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Management is a vital aspect of the economic life of man, which is an organised group activity. Without able managers and effective managerial leadership the resources of production remain merely resources and never become production. Under competitive economy and ever-changing environment the quality and performance of managers determine both the survival as well as success of any business enterprise. Management occupies such an important place in the modern world that the welfare of the people and the destiny of the country are very much influenced by it.
Management is a process in which strategies of an organisation are formulated and efforts of the employees are coordinated so as to achieve the objective. Management is understood in different ways by different people. Economists regard it as a factor of production. Sociologists see it as a class or group of persons while practitioners of management treat it as a process.
For our understanding, management may be viewed as what a manager does in a formal organisation to achieve the objectives. In the words of Mary Parker Follet management is “The art of getting things done through people”. This definition throws light on the fact that managers achieve organisational goals by enabling others to perform rather than performing the tasks themselves.
Management encompasses a wide variety of activities that no single definition can capture all the facets of management. That is why, it is often said that there are as many definitions of management as there are authors in the field. However, the definition given by James A.F. Stoner covers all the important facets of management.
According to him: “Management is the process of planning, organizing, leading and controlling the efforts of organisation members and of using all other organisational resources to achieve stated organisational goals”
Management may be defined in many different ways. Many eminent authors on the subject have defined the term “management”, some of these definitions are reproduced below:
According to Lawrence A Appley – “Management is the development of people and not the direction of things”.
In the words of Henry Fayol – “To manage is to forecast and to plan, to organise, to command, to co-ordinate and to control”.
According to Peter F Drucker – “Management is a multi-purpose organ that manages a business and manages managers and manages worker and work”.
In the words of J.N. Schulze – “Management is the force which leads, guides and directs an organisation in the accomplishment of a pre-determined object”.
In the words of Koontz and O’ Donnel – “Management is defined as the creation and maintenance of an internal environment in an enterprise where individuals working together in groups can perform efficiently and effectively towards the attainment of group goals”
An analysis of the various definitions of management indicates that management has certain characteristics. The following are the salient characteristics of management.
Management also implies skill and experience in getting things done through people: Management involves doing the job through people. The economic function of earning profitable return cannot be performed without enlisting co-operation and securing positive response from “people”. Getting the suitable type of people to execute the operations is the significant aspect of management. In the words of Koontz and O’Donnell – “Management is the art of getting things done through people in formally organised groups”.
1. Management is a process: Management is a process, function, or activity. This process continues till the objectives set by the administration are actually achieved. “Management is a social process involving coordination of human and material resources through the functions of planning, organizing, staffing, leading and controlling in order to accomplish stated objectives”.
2. Management is a universal activity: Management is not applicable to business undertakings only. It is applicable to political, social, religious, and educational institutions also. Management is necessary when group effort is required.
3. Management is a Science as well as an Art: Management is an art because there are definite principles of management. It is also a science because by the application of these principles predetermined objectives can be achieved. Thus management is both sciences as well an art.
4. Management is a Profession: Management is gradually becoming a profession because there are established principles of management which are being applied in practice, and it involves specialized training and is governed by an ethical code arising out of its social obligations.
5. Management is a group activity: Management comes into existence only when there is a group activity towards a common objective. Management is always concerned with group efforts and not individual efforts. To achieve the goals of an organization management plans organises, coordinates, directs and controls the group effort.
6. Management is a system of authority: Authority means power to make others act in a predetermined manner. Management formalizes a standard set of rules and procedure to be followed by the subordinates and ensures their compliance with the rules and regulations. Since management is a process of directing men to perform a task, authority to extract the work from others is implied in the very concept of management.
7. Management involves decision-making: Management implies making decisions regarding the organisation and operation of business in its different dimensions. The success or failure of an organisation can be judged by the quality of decisions taken by managers. Therefore, decisions are the key to the performance of a manager.
8. Management implies good leadership: A manager must have the ability to lead and get the desired course of action from the subordinates. According to R.C. Davis – “management is the function of executive leadership everywhere” Management of the high order implies the capacity of managers to influence the behaviour of their subordinates.”
9. Management is dynamic and not static: The principles of management are dynamic and not static. It has to adopt itself according to social changes.
10. Management draws ideas and concepts from various disciplines: Management is an interdisciplinary study. It draws ideas and concepts from various disciplines like economics, statistics, mathematics, psychology, sociology, anthropology etc.
11. Management is Goal Oriented: Management is a purposeful activity. It is concerned with the achievement of pre-determined objectives of an organisation.
12. Different Levels of Management: Management is needed at different levels of an organisation namely top level, middle level and lower level.
13. Need of organisation: There is the need of an organisation for the success of management. Management uses the organisation for achieving pre-determined objectives.
14. Management is intangible: It cannot be seen with the eyes. It is evidenced only by the quality of the organisation and the results i.e., profits, increased productivity etc. It is the skill which can be evaluated only by the outcomes and not otherwise.
Management is dynamic, multi-dimensional and play multiple roles. It is pervasive and needed everywhere in an organisation. It regulates productive activity and organizes the resources. To be successful every human organisation requires effective management. It is needed in both business firm and non- business firm. Therefore, we can say that management has importance in every segment.
Management is important for successful running of the business enterprise. The skills of the manager are the keystone of business prosperity. The importance of management to business and industries are as follows:
1. Achievement of Objective: The success of organisation and achievement of its objective depends on its manager. Management helps in realisation of the objectives for which the organisation has been set up It helps in running the business smoothly and effectively. Therefore we can say that management is a goal oriented activity.
2. Determining the Priorities: Every firm has number of goals, needs, problems. They all are competitive in nature. To achieve and deal with all the goals and problems seems impossible as the resources and time available are limited. Management is needed to set a priority and strike a balance between various goals and needs.
3. Building Goodwill and Relationship: A good management builds the goodwill and reputation of the firm. With the help of their creative skill, control, vision, commitment they create the authentic goodwill. They create human relationship and perform the function of institution building.
4. Optimum and profitable utilisation of resources: To profitably utilise the limited resources depends upon the managerial skills. Management determines and controls all the other factors of the business viz. money, material, manpower, machinery, methods and markets. Sound management ensures the greater output with less efforts
5. Fulfilling social responsibility: The good management is considered to be one that thinks of the society and works for its welfare too. It protects and improves the society. It develops an awareness and its philosophy of its multiple obligations. The modern manager analyses, reconciles and fulfils the interest and need of various groups in the society.
Management plays an important role in the society. The good managers are the need of the society. They organise the factor of production, increases productivity, generates employment and increases income. According to Newman “Management makes a significant social contribution. Customer needs are met. It creates job opportunity with higher standard of living and government has sources of direct and indirect tax”. The importance of management to society are:
1. Social Function: Management is the social function. It is both socially accountable and culturally embedded. It does not only aim at making higher profits but also considers the hope, emotions, and beliefs of the people. It works for the welfare of the people and improves their lifestyle.
2. Social Innovation: Management is an essential instrument of human progress and keystone of the modern society. It creates new value and innovation in the society. Managers focus on social performance aiming at the social development and welfare along with the economic benefits from business enterprise.
3. Provides Goods and Services: Management aims at providing high quality of goods and services which are demanded by the society at the affordable prices. Management studies the needs and desires of the consumers and identifies what will be they requiring in future and provides with those products.
4. Generates Employment: Management generates employment by creating new jobs, new industrial units, new ventures or expanding the existing ones. This gives work opportunity to more and more people. It uplifts the quality of life of people and contributes in the nation’s standard of living.
Management is the source which fulfils the dream of the society. It is the manager who plays an active role in anticipating the real society issues and resolve them. It aims at eradicating social pangs such as poverty, starvation, frustration, depression, illiteracy, pollution etc.
Management is an instrument of National development and economic growth. The competent manager is needed for state welfare and national prosperity. According to President Roosevelt “A government without good management is the house built on sand.” The importance of management in national economy are as follows:
1. Prosperity of Nation: Management plays an important role in nation’s prosperity. It increases the supply of goods provides improvements, provide employment, increases the capital formation and removes poverty. This contributes in well-being of the nation.
2. Balanced Growth: The real growth of nation is the balanced Industrial growth. Managers take an initiatives to setup industries in all the parts of the country. They set up the industries in the backward region under government economic development programme. They develop the neglected regions of the country.
3. Eradicates Poverty: Poverty is an outcome of unemployment and lack of income. This also leads to living below poverty line. Managers can increase the low productivity and provide employment. By good planning they reduce the cost of production and supply the goods at the cheaper rates. They promote capital formation and investment and ensure a better life.
4. Contribution to National Planning: Planning is the prime need of the nation. To achieve social and economic objectives we should have a strong planning system. Managers suggest good ideas and strategies of nation. They help in setting up of industries and accepting priorties of nation with the plan objective.
5. Better Utilisation of Resources: The manager aims at better utilisation of natural and physical resources such as land, water, forest, minerals etc. to achieve the national objective. Good management leads to less wastage of resources and greater output with less utilisation of the resources.
A function is a group of similar activities which are performed by managers at all level of organisations to achieve objectives. The following is the table of management functions identified by various authors.
More popular and widely accepted is the classification given by Henry Fayol. According to him the managerial functions may be broadly classified into five categories: planning, organising, directing, staffing and controlling. Managers perform these functions within the limits established by the external environment and must consider the interests of such diverse groups as government, employees, unions, customers, shareholders, competitors and the public. For theoretical purposes, it may be convenient to separate the management functions and study them independently but practically speaking, they defy such categorisations. They are highly inseparable. Each function blends into the other and each can be performed in any order or sequence, not necessarily in the order shown above, but tend to be performed (normally) in the planning, organising, leading and controlling sequence. A brief discussion of the five basic functions is presented under:
1. Planning: Planning is the process of making decisions about future. It is the process of determining enterprise objectives and selecting future courses of actions necessary for their accomplishment. It is the process of deciding in advance what is to be done, when and where it is to be done, how it is to be done and by whom. Planning provides direction to enterprise activities. It helps managers cope with change. It enables managers to measure progress toward the objectives so that corrective action can be taken if progress is not satisfactory. Planning is a fundamental function of management and all other functions of management are influenced by the planning process.
2. Organising: Organising is concerned with the arrangement of an organisation’s resources – people, materials, technology and finance in order to achieve enterprise Objectives. It involves decisions about the division of work, allocation of authority Responsibility and the coordination of tasks. The function increases in importance as a firm grows. A structure is created to cope with problems created by growth. Through this formal structure, the various work activities are defined, classified, arranged and Co-ordinating.
3. Staffing: Staffing is the function of employing suitable persons for the enterprise. It may be defined as an activity where people are recruited, selected, trained, developed, motivated and compensated for manning various positions. It includes not only the movement of individuals into an organisation, but also their movement through (promotion, job rotation, transfer) and out (termination, retirement) of the organisation.
4. Directing: The function of guiding and supervising the activities of the subordinates is known as directing. Acquiring physical and human assets and suitably placing them on jobs does not suffice; what is more important is that people must be directed towards organisational goals. This work involves four important elements:
a. Leadership: Leadership is the process of influencing the actions of a person or group to attain desired objectives. A manager has to get the work done with and through People. The success of an organisation depends upon the quality of leadership shown by its managers.
b. Motivation: Motivation is the work a manager performs to inspire, encourage and impel people to take required action. It is the process of stimulating people to take desired courses of action. In order to motivate employees, manager must provide a congenial working atmosphere coupled with attractive incentives.
c. Communication: Communication is the transfer of information and understanding from one person to another. It is a way of reaching others with ideas, facts, and thoughts. Significantly, communication always involves two people: a sender and a receiver. Effective communication is important in organisations because managers can accomplish very little without it.
d. Supervision: In getting the work done it is not enough for managers to tell the subordinates what they are required to do. They have also to watch and control the activities of the subordinates. Supervision is seeing that subordinates do their work and do it as directed. It involves overseeing employees at work.
5. Controlling: The objective of controlling is to ensure that actions contribute to goal accomplishment. It helps in keeping the organisational activities on the right path and aligned with plans and goals. In controlling, performances are observed, measured and compared with what had been planned.
It is very difficult to precisely state the scope of management. However, management includes the following aspects:-
1. Subject-matter of Management: Management is considered as a continuing activity made up of basic management functions like planning, organizing, staffing, directing and controlling. These components form the subject matter of management.
2. Functional Areas of Management: Management covers the following functional areas:-
a. Financial Management: Financial management includes forecasting, cost control, management accounting, budgetary control, statistical control, financial planning etc.
b. Human Resource Management: Personnel / Human Resource Management covers the various aspects relating to the employees of the organisation such as recruitment, training, transfers, promotions, retirement, terminations, remuneration, labour welfare and social security, industrial relations etc.
c. Marketing Management: Marketing management deals with marketing of goods, sales promotion, advertisement and publicity, channels of distribution, market research.
d. Production Management: Production Management includes production planning, quality control and inspection, production techniques etc.
e. Material Management: Material management includes purchase of materials, issue of materials, storage of materials, maintenance of records, materials control, etc.
f. Purchasing Management: Purchasing management includes inviting tenders for raw materials, placing orders, entering into contracts etc.
g. Maintenance Management: Maintenance Management relates to the proper care and maintenance of the buildings, plant and machinery etc.
h. Office Management: Office management is concerned with office layout, office staffing and equipment of the office.
3. Management is an Inter-Disciplinary Approach: Though management is regarded as a separate discipline, for the correct application of the management principles, study of commerce, economics, sociology, psychology, and mathematics is very essential. The science of management draws ideas and concepts from a number of disciplines making it a multi-disciplinary subject.
4. Principles of Management: The principles of management are of universal application. These principles are applicable to any group activity undertaken for the achievement of some common goals.
5. Management is an Agent of Change: The techniques of management can be improved by proper research and development.
6. The Essentials of Management: The essentials of management include scientific method, human relations and quantitative techniques.
The origin of management can be traced back to the days when man started living in groups. History reveals that strong men organized the masses into groups according to their intelligence, physical and mental capabilities. Evidence of the use of the well-recognized principles of management is to be found in the organisation of public life in ancient Greece, the organisation of the Roman Catholic Church and the organisation of military forces. Thus management in some form or the other has been practiced in the various parts of the world since the dawn of civilization. With the onset of Industrial Revolution, however, the position underwent a radical change. The structure of industry became extremely complex. At this stage, the development of a formal theory of management became absolutely necessary. It was against this background that the pioneers of modern management thought laid the foundations of modern management theory and practice. Evolution of management thought may be divided into four stages:
1. Pre-scientific management period.
2. Classical Theory
a. Scientific Management of Taylor
b. Administrative Management of Fayol
c. Bureaucratic Model of Max Weber
3. Neo-classical Theory or Behaviour Approach
4. Modern Theory or Systems Approach
The advent of industrial revolution in the middle of the 18th century had its impact on management. Industrial revolution brought about a complete change in the methods of production, tools and equipment, organisation of labour and methods of raising capital.
Employees went to their work instead of receiving it, and so, the factory system, as it is known today, become a dominant feature of the economy. Under this system, land and Buildings, hired labour, and capital are made available to the entrepreneur, who strives to combine these factors in the efficient achievement of a particular goal. All these changes, in turn, brought about changes in the field of management. Traditional, conventional or customary ideas of management were slowly given up and management came to be based on scientific principles. In the words of L. F. Urwick – “Modern management has thrown open a new branch of human knowledge, a fresh universe of discourse”. During the period following the industrial revolution, certain pioneers tried to challenge the traditional character of management by introducing new ideas and character of management by introducing new ideas and approaches. The notable contributors of this period are:
(A) Professor Charles Babbage (UK 1729 -1871): He was a Professor of Mathematics at Cambridge University. Professor Babbage found that manufacturers made little use of science and mathematics, and that they (manufacturers) relied upon opinions instead of investigations and accurate knowledge. He felt that the methods of science and mathematics could be applied to the solution of methods in the place of guess work for the solution of business problems. He advocated the use of accurate observations, measurement and precise knowledge for taking business decisions. He urged the management of an enterprise, on the basis of accurate data obtained through rigid investigation, the desirability of finding out the number of times each operation is repeated each hour, the dividing of work into mental and physical efforts, the determining of the precise cost for every process and the paying of a bonus to the workers in proportion to his own efficiency and the success of enterprise.
(B) James Watt Junior (UK 1796 – 1848) and Mathew Robinson Boulton(1770 – 1842): James Watt Junior and Mathew Robinson Boulton contributed to the development of management thought by following certain management techniques in their engineering factory at Soho in Birmingham. They are:-
1. Production Planning
2. Standardization of Components
3. Maintenance
4. Planned machine layout
5. Provision of welfare for personnel
6. Scheme for executive development
7. Marketing Research and forecasting
8. Elaborate statistical records
(C) Robert Owens (UK 1771 – 1858): Robert Owens, the promoter of co-operative and trade union movement in England, emphasized the recognition of human element in industry. He firmly believed that workers’ performance in industry was influenced by the working conditions and treatment of workers. He introduced new ideas of human relations – shorter working hours, housing facilities, training of workers in hygiene, education of their children, provision of canteen etc. Robert Owen, managed a group of textile mills in Lanark, Scotland, where he used his ideas of human relations. Though his approach was paternalistic, he came to be regarded as the father of Personnel Management.
Professor Charles Babbage, James Watt Junior and Mathew Robinson Boulton, Robert Owen, Henry Robinson Towne and Rowntree were, no doubt, pioneers of management thought. But, the impact of their contributions on the industry as a whole was meagre. The real beginning of the science of management did not occur until the last decade of the 19th century. During this period, stalwarts like F.W. Taylor, H.L. Gantt, Emerson, Frank and Lillian Gilberth etc., laid the foundation of management, which in due course, came to be known as scientific management. This approach in the history of management will be remembered as an era in which traditional ways of managing were challenged, past management experience was scientifically systematized and principles of management were distilled and propagated. The contributions of the pioneers of this age have had a profound impact in furthering the management know-how and enriching the store of management principles. F.W. Taylor and Henry Fayol are generally regarded as the founders of scientific management and administrative management and both provided the bases for science and art of management.
Features of Management in the Classical Period:
1. It was closely associated with the industrial revolution and the rise of large-scale enterprise.
2. Classical organisation and management theory is based on contributions from a number of sources. They are scientific management, Administrative management theory, bureaucratic model, and micro-economics and public administration.
3. Management thought focussed on job content division of labour, standardization, simplification and specialization and scientific approach towards organisation.
Neo-classical Theory is built on the base of classical theory. It modified, improved and extended the classical theory. Classical theory concentrated on job content and management of physical resources whereas, neoclassical theory gave greater emphasis to individual and group relationship in the workplace. The neo- classical theory pointed out the role of psychology and sociology in the understanding of individual and group behaviour in an organisation.
George Elton Mayo (Australia, 1880 – 1949): Elton Mayo was born in Australia. He was educated in Logic and Philosophy at St. Peter’s College, Adelaide. He led a team of researchers from Harvard University, which carried out investigation in human problems at the Hawthorne Plant of Western Electrical Company at Chicago. They conducted some experiments (known as Hawthorne Experiments) and investigated informal groupings, informal relationships, patterns of communication, patterns of informal leadership etc. Elton Mayo is generally recognized as the father of Human Relations School. Other prominent contributors to this school include Roethlisberger, Dickson, Dewey, Lewin etc.
Hawthorne Experiment: In 1927, a group of researchers led by Elton Mayo and Fritz Roethlisberger of the Harvard Business School were invited to join in the studies at the Hawthorne Works of Western Electric Company, Chicago. The experiment lasted up to 1932. The Hawthorne Experiments brought out that the productivity of the employees is not the function of only physical conditions of work and money wages paid to them. Productivity of employees depends heavily upon the satisfaction of the employees in their work situation. Mayo’s idea was that logical factors were far less important than emotional factors in determining productivity efficiency. Furthermore, of all the human factors influencing employee behaviour, the most powerful were those emanating from the worker’s participation in social groups. Thus, Mayo concluded that work arrangements in addition to meeting the objective requirements of production must at the same time satisfy the employee’s subjective requirement of social satisfaction at his workplace.
The Hawthorne experiment consists of four parts. These parts are briefly described below:-
1. Illumination Experiment.
2. Relay Assembly Test Room Experiment.
3. Interviewing Programme.
4. Bank Wiring Test Room Experiment.
1. Illumination Experiment: This experiment was conducted to establish relationship between output and illumination. When the intensity of light was increased, the output also increased. The output showed an upward trend even when the illumination was gradually brought down to the normal level. Therefore, it was concluded that there is no consistent relationship between output of workers and illumination in the factory. There must be some other factor which affected productivity.
2. Relay Assembly Test Room Experiment: This phase aimed at knowing not only the impact of illumination on production but also other factors like length of the working day, rest hours, and other physical conditions. In this experiment, a small homogeneous work-group of six girls was constituted. These girls were friendly to each other and were asked to work in a very informal atmosphere under the supervision of a researcher. Productivity and morale increased considerably during the period of the experiment. Productivity went on increasing and stabilized at a high level even when all the improvements were taken away and the pre-test conditions were reintroduced. The researchers concluded that socio-psychological factors such as feeling of being important, recognition, attention, participation, cohesive work-group, and non-directive supervision held the key for higher productivity.
3. Mass Interview Programme: The objective of this programme was to make a systematic study of the employees’ attitudes which would reveal the meaning which their “working situation” has for them. The researchers interviewed a large number of workers with regard to their opinions on work, working conditions and supervision. Initially, a direct approach was used whereby interviews asked questions considered important by managers and researchers. The researchers observed that the replies of the workmen were guarded. Therefore, this approach was replaced by an indirect technique, where the interviewer simply listened to what the workmen had to say. The findings confirmed the importance of social factors at work in the total work environment.
4. Bank Wiring Test Room Experiment: This experiment was conducted by Roethlisberger and Dickson with a view to develop a new method of observation and obtaining more exact information about social groups within a company and also finding out the causes which restrict output. The experiment was conducted to study a group of workers under conditions which were as close as possible to normal. This group comprised of 14 workers. After the experiment, the production records of this group were compared with their earlier production records. It was observed that the group evolved its own production norms for each individual worker, which was made lower than those set by the management. Because of this, workers would produce only that much, thereby defeating the incentive system. Those workers who tried to produce more than the group norms were isolated, harassed or punished by the group. The findings of the study are:-
a. Each individual was restricting output.
b. The group had its own “unofficial” standards of performance.
c. Individual output remained fairly constant over a period of time.
d. Informal groups play an important role in the working of an organisation.
Contributions of the Hawthorne Experiment: Elton Mayo and his associates conducted their studies in the Hawthorne plant of the western electrical company, U.S.A., between 1927 and 1930. According to them, behavioural science methods have many areas of application in management. The important features of the Hawthorne Experiment are:-
1. A business organisation is basically a social system. It is not just a techno-economic system.
2. The employer can be motivated by psychological and social wants because his behaviour is also influenced by feelings, emotions and attitudes. Thus economic incentives are not the only method to motivate people.
3. Management must learn to develop co-operative attitudes and not rely merely on command.
4. Participation becomes an important instrument in human relations movement. In order to achieve participation, effective two-way communication network is essential.
5. Productivity is linked with employee satisfaction in any business organisation. Therefore management must take greater interest in employee satisfaction.
6. Group psychology plays an important role in any business organisation. We must therefore rely more on informal group effort.
7.The neo-classical theory emphasizes that man is a living machine and he is far more important than the inanimate machine. Hence, the key to higher productivity lies in employee morale. High morale results in higher output.
There are three elements of behavioural theory.
1. The Individual: The neoclassical theory emphasized that individual differences must be recognised. An individual has feelings, emotions, perception and attitude. Each person is unique. He brings to the job situation certain attitudes, beliefs and ways of life, as well as skills. He has certain meaning of his job, his supervision, working conditions etc. The inner world of the worker is more important than the external reality in the determination of productivity. Thus human relations at work determine the rise or fall in productivity. Therefore human relation advocate the adoption of multidimensional model of motivation which is based upon economic, individual and social factors.
2. Work Groups: Workers are not isolated; they are social beings and should be treated as such by management. The existence of informal organisation is natural. The neo-classical theory describes the vital effects of group psychology and behaviour on motivation and productivity.
3. Participative Management: The emergence of participative management is inevitable when emphasis is laid on individual and work groups. Allowing labour to participate in decision making primarily to increase productivity was a new form of supervision.
Management now welcomes worker participation in planning job contents and job operations. Neoclassical theory focuses its attention on workers. Plant layout, machinery, tool etc., must offer employee convenience and facilities. Therefore, neoclassical approach is trying to satisfy personal security and social needs of workers. Human relations made very significant contribution to management thought by bringing into limelight human and social factors in organisations. But their concepts were carried beyond an appropriate limit. There are many other factors which influence productivity directly. Modern management thought wants equal emphasis on man and machine and we can evolve appropriate man- machine system to secure both goals – productivity and satisfaction.
1. The human relationist drew conclusions from Hawthorne studies. These conclusions are based on clinical insight rather than on scientific evidence.
2. The study tends to overemphasize the psychological aspects at the cost of the structural and technical aspects.
3. It is assumed that all organisational problems are amenable to solutions through human relations. This assumption does not hold good in practice.
4. The human relationists saw only the human variables as critical and ignored other variables.
5. The human relationists overemphasize the group and group decision-making. But in practice, groups may create problems and collective decision-making may not be possible.
The systems approach to management indicates the fourth major theory of management thought called modern theory. Modern theory considers an organisation as an adaptive system which has to adjust to changes in its environment. An organisation is now defined as a structured process in which individuals interact for attaining objectives.
Meaning of “System”: The word system is derived from the Greek word meaning to bring together or to combine. A system is a set of interconnected and inter-related elements or component parts to achieve certain goals. A system has three significant parts:
1. Every system is goal-oriented and it must have a purpose or objective to be attained.
2. In designing the system we must establish the necessary arrangement of components.
3. Inputs of information, material and energy are allocated for processing as per plan so that the outputs can achieve the objective of the system.
Systems Approach Applied to an Organisation: When systems approach is applied to organisation, we have the following features of an organisation as an open adaptive system:-
1. It is a sub-system of its broader environment.
2. It is a goal-oriented – people with a purpose.
3. It is a technical subsystem – using knowledge, techniques, equipment and facilities.
4. It is a structural subsystem – people working together on interrelated activities.
5. It is a psychosocial system – people in social relationships.
6. It is co-ordinate by a managerial sub system, creating, planning, organizing, motivating, communicating and controlling the overall efforts directed towards set goals.
1.The Systems Approach: An organisation as a system has five basic parts –
a. Input
b. Process
c. Output
d. Feedback and
e. Environment.
It draws upon the environment for inputs to produce certain desirable outputs. The success of these outputs can be judged by means of feedback. If necessary, we have to modify out mix of inputs to produce as per changing demands.
2. Dynamic: We have a dynamic process of interaction occurring within the structure of an organisation. The equilibrium of an organisation and its structure is itself dynamic or changing.
3. Multilevel and Multidimensional: Systems approach points out complex multilevel and multidimensional character. We have both a micro and macro approach. A company is micro within a business system. It is macro with respect to its own internal units. Within a company as a system we have:-
a. Production subsystem
b. Finance subsystem
c. Marketing subsystem
d. Personnel subsystem.
All parts or components are interrelated. Both parts as well as the whole are equally important. At all levels, organisations interact in many ways.
4. Multimotivated: Classical theory assumed a single objective, for instance, profit. Systems approach recognizes that there may be several motivations behind our actions and behaviour. Management has to compromise these multiple objectives e.g.: – economic objectives and social objectives.
5. Multidisciplinary: Systems approach integrates and uses with profit ideas emerging from different schools of thought. Management freely draws concepts and techniques from many fields of study such as psychology, social psychology, sociology, ecology, economics, mathematics, etc.
6. Multivariable: It is assumed that there is no simple cause-effect phenomenon. An event may be the result of so many factors which themselves are interrelated and interdependent. Some factors are controllable, some uncontrollable. Intelligent planning and control are necessary to face these variable factors.
7. Adaptive: The survival and growth of an organisation in a dynamic environment demands an adaptive system which can continuously adjust to changing conditions. An organisation is an open system adapting itself through the process of feedback.
8. Probabilistic: Management principles point out only probability and never the certainty of performance and the consequent results. We have to face so many variables simultaneously. Our forecasts are mere tendencies. Therefore, intelligent forecasting and planning can reduce the degree of uncertainty to a considerable extent.
Systems approach emphasizes that all sub- systems of an organisation along with the super system of environment are interconnected and interrelated. Contingency approach analysis and understands these interrelationship so that managerial actions can be adjusted to demands of specific situations or circumstances. Thus the contingency approach enables us to evolve practical answers to problems demanding solutions. Organisation design and managerial actions most appropriate to specific situations will have to be adopted to achieve the best possible result under the given situation. There is no one best way (as advocated by Taylor) to organize and manage. Thus, Contingency Approach to management emphasizes the fact that management is a highly practice-oriented discipline. It is the basic function of managers to analyse and understand the environments in which they function before adopting their techniques, processes and practices. The application of management principles and practices should therefore be consistent upon the existing circumstances. Contingency approach guides the manager to be adaptive to environment. It tells the manager to be pragmatic and open minded. The contingency approach is an improvement over the systems approach. It not only examines the relationships between sub-systems of the organisation, but also the relationship between the organisation and its environment. However, the contingency approach suffers from two limitations:-
1. It does not recognize the influence of management concepts and techniques on environment.
2. Literature on contingency management is yet not adequate.
A question often arises whether management is a science or art. It is said that “management is the oldest of arts and the youngest of sciences”. This explains the changing nature of management but does not exactly answer what management is? To have an exact answer to the question it is necessary to know the meanings of the terms “Science” and “Art”.
Science may be described- “as a systematic body of knowledge pertaining to an area of study and contains some general truths explaining past events or phenomena”. The above definition contains three important characteristics of science. They are:
1. It is a systematized body of knowledge and uses scientific methods for observation.
2. Its principles are evolved on the basis of continued observation and experiment and
3. Its principles are exact and have universal applicability without any limitation.
Looked at from this angle, management as a discipline fulfils the above criterion. Over the years, management has emerged as a systematic body of knowledge with its own principles and concepts. Principles help any practicing manager to achieve the desired goals. However, while applying the principles, one should not lose sight of the variables in the situation, since situations differ from one to another. Thus, the importance of personal judgment cannot be undermined in the application of principles. Further, management is a dynamic subject in that, it has drawn heavily from economics, psychology, sociology, engineering and mathematics, to mention a few. It is multi-disciplinary in nature, but a word of caution. Though management considering its subject matter and the practical utility may be considered as ‘science’, for reason discussed it cannot be viewed as an ‘exact science’. In other words, it is a science, but an ‘inexact science’ because:
Firstly, Management by definition involves getting the things done through people. Compared to the other inputs, ‘people’, who constitute the human resource of any organisation are unique in respect of their aspirations, attitudes, perceptions and the like.
Dissimilarities in the behaviour pattern are so obvious that standard research may not be obtained in otherwise similar conditions.
Secondly, The behaviour of the human beings cannot be accurately predicted. Hence, readymade and standard solutions cannot be prescribed.
Thirdly, Management is more concerned with future which is complex and unpredictable. As the saying goes, ‘many a slip between the cup and the lip’, changes in the environment may affect the plans and render even the most well drawn plans ineffective.
Lastly, Since a business organisation exists in an environment, it has a two way interaction with the environment. The organisation influences the environment by its several decisions and in turn is influenced by the various elements of the environment.
Important among these are technological, economic, sociocultural and political factors. The whole thing is so complex that however effective the plans are, one is prone to be taken over by the unexpected changes in the environment. Unlike the pure or exact sciences where the results are accurate in the case of management, the various factors discussed above may force even the excellent plans and the strategies go haywire. Too many complexities and uncertainties render management an ‘inexact science’
‘Art’ refers to “the way of doing specific things; it indicates how an objective is to be achieved.” Management like any other operational activity has to be an art. Most of the managerial acts have to be cultivated as arts of attaining mastery to secure action and results. The above definition contains three important characteristics of art. They are-
1. Art is the application of science. It is putting principle into practice.
2. After knowing a particular art, practice is needed to reach the level of perfection.
3. It is undertaken for accomplishing an end through deliberate efforts.
Art refers to the ‘know-how’ – the ways of doing things to accomplish a desired result. The focus is on the skill with which the activities are performed. As the saying goes ‘practice makes a man perfect. Constant practice of the theoretical concepts (knowledge) contributes for the formation and sharpening of the skills. Therefore, what is required is the right blend of the theory and practice. In a way, the attributes of science and art are the two sides of a coin. Medicine, engineering, accountancy and the like require skills on the part of the practitioners and can only be acquired through practice. Management is no exception. As a university gold medallist in surgery may not necessarily turn out to be a good surgeon, similarly a management graduate from the best of the institutes may not necessarily be very effective in practice. In both the cases, the application of the knowledge acquired through formal education, requires ingenuity and creativity on the part of the practitioner. Correct understanding of the variables of the situation calls for pragmatism and resourcefulness.
Effective practice of any art requires a thorough understanding of the science underlying it. Thus science and art are not mutually exclusive, but are complementary. Executives who attempt to manage without the conceptual understanding of the management principles and techniques have to depend on luck and intuition. With a sound knowledge and the necessary skills to use such knowledge, they stand a better chance to succeed. Therefore, it may be concluded that ‘management is both a science and an art’.
Management is both a science as well as an art. The science of management provides certain general principles which can guide the managers in their professional effort. The art of management consists in tackling every situation in an effective manner. As a matter of fact, neither science should be over-emphasised nor art should be discounted; the science and the art of management go together and are both mutually interdependent and complimentary.
Management is thus a science as well as an art. It can be said that-“the art of management is as old as human history, but the science of management is an event of the recent past.”
These are the days where we hear a lot about professional managers and their contribution to the economic development of the nation. Therefore, it is appropriate to know whether management is a profession. Mc Farland gives the following characteristics of a profession:
1. Existence of an organized and systematic body of knowledge,
2. Formalized methods of acquiring knowledge and skills,
3. Existence of an apex level body with professionalization as its goal,
4. Existence of an ethical code to regulate the behaviour of the members of the profession,
5. Charging of fees based on service, and
6. Concern for social responsibilities.
A closer examination of management as a profession reveals that unlike medicine or law, management has to go a long way to attain universally acceptable norms of behaviour. There is no uniform code of conduct that governs the behaviour of managers. The apex level body, the All India Management Association (AIMA) or NIPM [National Institute of Personnel Management provides only guidelines and does not have any controlling power over the erring members. Managers also differ widely in respect of their concern for the ethics and values of the society in which they function. Many a time, in their obsession with profit, the societal interests are either neglected or compromised. However, as in the case of other professions, it is implied that managers are expected to set an example in doing good to the society. While making decisions, they should be conscious of the impact of their decisions on the society. The larger interests of the society must be given top priority rather than short term temptations. After all, given the enormous resources they have at their command, the expectation that managers should address themselves to the problems of society is not unnatural. It must, however, be remembered that unlike professions like engineering, medicine, law, accountancy, etc., the entry to management profession is not restricted to individuals with a special degree. In other words, one need not necessarily possess M.B.A or any other management degree or diploma to practice management. To quote Peter Drucker, “no greater damage could be done to an economy or to any society than to attempt to professionalize management by licensing managers or by limiting access to management to people with a special academic degree”. In spite of the growing number of management institutes and the large number of people trained in the management, it is an irony that we still hear the debate – “whether managers are born or made”. The successes achieved by a few visionaries and great entrepreneurs are often sighted in support of the argument. It is true that many founding fathers of the industry in India and elsewhere too did not study management in the formal way. The native wisdom coupled with their vision in understanding the market and organizing the enterprises helped them earn name and fame. Huge industrial empires were built with sheer business acumen and common sense. In arguing for and against, we must not ignore the context of the business. There has been a sea change in the environment of the business. The modern business has become more complex due to the uncertainties arising mainly from:
1. Ever increasing competition for the markets not only domestic but international as well;
2. Rapid technological changes affecting all facets of human life;
3. Increased sophistication and rapid obsolescence of technology;
4. Expansion in the size of organisations and consequently the market, and
5. The unexpected changes in the socio-cultural and political factor influencing the business.
All these variables which have a significant bearing on the functioning of a business point to the need for formal training and acquisition of skills by pursuing management education. More so, at a time when people are talking about “borderless management” in the context of globalization of business.
In the last few years, management as a profession has gained a firm footing in India. The awareness about the contributions of professional managers has been increasing. Consequently, there has been a manifold increase in the number of institutes offering MBA and related diploma courses resulting in a phenomenal increase in the number of students seeking admission into the management programs. Interestingly, the awareness of the society of the importance of professional education for the management of various sectors also is growing. For example, the specialized programs to cater to the specific needs of the sectors like Hotel and Tourism Industry, Transport, Health care, Foreign trade, etc.
The following factors are, among others, seem to be responsible for the growing demand for professional managers:
The liberalization of the Indian economy opened up new vistas for the Indian organisations. As a consequence, competition has increased in all the sectors of the economy, forcing the firms to be efficient. Private industrial houses which were indifferent before, have fully realized the need for professional managers. While the promoters in many cases still reserve the policy formulation for themselves, the day-to-day managerial activities are entrusted to the professional managers. Public sector undertakings are also, of late, forced to perform, if the number of Memorandum of Understandings (MOUs) signed by the managements of PSUs and the concerned ministries of the Government is any indication. As a result, qualified managers are sought after by PSUs than ever before. Apart from the manufacturing concerns, public utilities like transport, telecommunications, and a host of service organisations like banking, insurance, tourism and healthcare are recruiting professional managers in a big way than ever before. The campus visits by scheduled banks [in both private and public sector] stand as a testimony to what is in offing to the demand for professional managers.
There has been some controversy over the use of the terms ‘management’, ‘administration’ and ‘organisation’. At the outset, it may be pointed out that organisation is a narrower term as compared to the management process. The organisation function of management deals with the division of work among individuals, creation of structure of relationship in terms of authority and responsibility and laying down the channels of communication. A debate is very often raised as to whether or not there is a difference between ‘management’ and ‘administration’. Conflicting views by various authors have led to some confusion over the use of these terms. The latest view is that there is no distinction between the two terms. Thus, the debate over the use of the terms management and administration has given rise to three viewpoints:
1. Administration is a higher level function concerned with the determination of policies whereas management is concerned with the implementation of policies.
2. Management is a generic term and includes administration.
3. There is no distinction between management and administration and both the terms are used interchangeably.
1. Administration is a Higher-Level Function: The first viewpoint considers administration as a determinative function and management as an executive function. William Newman,
William R. Spriegel, Oliver Sheldon and Ordway Tead believe that administration involves the overall setting of major objectives, determination of policies, identifying of general purpose, laying down broad programmes, major projects and so forth. Management, according to them, refers essentially to the executive function, i.e., the active direction of human efforts with a view to getting things done. Thus, it could be said that administration, by and large, is more determinative, whereas management, by and large, is essentially executive.
2. Management is a Generic Term: The second viewpoint regards management as a generic term including administration. According to Brech, “Management is a social process entailing responsibility for the effective and economical planning and regulation of the operation of an enterprise in fulfilment of a given purpose. Administration is that part of management which is concerned with the installation and carrying out of the procedures by which the programme is laid down and communicated and the progress of activities is regulated and checked against plans”. Thus, Brech conceived administration as a part of management. Kimball and Kimball also subscribed to this view. According to these management scientists, ‘management’ is put at the same pedestal at which Spriegel, Oliver, Sheldon, Shulze and Ordway Tead have put ‘Administration’. Thus, the first and the second viewpoints are exactly opposite to one another.
3. Management and Administration are Synonymous Terms: The modern viewpoint is that there is no distinction between the terms ‘management’ and ‘administration’. Usage also provides no distinction between these terms. The term ‘management’ is used for higher executive functions like determination of policies, planning, organising, directing and controlling in the business circles while the term ‘administration’ is used for the same set of functions in the Government circles. So there is no difference between these two terms and they are often used interchangeably.
The distinction between management and administration may be of academic interest, but in practical life this distinction seems superfluous. Even if we accept the distinction made by
Sheldon or Tead, it will be very difficult to demarcate between the so-called administrative and managerial functions because the same set of persons perform these functions.
In order to do away with the controversy, we can classify management into:
1. Administrative management, and
2. Operative management.
Administrative management is primarily concerned with laying downs policies and determination of goals whereas operative management is concerned with the implementation of the policies for the achievement of goals. But both these functions, i.e., framing of policies and executing them, are performed by the same set or group of individuals known as managers.
Difference between Management and Adminstration
| Basis | Management | Administration |
| Meaning | Management means getting the work done through and with others. | Administration is concerned with the formulation of objectives, plans and policies of the organisation. |
| Nature of work | Management refers to execution of
decisions. It is a doing function. |
Administration relates to decision making. It is a thinking function. |
| Authority | Middle and lower level | Top level |
| Key person | Manager | Administrator |
| Usage of
Term |
The term ‘management’ is widely used in business organisations in the private sector. | The term ‘administration’ is often associated with government offices, public
sector and non-business organisations. |
| Decision
making |
Management decides who shall
implement the administrative decisions. |
Administration determines what is to be done and when it is to be done. |
| Usage of term | The term ‘management’ is widely used in business organisations in theprivate sector. | The term ‘administration’ is oftenassociated with government offices, public sector and non-business organisations. |
Manager is the person responsible for planning and directing the work of a group of individuals, monitoring their work, and taking corrective action when necessary. For many people, this is their first step into a management career. Managers may direct workers directly or they may direct several supervisors who direct the workers. They are the individuals charged with examining the workflow, coordinating efforts, meeting goals and providing leadership. Thus a manager must be familiar with the work of all the groups he/she supervises, but need not be the best in any or all of the areas. It is more important for a manager to know how to manage the workers than to know how to do their work well.
A manager’s title reflects what he/she is responsible for.
Example:
1. An Accounting Manager supervises the Accounting function.
2. The Production Manager developed a staffing plan for the factory.
3. The Manager of Design Engineering supervises engineers and support staff engaged in design of a product or service.
“ A manager is an individual that supervises both activities and personnel of the business. He is an incharge of overseeing all the things and has an art of getting work done by others.”
To achieve results, they shift gears and restructure and reorganise things continually. The diverse roles played by managers in discharging their duties have been summarised by Henry Mintzberg in the late 1960s, under three broad headings: interpersonal roles, informational roles and decisional roles. A role, according to him, “Is an organized set of behaviour belonging to an identifiable office or position.” Just as characters in a play have specific roles, managers also play different roles. Through his studies, Mintzberg identified ten roles that managers play at various times to varying degrees. He classified them under three broad categories; interpersonal roles, informational roles, and decisional roles. Let us understand them one by one.
1. Interpersonal roles: Three interpersonal roles help the manager keep the organisation running smoothly. Managers play the figurehead role when they perform duties that are ceremonial and symbolic in nature. These include greeting the visitors, attending social functions involving their subordinates (like weddings, funerals), handing out merit certificates to workers showing promise etc. The leadership role includes hiring, training, motivating and disciplining employees. Managers play the liaison role when they serve as a connecting link between their organisation and others or between their units and other organisational units. Mintzberg described this activity as contacting outsiders who provide the manager with information. Such activities like acknowledgements of mail, external board work, etc., are included in this category.
2. Informational roles: Mintzberg mentioned that receiving and communicating information are perhaps the most important aspects of a manager’s job. In order to make the right decisions, managers need information from various sources. Typically, this activity is done through reading magazines and talking with others to learn about changes in the customers’ tastes, competitors’ moves and the like. Mintzberg called this the monitor role. In the disseminator role, the manager distributes important information to subordinates that would otherwise be inaccessible to them. Managers also perform the spokesperson role when they represent the organisation to outsiders.
3. Decisional roles: There are four decision roles that the manager adopts. In the role of entrepreneur, the manager tries to improve the unit. He initiates planned changes to adapt to environmental challenges. As disturbance handlers, managers respond to situations that are beyond their control such as strikes, shortages of materials, complaints, grievances, etc. In the role of a resource allocator, managers are responsible for allocating human, physical and monetary resources. As negotiators, managers not only mediate in internal conflicts but also carry out negotiations with other units to gain advantages for their own unit.
As Mintzberg points out, these roles are not independent of one another. Instead, they are interdependent. The interpersonal roles arise out of the manager’s authority and status in the organisation and involve interactions with people. These inter personal roles make the manager a focal point of information, enabling and compelling the manager to assume and play the informational roles as an information processing centre. By playing interpersonal and informational roles, the manager is able to play the decisional roles; allocating resources, resolving conflict, seeking out opportunities for the organisation, and negotiation on behalf of the organisation. Taken together the ten roles comprise and define the work of the manager, whatever the organisations size and nature of the business
An effective manager must possess certain skills in the areas of planning, organising, leading, controlling and decision-making in order to process activities that are presented to him from time to time. In order to be effective, a manager must possess and continuously develop several essential skills. Robert L. Katz has identified three basic types of skills – technical, human and conceptual – which he says are needed by all managers.
1. Technical skill: Technical skills refer to the ability to use the tools, equipment, procedures, techniques and knowledge of a specialized field. It is primarily concerned with the ways of doing the things. It implies proficiency in a specific field of activity. Technical skills are most important for the lower level managers, because by nature their job involves supervision of the workers. Effective supervision and coordination of the work of the subordinates, therefore, depends on the technical skill possessed by the lower level manager. Any supervisor without a sound knowledge of the job cannot make an effective supervisor. Such supervisors are not respected by the subordinates at the shop floor. The relative importance of the technical skills as compared to the other skills diminishes as one move up to higher levels of management. Technical skill is considered to be very crucial to the effectiveness of lower level managers because they are in direct contact with employees performing work activities within the firm. For instance, the success of a drilling supervisor of an oil rig depends a great deal on his technical knowledge of drilling. However, as one moves to higher levels of management within the organisation, the importance of technical skill diminishes because the manager has less direct contact with day-to-day problems and activities. Thus, the president of an oil company does not need to know much of the technical details of drilling for oil or how to refine it.
2. Human skill: Human skills are primarily concerned with “persons” in contrast to “things”. When a manager is highly skilled in employee relations, his aware of their attitudes, assumptions, and beliefs and recognizes their limitations as well as their usefulness. He accepts as an important fact of life, the existence of viewpoints and feelings, different from his own. Thus, human skills refer to the ability of the manager to work effectively as a group member and to build cooperative effort in the team he leads. It is the ability to work with, understand and motivate people. He understands why people behave as they do and is able to make his own behaviour understandable to them. He can foresee their reactions to possible courses of action. His skill in working with others is natural and continuous. He does not apply it in random or in inconsistent fashion. It is a natural ingredient of his every action. The flair for understanding, empathizing and working with people are central to the human skills. It is the ability to work with, understand and motivate other people. This skill is essential at every level of management within the organisation, but it is particularly important at lower levels of management where the supervisor has frequent contact with operating personnel.
3. Conceptual skill: It is the mental ability to coordinate and integrate the organisation’s interests and activities. It refers to the ability to see the ‘big picture’, to understand how a change in any given part can affect the whole organisation. Conceptual skills also called design and problem-solving skills involve the ability to:
a. See the organisation and the various components of it as a whole;
b. Understand how its various parts and functions are related in network fashion; and to foresee how changes in any one of these may affect the others.
Conceptual skills extend to visualizing the relation of the organisation to industry, to the community and to the political, economic and social forces of the nation as a whole and even to forces which operate beyond the national boundaries. It is the creative force within the organisation. A high degree of conceptual skill helps in analysing the environment and in identifying the opportunities and threats. Managements of companies like ITC, Larsen & Toubro, Asian Paints, Bajaj Auto, Bharti Telecom in the private sector and National Dairy Development Board, Bharat Heavy Electricals (BHEL) in the public sector, to mention a few, have amply demonstrated this skill in gaining a competitive edge over their competitors.
4. Other than that there are several other skills possessed by the managers. They are as follows:
a. Design skill: Koontz and Weihrich added one more skill to the above list. Design skill is the ability to solve problems in ways that will help the organisation. At higher levels, managers should be able to do more than see a problem, to design a workable solution to a problem in the light of realities they face. If managers merely see a problem and become problem watchers they will fail
b. Institution building skills: According to Professor Pareek (1981), top level executives perform eight key roles while building institutions of lasting value, as indicated below:
i. Identity creating role: Top level executives must create an identity for their organisations in the market place. Such an impact can be created by serving employees through excellent welfare measures, developing enviable marketing skills or fostering technological innovations. In short, they must ‘carve out a niche’ for themselves in the market place.
ii. Enabling role: Top level executives must develop their resources (men, materials, equipment and other facilities) in the service of an organisation. A good work atmosphere must be created where employees would feel like contributing their best to the organisation.
iii. Synergising role: Synergy means that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. In organisational terms, synergy means that as separate departments within an organisation cooperate and interact, they become more productive than if each had acted in isolation. Example: It is more efficient for each department in a small firm to deal with one financing department than for each department to have a separate financing department of its own. Top executives must try to combine their human as well as non-human resources in such a way that the goals of the organisation are met in an effective and efficient manner.
iv. Balancing role: The top executive must be able to strike a harmonious balance between conformity and creativity within the organisation. Conformity to rules and regulations is required to ensure consistent and orderly execution of work.
v. Linkage building role: The chief executive must be able to develop appropriate linkages between the organisation and outside constituencies such as government, financial institutions, community and society at large. Without enlisting support from these outside constituencies, it might be difficult for the organisation to obtain licenses, to expand business activity, to carry out research and to initiate rural development programmes.
vi. Futuristic role: The chief executive must prepare the organisation for future challenges. To this end, the organisation must look into market opportunities and encash these in a prudent way. The chief executive must be able to steer the ship to safety, facing the turbulent environments in a bold manner.
As you have understood by now – the three types of skills discussed so far are not mutually exclusive. In other words, management job always requires all the three skills, but in different proportions depending upon the level of management. There is a gradual shift in the emphasis from the bottom to the top of the pyramid. Technical skills and human skill are always in great demand at the lower level of management for it is there the productive processes and operations are carried out. It is there where you find most of the people. It is there where the action takes place. In contrast, the need for conceptual skill is greatest at the top level of management. Obviously, top managers are not often involved in the direct application of specific methods, procedures and techniques, compared to those at the lower echelons of management. As evident from the foregoing discussion, at the entry level of the management job, that is, at the supervisory level, besides technical skills, a manager has to process human skills and the problem-solving skills (conceptual). To climb up the organisational ladder, one must not only be good at the skills required for the present job, but also learn and acquaint with the skills required at the next level. As result, in the event of promotion to the next higher levels, he/she would feel at home and discharge the responsibilities with ease. Based on the differences in the type of skills required, organisations assess the training needs of the managers. Accordingly, appropriate training, development methods and programs are designed to equip them with the skills required at the respective levels. Although, each of these skills is needed in some degree at every level of management, there are successful executives who have no great amount of technical skills. But they are able to compensate the lack of that skill through superior creative ability and skill in identifying the talent and empowering the people through effective human resources development practices and good leadership.
As we have seen above, there are many management functions in business and, therefore, many manager titles. Regardless of title, the manager is responsible for planning, directing, monitoring and controlling the people and their work.
1. An Operations Manager is responsible for the operations of the company.
2. A Night Manager is responsible for the activities that take place at night. According to Reitz, Managers generally work for long hours, their days are broken up into a large number of brief and varied activities, they interact with large number of different people, they do little reflective planning and spend most of their time engaged in oral communication. They spend a lot of time getting, giving and processing information.
According to Stoner, managerial work is characterised by the following things:
1. Managers work with and through other people: Managers work with internal (subordinates, supervisors, peers) as well as external groups (customers, clients, suppliers, union representatives etc.) in order to achieve corporate goals. They integrate individual efforts into teamwork. They plan things, create a structure, motivate people and achieve goals.
2. Managers are mediators: People working in an organisation do not always agree on certain things, say, the establishment of goals and the means to achieve them. At the corporate headquarters of a large bank, managers may think about expanding into merchant banking, leasing, credit card business, whereas at the branch level, people may focus on expanding deposits by venturing deep into rural areas. Unless such differences are resolved quickly, employees find it difficult to think and act like a well-knit group. Their morale, too, may suffer. Managers often step in to put things in order, clear the paths to goals, clarify things to people, put out fires and meet goals.
3. Managers are politicians: Managers must develop healthy relationships with various groups in order to achieve the goals smoothly. They may have to nurture groups and join certain coalitions within a company. They often draw upon such relationships to win support for their proposals and decisions.
4. Managers are diplomats: Managers serve as official representatives of their work units at organisational meetings. They may represent the entire organisation as well as a particular unit in dealing with external groups (clients, customers, government officials, etc.)
5. Managers are symbols: Managers are symbols of corporate success or failure. They get applause when they succeed and get depreciated and attacked when they fail. In short, they represent corporate as well as employee aspirations. They are shown the door when these aspirations do not materialise
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