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description:

The Canadian academic, Henry Mintzberg who had trained as a mechanical engineer, wrote

his PhD thesis at the MIT Sloan School of Management analysing the actual work habits and

time management of chief executive officers (CEOs). In 1973, Mintzberg's thesis on the

nature of managerial work was adopted as a study and published for a wider audience.

Mintzberg's empirical research involved observing and analysing the activities of the CEOs

of five private and semi-public organisations. Previous management behaviour studies had

concentrated on team and subordinate behaviour or organisational structure rather than on the

day-to-day reality of managerial behaviour.

Mintzberg's 10 Managerial Roles

INTERPERSO

NAL

Figurehead 1. the manager performs ceremonial and

symbolic duties as head of the organisation

Performs ceremonial and symbolic duties

such as greeting visitors, signing legal

documents

Leader fosters a proper work atmosphere and motivates and

develops subordinates;

Direct and motivate subordinates, training,

counseling, and communicating with

subordinates

Liaison develops and maintains a network of external

contacts to gather information;

Maintain information links both inside and

outside organizaion; use mail, phone calls,

meetings

INFORMATIO

NAL

Monitor 1. gathers internal and external information

relevant to the organisation;

Seek and receive information, scan

periodicals and reports, maintain personal

contacts

Disseminat

or

1. transmits factual and value based

information to subordinates;

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Forward information to other organization

members; send memos and reports, make

phone calls

Spokespers

on

1. communicates to the outside world on

performance and policies.

Transmit information to outsiders through

speeches, reports, memos

DECISIONAL Entreprene

ur

1. designs and initiates change in the

organisation;

Initiate improvement projects, identify new

ideas, delegate idea responsibility to others

Disturbance

Handler

deals with unexpected events and operational

breakdowns;

Take corrective action during disputes or

crises; resolve conflicts among subordinates;

adapt to environmental crises

Resource

Allocator

controls and authorises the use of organisational

resources;

Decide who gets resources, scheduling,budgeting, setting priorities

Negotiator 1. participates in negotiation activities with

other organisations and individuals.

Represent department during negotiation of

union contracts, sales, purchases, budgets;

represent departmental interests

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Mintzberg Managerial Roles

Mintzberg Managerial Roles

see this link: http://aqsblog.com/blog/index.php/management/mintzberg-managerial-roles-3

Interpersonal Roles

Figurehead:

Meaning: A person used as a cover for some questionable activity

Managers play the figure head role when they perform the duties which are ceremonial or

symbolic in nature. For example like greeting the clients or visitors, attending a function of

sub-ordinate, giving the greeting or merit certificates etc...

Liaison:

Meaning: A channel for communication between groups

Manager plays a liaison role by establishing contacts with people within the company and

also outside of the organization. By actively taking part in meetings with people of his

company and also with other organizations.

Leader:

Meaning: A person who rules or guides or inspires others

A manager can be a successful leader when he can have a good control over his sub-

ordinates. He constantly guides them and motivates them. Motivating the employees plays a

crucial part in becoming a successful manager.

Information Roles

Monitor:

Meaning: Check, track, or observe by means of a receiver

Receiving and communicating information is perhaps an important aspect of a manager. A

http://aqsblog.com/blog/index.php/management/mintzberg-managerial-roles-3http://aqsblog.com/blog/index.php/management/mintzberg-managerial-roles-3

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manager should have the sound knowledge of the job. Thus he should be always updating

himself with the latest information. The information can be gathered through various sources

through research or study.

Disseminator:

Meaning: Someone who spreads the news

He gives the useful information to his sub-ordinates. If the sub-ordinates have a sound

knowledge, then it's easy for them to understand the concepts.

Spokesperson:

Meaning: A person who represents someone else's policy or purpose

He is a spokesperson i.e. he should give a good representation of his team or organization.

Decisional Roles

Entrepreneur:

Meaning: Someone who organizes a business venture and assumes the risk for it

Manager should try to improve the unit. He should initiate plans and changes to adapt to the

environmental challenges.

Disturbance Handler:

He should be a good disturbance handler. He should be able to solve the problems aroused

because of strikes, internal conflicts etc...

Resources Allocator:

Manager is responsible for allocating human, physical and monitory resources.

Negotiator:

Manager negotiates with the other units or partners to gain advantage of his own unit.

The role played by a manager is a key point for the productivity of the team. He is the one

whom the team follows. So its important that he is the best example for them. The things

manager does, play an important role in team, so its important that a manager builds his

personality. Mintzberg roles are well categorized to make a start. I would like to discuss here

the Mintzberg roles of a manager.

This article is a part of my research on understanding Mintzberg roles.

According to Mintzberg, manager roles are divided to three categories. These three categories

are again divided into sub-categories.

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WEBSITE 2

description:

The Canadian academic, Henry Mintzberg who had trained as a mechanical engineer, wrote

his PhD thesis at the MIT Sloan School of Management analysing the actual work habits and

time management of chief executive officers (CEOs). In 1973, Mintzberg's thesis on thenature of managerial work was adopted as a study and published for a wider audience.

Mintzberg's empirical research involved observing and analysing the activities of the CEOs

of five private and semi-public organisations. Previous management behaviour studies had

concentrated on team and subordinate behaviour or organisational structure rather than on the

day-to-day reality of managerial behaviour.

To describe the work life of a CEO, Mintzberg first identified six characteristics of the job:

1. Managers process large, open-ended workloads under tight time pressure - a

manager's job is never done.

2. Managerial activities are relatively short in duration, varied and fragmented and often

self-initiated.

3. CEOs prefer action and action driven activities and dislike mail and paperwork.

4. They prefer verbal communication through meetings and phone conversations.

5. They maintain relationships primarily with their subordinates and external parties and

least with their superiors.

6. Their involvement in the execution of the work is limited although they initiate manyof the decisions.

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Mintzberg then identified ten separate roles in managerial work, each role defined as an

organised collection of behaviours belonging to an identifiable function or position. He

separated these roles into three subcategories: interpersonal contact (1, 2, 3), information

processing (4, 5, 6) and decision making (7-10).

2. FIGUREHEAD: the manager performs ceremonial and symbolic duties as head of the

organisation;

3. LEADER: fosters a proper work atmosphere and motivates and develops

subordinates;

4. LIASION: develops and maintains a network of external contacts to gather

information;

5. MONITOR: gathers internal and external information relevant to the organisation;

6. DISSEMINATOR: transmits factual and value based information to subordinates;

7. SPOKESPERSON: communicates to the outside world on performance and policies.

8. ENTREPRENEUR: designs and initiates change in the organisation;9. DISTURBANCE HANDLER: deals with unexpected events and operational

breakdowns;

10. RESOURCE ALLOCATOR: controls and authorises the use of organisational

resources;

11. NEGOTIATOR: participates in negotiation activities with other organisations and

individuals.

Mintzberg next analysed individual manager's use and mix of the ten roles according to the

six work related characteristics. He identified four clusters of independent variables: external,

function related, individual and situational. He concluded that eight role combinations were

'natural' configurations of the job:

1. contact manager -- figurehead and liaison

2. political manager -- spokesperson and negotiator

3. entrepreneur -- entrepreneur and negotiator

4. insider -- resource allocator

5. real-time manager -- disturbance handler

6. team manager -- leader

7. expert manager -- monitor and spokesperson8. new manager -- liaison and monitor

Mintzberg's study on the 'nature of managerial work' exposed many managerial myths

requiring change such as replacing the aura of reflective strategists carefully planning their

firm's next move with one of fallible humans who are continuously interrupted. Indeed, half

of the managerial activities studied lasted less than nine minutes. Mintzberg also found that

although individual capabilities influence the implementation of a role, it is the organisation

that determines the need for a particular role, addressing the common belief that it

predominantly a manager's skill set that determines success. Effective managers develop

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protocols for action given their job description and personal preference, and match these with

the situation at hand.

assets:

managerial hierarchy

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managerial roles

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managerial types

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pros:

The reality of management is that 'the pressures of the job drive the manager to take on too

much work, encourage interruption, respond to every stimulus, seek the tangible and avoid

the abstract, make decisions in small increments'. Mintzberg's key contribution was tohighlight the importance of understanding CEOs' time management and tasks in order to be

able to improve their work and develop their skills appropriately.

The most valued theoretical contribution was Mintzberg's role typology. Its validity was

demonstrated in consecutive studies and thus created a common language. His contingency

model linking management types to roles was less valuable.

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Mintzberg's aim was to observe unbiased managerial behaviour and analyse it through

empirical research. Before his research, the normative frameworks produced by Fayol's

'administrative management'and Gulick's POSDCORB were dominant. Mintzberg's role

typology 'debunked' these normative systems.

cons:

Mintzberg does not assume ex-ante what an (in)effective or (non)successful manager entails.

He also neglects the relationship between managerial behaviour and organisational

effectiveness.

Furthermore, he takes a 'neutral' position on the managerial role omitting influences such as

ownership and power. Identified contingency factors explain differences in the make-up of

managerial work.

The empirical study is based on five organisations in action. The small sample size means

that the results should not be applied to all industry, organisations or management positions.

In his 1973 study, Mintzberg declared that the manager's position is always the starting pointin organisational analysis. He also argued that managerial roles are sequential - a manager

first makes interpersonal contact through his formal status which in turn allows information

processing and leads to decision making. Mintzberg later rejected this relationship based on

new empirical data.

references:

Mintzberg's personal web site

Canada

The Manager's Job - Folklore and Fact

Henry Mintzberg

1990

Harvard Business Review

United States

ISBN B0000YHO3W

http://www.henrymintzberg.com/http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0000YHO3W?ie=UTF8&tag=provenmodels-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B0000YHO3Whttp://www.hbr.org/http://www.henrymintzberg.com/http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0000YHO3W?ie=UTF8&tag=provenmodels-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B0000YHO3Whttp://www.hbr.org/

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The Nature of Managerial Work

Henry Mintzberg

1973

HarperCollins

United States ISBN 9780060445560

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0060445564?ie=UTF8&tag=provenmodels-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0060445564http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0060445564?ie=UTF8&tag=provenmodels-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0060445564http://www.harpercollins.com/http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0060445564?ie=UTF8&tag=provenmodels-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0060445564http://www.harpercollins.com/