This word increasingly invades our life, becoming one of the symbols of renewal, the transition to the path of civilized development, which is followed by other states.
For many years, the administration was connected with the command and administrative system, it was one of the main forms of realization of its domination over all aspects of the life of society and, above all, over the economic sphere. In these conditions, it was an activity that ensnared people, limiting their natural desire to find something new, to creativity, to improve themselves and their work.
In contrast, management is associated with freedom, with the right and duty to make independent decisions, and in this sense, it is really something new for us, unusual, important and necessary for the successful construction of a new life.
The very concept in the sense that is close to the modern one (before it meant "the art of riding horses") appeared with the beginning of the industrial revolution of the XVIII-XIX centuries in England and then spread throughout the world. It owed its birth to the growth of a number of large enterprises with hundreds and thousands of workers. Their owners could no longer manage to lead alone such a large number of subordinates and had to hire special people for this purpose – managers, who implemented one or several functions. Groups of such people occupying the highest positions in the firm received the name "management".
The practical implementation of functions by these individuals is also called management. It can be considered in two aspects. On the one hand, it is the management of a company operating in the conditions of the market in the mode of "autonomous navigation" and connected with the need to make independent decisions in any unexpected circumstances. It defines what, when and to whom to produce, how to plan, allocate and effectively use resources, through which procedures and methods people are managed.
On the other hand, it is an independent activity, not necessarily involving the creation of an enterprise and the work with subordinates, for example, the organization of performances of pop stars, sports and mass events, etc.
The goal in both cases is the achievement by the object of a certain desired state, qualitatively or quantitatively different for the better from the existing one.
There is a corresponding academic discipline, the teaching of which Joseph Warton began in one of the US colleges in 1881. Today in the West, management exists as one of the most common areas of higher and secondary vocational education and as an important element in the training of any specialist. You will definitely meet this concept throughout your academic life. You can begin to familiarize yourself with this concept with this article.
And, finally, management is a set of scientific knowledge and practical experience of an interdisciplinary nature from such areas as economics, organization, sociology, psychology, pedagogy, law. There is still no consensus on whether it is a science, has its own subject different from other sciences, or one can only talk about science that integrates the relevant provisions and conclusions of other sciences, the experience of many generations of managers and the personal art of each. The final answer is still to be given, so in this presentation, the question of the subject and method of management as a scientific discipline is deliberately omitted.
Universal Key
Management in principle does not give ready-made recipes for an ideal organization and the best methods for solving problems that are suitable for all occasions, because the conditions of people's activity, their goals and tasks are constantly changing. It teaches to think, to pose questions correctly and to look for answers to them, and also sets some elementary rules for the game for people.
Let us consider the basic kinds peculiar to the modern companies and connected with those processes or another proceeding in them.
First of all, it should be about organizational management, the object of which is the processes of creating a company, forming its structure, the mechanism for implementing different functions, developing solutions, regulations and instructions, etc. As a result, the necessary conditions for the normal functioning of the company and the successful solution of the tasks facing it are being formed. But these decisions are already an object of prospective or current management.
Within the framework of the first one, the long-term goals of the organization are set, the main ways to achieve them are determined and thus its future viability is assured. The second one is related to setting specific tasks, coordinating their decision-making process, providing them with the necessary material, human, information and financial resources, monitoring and evaluating the results achieved, implementing the necessary adjustments, encouraging or punishing the perpetrators.
There are several objects, which include: production, material and technical supply and marketing of finished products, innovations, marketing, personnel, finance, accounting (analysis of business processes).
- Harmonious production ensures effective implementation of the process of creating goods and services. It consists of determining the optimal volume and structure of output; current parameters of the technological process; rational loading of equipment; arrangement of people; organization of submission of materials, raw materials, components, information to the places of their use; maintenance of timely equipment repair, prompt elimination of failures and malfunctions in the technological process, quality control, assortment of products and services; the current management of staff, its stimulation;
- Work with material and technical supply and sales of finished products consists of arranging the conclusion of economic contracts, the purchase, delivery and storage of raw materials, components, manufactured goods, sending them to customers;
- Work with innovations has as its object the process of scientific research, the creation of prototypes and the introduction of new products into production;
- Work with marketing, perhaps the most important and complex area of the company's activity today, deals with the issues of studying markets, existing and prospective conjuncture, forming sales channels, developing price and advertising policies, etc.;
- Work with staff solves the tasks of selection, placement, training, skills development, remuneration and incentives for employees, creating a favorable moral and psychological climate, improving the working and living conditions of staff, resolving labor disputes and conflicts;
- The essence of the financial work is to draw up the budget and financial plan of the company, to form and distribute its financial resources, investment portfolio, to assess the current and prospective financial condition and take the necessary measures to strengthen them;
- Finally, work with accounting is connected with the process of collecting, processing and analyzing data on the work of the firm, comparing them with the initial and planned indicators, the results of the activities of other firms with the goal of timely identifying problems, opening up reserves to make full use of the available potential.
The Essence of Any Theory
The essence of any theory or purposeful activity manifests itself in the functions, that is, the tasks they are called upon to solve. The functions were separated as a result of the division and specialization of managerial work.
The main function is planning, including goal setting, which is considered in the broadest sense of the word. Realizing it, the manager formulates goals and objectives for the forthcoming period, develops an action strategy, draws up the necessary plans and programs for their implementation based on a deep and comprehensive analysis of the situation in which the company is currently located and its perspectives. Figuratively speaking, we are talking about determining where we are at the moment, where we want to move and how we are going to do it.
The organizational function takes on the practical embodiment of the plans contained in the programs and strategies. It is realized through the creation and placement of objects and their elements, the definition of the order of their functioning, the establishment and regulation of relations between them, the formation of a structure, the provision of activities with the necessary documentation.
Realization of company's goals is carried out through joint activity of people. For the latter to be successful, it needs to be coordinated, directed to the right side, be provided with the necessary level of interaction between the participants. The essence of the third function is in such coordination or regulation.
No task will be successfully solved with the proper quality and minimum costs if the employees are not interested in it. Hence another important function – motivational. It consists of determining the needs of people (and the latter often do not know what they want), choosing the most appropriate and effective way of meeting them in order to ensure maximum activity of the personnel.
The results of the activities of the company and its employees need to be checked, assessed and corrected from time to time. This is the content of the control function. The accounting is its element, that is, the collection, processing, analysis and storage of information about the state of the object and the external environment; determination of the minimum necessary volume of this information.
Control as such is designed to identify the impending dangers in advance, to detect errors, deviations from existing standards, and thereby create a basis for improving work. Undoubtedly, according to its results, conclusions related to the promotion or punishment of performers can be made, but the search for "whipping boys" is not its task.