The modern roles of management in business operations

Management has been variously defined by different scholars, forums and management experts. Merriam-Webster Dictionary of English defined management as “the act or art of managing: the conducting or supervising of something (such as a business); judicious use of means to accomplish an end; or the collective body of those who manage or direct an enterprise. Management is how businesses organise and direct workflow, operations, and employees to meet company goals. The primary goal of management is to create an environment that empowers employees to work efficiently and productively. In summary, management has been defined as the planning, coordinating, organising, leading and controlling of an organisation’s resources which include manpower (workers), materials (raw and administrative), money, minutes and machineries for the achievement of organisational goals.

There are different management styles in operation. These include: democratic, laissez-faire, autocratic, transformational, transactional, visionary, persuasive, coaching, etc. A democratic management style is characterised by a participative and inclusive decision-making process, where the manager actively seeks input and feedback from employees. With this style, employees are encouraged to contribute their ideas, opinions, and expertise, and their input is taken into consideration when making important decisions that affect the organisation. The manager acts as a facilitator, promoting open communication and fostering a collaborative work environment. The laissez-faire approach is derived from the French term meaning “let-it-be”. It is a ‘hands-off’ leadership approach where the manager provides little direction or supervision to their team members. With this style, instead of focusing on micro-managing and time management skills, the manager delegates decision-making authority and responsibilities to employees, allowing them significant autonomy and freedom to operate independently.

Transformational management styles is characterised by a visionary and inspirational leadership approach, aimed at driving significant positive change within an organisation. Leaders who adopt the transformational style focus on motivating and empowering their team members to achieve extraordinary results beyond their perceived capabilities. They articulate a compelling vision of the future, inspiring employees to embrace a shared mission and work toward common goals. A coaching management style emphasises the growth and development of individual employees to maximise their potential and performance. With this style, managers take on the role of coaches (trainers). They work closely with their team members to identify SWOT – strengths (areas of strongholds), weaknesses (areas for improvement) opportunities (potentials of the employees) and threats (shortcomings of the employees like medical challenges, physical ability, temperament, age etc).

Transactional leaders focus their leadership on motivating followers through a system of rewards and punishments (carrot and stick approach). There are two factors which form the basis for this system: contingent reward; and management-by-exception. Contingent reward provides rewards, materialistic or psychological, for effort and recognises good performance. Management-by-exception allows the leader to maintain the status quo and only intervenes when subordinates do not meet acceptable performance standards. 

A visionary leader ensures the vision becomes or the goals of an organisation become reality by stating clear goals/objectives, outlining a strategic plan for achieving those goals and equipping and empowering each member to take action on the plan at the organisational, team and individual levels. A visionary leader is one who inspires their team members towards a common goal or purpose through innovation and collaboration. Visionary leaders encourage team members to leverage their own innovative ideas to fuel creativity while navigating the team toward a unified vision.

1. A. Cole in “Factors Influencing Worker Motivation in a Private African University: Lessons for Leadership” published in Creative Education Journal, volume 3, number 3, on June 18, 2012, stated that “Maintaining high performing employees and keeping them in line with organisational goals have been identified as major challenges facing employers and managers of organisations”. Elton Mayo’s management theory states that employees are motivated far more by relational factors such as attention and camaraderie than by monetary rewards or environmental factors, such as lighting, humidity and more. Mayo theorised success determinants in teams by developing a matrix to illustrate the likelihood that a given team would be successful. Olufemi A. Oyedele in “How managers can motivate their workers” stated that “It has been established that employees are not motivated by salaries and wages alone”. He also stated that “Motivation is the catalyst that spurns employees’ eagerness to work in a formal setting with pleasure and without pressure”.

Highly motivated employees are often more productive and perform better than unmotivated employees. They tend to work harder and stay focused on completing their tasks to the highest quality. They also tend to be better problem solvers and have higher levels of creativity and innovation. Another benefit of a motivated workforce is that when faced with obstacles, motivated staff members willingly think outside the box and come up with solutions. The greatest challenge faced by modern managers is that they are surrounded with talented and articulate employees who are willing to deliver but may not know the way. While money is a constant decimal in the life of men, salaries and wages are not the sole determinants of employees “eagerness to work without coercion”. Working environment may also not spur some employees to give out their best. Some employees are used to competition and their main motivation factor is recognition. Even in their teamwork, they impress only when they can be recognised and awarded or rewarded or both.

The modern role of management in business operations to achieve excellence is to identify individual attributes of their employees and use these attributes to the advantage of their organisations. These attributes include identification of talents and skills, and not educational qualification; identification of motivational factors which are different from employee to employee; and identification of the nature of the employees. Some employees are innovators and problem-solvers and will not contribute until they are challenged to do so. Modern managers are thus not only bus drivers or ship captains but also act as co-passengers with their employees. They give clear and concise descriptions of their goals and allow employees to design the solutions. While some employees will do well with high salaries and wages, some will do well with company accommodation and lunch packages and some will do well with further training. Modern managers are talent hunters and coaches in their teams.

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