Discuss the three levels of management with their functions

Three levels of management have been recognized by management experts. They are:

1. Top management

2. Middle management

3. Supervisory management or Lower Management

1. Top management

It consists of the Board of Directors, the Chairman, the Managing Director and so on. The functions of the top management are as follows:

i) To lay down the basic objectives of the business.

ii) To frame major policies for the business

iii) To organize the business into different departments for the efficient attainment of the enterprise goals.

iv) To appoint departmental heads and review their performance.

v) To represent the business outside, particularly in discussing business problems with the Government, trade association and so on.

2. Middle management

It consists of the Heads of all the Departments like the Production Manager, the Finance Manager, the Marketing Manager and so on. It also includes the deputy managers in all the departments. The functions of middle management are as follows:

i) Formulation of suitable policies at the departmental level.

ii) Periodical review of performance.

iii) Interaction with the subordinate staff.

3. Supervisory management or Lower Management

It consists of such individuals as the foremen, office managers, supervisors, etc. The supervisory management is concerned with the following functions:

i) To plan the day-to-day work

ii) To assign work to all the employees and undertake supervision

iii) To monitor the performance of the employees.

iv) To send periodical reports to the middle level managers.