Concept and Characterstics of management

Subject: Business Studies

Overview

Management is the process of coordinating and controlling human efforts in order to get the desired results and output. Management can be viewed as a subject, process or body of an organization. Management has certain features such as goal-oriented, group activity, universal activity, dynamic, art and science, profession, etc.

Concept and Characterstics of management

Concept of Management

Any action can be accomplished if many people contribute to achieving the desired results. We, human beings are called social animals as we live in a society or a group. The main purpose of living together in a group was to fulfill one’s needs and demands. A single person cannot do all work by oneself, he cannot make clothes for himself, farm and fulfill all other basic needs for himself. So when the society started to develop people started to split their works and specialize in a particular area. Therefore, by this, we can understand that people need to work in a group to fulfill their needs and demands.

But there exist individualism as well in the world. By this, we understand that there is a difference in the nature, attitude, and perception of people. An American person has a different perception to that of a Japanese. This often causes difficulty for people to work together as a single unit moving in the same direction. Hence, management is the task of achieving the desired goals and objectives through the coordination of the involved manpower and resources.

Management can be simply understood as “manage-men”. So, management is managing the human resources in the most effective and efficient manner.

While some people may say that the task of managing people seems to be easy, many struggle when they are given an opportunity to manage people and resources. It is quite complex due to the unpredictable nature of human beings. If two people are put into the same situation, one might act differently than the other. This makes predicting the response difficult. So, management is a complicated and challenging activity.

Management has been defined in various ways by various writers from a different point of view. Some have defined management as a process to manage people while some argue management is a group of people who control other’s activities. Others say management is a discipline just like economics and mathematics. However, management can be defined as:

Management as a process:
Management is taken as a process of activities performed in order to coordinate and control human efforts to achieve desired results. The process involves planning, organizing, staffing, leading and controlling, the efforts of the members to accomplish the objectives. These processes are not in sequence form but they are done simultaneously.

Management as a disciple:
Management is also taken as a separate branch of knowledge as any other human knowledge. This discipline involves the principles and techniques to practice the management in any organization. Management is nowadays popular in campus and colleges as a field of high scope and is taught along with psychology, sociology, politics, etc.

Management as a noun:
Management can also be taken as a separate group of people who control the activity of an organization. There is management in every organization whether it be a school or a hospital or a business company. There is a board of directors, managing director, chief executive officer, head of departmental, supervisors and so on. This hierarchy level controls the overall activities of an organization.

Some of the famous definitions are given below:

“Management is a distinct process consisting of planning, organizing, activating and controlling, performed to determine and accomplish the objectives by the use of human beings and other resources.” - George R. Terry

“Management is the art and science of decision making and leadership.” - Donald J. Clough

“Management is a multi-purpose organ that manages a business, manages a manager and manages workers and work.” - P. Drucker

(Sharma, Surendra Raj; Jha, Surendra Kumar: pg- 4-5)

In the above definitions, we can see that management has three key jobs.

Managing a business
Managing a manager
Managing worker and work

So, even if one is omitted then there cannot be efficiency in the work and the desired output might not be achieved. Therefore, a manager should be capable enough to balance and harmonize all three main functions of management.

We have seen that management can be defined in various ways when they are viewed from different perspectives. However, the general idea of management is a process of getting things done through the manpower to attain organizational goals and objectives.

Characteristics/Features of Management

^{_{(source:www.slideshare.net)}}

There are some important features that can be found in management. Some are:

Management is Goal-Oriented:
The main objective of management is to attain certain pre-determined goals and objectives. Hence, effective management is always focused on achieving the desired goals and objectives. The basic goal is to maximize the efficiency and profit of any business organization. One of the parameters of the success of a business organization can be measured by analyzing its goal accomplishment. Hence, management is always goal-oriented.

Management is a distinct process:
Management is a process of planning, organizing, leadership, motivation and controlling. The main function of management is not to do things but to get things done through others in an effective manner. Hence, it is a process of planned actions.

Management is a unified activity:
Management is the act of integrating and uniting the efforts of human resources with the machines and materials to achieve the desired goals. Hence, we can say that management is a unified action of human efforts, machinery, and raw materials.

Management as a social process:
Management is a process of getting a job done through others. So it involves people. So management is a social process that involves direction, coordination, and control of human beings and their efforts.

Management as a group activity:
Management is not one man's action. There needs to be a coordinated action of many parts of an organization. So management is a group activity that works toward the same goal. A group helps an organization to achieve planned goals easily and effectively rather than an individual.

Management as a universal activity:
Management is an important aspect of mankind as management is essential in every organization. When there is human activity there we need management to coordinate and control the efforts of people. Hence, management is required in business as well as non-business organizations.

Management as both science and art:
Management is a science because management has proven principles and is proven by experiments and can be verified and predicted.
Management is an art as they are dependent on the personal skills of a manager and they work on the result-oriented approach.

Management as a profession:
Management has a huge scope in the present world. There is a need for managers in every type of organization. Hence, management can be taken as a profession that requires formal training and involvement in an association.

Management is multidisciplinary in nature:
A manager requires skills related to many other disciplines such as economics, psychology, sociology, law, etc. Management has to make difficult decisions based on their knowledge of various other subjects. Hence, management is multi-disciplinary in nature.

Management is dynamic:
The world is moving at a high pace as we advance in technology. Hence, there is no hard and fast rule regarding management. So management is flexible in nature and must adapt to the changing environment to get success.

Management is intangible in nature:
Management is intangible as it cannot be seen but the results it generates proves its existence. The operation might not be physically visible but the results show the effectiveness of management in the organization.

(Neupane Surendra; Parajuli, Ram Prasad; Jha, Deepak Kumar; Chhetri, Tuk Bahadur; Dulal, Gopal Prasad Pg-7-10)

Hence, these are some of the important characteristics of management. Management is also a continuous function of an organization that has a life span equal to the lifespan of the organization.

References

Neupane Surendra; Parajuli, Ram Prasad; Jha, Deepak Kumar; Chhetri, Tuk Bahadur; Dulal, Gopal Prasad; "Business Studies class: XII." Kathmandu: Nawakala Publications, 2011. 28-40.

Sharma, Surendra Raj; Jha, Surendra Kumar; "Business Studies Grade XII." Sukunda Pustak Bhawan, 2011 A.D. 31-40.

Shrestha, Kul Narsingh. "Business Organization and Management ." Kathmandu: Nabin Prakashan, 2065 B.S. 30-46.

Things to remember

Management is managing men to get the work done through them to obtain desired organizational goals and objectives.
Management is a process, discipline or a noun.
Management has features such as goal-oriented, group activity, universal activity, profession, intangibility, etc.

It includes every relationship which established among the people.
There can be more than one community in a society. Community smaller than society.
It is a network of social relationships which cannot see or touched.
common interests and common objectives are not necessary for society.

Questions and Answers

Define the concept of management.

Management can be simply understood as “manage-men”. So management is managing the human resources in the most effective and efficient way. Management is the art of getting things done through the people effectively and efficiently. Management is very important for an organization. Without management, the organization cannot achieve particular goal. Management has been defined in various ways by various writers from a different point of views. Some of them are as follows:

“Management is the art and science of decision making and leadership”-Donald J. Clough

The main function of management is not to do things but to get things done through others. Management is very important for an organization. There must be systematic and proper management in an organization.

Explain the characteristics of the management.

The characteristics of the management are explained as below:

Management is goal oriented: The main objective of management is to attain certain pre-determined goals and objectives. Hence, an effective management is always focused on achieving the desired goals and objectives. Every organization is established with the purpose of achieving a particular goal. So, the management focuses on achieving the goal for its existence.
Management is a distinct process: Management is a process of planning, organizing, leadership, motivation and controlling. The main function of management is not to do things but to get things done through others. Every activity in the organization is carried out in a process. Hence, management is a distinct process.
Management is a unified activity: Management is the act of integrating and uniting the efforts of the human resources with the machines and materials to achieve the desired goals. Hence, we can say that management is a unified action of the human efforts, machinery, and raw materials.
Management as a social process: Management is a social process concerned with the relations between the people. So, management is a social process which involves direction, co-ordination and control of the human beings and their efforts.
Management as a group activity: Management is not a one man action. There needs to be a coordinated action of many parts of an organization. So, it is a teamwork. Hence, management is a group activity who work together toward the same goal.
Management is a universal activity: Management is applicable and required by all types of organizations. Management techniques and principles are applicable in all business and non-business organizations.
Management as both science and art: Management is a science as it has specialized body of knowledge developed through experimentation and observation.
Management is an art ad the practice of management depends on abilities and skill of managers.It applies knowledge for the efficient operation of an organization.
Management is a profession: Management is emerging as an important profession. There is a need for managers in every type of organizations. Hence, management can be taken as a profession which requires formal training and involvement in an association.
Management is multi-disciplinary in nature: The ideas and knowledge of the management are the results of many disciplines are Commerce, Economics, Sociology, Psychology etc. The principle based in this discipline are used in management. So, management is multi-disciplinary in nature.
Management is Dynamic: Environmental forces like political, economic, social, cultural and technological forces are highly dynamic. So, management is flexible in nature and must adapt to the changing environment to get success.

Define management. State and explain the major features of management.

Management can be simply understood as “manage-men”. So management is managing the human resources in the most effective and efficient way. Management is the art of getting things done through the people effectively and efficiently. Management is very important for an organization. Without management, the organization cannot achieve a particular goal. Management has been defined in various ways by various writers from a different point of views. Some of them are as follows:

“Management is the art and science of decision making and leadership”-Donald J. Clough

The major features of management are:

Management is a goal oriented
Management as a distinct process
Management is a unified activity
Management as a social process
Management is a group activity
Management is a universal activity
Management as both science and art
Management is a profession
Management is a multi-disciplinary in nature
Management is Dynamic

They are explained as below:

Management is goal oriented: The main objective of management is to attain certain pre-determined goals and objectives. Hence, an effective management is always focused on achieving the desired goals and objectives. Every organization is established with the purpose of achieving a particular goal. So, the management focuses on achieving the goal for its existence.
Management is a distinct process: Management is a process of planning, organizing, leadership, motivation and controlling. The main function of management is not to do things but to get things done through others. Every activity in the organization is carried out in a process. Hence, management is a distinct process.
Management is a unified activity: Management is the act of integrating and uniting the efforts of the human resources with the machines and materials to achieve the desired goals. Hence, we can say that management is a unified action of the human efforts, machinery, and raw materials.
Management as a social process: Management is a social process concerned with the relations between the people. So, management is a social process which involves direction, co-ordination and control of the human beings and their efforts.
Management as a group activity: Management is not a one man action. There needs to be a coordinated action of many parts of an organization. So, it is a teamwork. Hence, management is a group activity who work together toward the same goal.
Management is a universal activity: Management is applicable and required by all types of organizations. Management techniques and principles are applicable in all business and non-business organizations.
Management as both science and art: Management is a science as it has specialized body of knowledge developed through experimentation and observation.
Management is an art ad the practice of management depends on abilities and skill of managers.It applies knowledge for the efficient operation of an organization.
Management is a profession: Management is emerging as an important profession. There is a need for managers in every type of organizations. Hence, management can be taken as a profession which requires formal training and involvement in an association.
Management is multi-disciplinary in nature: The ideas and knowledge of the management are the results of many disciplines are Commerce, Economics, Sociology, Psychology etc. The principle based in this discipline are used in management. So, management is multi-disciplinary in nature.
Management is Dynamic: Environmental forces like political, economic, social, cultural and technological forces are highly dynamic. So, management is flexible in nature and must adapt to the changing environment to get success.

State the major objectives of management.

The objective of management are stated below:

Management is a goal oriented
Management as a distinct process
Management is a unified activity
Management as a social process
Management is a group activity
Management is a universal activity
Management as both science and art
Management is a profession
Management is a multi-disciplinary in nature
Management is Dynamic

Discuss the characteristics of management.

Some of the major characteristics of management are as follows:

Management is goal oriented:
The main objective of management is to attain certain pre-determined goals and objectives. Hence, effective management is always focused on achieving the desired goals and objectives. The basic goal is to maximize the efficiency and profit of any business organization. One of the parameters of success of a business organization can be measured by analyzing its goal accomplishment. Hence, management is always goal oriented.

Management is a distinct process:
Management is a process of planning, organizing, leadership, motivation and controlling. The main function of management is not to do things but to get things done through others in an effective manner. Hence, it is a process of planned actions.

Management is a unified activity:
Management is the act of integrating and uniting the efforts of human resources with the machines and materials to achieve the desired goals. Hence, we can say that management is a unified action of human efforts, machinery, and raw materials.

Management as a social process:
Management is a process of getting a job done through others. So it involves people. So management is a social process which involves direction, coordination, and control of the human beings and their efforts.

Management as a group activity:
Management is not one man action. There needs to be a coordinated action of many parts of an organization. So management is a group activity which works toward the same goal. A group helps an organization to achieve planned goals easily and effectively rather than an individual.

Management as a universal activity:
Management is an important aspect of mankind as management is essential in every organization. When there is human activity there we need management to coordinate and control the efforts of people. Hence, management is required in business as well as non-business organizations.

Management as both science and art:
Management is science because management has proven principles and are proven by experiments and can be verified and predicted.
Management is an art as they are dependent on the personal skills of a manager and they work on the result-oriented approach.

Management as a profession:
Management has a huge scope in the present world. There is a need for managers in every type of organizations. Hence, management can be taken as a profession which requires formal training and involvement in an association.

Management is multidisciplinary in nature:
A manager requires skills related to many other disciplines such as economics, psychology, sociology, law, etc. Management has to take difficult decisions based on their knowledge of various other subjects. Hence, management is multi-disciplinary in nature.

Management is dynamic:
The world is moving at a high pace as we advance in technology. Hence, there is no hard and fast rule regarding management. So management is flexible in nature and must adapt to the changing environment to get success.

Management is intangible in nature:
Management is intangible as it cannot be seen but the results it generates proves its existence. The operation might not be physically visible but the results show the effectiveness of management in the organization.

Subjects

Subjects

Subjects

Subjects

Subjects

Subjects

Subjects

Subjects

Subjects