Management and Supervision Q2

Question 1

Henry Mintzberg suggested that in their daily working lives, managers fulfil three types of managerial role; what are the categories and describe the roles associated with each type.

What are the 3 types of managerial role?

Answer 1

1) INTERPERSONAL
- Figurehead
- Leader
- Liaison

2) INFORMATIONAL
- Monitor
- Spokesperson
- Disseminator

3) DECISIONAL
- Entrepreneur
- Disturbance Handler
- Resource Allocator
- Negotiator

Question 2

Comment on the INTERPERSONAL role

Answer 2

INTERPERSONAL
- from formal authority and position

1) Figurehead
- A large part of a Chief Executives time is spent representing the company, both outside and within.

2) Leader
- Hiring firing and training staff, motivating employees and reconciling individual needs with the requirements of the company

3) Liaison
- Making contacts outside the vertical chain of command. Some managers spend up to half of their meeting time with their peers rather than with their subordinates.

Question 3

Comment on the INFORMATIONAL role

Answer 3

INFORMATIONAL
- Managers have: Access to all their staff and many external contacts

1) Monitor
- The manager monitors the environment and receives information from subordinates, supervisors and peers in other departments. Much of this information is of an informal nature.

2) Spokesperson
- The manager provides within and outside the organisation

3) Disseminator
- The manager disseminates this information to subordinates

Question 4

Comment on the DECISIONAL role

Answer 4

DECISIONAL
- The managers formal authority and access to information mean that no one else is in a position to take decisions relating to the work of the whole department

1) Entrepreneur
- A manager initiates projects to improve the department or to help it react to a changed environment.

2) Disturbance Handler
- A manager has to respond to pressures, taking decisions in unusual or unexpected situation

3) Resource Allocator
- A manager allocates scares resources and authorises decisions made by subordinates.

4) Negotiator
- Both inside and outside the organisation takes up a great deal of management time.