role

(noun)

The expected behavior of an individual in a society.

Related Terms

Examples of role in the following topics:

  • Team Roles

    • A role is a set of related duties and behaviors that exist independently from the person who acts in that role.
    • Roles are part of a team's structure, and having a role defines each team member's position in the group relative to the others.
    • Team roles establish expectations about who will do what to help the team succeed.
    • Each type of role brings something valuable to how a team functions.
    • Identify types of team roles and how they contribute to team performance

  • Mintzberg's Management Roles

    • Mintzberg defined ten management roles within three categories: interpersonal, informational, and decisional.
    • Management is incorporated into every aspect of an organization and involves different roles and responsibilities.
    • Disseminating what is of value, and how, is a critical informational role.
    • Throughout an individual's working life, a person may hold various management positions that call upon different roles.
    • While these ten roles are highly useful in framing organizational leadership, to expect one person to fill each role in a large organization is impractical.

  • Managers Role in Ethical Conduct

    • In addition to following the organization's ethical code, managers may be obligated to follow a separate professional code of ethics, depending on their role, responsibilities, and training.
    • Fiduciary duty is an example that applies to some managerial roles.
    • The manager has an important role in maintaining ethical conduct in a firm, but a firm's ethics cannot simply be based on a "manager to the rescue" approach.
    • Outline the role managers must play in implementing internal ethical standards and aligning the organization with external standards

  • The Manager's Role in Group Decisions

    • The manager's role in group decision making is to create a supportive context for the group.
    • Managers might assign roles to help structure the decision process, establish a sense of accountability for parts of the group's work, and clarify responsibilities.
    • The most useful role at this point is that of coach, such as if the group needs help managing interpersonal relationships or if additional clarity is needed about an alternative.

  • The Role of the Manager in an Evolving Organization

    • Managers play a number of roles in evolving organizations, including leader, negotiator, figurehead, liaison, and communicator.
    • In these situations, organizations need a manager who can fulfill several roles, including leader, negotiator, figurehead, and communicator.
    • In each of these roles, the manager's goal is to help employees through the change with the least possible number of conflicts and issues.
    • This is a complex and intangible skill, one which incorporates each of the roles listed below as well.
    • Break down the various and critical roles a leader must play in the transitional process from an organization perspective

  • Employee Orientation

    • Orientation tactics exist to provide new employees enough information to adjust, resulting in satisfaction and effectiveness in their role.
    • The underlying goal of incorporating these varying onboarding tactics is to provide the employee enough information to adjust, ultimately resulting in satisfaction and effectiveness as a new employee (or an existing employee in a new role).
    • This should focus primarily on knowledge of the company culture and co-workers, along with increased clarity as to how they fit within the organizational framework (i.e., their role).
    • However, some critics of orientation processes claim that sometimes extensive onboarding can confuse new employees with regard to their role, as most of their time is spent in company-wide learning, as opposed to role-centric learning.
    • While this criticism may be true in some contexts, it can be offset through a more role-specific onboarding process.

  • Leadership and Gender

    • Studies on the role of gender in leadership success show mixed results.
    • The trend has provided an opportunity to examine differences in how men and women perform in the role of leaders.
    • Research reveals small but significant differences in the way men and women are perceived in leadership roles, their effectiveness in such positions, and their leadership styles.
    • As CEO of one of the largest companies in the U.S., Virginia Rometty is in a highly influential and visible leadership role.

  • Defining Stress

    • Role Demands - Role conflict happens when an employee is exposed to inconsistent or difficult expectations.
    • Examples include: interole conflict (when there are two or more expectations or separate roles for one person), intrarole conflict (varying expectations of one role), person-role conflict (ethics are challenged), and role ambiguity (confusion about their experiences in relation to the expectations of others).

  • Employee Promotions

    • Prior to promoting someone, the human resources department of an organization must ascertain whether the employee in question can manage the increase in responsibilities that accompanies the new role.
    • If not, additional training may be required to prepare the individual for their new organizational role.
    • Evaluate human resources' role in creating promotion opportunities to motivate employees and develop upwards mobility within an organization

  • Communicating Organizational Culture

    • The role of the manager is essential to the successful communication of a given organizational culture because managers are figureheads and role models for how individuals in the organization should behave.
    • Recognize the role of management in communicating and teaching organizational culture to employees and subordinates.