Management levels and their characteristics. Top, middle and lower level managers: core competencies and specificity of activities. When you need a leader

Not all managers have the same job; some are responsible for production, others for demand research, and others for sales, supplies, etc. Differences between the activities of the foreman of the movers and general director one company is quite obvious, and there are much more of them than between the activities of foremen or directors of firms of different profiles. The differences are due to horizontal and vertical differentiation management activities within the organization.

In large organizations, the amount of management work is so great that it requires separation. Leaders are forced to coordinate the work of other managers, who in turn coordinate the activities of others, etc. to the level at which managers work directly with performers.

Traditionally, the management vertical is divided into three parts.

This division, according to T. Parsons' categorization, is predetermined by the functions of managers. Managers technical level are busy with current operations and activities necessary to ensure uninterrupted operation (product release, service provision). At the managerial level managers are mainly concerned with managing and coordinating within the organization, they agree different kinds activities and efforts of various departments of the organization. Persons representing institutional level, ensure the development long-term plans, the formulation of the goals of the organization, the adaptation of the latter to changes in the environment, manage the relationship between the organization and the society in which it exists.

More common is the structuring of the management hierarchy by management levels, with the allocation of the highest level ( top-management), middle ( middle) and linear ( supervisors) or the level of immediate supervisors. Since the levels of management have clearly defined subordination, they constitute a hierarchy in which top-level managers manage the work of middle-level managers, who in turn provide coordination of the activities of line managers. This exhausts the management hierarchy; further, outside the hierarchy, there are performers who receive clear tasks, coordinated, directed and controlled (Fig. 5.3).

Managers top level management is responsible for making decisions. They set goals for the organization to achieve.

Rice. 5.3.

The dotted line in Fig. 5.3 differentiates top management into a leader - the first person of the organization (CEO - Chief executive officer) and a directorate consisting of first deputies. Strength and authority at this level lead to the fact that the imprint of the personality of the leaders lays down on the entire face of the company. But the responsibility is extremely high here. According to G. Mintzberg, the work associated with the leadership of most organizations can be called extremely exhausting. The amount of work these managers have to do during the day is enormous, and the pace is very intense. And after long hours of work, the chief executive is unable to relax either physically or in his thoughts. One of the reasons for this is the incompleteness of work, which for a living and operating organization cannot be considered complete; accordingly, the manager cannot be sure that he has successfully completed his work. High salaries at this level at the same time suggest working week at 60-80 hours, vacation lasting no more than 10 days, the subordination of the entire routine of life to the problems of the organization's existence.

On middle management level managers act as a buffer between higher and lower leaders. Their main purpose is to ensure that various divisions perform the tasks generated by the division of a single goal set by top management. Dividing one into parts without loss of integrity is a very difficult task, requiring constant coordination of the activities of the elements of the organization working on different parts.

In large organizations, there is differentiation within the middle management level; in fig. 5.3 the dotted line shows the possible division into middle higher and middle links. The first is made by the heads of divisions, regional offices, strategic zones management; the second is represented by the heads of functional units. Mid-level managers receive goals from the highest level, divide them into tasks according to the profile of the departments and transform them into tasks with specific technological specifications for transfer to the next level of management. A middle manager leads a large division or department in an organization. He can be called a buffer, because all the discontent both from above (from incorrectly performed tasks) and from below (about unrealistic and inadequate tasks) goes to him. Most of the working time at this level is occupied by communication (2/3), mainly in the form of conversations with mid-level and line-level colleagues.

Line manager level, direct managers (sometimes there is an incorrect name "lower level") ensures the implementation of specific formulated tasks. Receiving them from middle managers, having certain resources to complete tasks, managers of small departments, services, sections are responsible for the correct use of raw materials, equipment, labor resources, distribute and control the activities of performers who are subordinate to them. Most executives start their careers in this capacity. The immediate manager is mostly in his team, interacts with his subordinates, for whom he is at the same time a directing, controlling authority and a defender of the interests of the group, unit. The line manager spends most of his time on contacts with subordinates, a little on communication with peers in the management hierarchy, and very little on conversations with superiors. The activity of the supervisor is characterized by tension, great variety, frequent change of tasks, which on average take from 1 to 9 minutes. Tasks assigned to the line manager have a specific finished form and are almost always completed within two weeks.

The difference between the tasks facing the leaders of different levels, in a generalized form, regardless of the specifics of the organizations, is reflected by R.A. Fatkhutdinov in the textbook "Management System". Top managers spend 60% of their time on strategic tasks, 25% on tactical ones and 15% on operational ones; for middle managers, these indicators are 25%, 50% and 25%, respectively; for line managers - 10, 25 and 65%.

The dominant strategy in the activities of the top management level, called the institutional level or the strategic echelon, can be explained by considering the skills required by managers at different levels management.

The sales manager (any other line manager) uses technical skills because he is involved in the sales process and carries out a number of transactions himself during the day. He is required to have human communication skills to motivate employees and provide the type of leadership that is needed in the organization. Technical skills allow him to work with subjects, while human communication skills help him to deal with people. To some extent, conceptual skills are also required to enable the manager to align the area of ​​responsibility of his department with other areas in the organization. Although the last time it takes a little.

As a sales manager moves up the corporate ladder to the middle management level, technical skills are no longer used as often. As for human communication, it does not lose its relevance at a new level, since most of the time now the manager spends on motivation, coordination, and maintaining contacts. For the successful functioning of middle-level management, the ability to work effectively with leaders of other functional units is necessary, therefore, increased requirements for conceptual skills and their development are added to social skill.

When a manager rises to the top of the hierarchy, his technical skills are rarely useful. The same need for communication skills remains, and the requirements for mastery of conceptual skills are immeasurably increasing. The task of the leader at this level is to ensure the unity of efforts in the field of production, research, sales, finance, personnel to achieve a common organizational goal. Therefore, the first place among management skills is the ability to recognize, create, maintain and develop an effective integrity, consisting of many heterogeneous, complexly interconnected elements.

In fig. 5.4 shows the relationship between the skills required of a manager and the levels in the management hierarchy 1. Top-level management actively leverages conceptual and human skills alike, leaving only a fraction of the technical skills. With the transition to lower levels, the demand for technical skills grows, which become dominant at the level of performers. Human communication skills are of particular importance to managers at all levels, losing leadership at the executive level. And conceptual skills turn out to be necessary, albeit to a different extent, for all employees of the organization without exception - from the CEO to the leading research engineer and the simple loader.

Levels

Skills

Linear

Performing

Concept

the other

Rice. 5.4.

management

• Lift J.K. Management: textbook, manual. 2nd ed., Rev. and add. M .: TK Vebley, 2004.
• Fatkhutdinov R.A. Management system: textbook, manual. Moscow: Business School Intel-Sintez, 1996. Daft R.L. Management: textbook. 6th ed., Add. and revised SPb .: Peter, 2007.864 p.

Process and control functions

Management is a system of management methods in a market environment, or market economy, which imply the orientation of the firm to the demand and needs of the market, a constant striving to improve production efficiency at the lowest cost, in order to obtain optimal results.
Control is a process of planning, organizing, motivating and controlling necessary in order to formulate and achieve the goals of an organization (Mescon M. Kh.). The essence of management is the optimal use of resources (land, labor, capital) to achieve the set goals.
Management is the implementation of several interrelated functions:
planning, organization, employee motivation and control.

Planning. With this function, goals are defined activities of the organization, means and most effective methods to achieve these goals. An important element this function is forecasts of possible directions of development and strategic plans. At this stage, the firm must determine what real results it can achieve, assess its strengths and weak sides, as well as the state of the external environment (economic conditions in a given country, government acts, positions of trade unions, actions of competing organizations, consumer preferences, public attitudes, technological development).

Organization. This management function forms the structure of the organization and provides it with everything necessary (personnel, means of production, cash, materials, etc.). That is, at this stage, conditions are created to achieve the goals of the organization. Good organization of the work of the staff leads to more effective results.

Motivation is the process of motivating other people to take action to achieve the goals of an organization. Fulfilling this function, the manager provides material and moral incentives for employees, and creates the most favorable conditions for the manifestation of their abilities and professional "growth". With good motivation, the personnel of the organization carry out their duties in accordance with the goals of the organization and its plans. The process of motivation involves the creation of opportunities for employees to meet their needs, subject to the proper performance of their duties. Before motivating staff for more effective work, the leader must find out the real needs of his employees.

Control. This management function involves evaluating and analyzing the effectiveness of the organization's performance. With the help of control, an assessment is made of the degree to which the organization has achieved its goals, and the necessary adjustments to the planned actions. The control process includes: setting standards, measuring the results achieved, comparing these results with the planned ones and, if necessary, revising the original goals. Control ties together all management functions, it allows you to maintain the desired direction of the organization's activities and timely correct the wrong decisions.

Leader and his roles

Supervisor- a person empowered to receive management decisions and implement them. The role of a leader is understood as "a set of certain behavioral rules corresponding to a specific institution or a specific position" (Mintzberg). There are ten main leadership roles. The manager performs these roles at different periods of his work.
Aggregatedly, the roles of a leader are divided into three groups:

1. Interpersonal roles. The manager plays the role of a leader, that is, he is responsible for motivating, recruiting, training workers, etc. Also, the manager is the link between his employees. The chief leader plays the role of the one-man leader - the main supreme leader.

   Informational roles. As a receiver of information, the manager receives a variety of information and uses it for the purposes of the organization. The next role of the leader is to disseminate information among the members of the organization. The head also performs representative functions, that is, transfers information about the organization during external contacts.

   Decision Making Roles. The leader acts as an entrepreneur, develops and controls various projects to improve the organization's activities. He also acts as a person who eliminates violations in the work of the organization. The manager is the resource allocator for his organization. In addition, he is the person who negotiates with other organizations on behalf of his organization.

All these roles of the leader, in their totality, determine the scope and content of the work of the manager of any organization.

Control levels

Large organizations need to do very large amounts of management work. This requires dividing managerial work into horizontal and vertical ones. The horizontal principle of the division of labor is the placement of managers at the head of individual divisions, departments. The vertical principle of division of labor is the creation of a hierarchy of levels of management in order to coordinate horizontally divided management work to achieve the goals of the organization.

Leaders are divided into three categories:

Leaders lower level(operational managers). The most numerous category. They exercise control over the implementation of production targets, over the use of resources (raw materials, equipment, personnel). The junior superiors include the foreman, the head of the laboratory, etc. The work of a lower-level manager is very diverse, characterized by frequent transitions from one type of activity to another. The degree of responsibility of lower-level managers is not very high, sometimes there is a significant proportion of physical labor in the work.

Middle managers. They monitor the work of the lower-level managers and transmit the processed information to the upper-level managers. This link includes: department heads, dean, etc. A significantly larger share of the responsibility falls on middle managers.

Senior executives. The smallest category. They are responsible for the development and implementation of the organization's strategy, for making decisions that are especially important for it. Senior executives include: company president, minister, rector, etc. The work of a top manager is very responsible, since the front of the work is large, and the pace of activity is intense. Their job is mainly mental activity. They constantly have to make management decisions.

Modern manager

Changes in society, economy, technologies force us to comprehend the concepts of management in a new way. modern organization, reformulate professional characteristics manager necessary for the successful management of the organization in modern conditions.

In modern conditions, industries related to intellectual activity are becoming increasingly important. In Russia, during the transitional economy, there is an increased demand for managers in service areas - trade, finance, information technology.
Thus, a modern manager must have the ability to manage such a business, and have the skills to make decisions under conditions of uncertainty.
In the article "Manager of the 21st century: who is he?" (the journal "Management in Russia and Abroad") economists A. G. Porshnev and V. S. Efremov talk about management in modern society So:
"In a society where management relies on the intellectual cooperation of people; on their network cooperation, implying multi-connectivity and the participation of each person in many production processes requiring his knowledge and skills; to integrate planning and execution processes; on the creation of dynamic, problem-oriented collectives of workers, the relationship of hiring labor is giving way to the relationship of purchase and sale of the product of labor. And this is a revolution. "

The modern manager should be guided by the following principles:

1. People orientation, as people are the most vital resource of an organization.
2. The spirit of competition, that is, the ability to achieve success in conditions of intense competition.
3. An external perspective, that is, the ability to enter into alliances and seek outside support, including from key figures.
4. Orientation towards systems, that is, system management as a solution to the task of conducting an "information orchestra".
5. Flexibility and ability to make decisions in the face of uncertainty.
6. Future-oriented.

Despite the fact that all leaders of the organization (firm) perform managerial actions in the organization, not all of them are engaged in the same types of labor activity... Individual leaders have to spend time coordinating the work of other leaders, who in turn coordinate the work of the grassroots level, and so on to the level of the leader, who directly manages the rank and file workers. This vertical division of labor forms the levels of management (Fig. 1.2.).

Rice. 1.2. - Control levels

Highest level may be represented by the Board of Directors, President, Vice President, Management Board. This group of management personnel provides for the interests and needs of the shareholders, is responsible for making the most important decisions, formulating the organization's policy and contributing to its practical implementation. Leaders middle management management ensure the implementation of the policy of functioning of the organization, which develops top management, and are responsible for communicating tasks to divisions and departments, as well as to their performers. These are heads of departments, directors of subsidiaries, heads of functional departments. Lower level- these are managers who are directly above workers and other lower-level workers. These are foremen, foremen, supervisors and other administrators responsible for bringing specific tasks to the immediate performers.

At all levels of management, managers perform not only purely managerial, but also executive functions. Management levels correspond to management levels:

Top management(strategic decisions, operational decisions),

Middle management (orders, operational decisions)

Grassroots management (executive work)

The practice of managerial activity shows that at all levels of management, managers perform not only managerial, but also executive functions. However, with an increase in the level of management, the proportion of executive functions decreases. At the highest level, execution takes 10% of the total working time, at the average - 50%, at the lowest - 70%. Thus, managerial labor is a type of social labor, the main task of which is management to ensure purposeful, coordinated activity of all labor collective in general, for the implementation of the intended (set) goals.

Control questions

1. The essence and content of the concepts of management and management.

2. Economic understanding of management.

3. Subject, method and tasks of management science.

4. Systemic and situational approach to management.

5. Levels and types of management, their characteristics and essence.

Highest or institutional level of government;

Middle or managerial level of management;

Grassroots or operational level of management

At the highest level, the goals and policies of the enterprise are formed, decisions are made on strategic issues, such as the development of new markets, relationships with competitors, adaptation of the organization to various kinds of changes in external environment.

The work of top managers is assessed as effective only if the firm is in a stable position, high profits, the expansion of the sales market, and the development of the firm itself. V recent times the evaluation criteria have shifted from high profitability to high growth rates of the firm.

The organization is heavily dependent on senior executives. If the top management of the KSA firm decides to switch the firm to the production of computers before the company is able to deal with IBM, then the middle and lower managers can do little.

do to discourage major failure. A strong senior executive leaves an imprint of his personality on the entire face of the company. There are many examples of this: for example, Ray Hook bought the MacDonald company on the eve of its collapse, introduced an industrial basis for making hamburgers, which made a real revolution in the fast food business in the field Catering and led to the flourishing of the company.

Middle managers - the management level - are primarily concerned with managing and coordinating within the organization. Basically, they act as a buffer between top and bottom managers. Typical job titles at this level are department head, bureau chief, section manager, branch director, etc. Middle managers like social group are especially strongly influenced by various changes of an economic and technological nature in production. For example, the introduction of personal computers eliminated some of their functions and changed others, enabling senior managers to receive information directly at their desk directly from the source, instead of filtering it at the level of the middle manager.

Grassroots Leaders - The technical level directly above the worker or other non-managerial employees. Most of the leaders are grassroots leaders. They organize and control the work in the area entrusted to them. Research shows that the work of grassroots leaders is stressful and filled with varied activities. It is characterized by frequent transitions from one task to another. The tasks themselves are potentially short. More than half of the working time is spent in communication, most of the time with subordinates. Typical job titles at this level are: foreman, shift foreman, team leader, foreman, leading designers by topic.

Types and levels of management is a topic that is relevant for any company. There is no enterprise where attempts are not made to build effective system personnel management and, as a consequence, an algorithm for achieving the assigned tasks. Competent leadership of various groups of specialists in conditions of constant development is a difficult but necessary process.

What is management

This term is relevant in the event that we are talking about the management of activities different groups employees both within a particular department and the entire enterprise as a whole.

Accordingly, the people in charge of the organization good governance are called managers. Their key task is to competently form labor process, its planning, control and staff motivation. The result of such efforts should be timely goals achieved companies.

That's why modern management is a constant striving for development and improvement of the quality of work. It is worth noting the fact that professional management can make tangible social changes. An example is the growing popularity of quality education driven by the desire to get a good job.

Who is a manager

Development without effective leadership modern companies does not seem possible.

If we use the actual meaning of the terms, then a manager can be called a manager or a leader who has sufficient authority to solve various problems related to specific types of enterprise activities.

• heads of the enterprise, as well as of its divisions (these can be departments, divisions, etc.);
• organizers of various types of work acting within the framework of program-target groups or divisions;

• administrators, regardless of the level of management, whose responsibilities include organizing the work process, taking into account modern requirements;
• leaders of any groups of specialists.

Regardless of the profile, the key task of a manager is always to manage employees for the quality implementation of assigned tasks.

Key features

Based on the above information, we can conclude that the essence of management comes down to planning, motivation, organization of the process and its control. In fact, these are the goals of management.

Thus, the main functions of a manager are structured as follows:

• planning;
• organization;
• motivation;
• control.

Regarding planning, it should be noted that within the framework of this function, the most relevant goals for the company are determined and a strategy for achieving them is drawn up, up to the formation of an algorithm for the work of employees of all levels.

Enterprise management at this stage includes working with several key issues:

1. Where is the company located at the moment?
2. Where do you need to move?
3. What exactly will this movement look like (plan, resources, etc.)?

It is through planning that the management of the company determines the key areas in which it is necessary to make the main efforts.

Organization of an enterprise is, in fact, the process of creating and developing an existing as well as a new structure. In this case, the work of managers is focused on taking into account all facets of the company's internal processes with the aim of their competent interaction. In the presence of a high-quality formation of all processes and a global algorithm for the progress of the enterprise, all employees and managers will contribute to the effective achievement of the set goals.

Also, the management system allows you to accurately determine who and what functions in the enterprise should be performed.

It is difficult to imagine modern management without competent motivation. The bottom line is that the algorithm of actions and development will be successful only if all groups of employees are able to perform the functions assigned to them on an ongoing basis. To do this, managers develop a personnel motivation system that allows them to maintain high level interest in the exact achievement of goals.

The objectives of management also include control. The fact is that, due to some circumstances, the processes within the company may deviate somewhat from the initial algorithm and the implementation of the assigned tasks will be in question. To avoid such processes, managers pay a lot of attention to monitoring the work of their subordinates.

Top tier

There are always few managers representing this category at the enterprise. The responsibilities assigned to them are significant. But they can be reduced to the following concept: competent development and subsequent effective implementation of the company's development strategies. As part of this process, senior managers make important decisions that require the appropriate competence. This group of leaders may be represented, for example, by the rector educational institution, company president or minister.

Considering the levels of management, it is worth understanding that the upper segment is responsible for shaping the course of movement of the entire enterprise. That is, these specialists actually choose the direction of development and determine how to effectively move within the designated course. A mistake at this level can lead to significant financial and structural losses.

For this reason, a high level of management implies active mental activity and a deep analysis of the work of the company in general and each of its departments in particular.

Middle link

This group of managers monitors the lowest category managers and collects information about the quality and timing of the tasks assigned by them. Managers transmit this information in processed form to top managers.

The middle levels of management in a company sometimes require hiring so many specialists that they are divided into separate groups. Moreover, the latter can belong to different hierarchical levels. For example, some enterprises form both the upper and lower levels of the middle management level.

Such leaders usually manage large departments or divisions of the company.

Lower link

Managers in this category are also called operational leaders. This group of employees is always large. The lower level of management is focused on monitoring the use of resources (personnel, equipment, raw materials) and the implementation of production targets. At enterprises, such work is carried out by foremen, the head of the laboratory, the head of the shop and other managers. At the same time, within the framework of the tasks of the lower level, a transition from one type of activity to another is possible, which adds many additional facets to the work.

According to research, due to the variety of tasks and the high intensity of work, the lower levels of management are associated with significant workload. Those who occupy such a position need to constantly move from effectively completing one task to solving another.

In some cases, one stage of work can take a little more than a minute. With such a frequent change in intraday activity, the consciousness is in constant tension, which is fraught with prolonged stressful states.

Such managers do not communicate very often with their superiors, but they communicate with their subordinates a lot.

Features of general management

This form of management finds its active implementation within the framework of modern capitalist society.

General management is needed when there is a need for methods and management approaches that are suitable for any area in various socio-economic systems, and regardless of the level of leadership.

This category includes various methods and management functions (accounting, organization, planning, analysis, etc.), as well as group dynamics and mechanisms used for the development and subsequent decision-making.

General management levels

There are several levels of this form of management, which are used depending on the situation. They look like this:

• Operational. The key task in this case is the competent regulation of processes related to the production of a product in conditions of a shortage of resources.
• Strategic... Within the framework of this direction, promising markets and products that are relevant for them are determined, the desired management style is selected and the choice of a tool is made to regulate the process.

• Normative... Here, the company's management is focused on the development of rules, norms and principles of the game, allowing the company to gain a foothold in a specific market and, over time, strengthen its position.

Functional management structure

This system is necessary for the organization of effective management in certain areas of the company. That is, it, unlike the general one, is not universal and covers various functions separately. This approach includes relevant schemes for the implementation of the company's goals, depending on the field of application of management tools, the type of entrepreneurship and the social environment.

The functional management system includes the following management areas:

• financial;
• industrial;
• investment;
• information control algorithm;
• personnel management.

All these areas are more than relevant, since the process of division of labor has led to the emergence of numerous facets of the enterprise as such. In addition, the specificity of each area of ​​entrepreneurship creates its own unique working conditions.

Innovation management

This management organization scheme should be given special attention. The bottom line is that markets are constantly changing, dividing into separate segments and giving life to new directions, there is a need to develop technologies and products that meet today's ever-increasing requirements. This is exactly what is focused on given view management.

A similar system is needed for effective management processes related to the creation, distribution and subsequent application of technologies, as well as products that can satisfy the needs of a progressive society and will have scientific and technical novelty.

At innovation management the goal is also to create an environment that allows for targeted search, preparation, as well as the implementation of innovations necessary to maintain competitiveness.

Outcome

Management levels and their characteristics, as well as various types of management, are an integral part of the modern economy, without which companies simply cannot meet the ever-changing market requirements.