Definition Of Management

Submitted By GabrielaAnesteva
Words: 2886
Pages: 12

Definition: Manager
Managers work in an organizations but not everyone who works in an organization is a manager. For simplicity, organizational members are divided in 2 categories: Non-managerial employees and managers. Non managerial employees are people who work directly on a job or task and have no responsibility for overseeing the work of others. On the other hand, managers are individuals in an organization who direct and oversee the activities of other people. Some also work directly on task.
Definition: Management
Simply speaking management is what managers do but a better explanation is that management is a process of getting things done efficiently and effectively with and through other people. We need to work closer at the key words in this definition.
A process refers to set of ongoing and interrelated activities that managers perform. Efficiency and effectiveness have to do with the work being done and how is being done. Efficiency means doing tasks correctly, doing things right.. Whereas effectiveness is concerned with the ends or meeting organizational goals. Good management is concerned with both attaining goals (effectiveness) and doing so as efficiently as possible.
What do managers do?!
Functions approach (p30-the green book)
According to the functions approach managers performs certain activities or functions as they direct and oversee others work. Henry Fayol proposes that all managers perform 5 management activities but these management functions have been condensed to 4: planning, organizing, leading and controlling.
Planning:
Organizations exist to achieve some purpose. A manager uses planning do so by planning which includes defining goals, establishing strategy and developing plans to coordinate activities. Organizing: Managers are also responsible for ranging and structuring work to accomplish the organization’s goals. Organizing includes determining what tasks are to be done and by whom, how task are to be grouped, who reports to whom and who will make decisions. Leading: We know that every organization has people and its part of managers’ job to direct and coordinate the work activities of those people. When managers motivate employees direct the activities of others, select the most effective communication channel or result conflict among members they are leading. Controlling: The 4 and final management function is controlling which involves monitoring, comparing and correcting work performance. By using the controlling function, managers make sure that the company is on the right way to meet its final goals. Management roles In the late 1960s Henry Mintzberg found that the managers his studied engaged in a number of varied unpattern and short duration activities. Mintzberg provided a categorization scheme for defining what managers do based on managerial roles they use at work. He concluded that managers perform 10 different but interrelated roles (graph p32 –the green book) They are grouped around interpersonal relationship, transfer of information and decision-making. The interpersonal roles are ones that involve people (subordinates and outside persons) and other duties that are ceremonial and symbolic in nature. The informational roles involve collecting receiving and disseminating information. Finally, the decisional roles entail making decisions and choices. Conclusion So which approach is better function or roles? Although each does a good job of describing what managers do the function approach still seems to be the generally accepted way of describing the manager’s job .Its continued popularity is attribute to its clarity and simplicity. However, Mintzberg’s initial roles approach and newly developed model of managing do offer us another insight in what managers do. What skills and competences do managers need? Management researcher Robert Katz and others have proposed that managers must possess and use 4 critical managers’ skills: Skills