The original managers of production companies were the people who invented and supervised production - think of the textile companies, and then the motor manufacturers, who bought in new technology and methods of production. After the early days of industrialization, the management function for a company was taken over by the financial people, mostly in the form of accountants who were responsible for reporting the financial state of the company. This happened for two reasons, one that there was a degree of mismangement and therefore new legislation to regulate industry, and then later because capital and production became separated to a degree.
Business management then went through a stage of looking like it was going to be led by the marketing function - indeed, to some extent it is today; many CEOs have a strong marketing background. However, this direction appears to be moderating to some extent, probably thanks to the increasing prevalence of people with MBAs. Today the good senior manager will be information oriented.
# posted by Mary @ 11:33 PM
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