Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a
business
Business is the practice of making one's living or making money by producing or Trade, buying and selling Product (business), products (such as goods and Service (economics), services). It is also "any activity or enterprise entered into for pr ...
, a
nonprofit organization
A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...
, or a
government body
A government or state agency, sometimes an appointed commission, is a permanent or semi-permanent organization in the machinery of government that is responsible for the oversight and administration of specific functions, such as an administratio ...
. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business.
Management includes the activities of setting the
strategy
Strategy (from Greek στρατηγία ''stratēgia'', "art of troop leader; office of general, command, generalship") is a general plan to achieve one or more long-term or overall goals under conditions of uncertainty. In the sense of the "art ...
of an organization and coordinating the efforts of its
employee
Employment is a relationship between two parties regulating the provision of paid labour services. Usually based on a contract, one party, the employer, which might be a corporation, a not-for-profit organization, a co-operative, or any other ...
s (or of volunteers) to accomplish its
objectives through the application of available
resources
Resource refers to all the materials available in our environment which are technologically accessible, economically feasible and culturally sustainable and help us to satisfy our needs and wants. Resources can broadly be classified upon their a ...
, such as
financial
Finance is the study and discipline of money, currency and capital assets. It is related to, but not synonymous with economics, the study of production, distribution, and consumption of money, assets, goods and services (the discipline of fina ...
,
natural
Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. Although humans are p ...
,
technological
Technology is the application of knowledge to reach practical goals in a specifiable and reproducible way. The word ''technology'' may also mean the product of such an endeavor. The use of technology is widely prevalent in medicine, science, ...
, and
human resources
Human resources (HR) is the set of people who make up the workforce of an organization, business sector, industry, or economy. A narrower concept is human capital, the knowledge and skills which the individuals command. Similar terms include m ...
. "Run the business" and "Change the business" are two concepts that are used in management to differentiate between the continued delivery of goods or services and adapting of goods or services to meet the changing needs of customers - see
trend
A fad or trend is any form of collective behavior that develops within a culture, a generation or social group in which a group of people enthusiastically follow an impulse (psychology), impulse for a short period.
Fads are objects or behavior ...
. The term "management" may also refer to those people who manage an organization—managers.
Some people study management at colleges or universities; major degrees in management includes the
Bachelor of Commerce
A Bachelor of Commerce (abbreviated BComm or BCom; also, ''baccalaureates commercii'') is an undergraduate degree in business, usually awarded in Canada, Australia, India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Ireland, New Zealand, Ghana, South Africa, Myanmar, ...
(B.Com.),
Bachelor of Business Administration
Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) is a bachelor's degree in business administration awarded by colleges and universities after completion of undergraduate study in the fundamentals of business administration and usually including advanced ...
(BBA.),
Master of Business Administration
A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as accounti ...
(MBA.),
Master in Management
The Master of Management (MM, MBM, MIM, MMgt) is a master’s degree comprising one or two years graduate level coursework in business management. As the program is designed for students interested in entering leadership roles, the degree attra ...
(MSM or MIM) and, for the public sector, the
Master of Public Administration
The Master of Public Administration (M.P.Adm., M.P.A., or MPA) is a specialized higher professional post graduate degree in public administration, similar/ equivalent to the Master of Business Administration but with an emphasis on the issues of ...
(MPA) degree. Individuals who aim to become management specialists or experts, management researchers, or professors may complete the
Doctor of Management The Doctor of Management (DM or DMgt) is an applied research doctorate (or professional practice doctorate) with a degree focus in management, leadership, and organizational topics." (DM), the
Doctor of Business Administration
The Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) is either a professional doctorate or a research doctorate, depending on the granting university, awarded on the basis of advanced study, examinations, project work, and research in business administrat ...
(DBA), or the
PhD in Business Administration or Management. In the past few decades, there has been a movement for
evidence-based management
Evidence-based management (EBMgt) is an emerging movement to explicitly use the current, best evidence in management and decision-making. It is part of the larger movement towards evidence-based practices.
Overview
Evidence-based management ent ...
.
Larger organizations generally have three
hierarchical
A hierarchy (from Greek: , from , 'president of sacred rites') is an arrangement of items (objects, names, values, categories, etc.) that are represented as being "above", "below", or "at the same level as" one another. Hierarchy is an important ...
levels of managers, in a pyramid structure:
*
Senior managers such as members of a
board of directors
A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit organiz ...
and a
chief executive officer
A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...
(CEO) or a
president
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
*President (education), a leader of a college or university
*President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...
of an organization sets the strategic goals and policy of the organization and make decisions on how the overall organization will operate. Senior managers are generally executive-level professionals who provide direction to middle management, and directly or indirectly report to them.
*
Middle managers such as branch managers, regional managers, department managers, and section managers, who provide direction to the front-line managers. They communicate the strategic goals and policy of senior management to the front-line managers.
*
Line managers such as
supervisor
A supervisor, or lead, (also known as foreman, boss, overseer, facilitator, monitor, area coordinator, line-manager or sometimes gaffer) is the job title of a lower-level management position that is primarily based on authority over workers or ...
s and front-line
team leader A team leader is a person who provides guidance, instruction, direction and leadership to a group of individuals (the team) for the purpose of achieving a key result or group of aligned results. Team leaders serves as the steering wheel for a group ...
s, oversee the work of regular employees (or volunteers, in some voluntary organizations) and provide direction on their work. Line managers often perform the managerial functions that are traditionally considered as the core of management. Despite the name, they are usually considered part of the workforce and not part of the organization's management class.
In smaller organizations, a manager may have a much wider scope and may perform several roles or even all of the roles commonly observed in a large organization.
Social scientists
Social science is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of societies and the relationships among individuals within those societies. The term was formerly used to refer to the field of sociology, the original "science of soc ...
study management as an
academic discipline
An academy ( Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy ...
, investigating areas such as
social organization
In sociology, a social organization is a pattern of relationships between and among individuals and social groups.
Characteristics of social organization can include qualities such as sexual composition, spatiotemporal cohesion, leadership, s ...
,
organizational adaptation, and
organizational leadership
Leadership studies is a multidisciplinary academic field of study that focuses on leadership in organizational contexts and in human life. Leadership studies has origins in the social sciences (e.g., sociology, anthropology, psychology), in humani ...
.
Etymology
The English verb "manage" has its roots by the XV century
French verb 'mesnager', which often referred in
equestrian
The word equestrian is a reference to equestrianism, or horseback riding, derived from Latin ' and ', "horse".
Horseback riding (or Riding in British English)
Examples of this are:
* Equestrian sports
*Equestrian order, one of the upper classes i ...
language "to hold in hand the reins of a horse". Also the
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance language
*** Regional Ita ...
term ''maneggiare'' (to handle, especially tools or a horse) is possible. In
Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
**Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Can ...
, ''manejar'' can also mean to rule the horses. These three terms derive from the two
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
words ''manus'' (hand) and ''agere'' (to act).
The French word for
housekeeping
Housekeeping is the management and routine support activities of running an organised physical institution occupied or used by people, like a house, ship, hospital or factory, such as tidying, cleaning, cooking, routine maintenance, shopping, ...
, ''ménagerie'', derived from ''ménager'' ("to keep house"; compare ''ménage'' for "household"), also encompasses taking care of domestic animals.
''Ménagerie'' is the French translation of
Xenophon
Xenophon of Athens (; grc, wikt:Ξενοφῶν, Ξενοφῶν ; – probably 355 or 354 BC) was a Greek military leader, philosopher, and historian, born in Athens. At the age of 30, Xenophon was elected commander of one of the biggest Anci ...
's famous book ''
Oeconomicus
The ''Oeconomicus'' ( grc-gre, Οἰκονομικός) by Xenophon is a Socratic dialogue principally about household management and agriculture.
''Oeconomicus'' comes from the Ancient Greek words ''oikos'' for home or house and ''nemein'' w ...
'' ( grc-gre, Οἰκονομικός) on household matters and
husbandry
Animal husbandry is the branch of agriculture concerned with animals that are raised for meat, fibre, milk, or other products. It includes day-to-day care, selective breeding, and the raising of livestock. Husbandry has a long history, starti ...
. The French word ''mesnagement'' (or ''ménagement'') influenced the semantic development of the English word ''management'' in the 17th and 18th centuries.
Definitions
Views on the definition and scope of management include:
*
Henri Fayol
Henri Fayol (29 July 1841 – 19 November 1925) was a French mining engineer, mining executive, author and director of mines who developed a general theory of business administration that is often called Fayolism.Morgen Witzel (2003). ''Fifty key ...
(1841–1925) stated: "to manage is to forecast and to plan, to organise, to command, to co-ordinate and to control."
*
Fredmund Malik
Fredmund Malik (born September 1, 1944 in Lustenau, Vorarlberg) is an Austrian economist with focus on management science and the founder and chairman of a management consultancy (Malik Management) in St. Gallen.
Malik applies systems theory and ...
(1944– ) defines management as "the transformation of resources into utility".
* Management is included as one of the
factors of production
In economics, factors of production, resources, or inputs are what is used in the production process to produce output—that is, goods and services. The utilized amounts of the various inputs determine the quantity of output according to the rel ...
– along with machines, materials and money.
*
Ghislain Deslandes
Ghislain Deslandes is a French philosopher born in Angers (France) on the 16th of August 1970.
His interdisciplinary discourse spans such topics as Media management, Leadership studies and Postmodern theology.
He is a full professor at ESCP ...
defines management as "a vulnerable force, under pressure to achieve results and endowed with the triple power of constraint, imitation and imagination, operating on subjective, interpersonal, institutional and environmental levels".
*
Peter Drucker
Peter Ferdinand Drucker (; ; November 19, 1909 – November 11, 2005) was an Austrian-American management consultant, educator, and author, whose writings contributed to the philosophical and practical foundations of the modern business co ...
(1909–2005) saw the basic task of management as twofold:
marketing
Marketing is the process of exploring, creating, and delivering value to meet the needs of a target market in terms of goods and services; potentially including selection of a target audience; selection of certain attributes or themes to emph ...
and
innovation
Innovation is the practical implementation of ideas that result in the introduction of new goods or services or improvement in offering goods or services. ISO TC 279 in the standard ISO 56000:2020 defines innovation as "a new or changed entity ...
. Nevertheless, innovation is also linked to marketing (product innovation is a central strategic marketing issue). Drucker identifies marketing as a key essence for business success, but management and marketing are generally understood as two different branches of business administration knowledge.
Theoretical scope
Management involves identifying the
mission
Mission (from Latin ''missio'' "the act of sending out") may refer to:
Organised activities Religion
*Christian mission, an organized effort to spread Christianity
*Mission (LDS Church), an administrative area of The Church of Jesus Christ of ...
, objective, procedures, rules and manipulation of the
human capital
Human capital is a concept used by social scientists to designate personal attributes considered useful in the production process. It encompasses employee knowledge, skills, know-how, good health, and education. Human capital has a substantial ...
of an
enterprise
Enterprise (or the archaic spelling Enterprize) may refer to:
Business and economics
Brands and enterprises
* Enterprise GP Holdings, an energy holding company
* Enterprise plc, a UK civil engineering and maintenance company
* Enterpris ...
to contribute to the success of the enterprise. Scholars have focused on the management of individual, organizational, and inter-organizational relationships. This implies effective
communication
Communication (from la, communicare, meaning "to share" or "to be in relation with") is usually defined as the transmission of information. The term may also refer to the message communicated through such transmissions or the field of inquir ...
: an enterprise environment (as opposed to a physical or mechanical mechanism) implies human
motivation
Motivation is the reason for which humans and other animals initiate, continue, or terminate a behavior at a given time. Motivational states are commonly understood as forces acting within the agent that create a disposition to engage in goal-dire ...
and implies some sort of successful progress or
system
A system is a group of Interaction, interacting or interrelated elements that act according to a set of rules to form a unified whole. A system, surrounded and influenced by its environment (systems), environment, is described by its boundaries, ...
outcome. As such, management is not the manipulation of a mechanism (machine or automated program), not the herding of animals, and can occur either in a legal or in an illegal enterprise or environment. From an individual's perspective, management does not need to be seen solely from an enterprise point of view, because management is an essential function in improving one's
life
Life is a quality that distinguishes matter that has biological processes, such as signaling and self-sustaining processes, from that which does not, and is defined by the capacity for growth, reaction to stimuli, metabolism, energ ...
and
relationships. Management is therefore everywhere and it has a wider range of application. Communication and a positive endeavor are two main aspects of it either through enterprise or through independent pursuit. Plans,
measurements
Measurement is the quantification of attributes of an object or event, which can be used to compare with other objects or events.
In other words, measurement is a process of determining how large or small a physical quantity is as compared t ...
, motivational psychological tools, goals, and economic measures (profit, etc.) may or may not be necessary components for there to be management. At first, one views management functionally, such as measuring quantity, adjusting
plan
A plan is typically any diagram or list of steps with details of timing and resources, used to achieve an objective to do something. It is commonly understood as a temporal set of intended actions through which one expects to achieve a goal.
F ...
s, and meeting
goal
A goal is an idea of the future or desired result that a person or a group of people envision, plan and commit to achieve. People endeavour to reach goals within a finite time by setting deadlines.
A goal is roughly similar to a purpose or ai ...
s, but this applies even in situations where planning does not take place. From this perspective,
Henri Fayol
Henri Fayol (29 July 1841 – 19 November 1925) was a French mining engineer, mining executive, author and director of mines who developed a general theory of business administration that is often called Fayolism.Morgen Witzel (2003). ''Fifty key ...
(1841–1925)considers management to consist of five
functions:
# planning (forecasting)
# organizing
# commanding
# coordinating
# controlling
In another way of thinking,
Mary Parker Follett
Mary Parker Follett (3 September 1868 – 18 December 1933) was an American social worker, management consultant, philosopher and pioneer in the fields of organizational theory and organizational behavior. Along with Lillian Gilbreth, she was one ...
(1868–1933), allegedly defined management as "the art of getting things done through people". She described management as a philosophy.
Critics, however, find this definition useful but far too narrow. The phrase "management is what managers do" occurs widely, suggesting the difficulty of defining management without
circularity, the shifting nature of definitions and the connection of
managerial practices with the existence of a
managerial cadre or of a
class
Class or The Class may refer to:
Common uses not otherwise categorized
* Class (biology), a taxonomic rank
* Class (knowledge representation), a collection of individuals or objects
* Class (philosophy), an analytical concept used differentl ...
.
One habit of thought regards management as equivalent to "
business administration
Business administration, also known as business management, is the administration of a commercial enterprise. It includes all aspects of overseeing and supervising the business operations of an organization. From the point of view of management ...
" and thus excludes management in places outside
commerce
Commerce is the large-scale organized system of activities, functions, procedures and institutions directly and indirectly related to the exchange (buying and selling) of goods and services among two or more parties within local, regional, nation ...
, as for example in
charities
A charitable organization or charity is an organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being (e.g. educational, religious or other activities serving the public interest or common good).
The legal definition of a cha ...
and in the
public sector
The public sector, also called the state sector, is the part of the economy composed of both public services and public enterprises. Public sectors include the public goods and governmental services such as the military, law enforcement, infra ...
. More broadly, every organization must "manage" its work, people, processes, technology, etc. to maximize effectiveness. Nonetheless, many people refer to university departments that teach management as "
business school
A business school is a university-level institution that confers degrees in business administration or management. A business school may also be referred to as school of management, management school, school of business administration, o ...
s". Some such institutions (such as the
Harvard Business School
Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate business school of Harvard University, a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. It is consistently ranked among the top business schools in the world and offers a large full-time MBA p ...
) use that name, while others (such as the
Yale School of Management
The Yale School of Management (also known as Yale SOM) is the graduate business school of Yale University, a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. The school awards the Master of Business Administration (MBA), MBA for Executives ...
) employ the broader term "management".
English-speakers may also use the term "management" or "the management" as a collective word describing the managers of an organization, for example of a
corporation
A corporation is an organization—usually a group of people or a company—authorized by the state to act as a single entity (a legal entity recognized by private and public law "born out of statute"; a legal person in legal context) and r ...
.
Historically this use of the term often contrasted with the term
"labor" – referring to those being managed.
But in the present era the concept of management is identified in the wide areas and its frontiers have been pushed to a broader range. Apart from profitable organizations, even
non-profit organizations
A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...
apply management concepts. The concept and its uses are not constrained. Management as a whole is the process of planning, organizing, directing,
leading
In typography, leading ( ) is the space between adjacent lines of type; the exact definition varies.
In hand typesetting, leading is the thin strips of lead (or aluminium) that were inserted between lines of type in the composing stick to incre ...
and controlling.
Levels
![USCG Org Chart](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9d/USCG_Org_Chart.jpg)
Most organizations have three management levels: first-level, middle-level, and top-level managers. First-line managers are the lowest level of management and manage the work of non-managerial individuals who are directly involved with the production or creation of the organization's products. First-line managers are often called supervisors, but may also be called line managers, office managers, or even foremen. Middle managers include all levels of management between the first-line level and the top level of the organization. These managers manage the work of first-line managers and may have titles such as department head, project leader, plant manager, or division manager. Top managers are responsible for making organization-wide decisions and establishing the plans and goals that affect the entire organization. These individuals typically have titles such as executive vice president, president, managing director, chief operating officer, chief executive officer, or chairman of the board.
These managers are classified in a hierarchy of authority, and perform different tasks. In many organizations, the number of managers in every level resembles a pyramid. Each level is explained below in specifications of their different responsibilities and likely job titles.
Top management
The top or senior layer of management is a small group which consists of the
board of directors
A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit organiz ...
(including
non-executive director
A non-executive director (abbreviated to non-exec, NED or NXD), independent director or external director is a member of the board of directors of a corporation, such as a company, cooperative or non-government organization, but not a member of the ...
s,
executive director
Executive director is commonly the title of the chief executive officer of a non-profit organization, government agency or international organization.
The title is widely used in North American and European not-for-profit organizations, though ...
s and
independent director
An independent director (also sometimes known as an outside director) is a member of a board of directors who does not have a material or pecuniary relationship with company or related persons, except sitting fees. In the United States, indepen ...
s), president, vice-president,
CEO
A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...
s and other members of the
C-level executives. Different organizations have various members in their C-suite, which may include a
chief financial officer
The chief financial officer (CFO) is an officer of a company or organization that is assigned the primary responsibility for managing the company's finances, including financial planning, management of financial risks, record-keeping, and financ ...
,
chief technology officer, and so on. They are responsible for controlling and overseeing the operations of the entire organization. They set a "
tone at the top
"Tone at the top" is a term that originated in the field of accounting and is used to describe an organization's general ethical climate, as established by its board of directors, audit committee, and senior management. Having good tone at the top ...
" and develop
strategic plans, company policies, and make decisions on the overall direction of the organization. In addition, top-level managers play a significant role in the mobilization of outside resources. Senior managers are accountable to the shareholders, the general public and to public bodies that oversee corporations and similar organizations. Some members of the senior management may serve as the public face of the organization, and they may make speeches to introduce new strategies or appear in marketing.
The board of directors is typically primarily composed of non-executives who owe a
fiduciary
A fiduciary is a person who holds a legal or ethical relationship of trust with one or more other parties (person or group of persons). Typically, a fiduciary prudently takes care of money or other assets for another person. One party, for exampl ...
duty to shareholders and are not closely involved in the day-to-day activities of the organization, although this varies depending on the type (e.g., public versus private), size and culture of the organization. These directors are theoretically liable for breaches of that duty and typically insured under
directors and officers liability insurance Directors and officers liability insurance (also written directors' and officers' liability insurance; often called D&O) is liability insurance payable to the directors and officers of a company, or to the organization itself, as indemnification (re ...
.
Fortune 500
The ''Fortune'' 500 is an annual list compiled and published by ''Fortune'' magazine that ranks 500 of the largest United States corporations by total revenue for their respective fiscal years. The list includes publicly held companies, along ...
directors are estimated to spend 4.4 hours per week on board duties, and median compensation was $212,512 in 2010. The board sets corporate strategy, makes major decisions such as major acquisitions, and hires, evaluates, and fires the top-level manager (
chief executive officer
A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...
or CEO). The CEO typically hires other positions. However, board involvement in the hiring of other positions such as the
chief financial officer
The chief financial officer (CFO) is an officer of a company or organization that is assigned the primary responsibility for managing the company's finances, including financial planning, management of financial risks, record-keeping, and financ ...
(CFO) has increased. In 2013, a survey of over 160 CEOs and directors of public and private companies found that the top weaknesses of CEOs were "
mentoring
Mentorship is the influence, guidance, or direction given by a mentor. A mentor is someone who teaches or gives help and advice to a less experienced and often younger person. In an organizational setting, a mentor influences the personal and p ...
skills" and "board engagement", and 10% of companies never evaluated the CEO. The board may also have certain employees (e.g.,
internal auditor An internal auditor is an auditor who is appointed by the Board of directors of the company in order to carry out the internal audit function. Generally an employee of the company acts as an internal auditor, whereas some companies appoint an exter ...
s) report to them or directly hire independent contractors; for example, the board (through the
audit committee
An audit committee is a committee of an organisation's board of directors which is responsible for oversight of the financial reporting process, selection of the independent auditor, and receipt of audit results both internal and external.
In a U ...
) typically selects the
auditor
An auditor is a person or a firm appointed by a company to execute an audit.Practical Auditing, Kul Narsingh Shrestha, 2012, Nabin Prakashan, Nepal To act as an auditor, a person should be certified by the regulatory authority of accounting and au ...
.
Helpful skills of top management vary by the type of organization but typically include a broad understanding of competition, world economies, and politics. In addition, the CEO is responsible for implementing and determining (within the board's framework) the broad policies of the organization. Executive management accomplishes the day-to-day details, including: instructions for preparation of department budgets, procedures, schedules; appointment of middle level executives such as department managers; coordination of departments; media and governmental relations; and
shareholder
A shareholder (in the United States often referred to as stockholder) of a corporation is an individual or legal entity (such as another corporation, a body politic, a trust or partnership) that is registered by the corporation as the legal own ...
communication.
Middle management
Consist of
general manager
A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...
s, branch managers and department managers. They are accountable to the top management for their department's function. They devote more time to organizational and directional functions. Their roles can be emphasized as executing organizational plans in conformance with the company's policies and the objectives of the top management, they define and discuss information and policies from top management to lower management, and most importantly they inspire and provide guidance to lower-level managers towards better performance.
Middle management is the midway management of a categorized organization, being secondary to the senior management but above the deepest levels of operational members. An operational manager may be well-thought-out by middle management or may be categorized as non-management operate, liable to the policy of the specific organization. The efficiency of the middle level is vital in any organization since they bridge the gap between top level and bottom level staffs.
Their functions include:
* Design and implement effective group and inter-group work and information systems.
* Define and monitor group-level performance indicators.
* Diagnose and resolve problems within and among workgroups.
* Design and implement reward systems that support cooperative behavior. They also make decisions and share ideas with top managers.
Line management
Line managers include
supervisor
A supervisor, or lead, (also known as foreman, boss, overseer, facilitator, monitor, area coordinator, line-manager or sometimes gaffer) is the job title of a lower-level management position that is primarily based on authority over workers or ...
s, section leaders, forepersons and team leaders. They focus on controlling and directing regular employees. They are usually responsible for assigning employees' tasks, guiding and supervising employees on day-to-day activities, ensuring the quality and quantity of production and/or service, making recommendations and suggestions to employees on their work, and channeling employee concerns that they cannot resolve to mid-level managers or other administrators. First-level or "front line" managers also act as role models for their employees. In some types of work, front line managers may also do some of the same tasks that employees do, at least some of the time. For example, in some restaurants, the front line managers will also serve customers during a very busy period of the day. In general, line managers are considered part of the workforce and not part of the organization's proper management despite performing traditional management functions.
Front-line managers typically provide:
* Training for new employees
* Basic supervision
* Motivation
* Performance feedback and guidance
Some front-line managers may also provide career planning for employees who aim to rise within the organization.
Training
Colleges and universities around the world offers bachelor's degrees, graduate degrees, diplomas and certificates in management; generally within their colleges of business, business schools or faculty of management but also in other related departments. In the 2010s era, there has been an increase in online management education and training in the form of electronic
educational technology
Educational technology (commonly abbreviated as edutech, or edtech) is the combined use of computer hardware, software, and educational theory and practice to facilitate learning. When referred to with its abbreviation, edtech, it often refer ...
(also called e-learning). Online education has increased the accessibility of management training to people who do not live near a college or university, or who cannot afford to travel to a city where such training is available.
Requirement
While some professions require academic credentials in order to work in the profession (e.g., law, medicine, engineering, which require, respectively the
Bachelor of Law
Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...
,
Doctor of Medicine
Doctor of Medicine (abbreviated M.D., from the Latin language, Latin ''Medicinae Doctor'') is a medical degree, the meaning of which varies between different jurisdictions. In the United States, and some other countries, the M.D. denotes a profes ...
and
Bachelor of Engineering
A Bachelor of Engineering (BEng) or a Bachelor of Science in Engineering (BSE) is an academic undergraduate degree awarded to a student after three to five years of studying engineering at an accredited college or university.
In the UK, a Bache ...
degrees), management and administration positions do not necessarily require the completion of academic degrees. Some well-known senior executives in the US who did not complete a degree include
Steve Jobs
Steven Paul Jobs (February 24, 1955 – October 5, 2011) was an American entrepreneur, industrial designer, media proprietor, and investor. He was the co-founder, chairman, and CEO of Apple; the chairman and majority shareholder of Pixar; a ...
,
Bill Gates
William Henry Gates III (born October 28, 1955) is an American business magnate and philanthropist. He is a co-founder of Microsoft, along with his late childhood friend Paul Allen. During his career at Microsoft, Gates held the positions ...
and
Mark Zuckerberg
Mark Elliot Zuckerberg (; born ) is an American business magnate, internet entrepreneur, and philanthropist. He is known for co-founding the social media website Facebook and its parent company Meta Platforms (formerly Facebook, Inc.), o ...
. However, many managers and executives have completed some type of business or management training, such as a
Bachelor of Commerce
A Bachelor of Commerce (abbreviated BComm or BCom; also, ''baccalaureates commercii'') is an undergraduate degree in business, usually awarded in Canada, Australia, India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Ireland, New Zealand, Ghana, South Africa, Myanmar, ...
or a
Master of Business Administration
A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as accounti ...
degree. Some major organizations, including companies, non-profit organizations and governments, require applicants to managerial or executive positions to hold at minimum
bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...
in a field related to administration or management, or in the case of business jobs, a Bachelor of Commerce or a similar degree.
Undergraduate
At the undergraduate level, the most common business programs are the
Bachelor of Business Administration
Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) is a bachelor's degree in business administration awarded by colleges and universities after completion of undergraduate study in the fundamentals of business administration and usually including advanced ...
(BBA) and
Bachelor of Commerce
A Bachelor of Commerce (abbreviated BComm or BCom; also, ''baccalaureates commercii'') is an undergraduate degree in business, usually awarded in Canada, Australia, India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Ireland, New Zealand, Ghana, South Africa, Myanmar, ...
(B.Com.).
These typically comprise a four-year program designed to give students an overview of the role of managers in planning and directing within an organization.
Course topics include accounting, financial management, statistics, marketing, strategy, and other related areas.
There are many other undergraduate degrees that include the study of management, such as
Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...
degrees with a major in
business administration
Business administration, also known as business management, is the administration of a commercial enterprise. It includes all aspects of overseeing and supervising the business operations of an organization. From the point of view of management ...
or management and Bachelor of Public Administration (B.P.A), a degree designed for individuals aiming to work as
bureaucrat
A bureaucrat is a member of a bureaucracy and can compose the administration of any organization of any size, although the term usually connotes someone within an institution of government.
The term ''bureaucrat'' derives from "bureaucracy", ...
s in the
government jobs.
Many colleges and universities also offer certificates and diplomas in business administration or management, which typically require one to two years of full-time study.
Note that to manage technological areas, one often needs an undergraduate degree in a
STEM area.
Graduate
At the graduate level students aiming at careers as managers or executives may choose to specialize in major subareas of management or business administration such as
entrepreneurship
Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value. With this definition, entrepreneurship is viewed as change, generally entailing risk beyond what is normally encountered in starting a business, which may include other values th ...
,
human resources
Human resources (HR) is the set of people who make up the workforce of an organization, business sector, industry, or economy. A narrower concept is human capital, the knowledge and skills which the individuals command. Similar terms include m ...
,
international business
International business refers to the trade of goods, services, technology, capital and/or knowledge across national borders and at a global or transnational scale.
It involves cross-border transactions of goods and services between two or more ...
,
organizational behavior
Organizational behavior (OB) or organisational behaviour is the: "study of human behavior in organizational settings, the interface between human behavior and the organization, and the organization itself".Moorhead, G., & Griffin, R. W. (1995) ...
,
organizational theory
Organizational theory refers to the set of interrelated concepts that involve the sociological study of the structures and operations of formal social organizations. Organizational theory also attempts to explain how interrelated units of organiz ...
,
strategic management
In the field of management, strategic management involves the formulation and implementation of the major goals and initiatives taken by an organization's managers on behalf of stakeholders, based on consideration of Resource management, resour ...
,
accounting
Accounting, also known as accountancy, is the measurement, processing, and communication of financial and non financial information about economic entities such as businesses and corporations. Accounting, which has been called the "languag ...
,
corporate finance
Corporate finance is the area of finance that deals with the sources of funding, the capital structure of corporations, the actions that managers take to increase the Value investing, value of the firm to the shareholders, and the tools and anal ...
, entertainment, global management,
healthcare management
Health administration, healthcare administration, healthcare management or hospital management is the field relating to leadership, management, and administration of public health systems, health care systems, hospitals, and hospital network ...
,
investment management
Investment management is the professional asset management of various securities, including shareholdings, bonds, and other assets, such as real estate, to meet specified investment goals for the benefit of investors. Investors may be institut ...
, sustainability and
real estate
Real estate is property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this (also) an item of real property, (more general ...
.
A
Master of Business Administration
A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as accounti ...
(MBA) is the most popular professional degree at the master's level and can be obtained from many universities in the United States. MBA programs provide further education in management and leadership for graduate students. Other master's degrees in business and management include
Master of Management
The Master of Management (MM, MBM, MIM, MMgt) is a master’s degree comprising one or two years graduate level coursework in business management. As the program is designed for students interested in entering leadership roles, the degree attra ...
(MM) and the
Master of Science
A Master of Science ( la, Magisterii Scientiae; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree in the field of science awarded by universities in many countries or a person holding such a degree. In contrast to ...
(M.Sc.) in business administration or management, which is typically taken by students aiming to become researchers or professors.
There are also specialized master's degrees in administration for individuals aiming at careers outside of business, such as the
Master of Public Administration
The Master of Public Administration (M.P.Adm., M.P.A., or MPA) is a specialized higher professional post graduate degree in public administration, similar/ equivalent to the Master of Business Administration but with an emphasis on the issues of ...
(MPA) degree (also offered as a
Master of Arts
A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...
in
Public Administration
Public Administration (a form of governance) or Public Policy and Administration (an academic discipline) is the implementation of public policy, administration of government establishment (public governance), management of non-profit establ ...
in some universities), for students aiming to become managers or executives in the public service and the
Master of Health Administration
The Master of Health Administration, Master of Healthcare Administration (MHA), or Master of Health Management (MHM), is a Master's degree, master's-level professional degree granted to students who complete a course of study in the knowledge and c ...
, for students aiming to become managers or executives in the health care and hospital sector.
Management doctorates are the most advanced
terminal degree
A terminal degree is a college degree that is the highest level college degree that can be achieved and awarded in a specific academic or professional field. In other cases, it is a degree that is awarded when a candidate completes a certain amou ...
s in the field of business and management. Most individuals obtaining management doctorates take the programs to obtain the training in research methods, statistical analysis and writing academic papers that they will need to seek careers as researchers, senior consultants and/or professors in business administration or management. There are three main types of management doctorates: the
Doctor of Management The Doctor of Management (DM or DMgt) is an applied research doctorate (or professional practice doctorate) with a degree focus in management, leadership, and organizational topics." (D.M.), the
Doctor of Business Administration
The Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) is either a professional doctorate or a research doctorate, depending on the granting university, awarded on the basis of advanced study, examinations, project work, and research in business administrat ...
(D.B.A.), and the Doctor of Philosophy (
PhD) in Business Administration or Management. In the 2010s, doctorates in business administration and management are available with many specializations.
Good practices
While management trends can change so fast, the long-term trend in management has been defined by a market embracing diversity and a rising service industry. Managers are currently being trained to encourage greater equality for minorities and women in the workplace, by offering increased flexibility in working hours, better retraining, and innovative (and usually industry-specific) performance markers. Managers destined for the service sector are being trained to use unique measurement techniques, better worker support and more charismatic leadership styles. Human resources finds itself increasingly working with management in a training capacity to help collect management data on the success (or failure) of management actions with employees.
Evidence-based management
Evidence-based management
Evidence-based management (EBMgt) is an emerging movement to explicitly use the current, best evidence in management and decision-making. It is part of the larger movement towards evidence-based practices.
Overview
Evidence-based management ent ...
is an emerging movement to use the current, best evidence in management and
decision-making
In psychology, decision-making (also spelled decision making and decisionmaking) is regarded as the Cognition, cognitive process resulting in the selection of a belief or a course of action among several possible alternative options. It could be ...
. It is part of the larger movement towards
evidence-based practices
Evidence-based practice (EBP) is the idea that occupational practices ought to be based on scientific evidence. While seemingly obviously desirable, the proposal has been controversial, with some arguing that results may not specialize to indiv ...
. Evidence-based management entails managerial decisions and organizational practices informed by the best available evidence.
As with other evidence-based practice, this is based on the three principles of: 1) published peer-reviewed (often in management or social science journals) research evidence that bears on whether and why a particular management practice works; 2) judgement and experience from contextual management practice, to understand the organization and interpersonal dynamics in a situation and determine the risks and benefits of available actions; and 3) the preferences and values of those affected.
History
Some see management as a late-modern (in the sense of late
modernity
Modernity, a topic in the humanities and social sciences, is both a historical period (the modern era) and the ensemble of particular socio-cultural norm (social), norms, attitudes and practices that arose in the wake of the Renaissancein the " ...
) conceptualization. On those terms it cannot have a pre-modern history – only harbingers (such as
stewards
Steward may refer to:
Positions or roles
* Steward (office), a representative of a monarch
* Steward (Methodism), a leader in a congregation and/or district
* Steward, a person responsible for supplies of food to a college, club, or other inst ...
). Others, however, detect management-like thought among ancient
Sumer
Sumer () is the earliest known civilization in the historical region of southern Mesopotamia (south-central Iraq), emerging during the Chalcolithic and early Bronze Ages between the sixth and fifth millennium BC. It is one of the cradles of c ...
ian traders and the builders of the pyramids of
ancient Egypt. Slave-owners through the centuries faced the problems of exploiting/motivating a dependent but sometimes unenthusiastic or recalcitrant workforce, but many pre-industrial
enterprises, given their small scale, did not feel compelled to face the issues of management systematically. However,
innovation
Innovation is the practical implementation of ideas that result in the introduction of new goods or services or improvement in offering goods or services. ISO TC 279 in the standard ISO 56000:2020 defines innovation as "a new or changed entity ...
s such as the spread of
Arabic numerals
Arabic numerals are the ten numerical digits: , , , , , , , , and . They are the most commonly used symbols to write Decimal, decimal numbers. They are also used for writing numbers in other systems such as octal, and for writing identifiers ...
(5th to 15th centuries) and the codification of
double-entry book-keeping (1494) provided
tools
A tool is an object that can extend an individual's ability to modify features of the surrounding environment or help them accomplish a particular task. Although many animals use simple tools, only human beings, whose use of stone tools dates ba ...
for management assessment, planning and control.
* An organisation is more stable if members have the right to express their differences and solve their conflicts within it.
* While one person can begin an organisation, "it is lasting when it is left in the care of many and when many desire to maintain it".
* A weak manager can follow a strong one, but not another weak one, and maintain authority.
* A manager seeking to change an established organization "should retain at least a shadow of the ancient customs".
With the changing workplaces of
industrial revolution
The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes in Great Britain, continental Europe, and the United States, that occurred during the period from around 1760 to about 1820–1840. This transition included going f ...
s in the 18th and 19th centuries,
military
A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...
theory and practice contributed approaches to managing the newly popular
factories
A factory, manufacturing plant or a production plant is an industrial facility, often a complex consisting of several buildings filled with machinery, where workers manufacture items or operate machines which process each item into another. T ...
.
Given the scale of most commercial operations and the lack of mechanized record-keeping and recording before the industrial revolution, it made sense for most
owners
Ownership is the state or fact of legal possession and control over property, which may be any asset, tangible or intangible. Ownership can involve multiple rights, collectively referred to as title, which may be separated and held by different ...
of enterprises in those times to carry out management functions by and for themselves. But with growing size and complexity of organizations, a distinction between owners (individuals, industrial dynasties or groups of
shareholder
A shareholder (in the United States often referred to as stockholder) of a corporation is an individual or legal entity (such as another corporation, a body politic, a trust or partnership) that is registered by the corporation as the legal own ...
s) and day-to-day managers (independent specialists in planning and control) gradually became more common.
Early writing
The field of management originated in ancient China,
[Ewan Ferlie, Laurence E. Lynn, Christopher Pollitt (2005) ''The Oxford Handbook of Public Management'', p.30.] including possibly the first highly centralized
bureaucratic
The term bureaucracy () refers to a body of non-elected governing officials as well as to an administrative policy-making group. Historically, a bureaucracy was a government administration managed by departments staffed with non-elected offi ...
state, and the earliest (by the second century BC) example of an
administration based on merit through
testing
An examination (exam or evaluation) or test is an educational assessment intended to measure a test-taker's knowledge, skill, aptitude, physical fitness, or classification in many other topics (e.g., beliefs). A test may be administered verba ...
.
[Kazin, Edwards, and Rothman (2010), 142. ''One of the oldest examples of a merit-based civil service system existed' in the imperial bureaucracy of China.''
*
*
*] Some theorists have cited
ancient military texts as providing lessons for civilian managers. For example, Chinese general
Sun Tzu
Sun Tzu ( ; zh, t=孫子, s=孙子, first= t, p=Sūnzǐ) was a Chinese military general, strategist, philosopher, and writer who lived during the Eastern Zhou period of 771 to 256 BCE. Sun Tzu is traditionally credited as the author of ''The ...
in his 6th-century BC work ''
The Art of War
''The Art of War'' () is an ancient Chinese military treatise dating from the Late Spring and Autumn Period (roughly 5th century BC). The work, which is attributed to the ancient Chinese military strategist Sun Tzu ("Master Sun"), is com ...
'' recommends (when re-phrased in modern terminology) being aware of and acting on strengths and weaknesses of both a manager's organization and a foe's.
The writings of influential
Chinese Legalist
Legalism or ''Fajia'' is one of the six classical schools of thought in Chinese philosophy. Literally meaning "house of (administrative) methods / standards (法, Fa)", the Fa "school" represents several branches of "men of methods", in the ...
philosopher
Shen Buhai
Shen Buhai (; c. 400c. 337) was a Chinese essayist, philosopher, and politician. He served as Chancellor of the Han state under Marquis Zhao of Han for fifteen years, from 354 BC to 337 BC. A contemporary of syncretist Shi Jiao and Legalist Sh ...
may be considered to embody a rare premodern example of abstract theory of administration. American philosopher Herrlee G. Creel and other scholars find the influence of Chinese administration in Europe by the 12th century. Thomas Taylor Meadows, Britain's consul in Guangzhou, argued in his ''Desultory Notes on the Government and People of China'' (1847) that "the long duration of the Chinese empire is solely and altogether owing to the good government which consists in the advancement of men of talent and merit only," and that the British must reform their civil service by making the institution meritocratic.
Influenced by the ancient Chinese imperial examination, the Northcote–Trevelyan Report of 1854 recommended that recruitment should be on the basis of merit determined through competitive examination, candidates should have a solid general education to enable inter-departmental transfers, and promotion should be through achievement rather than "preferment, patronage, or purchase".
This led to implementation of Her Majesty's Civil Service as a systematic, meritocratic civil service bureaucracy. Like the British, the development of French bureaucracy was influenced by the Chinese system. Voltaire claimed that the Chinese had "perfected moral science" and François Quesnay advocated an economic and political system modeled after that of the Chinese. French civil service examinations adopted in the late 19th century were also heavily based on general cultural studies. These features have been likened to the earlier Chinese model.
Various ancient and medieval civilizations produced "mirrors for princes" books, which aimed to advise new monarchs on how to govern. Plato described job specialization in 350 BC, and Alfarabi listed several leadership traits in AD 900. Other examples include the Indian ''Arthashastra'' by Chanakya (written around 300 BC), and ''The Prince'' by Italian author
Niccolò Machiavelli (c. 1515).
Written in 1776 by Adam Smith, a Scotland, Scottish Ethics, moral philosopher, ''The Wealth of Nations'' discussed efficient organization of work through division of labour.
[
]
Smith described how changes in processes could boost productivity in the manufacture of pin (device), pins. While individuals could produce 200 pins per day, Smith analyzed the steps involved in manufacture and, with 10 specialists, enabled production of 48,000 pins per day.
19th century
Classical economists such as Adam Smith (1723–1790) and John Stuart Mill (1806–1873) provided a theoretical background to resource allocation, production (economics), and pricing issues. About the same time, innovators like Eli Whitney (1765–1825), James Watt (1736–1819), and Matthew Boulton (1728–1809) developed elements of technical production such as standardization, quality control, quality-control procedures, cost accounting, cost-accounting, interchangeability of parts, and plan, work-planning. Many of these aspects of management existed in the pre-1861 slave-based sector of the US economy. That environment saw 4 million people, as the contemporary usages had it, "managed" in profitable quasi-mass production
before wage slavery eclipsed chattel slavery.
Salaried managers as an identifiable group first became prominent in the late 19th century. As large corporations began to overshadow small family businesses the need for personnel management positions became more necessary. Businesses grew into large corporations and the need for clerks, bookkeepers, secretaries and managers expanded. The demand for trained managers led college and university administrators to consider and move forward with plans to create the first schools of business on their campuses.
20th century
At the turn of the twentieth century the need for skilled and trained managers had become increasingly apparent. The demand occurred as personnel departments began to expand rapidly. In 1915, less than one in twenty manufacturing firms had a dedicated personnel department. By 1929 that number had grown to over one-third. Formal management education became standardized at colleges and universities. Colleges and universities capitalized on the needs of corporations by forming business schools and corporate placement departments. This shift toward formal business education marked the creation of a corporate elite in the US.
By about 1900 one finds managers trying to place their theories on what they regarded as a thoroughly scientific basis (see scientism for perceived limitations of this belief). Examples include Henry R. Towne's ''Science of management'' in the 1890s, Frederick Winslow Taylor's ''The Principles of Scientific Management'' (1911), Lillian Moller Gilbreth, Lillian Gilbreth's ''Psychology of Management'' (1914), Frank Bunker Gilbreth, Frank and Lillian Moller Gilbreth, Lillian Gilbreth's ''Applied motion study'' (1917), and Henry L. Gantt's charts (1910s). J. Duncan wrote the first college management textbook in 1911. In 1912 Yoichi Ueno introduced Taylorism to Japan and became the first management consultant of the "Japanese management culture, Japanese management style". His son Ichiro Ueno pioneered Japanese quality assurance.
The first comprehensive theories of management appeared around 1920. The
Harvard Business School
Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate business school of Harvard University, a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. It is consistently ranked among the top business schools in the world and offers a large full-time MBA p ...
offered the first
Master of Business Administration
A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as accounti ...
degree (MBA) in 1921. People like
Henri Fayol
Henri Fayol (29 July 1841 – 19 November 1925) was a French mining engineer, mining executive, author and director of mines who developed a general theory of business administration that is often called Fayolism.Morgen Witzel (2003). ''Fifty key ...
(1841–1925) and Alexander Hamilton Church, Alexander Church (1866–1936) described the various branches of management and their inter-relationships. In the early 20th century, people like Ordway Tead (1891–1973), Walter Dill Scott, Walter Scott (1869–1955) and J. Mooney applied the principles of psychology to management. Other writers, such as Elton Mayo (1880–1949), Mary Follett, Mary Parker Follett (1868–1933), Chester Barnard (1886–1961), Max Weber (1864–1920), who saw what he called the "administrator" as
bureaucrat
A bureaucrat is a member of a bureaucracy and can compose the administration of any organization of any size, although the term usually connotes someone within an institution of government.
The term ''bureaucrat'' derives from "bureaucracy", ...
, Rensis Likert (1903–1981), and Chris Argyris (born 1923) approached the phenomenon of management from a sociology, sociological perspective.
The 1930s and 1940s saw the development of a militarization trend in management in parts of Eurasia – both the NKVD (in the Soviet Union) and the Schutzstaffel , SS (in the Greater Germanic Reich), for example, managed labor camps as industrial enterprises using slave labor supervised by uniformed cadres.
Military habits persisted in some management circles.
Peter Drucker
Peter Ferdinand Drucker (; ; November 19, 1909 – November 11, 2005) was an Austrian-American management consultant, educator, and author, whose writings contributed to the philosophical and practical foundations of the modern business co ...
(1909–2005) wrote one of the earliest books on applied management: ''Concept of the Corporation'' (published in 1946). It resulted from Alfred Sloan (chairman of General Motors Corporation, General Motors until 1956) commissioning a study of the organisation. Drucker went on to write 39 books, many in the same vein.
H. Dodge, Ronald Fisher (1890–1962), and Thornton C. Fry introduced statistical techniques into management-studies. In the 1940s, Patrick Maynard Stuart Blackett, Patrick Blackett worked in the development of the applied mathematics, applied-mathematics science of operations research, initially for military operations. Operations research, sometimes known as "management science" (but distinct from Taylor's scientific management), attempts to take a science, scientific approach to solving decision-problems, and can apply directly to multiple management problems, particularly in the areas of logistics and operations.
Some of the later 20th-century developments include the theory of constraints (introduced in 1984), management by objectives (systematised in 1954), business process reengineering, re-engineering (early 1990s), Six Sigma (1986), management by walking around (1970s), the Viable system model (1972), and various information technology, information-technology-driven theories such as agile software development (so-named from 2001), as well as group-management theories such as Cog's Ladder (1972) and the notion of Tom Peters, "thriving on chaos" (1987).
As the general recognition of managers as a class solidified during the 20th century and gave perceived practitioners of the art/science of management a certain amount of prestige, so the way opened for business philosophies and popular management theories, popularised systems of management ideas to peddle their wares. In this context many management fads may have had more to do with pop psychology than with scientific theories of management.
Business management includes the following branches:
# Finance, financial management
# human resource management
# Management cybernetics
# information technology management (responsible for management information systems )
# marketing management
# operations management and Manufacturing, production management
#
strategic management
In the field of management, strategic management involves the formulation and implementation of the major goals and initiatives taken by an organization's managers on behalf of stakeholders, based on consideration of Resource management, resour ...
21st century
In the 21st century observers find it increasingly difficult to subdivide management into functional categories in this way. More and more processes simultaneously involve several categories. Instead, one tends to think in terms of the various processes, tasks, and objects subject to management.
Branches of management theory also exist relating to Non-profit organization, nonprofits and to government: such as public administration, public management, and educational management. Further, management programs related to civil society, civil-society organizations have also spawned programs in nonprofit management and social entrepreneurship.
Note that many of the assumptions made by management have come under attack from business ethics, business-ethics viewpoints, critical management studies, and anti-corporate activism.
As one consequence, workplace democracy (sometimes referred to as Workers' self-management) has become both more common and more advocated, in some places distributing all management functions among workers, each of whom takes on a portion of the work. However, these models predate any current political issue, and may occur more naturally than does a command hierarchy. All management embraces to some degree a democratic principle—in that in the long term, the majority of workers must support management. Otherwise, they leave to find other work or go on strike. Despite the move toward workplace democracy, command-and-control organization structures remain commonplace as ''de facto'' organization structures. Indeed, the entrenched nature of command-and-control is evident in the way that recent layoffs have been conducted with management ranks affected far less than employees at the lower levels. In some cases, management has even rewarded itself with bonuses after laying off lower-level workers.
According to leadership-academic Manfred F.R. Kets de Vries, a contemporary senior-management team will almost inevitably have some personality disorders.
Nature of work
In profitable organizations, management's primary function is the satisfaction of a range of Stakeholder (corporate), stakeholders. This typically involves making a profit (for the shareholders), creating valued products at a reasonable cost (for customers), and providing great employment opportunities for employees. In case of nonprofit management, one of the main functions is, keeping the faith of donors. In most models of management and governance, shareholders vote for the
board of directors
A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit organiz ...
, and the board then hires senior management. Some organizations have experimented with other methods (such as employee-voting models) of selecting or reviewing managers, but this is rare.
Topics
Basics
According to Henri Fayol, Fayol, management operates through five basic functions: planning, organizing, commanding, coordinating and controlling.
* Planning: Deciding what needs to happen in the future and generating plans for action (deciding in advance).
* Organizing (or staffing): Making sure the human and nonhuman resources are put into place.
* Commanding (or leading): Determining what must be done in a situation and getting people to do it.
* Coordinating: Creating a structure through which an organization's goals can be accomplished.
* Controlling: Checking progress against plans.
Basic roles
* Interpersonal: roles that involve coordination and interaction with employees.
Figurehead, leader, liaison
* Informational: roles that involve handling, sharing, and analyzing information.
Nerve centre, disseminator, spokesperson
* Decision: roles that require decision-making.
Entrepreneur, negotiator, allocator, disturbance handler
Skills
Management skills include:
* Political: used to build a power base and to establish personal network, connections.
* Interpersonal: used to communicate, motivate, mentor and delegate.
* Diagnostic: ability to mental image, visualize appropriate responses to a situation.
* Leadership: ability to communicate a vision and inspire people to embrace that vision.
** cross-cultural leadership: ability to understand the effects of culture on leadership style.
* Behavioral: perception towards others, conflict resolution, time-management, self-improvement, stress management and resilience, patience, clear communication.
Implementation of policies and strategies
* All policies and strategies must be discussed with all managerial personnel and staff.
* Managers must understand where and how they can implement their policies and strategies.
* An action plan must be devised for each department.
* Policies and strategies must be reviewed regularly.
* Contingency plans must be devised in case the environment changes.
* Top-level managers should carry out regular progress assessments.
* The business requires team spirit and a good environment.
* The missions, objectives, strengths and weaknesses of each department must be analyzed to determine their roles in achieving the business's mission.
* The forecasting method develops a reliable picture of the business's future environment.
* A planning unit must be created to ensure that all plans are consistent and that policies and strategies are aimed at achieving the same mission and objectives.
Policies and strategies in the planning process
* They give mid and lower-level managers a good idea of the future plans for each department in an organization.
* A framework is created whereby plans and decisions are made.
* Mid and lower-level management may add their own plans to the business's strategies.
See also
* Certificate in Management Studies
* Engineering management
* Outline of business management
References
External links
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{{Authority control
Management,
Management occupations,
Leadership
Organizational theory
Majority–minority relations