“A manager is not a person who can do the work better than his team, he is a person who can get his team to do the work better than he can.” A good manager can truly define the success of his employees and the company as a whole.
Envisioning Goals
The first and most important task of any manager is providing direction to the organization. This entails mapping out their visions and missions.
This is one task the manager must not delegate, but perform himself. Defining the company’s objectives helps unify the employees and gets them working towards a common goal.
Managing Growth
One of the main roles and responsibilities of the manager is to manage the growth and ensure the survival of the firm. Both internal and external factors are a threat to the growth and survival of the firm.
Internal factors (such as choosing the right technology, hiring the correct people etc) are mostly in the firm’s control. External factors (government policy, economic conditions) pose a concern the manager must deal with.
Improving and Maintaining Efficiency
The manager has many roles and responsibilities regarding the efficiency of the firm. Firstly he must ensure that the firm is efficient, i.e. resources are not being wasted. And then this efficiency has to be effectively maintained.
Innovation
It is the task of the manager to be innovative in his job. He must find new and creative solutions to the problems faced by the firm. Innovation not only means having new ideas but also cultivating and implementing them. This is one of the ongoing jobs of a professional manager.
Looking out for the competition
A manager has to plan and prepare for the competition in the market. He must never be caught unaware, he must prepare for new and/or increased competition.
Leadership
The quality of leadership usually dictates the future of a firm. Hence the manager must also be a good leader. He should be able to inspire and motivate people to work towards the goals of the company.
A leader leads from the front, and the manager must also possess exceptional qualities and a work ethic that his team members can learn from.
Change Management
In any company or organization, change is a given. The manager has to be the agent of change in such cases. It is his role and responsibility to ensure the process of change is smooth and uneventful for the company.
Choosing the correct Information Technology
This is a problem that all managers of today’s era are facing. There are so many choices available in the market for various IT processes.
It is a challenge to use the best and most suitable technology for your organization. So this entails choosing the correct software, communication system, network system etc.
Tasks of top-level management:
The main tasks of top-level management are as follows:
(a) Determine objectives for the organization: Objectives may relate to profit, business growth, survival, prestige, competitive pricing, marketing method, widening the area of sales, relations with workers, customers, public etc.
(b) Frame the policy: To frame the policy and chalk out the plans to carry out the objectives and policies. Policies may relate to different aspects of the organization. For example, production policy deals with the quality, product variety, scheduling of production to meet the market demand etc.
1) Market policy: this policy deals with such matters as advertising and sales promotion techniques, pricing products, the channel of distribution, commission, discount, placements, training, remuneration promotion, appraisal of performance etc. of the personnel.
2) Financial policy: This relates to the procurement of funds, source of finance, management of earnings, etc.
(c) Organizational Framework: Top management determines the organizational structure to execute the plans that have been laid down. Execution of plans is necessary to carry out the objectives and policies.
(d) Assemble the Resources: To execute the plans, the resources of men, machines, materials and money have to be assembled. This again is the task of top management.
(e) Control the operations through the organization: Controls the top management regarding operations through budgets, cost and statistics quality control and accounting devices.
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