What is management?
The purpose of this presentation is to address the concept of managerial effectiveness and to consider the techniques helping managers to improve their effectiveness. First of all, it is necessary to define the essence of management and the functions of managers. In the course of time, various definitions and concepts of management have evolved. Managers are the executive part of the organization, and the primary objective of management team is to coordinate the system and people for reaching organizational goals.
A manager’s primary role is to select, motivate and reward employees. According to management scholar Mary Parker Folett, öśmanagement is the art of getting things done through peopleöŁ (Witmer, 2009). Management is the combination of science and art: Peter Drucker stated that ôgood management is the art of making problems so interesting and their solutions so constructive that everyone wants to get to work and deal with them öŁ (Witmer, 2009).
Overall, management can be defined as ôthe attainment of organizational goals in an effective and efficient manner through planning, organizing, leading and controlling organizational resourcesöŁ. (Daft & Marcic, 2010)
Functions of management
To achieve managerial excellence, one should first of all understand the functions of management and their applications using available organizational resources. The functions of management are planning, organizing, leading and controlling (Rees & Porter, 2008). Input resources for managers are human, financial, technological, material resources and information. The results of managerial work are reflected and measured with regard to organizational performance. Such factors as effectiveness, efficiency, reaching organizational objectives, quality of products and services show whether management team of the organization is effective or not (Rees & Porter, 2008).
Planning function includes selection of goals/objectives and methods of achieving these goals/objectives. Organizing function of management involves the matching of resources and activities to accomplish the goals as well as assignment of tasks. Leading function requires a manager to motivate and direct employees towards reaching organizational objectives. Controlling function means that managers have to monitor organizational activities and make timely corrections of the company’s strategy. The four functions and their applications are considered in more detail on the next 4 slides.
Key function of management is planning, which is the start for any managerial cycle. ôPlanning is deciding in advance – what to do, when to do & how to do. It bridges the gap from where we are and where we want to beöŁ (Montana & Charnov, 2008).
During the stage of planning, the management team has to decide on the mission and vision of the company. Vision and mission have to reflect the nature of the organization, its culture and philosophy. Mission and vision of the company are used to determine its objectives öô long-term targets and strategic course of action. Objectives are used to develop tactical steps and to set goals öô short-term aims and targets of the company. Thus, managers should be able to develop strategic, tactical and operational plans. The stage of planning involves all levels of management öô top management, middle level management and first-line managers.
Organizing function requires from managers to match material, financial, human resources and information in order to reach organizational goals in an optimal way. At the organizing stage, managers deliver authority, establish communications, optimize resources and create decision-making chains. It is possible to identify the following steps of organizing (Daft & Marcic, 2010):
öó Identification of activities
öó Classification of activities
öó Grouping of activities
öó Assignment of duties
öó Creation of responsibility through delegating authority
öó Coordination of authority and responsibility
According to Henry Fayol, to organize a business is to provide it with everything useful or its functioning i.e. raw materials, tools, capital and personnel. This function of management creates synergy and can greatly improve competitive position of the company.