Tasks and Responsibilities of Professional

Managers
“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. Let us take a look at the roles and
responsibilities of professional managers.

Roles and Responsibilities of Professional Managers

A professional manager is an invaluable asset to the firm. His primary job is directing
employees and coordinating various activities of the firm. For this, he needs exception
communication, technical, conceptual and human skills. Let us take a look at the various
tasks a manager performs using these skills.

1. Envisioning Goals

The first and most important task of any manager is providing a 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.

2. Managing Growth

One of the main roles and responsibilities of the manager is to manage the growth and ensure
the survival of the firm. There are both internal and external factors that are a threat to this
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.

3. 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.
4. 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 on-going jobs of a professional
manager.

5. 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.

6. Leadership

The quality of the 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
work ethic that his team members can learn from.

7. 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 roles and responsibilities to ensure the process of change is
smooth and uneventful for the company.

8. Choosing 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.

Solved Question for You

Q: The critical responsibilities of a manager are only towards the employees. True or
False?

Ans: This statement is False. The roles and responsibilities of the manager are towards the
employees, the customers, the shareholders, the suppliers, the retailer, the creditors, the
government and even the society.
 Nature of Management and its Process

 Objectives and Importance of Management

 Managerial Roles

 Skills of an Effective Manager

 Tasks and Responsibilities of Professional Managers

 Management Skills

 Development of Management Theory

Objectives and Importance of Management

Management is a must for every organization. The existence of management allows the
proper functioning of the organization. Moreover, management plans the activities to achieve
the objectives and optimize the available resources at minimum cost. In this article, we will
look at objectives as well as the importance of management.

Objectives of Management
1. Economic objectives

(a) Earning Profit

Every business organization is established with a motive to sell or make goods and services
to earn a substantial profit. Hence, it is easy for the organization to face the uncertainties in a
business cycle. It includes a change in demand pattern, fluctuation in money markets,
changing the outlook of customers, etc.

(b) Production of Goods

For an organization to earn profits, it has to produce goods by optimal utilization of resources
like men, money, material, and machinery. All these resources can lead to an increase in
efficiency and getting higher productivity with minimum effort. Moreover, the goods so
produced are sold in the market.

(c) Creating Markets

Firstly, every organization wishes to sell its complete produce. Hence, for doing so an
organization need to open up new markets, spread into existing markets, increase the market
share, etc.

(d) Technological Development

In this current era, technology plays an important role in determining the position of the
organization. Hence, it becomes extremely important for the concerns to upgrade their
technologies. Moreover, through this, they would be able to get additional benefits of cost
reduction also.

2. Human Objectives

(a) Employees Welfare

Though the basic objective of earning profit could be possible only when the employees are
hard working. It is because they help in increasing the profit of the firm. So, the management
should work towards the employ’s welfare by providing all relevant benefits.

(b) Satisfaction of customers

All the organizations should provide goods to consumers at a reasonable price. The needs and
perceptions of the customers should be important as the business is meant for consumers.
Hence, their satisfaction should be the major objective of the business.

(c) Shareholders satisfaction

As the organization grows in size it is difficult to finance the working of the organization
individually. Hence, these organizations have shareholders who invest money in companies.
So, for this, the management should give a reasonable return on the money which the
shareholders invest.

3. Social objectives

(a) Availability of goods

Business organizations should maintain an adequate supply of products to fulfill the needs of
society. The firm should study the demand of the market. And according to that, they should
decide the production and supply of goods.

(b) Quality of goods and services

One of the basic responsibilities of the organization is to supply quality goods and services to
customers at fair and adequate prices.

(d) Creating job opportunities

Every organization can serve society by creating a large number of job opportunities. The
business expansion helps the firm in getting more profits. Moreover, it provides employment
to the unemployed.
(e) Natural resources

Efforts should be made by the businessmen to use the resources in the most productive and
optimum way. Wastage of any such resource is a loss to the organization and to the society.

Solved Question on Importance of Management

Question: State any 3 importance of Management.

Answer: Following are the importance or advantage of Management:

1. Reduces Costs – It gets maximum output through least input by proper planning.
Moreover, management uses physical, human and financial resources in such a way which
results in the best combination. Hence, one of the importance of management is that it helps
in cost reduction.

2. Establishes Equilibrium – Another Importance of management is that it enables the

organization to sustain in a dynamic environment. Hence, with the change in the dynamic
environment, the initial coordination of the concern must change.

3. Establishes Sound Organization – Lastly, to set-up sound organizational structure is one

of the objectives of management which is in relation to the objective of the company.
Moreover, for the fulfillment of this, it sets up effective authority.

Managerial Roles
A lot of studies have gone behind describing the behavior of a manager in an organization.
Traditionally, most employees believed that a manager was certainly someone who sat
comfortably in his office thinking and planning and giving instructions to employees.

However, over time a manager’s behavior was divided into functions and managerial roles. In
this article, we will look at the various managerial roles that managers perform over the
course of a single day.

Managerial Roles
For better understanding, Mintzberg categorized all activities into ten managerial roles
performed over the course of a day. These are as follows:
Interpersonal Roles

 Figurehead – includes symbolic duties which are legal or social in nature.

 Leader – includes all aspects of being a good leader. This involves building a team,
coaching the members, motivating them, and developing strong relationships.
 Liaison – includes developing and maintaining a network outside the office for
information and assistance.

Informational Roles

 Monitor – includes seeking information regarding the issues that are affecting the
organization. Also, this includes internal as well as external information.
 Disseminator – On receiving any important information from internal or external
sources, the same needs to be disseminated or transmitted within the organization.
 Spokesperson – includes representing the organization and providing information
about the organization to outsiders.

Decisional Roles

 Entrepreneur – involves all aspects associated with acting as an initiator, designer, and
also an encourager of innovation and change.
 Disturbance handler – taking corrective action when the organization faces
unexpected difficulties which are important in nature.
 Resource Allocator – being responsible for the optimum allocation of resources like
time, equipment, funds, and also human resources, etc.
 Negotiator – includes representing the organization in negotiations which affect the
manager’s scope of responsibility.
Solved Question on Managerial Roles
Q1. What are the 10 managerial roles?

Answer:

According to Henry Mintzberg, there are ten managerial roles. Of these, there are three
interpersonal roles. These include being a figurehead, leader, and also a liaison. Further, there
are three informational roles. These include being a monitor, disseminator, and also a
spokesperson. Finally, there are four decisional roles. These include being an entrepreneur,
disturbance handler, resource allocator, and also a negotiator.

Skills of an Effective Manager

The success of any business or organization mainly depends on the people working at the
firm. So the management of these people and the resources become a matter of huge
importance. And this is where the skills and talents of an effective manager come in. Let us
take a look at how important these are.

Skills of an Effective Manager

A manager is one of the most important cogs in the machine that is a business. He is the one
that provides direction and guides the employees and manages the functioning of departments
as well. It helps the employees and the organization as a whole in achieving their goals.

Any manager, to be effective in his job and duties must possess certain skills. Let us take a
look at some such important skills and talents every effective manager must have.
Organizational Skills

Also known as managerial skills, this is one of the most important skills of an effective
manager. These skills will help the manager adequately and expertly allot resources to get the
desired results.

If a manager lacks these skills then the company will not be successful in spite of adequate
capital, efficient employees, and other such factors. The manager must be capable of
organizing them to utilize them fully.

Technical Skills

A manager must himself have the technical skills the job requires. Technical skills involve
the knowledge about processes, equipment, techniques etc. and also the ability to carry them
out.

Technical skills are generally about certain specific task or job. For example, a pilot has the
technical skill of flying a plane, a heart surgeon has the technical skills for operating etc.
Other such skills are coding, drafting legal documents, civil engineering, financial accounting
etc.

So a manager should possess the required technical skills in his field. For example a manager
of the IT team must himself possess the necessary computer and coding skills, otherwise, he
cannot be an effective manager.

Human Skills

Another important skill of an effective manager is his human skills. This will include his
ability to work, motivate, communicate, direct and understand people.

This includes individuals as well as groups and teams working in an organization. So

essentially the manager must be able to handle and successfully interact with his team
members to get them to perform their best.

One way to gauge a person’s human skills is to understand how the person is perceived by his
subordinates, co-workers and his juniors. An effective manager has good ‘people skills’ and
so is able to manage his relations with all these people. He is also credited with the growth
and development for all his team members.

Conceptual Skills

The conceptual skills of a manager involve understanding and visualizing the company as a
whole. These means the manager is able to see and understand all the working parts of an
organization and understand how these pieces fall together.

So conceptual skills allow the manager to solve the problems he is faced with more creatively
and effectively. It helps him understand complex situations and relations and hence solve any
problems that arise. It helps the manager have a competitive advantage over his counterparts.
Solved Example on Skills of an Effective Manager
Q: List a few other qualities or skills a manager must have.

Ans: Other than the four listed above, there are a few other skills that make a manager more
efficient and effective. These are,

 Decision-making skills
 Administrative skills
 Behavioral skills
 Leadership Skills
 Analytical Skills

Management Skills
Management Skills are important to lead a team and drive the organization in the right
direction. And to be a good manager it is important to have skills like Planning and creating
an effective strategy, good communication skills, decision making, leadership skills,
problem-solving skills, time management, conceptual-skills, controlling, motivating, and
leading the team, etc. A Manager with good managerial skills is one of the pillars of the
organization and has the ability to lead the company to success. Famous French Industrialist
Henry Fayol divided management into 5 types. In this article, we will discuss the skills all
managers should have.

Management Skills
Following are the four management skills or functions which are essential for the success of
any manager. Regardless of the size and nature of the organization, a manager requires all
these four managerial skills to achieve the organization’s goals.

 Planning
 Controlling
 Organizing
 Leading
Planning

Planning is one of the most important skills for project managers. It is all about defining the
goals of the organization. The manager should have a vision and plan for the future. Further,
it includes two important components:

1. Determining objectives with respect to the goals and

2. Finalizing plans, strategies, and actions for achieving the goals.

Learn more about Managerial Roles here in detail.

Organizing

Once the planning is done, the manager needs to allocate and arrange resources for the
successful implementation of the plans. These resources include both human and non-human
resources.

Organizing is one of the essential managerial skills. Organizing helps managers determine the
list of pending tasks, combine them into jobs, and group the jobs into units giving a form to
the organization’s structure.

Leading

One of the primary responsibilities of a manager is to ensure the completion of all tasks on
time and strict adherence to policies. And for this Leadership skills are important. Leadership
skill involves:

 Creating and sharing a vision of possible achievements by the organization

 Communicating with employees and creating good interpersonal relations
 Motivating and inspiring team members to perform better.

Leading also ensures that the managers create a positive environment at work. This also helps
improve the performance of each employee or group of people, boosts their morale and leads
to a productive and innovative team.

Controlling

Another important management skill is ensuring that the performance of the organization
conforms to the expected goals and standards. They do this by regulating the activities in the
organization. Also, in order to regulate, a manager’s role involves:

 Monitoring ongoing activities

 Establishing standards of performance/output
 Comparing results with the standards
 Identifying areas that need improvement (can be processes, policies, or practices) and
initiate corrective action.
Also, there are times when the strategies and/or plans developed and implemented do not
work as planned due to external factors. At such times, identifying such factors and taking
corrective action can help bring the team back on track.

Learn more about Tasks and Responsibilities of Effective Manager here in detail.

Other soft skills a manager should have for effective management are:

 Technical Skills
 Conceptual Skills
 Interpersonal Skills
 Problem Solving Skills

Management Process
Management is a complex process and requires an excellent manager with adequate
management skills for balancing all the different components. Further, in an organization,
managers at all levels are involved in all four functions specified above.

However, the balance between them can vary depending on their level/role. The sign of a
great manager is the optimal use of all these four functions in a systematic manner.

Also, in a business environment, these four functions, along with the resources and outcomes
are inter-related and work in tandem as a process.

For any business

 Inputs include resources like human, financial, raw materials, technology, and also
information.
 After receiving these inputs, the staff’s activities, management functions, and the
organization’s processes and technology turn them into finished products/services.
  Outputs include products/services, financial results (like profits or losses), and human
results like employee productivity and also job satisfaction.
 Also, the system’s success depends on its effective interaction with its environment
which includes the institutions and groups that it depends on. Some such
groups/institutions are financial institutions, labor unions, suppliers, customers,
government agencies, etc.
 Further, for any business organization, the sale of products and/or services generates
revenue which pays taxes, wages, helps in the purchase of more inputs, repay loans,
and generates profits. The organization dies if the revenues are not enough to satisfy
the different environmental demands.

Solved Question for You

Q1. What are the four primary skills and functions of a manager?

Answer:

The four primary skills and functions of a manager are:

1. Planning
2. Organizing
3. Leading
4. Controlling

Development of Management Theory

Ever since the dawn of civilization, one of the biggest concerns of organized cooperation has
been management. While we can trace organization and management as far back as 530 BC,
the systematic study and examination of management is primarily the product of the last four
decades of research. Various management theories developed during this time and
contributed to the way we currently approach and understand management. In this article, we
will explore management theories by different authors and the difference between
administration and management.

Management Theories – Frederick Taylor

The Father of Scientific Management, Frederick Taylor, attempted to use systematic study in
order to find the single best way of doing a task. He laid down the following four principles
of management for all managers:

I. Develop a science for each aspect of work. Also, study and analyze it to find the
single best way to do the work.
II. Ensure that the selection of workers is based on a scientific methodology and not on
nepotism and favoritism. Also, train, teach and develop the workforce allowing them
to reach the optimum potential.
III. Your employees are not your enemies. Therefore, create an environment of
cooperation with them to ensure the implementation of scientific principles.
IV. Divide all work and responsibility equally between the workers and the management.
 Source: Pixabay

Taylor believed that these principles could help determine a fair day’s work for a fair day’s
pay in a manner which was good for both the employees and the management. He also
recommended the use of incentives for employee motivation.

The management theories which evolved in the early twentieth century were called the
Second Industrial Revolution. Further, there was a lot of criticism and opposition to similar
management theories from other contributors.

Management Theories – Max Weber and Henri Fayol

Max Weber introduced the idea of bureaucratic organizations to the world. Further, this came
at a time when politics and heredity or tradition were the basis of promotions to prominent
positions. By definition, bureaucracy is the exercise of control based on knowledge,
expertise, and/or experience.

He proposed that organizations must adopt policies which are fair as opposed to favoritism-
based and recorded in writing. He also recommended that professional managers must
supervise the organization rather than company owners. Here are some principles to guide the
management of an organization:

 Qualification-based hiring – Hire employees based on their educational qualification

or technical training.
 Merit-based promotion – Managers decide on promotions and base their decisions on
experience or achievement.
 Chain of command – Organizations must have a structure wherein each position
reports and is accountable to a higher position. Also, create a complaints process to
protect the rights of workers in lower positions.
 Division of labor – Responsibilities, tasks, and authority is equally divided and clearly
defined.
 Impartiality – Regardless of the position or status of an employee, all rules and
regulations must apply to all members of the organization.
 Recording in writing – Record every single administrative act, decision, rule or
procedure in writing.
 Owners are not managers – The owners of a company should not manage it.
Henri Fayol

The Father of Modern Management Theory, Henri Fayol, proposed a theory of general
management which is applicable to all types of fields and administration. He divided all
activities of an industrial enterprise in the following six groups:

1. Technical activities pertaining to production

2. Commercial activities (buying/selling)
3. Financial activities pertaining to the optimum utilization of capital
4. Accounting activities (final accounts, costs, statistics, etc.)
5. Security-related activities (protecting the premises)
6. Managerial activities

Of these, Fayol focused his work on describing and explaining managerial activities. He
grouped managerial functions around the activities of planning, organizing, commanding,
coordinating, and controlling. He suggested the following 14 principles of management:

1. Division of Work: to ensure optimum performance with minimal effort.

2. Authority and Responsibility: Every authority comes with certain responsibilities.
3. Discipline: Employees must respect and obey their superiors.
4. Unity of Command: Every employee must receive orders from only one senior.
5. Unity of Direction: If there are a group of tasks with a common objective, then there
must be a single head and a single plan.
6. Subordination: Individual interest is secondary to the general interest.
7. Remuneration: Wages must afford maximum satisfaction to the employees and the
firm.
8. Centralization: The organization must decide about the amount of authority that the
higher levels would retain or dispersed in the organization.
9. Scalar Chain: The relations between the superiors and subordinates should be short-
circuited and not detrimental to the business.
10. Order: All employees and process must have an appointed place.
11. Equity: Managers must strive for equity and equality of treatment while dealing with
the employees. They must display a combination of kindness and justice.
12. Stability of Tenure of Personnel: Managers must try to reduce employee turnover.
13. Initiative: Managers must take initiatives.
14. Espirit de Corps: There must be an emphasis on teamwork and effective
communication for achieving it.

Behavioralists, Sociologists, and Psychologists

Many behavioralists believed that the study of management must concern itself with human
behavior in organizations. Further, they felt that the effectiveness of an organization relies on
the quality of the relationship among the people working in it. Also, good management relies
on the manager’s ability to develop interpersonal competence among its members.

Further, the behavioral approach to management drew attention to a lot of socio-

psychological aspects like the dynamics of organizational behavior, groups, organizational
conflict, change, and techniques of organizational development.
Systems Approach

The systems approach defines a system as a set of interdependent and inter-related parts
arranged meticulously to produce a unified whole. Also, systems are of two types – Open and
Closed. An open system recognizes the dynamic interaction with the environment (suppliers,
labor unions, customers, etc.). On the other hand, in a closed system, the environment has no
influence on it.

Inputs Processes Outputs

Human Planning Products
Materials Organizing Services
Equipment Leading Profit/Los
Financial Controlling Human develop
Information Technology Informatio
Facilities

The management must coordinate all parts of the system to meet the organization’s goals.
Further, the managers must set up feedback mechanisms for the same.

Difference between Administration and Management

Administration Management
Policy Making Policy Implementation
Legislative and largely determinative functions Executive and governing functions
Usually, administration concerns with planning and Usually, management concerns with motivating
organizing functions controlling functions
Typically, the Board of Directors is concerned with the Personnel below the Directors are concerned w
administration management
In today’s times, management comprises of both the processes – planning as well as policy-
making and execution. Therefore, management includes administrative and operative
management.

Solved Question for You

Q1. List Henri Fayol’s 14 principles of management.

Answer:

The 14 principles of management by Henri Fayol are:

1. Division of work
2. Authority with responsibilities
3. Obey and respect the superiors
4. Single command
5. One direction
6. Preference to the general interest
7. Fair remuneration
8. Centralization and decentralization of authority
9. Optimum relations between superiors and subordinates
10. Everything in its designated place
11. Equity and equality of treatment
12. Minimal employee turnover
13. Taking initiatives
14. Importance of teamwork