One of the first papers I wrote on the four functions of management using my time working as an IT Consultant in San Francisco during the dot-com era as an example.
By: Arend Pryor | Created: 02/05/2021
Details: Sharing content created as part of pursuing my MBA degree
During the mid-1990’s, I found myself interviewing for a position as an IT Consultant in San Francisco amid the dot-com boom. During this time in my career, I had a front row seat into a variety of companies, the products they planned to produce, and the various types of managers. From executives down to the worker bees of the company, I spent much of my time during visits to the offices of my clients talking about or listening to their work related experiences, good and bad.
Although I didn’t know much about styles of management at the time, it was easy to pick out the managers who were effective at the four functions of management and those who seemed unprepared and lacked focus.
When the bubble burst and companies began to go under, it was the unprepared that seemed to suffer and those who thrived that survived. My soon to be boss and owner of the company I was interviewing with, turned out to be one of those managers who thrived in a chaotic environment and set examples I still use to this day.
In this post, I’d like to take a trip back in time and analyze his management style and overall approach with respect to the functions of management.
As I was interviewing for the position of IT Contractor at ABC Technology, I had my first experience meeting my future boss, Mr. Jones. His confidence was the first thing I noticed and over the next two years, I was lucky enough to be taken under his wing as one of five consultants working in his small business. At the start of my career with the company, we offered a wide range of IT related services such as desktop support and Microsoft Windows server administration, then later moved into selling and installing network integrated phone systems.
Despite being a small company, there never seemed to be a question of the direction the company was headed or a shortage of new clients in need of our services.
In my opinion, this was due to the owner filling many of the roles of an organization himself, including first-level, middle-level, and top level manager.
Through weekly status meetings with the employees in our company we experienced what I now know to be the management functions of planning, organizing, leading, and controlling. Looking back, the management tasks our boss used the most often were leading and organizing. As an example, when talking with junior level employees, these daily conversations involved more directing and coaching of their currently assigned tasks, while discussions with more senior level employees consisted of delegating activities.
Regardless of the conversation however, there was always special attention paid to the approach he took to motivate them for the challenges ahead.
With regard to organizing, his second most often used managerial skill, he had a knack for stepping back to see the big picture and figuring out a plan of attack. This included designating the best person to receive training for a newly required skill, assigning the most effective resources for emergency situations, or even which team would be best suited to work on an upcoming project.
The management skills used by my manager, included technical, conceptual, and interpersonal skills. Having worked as an IT consultant himself for many years gave him the technical knowhow and experience to provide assistance with taking a hands-on approach. In terms of his conceptual skills, the best examples I can give were in his ability to listen to a problem and step back to analyze the big picture in order to provide the most effective solution.
Having a background in sales and advertising, the owner of the company had a very charismatic personality.
One that allowed him the interpersonal skills to connect with his employees on a human level and form strong relationships. This held true with his employees and in the relationships he quickly formed with clients. This went a long way to support his leadership abilities in our willingness to carry out the tasks that were delegated and the praise we received for a job well done.
Lastly, let’s talk about how my manager’s overall approach to management, the roles he performed most often, and the skills he possessed affected his approach to our global environment as a company. According to Jones and George (2020), some of the primary challenges a manager faces in a global environment are utilizing new technologies and establishing a competitive advantage by improving their flexibility, innovation, and responsiveness to customers. Based on the roles he most frequently used and his skills overall, the owner would make a point to address these challenges. In one such attempt, he established a goal of being one of the first technology shops in San Francisco to offer support and installation services for the desktop and server editions of Microsoft Windows 2000. Partnered with this program was the addition of a new service level agreement that guaranteed faster response times when issues occurred and improved flexibility for after-hours work.
This turned out to be a great direction for the company and provided us with a much needed competitive advantage in the areas mentioned.
Although the factors above worked to drive the business towards its goals, they were vital factors in keeping the business alive following the burst of the dot-com bubble and its effect on our task environment. Venture capital firms were no longer funding companies, many of which were not making a profit and with so many closing their doors, our ability to compete for business within this industry became very competitive. However, thanks to the owner’s ability to evaluate and identify untapped needs of the market he was now in, the company become one of the first vendors in San Francisco to also sell and install voice over IP phone systems. It was decisions like this that were a result of his approach to management and overall skills that kept the company successful for so many years.
References
Jones, G. R., & George, J. M. (2020). Contemporary Management (11th ed.). https://player-ui.mheducation.com/
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