Meaning of Management

According to Harold Koontz and Heinz Weihrich,”Management is the process of designing and maintaining an environment in which individuals, working together in groups, efficiently accomplish selected aims.”

In simple words, Management is the process of getting things done with the aim of achieving goals effectively and efficiently.

Here three main points may be explained:

Process:

Activities to be performed in sequence, these are planning, organizing, staffing, directing and controlling.

Effectively:

Achievement of goals doing the right things

Efficiently:

Doing the work at the minimum cost in terms of time, effort and money.

Effectiveness and efficiency are equally important; neither of these two can be sacrificed for the success of the business enterprise.

 

Characteristics/features/elements of Management

1. Goal oriented:

Management is used to achieve clearly defined specific goals of the organization because of which such organization is existing.

2. Pervasive Management:

It is used in all types of organizations, whether big or small, economic, social or political organization, in public sector or private sector.

3. Multidimensional:

it is concerned with-

(a) Management of work:

It is concerned with designing and assigning the detailed activities for the achievement of goals.

(b) Management of people:

Dealing with human resources ‘as individual’ as well as ‘as group’ after considering and resolving individual differences.

(c) Management of operations:

To carry on the production process which is ultimately related to the other two dimensions of the management as mentioned above.

4. Continuous:

All the functions of management i.e. planning, organizing, staffing, directing and controlling are performed continuously, simultaneously, separately still inter related to each other.

5. Group activity:

Where all the individuals work in a team and develop individually and collectively for the achievement of group goals.

6. Dynamic Management:

helps the organization to change as per changes in the business environment due to economic, political, social, technological and legal factors.

7. Intangible:

It is not visible but the success /failure or strength/ weakness can be known by its performance.

 

Objectives of Management:

These are the desired results of activities performed by the management. Objectives of management can be:

1. Organizational objectives:

These objectives are related to the satisfaction of various interest groups but the main objective is to earn maximum profit at the minimum cost for the purpose of

(a) Survival: To keep existence in the market by earning reasonable profits.

(b) Profit: To earn that much profit that can motivate the organization to continue in the business.

(c) Growth: To remain in the business in the long run.

2. Social objectives:

Social objectives are related to provide benefits to the society like generation of employment, providing continuous supply of goods to the people, maximum utilization of natural resources etc.

3. Personal Objectives:

These are concerned with the fulfilling of financial, social and higher order needs of the individuals working in the organization.

 

Importance of management

1. Achievement of group goals:

It provides direction to the individuals working in the group by creating team spirit and motivating them.

2. Increases efficiency:

It helps to reduce cost and increase the profits with maximum satisfaction to different parties by proper planning, organization, staffing, directing and controlling.

3. Creates dynamic organization:

It helps people to change as per the changes in the business environment due to economic, social, political and other factors.

4. Achievement of personal objectives:

It helps to achieve personal objectives by providing proper leadership and motivation.

5. Development of society:

As the management has social objectives on its list of objectives, society is surely going to benefit out of more employment, good quality products etc.

 

Nature of Management

Nature of management can be studied under three heads: Management as an Art, Science and Profession.

Management as an Art

“Art is the skillful and personal application of existing knowledge to achieve desired results that can be acquired through study, observation and experience.”

So an art has these three features:

1. Theoretical knowledge:

Existence of principles of management proves that management is an art.

2. Personalized application:

Use of knowledge of managerial principles depends on the skills of the manager from case to case.

3. Practice and creativity:

Every manager tries to use this knowledge in the novel manner so that he can do the best.

All these features prove Management as an art.

 

Management as a Science

“Science is a systematized body of knowledge that explains general truths or the operation of general laws.”

The basic features of science are:

1. Systematic:

There is cause and effect relationship in the activities of science. Using motivation to increase performance of the employees prove this point.

2. Principles:

Science has principles so has management.

3. Universal application:

Science has principles that apply everywhere; same is the case with management principles that apply to every organization everywhere.

But management is not a pure science, it is impure /inexact/social science/soft science as it is related to human behavior that keeps on changing and the results are totally unpredictable.

 

Management as a Profession

“Profession means application of a particular specialized personal skill to earn a living under the code of conduct framed by their professional body.”

The basic features of profession are:

1. Well defined body of knowledge:

Management has a well defined body of knowledge studied and taught in schools, colleges and universities etc.

2. Restricted entry:

The entry to profession is restricted by some examination or any other condition. But there is no strict condition in case of management, still many cases of experienced hand managers without any professional degree are being observed.

3. Professional association:

As is needed in case of profession, Management has All India Management Association (AIMA), but the membership of this association is not compulsory to become a manager.

4. Ethical Code of Conduct:

Presence of ethical code of conduct framed by professional association is required in case of profession, same holds true in case of management but the code of conduct is not binding on every member because of absence of legal backing of AIMA.

5. Service motive:

Every professional is expected to provide service to the society, but these days manager is burdened with the responsibility of earning maximum profit for his organization along with social benefits.

It can be concluded from the above that management is not fully a profession but is moving towards this trend.

 

Some Interesting Cross-disciplinary Perspectives

Anthropology
Anthropology is the scientific study of people, society , and culture. The study of culture has helped managers to understand differences between people of different organisations and countries due to differences in their values, attitudes, and behavior .

Economics
Economics is concerned with the allocation and distribution of scarce resources. An understanding of topics handled  by economists  like free trade and protectionist policies is absolutely essential to any manager operating in the global marketplace.

Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of the nature of things, particularly values and ethics. Ethics are standards that govern human behaviour. These ethics are used by the organisations in the matters of delegation of authority, linking rewards to performance, and justifying the existence of business and the corporate form.

Political Science
It is the study of the behavior of individuals and groups within a particular country. Political environment of a business plays a major role in the functioning and fortune of a business. A nation’s view on property, contracts, and justice, further shapes the type, form, and policies of its organisations.

Psychology
Psychology is the science that seeks to measure, explain, and sometimes change the behaviour of humans and other animals. Modern managers face both a diversity of customers as well as diversity of employees.
Psychologists are helping these managers to understand their customers and employees better. Motivation, leadership, employee selection, performance appraisals, and training techniques are the major areas affected by the Psychology of the persons invoved.

Sociology
Sociology is the study of people in relation to their fellow human beings. Issues such as globalisation, increasing cultural diversity, changing gender roles, and varying forms of family life are affecting organisational practices. Schooling practices and education trends have direct effect on future employees’ skills and abilities and many more such issues are handled by Sociologists as well as managers.

Thus, the study of management is not existing in isolation. It is related to various disciplines mentioned above.

Levels of Management

Authority –responsibility relationships in an organization give rise to the levels of management.

Depending on the nature and size of business organization, levels can vary in number, but basically there are three levels:

1. Top Level:

Consists of Chairman, chief executive, chief operating officer, president and vice-president and is concerned with target setting and making plans and policies.

2. Middle level:

Consists of Divisional heads, plant superintendents, and operations managers and is concerned with implementation of plans and policies laid down by the top level management.

3. Lower level:

Also known as operational or supervisory level consists of foremen and supervisors and is concerned with the passing orders and instructions, motivation and supervision of workers for actual production.

Coordination

It is the synchronization of activities of different units and departments. It is the force that binds the functions of management.

 Features of Coordination

1. Integration of efforts of the individuals as well as different units and departments of the organization.

2. Unity of action is ensured by coordination.

3. Continuous process It is required from the stage of panning to the controlling stage.

4. Pervasive It is required at all levels of the management i.e. top, middle as well as lower levels.

5. It is the responsibility of all the managers to bring coordination.

6. It is a deliberate process to achieve organization objectives.

But coordination must be distinguished from co-operation as the co-operation is always the willingness to do the work rather than being duty bound. Both reinforce each other. Co-operation without coordination can be total wastage of effort where as co-ordination without co-operation can prove to make the work burdensome causing dissatisfaction among the employees.

 

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Functions of Management