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TOPIC 1

 

INTRODUCTION TO MANAGEMENT

 

 NATURE OF MANAGEMENT

Definition of management

Management can be defined as the process of planning, organizing, directing and controlling the resources of an organization in order to achieve its goals efficiently. This definition highlights the following concepts:

1. A Process – Management is seen as a process consisting of four distinct but interrelated activities – planning, organizing, directing and controlling.
2. Resources – Human, financial, physical and information resources
3. Efficiency – Using resources wisely and in a cost effective manner. i.e. doing things right, or getting the most output from the least amount of inputs.
4. Effectiveness – Making right decisions and implementing them. i.e. doing the right things, or completing activities so that organizational goals are attained.
5. The Manager – A person whose primary responsibility is to carry out the management process.
6. The Efficient manager does things right, and effective manager does the right things.

Other definitions of management are given below:

1. Management is the process of planning, organizing, actuating and controlling an organization’s operations in order to achieve a coordination of the human and material resources essential in the effective and the efficient attainment of objectives (Miner, 1978).
2. Stoner (1978) defines management as the process of planning, organizing, leading and controlling the work of the members of an organization and of using all available organizational resources to reach stated organizational goals.
3. Griffin (1999), defines management as a set of activities (including planning and decision making, organizing, leading and controlling) directed at an organization’s resources (human, financial and information) with the aim of achieving organizational goals in an efficient and effective manner.

Features of management

1. Management is complex: Management involves dealing with a variety of activities and variables. Some of the variables are interrelated while others are heterogeneous. Some management variables are within the control of the entity’s’ management yet other variables are beyond their control. Environmental uncertainty further complicates the management process. The fact that management involves making constant changes to activities, decisions and strategies causes management to be a complex process.
2. Management is universal: Management is practiced in virtually all productive organizations; whether public sector or private sector, profit making or non-profit making, large or small, domestic or multinational enterprise. There are also universal fundamental management principles that are applied in management and in addition managers at all levels perform the same basic functions.
3. Management is goal Oriented: Management is not a random process but purposeful. The process of management is geared towards attainment of specified organizational goals.
4. Management is a social process: A social process refers to forms of social interaction that occur repeatedly. Management is concerned with developing various relationships among people. Management is also done by people, through people and for people. It touches all aspects of human activities
5. Management is an integrative process: Management involves synchronizing individual organizational members’ objectives and departmental objectives with those of the rest of the organization, It involves synchronizing the activities of the different units of the enterprise.
6. Management is concerned with productivity: Productivity is a function of efficiency and effectiveness. Efficiency is n interned with using the minimum amount of resources to achieve the desired ends. Effectiveness on the other hand is doing the right thing at the right lime and achieving
7. Management is a continuous process: Management is a never-ending process as long as the entity is in existence. All the functions of management are performed continuously.
8. Management is Multidisciplinary: Management draws from a variety of disciplines such as; finance, engineering, sociology, psychology, economics, anthropology and others.
9. Management is a Composite process: Management consists of series of functions which must be performed in n proper sequence. These’ functions are inter-dependent. As the main functions of management are planning, organizing, staffing, directing and controlling; organizing cannot be done without doing planning, similarly, directing function cannot be executed without staffing and planning and it is difficult to control the activities of employees without knowing the plan. All the functions inter-dependent on each other that is why management is considered as a composite process of all these functions.
10. Management is Pervasive: Management is not confined to one or a few aspects of the organization rather every aspect of an enterprise requires management and is affected by management.
11. Management is distinct from ownership: In principles of good governance practices, management is divorced from ownership. For practical reasons all the owners of the organisation for instance a listed company cannot manage the organisation. For this reason, the organisation is entrusted to salaried professionals who manage the organisation to ensure that the goals of the owners arc attained.
12. Management is an Art as well as Science: Management is both an art and a science. It is an art as it involves application of practical knowledge to solve practical problems. It is a science as it has an organized body of – knowledge which contains certain universal truths and an art as managing requires certain skills which apply more or less in every situation
13. Management is a dynamic function: Management is practiced in a dynamic environment that is not static. This implies that constant changes have to be made to align the organization to the changes’ in the environment.
14. Management is Intangible: Management function cannot be physically seen but its presence can be felt. The presence of management can be felt by seeing the orderliness and coordination in the working environment. It is easier to feel the presence of mismanagement as it leads to chaos and confusion in the organization.
15. Management is Multidimensional: Management involves a variety of activities which include;’
16. Management of tasks: All organizations are set up to perform some task or goal, Management activities aim at achieving goals or tasks to be accomplished. The task or work depends upon the nature of Business. Management makes sure that work is accomplished effectively and efficiently.
17. Management of people: People refer to Human resources and Human resources are the most important assets of an organization. An organization can gain competitive advantage through strategic management of human resources (employees)
18. Management of operations: Operations refer to activities in an organization that transform inputs into outputs. Management of operations combines management of tasks with management of human

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THE WORK OF A MANAGER

There are two approaches to the study of the work of a manager;

1. Functional approach (functions of management)
2. Roles approach (managerial roles)

 

Functional approach (functions of management)

In this approach we look at the work of the manager in terms of the functions of management. Managerial functions arc the general administrative duties performed by managers in virtually all productive organizations. The functions of management include;

Planning; organizing; staffing; Controlling and Directing, These managerial functions are described briefly in the section below.

1. The Planning Function: Planning is the systematic thought that precedes action. It is the process of deciding ahead of time what should be done, how it should be done, who is to do it, when it is to be done and where it will be done. It involves determining in the present what is to be clone in the future. Planning involves developing and selecting organization missions and objectives and developing courses of actions to achieve the objectives and ensuring Chat the courses of action are implemented.
2. The Organizing Function: Organising is a process of establishing structures of roles of people in an organization. It involves dividing work into manageable components, assigning people and resources required and coordinating the various activities of organizational members. It involves arranging how the work of the organization will be done and configuring lines of relationship and How of authority.
3. The Directing Function: Directing is the process of instructing, guiding, inspiring and influencing organizational members to behave in particular ways in order to achieve the organization goals. Directing function has three key components: leadership, motivation and communication.
4. The Staffing Function: Staffing involves ensuring that the organization has the right kind of people it requires for various positions and in their right numbers. It involves procuring the needed human resources, maintaining and deploying the human resources in a way that will give the entity a competitive success through the use the use of its human resource. It involves manpower planning, recruitment and selection, placement, compensation and reward management, training and development, discipline and conflict management, performance management and appraisal and separation from organization appraisal.
5. The Controlling Function: Controlling is the process of monitoring performance and taking corrective actions in order to ensure that desired results are achieved. It is an attempt to ensure that events conform to plans adopted. It will involve establishing standards, measuring actual performance and comparing it with the standards so that remedial action can be taken.

 

Roles approach (managerial roles)                   

Under the roles approach, we look at the work of a manger in terms of the managerial roles played by managers. Managerial roles are specific categories of behaviors associated with managerial positions, Henry Mintzberg identified ten Managerial roles which are classified into 3 broad Categories. These categories include: interpersonal roles; informational roles and decisional roles. The roles are further classified into different dimensions as discussed below.

1. Interpersonal role

Interpersonal roles involve the manager creating and maintaining relationships between the organization and the external parties and between the organizational members.

The specific interpersonal roles include:

1. Figure head: The manager is n symbol representing the organization in all ceremonial matters such as; attending public functions on behalf of the firm greeting the touring dignitaries, attending the wedding of an employee, taking an important customer to lunch, and so on.
2. Leader role: This involves the manager creating cooperative work teams by fostering team spirit, and resolving interpersonal problems such as conflict, grievances and discipline.
3. Liaison role: This involves the manager creating networks of contacts connecting the organization with the external world as well as connecting his unit with the other units in the firm.

 

2. Informational roles

Information is the bloodline of any organization. A manager acts as the conduits of all information flows in and out of the organization. The specific informational roles include:

1. Monitor role: This involves the manager seeking out for and receiving information. For example, the manager has to remain alert to the happenings in the business environment. The manager has to be aware of any new entrants in the market, new legislations affecting the business among oilier happenings in the business environment.
2. Disseminator role: This involves the manager transmitting in format ion, for example; communicating the company policy to the staff, communicating the company’s offering to the market and other communications,
3. Spokesman role: This Involves the manager speaking on behalf of others, for instance, the manager has to speak to the emjiloyc.es on behalf of owners and speak to external parties on behalf of the company.

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3. Decisional role

Decision making is the process of making a choice between alternative causes of action. The manager’s position requires him to consistently make decision ranging from routine operational decisions to strategic non- routine decisions.

The decisional roles include;

1. Entrepreneurial role: This involves the manager making investment choices, taking on risks, and making decisions to improve the existing conditions of the firm.
2. Resource allocator role: This involves the manager making decisions on how the limited resources of the firm will be expended and allocated between the competing needs.
3. Disturbance handler role: A disturbance is an y unexpected occurrence that-disrupts the normal How of events, for example, a sudden shortage of raw materials, labor unrest and such disruptions. When such disturbances arise, the manager has to make a decision to arrest the situation and restore normalcy.
4. Negotiator role: This involves the manager participating in bargaining processes on behalf of the firm, for example, negotiating a contract on behalf of the firm and negotiating with the trade unions.

 

IMPORTANCE OF MANAGEMENT

1. It helps in Achieving Group Goals – It arranges the factors of production, assembles and organizes the resources, integrates the resources in effective manner to achieve goals. It directs group efforts towards achievement of pre-determined goals. By defining objective of organization clearly there would be no wastage of time, money and effort. Management converts disorganized resources of men, machines, money etc. into useful enterprise. These resources are coordinated, directed and controlled in such a manner that enterprise work towards attainment of goals.

 

2. Optimum Utilization of Resources – Management utilizes all the physical & human resources productively. This leads to efficacy in management. Management provides maximum utilization of scarce resources by selecting its best possible alternate use in industry from out of various uses. It makes use of experts, professional and these services leads to use of their skills, knowledge, and proper utilization and avoids wastage. If employees and machines are producing its maximum there is no under employment of any resources.

 

3. Reduces Costs – It gets maximum results through minimum input by proper planning and by using minimum input & getting maximum output. Management uses physical, human and financial resources in such a manner which results in best combination. This helps in cost reduction.

 

4. Establishes Sound Organization – No overlapping of efforts (smooth and coordinated functions). To establish sound organizational structure is one of the objective of management which is in tune with objective of organization and for fulfillment of this, it establishes effective authority & responsibility relationship i.e. who is accountable to whom, who can give instructions to whom, who are superiors & who are subordinates. Management fills up various positions with right persons, having right skills, training and qualification. All jobs should be cleared to everyone.

 

5. Establishes Equilibrium – It enables the organization to survive in changing environment. It keeps in touch with the changing environment. With the change is external environment, the initial co-ordination of organization must be changed. So it adapts organization to changing demand of market / changing needs of societies. It is responsible for growth and survival of organization.

 

6. Essentials for Prosperity of Society – Efficient management leads to better economical production which helps in turn to increase the welfare of people. Good management makes a difficult task easier by avoiding wastage of scarce resource. It improves standard of living. It increases the profit which is beneficial to business and society will get maximum output at minimum cost by creating employment opportunities which generate income in hands. Organization comes with new products and researches beneficial for society.

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