Fundamentals of Management free essay sample

The above definitions reveal that management is the activity of man who struggles for better living in the complex and competitive world, besides, the management gives satisfaction to and rewards those who are engaged in the operation and ensuring an excellent performance. In other words, management is the process consisting of the functions of planning, organizing, staffing, directing and controlling the operations to achieve specified objectives. Peter F. Drucker defines, â€Å"Management is an organ; organs can be described and defined only through their functions. Henry Fayol, â€Å"To manage is to forecast and plan, to organize, to compound, to co-ordinate and to control. † Harold Koontz says, â€Å"Management is the art of getting things done through and with an informally organized group. † F. W. Taylor, â€Å"Management is the art of knowing what you want to do and then seeing that it is done in the best and cheapest way. † Features or characteristics of Management Art as well as science: Management is both an art and a science. We will write a custom essay sample on Fundamentals of Management or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page It is an art in the sense of possessing of managing skill by a person. In another sense, management is the science because of developing certain principles or laws which are applicable in a place where a group of activities are co-ordinated. Management is an activity: Management is the process of activity relating to the effective utilization of available resources for production. The term resources include men, money, materials and machine in the organization. Management is a continuous process: The process of management mainly consists of planning, organizing, directing and controlling the resources. The resources (men and money) of an organization should be used to the best advantages of the organization and the objectives to be achieved. The management function of any one alone cannot produce any results in the absence of any other basic functions of management. So, management is a continuous process. Management achieving pre-determined objectives: The objectives of an organization are clearly laid down. Every managerial activity results in the achievement of objectives fixed well in advance. Organized activities: Management is a group of organized activities. All the organizations have their own objectives. These objectives will be achieved only be a group of persons. These persons activities should be organized in a systematic way to achieve the objectives. The objectives cannot be achieved without any organized activities. Management is a discipline: The boundaries of management are not exact as those of any other physical sciences. It may be increased by the continuous discovery of many more aspects of business enterprise. So, the management status as a discipline is also increased in the same manner. Management is a purposeful activity: Management is concerned with achievement of objectives of an organization. These objectives are achieved through the functions of planning, organizing, staffing, directing, controlling and decision-making. The organizational objectives are clearly defined and explained to every employee. Management aims at maximizing profit: The available resources are properly utilized to get desired results. The results should be the maximizing profit or increasing profit by the economic function of a manager. Decision-making: There are a number of decisions taken by the management everyday. Decision making arises only when there is availability of alternative courses of action. If there is only one course of action, need for decision-making does not arise. The quality of decision taken by the manager determines the organizations performance. The success or failure of an organization depends upon the degree of right decision taken by the manager. Universal application: The principles and practices of management are applicable not to any particular industry alone but applicable to every type of industry. The practice of management is different from one organization to another according to their nature. Management is getting thing done: A manager does not actually perform the ork but he gets things done by others. According to Knootz and O’Donnel, â€Å"management is the art of getting things done through and with people in formally organized groups. † Management as a class or a team: A class may be defined as a group of people having homogenous characteristics to achieve common objectives. Engineers and doctors are grouped as a class in a societ y. Each and every doctor has the same objectives in life. Just like engineers and doctors’ the management are some of the specializations of management, specialists are appointed in the key posts of top management. Direction and control: A manager can direct his sub-ordinates in the performance of a work and control them whenever necessary. If the available resources are not utilized properly be him, he fails to achieve the corporate objectives in the absence of direction and control. Generally, the direction and control deals with the activities of human effort. Management is needed at all levels: The function of management is common to all levels of organization. The top executives perform the functions of planning, organizing, directing, controlling, and decision making. The same functions are also performed by the lower level supervisor. Leadership Quality: Leadership quality is developed in the persons who are working in the top level management. According to R. C. Davis, â€Å"Management is the function of executive leadership everywhere. † Functions of Management: Planning: Planning is the primary function of management. Noting cab e performed without planning. Writing a book starts with plan-ning. In short, planning refers to deciding in advance that which will be done in the near future. In the business world, the organization should achieve the objectives. In order to achieve objectives, the organization plans what is to be done, when it is to be done, how it is to be done, and by whom it is to be done. George R Terry has rightly said â€Å"Planning is a constructive reviewing of future needs so that present actions can be adjusted in view of the established goal. It is deliberate conscious research used to formulate the design and orderly sequence of actions through which it is expected to reach objectives. Planning should take place before doing; most individual or group efforts are made by determining before any operative action takes place, what shall be done, where, how and who shall do it. Organizing: Organizing is the distribution of work in group wise or section wise for effective performance. Organization provides all facilities which are necessary to perform the work. The business developed, the organization takes responsibility to create some more departments under different managers. Hence, the organization divides the tot al work and co-ordinates all the activities by authority relationship. Besides, organizing defines the position of each person in the organization and determines the paths through which communication should flow. The manager would determine who should report to whom and how. According to Koontz and O’Donnell, â€Å"organizing consists of conscious co-ordination of people towards a desired goal. † Staffing: Staffing function comprises the activities of selection and placement of competent personnel. In other words, staffing refers to placement of right persons in the right jobs. Staffing includes selection of right persons, performance appraisal of all the personnel, and adequate remuneration of personnel. The success of any enterprise depends upon the successful performance of staffing function. According to Koontz and O’Donnell, â€Å"the managerial function of staffing involves managing the organizational structure through proper and effective selection, appraisal and development of personnel to fill the roles designed into the structure. † Directing: The actual performance of a work starts with the function of direction. Planning, organizing and staffing function are concerned with the preliminary work for the achievement of organizational objectives. But the direction deals with making the workers learn techniques to perform the jobs assigned to them. Direction includes guidance, supervision and motivation of employees. Co-coordinating: All the activities are divided group wise or section wise under organizing function. Now, such grouped activities are co-ordinated towards the accomplishment of objectives of an organization. The difficulty of co-ordination depends upon the size of organization. The according to knootz and O’Donnell, â€Å"the last co-ordination occurs when individuals see how their jobs contribute to the dominant goals of the enterprise. This implies knowledge and understanding of enterprise objectives†. Motivating or actuating: The goals are achieved with the help of motivation. Motivation includes increasing the speed of performance of a work and developing willingness on the part of workers. This is done by an resourceful leader. The workers expect favorable climate conditions to work, fair treatment, monetary or non-monetary incentive, effective communication and gentleman approach. Controlling: Controlling function ensures that the achieved objectives conform to pre-planned objectives. Necessary corrective action may be taken if there is any deviation. The control is very easy whenever the organization has fixed standard. A good system of control has the characteristics of economy, flexibility, understanding and adequacy to organizational needs. According to Henry Fayol, â€Å"Control consists in verifying whether everything occurs in conformity with the plan adopted, the instructions issued and principles issued. † Innovation: Innovation refers to the preparation of personnel and organization to face the changes made in the business world. Continuous changes are being made in the business. Consumers are satisfied through innovation. Innovation includes developing new material, new products, new techniques in production new package, and new design of a product and cost reduction. Representation: A manager has to act as a representative of a company. He has dealings with customers, suppliers, government officials, banks, financial institutions, trade unions and the like. It is the duty of every manager to have good relations with others. Decision-making: Every employee of an organization has to take a number of decisions every day. Decision making helps in the smooth functioning of an organization. Communication: Communication is the transmission of human thoughts, views or opinions from one person to another person. Workers are informed about what should be done, where it is to be done, how it is to be done and when it is to e done. Communication helps the regulation of job and co-ordinate the activities. POSDCORB, where- P stands for Planning O stands for Organizing S stands for Staffing D for Directing Co for Co-ordinating R for Reporting B for Budgeting. Importance of Management:Management is must for every enterprise. The existence of management ensures proper functioning and running of an enterprise. Management can plan the activities to achieve the objectives and utilize the available resources at minimum cost. Every business needs a direction. This direction is given by the management. The resources of production are converted into production. The resources will remain as resources in the absence of management. The conversion process is performed through the co-ordination of management. Management meets the challenge of change:In the modern business world, there are frequent changes. The changes place the business in a dangerous position. Only an efficient management can save the business from the dangers brought in by the challenges. Accomplishment of group goals:The achievement of objectives of a business depends upon three factors. The proper planning of available resources, adjusting possibility of business unit with existing business environment and the quality of decision taken and control made by the business unit are the factors responsible for achieving objectives. Effective utilization of business:There are eight M’s in the business. These are said to be man, money, materials, machines, methods, motivation, markets and management. Management is the topmost of all other ‘M’s. Management has control over other remaining ‘M’s. Effective functioning of business:Ability, experience, mutual understanding, co-ordination, motivation and supervision are some of the factors responsible for the effective functioning of business. Management makes sure that the abilities of workers are properly used and co-operation is obtained with the help of mutual understanding. Besides management can know the expectation of workers and the expectation is fulfilled through motivation techniques. Resource development:Efficient management is the life boat of any developed business. The resources of the business may be identified and developed by the management. The term ‘resources’ includes men, money, material and machines. Sound organization structure: Management lays down the foundation for sound organization structure. Sound organization structure clearly defines the authority and responsibility relationship – who is responsible to whom, who will command whom and who is responsible for what. Care is taken in appointing qualified persons to the right job by the management. Management directs the organization: The human mind directs and controls the functioning of human body. Similarly, the management directs and controls the functioning of an organization. Integrates various interests:Each person has his own interests. These interests are different in nature. Management takes steps to integrate various interests to achieve the objectives of an organization. Stability:The fluctuations of business are stabilized by the management. The fluctuations of business are caused by the changing policy of the government, pressures on the part of competitors and changing preferences of customers. The efficient management can run the business as per the policy framed by the government, face the competitors in the market and produce the articles as per the preferences of customers. Innovation:New ideas are developed by the management and implemented in the organization. Better performance is achieved through new ideas. Co-ordination and team-spirit: All the activities of business are grouped department-wise. Management co-ordinates the activities of different departments and established team-spirit to achieve the objectives. A tool for personality development: Management gives direction to workers for effective performance of a job. Besides, new methods or techniques are taught to workers. The training facilities are arranged by the management. In this way, management is a tool to develop the personality of workers to raise their efficiency and productivity ability. Nature of Management: Management as the social process by which managers of an enterprise integrate and coordinate its resources for the achievement of common, explicit goals. Management has also acquired several characteristics of a profession during recent times.