The term management can have different meanings. You may not be able to define management exactly; it is a process involving certain functions and activities that managers must perform.
Management is a subject with principles, concepts and theories. A major purpose of studying the discipline of management is to learn and understand the principles, concepts, and theories of management and how to apply them in the process of managing. Management is the process undertaken by one person or more people to co-ordinate the activities of other people to achieve results not attainable by any person acting alone.
There are probably as many definitions of management as there are books on the subject. Many of the definitions are relatively concise and simplistic. For example, one early writer defined management as knowing exactly what you want (people) to do, and then seeing that they do it in the best and cheapest way». As you will see, management is a complex process, much more complex than the definition leads us to believe. Thus, we need to develop a definition of management that captures the true of its complexities and challenges.
Management is perhaps best understood from the viewpoint of systems theory. It suggests that organizations utilize four basic kinds of inputs or resources from their environments: human, monetary, physical, and information. Human resources include managerial talent and labour. Monetary resources are the financial capitals used by the organization to finance both ongoing and long-term operations. Physical resources include raw materials, office and production facilities, and equipment. Information resources are unable data needed to make effective decisions. The manager's job involves combining and co-coordinating these various resources to achieve the organization's goals.
A manager is someone whose primary activities are a part of the management process.
The process of management consists of certain basic-management functions such as: planning, organizing and controlling, linked together by leading. Planning determines what results the organization will achieve; organizing specifies how it will achieve the results; and controlling determines whether the results are achieved. Throughout planning, organizing and controlling, managers exercise leadership.
Planning includes anticipating future trends and determining the best strategies and tactics to achieve organizational objectives.
Organization includes designing the organizational structure, -attracting people to the organization (staffing), and creating conditions and systems that ensure that everyone and everything works together to achieve the objectives of the organization.
Leadership is getting others to work willingly and enthusiastically to achieve the objectives of the organization.
Control is a checking to determine whether or not ail organization is progressing toward its objectives, and taking corrective action if it is not.
In our society important work is done by individuals with such titles as production manager, marketing manager, restaurant manager, chairperson, dean, superintendent, ship captain, mayor, and governor. These individuals may work in different types of organizations with different purposes, but they all have one thing in common: they practice management. Furthermore, our society depends on the goods and services provided by the organizations these individuals manage.
Each of us is influenced by the actions of managers every day because we come into contact with organizations every day. Our experiences may be as students in a college, patients in a hospital, customers of business or citizens of a state. Whether we are satisfied with our experiences however depends greatly on the individuals who manage the organization. All organizations are guided and directed by the decisions of one or more individuals who are designated managers. Managers at different levels may work in various areas within an organization. In any given firm, there may be marketing, financial, operations, human resource, administrative and other kinds of managers.
A good manager must know about the industry the firm is in and all the technological, political, competitive, and social factors affecting that -industry. He or she must also understand the kind of people who work in the industry and what motivates them. Finally, a manager must be skilled in performing various managerial tasks, especially technical tasks, human relations tasks, and communications tasks.
The five skills you will need to develop your managerial potential are: verbal skills, writing skills, computer skills, human relations skills and technical skills (in addition to computer skills).
Management then can be define as follows: Management is a set of activities, including planning and decision making, organizing, leading, and controlling, directed at an organization's human, financial, physical, and information resources, with aim of achieving organizational goals in an efficient and effective manner.
IV. Read and memorize the meaning of following words.
