Management development is a systematic process of management training and growth by

which individuals (aspiring to rise on the ladder of management) gain and apply knowledge,
skills, insights, and attitudes to manage managers, workers and work organisations
effectively.

Management development, therefore, means any planned, guided or directed activity

undertaken by a manager to help himself become more competent in his present and/or to
consciously prepare himself for assuming higher and more important managerial duties and
responsibilities so that he can claim promotion by merit or competence.

The urge for advancement and development must come from within the individual and a
manager has to develop himself. In other words, self-motivation is the pivot of management
development programme. Top management must create an environment in which self-
development is encouraged and facilitated.

Management development programme must be based on three principles:

All development is self- development,

2. Development programme should recognise individual differences, and

3. Development programme is a long-range process and a manager cannot be produced

overnight.

2. Importance of Management Development:

Executive talent is the most important asset of an organisation. It is not shown on the
corporate balance sheet, but it influences appreciably the growth, progress, profits and the
share values, than any other corporate assets.

Managerial asset is not costly to acquire. It is a low-cost resource with a high-profit

potential. In reality, top management should give more thought and care to the acquisition,
maintenance and growth of men and women who possess managerial talent and calibre
than the thought and care given to planning and development of a plant or a product.

In the life of a corporation, present success is largely a product of three types

of top management actions taken in the past:
1. Scientific selection of the right people in the management cadre;
2. Placement of properly selected people in the right job;

3. Assurance that these properly placed managers could grow as per expectations and could
meet both the needs of the organisation as well as their own needs. In underdeveloped and
developing countries, management is the single factor acting as the master-key for
unlocking the forces of economic development.

No modern business can continue to be successful without planned attention to the growth
and development of its managerial staff. It is due to the unbelievably rapid expansion of
technology demanding numerous specialised and qualified employees to manage complex,
sophisticated and dynamic business.

“An institution that cannot produce its own managers will die. From an overall
point of view the ability of an institution to produce managers is more
important than its ability to produce goods efficiently and cheaply”—P. Drucker.
Drucker’s statement illustrates the importance of management (executive) development. Yet
we find that industry on the whole has failed to recognise its importance, particularly in
developing countries like India.

3. Nature of Management Development:

Management or executive development is an organised and planned process and
programme of training and growth by which individual manager or executive at each level of
management hierarchy gains and applies knowledge, skills, insights and attitudes to
manage workers and the work organisations effectively.

Of course, it is beyond the shadow of doubt that the company can only create the favourable
climate for the development of managers. Ultimately, in any programme of management
development, self-development will be the key-factor to determine the success of the
programme of executive development.

In other words, the participants in this programme must have the capacity to learn and
develop and they must be highly motivated to achieve the planned objectives. Executive
development is the guided self-discovery and self-development.
4. Aims of Planned Management Development:
The primary aims and objectives are:
1. To ensure that the company is staffed both now and in the future with a sufficient number
of managers with necessary skills, experience and ability to secure continued” growth and
profitability the right man/woman at the right time in the right place. Thus, we will have a
steady source of competent people at all levels to meet organisational needs at all lines.

2. To check that human resources of a company are being properly and fully used, and that
potential and talent in human terms are neither wasted nor overlooked, and they are offered
ample and timely scope to grow, so that both individuals as well as organisational needs are
adequately met. This will ensure optimum utilisation of human capital.

3. To provide an opportunity for staff within a company to prepare themselves for higher
assignments and to reach their maximum capabilities. The staff should be enabled to fulfill
their career expectations by training that will enable them to do a bigger and a richer job
which they can get through a sound promotion policy, viz., promotion from within by merit.

In addition, there are many other objectives, such as prevention of managerial obsolescence
(becoming out of date) preparation for new business and expansions, to replace old
executives with younger talents, to Indianise management, to promote a high morale and
good organisational climate, to promote productivity, profits and so on.

Management Development Programme (MDP):

The process of management development begins with top management’s recognition of the
need for MDP. Development of suitable policy guidelines and assignment of special
responsibility for executing the policy create a favourable climate of on-the-job growth,
personal improvement and development of managers.

A special committee of senior executives will look after planning and guiding management
development. The personnel manager and special training staff will administer the routine
of MDP.

5. Contents of Management Development:

There are three areas in which we can have management development
training:
1. Knowledge,

2. Skills and

3. Attitudes, to become competent managers.

Lower level managers need considerable technical skills, whereas higher level executives
need considerable administrative skills.

2. There are three skills:

(i) Technical skills

(ii) Human relations skills and

(iii) Conceptual skill, i.e., a combination of vision, imagination and intelligence. These skills
can be learned,

(3) Attitudes are:

(a) Thinking like an executive,

(b) Empathy, i.e., ability to put ourselves in the position of others and understand their
minds,

(c) Team concept, and

(d) Recognition of human values.

6. Facilities of Management Development:

We can have the following methods of management or executives
development:
1. External:
(a) Management education at University and other institutions of higher learning offering
specialised courses for interested executives, e.g., marketing management, export
management, financial management, personnel management and so on.
(b) Management seminars, conferences and workshops at management associations or
educational institutions.

2. Internal:
(a) Art of delegation,

(b) Job rotation,

(c) Promotions and transfers,

(d) Understudy method,

(e) Coaching by the superior or boss, and

(f) Multiple Management, i.e., membership of committees and junior boards.

Job rotation means the transferring of executives from job to job and from plant to plant on
a co-ordinated and planned basis. It is a very popular method in many business concerns.
An understudy is a person who is in training to assume, at a future time., the full duties and
responsibilities of the position, currently held by his superior. The person under training
acts as ‘Assistant to—’.

In multiple management we have senior and junior boards. The junior boards serve in an
advisory capacity only. If the recommendation of the junior board is with unanimous
consent, it is usually adopted by the senior board without modifications.

For any level of management development programme, there are 7 essential ingredients
required to give candidates the very best chance of succeeding in their chosen or potential
role:

1. Good tutors who have varied practical experience and empathy, as well as
qualifications on paper.
2. Initial input, including a one-to-one breakdown of current and potential roles, with
an expert in the sector, but outside of the workplace.
3. A varied choice of appropriate course options and regular reviews to enable
update/change when and if appropriate.
4. Opportunities to implement (monitored) strategies, based on course material, either
in the work environment or in suitable scenarios outside of it.
5. Opportunities to be directly involved in a variety of team building
methods/experiences in order to establish which are most appropriate to both the
role and the team in question.
6. Encouraging the building of a peer group with other candidates in a similar situation,
thus allowing the opportunity to observe alternative management skills/methods –
and learn from each other.
7. Appointing a knowledgeable and reliable mentor in the workplace who is able and
willing to discuss all aspects of both the course and ongoing progress in the working
environment with the candidate and tutors.
8. The top management should accept responsibility for getting the policy of
development executed. For this purpose a senior officer should be placed in charge to
initiate and implement the management development programme.

9. Management development is essentially a ‘line job.’ It takes place on the job and
involves both the employee and his boss.

10. Every manager must accept direct responsibility for developing managers under his
control on the job and a high priority should be given to his task.

11. Management development must be geared to the needs of the company and the
individual.

12. A policy of promotion from within is a necessary incentive for managers to develop
in an organisation.

13. Management development starts with the selection of the right persons for
managerial ranks. It is essential to ensure that good material is really fed into the
programme at the entry levels.

14. There should be a realistic time table in accordance with the needs of a company.
This time-table should take into account the needs for the managerial personnel over
a sufficiently long period and the resources which are available at present and
required in future.
The nature of management development

Behavioral Change
The management development processfocuses on the change in manager's behavior. This change implies that there
will be a change in knowledge and attitude of managers going under development programs.

2. Educational Process
Management development is an educational process rather than training. It focuses on overall personality
development. The potential managers required to have knowledge about business, environment, management
principles and techniques, human relations, specific industry analysis and so on, which is possible through a
continuous development process.

3.Self-development
Managers develop themselves by participating in the management development programs organized by the company.
Through the actual job performance they can obtain real and authentic job experience. But the managers should be
motivated for self development and learning activity as the company can merely provide such opportunities. It means,
the real inspiration of self development should arise from the individuals.

4. Continuous Process
Management development is a continuous process which begins by looking after the organization's objectives, moves
through the assessment of current management process, and finally completes with the evaluation of the changed
behavior. However, this process goes continuously as the demand for development.