The General Manager has broad, overall responsibility for a business or organization. A General Manager may be responsible for one area or for the whole business if it is small enough.
Primary Responsibilities:
- The General Manager manages both the revenue and cost elements of a company’s statement.
- The General Manager oversees the firms marketing and sales functions.
- The General Manager may also be working under the title of Chief Executive Officer (CEO).
The General Manager holds different positions in accordance with the type of business they are responsible for in accordance with the duties that are specific to that company. The corporate usually refers to their General Manager as the CEO just as an example. The General Manager maybe referred to as the Product manager, Branch Manager, Country Manager or Segment Manager in accordance with their duties or responsibilities.
Banks often refer to their General Managers as Branch Managers as each different branch of the bank has its own General Manager. The General Manager is often in charge of all the functions that go on at that particular branch of the bank. In Professional Services Firms the General Manager is often referred to as the Managing Partner. Since normally most professional services are operated by partners but one may take charge of the business.
In non-profit enterprises the General Manager is given the title of Executive Director. The duties are the same as a General Manager but only over the non-profit organization.
In Hotels the General Manager is the executive manager in charge of one hotel establishment in the area that it is located. The General Manager is the one who makes the decisions on that particular location even if there are other hotels of the same name. The General Manager has ultimate authority in decision making over their hotel. Some of the common duties of a General Manager are to hire staff, overall management of the staff, budgeting and financial management. The General Manager must create business objectives and goals. The General Manager is in charge of any renovations to their establishment. When an emergency arises the General Manager is the one who must take charge making sure that the emergency is handled properly. The General Manager is in charge of public relations with the media and any advertisement that goes out on behalf of the business.
The General Manger is in charge of any purchasing and dealing with vendors. The General Manager is also in charge of the wages of the employees making sure that everyone is getting paid in accordance to their job duties and performance. The General Manager is also in charge of employee benefits, company parties and any other things in relationship to employees. The General Manager is also in charge of customer relations making sure that the customer is satisfied with service and product received.
In the professional sports arena the General Manager is a team executive responsible for acquiring the rights to player personnel, negotiating their contracts and the reassigning or dismissing players no longer desired on the team. The General Manager has the responsibility of hiring the head coach for the team. Actually for many years in U.S. professional sports the head coach was the General Manager of the team. In the early years the owner could serve as the head coach and the General Manager making all the decisions for the team. Today there are too many responsibilities for just one person so now several people may own the team, with a head coach directing the team plays, and the General Manager takes charge of all the other duties that are needed for the team. The General Manager works with the head coach and the scouts to help build a strong team. Some of the best General Managers on teams today were previous players or head coaches.
The General Manager no matter what the business situation is the person in charge of operations, staffing, hiring and firing. The General Manager must take the lead in customer satisfaction or please the owners of the business making sure that they are getting the best production. The General Manager must be responsible for payroll and for any other expense that the business may need even though they have an accountant. The General Manager is the head and must act the part in order to establish a well run organization.