Exam 1: The Management Process Today

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The three levels are first-line managers, middle managers, and top managers.
At the base of the managerial hierarchy are first-line managers, often called supervisors. They are responsible for the daily supervision of the nonmanagerial employees who perform the specific activities necessary to produce goods and services. For example, the leader of a scientific research team directly supervises the scientists on the team.
Supervising the first-line managers are middle managers, responsible for finding the best way to organize human and other resources to achieve organizational goals. To increase efficiency, middle managers find ways to help first-line managers and nonmanagerial employees better use resources to reduce manufacturing costs or improve customer service. To increase effectiveness, middle managers evaluate whether the organization's goals are appropriate and suggest to top managers how goals should be changed. Often the suggestions that middle managers make to top managers can dramatically increase organizational performance. A major part of the middle manager's job is developing and fine-tuning skills and know-how, such as manufacturing or marketing expertise, that allow the organization to be efficient and effective. For example, the head of employee training at a company is responsible to improving the skills of all the employees.
Top managers are responsible for the performance of all departments. They have cross-departmental responsibility. They establish organizational goals, deciding how the different departments should interact, and monitor how well middle managers in each department use resources to achieve goals. Top managers are ultimately responsible for the success or failure of an organization. For example, the president of a university has cross-departmental responsibility, monitors how department heads are doing, and ultimately is responsible for the success or failure of the institution.