Text 4. Particular Hints for a Young Manager

The work of the engineer in management is not limited by the manufacturing industries. Communicating with various offices, banks, trade organisations, insurance agencies and others become more and more typical for a manager’s activities. Moreover, a manager, if he wants his company to survive in present day competition in the business world, should give special attention to organizational problems. Technical matters are only part of the manager’s problems. Although there are no rules that can be used in every situation, the following suggestions may serve as practical advice:

- have a good knowledge of the company’s costs,

- give higher pay for the better work,

- don’t have many executives, otherwise it’ll take more time to translate your ideas or orders into practice,

- remember: high prices do not mean high profits,

- if the company is not making money, its policy has to be changed.

It may be said that administrative practices are almost the same in character in various spheres: industrial, governmental or military. When industry changes at a great rate, the manager cannot spend as much time as in the past on supervising the details of operations. A great deal of attention must be paid to such matters as public relations and finance.

1. Is the work of a manager limited by manufacturing industries?

2. What organizations does a manager communicate with?

3. What does a manager have to do if he wants his company to survive in present day competition?

4. Is the manager very much concerned with technical matters?

5. You are a very experienced manager. What recommendations would you give to a young manager?

6. Are administrative practices different in various spheres?

7. What matters must be paid special attention to?

8. What questions do you pay a great deal of attention in your managerial performance?

Text 5. More about Managers

Managers are problem solvers. They achieve results through persistence, tolerance, and good will – these are useful traits in large conservative organizations. They achieve their goals through a cautious process of trial and error.

Managers strive to protect the existing order of affairs. They identify with status quo. Strengthening existing institutions heightens their self-worth.

Managers fear uncertainly. They prefer to manipulate co-workers and to use established policies to reach organizational goals. Managers are more concerned with processes that achieve results than with the results themselves.

Managers focus on the organization’s goals. They are driven by a need to conform rather than a desire to change existing systems. They are passive individuals whose goals are shaped by their organisation’s history and culture.

Managers relate to people according to their job titles and social status. They are more concerned with people’s role in a process than with their needs.

Manager’s authority stems from their positions. Managers are supervisors, department heads, and administrators.

1. What do managers fear?

2. What do they prefer to do to reach organizational goals?

3. Do managers strive to protect the existing order or to do they try to change it?

4. In what way do managers achieve their goals?

5. What do managers focus on?

6. Are managers driven by the desire to conform to existing systems or are they guided by the wish to change them?

7. How do managers relate to people?

8. What does manager’s authority stem from?

9. What functions do managers perform?

Text 6

It’s a well-known fact that managers have to make decisions practically every day. It’s also true that decisions are made at various levels of an organisation all the time. In other words, decision-making is an important and integral part of managerial work.

Decision-making is considered to be a rational process in which a choice is made on the basis of the known facts. But it is not limited to this. Decision- making is a social process, and it requires that managers should not only solve problems, but also find and formulate them. To make effective decisions, managers must be able to understand the various components of the problem which faces them. This is not easy because a great amount of work often prevents managers from planning a course of actions.

However, they can control their activities through planning their time.

Time is a very important factor in managerial performance. How the manager spends his time while in office, has a great impact on the performance of his duties. Moreover, the time-plan can show which decisions the manager will make by himself and which decisions will be made by other people and presented to him for approval. The time-plan can help the manager to determine the time- limit for each item of his day’s business activities.

Increasing managerial effectiveness requires not only time-planning by the manager, but also his ability to make operative corrections in the time- plan in a constantly changing situation. Moreover, the manager should not deviate from his day’s business plan and should ensure its fulfillment.