雅思阅读第047套P1-What the Managers Really Do?

READING PASSAGE 1

You should spend about 20minutes on Questions 1-13, which are based on Reading Passage 1below.

What the Managers Really Do?

When students graduate andfirst enter the workforce, the most common choice is to find an entry-levelposition. This can be a job such as an unpaid internship, an assistant, asecretary, or a junior partner position. Traditionally, we start with simplerjobs and work our way up. Young professionals start out with a plan to becomesenior partners, associates, or even managers of a workplace. However, thesepromotions can be few and far between, leaving many young professionalsunfamiliar with management experience. An important step is understanding therole and responsibilities of a person in a managing position. Managers areorganisational members who are responsible for the work performance of otherorganisational members. Managers have formal authority to use organisationalresources and to make decisions. Managers at different levels of theorganisation engage in different amounts of time on the four managerialfunctions of planning, organising, leading, and controlling.

However, as many professionalsalready know, managing styles can be very different depending on where youwork. Some managing styles are strictly hierarchical. Other managing styles canbe more casual and relaxed, where the manager may act more like a team memberrather than a strict boss. Many researchers have created a more scientificapproach in studying these different approaches to managing. In the 1960s,researcher Henry Mintzberg created a seminal organisational model using threecategories. These categories represent three major functional approaches, whichare designated as interpersonal, informational and decisional.

Introduced Category 1:INTERPERSONAL ROLES. Interpersonal roles require managers to direct andsupervise employees and the organisation. The figurehead is typically a top ofmiddle manager. This manager may communicate future organisational goals orethical guidelines to employees at company meetings. They also attendribbon-cutting ceremonies, host receptions, presentations and other activitiesassociated with the figurehead role. A leader acts as an example for otheremployees to follow, gives commands and directions to subordinates, makesdecisions, and mobilises employee support. They are also responsible for theselection and training of employees. Managers must be leaders at all levels ofthe organisation; often lower-level managers look to top management for thisleadership example. In the role of liaison, a manager must coordinate the workof others in different work units, establish alliances between others, and workto share resources. This role is particularly critical for middle managers, whomust often compete with other managers for important resources, yet mustmaintain successful working relationships with them for long time periods.

Introduced Category 2:INFORMATIONAL ROLES. Informational roles are those in which managers obtain andtransmit information. These roles have changed dramatically as technology hasimproved. The monitor evaluates the performance of others and takes correctiveaction to improve

that performance. Monitors alsowatch for changes in the environment and within the company that may affectindividual and organisational performance. Monitoring occurs at all levels ofmanagement. The role of disseminator requires that managers inform employees ofchanges that affect them and the organisation. They also communicate thecompany’s vision and purpose.

Introduced Category 3:DECISIONAL ROLES. Decisional roles require managers to plan strategy andutilise resources. There are four specific roles that are decisional. Theentrepreneur role requires the manager to assign resources to developinnovative goods and services, or to expand a business. The disturbance handlercorrects unanticipated problems facing the organisation from the internal orexternal environment. The third decisional role, that of resource allocator,involves determining which work units will get which resources. Top managersare likely to make large, overall budget decisions, while middle managers maymake more specific allocations. Finally, the negotiator works with others, suchas suppliers, distributors, or labor unions, to reach agreements regardingproducts and services.

Although Mintzberg’s initialresearch in 1960s helped categorise manager approaches, Mintzberg was stillconcerned about research involving other roles in the workplace. Minstzbergconsidered expanding his research to other roles, such as the role ofdisseminator, figurehead, liaison and spokesperson. Each role would havedifferent special characteristics, and a new categorisation system would haveto be made for each role to understand it properly.

While Mintzberg’s initialresearch was helpful in starting the conversation, there has since beencriticism of his methods from other researchers. Some criticisms of the workwere that even though there were multiple categories, the role of manager isstill more complex. There are still many manager roles that are not astraditional and are not captured in Mintzberg’s original three categories. Inaddition, sometimes, Mintzberg’s research was not always effective. Theresearch, when applied to real-life situations, did not always improve themanagement process in real-life practice.

These two criticisms againstMintzberg’s research method raised some questions about whether or not theresearch was useful to how we understand “managers” in today’s world. However,even if the criticisms against Mintzberg’s work are true, it does not mean thatthe original research from the 1960s is completely useless. Those researchersdid not say Mintzberg’s research is invalid. His research has two positivefunctions to the further research.

The first positive function isMintzberg provided a useful functional approach to analyse management. And heused this approach to provide a clear concept of the role of manager to theresearcher. When researching human behavior, it is important to be conciseabout the subject of the research. Mintzberg’s research has helped otherresearchers clearly define what a “manager” is, because in real-lifesituations, the “manager” is not always the same position title. Mintzberg’sdefinitions added clarity and precision to future research on the topic.

The second positive function isMintzberg’s research could be regarded as a good beginning to give a newinsight to further research on this field in the future. Scientific research isalways a gradual process. Just because Mintzberg’s initial research had certainflaws, does not mean it is useless to other researchers. Researchers who areinterested in studying the workplace in a systematic way have older research tolook back on. A researcher doesn’t have to start from the very beginning— olderresearch like Mintzberg’s has shown what methods work well and what methods arenot as appropriate for workplace dynamics. As more young professionals enterthe job market, this research will continue to study and change the way wethink about the modern workplace.

SECTION 1: QUESTIONS 1-13

Questions 1-6

Look at the followingdescriptions or deeds (Questions 1-6) and the list of categoriesbelow.

Match each description or deedwith the correct category, A,B or C.

Write the correct letter, A,B, or C, in boxes 1-6 on your answer sheet.

NB You may use any letter morethan once.

List of Categories

A

INTERPERSONAL ROLES

B

INFORMATIONAL ROLES

C

DECISIONAL ROLES

1 _________    the developmentof business scheme

2 _________   presiding atformal events

3 _________    usingemployees and funds

4 _________    getting andpassing message on to related persons

5 _________    relating theinformation to employees and organisation

6 _________    recruitingthe staff

Questions 7-8

Choose TWO letters, A-E.

Write the correct letters inboxes 7-8 on your answer sheet.

Which TWO positivefunctions about Mintzberg’s research are mentioned in the last two paragraphs?

Aoffers waterproof categories of managers

Bprovides a clear concept to define therole of a manager

Chelps new graduates to design their career

Dsuggests ways for managers to do their jobbetter

Emakes a fresh way for further research

Questions 9-13

Do the following statementsagree with the information given in Reading Passage 1?

In boxes 9-13 onyou answer sheet, write

TRUE

if the statement agrees with the information

FALSE

if the statement contradicts the information

NOT GIVEN

If there is no information on this

9 _________________    Youngprofessionals can easily know management experience in the workplace.

10 _________________   Mintzberg’s theory broke well-established notions about managing styles.

11 _________________   Mintzberg got a large amount of research funds for his contribution.

12 _________________    Allmanagers do the same work.

13 _________________   Mintzberg’s theory is valuable for future studies.

答案

雅思阅读第047套P1-What the Managers Really Do?

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雅思阅读第047套READING PASSAGE 1:What the Managers Really Do?