Introduction
Effective management is essential for the success of any organization, and Henry Mintzberg’s framework on managerial roles offers an insightful approach to the study of management. The framework is based on Mintzberg’s research on how managers behave and perform their roles in different organizational settings. This article provides an overview of the Mintzberg framework, its key concepts, and how it is applied in organizational management.
Overview of the Mintzberg Framework
Mintzberg’s framework is based on the concept that managerial roles can be divided into three categories: interpersonal, informational, and decisional. These roles are then further categorized into ten specific roles, as shown in Figure 1 below.
Interpersonal Roles
The interpersonal roles are those that involve interaction with people, and they include figurehead, leader, and liaison roles. The informational roles are those that involve the processing and dissemination of information, and they include monitor, disseminator, and spokesperson roles. The decisional roles are those that involve decision making, and they include entrepreneur, disturbance handler, resource allocator, and negotiator roles.
Application of the Mintzberg Framework
The Mintzberg framework provides a comprehensive understanding of the roles and responsibilities of managers in an organization. The framework is useful for analyzing the behavior of managers, identifying their strengths and weaknesses, and developing strategies to improve their performance. For example, hotel managers can use the Mintzberg framework to assess their managerial roles using the Managerial Role Assessment Survey (MRAS), which was designed to measure the extent to which hotel managers perform Mintzberg’s ten managerial roles (Mount & Bartlett, 1999). The MRAS can be used to identify areas where managers need improvement and to develop training programs to enhance their skills.
The Mintzberg framework can also be used to analyze the roles of managers in different organizational contexts. For example, Matheson (2009) used the framework to analyze the roles of Canadian health policy makers and found that they performed a variety of roles, including informational roles such as disseminator and spokesperson, and decisional roles such as entrepreneur and resource allocator. Similarly, Brinkerhoff (1985) used the framework to identify the managerial roles needed for social development management in developing countries.
Limitations of the Mintzberg Framework
While the Mintzberg framework provides a useful approach to understanding managerial roles, it has some limitations. One limitation is that it assumes that managers have a fixed set of roles that they perform, which may not be accurate in all organizational contexts. In some cases, managers may need to perform additional roles that are not included in the framework. Another limitation is that the framework does not take into account the differences in managerial roles across different levels of management. For example, a CEO may perform different roles than a front-line supervisor, but the framework treats all managerial roles as if they are the same.
Conclusion
The Mintzberg framework is a useful approach to understanding the roles and responsibilities of managers in an organization. It provides a comprehensive view of the different roles that managers perform, and it can be used to assess managerial performance and develop strategies for improvement. However, the framework has some limitations, including its assumption of a fixed set of managerial roles and its lack of consideration for the differences in managerial roles across different levels of management. Despite these limitations, the Mintzberg framework remains a valuable tool for understanding the complex role of managers in organizational management.
References
Matheson, C. (2009). Understanding the policy process: The work of Henry Mintzberg. Public Administration Review, 69(6), 1148-1161. https://scholar.googleusercontent.com/scholar?q=cache:HM_6lG7DogQJ:scholar.google.com/+mintzberg+framework&hl=nl&as_sdt=0,5
Mintzberg, H. (1994). Rounding out the manager’s job. Sloan management review, 36, 11-11.
Kumar, P. (2015). An analytical study on mintzberg’s framework: Managerial roles. International Journal of Research in Management & Business Studies, 2(3), 12-19. https://scholar.googleusercontent.com/scholar?q=cache:HM_6lG7DogQJ:scholar.google.com/+mintzberg+framework+of+managerial+roles&hl=nl&as_sdt=0,5
Brinkerhoff, D. W. (1985). Managerial roles for social development management. Public Administration and Development, 5(2), 145–156. https://doi.org/10.1002/pad.4230050205
Matheson, C. (2009). Understanding the Policy Process: The Work of Henry Mintzberg. Public Administration Review, 69(6), 1148–1161. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-6210.2009.02072.x
Mount, D. J., & Bartlett, A. L. (1999). The Managerial Role Assessment Survey: Design and Test of an Instrument Measuring Mintzberg’s Roles among Hotel Managers. Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Research, 23(2), 160–175. https://doi.org/10.1177/109634809902300204