Concept of management

 

“Coordination and communication is the essence of management”.

“Do more with less but there is no compromise for quality, quantity, time and cost (QQTC)”.

“Management is getting things done through others”.

 

Subject matter

        Generally, the whole process of getting things done through others is called management but the skills, abilities, readiness and efficiency to achieve the certain goals and objectives of the organization by accomplishing planning, organizing, directing, controlling, coordinating from available physical resources, human resources, financial resources and information resources efficiently and effectively are called management.

 

        The function of management are planning, organizing, staffing, directing, controlling and coordinating. As the soft power of the organization, it is at the center of everything and decides success or failure. That is why Peter Drucker said that no country in the world is underdeveloped but only disorganized.

 

        Hence, Management is the achievement of efficient and competent manpower in a dynamic environment within a certain time point using minimum resources and means to achieve the overall pre-determined goal.

 

In conclusion management is;

·         Both Science and Art

·         Purposeful

·         Continuous, Distinct and Dynamic/Modifiable process

·         A Profession

·         Universal activity 

·         Group activity

·         Multidisciplinary discipline and intangible

 

Management evolution

1900 A.D - Efficiency mode

1930 A.D - Human mode

1960 A.D - Effectiveness mode

1980 A.D - Ecological mode

1990 A.D - Stakeholder mode

2000 A.D - Innovation, knowledge and process

 

Functions of Management

        Managerial functions are all the managerial processes that are done from building the objectives of the organization to achieving the objectives. Organizational objectives cannot be achieved without managerial functions. These are related to the governance of any organization. Various scholars have presented their views on the functions of management.

Scholar	Management functions	Detailed form
Henry Fayol	POCCC	Planning, Organizing, Commanding, Controlling and Coordinating
George R. Terry	POSC	Planning, Organizing, Staffing and Controlling
Luther Gulick	POSDCoRB	Planning, Organizing, Staffing, Directing, Coordinating, Reporting and Budgeting

 

 

 

Therefore the major functions of management are as follows;

1.      Planning (Thinking before doing)

    Planning is the future thinking of the organization that guides goal setting. Planning is deciding in advance about what to do, how to do it, when to do it and who is to do it. It is time bound. Planning, thus, is the process of establishing goals and choosing a course of action for achieving those goals. It guides managers to focus their attention on what is important. Planned work saves time and helps to get work done with less effort and cost. It involves:

·         To build the objective of the organization

·         To anticipate future risks

·         To formulate policies and procedures

·         To prepare schedule and budget

2.      Organizing (Developing organization structure)

    It is differentiating and coordinating activities to carry out the plan. It is establishing a structure. All the tasks necessary to achieve goals are assigned to position and people who can do those best. It involves:

·         Defining tasks required to achieve goals

·         Grouping the tasks in departments

·         Designing a structure

·         Establishing authority and responsibility for each position

·         Coordinating tasks to achieve harmony of efforts

3.      Staffing (Right man, right place in right time)

    The work related to staff planning, recruitment, selection and development for any organization is called human resource management. Employees are like the blood arteries of the organization because they operate the other resources available in the organization. It involves:

·         Manpower planning to determine requirements

·         Acquiring (Recruitment, selection, appointment and posting of staff), developing, utilizing and maintaining

·         Preparation of manpower inventory of existing people

·         Job analysis to determine job description and job specification (qualification and skills for tasks)

·         Performance, evaluation, promotion and transfer of employees

·         Remuneration of employees according to their ability

4.      Leading (Influencing towards goals)

    Leadership is about making all employees work together to achieve goals. It is directing the activities of others. It is getting people to work together. Leading is influencing and motivating people to perform tasks for goal achievement. It is concerned with interpersonal aspect of managing. It involves directing, supervision, motivation, communication and coordination.

Leading consists of: (LMC)

·         Leadership: It is the process of guiding and influencing the work of subordinates to willingly and enthusiastically contribute towards goals. It requires followers. Situation is important for leadership.

·         Motivation: Motivation is inducement to contribute toward goal achievement. It is the act of stimulating people to contribute at some higher rate for higher productivity.

Inducements can be both financial and nonfinancial

Managers motivate by creating an environment for goal achievement. They resolve conflicts.

·         Communication: It is the process by which people give meaning to symbolic messages. It involves flow of information from top to bottom, bottom to top and at horizontal and lateral levels. Communication channels are used.

5.     Controlling (Evaluation of actual activities conform to planned activities)

    Controlling is monitoring and correcting ongoing activities to facilitate goal achievement. It is the measurement and correction of performance to achieve planned targets. It is a cyclical process. The steps involved are as follows:

·         Establishing the standard (What should be done?)

·         Communicating the standard to the employees

·         Measuring actual performance (What really was done?)

·         Finding deviations (How much differences between estimated and actual performance?)

·         Analyzing deviations (Why differences?)

·         Corrective actions: Actions are taken to correct deviations. They provide feedback for setting future standards. This step is the crux of control.