Concept of Management
The concept of management refers to the process of planning, organizing, staffing, directing, coordinating, and controlling to achieve organizational goals. It is the management of human, physical, financial, and other valuable resources of the organization in an effective and efficient manner to achieve business objectives.
Different people have conceived and defined management in different ways. But, the essence of management lies in determining worthwhile goals and then carefully selecting and utilizing resources through efficient and effective planning, organizing, actuating, and controlling to achieve those goals.
Who is a Manager?
You are a manager. What does this mean? The word derives from the ancient French word for handling horses and a later one for handling the affairs of the kitchen. Cynics might replace horses with donkey, but all would see the analogy of keeping an organization alive through the activities of the kitchen. Probably the one that is most simple, popular, and often quoted by many in general is "getting things done through other people."
Let us now look at different definitions that highlight important aspects of management.
- Management is a distinct process consisting of activities of planning, organizing, actuating and controlling, performed to determine and to accomplish stated objectives with the use of human beings and other resources (Martin, 1977).
- Good management is merely the exercise of common sense and the Golden Rule (Daniel, 1976)
- The six M’s (money, men, materials, methods, machines, and marketing) of management or the basic resources, as they are often called, are subjected to the fundamental functions of management - planning, organizing, actuating, and controlling -to achieve stated objectives.
- Management is an art struggling to become a science.
- Management science is a body of systematized knowledge accumulated and accepted with reference to the understanding of general truths concerning management.
- The art of management is a personal creative power plus skill in performance. The contemplation of problems, events, and possibilities develops personal creative power, while experience, observation, and study of results contribute to skilled performance. It other words, management art involves envisioning an orderly whole from chaotic parts, communicating the vision, and achieving the goal. It is the "art of arts" because it organizes and uses human talent (Boehringer, 1975)
From these definitions, we can infer that the principles and the techniques of management are not only applicable to the business world but they can be equally applied universally. They also find application in social, religious, charitable, and non-profit organizational contexts.
Essentially we can conclude that management is the integration of human and other resources in a manner that leads to effective utilization and harmonization of the individual efforts with organizational goals.
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