Identification of those who are job titles alone and identification of those who are managers within organizations can be confusing Mullins (2002) . He goes on to state “in some organizations there is a liberal use of the term ‘manager’ in an apparent attempt to enhance the status and morale of staff. “Perhaps the de-layering of workforce and the removal of traditional middle management roles and predictable progression routes has led to the desire for outward recognition from employees who perceive that they hold positions of responsibility. For example individuals, who have a responsibility for one area of work, such as a particular aspect of IT, are frequently referred to as managers, although they have no staff to manage.
A result of this trend is that there is a seemingly growing number of people within organizations who, although they have the term manager used in their official job title, do not fulfill all aspects of the role as it is identified by commentators in the fields.
In other areas, changes in organizations and the requirements of roles has meant that positions not formally termed managerial fulfill the requirements for the role. Mullins (2002), page 167) presents an interesting case of the infant school head teacher as a manager.
As organizations have become larger managerial functions have become more specialized. Boddy (2002) outlines distinct functions within the management role.
Functional Managers
Functional managers are typically, those managers who are responsible for a common activity within the organization. Examples include research, marketing, finance and production. Typically both staff and managers will have an expertise in the field of their operations, whilst in some organizations managers will be required to perform a series of functional management positions in preparation for a general management or board level appointment.
General Managers
General managers are typically responsible for a distinct unit within the organization, this might relate to the functions at a geographical location, a division or subsidiary. The general manager is responsible for the overall performance of the unit and as such relies on a number of functional managers.
Project managers
Typically these managers are responsible for a temporary team that has been put together to plan and implement some form of change or carry out an activity with a limited life span. Examples include a new product or system. In some organizations a project manger might be responsible for a sizeable project for a particular customer, such as is often the case in the oil and construction industry. Project managers have particular challenges to face, often they have changing teams of people to work with and on some occasions the people who report to them have additional responsibilities elsewhere in the organization or to other project teams to whom they also report.
Line managers
Line managers are those managers who are in charge of a particular function directly involved in making or supplying goods or services to customers. Line managers can have widely differing degrees of responsibility, examples of these positions, and range from responsibility for a production line (where the term originates) to responsibility for a team of nurses.
This position is of growing relevance in the modern business environment as two factors come into play. Firstly the reduction in the traditional hierarchy of modern organizations has led to a gradual increase in the degree of responsibility that organizations place in line management positions, additionally there is an increasing belief that it is appropriate for more managerial tasks to be delegated to the line management function – where managers are close to both employees and customers.
MANAGEMENT AND ADMINISTRATION
Administration and Management are often used interchangeably and synonymously as Henri Fayol did. However, many modern writers on management do not share Fayol‘s interpretation of the two concepts-regarding administration as meaning the same as management
Brech regards Administration as a part of management. In other words, administration is a subset of management.
Mullins shares the idea of Brech by stating: “For our purposes, administration is interpreted as part of the management process, and concerned with the design and implementation of systems and procedures to help meet stated objectives”
General interpretations
- Administration deals with the general and actual implementation of the policies initiated by the top management of an organization.
- Administration is an activity that takes place below the top management level of an organization and performed by the functional or the departmental managers and below.
- Administration states the job description (what employees are expected to do) job titles, lines of authority. i.e. who reports to who etc.
- Administration puts into action, what is to be done and provides guidance so that what is to be done is done properly.
ORGANIZATION
As an entity/institution; it is a system
or a structure made up of people with set objectives and targets to achieve. It
is made up of people who have well-defined roles and responsibilities to enable
them achieve the overall objectives of an entity.
Organization
as an entity includes business institutions, educational institutions,
religious institutions, health institutions, security institutions to mention a few.
Organisation could also be seen as a
process (organizing). This means identifying and grouping the work to be
performed, defining and delegating authority, establishing relationships for
the purpose of enabling people to work effectively to achieve set objectives.
MANAGEMENT AS A PROFESSION
For management to be described as a profession, it is important to
explore what makes a profession. In other words, what are the conditions that
must be satisfied for a discipline to gain “professional status”? The following
conditions have been recommended:
- A body of principles, skills, techniques and specialized knowledge.
- Formal methods of acquiring advanced education, training and experience.
- Existence of ethical codes for the guidance and conduct of members
- License for members to operate
- An association for the members
- Public recognition
On the basis of the above, to what extent do we
conclude that management is a profession against the background of successful managers
who did not have any formal education and training in management but doing
extremely well in management?
Peter F. Drucker
is of the view that ‘Management is a practice, rather than a science or
profession, though containing elements of both. He further argues that a manager
should not be concerned with professionalism but to manage a business.
There
are trends towards professionalism in the areas of
Development
of skills/techniques
Formal
training
Use
of management consultants
Institutes
of Management (BIM) (1974)
For example, the British Institute of
Management (BIM) (1974) has outlined the following codes for its members:
- To act loyally and honestly in carrying out the policy of an organization and not to undermine its image or reputation.
- To accept responsibility for their own work and that of their subordinates
- Not to abuse their authority for personal gain
- Not to injure or attempt to injure the professional reputation, prospects or business of others
- Always to comply with the law and operate within the spirit of the law
- To order their conduct so as to uphold the dignity, standing and reputation of the Institute
- To deal honestly with the public
The
BIM also gives the following guides to good management practice:
- Establishing objectives for themselves (Managers and their subordinates which do not conflict with the organization’s overall objectives.
- Respecting confidentiality of information and not using it for personal gain
- Making full disclosure of a personal interest to their employer\helping and training subordinates, ensuring their safety and well-being
- Honouring contracts with customers and suppliers
- Ensuring that correct information is produced
- Not tolerating any corrupt practices
- Setting up a disciplinary structure to implant the code.
Like
management as a profession, management as a universal process has one main condition.
Anything which is universal in character is capable of being applied or used in
many contrasting environments with almost the same degree of success. Business
environments differ due to socio-economic variations. Management problems
therefore vary with each environment.
The
questions therefore are: Are management principles capable of universal
application? Is management skill transferable i.e. can a manger apply his
knowledge and skill in a wide variety of industries?
The
aforementioned question could be answered by exploring the views of management
theorists such as the following:
Ernest Dale
Dale supports Drucker’s idea that management is not a universal process. To him, no one person could be good manager/administrator in academic, business, military or religious concerns since the philosophy in each institution varies in nature and is not possible for one person to have versatile knowledge in each institution.
Peter F. Drucker
Drucker believes that management skills
and experiences have no universal application.
He also contended that organisation is business–oriented and profit
maximizing; and welfare and socially oriented organisation (e.g NGOs) have
different orientations and therefore cannot be managed with the same
principles.
Robert C. Appleby
Appleby contends that management is
capable of universal application because both business-oriented or profit
maximizing organizations, and socially-oriented or welfare organizations have
scarce resources to use. Scarce resources need to be judiciously applied to the
varying and competing ends/uses. That is to say, managers can use their skills
and knowledge in any institution/organization to achieve the set
objectives/targets.
MANAGEMENT AS A SCIENCE OR AN ART
One source of controversy is whether Management is a Science or an
Art or both.
Management as a Science
Science is any knowledge arranged in orderly manner, subjected to
observation, experiment, test, systematized and finally brought under general
principles.
Thus anything referred to as science should have been subjected to
various stages of experimentation and proved to be valid after a generalization
technically referred to as a hypothesis.
Scientific Management
For management to be regarded as a science it must use scientific
methods in its application. Scientific methods involve;
- Formalized and procedural way of doing things.
- Application of systematized principles like Fayol’s 14 principles and system of controlling.
Scientific management is management that organizes knowledge that
has been built up through scientific means.
If a manager manages
through the use of formula, procedure or memorization of some principles, it is
scientific management. Such a manager is likely to overlook practical
realities.
Management as an Art
An art is a practical skill acquired through a long period of
experience without any form of rigidity. It is traditional way of doing things
without any element of formal training. It could also be described as the use
an inherent know-how to achieve a desire result.
According to Schermerhorn et al [1995] an art is something a
person practices based on skills applied to achieve a desired result. Art is
the application of personal intuition and viewpoints.
Artistic Management
This
is managing through the use of personal skills and know-how rather than through
the application of principles, procedures and formulas. Artistic management make
use of practical knowledge acquired through a long period of experience.
The
achievement of Wendy McDonald, A British Columbia businesswoman in the art of
management is quite commendable. She got married at the age of 18 after high
school, worked and lifted his husband small machine shop into a giant
multi-million dollar industrial complex with branches in Canada
- The first school of thought spearheaded by Taylor, hold the view that management is a science rather than an art.
- The Second School led by Peter F. Drucker argue that management is an art rather than a science. This school of thought is based on the perception that some people are born managers and that management is an innate ability-either you have it or you do not have it.
- Another adherent to this school of thought is Robert C. Appleby who states that:
It is most probable that management will never become wholly an
exact science as personal judgements will always be needed to supplement
available knowledge; therefore, as a practice, management will always be an
art.
From
the analysis made so far, one cannot presently describe management as a
complete science or art since it has some elements of both in practice. It is
therefore safe to regard management as both science and art.
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