectives may be communicated to all stakeholders of the organisations (stakeholders being any individual, group of individuals or organisations which have a 'vested' interest in the successful operation of the organisation, i.e. they stand to lose something if the organisation does not succeed) and thus become part of the culture of the organisation

• A measuring yardstick or standard will be established and the organisation can set itself up as the benchmark for other organisations

• A system of accountability and responsibility is established within the organisation

FOLLOW THE COURSE

GOALS AND OBJECTIVE

VISION STATEMENT

The mission or vision statement is normally determined by the Chief Executive Officer of the organisation in consultation with the board of directors and senior management of the organisation.

• TO PROVIDE SHAREHOLDER PROFIT
• TO PROVIDE EFFICIENT PUBLIC TRANSPORT
• TO PROVIDE EXCELLENT CUSTOMER SERVICE
• TO PROVIDE WORLD BEST PRACTICE
• TO REACH WORLD WIDE AUDIENCE VIEWER
• TO CREATE AFFORDABLE CLOTH FOR YOUNG
• TO PROVIDE EXCELLENT AUDIO ON COMPUTER TECHNOLOGY
• TO ESTABLISH COUNTRY WIDE OF CONTACTS
• TO PROVIDE EXCELLENT HEALTH CARE SERVICE
• TO PROVIDE EXCELLENT UP-TO-DATE INFORMATION

Organisational Objectives

Every organisation, when it is established, has a specific purpose or objective that it wants to achieve. 

In fact, many organisations have multiple objectives that they want to achieve. 

It does not matter whether the organisation is part of the public sector or the private sector, both will have their specific objectives that they want to achieve.

These guiding goals and objectives are normally formulated in the form of a mission or vision statement.

This statement attempts to summarise in a concise and precise manner the essential or core objective(s) of the organisation. 

It is a broad statement relating to what the business intends to do or to achieve both now and in the future. 

It is developed from the history of the organisation, its past performance, the environment within which it operates, the personnel associated with the organisation and their vision of the organisation. 

It is the overriding objective to which all other objectives are directed and is therefore strategic in nature. The mission or vision statement is established as a long-term objective.

Once the mission or vision has been formulated, the next level of management within the organisation will establish their own objectives. The senior management team will formulate the core drivers for their section of the organisation. 

These core drivers should mirror the mission/vision statement. These objectives will be mid-term in nature and will in turn be used by the next level of management when formulating their objectives.

Finally, the last level of management within an organisation - the front-line managers will draw up their objectives based upon the core drivers and the mission/vision. These targets will be typically short-term and operational in nature.

Management structures and Objectives

VERTICAL MANAGEMENT STRUCTURE

HORIZONTAL MANAGEMENT STRUCTURE

This resource covers management structures and objectives. It looks at the corporate culture - and managment roles within that culture - as well as organisational charts and policy development. This unit of work begins by looking at organisational charts.

Organisational charts

There are many different forms that these organisational charts may take. The specific form drawn up by the organisation may be based on one of the following types:

• hierarchical structure - specialisation within the organisation which relies on a vertical or a pyramid style of power, authority and decision-making

• functional, divisional and matrix structures - specialisation within the organisation which relies on a horizontal style of power, authority and decision-making

The functional structure or chart separates out the main areas of responsibility for various functions within the organisation. These areas (as covered and discussed in section Different forms of large-scale organisations and their management functions) may include:

• Human Resources

• Operations

• Marketing and Public Relations

• Banking and Finance

• General Administration.

The functional structure or chart separates out the main areas of responsibility based on the various departments of sections of the organisation. These departments may be based, in turn, on the types of products manufactured or sold by the organisation; the various locations from which the organisation operates; or the types of customers that the organisation services or supplies.

The functional structure or chart separates out the main areas of responsibility based on projects that the organisation is currently working on.

Management Structure

Teamwork at management level produces common goals and directions

In order to attain the objectives of the organisation, an organisational chart which sets out in diagrammatic fashion the roles and responsibilities of managers and, hence, their main work areas and tasks within the organisation, should be established. The primary purpose of establishing this chart is to assist in the efficient and effective operation of the organisation. The chart will enable to gain a clear picture of what should happen within the organisation. The structure established through this chart will highlight for the individual organisation: the primary or core areas of responsibility and the degree of specialisation adopted the distribution of power and authority the level of delegation and accountability the communication channels within the organisation and the methods of communication used for reporting purposes the key result areas that will be evaluated the control mechanisms adopted e.g. degree of centralisation and the span of control used the co-ordination processes used the decision-making processes adopted other arrangements associated with the good order and functioning of the organisation This organisational chart is the formal structure of the organisation which will be determined after considering the following factors: the strategic, tactical and operational objectives the size in terms of the number of employees, locations, financial and physical assets the age the environment within which the organisation operates the level of specialisation and independence that exists and its various sections the current distribution of power and authority between managers other characteristics (as discussed in section Characteristics of large-scale organisations) However, in reality, the actual structure of the organisation may vary greatly from this formal structure due to the dynamic nature of large-scale organisations and the environments within which they operate

KPIs

Data analysis is the basis of future planning for organisations.

Finally, once the data has been collected and analysed, it must be interpreted. The interpreted data may then form a basis for future action. The organisation may decide to do nothing as it is performing to the benchmark. The organisation may take corrective action as the organisational objectives were not met, it may change the direction in which the organisation is heading, or it may set new and revised organisational goals to improve the performance of the organisation to a higher level. Examples of KPIs that large-scale organisations commonly use to measure their performance include: the level of profit the return on investment the return on assets the level of staff turnover the level of customer satisfaction the number of customer complaints the number of industrial disputes