Starting up

1. What is management? Is it an art or a science? An instinct or a set of skills and

techniques that can be taught?

2. What do you think makes a good manager? Which of the following

qualities do you think are the most important?

a. being exceptionally intelligent

b. being competent and efficient in one’s job

c. being keen to improve people’s lives

d. being interested in other people

e. being friendly and sociable

f. having good, innovative ideas

g. being good at communicating

h. being a hard worker

i. being popular

j. being able to give clear orders

k. being persuasive

l. being honest

m. being admired by others

n. being able to examine carefully and make judgments

o. being good at motivating people

p. being good at taking the initiative and leading other people

Are there any qualities that you think should be added to this list? Which of these qualities do you think you have? Which do you lack? Which could you still learn? Which do you have to be born with? Do any of these qualities seem to you to be essentially masculine or feminine?

Reading

This text summarizes some of Peter Drucker’s views on management.

Our society is made up of different types of organizations, such as companies, government departments, unions, hospitals, schools, libraries, banks, and the like. They are essential to our existence, helping to create our standard of living and our quality of life. In all these organizations, there are people carrying out the work of a manager although they do not have that title. The vice-chancellor of a university, the president of a students’ union, a chief librarian are all managers. They have a responsibility to use the resources of their organization effectively and economically to achieve its objectives.

Are there certain activities common to all managers? Can we define the task of a manager? A French industrialist, Henri Fayol, wrote in 1916 a classic definition of a manager’s role. He said that to manage is ‘to forecast and plan, to organize, to command, to coordinate and to control’. This definition is still accepted by many people today, though some writers on management have modified Fayol’s description. Instead of talking about ‘command’ they say a manager must ‘motivate or direct and lead’ other workers.

In most companies, the activities of a manager depend on the level at which he / she is working. Top managers, such as chairmen and directors, will be more involved in long range planning, policy making, and the relations of the company with the outside world. They will be making decisions on the future of the company, the sort of product lines it should develop, how it should face up to the competition, whether it should diversify etc. These strategic decisions are part of a planning function.

Middle management and supervisors are generally making the day-to-day decisions which help an organization to run efficiently and smoothly. They must respond to the pressures of the job, which may mean dealing with an unhappy customer, chasing up supplies, meeting an urgent order or sorting out a technical problem. Managers at this level spend a great deal of time communicating, coordinating and making decisions affecting the daily operations of their organization.

Peter Drucker, the well-known American business professor and consultant, suggests that the work of a manager can be divided into five basic operations: planning (setting objectives), organizing, integrating (motivating and communicating), measuring, and developing people.

First of all, managers, especially senior managers, set objectives and decide how their organization can achieve them. This involves developing strategies, plans and precise tactics, and allocating resources of people and money. For this task they need analytical ability.

Secondly, managers organize. They analyze and classify the activities of the organization and the relations among them. They select people to manage and perform the jobs. For this, they not only need analytical ability but also understanding of human beings.

Thirdly, managers practise the social skills of motivation and communication. They also have to communicate objectives to the people responsible for attaining them. They have to make the people who are responsible for performing individual jobs form teams. They make decisions about pay and promotion. As well as organizing and supervising the work of their subordinates, they have to work with people in other areas and functions: their superiors, partners, competitors, clients, suppliers. To succeed in this task, managers need social skills.

Fourthly, managers have to measure the performance of their staff, to see whether the targets and standards set for the organization as a whole and for each individual member of it are being achieved. Measuring the performance of the staff in relation to the objectives set before is very important. Measuring requires analytical ability.

Lastly, managers develop people – both their subordinates and themselves. They help to make people more productive, highly skilled and to grow as human beings.

Obviously, objectives occasionally have to be modified or changed. It is generally the job of a company’s top managers to consider the needs of the future, and to take responsibility for innovation, without which any organization can only expect a limited life. Top managers also have to manage a business’s relations with customers, suppliers, distributors, bankers, investors, neighbouring communities, public authorities, and so on, as well as deal with any major crises which arise. Top managers are appointed and supervised and advised (and dismissed) by a company’s board of directors.

Although the tasks of a manager can be analyzed and classified in this fashion, management is not entirely scientific. It is a human skill. Business professors obviously believe that intuition and ‘instinct’ are not enough; there are management skills that have to be learnt. Drucker, for example, wrote over twenty years ago that ‘Altogether this entire book is based on the proposition that the days of the “intuitive” manager are numbered, meaning that they were coming to an end. But some people are clearly good at management, and others are not. Some people will be unable to put management techniques into practice. Others will have lots of technique, but few good ideas. Outstanding managers are rather rare.

Comprehension / interpretation

1. According to the writer, what is the main duty of the head of any organization?

2. Why do some people disagree with Fayol’s definition of the role of management?

3. What do a manager’s functions depend on?

4. In what ways are the functions of a company director, for example, different from

those of a middle manager?

5. According to Peter Drucker, what basic operations do managers perform? Describe

each of them. What abilities should managers possess?

Language focus

1. The text contains a number of common verb-noun partnerships (e.g. achieve objectives, deal with crises, and so on).

Match up these verbs and nouns to make common collocations.

allocate decisions

communicate information

develop jobs

make objectives

measure people

motivate performance

perform resources

set strategies

supervise subordinates