Background Note | HBS Case Collection | 1987 (Revised from original version)

The Job of the General Manager

Abstract

Describes elements of the job of the general manager that are addressed in the Management Policy and Practice course at the Harvard Business School. These include: 1) establishing strategic direction, 2) setting goals and managing standards of performance, 3) marshalling and allocating resources, 4) selecting and developing people, 5) organizing effort, 6) maintaining an understanding of day-to-day operations, and 7) building a positive working environment.

Keywords: Experience and Expertise; Policy; Recruitment; Working Conditions; Managerial Roles; Resource Allocation; Mission and Purpose; Performance Evaluation; Strategy; Value;

Format: Print

5 pages

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Citation:

Heskett, James L. "The Job of the General Manager." Harvard Business School Background Note 388-035, October 1987. (Revised from original September 1987 version.)

This is the fourth in a 35-year series of HBS cases on an organization that has changed the rules of the game globally for an entire industry by offering both differentiated and low-price service. The focus of the case is on whether Southwest Airlines should buy gates and slots to initiate service to New York's LaGuardia airport, which does not fit the airline's profile for cost, ease of service, and other factors. The bigger issue is how the organization should deal with competition that has successfully emulated more and more of what it does in an operating environment that has changed significantly. Hence the subtitle, which was suggested by Herb Kelleher, Southwest's Chairman and CEO, Emeritus.

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