Concept of Management 3
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Unit Concept of 1 Management 1.1. INTRODUCTION The knowledge of Management Science is very much essential for an engineer as he is the man who deals with utilization of useful resources of the country to produce useful products for the use of human kind. In the process of conversion he must be very careful in using the available resources, which belongs to the public at large. He must use them optimally to produce goods and services. The knowledge of management science helps him to use his analytical ability to sharpen enough to see that he does his work in such a way; for the best advantage of the country and his fellowmen. Everyone of us are involved in the management processes every day while planning our activities from morning till evening, without the knowledge of management science. The knowledge of management will sharpen our thinking in the direction of optimal utilization of available resources. 1.2. NATURE OF MANAGEMENT To run any business a central directing and controlling agency is a must. This agency is very much similar to our mind, which directs and controls our body, which is an assembly of flesh and bones. Without mind this body has no meaning. Similarly any business house is a collection of men, machines, labour and equipment, which does not serve any purpose, without the proper guiding and controlling agency. For efficient functioning of business, it is necessary that all the above said factors are put to work in co-coordinated and meaningful way. Management does this work. All the resourses available inside and outside of the organization are put to right use in a planned manner by the management. Management is a word used by different people with different meanings. The noun ‘management’ is used as a collective noun to refer all those who manage with in a particular organization including the decision makers (like managers), including those who help or advise them in decision making process (staff personnel). The word management is also used to refer to a particular activity such as scientific management or to distinguish a special class of peoples ‘management’ and labor. Peter Drucker says that ‘management is a multi-purpose organ that manages a business, managers, workers and work.’ He adds that ‘neither results nor resources exist inside the business. Both exist outside.’ It is the function of a management to use resources for the realization of results in such a way that the business firm is not 2 Management Science only able to pay its way but also able to earn some surplus to meet the needs of growth and expansion. It is the management that provides planning, organization and direction, which are necessary for business operations. Whatever may be the size of the firm it is the function of the management or people responsible for management to chalk out the course of action that the business has to follow to fulfill the objectives for which the business has started. Management is a vital function concerned with all aspects of the working of enterprise. In any enterprise, people will associate together to run it, with specific objectives, may be maximization of profit, or render service to the community. These people plan the work of the organization, direct the people in the organization, pool up resources and direct the men under them to use these resources in a meaningful way to achieve the desired objectives. The process employed by this group is the process of management. Management is the function of guiding, directing, coordinating human effort and activities for the accomplishment of given task. Or, we can say that the task of planning, co-coordinating, motivating and controlling the efforts of others (people working in the organization) towards the specific objectives. Or it is the act of getting things done by the people to achieve the goals. Luther Gullick says that the functions of management as POSDCORB. That is: P = Planning, O = Organization, S = Staffing, D = Directing, CO = Coordinating, R = Reporting, and B = Budgetting. 1.3. ADMINISTRATION, MANAGEMENT, AND ORGANIZATION Although the words ‘administration’ and ‘management’ are often used synonymously, some authors have sought to make a distinction between the two. Sheldon describes administration as the function in industry concerned with the determination of the corporate policy, the coordination of finance, production and distribution, the settlement of the compass of the organization and the ultimate control of the executive. Sheldon says the management as the function in industry concerned with the execution of policy, within the limits set by the administration and employment of the organization to fulfill the objective for which it has been established. With this we can understand that the administration relates to the duties of top management, who are more concerned with determining the corporate policy and ensuring coordination among the functional departments. As against to this, management is more involved in ensuring adequate execution of policy decisions prescribed at the top management level. But in real practice, there is a certain overlap between the two and it is very difficult to demark the two, as many managers are involved in both the activities i.e. thinking and doing aspects. It can be explained that as one of them say thinking aspect, i.e. administration work descends, and the execution work i.e., managerial work increases. This is shown in Fig.1.1. Concept of Management 3 ADMINISTRATION LEVEL OF MANAGERS TOP MIDDLE LOWER OPERATIONS Fig. 1.1. Administration and Management The word organizing or organization planning is generally taken to refer: (a) The logical combining or grouping of activities, (b) The delineating of authority and responsibility, and (c) The establishment of working relationships among the human beings within the organization. Organizing sometimes also refers to combining appropriately materials, machines, equipment and efforts of manpower with a view to accomplish the desired goals and objectives of the company. The word organization is also used to refer to the structure or network showing the relationship between the individual managers in the organization. In this context, the management function is divided into two aspects, namely (i) Administrative management, and (ii) Operative management. Administrative management is concerned with the laying down of policies and the preparing of plans as well as with evaluating the performance against predetermined goals or targets or standards. Operative management, on the other hand is concerned with the actual execution of the plans, through the use of resources. To summarize: Administration is the function in industry concerned with the determination of the corporate policy, the coordination of resources, production and distribution, the settlement of the compass of the organization and the ultimate control of the executive. Management is the function in industry concerned with the execution of policy, within the limits set up by the administration and the employment of the organization for the particular objects set before it. Organization is the process of combining the work, which individuals or groups have to perform with the faculties necessary for its execution that the duties, so formed, provide the best channels for the efficient, systematic, positive and coordinated application of the available effort. 4 Management Science 1.4. DEFINITION OF MANAGEMENT John F. Mee defines management as the art of securing maximum results with a minimum of effort so as to secure maximum prosperity and happiness for both employer and employee and give the public the best possible service. R.C. Davis defines management as tough function of executive leadership anywhere. Mary Cushing Niles defines management as Good Management, or Scientific Management, achieves a social objective with the best use of human, material energy, time and with satisfaction for the participants and the public. E.F.L. Brech says that management is concerned with seeing that the job gets done —its tasks put emphasis on planning and guiding the operations that are going on in the enterprise. Prof. A. Dasgupta defines management as the creation and control of technological and human environment of an organization in which human skill and capacities of individuals and groups find full scope for their effective use in order to accomplish the objective for which an enterprise has been set up. It is involved in the relationships of the individual, group, organization and the environment. Many authors defined management in their own way of learning. Many definitions concentrate on getting things done by the people through coordinating, using the resources of the organization to fulfill the goal for which the organization is set up. Management is also looked upon as a process concerned with planning, executing and controlling the activities of an enterprise. 1.4.1. Different Meanings of Management The word management can be referred as a field of learning, a body of organized knowledge, which is taught in universities and business schools. Another way of thinking is collective sense of the managerial group of an organization; say for example, ‘the management of the college has declared the vacation period’. Management may also be taken as an occupation or a career. 1.5. IS MANAGEMENT AN ART OR SCIENCE? Art refers to know-how or systematic skills for the effective accomplishment of desired results. Every art is practical in that the proof of the practitioner’s competence lies in the tangible results that he can show. Art is used in creating things; hence it is creative in nature. Any manager’s work is to get the things done by the people for getting the desired targets. In this process, many a time he has to use his skills to deal with human beings so that they cooperate with manager and fulfill the mission without any difficulty.