What Is Management?
The word management refers to all the tasks and activities undertaken by the people in an organization for the successful achievement of goals and targets. It involves continuous activities such as planning, organizing, leading and monitoring physical, financial and information resources. Any organization’s success depends on the strength of those in management positions.
The term management is flexible and has been used in various ways. While it refers to organizational activities, it also denotes a body of knowledge or discipline. Some describe it as a means of leadership while others view it as an economic resource. To understand the meaning and nature of management, let’s look at the concept from a broader perspective. Here are various categories that describe management in multiple contexts.
1. Management As A Process
As a process, management aims at increasing productivity and efficiency in an organization. The purpose is to strengthen the client base, improve the knowledge, skills and capacity of employees to achieve particular targets and goals. Management is also a never-ending process that brings different teams and individuals together. Everyone works in harmony to achieve common objectives.
2. Management As An Activity
As an activity, management looks at the daily tasks and accomplishments of an employee. It helps them prioritize activities and monitor progress, which further helps them grow in their roles. It prevents miscommunication and task repetition as everyone is aware of their roles and responsibilities. There is clarity and accountability—the cornerstones of business growth and success.
3. Management As A Profession
Management as a profession has been popularized by courses and academic institutions across the globe. Several organizations prefer individuals with a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree. Specialized knowledge (such as an MBA degree) provides an individual with a competitive edge, making them more desirable for managerial roles. Therefore, management has evolved as a body of knowledge that continues to solve various workplace problems.
What Is The Nature And Scope Of Management?
As we’ve already established, different people view management differently. Therefore, defining the nature and scope of management becomes quite challenging. Let’s look at each of these terms independently and see how they play out in the context of management.
Nature Of Management
Management—as a systematic process—helps identify a group of people who carry out particular activities, thereby improving an organization’s efficiency and effectiveness. Here are the salient features that highlight the nature of management in businesses.
- Universality
Management is a universal process and is essential for all organizations. If there is human activity, there is management. The principles of management are applicable irrespective of the size and location of a business. The universal principle also means that managerial skills can be developed over time and they’re transferrable.
- Social Process
The nature of management involves organizing people in groups and managing them. It requires different levels of empathy, understanding and dynamism. In addition to taking care of social and emotional well-being, the process involves developing, motivating and retaining employees.
- Purposeful
Management always has an end goal of achieving an organization’s targets, mission and vision. The success of management can be measured by the extent to which an organization achieves its objectives. There is an underlying purpose of increasing efficiency and productivity. The objectives should be realistic, attainable and time-bound.
- Intangible
There is no physical proof of the management process. Its success can be measured by the outcomes of its efforts. For example, lower turnover rates indicate there’s high employee engagement and job satisfaction. This further shows that managers or individuals in managerial roles have taken proactive steps toward improving employee retention.
- Coordination
Management coordinates all the functions of an organization by bringing together different teams and departments. Without coordination, there would be ambiguity and chaos. Therefore, by getting people on the same page, there is communication and minimized duplication of efforts.
- Creativity
Management is made up of individual components and is a composite process. Every independent component contributes in unique ways. For example, group efforts encourage creative ideas and imagination. The sum of individual efforts creates synergy and something new is born.
- Dynamic Function
Management should be dynamic at its core because businesses are often influenced by economic, social, political and technological factors. With room for flexibility and adaptability, individuals can perform well even in stressful situations. There should be adequate training and facilitation within the process.
Scope Of Management
Clearly defined responsibilities, concepts, theories and principles related to managerial functions define the scope of management. Let’s look at the various aspects of this.
1. Financial Management
Financial management is managing money and financial resources for an organization. It involves the management of cash, credit, and capital assets.
It is concerned with the financial needs of a business. It deals with the financing, investment, and safeguarding of funds to sustain profitability over a period of time.
2. Marketing Management
Marketing management involves executing the conception, planning, pricing, promotion, goods and services, and distribution of ideas for developing strategies that meet individual and organizational objectives.
3. Personnel Management
Personnel management is the process of managing human resources. It involves the recruitment, selection, development, and motivation of employees. Personnel managers are responsible for ensuring that current and future company needs are met by identifying key skills needed within the organization, analyzing potential candidates’ skills, experience and knowledge to determine if they possess these required traits, and hiring them.
4. Purchasing Management
Purchasing management involves the identification of goods and services required, evaluating suppliers, selecting and awarding contracts, and receiving and inspecting goods and services.
The goal is to obtain favorable terms while minimizing risks to the organization. The purchasing department must also ensure that all purchases are in compliance with government regulations, such as those related to labor standards or environmental regulations.
5. Production Management
Production management is the process of managing the conversion of inputs into outputs. The production function shows how much of one output can be produced with a given level of inputs.
6. Transport Management
Transport management is the collection and analysis of data related to all areas of transport, including shipments, freight charges, volumes, and revenue. Transport management aims to improve the efficiency of operations to maximize profits while minimizing costs. Companies that use this strategy will often purchase software or hire consultants who can provide them with accurate information about their company’s performance in each area.
7. Distribution Management
Distribution management is the process of planning, implementing, and controlling the distribution of goods and services from the point of origin to the point of consumption. It involves managing the flow of goods and services from the origin to the point of consumption.
8. Office Management
Office management is a set of managerial and supervisory activities, processes, and functions concerned with planning and controlling departmental office activities. It is concerned with developing, operating, controlling, and evaluating these functions to meet cost-effectiveness, quality, productivity, and service objectives. The basic objective of office management is to improve performance within an organization by optimum use of all available resources.
9. Development Management
Development management is the process of managing a project from its beginning to its completion. It is an important aspect of business, as it is the planning and executing of the development of products, services, and processes. Development management also involves the following activities:
- Planning and organizing
- Monitoring and controlling
- Managing risks
Subject Matter of Management
When we discuss the scope of management and the subject matter of management, it means it is the collective activities, people, things, and processes necessary to carry out an organization’s mission.
1. Planning
Management is concerned with planning, organizing, staffing, directing, and controlling an organization to attain its objectives. Managing effectively requires a full understanding of all aspects of an enterprise to enable it to operate efficiently and profitably.
Managers need to be able to do more than simply manage resources efficiently or reduce costs. They must also ensure that employees are motivated enough so that they want what they’re producing or providing.
2. Organizing
Organizing is a process of bringing together the resources and people required to accomplish a task. Organizing involves identifying the tasks that need to be done, assigning people to those tasks, determining how best to accomplish them, and ensuring that they are completed on time.
3. Directing
Directing is the process of setting goals and objectives for the organization, then delegating and supervising the activities of subordinates to achieve these goals.
- The directing function is concerned with planning, organizing, staffing, and controlling.
- It concerns the direction of resources to achieve specific goals and objectives.
4. Coordinating
Coordination is a process by which the various activities of a company are brought together and harmonized with each other with the objectives of the company. The purpose of coordination is to bring into harmony all elements involved in management, such as planning, organizing, directing, leading, controlling, and measuring. Coordination also refers to bringing together different ideas or programs to achieve organizational goals through cooperation within an organization or between organizations.
5. Controlling
Controlling is a process of measuring, comparing, and evaluating the performance of an organization, its products and services, and its people. The purpose of controlling is to ensure that the organization performs as planned or according to expectations.
Tips for effective management
The following tips can help you to become more effective in management:
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Improve communication skills. By improving your communication skills, you can make your work expectations clearly understood by your team and make it easier for them to follow work instructions and meet the desired project targets.
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Carry out regular assessments. Effective management is a continuous process and involves regularly assessing, updating and improving work processes and skills to increase productivity.
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Assign responsibilities. To complete projects on schedule, you can delegate different project tasks to various team members, provide them with guidance when necessary and hold them accountable for ensuring work quality and meeting set deadlines.
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Set specific goals. Since the principal purpose of management is to achieve the organisation’s business goals, it is necessary to focus on measurable goals and make strategic development plans, track work progress and achieve set milestones.
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Try to maintain a positive outlook. It is crucial to stay positive and develop a habit of finding solutions since management can be challenging work, and, even after careful planning, you may encounter unexpected setbacks and obstructions.
Management is a critical part of any organization. Businesses and companies rely on management to make strategic decisions and to achieve goals. The scope and nature of management are critical to the success of any company or institution. There are many theories on management, but all agree that good management is essential to success.
Here through this article, we will learn more about what is the nature and scope of management and why they are important.
What is Management?
Management is a process of planning, organizing, and controlling. Management is a science, art, and profession. Management is also an activity that changes the way we do our work. Management includes making decisions about how work will be done and by whom. It also determines the allocation of resources to achieve the objectives set by management, ensuring workers are provided with proper training to carry out their duties effectively and efficiently while ensuring quality to meet customer expectations. You can learn more about management from the top online courses by KnowledgeHut.
What is the Nature and Scope of Management?
Management is the process of planning, organizing, leading, and controlling an organization. Management is a specialized field of study in both business and public administration. In contemporary management theory, the term generally refers to corporate governance with a focus on maximizing shareholder return.
Management can be described as “the art of getting things done through people.” Management involves making decisions about large or small activities (often for an entire company) necessary for achieving goals and objectives.
The following functions help managers achieve their objectives:
- Planning: The process of determining what needs to be done, when it should be done, and who will do it.
- Organizing: Determining how best to use available resources to accomplish goals and objectives.
- Leading: Motivating employees to perform at their peak level through effective communication, delegation, and motivation techniques.
- Controlling: Monitoring progress toward goals and ensuring that plans are carried out as expected.
Why is the Nature and Scope of Management Important?
We need to understand the nature and scope of management and how it can be applied in different situations. This will help us to work out which are the functions, areas, functional areas of management, and so forth.
Explain the Nature of Management
Let us discuss the nature of management in depth. Management is the process of planning, organizing, directing, and controlling human and material resources to achieve the objectives of an organization. Management includes all functions ensuring an organization stays within its budget, including finance, accounting, marketing, personnel, and production management.
Universal Process
Management is a universal process based on the principle of human nature. Management is not just a system of thought and action but also a social science and profession. It is concerned with the dynamic function of human beings in an organization to achieve goals through planned efforts.
The factor of Production
The four basic factors of production are:
- Labor—a person’s time and skills
- Capital—machines, equipment, buildings, and other resources used to produce goods and services
- Land—natural resources such as oil, timber, coal, and minerals; natural products such as air, water, sunlight, and soil; minerals extracted from the earth using human effort (such as gold)
- Entrepreneurship—the process by which new ideas are transformed into useful goods or services through the ingenuity of entrepreneurs.
Goal-Oriented
Management is a goal-oriented activity that includes planning, organizing, staffing, and controlling resources to meet an organization’s goals. The word management also refers to the act of managing people or projects to achieve specific goals.
Supreme in Thought and Action
Management is a science and an art. It is a science because it has a set of principles and laws based on human nature principles. Management is also an art because it deals with unpredictable human beings.
Group Activity
Group activity is the essence of management. Management is a social process, and its success depends on the interaction between individuals. Management consists of two main activities: decision-making and problem-solving. Decision-making refers to choosing among alternatives, while problem-solving refers to devising solutions to problems. These two activities can be carried out by an individual or a group working together. The group may consist of an entire organization, such as members of a corporate board, department heads, or even single persons, such as project managers working on projects with multiple phases.
Dynamic Function
The dynamic function of management is the process of change. Management is the process of change. Management changes make changes in an organization to achieve desired goals.
Social Science
Management is a social science. It deals with the behavior of people in organizations and how they interact with each other. Management is a science of human behavior, concerned with understanding and influencing people so that all employees can achieve organizational goals. Management involves the application of knowledge to achieve specific goals.
Important Organ of Society
Management is an organ of society. It is a social science that deals with organizing resources and people’s efforts to achieve goals. Management requires knowledge, skills, and experience to be effective.
Management is also thought of as a system of authority in which one exercises control over others. The manager’s job is to coordinate activities so that they add value to the organization and achieve its goals efficiently while keeping costs down. Thus, management involves planning, organizing, staffing, directing, and controlling operations within an organization through subordinate positions (subordinates are those who work under you).
It may be noted here that management can be defined as “the dynamic function by which leadership creates organizational effectiveness”.
System of Authority
Management is a system of authority. A manager’s authority comes from their position in the organization and how they exercise that authority.
Authority is the right to exercise power, which means that managers have been permitted by their employers to use their power in certain ways. This permission is called “the delegation of authority” by some writers on management, but most people simply use “authority” when they mean “permission” or “right.”
Profession
The term ‘profession’ refers to a group of people who share common values and beliefs. A profession can also be defined as a set of intellectual and social activities that are based on specialized knowledge, skills, and experience. A profession is a field in which specialized training is required in order to work. Professions include lawyers, doctors, engineers, accountants, etc., which require extensive education in order to be qualified for them.
Professionals have characteristics such as:
- Developed codes of ethics that members must abide by
- Have procedures for setting up their standards.
- Have clearly defined roles within the field.
- They are self-regulating bodies.
- Provide services for clients on behalf of society at large.
Process
The process is the sequence of activities performed to achieve a specific outcome. It is how a goal is achieved. Processes are how a company does things and works within an organization. They are also how executives decide what to do with their time, money, and people.
Scope of Management
Management is concerned with the subject matter of management. It has many functions like controlling, directing and organizing, etc. When we explain the scope of management, it is vast because it deals with the entire organization from top to bottom. Management controls all areas of an organization, such as finances, marketing, personnel, etc. In short, managing means managing all activities related to any kind of business undertaking by human beings through planning and control processes.
Subject Matter of Management
When we discuss the scope of management and the subject matter of management, it means it is the collective activities, people, things, and processes necessary to carry out an organization’s mission.
1. Planning
Management is concerned with planning, organizing, staffing, directing, and controlling an organization to attain its objectives. Managing effectively requires a full understanding of all aspects of an enterprise to enable it to operate efficiently and profitably.
Managers need to be able to do more than simply manage resources efficiently or reduce costs. They must also ensure that employees are motivated enough so that they want what they’re producing or providing.
2. Organizing
Organizing is a process of bringing together the resources and people required to accomplish a task. Organizing involves identifying the tasks that need to be done, assigning people to those tasks, determining how best to accomplish them, and ensuring that they are completed on time.
3. Directing
Directing is the process of setting goals and objectives for the organization, then delegating and supervising the activities of subordinates to achieve these goals.
- The directing function is concerned with planning, organizing, staffing, and controlling.
- It concerns the direction of resources to achieve specific goals and objectives.
4. Coordinating
Coordination is a process by which the various activities of a company are brought together and harmonized with each other with the objectives of the company. The purpose of coordination is to bring into harmony all elements involved in management, such as planning, organizing, directing, leading, controlling, and measuring. Coordination also refers to bringing together different ideas or programs to achieve organizational goals through cooperation within an organization or between organizations.
5. Controlling
Controlling is a process of measuring, comparing, and evaluating the performance of an organization, its products and services, and its people. The purpose of controlling is to ensure that the organization performs as planned or according to expectations.
Functional Areas of Management
Management can be broadly classified into functional areas like financial management (also known as finance), marketing management, personnel management, etc.
1. Financial Management
Financial management is managing money and financial resources for an organization. It involves the management of cash, credit, and capital assets.
It is concerned with the financial needs of a business. It deals with the financing, investment, and safeguarding of funds to sustain profitability over a period of time.
2. Marketing Management
Marketing management involves executing the conception, planning, pricing, promotion, goods and services, and distribution of ideas for developing strategies that meet individual and organizational objectives.
3. Personnel Management
Personnel management is the process of managing human resources. It involves the recruitment, selection, development, and motivation of employees. Personnel managers are responsible for ensuring that current and future company needs are met by identifying key skills needed within the organization, analyzing potential candidates’ skills, experience and knowledge to determine if they possess these required traits, and hiring them.
4. Purchasing Management
Purchasing management involves the identification of goods and services required, evaluating suppliers, selecting and awarding contracts, and receiving and inspecting goods and services.
The goal is to obtain favorable terms while minimizing risks to the organization. The purchasing department must also ensure that all purchases are in compliance with government regulations, such as those related to labor standards or environmental regulations.
5. Production Management
Production management is the process of managing the conversion of inputs into outputs. The production function shows how much of one output can be produced with a given level of inputs.
6. Transport Management
Transport management is the collection and analysis of data related to all areas of transport, including shipments, freight charges, volumes, and revenue. Transport management aims to improve the efficiency of operations to maximize profits while minimizing costs. Companies that use this strategy will often purchase software or hire consultants who can provide them with accurate information about their company’s performance in each area.
7. Distribution Management
Distribution management is the process of planning, implementing, and controlling the distribution of goods and services from the point of origin to the point of consumption. It involves managing the flow of goods and services from the origin to the point of consumption.
8. Office Management
Office management is a set of managerial and supervisory activities, processes, and functions concerned with planning and controlling departmental office activities. It is concerned with developing, operating, controlling, and evaluating these functions to meet cost-effectiveness, quality, productivity, and service objectives. The basic objective of office management is to improve performance within an organization by optimum use of all available resources.
9. Development Management
Development management is the process of managing a project from its beginning to its completion. It is an important aspect of business, as it is the planning and executing of the development of products, services, and processes. Development management also involves the following activities:
- Planning and organizing
- Monitoring and controlling
- Managing risks
Conclusion
Management is a dynamic, complex, and challenging discipline. The nature and scope of management constantly expand in today’s globalized world, as is its universal nature. Therefore, managers must be well-versed in the changing needs of their organizations and communities to meet these challenges effectively. Managers must be very good in skills that will help them advance in their management careers.