DIFENCE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING

Individual assignment of
#1) Discuss the Nature of Management as science, an art or as profession?
1. Management as a science

What is science?

 The existence of a systematic body of knowledge with array of principles.

 Based on scientific enquiry.
 Principle should be verifiable.
 Reliable basis for predicting future events.
 Mgt is a science because it fulfills the science standards or criterion.

2. Management as an art-
 Art : application of skill in finding a desired result. Art is the way of doing things
skillfully.
 Mgt process involves the use of practical knowledge & personal skills.
Management is creative.
 Management is both a science & an art
 Mgt is a science because it contains general principles. It is also an art because it
requires certain personal skills to achieve desired results
 Mgt as a body of knowledge & a discipline is a science; its application to the
solution of organ’l problems is an art.

3. Management as a profession-
According to McFarland, following are the characteristics of profession:
1. Existence of a body of principles, techniques, skills
& specialized knowledge
2. Formalized methods of acquiring training & experience
3. Existence of an association with professionalization as its goal.
4. Existence of an ethical code to regulate the behavior of the members of the profession.
5. Charging of fees based on service , but with due regard for the priority of service over the
desire for monetary reward.
  Management, does not posses all the above characteristics of a profession( satisfies only
the 1st & 2nd;partially satisfies the 3rd, but not the 4th & 5th.
 Unlike medicine or law, Management does not have any fixed norms of managerial
behavior.
 There is no uniform code of conduct or licensing of managers. Further the entry to
managerial jobs is not restricted to individuals with a special academic degree only.
 In the light of this analysis we can conclude that management is a profession, but it is not
as fully a profession as medicine & law.

#2) Distinguish the similarity and difference between Management and

Administration?

There are three views

1. Administration is above management.
2. Administration is a part of management.
3. Management & Administration are synonymous.
Ther similarities are that they have the same goal of objectieves that is to achieve the
organizational goal.
 Admininistration is the process of determination of objectives, laying down plans &
policies, & ensuring that achievements are in conformity with the objectives.
 Mgt is the process of executing the plans & policies for the achievement of the objectives
determined by an adm’n
 Mgt is about directing, improving, innovating in order to reach the organization’s goal
 Admin.is about analysing reports, correcting mistakes & solving problems in order to
reach the same goal.
#3) Explain the Levels of Management (the top, middle and lower level managers)
and their functions taking sample organization.
1. Top Level Managers
 Are persons who are responsible for making decisions & formulating policies that affect
all aspects of the firm’s operations.
 The organization’s most important managers: owners/shareholders, Board of Directors,
its Chairman, Managing Director, CEO, General Manager, etc.
 They are few in number
 Responsible for the overall mgt of the organization.
 They establish company wide objectives or goals & organizational policies &
organization’s structure
 Spend much of their time in planning & meetings.
2. Middle Level Managers
 Managers b/n first-line mgt & top mgt(Purchase Manager, Production Manager,
Marketing Manager, Financial controller, Academic deans, Division Head, Plant
managers, Army captain, etc.)
 They coordinate & supervise the activities of lower level managers.
Receive broad/overall strategies & mgt directives from top managers & translate it into specific
objectives & plans for first-line Mangers & forward messages to & from first-line mgt
 Are responsible for the proper implementation of policies & strategies defined by top
level managers.
Their principal responsibility is to direct the activity that implement the policies of the
organization.

3. First Level /Supervisory managers:

 Lower level /operative mgr : those at the operating level /last level
 Their subordinates are non managers.
 They are responsible for overseeing & coordinating the work of operating Employees.
 Assign operating employees to specific tasks.
 Are directly responsible for the production of goods and services.
 Motivate subordinates to improve their performance.
  Serve as a bridge b/n managers & non-managers/workers.
 Spent much of their time in leading & little in planning.
 Are in charge of carrying out the day to day activities within the various departments to
ensure that short term goals are met. E.g. Department Heads, supervisory personnel,
Sales managers, Loan officers, Foreman, etc.

#4) What are the three main Managerial Skills used by managers with its
applications?
 Skill is the ability to translate knowledge into action.
 Skill is not necessarily inborn, but can be developed through practice & relating learning
to one's own personal experience & background.
 Managers need three major skills (conceptual skill, human relations skill & technical
skill)
1) Conceptual skills
Conceptual skill is the ability of a mgr to:
 take a broad & farsighted view of the org’n & its future,
 think in abstract & analyze the forces working in a situation
 be creative & innovative
 assess the env’t & the changes taking place in it.
 see the org’n as a whole & understand the relationships among various subunits, visualize
how the org’n fits into its external enviro’t
 its importance increases as manager moves up to higher positions of responsibility in the
organization.

2) Human relations skills

Human relations skill is the ability of a mgr to
 interact effectively & work well with people both individually & in group
 This skill helps the manager to develop the ability to:
 recognize the feelings & sentiments of others
  judge the possible actions & outcomes of various courses of action
he may take
 examine his own concepts & values which may enable him to
develop more useful attitudes about himself.
 This type of skill remains consistently important for managers at all
levels.
3) Technical skills
 Technical skill is the manager's job-specific knowledge & techniques needed to
proficiently perform work tasks
 It refers to a person's knowledge & proficiency in any type of process or technique.
 Its importance diminishes as manager moves up to higher positions of responsibility in
the organization.

#5) Explain the basic characteristics of professional Managers?

1. Managers are responsible & accountable

 Managers are responsible for seeing that specific tasks are done
successfully.
 All members of an org’n ( managers & non-managers) are responsible for
their particular tasks.
 The difference is that managers are held responsible/or accountable, not
only for their own work, but also for the work of subordinates.

2. Managers balance competing goals & set priorities

 Many organizational goals & problems need the manager’s attention, i.e.,
compete for the his time & resources
 Since resources are always limited, the manager must maintain a balance b/n the
various goals & needs.
Example: prioritize each day's tasks, & thus, the most important tasks are done right away, while
the less important tasks are looked at later.
3. Managers think analytically & conceptually
 Analytical thinking: a manager breaks a problem down into its components, analyze
those components & then come up with a feasible solution.
 Conceptual thinking: a manager views the entire task in the abstract & relate it to other
tasks(thinking about a particular task in relation to the organization as a whole as well as
towards the goals of an individual unit)

4. Managers are mediators

 People of an org’n may disagree/conflict may occur
 Disputes within a unit/organization can lower morale & productivity; competent
employees may even decide to leave
 Managers must resolve disputes in time using their skill & tact.

5. Managers make difficult decisions

 Many types of problems may occur(financial difficulties, problems with employees, or
differences of opinion concerning an org’n policy, etc.)
 Managers are expected to decide on difficult problems even when doing so may be
unpopular
 Successful managers recognize & play appropriate roles at d/t situations (change roles
frequently)
Contingency managementTheory

Another milestone in management theory was the development of Contingency theory in the
1960s by Tom Burns and G.M. Stalker in the United Kingdom and Paul Lawrence and Jay
Lorsch in the United States. The crucial message of contingency theory is that there is no one
best way to organize The organizational structures and the control systems that managers choose
depend On are contingent on characteristics of the external environment in which the
organization operates. According to contingency theory, the characteristics of the environment
affect an organization‘s ability to obtain resources. To maximize the likely hood of gaining
access to resources, managers must allow an organization‘s departments to organize and control
their activities in ways most likely to allow them to obtain resources, given the constraints of the
particul are invironment they face. In other words, how managers design the organizational
hierarchy, choose a control system, and lead and motivate their employees is contingent on the
characteristics of the organizational environment. Structure Supervisors make all important
decisions employees are closely supervised and follow well-defined rules and standard operating
procedures In contrast when the environment is changing rapidly it is difficult to obtain access to
resources and managers need to organize their activities in a way that allows them to cooperate,
to act quickly, to acquire resources (such as new types of inputs to produce new kinds of
products), and to respond effectively to the unexpected.

In an organic structure, authority is decentralized to middle and first-line managers to

encourage them to take responsibility and act quickly to pursue scarce resources. Departments
are encouraged to take a cross-departmental or functional perspective, and, as in Mary Parker
Follett‘s model, authority rests with the individuals and departments best positioned to control
the current problems the organization is facing.
In an organic structure, control is much looser than it is in a mechanistic structure, and reliance
on shared norms to guide organizational activities is greater. Managers in an organic structure
can react more quickly to a changing environment than can managers in a mechanistic structure.
However, an organic structure is generally more expensive to operate so it is used only when
needed when the organizational environment is unstable and rapidly changing To facilitate
global expansion, managers at Philips (a Dutch electronics company) were forced to change from
a mechanistic to an organic structure, and their experience illustrates the different properties of
these structures.