Concept of Management

Concept of Management

Basic concepts of Management are as follows:

1. Management  as a Process: 

Management is regarded as a process because it includes a series of actions. The management process consists of setting objectives for enterprise and taking steps to ensure that these objectives are achieved. The  steps include functions like planning, organizing, staffing and directing the process of management thus involves laying down various goals and finding ways to achieve the same. Management as a process may be said to consist of three aspects:

1. Management is a social process: The management process is largely a social one, because the activities involved in the achievement of goals are mainly concerned with relations between people. Basically, all tasks are carried-out when employees interact with one another. Management as a social process is concerned with making such interaction productive and useful for achieving organisational goals.

2. Management is an Integrating process: In an organisation the human beings work with non-human resources like machines, materials, technology, financial assets, buildings, etc. Management integrates human efforts in relation to those resources. Management undertakes in bringing together the human, physical and financial resources so that there is harmony among them.

3. Management is a continuous process: Management is not confined to the handling at integrating human and material resources at a particular point. Rather it is an ongoing  continuous process. It involves continuous handling of problems and issues. Management is concerned with constantly identifying the problems and solving them by taking appropriate steps.

2. Management as an Activity: 

Management is a process of making systematic use of human and material resources implies that management consists of all those activities which must be performed in the process. Management as an activity means what managers do in the process of management. It  includes:

1. Informational Activities: Management involves receiving and giving information orally and in writing.  Management constantly communicate with their subordinates as well as superiors. They exchange information relation to various tasks, situations and persons, and initiate action on that basis.

2. Decisional Activities: Another activity which needs considerable time to be devoted by managers relates to making decisions of different kinds. If someone proceeds on leave, the manager has to decide who will perform the absentee’s work. Practically all types of activities of managers are based on one or the other decision.

3. Inter-Personal Activities:  Management involves achieving goals through people. Therefore, managers have to interact with their superiors as well as subordinates. They must maintain good relations with them.  The inter-personal activities may include maintaining social relations with subordinates, and taking care of individual problems in helpful manner.

3. Management as a Group: 

Management as a group refers to management as a class or section of people who together carried-out various managerial activities. Therefore, when someone says ‘Management of a certain company is very efficient’, it refers to the section or group of people in that company who are carrying out management functions. Therefore, as a group the term management indicates the group of individuals occupying managerial positions. All the managers from the Chief Executive to first line supervisors are collectively addressed as management.

4. Management as a Discipline: 

The term ‘management’ is also used to refer to the body of knowledge and a separate field of study. Management is now recognized as a formal discipline having an organised body of knowledge which can be learnt through instructions and teaching. The emergence of management as a separate discipline is evident from the fact that all over the word a large number of new colleges and schools of management have been set up and increasingly a large number of universities and colleges have introduced management courses.

5. Management as an Economic Resource: 

Management is basically effective and economic utilization of the scarce resources which are popularly known as 5 M’s-money, materials, manpower, machinery and methods. Effective use of 5 M’s and converting inputs into products and services is the basic objective of management. Management has to plan and coordinate so that men, materials, machines, and money are best utilised and thus it can be considered as an economic resource.