Managers work with other people to provide accurate information needed to perform the tasks planned. That is, managers act as channels of communication within the organization to ensure that the tasks are carried out correctly. Managers are also responsible for the actions of their subordinates; the success or failure of the subordinates is a direct reflection of manager’s success or failure. (1985, Stoner; pg12) Therefore, strategic planning not only involves planning a task, but also involves planning the use of the right resources to carry out the task effectively and efficiently.
Leading
The role of leading includes many other functions such as leadership and interpersonal and organizational communication. Managers carry on their leadership role through the channel of effective communication. It is through this channel, which the managers are able to convey their ideas and thoughts to their subordinates to ensure they carry out their tasks properly. However, many employees may be from a different culture background or have different perceptions, the original ideas or message intended by the manager may be altered through its movement down the communication channel. Therefore, it is essential for the manager to ensure that what their message is clear and understandable so that it can be passed down the communication channel without any barriers.
Controlling
Control being the most important process involves both the financial control & and the control of human resources. These are apart of the fundamental role and function of a manger. It is essential that the manager knows how to find the right degree of control and implement different methods as they see are necessary. Among the many different types of controls, financial controlling takes a major part of the controlling function carried out by the manager. The uses of different methods such as budgeting are used to deal with the differing problems and elements of their organization thus making controlling an essential role for the manager.
Motivating employees
Another role of a manager is to motivate his or her subordinates and employees to perform better. The manager should provide the right mix of satisfactions if they want to motivate the individual in the desired direction. Motivating the employees is also an important role for the manager because will allow the employees to achieve the organizational goals set by the manager. To be able to motivate the employees a manager must have excellent people skills, they need to be team builders. The managers must also be articulate and have a strong empathy with people both inside and outside the organization.
Role of a CEO in a Large Organization
In today’s society, the role of a CEO in a large corporation is becoming increasingly challenging and demanding. The successful CEO plays a role of not only a manager but also functions as a leader.
The CEO of a large firm needs to be able to develop a clear vision for the organization and to communicate that vision is one of the major aspects of leadership. The CEO will need the ability to think beyond the square, to maintain a clear perception and to be alert to coming changes, which will affect the organization. But the most important function of a CEO as a leader is his or her ability to being able to develop a team, power them and ensure that the technology, knowledge and skills are likely to be communicated throughout the organization to ensure effective and efficient running of the business to produce the most profit.
The CEO must be prepared to be high profiled in the public area because one of their roles is to promote the organization to shareholders, customers, and suppliers and to the community as a part of their role as a CEO of a large firm.
The roles of the CEO also include developing a vision, a mission, identify a competitive edge, identify the key values of the company and identify strategic issues such as customer and community satisfaction, business performance and staff development and relationships.
An example would be according to Sir John Browne who was BP’s CEO in 2000, his role would be setting the ‘big’ strategy for the company and to set specific targets for his businesses that align with the strategy. The targets would be simple, clearly linked to past performance and encourage disciplined growth in order to strive for superior results. () The job also included the need for the CEO to ensure the alignment and create an organization, which can keep ahead of the continuous change in today’s business environment. It is also very important for the CEO of BP to establish connections outside the company to bring new perspectives to BP. Finally, according to Sir John Browne, the need to develop, understand and maintain numerous relationships including industry, governments, customers and investors are becoming more than ever a key role for today’s CEO. ()
In the case for Ernest and Young ABC, the role of the CEO was to set business objectives, strategies and comply with the international standards. Because the firm is in a franchise manner, the CEO also needs to work together with other CEOs in other subsidiaries to ensure consistency in their work. In setting out the business objectives, the CEO need to also include work requirements from its employees to ensure efficiency in the work environment.
Role of a Owner/Manager of a Small Business
Managers of small businesses are just as busy as the CEO of large corporations. The managers need to be the head of all the individual departments for the business; they need to make all decisions whether large or small. The owner of the small business takes on multiple positions including the role of CEO, CFO, the accountant, the clerk and sometimes even the cleaner. The owner must not only plan for the short term but also the long term as well for there is no other managers there to help him plan strategically for the future, thus taking both the role as the higher lever manager and the lower level manager.
The owners of the smaller businesses are constantly under pressure due to the lack of resources they may experience. The owners themselves usually finance the small businesses therefore the owners need to act as the accountant to try to keep a balance of all payments. This is achieved by setting out the budget for the firm on a regular basis.
The owner also act as the public relations and marketing officer for their role is to promote the company and establish a firm and long term relationship with the supplier, customers and related stakeholders for the firm.
Due to the lack of resources that the small firm may experience, the manager also needs to be a good negotiator and organizer. They need to constantly be aware and ensure that everything is in place and running according to plans and schedules.
For example, in Jin’s corner shop, the owner has to take care of everything from ordering stock, completing the accounting to report the GST every quarter, hiring causal workers to help at times needed, promoting the shop’s products, establishing a good relationship with supplier and plan strategically ahead to ensure the smooth running of the business.
Contrast Between the Two Roles
Many differences in the roles of the CEO and the roles of an owner of a small firm can be seen in the report. Firstly, the CEO would not need to worry about the daily cash flow of the business as the owner would. Secondly, the CEO would not need to be prepared to do whatever needs to be done such as posting the mail. Thirdly, the owner must make plans related to all areas to every single detail whereas the CEO only need to plan for the long term and the overall objective of the firm and not need to worry about smaller and finer details. Fourthly, the owners of the smaller business would need to be an all rounder where they need knowledge of everything. Finally, effective communication and the role to motivate the employees may be more important as a role for the CEO than it is for the role of the small business owner for he may not have that may employees to motivate and communicate to.
Conclusion
Therefore it can be seen that even though there are similarities between the roles of the CEO and the owner of a small business for they all complete similar tasks and require similar skills such as motivating employees, leading, controlling, and strategic planning. However, differences still exist between the roles and functions of a CEO and an owner of a small business.
Reference:
Hicks. H, Gullett. R, 1974, Modern Business Management, McGraw-Hill
Koontz. H, O’Donnell. C, 1974, Essentials of Management, McGraw-Hill
Oldcorn. R, 1986, Management, 2nd Edition, Pan Books Ltd
Stoner, J, 1985, Management in Australia, Prentice-Hall
BP, [online], 2000 Available: [2003, August 15th]
Interview with Manager of Ernest and Young ABC
Interview with Owner of Jin’s Corner Store
