Question

Mintzberg's research led him to divide all the things managers do into 10 managerial roles. Which of these roles do you see as most important and why?

Answer 1

Henry Mintzberg's Managerial Roles

There are many roles a manager has within an organization. Performing these roles is the basis of a manager's job. To be effective at these roles, a manager must be a complete businessperson by understanding the strategic, tactical and operational responsibilities he or she holds. While not always explicitly stated in a manager's job description, at any given moment a manager might have to be a coach, a strategic planner, a liaison, a cheerleader, a conflict manager, a realist, a problem solver, an organizer, an optimist, a trainer and a decision maker. These roles can change from day to day, but one thing is for sure: a manager must understand all of his or her roles and how to perform them effectively. This means that a manager must have a global understanding of all business functions, organizational goals, his or her level of accountability and the appropriate way to serve both internal and external clients of the organization.

Henry Mintzberg spent much of his career researching the managerial roles and behaviors of several chief executive officers, or CEOs. Mintzberg discovered that managers spent most of their time engaging in ten specific roles. He was able to then classify these roles into three categories, including interpersonal, informational and decisional roles. To better understand these roles, let's look at how they are applied by Bernard the Boss.

Henry Mintzberg researched the managerial roles of several CEOs.

Interpersonal Roles

The first category of roles described by Mintzberg is called interpersonal roles. These roles involve the behaviors associated with human interaction. In other words, interpersonal roles are those roles that allow a manager to interact with his or her employees for the purpose of achieving organizational goals. There are three roles listed under interpersonal roles, which include figurehead, leader and liaison. Let's look at how these three roles are played out by Bernard.

When Bernard arrives at the store in the morning, he holds a daily meeting for all employees who are working that day. He spends time talking about daily specials and sales goals and motivates his employees for the day by holding a friendly contest between the workers to try to sell as many of the sale items as possible during their shift. He informs his employees that the highest seller will win a $50 gift certificate for the store. As a figurehead, Bernard the Boss has certain social, ceremonial and legal responsibilities that his employees expect him to fulfill. Bernard is seen as a source of inspiration and authority to his employees.

As Bernard goes about his day, he must make sure that he's monitoring the performance of his employees and how well they are doing in their sales. He checks with his employees periodically to make sure they understand the products that are on sale and what key features to point out, as well as to remind them of their goal of winning the contest. Bernard the Boss's role as a leader requires him to direct and manage the performance of his employees. He will spend time communicating performance goals, training and mentoring employees, supporting employee efforts, supplying resources, evaluating employee performance and motivating employees toward a higher level of productivity.

Bernard does not leave all the selling up to his employees, because he likes to maintain contact with his customers to better understand their needs and how he can accommodate them. He stops and chats with several customers throughout the day to get feedback on sale items and to learn about products that his customers would like to see the store put on sale in the future. Acting as a liaison is Bernard the Boss's final interpersonal role. As a liaison, Bernard communicates with internal and external members of the organization. This networking activity is a critical step in reaching organizational goals, especially those concerned with customers.

Informational Roles

The second category of managerial roles is informational roles. The informational roles include those roles in which a manager must generate and share knowledge to successfully achieve organizational goals. There are three roles listed under informational roles, which include monitor, disseminator and spokesperson.

After Bernard is comfortable with his employees' understanding of the sales products and their goals, he heads back to his office to do some research for what he will put on sale next week. Bernard spends time reflecting on the feedback his employees gave and the information his customers shared with him that day, and he also looks at what his competitors are putting on sale at this time. The monitor role that Bernard the Boss must fill involves the task of researching, locating and choosing useful information. As a monitor, Bernard has to stay abreast to current industry standards and changes occurring in both the internal and external business environments. This also includes monitoring the performance of employees and their level of productivity.

Bernard combines all of the information into a proposal for next week's sale advertisement and forwards the information to upper management for approval. He also spends some time previewing this information with his employees so that they can begin to familiarize themselves with the items. As a disseminator, Bernard must take the information he gathered as a monitor and forward it on to the appropriate individuals.

These are the other roles

The activities that are carried out by those managers are key elements. The way in which the Mintzberg Managerial Roles are carried out, are influenced by individual and situational factors. Henry Mintzberg initially divided the ten managerial Roles roles into three sub categories:

Interpersonal contact

Information processing

Decision making

Interpersonal contact
Interpersonal contact concerns the contact between the manager and the people in his environment. For example, subordinates, other managers, the board of directors, the works council, customers and suppliers.

The following Mintzberg Managerial Roles are primarily concerned with interpersonal contact:

1. Figurehead

As head of a department or an organisation, a manager is expected to carry out ceremonial and/or symbolic duties. A manager represents the company both internally and externally in all matters of formality.

He is a networker but he also serves as an exemplary role model. He is the one who addresses people celebrating their anniversaries, attends business dinners and receptions.

2. Leader

In his leading role, the manager motivates and develops staff and fosters a positive work environment. He coaches and supports staff, enters into (official) conversations with them, assesses them and offers education and training courses.

3. Liason

A manager serves as an intermediary and a linking pin between the high and low levels. In addition, he develops and maintains an external network.

As a networker he has external contacts and he brings the right parties together. This will ultimately result in a positive contribution to the organization.

Information processing
According to Henry Mintzberg, the managerial role involves the processing of information which means that they send, pass on and analyze information. Managers are linking pins; they are expected to exchange flows of vertical information with their subordinates and horizontal flows of information with their fellow managers and the board of directors. Further more, managers have the responsibility to filter and transmit information that is important for both groups. The following Mintzberg Managerial Roles fall under process information:

4. Monitor

As a monitor the manager gathers all internal and external information that is relevant to the organization.

He is also responsible for arranging, analyzing and assessing this information so that he can easily identify problems and opportunities and identify changes.

5. Disseminator

As a disseminator the manager transmits factual information to his subordinates and to other people within the organization.

This may be information that was obtained either internally or externally.

6. Spokesman

As a spokesman the manager represents the company and he communicates to the outside world on corporate policies, performance and other relevant information for external parties.

Decision-making
Managers are responsible for decision-making and they can do this in different ways at different levels. The leadership style is important in decision-making.

An authoritarian leader is sooner inclined to make decisions independently than a democratic leader. The following Mintzberg Managerial Roles fall under decision-making:

7. Entrepreneur

As an entrepreneur, the manager designs and initiates changes and strategies.

8. Disturbance handler

In his managerial role as disturbance handler, the manager will always immediately respond to unexpected events and operational breakdowns. He aims for usable solutions.

The problems may be internal or external, for example conflict situations or the scarcity of raw materials. .

9. Resource allocator

In his resource allocator role, the manager controls and authorizes the use of organizational resources.

He allocates finance, assigns employees, positions of power, machines, materials and other resources so that all activities can be well-executed within the organization.

10. Negotiator

As a negotiator, the manager participates in negotiations with other organizations and individuals and he represents the interests of the organization.

This may be in relation to his own staff as well as to third parties. For example salary negotiations or negotiations with respect to procurement terms.