Concept and Nature of Management

CONCEPT OF MANAGEMENT:

Management can be defined as the process of achieving organizational goals through planning, organizing, leading and controlling the human, physical, financial and information resources of the organization in an effective and efficient manner.

DEFINITION OF MANAGEMENT

According to Peter F. Ducker, “without institution there is no management. But without management there is no institution. Management is the specific organ of the modern institution. It is the organ on the performance of which the performance and the survival of the institution depends”.

According to the F. W. Taylor, “Management is the art of knowing what to do, when to do and see that it is done in the best and cheapest way”.

CONCEPT OF MANAGEMENT

1). Traditional concept: Concerned with “art of getting things done through others

2). Modern concept:  Achieve goal effectively and efficiently.

Effectiveness: completing task or achieving goals in the requisite time period.

Efficiently: doing the task accurately with minimum resources.

FEATURES OF MANAGEMENT:

  1. Organised activities: without organised activities, two groups of people can not be involved in the performance of activities. All organisations have one thing in common: They want to progress efficiently towards the achievement of their goals through the co-ordinated efforts of people.
  2. Existence of objectives: An objective or set of objectives should exist towards which the organised group activities are directed. Without objectives, it becomes difficult to define the direction in which organised activities would lead to.
  3. Relationship among resources: Organised activities meant to achieve common goals are brought about to establish certain relationships among machine, materials and people.
  4. Working with and through people: Management involves working with people and getting organisational objectives achieved through them. The idea of working through people is interpreted in terms of assigning activities to subordinates. The superior-subordinate relationships are created because of organised activities.
  5. Decision-making: Management involves decision making at various levels for getting things done by others. Decision making basically involves selecting the most appropriate alternative out of the several.