Nature and Significance of Management Test - 4

Management has three objective:

1. Organisational/Economical - a. Survival   b. Profit  c. Growth

2. Social 

3. Personal

Management is not limited upto political objective as it is very narrow concept. In this world the objective of management of any organisation can be broadly classified into three categories discussed above

Science is a Systematised body of knowledge. Its principles are based on a cause and effect relationship. For example, the phenomenon of an apple falling from a tree towards the ground is explained by the law of gravity. Science has its own vocabulary of terms and concepts. Whereas Art is concerned with application of that knowledge.

Management is considered both art and science. Because :-

1. The practice of management is an art.

2. However, managers can work better if their practice is based on the principles of management. These principles constitute the science of management

Providing facilities of Schools, creches and hospitals is the social objective of management. As far as organisational objective is concerned, it includes economic objectives of an organisation such as - Survival, Profit and Growth. On the other hand personal objective includes financial (salaries and perks) and non financial incentives (peer recognition and higher level needs) to an employee.

Marketing and Personnel Managers are part of Middle level Management because Middle Level Management consists deparmental and divisional heads or managers. Marketing, Personnel, Finance, Production etc. are different departments in an organisation. On the other hand Top Level Management consists Senior most executives such as - Chairman, Chief Executive Officers etc. and Operational Management consists Supervisor and Foreman.

There are three organisational/economical objective of managment:

1. Survival

2. Profit

3. Growth

Supply of quality goods is a social objective as it involves the creation of benefit for the society. By supplying quality goods an organisation creates the benefit to customer as well as to entire society 

Top level managers formulate the plan and policy for overall organisation. Middle level managers is responsible for implementing and controlling plans, policies and strategies developed by top management. Operational/Supervisory management directly oversee the efforts of the workforce.

There are five functions of Management, Which are as follow :-

1. Planning    2. Organising   3. Staffing    4. Directing   5. Controlling

Cooperating is not a separate function of management. Cooperating means work together for a common purpose or benefits. While performing different functions of management, Members of an organisation may cooperate each other. Cooperation can be there in all the functions of management. But it can not be considered as a separate function of management.

Management is a goal-oriented process because an organisation has set of basic goals which are the basic reason for its existence. Management units the efforts of different individuals in the organisation towards achieving these goals

Planning is concerned with specially formulation of policies and strategies. Planning is concerned with deciding in advance what to do and how to do. Objectives, Strategies, Policies, Procedures, Methods, Rules, Programme and Budget are different types of plan which are formulated in advance.

Hence, the correct option is C.

Effectiveness in management is concerned with doing the right task, completing activities and achieving goals or target.In the above case manager was able to achieve the target of 25,000 units in a year. That's why he can be called effective. 

Efficiency means doing the task correctly and with minimum cost. In the above case manager achieved the target at higher production cost. That's why he can not be called efficient.

Hence, the correct option is B.

Efficiency means doing the task correctly and with minimum cost.In the above case, Production manager was able to cut down the cost. That's why he is efficient.

Effectiveness in management is concerned with doing the right task, completing activities and achieving goals or target. In the above case, Production manager could not achieve the target production of 22,000 units in a year. That's why he is effective.

There are various types of plans which are as follow:

1. Objective  2. Strategy  3. Policy  4. Procedure  5. Method  6. Rule  7. Programme  8. Budget

Policies and Strategies are formulated under planning function.

There are three organisational/economic objectives of management :

1. Survival 2. Profits 3. Growth

Providing employment to the disadvantaged sections of society is a part of social objective of management.

Top level managment consists of the senior-most executives of the organisation. They are usually referred to as the Chairman, Board of Directors, Managing Directors, Chief Executive Officer, Chief Operating Officer, President and Vice-President etc.They are responsible for all the activities of the business and for its impact on society.

Accountant is not a position of senior most executive in an organisation.

Middle level management consists of divisonal and departmental heads. As there may be following functional department in an organisation:

1. Production department  2. Finance department  3. Marketing department  4. Human Resource department

The manager, who heads these department comes at middle level management. so finance manager comes under middle level management.

President, Chairman, Director, Chief executive officer, Chief finance officer etc. are senior-most top executives of the organisation who comes at Top level management

Supervisor directly oversees the efforts of the workforce who comes at supervisory or operational management.

Cooperation is an act of working or acting together for a common purpose for benefit.it aims to help each other. It is more or less active assistance from a person, organisation etc. whereas the process by which a manager synchronises the activities of different departments is known as coordination. 

coordination is deliberatly synchronising the activities of different departments or indiviudals whereas cooperation is willing spirit of helping each other.

The other two aspects given in the option of this question (Planning and Staffing) are functions of management

The work performed by Top Level Management is complex and stressful because they have to devote long hours and commitment to the organisation.These top level managers are responsible for the welfare and survival of the organisation.They are responsible for all the activities of the business and for its impact on society.

Their work is not concerned with control of operative level employees as this has to be done by Middle Level Management. Apart from that overseeing the efforts of worker has to be done by Operational or Supervisory Management

Management is multidimensional which has three dimensions:

1. Managment of work

2. Management of people

3. Management of operations

Management is directly concerned with managment of people as people are an organisation's greatest asset. Getting things done through people is still a major task for the manager.

Managing people has two dimensions

(i) it implies dealing with employees as individuals with diverse needs and behavior;

(ii) it also means dealing with individuals as a group of people.

Chairman, Chief Executive Officer, Chief Operating Officer, Managing Director, Board Of Director, President, Vice-President are senior most executives in an organisation. Top Management is a team consisting of managers from different functional levels, heading finance, marketing etc. For example Chief Marketing Officer, Chief Finance Manager etc.They are part of Top Level Management.

Effectiveness is concerned with the end result. Effectiveness basically means finishing the given task irrespective of the cost incurred.

Example - Suppose, a company's target production rs 5000 units in a year. To achieve this target the manager has to operate on double shifts due to power failure most of the time. This manager is able to produce 5000 units but at a higher production cost. In this case manager is effective because he has achieved the target. At the same time he is not efficient because he has achieved this target at higher production cost.

Coordination neither a function nor an objective of management. 

Coordination is the force that binds all the other functions of management.Coordination is implicit and inherent in all functions of an organisation.

There are only three objectives of management :

Organisational/Economic objective

Social objective

Personal objective

Conclusion - Coordination is an essence of management.

All professions are based on a well-defined body of knowledge that can be acquired through instruction.

Management is based on a systematic body of knowledge comprising well-defined principles based on a variety of business situations. This knowledge can be acquired

at different colleges and professional institutes and through a number of books and journals

Efficiency is concerned with minimum cost (resources). Efficiency means using less resources (i.e., the inputs) to derive more benefits (i.e., the outputs).Efficiency is also increased when for the same benefit or outputs, fewer (minimum) resources are used and less costs are incurred.

Example - XYZ Ltd., a garment manufacturing company set the target production of 100 garments per month for each worker. Ravi, a worker produces 100 garments at the cost of Rs. 200 per garment. On the other hand, Mohan achieves the target of 100 garments at the cost of Rs.150 per garment. As Mohan utilise minimum resources (cost) to achieve the target, he is efficient.

Top Level Management is responsible for welfare and survival of an organisation because they are responsible for all the activities of the business and its impact on society.They formulate overall organisational goals and strategies for their achievement. They analyse the business environment and its implications for the survival of the organisation.

Management is a dynamic function and has to adapt itself to the changing environment.An organisation interacts with its external environment which consists of various social, economic and political factors. In order to be successful, an organisation must change itself and its goals according to the needs of the environment

Coordination is the process by which a manager synchronises or binds all the actvities of different department and all other functions of management. It is a common thread that runs through all activities of different department such as purchase, production, sales, finance etc.

Management is a group activity because an organisation is a collection of diverse individuals with different needs. Every member of the group has a different purpose for joining the organisation but as members of the organisation they work towards fulfilling the common organisational goal. This requires team work and coordination of individual effort in a common direction. At the same time management should enable all its members to grow and develop as needs and opportunities change.

Management is not a tangible force because it cannot be touched and seen but its presence can be felt in the way organisation functions. The effect of management is noticeable in an organisation when:

1. Targets are met according to plans

2. Employees are happy and satisfied

3. There is orderliness instead of chaos

It can be concluded that Management is an intangible force and not a tangible force.

Management is multidimensional as it has three main dimensions:

1. Management of work

2. Management of People

3. Management of operations