Top-Level Management

Top-level managers determine broad strategic strokes for the organization in general, and focus on the big picture.Continue Reading Management Notes – For W.B.C.S. Examination – Organisational Levels.

Some views on management revolve around vertical differentiation, or creating an hierarchical view of managers. This is useful to visualize in a chart, where top management is logically at the top, overseeing the entire organization. Middle managers are in the middle, acting as a bridge between upper management and certain work groups. Lower managers are task or process oriented, managing functional specialists and projects.

The Pros and Cons of Vertical Thinking

The primary advantage of this perspective is that different management professionals can view the organization from different angles. Top-level managers tend to focus mostly on strategy and bigger picture thinking, while middle managers focus on aligning a large work group towards shared objectives. Frontline management thrives in pursuing operational efficiency, hiring on entry and mid-level talent, and assessing performance.

On the downside, this tends to consolidate power at the top of the organization, of building steep corporate ladders and often heavily polarized income. It can also create one-way information flows, where top management creates plans without understanding the core processes of the organization. Managing organizations vertically can reduce flexibility and agility.

Top-level Management

Core Characteristics

High level managers tend to have a substantial amount of experience, ideally across a wide variety of functions. Many high-level managers become part of an executive team by mastering their functional disciplines across various roles, becoming the Chief Operations Officer (COO), Chief Marketing Officer (CMO), Chief Technology Officer (CIO or CTO), Chief Financial Officer (CFO) or Chief Executive Officer (CEO).

Top management teams are also often industry experts, having a close association with the long term trajectory of the businesses they operate in. They often benefit from being charismatic, powerful communicators with a strong sense of accountability, confidence, integrity, and a comfort with risk.

Responsibilities

The primary role of the executive team, or the top-level managers, is to look at the organization as a whole and derive broad strategic plans. Company policies, substantial financial investments, strategic alliances, discussions with the board, stakeholder management, and other top-level managerial tasks are often high-risk high return decision-making initiatives in nature. Top-level management roles are therefore often high stress and high influence roles within the organization.

Middle-Level Management

Middle management is the intermediate management level accountable to top management and responsible for leading lower level managers.

Defining Middle Management

Most organizations have three management levels: first-level, middle-level, and top-level managers. These managers are classified according to a hierarchy of authority and perform different tasks. In many organizations, the number of managers in each level gives the organization a pyramid structure.

Middle management is the intermediate leadership level of a hierarchical organization, being subordinate to the senior management but above the lowest levels of operational staff. For example, operational supervisors may be considered middle management; they may also be categorized as non-management staff, depending upon the policy of the particular organization.

Middle-Management Roles

Middle-level managers can include general managers, branch managers, and department managers. They are accountable to the top-level management for their department’s function, and they devote more time to organizational and directional functions than upper management. A middle manager’s role may emphasize:

• Executing organizational plans in conformance with the company’s policies and the objectives of the top management;
• Defining and discussing information and policies from top management to lower management;
• Most importantly, inspiring and providing guidance to lower-level managers to assist them in performance improvement and accomplishment of business objectives.

Middle managers may also communicate upward by offering suggestions and feedback to top managers. Because middle managers are more involved in the day-to-day workings of a company, they can provide valuable information to top managers that will help them improve the organization’s performance using a broader, more strategic view.

Middle-Management Functions

Middle managers’ roles may include several tasks depending on their department. Some of their functions are as follows:

• Designing and implementing effective group work and information systems
• Defining and monitoring group-level performance indicators
• Diagnosing and resolving problems within and among work groups
• Designing and implementing reward systems
• Supporting cooperative behavior
• Reporting performance statistics up the chain of command and, when applicable, recommending strategic changes

Because middle managers work with both top-level managers and first-level managers, middle managers tend to have excellent interpersonal skills relating to communication, motivation, and mentoring. Leadership skills are also important in delegating tasks to first-level managers.

Middle management may be reduced in organizations as a result of reorganization. Such changes include downsizing, ‘delayering’ (reducing the number of management levels), and outsourcing. The changes may occur in an effort to reduce costs (as middle management is commonly paid more than junior staff) or to make the organization flatter, which empowers employees, leaving the organization more innovative and flexible.

Frontline Management

Frontline management balances functional expertise with strong interpersonal skills to optimize specific operational processes.