Meaning
of Management
Management
is very important for any organisation without proper management you cannot
achieve the required objectives. It is an important force which coordinate the
individual efforts. Anyhow, it is a controlling force in case of business,
country or even for a family. It can be defined in the following words:
Definition of Management :- "Management is a process of
coordinating the resources to meet the objectives."
Management
is the process of reaching organizational goals by working with and through
people and other organizational resources.
Management
has the following 3 characteristics:
1. It is a process or series
of continuing and related activities.
2. It involves and
concentrates on reaching organizational goals.
3. It reaches these goals by
working with and through people and other organizational resources.
Functions of Management
Management has been described as a social process
involving responsibility for economical and effective planning & regulation
of operation of an enterprise in the fulfillment of given purposes. It is a
dynamic process consisting of various elements and activities. These activities
are different from operative functions like marketing, finance, purchase etc.
Rather these activities are common to each and every manger irrespective of his
level or status.
Different experts have classified functions of
management. According to George & Jerry, “There are four
fundamental functions of management i.e. planning, organizing, actuating and
controlling”.
According to Henry Fayol, “To manage is to forecast
and plan, to organize, to command, & to control”. Whereas Luther Gullick
has given a keyword ’POSDCORB’ where P stands for Planning, O for
Organizing, S for Staffing, D for Directing, Co for Co-ordination, R for
reporting & B for Budgeting. But the most widely accepted are functions of
management given by KOONTZ and O’DONNEL i.e. Planning, Organizing, Staffing, Directing and Controlling.
For theoretical purposes, it may be convenient to
separate the function of management but practically these functions are
overlapping in nature i.e. they are highly inseparable. Each function blends
into the other & each affects the performance of others.
- Planning
It is the basic function of management. It deals
with chalking out a future course of action & deciding in advance the most
appropriate course of actions for achievement of pre-determined goals.
According to KOONTZ, “Planning is deciding in advance - what to do, when to do
& how to do. It bridges the gap from where we are & where we want to
be”. A plan is a future course of actions. It is an exercise in problem solving
& decision making. Planning is determination of courses of action to
achieve desired goals. Thus, planning is a systematic thinking about ways &
means for accomplishment of pre-determined goals. Planning is necessary to
ensure proper utilization of human & non-human resources. It is all
pervasive, it is an intellectual activity and it also helps in avoiding
confusion, uncertainties, risks, wastages etc.
- Organizing
It is the process of bringing together physical,
financial and human resources and developing productive relationship amongst
them for achievement of organizational goals. According to Henry Fayol, “To
organize a business is to provide it with everything useful or its functioning
i.e. raw material, tools, capital and personnel’s”. To organize a business
involves determining & providing human and non-human resources to the
organizational structure. Organizing as a process involves:
- Identification
of activities.
- Classification
of grouping of activities.
- Assignment
of duties.
- Delegation
of authority and creation of responsibility.
- Coordinating
authority and responsibility relationships.
- Staffing
It is the function of manning the organization
structure and keeping it manned. Staffing has assumed greater importance in the
recent years due to advancement of technology, increase in size of business,
complexity of human behavior etc. The main purpose o staffing is to put right
man on right job i.e. square pegs in square holes and round pegs in round
holes. According to Kootz & O’Donell, “Managerial function of staffing
involves manning the organization structure through proper and effective
selection, appraisal & development of personnel to fill the roles designed
un the structure”. Staffing involves:
- Manpower
Planning (estimating man power in terms of searching, choose the
person and giving the right place).
- Recruitment,
Selection & Placement.
- Training
& Development.
- Remuneration.
- Performance
Appraisal.
- Promotions
& Transfer.
- Directing
It is that part of managerial function which
actuates the organizational methods to work efficiently for achievement of
organizational purposes. It is considered life-spark of the enterprise which
sets it in motion the action of people because planning, organizing and
staffing are the mere preparations for doing the work. Direction is that
inert-personnel aspect of management which deals directly with influencing,
guiding, supervising, motivating sub-ordinate for the achievement of
organizational goals. Direction has following elements:
- Supervision
- Motivation
- Leadership
- Communication
Supervision- implies
overseeing the work of subordinates by their superiors. It is the act of
watching & directing work & workers.
Motivation- means
inspiring, stimulating or encouraging the sub-ordinates with zeal to work.
Positive, negative, monetary, non-monetary incentives may be used for this
purpose.
Leadership- may
be defined as a process by which manager guides and influences the work of
subordinates in desired direction.
Communications- is
the process of passing information, experience, opinion etc from one person to
another. It is a bridge of understanding.
- Controlling
It implies measurement of accomplishment against the
standards and correction of deviation if any to ensure achievement of
organizational goals. The purpose of controlling is to ensure that everything
occurs in conformities with the standards. An efficient system of control helps
to predict deviations before they actually occur. According to Theo
Haimann, “Controlling is the process of checking whether or not proper
progress is being made towards the objectives and goals and acting if
necessary, to correct any deviation”. According to Koontz & O’Donell
“Controlling is the measurement & correction of performance activities of
subordinates in order to make sure that the enterprise objectives and plans
desired to obtain them as being accomplished”. Therefore controlling has
following steps:
a.
Establishment of standard performance.
b.
Measurement of actual performance.
c.
Comparison of actual performance with
the standards and finding out deviation if any.
d.
Corrective action.
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