What do managers really do for their organizations?

Abstract

Organisation theories imply managerial functions. As classical organisation theory has been extended through systems thinking and the human relations work, so the implicit managerial function has been much extended. Simon's criticism of the rational model of decision making and Williamson's work on the relationship between organisational and market activity extends the managerial function further. Closer attention to the analysis of uncertainty by Knight and Barnard shows that managers must also bring their judgement to bear on their decision-making. The resulting full typology of managerial tasks is displayed as the Strategic Balance Matrix.