Nature and Significance of Management
Unit I. Covers Concept, objectives and importance of management; Management as science, art and profession; Levels of management; Functions of management; Coordination.
About this unit
This unit introduces management as the process of getting things done effectively and efficiently through and with other people. It explains what management means, what it aims to achieve, whether it is a science, an art or a profession, how managers are arranged in levels, the five functions every manager performs, and coordination, which binds all these functions together. Every later unit of Business Studies builds on the ideas set out here.
Key ideas
- Management is a goal-oriented, continuous and pervasive process.
- Effectiveness means completing the task on time; efficiency means doing it at minimum cost.
- Objectives of management are organisational, social and personal.
- Management has features of science and art, but is not a full profession.
- Levels: top, middle and supervisory (first-line) management.
- Functions: planning, organising, staffing, directing and controlling.
- Coordination is the essence of management, not a separate function.
How to prepare
- Learn the features of management and be able to spot them in a short case.
- Prepare a comparison of the three levels and their roles.
- Memorise the order of the five functions and one line on each.
- Practise identifying which feature or objective a given situation describes.
Topics in this chapter
Concept, objectives and importance of management
What management is and why it matters.
5 questionsManagement as science, art and profession
The nature of management.
5 questionsLevels of management
Top, middle and supervisory (first-line) management.
5 questionsFunctions of management
Planning, organising, staffing, directing and controlling.
5 questionsCoordination
Nature and importance of coordination.
5 questions