What roles do managers play in organizations?

Managers at different levels play different roles and play different roles. Some people say that managers have "three representatives" - representing the company in front of subordinates, representing subordinates in front of bosses, and representing the department in front of colleagues. Some people also say that a boss only has three things to do - one is project decision-making, the other is project planning, and the third is eternal network of relationships.

Henry Mintzberg, professor of economics and management at Harvard University, believes through a large number of observations and research that managers play three roles in organizations, or play three roles:

Interpersonal relationships. Managers have formal power and are in a higher position. They need to engage in a lot of work and affairs related to interpersonal relationships, especially contacts and interactions with subordinates and peers, as well as external interactions. In terms of interpersonal relationships, managers play three specific roles. One is the symbol and “official” representative of the organization. As representatives and symbols of the organization, managers are engaged in certain ceremonial affairs and carry out external interpersonal activities, such as signing contracts, documents, meeting visitors, etc. The second is the leader of the organization. Responsible for recruiting and selecting talents, training and motivating subordinates to make them do better work. The third is the contact person. Externally, it serves as a link between the organization and other units, and internally, it serves as a link between superiors and subordinates, as well as vertical and horizontal links.

Information communication. Every manager is a clearinghouse for information about the work of the organization. As a role in information communication, the role of managers is very important because information is like the nervous system of an organization. In terms of information communication, managers also play three roles. One is the role of "nerve center". As the nerve center, various situations and information within the organization must be concentrated on managers, some directly and some indirectly. Managers must collect and obtain relevant intelligence and information. The second is the role of information disseminator. After understanding all aspects of information, after processing, the relevant information is conveyed to subordinates in a timely manner. Communication is sometimes also sales. As a manager, you must make good use of your right of interpretation so that your information and ideas can penetrate into your employees. Some people say that the hardest thing in the world is to put what is in your own mind into someone else's. How to put it? It relies on dissemination and promotion. No matter how good the product is, it must rely on promotion. The third is the role of external spokesperson. Act as a spokesperson for the organization to release relevant information or intelligence to the outside world.

Decision making. As a decision-maker, managers must balance competing interests of all parties to make choices. Through decision-making, the organization's development strategy is finally formed and put into practice. In terms of decision-making, managers also play the following five roles. One is the role of prediction. To make a decision, you must first make predictions. As the old saying goes: "A fool is ignorant of success, and a wise man is ignorant of failure." Smart people see the signs of something before it happens, which is very important for decision-making. There is such a case: shortly after the end of World War II, the victorious countries decided to establish a United Nations to deal with world affairs. But where to establish this headquarters took a lot of thinking. The location should be built in a prosperous city, but in any city, land is very expensive, and the United Nations Headquarters, which was just starting out at that time, had very little money. Just when the heads of state were in a very difficult situation, the Rockefeller family heard about this incident and immediately invested US$8.7 million to buy a piece of land in New York and donated it to the United Nations unconditionally. As everyone knows, he had already bought a large amount of surrounding land before, predicting that the price of other large pieces of land would skyrocket. I don't know how many 87 billion the Rockefeller family made from this decision. The second is the role of entrepreneurship and innovation. It mainly designs and launches innovation and change activities within the organization to adapt to the changing external environment. The third is the role of conflict handler. The main thing is to take correct actions to deal with some problems and conflicts in extraordinary situations. The fourth is the role of resource allocator. Managers should decide to allocate human, financial and other resources to relevant departments based on plans and needs. The fifth is the role of negotiator. Mainly participate in the organization's external negotiations to protect the organization's interests from infringement.