Although all managers have particular responsibilities, this does not imply that all managers in a large organization are working on the same projects. The amount of managerial work is typically so great in organizations big enough to allow a clear division of duties between managers and non-managers that it also has to be divided. The placement of particular managers at the top of individual divisions is one of the horizontal divisions of managerial activity. This work is coordinated with making sure the organization runs smoothly. Some managers are responsible for organizing the efforts of other managers, each of whom has coordinates. This happens up to the level of the manager who coordinates the work of non-managerial staff — people who physically produce products or provide services. As a result of such a vertical division of labor, there is a level of management. Usually, in the organization, in order to apply at what level one manager is in relation to another, it is necessary to find out his position.
Main Levels of Management
Regardless of how many levels of management there are, managers are traditionally divided into three categories. These categories are considered from the point of view of the function performed by the manager in the organization. Persons at the technical level mainly deal with daily operations and actions necessary to ensure effective work without obstacles in the production of products or the provision of services. Persons at the managerial level carry out management and coordination within the organization; they coordinate the forms of activity of various units of the organization.
Managers at the institutional level develop long-term (perspective) plans, formulate goals, do everything to ensure that the organization adapts to various changes, and manage relations between the organization and the external environment, as well as the society in which a certain organization functions.
According to the commonly used method of determining management levels, low-level managers, or operational managers, middle and senior managers are distinguished.
+Junior managers, also called first (grassroots) managers or operational managers, constitute the organizational level located above workers and other employees (non-managers). Junior bosses monitor the performance of production tasks in order to continuously provide information about the correctness of their solutions. Managers of this link are often responsible for the direct use of the resources provided to them, such as raw materials and equipment. A typical job title at this level is foreman, sergeant, head of department, department, or senior nurse. In general, most managers are grassroots managers.
The Ratio of Spheres and Levels of Management
The work of junior managers is coordinated and controlled by middle managers. Over the past decade, middle management has grown significantly both in number and importance. A middle manager often heads a large division or department within an organization. The nature of his work is determined to a greater extent by the content of the unit’s work than by the organization as a whole. The heads of this branch of management hold the following positions: dean, branch director, and army officers from lieutenant to colonel. This is an intermediate link between the top and the bottom. Its managers prepare information for the decisions made by the top managers and transfer them in the form of tasks to the managers of the lower link.
The top organizational level—top management—is less numerous than the others. Typical positions of this link are chairman of the council, president, minister, general, and rector. Senior managers are responsible for making the most important decisions for the organization in general or for a major part of the organization in particular.
Formal powers received by managers in the organization determine the appropriate status of the manager. This status, in turn, determines the nature of interpersonal relations of this manager: with his superiors, with workers of equal rank, with subordinates. Such interpersonal relations, on the other hand, provide the manager with the information he needs to make decisions.
Distinguish the following roles performed by managers in the organization and classify them into three groups: Interpersonal roles, informational roles, and roles related to decision-making:
- the chief executive is a symbolic chairman whose duties include performing the usual actions of the chief;
- the leader is responsible for hiring, training, and motivating workers;
- liaison link – provides external contacts;
- the receiver of information – searches for and receives various information;
- distributor of information – transmits received information to members of the organization.
- representative – conveys information to external contacts of the organization, acts as an expert;
- +entrepreneur – looks for opportunities for improvement, initiates new, ensures its implementation;
- the one who eliminates the violation – ensures the correction of the course of action in the event of deviations from the plans;
- allocator of resources – distributes the resources of the organization within his competence;
- the negotiator represents the organization in external negotiations.