Purpose and Importance of Management

No enterprise can run without management. Some people may say that the main purpose of management is to make a profit. For most business firms, an important purpose is the creation of a surplus. Management is to establish an environment in which people can accomplish organizational goals with the least amount of time, money, materials, and personal dissatisfaction or in which they can achieve as much as possible of a desired goal with available resources.

Note: The chief purpose of management is to achieve organizational policy objectives by ensuring unhindered progress and improvement of the organization through the maximum utilization of its resources to the best possible results.

Management can greatly affect not only an organization but also the socioeconomic and political goals of a country. Improving economic and social standards of living and creating a better political environment are the real challenges before modern management. The achievement of socio-political and economic targets in Bangladesh will depend on whether or not the management of the country can efficiently handle and contain the course of current and future events in the social, political, and economic arenas.

Management makes the human effort more productive. It brings better equipment, plants, offices, products, services, and human relations to our society. Effecting improvements and progress is its chief purpose. There is no substitute for good management. It is an essential social process. It is charged with the responsibility of taking action that will make it possible for individuals to make their best contributions to group objectives. Management thus applies to small and large organizations, to profit and non-profit enterprises, and to manufacturing as well as service industries. Effective management is the concern of the corporation president, the hospital administrator, the government secretary, the football manager, the college principal, and the university Vice-Chancellor.

Note: Management draws up plans, and motives and guides the employees for their best performance within the limits of the organization's available resources. It is sound management rather than only the resources that can keep the development process on track.

Nature has given us enormous resources. Most of these resources require managemental attention so that they can be used for the benefit of the society. Management is essential because it makes plans, directs employees and motivates them, coordinates the activities of all, and ensures performance through control. It may so happen that an enterprise with a weak resource base may become successful with sound management.

Moreover, it is often heard that there are huge natural resources in countries like Bangladesh but it is due to the absence of proper management that they are being wasted. In many countries of Asia with a poor resource base, such as Japan, Singapore, Taiwan, and the like, huge industrial development has not been possible without sound management. Research results also prove that the Western Principles of Management economic giants like the USA and Germany could not have reached their present position without proper management. Conversely, oil-rich countries like Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Iraq have failed to make any headway toward industrialization because of the poor quality of their managerial capability.

Management is the most important of all resources. It is vital both at the micro and the macro level. It is essential for every enterprise, for every society, for every country. President Roosevelt once rightly said, "No ideology, no ism, no political theory can win a greater output with less effort from a given complex of human and material resources without sound management".

There is no disagreement among scholars regarding the importance of management in using the factors of production to achieve desired results. Scientific and technological developments can bear no fruit without management. Thus the contemporary thrust is more on managerial development, than on scientific research. The use of information technology and computer software in management is an added impetus to the overriding importance of management. The only hope of countries with meager natural and/or economic resources is to improve management and ensure a better life for their people.

Features or Characteristics of Management

For a clear understanding of management, its features/characteristics may be discussed below:

Management is usually associated with group efforts: It is usual to associate management with a group. Although people as individuals manage many personal affairs, the group emphasis on management is universal. Every enterprise entails the existence of a group to achieve goals. It is now established that goals are achieved more readily by a group than by any one person alone.
Management is accomplished through the efforts of others: Management is sometimes defined as “getting things done through others’ efforts.” Besides the manager of a firm, there may be accountants, engineers, system analysts, salesmen, and a host of other employees working but it is the manager’s job to integrate all their activities. Thus it can well be said that participation in management necessitates relinquishing the normal tendency to perform all things oneself and getting tasks accomplished through group efforts.
Management is purposeful: Wherever there is management there is a purpose. Management deals with the achievement of something definite, expressed as a goal or objective. Management success is commonly measured by the extent to which objectives are achieved. Management exists because it is an effective means of getting the necessary work accomplished.
Management is action-oriented: Managers focus their attention and efforts on bringing about successful action. Successful managers have an urge for accomplishment. They know when and where to start, what to do to keep things moving, and how to follow through.
Management is intangible: Management is often called the unseen force, its presence is evidenced by the results of its efforts - motivation among employees, discipline in the group, high productivity, adequate surplus, etc. Conversely, the identity of management may also be felt by its absence or by the presence of its direct opposite − mismanagement. The consequence of mismanagement is anybody’s guess.
Management is indispensable: Management can neither be replaced nor substituted by anything else. Even the computer which is a wonderful invention of the twentieth century can only aid but not replace management. We know that the computer is an extremely powerful tool for management. It can widen a manager's vision and sharpen his insight by supplying more and faster information for making key decisions. The computer has enabled the manager to conduct analysis far beyond the normal analytical capacities of man. But what happens in reality is that the computer can neither work by itself nor can it pass any judgment. The manager plays his/her role by providing judgment and imagination as well as interpreting and evaluating what the information/data means in each case.
Management can ensure a better life: A manager can do much to improve the work environment, stimulate people to perform better, achieve progress, bring hope, and accomplish better things in life.

Organization, Administration, and Management

The terms organization, administration, and management are often used interchangeably. Sometimes they are used to mean the same thing. But, for the student of management, a line of distinction needs to be drawn between them and the terms need to be delimited.

By organization, we simply mean the “collection, preservation, and coordination of the elements of an enterprise in an integrated manner.” It also signifies the bringing together of various resources of an enterprise into a harmonious whole. It is the primary job of an entrepreneur, and the existence of an enterprise cannot be conceived of without it. Scholars suggest that the precondition for the success of any venture is proper organization. It is an organization that ensures the employment of resources for the accomplishment of enterprise goals. The task of the organization is performed by the promoters and/or entrepreneurs themselves.

Note: The function of the organization is to pull the resources of an enterprise together.

On the other hand, administration is the driving force of an enterprise which sets the objectives and formulates plans to achieve them. Administration also determines the principles for ensuring the effective performance of the activities of different divisions and branches of the enterprise. In a nutshell, administration is entrusted with the responsibility of making plans and providing leadership for achieving goals. In this sense, administration may be viewed as top-level management and the chief boss. Thus the board of directors of a company or the syndicate of a university can be called the administrative organ, performing the planning and leadership functions for the whole enterprise/ institution.

Note: Administration is entrusted with planning and effective execution of company policies through efficient leadership.

Management is primarily entrusted with the responsibility of executing the plans and policies set by the administration for achieving pre-determined goals and objectives. The success of an enterprise/institution is thus dependent on how efficiently the management can execute plans and policies set by the administration. Thus the administration cannot be successful without the cooperation of management. The job of each manager is, therefore, to win the cooperation of all those who work under him so that they work for enterprise goals set by the administration.

Note: The job of management is to ensure orderly and methodical accomplishment of the pre-set policy objectives of an enterprise.

2024-06-17
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