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Katz Theory of Management

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Katz Theory of Management
Critically evaluate the relevance of the three skills identified by Katz to the work of first-line managers.

Provide evidence, theoretical analysis and refer to academic journals to support your essay discussion.

In a constantly evolving business environment, it’s no surprise that the job of a first line manager has changed. As such this essay will be covering 3 main aspects. Firstly, it will identify the work of the first line manager followed by Katz’s 3 skills and their relevance and lastly, whether other skills are applicable to the work of the first line managers.

Managers are defined as people who coordinate and oversee the work of other people so that organisational goals can be accomplished (Robbins, Bergman, Stagg and Coulter, 2008, p.8).
There are three main levels of managers. Firstly, there are the top managers who “create organisational goals, strategies and operating policies”(Griffin,2000, p.4). For example, the CEO of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, would have set aims for the organisation to achieve a certain amount of profit per year and have set rules and regulations that should be abided by in order to achieve its goals via efficient and effective methods. Secondly, there are the middle line managers who are primarily responsible for implementing the policies and plans created by top managers and for overseeing and managing the activities of lower-level managers. For example, they would monitor quality control, equipment failures, and coordinate the work of supervisors ensuring the organisation runs smoothly.

First line managers and Conceptual Skills
Thirdly, there are the first line managers who “supervise and coordinate the activities of operating employees” (Griffin, 2000, p.5) The first line manager’s job involves overseeing day to day operations, ensuring that production goals are carried out efficiently and effectively as they directly affect the company’s profits. Drucker (1955) states that managers must organize the employees and

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