Concept of Management

Concept of Management

Management is a set of activities (Planning, Organizing, Directing,Leading, Staffing, Coordinating, Controlling, Budgeting, Monitoring and Evaluating), directed at Organisational resources to attain the organisational goals in effective and efficient manner.

Management as an Activity

This definition defines management as a set of activities, It means management may be considered as an activity.  Activity simply means some action to achieve a defined result,output or outcome. Management is some time viewed as an action/activity to accomplish organizational goals. Such it is described as effort to achieve some thing.

Few scholars define Management as 'getting things done' by others. In this sense management is a group activity which involves use of people in doing and completing the task/things/results/outputs/goals.

Management as a Process

A process is made of so many related activities which are in sequence.

 Management as a process simply means that it consists so many activities and functions in getting the results. These activities and functions (Planning, Organizing, Directing,Leading, Staffing, Coordinating, Controlling, Budgeting, Monitoring and Evaluating) are related with each other and are not opposite and totally different from each other.

Planning can't be separated from other functions because it is related and keeps in view all other activities.It comes in the beginning, then come organizing, staffing, Coordinating, Leading, directing, Monitoring and control.  

These functions are performed in sequence to achieve the goals and are related with each other, so management is a process.

Management can also be defined as a process in the sense that it starts with the inception of organization and continues till the decline of the organisation.It is very difficult to imagine an organization without management process. Processes are continuous in the sense that they are enduring in time aspect and as explained management is a long ending related sequential set of activities.

Management as a body of people

Some times few people who are taking care and control  of things in any organisation are referred to be managers and called the 'management of the company/organization'.

In this sense management refers to 'those people- CEO,Director,Mangers etc.) who are performing managerial functions(PODSCORB). Simply management is referred here as a third person.

Management as an Economic Resource or Factor of Production

Is it possible to accomplish organizational goals, or produce some thing without a manager or person who is performing managerial functions?

Management is identified as an important factor without which it would be difficult to produce some thing.

It is not possible to get the results without management this is why management can be considered as an important function of production.

Managers are now considered as Entrepreneurs who come up with new ideas of production and innovation - bring together new factors of production and thus contribute into the growth of company/enterprise/organisation and ultimately to the economy

Management as an academic discipline

Management is a separate field or area  of study. It has its organized body of knowledge, facts, principles and theories. It is taught in almost all countries in universities and college level.

Management is also an area of research and you can find libraries and journals exclusively about this area of study.

In management there are so many theories, facts, information and issues being studied and researched. This discipline has become vast and now there are sub-disciplines within this discipline- Marketing Management, Strategic Management, Human resource management etc.