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Definition of management
There are several definitions of the word management because different experts have defined management in various ways. The following are the well-known definitions of management:
- Management is planning, organizing, leading, directing, and controlling the efforts of organizational members using all other resources to achieve organizational goals and objectives.
- According to Harold Koontz, “Management is an art of getting things done through and with the people in formally organized groups. It is an art of creating an environment in which people can perform and individuals and can co-operate towards attainment of group goals”.
- Management is the act of getting things done by other people. The implication here is that managers arrange for others the necessary activities to be performed to achieve the goals and objectives of the organization.
- Management is that function of an enterprise that concerns itself with the direction and control of the various activities to attain business objectives
- Management can also be described as a set of activities directed at the efficient and effective utilization of resources to pursue organizational goals.
- According to W. Taylor, “Management is an art of knowing what to do, when to do and see that it is done in the best and cheapest way”.
From the above definitions, we can conclude that management refers to all those activities which are concerned with: –
- Formulation of objectives plans and policies of the collective enterprise.
- Assembling men, money, materials, machines, and methods for their accomplishment.
- Directing and motivating the men at work.
- Co-coordinating the physical and human resources.
- Supervising and controlling performance; and
- Securing maximum satisfaction for both employer and employee and providing the public with the best possible services.
Importance of management
Management is important in every organization. Management helps in achieving the following:
- Maximum results with minimum efforts – The main objective of management is to achieve the best results for the organization while using minimum resources. Thus, management brings together human, material and financial resources both efficiently and effectively to achieve organizational goals.
- Maximum prosperity for both employer and employee – Management ensures the smooth and coordinated functioning of the enterprise. This, in turn, helps in providing maximum benefits to the employee in the shape of good working conditions, a suitable wage system, incentive plans on the one hand, and higher profits to the employer on the other hand.
- Human betterment and social justice – Management serves as a tool for the upliftment as well as the betterment of the Society. Through increased productivity and employment, management ensures better standards of living for Society. In addition, it provides justice through its uniform policies.
- Organizational goal– Management arranges the factors of production, assembles and organizes the resources, effectively integrates the resources to achieve goals. It directs group efforts towards the achievement of predetermined goals.
- Optimum use of resources – Management utilizes all the physical and human resources productively. This leads to efficacy in management; Management provides maximum utilization of scarce resources by selecting its best possible alternate use in industry from out of various uses.
- Sound organization – Management aims to establish a sound organizational This is by putting in place an effective authority and responsibility relationship, i.e., who is accountable to whom, who can give instructions to whom, superiors, and subordinates.
- Equilibrium – Management enables the organization to survive in changing environment. It keeps in touch with the changing environment. With the change in the external environment, the initial coordination of organization must be change.
- Provision of essentials for the prosperity of Society – Efficient management leads to better economic production, which helps in turn to increase the welfare of people. Good management makes a difficult task easier by avoiding the wastage of scarce resources. It improves the standard of living.
- Increasing the efficiency of factors of production – Through proper utilization of various factors of production, their efficiency can be increased to a great extent which can be obtained by reducing spoilage, wastages, and breakage of all kinds, this, in turn, leads to saving of time, effort, and money, which is essential for the growth and prosperity of the enterprise.