Class- 5: 18/03/2022

Roles and Responsibilities of a Manager:

Managers work with People:

Mangers need to work people within and out of the organization. It is comparatively easy to manage
people within the organization. But it is difficult to manage the people of outside the organization. It is
because manager has got control over the people within the organization, but he has got very little or no
control over the people of outside the organization. Moreover, people outside the organization have got
control over the manager/ organization. The survival of the organization depends on them.

Managers are made responsible and Accountable:

Whatever goes wrong within the org, manager is hold responsible and accountable- there is no doubt
about it. Managers are made responsible because:

1. Managers make decisions- Managers need to be alert enough to identify the impact of the decision
2. Managers use the resources of the organization- what he does with the resource must be validated
3. Managers have subordinates- Subordinates do not have subordinates
4. It is the job of a manager to get things done by his people- if he fails doing so, he must be made
responsible

Managers Balance competing goals and set priorities:

There are many objectives of an organization. It is not possible to achieve all the objectives at a time,
because resources are required to achieve objectives and resources are limited. Under such a situation, a
manager is to make a priority list of his objectives and he must move according to that priority list.

Managers must think analytically and conceptually:

Managers are decision makers. Every decision has got its positive and negative impacts. So, before
making a decision, a manager must think analytically. He must keep it in mind how this decision is going
affect his organization. This is particularly true in case of top executives. It is because decisions taken by
the top executives usually affects the whole organization.
Managers are Mediators:

There are conflicts of interest in an organization among the concern parties. For example- organization
wants more work from its people and likes to pay them less. On the other hand, people want to work less,
and they demand more money form the organization. We can see, expectations are quite opposite to
each other. Under such a situation, conflict is inevitable. So, a manager is to play the role of a mediator.

In addition to the above, there are also intra and inter union conflicts among the workers. Here also,
manager is to play the role of a mediator. Not only this, when two workers are in a conflict, then also a
manager is to play the role of a mediator. In an organization, there is conflict, there was conflict in the
past and conflicts will be there in future. A manager cannot remove this conflict altogether; but the
manager can minimize it by playing the role of a mediator. A manager must keep it in mind that he should
be impartial while playing the role of a mediator. Otherwise, this arbitration process will not be effective.
So, we can see a manager is to spend a lot of time to play the role of a true mediator.

Managers are Politicians:

Politicians require support from their people. Similarly, managers also require support from their
subordinates. Managers make decisions; but it is not possible to implement those decisions by the
manager alone. To implement decisions, managers require active support of their subordinates. So, a
manager must ensure support of his people by playing the role of a politician.
Managers are Diplomats:
The main of a diplomat is to represent his country. Similarly, a manager is required to represent his
organization to the outside world. It is particularly true in case of top executives. So, a manager is
required to play the role of a diplomat.
Managers are Symbols:
Symbol means an ideal, an icon or an example. Manager should try to represent himself as a symbol to
his people. That means his people will think their manager as an icon. If he wants to be a symbol to his
people, he must try to gain the confidence of his people. If he can gain the confidence, he will get the
support of his people. And his people will become very loyal to him. Under such a situation, it will become
very easy for a manager to get things done by his people.
The role of a manager can also be explained in a different way. In real life situation, a manager is required
to play three types of roles. These are:

1. Role of a superior
2. Role of a peer
3. Role of a subordinate
In his workplace, a manager is to put on three hats. They are:
1. Hat of a superior
2. Hat of a peer
3. Hat of a subordinate
A manager must behave according to the hat he is putting on. A manager who can change his hat quickly
according to the requirement of the situation, he is supposed to be a successful manager.

Mid- term syllabus: up to this

 Post Mid

Decision Making

Decision making requires judgement and capacity to analyze the situation.

Decision Making: Management is a decision-making process and Mangers are decision makers. We
make decisions to solve our problems. Similarly, managers also make decisions to solve the problems of
their organization. But a manager cannot make a decision whatever he likes. In making decisions, he has
got some limitations. In other words, he is to make decisions under certain conditions. We can call these
conditions as ‘premise of decision making’.

 All management decisions are usually heuristic (based on incomplete information)