Managers practice 4 fundamental functions: planning, organizing, leading, and controlling. As a manager moves higher in the organization, they are faced with broader responsibilities and use all 4 functions. While leadership is 1 fundamental management skill, the term leader is sometimes used in place of manager. Based on the size and structure of the organization, multiple levels of management exist.

Larger organizations have executive and senior leaders, often in functional roles. These managers oversee middle managers and usually have the role of vice president or higher. General managers and directorsare middle managers who oversee lower-level managers. These managers often have specific groups of employees representing functional areas, such as sales, operations, finance, and human resources, reporting to them.

For example, in the Organizational Structure Example image, the vice president of sales & marketing oversees the sales director and marketing director. In turn, the sales director oversees the sales managers for regions 1, 2, and 3. The region 2 and 3 sales managers also have sales reps that report to them. Similarly, the marketing director oversees the regions 1 & 2 and region 3 marketing manager who both oversee internal sales.

Organizational Structure Example

 

Region 1 Sales Manager I I I I Sales Director I I I T I I I Vice President of Sales & Marketing I I Marketing Director I I I I I I I | I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I Region 2 Sales Manager I I I I I I I I Region 3 Sales Manager Regions 1 & 2 Marketing Manager Region 3 Marketing Manager I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I Sales Sales I I Sales I Sales I I I I rep rep I I rep rep I I Internal Sales Internal Sales I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I