Introduction
Management is the act of getting people together for accomplishment of desired goals and objectives using available resources efficiently and effectively. What the management basically comprises of is planning, organizing, staffing, leading or directing, controlling an organization of a group of one or more people, or entities or effort for the purpose of accomplishing a goal.
Management of Organizations
What Management of organizations is all about, in the view of Henry Fayol, an early classical management theorist?
Division and coordination of work within an organization, to what the management is looking forward, where the work should be divided and allocated rationally, based on specialization of the workers with management authority flowing vertically down a clear chain of command from highest to lowest rank. Whereas decisions should be taken at top management level of the organization where appropriate through appropriate centralization.
The holder of a management office should have enough authority to carry out all the responsibilities assigned to him with the unity of command i.e. for any action, a subordinate should receive orders from one boss only. A dual command would prove to be a disease, whether it is caused by imperfect demarcation between the departments or superior giving orders to an employee, without going via the intermediate superior.
The next important area that management is focused on is the unity of direction whereby there should be one head and one plan for each activity. Unity of direction relates to organization itself, whereas unity of command relates to the personnel in the organization.
The management should encourage the employees to use discretion within the bounds of their authority and take initiatives. Furthermore they should be encouraged so that the individual interest of the employee does not prevail over that of general interest of organization.
A fair disciplinary system can be strength of an organization and a prime duty, what management is concerned to maintain so that the members of the organization behave in agreed ways. Just and Equitable organizational policies to be maintained by the management, fair rewards satisfying both employer and employee alike, spirit de corps i.e. harmony and teamwork are essential to be maintained by the management to promote discipline and contentment.
Features
However, the modern management theories suggest what the management of an organization is all about is flexibility as a key value, organizational measures such as matrix and horizontal structures, multi-tasking, empowerment and flexible labor deployment to be stressed on for further exploration.
Multitasking is contrary to idea of specialization; multi-skilled teams enable tasks to be performed more flexibly, using labor more efficiently.
Flexibility, perhaps the major value of what the modern management theory is concerned about, involves small multi-skilled temporary structures such as project or task force teams; multi-functional units, facilitating communication and coordination across departmental boundaries, called matrix organization management, blurring the principle of unity of command since an employee may report both to his department superior and to project or product manager whose job is to manage all areas of activity related to the product or project.
Tips and comments
The important thing that modern management is concerned with is empowerment, the purpose of which is to free employees from rigorous control by instructions and supervision and give them freedom to take responsibilities for their goals and actions. Moreover people are asked to use their own judgment within the interest of organization and the customer within a disciplined context.
