Text 1. The profession of a manager

The job of management is to help an organisation make the best use of its resources to achieve its goals. Different managers emphasise different activities and exhibit different management styles; they do not manage using identical techniques. There are many reasons for these differences, including the managers’ training, personalities and backgrounds. Besides, the organisational level at which a manager operates often influences her/his functions and skills.

Practically in every organisation, there are three main types of managers, namely first-line managers, middle managers and top managers, organised in a hierarchy.

At the base of the managerial hierarchy there are the first-line managers, often called supervisors. They are responsible for the daily supervision of the non-managerial employees who perform many of the specific activities necessary to produce goods and services. First-line managers work in all departments of all organisations. Examples of first-line managers include the supervisor of a work team in the manufacturing department of a car plant, the head nurse in the obstetrics department of a hospital and the chief mechanic overseeing a crew of mechanics in the service department.

Middle managers are supervising the first-line managers. They are responsible for finding the best way to organise human and other resources to achieve organisational goals. Middle managers find ways to help first-line managers and non-managerial employees better utilise resources to reduce manufacturing costs or improve customer service. They also evaluate whether the goals that the organisation is pursuing are appropriate and suggest to top managers ways in which these goals should be changed. The major part of a middle manager’s job is to develop and fine-tune skills and know-how, such as manufacturing or marketing expertise, that allow the organisation to be effective and efficient.

Top managers in contrast to middle managers, are responsible for performance of all departments. They establish organisational goals, such as which goods and services the company should produce; they decide how different departments should interact; and they monitor how well middle managers in each department utilise resources to achieve goals. Top managers are ultimately responsible for success or failure of an organisation and their performance is continually scrutinised by other employees and investors.

The chief executive officer (CEO) is a company’s most important manager to whom all the top managers report. A central concern of the CEO is the creation of the smoothly functioning top-management team, a group composed of the CEO, COO (the chief operating officer) and the department heads most responsible for helping to achieve organisational goals.

In any organisation, there is a number of departments, such as manufacturing, accounting, financial or engineering ones, where a group of people work together and possess similar skills or use the same kind of knowledge, tools or techniques to perform their jobs. It is because a manager’s responsibility is to acquire and develop critical resources. Each manager is typically a member of specific department. Inside department managers possess job-specific skills and are known as, for example, marketing, manufacturing, sales or financial managers. Within each department, there are all three levels of management, i.e. first-line, middle and top managers.

Task 25. Translate the sentences into English:

1. Менеджери застосовують різні стилі керування і використо­вують різні методи. 2. Менеджери першого рівня працюють у всіх відділах організації. 3. Вони відповідають за повсякденне керування працівниками, які виконують роботу, необхідну для виробництва товарів та послуг. 4. Менеджери середнього рівня відповідають за зниження витрат на виробництво та покращення обслуговування клієнтів. 5. Основною частиною їхньої роботи є розвиток та точне регулювання навичок працівників. 6. Менедже­ри вищої ланки відповідають за роботу всіх відділів. 7. Вони встановлюють організаційні цілі, а також вирішують, як відділи повинні співпрацювати між собою. 8. Вони також спостерігають, як менеджери середнього рівня кожного відділу використовують ресурси, щоб досягти цілей. 9. Менеджери вищої ланки, зреш­тою, відповідають за успіх чи невдачі організації. 10. Головний адміністратор – це людина, яка займається керуванням компанією. 11. Наша компанія складається з восьми різних відділів. 12. У багатьох організаціях існує три рівні менеджменту. 13. Ми налагодили контакти з іноземними постачальниками. 14. Директор наголосив на двох основних проблемах компанії. 15. Обсяг виробництва нашого заводу за останній рік значно зменшився.

Task 26. Make up a plan of the text “THE PROFESSION OF A MANAGER” in writing.