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Lesson 1 INTRODUCTION TO MANAGEMENT Definition of Management Although management as a discipline is more than 80 years old, there is no common agreement among its experts and practitioners about its precise definition. In fact, this is so in case of all social sciences like psychology, sociology, anthropology, economics, political science etc. As a result of unprecedented and breath-taking technological developments, business organizations have grown in size and complexity, causing consequential changes in the practice of management. Changes in management styles and practices have led to changes in management thought. Moreover, management being interdisciplinary in nature has undergone changes because of the developments in behavioural sciences, quantitative techniques, engineering and technology, etc. Since it deals with the production and distribution of goods and services, dynamism of its environments such as social, cultural and religious values, consumers' tastes and preferences, education and information explosion, democratization of governments, etc., have also led to changes in its theory and practice. Yet, a definition of management is necessary for its teaching and research, and also for improvement in its practice. Many management experts have tried to define management. But, no definition of management has been universally accepted. Let us discuss some of the leading definitions of management: Peter F. Drucker defines, "management is an organ; organs can be described and defined only through their functions". Ralph C. Davis has defined Management as, "Management is the function of executive leadership anywhere." According to Mc Farland, "Management is defined for conceptual, theoretical and analytical purposes as that process by which managers create, direct, maintain and operate purposive organization through systematic, coordinated cooperative human effort." Henry Fayol, "To manage is to forecast and plan, to organize, to compound, to coordinate and to control." Harold Koontz says, "Management is the art of getting things done through and within formally organized group." William Spriegal, "Management is that function of an enterprise which concerns itself with direction and control of the various activities to attain business objectives. Management is essentially an executive function; it deals with the active direction of the human effort." Koontz and O’Donnell, "Management is the creation and maintenance of an internal environment in an enterprise where individuals, working in groups, can perform efficiently and effectively toward the attainment of group goals. It is the art of getting the work done through and with people in formally organized groups." James Lundy, "Management is principally a task of planning, coordinating, motivating and controlling the efforts of other towards a specific objective. It involves the combining of the traditional factors of production land, labour, capital in an optimum manner, paying due attention, of course, to the particular goals of the organization." Keith and GU Bellini, "Management is the force that integrates men and physical plant into an effective operating unit." Newman, Summer and Warren, "The job of Management is to make cooperative endeavour to function properly. A manager is one who gets things done by working with people and other resources in order to reach an objective." Mary Parker Follett defines management as the "art of getting things done through people". This definition calls attention to the fundamental difference between a manager and other personnel of an organization. A manager is one who contributes to the organization’s goals indirectly by directing the efforts of others – not by performing the task himself. On the other hand, a person who is not a manager makes his contribution to the organization’s goals directly by performing the task himself. Sometimes, however, a person in an organization may play both these roles simultaneously. For example, a sales manager is performing a managerial role when he is directing his sales force to meet the organization’s goals, but when he himself is contacting a large customer and negotiating a deal, he is performing a non-managerial role. In the former role, he is directing the efforts of others and is contributing to the organization’s goals indirectly; in the latter role, he is directly utilizing his skills as a salesman to meet the organization’s objectives. According to this definition, management is a process – a systematic way of doing things. The four management activities included in this process are: planning, organizing, actuating and controlling. Planning means that managers think of their actions in advance. Organizing means that managers coordinate the human and material resources of the organization. Actuating means that managers motivate and direct subordinates. Controlling means that managers attempt to ensure that there is no deviation from the norm or plan. If some part of their organization is on the wrong track, managers take action to remedy the situation. To conclude, we can say that various definitions of management do not run contrary to one another. Management is the sum-total of all those activities that (i) determine objectives, plans, policies and programs; (ii) secure men, material, machinery cheaply (iii) put all these resources into operations through sound organization (iv) direct and motivate the men at work, (v) supervises and control their performance and (iv) provide maximum prosperity and happiness for both employer and employees and public at large.