Researcher To The Management Cluster Roles

Question: Describe about the Researcher To The Management Cluster Roles. Answer: Introduction Management role is a discourse that has received attention and interest for many researchers. There are many different managerial roles or duties within an organization that forms the basis of the managers duties within the organization. To effectively execute these roles, managers need to be complete business individuals who understand the strategic, operational, and tactical responsibilities that they hold for the organization. With the idea of Henry Mintzberg and other scholars conceding a cluster of managers roles in an organization about performance, this paper presents a detailed literature review, discussion, and analysis on how academic research affects the cluster of roles of a manager. It analyses the requirements necessary for a manager to effectively pursue his academic research together with the management functions without failure in the performance of the organization. Analysis and discussion Henry Mintzberg cluster roles for managers Henry Mintzberg is a renowned business thinker who had a deep knowledge on how managers perceive their roles and responsibilities while relating to theory and practice. According to him, the work of managers is characterized by interruptions, fragmentation, pace, and brevity of business activities. In his study and publication, he identified ten roles that describe the work of managers in ensuring effective performance in the organization. The ten roles are grouped into three main clusters where each cluster summarizes a role of the manager depending on the strategic objective of the organization according to Bareham, Bourner, and Stevens (2000, p.394). These clusters are the interpersonal, decision-making, and informational roles as shown in figure 1. As an interpersonal role, the manager acts as the figurehead who represents the organization, leads the staff, and liaises between the external environment and the organization. For the informational role, the manager monitors information flow outside and within the organization, disseminates the relevant information to the relevant target audience, and also act as a spokesperson on behalf of the organization. In the decision-making role, the manager acts as an entrepreneur that initiates a course of action with the intention of changing something within the organization. The manager also reacts to events in handling the rising disturbances, allocates resources like money, equipment, jobs, etc., and also negotiates or trades resources with other stakeholders of the organization. Figure 1: Clusters of managerial roles How a manager can add the role of academic researcher to the cluster roles In his definition, Robinson (1993) points out that academic research in business is the organized and systematic way of investigating a conceivable problem that a manager may encounter in business. It is scientific step-by-step rigorous and logical approach that deals with issues of strategic, operations, marketing, administrative, as well as systematic responsibilities in an organization. Academic research in organizational management can be applied in different strategic management responsibilities. For instance, applied research is used in fixing and determining proper actions that can be implemented in a prevailing problem encountered by managers which demand timely solutions. For a business manager, the knowledge in academic research is hence vital as basic research enables managers to understand how specific problems experienced within the organizations can be explained as well as how the knowledge can be further used in solving issues at later dates. Despite the fact that the solutions may be different, Dent (2002) points out that challenges faced by organization managers follow similar steps that need a scientific procedure in adopting strategic solutions. Through academic research, managers can strategically identify and find answers to different challenges, issues, and concerns as well as the internal and external course of action that can be taken in finding relevant and effective solutions. In support of the statement, Sekaran and Boguie (2014) point out that academic research skills help in enhancing decision-making by managers to be able to deal with the challenges they experience within the organizations successfully. Denzin and Lincoln (1994) also point out that managers having knowledge on the relevant academic research management skills are in a better position in handling different problems. He gains vital decision-making skills that give him tremendous economic saving potentials that can benefit the financial and eco nomic progress of the organization. The manager can also improve their skills in deciphering the communicated managerial research knowledge from both internal and external research consultants as well as those retrieved from different academic publications addressing similar issues. As a result, the managers can take educated, calculated, and intelligent risks with known probabilities attached to the failure of success of the management decisions. For this reason, academic research is an essential tool for decision-making rather than just generating large incomprehensible statistical information. In critical moments of decision-making, managers with a basic understanding of their research and managerial roles are the key competitors in the digital error when it comes to business management. The research knowledge and skills are sought after resources that are essential in mitigating strategic failures faced by organizations. Therefore, gaining an understanding of the relationship between management decisions and resear ch is essential for managers to ensure the organization is benefiting out of the research efforts it implements. Differences implied by the approach According to Agnew and Pyke (1994), research is not just a set of technical skills which can easily be added to a focused and clever individual in a managerial position. More is involved especially when considering the complex human dynamics that differ significantly among cultures and people. While taking care of employees and coordinating activities for the benefit of an organization, a good manager requires not only a set of skills necessary for research but also a good attitude towards embracing the values of the organization according to Rosenberg (2015, p. 6). The study of the subject of management by individuals such as Fayol, Hamel, Kotter, and Mintzberg can be captivated but the similar ideas yet differences in interpretation on how management roles differ. Many agree to the base managerial role as defined by Fayol (1949) as being organizing, planning, coordinating, controlling, and commanding,- Mintzberg (1973) as noted by Whitley (1984, p. 370). However, the above definiti on does not just focus on the internal factors influencing managers but the external influences as well using a system approach to management. Managers do not only spend time in planning, commanding, coordinating, organizing, or controlling, but also performs other tasks such as joining meetings, building interpersonal relationships, and dealing with other clients. It also means that the role of a manager is more and requires a more systematic study. As a result, one cannot just draw simplistic conclusions and biased judgments as there is no uniform consensus to the standardization of the skills and roles required for an effective manager as denoted by Kilduff and Mehra (1997, p. 454). The management role is thus multifaceted as it exhibits both uniqueness and similarities depending on the industry and the company and cannot just describe as it is done by many researchers. For the more, many organizations have unique individual cultures that bring a difference in how responsibilities and roles are propagated within the organization. According to Agnew and Pyke (1994), the responsibilities of managers are essentially integrating activities which permeate every facet of the strategic operations of an organization. However, there does not exist any one-type-fit kind of concept as there are considerable variations in the types of skills necessary for managers to fulfill the many different organizational roles. From leading the team of employees to resolving conflicts representing stakeholders of the organization, negotiating contracts, to ensuring effective and successful recruitment processes, the manager continuously shifts roles depending on the change in the tasks, situations, and organizational expectation. It is at this point that the academic research role comes in so as to effectively equip the manager on the political, operational, and strategic responsibilities of their roles. As suggested by Wankel and Fillipi (2002), a manager needs to be a coach, liaison, a problem-solver, an organizer, a trainer, a dec ision-maker, and a cheerleader. These roles can change from time to time hence require a manager to have a global understanding of all the functions within the business. The academic research role hence equips the manager with effective organizing goals, accountability, and appropriate way of serving both external and internal clients within the organization. Challenges and requirement in pursuing the role of academic researcher in conjunction with the cluster roles of a manager In pursuing the role of academic research as well as effective achievement of the organizational roles require two major factors i.e. strategic implementation and proper decision-making. In the process of managing organizational resources and activities, very few intended strategies are realized successfully. One survey after another reveals that strategic implementation has become a top priority for business executives in ensuring effective management roles. Kilduff and Mehra (1997) points out that less than 15% of organizations globally report their success towards strategic implementation. However, the same study reports a failure rate of 60% to 90%, where the majority fails at the strategic phase of the implementation process. A big percentage of these failures are traced to poor strategic implementation due to management roles and elements that were under control. Balancing between academic research and the managerial responsibilities hence require effective and relevant steps to ensure a strategic implementation process that can effectively assist the organization to achieve its strategic objectives. In his study, Rosenberg (2015) points out several reasons why many organizations experience the failure in strategic implementation resulting to incompetent management and academic research performance as summarized in figure 2. These reasons include incompetent management, inadequate strategy, neglect of political interest, a culture of fear, insufficient control and planning, and absence of implementation plan. Figure 2: Reasons why many organizations experience the failure in strategic implementation In his study, Rosenberg (2015) also points out that the managers have the responsibility of ensuring a good outcome through the decisions they make in their managerial positions. Getting the academic research knowledge on the right decision-making within the organization is hence vital in elevating the sensitivity of the managers in innumerable external and internal factors of varied nature while managing their roles in the organizational environment (Zikmund 1997, p. 65). However, the decision-making procedures adopted in balancing between the academic research roles and the managerial roles determine the achievements and blunders made within the organization. Consequently, Rosenberg (2015) points out that managers with academic research skills and knowledge should be very keen on the decisions they make with the various research methods for the advantage of the organization. Effective decision-making skills are necessary for taking intelligent, calculated, and educated risks while balancing between the managerial and academic business research roles for the achievement of the strategic goals of the organization (Brown 1997, p. 24). Conclusion Through research skills and knowledge, managers shape their thinking skills while narrowing the problems they face down into the workable matter in intelligently dealing with business issues while drawing from a vast collection of literature on related managerial matters. On the other hand, knowledge and skills on research cannot be appropriate for every manager as there is no uniform standardization of role and skills linked to management. In other words, anyone can be a manager or a researcher, but not everyone can be both researcher and manager. However, adding the knowledge of research to management roles is considered as a strategic key for the benefit of the organization. In such a manner, managers can achieve a better overview of business intelligence concerns and issues within the business environment. It hence facilitates the development in forming intelligent and economic decisions that can lead to better actions and sustainable performance e of the organization. So how can we effectively add the role of academic research to the present cluster of roles for organizational managers? It is a question that requires further research and study as a result of the common dynamics as a result of the tension and confusion that occurs when leaders are requested to wear two hats. Even though the functional hats take precedence as the most familiar and immediate managerial role, keeping full-time function roles without creating a real space for other duties is a step towards failure. List of references Agnew N., Pyke S.,(1994) The Science Game: An Introduction to Research in the Social Sciencespp 269 - 290 Bareham, J., Bourner, T. and Stevens, G. (2000). The DBA: What is it for? Careers Development International. Vol. 5, no. 7, pp 394-403 Brown R. (1997), You Cant Expect Rationality from Pregnant Men: Reflections on Multi-disciplinarily in Management Research, pp 23-30 Dent, Eric B. (2002). Developing Scholarly Practitioners: Doctoral Management Education in the 21st Century. Chapter 6 in Wankel, C. and De Fillipi, R. eds. (2002). Rethinking Management Education for the 21st Century. Information Age, N.Y. Denzin N, Lincoln Y, (1994) Handbook of Qualitative Research pp 1 - 17 Kilduff M.,Mehra A., (1997), Postmodernism and Organizational Research, pp 453 - 481 Raelin J., (1997), Action Learning and Action Science Are They Different?pp 21-34 Robinson, (1993), Current Controversies in Action Research Rosenberg, S, 2015, Manager role and business researcher, Retrieved from https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/manager-roles-business-researcher-svein-rosenberg Sekaran, Uma Bougie, R. (2014)Research Methods for Business: a skill-building approach,6th ed., West Sussex, UK, Wiley The Logic of Social Research, pp 1-15 Zikmund M., (1997), Business Research Methods pp 63-78 Whitley R., (1984), The Scientific Status of Management Research As a Practically Oriented Social Sciencepp 369-390