In this tutorial, we will learn about the responsibilities of management position entails, and it’s helpful to understand the scope of this role.
According to ‘Peter Drucker’ three major jobs assigned to management, they are as follows:
- Managing a business
- Managing managers
- Managing workers and work
According to ‘Henry Mintzberg’ manager’s work has three phases:
- Interpersonal Role: Relates to contacts and dealings with other people.
- Informational Role: The manager must receive and transmit information so that he can develop an understanding of his organization.
- Decisional Role: They have four types:
- The entrepreneur’s role by initialing change and taking risks.
- Part of disturbance handler by taking charge whenever the organization is threatened.
- Role of an allocator of resources.
- We decide to negotiator’s role in dealing with situations where he has to enter into negotiations on behalf of the organization.
Management is responsible and answerable to many groups. Sometimes, the interests of these groups conflict with each other. Hence, management must conduct its affairs to be fair and equitable to all parties with a vested interest and claim on management. These interested parties are:
1. The stockholders and other investors
2. Employees
3. Consumers
4. Inter-related businesses
5. The government
Towards Stockholders:
The stockholders are the owners of the company who have invested capital in the organization. Their primary purpose in investing funds is to make a reasonable profit.
They are not interested in quick profits as they are in the stability, growth, and the image of the company. The company must create an image of quality and service.
The management has to inform the shareholders about the company’s financial position from time to time and all other relevant matters regarding objectives, policies, and procedures so that the stockholders can give some necessary input from time to time.
Responsibility Towards Employees:
The responsibilities of management towards employees who put in their time and effort ore much fold. Some of these responsibilities relate to the following areas:
(a) With employment: They must be clear that the profession is meant to be mutually beneficial for the employee and the employer. The emphasis should not only be on what the employee can do for the company but also on what the company can do for the employee.
The employee contribution must be fully recognized. The employees must be assigned the right jobs as per their knowledge, experience, attitudes, and interests. Additionally, employees must be made aware of company policies, procedures, and objectives.
(b) To working conditions: The employees spend their major part of the day in the work environment. Accordingly, working conditions must be conducive to work. These working conditions refer to physical facilities which must be adequate and acceptable.
These must meet the accepted standards of cleanliness, light, heat, air conditioning, ventilation, safety, and sanitation facilities. They should also be the proper tools and machines to work.
(c) To economic security: This sense of duty, security dramatically improves the spirit of dedication to the company. Lifetime employment brings about a shared responsibility, which helps to build loyalty to the company.
The system of tenure in academic institutions after five or six years of service is designed to give the professor a sense of economic security, which should bring out dedication, sincerity, and a sense of belonging.
Some of the fringe benefits, in addition to the salary, are:
- Life insurance
- Medical insurance
- Sick leave
- Maternity leave
- Provision for other emergencies
- Profit-sharing plans
- Stock options: It is a provision to buy the company’s stock shares at a lower price than the amount paid by the company at a rate lower than the amount paid by the public.
- Pension plans and retirement benefits
- Paid vacation
- Free education, for workers, if necessary, and for their children.
(d) Responsibility for job satisfaction: Job satisfaction refers to the employee’s self-fulfillment and happiness at the job. The conceptual environment should be such as to enhance employee confidence and faith in the company.
The workers should be encouraged to participate in company affairs as much as possible, especially in the formulation of procedures and policies affecting them.
It would encourage a sense of belonging. Also, employee contributions should be appropriately recognized and rewarded. Other management policies include provisions for challenging opportunities, increased responsibility, promotion, and participation in the decision-making process.
Towards Consumers:
The customers expect a quality product at a reasonable price with guaranteed satisfaction. It is the responsibility of the management to see that the interests of the consumers are promoted.
The product’s quality can be guaranteed by offering facilities for returning the defective product, either for a refund or a new unit. Also, by providing free service to the product for a specified time, the customer’s confidence in the product’s quality can be strengthened.
The product should be simple to operate and be made readily available through proper distribution channels, and customer satisfaction should be the first rule of sales. The customer is always right, has proved to be a good policy for initiating transactions and keeping the customer.
Towards Inter-business Relations:
May all businesses purchase some supplies from vendors. All companies sell their products to other companies like distributors and wholesalers. The management’s responsibility is to maintain the inter-business relationship at a high level of ethical standards.
They should have fair trade practices regarding their prices, the quality and the quantity of the product, payment methods, time and mode of delivery, and the quality of service.
Towards Government:
The management must operate within the legal system, adhering to all laws, including local, state, or federal laws. These laws include, but are not limited to:
(a) Paying proper taxes and paying them on time.
(b) Respecting statutes about the social environment. These may be relating to air pollution, water pollution, noise pollution, dumping of chemical wastes, respect for zoning laws, etc.
(c) Affirmative action: The management makes special provisions for hiring, training, and promoting employees belonging to such minority groups who have been discriminated against previously. This discrimination may have been based on ethnic origin, race, provincialism, or sex.
(d) Respect for anti-trust laws: A few major companies that may dominate the market for a particular product should not conspire to fix prices or create artificial shortages by hoarding and holding back the supply.
(e) Truth in advertising: That false claims should not mislead the public about the benefits of the product.
Towards Community Interests:
Some of these interests may be protected by the law, such as areas of air pollution and water pollution. Other benefits may be the outcome of social environments.
Some of the community interests are:
- Providing jobs within the community. Hiring the handicaps
- Assisting in church and school activities
- Organizing sports tournaments and other cultural functions for the community
- Raising funds for public events such as the opening of hospitals or other charitable activities
- Taking an active interest in all community affairs
A superior/ manager/executive gets the rights of compliance of orders when he assigns duties and debates authority while accepting a job a subordinate incurs an obligation to perform the job successfully.
The essence of responsibility is then obligation. Liability has no meaning except as applied to a person; a building, a machine, or an animal cannot be held responsible.
Responsibility is a concomitant of authority. A person who has power has a corresponding liability for the proper exercise of authority given to him. Authority flows from a superior to a subordinate, while responsibility flows from a subordinate to a superior.