What is a Manager?

Management demands much knowledge of economics and busi­ness. General functions of any managerial system at any manageri­al level are planning, organizing, directing and controlling. Man­agers are those people who are responsible for making and carrying out decisions within the system, they directly supervise people in an organization. A manager sets objectives and decides what has to be done to reach these objectives. He makes the objectives effective by communicating them to the people that are responsible for various jobs.

Some basic characteristics seem to apply to managers in all types of organizations; they include hard work on a variety of ac­tivities, preference for active tasks, direct personal relationships. Managing is a hard job, for there is a lot to be done and relatively little time to do it.

A number of different terms are used for «manager» including «director», «administrator» and «president». The term «manager» is used more frequently in profit-making organizations, while the others are used more widely in government and non-profit organi­zations such as universities, hospitals and social work agencies.

When used collectively the term «management» refers to those people who are responsible for making and carrying out decisions within the system.

As a rule a private company has only one director. A public company must have at least two directors. A corporation is headed by board of directors elected by shareholders. The directors ap­point one of them to the position of managing director who is re­sponsible for day-to-day running of the company. Some companies also have assistant general managers. Many directors have also deputies. Big companies have many managers heading depart­ments. They are responsible to the managing director. There can be following department managers: chief manager, sales manag­er, marketing manager, industrial engineering manager etc. Ca­reer opportunities in management are generally found in three ar­eas: managing people, marketing management and financial management.

Decision Making

Almost everything a manager does involves decisions. The rea­son for making a decision is that a problem exists. In decision mak­ing there is always some uncertainty and risk.

Decision making is the act of selecting a preferred course of action among alternatives. The act of decision making enters into almost all of a manager's activities. Managers must reach deci­sions about objectives and plans for their organizational units. They must decide how to direct, how to organize, how to control.

Businesses and other organizations survive by making and im­plementing enough of the right decisions. They fail either because they make the right decisions but are unsuccessful in implementing them or because they make wrong decisions and succeed in imple­menting them. The success of business and nonprofit organizations depends on their ability to make good decisions and to implement their decisions well.

Implementation may involve the manager's competence in working with others. Depending on the particular decision, imple­mentation may range from very simple to impossible. New people, equipment, responsibilities, organization components and com­munication patterns may be necessary.

Making and implementing decisions are crucial parts of man­agement. Management sciences attempt to improve the decision making process.