Sunday, March 1, 2009

Management is getting things done through others.” Elaborate.

"Management is getting things done through others.” Elaborate.

The above definition of management in essence includes the purpose of management i.e. getting people do the work. It emphasizes the need and importance of joint-performance and common goals

However above definition is limited in its because it does not spell out what is the work and what does it consists of

2 comments:

  1. This has become a very popular definition of management for several reasons. Firstly, this definition is very simple and easy to under­stand. Secondly, it highlights the indirect nature of a manager's job.

    A manager does not operate a machine or sell a product himself. Rather he guides others in producing and selling goods and services. Thirdly, this definition reveals that a manager is the leader of people working under him. Fourthly, it states that management is basically an art or practice of achieving results.

    The above definition is, however, inadequate for the present day concept of management. It suffers from the following drawbacks.

    (i) This definition does not reveal that management is a science. The modern concept of management is much wider than simply a skill in getting things done through other people. Since the days of F.W. Taylor management has become a science based on certain fundamental principles.

    (ii) The above definition does not highlight how does manage­ment get things done through people. It fails to reveal the functions of a manager and the skills used for getting things done.

    (iii) This definition does not recognize the role of human beings. It treats people as mere tools forgetting results and does not consider their feelings, emotions and needs. People are inanimate objects and cannot be treated as mere tools.

    People have their aspirations and are not mere commodities or means to achieve certain ends. Management is certainly much more than just getting things done through others.

    (iv)The above definition gives an impression that management gets things done by hook or crook. Results alone are not significant. The means employed to achieve results are equally important. This definition is of man's putative character.

    (v) This definition does not reveal that a formal organizational set up is needed for getting things done.

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  2. The management processes are based in a simple rule: the POLC rule – Planning, Organizing, Leading and Control, interrelated and simultaneously.
    Planning is both the organizational process of creating and maintaining a plan; and the mental process of thinking about the activities required to create a desired future on some scale (like for example the tactical plan development).
    Organizing is the act of rearranging elements following one or more rules (like for example, rearranging our sales reps territories).
    Leading is the ability "to get people to follow voluntarily“, affecting the human behavior so as to accomplish a mission designated by the leader (like for example, coaching a sales representative).

    Control in management means setting standards, measuring actual performance and taking corrective action. So control is a foreseeing action whereas earlier concept of control was used only when errors were detected (like for example, define and check regularly the Key Performance Indicators –KPIs- previously defined; and do something is something has a big chance of going wrong).
    According to different managerial levels, the importance of each process changes, from a more tactical approach, more near to the field; to a more strategic approach (going up in the scale of managers), related to plan and organize, and less related to the operations (what doesn´t means far from the business, on the contrary). Top-level managers require an extensive knowledge of management roles and skills, they have to be very aware of external factors such as markets, and their decisions are generally long-term nature, they are
    responsible for strategic decisions. Middle management have a specialized understanding of certain managerial tasks. They are responsible for carrying out the decisions made by top-level management.
    First line managers ensures that the decisions and plans taken by the other two are carried out. Their decisions are generally short-term ones. In conclusion, Managers should spend their time , in each process (POLC), according to his level. We can not have a top manager thinking about details of the organization…

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