Management

What is Management?

Management is the process of getting things done through people and focusing individual efforts around a shared goal. It is a method of deriving tasks from others in a coordinated and integrated manner in order to achieve certain goals through the efficient use of material resources. Management can benefit by mobilizing the material, human, and financial resources and arranging their use for business operations in such a way as to achieve the set goals.

It is the art of increasing productivity as a social process, a way to accomplish tasks with the help of others, a plan of action, and its direction by a cohesive team working toward a shared objective. Management is the process of using available resources efficiently to accomplish a goal.

Characteristics of Management

• Group endeavour: Management is a group endeavour. Nobody can fully satisfy all of their own desires. Therefore, he joins forces with his fellow humans and works in a structured team to accomplish what he cannot do alone.
• Goal-oriented: Group activities are focused on achieving specific defined goals. Management is concerned with setting up and achieving these goals.
• Component of production: it is not a goal in and of itself. It is a tool for achieving the shared goals. It is a production element that must coordinate with the other production factors in order to achieve previously set goals and objectives.
• Universal: Wherever there is human activity, management is a must. The fundamentals of management apply to all industries. These are applicable to a wide range of issues, including business, social, religious, cultural, recreational, educational, and international technology.
• Pervasive: Management is required at all levels of the organization, including the top level, middle level, and supervisor level, depending on the nature of the activity or aim and the extent of authority.
• Distinct Function: Management is a unique function that is used to set and accomplish stated goals by utilizing labour and other production-related aspects. The management process, which is distinct from the activities, strategies, and procedures, involves duties like planning, organizing, staffing, directing, coordinating, motivating, and controlling.
• Social Process: We view management as a social process. It has a social duty to use limited resources wisely while keeping the good of the community at large in mind.

Functions of Management

Planning

It is the fundamental function of management. Choosing a path of action to accomplish desired goals is planning. Planning is therefore the deliberate consideration of methods and approaches to achieve predetermined goals. Planning is required to guarantee effective use of both human and non-human resources. It is intellectually stimulating and assists in reducing risks, waste, uncertainty, and confusion.

Organizing

Organizing is the process of combining people, financial, and physical resources and creating beneficial relationships between them in order to achieve organizational objectives.

Staffing

Finding, choosing, analysing, and establishing a working rapport with present or potential employees is referred to as staffing. Finding qualified applicants to fill the various positions inside the firm is the major objective of staffing.

Directing

This aspect of management is what drives organizational processes to perform effectively in pursuit of organizational goals. The inert-personnel part of management known as direction is concerned with directly influencing, directing, monitoring, and inspiring subordinates in order to achieve organizational goals. Following are the components of direction:

• Supervision
• Motivation
• Leadership
• Communication

Controlling

To assure the completion of corporate goals, it implies measuring performance against standards and, if necessary, making corrections. Controlling is done to make sure that everything happens in accordance with the norms. An effective control system makes it possible to anticipate deviations before they really happen.

Levels of Management

The phrase “Levels of Management” describes a boundary between different managerial positions inside an organization. When a business and its workforce grow in size, so do the levels of management, and vice versa. The chain of command, the scope of the position’s power, and its status are all based on the level of management. Three major categories can be used to classify the levels of management:

• Top-level / Administrative level / Executive level
• Executory/Middle level
• First-line managers, supervisors, operators, and low-level managers

Importance

1. Aids in the accomplishment of group objectives: Management is necessary for the organization’s objectives, not for its own sake. The role of a manager is to coordinate individual efforts toward the organization’s overarching objective.
2. Improves efficiency: A manager’s goal is to lower expenses and boost productivity by improved planning, organizing, directing, staffing, and controlling organizational activities.
3. Creates a dynamic organization: All organizations must function in a continually changing environment, which is created by management. It is typically observed that people in organizations oppose change because it frequently entails leaving a comfortable, secure environment in favour of a brand-new, challenging one. Management aids individuals in adjusting to these changes so that the organization can keep up its competitive advantage.
4. Helps in the accomplishment of individual goals: A manager inspires and guides his team in a way that allows each member to accomplish personal goals while also advancing the general organizational aim. The management fosters teamwork, cooperation, and commitment to the success of the group through inspiring employees and providing strong leadership.
5. Helps in the development of society: An organization has many goals to satisfy the needs of the various groups that make up it, which aids in the growth of society. In order to accomplish all of these goals, management aids in the growth of the organization. Hence, aids in the growth of society. It contributes to the provision of high-quality goods and services, generates employment opportunities, adopts new technology for the benefit of everybody, and paves the way for progress and development.

Wrap Up

All in all, the science of managing men, machines, money, materials and methods is known as management. It includes all responsibilities and tasks related to starting a business, financing it, establishing major policies, providing all necessary equipment, requiring a general form of organization, determining how the business will run, and choosing the key executives.