Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Nature of Management
This chapter introduces the concept & the elements of Management. It identifies major schools of management thought and describes how they evolved. Modern approaches are emphasized & the role of the manager is closely examined.
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Concept of Management
Management may be defined as a process whereby scarce resources (human, material, & financial) are combined to achieve organizational goals. Without management, people would pursue their own objectives independently and this would lead to waste & inefficiency.
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Organization
The framework of the management process as formed by the definition of:
The responsibilities by means of which the activities of the enterprise are dispersed among the ( managerial, supervisory & specialist) personnel employed in its service. The formal interrelations established among the personnel by virtue of such responsibilities. *Its purpose is to create an arrangement of positions & responsibilities through & by means of which an enterprise can carry out its work.
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Early influences The scientific management movement The human relations movement Modern influences
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Early Influences
Ancient records in China & Greece indicate the importance of organization & administration, but do not give much insight into the principles of management. Outstanding scholars have referred to management activities in the running of city states & empires. In the period 1400 to 1450, merchants in Venice, Italy, operated various types of business organization, e.g. partnerships, trusts & holding companies. Control emerged in the form of a double-entry book-keeping system & related documentation & records. Also, there was standardization of material & systems of inventory control.
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Modern Influences
The United Kingdom was faced with many complex problems during World War II. Operational research teams were set up, composed of mathematicians, physicists & other scientists, who pooled their knowledge to solve problems. After the war these ideas were applied to industrial problems which could not be solved by conventional means. With the development of the electronic computer, these procedures became formalized into a management science school.
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The contribution of the quantitative school was greatest in the activities of planning & control. In the essence, management science school, by its use of computers and quantitative analysis, has made it possible to consider the effect of a number of variables in an organization which may otherwise have been overlooked.
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Management: a PROFESSION?
The following main points seem relevant:
There must exist a body of principles, skills & techniques and specialized knowledge. There must be formal methods of acquiring training & experience. An organization should be established which forms ethical codes for the guidance & conduct of members. If the above standards are considered, then management cannot really be called a profession. There are no licenses for managers, nor is there an accepted code of ethics, but there are tendencies towards professionalization and these will undoubtedly increase.
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1. Deterministic where the behaviour can be completely determined 2. Probabilistic where the behaviour can only be estimated within degrees of likelihood.
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System Approach to Management The systems approach stresses the need for more understanding in the development of sophisticated problemsolving techniques, e.g. simulation, operations research & computerized information systems. All these aim to improve the control mechanisms of organizational systems so that they can plan for and react more effectively to changes in the environment.
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Contingency Approach to Management The approach is to identify the conditions of a task (scientific school management), managerial job (administrative management school) and persons (human relations school) as parts of a complete management situation and attempt to integrate them all into a solution which is more appropriate for a specific circumstance.
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ELEMENTS of MANAGEMENT
Planning referred to forecasting future circumstances & requirements, deciding objectives, making long- and short-term plans, determining policies to be followed & the standards to be set. Organizing concerned with dividing work & allocating it among groups & persons and determining their responsibilities & relations and the extent of their delegation.
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ELEMENTS of MANAGEMENT
irecting involves guiding & supervising subordinates. These subordinates must be oriented into the undertakings ways, guided towards improved performance & motivated to work effectively towards enterprise goals. Controlling The activity involved checking to see that plans have been carried out & attending to any deviations.
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Women in Management
Women obstacles in reaching higher levels on merits: There are not as many role models of career development for women as there are for men. Married & unmarried have to contend with the career aspirations of their partner & maybe directly involved in family responsibilities Male co-workers may discriminate against women. The policies & procedures of an organization may be very unsupportive.
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Entrepreneurship
The process of bringing together creative and innovative ideas & coupling these with management & organizational skills in order to combine people, money & resources to meet an identified need and thereby create wealth.
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Intrapreneurship
The term given to someone who has innovative ideas and transforms them to profitable activities within an organizational environment
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TIME MANAGEMENT In the age of scientific management, methods were used to quantify the relationship between the time spent and the output achieved. Managerial Time is so expensive that every organization must benefit by examining issues of time management. Important Issues in Time Management: Nature of job Personal attributes of jobholder The context of a persons job
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Excellence in Management
8 Characteristics of excellent enterprises: Has a Bias for action Learned about the needs of their customers. Promoted entrepreneurship & management autonomy Obtained productivity by paying close attention to the needs of their staff Were encouraged by the philosophy of their organizations leaders Concentrated on the business they knew best Had an organization structure that was simple with a lean staff Were organized in a centralized or decentralized manner, whichever was appropriate
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