Explain any four characteristics of management.
1. Management is a goal-oriented process: An organisation has a set of basic goals which are the reason for its existence. These should be simple and clearly stated. Different organisations have different goals. For example, the goal of a retail store may be to increase sales, but the goal of the Spastics Society of India is to impart education to children with special needs. Management unites the efforts of different individuals in the organisation towards achieving these goals.
2. Management is all pervasive: The activities involved in managing an enterprise are common to all the organisations whether economic, social or political.
3. Management is multidimensional: Management is a complex activity that has three main dimensions. These are:
- Management of work: All organisations exist for the performance of some work. In a factory, a product is manufactured; in a garment store a customer’s need is satisfied and in a hospital a patient is treated. Management translates this work in terms of goals to be achieved and assigns the means to achieve it. This is done in terms of problems to be solved, decisions to be made, plans to be established, budgets to be prepared, responsibilities to be assigned and authority to be delegated.
- Management of people: Human resources or people are the organisation’s greatest asset. Managing people has two dimensions viz. dealing with employees as individuals with diverse needs and behaviour and dealing with individuals as a group of people. The task of management is to make people work towards achieving the organisation’s goals, by making their strengths effective and their weaknesses irrelevant.
- Management of operations: No matter which type of organisation it is, it has some basic products or services to provide in order to survive. This requires a production process which entails the flow of input material and the technology for transforming this input into the desired output for consumption. This is interlinked with both the management of work and the management of people.
4. Management is a continuous process: The process of management is a series of continuous, composite, but separate functions. These functions are simultaneously performed by all managers all the time. The task of a manager consists of an ongoing series of functions.
5. Management is a group activity: An organisation is a collection of diverse individuals with different needs. Every member of the group has a different purpose for joining the organisation but as members of the organisation, they work towards fulfilling the common organisational goal. This requires team work and Coordination of individual efforts in a common direction. At the same time, management should enable all its members to grow and develop as needs and opportunities change.
6. Management is a dynamic function: Management is a dynamic function and has to adapt itself to the changing environment. An organisation interacts with its external environment which consists of various social, economic, political and legal factors. In order to be successful, an organisation must change itself and its goals according to the needs of the environment.
7. Management is an intangible force: Management is an intangible force that cannot be seen but its presence can be felt in the way, an the organisation functions. The effect of management is noticeable in an organisation where targets are met according to the plans, employees are happy and satisfied, and there is orderliness instead of chaos.