Essay On The Introduction To Management
Essay On The Introduction To Management
Essay On The Introduction To Management
Management today is not just an exercise of blind authority or bossism but it implies
scientific thinking, accurate planning and meticulous control to ensure quick and better
results. Management has become a profession in view of the modern business becoming
more sophisticated.
Management as a Process:
In the words of George R. Terry, “Management is a distinct process consisting of
planning, organising actuating and controlling performed to determine and
accomplish objectives by the use of human beings and other resources.” The
elements of management are: planning, organising, actuating (directing) and
controlling.
These are also called the functions of management. It is through the performance of
these functions that management is able to effectively utilise manpower and physical
resources such as capital, machines, material, etc. to produce goods and services
required by the society.
Henri Fayol has defined management as a process consisting of five functions: “To
manage is to forecast and plan, to organise, to command, to coordinate and to control.”
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(iii) The needs and aspirations of the workers are not considered.
People are not mere cogs in the wheel and so they should not be treated as commodity or
mere means to certain ends. Needs and aspirations of the people working in an
organisation should not be overlooked. They must be satisfied so as to obtain sustained
and consistent effort towards organisational objectives.
In other words, all individuals occupying managerial positions are collectively known as
management. A manager is a person who performs the managerial functions of planning,
organising, staffing, directing and controlling.
Management as a Discipline:
As a discipline, management refers to the body of knowledge and a separate field of
study. Management is an organised body of knowledge which can be learnt through
instructions and teaching. It entails the principles, practices, techniques and skills of
management which help in achieving organisational objectives. This discipline is taught
widely in schools and colleges in most of the countries of the world.
Management as an Activity:
Management is an activity concerned with getting things done through people and
directing the efforts of individuals towards a common objective. In the words of Harold
Koontz, “Management is the art of getting things done through and with people in
formally organised groups.”
Management gets results from the people by satisfying their needs, and expectations,
and providing them opportunity for their personal growth. Management is a distinct
activity in any organisation which is necessary for the achievement of its objectives.
According to another functional classification management activities are
classified as:
2. Decisional Activities:
Management being both administrative and executory has to take routine and strategic
decisions regarding various operational activities so that the organisation work is
executed smoothly. In their decisional role as managers, management can also be termed
as innovators, resource allocators, negotiators and crisis managers.
According to Koontz and O’Donnell, “It is the task of manager to establish and maintain
an internal environment in which people working together in groups can perform
effectively and efficiently towards the attainment of group goals.”
According to Kimball and Kimball, “Management embraces all duties and functions that
pertain to the initiation of an enterprise, its financing, the establishment of all major
policies, the provision of all necessary equipment, the outlining of the general form of
organisation under which the enterprise is to operate and the selection of the principal
officers. The group of officials in primary control of an enterprise is referred to as “the
management.”
According to Keith and Gubellini, “Management is the force that integrates men and
physical plant into an effective operating unit.”
(ii) It is a Process:
When it is used in the sense of a process, it refers to what management does. In other
words, it refers to the process of managing, planning, organising, staffing, guiding,
directing supervising and controlling.
Management as a Science:
Science is by definition a body of knowledge gathered by experimentation and
observation, artificially tested and expressed in the form of general principles.
4. Universally applicable:
Scientific princAples may be applied in all situations and at all times, exceptions though
may be logically explained. These principles, under required given conditions never fail
at any place or point of time.
Steps:
The debate about whether or not managing is a science continues. The answer to this
question depends largely on the degree to which the scientific method is used to
determine managing principles and solve managing problems.
But, at the same time, there exists many scientific features which do not coincide with
those of management.
2. These facts are classified in some way, usually on the basis of similarities or
dissimilarities, in an attempt to make the data more meaningful.
3. From the classifications, hypotheses are formulated establishing cause and effect
relationships between various given factors.
4. The hypotheses are then tested to determine their reliability and validity.
5. After the hypotheses are verified and if they stand the test of time, they then have
interpretive or predictive value when applied to similar phenomena.
In referring to the hope of dream that a true science of management may someday be
achieved. Professor Mee states, “This hope probably will be realized in another
chapter in another book in another century.” Perhaps the best that can be said is
that a science of management is just beginning to emerge.
It has often been stated that even when management attempts to use the method of
science (from which managing principles are also derived), management is neither as
precise nor as comprehensive as the natural and social sciences.
In fact, one of the more significant developments in the last seventy-five years in the field
of management has been the tendency toward using the rational approach in solving
management problems.
2. Relatively few managers are trained or experienced in using the method of science.
Those who are trained may find it too time-consuming and, because of this as well as
other limiting factors, seek other ways to reach decisions and to solve problems.
3. Precision measuring instruments and tools are not always available in management. A
manager is forced to use relative measurement where absolute measurement is not
possible or feasible. To evaluate the performance of a group of supervisors, for example,
he may have to use a relative measuring device such as a carefully prepared rating scale.
For his purposes, however, the relative measuring technique is just as useful and
effective.
4. In the physical sciences, the researcher works with a single variable, holding all other
factors constant. Managers can seldom do this. They almost always deal with people, the
human element with all its weaknesses. The human element can never be treated as a
constant; hence precision is less than in the physical sciences, though equal to that of the
social sciences. Businessmen are always dealing with the unpredictable: people,
governments and nature.
Management as an Art:
Art refers to the skill to put into action a systematized body of knowledge for the
achievement of a given task. To get mastery in any skill it is necessary to have the
thorough knowledge of the principles of doing the particular task. At the same time it is
necessary to possess the tact, the care to be taken, the discretion and proper judgement
in applying the principles involved.
Presence of mind, promptness to react to the given situation and correct response
demanded by the prevailing condition are all essential to perform skillfully the task
undertaken.
Experiences and judgement add to this skill. Management is also an art as it is necessary
to apply the principles of management in planning, organising, staffing, directing and
controlling the whole series of activities all through the managerial process.
Briefly, these skills are called the planning skills, the organising skills, the staffing skills,
the directing skills (how to motivate, to communicate, and to lead) and the controlling
skills. Sometimes it is said that a good manager is born and not made. But it has been
now established and accepted that it is through learning and training process that skilled
managers are developed.
As Koontz and O’Donnell have rightly pointed out the work of managing a business or
any group activity is an art. But for this the organised body of knowledge is required. It is
certainly a science. Thus art and science are not exclusive terms but complementary
ones.
(d) Personal Judgement:
No doubt there are useful principles of management, but it needs individual judgement
to apply them properly and at appropriate time. It means art is necessary.
(e) Continuous Practice:
The art of management is much older than the science of management which as an
organised body of knowledge is hardly about ninety to hundred years old.
Thus management is both a science and an art. It is a science because it uses certain
principles. It is an art because it requires continuous practice to ensure the best possible
result. Thus science and art in management are not mutually exclusive. Both of them
exist together in every function of management.
Management as a Profession:
Profession is defined as a composite of intellectual and executive qualities applied to
carry out successfully the specified activities for the benefit of others. It is an intellectual
field. One enters into it to work without any expectation of a direct share in the profits
earned out of the activities to carry out which one might be contributing his specialist
knowledge or intellect.
Features of Profession:
The above statement makes the following features of profession clear:
1. Existence of a body of knowledge, techniques, skills and specialised knowledge.
In the light of what has been said above management can be said to be a profession.
3. Fee as remuneration:
The number of management consultants is increasing Even a large number of well
reputed firms are establishing their consultancy agencies.
But company form of business enterprises in India and corporate organisations in USA
and other countries are even by definition the enterprises in which ownership is divorced
from management. Even then question remains if all of them are managed by
professional managers. As things stand, under law it is the shareholders who elect the
Board of Directors from amongst themselves.
Thus the topmost group at the top level management of a company or corporate body are
not professional managers. But all the big companies operating on large scale do appoint
executives and managers on salary-cum-perks basis. Thus they are the professional
managers.
In large companies even the Vice Presidents of marketing, finance, etc. who are on the
Board of Directors are the professional managers. So are all those working at the middle
level and lower level of management. In case of public undertakings management is in
effect with the professional managers. Exceptions to it are Departmental Undertakings
such as Railways. Posts & Telegraphs etc. which are controlled by the various
departments of the Government.
But there also other than the Minister-in-charge all those looking after the management
are professionals. A new trend is becoming more and more marked. Proprietary
managers are becoming more interested in acquiring the latest knowledge and technique
of management. They are sending their own sons, daughters and other close relatives
abroad to acquire degrees and diplomas in management.
Others are joining short- term courses in management run by organisations like
Administrative Staff College, Hyderabad. All India Management Association etc. Such
persons are now occupying positions at the topmost layers of the managerial hierarchy.
In conclusion, it may be said that all the requirements of profession are not satisfied by
managers at the top. But management is, by and large, becoming professionalised, it is
more so in the developed nations. But even in India large number of managerial cadres
are getting professionalised.
This is applicable to both the public and private sectors. Even the case of smaller
enterprises, which are run by proprietary managers, assistance of professionals such as
chartered accountants, cost accountants and lawyers are being utilised to a great extent.
Further, they include goals intended to further social and physical improvement of the
community and to contribute to desirable civic activities.
It should be noted that most business houses in achieving their primary goals also
contribute to their respective communities by creating needed economic wealth,
employment and financial support to the community.
In practice, managers should strive to develop and attain variety of objectives in all
management areas where activity is critical to the operation and success of the system.
Following are the eight key areas in which Drucker advises managers to set management
objectives.
1. Market Standing:
Management should set objectives indicating where it would like to b£ in relation to its
competitors.
2. Innovation:
Management should set objectives outlining its commitment to the development of new
methods of operation.
3. Productivity:
Management should set objectives outlining the target levels of production.
5. Profitability:
Management should set objectives that specify the profit the company would like to
generate.
8. Public Responsibility:
Management should set objectives that indicate the company’s responsibilities to its
customers and society and the extent to which the company intends to live up to those
responsibilities.
Management is considered as a Three-tier activity. The top tier centres round the
determination .of objectives and policies, the middle tier concerned with implementation
of policies through the assistance of lower tier of the organisation.
The various tasks in a business enterprise “become structured somewhat like a pyramid,
with the highest level of management centred at its apex”.
The managerial set-up of any undertaking, therefore consists of three levels – Top
Management, Middle Management and Operating Management or Lower Level
Management.
The top level management is a concept of functions concerning the manner in which the
enterprise should be shaped.
In view of large size of modern companies, the key functions cannot be performed by a
single person, and hence a compact group of elected office-bearers, experts and
executives form the top management level of enterprises these days. Board of Directors
is assisted by Managing Director, General Manger etc. in directing the company’s
operations.
Top level management’s work is a creative process and it also involves commitments of
high order of responsibility. As Allen observes “top-management work is a work which
must be performed at the apex of the organisational pyramid because it cannot be
carried out effectively at lower levels.”
Top management is also described “as the policy-making group responsible for the
overall direction and success of all company activities.” It is a chief custodian of the
property of the enterprise. It is the main mobiliser of resources in men and materials
essential for the inception, maintenance, operations and expansion of the undertaking.
It is more basically a panel of planning the company’s operations and in due course shall
develop into an evaluating and controlling medium for securing the maximum possible
performance. It is concerned with the problems and policies of the entire enterprise.
(2) Framing the policies and making plans to carry out the objectives and policies.
(4) Assembling the resources needed to put the plans into operation.
2. Framing of Policies:
The objectives are realised through policies framed by the management. Policies signify
the decisions taken by the management on different strategic aspects of company’s
operations or activities.
Production policy indicates the schedules of production to meet the market demand.
Product policy lays down the standards, specifications, size, design, colour shapes etc. of
the product.
Marketing policy describes the channels of selling the product (direct sale or dealership,
agency etc.), advertising and sales promotions techniques to be adopted, the sales targets
to be attained etc.
Pricing policy emphasises the quality aspect of the product as well as the comparative
competitive nature of the rates quoted, discounts allowed etc.
Financial policy is concerned with procuring funds required for investment in fixed
assets or required to be held over for working capital needs, sources of finance, e.g.,
borrowing, self-financing, issuing additional capital etc.
Top management has also to devise plans and schemes for precise execution of policies
within a given time. Plans set out the course along which operations in different
departments are to be conducted as per the criteria laid down in the respective policies.
3. Organising:
Organisation means division of functions, allocation of duties to the personnel, fixation
of range of their responsibility and the scope of their authority and coordination of the
activities of the departments of the undertaking. Standardisation of administrative
procedures is the main task of organising the enterprise.
Systems and procedures are the methods intended to govern the departmental activities
of a company. Organisation ensures smooth flow of work from one stage to another, or
from one department to another, so that the whole undertaking is enabled to achieve the
targets to the benefit of the company and satisfaction of customers.
Money capital has to be raised through issue of shares, debentures, etc. and arrangement
for working capital has to be made through reserves, bank advance etc.
Then the physical resources-machinery, tools, furniture, buildings, water supply, power,
other ancillary equipment-have to be collected as per estimated needs. The management
has to find out the sources of finance for implementing the plans and programmes.
5. Controlling:
Top level management does not directly execute work. But the Chief Executive in the top
management has the responsibility of exercising supervision over all the departments to
make sure that the middle and lower managements are functioning as per the plans.
The top level management lays down the standards of performance for the purpose of
comparison of the actual results with the planned performance. Standard cost per unit,
sales quotas, net profit per unit of sales are some of the reliable criteria for comparison.
Top level management finds out to what extent the performance has been upto the mark
and identifies in the course the sources of strength and weakness in the different phases
of organisation and operations.
Top level management has to act as coordinator and regulator of the activities of the
undertaking in its different dimensions. It will call for reports, statistical data, special
studies, accounting records to know the position of performance and to apply regulatory
checks wherever and whenever necessary.
These departmental managers and officers are expected to take concrete steps for actual
realisation of the objectives and operational results visualised in the plans finalised by
the top officers of the organisation. “This group is responsible for the execution and
interpretation of policies throughout the organisation and for the successful operation of
assigned division or departments.”
Managers at the middle level management level exercise the usual functions of
management in respect of their own departments. They have to plan the operations,
issue instructions to their assistants, collect the resources required and control the work
of the men under them and evaluate the results achieved by their department with
reference to the plans formulated by the top management.
(ii) Preparing the organisational set-up in their departments for fulfilling the objective
implied in various business policies.
(iii) Finding out the suitable personnel and assigning duties and responsibilities to them
for the execution of the plans of the concerned departments.
(iv) Compiling detailed instructions regarding operations and issuing them to the
assistants and operatives to focus and guide their efforts accordingly.
(v) Motivating the personnel for higher productivity and rewarding them for their merit,
capacity or calibre.
(vii) Collecting reports, statistical information and other records about the work turned
out in respective departments and forwarding the same with their observations to the
top level management.
(viii) Recommending to the top management, new or revised policies for their
departments to secure better performance.
Middle level management managers are responsible for all the leading functions within
each department. They provide “the guidance and the structure for a purposeful
enterprise”.
The top management’s plans and ambitious expectations cannot be fruitfully realised
without the key officers at the middle level management.
(ii) To guide the foremen, and prescribe methods and process to be followed in execution
of the work allotted.
(iv) Assembling the tools, equipment, plant, qualified personnel etc. to execute the
production’s plan.
(iii) Designing the products, their specifications, standards, quality, workmanship etc.
(v) Plant and tools maintenance and development of the full capacity of production.
3. Personnel Department:
It is headed by the chief personnel officer, labour officer. He has to devise selection
procedure and training schemes: he has to maintain service records of the staff and
formulate methods of remuneration in conformity with the productivity and cost of
living. He has to assure wholesome working conditions to the personnel and look after
their social and economic security and welfare.
He is also required to compile periodically the Trading Account, Profit and Loss Account
and Balance sheet of the firm.
He should ensure that monthly financial statements indicating the position of the firm
are placed before the Board and other top management officials.
7. Costing Department:
In bigger enterprises a separate department for costing is constituted and cost
accountant is appointed to administer the functions of the section.
Costing department is entrusted with the main functions of ascertaining the prime and
supplementary costs and submission of cost-sheets to the top level management for
appraisal.
Costing department keeps detailed records of costs of completed jobs in progress, costs
of materials, labour, factory overhead costs and sales on cost. It helps the management
to find out the disparity between estimated costs and actual costs and the reason thereof
so that remedial measures can be adopted.
8. Sales Department:
This section is the life-blood of the enterprise because the sales are the barometer of
business profits and reputations of the firm. The work of the department is to create
demand for the goods for promoting maximum possible sales at quick pace in wider
markets.
(iii) Organising advertisement campaigns and other sales promotion activities for
creating, maintaining and expanding the demand.
(iv) Collecting orders from the customers through agents, dealers or salesmen.
The plans and policies of the top level management will fail if the foremen and operatives
do not fully realise the spirit of sustained work. The quality of the workmanship and
quantity of output will depend on the hard labour, discipline and loyalty of the operating
personnel. The foremen or supervisors are responsible for executing the work orders
allotted to their respective sections.
They pass on the instructions of middle level management to the working force, procure
the materials, tools etc. required for the jobs, assign specific duties to individual
workmen and guide them in acting upon the instructions and handling the job on hand
with ability and accuracy.
They are also responsible for maintaining discipline among the respective batches of
workers, preserving and boosting their morale and fostering the team spirit in them.
(iii) It is used apart from the above two—personnel and activity- but it describes the
subject, the body of knowledge and the whole practice, the discipline.
The job of management is to give active leadership that unites the productive but passive
resources into a fruitful organization.
(iii) Controlling.
Planning includes formation of policy and its translation into plans. Implementing
includes the execution. Controlling means exercising administrative control over the
plans.
(iii) Controlling.
(1) Planning is the ascertainment of the course or objectives of a business, division or
department to attain maximum profit effectiveness, the establishment of policies and
continuous seeking and finding out new and better ways to do things.
(2) Implementing seeks to the doing phases, after preparation of plans, personnel attend
their jobs with training of motivation not do rightly. Activities must run to the planning,
supervision and direction of the subordinates and at the same time groups efforts are
coordinated.
(3) Lastly, controlling seeks to evaluate acts of those who are responsible for executing
the plans agreed upon. It consists of: (a) Controlling adherence to plans (b) appraising
performance.
And management is truly a profession in the sense that it fulfills all these conditions.
Management these days is very much a systematised body of knowledge (science) and is
an identifiable discipline. It has also developed a number of its tools and techniques.
In India, now there are a number of management institutes and university departments
imparting formal management training. But management still, at last so in our country,
does not fulfill the last time requirements of being a profession. There is, for example,
still no unified ethical code of conduct for the managers as is there for the doctors and
lawyers.
8. Essay on the Functions of Management:
Various authors have given various functions of management according to the time and
development of the management science.
(ii) Organisation
(iii) Direction
(iv) Co-ordination
(v) Control.
(ii) Organisation:
Organisation is the structural relationship in an enterprise between the various factors
i.e., men, material and management which combine to achieve the objectives set by the
enterprise. In a dynamic society like ours, the organisation is not fixed. If it does not
promote the objectives of the enterprise, it must be modified.
(iii) Direction:
Direction consists of command, execution, control, supervision and motivation i.e.,
achieving the good results. It is concerned with to use Lawrence H. Appley’s
maxim “that management is essentially getting things done through the
efforts of other people.”
It needs the personal touch. A good manager has to see that his orders are properly
carried out and have achieved the desired results. It will need proper supervision by him
and control of all the levels below him.
Moreover, his order must always create motivation among subordinates. It is only
possible when his orders are of the right type and at the right moment. For it, more of
initiative, sincere and tact is required than aggressiveness. A good executive must always
be a good leader.
(iv) Co-Ordination:
Co-operation permeates all operating organisations and makes their entire structure
more effective by harmonizing and property timing the various activities. It means
synchronising the activities of all persons and functions in the enterprise and rooting out
personal prestige and vested interests.
(iv) Co-ordination.
(v) Control:
This includes the setting of the targets or standards and comparing the actuals with
standards in order to know the deviations, analysis and probing the reasons for such
deviations, fixing of responsibility in terms of persons responsible for negative deviation,
and correction of employees performance so that group goals, and plans devised to
achieve them are accomplished.
From time to time, gadgets and aids are offered to replace management, but actually at
best they assist and do not represent management. Serious consideration of such devices
usually points out the need for more management judgement and courage to be used.
Nothing takes the place of management.