Board of directors is a group of people responsible to govern an organization by setting strategic direction, establish

Good morning, everyone. Today I’ d like to introduce some of the terms related to the practices of management, as many people believe that one of the best ways to get a sense about how management works is to examine key terms in management. The key terms I’m going to introduce are quite basic and general in nature.
   First, we have "board of directors". A board is a group of people who are legally charged to govern an organization.  The board is responsible for setting strategic direction, establishing broad policies and objectives, and hiring and evaluating the chief executive officer. The chief executive officer reports to the board and is responsible for carrying out the board’s strategic policies. The nature of a board can vary widely. Some boards act like "governing boards", that is, they take a strong policy-making role, and expect the chief executive to operate the organization according to those policies. Some boards, despite their being legally responsible for the activities of the corporation, follow all of the directions and guidance of the chief executive. In this case, board members arguably are not meeting their responsibilities as a board.
   The next term is "management". There are a variety of views about this term. Traditionally, the term "management" refers to the activities involved in the following four general functions. The first is planning, which includes identifying goals, objectives, methods; the second is organizing resources in order to achieve the goals in an optimum fashion; next is leading which includes setting direction for the organization, groups and individuals and also influence people to follow that directions the final function is controlling which coordinates the organization’ s systems, processes and structures to reach goals and objectives effectively and efficiently.
   Another view, quite apart from the traditional view, asserts that the job of management is to support employee’s efforts to be fully productive members of the organizations and citizens of the community.
   To most employees, the term "management" probably means the group of people who are primarily responsible for making decisions in the organization, such as managers and executives.
   Some writers, teachers and practitioners assert that the above view is rather outmoded and that management needs to focus more on leadership skills, such as establishing vision and goals, communicating the vision and goals, and guiding others to accomplish them.
   The next term is "executives. Usually, this term generally applies to those people or specific positions in top levels of management, such as chief executive officers, chief operating officers, chief financial officers, vice presidents, general managers of large organizations, etc. Chief executives usually pay strong attention to strategic plans and organizational performance. Many people think of the Chief Executive Officer as heading up large,  for-profit corporations. This is not entirely true. The majority of businesses are small businesses, whether for-profit or nonprofit.  Their top executives could be called Chief Executive Officers.
    Next, we come to "managers".  A classic definition is that "Leaders do the right thing and managers do things right." A more standard definition is usually something like "managers work toward the organization’s goals using its resources in an effective and efficient manner." In a traditional sense, large organizations may have different levels of managers, including top managers, middle managers and first-line managers. Top managers are responsible for overseeing the whole organization and typically engage in more strategic matters, with less attention to day-to-day detail.  Middle managers may have first-line managers working for them and who are responsible to manage the day-to-day activities of a group of workers.
   We can also have different types of managers across the same levels in the organization.  A project manager is in charge of developing a certain project, such as development of a new building. A functional manager is in charge of a major function, such as a department in the organization, such as marketing, sales, engineering, finance, etc.  A product manager is in charge of a product or service. General managers arc in charge of numerous functions within an organization or department.
   After "managers", we have "supervisors ". The term "supervisor" typically refers to one’s immediate superior in the workplace, that is, the person whom you report directly to in the organization. For example, a middle manager’s supervisor typically would be a top manager. A first-line manager’s supervisor would be a middle manager. A worker’s supervisor typically would be a firstine manager.
   Below managers we have work directors. These are people who directly oversee the work of their subordinates. They carry out their oversight role by specifically assigning work and then closely monitoring to ensure the work is carried out according to their wishes. Often, people work their way up through management levels by starting out as work directors. Over time, they develop skills in delegation, which frees them up from having to closely monitor the work of their subordinates and, instead, to attend to more high-level managerial activities. Work directors are not always at lower levels of the organization.
   Finally, we have "leaders".  Very simply put, a leader is interpreted as someone who sets direction in an effort and influences people to follow that direction. They set direction by developing a clear vision and mission, and conducting planning that determines the goals needed to achieve the vision and mission. As noted above, one of the four key functions of management is leading. Leaders carry out their roles in a wide variety of styles. Often, the leadership style depends on the situation, including the life cycle of the organization.