1. Management is goal oriented process:
Management always aims at achieving the organisational
objectives. The functions and activities of manager lead to the achievement of
organisational objectives; for example, if the objective of a company is to
sell 1000 computers then manager will plan the course of action, motivate all
the employees and organise all the resources keeping in mind the main target of
selling 1000 computers.
2. Management is Pervasive:
Management is a universal phenomenon. The use
of management is not restricted to business firms only it is applicable in
profit-making, non-profit-making, business or non-business organisations; even
a hospital, school, club and house has to be managed properly. Concept of
management is used in the whole world whether it is USA, UK or India.
3. Management is Multidimensional:
Management does not mean one single activity
but it includes three main activities:- Management of work, Management of people, Management of
operations.
(a) Management of work:
All organisations are set up to perform some task or goal.
Management activities aim at achieving goals or tasks to be accomplished. The
task or work depends upon the nature of Business for example, work to be
accomplished in a school is providing education, in hospital is to treat
patient, in industry to manufacture some product. Management makes sure that
work is accomplished effectively and efficiently.
(b) Management of people:
People refer to Human resources and Human resources are the most
important assets of an organisation. An organisation can win over competitor
with efficient employees only because two organisations can have same physical,
technological and financial resources but not human resources. Management has
to get task accomplished through people only.
Managing people has two dimensions: (i) Taking care of employee’s
individual needs (ii) Taking care of group of people
(c) Management of operations:
Operations refer to activities of production cycle such as
buying inputs, converting them into semi-finished goods, finished goods. Management
of operations concentrates on mixing management of work with management of
people, i.e., deciding what work has to be done, how it has to be done and who
will do it.
4. Management is a continuous
process:
Management is a continuous or never ending function.
All the functions of management are performed continuously, for example
planning, organising, staffing, directing and controlling are performed by all
the managers all the time. Sometimes, they are doing planning, then staffing or
organising etc. Managers perform ongoing series of functions continuously in
the organisation.
5. Management is a group activity:
Management always refers to a group of people
involved in managerial activities. The management functions cannot be performed
in isolation. Each individual performs his/her role at his/her status and
department, and then only management function can be executed. Even the
result of management affects every individual and every department of the
organisation so it always refers to a group effort and not the individual
effort of one person.
6. Management is a dynamic function:
Management has to make changes in goal, objectives and other
activities according to changes taking place in the environment. The external
environment such as social, economical, technical and political environment has
great influence over the management. As changes take place in these environments, same are
implemented in organisation to survive in the competitive world.
7. Intangible:
Management function cannot be physically seen
but its presence can be felt. The presence of management can be felt by seeing
the orderliness and coordination in the working environment. It is easier to
feel the presence of mismanagement as it leads to chaos and confusion in the
organisation.
8. Composite process:
Management consists of series of functions which must be
performed in a proper sequence. These functions are not independent of each
other. They are inter-dependent on each other.
As the main functions of management are planning, organising, staffing,
directing and controlling; organising cannot be done without doing planning,
similarly, directing function cannot be executed without staffing and planning
and it is difficult to control the activities of employees without knowing the
plan. All the functions inter-dependent on each other that is why management is
considered as a composite process of all these functions.
