It is safe to say that an effective manager is a key ingredient for business success. A manager’s job is to ensure good management in an organisation. This is achieved by learning the ins and outs of management. Thus gain deeper insights into management we need to learn about the basic characteristics of management.
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Characteristics of Management
Goal-oriented process
An essential aspect of management is to combine individual efforts and direct them towards achieving organisational goals. These goals differ from organisation to organisation. For example, an organisation can have a profit motive whereas a social work organisation might have a goal of eradicating illiteracy among children. Management recognises these goals and aims to fulfil them.
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Pervasive
Management is a requirement and essential for the functioning of all kinds of organisations- social, economic or political. Without management, the processes of an organisation would be chaotic and unordered. Further, it is equally essential for organisations across all countries. However, the only difference lies in the how management is implemented within an organisation.
Multidimensional
Management has three dimensions:
- Work management: Every organisation exists for completion of some work. This work varies from producing clothes in clothing sector to treating patients in hospitals. Management looks at this work as goals to be achieved and works towards these goals. Further, this is done in terms of problems to be solved, decisions to be made, plans to be established, budgets to be prepared, responsibilities to be assigned and authority to be delegated.
- Management of people: Another dimension of management is concerned with getting work done from people, by assigning work to worthy employees who can work effectively towards the realisation of organisational goals. This is achieved by ensuring that the strength is highlighted and the weakness is driven out of the equation. It further has two dimensions- a) dealing with people as individuals with diverse needs and behaviours and b) dealing with individuals perceiving them as a part of a wider group of people.
- Management of operations: As every organisation aims at the completion of work, they also have a particular product or service to provide with respect to their domain of operation. Note that this is met with the help of a production process. Management also looks after a production process of an organisation that transforms the input with the help of technology required into the output for consumption. Interestingly, this is linked to both management of work and people.
Continuous Process
We now know that there are various functions of management. These are- planning, organising, directing, staffing and controlling. As a matter of fact, a manager performs all these functions simultaneously. Although these functions are separate, management is concerned with performing all of them simultaneously all the time. Consequently, management is a dynamic and continuous process.
Group Activity
An organisation consists of a large number of individuals having different reasons and purposes to join. Again these individual differ based on their needs and behaviours. However, it is important to realise that these diverse individuals work together towards the achievement of the organisational goals. Management diverts the individual efforts towards the right direction. Further, effective management enables all the individuals to grow and develop as their needs and opportunities change.
Dynamic Function
An organisation has to adapt to the environment in order to succeed. Thus management is dynamic in nature and adapts to the ever-changing social, economic and political conditions. A famous example of this is how McDonald’s had to change its menu to serve and emerge as a major fast food giant in the Indian market.
Intangible Force
Management cannot be touched or it isn’t tangible. However effective management can be easily felt. Evidently, if there is order instead of chaos within an organisation, the employees are happy and the organisational goals are being organised it can be easily said that there exists good management.
A Solved Example for You
Q: What are the characteristics of management?
Ans: The characteristics of management are:
- Goal-oriented
- Pervasive
- Multi-dimensional
- Continuous process
- Group activity
- Dynamic function
- Intangible force
