Understanding Management: Features and Objectives

Meaning of Management

• Management is the process of achieving objectives effectively and efficiently.
• Focus is given to the management of daily activities to meet organizational goals.

Features of Management

• Goal-oriented: Organizations have clear, simple goals that unite individual efforts.
• Pervasive: Management exists in all types of institutions (social, economical, political).
• Continuous: Management is a series of ongoing functions like planning, organizing, directing, staffing, and controlling.
• Multidimensional: Management involves work, people, and operations.
• Dynamic: Management adapts to changes in the business environment, objectives, and strategies.
• Group Activity: Teamwork and coordination are essential to achieving organizational goals.
• Intangible Force: Management's presence is felt through how the organization functions.

Effectiveness vs Efficiency

Objectives of Management

• Classified into organizational, social, and personal/individual objectives.

Organizational Objectives

• Main Goal: Maximize utilization of human and material resources.
• Survival: Secure sufficient revenue to cover costs.
• Profit: Ensure the firm makes profits as an incentive for successful operations.
• Growth: Expansion in terms of sales, branches, and products.

Social Objectives

• Fulfilling responsibility to society by creating opportunities.
• Activities include protecting the environment, and improving living standards.

Personal/Individual Objectives

• Providing fair salaries and a good work environment.
• Balancing personal goals and organizational objectives is key.

Importance of Management

• Achieving Group Goals: Integrates individual objectives with organizational goals
• Improves Efficiency: Reduces costs and increases productivity via planning, organizing, staffing, directing, and controlling.
• Creates Dynamic Organization: Helps employees adapt to changes in the business environment.
• Achieving Personal Objectives: Motivates employees to achieve personal goals while contributing to organizational success.

Nature of Management: As a Science

• Based on knowledge gathered through observation, experimentation, and testing.
• Theories and principles are verifiable.

Features of Management as Science

• Like science, management has theories and principles that have developed.
• Universal Validity: Management principles can be modified depending on situations.
• Based on experimentation: Conclusions are based on outcomes of observation, experimenting.
• Lack of identical results: Outcomes vary due to business environments, skills, experience.

Management as a Profession

• Defined as an occupation requiring specialized knowledge and training.

Features of Management as a Profession

• Specialized Knowledge/Skill: Requires expertise and practical competencies
• Code of Conduct: Professionals must adhere to guidelines and regulations.
• Restricted Entry: Achieved through examination or professional degrees.
• Formal Training: Through specialized management institutes.
• Professional Associations: Professional institutions regulate entry, grant certificates, enforce codes of conduct.

Management as an Art

• Personal application of theoretical knowledge to achieve results.

Features of Management as Art

• Theoretical/Practical Knowledge: Requires knowledge through study material.
• Personalized Application: Skills and capabilities vary among individuals.
• Based on Practice/Creativity: Managerial efficiency develops through continual practice.

Levels of Management

• Top Level: CEO, Board of Directors
• Middle Level: Departmental Heads
• Lower Level: Supervisors, Foremen

Top Level Management

• Responsible for framing plans and policies, making decisions, defining action.
• Has maximum authority.

Functions of Top Level Management

• Determining enterprise objectives (long and short-term).
• Framing plans and policies.
• Organizing activities performed at the middle level.
• Ensuring survival and growth of the organization.
• Assembling resources.
• Analyzing the business environment, making key decisions.

Middle Level Management

• Consists of departmental heads.
• Acts as link between top and lower management.
• Responsible for listening to and conveying instructions.

Functions of Middle Level Management

• Interpreting policies from top level.
• Organizing departmental activities to execute policies.
• Selecting and recruiting employees for the department.
• Motivating employees through awards and recognition.
• Evaluating performance of lower-level and reporting.
• Promoting cooperation between departments.

Lower Level Management

• Includes foremen, supervisors, section officers.
• Serves as link between workers and middle-level management.

Functions of Lower Level Management

• Representing worker's issues to middle management.
• Maintaining good working conditions.
• Ensuring safety.
• Assisting in recruitment.
• Welcoming worker suggestions.
• Maintaining quality standards.

Functions of Management

• Planning: Deciding in advance what to do, how to do it, and who should do it.
• Organising: Establishing structure to execute plans, defining departments, distributing authority.
• Staffing: Includes recruitment, selection, training, and employee welfare.
• Directing: Instructing and motivating employees.
• Controlling: Matching actual performance with planned performance, taking corrective actions.

Coordination

• Coordination ensures harmony to achieve organizational goals, acting as the essence of management.

Features of Coordination

• Integrates group efforts to achieve goals.
• Ensures unity of action between departments.
• Continuous process from planning to controlling.
• Needed at all management levels.
• Responsibility of all managers.
• Managers deliberately coordinate efforts, ensuring systematic work towards goals.