Principles of Management

Assignment #1

Submitted by: Maryam Javaid

Enrollment #: 01-171192-025
BS-Psychology 4-A

Date of Submission: 9th March 2021

Submitted to: Dr. Sumaira Iqbal
Identify the relevance of popular humanities and social science courses to management practices.

Using the dictionary definition of management, it is simply the process of getting things done with the
aim of achieving goals efficiently and effectively however due to this reason it has often been estranged
from other disciplines in the field of social science. But when analysed logically, social sciences is the
study of people and their interactions with their environment while similarly management is a practice
of understanding and dealing with people usually in the setting of an organization. Management skills
are required in every facet and field of life and careers just like how a manager must have knowledge of
similar fields to perform effectively. Therefore, management is now considered an interdisciplinary field
combining with different social sciences such as sociology, psychology, philosophy, anthropology,
political science and economics to create strategies for an organization and employ resources effectively
to accomplish objectives.

Sociology is the study of human behaviour, structure and functioning of the human society. A manager
in an organization with appropriate knowledge of sociology will be better able to understand the
different cultural and social aspects of an individuals personality so they can handle disputes and
communicate effectively, understanding the changing needs of employees and customers. On a more
holistic level, sociology helps managers understand how societal changes such as globalization, climate
change etc. will affect the future of the organization, client behaviour, employee satisfaction etc.

Moving on to how psychology is related to management, since psychology is the scientific study of the
human mind and behaviour it ties in very well with management where a manager must know how to
appropriately select and train their employees to ensure they will be productive parts of the
organization as a whole, a process aided by knowledge of psychology. Managers must also know how to
motivate their employees to ensure job satisfaction and high performance throughout their time at the
organization. Psychological knowledge also helps managers gain insight into their customers and
employees to understand and deal with them better along with many other purposes such as utilizing
the best methods to attain and retain the best employees. In fact psychology and management are so
interlinked that a separate field in the domain of psychology, namely Industrial and Organizational
Psychology is studied widely to better understand organizations, workspaces and their management.

Philosophy is said to be the starting point of all various fields currently present, studied and applied
which can be accredited to the work of great ancient philosophers such as Socrates, Plato, Aristotle etc.
This is also the case with management where basic concepts of business ethics and relating rewards to
productivity originated from philosophers who used logical thinking to bring progress to humankind.
This is just as applicable to comparatively more modern theories of management philosophy by the likes
of Henry Fayol, Max Weber, Elton Mayo, Frederick W. Taylor etc. who brought to light the importance of
concepts such as division of labour, having a manager leading tasks and the relationships of employees
with each other, to the proper working of an organization. Studying and applying these theories to the
workspace helps managers execute team operations effectively.

Anthropology is the scientific study of humans, including their behaviour, their biological composition
and human societies in both the present and the past. This field too, similar to the others mentioned
above contribute to managers understanding their employees and customers better. Specifically, a
subdivision of anthropology namely, cultural anthropology is concerned with the study of different
cultures present in the world. This knowledge is something extremely practical to a manager’s work in
suppose the human resources department or even at a team leader level since it helps them better
understand the fundamental differences in the values and behaviours of people belonging to different
cultures or different backgrounds in the same workplace. The strong bond between anthropology and
management can be demonstrated by looking back at the Hawthorne Project in the 1950s that was
conducted by a group of anthropologists who performed numerous studies to emphasize the
importance of feelings, identities and social relationships in a workplace rather than just physical
conditions of the workplace or self-interest.

Political Science is a field of social science which is more extensively connected to management than any
of the other social sciences above. Since political science is essentially a study that deals with the
systems of governance and the analysis of political activities and political behaviour, it is easy to see how
management plays a big role in it. Specific concepts that intermingle for example are the
leadership/management styles in government which are not only a topic of study for management but
also affect the way management plays out in organizations. In a democratic government for instance,
the way of managing leans more towards giving the people the rights and freedoms to choose and
execute their free will however in governments that take on a more capitalistic approach, management
leans more towards an autocratic style where all the necessary decisions are taken by the government
such as the markets and industrial production. Other domains that tie together political science and
management are the allocation of resources and power, the structure of conflict and the manipulation
of power.

Economics is the study of production, consumption and the allocation of scarce resources. This is a
concept related to management where allocating resources such as those of man and material,
efficiently is one of the main roles required by a manager. Economics discusses questions regarding
policies, the state of markets and trade, concepts that greatly affect the job of a manager in an
organization affected by these economic changes.