Professional Documents
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MBA 802
MANAGEMENT PRACTICES
LESSON ONE
INTRODUCTION
At any time of our lives we are members of one organization or another e.g. Church, School,
College, Workplace etc. The organizations we belong to are diverse in many aspects for
example size, structure, membership and ownership. However, these organizations all have
certain things in common.
These include:
• A goal or purpose
• Program or method for achieving the goals.
• Plans to ensure effectiveness of the goals.
• Leaders/Managers who are responsible for helping the organization achieve its goals.
So, the study of management involves the study of the work and performance of managers
i.e., how organizations are managed so that they can achieve their goals.
The verb ‘manage’ came from the Italian word ‘maneggiare’ (to handle-especially tools),
which was derived from the Latin word ‘manus’(hand). The French word ‘mesnagement’
later ‘me´nagement’ influenced the development in meaning of the English word
‘management’ in the 17th and 18th century.
DEFINING MANAGEMENT
Several definitions of management have been advanced but because of the complex nature
of management no one definition has been universally accepted. The simplest definition of
management was given by Mary Parker Follet. She defined management as "the art of
getting things done through people". From this definition we see that managers achieve
organizational goals by arranging for others the necessary tasks to be performed to achieve
the goals of the organization, hence they do not do the work themselves.
Similarly, management has also been defined as the process of planning, organizing, leading
and controlling the efforts of organizational members and using all other resources to
achieve stated organizational goals. In this case, a process is a systematic way of doing
things so management is systematic. Planning means that the actions of managers are based
on some method, or logic organizing means that manager’s co- ordinate the human and non
human resources in order to achieve goals. Leading describes how managers direct and
influence subordinates by establishing the proper atmosphere for doing tasks. Controlling
means that managers select the right objectives i.e., select the right things to be done. This
definition says that management involves attainment of stated goals. This means the
manager’s work is aimed at specific goals or ends. Therefore, as a discipline, management
comprises the interlocking functions of formulating corporate and organizational planning,
controlling and directing the firm’s resources to achieve policy’s objectives.
A third definition defines management as a process of grouping together organizational
material and human resource activities and directing them to use the scarce resources
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efficiently and effectively in order to achieve the organizational and individual goals and
objectives. Therefore, management work involves activity - managers do not sit around all
i. The organization to obtain and commit the resources required to reach its objectives.
but also on their personal skills, conceptual skills, and their communication skills.
Nonetheless, Henry Mintzberg analyzed how managers spend their time and came to the
and to whom the resources of the organization and the managers own time will be allocated.
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work, how much you delegate and how much you allow people to participate.
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