Nature and Significance of Management
WBCHSE asks definition-and-application questions here: characteristics, objectives, levels, functions and, above all, coordination. Expect one-mark definitions and five-mark 'explain with example' items.
Meaning and characteristics
Management is the process of getting things done with the aim of achieving goals effectively and efficiently. Characteristics: goal-oriented, pervasive, multidimensional (management of work, of people, of operations), continuous, a group activity, dynamic, intangible, and a composite process drawing on science, art and profession.
Levels and functions
- Top: policy, strategy, environment interface.
- Middle: implement plans, assign duties, interpret policy.
- Supervisory: day-to-day operations and worker discipline. Five functions: planning, organising, staffing, directing, controlling. Coordination is the essence of management, not a separate function.
Worked example
Target is 2,000 units at ₹200 each. Firm A makes 2,000 units at ₹230; Firm B makes 1,700 at ₹190. A is effective but not efficient; B is efficient but not effective. Reasoning: efficiency means doing the task correctly at minimum cost, effectiveness means doing the right task. Good management needs both.
Traps that cost marks
- Writing that coordination is a separate function; it runs through all functions.
- Confusing efficiency with effectiveness.
- Omitting 'management of operations' from multidimensional.
- Claiming management is a full profession; it is only partly professionalised, with no compulsory licence.