What Do Managers Do? Critically Discuss the Following Statement: “the Work and Skills of Managers Are the Same Irrespective of Their Position Within the Organisation.”
The study of management has explored fields far beyond the conceivable realms; however one facet of management has been forever present in the minds of academics and industry workers. The ever examined topic of skills and work among managers in all levels of an organisation has been discussed and researched for decades. Various schools of thought exist within this topic and this paper will look to explore in detail the breadth of such thoughts. Ultimately, managers must posses a range of skills and perform a wide variety of tasks to achieve organisational goals. Academics such as Katz [1], Mintzberg [4,11], Fayol [10] and Paolio [5] have all explored this field and their findings will be discussed in detail throughout the essay. Although evidence exists to support the hypothesis that managers must posses both a range of diverse skills and work related activities that are determined by their level within the organisation; there is also contrasting research that concludes that some of the skills and activities performed by managers will be similar irrespective of their position within the organisation.
The skills of managers have long been examined and over time numerous academics have proposed that different skills sets will aid in the achievement of organisational objectives [1,2,3]. There is no doubt that skills are fundamental in the effort to obtain organisational goals but the question remains, how do skills relate to managers in different levels of the organisation? Robert L. Katz, a management expert in the mid 1950’s proposed a theory based upon a set of three skill classes which were deemed vital to managers across the traditional three tier hierarchy of management [1]. Katz developed the theory of technical skills, interpersonal/human skills and conceptual skills. Technical skill “involves specialised knowledge, analytical ability within that speciality and facility in the use of the tools and techniques of the specific discipline” (Katz, 1955). Human or
The skills of managers have long been examined and over time numerous academics have proposed that different skills sets will aid in the achievement of organisational objectives [1,2,3]. There is no doubt that skills are fundamental in the effort to obtain organisational goals but the question remains, how do skills relate to managers in different levels of the organisation? Robert L. Katz, a management expert in the mid 1950’s proposed a theory based upon a set of three skill classes which were deemed vital to managers across the traditional three tier hierarchy of management [1]. Katz developed the theory of technical skills, interpersonal/human skills and conceptual skills. Technical skill “involves specialised knowledge, analytical ability within that speciality and facility in the use of the tools and techniques of the specific discipline” (Katz, 1955). Human or
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