Managerial Responsibilities

An important question often raised about managers is: What responsibilities do managers have in organizations? According to our definition, managers are involved in planning, organizing, leading, and controlling. Management responsibilities can be aggregated into nine major types of activity:

1. Long-range planning. Managers occupying executive positions are frequently involved in strategic planning and development.
   
2. Controlling. Managers evaluate and take corrective action concerning the allocation and use of human, financial, and material resources.
   
3. Environmental scanning. Managers must continually watch for changes in the business environment and monitor business indicators such as returns on equity or investment, economic indicators, business cycles, and so forth.
   
4. Supervision. Managers continually oversee the work of their subordinates.
   
5. Coordinating. Managers often must coordinate the work of others both inside the work unit and out.
   
6. Customer relations and marketing. Certain managers are involved in direct contact with customers and potential customers.
   
7. Community relations. Contact must be maintained and nurtured with representatives from various constituencies outside the company, including state and federal agencies, local civic groups, and suppliers.
   
8. Internal consulting. Some managers make use of their technical expertise to solve internal problems, acting as inside consultants for organizational change and development.
   
9. Monitoring products and services. Managers get involved in planning, scheduling, and monitoring the design, development, production, and delivery of the organization’s products and services.

Not every manager engages in all of these activities. Rather, different managers serve different roles and carry different responsibilities, depending upon organizational needs and where any given manager falls within the organizational hierarchy.

Management 2020 text remixed from multiple sources under a CC Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. View a complete list of original sources.