What is Management? Concepts, Functions, Roles and Managerial skill

Management is the set of planning & actions organizations undertake in order to decide and meet objectives. This includes planning & organizing resources, assets, directing the workflows towards achieving desired outcome.

Concepts of Management

Functional concept– Management is the process of Planning, Organizing, Staffing, Directing & Controlling the resources & people towards the goals and objectives of the organization.

Human Relations concepts– Management is the job of getting things done through and with people in organized set up. It involves creating an environment in which people can perform, and individuals could cooperate towards achieving group goals.

Leadership concept– Management is about Leader’s ability to influence & motivate people towards achieving goal through proper Decision-making.

Productivity concept– Better management is about higher utilization of available resources of organization.

Integration concept– Management is about coordination among all the resources.

Theo Haimann concept– According to this concept, three aspects of Management are inter-related namely, Management as process, Management as discipline, Management as group (Noun).

Management as process is a series of interrelated tasks & decision points, which are carried out to achieve desired output from given input.

Management as a discipline refers to field of study with organized body of knowledge, which can be learnt through formal education & training. The body of knowledge consists of principles, practices, techniques of management and applied through skills.

Management as group refers to team of managers who run an organization. They performs managerial functions for accomplishment of its goals. It sometimes also implies the top layers of leadership.

Management as Art, Science, Profession

These table helps to understand in looking at management from 3 different aspects.

Management as art	Management as science	Management as profession
To be practiced & performed similar to skilled professional.	Management concepts are formulated by observation, research, analysis, experimentation	Management has Body of specialized knowledge
Experience is gained by continuous application of management knowledge	Cause & effect relation exists between management principles & desired outcome	It required competent & specialized personnel to perform the job
Managing calls for creativity & Innovation	Wide range of applicability of the principles & concepts	It can be learned through formalized education.

Functions of Management

Managerial functions refers to what managers actually do

Name of the functions	Key Concepts	Key activities
Planning (Determining future course of action in order to achieve objective)	– What is to be done – How it is to be done – When it is to be done – Who should do it	– Setting objectives – Identify course of action – Evaluate alternative course of action – Implement the course of action – Follow-up action & course correction
Organizing (The activities are grouped, assigned to designated positions, with conferred right & duties)	– Division of work – Departmentalization – Power, authority, responsibility, accountability – Centralization, decentralization, Delegation – Chain of command, Span of control	– Identification & division of work – Departmentalization – Assignment of duties along with proportionate power, authority, responsibility, accountability. – Establish chain of command
Staffing (Putting the right person for the right job & position)	– Resource estimation & planning – Resource selection, recruitment, placement – Training & development	– Resource requirement estimation – Recruitment & selection – Placement & orientation – Training & development
Directing (It refers to guiding, communicating, inspiring people to achieve objective)	– Motivation – Leadership – Communication – Coordination	– Supervision – Communication – Leadership – Motivation – Coordination
Controlling (Monitoring & measuring actual result with regards to desired outcome)	– Measurement of actual performance against what was set during planning stage. – Take corrective action – Forms the basis of future planning	– Measure & compare actual performance over desired – Take corrective action

Managerial roles

According to Henry Mintzberg, there are 10 roles performed by any manager which can be categorized under 3 roles.

Interpersonal roles– This role is about working with people, both inside and outside the organization, building & maintaining relationships, getting the jobs done.

Informational roles– This role is about collecting data & information, analyzing them to use it for the teams, helps in minimizing the risks involves in business operations.

Decisional roles– Decision making in managing a business is the action orientation towards achieving goals.

Managerial skill

There are 3 basic skills under managerial skill.

Technical skill– This is the ability to perform specialized job by using specialized knowledge. This skill can be developed by acquiring knowledge through formal education & putting them into practice.

Human relations or People skill– This is the ability of working with others, influencing them using inter-personal relationship, At team level, this is about motivating subordinates, getting them engaged towards objective.

Conceptual skill– The analytical and decision-making abilities of managers through assessing internal and external environments. This is setting vision for future, through analyzing trend and having far-sighted view of current & future scenario.

Below image shows how are managerial roles in a typical organization, their key activities, functions and skills are related to the levels of management.