Role of Industrial Manager

The modern industrial manager is largely responsible for overlooking management operations at the workplace along with the management of people and technology. The role of the industrial manager is mainly personnel management initiatives for the employees as well as operational management and technology management through HR principles and knowledge management involving technological advances. Some of the theories that could be discussed in the context would be McGregor’s theory X-Y, Taylor and Fayol theories of management and how leadership skills of the manager could affect output and general performance of employees and the company.

Role of manager:

The focus here is on the role of the industrial manager, what he does and the tasks he is expected to perform. McGregor has formulated his X-Y theory by examining theories of individual behavior at work and his assumptions for theory X and theory Y vary considerably (McGregor, 2006). The theory X assumptions are that employees inherently dislike work and the managers feel that workers are in the job mainly because of the money. This sort of management style has inherent flaws as tight controls could go against the freedom of employees and will finally make people unproductive and resentful.

The theory Y shows the management style marked by open-mindedness allowing individuals to work with their own responsibility. In this case, the manager believes that employees commit to their organizations through imagination, and creativity (McGregor, 2006; Weisbord, 2004). If the job is satisfying, individuals will more often commit to their organization which is always good from any HR perspective. Theory Y is often considered a positive set of assumptions for workers and reflects higher order needs.

The other theories of management that could be used in practice would be Taylor’s scientific management theory that suggests that man is a rational economic animal concerned with his own economic gain and people tend to respond individually. Taylor’s theory suggests that people could be treated like machines and these principles suggest that high wages could be linked to motivation.

However, considering humans as standardized machines would be like overlooking several individual differences and this would not be advantageous for any organization. Fayol’s theory emphasized on team dynamics and employee efforts in an organization (Fayol, 1988). Division of labor, authority and responsibility, discipline, unity of command and direction, emphasis on general interest, remuneration, centralization, line of authority, order, equity, stability of tenure, initiative etc are some of the features in Fayol’s theory that points out to a successful management system within an organization.

Conclusion:

In conclusion the role of the industrial manager is associated with bringing out a balance between people’s sense of responsibility and economic and other gains of the company. The theories used here suggest that the industrial manager is responsible for understanding individual needs of employees as also their opinions and sense of responsibility.

Bibliography

• Fayol, Henri. (1988)
• General and industrial management / Henry Fayol.
• Pitman
• McGregor, Douglas. (2006)The human side of enterprise / Douglas McGregor, updated and with new commentary by Joel Cutcher-Gershenfeld.
• New York ; London : McGraw-Hill,Weisbord, Marvin Ross. (2004)
• Productive workplaces revisited : dignity, meaning, and community in the 21st century / Marvin R. Weisbord.[2nd ed.].
• San Francisco, Calif. : Jossey-Bass ; Chichester : John Wiley