Managers work in an organization. Therefore, before we can identify
who managers are, it is important to clarify the term organization. Robbins
S.P. (1991) defines an organization as: “a systematic arrangement of people to
accomplish some specific purpose”. We can divide organizational members into
two categories[1]:
operatives or managers. Managers differ from operatives, by the fact that they
direct the activities of others.
There are two big classifications of managers[2]: the horizontal classification
only looks at the responsibilities. We can distinguish the functional manager
and the general manager. The functional manager is responsible for a whole of
similar activities, for example, financial director, commercial director… While
the general manager is responsible for different functional areas, he is often
concentrated on one business activity and acts as a product manager or a
division manager. In the vertical classification, we need to differentiate
first-line managers, middle managers, and top managers. The difference between
these three groups is based on the statute of subordinates.
Furthermore, we should pay attention to the difference between a
successful and an effective manager. As Luthans F. (1988) proved, a successful
manager is not necessary an effective manager. The former is a manager, who has
been promoted relatively quickly, while the latter has satisfied, committed
subordinates and high performing units. In general, we could say that an
effective manager is one who attains the organizational goals.
1.1.
Manager’s job
It was Henry Fayol, in the early part of this century, who was the
first to give a global view about the job of manager. He observed that managers
performed 5 management functions: they plan, organize, command, coordinate and
control. In the mid-1950s, these management functions were reduced to the basic
four known as the management process.
Figure 1 shows that the tasks of a manager consists of planning,
organizing, leading and controlling.
Figure 1: Management Functions
Source: Management, By:
Robbins, S.P., 1991, , Prentice-Hall, Inc, p. 4
The planning component encompasses defining the goals, establishing
appropriate strategies, and developing different plans to coordinate the activities.
Furthermore, managers are responsible for designing an organization’s
structure, which clarifies what must be done and by whom. As the job of manager
implies directing activities of others, the leading function is very important.
It consists of motivating subordinates, resolving conflicts and selecting
effective communication channels. Eventually, a manager has a controlling
function. He has to ensure that the assumed goals will be achieved. Therefore
the manager has to monitor the different activities. Also keep in mind that an
effective manager must be able to perform all four activities simultaneously.
Only recently has this classical view of managers been challenged
based on the observations of five CEO’s. Mintzberg H. (1971) concluded that the
manager’s job consisted of many brief and disjointed episodes with people
inside and outside the organization. In addition to these insights, Mintzberg
provided a categorization scheme for defining what managers do based on actual
managers on the job. Mintzberg shows that managers play different but highly
interrelated roles[3].
Formal authority gives rise to the three interpersonal roles
(figurehead, leader, and liaison), which in turn gives rise to the three
informational roles (monitor, disseminator, spokesman). These two sets of roles
enable the manager to play the four decisional roles. We should also mention
that the importance of managerial roles varies depending on the manager’s level
in the organization.
Another best known modern view of managerial work is provided by
John Kotter which is based on his observatory[4]
of 15 successful general managers. Kotter stated that managers spend most of
their time interacting with others and concluded that managers spent
considerable time in meetings getting and giving information. By obtaining
relevant and needed information from his network, the effective manager is able
to implement his or her agenda.
1.2.
Critical skills related to managerial
competence
In the ‘70s, researcher Robert Katz tried to find an answer to the
question: What are the critical skills that are related to managerial
competence? He discovered that managers should possess 4 critical management
skills. Those skills can be categorized in two big groups[5]: general skills and
specific skills. There seems to be overall agreement that effective managers
must be proficient in four general skills areas[6]:
The proportions in which those skills are necessary vary with the
manager’s level in the organization. Conceptual skills become more and more
important as we grow in the hierarchy of the organization, while technical
skills become less important. Interpersonal skills are necessary on every
level, because a manager always works with people.
Research has also identified six sets of specific skills that
explain 50% of manager effectiveness:
In ‘The General Managers” (1983), John Kotter, concluded that
effective managers have strong specialised interest, skills, knowledge and
relationships. These specialised personal assets allow them to behave in ways
that fit the demands of their specific situations. Such specialization seems to
have been central to their ability to cope with the often huge demands placed
upon them by their jobs.
The many personal characteristics that helped contribute to good
performance were developed over the entire period of the manager’s life. In
terms of basic personality we can observe[7]:
·
Needs/motives: like power, need for achievement,
very ambitious
·
Temperament: emotionally stable and even,
optimistic
·
Cognitive orientation: above average intelligence,
moderately strong analytically, strong intuitively
·
Interpersonal orientation: personable and good
at developing relationships with people, unusual set of interest that allows
them to relate easily to a broad set of business specialist.
·
Information: very good knowledge about the
business and organization
·
Relationships: cooperative relationships with a
large number of people in the organization
Kotter concluded that in the stipulation for being an effective
manager, there should be a match between the demands of the job and the
individual characteristics. So for organizations it is a challenge to put the
right man on the right place. Depending on the role a manager has to play in
an organization, we need an individual with other characteristics. For example,
Kotter found that in jobs where the relationships were more demanding and
accomplishing things more difficult, the general manager was someone with a
strong personable style, skill at developing relationships, a liking of power,
an emotionally even temperament, an ability to relate to a diverse group of
business specialist, and extensive relationships in their organization and
industry.
In the following
part we will discuss some of the main manager’s characteristics based on the
theories which were discussed in the first part of our paper. We have
summarized different visions and found out that all theories named the
following important characteristics:
·
Decision making skills
·
Conflict Management skills
·
Flexibility and creativity
·
Developing of managerial knowledge and
manager’s teaching role
·
Motivation of employees
·
Communication skills
·
Developing trust inside the organization
We will give a
description of each characteristic including some important theories.
2.1.
Decision Making Skills
Mangers
are at the same time the decisions makers. It is easy to make decisions, but
making the right one is difficult. What criteria should an effective manager
have upon the decision-making aspect? Let’s start with a simple review of the
decision making process.
Decision-making
is formally defined as the process of identifying and solving problems. The
process containing 2 major stages: problem identification and problem solution.
According to the rational approach, there are 8 steps for each stage:[8]
Figure
2:
Decision-making
process
The
point of rational approach is that manager should try to use systematic
procedures to arrive at good decisions. Actually in practice, there are many
uncertainties when applying this model to make decisions due to the following
type of information constraints imposed up people:[9]
·
Limited
attention
·
Limited
memory
·
Limited
comprehension
·
Limits
to communication
These,
plus other factors, have given rise to the notion that rational process
indecision is bounded. Herbert Simon, in this regard, has proposed that,
“within bounded rationality, individuals and groups often base their decisions
on satisfying the search for what is good enough in the circumstances, rather
than optimizing.”[10]Often,
managers have to face vast number of information and required to make a
decision in a short time, it is impossible for him to analysis each problem and
weigh each alternatives from the limited mental capacity. [11] Therefore there is a
limit to how rational a manager can be.
Many
models are built upon the uncertainty of the solution searching steps, while in
all actuality managers are not making the decision in a vacuum. They can use formulas
or models to aid their decision making process. Therefore, it is important for
an effective manager to pay attention to the following points when making the
decisions:
The
intuitive decision-making process always plays an important role in combination
with the rational process.
Managers build up long experience with organizational issues, which provides
them with a gut feeling or hunch about the correct response. The large
organizational decisions are not only complex, but also ambiguous. In such a
situation; previous experience and judgment are needed to incorporate
intangible elements. Most of the time, without solid proof that problems exist,
the intuition will tell the managers that there is or could be a problem that
requires him to act before he is able to sit down and analyze the problem.
An
effective manager knows how to cooperate with the internal and external
resources. Of
course, as decision-makers, the manager should not become an “autocrat”. Voice
from internal will be listened, and sharing the opinions and having joint discussions
to reach the interpretation of the goals and problems accordingly the agreement
will be easier to reach and find solutions to the problem. External comments
or reactions have great impact on decisions makers. On one hand, managers are
easily misled by the hypothesis given from the external environment and can forget
to look broader and further. On the other hand, proactively utilizing the
external resource can help managers to see better and further; therefore,
objective evaluation of those opinions will be helpful to generate wide range
of the problem solving approach.
Creativity
is vital to search for more alternatives during the crisis moment. When there are few
possibilities to solve the problem, people can easily stick to the first seeming
possible solution and start to convince themselves that there is no other
better ones. Therefore they are stuck in the corner and forget to look for the
other alternative. Dynamic thinking and radioactive mentality will help the
manager to look the situation from a different view, there fore create the new
approach.
An
effective manager will not only look to the short-term profit. He sees further. He
must be able to judge where the future business will be lead to from the
decision made today. Those decisions, which bring profits today but will
undermine business tomorrow, will be dropped.
The difficult
decisions are always accompanied by the ethical issues. The best solution for the company’s profit might not be the right
ones according to the laws or regulations. On making decisions, the ethical
dilemmas cannot be neglected, and the outcomes of unethical behavior can affect
reputations, trust and career path. Results have been as severe as loss of
employment, physical harm to individuals, corporate bankruptcy and even impacts
to the economy.
The scandals of
2002, including Enron and WorldCom, resulted in regulations having created a
cultural shift particularly in financial fields that has renewed emphasis on
ethical business behavior. What distinguishes mediocre level managers from the
truly effective managerial leader is an ethical dimension. There exists
different moral stages that guide people in their everyday decision-making.
Those people in the “principled level…make a clear effort to define moral
principles apart from the authority of the groups to which they belong or
society in general”[12]
Learn
from the formal fail experience is very important. Managers are apt to stumble
down the same failure-prone path over and over again without learning. Learning
is thwarted when leaders do not tolerate mistakes. In such an environment,
people conceal bad out comes. Consequently, people in the same company, or the
same person in different period will repeat the similar mistake. A good manager
will see the mistakes as an education and correct himself constantly according
to the new situations. Generally speaking, to be an effective decision maker,
managers need to work closely with their team and “integrate their faith,
values and business practices”. [13]
In the presentation we will use the case from “Nestle Company” to show why bad
decisions had been made and what the consequences are. [14]
2.2.
Conflict Management Skills
According to Jean
Miller from TIG (Taking It Global) “Conflict is the source of all growth and is
an absolute necessity if one is to be alive.”[15]
An effective manager must be able to manage conflict and also learn from it to
help the organization to grow and be challenged. Conflict is not always
negative but can prove to have some positive outcomes as well. The effective
manager can balance this delicate relationship and works hard to handle
conflict with care.
As further stated
in the article, conflict can be viewed as something to manage or something to
resolve. John Burton, one of the world’s leading scholars in the field of
conflict resolution commented “…resolution means terminating conflict by
methods that are analytical and that get to the root of the problem.” Miller
explains that “conflict management is a multi-disciplinary, analytical,
problem-solving approach to conflict that seeks to enable participants to work
collaborately towards its management.”[16]
Conflict is not
easily avoided in any organization; therefore, an effective manager is prepared
by knowing how he will approach certain issues before they happen. There are
many books and articles written that address this topic in great detail. An
effective manager will consult these items and use his or her own judgment in
taking the advice of these publications.
According to James
Cribbin, there are three basic kinds of conflict as follows:
Approach-Approach, Avoidance-Avoidance, and Approach-Avoidance.[17] Approach-Approach
would seem to be the most straight forward type of conflict as there are two
alternatives that are equally feasible. If an employee is not being productive
in the company this affects how the manager’s boss views that department. The
manager wants to please his boss but also stay on good terms with his
employee. In each case the manager needs to approach the other person with
open communication and deal with the situation.
Avoidance-Avoidance
is very difficult because whatever decision is made to have negative
consequences. If a manager knows that his boss is cheating the company
financially, he must make a decision. Tell on his boss and suffer the wrath,
or stay quiet and sacrifice his ethics. He would like to avoid the conflict on
either side, but staying quiet may not be an option.
The last type of
conflict according to Cribbin is Approach-Avoidance. He gives a clear example
of a manager put in a situation in which he must make a decision that will
affect himself and his family. He wants to approach the situation but also
avoid it completely. He is given a great promotion in the company but must move
his family from his nice comfortable town to a large metropolis city. Cribbin
has outlined the options he has and portrays what a difficult situation this
could really be:
While this is a
personal conflict for this manager, the skills a manager uses to deal with
personal conflict must be transferable to the workplace environment involving
other employees as well as superiors. If a manager knows that there are always
several options in dealing with a situation, he will be more open to choosing
one that will work for that unique conflict.
As mentioned
earlier, consistency is an important part of an effective manager and can be
applied to conflict as well. A good manager is consistent in executing rules
and regulations with his employees. He will not let close relationships with
employees cloud his judgment and rationale for making a decision. When
conflict arises, the employees will know that each person will receive the same
treatment regardless of who they are.
According to
Robbins, “Consistency can relate to an individual’s reliability,
predictability, and good judgment in handling situations. Inconsistencies
between words and actions decrease trust. Nothing is noticed more quickly…
than a discrepancy between what executives preach and what they expect their
associates to practice.” People want to be able to “predict what you are going
to do.”[19]
In order for a
manager to improve their effectiveness in a conflict situation they can also
use “The Five A’s of Improving Your Personal Effectiveness” Model from Kerns.
The A’s are assess, analyze, action plan, act, and adjust – then
repeat.[20]
A good manager will always assess the situation in order to gather all of the
details. Once he has all of the information, he will analyze it and develop an
action plan. After implementation of the plan, he will be able to be flexible
with that plan if something needs to be adjusted. Effective managers use the
Five A’s constantly without even realizing it. This helps a manager approach
conflict with confidence knowing there is a steady process he can rely upon.
2.3. Flexibility and Creativity
“Managers exist in a state of steady
uncertainly and their success rests upon constant exploration of uncharted
waters.”
Barry Munitz,
President of Federated
Development Company
Houston, Texas
Today
changes in the business environment become more rapid and more complex and of
course each manager must solve more problems in a limited period of time. As Dr. Abraham Zaleznik of Harvard University mentioned: "No
matter how much you plan, when you get to the work place there are
unanticipated problems: And the added constant challenge is that most of these
problems cannot be solved effectively in old, familiar, or straightforward
manners. Hence the quality most necessary for business and career success these
days, and increasingly so in the future, is flexibility.”[21] But our group consider
also creativity to be important today. These two aspects help manager not to be
lost and not to lose in the modern business world and of course to be
effective.
According to the
dictionary flexibility is “the ability to change or to be changed easily to
suit a different situation”[22].
What factors made this aspect so important? Thirst of all the growing volumes
of information a manager should deal with. Second, environment and technologies
which changed quicker and quicker every year and the third point will be
internationalization. According to these three situations we can determine the
following characteristics of the flexible manager:
Some authors also
associated flexibility with personal openness of the manager[25]. They pointed out that
if managers are open then they can be influenced by what is happening around
them and as a result they react more flexible to all the changes around them. The one thing is obvious that flexibility is a key feature of personal growth and an
indispensable condition for being an effective manager.
Let’s now go back
to the second aspect – creativity, and let’s see what it means: “Creativity –
producing or using new and effective ideas, results, etc”[26]. When we think about
creativity, we imagine people who are gifted, talented, and different from
others, whose ideas, decisions, and actions are situated out of the every day’s
life borders. In culture, creativity is associated with such a people like
Bach, Van Gogh, and Einstein; in business with Steve Jobs (co-founder of Apple
Computers), Jack Welch (General Electric), and Anita Rodick (The Body Shop).[27] Today creativity is a
way of thinking, the way to integrate you visions and ideas into relationships
and business. This process can be presented as following:
Figure 3: Critical thinking
|
Brainstorming
processes
Free association, etc.
Source: Becoming a Master Manager, By:Robert E.Qiunn,Sue
R.Faerman,Michel P. Thomson, Michael R. McGrath; USA,2003
The use of
creativity in the decision making process or in problem solving allows manager
to increase the effectiveness and encourage creative thinking among employees.
An effective manager will use creativity as a tool of motivation. When
employees are encouraged to use creativity in their problem solving and in
everyday work, they are more likely to feel unique, valued and important for
their organization[28].
In this way a manager can not only develop effectiveness but also create a
group of like-minded employees.
For an effective
manager of the future creativity or creative thinking should become the natural
way to think. But to reach this ideal situation each manager should avoid the
following barriers:
Although it is very difficult sometimes to change the society’s
cultural barriers and to change the image of creativity, each manager should
try to overcome pragmatic influences and think individually.
2.4.
Developing of managerial knowledge
and manager’s teaching role
Every manager must be sure that he or she will develop the competence
and knowledge of those they supervise. Every employee has a potential for
personal and professional development, and a good manager should discover and
develop this potential. We will start with the idea that each person wants to
know more. When a young employee comes to the company he has a lot of
theoretical knowledge, personal ideas and visions. He has read a lot of books
and articles, but he is still asking himself a lot of different questions. In
that moment he needs someone to teach him how to become successful.
When
you are a small child your parents teach you how to walk, and when you make
your first steps in your career you also need a “parent” to teach, to give
support, to empower and whatever else necessary. The effective manager is
always ready to become such a “parent”. He is always open to his employees and
colleagues, he shares his knowledge, and he inspires others with his own
experience and example. During the process of teaching he always remains
patient and supports everyone in every step of the way. And of
course leaders take the time to thank employees for a job well done.
But
teaching doesn’t mean only sharing manager’s knowledge with someone; it also
means that the manager takes a role of mentor. The
term "mentor" has been used quite often in recent years. Jacqueline
D. Heads, academic advisor for the Rutgers University College of Pharmacy in
New Jersey defines this term as the following “A true mentor motivates you and
impels you to move to the next level, mobilizes you by advising you on how to
get there, and finally, like a guide, a mentor informally monitors your
progress to make sure you are moving in the right direction,"[30]
But why should we pay so much attention to teaching role of
manager or his mentoring role? The answer is obvious: teaching is a core
competency the effective manger should have. The idea of effectiveness changed
the vision of teaching and today more authors speak not only about teaching or
mentoring but about a developmental manager.[31] That
means that instead of taskmasters and evaluators, managers are most effective
as coaches, motivators, symphony conductors and employee developers”[32] We will
pay more attention to this idea.
Developing
happened not at home but mostly at the work place during the work itself or
during the special classes. That is why it will be useful for each manager to
create and to follow a development plan to avoid pointless talks and wasting of
time. The idea of “A+ employees takes A+ managers”[33] seems to
our group to be a very interesting and future oriented idea of cooperation
between manager and employees. According to this idea you should follow these
rules while developing people:
·
Appreciate uniqueness of the people
·
Assess capability of their team members
·
Anticipate the future (leads others in the future)
·
Align aspirations (create win/win partnerships built on trust and
loyalty)
·
Accelerate learning
But
in practice the theory is always confronted with reality. One of the main
problems of teaching or developing people is that a lot of managers are afraid
of teaching other people. The main reason for such an attitude is idea, that if
you as a manager will teach someone everything you know and after that he may
become better and smarter then you, and take your place. Of course it can
happen. But then manager should turn back to his main values and decide what is
most important to him: his own career or his company’s success.
At the same time, if you are going to share your knowledge with
someone, to teach, to develop and to become a mentor you must broaden your own
knowledge. The individual becomes a manager because
he was chosen to get results and to use his knowledge, not because he won a
popularity contest. Employees are not going to listen to a person who
has no knowledge in what he is talking about or gives out false information.
People need to believe that a manager has the proper skills and abilities to
carry out what he claims to be experienced in. Only then a manager will earn a
respect and employees will become his like-minded team. How will you be able to
do this?
Some authors[34]
say that as a manager and especially as an executive manager you are responsible
for all fields of business in your company: for marketing and sales, for
finance, for information technology etc. You should understand how
things works (the IKEA-case and Kamprad’s attention to all details can
illustrate this statement) and also how employees work whose knowledge in one
particular field are deeper then yours. These are two main corner stones of
success. How to reach them? The best solution can be continuous replacing
inside organization. As a result manager receives
variety of experiences and knowledge in different functions, business units,
companies, and even countries. The positive effect of such a “moving” results
in understanding, how the whole business operates; of the impact of managerial
decisions on the rest of the organization. Managers can also transfer best
practices to new areas while moving; he learns how to lead in a variety of
situations and he develops strong networks inside and outside the organization[35].
Some other authors[36],
especially from the business world, used to think that an effective manager
must not be satisfied with his education degree and training, but must always
be ready to catch advanced education opportunities. The advanced degree is
MBA-program; if this level was reached then never avoid additional seminars,
courses and workshops. In contrast to the thirst group of authors who are
speaking about continuous replacement, these theories accept the idea of
receiving deep knowledge in one particular area.
These two approaches and also all theories about
teaching show us how important is for every manager to develop himself and his
employees. Continuous self-development, learning and teaching are the best ways
to success and effectiveness.
1. Need theories:
-
Two Factor Theory (F. Herzberg)
-
Theory X and Theory Y (D. McGregor)
These theories all depart from the thought that to motivate your
employees, you have to satisfy certain needs. Maslow’s hierarchical model, a
classical one, says that you first have to satisfy physiological needs
(i.e. hunger, thirst, …), then you have to offer them safety (from
physical and emotional harm), consequently you must satisfy them socially
(affection, acceptance, …), after that you can motivate them by
satisfying their esteem (internal as well as external), and only then, when all
the previous needs are satisfied, you can motivate them by letting your
employees actualize themselves through their work (i.e. self-fulfilment). So if
you want to motivate someone, according to Maslow, you need to understand what
level of hierarchy that person is currently on and focus on satisfying those
needs at or above that level.
Maslow’s theory has received wide recognition, but unfortunately
research does not validate the theory. A theory that contests Maslow’s theory
is Alderfer’s ERG Theory, where E stands for existence (cfr. the
physiological and safety needs), R for relatedness (cfr. the social
needs and the external component of the esteem need) and G for growth
needs (cfr. the internal esteem component and the self-actualization need).
This theory differs from Maslow’s in that (1) more than one need may be
operative at the same time and (2), if the gratification of a higher level need
is stifled, the desire to satisfy a lower-level need increases. In opposite to
Maslow’s theory, several studies do have supported this theory. It takes into
account that in different cultures the categories can be ranked in another way,
for example Japan, where the social needs are placed under the physiological
ones.
Another classical need theory is the Theory X and Theory Y of Douglas McGregor. These two theories represent two distinct views of human beings: Theory X
makes the assumption that employees dislike work, are lazy, dislike
responsibility, and must be coerced to perform, where Theory Y stipulates that
employees like work, are creative, seek responsibility and can exercise
self-direction. Research suggests that these theories may be applicable but
only in particular situations.
Maybe the most important
contribution to the motivation question comes from the psychologist Frederick
Herzberg with his Two-Factor Theory. The insight Herzberg brought to the matter
meant a u-turn in previously thinking. He stated as first that the opposite of
satisfaction is not dissatisfaction, as was traditionally believed, but that
both are distinct and separate. Intrinsic factors such as the work itself,
responsibility, and achievement seem to be related with satisfaction
(motivators), while extrinsic factors such as supervision, pay, company
policies and working conditions are associated with dissatisfaction
(hygiene factors). This theory has had a major impact on management in the last
30 years and the fact that managers nowadays allow workers greater
responsibility in planning and controlling their work can probably be
attributed largely to Herzberg’s findings and recommendations
2. Goal-Setting Theory (E. Locke):
The
primary idea of this theory is that specific and difficult goals, with goal/
feedback, lead to a higher performance. This means that, for example, to
motivate someone, you don’t say “Just do your best”, but you say specific what
has to be obtained, for example “You should strive for 85 percent or higher on
all your work in English”. Research supports this theory in that this do can
lead to a higher performance, although it may not lead to job satisfaction
(cfr. supra).
3. Reinforcement Theory:
This theory states that reinforcement conditions behaviour. Behaviour
is thereby environmentally caused. What controls behaviour are reinforcers –
any consequence that , when immediately following a response, increases the
probability that the behaviour will be repeated. The theory ignores the inner
state of the individual and concentrates solely on what happens to a person
when he or she takes some action. Because it does not concern with what
initiates behaviour, it is not, strictly speaking, a theory of motivation. But
it does provide a powerful means of analysing of what controls behaviour, and
it is for this reason that it is typically considered in discussions on
motivation.
4. Equity Theory (J. S. Adams):
This
theory poses that individuals compare their job inputs (i.e. effort, experience
…) and outcomes (i.e. salary, recognition …) with those of others and then
respond so as to eliminate any inequities. For example a person who does the
same job as another employee but gets paid less will be motivated to perform
better in order to eliminate the existing inequities.
5. Expectancy Theory (V. Vroom):
This is currently one of the most accepted explanations of
motivation. Most of the research evidence is supportive of this theory.
Concrete, this theory says that an employee will be motivated to exert a high
level of effort when he or she believes that effort will lead to a good
performance appraisal; that a good performance appraisal will lead to
organizational rewards such as a bonus, a salary increase, or a promotion; and
that the rewards will satisfy the employee’s goals.
The major theories briefly presented, we can now look at how in
reality a manager can implement these. Robbins mentions 6 applications. These
are:
1. Management by objectives (MBO) (cfr. Goal-Setting Theory):
This means in realty, as a manager, you make sure that the
organization’s overall objectives are translated into specific objectives for
each succeeding level (divisional, departmental, and individual) in the
organization. You develop a program that encompasses specific goals,
participatively set with the employees, for an explicit time period, with
feedback on goal progress. MBO programs are used in many business, health care,
educational, government and non-profit organizations.
2. Employee Recognition Programs (cfr. Reinforcement Theory)
Consistent with reinforcement theory, rewarding a behaviour with
recognition immediately following that behaviour is likely to encourage its
repetition. For example: personally congratulating an employee, or sending a
letter or an e-mail, having a celebration because of good achievement, or publicly
recognizing, such as organizing a prize “Best Employee of the Month” (he/she
then gets a plaque on the wall). These programs are widely used because it
costs no money and according to research bears effective.
3. Employee Involvement Programs (cfr. Theory X and
Theory Y, Two-Factor Theory, Hierarchy of Needs Theory & ERG Theory):
The idea here is
that by involving workers in those decisions that affect them and by increasing
their autonomy and control over their work lives, employees will become more
motivated, more committed to the organization, more productive, and more
satisfied with their jobs. Examples:
-
participative management: subordinates share a significant degree of decision-making power
with their immediate superiors.
-
representative participation: rather than participate directly in decisions, workers are
represented by a small group of employees who actually participate
-
quality circles:
a work group of 8 to 10 employees and supervisors meet regularly to discuss
their quality problems, investigate causes, recommend solutions, and take
corrective actions.
-
employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs): these are company-established
benefit plans in which employees acquire stock as part of their benefits.
4. Variable Pay Programs (cfr. Expectancy Theory):
Here a portion
of an employee’s pay is based on some individual and/or organizational measure
of performance. Examples:
-
Piece-rate pay plans: you are paid a fixed sum for each unit of production completed.
-
Bonuses: extra
payment because of certain achievement.
-
Profit-sharing plans: compensations based on some established formula designed around a
company’s profitability (direct cash outlays or stock options).
-
gainsharing: an
incentive plan in which improvements in group productivity determine the
total amount of money that is allocated.
5. Skill Based Pay Plans (cfr. ERG Theory, Reinforcement Theory,
Equity Theory):
These plans set pay levels on the basis of how many skills employees
have or how many jobs they can do. For example, if you are a machine operator
in a certain company, you earn 14$/hour, but because of the skill based pay
plan, you can earn up to a 10 percent premium if you broaden your skills to for
example material accounting. Several studies have confirmed that skill based
pay generally leads to higher performance and satisfaction. These plans are
expanding and already widely used with success.
6. Flexible Benefits (cfr. Expectancy Theory):
These allow employees to pick and
choose from among a menu of benefit options that exceeds the traditional
benefit programs. The options might include hearing, dental and eye coverage;
life insurance; extended vacation time; …. This way the different needs of the
employees can be met. The major theories and their applications were provided;
we want to conclude here with some general guidelines:
Recognize Individual Differences
Use Goals and Feedback
Allow Employees to Participate in Decisions that Affect Them
Link Rewards to Performance
Check the System for Equity
The conclusion then is that íf
you have the skill as a manager to tailor the perfect motivation method for
each of your employees, you will be more effective.
With
Rees (1991, p. 159), we can say that this characteristic is probably the most
important of all the characteristics an effective manager needs to possess.
Everything a manager does involves communication, his verbal and nonverbal behaviour.
Communication between managers and employees is important in the sense that it
provides the information necessary to get work done effectively and efficient
in organizations. Effective communication is the critical factor that moves a
team toward a resolution or consensus (“How to be an effective manager”, 2000,
p. 14).
Robbins
& Coulter provide us with the following communication model (see attachment
1). As we can notice by looking at this model, there are seven factors involved
in communication: (1) the communication source, (2) encoding, (3) the message,
(4) the channel, (5) decoding, (6) the receiver and (7) feedback. The
definition of communication is then “the transfer and understanding of meaning”
(Robbins & Coulter, 2002, p. 282). This means that (1) the message
has to reach the receiver ( for example a speaker who isn’t heard does
not communicate) and (2), more important, the message has also to be understood
in the way it was meant by the sender. Interesting to note is that
communication can be affected by noise, by which we mean any disturbance
that interferes with the transmission, receipt or feedback of a message, for
example a phone ringing in the background.
Robbins
and Coulter (2002, pp. 288-291) distinguish 7 different barriers to effective
communication. These are (Robbins & Coulter, 2002, pp. 288-291):
1. Filtering: this is the
deliberate manipulation of information to make it appear more favorable to the
receiver. For example when a manager tells his boss what his boss wants to
hear.
2. Selective perception: when people
selectively interpret what they see or hear on the basis of their interests,
background, experience and attitudes. For example an employment interviewer who
expects a female job applicant to put her family ahead of her career is likely
to see that in female applicants, regardless of the fact that it is true or
not.
3. Emotions: how a receiver feels
when a message is received influences how he or she interprets it.
4. Information overload: when the information
we have to work with exceeds our processing capacity. For example tons of
e-mails. You are bound to select and this way information gets lost.
5. Defensiveness: when individuals
interpret another’s message as threatening, they often respond in ways that
hinder effective communication.
6. Language: words mean different
things to different people. Age, education and cultural background are three of
the more obvious variables that influence the language a person uses and the
definitions he or she gives to words. The use of jargon, a specialized
terminology or technical language that members of a group use to communicate
among themselves, can be a barrier to effective communication.
7. National culture: cultural differences
and consequently different values (cfr. the problems of intercultural
communication).[39]
To
these we can also add gender differences[40],
status differences (for example boss vs. subordinate) and interference of
nonverbal communication factors (for example smell as a personal physical
characteristic).
Now
what can a manager do to overcome these and as such be effective in his
communication? If we know that an average manager spends 80% of his or her time
communicating in one form or another (10% writing, 15% reading, 25% listening
and 30% speaking), communication is affecting a company in every possible way
(“How to be an effective manager”, 2000, p. 14). Therefore effective communication
is of extreme importance.
Robbins
(2001, pp. 302-304) mentions 8 rules by which the barriers can be bridged:
1. Use feedback: question the
receiver to know if he understood the message in the way it was intended.
2. Simplify language: choose words and
structure your messages in ways that will make those messages clear and
understandable to the receiver.
3. Listen actively: this means an active
search for meaning, in opposite to passively hearing
4. Contrain emotions: when emotionally
upset, refrain from communication until u have regained composure.
5. Watch nonverbal cues: to ensure that the
receiver conveys the desired message.
6. Empathize with others: put yourself in the
shoes of your listeners. This way you’re more likely to see things from their
perspective. Then you can choose the proper channel and the right words to
transfer your message (cfr. infra).
7. Use multiple channels: this increases
clarity because (1) it stimulates different senses and (2) it takes into
account that people have different abilities to absorb communication.
8. Match your words and
actions: actions
speak louder than words. When nonverbal messages contradict official messages
as conveyed in formal communications, people become confused and the official
message loses its focus.
9. Tailor the message to
the audience: different
people in the organization have different information needs. Individuals in
organizations vary in the type of information they need to know, their
preferred channel for receiving the information, and their understanding of
language, so you should take this into account and tailor your message to your
audience.
10. Remember the value of
face-to-face communication when dealing with change: as we shall see immediately,
some channels are more rich than others. Especially in times of uncertainty, it
is appropriate to use a rich channel to convey ambiguous and nonroutine
messages.
11. Channels: understand that some
channels have different effects on different audiences.
To conclude, I want to give some additional information to these
last two. As a manager in the 21st century, you can make use of a wide variety
of communication methods thanks to the rapid progression in information
technology. These include: face-to-face, telephone, group meetings, formal
presentations, memos, traditional mail, employee publications, bulletin boards,
audio and videotapes, hot lines, electronic mail, computer conferencing,
voice-mail, teleconferences, and videoconferences. As a manager, it is of
crucial importance that you select the appropriate method/channel to
communicate a specific message. Recent research has found that channels differ
in their capacity to convey information. Some are rich in that they have the
ability to (1) handle multiple cues simultaneously, (2) facilitate rapid
feedback, and (3) be very personal. Attachment 2 shows us the hierarchy of
channel richness. The rule to choose one channel above another depends then on
the fact of whether the message is routine or nonroutine. For example firing a
person by sending him/her an e-mail isn’t quite effective. Instead, sending an
e-mail to let him know that he/she’s invited for a personnel party this
Saturday do is so.
As
a conclusion we can say that effective communication is of extreme importance
if you want to be an effective manager. However, this doesn’t mean that good
communication skills alone make succesfull managers. We do can say that
íf the suggestions made here to communicate effective are applied in a
correct manner, then a lot of problems for a manager can be avoided and surely
the company as a whole will benefit from this.
2.7.
Decveloping Trust inside the
organization
Ethics and values have always been an important part of business, but they
are now looked at more closely as there have been many instances where they
were not adequately defined. According to Szwajkowksi in “The Myths and
Realities of Research on Organizational Misconduct”, managerial ethics are
“principles that guide the decisions and behaviors of managers with regard to
whether they are right or wrong in a moral sense.”[41] Because not every
manager and individual follows the same principles, ethical dilemmas occur. It
is crucial for a manager to first develop a list of core values for himself in
order to be consistent in his business practices. As a manager handles each
situation with these values, trust is built.
It is difficult to
decide which values a manager should pay more attention to. According to
Stephen Robbins’s in “The Essentials of Organizational Behavior” trust is
defined as a “positive expectation that another will not – through words,
actions or decision -- act opportunistically”.[42]
He goes on to present that trust is multi-dimensional and therefore encompasses
a vast range of values within it. The Five Dimensions of trust that he
mentions are as follows:
By developing each
of these qualities, a manager will encourage a trustworthy environment in his
relationships with his employees as well as his superiors.
As Robbins suggests, trust is something that we expect as the
outcome from a person through our experiences with them. Over time, we get a
sense of how that person behaves and acts accordingly to our behavior. Trust
is a rather sensitive issue to most people and requires that managers act
appropriately to gain the trust needed to lead effectively. It is dangerous to
lose trust of an employee as they may not respect your judgment without it.
Managers who want to engage in trustworthy relationships with their
workers, according to Robbins’s guidelines, must follow certain practices that
show integrity, competence and consistency.[44]
Without these three characteristics, all aspect of trust becomes meaningless.
The normal day to day actions of a manager affect the level of trust that each
employee will have in him/her.
Managers of different levels and cultures prioritize trust
differently. This is evident when evaluating how managerial decisions can build
trust through the Managerial Linkage System. In “Managerial Leadership at
Twelve O’Clock” Charles Kerns, describes that on one end of the managerial
scale is an untrustworthy manager who accomplishes his goals with lies and
deception to obtain the numbers. On the other end of the scale is a manager
who uses the trust of his workers to accomplish the same numbers. It is clear
that the untrusting manager is taking a shortcut through the managerial system
from 12-9 and the trusting manager has taken the time and effort to move along
from 12-3-6-9 as shown in the figure below.[45]
The untrusting
manager’s shortcut disregards the concerns of the workers and in turn ignores
the quality of output to the customers. This will effect worker retention times
and create poor customer satisfaction. Though this manager may achieve sales
targets the first time around it will not last. The second time through the
cycle the results will begin to drop off due to poor management and a lack of
trust. Conversely, the trusting manager gains the trust of the workers and
forms a great relationship with them. Worker retention is much longer and they
tend to do a much better job caring for the customers. With happier customers
will come the increased sales. The second time around the cycle, the
trustworthy manager will have an easier time achieving the same or improved
sales. The Managerial Linkage System demonstrates that having employee trust
will cause business performance to increase.
Last decades, many visions thought that we could learn how to become
an effective manager. We could refer to the success of many institutions where
MBA programs are offered. Many young high intelligent business men are taught
how to become successful. Nevertheless the success of these business schools,
there is a lack of correlation between scholastic standing and the success in
business. Clearly, what a student learns about management in graduate school,
does not equip him to build a successful career in business.
For Livingstone S. (1971) the reason for this failure could be found
in the fact that[46]:”they
don’t learn from their formal education what they need to know to perform their
job effectively. The tasks that are the most important in getting results
usually are left to be learned on the job, where few managers ever master them
simply because no one teaches them how.”
Formal management education programs typically emphasize the
development of skills which enables the future manager to solve problems and to
make decisions (‘respondent behaviour). But little attention is given to the
development of skills required to find the problems that need to be solved
(‘operant behaviour’). Furthermore, the problem solving in the classroom is
seen as an entirely rational process, while in reality human emotions make it
hard to deal with the problems objectively.
As the research of Norman H. Mackworth revealed[47], the distinction
between the problem-solver and the problem-finder s vital. He concluded that
managers not only should be able to analyze data of financial statements or
other written reports, but even more important they should be able to scan the
business environment for less concrete clues that a problem exist. These
perceptual skills are extremely difficult to develop in the classroom and must
be developed on the job.
We should ask our self the question: Are there people who have more
managerial skills than others, because they are able to learn from their
experience what they need to know to manage effectively. Livingstone S (1971)
found three characteristics of men who learned to manage effectively.
So we could conclude that there should be a combination of inborn
characteristics and acquired knowledge and experience to become an effective
manager. There are people wit a higher needs for managing and power and having
a bigger capacity for empathy than others. But these features are no guarantee
for success. They should be combined with technical and conceptual skills
acquired during management education and job experience.
But the effective manger is one, who is able to adapt his
personality, skills, knowledge and relationships in such a way that it fits the
demands of their specific situation.
3. Can we learn how to become an
effective manager?
Last decades, many visions thought that we could learn how to become
an effective manager. We could refer to the success of many institutions where
MBA programs are offered. Many young high intelligent business men are taught
how to become successful. Nevertheless the success of these business schools,
there is a lack of correlation between scholastic standing and the success in
business. Clearly, what a student learns about management in graduate school,
does not equip him to build a successful career in business.
For Livingstone S. (1971) the reason for this failure could be found
in the fact that[48]:”they
don’t learn from their formal education what they need to know to perform their
job effectively. The tasks that are the most important in getting results usually
are left to be learned on the job, where few managers ever master them simply
because no one teaches them how.”
Formal management education programs typically emphasize the
development of skills which enables the future manager to solve problems and to
make decisions (‘respondent behaviour). But little attention is given to the
development of skills required to find the problems that need to be solved
(‘operant behaviour’). Furthermore, the problem solving in the classroom is
seen as an entirely rational process, while in reality human emotions make it
hard to deal with the problems objectively.
As the research of Norman H. Mackworth revealed[49], the distinction
between the problem-solver and the problem-finder s vital. He concluded that
managers not only should be able to analyze data of financial statements or
other written reports, but even more important they should be able to scan the
business environment for less concrete clues that a problem exist. These
perceptual skills are extremely difficult to develop in the classroom and must
be developed on the job.
We should ask our self the question: Are there people who have more
managerial skills than others, because they are able to learn from their
experience what they need to know to manage effectively. Livingstone S (1971)
found three characteristics of men who learned to manage effectively.
So we could conclude that there should be a combination of inborn
characteristics and acquired knowledge and experience to become an effective
manager. There are people wit a higher needs for managing and power and having
a bigger capacity for empathy than others. But these features are no guarantee
for success. They should be combined with technical and conceptual skills
acquired during management education and job experience.
But the effective manger is one, who is able to adapt his
personality, skills, knowledge and relationships in such a way that it fits the
demands of their specific situation.
Receiver
Decoding
Noise Message
Feedback
1. Message: a purpose to be
conveyed
2. Encoding: converting a
message into symbols
3. Channel: the medium a
message travels along
4. Decoding: retranslating a sender’s
message. Difficulties may occur here, especially in intercultural
communication.
5. Feedback: returns the message to the
sender and provides a check on whether understanding has been achieved.
HIERARCHY OF CHANNEL RICHNESS
Channel Type of
message Information medium
Richness
Richest Nonroutine,
ambiguous
Face-to-face
talk
Telephone
Electronic mail
Memos, letters
Flyers,
bulletins, general reports
Leanest Routine, clear
| ! |
Как писать рефераты Практические рекомендации по написанию студенческих рефератов. |
| ! | План реферата Краткий список разделов, отражающий структура и порядок работы над будующим рефератом. |
| ! | Введение реферата Вводная часть работы, в которой отражается цель и обозначается список задач. |
| ! | Заключение реферата В заключении подводятся итоги, описывается была ли достигнута поставленная цель, каковы результаты. |
| ! | Оформление рефератов Методические рекомендации по грамотному оформлению работы по ГОСТ. |
| → | Виды рефератов Какими бывают рефераты по своему назначению и структуре. |