Management in Organisations

Introduction

“An effective manager needs to be an effective leader.” Why? Managers are often given a bad name, usually because of poor management or leadership skills. Reality is though, not all managers are automatically leaders, but by incorporating good leadership skills, they can become effective in their management role.

Where did the concept of management originate? What is required of a manager? What are their key roles? What is important about leadership that a manager should integrate it in their already busy schedules? Does an organisation really need a manager to lead? These questions will be answered as these elements are critically discussed within the essay.

The word “effective” is also very important and key to this discussion. The definition of effective found from Dictionary.com is as follows:

“adequate to accomplish a purpose; producing the intended or expected result”

“producing a deep or vivid impression; striking”

From observation within my organization, those managers who delegated but never took part, very often received poor evaluations from subordinates, however, the managers who participated in all areas were always successful. The most successful branches were always those which had managers who also had great leadership skills, who cared about their employees, not just the part they played in their roles, but also their overall development. These managers were always very influential and certainly left “deep impressions” on their subordinates.

Management and Managers

What is required of a manager? What are their key roles? Where did the concept of management originate? No business can “run” itself, hence why management and managers are needed. The origination of the concept of management is “attributed to Alan Smith, starting in the late 18th century as “division of labour.”(CLMS: Management in Organisations; Unit 2 What is Management? What is Leadership? – Section 1: What is Management? Pg 2-1) With this concept it was...