List of various definitions of Management as coined by eminent authors.
Management Definition
Management Definition (With the Meaning of Definition of Management)
“Management is the process of designing and maintaining an environment in which individuals working together in groups, efficiently accomplish selected aims” – by Harold Koontz and Heinz Weihrich.
The Meaning of the above definition is as follows:
1. Managers carry out the managerial functions of planning, organising, staffing, leading and controlling.
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2. Management applies to any kind of organisation.
3. It applies to managers at all organisational levels.
4. The aim of all managers is to create Surplus, Surplus means profit in business organisation. In charitable organisations, surplus means the satisfaction of needs. In universities, surplus means generation and dissemination of knowledge as well as providing service to the community or society.
5. Managing is concerned with productivity; this implies effectiveness and efficiency.
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Different Definition of Management:
Management is a process undertaken by one (or) more persons to co-ordinate the activities of other persons to achieve results not attainable by any one person acting alone.
Management is the art of knowing what you want to do and then seeing that it is done in the best and cheapest way. – F W Taylor
Management is a task of planning, organising, coordinating, motivating and controlling the efforts of others towards a specific objective.
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Management is the effective utilization of human and material resources to achieve the enterprise.
In general, management is a process of effective accomplishment of tasks through others.
Managing – like all other field i.e., medicine, engineering, accountancy – is an art. It is know how. It is doing things in light of realities of a situation.
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However, managers can work better by using the organised knowledge about management. This organised knowledge constitutes a science.
Thus, managing by practice is an art. The organised knowledge underlying the practice may be referred to as a science.
Physicians without practice will kill so many people. Also, physicians without the advantage of science will be a witch doctors.
Similarly, managers who try to manage without management science must trust luck and intuition. Also, managers without having past experience, may fumble things.
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Management knowledge will improve managerial practice and vice-versa. So managing is “Science and Art”.
Management Definition (According to the Management Guru Peter Drucker)
Management in all business and organizational activities is the act of getting people together to accomplish desired goals and objectives using available resources efficiently and effectively. Management comprises planning, organizing, staffing, leading or directing, and controlling an organization (a group of one or more people or entities) or effort for the purpose of accomplishing a goal. Resourcing encompasses the deployment and manipulation of human resources, financial resources, technological resources, and natural resources.
Because organizations can be viewed as systems, management can also be defined as human action, including design, to facilitate the production of useful outcomes from a system. This view opens the opportunity to ‘manage’ oneself, a pre-requisite to attempting to manage others.
The verb manage comes from the Italian maneggiare (to handle – especially tools), which in turn derives from the Latin manus (hand). The French word mesnagement (later management) influenced the development in meaning of the English word management in the 17th and 18th centuries.
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Some definitions of management are:
Organization and coordination of the activities of an enterprise in accordance with certain policies and in achievement of clearly defined objectives. Management is often included as a factor of production along with machines, materials, and money. According to the management guru Peter Drucker (1909-2005), the basic task of a management is twofold – marketing and innovation.
Management plays a pivotal role in the operation of business organizations. For achieving the goals of business organization, it is necessary to guide, direct and co-ordinate the efforts of others and constructively canalizes their potential. According to Peter Drucker “It is a multipurpose organ that manages a business and manages managers and work and the workers”.
Management can be defined as – “Process of planning, organizing, Directing, and controlling the resources of an organization in the efficient and effective pursuit of specified organizational goals”.
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The various definition of management are given below:
Louis Allen “Management is what manager does”.
F.W. Taylor “Management is knowing exactly what you want men to do and then seeing that they do it in the best and efficient way”.
Marry Parker Follet “Management is the art of getting things done through people”.
Directors and managers have the power and responsibility to make decisions to manage an enterprise. As a discipline, management comprises the interlocking functions of formulating corporate policy and organizing, planning, controlling, and directing the firm’s resources to achieve the policy’s objectives.
The size of management can range from one person in a small firm to hundreds or thousands of managers in multinational companies. In large firms the board of directors formulates the policy which is implemented by the Chief Executive Officer.
Management Definition – Few Important Definitions of the Word Management
The following are a few of the important definitions of the word “management”:
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“Management may be defined as the art of securing maximum results with a minimum of effort so as to secure maximum prosperity and happiness for both employer and employee and give the public the best possible service.”
“Good management, or scientific management, achieves a social objective with the best use of human and material energy and time, and with satisfaction for the participants and the public.”
“Management is simply the process of decision making and control over the action of human beings for the express purpose of attaining predetermined goals.”
“Management is the development of people and not the direction of things….Management is personnel administration.”
“Management is the function of executive leadership anywhere.”
“Management is concerned with seeing that the job gets done – its tasks all centre on planning and guiding the operations that are going on in the enterprise.”
“Management is that function of an enterprise which concerns itself with the direction and control of the various activities to attain the business objectives. Management is essentially an executive function; it deals particularly with the 14 live direction of the human effort….”
“Management is the creation and control of technological and human environment of an organization of an organization in which human skill and capacities of individuals and groups find full scope for their effective use in order to accomplish the objectives for which an enterprise has been set up. It is involved in the relationships of the individual, group, the organization and the environment.”
“Management is a distinct process consisting of planning, organizing, actuating, and controlling, performed to determine and accomplish the objectives by the use of people and resources.”
Thus the word “management” is defined differently with varying emphasis according to one’s special leanings. John F. Mee and Mary Cushing Niles are similar in emphasizing the service aspect or the ultimate social benefit objective. Whilst Niles stresses the use of power of the human beings, material energy and time and securing of universal satisfaction. Mee emphasizes minimum effort, maximum prosperity, universal happiness and service.
Stanely Vance limits his vision to only two aspects- decision making and control. His approach suggests policing. Instead of having a social purpose, management in his viewpoint has “the express purpose of attaining predetermined goals”. Lawrence Appley goes to the other extreme of considering management as synonymous with personnel administration and R. C. Davis confuses it as synonymous with “leadership.”
E.F.L. Breach lays stress on “planning and guiding the operations” of an enterprise. William Spriegel stresses “direction and control of the various activities to attain the business objectives” whilst recognizing the particular importance of the “human effort”.
A. Dasgupta, a leading Indian management educationist, forces our attention on the importance of technological and human environment, the accomplishment of objectives for which the enterprise has been set up and providing of full scope for the effective use of human skill and capacities of the individuals and groups of an organization. He thus visualizes the important role for managers of providing an environment which will direct human skills and capacities towards the accomplishment of the objectives of the enterprise.
Finally, George Terry describes it as a process consisting of four aspects, namely planning, organizing, actuating and controlling aimed at using the people and resources of the organization to accomplish determined objectives.
Management Definition – Defined By Different Authors and Experts in Different Ways
The term management is as old as human history and civilization. The utilisation of resources has been the most common and complex activity ever since the drawn of civilization. Management is the process of utilization of resources in an effective and efficient manner in the today modern dynamic environment. It involves an organised effort to achieve the objectives of an organisation.
‘Survival of the fittest’ in the law of the jungle which is equally applicable to the competitive word market place where organisation struggle and fight for survival. As Marshall E. Demock has rightly stated that “management is not a matter of pressing a button, pulling a lever, issuing orders, scanning profit and loss statement, promulgating rules and regulation rather it is the power to determine what shall happen to the personalities and happiness of the entire people, the power to shape the destiny of a nation and of all the nations which make up the world”.
People work together in a group to achieve common objectives to the coordination of physical and human resources become necessary.
Peter F. Drucker, in his book “Management – Tasks, Responsibilities and Practices” states three vital tasks of management –
(i) To determine the goals and mission of the organisation,
(ii) To make work productive and the worker achieving, and
(iii) To take care of social impacts and responsibilities.
Managers have to cooperate with human elements in and out of the organisation. Leadership and coordination are required to achieve the unity of direction of efforts for achieving objectives. Therefore, management is the brain of an organisation. All the policies decisions are taken by manager and should keep in touch with the external environment takes steps to ensure that the organization is able to meet the demands of changing environment.
Management is a universal process in ail organised social and economic activities that is why, it has emerged as an important discipline which is taught and learnt in management, technical and professional institution to develop leaders and executives for the organisation, different experts have defined management in different ways.
They are as follow-
Management is a multipurpose organ that manage a business and managers, workers and work in an organisation. – Peter F. Drucker
To manage is to forecast and plan, to organise to command to co-ordinate and to control. – Henry Fayol
Management is a distinct process consisting of planning, organising, actuating and controlling performance to determine and accomplish the objectives by the use of people and resources. – George R. Terry
Management is simply the process of decision making and control over the actions of human being for the express purpose of attaining predetermined goals. – Stanley Vance
Management is the art of getting things done through and with people in formally organised groups. It is the art of creating an environment in which people can perform as individuals and yet cooperate towards the attainment of group goals. It is the art of removing blocks to such performance, a way optimising efficiency in reaching goals. – H. Koontz.
Management is guiding human and physical resources into dynamic organisational units which attain their objectives of the satisfaction of those served and with a high degree of morale and sense of attainment on the part of those rendering service. – American Management Association.
Management is the art of knowing what you want to do and then seeing that it is done in the best and cheapest way. – F.W. Taylor
On analysing the above mentioned views of various experts it is clear that management consists of getting things done through others by directing their efforts in an integrated and coordinated manner in order to achieve corporate objectives. It consists of all organizational activities that involve goal formation and accomplishment, performance appraisal and feedback to managers that ensures organisational survival. As per author’s opinion –
MAN – An individual or A Manager or A Leader
AGE – Experience of a manager or an individual or a Leader
MEN – Group of person or people.
T – Time, Talent, Tact, and Technology.
Management Definition – Stated by Edwin M. Robinson and Peter F. Drucker
Management is the most important aspect of the economic life of man. Whenever arid wherever human efforts, are to be undertaken collectively for the attainment of pre-decided goals, one or the other form of Management becomes essential. It is the Management which regulates the activities of an enterprise.
Without Management, the collection of the factors of production is like the human body with “bones, flesh, and skin but without a brain.” As a man cannot do anything without brain, the enterprise cannot do anything without management. Management is the brain of an enterprise. Management plans, organises, coordinates, directs, motivates and controls the activities of the enterprise so that the enterprise may attain its pre-determined goals.
Professor Edwin M. Robinson has stated, “No business runs itself, even on momentum every business needs repeated stimulus.”
Professor Peter F. Drucker has stated, “The Management is a dynamic and life giving element in every business, without his leadership the resources of production remain resources and never become production.”
Peter F. Drucker has again stated, “It is a multi-purpose organ that manages a business and manages managers and manages workers and work.”
Management Definition – According to Harold Koontz
Managing is no doubt an important human activity. It is essential to ensure coordination of the efforts and activities of different people to achieve a common goal or objective (purpose). In today’s world of super-specialisation management is important for putting group efforts and achieving the goal of an organisation which cannot be achieved through individual effort. The task of managers is to coordinate individual efforts and promote group efforts.
According to Harold Koontz and his coauthors, “Management is the process of designing and maintaining an environment in which individuals, working together in groups, efficiently accomplish selected aims.”
From this definition we can make the following five deductions:
1. All managers carry out certain common functions such as – planning, organising, staffing, leading and controlling. Another function is coordination which is key to any manager’s job.
2. The principles and practices of management apply to any type of organisation – private, and government, profit-seeking and not-for-profit. This is known as the universality of management.
3. Management concepts and principles apply to all types of managers at different organisational levels.
4. The ultimate (or common) aim of managers at all levels in all types of organisations is surplus (profit) generation.
5. Management is concerned with raising productivity of human and non-human resources of an organisation. This implies effectiveness (doing the right thing) and efficiency (doing it right).
It is against this backdrop that we study the interesting subject called ‘Management’.
Three interrelated issues here are the following:
i. What managers do? Managers plan, direct, coordinate and monitor the overall activities of organisations, or units within organisations.
ii. Why they do it? The purpose of management is to provide direction, gain commitment, facilitate change and achieve results through the efficient, creative and responsible deployment of people and other resources.
iii. How they do it? Managers make others more effective through better planning and organising. They bring out the best in other people. This involves setting goals, planning how to achieve them, motivating others, coordinating and evaluating activities and directing these activities to accomplish a task or an objective.
In recent times the focus on management has moved away from planning and organising resources as part of a disciplined chain of command towards the skills of motivating, directing and coaching others to succeed. In reality both ways of working have their own (respective) place.
Managers plan; they direct, they organise, they decide, they act, they allocate, they motivate, they evaluate, they adapt, and they achieve results through others. Yet many of those who discharge these responsibilities still do not see themselves as managers.
Some businesses grow to be extremely large and profitable, while others go bankrupt. Some businesses diversify into many new activities, while others stick to their core activities. In the coming years, the rising rate of environmental, social and technological change, the increasing internationalisation of business, the growing scarcity and cost of natural resources and the increasing sensitivity to diversity in the workplace will make the environment of business much more complex and subject to rapid change.
Making decisions about future business activities in such a dynamic environment is the real job of management. To be more specific, management is the form of work that involves coordinating an organisation’s resources — land, labour and capital — to accomplish organisational objectives.
Thus management is essentially concerned with managing people. But managers are also responsible for generally controlling the business or part of it by managing their other resources — finance, work system and technology. Additionally, they have no manage time and themselves.
Management is the process of making things happen. Managers define goals, determine and obtain the resources required to achieve the goals, allocate those resources to opportunities and planned activities and ensure that those activities take place as planned in order to achieve predetermined objectives. Management can be described as getting things done through people by exercising leadership. Managers are there to make effective use of the other resources available to them.
In fact, one of the most important human activities is managing. As and when people form groups to accomplish tasks and fulfil aims which they cannot achieve individually, managing becomes essential to coordinate individual efforts. As organisations have come to rely more and more on group effort and activities and many organisations have become very large, the task of managers have been gaining importance. And groups can achieve their goals effectively only when the efforts of its members who work together are properly coordinated and controlled.
Management is essentially the task of getting results through or with the help of others by coordinating and regulating the efforts and activities of various members of an organisation. And the organisation is a group of people working together. As and when an organised group of people work for a common cause, some sort of management becomes absolutely essential.
The word ‘management’ is derived from the Italian verb ‘maneggiare’, which means ‘to handle a horse’. This definition at least states that to manage is to have charge of a responsibility for something, but there is clearly more to it than that.
There are various definitions of management. At the beginning of this article we have given the definition of H. Koontz. According to P. F. Drucker, “Management is concerned with utilising an organisation’s human and non-human resources both effectively and efficiently with a view to achieving the organisation’s goals and objectives.” Effectiveness means doing the right thing (i.e., taking the right decisions) and efficiency means doing it right (i.e., performing an activity with maximum possible efficiency so that productivity of resources is maximised or cost is minimised).
Here, consideration is given initially to what the process of managing is and the role of the manager.
Management Definition – 5 M’s of Management: Money, Materials, Machinery, Methods and Manpower
Management is a process of planning, organizing, staffing, directing and controlling various activities and resources of an organization to achieve organizational goals.
According to Harold Koontz, “Management is the art of getting things done through others and with formally organized groups.”
According to F. W. Taylor, “Management is the art of knowing what you want to do and then seeing that they do it in the best and the cheapest way.”
In words of C. B. Gupta, “An entrepreneur establishes the organization as its owner but it is the management that transforms various resources into a productive entity.”
Management has a core place among all the factors of production.
5Ms of management are:
1. Money:
Money generates money. It is the first requirement to hire other resources in the organization. Monetary resources are crucial for birth, sustenance and survival of an organization. Money is deployed in the organizations in the form of fixed capital as well as working capital. Various sources of finance are equity share capital, preference share capital, debentures, loan, etc.
2. Materials:
Materials are the physical raw materials or intermediate products which are processed or assembled into finished goods, with the aid of processes, machinery, technology and manpower. It is the quality of the raw materials on which the quality of finished goods is based. For example, to make the cloth, cotton is used as raw material. For production of sugar, sugarcane is needed.
3. Machinery:
Materials are converted into finished goods with the help of machinery or technology. Modern or improved technology reduces the cost of goods and enhances the quality.
4. Methods:
Methods are the ways of doing things. Various managerial, technical and clerical tasks are performed according to certain procedures. Use of right methods increases the efficiency of organizations.
5. Manpower:
The only active factor of production is human resource. It includes all persons; managerial as well as non-managerial. It is the human resource which is actually responsible for the well-functioning of other passive factors of production. In fact, survival and success of an organization depends on human resource.
All the factors of production are important but human resource is different from other resources. Human reacts differently on same thing. Everyone is different from the perspective of his family background, attitude, perception, learning, skills, experience, norms, values and ethics etc. It is crucial to study human resource so that their efforts can be channelised to achieve organisational goals, and it is the essence of study of organisational behaviour.
Management Definition – Defined in Various Ways
In any business organisation, there are a number of people in a workforce doing different work at a time. For example, some people are engaged in producing a product, others are busy packing the finished products. Another section of people are engaged in checking that suppliers are getting paid, while another group is busy making salary slips for the employees. All these people are engaged in seemingly different work.
However, their goals are the same, i.e. the goal of the organisation. Whenever any organised group of people works towards a common cause, there is a need to watch the activities to make sure that everyone is working in the right direction. If there is any deviation, it is corrected and the group’s activities are coordinated to get the desired result. This continuous monitoring of the activities and ensuring that things are moving in the right direction is the function of management.
Management is defined as, “the process of achieving pre-stated goals by people who work jointly and individually putting together concerted efforts towards the agreed goals for an organisation.”
1. It is a joint accomplishment. This means it requires joint and concerted efforts.
2. More than one person is involved. Therefore, it is an activity.
3. The goals of the work are pre-stated and understood by all.
As an activity the functions of management includes making a plan of what work is to be done, how it is to be done and then overseeing the work by directing, guiding and integrating the resources so that everyone works towards the organisational goals.
Management has been defined in various ways:
Henri Fayol states, “To manage is to forecast and to plan, to organise, to command, to coordinate, and to control.”
Harold Koontz says it differently. He says, “Management is the art of getting things done through and with people in formally organised groups.”
Peter Drucker, the father of management says, “Management is a multi-purpose organ that manages business, manages managers and manages workers and their work.”
Thus, we see that management has been given different meaning and definitions by different people at different point of time. Some refer it as a process while some prefer calling it as resource coordination. Others have talked of management as a joint effort towards goal achievement.
In order to understand the objectives of management one needs to understand the general objectives of business. The basic objective of any business is to use humans and machines to produce goods and services that give value to its customers, sell these at a price that exceeds the input costs and gives an acceptable profit to the investor. It is the management that brings into process the sequence followed in achieving the just stated business objectives. The management is in charge of using different inputs in the right proportion to help the organisation meet its stated goals and objectives.
Management Definition (With its Limitations)
The term ‘Management’ in the recent years has gained significant importance and is well known among the general public. Even in our routine life, we try to manage our day-to-day affairs by creating proper sequence of activities. Once it is followed repeatedly, it becomes process. In order to further improvise, we try to further streamline this process so that the problems we had faced yesterday does not repeat today. Thus, we may say Management is a continuous process.
Some of the definitions are given below:
Peter F. Drucker defines, “Management is an organ; organs can be described and defined only through their functions”.
Terry -“Management is not people; it is an activity like walking, reading, swimming or running. People who perform management can be designated as members, members of Management or executive leaders.”
Ralph C. Davis has defined Management as, “Management is the function of executive leadership anywhere.”
McFarland – “Management is defined for conceptual, theoretical and analytical purposes as that process by which managers create, direct, maintain and operate purposive organisation through systematic, coordinated and cooperative human effort.”
Henry Fayol – “To manage is to forecast and plan, to organise, to compound, to coordinate and to control.”
Harold Koontz says, “Management is the art of getting things done through and within formally organised group.”
William Spriegal – “Management is that function of an enterprise which concerns itself with direction and control of the various activities to attain business objectives. Management is essentially an executive function; it deals with the active direction of the human effort.”
Kimball and Kimball – “Management embraces all duties and functions that pertain to the initiation of an enterprise, its financing, the establishment of all major policies, the provision of all necessary equipment, the outlining of the general form of organisation under which the enterprise is to operate and the selection of the principal officers.”
Sir Charles Reynold – “Management is the process of getting things done through the agency of a community. The functions of management are the handling of community with a view of fulfilling the purposes for which it exists.”
E.F.L. Brech – “Management is concerned with seeing that the job gets done, its tasks all centre on planning and guiding the operations that are going on in the enterprise.”
Koontz and O’Donnell – “Management is the creation and maintenance of an internal environment in an enterprise where individuals, working in groups, can perform efficiently and effectively toward the attainment of group goals. It is the art of getting the work done through and with people in formally organised groups.”
James Lundy – “Management is principally a task of planning, coordinating, motivating and controlling the efforts of other towards a specific objective. It involves the combining of the traditional factors of production land, labour and capital in an optimum manner, paying due attention, of course, to the particular goals of the organisation.”
Wheeler – “Management is centered in the administrators or managers of the firm who integrate men, material and money into an effective operating limit.”
J.N. Schulze – “Management is the force which leads, guides and directs an organisation in the accomplishment of a pre-determined object.”
Oliver Scheldon – “Management proper is the function in industry concerned in the execution of policy, within the limits set up by the administration and the employment of the organisation for the particular objectives set before it.”
Keith and Gubellini – “Management is the force that integrates men and physical plant into an effective operating unit.”
It can be observed from the above definitions that various management thinkers have viewed management from different perspectives. However, despite of varying perception, one common observation in all definitions is obtaining the organisational goal.
It has been noticed that initially management was mainly oriented towards obtaining organisational goal and has nothing to do with the welfare of the human resource associated with it in achieving the objectives of the organisation. But subsequently, the definitions given at later stages realised the essence of human relations in managing the activities and had included that aspect as well.
Though there cannot be one universally accepted definition of management, but according to different views given by various authors, management can be classified into following categories:
i. Management as an art of getting things done
ii. Management as a process.
iii. Management as a group of managers
iv. Management as a discipline.
According to Parker Follett, Management is defined as – “the art of getting done through others”. However, it represent traditional view of the management and does not apply in present scenario. According to this definition, human resource employed in the organisation are considered as factors of production.
But, management, nowadays, management is much more than just managing people. Though management aims to get the best output from people for meeting organisational goals, and making them work effectively as a team but the interest and welfare of employees cannot be ignored.
This definition is inherited with the following limitations:
(a) The definition is vague because it does not clearly specify the role of a manager. There may be situation where a manager himself may also be transacting on behalf of the organisation and also directing his subordinates for doing similar task. For example, an LIC agent is performing a managerial role when he is directing sub-agents to sell some insurance policy in order to meet the target specified for meeting the organisation’s goals.
But when he himself is selling a policy and negotiating a deal, he is performing a non-managerial role. In the former role, he is directing the efforts of others and is contributing to the organisation’s goals indirectly whereas in the latter role, he is directly using his skills as an LIC agent to achieve the objectives of the organisation.
(b) According to this definition, management has been treated as art whereas management is treated as science also because it is similar to science, in management also, there is availability of systematic and organised study material.
(c) The definition highlights the unilateral or one-sided approach of management. The workers are required to do nothing beyond the directions issued by management. Their participation is limited only to the extent of the work they are contributing to the organisation and they are not supposed to expect anything from the organisation in terms of better working conditions, motivational factors, etc.
(d) It does not reflect respectable picture of the management as it portrays management as a means for achieving the objectives of the organisation using employees as machines and nothing more. Thus, the concern of management towards employees’ welfare is not covered in this definition.
In view of the above reasons, we may conclude that the definition of management as “art of getting things done through people” fails to include important functions of management and therefore cannot be considered appropriate.
Management Definition – Highlights and Focuses on the Functions of Management
The common goal of every business is to maximise profit by increasing the overall performance. The task of management is to anticipate changes and their respective impacts, so that appropriate measures can be adopted to deal with these changes. It is here where Management plays a significant role. It is important to state here that the Principles of Management vary with situation. They are constantly changing with time. The effectiveness of management however depends on the human activities.
There are different divergent groups from which Management has emerged out as a discipline, such as economics, sociology, psychology, anthropology, etc. Hence, there have been interpretations accordingly as to definition of Management. Some consider it as a work process, while others think of it as a discipline. And, few consider it as a system, whereas others believe it to be a social process.
However, amongst the varied definitions offered by management experts we notice two distinct sets of definitions. The first set considers management as the art of getting things through men, and the second set which highlights the functions of management itself.
A few authors who belong to the first set:
F. W. Taylor, “Management is an art of knowing what you want your men to do and then seeing that it is done in the best and cheapest way.”
Harold Koontz, “Management is the art of getting things done through and with the people in formally organised groups.”
Mary Parker Follet, “Management is the art of getting things done through others.”
We can notice a similarity in their approach, while the definition provided by the second set of authors focuses on the functions of management:
Peter Drucker, “Management is an organ; organs can be described and defined only through their functions.”
Henry Fayol, “To manage is to forecast and to plan, to organise, to command, to co-ordinate and to control.”
G. R. Terry, “Management is a distinct process consisting of planning, organising, actuating and controlling, performed to determine and accomplish the stated objectives.by the use of human beings and other resources.”
Luther Gullick, “Management is a cyclical process of the PODSCORB function.”
P – Planning
O – Organising
D – Directing
S – Staffing
Co – Co-ordinating
R – Reporting with
B – Budgeting.
Thus, management is a fine balance between managing people on one hand and the process of making things happen with the help of other resources, on the other hand. It is the task of ultimate co-ordination and regulation of efforts and activities together.
Management Definition By Lawrence Appley – Emphasised the Aspect and Simplify the Concept of Management
According to F.W. Taylor, the founder of scientific management, “…Management is the art of knowing exactly, what you want men to do and then seeing that they do it in the best and cheapest way.”
According to Henry Fayol, “To manage is to forecast and to plan, to organise, to command, to coordinate and to control.”
According to George R. Terry, “Management is a distinct process consisting of planning, organising, actuating, and controlling, performed to determine and accomplish stated objectives by the use of human beings and other resources.”
According to Dalton E. McFarland, “Management is … that process by which managers create, direct, maintain, and operate purposive organisations through systematic, coordinated, cooperative human effort.”
According to Hicks, Management is “the process of getting things done by and through others.”
According to Harold Koontz & H. Weihrich, “Management is the process of designing an environment in which individuals, working together in groups, efficiently accomplish selected aims.”
Theo Haimann defines management and states, “Management is the function of getting things done through people and directing the efforts of individuals towards a common objective.”
Harold Koontz, in his book ‘The Management Theory’, has stated, “Management is the art of getting things done through and with people in formally organised groups.” In his book ‘Effective Industrial Management’, James Lundy has defined the term management on the basis of its functions. According to Lundy, “Management is principally a task of planning, coordinating, motivating, and controlling the efforts towards a specific objective.” Lawrence Appley has emphasised the human relations aspect of management.
Appley defines management as “the art of getting things done through people.” According to him “working satisfactorily with people is the entire job of management.” Keeping this concept in mind Appley avers that “management is the development of people and not the direction of things.” He further states, “Management is the personnel administration.”
In order to simplify the concept Appley states that “management is the accomplishment of results through the efforts of other people.” Peter F. Drucker views management in different manner. He defines management as “a multi-purpose organ that manages a business and manages managers and manages workers and work.”
It is, thus, evident that management is a multi-dimensional function. And this is the reason why the term ‘management’ has been defined in different ways. But it may be said that in this age of science and technology there is an urgent need to define and codify management in such a way which could be universally accepted, which could be tested and examined effectively.
Management Definition
Mary Parker Follett defines management as the art of getting things done through people.
F. W. Taylor- “Management is an art of knowing what you want to do and then seeing that is done in the best and cheapest way.”
Henry Fayol- “To manage is to forecast, to plan, to organize, to command, to co-ordinate and control.”
George R. Terry- “Management is a distinct process consisting of planning, organizing, actuating and controlling performance to determine and accomplish the objectives by the use of people and resources.”
Koontz and 0’Donnel- “Management is the creation and maintenance of internal environment in an enterprise where individuals working in groups can perform efficiently and effectively toward the attainment of group goals. It is an art of getting the work done through and with people in formally organized groups.”
Management is a set of activities directed at an organization’s resources with the aim of achieving organizational goals in an efficient and effective manner. Management for any organization is a function of organizing and channeling the people together to accomplish desired goals. In common understanding, management is also referred to the body or group of persons who perform the various functions of management.
Management is a process to achieve desired goal. A series of activities and operations, such as planning, deciding, evaluating, assembling and using sets of resources by people with different functions intentionally structured and coordinated to achieve common purposes.
Management is the process of designing and maintaining an environment in which individuals working together in groups to accomplish selected aims efficiently. The concept management may be used as- functions to be performed to attain the organizational objectives-planning, organizing direction, co-ordination and control.
In a more important sense, management is a vital function concerned with all aspects of the working of an enterprise. The management is considered as a body of knowledge consisting of several concepts, principles, techniques and theories which can be adopted in any group endeavour.
Management Definition
The basic tenets of Management reveal how diverse and varied work force and skills operate and cooperate to bring about success and progress to any company or commercial effort. The measures are goal-riveted and the outcome is wholly performance oriented such that there’s no room for any slip-shod error which could only reflect on weak managerial skills.
Therefore, Management thinking itself is quite stoic, specially, in its training to deal with challenges, which alone could help hold up norms and simultaneously remain flexible to changing trends and above all assist in solving crises of any sort.
“Management is the art of getting things done through and with people in formally organized groups. It is the art of creating the environment in which people can perform and individuals could cooperate towards attaining of groups goals. It is the art of removing blocks to such performance, a way of optimizing efficiency in reaching goals”. — Harold Koontz
“Management is principally the task of planning, coordinating, motivating and controlling the efforts of others towards a specific objective”. — James L Lundy
“Management is a distinct process consisting of planning, organizing, actuating and controlling, performed to determine and accomplish stated objectives by the use of human being and other resources.” — George R Terry
Managers carry out the functions of planning, organizing, staffing, leading and controlling – Henry Fayol was the first management thinker to outline the five basic functions carried out by managers. Every manager performs these basic functions.
The term ‘management’ applies to any organization irrespective of the size or nature of operations. However, the key word to success is ‘Skilled Management’ which is highly essential to any kind of organization – Wherever there are groups of people working together to achieve some common objective, it becomes essential to guide, organize and control them.
Be it a CEO of a multinational company or the General Manager of a hotel or the first-level supervisor or the manager of a cricket team or the student president in a college — the prime concern is to manage their people and resources effectively. The attention of any member of the above category is pivoted towards certain targets. These targets are attained only through skilled management of an entire team.
Management Definition – By Various Economists
Management is derived from Greek word “nomos” which means management. Management in all business and organizational activities is the act of coordinating the efforts of people to accomplish desired goals and objectives using available resources efficiently and effectively. Management is often included as a factor of production along with, machines, materials, and money.
Definition of management by various economists-
Hick defined management as “the process of getting things done by people and through the people”
Koontz and O’Donnell define management as “getting things done through and with people”
Henry Fayol defined it as “to manage is to forecast, and to plan, to organize to command, to coordinate and to command”.
Management is the art of getting things done by a group of people with the effective utilisation of available resources. An individual cannot be treated as a managing body running any organisation. A minimum of two persons are essential to form a management. These persons perform the functions In order to achieve the objectives of an organisation.
There are various definitions of Management.
Let us pick-up important definitions:
Ralph C. Davis has defined Management as, “Management is the junction of executive leadership anywhere.”
Louis Allan, “Management is what a manager does.”
Henry Fayol, “To manage is to forecast and plan, to organise, to compound, to co-ordinate and to control.”
Harold Koontz says, “Management is the art of getting things done through and with an informally organized group.”
Management Definition (With Key Characteristics)
Due to a variety of definitions, different types of enterprises and dissimilar organisations, the meaning of management in the current atmosphere has to be necessarily understood properly.
The development of information technology, advent of computers, and advancement of science has tremendous effect to understand the proper meaning of management. The meaning of management will be better understood if we keep in mind some key characteristics of it.
1. Management is a process – It is that important process, the principle elements of which are planning, organising, actuating and control. This process continues till the objectives set by the organisation are met.
2. Management is an activity – It can be studied; we can obtain knowledge about it. The skill in it can be acquired.
3. Management is purposeful – It acts for achievement of specific things, known as objectives or goals. Management success depends upon the extent to which objectives are achieved.
4. Management makes things happen – It is an authority to extract work from others. They focus on efforts to bring about successful action.
5. Management is a profession – Since it has established principles like other professions, it is a profession being recognized recently. It involves firmness.
6. Management is not only an art but also a science – It is an art since it involves handing men and science because the road to achievement is one based on scientific principles.
7. Management is Intangible – It is unseen force, its presence is evidenced by the result of its efforts-order lines, buoyant, spirit and adequate work output. The identity of management is brought unto clear focus when compared with the results mismanagement.
8. Management is aided by computers – It cannot be replaced by computers. Computers can aid management by providing fast and accurate information to get sharp insight for managerial decision-making. It helps to get analysis of data beyond normal human capacities.
9. Management exerts real impact on Human life – Work environment can be improved through management efforts. It can stimulate people to do better things. It can bring hope, achieve progress and thus influence human life, towards betterment.
One important aspect is that management must apply judgment and imagination in addition to proper interpretation and evaluation of analysed data in each individual case.
Management Definition – Defined by the Father of Modern Management Henry Fayol and Other Authors
Management is a term that has several meanings.
Management is getting things done through other people.
Management is concerned with ideas, things and People.
Management is the effective utilization of Human and Material Resources to achieve the Enterprise Objectives.
Different experts have defined management in different ways.
Henry Fayol, father of modern management through define management as “Forecast and plan to organise, to command, to co-ordinate and to control.”
“Management is the art of getting things done through and with people in formally organised groups. It is the art of creating an environment in which people can perform as individuals and yet cooperate towards attainment of group goals. It is the art of removing blocks to such performance, a way of optimizing efficiency in reaching goals.” – Harold Koontz.
“Management” is a social and technical process which utilises resources, influences human action and facilitates change in order to accomplish organisation goals. – The Haimann and W.G Scott
Management is guiding human and physical resources into a dynamic hard hitting. Organizational unit that attains its objectives to the satisfaction of those served and with a high degree of moral and sense of attainment on the part of those rendering the service. – Lawrence A. Appley, former President of American Management Association.
Management Definition
Management is a word used by different people with varying meanings. The noun “management” is used as a collective noun to refer to all those who manage within a particular organization including those who help line managers by performing a staff function.
The word “management” is also used to refer to a particular activity such as “scientific management” or to distinguish a special class of people as “management” and labour, e.g. the statement that “the management of company X decided to take a firm stand against the workers demand for higher wages”.
Peter Drucker answers the question “What is Management and what does it do?” by saying that “It is a multi-purpose organ that manages a business and manages managers and manages worker and work”, Lawrence Appley tries to simplify the meaning by describing the manager’s job as a “human relations job that functions through several major activities” and that “human relations is…. the beginning and the end of the management job”.
To add to this confusion, the words “business”, “administration” and “management” are used by persons very loosely. The word “business” no doubt includes both the manufacturing and the selling activities being concerned with both the producer and the trader who purchases. Both these then sell the product with a view, among other things, basically to earn profits.
Thus business is concerned with making profits through the creation and supply of utilities in the form of goods and services. It naturally includes “manufacturing” and “trading” activities as well as all activities considered as “aids to trade and industry” such as transportation, banking, warehousing and insurance. The ultimate objective is to satisfy some need of a market segment consisting of consumers, thus rendering a service to society and yet at the same time making a profit in the process.