Functional and General Managers

Another major classification of managers depends on the scope of activities they manage. Organizations are often described as a set of functions. A function, in this sense, is a collection of similar activities. The marketing function, for example, commonly consists of sales, promotion, distribution, and market research activities. At Coca Cola, the marketing function is responsible for TV ads, and the research and development function is responsible for Coke's special formula. On college campuses, the athletic department is a function, because the activities of its members differ from what, say, the members of the philosophy department do.

Functional managers. The functional manager is responsible for only one functional area, such as production, marketing, or finance.

General managers. The general manager, on the other hand, oversees a complex unit, such as a company, a subsidiary, or an independent operating division. He or she is responsible for all the activities of that unit, such as its production, marketing, and finance. A small company may have only one general manager - its president or executive vice president - but a large organization may have several, each heading a relatively independent division. In a large food company, for example, there may be a grocery-products division, a refrigerated-products division, and a frozen food-products division, with a different general manager responsible for each.

It is important to remember that functional and general managers alike plan, organize, lead, and control relationships over time. The difference, again, is in the scope of activities that they oversee.

Management Level and Skills

Robert L. Katz, a teacher and business executive, has popularised a concept developed early in this century by Henry Fayol, a famous management theorist. Fayol identified three basic kinds of skills: technical, human, and conceptual (see Theory 1). Every manager needs all three.

Fayol and Katz suggest that although all three of these skills are essential to a manager, their relative importance depends mainly on the manager's rank in the organization. Technical skill is most important in the lower levels. Human skill, although important for managers at every level, is the primary skill needed by middle managers; their ability to tap the technical skills of their subordinates is more important than their own technical proficiency. Finally, the importance of conceptual skill increases as one rises through the ranks of a management system. At higher and higher organizational levels, the full range of relationships, and the organization's place in time, are important to understand. This is where a manager must have a clear grasp of the big picture.

1. Who is a manager?

2. What do first-line managers do?

3. What do middle managers do?

4. What do top managers do?

5. What is a function? What are the main functions in an organization?

6. Who are functional managers?

7. Who are general managers?

8. What is the most important skill for first-line managers?

9. What is the most important skill for middle managers?

10. What is the most important skill for top managers?