The Nature of Management

 

Management is an important area of study from both the personal and the global perspective. Formally defined, management is the process of working with and through others to achieve organizational objectives in a changing environment. Central to this process is the effective and efficient use of limited resources. Managerial ability is the demonstrated capacity to achieve organizational objectives both effectively and efficiently.

The basic formula for managerial success is S=A x M x O (managerial success = ability x motivation to manage x opportunity). Managerial ability results when theory and practice are systematically integrated.           

A small business is defined as an independently owned and managed profit-seeking enterprise employing fewer than 100 persons. Small business and public sector organizations afford managers some unique opportunities and challenges. Research indicates that small busi­ness managers have a different managerial role profile than do managers in larger businesses. The axiom of the small business generalist and the large business specialist appears to be valid. "Lack of management expertise" was found by researchers to be the primary cause of the high failure rate in small businesses. In spite of a good deal of evidence to the contrary, public sector managers must cope with a negative image. Many people assume that bureaucrats are incompetent and wasteful. Four major constraints public sector managers must deal with are: legislated purposes (government agencies are told what to do by law-making bodies), no competition, weak incentives, and organizational inflexibility (large governmental bureaucracies have to be highly structured to provide standard services to millions of clients nationwide, reams of procedures and regulations can stifle innovation).

Slumping productivity growth in the United States took an upward swing in 1983-84 largely due to a maturing work force, lower inflation and cheaper energy, technological advancement, and increased labor-management cooperation. Still, there is much room for improvement if the United States is to match Japan's record of productivity growth. It is important for managers to translate the productivity problem into organizational terms. Organizational productivity is the ratio of total input to total output, adjusted for inflation, for a specific period of time. Japan, with the world's highest rate of productivity growth, is an inspiring example of how to do more with less.