Key questions authors are trying to answer.
Rees and Porter in their book “the skills of management” are trying to unearth the reasons why managers fail, or why people in managerial positions fail to deliver the desired results. The authors are seeking to unravel the reasons that people in managerial positions do not bring the best out of people in spite of being in possession of specialist skills. The authors view the specialist background as the pedigree of the vast majority of managers (Rees & porter, 2008, p 3). In their bid to answer the question, Rees and Porter point out that managers may have been engaged at a lowly level in a specialized department. In addition to probing the reasons as to why people fail, the authors look at how people become managers. Most people in managerial positions have acquired the managerial skills from training, experience or a mixture of the two. This is demonstrated by the aspect of the management escalator.
The management escalator looks at the levels that specialists follow in becoming managers. Most people who end up being managers initially start up as specialist in the lowest levels of their career. However, conflicts arise between managerial and specialist activity because; management usually requires specialist knowledge. It also requires managers who are in charge of other specialists to well comprehend the environment. Sometimes, managers may have the requisite specialist skills in a certain field, but may fail to bring the best. For instance, a certain IT manager was very brilliant in his technical expertise, but did not have the interest in engaging his colleagues. Thus, he was relieved of his duty as a manager (Rees & Porter, 2008, p 6).
Basic thought and ideas
The basic concepts used by Rees and Porter are the need to possess people skills and the expertise skills in management. Technical skills alone are not sufficient enough to warrant a person to hold a managerial office as it makes people to opt out. Specialist skills alone may prejudice one’s ability to identify the managerial aspect in a job, thus making managers engage in improper balance of activities. Additionally, the aspect of job titles creates a specialist culture in many organizations, which is a hindrance to effective management. For instance, a head teacher title conventionally appears oriented towards teaching, rather than the management of school and other teachers. Work preferences always make people opt out of their managerial position by concentrating on what their specialization is. The reason is that they may too much attention in their area of specialization and neglect the managerial work. Too much priority may be given in terms of time, resources and decision making in the areas of specialization. To illustrate this point, the Rees and Porter give an example of a cost accountant who was endorsed to the general manager’s position. However, due to his specialization in the area of cost control, the general manager neglected the marketing elements of his job, and was thus reluctant to consent to expenditure that may well have brought noteworthy net income. This denied the organization of profitable opportunities because the cost accounted focused on cost control rather than optimizing the difference between revenue and expenses Rees & Porter, 2008, p 13). On another note, some people are influenced by their personalities to seek managerial positions, not considering whether or not they are proficient to exercise authority shrewdly.
The authors’ point of view
In order to address this problem in management, the author perspective is for remedial strategies to be put in place. These include; role definition, managerial selection, training and development, as well as monitoring. Defining the roles and responsibilities in a clear manner helps people to be effective managers. If managerial role can be well defined, selection, training and monitoring become effective as well. Role clarification requires being a fundamental part of the basis on which managers are chosen. Managerial selection results in ineffective management because of general selection incompetence and failure in recognizing the managerial element in jobs. Many organizations select a manager on the base of their past performance, thus tending to ignore the differences between tasks that a person has performed in the past and the tasks anticipated to execute in the future. This becomes general selection incompetence. Rees and Porter assert view training and development as essential for effective management. Managerial training should be both qualification training and in house courses in order to ensure training is effective. Monitoring is needed in order to correct job imbalances that may exist in the workplace. Monitoring also helps in ensuring accurate role definition, selection, as well as training and development ((Rees & Porter, 2008, p 18).
Assumptions
Rees and Porter are making the assumption that people out to deliver on their positions as long as they are trained. For instance, a person who is academically qualified to fit a principal’s position is assumed to have the relevant skills in both teaching and administrative work. A cost accountant who is assigned the role of a manager is expected to be all rounded in terms of expertise and the commercial element of it. An IT expert (manager) need not only have technical skills but also the ability to be compatible with other members of staff.
Fundamental conclusions
The most integral conclusion from the chapter is that most managers end up in managerial position through a management escalator kind of progression, where most begin from being specialist to being the manager of specialists (Rees & Porter, 2008, p 20)
Report on two people with managerial positions with regards to how they got into management, what problems they face
With regards to information from two managers, anonymous name X and Y will be used. Manager X has spent forty years in management position, and heads a reputable name in the airline industry. Manager Y on her part has spent ten years in a managerial position, though in two different corporations. In a bid to establish how they got to their current positions, manager X explained his progression similar to that in management escalator. He started his management career in his early twenties by starting from scratch his own company. However, it is worth noting that manager X never had any management courses like most corporate leaders. What is more is that manager X is a successful leader is globally renowned, yet was a school dropout. Manager X then enlarged his business in the 1980s and 90s. Currently, his brand has more than 200 businesses, which are extremely successful. Manager Y is regional manager of a global corporation, whose entry into the current position was granted on the merit of her education qualification. When I sought to know of her time in management, manager Y says that she started off as a graduate in training in the corporation. After a while, she was endorsed to a supervisory position and later into a middle position. Afterwards, manager Y got a promotion as a regional manager, the position she has held in the last three years.
What problems managers and the organizations face
With regards to management, managers x noted that he rarely encounters problems while managing. According to him, management entails three simple rules. One, smile, as a smile makes everything much easier. Second is to have fun at work and finally is to believe in ones ideas, workers and colleagues. Management is a trial and error aspect, and according to him, there is no preset recipe for management support. What other managers view as challenges is an opportunity for him. The challenge he faces is a learning and trying to do something better. His risk taking attitude is so intense that people working around him argue that they cannot contemplate the risks he takes. Additionally, manager X has build his strategy around people, empowering them as much as they can (Thompson & Martin, 2010, p 42). Stepping back is one of his principles, where he starts a new venture, helps the management formulate the vision of the venture and then steps back to watch the other managers implement it. From the discussion I had with manager X, one problem he has is being “too simple and accommodative”. For instance, his organization is run from his house, and does not have a head office infrastructure. Additionally, manager X is reachable by anyone, unlike other top ranking managers. The first thing he does in the morning is to clear and respond to emails from different people (Ahlstrom & Bruton, 2009, 198). This acts as a proactive escalator, as the feedback is offered in time, thus the organization does not face communication breakdown. He also sends speculative emails on success stories that he has read in order to motivate his employees.
His management skills are unique and rarely do complaints arise from organization. He believes that the success of the organization comes from empowering people and making sure employees work are his first priority. The problems facing his organization are not related to human resources but from external forces outside the business. These are such as competition, which are outside the firm’s control. His simplicity further emerges the moment he says that he “never allows accountant get in the way of business”. As a result, he does not run the organization on the preset organizational structure and does not depend on specialist view some times. Therefore, he does not allow costs to compromise his focus on customer and service.
On the other hand, manager Y says she experiences several managerial and organizational problems. Some of the managerial problems she encounters are change leadership, communication and creating team unity. Working in a multinational requires the division to be highly competitive. In order to survive in the business world that is characterized by intense competition, manager Y is faced with the challenge of reshaping the organization to meet the needs of a swiftly changing world. As such, manager Y is required to instate certain changes in order for the organization to attain a competitive advantage. Some of the changes entail removal of underperforming workers and others considered redundant. However, this has not come easily as resistance from other employees has hindered that change implementation (Baban & Naghibi, 2011, p 543). Nonetheless, she says her managerial position warrants her to get rid of unproductive people in order for the organization to operate cost effectively and profit efficiently. As a result of doing this, she and the organization have to face constant strikes as the remaining employees strike for better working conditions and job security. Additionally, the organization follows a hierarchical structure where manager authority are hardly questioned, thus making manager Y undertake certain decisions without participation of employees as the people to be affected by the change. This results in communication breakdown for the organization, and makes it difficult to attain team unity.
Conclusion
With regards to the situations that both managers are going through, manager X says that how people get into management has some effects on the organization. However, he adds that there is no pre-set recipe for managing an organization and this differs from the commonly held view that managers must be specialists in management fields. He emphasizes on trial and error leadership, though it may not work well with other organizations. On her part, manager Y asserts that management is a complex aspect, and she says that specialist qualification and exercising authority alone may not result in effective management. The two scenarios produce opposing view in that, whilst manager X is a school dropout, he has a global reputation in management, and hardly encounters problem, yet a manager with specialist training in management field experiences difficulties in running the organization. Therefore, the concept of management escalator and effective management are tricky subjects to comprehend.
Rees and Porter in their book “the skills of management” are trying to unearth the reasons why managers fail, or why people in managerial positions fail to deliver the desired results. The authors are seeking to unravel the reasons that people in managerial positions do not bring the best out of people in spite of being in possession of specialist skills. The authors view the specialist background as the pedigree of the vast majority of managers (Rees & porter, 2008, p 3). In their bid to answer the question, Rees and Porter point out that managers may have been engaged at a lowly level in a specialized department. In addition to probing the reasons as to why people fail, the authors look at how people become managers. Most people in managerial positions have acquired the managerial skills from training, experience or a mixture of the two. This is demonstrated by the aspect of the management escalator.
The management escalator looks at the levels that specialists follow in becoming managers. Most people who end up being managers initially start up as specialist in the lowest levels of their career. However, conflicts arise between managerial and specialist activity because; management usually requires specialist knowledge. It also requires managers who are in charge of other specialists to well comprehend the environment. Sometimes, managers may have the requisite specialist skills in a certain field, but may fail to bring the best. For instance, a certain IT manager was very brilliant in his technical expertise, but did not have the interest in engaging his colleagues. Thus, he was relieved of his duty as a manager (Rees & Porter, 2008, p 6).
Basic thought and ideas
The basic concepts used by Rees and Porter are the need to possess people skills and the expertise skills in management. Technical skills alone are not sufficient enough to warrant a person to hold a managerial office as it makes people to opt out. Specialist skills alone may prejudice one’s ability to identify the managerial aspect in a job, thus making managers engage in improper balance of activities. Additionally, the aspect of job titles creates a specialist culture in many organizations, which is a hindrance to effective management. For instance, a head teacher title conventionally appears oriented towards teaching, rather than the management of school and other teachers. Work preferences always make people opt out of their managerial position by concentrating on what their specialization is. The reason is that they may too much attention in their area of specialization and neglect the managerial work. Too much priority may be given in terms of time, resources and decision making in the areas of specialization. To illustrate this point, the Rees and Porter give an example of a cost accountant who was endorsed to the general manager’s position. However, due to his specialization in the area of cost control, the general manager neglected the marketing elements of his job, and was thus reluctant to consent to expenditure that may well have brought noteworthy net income. This denied the organization of profitable opportunities because the cost accounted focused on cost control rather than optimizing the difference between revenue and expenses Rees & Porter, 2008, p 13). On another note, some people are influenced by their personalities to seek managerial positions, not considering whether or not they are proficient to exercise authority shrewdly.
The authors’ point of view
In order to address this problem in management, the author perspective is for remedial strategies to be put in place. These include; role definition, managerial selection, training and development, as well as monitoring. Defining the roles and responsibilities in a clear manner helps people to be effective managers. If managerial role can be well defined, selection, training and monitoring become effective as well. Role clarification requires being a fundamental part of the basis on which managers are chosen. Managerial selection results in ineffective management because of general selection incompetence and failure in recognizing the managerial element in jobs. Many organizations select a manager on the base of their past performance, thus tending to ignore the differences between tasks that a person has performed in the past and the tasks anticipated to execute in the future. This becomes general selection incompetence. Rees and Porter assert view training and development as essential for effective management. Managerial training should be both qualification training and in house courses in order to ensure training is effective. Monitoring is needed in order to correct job imbalances that may exist in the workplace. Monitoring also helps in ensuring accurate role definition, selection, as well as training and development ((Rees & Porter, 2008, p 18).
Assumptions
Rees and Porter are making the assumption that people out to deliver on their positions as long as they are trained. For instance, a person who is academically qualified to fit a principal’s position is assumed to have the relevant skills in both teaching and administrative work. A cost accountant who is assigned the role of a manager is expected to be all rounded in terms of expertise and the commercial element of it. An IT expert (manager) need not only have technical skills but also the ability to be compatible with other members of staff.
Fundamental conclusions
The most integral conclusion from the chapter is that most managers end up in managerial position through a management escalator kind of progression, where most begin from being specialist to being the manager of specialists (Rees & Porter, 2008, p 20)
Report on two people with managerial positions with regards to how they got into management, what problems they face
With regards to information from two managers, anonymous name X and Y will be used. Manager X has spent forty years in management position, and heads a reputable name in the airline industry. Manager Y on her part has spent ten years in a managerial position, though in two different corporations. In a bid to establish how they got to their current positions, manager X explained his progression similar to that in management escalator. He started his management career in his early twenties by starting from scratch his own company. However, it is worth noting that manager X never had any management courses like most corporate leaders. What is more is that manager X is a successful leader is globally renowned, yet was a school dropout. Manager X then enlarged his business in the 1980s and 90s. Currently, his brand has more than 200 businesses, which are extremely successful. Manager Y is regional manager of a global corporation, whose entry into the current position was granted on the merit of her education qualification. When I sought to know of her time in management, manager Y says that she started off as a graduate in training in the corporation. After a while, she was endorsed to a supervisory position and later into a middle position. Afterwards, manager Y got a promotion as a regional manager, the position she has held in the last three years.
What problems managers and the organizations face
With regards to management, managers x noted that he rarely encounters problems while managing. According to him, management entails three simple rules. One, smile, as a smile makes everything much easier. Second is to have fun at work and finally is to believe in ones ideas, workers and colleagues. Management is a trial and error aspect, and according to him, there is no preset recipe for management support. What other managers view as challenges is an opportunity for him. The challenge he faces is a learning and trying to do something better. His risk taking attitude is so intense that people working around him argue that they cannot contemplate the risks he takes. Additionally, manager X has build his strategy around people, empowering them as much as they can (Thompson & Martin, 2010, p 42). Stepping back is one of his principles, where he starts a new venture, helps the management formulate the vision of the venture and then steps back to watch the other managers implement it. From the discussion I had with manager X, one problem he has is being “too simple and accommodative”. For instance, his organization is run from his house, and does not have a head office infrastructure. Additionally, manager X is reachable by anyone, unlike other top ranking managers. The first thing he does in the morning is to clear and respond to emails from different people (Ahlstrom & Bruton, 2009, 198). This acts as a proactive escalator, as the feedback is offered in time, thus the organization does not face communication breakdown. He also sends speculative emails on success stories that he has read in order to motivate his employees.
His management skills are unique and rarely do complaints arise from organization. He believes that the success of the organization comes from empowering people and making sure employees work are his first priority. The problems facing his organization are not related to human resources but from external forces outside the business. These are such as competition, which are outside the firm’s control. His simplicity further emerges the moment he says that he “never allows accountant get in the way of business”. As a result, he does not run the organization on the preset organizational structure and does not depend on specialist view some times. Therefore, he does not allow costs to compromise his focus on customer and service.
On the other hand, manager Y says she experiences several managerial and organizational problems. Some of the managerial problems she encounters are change leadership, communication and creating team unity. Working in a multinational requires the division to be highly competitive. In order to survive in the business world that is characterized by intense competition, manager Y is faced with the challenge of reshaping the organization to meet the needs of a swiftly changing world. As such, manager Y is required to instate certain changes in order for the organization to attain a competitive advantage. Some of the changes entail removal of underperforming workers and others considered redundant. However, this has not come easily as resistance from other employees has hindered that change implementation (Baban & Naghibi, 2011, p 543). Nonetheless, she says her managerial position warrants her to get rid of unproductive people in order for the organization to operate cost effectively and profit efficiently. As a result of doing this, she and the organization have to face constant strikes as the remaining employees strike for better working conditions and job security. Additionally, the organization follows a hierarchical structure where manager authority are hardly questioned, thus making manager Y undertake certain decisions without participation of employees as the people to be affected by the change. This results in communication breakdown for the organization, and makes it difficult to attain team unity.
Conclusion
With regards to the situations that both managers are going through, manager X says that how people get into management has some effects on the organization. However, he adds that there is no pre-set recipe for managing an organization and this differs from the commonly held view that managers must be specialists in management fields. He emphasizes on trial and error leadership, though it may not work well with other organizations. On her part, manager Y asserts that management is a complex aspect, and she says that specialist qualification and exercising authority alone may not result in effective management. The two scenarios produce opposing view in that, whilst manager X is a school dropout, he has a global reputation in management, and hardly encounters problem, yet a manager with specialist training in management field experiences difficulties in running the organization. Therefore, the concept of management escalator and effective management are tricky subjects to comprehend.
