Levels of Management

Managers in organizations perform various managerial functions like planning,

organizing, staffing, directing and controlling and other functions such as production,
finance, human resource, and marketing. The levels create a hierarchy in organization
structure. The levels of management differentiate different managerial positions in an
organization.
In other words levels of management are a line of demarcation between various
managerial positions in an organization. In large
Organization three levels of management are identified.
(1) Top level management
(2) Middle level management
(3) Lower level management
Top Level Management - Top management consists of managers who work at the
highest level of hierarchy. It composed of a comparatively small group of people.
It is responsible for the overall management of the organization. Managers in this
level are generally" chief executives officers "," president", " vice presidents",
"general managers", "managing directors " etc. Though the exact title varies from
organization to organization.
Functions performed by the top managers
Top managers perform following functions:
 They lay the objectives, plans, policies and procedures for the organization.
 They manage the organization by performing the managerial functions of planning,
 organizing, staffing, directing and controlling.
 They appoint the executives for middle level i.e departmental managers.
 They coordinate activities for various departments organization. They integrate internal
activities of the organization with the external environment. They update the internal
environment according to the changes in the external environment (e.g. Technological,
Economical, and Social, Political etc.)
 They assemble the resources needed to put plans in to action.
 They issue instructions for the preparation of departmental budgets and procedures .
 They decide the future courses of action taking into consideration economic policies and
other social, national, and international factors.
 They cater the demands of various groups of stakeholder who interact with the
organization like government, consumers, creditors, suppliers, owners, employees etc.
and try to harmonize their goals with organizational goals.
 Middle Level Management

Middle manager consist of departmental heads that receive broad overall

strategies and policies from top managers and translate them in to specific
goals and plans for first line managers to implement.

Functions performed by the middle managers.

Middle managers perform following functions:

 They lay the goals, plans and policies for their respective departments and

 ensure their successful accomplishment.

 They spend a major part of time (about 75 %) in managing day- to-day

 operations of the company .They do not actively interact with outside parties

 (costumers, suppliers, etc.)

 They balance the demands of superiors with the capabilities of subordinates.
They
 observe the activities to of lower managers and report them to the top managers.
 They participate in employment and training of lower level management.
 They coordinate the activities within their division and department.
 They send important reports and important data to top management and evaluate
 the performance of junior managers.
 They inspire lower level managers towards the better performance . They motive
subordinates
 for higher productivity and award them for their outstanding performance.
 They recommend amendments in policies of their respective departments.
 Lower level Management

It is also called as operational level management. It consists of first-line managers

or supervisors. They serve as link between middle managers and non-
managerial employees.
Functions performed by lower level managers:
Lower level managers perform following functions-
 They supervise the activities of employees, issue instructions and help them
execute those instructions.
 They coordinate the work of employees with the organizational resources
(financial and non-financial).
 They train employees to perform better to ensure smooth conduct of business
operations.
 They evaluate the performance of employees and send their reports to higher-
level
 They plan day-to-day operations of the business and do not deal with the
outside world.
 They assign works and tasks to various workers. They also provide training to
the workers.
 They are responsible for the quality and quantity of the production.
 They help to solve the grievances of the workers.
 They prepare the periodical reports about the performance of the workers.
 They communicate workers' problems, suggestions and appeals to higher-
level.
 They receive instructions from the middle level management and
implement them To achieve routine functions of the business.
 They ensure safety of tools, machines and equipments on which workers
perform the operations
 They create the sense of belongingness amongst workers which helps in
building the image of enterprise.
 Skills of Management
Managerial Skills
In order to be effective, a manager must possess and
continuously develop
several essential skills. Robert Katz has identified three basic
types of skills.
• Technical skills
• Human skills
• Conceptual skills
Which he says is needed by all managers .
Technical skills-
The ability to use the tools, procedure, techniques of
specialized fields.
Technical skills are considered to be crucial to effectiveness of
low-level
management because they are in direct contact with
employees performing
Human skills -Human skills is the ability to work
with ,understand and motivate other people .This skill is
essential for every level of management but it is particularly
important at lower level of management where the lower level
managers have frequent contact with lower level personnel.
Conceptual Skills-
It is the mental ability to coordinate and integrate the organisation interest and
activities. It refers to the ability to visualize the organisation as a whole and
understand how the organisation fits into the wider context of the industry,
community and world.

Technical Skills is most important at the lower level of management; it becomes

less important as we move up the chain of command. On the other words we can
say that the importance of conceptual skills increases as we rise in ranks of
management.
The higher the manager is in hierarchy, the more he or she would be involved in
long term decisions that affect large part of organisation. This is shown
because to get work done through others. High technical or conceptual skills
are not very valuable if they can not be used to inspire and influence other
organisation members.
Besides the Three important skills, Writers provided one important skill which is
required at various levels of management in modern organization is:

General Business skills.

General business skills are related to skills of business managers, in
determining success by its lower/ bottom line. General business skills
of manager are –
 Business development skills:
Skills to run manage and control business units .
 Motivation skills:
Skills to motivate people in and around business units.
 Decision making skills:
Deciding the best alternative way out.
 Negotiation skills:
Negotiating with both backward and forward link human.
 Problem solving skills: Skills to address the problem challenges of
business.
 Marketing skills : Skills for both promotional and result oriented
initiatives.
 Delegation and Time management skills
Skills to procure and supply products / services as per needs and demands.
 Leadership skills:
skill to lead the business unit at its desired goal.