Concept of Management
Every business requires planning for the future to find a way to successful business for which the person in the helm of affairs has to take decisions and is responsible for the consequences for his decision making whether favourable or unfavorable.
In short this is the crux of the science of management. According to Bradford and Johnson, “Management is an intangible part of production which develops within the lives of men. It is first a mental process, a concentration of desires, a will power.
In economic terms management is one of the factors of production together with land, labour and capital.
According to specialists in administration and organization, management is a system of authority.
In view of sociologists, management is a class and status system. A manager should be a person elite of brains and education.
According to Newman and Summer, management is considered to be a process consisting of organizing, planning, leading and controlling.
Organization deals with assigning various tasks to different people and coordinating their efforts as well maintaining a careful balance between different parts of the enterprise. Planning is concerned with setting goals, objectives and targets and delineating mechanisms for attaining them at various levels throughout the organization as well as for the total organization.
Leading is concerned with the manner in which the manager integrates the needs of the employee with those of the departments or total organization. Leading necessitates clear direction, coupled with a spirit of cooperation. Leadership is also concerned with the maintenance of high standards, discipline and occasionally the judicious mix of authority, power and influence in order to attain target objectives.
Controlling is concerned with measuring and narrowing the gap between planned performance and actual performance, and with the monitoring of performances, as well as, taking corrective actions wherever necessary. Management is thus a complex, integrated and ongoing dynamic process.
The management is viewed as:
- An economic resource.
- A system of authority.
- A class or elite.
Nature of Management
(i) Universal Process: Wherever there is human activity, there is management. Without efficient management, objectives of the company can not be achieved.
(ii) Factor of Production: Qualified and efficient managers are essential to utilization of labor and capital.
(iii) Goal Oriented: The most important goal of all management activity is to accomplish the objectives of an enterprise. The goals should be realistic and attainable.
(iv) Supreme in Thought and Action: Managers set realizable objectives and then mastermind action on all fronts to accomplish them. For this, they require full support form middle and lower levels of management.
(v) Group activity: All human and physical resources should be efficiently coordinated to attain maximum levels of combined productivity. Without coordination, no work would accomplish and there would be chaos and retention.
(vi) Dynamic Function: Management should be equipped to face the changes in business environment brought about by economic, social, political, technological or human factors. They must be adequate training so that can enable them to perform well even in critical situations.
(vii) Social Science: All individuals that a manager deals with, have different levels of sensitivity, understanding and dynamism.
(viii) Important Organ of Society: Society influences managerial action and managerial actions influence society. Its managers responsibility that they should also contribute towards the society by organizing charity functions, sports competition, donation to NGO’s etc.
(ix) System of Authority: Well-defined lines of command, delegation of suitable authority and responsibility at all levels of decision-making. This is necessary so that each individual should what is expected from him and to whom he need to report to.
(x) Profession: Managers need to possess managerial knowledge and training, and have to conform to a recognized code of conduct and remain conscious of their social and human obligations.
(xi) Process: The management process comprises a series of actions or operations conducted towards an end.
Management as a Process
As a process, management refers to a series of inter-related functions. It is the process by which management creates, operates and directs purposive organization through systematic, coordinated and co-operated human efforts, according to George R. Terry, “Management is a distinct process consisting of planning, organizing, actuating and controlling, performed to determine and accomplish stated objective by the use of human beings and other resources”. As a process, management consists of three aspects:-
(i) Management is a social process – Since human factor is most important among the other factors, therefore management is concerned with developing relationship among people. It is the duty of management to make interaction between people – productive and useful for obtaining organizational goals.
(ii) Management is an integrating process – Management undertakes the job of bringing together human physical and financial resources so as to achieve organizational purpose. Therefore, is an important function to bring harmony between various factors.
(iii) Management is a continuous process – It is a never ending process. It is concerned with constantly identifying the problem and solving them by taking adequate steps. It is an on-going process.
Significance of Management
(i) It helps in Achieving Group Goals – It arranges the factors of production, assembles and organizes the resources, integrates the resources in effective manner to achieve goals. It directs group efforts towards achievement of pre-determined goals. By defining objective of organization clearly there would be no wastage of time, money and effort. Management converts disorganized resources of men, machines, money etc. into useful enterprise. These resources are coordinated, directed and controlled in such a manner that enterprise work towards attainment of goals.
(ii) Optimum Utilization of Resources – Management utilizes all the physical & human resources productively. This leads to efficacy in management. Management provides maximum utilization of scarce resources by selecting its best possible alternate use in industry from out of various uses. It makes use of experts, professional and these services leads to use of their skills, knowledge, and proper utilization and avoids wastage. If employees and machines are producing its maximum there is no under employment of any resources.
(iii) Reduces Costs – It gets maximum results through minimum input by proper planning and by using minimum input & getting maximum output. Management uses physical, human and financial resources in such a manner which results in best combination. This helps in cost reduction.
(iv) Establishes Sound Organization – No overlapping of efforts (smooth and coordinated functions). To establish sound organizational structure is one of the objective of management which is in tune with objective of organization and for fulfillment of this, it establishes effective authority & responsibility relationship i.e. who is accountable to whom, who can give instructions to whom, who are superiors & who are subordinates. Management fills up various positions with right persons, having right skills, training and qualification. All jobs should be cleared to everyone.
(v) Establishes Equilibrium – It enables the organization to survive in changing environment. It keeps in touch with the changing environment. With the change is external environment, the initial co-ordination of organization must be changed. So it adapts organization to changing demand of market / changing needs of societies. It is responsible for growth and survival of organization.
(vi) Essentials for Prosperity of Society – Efficient management leads to better economical production which helps in turn to increase the welfare of people. Good management makes a difficult task easier by avoiding wastage of scarce resource. It improves standard of living. It increases the profit which is beneficial to business and society will get maximum output at minimum cost by creating employment opportunities which generate income in hands. Organization comes with new products and researches beneficial for society.
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