Management is the act of getting things done through and with people to achieve organizational objectives. It could be more scientifically referred to as co-ordination of all the resources of an organization in order to attain organizational objectives. Management could be regarded as the process of guiding and directing human beings to achieve organizational objectives or missions.
Management could as well be seen as the supervisory, controlling and coordinating of activities to attain optimum results with organizational resources. Management is the process undertaken by one or more individuals to coordinate the activities of others to achieve result not achievable by one individual acting alone.
It is important to note that managers make employees productive and they have also the ability to inspire people. Management involves the coordination of human and material resources towards objective accomplishment. Management is the primary force within an organization which coordinates the activities of the sub system and rotates them to the environment.
MANAGEMENT AS ART
As management requires skill, creative and conceptual ability and human know-how, it is an art. In management there are special areas that are not subject to the rigors of science. In this case, the manager has to depend on past experience and judgement instead of depending on any testable technical knowledge as in the case of chemistry, physics or survey.
In this circumstance, the managers rely duly on experience collected over the years through practical experience. The application of this acquired knowledge to individual situation is seen as an art, since it’s not subject to the rigor of science. Based on the above scenario, management is an art; hence it is an art of getting things done through others.
MANAGEMENT AS SCIENCE
Management is science when it employs systematic procedures or scientific methods to obtain complete information about a problem under consideration, which the solution is subject to rigor control procedure to ensure the correctness and to establish validity.
Scientific management uses the method of science in making decision and evaluating its consequences. Science therefore attempt through systematic procedure to establish the relationship between variables and underlying principles. Fredrick Taylor is known as the father of scientific management.
He carried this title by his pioneering effort in attacking the traditional approach to management that depended on intuition, past experience and observation.
Management is therefore both a science and an art. As a science, it involves the systematic gathering of data, such as statistics, interviews and observation. It utilizes scientific principles in analyzing and interpreting data.
As an art, it deals with proficiency in the practical application of knowledge acquired through study, experience and observation. In the exercise of his leadership in managing man, the manager develop the act of knowing the how, what, when and why in dealing with employees.
The major tools of manager as a scientist and artist is his creative imagination and intelligence developed by practice, learning and experience, his intuition and insight in handling the various problems of employees and the organization.
It must be observed that the two variables are not mutually exclusive but complementary. It should be noted that a good manager must know the concept and principle of management (management science) and also how to apply them in unique situation. A successful manager must blend experience with science in order to achieve a deserved result.
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