Mintzberg Theory Essay

There are many different definitions of management. The classical authors considered the management is a role that aims to achieve effective operation, make regulations, provide directions and control resources (Whetten and Cameron, 2002). However, the newer visions focus more on management as a communication job in order to finish the work (Williams, 2010). Daft (2011) adds the coordinating others to meet the new challenges becomes a crucial task for modern management. Passage with time, the requirement of

Asforthe word ‘management’, there has been long debate about its meaning. For our purpose, we take the perspective of the functions that managers

The functions of Fayol and the roles of Mintzberg have been considered and the links between these two have been pointed out. Through broader reconciliation of Fayol and Mintzberg’s perspectives, Fells indicates that Fayol’s view is supported and reinforced by the contemporary models of management, such as Mintzberg, Taylor etc. (Fells, 2000 pg.347)

Managers are integral to the success of an organization because they are responsible for using both human and other resources to achieve goals effectively and efficiently. (Satterlee, 2013). This paper combines the three concepts that Group 4 have considered most important. It primarily highlights the four functions of management; planning, leading, organizing, and controlling. Secondly, it discusses the characteristics of a successful manager. Finally, relates the necessary skills for a competent manager; technical skills, human skills, and conceptual skills.

Mintzberg, a management researcher, studied actual managers at work. He brought out 3 management roles: interpersonal roles, information roles, decisional roles. Especially interpersonal roles are quite similar as Katz’s human skills. Mintzberg’s interpersonal roles include figurehead role which is about greeting visitors, signing legal documents; leader role which is related to performing virtually all activities that involve subordinates; liaison role which is about acknowledging mail, doing external work and performing other activities that involve outside the

Henri Fayol, was a French mining engineer by trade for a company called Commentry-Fourchamboult-Decazeville, before becoming a managing director at the same firm. He wrote a short publication ‘General and Industrial Management’ – which was translated by Constance Storrs and printed in 1949. Within this publication, Fayol laid out a rational outlook as to what management is; which entailed 5 fundamentals: to forecast and plan – to come up with a “plan of action”; to organise – arranging a task; to command – directing those involved with the

Management is the process of planning and maintaining an organization where individuals, work together efficiently to achieve pre-set objectives (Koontz, 1990).

The four functions of a manager are planning, organizing, leading, and controlling. These are key elements that managers must understand to run a successful organization. I will view each concept as well as their roles to acknowledge how these functions have been related to my personal experience in the work environment. Behind the scenes of a manager, they spend an equal amount of time planning so that he or she can successfully achieve the leading and controlling functions. These functions are standard for any industry that is striving to maintain a strong organization. While reviewing this paper, try to think of the four functions as a method that is established to build on each other. The four functions must be performed efficiently, and when done correctly, an organization will reap the accomplishments from a well-defined plan. My own experiences of how the four functions operate illustrates that each role requires a manager to devote time and patience in order to ensure that the main principles are achieved.

Henri Fayol’s theory was almost a century old and was originally written in French. Further review on several journal articles has led to an overview background of Fayol’s working life which provided the foundation that conceptualized his theory. According to Wren (2001), Fayol was appointed as the Director in a mining company, Decazeville, where he succeeded to turnaround the company to become profitable. Fayol was the first person to classify the functions of a manager’s job. Fayol (1949; as cited in Wren, 2001) identified five key functions in managerial works.as planning, organising, command, coordination and control. Planning consists of any managerial work that involves setting goals and coordinating actions to

Similarly, Mintzberg’s view also has some weaknesses. He defines management as what managers actually do and summarized 10 roles theory (Mintzberg, 1973). However, it is not certified what managers actually do is what managers should do. The aim of management studying is to find the best way to manage and organise organizations. In Mintzberg’s study (1973), his research object is five American chief-executive officers. These managers may have very successful career and good reputation, but it does not mean their behaviours of managing businesses are the best; maybe there are any other methods which can reach higher achievement. In addition, it is also not certified that what CEOs do is same as what managers do. There are three different levels of managers in organizations: top-level managers such as CEO, middle-level managers and first-level managers. They are all responsible for different areas, which means their roles should not be identical. Therefore, these make Mintzberg’s administrative theory not perfect.

“Management is the planning, organizing, leading, and controlling of mankind and other resources to achieve organizational goals efficiently and effectively (University, p 4 2011)”. The greatest achievement of an organization is to provide goods and services that customer’s value. The managerial department of an organization has the power to determine the performance of the employee’s, which directly affects the quality of the service or product that is being supplied to the customer. “Managerial tasks are essential for effective management, which involves planning, organizing, leading, and controlling (University, p 6 2011)”. Planning is the process of identifying the suitable goals of an organization and how they will be implemented in the company. Organizing is the procedure that determines the departments of an organization. When departments have been established the next step is to decide who will work best at a particular job. The development of organization inside a business will form the organizational structure for the company. “Leading is the ability to inspire and organize individuals to work as a team to complete the goals of the business in an efficient and effective manner (University, p 9 2011)”. Controlling is being able to assess the procedures of a company and eliminate or change any strategy plans that are not showing high- performance levels. Controlling may consist of monitoring

The paper will explore different theories of Management, include Henri Fayol and Henry Mintzberg. This section of this paper provides an overview of functions, roles and skills required of a manager. What is Management? Management can define as the process of reaching organisational goals by working with and through people and other organisational resources. (Management Innovation, 2008).

Motivation is one of the most discussed topics in the present era’s organisations, especially since renowned psychologists like Maslow and Herzberg are dedicating their efforts to understanding it. Companies are investing a significant amount of resources in improving productivity in order to maximise profits. One of these important resources is of human nature. In order to get the very best out of employees, some motivational approaches need to be used. But what is motivation and how do I successfully motivate? I will try to relate one of my personal experiences with a friend to some of the most influential motivational theories. After introducing my story and making a definition of motivation I will address the ideas of Taylor,

By the time Henri Fayol had finished his theory, General Industrial Management, in 1916, which was based on his reminiscence as a successful turnaround of a major mining company from depths of failure; he set out to illustrate management as being a separate entity to other jobs within an organisation as he would say although “technical” and “commercial” “function” were “clearly defined”, “administrative” education was lacking. In his theory he introduced his five duties a manager had to follow to be called effective: plan, organise coordinate, command, and control and added to this fourteen principles he felt managers should use as reference to conduct the five duties. However Fayol was very much an idealist his theory was based on what a complete manager should be like and gave the view of managers taking control from behind a desk, yet critics, most influential being the academic Henry Mintzberg, who released his work in 1973, were more realists and saw a manager life as chaotic, involved and interactive, arguing what Fayol was portraying is not possible, and outdated.

Modern management principals are still based upon Fayol’s functions, Mintzberg’s roles and Katz ‘s skills even though they have been around for a long time in our dynamic environment. This is evident if you firstly understand what Fayol’s functions, Minzberg’s roles and Katz’s skills actually are and you look into new management texts and businesses.