Role of a Manager Within Functional Area of Business

Role of a Manager within Functional Area of Business

MGT/521

February-16, 2015

Role of a Manager within functional area of business

Managers play a key role in various functional areas of an organization. From finance, to operations, to leadership, a managers’ role is multi-layered and varies at different levels. They work with a distinct purpose, often defined by their organizations’ practices and objectives. A structured body of work drives the practices and objectives of a company composed of a set ideology and human effort. It is this managers’ role to create, facilitate and manage this effort in order for a company to achieve its objectives. Depending on the size and purpose of an organization, it may consist of a number of different departments, teams, or divisions where each unit has a specific job or task to perform. Each department or functional area has a manager who uses all the management functions like planning, organizing, leading and controlling to accomplish the organization’s goals.

“Managers perform certain activities or functions as they efficiently and effectively coordinate the work of others” (Robbins, S.P., & Coulter, M., 2012, P. 9). The roles of manager include setting goals, establish strategies for achieving those goals, arranging and structuring work by sub-diving tasks for each function. They are also responsible for leading an organization or an organizational unit through motivation, by ensuring individuals or teams within each functional area work towards attaining a common goal or the organizational objectives. Managers conduct evaluations of performance and carry out various activities, control deviation from the actual set goals and implement contingency plans to ensure the work is being done as it should be. Managers help an organization and its units by influencing the actions of their subordinates and ensuring resources are utilized in an effective and efficient way.

Planning, like creating an itinerary for a trip, is a particularly important function of a manager within the functional area of a business. Planning entails defining the identified purpose and means of achieving it. A substantial element in the planning function involves anticipating weaknesses and threats to the organization, and determining possible strategies to avert or overcome them. “Each crisis needs to be dealt with on an individual basis and management actions need to be taken to suit the situation at hand” (Jordan, E., 1999). Organizing is another important function of the role of a manager. It often entails arranging and structuring the work of others (or the team) to accomplish a set task or a set of tasks,