Mgt 311 Week 1 Management Role Analysis

Week 1 Individual Assignment: Management Roles According to Robbins and Judge (2011), Managers get things done through other people. As simplistic as that may sound, this singular function encompasses various functions that require an individual to utilize multiple skills and act in numerous roles. Henri Fayol breaks the managerial function down into 4 major categories; planning, organizing, leading, and controlling. As a manager steps into each of these functions, he/she must take on one of the 2 role categories that are defined by Henry Mintzberg. The interpersonal role which encompasses functions such as being the symbolic face of the organization, maintaining ties with people outside of the organization to gather information and forming a vision for the organization that motivates the employees. The informational role which includes activities wherein the individual monitors information, digests it and disseminates it within and without the organization. And finally the decisional role wherein the individual makes decision regarding the resource allocation, long-term planning organization and dispute resolution. In this paper I will examine 2 distinct organizations, one
with less than 50 employees and the other with more than 500 employees. I will analyze the hierarchical organization of each and discuss whether the hierarchy allows for the managers to fulfill their roles successfully. Finally I will examine the IT function of each of these. I will be analyzing Special Occasions DJ & Lighting as my smaller organization.
I have chosen this company since I know the owners personally and hence have knowledge of their hierarchical organization. Special Occasions DJ & Lighting is an event management company located in Brea which specializes in “weddings, corporate events & exclusive themed club events” ("Special Occasions Dj & Lighting", n.d). The company has been in business for 5 years and in this time has grown from just offering to DJ services to now offering “Live Entertainment ( Bands & Musicians), Karaoke, Audio / Visual – Screen / Projectors & Plasma TVs, Unique Specialty Performers – (Drummers, Dancers, Comedians)” ("Special Occasions Dj & Lighting", n.d). They pride themselves on offering quality service at a great
value. For the larger organization, I will be analyzing The Boeing Company. Boeing is the world 's leading aerospace company and the largest manufacturer of commercial jetliners and military aircraft combined. Additionally, Boeing designs and manufactures rotorcraft, electronic and defense systems, missiles, satellites, launch vehicles and advanced information and communication systems. As a major service provider to NASA, Boeing is the prime contractor for the International Space Station ("The Boeing Company", 1995-2012). As a company that was first incorporated in 1916, Boeing has grown to become a leading U.S exporter that employs near 170,000 employees across the globe. The hierarchical structure of Special Occasions DJ & Lighting is very simple as compared to the complex and multilayered structure that is in place at a large organization such as Boeing. Special Occasions DJ & Lighting is owned in partnership and both the owners act in the position of President and CEO. They employ 3 DJs and 2 lighting professionals. They also employ an office assistant. On the other hand the Boeing corporate structure is headed by W. James McNerney, Jr. - Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer. He is reported to by senior vice presidents for communications, internal governance, government operations, human resources and administration. He is also reported to directly by the Chief Finance Officer and the Chief Technology Officer. Each of these senior vice presidents have a hierarchy of vice presidents, directors, senior managers and managers under them. The Boeing organization is broken along the lines of its major areas of business namely Boeing Commercial Airplanes, Boeing Defense Space and Security, Boeing Capital Corporation, Engineering Operations and Technology and Shared Services Group. At Special Occasions DJ & Lighting the owners take on the multiple managerial roles on their own. Since it is a very small company in its infancy, the owners are very effective in the decision making role. Because of its small size, the owners are able to make decision for expanding the business quickly and are able to capitalize on market opportunities. Since they are a small company, they use customer feedback from review sites such as Yelp for making decisions regarding employee retention and have been able to weed out the bad employees efficiently. Since both the owners themselves also attend the events they book and work with their employees, their chain of communication is very direct and they are able to really fulfill the interpersonal role well. The size of the company makes its current organization effective for both day to day business needs and for the growth of their business. By designing its organizational hierarchy around the very distinct businesses that the company engages in, Boeing is able to keep its complex hierarchy very agile. Since each of the vice presidents is able to report out on their own program directly to the CEO, James McNerny is able to tailor his message down to the base employee in terms of what really matters to their program. This chain of communication allows Boeing employees to be effective and efficient. By having an individual take on the role of being the figurehead of this large organization, Boeing is able to motivate its employees through email and video communication from the leader telling them what a great job they are doing. I believe by basing its hierarchical organization around its core businesses, Boeing is able to allow each of its managers to fully extract the potential of his/her employee. This sort of program specific hierarchy allows managers to have the skill specific communication that they would have in a smaller company which in turn allows for more efficient usage of time. The IT function at Special Occasions DJ & Lighting is outsourced to a service provider that builds and maintains their website. The service provider has also provided them with a simple database application for customer contacts. The company uses QuickBooks installed on personal computers to maintain their accounts. Since the company is very small, they do not really require in house IT specialists and they are able to use a fixed cost service provider for their needs. Boeing on the other had is a very large organization with internal IT needs. To fulfill those needs Boeing operates The Boeing Engineering Operations and Technology (EO&T) as a line of business. This department provides the various business units within the company with in house, high quality and competitively priced solutions for information technology, research and technology, and test and evaluation. The IT department ensures that Boeing internal assets are protected by maintaining and enhancing IT security measures. They also ensure that Boeing technological strategy is in step with current technological advancements. By running the EO&T as a line of business, Boeing is able to ensure that their IT costs stay competitive. Also, since much of Boeing’s business revolves around government regulations, there are many policies and procedures around information export and International Traffic in Arms Regulations that the company must contractually obey. By having an in house IT department the company is able to comply with those regulations without fear of its data being ill-used oversees. In conclusion, both these organizations have the same basic needs of planning, organizing, leading, and controlling. Their size dictates how these needs are met by their leaders. In a smaller organization, fewer people have to perform more functions to be efficient. In a larger organization, managers performing the same functions but within their own smaller organizations allows them to still be agile.

References:
1. Robbins, S. P., & Judge, T. A. (2011). Organizational Behavior (14th ed.). Retrieved from The University of Phoenix eBook Collection database.
2. Special Occasions DJ & Lighting. (n.d). Retrieved from http://www.specialoccasionsla.com/
3. The Boeing Company. (1995-2012). Retrieved from http://www.boeing.com/