Concept of Management

Management is defined by different experts in the following way.

James, L. Lundy

"Management is principally the task of planning, coordinating, motivating and controlling the efforts of others towards a specific objective. Management is what management does. It is the task of planning, executing and controlling."

Henry Fayol

"To manage is to forecast, to plan, to organize, to command, to co-ordinate and to control."

Herold Koontz

"Management is the art of getting things done through and with people in formally organized groups. It is the art of creating an environment in which people can perform and individuals could co-operate towards attaining of group goals. It is an art of removing blocks to such performance, a way of optimizing efficiency in reaching goals."

Elmore Peterson and E.G. Plowman

"Management is a technique by means of which the purposes and objectives of a particular human group are determined, clarified and effectuated."

John, F.Mee

"Management may be defined as the art of securing maximum prosperity with a minimum of effort so as to secure maximum prosperity and happiness for both employer and employee and give the public the best possible service."

Robert, L. Trewatha and M. Gene Newport

"Management is a coordination of the human and material resources essential in the effective and efficient attainment of objectives."

Conclusion

It is clear from the above definitions that management has been defined in different senses, emphasizing different concepts of management. However, it is not fair to define management in terms of only one aspect. For example, when one says that management is what the management does, the social and human aspects of management are overlooked. Similarly, the definition, "Management is management of people and not things," is incomplete as it lays undue emphasis on the contribution of workers and under-estimates the contribution of other factors of production. In the same manner, to regard management as a discipline is insufficient since the discipline of management has not yet been able to fully develop its own theory and tools of analysis. As the co-ordinator of material and human resources is also a very important concept of management without proper integration and co-ordination. Without proper integration and CO- ordination, maximum utilization of available resources is impossible.

To conclude, management may be finally regarded as:

i) Formulation of plans, policies and objectives

ii) Securing men, material, machinery, money andmethods for their achievement

iii) Putting all of them into operation

iv) Directing and motivating the men at work

v) Supervising and controlling their performance

vi) Providing maximum satisfaction and service to employer, employees and public at large