Management is an indispensable facet of the economic life of all human beings and of every business organization too. This is so because it is concerned with leading and effective utilization of human, physical, and financial resources of a business, so that the set objectives and goals may be accomplished in the desired manner.
Concept of Management
Management is a process containing a human element and makes the most efficient use of resources through and with people for attaining defined organizational objectives by most economical and effective planning and execution. Therefore, management can be viewed as:
• A process of continuing and inter-related activities
• Concentrates on attaining organizational goals
• Focuses on working with and through human and other organizational resources
Definitions of Management
• Harold Koontz in his book “The Management Theory Jungle”, defined management as “the art of getting things are done through and with people in formally organized groups.”
• Henri Fayol in his book “Industrial and General Administration”, defined management as “To manage is to forecast and to plan, to organize, to command, to co-ordinate and to control.”
• Similarly, Peter Drucker in his book “The Principles of Management” conceived management as “Management is a multi-purpose organ that manages the business and manages managers and manages workers and work.”
• According to George R . Terry, “Management is a distinct process consisting of planning, organizing, actuating and controlling performed to determine and accomplish the objectives by the use of people and resources.”
• According to American Management Association, “Management is getting things done through people.”
• According to Mary Parker Follet, “Management is the art of getting things done through people.”
Scientific theory by Frederick W. Taylor
F. W. T Taylor proposed scientific management theory, where various ways were devised to determine the most efficient and effective ways to get tasks done.
Taylor created four principles of his scientific management theory.
1. Each task should be studied to determine the most efficient way to do the task. The rule of thumb should be replaced by scientific analysis of work.
2. There should be complete harmony between workers and management towards each other. Both should realize the importance of each other and aim to increase the profits of the organization.
3. Third, workers should be monitored closely to ensure they only follow best working practices.
4. Fourth, managers should spend time training employees and plan for future needs.
Theories on the Functions of Management
Since management is about getting the things done through and with people to attain the desired objectives by making the best utilization of the resources. With the passing time, scholars began studying and theorizing the essence of management, which gave birth to diverse ideas and concepts of management. Here are some of the most influential theories outlined about the ideas about the functions of management.
• Frederick W. Taylor’s Scientific Management Theory.
• Henri Fayol’s Administrative Theory
• Max Weber’s Bureaucratic Theory
• Elton Mayo’s Human Relations Theory
• Ludwig von Bertalanffy’s Systems Theory
• Douglas McGregor’s theory based on different types of workers.
• George R Terry propounded principles of management.
• Harold Kootz and Cyril O Donnel’s systems and contingency analysis of management functions.
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