Food-Service-Manual-for-Health-Care-Institutions

so as to anticipate and plan for future service opportunities and improvements. He or she must
proactively seek new business or program possibilities and discover new approaches to effective
problem solving. Conflict management occurs at all levels of management, and frontline
supervisors are required to deal decisively with disruptions that can arise daily in a health care
environment. In general, the higher the level of management, the less time is spent in dealing
with conflict.
Because the decision-making role also involves the allocation of resources, a manager must
set priorities for departmental functions and how resources—from department personnel to
food and equipment, time, information, and money—are used. Decision-making responsibilities
can be closely controlled by a manager or shared with supervisors and frontline employees,
depending on the matter being decided and on the leadership style. Decision making is
discussed as it relates to individuals, teams, and a participative work environment later in this
chapter and in Chapter 5.
These three management roles are interdependent. For example, a manager can gather outside
information by using interpersonal skills and then use decision-making skills in applying
the information to determine how work is planned and executed within the department. The
roles of management as outlined in this section need not be the sole responsibility of a manager.
In fact, it is through sharing of these roles and responsibility that a participative work
environment is created and fostered.
Managers of health care food service departments must fulfill their roles within the context
of providing food and nutrition services to the organization’s customers. To accomplish this
goal, they must use specific functions of management—planning, organizing, staffing, leading,
and controlling—to ensure that a department’s resources are used efficiently and effectively.
Levels of Management
The number of management levels in a food service department depends on many factors,
including the number of employees, hours of operation, complexity and scope of service, and
the department’s organizational structure. In smaller organizations where there are fewer
employees and limited hours of operation, only two levels of management, department director
and supervisors or lead employees, may be needed. Most medium to large food service
departments have at least three levels of management: top level (director), middle level (managers),
and first line (supervisors).
The scope of service can influence the number of both management positions and levels.
A department responsible only for feeding patients or residents will have fewer management
personnel and levels than one responsible for feeding patients and nonpatients. If additional
services are provided (for example, catering, vending service, coffee shops, child care, extended
care, bakery operations, physician dining facilities), more management levels may be needed,
such as a director, assistant directors, managers, and supervisors. Added meals mean additional
preparation and service requirements and, consequently, more employees.
Traditionally, levels of management have been differentiated using the functional–hierarchical
organizational structure shown in Figure 2.1. This structure, developed in the late nineteenth
century and supported by the “scientific management” theory of Frederick Taylor, is
based on a rigid chain of command and layers of management with varying levels of authority
and responsibility. Total authority and control in this model rest with management. Using the
functional–hierarchical structure, organizations assign different levels of management according
to the responsibilities and authority needed to fulfill them. In this context, responsibility is
a manager’s obligation to perform certain tasks or duties, and authority is his or her power to
allocate specific resources in the performance of those tasks or duties. For example, a hospital’s
CEO has more responsibility for the overall operation of the hospital and therefore more
authority to direct the use of hospital resources than does the food service director.
Leadership: Managing for Change
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