The Levels of Management

Segmenting the management of an organization into

levels is vital to maintaining the productivity and work
performance of employees. Although when there is a
change in the size of the business or the workforce, there
would also be a change in the number of levels of the
management.

The main levels of management are:

1.Top level management.

2.Middle level management.
3.Supervisory level, operational or lower level of
management.

Top Level Management:

Top level management consists of Chairman, Board of
Directors, Managing Director, General Manager,
President, Vice President, Chief Executive Officer (C.E.O.),
Chief Financial Officer (C.F.O.) and Chief Operating
Officer etc. It includes group of crucial persons essential
for leading and directing the efforts of other people. The
managers working at this level have maximum authority.

Middle Level Management:

This level of management consists of departmental

heads such as purchase department head, sales
department head, finance manager, marketing manager,
executive officer, plant superintendent, etc. People of
this group are responsible for executing the plans and
policies made by top level.

They act as a linking pin between top and lower level

management. They also exercise the functions of top
level for their department as they make plans and
policies for their department, organise and collect the
resources etc.
Supervisory Level/Operational Level:

This level consists of supervisors, superintendent,

foreman, sub-department executives; clerk, etc.
Managers of this group actually carry on the work or
perform the activities according to the plans of top and
middle level management.
They pass on the instruction to workers and report to the
middle level management. They are also responsible for
maintaining discipline among the workers.
 Approaches of Management

1.The Classical Approach

The classical school represented the first major

systematic approach to management thought. It was
distinguished by its emphasis on finding way to get the
work of each employee done faster. It is primarily based
upon the economic rationality of all employees.

This evolved that people are motivated by economic

incentives and that they will rationally consider
opportunities that provide for them the greatest
economic gain. The classical school can be broken down
into three historical philosophies of management.
(a) Scientific management,
(b) Administrative Management approach, and
(c) Bureaucratic model.
Scientific Management:
The growth of factory system led to numerous problems
in production and in labour control. Managers could not
solve the problems by trail and error methods. The
results could not be predicted. So the need arose for
better management techniques. The use of method of
science for solving management problems was thought
of. The scientific management concept was first
developed by F.W. Taylor in between 1895 and 1911. W.
Taylor is being called as the Father of scientific,
management. In 1878 he joined as a labourer at Midvale
steel company in the USA. From that position he
progressed to become Chief Engineer in 1884. He
published papers on “piece rate system”, “the art of
cutting metals” and “shop management”. He published a
book on “The Principles of Management” in 1911.

Administrative Management Approach:

Scientific management focused primarily on the
efficiency of production, but administrative management
focused on formal organisation structure and the
delineation of the basic process of general management.
This approach is also known as functional or process
approach and is based primarily on the ideas of Henry
Fayol (1841-1925).

Bureaucratic Model:
The third major pillar in the development of classical
organisation was provided by Max Weber’s bureaucratic
model. Weber developed a set of rational ideas about
administrative structure of large, complex organisations
that define what has come to be known as bureaucracy.

Human Relations Approach

According to Human Relations Approach, management is

the Study of behavior of people at work.

This approach had its origin in a series of experiments

conducted by Professor Elton Mayo and his associates at
the Harvard School of Business at the Western Electric
Company’s Hawthorne Works, near Chicago.
The Behavioral Approach
The behavioral approach on the human relations
approach is based upon the premise of increase in
production and managerial efficiency through an
understanding of the people.

The human relations approach of management involves

with the human behavior and focused attention on the
human beings in the organization. The growth and
popularity of this approach is attributable to Elton Mayo
(1880- 1949) and his Hawthorne experiments.
 Contemporary Issues and
Challenges Of Management

Contemporary Issues

It is very evident that changing demographics have been

sighted as main causes of greatest long term issues that
constantly facing society and business. These changes in
demographics have increasingly prompt to debates both
in national and local level. Demographic issues on
management constantly raise the concern of ensuring
that it needs a broader societal approach. In this paper
we are going to focus on main issues, whether negative
and positive which are currently facing businesses over
both medium and long term periods. It should be clear
that older generation standards of poverty is not a major
issue either socially, economically or physically in the day
today. It have been noted that the right to development
has constantly be denied, with the older working force
perceived as the minority interest when the issue of
organizational management is raised. Poverty and social
exclusion still remain the major stumbling block towards
the current realization that the ageing work force are
human beings and are therefore protected by human
rights or professional ethics in both developing and
developed counties.

Challenges in Management
The changing economic world is throwing new challenges
to the managers. The management concepts and
practices are shaping ‘tomorrow’s history’. A number of
changes are taking place which are influencing the work
of managers. Some of these changes are globalisation,
total quality management, work force diversity,
innovation and change, empowerment and teams,
downsizing, contingent workers etc.

Globalization:
Most of the countries are opening their borders to
foreign products as well as foreign producers. The
companies of developed countries are entering foreign
countries by opening manufacturing facilities there. The
companies like Siemens, Remington, Singer, for instance,
were selling their products in foreign markets during
nineteenth century. The companies like Fiat, Unilever
and Royal Dutch had become multinationals by 1920.
Since 1960 multinational companies have become a
common sight.

Work Force Diversity:

The composition of work force is fast changing. Earlier
work force consisted mainly of male persons who had to
support a non-working wife and children. At present,
women have joined almost every type of job. In some
professions their number is exceeding that of men folk.
In India women are entering education and medical
professions in large number and are also cornering most
of the office jobs. Workers are now more heterogeneous
in terms of gender, race, ethnicity, age and other
characteristics that reflect differences.
Stimulating Innovation and Change:
The times are changing fast. Earlier the change was slow
and managers were working in stable environment. The
organisational world which existed in those companies
who set up manufacturing facilities in foreign countries
had to send technical experts at initial times. Normally,
only a few persons come from the parent company and
other managerial personnel are employed from the host
country. The managements of multinational and
transnational companies have to study the legal-political
and cultural environment of the host country and device
managerial practices and policies accordingly.

Total Quality Management:

There is a new awareness about quality in industry. The
developed countries gave proper emphasis to the quality
of gods produced. The goods produced by under-
developed countries could not find a place in world
markets due to their lower quality standards. India has
suffered on this account due to its own policies.

Empowerment and Teams:

The earlier thinking of Frederick Taylor where division of
work was done in such a way that thinking process was
assigned to managers while doing part was left for
workers. The workers were supposed to do the repetitive
work again and again this division of work may be valid
during Taylor’s times but this is not valid at present. The
workers at present are considered more knowledgeable
and are relied to complete their work in a better way.
Sometimes workers are considered to be performing
better than even their managers.

Managers now recognise that they can often improve

quality, productivity and employee commitment by
redesigning jobs and letting individual workers and work
teams make job- related decisions. This is called
empowering employees. Many organisations have
achieved better results by empowering employees and
allowing them to plan and execute their work. Human
resource theorists have been criticising over specialising
of employees and stifling their capabilities. Hallmark, AT
& T, Motorola have successfully tried this method.

Downsizing:
The downsizing or reduction in force has been going on
in the last some years. About 85 per cent of Fortune
1000 companies have downsized their white collar force
in recent years. Not only white collar jobs, blue collar
jobs are also been reduced. Most of the commercial
banks in India have offered VRS (Voluntary Retirement
Scheme) to their employees and employees in large
number have accepted this offer.

Contingent Workers:
Another trend in management practices is the use of
contingent workers. These are part-time, temporary or
freelance employees. Some labour experts contend that
contingent workers make up 13 percent of the work
force, while others say that the figure is as high as 30 per
cent. The percentage of contingent workers is increasing
every day. The companies have started downsizing their
work force, some of these employees try to get part-time
jobs to earn their living.