The nature of management is best described by its features. So this article highlights the important features depicting the nature of management.
We already know what is management.
Back in time, management got defined as “the art of getting things done through people.” But the definition evolved with the passage of time.
Now it’s a process of planning, organizing, directing, and controlling the activities.
You have to open your mind and eyes to better understand the nature of management through this article.
12 Features To Understand The Nature Of Management:
Management is to use the available resources in the best possible way. It eases the organizational effectiveness and long-term goal attainment.
Management exists in all kinds of organizations that are chasing their goals.
Whether the organizations are private, large, or small management is an essential function.
You must be thinking what is the nature of management? Right? And how it’s effective for organizations?
Well, the nature of management gets described by many features which are as follows:
1. Management Is A Universal Process:
Management exists in every function or activity. Every organizational activity regardless of its size or type involves management.
Whenever two or more people are working together, management is necessary. Because management makes them achieve their common goals.
You can’t achieve your intentions without management.
Management is a pervasive activity. You’ll see management in families, universities, and businesses.
The fundamental principles of management are applicable in all areas of organizations.
And managers at any level performs the same basic functions. So it’s a universal process and common in all organizations.
Universality means that managerial skills are transferable. And it’s possible to train and develop the managers.
2. Management Is Purposeful In Nature:
Management requires your goals to be realistic and attainable.
The managerial tasks are directed towards efficiency. Of course, management demands effectiveness.
Do you want to measure the performance of management? Look at how you have been achieving your goals and it’s all done.
So management has no full-stop. It’s ongoing and forever.
It’s a way of achieving goals. So your goals and management are hand-in-hand.
The basic goal is ensuring efficiency in the use of human or financial resources.
We can say that management is purposeful. Because goal achievement is the measure of managerial success.
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3. Management Involves Factor Of Production:
Qualified and efficient managers are necessary. Being a manager you’d have to use the resources to bring the best output.
And managers who have proper equipment and knowledge makes the best use of funds.
4. Management Is An Integrative Force In Nature:
Management is all about coordinating individual efforts into a team. Because everyone works according to their own role.
It compiles all the activities into proper goal achievement.
So management reconciles the individual goals with organizational goals.
It acts as a unifying force, a whole that is more than the sum of individual parts. And it helps integrating human and other resources.
5. Management Is A Group Activity In Nature:
Management coordinates all human and physical resources. And it does so to achieve the greatest levels of combined productivity.
It’s impossible to do the tasks without coordination. And there would be mess and chaos all around.
6. Management Is A Social Process In Nature:
Management occurs by people, through people, and for people. It manages people organized in workgroups.
And it retains, develops, and motivates people at work.
It handles taking care of the satisfaction of people as social beings.
Why call it a social process? Because you can see its concern is with interpersonal relations.
And the human factor is the most important thing in management.
Management is not about directing things it’s about developing people.
7. Nature Of Management Is Multidisciplinary:
Management is said to be multidisciplinary. Because it uses knowledge from several disciplines.
For example, sociology, psychology, engineering, anthropology, and many other fields.
Management involves such a large amount of information. The reason is that it draws knowledge from other fields.
8. Management Is A Dynamic Function:
Management should have the ability to face the changes. And these changes can be economic, social, political, or technological.
Management enables people to have enough training. So that they can perform their best even in the most critical situations.
9. Management Is An Important Organ Of Society:
Management and society affect each other. The structure of management should be contributing to society.
Organizing charity functions, donations, and sports competitions can be helpful.
10. Management Is Intangible:
Management is intangible and we can’t see it. To feel the presence of management, we would have to look at its results.
But the people performing management functions are tangible and visible.
For example, managers are visible while performing their duties.
11. Management Is A Creative Organ:
Management brings innovation to the workplace. As it provides people with creative ideas and new imaginations.
Management forms the vision of creativity and enhances group efforts.
12. Management Is A Continuous Process:
Management is an on-going activity. It’s a dynamic process that keeps on operating.
The cycle of management continues as long as there is an organization.
It means that the management is in direct relation to the existence of the organization.
As long as the managerial activities are taking place, management stays there.
All these features show the nature of management. But here’s another way to look at management’s nature. And some people call it a science and others say it’s an art.
Here’s a description of both of these concepts.
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Management As An Art And A Science
Describing the nature of management from one perspective is difficult. Because different people look at management in different ways.
A psychologist may consider it as an art to understand human behavior. While a mathematician might call it a logical process.
Such approaches are quite narrow. And these don’t show the management as a whole.
Going beyond these narrow approaches, let’s explore the nature of management. Have a look at management’s nature as an art and a science.
1. Management As An Art:
The meaning of art here is a specific way of doing things. It points out the path used for the attainment of objectives.
In more simple words, it is the know-how to achieve the desired results. So management contains many eminent qualities of art.
Due to the following similarities, management looks like art.
1. The process of management is like art because it requires the knowledge of using skills and abilities.
2. There is a risk involved in both of these subjects. Because the success of art is quite risky. So is the case with management. The success of a manager also operates on uncertainty.
3. Management contains practicality like an art. The aim of art is to achieve certain specific results.
And the goal of management is also to get some concrete results at the end.
4. The artwork is very personalized. Because every artist has his own way of stuffing the magic into his work.
Management is also personalized. Because each manager uses his own approach for solving problems.
5. In the end, like art, management is no doubt an art. And that too the finest art.
2. Management As A Science:
Science is a properly organized body of knowledge. And the base of this knowledge is the exact principles and perfect findings.
And most importantly, one can verify these principles and findings.
The subjects developed on the basis of science having universal facts are science.
Thus, we can say that management is also science according to these points.
Some important features of management as science are:
1. Science is an organized body of knowledge and it contains general principles.
Likewise, management is also a set of knowledge with basic principles.
2. For making observations, science uses systematic and scientific methods.
Management also makes observations using scientific methods.
3. The principles of science are exact and used all over the world.
And principles of management are also exact and applicable everywhere.
4. The principles of science got derived through practice. And the competent people verified these.
Practice got used while making management principles. And these also proved to be true.
5. There is predictive power in science. Management also contains predictive power and a manager can forecast the business matters.
So we can say that management is also a science. But management falls in the category of social sciences.
Unlike other sciences (physics, chemistry, astronomy) management is not a perfect science.
Conclusion:
Management is an art as well as science. It contains a systematic body of theoretical knowledge.
This also involves the practical application of such knowledge.
Management is a discipline that involves specialized training. It also contains an ethical code arising out of its social obligations.
Considering these characteristics, we can say that management is a continuous social process.
And its concern is to coordinate the human and material resources. So to make the accomplishment of desired aims possible.
It involves both the determination and accomplishment of organizational goals.
Drop a comment to share your thoughts on the nature of management.
Last Updated on 3 years by Assma Riaz
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