Professor Henry Mintzberg categorized his ten managerial roles into three main categories. These are the informational role, interpersonal roles and the decisional roles.
The informational roles according to Mintzberg (1994, p 458) are monitor, disseminator and spokesperson while the interpersonal are Figurehead, leader and liaison. The decisional roles, which are entrepreneur, disturbance handler, resource allocator and negotiator, form the basis of an evaluation of the specific associated behavior and a job example that correlates to it.
According to Henry Mintzberg, the activities that involved in this kind of role include initiating new projects, being able to spot opportunities and identifying the likely areas of business development (1994 p 458).
The behaviors associated with this role enable the manager to show concern about the improvement of a given project, as well as delegating duties to ensure a smooth running of opportunities to be in charge by supervising the overall development process (Anderson & West, 1996, p 236).
A corporate CEO’s job is an excellent illustration of a job that needs mastery of the entrepreneur roles. This is because the entire development of the organization centers itself on the CEO.
The activities involved in this role, as put forth by Mintzberg, in his model include being able to take corrective measures in times of threatening crises, resolving conflicts with your organization or among staff members, as well as the ability to cope with external changes that affect the day-to-day running of the organization (1994, p458).
These activities also involve being able to reach at amicable resolutions of problems within the organization. The associated behavior puts the leader in charge and accountable of everything, therefore, vigilant to resolve anything that threatens the smooth running of the organization in a timely manner (Anderson & West 1996, p 235).
A Corporate CEO’s job puts him/ her in a position whereby the running of activities revolves around him or her. It is, therefore, among his role to be a disturbance handler in order to handle the situations that might arise.
This role involves activities such as making the decisions as to who gets what resources, scheduling the activities, budgeting and setting of priorities. This ensures the absence of inconveniences involved that might hinder the leadership process or the smooth running of events.
The behavior associated makes the manager or leader an effective planner and this makes it possible for the monitoring of the progress of a given project (Mintzberg, 1994, p 457). A good example of a job that fits this role is a group CEO. For the effective running of the different companies or organs of the organization, the CEO must be an effective planner.
The activities involved in this decisional role make the manager an exemplary ambassador of the organization he/she is representing. They include representing the company or department in negotiations with unions such as workers’ organizations or company suppliers. The behavior that inspires this role is the need to defend the interests of the department or company from external forces. An organization’s communication officer is a superb example of a leader entrusted with this role.
One can apply Mintzberg’s decisional roles in the personnel selection process in an effort to get a leader who applies them. The roles, as generally designed, enable the leader to carry out his/her duties in a bid to ensure the smooth running of the organizations or departments without creating friction with the other involved parties (Mintzberg 1994, p 456).
Reference List
Anderson, R., & West, M. (1996). The team climate inventory: Development of the TCI and its applications in teambuilding for innovativeness. European Journal of Work and Organizational Behavior, 19(1), 235-258.
Mintzberg, H., (1994).The Rise and Fall of Strategic Planning: Re-conceiving the Roles for Planning, Plans, Planners. New York: Free Press.