What do managers actually do, and how do Fayol's functions and Mintzberg's roles describe the work of management?
The roles and functions of management: Fayol's functions of management (planning, organising, commanding, coordinating, controlling) and Mintzberg's managerial roles (interpersonal, informational and decisional), and how they describe managerial work.
What managers do in Advanced Higher Business Management: Fayol's five functions of management and Mintzberg's interpersonal, informational and decisional roles, and how the two frameworks together describe the reality of managerial work.
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What this key area is asking
Before studying how managers motivate, lead and change organisations, you need a clear picture of what managers actually do. Advanced Higher uses two classic frameworks: Fayol's functions of management (a prescriptive list of what managers should do) and Mintzberg's managerial roles (a descriptive account of what managers actually do, based on observation). You must describe each, and explain how they differ and complement each other.
Fayol's functions of management
The five functions form a cycle: a manager plans, organises the resources, commands and coordinates the work, then controls by checking results against the plan and feeding what is learnt into the next plan. Fayol's view is prescriptive, it says what managers ought to do, in an orderly sequence.
Mintzberg's managerial roles
- Interpersonal roles. Dealing with people: acting as figurehead (ceremonial duties), leader (motivating and developing staff) and liaison (building contacts inside and outside).
- Informational roles. Handling information: monitor (gathering it), disseminator (passing it on internally) and spokesperson (representing the organisation externally).
- Decisional roles. Making choices: entrepreneur (initiating change), disturbance handler (resolving crises), resource allocator (distributing resources) and negotiator (bargaining).
Mintzberg's account is descriptive: based on watching real managers, it shows work that is busy, fragmented and constantly switching between roles, not a tidy march through five functions.
How the two frameworks relate
The two are best treated as complementary, not rival. Fayol explains the purpose of management, the functions an organisation needs performed; Mintzberg captures the reality, the varied roles a manager juggles minute to minute. A strong answer uses both: Fayol to frame what management is for, Mintzberg to show what it actually looks like.
Examples in context
Why this opens the area
Defining managerial work sets up the whole internal-environment area: the management theories that follow (classical, human relations, contingency), leadership, teams and change are all accounts of how managers perform these functions and roles well. Secure the two frameworks here.
Try this
Q1. Name Fayol's five functions of management. [2 marks]
- Cue. Planning, organising, commanding, coordinating and controlling.
Q2. Explain the difference between Fayol's and Mintzberg's views of management. [4 marks]
- Cue. Fayol is prescriptive, listing the functions managers should perform in order; Mintzberg is descriptive, showing the fragmented reality of ten interpersonal, informational and decisional roles, the two being complementary.
Exam-style practice questions
Practice questions written in the style of SQA exam questions on this dot point, with worked answer explainers. The year tag is the paper they imitate, not the source.
SQA AH style6 marksDescribe the functions of management as identified by Fayol.Show worked answer →
Describe means give detail on each function. Planning, setting objectives and deciding how to achieve them, looking ahead. Organising, arranging the resources, structure and people needed to deliver the plan. Commanding (or directing), leading and instructing staff to carry out their work. Coordinating, harmonising the activities of different people and departments so they pull together. Controlling, monitoring performance against the plan and taking corrective action where there is a gap.
A strong answer gives a clear sentence on each of the five and, ideally, shows the cycle: plan, organise, command, coordinate, then control and feed the results back into the next plan. Listing the five words without explaining each one earns little at Advanced Higher.
SQA AH style6 marksExplain how Mintzberg's managerial roles differ from Fayol's functions.Show worked answer →
Explain means reasons with development. Fayol describes management as a set of functions, what managers should do (plan, organise, command, coordinate, control), a tidy, rational view. Mintzberg, observing managers at work, argued the reality is busier and more fragmented and described ten roles in three groups: interpersonal (figurehead, leader, liaison), informational (monitor, disseminator, spokesperson) and decisional (entrepreneur, disturbance handler, resource allocator, negotiator).
The difference is that Fayol is prescriptive and orderly while Mintzberg is descriptive and based on observed behaviour, showing managers constantly switching between people, information and decisions rather than working steadily through five functions. The best answers note that the two are complementary: Fayol says what management is for, Mintzberg shows what it looks like in practice.
Related dot points
- Classical management theory: Taylor's scientific management (work study, the one best way, piece-rate pay) and Weber's bureaucracy (rules, hierarchy and impersonal authority), and their strengths and limitations.
The classical schools of management in Advanced Higher Business Management: Taylor's scientific management (work study, the one best way and piece-rate pay) and Weber's bureaucracy (rules, hierarchy and impersonal authority), with their strengths and limitations.
- The human relations school and motivation theories: Mayo's Hawthorne studies, Maslow's hierarchy of needs, Herzberg's two-factor theory and McGregor's Theory X and Theory Y, and what they imply for managing people.
How people are motivated in Advanced Higher Business Management: Mayo's human relations school, Maslow's hierarchy of needs, Herzberg's two-factor theory and McGregor's Theory X and Theory Y, and what each implies for managing staff.
- Leadership theories: trait theory, behavioural/style theories (autocratic, democratic, laissez-faire) and situational theory (Hersey and Blanchard), and what they imply for how a leader should behave.
How leadership is explained in Advanced Higher Business Management: trait theory, behavioural style theories (autocratic, democratic and laissez-faire) and situational theory (Hersey and Blanchard), and what each implies for effective leadership.
- The contingency approach to management: the view that the best way to manage and organise depends on the situation (size, technology, environment, task and people), and how it builds on and qualifies classical and human relations thinking.
The contingency school in Advanced Higher Business Management: the view that there is no single best way to manage and that the right approach depends on the situation, building on and qualifying classical and human relations theory.
- Managing change: the drivers and resistance to change, Lewin's three-step model (unfreeze, change, refreeze) and force-field thinking, change strategies (top-down, participative, directive), and the factors that make change succeed.
How organisations manage change in Advanced Higher Business Management: the drivers of and resistance to change, Lewin's unfreeze-change-refreeze model, top-down and participative change strategies, and the factors that make change succeed.