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Management Roles

1. Interpersonal Roles

a. Figurehead – A manger has to perform many symbolic functions as a figurehead of the organization. He must be the person who can set an example for the others.b. Leader – A manger is responsible for all the activities of his subordinates. He has tomotivate the employees to do their best to achieve the desired goal. He has also to select the

most effective communication channels.c. Liason – A manager has to maintain contact with the higher management as well ashis subordinates. In addition to this, he also has to keep a watch on the external environmentwhich includes the competitors, government policies, etc.

2. Informational Roles

a. Monitor  – A manager always collects information about his organization and the outside

environment affecting his business. He is the nerve centre of all the internal and externalinformation of the organization.

 b. Disseminator – A manager is required to spread the information among his employers. He

clarifies all the policies and rules for the employees. He also has to meet the informationalrequirements or needs of other people in the organization.

c. Spokesperson – A manager has to speak on behalf of the organization. He represents theorganization in front of the outsiders.

3. Decisional Roles

a. Entrepreneur – A manager has to take many strategic decisions. All decisions such as use of resources and the arrangements are taken by him. He also consults other persons in theorganization before taking important decisions.

b. Resource allocator – A manager makes budgetary allocation for different departments. Helooks into the demand of various segments and takes necessary actions. He allocatesresources in such a manner, that they are used in the best possible way to achieve allobjectives.

c. Negotiator – A manager must know how to deal with the trade unions on various issues. He

must always prepare himself for answers and explanations.d. Disturbance handler – There can be certain disturbances in the organization such as demand

of higher wages or more bonus and strikes related to it. He must know how to handle suchproblems and how to settle them.

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Bureaucracy:

The term bureaucracy has been used widely with unpleasant implication directed at government and business.Bureaucracy is an administrative system designed to accomplish large-scale administrative tasks by systematicallycoordinating the work of many individuals. Weber has observed three types of power in organizations: traditional,charismatic, and rational-legal or bureaucratic. He has emphasized that bureaucratic type of power is the idealone.

Features of Bureaucracy:

1. Hierarchy: The basic feature of bureaucratic organisation is that there is a hierarchy of positions in the

organisation. Hierarchy is a system of ranking various positions in descending scale from top to bottom of the organisation. In bureaucratic structure, offices also follow the principle of hierarchy, that is, each lower office is subject to control and supervision by a higher office. Thus, no office is left uncontrolled in theorganisation. This is the fundamental concept of hierarchy in bureaucratic organisation. This hierarchyserves as lines of communication and delegation of authority. It implies that communication coming downor going up must pass through each position. Similarly, a subordinate will get authority from his immediatesuperior. However, this hierarchy is not unitary but sub-pyramids of officials within the large organisationcorresponding to functional divisions. Thus, there are offices with same amount of authority but withdifferent kinds of functions operating in different areas of competence. For example, in Governmentorganizations, we can observe separate offices looking after particular functions. This happens in business

organizations too.2. Administrative Class: Bureaucratic organizations generally have administrative class responsible for 

maintaining coordinative activities of the members. Main features of this class are as follows: (a) Peopleare paid and are wholetime employees; (b) They receive salary and other perquisites normally based ontheir positions; (c) Their tenure in the organisation is determined by the rules and regulations of theorganisation; (iv) They do not have any proprietary interest in the organisation; (v) They are selected for the purpose of employment based on their competence.

3. Division of work: Work of the organisation is divided on the basis of specialization to take the advantages

of division of labour. Each office in the bureaucratic organisation has specific sphere of competence. Thisinvolves (a) a sphere of obligations to perform functions which have been marked off as part of asystematic division of labour; (b)the provision of the present with necessary authority to carry out thesefunctions; and (c) the necessary means of compulsion are clearly defined and their use is subject todefinite conditions. Thus, division of labour tries to ensure that each office has a clearly-defined area of 

competence within the organisation and each official knows the areas in which he operates and the areasin which he must desist from action so that he does not overstep the boundary between his role and thoseof others.

4. Impersonal Relationships: A notable feature of bureaucracy is that relationships among individuals are

governed through the system of official authority and rules. Official positions are free from personalinvolvement, emotions, and sentiments. Thus, decisions are governed by rational factors rather thanpersonal factors. This impersonality concept is used in dealing with organizational relations as well asrelations between the organisation and outsiders.

5. Official Rules: A basic and most emphasized feature of bureaucratic organisation is that administrative

process is continuous and governed by official rules. Bureaucratic organisation is the direct opposite of ad hoc, temporary, and unstable relations. A rational approach to organisation calls for a system of maintaining rules to ensure twin requirements of uniformity and coordination of efforts by individualmembers in the organisation. These rules are more or less stable and more or less exhaustive. When

there is no rule on any aspect of organizational operation, the matter is referred upward for decision whichsubsequently becomes model for future decision on the similar matter. Rules provide the benefits of stability, continuity, and predictability and each official knows precisely the outcome of his behaviour in aparticular matter.

6. Official Records: Bureaucratic organisation is characterized by maintenance of proper official records.

The decisions and activities of the organisation are formally recorded and preserved for future reference.This is made possible by extensive use of filing system in the organisation. An official record is almostregarded as index of various activities performed by the people in the organisation.

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Business process reengineering (BPR) is, in computer science and management,an approach aiming at improvements by means of elevating efficiency and effectiveness of the  business process that exist within and across organizations. The key to BPR is fororganizations to look at their business processes from a "clean slate" perspective anddetermine how they can best construct these processes to improve how they conductbusiness.

Business process reengineering is also known as BPR, Business Process Redesign, Business Transformation, or Business Process Change Management.

Overview

Business process reengineering (BPR) began as a private sector technique to helporganizations fundamentally rethink how they do their work in order to dramaticallyimprove customer service, cut operational costs, and become world-class competitors. Akey stimulus for reengineering has been the continuing development and deployment of sophisticated information systems and networks. Leading organizations are becomingbolder in using this technology to support innovative business processes, rather thanrefining current ways of doing work.

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Reengineering guidance and relationship of Mission and Work Processes to Information Technology.Business process reengineering is one approach for redesigning the way work is done tobetter support the organization's mission and reduce costs. Reengineering starts with ahigh-level assessment of the organization's mission, strategic goals, and customer needs.Basic questions are asked, such as "Does our mission need to be redefined? Are ourstrategic goals aligned with our mission? Who are our customers?" An organization mayfind that it is operating on questionable assumptions, particularly in terms of the wants andneeds of its customers. Only after the organization rethinks what it should be doing, does itgo on to decide how best to do it.Within the framework of this basic assessment of mission and goals, reengineering focuseson the organization's business processes--the steps and procedures that govern how

resources are used to create products and services that meet the needs of particularcustomers or markets. As a structured ordering of work steps across time and place, abusiness process can be decomposed into specific activities, measured, modeled, andimproved. It can also be completely redesigned or eliminated altogether. Reengineeringidentifies, analyzes, and redesigns an organization's core business processes with the aimof achieving dramatic improvements in critical performance measures, such as cost,quality, service, and speed.Reengineering recognizes that an organization's business processes are usually fragmentedinto subprocesses and tasks that are carried out by several specialized functional areaswithin the organization. Often, no one is responsible for the overall performance of theentire process. Reengineering maintains that optimizing the performance of subprocessescan result in some benefits, but cannot yield dramatic improvements if the process itself is

fundamentally inefficient and outmoded. For that reason, reengineering focuses onredesigning the process as a whole in order to achieve the greatest possible benefits to theorganization and their customers. This drive for realizing dramatic improvements byfundamentally rethinking how the organization's work should be done distinguishesreengineering from process improvement efforts that focus on functional or incrementalimprovement.

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BENCHMARKING

is the process of comparing the cost, cycle time, productivity, or quality of a specificprocess or method to another that is widely considered to be an industry standard or bestpractice. Essentially, benchmarking provides a snapshot of the performance of yourbusiness and helps you understand where you are in relation to a particular standard[1].

 The result is often a business case for making changes in order to make improvements. The

term benchmarking was first used by cobblers to measure ones feet for shoes. They wouldplace the foot on a "bench" and mark to make the pattern for the shoes. Benchmarking ismost used to measure performance using a specific indicator (cost per unit of measure,productivity per unit of measure, cycle time of x per unit of measure or defects per unit of measure) resulting in a metric of performance that is then compared to others.

Procedure

  There is no single benchmarking process that has been universally adopted. The wideappeal and acceptance of benchmarking has led to various benchmarking methodologiesemerging. The most prominent methodology is the 12 stage methodology by Robert Camp(who wrote the first book on benchmarking in 1989)[2].

 The 12 stage methodology consisted of 1. Select subject ahead 2. Define the process 3.Identify potential partners 4. Identify data sources 5. Collect data and select partners 6.Determine the gap 7. Establish process differences 8. Target future performance 9.Communicate 10. Adjust goal 11. Implement 12. Review/recalibrate.

 The following is an example of a typical shorter version of the methodology:

1. Identify your problem areas - Because benchmarking can be applied to anybusiness process or function, a range of research techniques may be required. Theyinclude: informal conversations with customers, employees, or suppliers; exploratory research techniques such as focus groups; or in-depth marketing research,

quantitative research, surveys, questionnaires, re-engineering analysis, processmapping, quality control variance reports, or financial ratio analysis. Beforeembarking on comparison with other organizations it is essential that you know yourown organization's function, processes; base lining performance provides a pointagainst which improvement effort can be measured.

2. Identify other industries that have similar processes - For instance if one wereinterested in improving hand offs in addiction treatment he/she would try to identifyother fields that also have hand off challenges. These could include air traffic control,cell phone switching between towers, transfer of patients from surgery to recoveryrooms.

3. Identify organizations that are leaders in these areas - Look for the very bestin any industry and in any country. Consult customers, suppliers, financial analysts,

trade associations, and magazines to determine which companies are worthy of study.

4. Survey companies for measures and practices - Companies target specificbusiness processes using detailed surveys of measures and practices used toidentify business process alternatives and leading companies. Surveys are typicallymasked to protect confidential data by neutral associations and consultants.

5. Visit the "best practice" companies to identify leading edge practices -Companies typically agree to mutually exchange information beneficial to all partiesin a benchmarking group and share the results within the group.

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6. Implement new and improved business practices - Take the leading edgepractices and develop implementation plans which include identification of specificopportunities, funding the project and selling the ideas to the organization for thepurpose of gaining demonstrated value from the process.

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Formalization in Organizations

Formalization is the extent to which rules and procedures are followed in an organization. This element varies greatly across organizations. For example, in some organizations arrivaland departure times to and from work are specified to the minute, with time clocks used to

control deviant behavior. In other organizations it is understood that employees will spendsufficient time on the job to get the work done. In some organizations rules and procedurescover most activities, while in others people are allowed to exercise their own judgment.

In assessing the degree of formalization, one needs to use care. In some organizationsmany rules are codified in huge manuals, but no one pays attention to them. In others littleis written down, but rules are informally understood and followed. Thus the most usefuldefinition of formalization is that it represents the use of rules in an organization. Thedegree to which rules are followed—not the degree to which they are codified—is the keyfactorOrganizations use formalization to increase their rationality. In one sense formalization is anattempt to make behavior more predictable by standardizing it. Standard procedures forproduction workers or quality control checklists that must be used and submitted before aproduct can be shipped are examples of this kind of formalization.Formalization may also be an attempt to make explicit and visible the structure of relationships among organizational participants. It can establish status differences amongorganizational members in a way that is objective and external to the participantsthemselves.Formalization makes the process of succession routine and regular so that people can bereplaced when necessary with minimal disturbance to an organization's functioning. Theorderly selection of cardinals and popes in the Roman Catholic Church and the successionplan for the U.S. presidency are good examples of this function of formalization.Alongside formal structures are aspects of organizations that are not formally planned butthat more or less spontaneously evolve from the needs of the people. Thus, formalstructures are the norms and behaviors that exist regardless of individuals; informalstructures are interactions based on the personal characteristics or resources of theindividuals involved. Informal structures are not without form; those forms are notdetermined simply by the organization but grow out of the relationships of the participants.Informal life is structured and orderly; it simply reflects the hearts and minds of anorganization's members.

Formalization in One area of an organization brings about pressures for less formalization inother areas. For example, one set of researchers studying employment security agenciesfound that strict conformity with civil service standards fostered decentralization, whichpermitted greater flexibility. Perhaps there has to be some give and take if organizationsare to function well.

Formalization is influenced by technology, size, and organizational traditions. One cancategorize technologies as routine and non routine. Organizations or work units in whichwork is routine are more likely to be highly formalized than those in which technologies areless routine.

Obviously, size influences formalization. Large organizations have greater needs toformalize their activities than do small organizations. The mom and pop corner store thatgrows into a chain will experience a greater need for formalization, as rules will need to be

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created—and probably codified—to accommodate the increased relationships andinteractions involved.

 Tradition also influences formalization. If an early top executive believed that rules andprocedures should he followed to the letter, this set of beliefs was codified into theorganization's procedures manuals. The organization would then remain more formalizedover time than existing conditions might have predicted.

What happens to members of rigidly formalized organizations or work groups? In theseorganizations strict rules limited the functioning of all individuals in the organization.Workers came to follow rules for the sake of the rules themselves since that determinedhow they were rewarded. More and more rules were created, with the result that theorganizations became very unresponsive to customers and their environments. Peoplefailed to strive for autonomy and sought to decrease the amount of uncodified activity theyperformed. The consequences were declining competitiveness, lost worker productivity,higher operating costs, higher prices, and degradation of labor. These negativeconsequences of rigid formalization have long been recognized.

A number of studies show that professionalization is incompatible with formalization. The

greater the degree of formalization in organizations, the higher the alienation of memberswho are professionals. But formalization and professionalization are meant to do the samething. Formalization is the internal process through which an organization sets rules,standards, and procedures to ensure that things get done correctly. Professionalization is anexternal means for accomplishing the same result: business schools teach future managersbehaviors that will be expected of them in their work organizations. From an organization'sviewpoint, both processes are effective. If it acquires a professional work force, theorganization itself simply is not paying the costs of inculcating standardized practices.Nevertheless, there could be tension between the standards learned by the professionalsand the demands of the organization

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The Product Life Cycle (PLC)

The Product Life Cycle (PLC) is based upon the biological life cycle. For example, a seedis planted (introduction); it begins to sprout (growth); it shoots out leaves and puts downroots as it becomes an adult (maturity); after a long period as an adult the plant begins toshrink and die out (decline).

In theory it's the same for a product. After a period of development it is introduced orlaunched into the market; it gains more and more customers as it grows; eventually themarket stabilises and the product becomes mature; then after a period of time the productis overtaken by development and the introduction of superior competitors, it goes intodecline and is eventually withdrawn.

The Product Life Cycle (PLC) is based upon the biological life cycle. For example, a seedis planted (introduction); it begins to sprout (growth); it shoots out leaves and puts downroots as it becomes an adult (maturity); after a long period as an adult the plant begins toshrink and die out (decline).

In theory it's the same for a product. After a period of development it is introduced or

launched into the market; it gains more and more customers as it grows; eventually themarket stabilises and the product becomes mature; then after a period of time the productis overtaken by development and the introduction of superior competitors, it goes intodecline and is eventually withdrawn.

However, most products fail in the introduction phase. Others have very cyclical maturityphases where declines see the product promoted to regain customers.

Introduction.

 The need for immediate profit is not a pressure. The product is promoted to createawareness. If the product has no or few competitors, a skimming price strategy is

employed. Limited numbers of product are available in few channels of distribution.

Growth.

Competitors are attracted into the market with very similar offerings. Products becomemore profitable and companies form alliances, joint ventures and take each other over.Advertising spend is high and focuses upon building brand. Market share tends to stabilise.

Maturity.

 Those products that survive the earlier stages tend to spend longest in this phase. Sales

grow at a decreasing rate and then stabilise. Producers attempt to differentiate productsand brands are key to this. Price wars and intense competition occur. At this point themarket reaches saturation. Producers begin to leave the market due to poor margins.Promotion becomes more widespread and use a greater variety of media.

Decline.

At this point there is a downturn in the market. For example more innovative products areintroduced or consumer tastes have changed. There is intense price-cutting and many

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more products are withdrawn from the market. Profits can be improved by reducingmarketing spend and cost cutting.

 

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Role of Personnel Manager

Personnel manager is the head of personnel department. He performs both managerial andoperative functions of management. His role can be summarized as :

1. Personnel manager provides assistance to top management- The topmanagement are the people who decide and frame the primary policies of the

concern. All kinds of policies related to personnel or workforce can be framed outeffectively by the personnel manager.

2. He advices the line manager as a staff specialist- Personnel manager acts like astaff advisor and assists the line managers in dealing with various personnelmatters.

3. As a counsellor,- As a counsellor, personnel manager attends problems andgrievances of employees and guides them. He tries to solve them in best of hiscapacity.

4. Personnel manager acts as a mediator- He is a linking pin between managementand workers.

5. He acts as a spokesman- Since he is in direct contact with the employees, he isrequired to act as representative of organization in committees appointed bygovernment. He represents company in training programmes.

Functions of Personnel Management

Follwoing are the four functions of Personnel Management:

1. Manpower Planning

2. Recruitment

3. Selection

4.  Training and Development