Many critics would say that the term “strategic manager” is an oxymoron. Such critics, however, have a limited view of what a manager or management team can do, especially since the best-conceived corporate strategies often fail because the organization lacks the capacity to execute those strategies. Precisely for this reason management is strategic. But do not forget that management is also tactical in nature. Managers can play the role of coach, counselor, adviser, and change agent. This document will discuss the four management functions: planning, organizing, directing, and controlling.
Change is part of the evolutionary cycle of everyday life. Today, more and more organizations are faced with a dynamic and changing environment that is necessary to maintain their existence in the competitive economic world of business. These organizations realize that change is here to stay and know that if they don’t change, they won’t survive. Whether employees like it or not, managers, supervisors, and leaders have to implement organizational changes. Nicolo Machiavelli once said: “There is nothing more unwieldy, more dangerous to perform, or more uncertain of its success, than to take the initiative in introducing a new order of things” (European History Quotes (2006). In the management control function, managers must be able to provide managerial control, manage technology and innovation, create and manage change.
They demonstrate flexibility in goal setting and support and reinforce the individual efforts of subordinates during the change process. In addition, change agents recognize the need for change and identify the options and resources available to implement a change, as well as identify and implement appropriate strategies to minimize and overcome resistance to change (Wiest, D., April-June 2006 ). For many organizations, change management initiatives first introduced organizational development (OD) concepts to the organization. In most cases, such change increased the demand for management activities in the area of training and development as the need for new skills arose; managers have responded by providing such training directly themselves or bringing in OD consultants and trainers as needed. The role of the manager grew and became more consultative as the demand to manage change effectively throughout the organization grew. As a result, managers must assist leaders, staff, and employees in planning and managing such “change initiatives” in parts of the organization or for the organization as a whole, thus participating in OD work (Hawthorne, P. , 2004). Hence the need for the organizational function where managers need to help create an organizational structure with agility, human resource management, and a diverse workforce.
Companies must be prepared to provide assistance to their employees in various situations. Managers must lead, and to do so they must be able to provide leadership, motivate for performance, instill teamwork, and communicate effectively. It is often a good idea to have a specially trained and empathetic staff member act as a counselor. This counselor would need to establish guidelines for the organization’s response to the employee’s situation, to list the resources that employees might need. It would also be advisable for the individual to make time for workers who need this benefit or support. Many times this individual is a member of the human resources department. Whether it’s issues like death, performance management, or employee relations, HR. H H. You must provide these tactical roles to employees. But the role of counselor or adviser must also reach senior management levels. “The hierarchical model emphasizes the role of HR as agent and advisor to business management while the professional model focuses on managing the relationship between the corporation and critical external groups” (Eisenstat, R., Fall 1996 ) In many companies, the most basic The role of the managerial function has been that of agent, as well as that of advisor and support to senior management. Managers must be able to think through the implications of business problems, they must be able to research them, analyze them, intellectually incubate them, document them, base recommendations on them, and take them to the flagpole. Managers must focus on the critical problems of running the business. With administrative and operational efficiencies established, managers’ attention has turned to other aspects of management. Faced with rapid and constant change, many organizations seek improvements in workforce productivity to maintain a competitive advantage and, as a result, turn to their managers to help redesign the management function in fundamental ways.
Managers must not only keep up with the pace of business, but also lead the way. They must move faster than even the fastest business teams, anticipating needs and providing solutions before executives ask for them. Clients and customers consider all their needs to be top priority. Service quality requires that they be respectful of your requests and be as responsive as possible. They certainly need to enable customers to meet their needs promptly and efficiently. But they can do this by referring certain tasks to others who can perform them more quickly and efficiently, due to their expertise and service delivery systems. Managers can use technology (email, direct database access, etc.) to enable employees and their departments to be more self-sufficient. They can also quickly reframe employee requests as problems they can solve themselves, without our additional involvement (Walker, J., September 1999). Here the many functions of managers are linked.
