Die opkoms van die beroepsbestuurder en enkele implikasies daarvan
educational resource
posted on 2024-11-18, 14:56authored byInaugural addresses
Inaugural lecture--Department of Business Economics, Rand Afrikaans University, 8 June 1971@@The managers of large companies are today in a position to exert considerable influence on the government, the market and the community as a whole. In particular, two factors contributed to the development of the present position. The first is the tendency and capacity of companies to grow in size into vast concerns. The second is closely connected with, and follows from, the rise of the professional manager.
In view of the fact that an individual is normally entitled to reap the benefits from his proprietary rights, or to use his property to his own advantage, it was generally accepted that the owner manager pursued only one goal, namely to maximise the rate of return of the company over the long-run. This does not apply to the professional manager, since he has no proprietary rights. What the primary goal of the company really is, is still a controversial matter today. There are those who believe that the interests of the community are of prime importance, whereas others maintain that the primary goal of the company is the maximisation of the rate of return of the company over the longrun.
The fact, however, remains that the company cannot serve the community, or fulfil its responsibilities, in whatever form, towards the community, unless it earns a profit. Irrespective of one's view in this respect, the community can reasonably expect from the professional manager that he will execute his duties in a responsible manner; that he will be efficient in the utilisation of the country's resources. To avoid criticism, the professional manager will have to take cognisance of what may theoretically be distinguished as the company-conscience, on the one hand, and public consensus, on the other hand.One of the most important implications of the rise of the professional manager is the question of education and training. Rightly or wrongly, some people maintain that it is particularly the education and training of the professional manager which really distinguishes him from the earlier owner-manager. In training and educating the professional manager, account should be taken of the fact that an individual is normally initially employed
as a specialist in one or other "function" in the company, and as he progresses from one echelon of management to the next, he is more and more confronted with the whole or broader strategy. The usual process of moving from generalist to specialist is thus here reversed.
Much closer co-operation and co-ordination between the universities, companies and other parties concerned, has become necessary. With the continuous increase in knowledge, no community
can afford managers who cease their education the minute they leave the university. A sustained and properly planned training and educational programme is required. The community has the right to demand this.
History
Date of creation
2009-05-13
Date submitted to repository
1971-06-08
Copyright information
University of Johannesburg
Original repository
Vital
Language Translation
The rise of the professional manager and some implications thereof