Tag: Administration

  • What are Managerial Skills?

    What are Managerial Skills?

    Managerial Skills; A skill is an individual’s ability to translate knowledge into action. Hence, it is manifested in an individual’s performance. Skill is not necessarily inborn. It can be developed through practice and through relating learning to one’s own personal experience and background. In order to be able to successfully discharge his roles, a manager should possess three major skills. These are conceptual skill, human relations skill and technical skill. Conceptual skill deals with ideas, technical skill with things and human skill with people. While both conceptual and technical skills are needed for good decision-making, human skill in necessary for a good leader.

    The conceptual skill refers to the ability of a manager to take a broad and farsighted view of the organization and its future, his ability to think in abstract, his ability to analyze the forces working in a situation, his creative and innovative ability and his ability to assess the environment and the changes taking place in it. It short, it is his ability to conceptualize the environment, the organization, and his own job, so that he can set appropriate goals for his organization, for himself and for his team. This skill seems to increase in importance as manager moves up to higher positions of responsibility in the organization.

    The technical skill is the manager’s understanding of the nature of the job that people under him have to perform. It refers to a person’s knowledge and proficiency in any type of process or technique. In a production department, this would mean an understanding of the technicalities of the process of production. Whereas this type of skill and competence seems to be more important at the lower levels of management, its relative importance as a part of the managerial role diminishes as the manager moves to higher positions. In higher functional positions, such as the position of a marketing manager or production manager, the conceptual component, related to these functional areas becomes more important and the technical component becomes less important.

    Human relations skill is the ability to interact effectively with people at all levels. This skill develops in the manager sufficient ability (A) to recognize the feelings and sentiments of others; (B) to judge the possible actions to, and outcomes of various courses of action he may undertake; and (C) to examine his own concepts and values which may enable him to develop more useful attitudes about himself. This type of skill remains consistently important for managers at all levels.

    A table gives an idea about the required change in the skill-mix of a manager with the change in his level. At the top level, technical skill becomes least important. That is why people at the top shift with great ease from one industry to another without an apparent fall in their efficiency. Their human and conceptual skills seem to make up for their unfamiliarity with the new job’s technical aspects.

    A Table of Skill-Mix of different Management levels and Managerial Skills

    Different Management levels

    Explanation of Managerial Skills

    (I) Conceptual skills: Conceptual skills are skills that allow a person to think creatively while also understanding abstract ideas and complicated processes. A person who has conceptual skills will be able to solve problems, formulate processes and understand the relationship between ideas, concepts, patterns and symbols.

    Conceptual skills are used frequently in the business world where managers can use their ability to conceptualize to view and visualize the entire company that they work for in order to develop the best plans for the business’s success. Most companies consider conceptual skills to be a requirement for their management staff.

    Conceptual Skills
    Conceptual Skills

    Some people are born with conceptual skills and have an intuitive sense while others must acquire the skill through learning. Other common skills valued with conceptual thinking include critical thinking, implementation thinking, innovative thinking and intuitive thinking.

    For those individuals who are not born with an innate sense of these skills, there are ways to develop the skill set. In an individual’s personal life and professional life, these skills can be developed by first taking the time to look around. Observing the way that other people and other businesses implement strategies as well as reading related publications (in the individual’s field or hobby area) can help increase the range of possibilities a person sees. Then, an individual must be willing to change direction and to pursue new goals whenever an opportunity arises that makes sense. If a problem occurs, do not look for the simple and fast fix. Look for a lasting solution instead that is a best-case scenario.

    (II) Human Relations Skills: Human Relations Skills is Interpersonal skills, Interpersonal skills are often called “people skills” because they describe a person’s ability to interact with other people in a positive and cooperative manner. Unlike technical skills that people attend school for, interpersonal skills are considered soft skills that are typically developed over time through interactions.

    Interpersonal Skills
    Human Relations Skills or Interpersonal Skills

    Having good interpersonal skills is desired in most careers. The best members of a team often have strong skills that help them communicate and problem solve with other people in an organization. There is a long list of interpersonal skills, but among the most important for working in a team or workplace are conflict resolution, communication, problem solving and patience.

    (III) Technical Skills: Technical skills are a person’s abilities that contribute directly to the performance of a given job, such as the computer, engineering, language and electrical skills. Someone with excellent abilities in any of these technical areas has the potential to secure a career in a related field.

    Technical Skills
    Technical Skills

    A person with technical writing abilities may get a job creating instruction manuals for complex products and equipment. A data expert may get a specialized job in database management or data analysis. A person with crafting abilities may get a job assembling fabrics or other products. Someone with excellent skills in automobile mechanics may get a position in an automobile repair shop.

    Other Managerial Skills also Important

    Communication Skills: Communication skills are required equally at all three levels of management. A manager must be able to communicate the plans and policies to the workers. Similarly, he must listen and solve the problems of the workers. He must encourage a free-flow of communication in the organization.

    Administrative Skills: Administrative skills are required at the top-level management. The top-level managers should know how to make plans and policies. They should also know how to get the work done. They should be able to coordinate different activities of the organization. They should also be able to control the full organization.

    Leadership Skills: Leadership skill is the ability to influence human behavior. A manager requires leadership skills to motivate the workers. These skills help the Manager to get the work done through the workers.

    Problem Solving Skills: Problem-solving skills are also called as Design skills. A manager should know how to identify a problem. He should also possess an ability to find the best solution for solving any specific problem. This requires intelligence, experience and up-to-date knowledge of the latest developments.

    Decision Making Skills: Decision-making skills are required at all levels of management. However, it is required more at the top-level of management. A manager must be able to take quick and correct decisions. He must also be able to implement his decision wisely. The success or failure of a manager depends upon the correctness of his decisions.

  • How to Compare Between Management and Administration?

    Compare Between Management and Administration

    How to Compare Between Management and Administration? The use of two terms management and administration has been a controversial issue in the management literature. Some writers do not see any difference between the two terms, while others maintain that administration and management are two different functions. Those who held management and administration distinct include Oliver Sheldon, Florence, and TEAD, Spriegel and Landsburg, etc. According to them, management is a lower-level function and is concerned primarily with the execution of policies laid down by the administration. But some English authors like Brech are of the opinion that management is a wider term including administration.

    This controversy is discussed as under in three heads:

    (I) The administration is concerned with the determination of policies and management with the implementation of policies. Thus, the administration is a higher level function.

    (II) Management is a generic term and includes administration.

    (III) There is no distinction between the terms management and administration and they are used interchangeably.

    (I) The administration is a Higher Level Function: Oliver Shelden subscribed to the first viewpoint. According to him, “Administration is concerned with the determination of corporate policy, the coordination of finance, production, and distribution, the settlement of the compass of the organization and the ultimate control of the executive. Management proper is concerned with the execution of policy within the limits set up by the administration and the employment of the organization in the particular objects before it… Administration determines the organization; management uses it. Administration defines the goals; management strives towards it.”

    Administration refers to policy-making whereas management refers to the execution of policies laid down by the administration. This view is held by TEAD, Spriegel, and Walter. The administration is the phase of business enterprise that concerns itself with the overall determination of institutional objectives and the policies unnecessary to be followed in achieving those objectives. The administration is a determinative function; on the other hand, management is an executive function which is primarily concerned with carrying out of the broad policies laid down by the administration. Thus, administration involves broad policy-making and management involves the execution of policies laid down by the administration as shown;

    A Table of Compare Between Management and Administration;

      Basis Administration Management
    1. Meaning The administration is concerned with the formulation of objectives, plans, and policies of the organization. Management means getting the work done through and with others.
    2. Nature of work Administration relates to the decision-making. It is a thinking function. Management refers to the execution of decisions. It is a doing function.
    3. Decision-Making Administration determines what is to be done and when it is to be done. Management decides who shall implement the administrative decisions.
    4. Status Administration refers to higher levels of management. Management is relevant at lower levels in the organization.

    (II) Management is a Generic Term: The second viewpoint regards management as a generic term including administration. According to Brech, “Management is a social process entailing responsibility for the effective and economical planning and regulation of the operation of an enterprise in fulfillment of a given purpose or task. The administration is that part of management which is concerned with the installation and carrying out of the procedures by which the program is laid down and communicated and the progress of activities is regulated and checked against plans.” Thus, Brech conceives administration as a part of management. Kimball and Kimball also subscribe to this view. According to them, the administration is a part of management. The administration is concerned with the actual work of executing or carrying out the objectives.

    (III) Management and Administration are Synonymous: The third viewpoint is that there is no distinction between the terms ‘management’ and ‘administration’. Usage also provides no distinction between these terms. The term management is used for higher executive functions like the determination of policies, planning, organizing, directing and controlling in the business circles, while the term administration is used for the same set of functions in the Government circles. So there is no difference between these two terms and they are often used interchangeably.

    It seems from the above concepts of administration and management that administration is the process of determination of objectives, laying down plans and policies, and ensuring that achievements are in conformity with the objectives. Management is the process of executing the plans and policies for the achievement of the objectives determined by an administration. This distinction seems to be too simplistic and superficial. If we regard chairmen, managing directors, and general managers as performing administrative functions, it cannot be said that they perform only planning functions of goal determination, planning, and policy formulation, and do not perform other functions such as staffing functions of selection and promotion, or directing functions of leadership, communication, and motivation. On the other hand, we cannot say that managers who are responsible for the execution of plans and formulation of plans and policies, etc. do not contribute to the administrative functions of goal determination, and formulation of plans and policies. In fact, all managers, whether the chief executive or the first line supervisor, are in some way or the other involved in the performance of all the managerial functions. It is, of course, true that those who occupy the higher echelons of organizational hierarchy are involved to a greater extent in goal determination, plans and policy formulation and organizing than those who are at the bottom of the ladder.