INTRODUCTION TO MANAGEMENT

Definition of Management: It’s the process of getting things done through

people in formally organized groups by guiding and motivating their efforts
towards common objectives. (Mary Parker Follet)

Management involves manipulation of the organizational resources with the aim

to optimize their use so as to maximize profits and achieve various objectives.

‘Management is a process of achieving organizations goals through co-

ordinated performance of 5 specific functions: planning, organizing, staffing,
directing and controlling’. (David Schwartz)

Organization resources include money, manpower, materials, minutes (time)

and machines (technology).

MANAGEMENT FUNCTIONS.

a) Planning

It is the basic function of management. It deals with designing 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”.

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.

b) 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 it’s 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.
c) Staffing

It is the function of manning the organization structure and keeping it manned.

The main purpose of staffing is to put right man on right job. 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.

d) Directing

It is that part of managerial function which actuates the organizational methods

to work efficiently for achievement of organizational purposes.

It sets in motion the action of people because planning, organizing and staffing
are the mere preparations for doing the work.

Direction deals directly with influencing, guiding, supervising, motivating sub-

ordinate for the achievement of organizational goals, leadership and
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.

e) 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.

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”. Therefore, controlling has following
steps:

 Establishment of standard performance.

  Measurement of actual performance.
 Comparison of actual performance with the standards and finding out
deviation if any.
 Corrective action

CORE FUNCTIONAL AREAS OF MANAGEMENT.

It is also called operational management or functional areas of management.

There are five main functional areas of management which are: human
resource, production office, finance and marketing; which have been discussed
below.

1. Human resource management:

Human resource development or personnel management or manpower

management is concerned with obtaining and maintaining of a satisfactory and
satisfied work force i.e., employees. It is a specialized branch of management
concerned with ‘man management’.

It consists of factors such as: The recruitment, placement, induction,

orientation, training, promotion, motivation, performance appraisal, wage and
salary, retirement, transfer, merit-rating, industrial relations, working
conditions, trade unions, safety and welfare schemes of employees.

The object of personnel management is to create and promote team spirit

among workers and managers.

2. Production management:

Production management refers to planning, organization, direction,

coordination and control of the production function in such a way that desired
goods and services could be produced at the right time, in right quantity, and at
the right cost.

Some authors treat material, purchase and inventory management as part of

production management. Production management involves the following
functions:

 Product planning and development,

 Plant location, layout and maintenance,
 Production systems and machines,
 Management of purchase and storage of materials,
 Ensuring effective production control.

3. Office management:

Office management can be defined as, “the organization of an office in order to

achieve a specified purpose and to make the best use of the personnel by using
the most appropriate machines and equipment, the best possible methods of
work and by providing the most suitable environment.”
The main factors of office management are: office accommodation, layout and
environment, communication, handling correspondence and mail, typing and
duplicating, record management and filing, indexing, forms and stationary,
machines and equipment, office reporting, work measurement and office
supervision.

4. Financial management:

Financial management can be looked upon as the study of relationship between

the raising of funds and the deployment of funds.

The subject matter of financial management is: capital budgeting, cost of

capital, portfolio management, dividend policy, short- and long-term sources of
finance.

Financial management involves mainly three decisions pertaining to:

 Investment policies:

It dictates the process associated with capital budgeting and expenditures. All
proposals to spend money are ranked and investment decisions are taken
whether to sanction money for these proposed ventures or not.

 Methods of financing:

A proper mix of short- and long-term financing is ensured in order to provide

necessary funds for proposed ventures at a minimum risk to the enterprise.

 Dividend decisions:

This decision affects the amount paid to shareholders and distribution of

additional shares of stock.

5. Marketing management:

Marketing is the social and managerial process by which individuals and group
obtain what they need and want through creating and exchanging products and
values with others.

American Marketing Association defines marketing management as the

“process of planning and executing the conception, pricing, promotion and
distribution of ideas, goods and services to create exchange that satisfy
individual and organizational objectives.”

The course content of marketing management generally includes: marketing

concept, consumer behaviour, marketing mix, market segmentation, product
and price decisions, promotion and physical distribution, marketing research
and information, international marketing etc.

FEATURES / CHARACTERISTICS OF MANAGEMENT.

(a)Management is Goal-Oriented/ purposeful

The success of any management activity is assessed by its achievement of the
predetermined goals or objective. It is a tool which helps use of human &
physical resources to fulfil the pre-determined goals. For example, the goal of
an enterprise is maximum consumer satisfaction by producing quality goods
and at reasonable prices. This can be achieved by employing efficient persons
and making better use of scarce resources

(b)Management integrates Human, Physical and Financial Resources: In

an organization, human beings work with non-human resources like machines,
materials, financial assets, buildings etc. Management integrates human efforts
to those resources. It brings harmony among the human, physical and financial
resources.

(c)Management is Continuous: Management is an ongoing process. It

involves continuous handling of problems and issues. It is concerned with
identifying the problem and taking appropriate steps to solve it. E.g., the target
of a company is maximum production. For achieving this target various policies
have to be framed but this is not the end. Marketing and Advertising is also to
be done. For these policies have to be again framed. Hence this is an ongoing
process.

(d)Management is all Pervasive: Management is required in all types of

organizations whether it is political, social, cultural or business because it helps
and directs various efforts towards a definite purpose. Thus clubs, hospitals,
political parties, colleges, hospitals, business firms all require management.
Whenever more than one person is engaged in working for a common goal,
management is necessary.

(e)Management is a Group Activity: It involves the use of group effort to

achieve predetermined goal of management. Each and every enterprise entails
the existence of a group to achieve goals. It is now established that goals are
achieved more readily by a group than by any one person alone.

(f) Management is action-oriented

Managers focus their attention and efforts on bringing about successful action.
Successful managers have an urge for accomplishment. They know when and
where to start, what to do for keeping things moving, and how to follow
through.

(g) It is complex

Managers are engaged in many different activities. Sometimes they must do all
these activities concurrently or change them frequently i.e., planning, staffing,
organizing etc.

(h) Management is intangible

Management is often called the unseen force, its presence being evidenced by
the results of its efforts - motivation among employees, discipline in the group,
high productivity, adequate surplus etc. Conversely, the identity of management
may also be felt by its absence or by the presence of its direct opposite
mismanagement. The consequence of mismanagement is anybody’s guess.

(i)Management is indispensable

Management can neither be replaced nor substituted by anything else. Even the
computer which is the wonderful invention of the twentieth century can only aid
but not replace management. We know that the computer is an extremely
powerful tool of management. It can widen a manager's vision and sharpen his
insight by supplying more and faster information for making key decisions. The
computer has enabled the manager to conduct analysis far beyond the normal
analytical capacities of man. But what happens in reality is that the computer
can neither work by itself nor can it pass any judgement. The manager plays
his/her role by providing judgement and imagination as well as interpreting and
evaluating what the information/data mean in each individual case.

(j) Management can ensure better life

A manager can do much to improve the work environment, stimulate people to

perform better, achieve progress, bring hope and accomplish better things in
life.

IMPORTANCE OF MANAGEMENT

1. It helps to maximize results with minimum efforts. The main objective of

management is getting the best results for the organization using
minimum resources. Management brings together all the organizational
resources.
2. It maximizes prosperity for both employer and employee by ensuring
smooth coordinated functioning of the organization. Smooth functioning
creates good working conditions for the employees, suitable wage
system, incentive plans and on the other hand the employer gains higher
profits.
3. It helps in the attainment of organizational goals by coordinating,
directing and controlling the resources towards the attainment of goals.
The resources are used in an effective manner and hence no wastage.
4. It helps in creating a sound organization through the establishment of a
sound organizational structure. This establishes effective authority and
responsibility relationship i.e., who is accountable to whom, who can give
instructions to whom, who are superiors and who are the subordinates.
5. It enables the organization to survive in changing environment. The
management keeps in touch with the changing environment and adapts
to the changing needs of the society.