The duties of a first-line supervisor as perceived by first-line supervisors and middle managers in the Houston business community

Problem and Purpose. The problem is that little information exists regarding first-line supervisor's duties as perceived by first-line supervisors and middle managers who supervise first-line supervisors. It is important to determine the actual duties and tasks performed by first-line supervisors and the relative importance of each in order to design curriculum for which there is a demand in the business community. The purpose of this study was to determine the duties of the first-line supervisor and to ascertain the relative importance of each duty area. It follows that to develop appropriate curricula, the best training method for the tasks in each duty area needs to be determined. Another purpose of this study was to determine the best type of training to develop competency in each task. [...]