Management Functions, Roles and Skills

Strength of an organisation mostly depends on the management team. Without it, the organisation will go haywire. The people who run the management teams are called managers. “Management involves coordinating and overseeing the work activities of others so that their activities are completed efficiently and effectively” (Robbins et al., 2009, p.10). The manager interviewed is Mr. W and works for a small company, Neoncrafts Sdn Bhd. It has been established since January 1993. He holds the top-level, as a managing director (MD) since the business started. The company provides service of installing neon lights. The company is made up of less than 20 employees and its main objective is to provide good service and make profit. The organisation has done several projects that they can be proud of such as the coca-cola sign on the federal highway, the Citibank at Kuala Lumpur, Senor Baker in Nilai Inti College and a few others. Mr. W is an experience businessman and manager. We can use these theories and compare with what Mr. W answered.

There are four management functions that were proposed by Henry Fayol in1949. It is divided into planning, organising, leading and controlling. Mr. W rated planning, organising and leading as 5 on a scale of 1-5. These functions are important to him as he sets mission statements for the company, he plans and strategize on the best possible way to achieve these plans and he gives encouragement and support to his employees when needed. He rated controlling as 3 as he appointed someone else to keep an eye on the employees and ensure that they do their job efficiently. Mr. W measures the performance of his employees and has weekly meetings to update the current situation of the industry and employees. It is important for all level of managers to have these four functions as this will enable the managers to achieve what they have planned to achieve.

Henri Mintzberg proposed that there are ten managerial roles. It is divided into 3 parts;