Manager shadowing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Manager shadowing - Essay Example Managerial functions are a complex set of activities and involve a variety of people including internal as well as external associates. Tremendous information on management and managerial roles is available from literature; however, without practical application one cannot realize the intricacies involved in manager’s role. Shadowing provides a fair idea of the practical application of managerial concepts although one may not be directly involved in applying the principles. For a budding management professional, this shadowing activity for 3 days each with a bank manager and a manager at a phone shop provided good amount of information on day-to-day managerial activities along with an insight of managers’ behaviours determined by various factors. The following report elaborates on my observations and learning from the shadowing activity. Learning obtained from observations is based on my theoretical understanding of management concepts. As management concepts are numero us, this report is drafted based on few management models, like that of Stewart’s, Mintzberg’s and Drucker’s concepts. Further, it includes a comparison of managerial activities and behaviours of both the managers and the kind of roles each of them exhibited in similar and different situations. My understanding of management until now is based on what Peter Drucker once said, ‘Management is about human beings. Its task is to make people capable of joint performance, to make their strengths effective and their weaknesses irrelevant. This is what organisation is all about, and it is the reason that management is the critical, determining factor. We depend on management for our livelihoods and our ability o contribute and achieve (cited by Mullins, 2007; 413). Nevertheless, to manage, the process comprises of a complex set of activities, policies, procedures, culture, systems and