Efficiency of Functioning the Manager (Commander) in a Hierarchical Organisation

The effi ciency of operation of hierarchical organisations (military, police, State Fire Service, Border Guard, etc.) is largely derived from the effectiveness of the work of commanders (managers) at all levels. It is they who indicate the goals of the activity, assign tasks to subordinates and coordinate their work. At the same time, they have the personal, material, fi nancial, and information resources necessary to perform the assigned tasks. Therefore, it seems important to properly understand the role and tasks that commanders/managers perform in hierarchical organisations. The necessity to take up this issue results mainly from the change in the scope of tasks and the structural and organisational changes of these formations (the army, the Police of the State Fire Service). The increasingly broader spectrum of tasks set for our army, police and fi re brigades results in a permanent modifi cation in the fi eld of skills and qualifi cations of modern commanders. In the process of analysing these changes, one should take into account the scientifi c basis derived from the chievements of the theory of organisation and management as well as one’s own solutions and experience in this area. The article presents selected aspects of the role and tasks of modern commanders (managers) as well as shortcomings in the organisation of work by a manager/commander. Hence, after defi ning the role of the commander, their tasks in the form of duties and powers are described. Effi cient and effective operation of commanders requires a number of activities and specific skills. Therefore, the description of activities and leadership skills is a logical complement to the chapter. Moreover, the essential functions and roles performed by commanders are highly correlated with the basic roles of managers in civil organisations. Therefore, the analogies between the work of commanders and the work of managers in civil organisations were also taken into account.