Principles and Practices of Management

Ques1: Management is what Management does. Justify the statement and explain.
Ans:
MEANING OF MANAGEMENT

‘Management is the executive function that concerns itself with the carrying out of the administrative policies laid down by administration. Management directs the active operations within the enterprise and combines the work of the employees with the available capital equipment and materials to produce an acceptable product. Management also markets the product or service according to the broad policies established by administration. “The Management also functions, in carrying out the policies of administration, expand as the lower levels of supervision are reached while the administrative function decreases in importance”.
Management is what Management Does
Three different steps involved in it. Viz.
(1) Formation of policy and its translation into plans;
(2) Execution and implementation of plans; and
(3) Exercising administrative control over the plans.
These three essential tasks of management may be titled as ‘Planning’, Implementing’ and ‘Controlling’. According to Dr. James Lundy -“Management is principally a task of planning, co-coordinating, motivating and controlling the efforts of others toward a specific objective. It involves the combining of the traditional factors of production (land, labor and capital) in an optimum manner, paying due attention, of course, to the particular goals of the organization. This definition broadens the scope of management and includes within its orbit, three major management activities viz. (a) Planning; (b) Implementing, and (c) Controlling.
Planning is the determination of the course of objectives of a business, division or department to achieve maximum profit effectiveness, the establishment of policies and the continuous seeking and finding of new ways to do things. Implementing applies to the doing phases.
After plans have been prepared, personnel must be selected and assigned then- jobs; they must be trained and motivated to perform properly. Activities must be implemented in terms of the plans initially developed. This may include selecting personnel, training personnel,  motivating personnel, delegation, direction and  co-ordinating
Controlling refers to the evaluation of the performance of those who are responsible for executing the plans agreed upon. This may include: (i) controlling adherence to plans, and (ii) appraising performance.
Characteristics of Management
1. Management is that important process the principal elements of which are planning, implementing and controlling.
2. Management is an endeavor to achieve the pre-determined objectives.
3. For the achievement of the enterprise-goals, management plans, organizes, co-ordinates, directs and controls the group-efforts and hence a group activity.
4. Management aims at reaping rich results in economic terms. Management carries with it a major responsibility for creative action. It is no longer considered as passive or a mere adjustment of resources.
5. Management also implied skill and experience in getting things done through people. Getting the suitable types of people to execute the operations is the significant aspect of management.
6. Management is a science as also an art. As there are definite principles in management, it is an art. Further, it is also a science because by the application of these principles predetermined objectives can be achieved.
7. Management is also gradually becoming a profession like other recognized professions.
8. The principles of management have universal application. They are not the monopoly of industry alone, but can be applied in any sphere where group effort is required.
9. Although management is a scientific method of getting things done through and with the people, yet the identity of the ‘Thinkers’ is quite different from the identity of the ‘Doers’.
10. Management is needed at different levels of an organization.
11. Management uses organization for achieving the objectives determined by administration.
12. It is not necessary that those who manage may also be the owners of the enterprise.
13. Principles of Management are dynamic and not static.
Ques 2: Explain the Principles of Management.
Ans:
MANAGEMENT PRINCIPLES
Managerial functions are based on certain principles. Principle is a fundamental truth, which establishes cause, and effect relationship of a function, and theory is a systematic grouping of interrelated principles. The principles of management have a tremendous impact upon the practice of management in increasing the efficiency of the organization. The needs and importance of management principles can be visualized as follows:
1. To Increase Efficiency. The established principles of management provide managers guidelines as how they should work in different situations. These principles increase managerial efficiency. Though, there is a serious limitation of management principles, that is, these have to be modified according to situations as these deal with human beings of diverse nature, these enable a manager to understand the different situation in a better way and save him from costly trial-and-error method.
2. To Crystallize the Nature of Management. Lack of understanding of management principles makes it difficult to analyze the management job and to define the exact scope of managerial functions. Thus, individuals cannot be trained effectively for managerial positions.
3. To Carry on Researches. If in any subject certain fundamental principles are developed, the scope and limitations defined, these become the basis for future researches. In the absence of these principles, researches become difficult and future horizons of knowledge cannot be expanded. The recent emphasis on management researches has increased the quantum to knowledge in this field.
4. To attain Social Objectives. Management itself is part of the society and it takes the inputs from the society and gives the output to the society. Thus, the standards of the society depend upon the quality of the management. If the management is efficient, the resources of the society are better utilized thereby giving more satisfaction to the society and improving the quality of life of people. In this context, management principles play an important role.
Thus, the understanding of management principles enables managers to take a more realistic view of organizational problems and their solution. Management deals with people in the organization, and the structure and behavior of the atom are less complex than the structure and behavior of groups of people. To direct the human behavior for objective achievement, some principles are certainly required.
Development of management principles would definitely have an impact on the cultural level of society by increasing efficiency in the use of human as well as material resources. However, managers, while using management principles in practice, should check their validity and applicability before use. For this reason, they should be aware of the fundamental nature of management principles.
Nature of Management Principles
The following basic nature of management principles should be kept in mind:
1. Universality of Principles. Henry Fayol has emphasized that management principles are universal. These can be applied in different organizations – business, government, hospital, military, etc. The basic task before every human organization is to get the desired results through integrated human efforts. Thus, the managers of different managerial levels may use the principles with equal utility. This shows the flexibility of a manager to handle different departments of an organization or the functions of different organizations.
2. Dynamic Nature of Principles. Management principles are flexible in nature and change with the changes in the environment in which an organization exists. Others are replacing many of the golden principles of management, which were thought to be very useful at one time, because of changes in the society. Continuous researchers are being carried on to establish principles in the changing society and no principles can be regarded as a final truth. Nothing is permanent in the landslide of management.
3. Relative, Not Absolute Principles. Management principles are relative, not absolute and they should be applied according to the need of the organization. Organizations differ in respect of place, time, social, culture, etc. Moreover, individuals working in the same organization also differ. Thus, a particular management principle has different strength in different conditions and the principle should be modified or replaced by another.
4. Limitations Due to Human Nature. Management involves the direction of human behavior in the organization. It is also related with other human factors- suppliers, customers, owners, government, etc. The complex nature of human behavior has considerably affected the progress of management principles. The principles of other disciplines dealing with human nature such as psychology, sociology, anthropology should also be taken into account.
Ques 5: Explain the features of an open door organization.
Ans:
Organization provides the structure, the frame on which rests the management of the enterprise. Like all structures, it upholds the management functions, in their totality and interrelationship, aiding their movement to the appointed goal.
PRINCIPLES OF ORGANIZATION
There are certain basic principles of an organization structure are :
(i) It should reflect adequately a virile awareness of the dynamic goal of the enterprise.
(ii) It should reflect adequate decentralization
(iii) The unity of command and line of responsibility should be clear.
(iv) The channel of communication should be free, easy and logical.
(v) The p of control should be legitimate (not too wide nor too narrow) without split in the line of control.
(vi) The functional levels in the Organization chart should be armed with proper (-delegated) authority, matching their task and responsibility.
(vii) The levels in the Chart (the nodes in the Organization net) should represent homogenous cohesive units of functions.
(viii) The Chart should avoid overlapping of functions and authority.
(ix) The channels of communication-vertically and horizontally-should be well laid out.
(x) The functional aims of the departments (branches) at different levels should be drawn up and reflected with precision.
(xi) The hierarchical position of the staff functional levels and their structural relationship with the line management levels should be stated without ambiguity.
The organizational tree like structure has properties of a living organism. As the branches of a tree stem from the trunk and the twigs spring from the branches, and every branch and twig draw succor from the roots of the main tree, so in an enterprise the Chief Executive is the main spring of leadership. The other levels provide the feedback and the reciprocal team support. The process is a two-way one.
ORGANIZATION DYNAMICS – CLOSED AND OPEN SYSTEMS
Management is a system; organization is the frame that upholds the system. Enterprise organization must share these features, which are common to all living units. It must be responsive to impulses, both within its own system and from the wider social system outside. A common hazard (and experience) in an organizational set up is that it tends to degenerate into a stereotype- a stale, repetitive, dead process losing the quality of life. Divide organizational into two types:
(a) open door organization,
(b) closed door organization.
An open door organization is one that incorporates the mechanism of change. The business situation and the problems that confront a manager are in a state of flux.
Features of an Open Door Organization
(1) An open door organization is task oriented. The accountability is clearly defined.
(2) The authority (within the related functional area) is also absolute (or nearly so) matching the absolute character of the accountability.
(3) Consultations are minimum and are not compulsive; the executive is free to consult and communicate (or otherwise) so long as he performs and delivers the objective.
(4) Rules and procedures exist but only as guides- the executives (within their sphere of responsibilities) having wide freedom of discretion to depart from the rules within the periphery of the broad corporate policies.
(5) The accountability is clear-cut; objective is verifiable- in terms of cost, output target, time and profit. The means are (relatively) unimportant so long as the end is achieved.
(6) The managerial behavior is highly flexible bending with lithe suppleness to the internal shifts in conditions and external maneuvers of the environmental zone of contract.
Ques6. Explain the different approaches to leadership and its role in management.
Ans:
Leadership is interpersonal influence exercised in a situation and directed, through the communication process toward the attainment of a specialized goal or goals (emphasis ours). In the terms of Harold Koontz, leadership is influencing people to follow the achievement of a common goal. The two common elements in all these perceptions of leadership are:
(i) Influencing People
(ii) To pursue a common goal.
The Trait Approach
Traits are innate, inherent personal qualities. It follows that (by this approach) if a leader is seen to possess certain traits, his leadership index can be read (almost) off a leadership meter. Three necessary and sufficient conditions which must be satisfied if traits should be unique determinants of the leadership index. These may be summarized thus:
(i) The trait quality should follow a descending order as one traverses from the highest (top executives in leadership position) to the lowest (employees) levels of the enterprise system.
(ii) There must be a high correlation between the level of a manager’s traits and the level of his success.
(iii) The correlation between success (achievement) and traits should be higher as one goes up the management hierarchy from bottom (employees) level upward to top executive levels.
Common elements of leadership as observed from different surveys and investigations are:
(a) Intelligence.
(b) Confidence.
(c) Initiative.
(d) Urge for achievement.
(e) Strong power need.
Attitude Criterion Approach to Leadership
The leader-attitude approach to leadership studies registers and appraises
the variables in terms of attitudes (orientation to or concern from) conditioning leadership behavior and effectiveness. Studies defined two variables (attitudes) which were termed employees orientation and production orientation. A parallel set of concepts was evolved by Darwin as a result of a number of research studies. They identified the aim of a group as a composite of two elements (group dynamics).
(i) Achieving a group goal.
(ii) Service of the group itself.
The goal-oriented manager will set tasks, improve techniques and productivity and structure his activities toward the group goal. The manager, on the other hand, who concentrates on group service and group maintenance, will be relations oriented, with concern for people, cultivating popular participation, fostering and trusting informal group behaviour, trustful and communicative.
Still another parallel concept may be observed under what may be styled Authoritarian Democratic behaviour tapering off into the laissez faire leadership style. In terms of the group dynamics phraseology (discussed above), authoritarian leader style is set parallel to achieving the group goal as against group maintenance or service which approximates to the democratic leader style. The authoritarian leader will decide and tell his followers what to do; the democratic leaders will opt for a participative style of decision making.