IMPORTANCE OF MANAGEMENT
Introduction to Management
Management as defined by Mary Follet is “the art of getting
things done through people”. A
manager is defined as a person who achieves the organization's goals by
motivating others to perform – not by performing himself. Whether management is
an art or a science is a very subjective question.
But it can be said without doubt that modern management in the
environment of technology is becoming more of a science than an art. We define
management for the purpose of Management Information Systems as the process of
planning, organizing, staffing, coordinating and controlling the efforts of the
members of the organization to achieve common stated goals of the organization.
In the process of management, a manager uses human skills,
material resources and scientific methods to perform all the activities leading
to the achievement of goals. The
management process involves a continuous resolution of conflicts of one kind or
the other which affects the achievement of goals, conflict between alternative
resources, conflict of time, conflict of goals, conflict of approach or method
and the conflict of choice. The manager uses a variety of tools, techniques and
skills while executing the management process of planning, organizing, staffing,
coordinating and controlling.
The key concepts of the systems theory used in the management
are as follows:
- A
system is comprehensive assembly of parts becoming an organization to achieve
the stated goals.
- A
system is called open if it has an interaction with the environment, and closed
if it does not have an interaction with the environment.
- A
system is defined, described and understood by the boundaries within which it
performs.
- The
systems are subject to entropy, i.e., the tendency to “run down”. Closed systems suffer from entropy as
they are cut off from the environment, while open systems interact with the
environment and draw upon the support of resources to maintain a given
condition.
- System
tries to remain in equilibrium or a steady state by taking recourse to
corrective action. This is possible when the system has its own feedback, i.e.,
an informational input about the state of the system.
The advantage of viewing the management as a system is that
it enables us to see the critical variables, constraints and their interaction
with one another. It forces the
manager to look at the situation in such a way that due regard is given to the
consequences arising out of interaction with the related elements or subjects.
