INSTITUTE OF SUPPLY AND MATERIAL MANAGEMENT

(Incorporated by Act of Parliament No. 3 of 1981)

COURSE : Course in Stores Management

SUBJECT : Nature of Fucation of Management

H. No. : 21

1.0 The Importance of Management

Managers influence all phases of our modern organizations. Plant Managers run
manufacturing operations that produce our clothes, and automobiles. Sales Managers
provide organisations with a competent and productive work force. The “job available”
sections in the classified advertisements of major newspapers describe many different types
of management activities and confirm the importance of management.

Our society simply could not exist as we know it today or improve its present state without
a steady stream of managers to guide its organisations. Peter Ducker makes this point clear
stating that effective management is quickly becoming the main resource of developed
countries and developing countries desperately needs good managers.

In addition to being important to our society as a whole, management is vital to many

individuals simply because they earn their living by being managers. Management
positions have increased of the work force presently.

2.0 The Role of Management

Essentially, the role of managers is to guide organizations toward goal accomplishment.

All organisations exist for some purpose or goal, and managers have the responsibility for
combining and using organisational resources to ensure that the organizations achieve
their purpose. Management moves organisations toward purposes or goals by assigning
activities that organisation members perform. If the activities are design effectively, the
production of each individual worker represents a contribution to the attainment of
organisational goals. Management strives to encourage individual activity that will lead
to reaching organisation goals and to discourage individual activity that will hinder
organisational goal accomplishment, “There is no idea more important to managing than
goals. Management has no meaning apart from its goals” management must keep
organisational goals in mind at all times.

3.0 Defining Management

Students of management should be aware that the term management can be and often is
used in several different ways. For instance, it can refer simply to the introducing
management and Management Careers.

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Contemporary definitions of management :

“Is the process by which a cooperative group directs actions of other toward common
goals” (Massie and Douglas)

“Is the process of working with and through others to effectively achieve organisational
objectives by efficiently using limited resources in a changing environment” (Krienter)

“Is the coordination of all resources through the processes of planning, organising,
directing and controlling in order to attain stated objectives” (Sisk)

“Is establishing an effective environment for people operating in formal organisational

groups” (Kooniz and O’Donnell)

“Entails activities undertaken by one or more persons in order to coordinate the activities of
others in the pursuit of ends that cannot be achieved by any one person” (Donnelly, Gibson,
and Ivancevich)

Managers have to be concerned with 3 ES. Presently three 3 ES are given greater emphasis
by the management.

Effectiveness :

Effectiveness is defined in terms of resource utilization in relation to organisational goal

attainment, if organisations are using their resources to attain their goals, the managers are
effective.

Efficiency :

Efficiency is defined as the relationship between input and output. If a given target can be
met with a given input or the same target can be met with less resources, it is considered as
efficiency. It is the manager’s responsibility to minimize waste.

Managerial effectiveness and efficiency are interrelated. Efficiency IS the means and the
effectiveness is the end. An organisation can be effective without being efficient and
efficient without being effective. Various combinations of managerial effectiveness and
managerial efficiency are shown below.

Not reaching goals Reaching goals and

And not wasting Wasting resources
resources

2
 Efficient
(most resources contribute
to production)

Resource
Use

Inefficient Not reaching goals and Reaching goals and

wasting resources wasting resources
(few resources contribute
to production)

4.0 The Management Process : Management Functions

The four basic management functions activities that make up the management processes
are as follows.

4.1 Planning :

Planning involves choosing tasks that must be performed to attain organisational goals,
outlining how the tasks must be performed, and indicating when the task should be
performed. Planning activity focuses on attaining goals. Managers, through their plans,
out line exactly what organisations must do to be successful.

4.2 Organising :

Organizing can be thought of as assigning the tasks developed during planning to various
individuals or groups within the organisation. It creates mechanism to put plans into
action. People with the organization are given work assignments that contribute to goal
attainment.

4.3 Influencing :

This function involves motivation, communication, leading and working with groups.
Influencing can be defined as the process of guiding the activities of organisation
members in appropriate in directions. An appropriate direction means any direction that
helps the organisation moves toward goal attainment.

4.4 Controlling :

This function ensures what is planned is achieved. As a result of control, any

deviation can be found and corrected.

5.0 Management and Organisational Resources

Management must always be aware of the status and the use of organizational resources.
These resources are five basic types :

Man
Money
Material
3
 Machinery
Methods

These resources are combined, used and transformed into finished products during the
production process.

6.0 Management environment can be broadly identified as

• General or Mega environment

• Specific or operational environment

6.1 General Environment

• Political environment
• Economic environment
• Legal environment
• Socio-Cultural environment
• Technological environment
• International environment

6.2 Specific Environment

• Customers
• Competitors
• Suppliers
• Associates
• Unions
• Regulators

7.0 Management Skills

No discussion on management would be complete without the mention of management

skills. These skills differ according to the level of management. The skills needed by
different levels of management are illustrated in the chart given below.

Management Level Management Skills

Conceptual
Needs

Top

Human
Middle Needs
4

First Line
 Needs

8.0 What do Managers do ?

Although nearly all aspects of modern life are touched at least indirectly by the work of
managers, many people do not really understand what the management process is. The
key to learning about management lies in dividing it into readily understood sub process.
Currently there are two approaches to explain what do managers really do.

• Managerial process approach (functions)

• Managerial roles approach

9.0 Managerial functions

Functional view has been the most popular approach to explain what managers do. It has
been popular because it characterizes the management process as a sequence of rational
steps. Henry Fayol, French industrial turned writer, identified five managerial functions
(1916).

• Planning
• Organizing
• Command
• Coordination
• Control

Fayol said that these five functions permeate all managerial jobs.

10.0 Managerial Roles

Henry Minizberg during the 1970 s criticized the traditional functional approach as
unrealistic. He said that functional approach tells us only little of the manager’s job and
its complexity.

Managers wear many hats in formulating and implementing activities related to their
positions. Mintzberg, after a research into what managers really do identified ten roles as
follows.

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9.1 Formal Authority and Status

1.Interpersonal 2.Informational 3.Decisional

Figure head Monitor Entrepreneur

Leader Disseminator Disturbance handler
Liaison Spokesperson Resource Allocation
Negotiator

9.1.1 Interpersonal

Figurehead

When activity of ceremonial nature is on within the organisation managers are expected
to be present. Although this role does not involve much communication or decision
making its significance must not be overlooked.

Leader

This role involves with coordination and control of the work by members being
supervised.

Liaison

Is enacted when managers make contacts with other individuals, who may or may not
reside in the organisation in order to complete the work performed by their departments
of work units. This role enables manager to develop a network for obtaining external
information for completing current and future work activities.

9.1.2 Informational

Monitor

This involves scanning the environment for information or activities and events that may
identify opportunities or threats to the functioning of the work unit.

Disseminator

This involves the transmittal of information by a manager to a subordinates, peers or

superiors in the organisation.

Spokesperson

In doing this function, a manager represents his work unit to inside or outside people.

Decisional :

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Entrepreneur

Mean, the introduction of innovations by the manager to cope up with changing

environment.

Disturbance handler

This role establishes manager as a responder to change. In doing this function, the
manager is involved in bringing stability back to the organisation.

Resource allocator

Allocates resource equally, depending on the priority placed.

Negotiator

The manager gets into this role as he climbs up the ladder of hierarchy.

What does it become to be a successful manager ?

Successful managers come from a wide variety of backgrounds and possess an equally
wide variety of traits and skills. It is impossible to describe precisely what lead managers
to be successful. But, at least, some key preconditions can be isolated for achieving
success as a manager.

Formula S=AxMxO Managers Are

A = Ability A Scarce Resource
M = Motivation
O = Opportunity

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