Management – Concept, Process, Theories and Approaches, Management Roles and Skills

Paper : 2 - Management (Code :17)

UNIT -I

Topic :1 - Management - Concept, Process, Theories and Approaches , Management Roles and Skills

Management - Concept:

An organization is a group of people working together in a structured and coordinated fashion to achieve a set of goals. Managers are responsible for using the organization's resources to help achieve its goals. Management can be defined as a set of activities (including planning and decision making, organizing, leading, and controlling) directed at an organization’s resources (human, financial, physical, and information),with the aim of achieving organizational goals in an efficient and effective manner.

Levels of management : 

1. Top-level management - Relatively small group of executives who manage the overall organization.

Title          : President, Vice President,and Chief Executive Officer

Functions :  Create the organization's goals, overall strategy, operating policies.

                       Make decisions about activities such as acquiring other companies, investing in research and  development, entering or abandoning various markets and building new plants and office facilities.

2. Middle Management - Largest group of managers in most organizations

Title           : Plant manager, Operations manager and Division head and so on..

Functions : Responsible for implementing the policies and plans developed by top managers

                      Supervising and Coordinating the activities of lower level managers

3. First -line managers - Managers who supervise and coordinate the activities of operating employees

Title           : Supervisor, Coordinator and Office manager

Functions : Supervision and Coordination of activities of operating employees

Functional managers :Regardless of their level, managers may work in various areas within an organisation known as functional managers - Marketing managers, Operations Managers, Financial managers , Human Resource Managers and Administrative managers.

Importance of Management:

1. Management  is a critical element in the economic growth of a country

2. It is essential in all organized efforts, be it a business activity or any other activity

3. It is the dynamic, life-giving element in every organisation.

Process of Management -Different aspects:

• Newman and Summer    -   Organizing, Planning, Leading and Controlling
• Henri Fayol         - Planning, Organising, Commanding, Coordinating and Controlling
• Luther Gulick   -  POSDCORB - Planning, Organising , Staffing , Directing ,   Coordinating, Reporting and Budgeting
• Haynes and Massie   -  Decision making, Organisation, Staffing, Planning, Controlling, Communicating and directing
• Koontz         -   Planning, Organising, Staffing, Directing and Controlling

                  Innovating - a modern aspect of management process

Management - Theories and Approaches:

Early Classical Approach : 

1. Scientific Management theory : focus on the ways to improve the performance of individual workers. 

Contributed by :  

✱ Fredrick W. Taylor (1856-1915) - Scientific Management

✱ Frank Gilbreth (1868- 1924) and  Lillian Gilbreth (1878-1972)  - Time and Motion Study

Fredrick W. Taylor (1856-1915) - Father of Scientific Management 

 ☆ Experiments done at : Midvale Steel, Simonds Rolling Machine and Bethlehem Steel   

 ☆ Study about : Worker Productivity and Optimization  

 ☆  Steps in Scientific Management :  
         

1. Replace rule of thumb and work methods based on  scientific study of the tasks

2. Scientifically select the employees and train them to do the job rather than passively leaving them to train themselves

3. Supervise employees to make sure they follow the prescribed methods for performing their jobs

4.Continue to plan the work, but use the workers to get the work done 

☆  Contributions to Scientific Management :

1. Differential Payment - Linking incentives with production

2. Gantt Chart - Charting system for productivity control - the  idea of rating an employees' work publicly

3. Motion and Fatigue study - 17 basic types -Therbligs - shorthand symbol for each movement of work

☆ Limitations of Scientific Management: 

1. It applies to only muscular tasks at the floor level and neglects problem solving and decision making.

2. Economic incentive , which is the only motivation for increased production in this concept, does not serve the every other purpose of man.

3.  No individuals contribute to the work in the same motions taught and expected.

2. Administrative Management theory : focuses on managing the total organization

Contributed by :

✱ Henri Fayol (1841-1925) - Father of Administrative Management

✱ Lyndall Urwick (1891-1983)

Henri Fayol (1841-1925) - Father of Administrative Management
       
       His perspective extended beyond the shop level and the physical production processes and was of macro nature, covering the general administrative and managerial functions and processes at the organisation. He was the first person to identify the specific managerial functions of planning, organizing , leading and controlling. He also classified the functions into six groups as technical, commercial, financial, accounting , security and administration.


Contributions to Administrative Management:



 Limitations of Administrative Management:

1. These principles are not tested empirically ; based on few case studies only 

2. The principles resulted into the formation of mechanistic organisation structures which  are insensitive to the employees' social and psychological needs.

3. These are based on the assumption that organisations are closed systems.

3. Bureaucratic Management theory : focus on the legitimate and formal system of authority.

Contributed by : Max Weber (1864-1920) - Father of Bureaucratic Management

Contributions to Bureaucratic Management:

Three types of Administration :

❋  Leader Oriented              -  There is no delegation of management functions. All employees serve as loyal subjects of leader.

❋ Tradition Oriented     - Managerial positions are handed down from generation to generation.

❋ Bureaucratic Oriented - Delegation of management responsibilities is based on the person's demonstrated ability to hold the position.

Features of Bureaucratic Administration:

1. Insistence on following standard rules

2. Systematic division of work 

3. Principle of Hierarchy

4. Knowledge and Training in the application of rules

5. Rational Personnel Administration

Limitations of Bureaucratic Administration:

1. Over conformity to rules

2. Buck Passing

3.Trained incapacity

4. Displacement of Goals

5. No real right of appeal

6. Neglect of informal groups

7. Rigid structure

8. Inability to satisfy the needs of mature individuals

Neo- Classical Approach :

       These approaches do not reject the classical concepts but only try to refine and improve them.

1. Behavioural management - Places more emphasis on individual attitudes, behaviors, and group processes and recognized the importance of behavioral processes in the workplace.

Contributions :

1. Hugo Munsterberg (1863-1916) - Father of Industrial Psychology - the practice of applying psychological concepts to industrial settings

2.Mary Parker Follet (1868-1933) - Constructive conflict and coordination

3. Chester Barnard (1886-1961) - Cooperation and Acceptance of Authority

4.Elton Mayo - Hawthrone Studies (1927-1932) -sponsored by General Electric- demonstrated that social satisfaction to the workers leads to productivity . 

      1. The role of informal groups is highly influential in an organisation

      2. There is no correlation between the improved working conditions and high production

      3. Non financial rewards also significantly affect his behavior and largely limit the effect of  economic incentive plan

     4. Employee-centered,democratic and participative style of supervisory leadership is more effective than task-centered leadership

2. The Human Relations Movement - Proposed that workers primarily respond to the social context of the workplace, including social conditioning, group norms and interpersonal dynamics.

Contributions:

1.  Abraham Maslow ( 1908-1970) - Hierarchy of Needs theory

2. Douglas McGregor (1906-1964) - Theory X and Theory Y

Modern Approaches:

1. The Quantitative Management Perspective - focuses on decision making , cost effectiveness, mathematical models and the use of computers

    ✲ Management Science - focuses specifically on the development of mathematical models

   ✲ Operations management - focuses in helping the organization produce the products or services more efficiently and can be applied to a wide range of problems.

2. Contemporary Management Perspectives - 

✲ The Systems Perspective - Views organizations as systems so that managers can better understand the importance of their environment and the level of interdependence among their organization's subsystems

• Open Systems    -Interact with their environment
• Closed Systems  -Do not interact with the environment
• Subsystem - A system within another system
• Synergy -Two or more systems working together to produce more than the total of what they might produce working alone
• Entropy  - A normal process leading to system decline

✲ The Contingency Perspective -  Suggests that universal theories cannot be applied to organizations because each organization is unique. Appropriate managerial behavior in a given situation depends on, or is contingent on, unique elements in that situation. 

Management Roles :

Henry Mintzberg has identified ten roles common to the work of all managers. The ten roles are divided into three groups:

• Interpersonal
• Informational
• Decisional

Category	Role	Activity
Informational	Monitor	Seek and receive information; scan periodicals and reports; maintain personal contact with stakeholders
	Disseminator	Forward information to organization members via memos, reports, and phone calls
	Spokesperson	Transmit information to outsiders via reports, memos, and speeches
Interpersonal	Figurehead	Perform ceremonial and symbolic duties, such as greeting visitors and signing legal documents
	Leader	Direct and motivate subordinates; counsel and communicate with subordinates
	Liaison	Maintain information links both inside and outside organization via mail, phone calls, and meetings
Decisional	Entrepreneur	Initiate improvement projects; Identify new ideas and delegate responsibility to others
	Disturbance handler	Take corrective action during disputes or crises; resolve conflicts among subordinates; adapt to environments
	Resource allocator	Decide who gets resources; prepare budgets; set schedules and determine priorities
	Negotiator	Represent department during negotiations of union contracts, sales, purchases, and budgets

  

 Managerial Skills :

     A skill is an individual's ability to perform physical or mental tasks with a specified outcome. Robert Katz identifies three types of skills that are essential for a successful management process:

• Technical skills - Person's knowledge and proficiency in any type of process or technique -(Lower level of management)
  
  
• Conceptual skills- Ability to conceptualize the environment, the organisation and his own job, so that he can set appropriate goals for his organisation, for himself and his team - (Higher Level of management)
  
  
• Human or interpersonal management skills - Ability to interact effectively with people at level
  
  Other Skills are as follows:
  
  
  • Diagnostic Skills  - Skills that enable them to visualize the most appropriate response to the situation
  • Communication Skills -Ability to both effectively convey ideas and information to others and effectively receive ideas and information from others 
  • Decision-Making Skills - Ability to correctly recognize and define problems and opportunities and to select an appropriate course of action to solve problems and capitalize on opportunities
  • Time Management Skills - Ability to prioritize work, to work efficiently and to delegate work appropriately