The Different Levels of Management

Many organizations have multiple levels of management-top management, middle management, and first-line, or supervisory management. There are generally more middle managers than top managers, and even more first-line managers. Very small organizations may have only one manager (typically, the owner), who assumes the responsibilities of all three levels. Larges businesses have many mangers at each level to coordinate the use of the organization's resources. Managers at all three levels perform all five management functions, but the amount of time they spend on each function varies.

In businesses, top managers include the president and other top executives, such as the chief executive officer (CEO), chief financial officer (CFO), and chief operations officer (COO), who have overall responsibility for the organization. With technological advances continuing and privacy concerns increasing, some companies are adding a new top management position- chief privacy officer (CPO). There are currently as estimated 300 CPOs, and that number is expected to rise over the next few years. Among the companies concerned over consumer privacy that have appointed CPO's are American Express, Sony, IBM, MasterCard International Ltd., and Citigroup Inc.(1) In government, top management refers to the president, a governor, or a mayor; in education, a chancellor of a university or a county superintendent of education.

Top-level managers spend most of their time planning. They make the organization's strategic decisions, decisions that focus on an overall scheme of key idea for using resources to take advantage of opportunities. They decide whether to ass products, acquire companies, sell unprofitable business segments, and move into foreign markets. Top managers also represent their company to the public and to government regulators.