VOCABULARY. appreciate – принимать во внимание

appreciate – принимать во внимание

making and carrying out decisions - принятие и исполнение решений

to communicate– сообщать

entirely scientific – всецело научный

proposition - утверждение

to put management techniques into practice – осуществлять техн. методы руководства

outstanding – выдающийся

administrator – распорядитель, руководитель, управляющий

(non)profit-making organizations – (не) коммерческие организации

board of directors – совет директоров

shareholders – акционеры

managing director - директор-распорядитель, управляющий [исполнительный] директор

(член совета директоров, занимающийся повседневным руководством компанией)

assistant general managers –помощник генерального директора [менеджера] (главного

менеджера организации)

a deputy – заместитель

sales manager – коммерческий директор

marketing manager – менеджер по маркетингу; менеджер по продажам

So you fancy yourself as a manager? You are not alone in having that ambition. What does it mean to be a manager? The first thought that comes to mind is that a manager gives orders and tells other people what to do. That is partly true. But it is not quite as simple as that.

In fact management demands much knowledge of economics and business. The role of the manager today is much different from what it was one hundred years, fifty years or even twenty-five years ago. At the turn of the century, for example, the business manager’s objective was to keep his company running and to make a profit. The modern manager must now consider the environment in which the organization operates, that is, the manager must have a good understanding of management principles, must appreciate the current issues of the total economic, political, social, and ecological system in which we live, and must possess the ability to analyze complex problems.

General functions of any managerial system at any managerial level are planning, organizing, directing and controlling. Managers are those people who are responsible for making and carrying out decisions within the system, they directly supervise people in an organization. A manager sets objectives and decides what has to be done to achieve these objectives. He makes the objectives effective by communicating them to the people who are responsible for various jobs. Managers are expected to get results of one sort or another, in one way or another, but they get their results through people.

Some basic characteristics seem to apply to managers in all types of organizations; they include hard work on a variety of activities, preference for active tasks, direct personal relationships. The top manager manages other managers, chooses and trains them, plans their operations, and checks the results. Managing is a hard work, for there is a lot to be done and little time to do it.

Although the tasks of a manager can be analyzed and classified in this fashion, management is not entirely scientific. It is a human skill. Business professors obviously believe that intuition and 'instinct' are not enough; there are management skills that have to be learnt. P.Drucker, for example, wrote over 20 years ago that “Altogether this entire book is based on the proposition that ‘the days of the "intuitive" manager are numbered,” meaning that they were coming to an end. But some people are clearly good at management, and others are not. Some people will be unable to put management techniques into practice. Others will have lots of technique, but few good ideas. Beyond superior technical and managerial skills a manager must possess a combination of desirable personal qualities. These include adaptability, independence, leadership – even charisma. That is why outstanding managers are rather rare.

A number of different terms are used for “manager” including “director”, “administrator” and “president”. The term “manager” is used more frequently in profit-making organizations, while others are used widely in government and non-profit organizations such as universities, hospitals, and social work agencies.

As a rule a private company has only one director. A public company must have at least two directors. A corporation is headed by board of directors elected by shareholders. The directors appoint one of them to the position of managing director who is responsible for day-to-day running of the company. Some companies also have assistant general managers. Many directors have also deputies. Big companies have many managers who head departments. They are responsible to the managing director. There can be following department managers: chief manager, sales manager, marketing manager, etc. Career opportunities in management are generally found in three areas: managing people, marketing management and financial management.