Management

Management

Management is the organization of the activities of a business in order to achieve defined objectives. And management is a science and at the same time is an art. Like a science management has a body of theory, systematic data collection, objective analysis, methodology and, like an art, management is based on “gut feeling” as each good manager must have good, well-developed intuition as there are lots of situations, when a manager has to solve a problem or conflict very quickly as he doesn’t have enough time to analyze it, so his decisions should be based on his “gut feeling”.

There are many schools and approaches to management, but I will be discussing the two most important of them: scientific management and MBO (management by objectives). Scientific management was introduced by Frederic Taylor, an American engineer. He believed that work should be studied and analyzed in order to increase worker’s productivity. His approach is based on three key points:

• all the components and operations of each task must be analyzed;
• as a result, management selects the best method for the performance of a given task, worker, according to their skills and talents and the type of equipment to be used;
• workers must be trained for the job.

The main disadvantage of Taylor’s approach is that it focuses only on the system of work, so a worker is only a tool in the hands of management while he/she should be involved in different activities such as decision-making and planning, when he has the opportunity to express his ideas, thus he would be more interested in the results of his job.

Another approach to management is MBO which was introduced by P. Drucker in 1954. It is a system which is based on the idea of motivating workers by aligning their objectives with the goals of the organization. The main idea of this approach is that everybody is clear about what he must do, in what way and why it’s beneficial to the whole organization. At the centre of MBO is the four-step cycle:

• setting objectives – to support the mission, an organization must set clear goals and objectives;
• developing action plans – according to defined objectives managers formulate a future course of action;
• periodic review – periodic checkups give the possibility to reconsider objectives in order to see if they are valid or not;
• performance appraisal – discussion on the meeting how the things turned out, thus progress is checked; workers are rewarded with a fee or promotion.

It is quite easy to see the advantages of MBO. In comparison with scientific management MBO focuses on the employees as it explains them their tasks, goals and the role of them, thus workers feel more responsible and motivated.

There are lots of principles of management, but the main of them are only five:

• division of work - to use human resources more efficiently complex tasks are divided into specialized jobs between employees;
• authority -  is used to control, direct and organize all the activities and workers; by it coordination of effort is achieved;
• discipline – it is a system of rules (norms) of conduct or methods to practice; is the compliance and commitment of people working for organization. Establishes order making people working faster and more effectively;
• unity of command and direction – orders must be received only from supervisors; all activities and all people (in an organization) are necessary to control, coordinate and direct;
• subordination of individual interests to general – motivation by aligning employees’ objectives with the goals of the organization.

Nowadays the profession of a manager has become very popular and very important. Practice, experience and theory play a great role in management. To be a specialist in a theoretical part of management does not mean that you are a good manager, but if you can use theoretical knowledge in practice, you can be considered as a good manager. And through practice managers gain experience which is very important in the process of management. With experience you make decisions, define and solve problems faster, begin to understand the language of management (it means to understand, when it is necessary to explain the subordinates their task, when to motivate them and in what way etc.), so with experience your professionalism is growing.

It is not easy to be a good manager. There are three main factors which determine your professional status (are you a good manager or not). First, you must be a good specialist in your area. Second, you must place organizational and society’s interests before personal as being a good manager implies you to assume all the responsibility. Third, there must be a code of conduct (norms of behavior all members of an organization are expected to follow). Also there are a lot of characteristics of a good manager. Managers must understand the environment, in which the organization operates, to understand its culture, to be aware of the principles of management and to follow them. Also a good manager must be able to get people behind, to predict what changes will occur in the future, to adapt to them quickly, to have “gut feeling” and to listen for it and also he must be capable of assuming all the responsibility.

Managers have a number of functions:

• planning – managers formulate a future course of action, which give goal to the organization; deviations from plan must be considered in advance;
• decision making – managers define all possible decisions and to find the best one among them;
• organizing – managers take into consideration lots of factors such as goals, methods, workers and equipment for the accomplishment of the plan, and the consequences;
• staffing – managers recruit, train and develop people who can contribute to the organized effort in order to increase worker’s productivity;
• communicating – tasks and goals must be explained to subordinates and managers are responsive to feedback;
• motivating – subordination of worker’s interests (goals) with the goals of the organization;
• leading – if managers are capable to get people behind, they become leader;
• controlling – managers direct and correct actions of the subordinates and also ensure that there are no deviations from the plan.

To be a manager does not mean to be a leader. The first implies to organize, direct and control people, the second means to get them behind. It is an innate ability, you cannot learn to be a leader, but you can learn to be a manager.

Nowadays international contacts have got a great development. More and more companies expand abroad. In these circumstances managers, who can operate effectively across cultures, have become invaluable. Such managers are called “international”. There are some characteristics of an “international” manager. First, he must have a good understanding of foreign business systems and the global economy, of international management and marketing, to know, how his culture (organizational) impacts his management style and organizational behavior and also to be aware of foreign organizational cultures and their impact on management style.

 “International” manager must be professional in such spheres as communication, intercultural communication and negotiation (he has to spend a half of his time in negotiation). Also “international”  managers are supposed to possess such qualities as charisma, adaptability, intelligence, inventiveness, leadership.

To draw the conclusion we can say that the profession of manager is rather difficult as it requires great responsibility and includes a variety of obligations.