"I'm sorry to tell you that four employees from our division were laid off today," said Bob Knowles, division manager, to his assembled staff. "And a total of 25 employees were laid off corporatewide. No further staff reductions are planned, and we expect the corporation's financial performance to remain on plan." When the manager notifies his employees of these developments and plans, he is performing in the role of?

Canadian professor Henry Mintzberg (born in 1939) categorized in three the characteristics the roles managers play within their organizations: interpersonal roles (figurehead, leader, and liaison), informational roles (monitor, disseminator, and spokesperson), and decisional roles (entrepreneur, disturbance-handler, resource-allocator, and negotiator).

The disseminator role involves managers transmitting information provided by upper management to colleagues and lower-level employees. The information to be spread is typically relevant regarding the operations of the firm.