Functional Areas of Business
By: Stephanie J. Williams
MGT521/Management
William Wider

A manager has several specific responsibilities depending on the needs of his/her organization. Aside from being the general head of a department or area within a company, the description of a manager varies from company to company. A constant across the board of any company is a manager has employees under them who report to them directly, and he/she is responsible to provide leadership. The role of a manager has a significant amount of responsibility, accountability, and authority within a company. Here are a few core functional areas of a manager. One of them is leadership. A good manager is measured not as much by what he does as by what he is able to get others to do (Phillips). He/she must have a significant amount of influence in leading their team in directions they sometimes do not want to go, and help them to achieve things they normally would not. A manager must also have a clear, comprehensive vision, and the employees must be able to see that vision. It is his/her job to have short term and long term plans for the department so the employees consistently have a goal to work towards. Another core area is administration. A manager must be able to oversee, or administer the operation of the area in which he/she is responsible. The day-to-day requirements vary, and he must be able to alter his current task, sometimes on a moment's notice. Most operations also include reporting and financial requirements, as well as personnel and legal obligations that must be met on a timely basis. The manager must be able to ensure that all requirements of his department are met on time. Delegation is another core area. The operation of a department usually requires more work than any one person could get done on his own. A great manager is able to delegate a department workload effectively and monitor its progress towards completion. He must also know exactly what each of his staff is capable of and give them work that they can complete effectively while also challenging them to achieve more. Aside from those listed, selling is also a key responsibility in any for-profit organization, and the best managers realize that they are also an integral part of this. Even nonprofits must sell, although they may be selling just their image or their goals. The manager also affects the overall morale of his department and realizes his responsibility for setting the tone for day-to-day operations. He must also be professional at all times and not allow his personal feelings and opinions to interfere with workplace responsibilities. He/she must be proficient in a number of areas to be an effective leader, one who can motivate employees to perform at their highest capabilities (Kelchner). Good managers just don’t go out and automatically perform these responsibilities. They discover how to master these functions effectively. From start to finish they are mapping out exactly how to achieve a particular goal, organizing a team and materials according to the plan, sometimes staffing and recruiting, leading and motivating, and checking results against goals. Henry Mintzberg from the book The Nature of Managerial Work states that most roles that a manager fills fall into three categories: Interpersonal, Informational, and Decisional. Not everyone can be a manager. One would possess certain technical, human, and conceptual skills and abilities to perform such tasks. Their importance tends to vary by level or managerial responsibility. Put simply, they are constantly switching roles and tasks as situations and expectations change (Mintzberg, 1973). Some of the more traditional roles of a manager include, but are not limited to planning, organizing and implementation, directing, monitoring, evaluating, and performing other duties as assigned. Management involves far more than just telling people what to do. For some of us, we only see managers