The Role of a Modern Industrial Manager Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

The Role of a Modern Industrial Manager - Essay Example The paper tells that managers are pivotal in performing leadership functions in the organization. By definition, management refers to the activities and people involved in the four general functions of management -planning, organizing, leading and the coordination of resources. However, increasing number of literature today has tended to emphasize the difference between management and leadership. Modern management and modern management thinkers assert that management has to focus on leadership if managerial functions must be achieved. Zhong-Ming &, Takao argue that, most modern management thinkers assert that leadership must be more facilitative, participative and empowering in how visions and goals of the organizations are carried out. Industrial management is concerned with the design, improvement, and implementation of integrated systems of people, material, information, equipment, and energy. According to McGregor & Cutcher, industrial management draws upon specialized knowledge and skills in the mathematical, physical and the social sciences not leaving out the principles and methods of engineering analysis. Today, industrial management is also known as industrial engineering, operations management now encompasses services though initially applied to manufacturing. Management involves the process of directing, planning, controlling, and coordinating the activities of an organization so that predefined goals are met. However, prominent writers in the field of management see coordination as the main objective of management rather than one of its functions. In managerial terms, leadership is the way people relate themselves to an organization. Leadership is at the center of coordinating and executing management functions. The activities of an organization must be properly carried out and executed if the goals must be achieved. Managerial functions are performed by managers and leaders assigned to each of the functional areas. Acknowledged by all to be the fat her of scientific management, Frederick W. Taylor equated leadership with effective management, with focus on productivity, improvement, and efficiency, he thought of management as being generic and universal. As for Mullins, leadership is a relationship through which one person influences the behavior or actions of other people And he suggested that leadership is a dynamic process, which can be altered to suit a particular management philosophy.