WHAT IS MANAGEMENT?

It is not easy to define the term management. There are as many definitions of management as there
are books on the subject. There are certain genuine reasons for this :
1. Management is a vast subject. It is very extensive. It is therefore, not possible to put all the
essential features of management in a single formula.
2. Management is concerned with human beings, who are behaviourally highly unpredictable.
3. Management is a young developing discipline whose concepts are continuously changing. It is
small wonder, like Allen remarked, that the manager is one of the great unknown in the
business.
Most definitions of the word management, emphasises one common idea: it is concerned with
the accomplishment of objectives through the efforts of the people performing certain functions.
Lets look into these definitions: -
1. Management is the accomplishment of results through the efforts of other people.
(Lawrence A. Appley)
2. Management is the art of getting things done through and with people in formally organised
groups. (Koontz H)
3. Management is a process of planning, organising, actuating and controlling to determine and
accomplish the objectives by the use of people and resources. Terry. G)
4. Management is the process by which managers create, direct, maintain and operate purposive
organisations through systematic, coordinated, cooperative human effort. (Mc. Farland)
5. It is the coordination of all resources through the process of planning, organising, directing and
controlling in order to attain stated objectives. (sisk).
Some have defined management as a decision making, rule making, and rule enforcing body.
According to Prof. Moore, management means decision making. Others (Appley), called it as a
personal administration. For the sake of simplicity and convenience, we can broadly define the
term thus: management is concerned with resources, tasks and goals.
Management as a noun
In popular usage, management refers to a group of people who direct their activities of other
people and material resources towards the attainment of pre- determined goals. Viewed broadly,
management may be interpreted as resource, a system of authority or a class or elite. The
economist view of management is that, it is a factor of production like capital, labour, etc. The
managerial resource determines the success of the organization. As a system of authority,
management refers to a team of managers who make decisions and supervise the work of others.
Sociologists, finally, looked at management as a class and status system. Managers are distinct
class in the society having specialized knowledge and scales.

Management as a process
It refers to a series of inter related functions such as planning, organising, staffing and controlling.
Actually, managers are known by the work they do. According to James Lundy, management is
what management does. Management process suggests that all managers perform certain
functions in order to realize certain goal. Management should be noted as a social process
because it is concerned with relations amongst people in work. A manager sets the objective of
the organization. He provides an environment helpful to group action. He offers incentives to
those who show good performance and thus helps the organisation realise its goals.

Management as a group /team
The term management is used to denote the persons who manage the affairs of the organisation.
Broad expressions such as managements has declared a lock out, management takes a tough
stand against workers, often hits newspaper headlines. When such statements are made,
references are actually made to the people who manage the affairs of the organization. Thus, as a
group of person, management include all those who are responsible for making decisions and
supervising the work of others.
Management as discipline
Management as discipline, management is a specialized branch of knowledge which involves the
study of certain principles and practices. Over the years, management has emerged as a separate
field of study, it can be knowledge about it obtained and skill in its application acquire. The old
saying, managers are born not made stands depreciated now. People believe that managerial skill
could be acquired through formal education and training. It is small wonder that many institutes
have been set up in india with a view to impart management education to prospective managers.
Management as an activity
Management refers to a separate class of activities which are performed by managers.
Managerial activity consist of planning, organising, staffing, directing, controlling. These activities
are performed to get the work done with and through people. Due to their biological and
psychological limitations, it is difficult for human beings to achieve their objectives all alone. They
have to join organisations and work toward common goals. Managerial activities should be
remembered, cannot be measured in a precise way. A manager directs the work of others. He
contributes indirectly towards the achievement of enterprise objectives. His work defies precise
measurement. The student is advised not to confuse this point with the persons who perform
managerial activities. The evidence of good managerial work in the form of employee satisfaction
would only be seen in results which cannot be quantitatively measured.

-Scope of management
The scope of management is very wide. Basically it refers to three distinct ideas. According to
Herbison and Myers, management may be understood as 1. An economic resource, 2. A system
of authority, and 3. A class or elite.
Management as an economic resource
Management is one of the factors of production along with land, labour and capital. In modern
organisation, the effective use of the five Ms of management (money, materials, man power,
machinery and methods or way of doing things) depends to a great extent to the quality of
management. According to Newman, management is required to convert the disorganised
resources of men, materials, money and machines into a productive, useful on going concern.
Management as a system of authority
According to Herbison and Myers, management is a rule making body. It is bound together by a
web of relationships between superiors and subordinates, that is, people are bound by authority,
relationships. Managers working at top level enjoy more authority than people working at lower
levels. Top management determines objectives and provides direction to enterprise activities.
Middle management (departmental heads like work manager, finance manager, personnel
manager etc) interprets and explain the policies framed by the top management. They transmit
orders, instructions and decisions downward and carry the problems and suggestions upward.
Lower management (first line supervisors) is concerned with routine day to day matters.
Management as a class or elite
Sociologists view management as a distinct class in society having its own value system. The
managerial class has become very important in modern organisations owing to its contribution to
business success. As a separate group, the term management refers to a group of individuals
occupying managerial positions. All the managers from the chief executive to the first line
supervisors are collectively addressed as management, which refers to a group.
Characteristics of Management
The various interpretations of management emphasises three things, 1. Management is a process
and involves a series of continuing and related activities, 2. It tries to concentrate on teaching
organisational goals, 3. It reaches these goals by working with and through other people and
other organisational resources.
The important features which reveal the nature management may be stated thus:
1. Management is intangible: as pointed out by Terry, Management is intangible. It cannot be
seen and is an unseen force. Its presence can be felt by results of its efforts in the form of
production sales and profits.
2. Management is goal oriented: management seeks to achieve goals. These goals may be
economic or non economic. In a business organisation, the primary goal is to produce and
distribute goods with a view to earn profit. In a service organisation, the goal might be
customer service. (hospitals, educational institutions etc)
3. Management is universal: management is an all pervasive activity. It is needed in all types of
organisations, e.g. university, club, army, government, business. The basic principles of
management are applicable in business as well as in other organisations. These principles,
however, need careful application depending on situational demands.
4. Management is social process: According to Newman, management is a social process
because it deals with people. To make the best use of human efforts, managers have to
create close cooperation among employees in an organisation. They have to use resources for
the benefit of society as a whole.they have to look after the interest of employees,
shareholders customers, investors and community.
5. Management is a group activity: management is concerned by getting things done by people.
People join groups in order to achieve results collectively.management helps people in
realising individuals as well as group goals in a coordinated way.
6. Management is a system of authority: A manager is supposed to get things done, rather than
doing things himself, by using authority. Authority is right to give orders and the power to
obtain obedience from subordinates. In this sense, management may be introduced as a rule
making body in an organisation. According to Drucker, management is a multipurpose organ
that manages a business, manger, workers and work. Managers operating at higher level
posses more authority than those working at lower levels.
7. Management is an activity: management is a distinct activity (like playing, teaching, studying).
It can be studied, knowledge about it obtained and skill in its application acquired. Further,
management is not a one shot deal. In the face of continual changes in environment,
technology and competition, new problems crop up replacing old ones. Management must
address itself to problems in a continuous basis. The cycle of management is a never ending
process and it continues as long as the organisation continues to operate.
8. Management is dynamic: management is dynamic and growth oriented function. It tries to
visualise problems before they turn into emergencies and suitable steps. It tries to adapt itself
to the environmental changes quickly. It proposes to take actions to make the desired results
to come to pass. According to Drucker, managers do not wait for future; they make the
future.
9. Management is a science as well as an art: management is a systematised body of knowledge
based on certain principles capable of general application. The principles underline time and
motion studies, moral, motivation, leadership- can be applied by persons working in various
capacities. Art is the application of knowledge and skills to achieve results. In recent years,
management has developed into a separate, distinct, discipline, receiving vital inputs from
subjects such as psychology, sociology, anthropology, economics, etc. In fact, management
becomes essential, wherever and whenever people come to achieve certain objectives.
10. Management is multi-disciplinary: management has received rich contribution from various
disciplines like psychology, sociology, anthropology, etc. The insights obtained from this
discipline greatly help managements in understanding the black box much better. More
importantly, management is a creative activity. Management utilise the scarce resources at
their disposal in a rational way.
Who are effective managers?
Based on the research sponsored by the centre for the creative leadership, Robert Kaplan
described effective managers as a person who-
- Have a vision, think long term, set direction
- Are good communicators, good listeners
- Understand operation
- Know where to spend time and how to prioritise
- Do not resist change
- Delegate well
- Act confidently
- Are motivating, honest, credible, decisive
- Accept responsibility and admit mistakes

Importance of managers
According to Drucker, management is a dynamic life giving element in every organisation. It is the
activating force that gets things done through people. Without management, an organisation is
merely collection of men. In its absence, the resources of production remain resources and never
become production. The importance of management can be understood by the following points-
1. Optimum use of resources
2. Effective leadership and motivation
3. Establishes sound industrial relations
4. Achievement of goals
5. Change and growth
6. Improves standard of living

The great economist, Joseph. A Schumpeter, referred to management and entrepreneurs as the
engine of growth. Drucker called management the life-blood of an enterprise. According to him,
management is the crucial factor in economist and social development. Admittedly, firms can
fail because of inadequate funds, improper marketing, incompetent product design and for many
other reasons. They often fail because the basic management functions are performed poorly or
not at all.



Management vs. Administration
There has been a controversy over the meaning of the terms management and administration.
Some take management and administration as one; some consider administration broader than
management and some hold a view that management and administration are different.
Administration is broader than management
Administration is a policy-making function. Management, on the other hand, is concerned
with carrying out the broad policies laid down by administration. In words of Spriegel,
administration is largely determinative, whereas management is essentially executive.
Thus, according to this American school of thought administrators think, managers etc.
Administration is a top level activity and management is a lower level function.

- Administration is a part of management
According to the English school of thought, represented by E.F.L Brech, Henry Fayol, Kimball
and Kimball, management is a wider concept than administration. Administration handles the
current problems that may arise in carrying out the policies laid down by management.
Management is a rule making and rule enforcing body. It is an all-encompassing and
comprehensive term and administration is just an implementing agency.
- Management and administration are identical
Writers like William Newman, Harold koontz, Dalton E Mc Farland, Earnest Dale, hardly
maintain distinction between the two terms.any attempt to stretch the matter too far may be
self defeating and thoroughly misleading. The compartmental scheme hardly serves any
useful purpose. The management process are same in all organisation and at alllevels in an
organisation and there is hardly any need to appoint two individuals to discharge the
administrative and managerial functions. All undertakings require planning, organising
command, coordination and control in order to function properly, all must observe some
general principles.

HOW TO RESOLVE CONTROVERSY?
To resolve controversy, Drucker suggested that, management is applicable in business
enterprises while administration is applicable in government offices, military organisations,
social and cultural institutions. Managers or administration have to perform the thinking and
doing functions simultaneously. They have to wear both the hats gracefully in order to be
effective and successful.





Management : Science or art?
The question whether management is a science, art, or profession is put to debate quite
frequently. There are arguments on both sides. Lets examine these in detail.

Properties of science
Science is a systemised body of knowledge based on certain principles, capable of general
application. This knowledge is obtained through the process of observation, experimentation
and testing. Science thus has four elements-
1. Systemised body of knowledge- it is based on the cause and effect relationship between
different variables. Such a knowledge helps in explaining past events and predicts the
outcome of specific actions.
2. Scientific inquiry and observations- Scientific inquiry is unaffected by the personal likes
and dislikes of a scientist.
3. Experimentation The principles of science are derived after repeated observations and
experiments. The results of each experiment can be verified and outcomes predicted in a
definite way. When results get confirmed, after repeated experimentation, they become
principles.
4. Universal truths Scientific principles represent basic truths. They are developed after a
series of experiments. They can be applied in all situations and at all times.

Management as a science
Management is a science because it has all the characteristics of science, namely
1. Systematised body of knowledge management is a distinct discipline. It has number
of principles that can be studied and put to application. Management offers principles
principals that can be put while solving problems
2. Management is a social science it deals with human behaviour about which little is
known at present as we all know, it is not possible to study human behaviour under
controlled laboratory conditions. As a result, the principles of management cannot be
accepted as absolute truths. Management, at best, can be called as a soft science.
3. Management is an inexact science- it is not exact science like physics, chemistry and
biology. It does not offer absolute principles. It can offer only flexible guidelines that
would be of use in solving problems. Management can never be an exact science
because business is highly dynamic and business conditions change continually.
4. Manager vs Scientist
A scientist can afford to wait until all the information is available. He can indurge in
the series of experiments till the truth emerges really. However, a manger cannot
afford to do like that. He must take decisions based on inadequate information, in
sufficient knowledge and resources.
5. Scientific management- over the years, the traditional hit or miss methods have
yielded place to several systematic methods based on principles. No wonder,
management is known as a sophisticated behavioural science these days. Thus, art
and science are complimentary and mutually supportive.

Properties of science
Art is an application of knowledge and personal skills to achieve results. It is a way of living. Art is based
on the knowledge of principles offered by science. Art is basicaaly concerned with application of
knowledge, how to do things creatively and skilfully. It can be improved through practice only.
Management as an art
Management is basically an art that involves the use of knowledge and skills like any other art such as
music, paintings, etc. The practical knowledge in the areas of planning and motivating certainly helps
managers to taccle problems in a better way.
1. Use of knowledge manager uses the knowledge of management theory while performing the
managerial functions. He, thus uses sound knowledge in place of hit or miss methods with a view
to achieve results effectively.
2. Creative art Management is creative like any other art. It combines human and non human and
non human in a useful way so as to achieve results. it makes things happen by changing the
behaviour of human beings.
3. Personalised like any other art management is a personalised activity. Every manager has his
own way of doing things. As years roll by, managers learn the art of managing through process of
trial or error.
4. Constant practise Managers learn from mistakes. The application of managerial principles over a
period of time enable them to tackle problems with confidence. In other words, they develop the
skills through constant practise.
Management: science as well as art
Management is an art as well as science. The art of management is as old as civilization. The science of
management is young and developing. Both are complementary and mutually supportive. Managers need
to acquire knowledge systematically and put the same to good use in a skilful way, while achieving
results. As Drucker has pointed out, every organising has the same resources to work with. It is the
quality of management that spells the difference between success and failure. Managers need to aquire
knowledge systematically and put them to good use, using intuition, judgement and experience. The
ability to meet the problems head-on head not come by chance. It requires sound, knowledge and
constant practice. Managers, therefore have to fruitfully combine their scientific knowledge with artistic
skills in order to emerge as the winners in a competitive environment.
Management as a profession
Over a last few decades, factors such as growing size of business units, competition, separation of
ownership from management have led to an increased demand for professionally qualified managers.
The tasks of management have become quite specialised. As a result for these developments, claim are
being made that management has reached a stage where everything has to be managed professionally.
-
- Characteristics of a profession
The important features of a profession are:
1. Well defined body of knowledge : A profession must have a systemised body of principles,
techniques and skills.
2. Formal education and training : Everybody cant enter a profession. An individual can enter
a profession only after acquiring knowledge and skills through formal education and
training.
Levels of Management
All managers positions involve performance of management functions (planning, organising, directing,
staffing and controlling). But there are differences between managerial jobs. The differences arise
because of the existence of various levels of management in typical organisation. The term levels of
management refers to a line of demarcation between various managerial positions. In a large
organisation, three levels of management are usually identified-
1. Top level management
2. Middle level management
3. Low level management
The functions performed by top managers, middle managers, and low level managers respectively
may be briefed stated thus:

TOP MANAGEMENT
- Determines objectives and policies.
- Designs the basic operating and financial structure of an organisation.
- Provides guidance and direction.
- Lays down standards of performance.
- Maintain good public relations
MIDDLE MANAGEMENT
- Interprets and explains the policies formed by the top.
- Issues detailed instructions
- Takes report from the lower level and reports to the top level

LOW LEVEL MANAGEMENT
- Supervises the works of the workers.
- Reports to the middle level managers.



Function of Management
Managers are known by the work they do,the functions they perform .According to the functional
approach.originated by HENRY FAYOL, in every organisation managers perform certain basic functions in order to
achieve results. These functions may be broadly classified into five categories:
planning,organising,directing,staffing and controlling. Managers performthese functions within the limits
established by the external enivoornment and must consider the intereset of such diverse groups as government,
employees,unions,customer,shareholders,competitors and the public. A brief disscussion of the five basic function
is presented here:

PLANNING
Planning is the process of making decisions about future. It is the process of determinig enterprise objectives and
selecting future courses of actions necessary for their accomplishment. It is the process of deciding in advance
what is to be done,when and where it is be done, how it is to be done and by whom. Planning provides directions
to enterprise activities. It helps managers cope with change. It enables managers to measure progress towards the
objectives so that corrective actions can be taken if progress is not satisfactory. Planning is a fundamental function
of management and all other functions of management are influenced by the planning process.
ORGANISING
Organising is concerned with the arrangements of an organisations resources-people,materials,technology and
finance in order to achieve enterprise objectives. It involves decisions about the division of work ,allocation of
authority and responsibilty and the coordination of tasks. The function increases in importance as a firm grows. A
structure is created to cope with problems created by growth. Through this formal structure,the various work
activities are defined,classified,arranged and coordinate. Thus , organisingrefers to certain dynamic aspects: what
tasks are to be done ?who is to do them? How the task are to be grouped? Who is to report to whom? Where the
decisions have to be made?
STAFFING
Staffing is the function of employing ssuitable persond for the enterprise. It may be defines as an activity where
people are recurited,selected,trained,developed,motivated and compensated for manning various positions. It
includes not only the movements of indiviuals into an organisation.


FAYOLS SIX
In settings out to develop a science of management,FAYOL began by classifying business operations into six major
activities; technical(production),commercial(buying and selling),financial(use of capital) security(protection of
property),accounting(keeping financciall records) and managerial.
Since the first five activities were commonly understood by many practitioners at that time, FAYOL devoted his
attention to the last activity.

MANAGEMENT FUNCTIONS
At the managerial level, FAYOL argued that managers should perform five functions:
- PLANNING Devising a course of action that will help the organisation meet its objectives.
- ORGANISING mobilising the material and human resource of the organisations to put the plan into
effect.
- COMMANDING - giving directions of employees so that they perform the needed tasks.
- COORDINATION Making sure that the resources and activities of the organisation are working
harmoniously to achieve the desired goals.
- CONTROLLING Monitoring the plans to ensure that are being carried out properly.
This conception of managing has had, and continues today to have, a decisive impact on managerial thought,
education and practise. Many business organisations even today find the functional view of managing useful for
purpose of in-house managerial training and development.