What is management?
’Management’(Latin’manum agere’=’lead by the hand’) characterizes the process of leading and directing all or part of an organization, often a business one, through the deployment and manipulation of resources(human, financial, material, intellectual or intangible). One can also think of management functionally: as the action in measuring a quantity on a regular basis and adjusting an initial plan and the actions taken to reach one’s intended goal.
This applies even in situations where planning does not take place. Situational management may precede and subsume purposive management.
By the late 19th century marginal economists like Alfred Marshall and Leon Walras introduced a new layer of complexity to the theoretical underpinings of management. The first tertiary-level course in management was offered in 1881 by J. Wharton. By 1900 we find managers trying to place their theories on a thoroughly scientific basis. Examples include H. Towne’s Science of management, Frederick Winslow Taylor’s Scientific management, Frank Bunker Gilbreth’s Science of motion study, and Henry L. Gantt’s charts. J. Duncan wrote the first college management text book in 1911.
The first comprehensive theories of management appeared around 1920. People like H. Fayol and A. Church described the various branches of management and their inter-relationships.
Some of the more recent developments include the theory of constraints, reengineering, and various information technology driven theories such as Agile. The theory of constraints approach to management boils the effort down to a repetitive cycle of three basic questions - What to change? To what to change to? How to make the change happen?
At the end of the 20th century, management was seen as consisting of the following six subcategories:
# Human resource management
#Operations or production management -Operations is that unit(be it a division or department) of an organization which carries out the actual execution of the core operating functions. For example:
in business administration, operations is responsible for the manufacture, delivery, and service of the products provided by the company
in large military units, operations is responsible for the movement and supply of troops in a theater of operation
#Strategic management -Strategic management is the process of specifying an organization’s objectives, developing policies and plans to achieve these objectives, and allocating resources so as to implement the plans. It is the highest level of managerial activity, usually performed by the company’s Chief Executive Officer(CEO) and executive team. It provides overall direction to the whole enterprise. An organizational strategy must be appropriate for an organizations resources, circumstances, and objectives. The process involves matching the companies’ strategic advantages to the business environment the organization faces. One objective of an overall corporate strategy is to put the organization into a position to carry out its mission effectively and efficiently. A good corporate strategy should integrate an organizational goals, policies, and action sequences(tactics) into a cohesive whole.
#Marketing management -Marketing management is the practical application of marketing techniques. It is the analysis, planning, implementation, and control of programs designed to create, build, and maintain mutually beneficial exchanges with target markets. The marketing manager has the task of influencing the level, timing, and composition of demand in way that will achieve organizational objectives.
Marketing management involves:
-Understanding the economic structure of your industry
-Identify segments within your market
-Identify the Marketing strategy which best fits your company
-Identifying your target market
-Do marketing research to develop profiles(demographic, psychographic, and behavioral) of your core customers
-Understand your competitors and their products
-Develop new products
-Establish environmental scanning mechanisms to detect opportunities and threats
-Understand your company’s strengths and weaknesses
-Audit your customers’ experience of your brand in full
-Develop marketing strategies for each of your products using the marketing mix variables of price, product, distribution, and promotion
-Create a sustainable competitive advantage
-Understand where you want your brands to be in the future, and write marketing plans on a regular basis to help you get there
-Setup feedback systems to help you monitor and adjust the process
#Financial management -Finance is the application of the principles of financial economics to an inter-related set of monetary problems. In the case of a company, this generally involves balancing risk and profitability and is typically called managerial finance or corporate finance. Investment management is concerned with the identification of an optimal portfolio of assets, given a set of objectives and constraints, as well as with the valuation of assets. Finance can also be used by individuals(called personal finance), and by governments(called public finance). In general, the goals of each of the above disciplines are achieved through the appropriate financial instruments, with consideration to their institutional setting.
#Information Technology management -Information Systems, also Management Information Systems(MIS) is the formal study of the information systems within an organization. WordNet described an information system as a system consisting of the network of all communication channels used within an organization.
An information system is comprised of all the components that collect, manipulate, and disseminate data or information. It usually includes hardware, software, people, communications systems, and the data itself. The activities involved include inputting data, processing of data into information, storage of data and information, and the production of outputs such as management reports.
The area of study should not be confused with Computer Science which is more theoretical and mathematical in nature or with Computer Engineering which is more engineering.
The study of Information Systems is usually a commerce and business administration discipline, and frequently involves software development, but also distinguishes itself by concentrating on the integration of computer systems with the aims of the organization.
In business, information systems support business processes and operations, support decision making, and support competitive strategies.
In the 21st century we find it increasingly difficult to think in terms of these six categories. More and more processes simultaneously involve several categories. Instead, we tend to think in terms of the various processes, tasks, and objects that one can manage.
Here there is a variety of managements for you.Change management, Communications management, Constraint Management, Cost management, Crisis management, Customer relationship management, Earned value management, Enterprise management, Facility management, Integration management, Knowledge management, Marketing management, Micromanagement, Pain management, Perception management, Procurement management, Program management, Project management, Process management, Product management, Quality management, Resource management, Risk management, Scope management, Skills management, Spend management, Supply chain management, Systems management, Time management and above all Stress management.