BASIC INTRODUCTION TO MANAGEMENT

Management is one of the important parts of socio-economic activity of human beings. The activity done by the people to manage things is management. This is the art of getting things done through others with the help of some basic activities like planning, organizing, directing, and controlling.
The management is constituted of three words i.e. manage-men-t which means to manage the human resources tactfully for the achievement of organizational goals. This is also done for the creation of working activity.

Management Concepts

'' Management is a social and technical process which utilizes resources, influences human activity and facilitates change in order to accomplish organizational goals'' Theo Haimann and William G Scott
The term management can be studied from various angles or senses.
1. As an Activity
2. As a Process
3. As a Discipline
4. As a Group
5. As a Noun

Management:As an Activity

The activity such as maintaining interpersonal, decision making, communicating information, guiding them to achieve organizational goals is known as management.

Manegement:As a Discipline

Management is a specialized branch of human knowledge that is drawn from various sectors such as psychology, science, economics, and other professional disciplines.

Management:As a Process

Management is the process of converting inputs into outputs through series of inter-related function such as communication, organizing, staffing, directing and controlling,

Management:As a noun

When management is used as a noun, it refer to all the personnel working in the organization for achieving the goals. It is a collective noun consisting of Board of Directors (BOD), managing directors, general manager etc.

Management:As a Group

As we all know management cannot be done by a single person but needs to be done by a number of people having specialized knowledge in some sectors of the organization.
All the managers from the chief executive to the first line supervisors and their function are collectively known as Management.

Different Disciplines of Management

The term ''Management'' is a controversial term. Many scholars have many opinions about management. Some have define it as science and other have opinion that it is a science. The term ''Management'' is also being popular as a Profession. The followings are the detail study of the above disciplines.

1.Management as a science:
science is a systematized body of knowledge, principle and truth which is experimentally proved.
some of the principle are used in the management.The essential features of science are listed below.

*Existence of Systematized Body of Knowledge
Management involves some basic technique and procedure which are scientifically proven.These principle and technique are implemented in present performance and may be used in future courses of action.These principle are scientifically proven and may be modified in the future according to the time and situation.

*Basic Truth and Principles of Universally Applicable
The principle of science are experimentally proved and are applicable throughout the world.Law of gravitation are the example of the principle.Likewise scalar chain, division of labour, unity of direction are applicable in the management system.These system to some extent, may differ from organization to organization but the principle of management are same.

*Use of Scientific Method of Observation
The value of scientific knowledge can be examine in any place and any time, and their result will be the same in all time like the Law of Gravitation.Similarly management principle are innovated on the basic of observation in various organization.However, the observation may not give the cent percent result because it deals with the study of human behaviour which cannot be predicted accurately.

*Principle based on Research and Experiment
Science is a truth which is developed through research and experiment. These principle are developed according to the changing knowledge of science, i.e. knowledge of computer.Management system are also developed on the basis of repeated experiment in many organization.

*Established cause and effect relationship
Science establishes cause and effect relationship between various elements.For instance when we boils a cup of water with the help of heat.Here heat is the cause and boiling is the effect.In the similar manner, there is a cause and effect relationship between various principle of management such as authority and responsibility.Here if a person is given authority without responsibility then he can misuse the authority and if the same person is given responsibility without authority then he cannot fulfill his responsibility.

2.Management as an Art:
Management is the art of getting things done through others.For this purpose manager needs to play the role of an artist.Art is a skill, talent and intellectual work for practical implementation of theoretical knowledge to achieve specific objective.The main motive of art is to get the specific result through deliberate effort.Management is also an art.A Manager has to play the role of an artist in different time and situation.The essential features of Art are listed below.

*Existence of practical knowledge
Art is based on practical knowledge.It involves some procedures before getting into specified result.For instance, if an artist wants to draw certain figure then he has to complete some certain procedure before getting into any result.Management is also based on practical knowledge.A manager must have theoretical knowledge as well as practical knowledge of management principles.One should have the capability to solve any problem arisen in the course of time.

*Personal Skills
Personal skill is a must.An artist mus have personal skill along with theoretical knowledge to come into result.Similarly implementation of management depends upon personal skill of the manager.Every manager may have their own views and styles to approach or solve any kind of problems.

*Result-oriented approach
An art is a system which focuses on the attainment of the result.An artist beforehand has to think about the result before getting into any conclusion.When an artist starts to draw a picture,he has to think about the outcome of the result, otherwise it may become worthless.Management also focuses on the result oriented approach.A qualified manager has to think about the expansion, growth and the development of the organization.

*Creativity
Art needs creativity and an artist has to create new strategy and knowledge to come forward among the public.Creativity is an important part of management.A manager has to use his personal intelligence, imagination and creativity to become a successful executive.

*Improvement through practice
It is universal that practice makes a man perfect.Art is a knowledge that needs regular practice
and exercise.Similarly a person becomes efficient manager only after long practice and exercise.

3.Management as a Profession:
Now a days management is referred as a profession as well.Profession is an occupation of a specialized and personal nature of service for which there is a fee is charged called professional charge.The skill, talent and intelligence of the provider are not meant for personal satisfaction but for the use of larger interest of the society.The example of the profession are doctor. engineer, lawyer, accountants etc.Management has been taken as one of the important subjects in the curriculum of colleges and universities.let us discuss whether management is a profession or not and how far does management fulfills it's features.

*Specialized knowledge
Profession is a specialized knowledge of certain sector of the society.The basic requirement of profession is systematized and organized knowledge in the concerned sector sector of profession.This can be obtained from the academic qualification and experience.A successful manager has to study about the basic principles of management and has to think for their implementation in different situation.the concept of management is still evolving and still new principle and concept are being introduced.

*Formal education and training
The primary requirement of the profession is to acquire knowledge of the science through formal training and education.This means that a professional has to obtain a certain qualification from recognized institution i.e. college and universities.A person cannot claim to be a professional without formal education and training.Nowadays management education system is also getting popularity.It has been taught as a subject in different school and colleges.However for traditional practitioner, A person having practical knowledge and human behavior with mutual understanding capability can become a manager.

*Representation of association
All the professional have their own representative organization to look after their own interest in profession.No professional have the right to disobey the rules of the professional body and are bound to follow them. Beside these organization involve ensuring institutional and healthy growth of the organization.However these organization has no right to regulate code of conduct and issue license to managers.In the similar manner, manager are not bound to get the membership of such association.

*Service element/social obligation
Society is the livelihood of the professionals.Hence, the element of responsibility is expected to have more importance than the monetary gain to all the professionals.As an occupation, profession earn revenue in terms of fees but in the cost of society.The cost of management is also gaining place in management.An organization performs business in the society.Therefore, the concept of social service has develop to ensure growth and stability of organizational business for a long time.Management integrates available social resources to produce finished products.Besides, it also involves directly in social welfare activities like health, education, games & sports, cultural activities etc.

DIFFERENT LEVELS OF MANAGEMENT

The management these days are getting bigger and bigger.It is used in almost every sector of the society and getting popular everyday.The management cannot be kept in a single word now.Classification have been made on this term.Except in small scale organization, more managers are appointed to different departments and branch offices to bring smoothness in the organizational performance.For this purpose management hierarchy is divided into different levels and for each level a manager is appointed.He is responsible for all the action in the particular department.The concept of levels of management has been achieved to distribute both authority and responsibility.It is essential for a organization to bring a system into organizational performance.In large scale organization it is not possible for a manager to look after all the organizational activities without distributing it to his subordinates.Hence according to the nature and the size of the organization, management system may be divided into different levels.Some eminent scholar have classified management into different levels.

1.Top Level Management
This is the highest level for authority and responsibility, and is known as chief executive of the organization.This level is known as the key or the brain of the organization.They take authority directly from the owners.Besides,this level also includes chief executive like chairman, managing director or general manager.This level of management is responsible for the welfare and care of the organization.

Functions
*Defines overall objective of the organization.
*Sets up organizational structure to complete the word in efficient and systematic manner.
*Prepares plan and strategic plans and policies for the organization.
*Appoints departmental managers and guides them to do their respective jobs.
*Evaluate and adjusts the works of the departments.
2.Middle Level Management
This is the second level or the intermediate part of the management. This level of management consists of departmental heads like personnel manager, production manager, marketing manager, finance manager and so on. This level of management can further be classified into two groups.
*Senior level
This level of management contains the departmental heads of the organization.
*Junior level
This level of management contains the branch heads of the organization.
Functions
*It plays role of the mediator between the top level and the lower level management.
*It implements the plans and policy laid down by the top level management to the lower level management.
*Prepares plans and policies on the basis of guidance and information from top level management.
*Divides the works among the subordinates and maintains co-ordination among them.
*Delegates authority and responsibility to the first line management.

3.Lower Level Management
This level is known as the first line management or the operating level of management. This level of management is directly involved in the actual operation of production, marketing, financing, accounting etc.
They are responsible for the implementation of plans and strategy developed by the middle level organization. They are the employees of the organization who directly involve in operation. This level is directly responsible for the completion of the works in organization.
Functions
*Makes day to day plan and implements the plans as laid down by the middle level management.
*Distributes responsibility and duties to the employees.
*Provides necessary instruction and guidance to do the work in the best possible way.
*Manage facilities to operate and create better working environment for work.
*Maintains close and harmonious relation among all the operators and their performance.

Taylor's Scientific Principle of Management

Frederick Winslow Taylor, who is known as the father of scientific management, was the prominent scholars to introduce the scientific principle system of management.He started his carrier as an appropriate machinist in Mid vale steel work in Philadelphia in U.S.A.Later he rose to the position of the Chief engineer through hard word and progress.Later on, he joined in Bethlehem steel works.During the period of his work, Taylor was concerned with the increasing labour productivity without putting undue strain on workers.He introduce new philosophy to increase the productivity of workers, which is known as scientific management.Scientific management is knowing what is to be done and how it is to be done.Similarly scientific technique are applied in the recruitment, selection, appontment and training of workers.
According to Taylor,"scientific management means knowing exactly what men wants to do and seeing that they do it in the best and cheapest way."
Taylor emphasized that the management should not use the rule of thumb.However, management has to modify rules and regulation according to the requirement of the organization.There must be recognized procedure and vision for the completion of the work.

principle of Taylor's scientific management

Taylor stressed the following principle as the part of scientific management:

1.Science, not rule of thumb:
Management should not use the traditional method of management but should modify the traditional method into the scientific method.Taylor has stressed for research and studies for new and advance method of management.

2.Harmony, not discord:
harmony focuses on the unity of action while discord means differences in approach.In an organization, both owner and employees have thier own interest.Scientific management emphasis that there must be absolute harmony between management and workers to maintain unity in action. The feeling of differences must be avoided in work.There must be close relation between management and workers to achieve mutual objective.

3.Co-operation, not individualism:
This principle of management emphasis that the organizational objective must be above the individual's objective.An organization is establish to achieve it's objective.There must be co-operation among all the mechanisms of the organization to bring smoothness in organizational performance.The feeling of achievement of organizational goals must be develop among all the workers.The attainment of organizational objective ultimately fulfills the individuals objective.

4.Development of each person to his maximum efficiency and prosperity:
The workers should be and selected on the basis of organizational requirement.Management must endeavor to develop the worker's capability to the maximum prosperity.It is to be noted that the develop of workers leads to maximum production which ultimately ensures to achieve prosperity for both management and employees.Thus management has to take necessary steps in increasing the capability of workers.

5.optimum output in place of restricted output:
This principle is essential to both the workers and the organization.As the production is increase the organization will earn profit and as we have the piece rate system of wage payment, the more the workers will produce the more they will earn.