Meaning of Management

Management is the art and science of getting things done through others, generally
by organizing and directing their activities on the job. A manager is therefore
someone who defines, plans, guides, assists, and assesses the work of others,
usually people for whom the manager is responsible in an organization.
As an army without general, a team without coach or a nation without
Government can not accomplish its goal.Likewise an organization can’t succeed
without a manager.It is the manager who makes sure that an organization is moving
in the right direction.
In the early 1900s, the professional status of management got a big boost
from the concept of scientific management. Frederick Taylor was “The Father of
Scientific Management.” (It’s on his gravestone.)Taylor believed that managers could
improve the productivity of factory workers if they understood workers’ tasks and
then properly planned each task for each worker.

Need of managers
The following six concepts are central to business and are the reasons that business
needs managers:
◆ Value for customers
◆ Organization
◆ Competitive advantage
◆ Control
◆ Profitability
◆ Ethical practices

Value creation
A business exists to create value of some kind. It takes raw materials or activities
and increases their value in some way, transforming them into products or services
that customers will buy. Value is what customers pay for. Customers buy things that
they value.
For example, McDonald’s creates value by setting up places where people can eat
inexpensively away from home. The company builds restaurants, hires cooks and
counter people, buys food, and prepares meals. The customers value the
convenience of location (you don’t have to go home to eat), the speed of service (it’s
not called “fast food” for nothing), and the tastiness of the meals (most people like
hamburgers, chicken, soft drinks, and fries).
A business—and its managers—must create value for customers.
This can be done in almost limitless ways because human desires are limitless. But a
single business cannot serve limitless desires. Instead, it must create a specific kind
of value in a specific way.In other words, management must decide what the
business will do, and then organize itself accordingly.
Organization
An organization must have goals and the resources (human, material, and financial)
to meet those goals. It must keep track of what it does and how well it does it. Each
department has to perform its function properly. Employees must be assigned
specific tasks that move the outfit toward its goals.
Management is responsible for keeping the company organized. The
employees—human resources—and all other resources of the business, such as
equipment, floor space, and money, must also be organized.Managers achieve
organization by means of structure. The overall structure can be represented in an
organization chart. But managers have other structures for achieving organization.
For example, the company’s financial structure organizes the way it handles money.
The sales force can be structured into sales teams by geography, by products, or
both.Companies achieve organization in various ways. Some take a highly
structured, almost military approach, with strict hierarchies, sharply defined duties,
and formal protocol. Other outfits take a more informal approach, which allows
people greater leeway and creates a more unstructured environment.
Competitive Advantage
To succeed in a particular market, a company must do something better than other
companies in that business. Doing something better creates a competitive
advantage. That “something” may be only one aspect of the product or service, as
long as customers value it highly. For example, a company can gain a competitive
advantage by offering the widest selection of products. Or rock-bottom prices. Or
high quality. Or great service. But it can’t do all of those things.
Managers decide what basis the company will compete on, and they must be quite
clear about this. So management must decide whether it wants to compete on
quality or on price. Or on service. Or on convenience of location. Then it has to
manage the company so that it does compete on that basis by delivering that
advantage to customers. By this, I mean that a company must consistently present a
certain advantage to its customers.
Controlling
After management decides how to create value, organize the business, and establish
a competitive advantage, it must control the outfit. This does not mean ruling with
an iron fist. Rather, it means that everyone must know the company’s goals and be
assigned tasks that will move everyone toward those goals. Controls ensure that the
right manager knows what’s going on at all times. These controls are based mostly
on information. For example, every company needs financial controls. Managers
have budgets so they can control their department’s spending.They receive regular
information about the amount their department has spent and what it was spent on.
Financial controls ensure that the company spends what it needs to spend—no more,
no less—to do business and meet its goals. A business is made up of many
processes, so “process control” is something you may hear about. A manufacturing
process, a hiring process, and a purchasing process all require controls. In these
examples, the controls ensure, respectively, that product quality is maintained, that
the right people are hired at the right time, and that the right materials are
purchased at a reasonable price.
Controls, and the information that supports them, enable managers to manage.
Profitability
A business is set up to make money. The money a business earns can be measured
in various ways. But no matter how it is measured, a business
has to make money—earn a profit—on its operations. If, during a certain period of
time, a business takes in more money for its products than it spends making those
products, it makes a profit for that period. If not, it has a loss for the period. Losses
cannot continue for long or the company will go bankrupt.
Ethical Practices
Today’s competitiveness and the drive for profits have been blamed for an upswing
in bad behavior in business. However, dishonesty and greed have been around as
long as business itself—longer, in fact. Although the vast majority of businesspeople
are honest, managers in particular must engage in and tolerate only completely
ethical practices. This is true for three reasons: First, managers,
especially senior managers, hold a position of trust as stewards of the company for
the stockholders, employees, customers, and community. Second, managers have
the most opportunity to enrich themselves at the expense of the stockholders,
employees, customers, and community. Third, managers set the standard for the
entire company. If they are fudging their numbers, how can they expect honest
numbers from their subordinates?

Managerial skill &Task

A good planner-In order for you to achieve long term goals and commit to
strategies for substantial earnings, you have to communicate the vision of the
company to your subordinates. You break down and clarify the goals that each team
or individual have to perform and assign work schedules and strategies.
It also involves thinking and planning out strategies on how to
improve quality and also being cost conscious and effective. Having goals and
planning out the directions allow for effective time management and saves cost and
resources.

Decision Maker-The daily routine of making decisions include determining how to

approach an employee who is not performing or lacking progress and how to bring
about change to the organization and its team. It is essential that your day to day
decision is based on what's important, what's right and not who's right.

Leadership skill-Your position entails you to guide and give direction so that the
team can perform effectively. You offer on the job coaching, training and support. In
order for individuals to meet the needs and objectives, they may need extra input,
information or skills. The performance of your team depends on your abilities to
empower them. How well a person performs depends on his motivation. Your task as
the boss is to encourage and coach others to improve themselves and the quality of
their work. You need to instill in them the desire to excel and accept responsibility
and self management

Interpersonal relationship skill-If you want cooperation from your team or

employees, pay attention. Practice empathy and respect the personal values,
opinions and ideas with the people you interact with. Listen and respond and offer
praises and encouragements when they make progress. By doing that you will
enhance their self esteem build trust. As the boss, your ability to develop trust and
confidence, resolve problems and issues will result in a productive, goal oriented
work group. You should encourage your team to ask for help, get involved and
participate.

2. Monitor Employee Performance-Employee performance needs to be monitored

in mutually accepted ways. Policies and procedures need to be clear. Conferencing
should be on a regular basis and not just when there is a problem. Assessments and
evaluations should not be merely all formality or viewed a necessary paperwork to
be done and filed away. Individual and group conferencing should be undertaken not
only to monitor performance, but with the expectation of on going professional
development and support. There should be frequent encouragement and clear
criteria for on going goals both for the group and individual.

Communication skill-A manager is the middle person in between the top

management level and the team that reports to him. He has to ensure that
communication is smooth and conveyed clearly to avoid misinterpretations and
dissatisfaction. It's useful to develop your negotiation and customer service skill
especially if you deal with clients.

Appraiser-You need to have the capacity to evaluate and examine a process or

procedure and decide on the best choice to produce an outcome. You look at the
importance, quality and values and then taking the best approach.
You are also expected to track the progress of each individual's activities
and effectiveness, review them and offer feedback and counseling.

Provide satisfaction- Your subordinates are happy when they are provided with the
necessary tools and resource. They feel secure if the management puts priority on
health, safety and cleanliness issues. And you satisfy customers by giving good
quality of service or product and take care of their needs.

Keep updated on new and different methods and technologies- Become the
agent of positive change to your team and an expertise in your line of work. Keep
yourself updated on methods and technologies that can help make you and your
team more efficient.

Responsibility of Manager

1) Responsibilities About Customer: Most important responsibility of the

manager. He must make the right quality product may be available at right and
affordable price, at the right place, to meet the needs of the customer .He must
ensure proper quality, safety, purity, hygiene durability and right price. The quality is
maintained by getting the approval of the Institutions like Indian Standards
institution.
The manager is responsible to supervise that the Points of sale where the product
must be sold at the recommended price
With correct weight and the quality.
He must ensure best presale and after sale service. All the promotional plans must
give the benefits as promised .he must undertake sale and service of legal and
ethical products only.

2) Responsibilities towards employees. The manager must ensure the

employees must get that all for which they are working and giving their best. They
should get fair wages, according to the law salaries, insurance, provident fund,
bonus etc. Also they should ensure that the safety, health and suitable environment
are also available to the employees. Depending upon the organization the manager
provide medical facilities , canteen, transport living accommodation to the
employees.

3)Responsibilities about Government is to run the according to its constitution

and all activities are as per the legal framework depending upon the type of the
organization. The manager must meet all legal requirements which are laid down by
government from the point of conception of the organization.
The manager also takes the responsibility of payment of taxes duties and other dues
to the government

4) Responsibility towards society The manager must ensure the people living in
the area do not suffer due to factory pollution sewage, toxic affluents. The health of
the the society does not suffer due to the mistakes of the management of the
organization in the form of polluted air, water, and food.

5) Responsibility about share holders He must safeguard the interest of the

shareholders who have contributed the cpiital of the organization .The company
must make profit and the share holders must get the dividend. They must get the
correct and timely information about the balance sheet, annual general meetings,
activities and the organizational results from time to time

6) Responsibility towards the labour union . Management and the union are
mutually inter dependent. An atmosphere of mutual trust in the organization helps
the development of the the organization. As a manager the process of bargaining
should not be blocked . They should be given maximum information and cooperation
to get their rights. Managers Inviting the union to the management process can help
in the improvement of productivity.

7)Responsibility about suppliers:The suppliers depend upon the organization for

orders of raw materials, parts and components. But the organization also depend
upon the suppliers for the important resources. Allthe needs are to be satisfied by
the manager by ensuring the proper drawings, quantity payments etc . Thus it is the
responsibility of the manager to maintain two way process.

8) Responsibility to dealers and retailers.. They are the ultimate link with the of
the products consumers. Any delay to supply the right product can be cause of loss
of the customer. They should be provided the incentives, commissions and rewards
to sell the products. Their responsibility also includes the help in promotional
activities, shop decorations and after sales service.

9) Responsibility to industry A healthy interaction in the industry with other

organizations who are competitors but associates in the industry ,is very important
for a manager. The interaction with competitors at the various forums helps the
organization to put forward the views to the opposite parties’.

Management process
A management is the process of planning,organizing,leading and controlling the
efforts of organization members and of using of all organizational resources to
achieve stated organizational goal.Thus management process is defined in the term
of the four main function of the manager and the same is described below.

Planning
The initial managerial function –determining what should be done in the future-is
called planning.It consisits of setting of goals,objectives,policies,procedures and
other plans needed to achieve the purpose of the organization.In planning,the
managers chooses a course of action from various alternatives.Planning is primarily
conceptual.It means thinking before acting,looking ahead and preparing for the
future,laying out in advance the road to be followed and thinking about what and
how the job should be done.It also means to anticipate the obstacles that might
come in the way and can halt or disrupt all the plan. Planning includes collecting and
sorting information from numerous sources and using that information to make
decision.
Organizing:
Once plans are made then the most important work is to organize the available
resources.Organising means arranging and distributing work among members of the
workforce .Managers are responsible for the work of its subordinate.So it becomes
necessary for them to assign and allocate the groups of people in such a way that
maximum result can be drawn.This means managers defines the duties and
responsibilities of their subordinate.At the same time managers also give some
authorities to the people so that they can carry out their task more efficiently and
more boldly.
Staffing:
The managerial task of recruiting,selecting,orienting and training employees may be
grouped in the function called staffing.This function includes appraising the
performances of employees,promoting employees as appropriate and giving
employees opportunities to develop.In addition,staffing includes devising an
equitable compensation system and rates of pay.Presently these tasks are done by
the HR of the organization but managers play vital role.Working personnels are
deputed at various places in the organization and it is difficult for them to know the
actual performance of the employee.Therefore,they contact the concerned manager
and get the feedback of the employees.
Leading:
Leading means guiding the activities of employee towards accomplishing
objectives.The leading function of management involves guiding,teaching and
supervising subordinates.This includes developing employees to their potential by
directing and coaching those employees effectively.These results in employee’s
morale boost-up,job satisfaction.It is through this function that the managers seek to
create a climate that is conducive to employee satisfaction.
Controlling:
The managerial function of controlling involves ensuring if actual performance is in
line with intended performance or not and taking corrective action wherever
needed.It would be impossible for a manager to determine whether work was
proceeding properly if there were no plan against which to check.If plans or
standards are superficial or poorly conceived then controlling function is
limited.Therefore,controlling also means to take corrective action in case of failure to
achieve planned objective.It also means revising plans as circumstances require.
Management approaches: