Chapter 1 – Principles of Management

Introduction
We’re betting that you already heard management and even already took up other
management subjects on your previous academic years. We also bet that you have a lot of
experience already in working with organizations and teams. You’ve participated in social or
religious groups, competed in sports or games, or taken on full- or part-time jobs. Some of
your experience was probably pretty positive, but you were also likely wondering sometimes,
“Isn’t there a better way to do this?”
After this course, you will find a way to do it better and management will help you
achieve it.
Management is an art and science of getting things done through the effort of people.
This definition is drawn from a biography of Mary Parker Follett (1868–1933) written by P.
Graham, Mary Parker Follett: Prophet of Management (Boston: Harvard Business School
Press, 1995).
The principles of management are the means by which you actually manage, that is,
get things done through others individually, in groups, or in organizations. It is the activities
that plan, organize, and control the operations of the basic elements of people, materials,
machines, methods, money and markets, providing direction and coordination, and giving
leadership to human efforts, so as to achieve the sought objectives of the enterprise.
All of these are company assets. Assets give and support the existence of the business.
What are Managers?
A manager is a person responsible for the planning, organizing, leading and controlling
an organization. Managers do not spend all their time managing. When choreographers are
dancing a part, they are not managing, nor are office managers managing when they
personally check out a customer’s credit.
Some employees perform only part of the functions described as managerial and to
that extent, they are mostly managers in limited areas.
Managers also empowers their employees to certain task or duties in the organization.
This gives the employees remuneration and motivation to work therefore they may increase
the productivity of their work and give good results.
Empowerment is the process of enabling or authorizing an individual to think,
behave, take action, and control work and decision making in autonomous ways. In this
case, managers can authorize and give power to their employees, letting them decide what is
best for the organization based on its goals and objectives.
An organization have different manager types. One is the general manager. A general
manager is someone who is responsible for managing a clearly identifiable revenueproducing
unit, such as a store, business unit, or product line. General managers typically
must make decisions across different functions and have rewards tied to the performance of
the entire unit example of these are store operations, stock unit, product line marketing, etc.
General managers take direction from their top executives. They must first
understand the executives’ overall plan for the company. Then they set specific goals for their
own departments to fit in with the plan.
The general manager of production, for example, might have to increase certain
product lines and phase out others. General managers must describe their goals clearly to
their support staff. The supervisory managers see that the goals are met.
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 manager irrespective of his level or status.
According to George and Jerry, there are four (4) functions of management namely;
planning, organizing and the actual controlling.
According to Henry Fayol, to manage is to forecast and plan, to command and control.
Whereas Luther Gullick has given the keyword POSDICON where P stands for Planning, O
for Organizing, S for Staffing, DI for Directing and CON for Controlling.

Planning, Organizing, Staffing, Directing and Controlling is the most commonly used
and accepted functions of management given by Koontz and O’donnel. For theoretical
purposes, it may be convenient to separate the function of management but practically these
functions are overlapping in nature. The functions of management are highly inseparable,
each function blends into the other and each affects the performance of others.
The figure below shows the process of management:
1. Planning – is a basic function of management where it gives future course of action &
deciding in advance the most appropriate course of actions for achievement of predetermined
goals.
According to Koontz, planning is deciding in advance it tells us what to do, when to do &
how to do. It bridges the gap from where we are & where we want to be. 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.
2. Organizing - It is the process of bringing together all the assets of the business. Either
physical assets, 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. Organizing as a process involves:
• Identification of activities
• Classification of grouping activities
• Assignment of duties
• Delegation of authority and creation of responsibility
• Coordinating authority and responsibility relationships

3. Staffing – this function of management gives importance to the human capital of the
organization. Its purpose is to man the organizations structure and keep it manned.
Staffing involves:
• Man power planning
• Recruitment, Selection and Placement of man power
• Training and Development
• Remuneration
• Performance Appraisal
• Promotions and Transfer
4. Directing – it is the function of management which actuates the organizational methods
to work efficiently for achievement of organizational purposes.
It is also 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.
Directing has the following elements:
a. Supervision - it is the act of watching & directing work & workers.
b. 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.
c. Leadership – the process by which manager guides and influences the work of
subordinates in desired direction.
d. Communication - is the process of passing information, experience, opinion
from one person to another. It is a bridge of understanding
5. Controlling – this is the function of management that evaluates the performances of the
organization.
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.
Controlling and measuring an organizations performance has the following steps:
1. Establishment of standard performance.
2. Measurement of actual performance.
3. Comparison of actual performance with the standards and finding out deviation if any.
4. Corrective action.

Role of Managers
Managers assume multiple roles in an organization. According to Mintzberg there are
ten roles common to the work of all managers. As summarized in the following figure, the
ten roles are divided into three groups: interpersonal, informational, and decisional. The
informational roles link all managerial work together.
The interpersonal roles ensure that information is provided. The decisional roles make
significant use of the information. The performance of managerial roles and the requirements
of these roles can be played at different times by the same manager and to different degrees,
depending on the level and function of management. The ten roles are described individually,
but they form an integrated whole.
The three interpersonal roles are primarily concerned with interpersonal relationships.
In the figurehead role, the manager represents the organization in all matters of formality.
The top-level manager represents the company legally and socially to those outside of
the organization. The supervisor represents the work group to higher
management and higher management to the work group. In the liaison role, the
manager interacts with peers and people outside the organization.
The top-level manager uses the liaison role to gain favors and information, while the
supervisor uses it to maintain the routine flow of work. The leader role defines the
relationships between the manager and employees.
The figure below shows the ten managerial roles:

Let's look at each of the ten managerial roles in greater detail:

Interpersonal Category
The managerial roles in this category involve providing information and ideas:
1. Figurehead – As a manager, you have responsibilities. A manager is expected to be a
source of inspiration. People look up to you as a person with authority, and as a
figurehead.
2. Leader – This is where a manager provide leadership for your team, your department or
perhaps your entire organization and it's where you manage the performance and
responsibilities of everyone in the group.
3. Liaison – Managers must communicate with internal and external contacts. You need to
be able to network effectively on behalf of your organization.
Informational Category
The managerial roles in this category involve processing information:
4. Monitor – In this role, managers regularly seek out information related to your
organization and industry, looking for relevant changes in the environment. You also
monitor your team, in terms of both their productivity, and their well-being.
5. Disseminator – This is where a manager communicates with a potentially useful
information to your colleagues and your team.
6. Spokesperson – Managers represent and speak for their organization. In this role, you're
responsible for transmitting information about your organization and its goals to the
people outside it.
Decisional Category
The managerial roles in this category involve using information:
7. Entrepreneur – As a manager, you create and control change within the organization.
This means solving problems, generating new ideas, and implementing them.
8. Disturbance Handler – When an organization or team hits an unexpected roadblock, it's
the manager who must take charge.
9. Resource Allocator – it involves allocating funding, as well as assigning staff and other
organizational resources.
10. Negotiator – You may be needed to take part in, and direct, important negotiations
within your team, department, or organization.
To summarize the role of a manager. A manager is the lifeblood of most organizations
because it serves to choreograph and motivate individuals to do amazing things. Managerial
work is exciting, and it is hard to imagine that there will ever be a shortage of demand for
capable, energetic managers.
On the other hand, managerial work is necessarily fast-paced and fragmented, where
managers at all levels express the opinion that they must process much more information
and make more decisions than they could have ever possibly imagined. So, just as the most
successful organizations seem to have well-formed and well-executed strategies, there is also
a strong need for managers to have good strategies about the way they will approach their
work. This is exactly what you will learn through principles of management.
A good manager should possess various skills for them to properly implement and
initiate planned activities for the organization.
There are three (3) types of managerial skills:
1. Technical skills - managers must have the ability to use the tools, procedures, and
techniques of their special areas. An accountant must have expertise in accounting
principles, whereas a production manager must know operations management.
2. Human relations skills - involve the ability to work with people and understand
employee motivation and group processes. These skills allow the manager to become
involved with and lead his group.
3. Conceptual skills - these skills represent a manager’s ability to organize and analyze
information in order to improve organizational performance. They include the ability
to see the organization as a whole and to understand how various parts fit together to
work as an integrated unit.
These skills are required to coordinate the departments and divisions successfully so
that the entire organization can pull together.