Summary
In the book by Rees and Porter, management has been described as the process by which individuals (leaders) make things happen through the use of other individuals (Graham, 1988). It usually involves organising, coordinating and controlling. Rees and Porter (2008) argue that managers usually have an escalator-type progression into their managerial positions.
A specialist is that individual who is usually involved in a particular activity within the organization. Many organizations are structured in such a way that employees perform specific (specialized) activities. Managers in such organizations also manage specialized activities.
The journey of a manager is seen as one that begins with the individual having worked in an organization or department that involved the use of a specialised skill. When getting into a managerial position, the individual is most likely advancing specialist skills acquired through training and experience. The terms managerial escalator define the process by which such specialists develop into managers.
A specialist in a particular field may become competent with time and get the opportunity to do minor supervisory roles. For example, an engineer may advance into a section head. This way, the individual acquires certain managerial responsibilities but still maintains the same (junior) position.
After a certain period of time, the individual may get an actual promotion within the same organization or in another organization. At this point, the individual may have informally accumulated certain managerial responsibilities. This movement from a specialist into a manager describes the escalator-type progression into particular position.
However, these managers (former specialists) may not engage in specialist activities. They would only be mainly involved in the management of other specialists within the organization (Mead, 2005).
They may need to combine their specializations with managerial duties. This way, they become managerial hybrids. However, managers are required to put the organization’s priorities before their own in order to avoid conflicting with the interests of the organization.
Management positions usually require the manager to have some level of specialist knowledge in order for the individual to be sensible and to be respected by his subjects. Such specialist skills are useful since they enable the manager to have an understanding of the environment in which they work.
However, the aspect of being a specialist may act as a handicap to the managers. This is mainly due to the fact that the manager may not get the right balance between managerial and specialist activities. One of the problems associated with specialists is that they may acquire specialist skills over a long time but be less able to use them over time.
The managerial side of certain specialist skills may also be considered low for the managerial job. This is due to the fact that managers with specialist skills may have worked for many years but actually acquired limited managerial skills.
In situations where specialists are forced into acquiring managerial positions, there is a need for an alternative career progression. However, such dual structures may not be available in practice. If available, it might be difficult to separate the specialist duties from the managerial ones. Top management positions (such as the chief executive officer) are usually occupied by individuals without specialist knowledge.
However, such managers also require a good understanding of their organization in order to manage its operations. Another conflict that may arise between specialist and managerial responsibilities is the job titles. Other job titles in specialised positions do not sound like management positions in any aspect.
The position of ‘site engineer’, for example, may not be compared to the position of ‘site manager’ since one sounds like a management position while the other does not and yet both represent the same position.
One of the key questions that the authors (Rees and Porter) are trying to answer includes the major process that is involved in the management of employees. They were also seeking to explain how individuals become managers. They explained this using the concept of the managerial escalator.
The authors also examined some of the drawbacks associated with specialist career structures and one of them included the fact that specialists are less likely to be recruited for top management positions in the organizations.
One of the basic concepts used by the authors is the concept of managerial escalator that explains how managers are developed from specialists. The authors’ point of view with respect to the issue is that most organizations have employees and managers who are involved in specialised activities.
They are also of the view that managers are usually the specialists who have climbed the ranks within the organization or in other organisations. However, they believe that such managers may not be very good in managing a diversified organization. They may also cause problems in the organizations in various ways.
The authors also argue that having high level of technical knowledge in particular areas does not necessarily mean that the individual would make a good manager. The individual might actually lack managerial aspirations.
One of the assumptions that the authors have made is that a good manager is one that has found the balance between being a specialist and being involved in managerial activity. One fundamental conclusion made by the authors is that managers should not only have quality training but also quantity training.
References
Graham, P 1988, Dynamic Managing – The Follett Way, Professional Publishing, Guardian.
Mead, R 2005, International Management: Cross Cultural Dimensions, 3rd ed., Blackwell Publishers, New York.
Rees, D & Christine, P 2008, Skills of Management, Cengage Learning, New York.