TYPES OF MANAGERS
We have been using the term manager to mean anyone who is responsible for carrying out the four main activities of management in relationships over time. One way to grasp the complexity of management is to see that managers can practice at different levels in an organization and with different ranges of organizational activities.
Management Levels
First-line Managers. The lowest level in an organization at which individuals are responsible for the work of others is called first-line or first-level management. First-line managers direct non-management employees; they do not supervise Tag Heuer Replica other managers. Examples of first-line managers are the foreman or production supervisor in a manufacturing plant, the technical supervisor in a research department, and the clerical supervisor in a large office. First-level managers are often called “supervisors”. A school principal is also a first-level manager.
Middle Managers. The term middle management can include more than one level in an organization. Middle managers direct the activities of lower-level managers and sometimes those of operating employees as well. Middle managers’ principal responsibilities are to direct the activities that implement their organizations’ policies and to balance the demands of their managers with the capacities of their employers.
Top Managers. Composed of a comparatively small group of people, top management is responsible for the overall management of an organization. These people are called executives. They establish operating policies and guide the organization’s interactions with its environment. Typical titles of top managers are “chief executive officer”, “president”, and “vice president”.
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.
Functional Managers. The functional manager is Tag Heuer Carrera Replica 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.
At least seven different enterprise strategies have been identified:
• Stockholder E-Strategy: The corporation should maximize the interests of stockholders.
• Managerial Prerogative E-Strategy: The corporation should maximize the interests of management.
• Restricted Stakeholder E-Strategy: The corporation should maximize the interests of a narrow set of stakeholders, such as customers, employees, and stockholders.
• Unrestricted Stakeholder E-Strategy: The corporation should maximize the interest of all stakeholders.
• Social Harmony E-Strategy: The corporation should maximize social harmony.
• Rawlsian E-Strategy: The corporation should promote inequality among stakeholders only if inequality results in raising the level of the worst-off stakeholder.
• Personal Projects E-Strategy: The corporation should maximize its ability to enable corporate members to carry out their personal projects.
Although these brief statements become immensely more complicated when any organization attempts to put them into practice, the trend toward looking at Tag Heuer Replica Watches the ethical foundations of strategy is likely to continue — especially given the uncertain environment of today’s organizations and the increasingly critical eye with which its decisions are being examined.