How Management Is Management

The following essay will describe and discuss what is management and how managers to do their jobs. This shall be done by providing a brief definition of the basic management functions. Then, how managers can apply scientific theory and behavioral theory in their organizations to do the work and work activities through other people in order to do work efficiency and effectively. This shall be done by using academic sources and reference material relevant to management that allows the organisation to achieve organisational aims and objectives.

It is widely accepted that management is both an art and a science. It is an art because it is a personal activity. Each manager or executive fulfils his or her task in a subjective way, while using an individual style, based on personality, attitudes, and values. Nonetheless, management is also a science. It is based on a vast accumulation of knowledge developed to aid managers in performing their jobs. Although it may be inexact and somewhat crude, there is still a wide teachable body of knowledge, and as in any other profession, this body of knowledge is based on well-established tools and techniques. (Aaron, etc., 1998, pp.25-31).

Management is a process of working with and through others to achieve organizational objectives in an efficient manner. From this definition the manager’s job has also been defined as planning, organizing, leading and controlling. A manager is also responsible for interpersonal roles that include: figurehead, leader and liaison; and informational roles which include: monitor, disseminator and spokesman; and decisional roles that include: entrepreneur, disturbance handler, resource allocator and negotiator. All these functions apply to managers and therefore position them as important pillars of their organizations. However, it is the manager’s leadership and management effectiveness that bring a significant impact to the organization achievement.

A manager is “someone who works with and through other people by coordinating their work activities in order to accomplish organisational goals”. (Robbins, etc., pp.8) In the past, the emphasis of managerial work has been on how managers oversee the work of people within fixed units. With the development of new forms of organisation, this definition is too narrow, because managers can do much more than this. Managers also play roles as the architects of organisational arrangements and resources. These are process of organisation building not simply control (Chapman, J. A. p55-56). In conclusion, managers’ job is to ensure that the goals are achieved efficiently and effectively and that quality of work is improved on a continuous basis.

The main purpose of manager’s job is to do work efficiently. We can hardly deny that intelligence, imagination and knowledge are all the important human resources for a person. Depending on these resources, managers may only have limited success; but if they utilize these resources more efficiently, they can have a phenomenal success.

From Fayol, the classic view of managerial functions as planning, organizing, communicating, coordinating and controlling suggests a rational and ordered approach to management activities. (Robbins, etc., 2003, pp.10-11). Managers in their workplaces present a picture of an approach to managerial activities that is quite different. A brief overview of a number of studies based on questionnaires and observation of managers in their workplaces highlight the seemingly active, informal, fragmented and chaotic nature of managerial work. (Joyce, 1999).
Most theory and research, however, seeks generic factors in managerial work. Fayol spearheaded the quest for a general theory of management. He described six organizational functions, one of which was the managerial function. This was exercised through the members of the organisation, and encompassed the elements of planning, organizing, coordinating, controlling and commanding. Fayol is also

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