LEVELS OF MANAGEMENT

The level of management signifies the hierarchy of management in any organization.  We can classify the levels of managers depending upon their activities. The number of levels will depend upon the size of business, number of workers and effective span of control other such factors of management.

The hierarchy of management positions from top to bottom is called levels of management. The level of a manager in the hierarchy determines the amount of authority and responsibility empowered to him and the decision making powers. So simply we can say the top management level will have more authority and power along with greater responsibility as compared to the supervisory level of managers with less authority and responsibility.

Pfiffner and Sherwood have classified management levels into four viz., corporate management, top management, middle management and supervisory management.

Koontz and O'Donnell and Brech have classified the levels into two, viz, top level management and supervisory level management.

Joseph Litterer has suggested three levels, viz., institutional level, general management and departmental management.

J.B. Batty has classified management into four levels, viz., top management upper middle management, middle management and supervisory management.

So based on the analysis of so many expert we can classify the levels of management in to three levels as

Top Management Level:-  Include the Board of Director, Chairman, Chief Executive Officer, Managing Directors, etc.  

Middle Management Level: - Include Head of Business Units, Department Heads, Functional Heads, Division Heads etc

Lower Level Management:- Operational Heads, Supervisors, Front line Managers etc.

 Top Management

Some of the functions of top management are

·          To formulate the vision and mission for the company

·         To lay down policies and objective of the organization

·         To formulate rules and regulations for the functioning of the organization

·         To formulate long term goals and strategy planning

·         To set targets for all the other functional bodies working under him

·         Resource allocation for functioning of the organization

·         To coordinate the activities of the organization for the achievement of the set goals.

·         To review the performance of the company and the lower level of the management.

•   Middle Management

Some of the functions of middle management are

·         They are the link between the Top and Lower Management levels.

·         To implement the policies and strategy as given by the top management

·         To achieve the targets set for them by utilizing the resources provided to them.

·         To perform functions of management like planning, organizing, staffing, directing and controlling for his area of work.

·         To instruct the lower level of management so that the necessary task can be done.

·         To monitor and appraise the performance of the lower level of management and suggest appropriate administrative actions.

·         To improve interdepartmental and intradepartmental relationship in his area.

·         To provide guidance and remove barriers in achievement of targets by the lower rung of management.

·         To negotiate and allocate resources to achieve the targets set by the top management.

·         To align the functioning of his department or division or area under him in line with the organizational targets.

•   Lower or Supervisory Management

Some of the functions of lower management are

·                  To actually supervise the beginning, monitoring of different tasks or operations.To directly supervise the actual work and manage operative employees.

·                  To direct and control the function rather than planning and organizing, such planning and organizing is only limited to short term and on tactical basis.

·                  To achieve the operational targets which help the achievement of departmental or divisional targets which in turn contribute in the achievement of the organizational targets.

·                  To implement the top management policies and provide feedback to the higher levels of management.

·                  To plan the day-to-day activities and assign tasks to their subordinates, guide them and take corrective steps whenever necessary.

·                  To arrange for necessary materials, machines tools, etc. for workers and
to provide them the necessary working environment.

·                  To provide necessary skill training and guidance required by the operative work force.

·                  To help resolve day to day problems of the workers.

·                  To act as an interface between the operative staff and higher management for various issues like appraisal, grievances, complaints etc.

FUNCTIONS OF MANAGEMENT

The management performs various functions in management of an organization before we proceed to defining the functions of the management, we should first know about what are the objectives which an organization seeks to fulfill

OBJECTIVES OF MANAGEMENT

The management of the organization and its various activities are done to achieve certain predetermined targets following are the examples of such targets.

·                  Efficiency: - The management objective can be to increase efficiency by improving productivity by maximizing output with the same amount of inputs.

·                  Optimization of Resource Utilization: - management may set a target to reduce wastage of time, money, and efforts etc so as to optimize the resource utilization.

·                  Higher level of customer Satisfaction: - The objective can be to know the voice of customer and develop safe, secure and economical products which can generate a higher level of satisfaction.

·                  Better Workforce. Management tries to build a team of efficient workers
who are happy and satisfied with the organization. They are cooperative and contribute to the goals of the organization.

·                  Wealth Creation for the stakeholders:-  Management may set the objective to create wealth for the stakeholders like shareholder, financers, employees, customers, vendors, suppliers, society & c .

·                  Quality Assurance and enhancement: -   the objectives can be to establish and implement quality management system to improvise various processes and products of the organization to bring better products in the market which can delight the customer.

·                  Corporate Social Responsible: - the objective could be to justify its presence in the market place, society, nation and customer to be a socially responsible entity of the society at large.

Relations with Suppliers. Management attempts to achieve good relations or partnering with the suppliers of raw materials and finance so as to continue in production throughout the year.

Achieving the triple bottom: - Management may have the objective to achieve the economical, social and environmental targets, set by them. Also known as triple bottom approach.

·                  Better Working Conditions. Management seeks to ensure better quality of work life for its employees by implementing various systems like fair wages for the work, security of employment, proper working conditions and better life for the workers. Management raises the standard of life of the workers.

MANAGERIAL FUNCTIONS

Based on the studies and researches of various management scholars we can define the functions of management as follows

Planning

Planning is a fundamental process to ascertain and define the objectives of the organization, the goals that have to be achieved for the fulfillment of the objective, planning involves deciding in advance what to do, when to do, where to do, how to do, who will do. Planning provide the base for the functioning of all the activities in the organization.

Organizing

Organizing is process to plan and arrange organization’s resources like materials, infrastructure and technology, human resource, finance in such a way that organizational objectives can be achieved in the minimum effort. It involves division of work, authority and responsibilities among departments, individual and groups defined in terms of organizational structure. Organizing also define the formal channels of communications and interdependencies among the different parts of organization required for coordination and work accomplishment.

Staffing

Staffing is a process to employ right kind of person at all the designation defined by the organization in right numbers, staffing involves to forecast the human resource requirements for the organization, to recruit, select and place the individuals on the job and also perform the administrative decision like performance appraisal, promotion and transfer etc. Today staffing also include human resource development & training, career planning & C.

Directing

The process of supervising, guiding and eliminating barriers to performance of the subordinates is directing, employees direction is that aspect of management which deals with initiating the work, monitoring the activities to evaluate whether the activities are done according to the plan or not, in case there is a mismatch between the actual and the plan the manager has to find out the causes and rectify it by influencing, guiding, supervising, motivating sub-ordinate for the achievement of organizational goals. Direction has following elements

·     Supervision- implies overseeing the work of subordinates by their superiors. It is the act of watching & directing work & workers.

·     Motivation- means inspiring, stimulating or encouraging the sub-ordinates with zeal to work. Positive, negative, monetary, non-monetary incentives may be used for this purpose.

·     Leadership- may be defined as a process by which manager guides and influences the work of subordinates in desired direction.

·     Communications- is the process of passing information, experience, opinion etc from one person to another. It is a bridge of understanding.

Controlling

Controlling means measurement of accomplishment against the standards and correction of deviation if any to ensure achievement of organizational goals. The purpose of controlling is to ensure that everything occurs in conformities with the plans and standards. An efficient system of control helps to predict deviations before they actually occur. According to Theo Haimann, “Controlling is the process of checking whether or not proper progress is being made towards the objectives and goals and acting if necessary, to correct any deviation”. According to Koontz & O’Donell “Controlling is the measurement & correction of performance activities of subordinates in order to make sure that the enterprise objectives and plans desired to obtain them as being accomplished”. Therefore controlling has following steps:

a.    Establishment of standard performance:- defining a parameter on which the performance of a task will be evaluated.

b.    Measurement of actual performance. To monitor and record the actual performance.

c.    Comparison of actual performance with the standards and finding out deviation if any. Analyzing the gaps to find out corrective actions

d.    Corrective action. To implement counter measures to bring the process towards goal accomplishment.

MANAGERIAL SKILLS

For performing the management functions a manager should have certain skill set with time the skill set required by a manager is evolving, managerial skill means the personal ability put to use by a manager for the accomplishment of organizational goals. The job of a modern manager has become very complex.

We can enlist the various skills required by a manager are

Planning skills: - planning skills is the skill required by the manger to plan things this include ability of future thinking, prediction and forecasting, making decisions with the perspective to analyze various situations and back up plans, ability to implement things and follow them so as to realize the predetermined goals.

Organizing Skills:- includes the ability to specify and divide work among team, ability to use the competencies of the people working under him, maintain the harmony of relationship flow of communication, handling and resolving conflict.

Leadership:- Ability to lead people from front,  to inspire and guide, ability to assess the situation and guide the team. Ability to motivate the members, to achieve their targets. Ability to inculcate decision making habits in the subordinate and solve their problems. 

Decision Making:- this include the ability to identify and formulate different alternatives available, to prioritize which decisions are more important, to be able to make right choices, not to avoid delaying or implementing decisions, to make timely decisions and follow its implementation.

Controlling skills:- ability to implement effective monitoring mechanism on the various processes, to take corrective actions without hurting the moral of the team and encourage planned execution of the  tasks.

Technical skills:- ability to use the tools, procedures, or techniques of a specialized field, technical skills are required to perform the task effectively, the technical skills are more critical for the lower management as they have to directly supervise and guide the work progressing on the floor. The first line supervisor in a manufacturing firm needs greater knowledge about the technical aspects of the job compared to his top boss. In a small manufacturing organization, even the top boss who owns the company needs to have a lot of technical skills. However, in big organizations, technical skills are more important at the lower levels.

Human skills:- the ability to work with people, understand their competencies to utilize them, ability to understand the weaknesses and help them eliminate it, to harmonize interpersonal relationships and motivate them to work in team spirit.

It also includes the ability to understand the personal problems of the employees and guide or counsel them as personal life can also be the reason of failing performance. This also includes the ability to negotiate, resolve conflict and motivate people to realize their potential.

Conceptual skills:- Conceptual skill means the ability to see the organization as a whole and it includes recognizing how the various functions of the organization depend on one another. It also makes the individual aware how changes in one part of the organization affect the others. It extends to visualizing the relationship of the individual business to the industry, the community and the political, social and economic forces of the nation as a whole. Thus, the manager gains insight into improving the overall effectiveness of the organization

Analytical Skills

These refer to abilities to proceed in a logical, step-by-step and systematic manner, to examine the various aspects of specific issues and to understand complex characteristics of a phenomenon. It is also the ability to break down a problem into its components and to 'clinically' examine its dimensions. Analytical skills are needed for problem solving and decision making, to evaluate performance, and to manage complex situations.

Administrative Skills

These centre around ability to act in a pragmatic manner, get things done by implementing decisions and plans, to mobilize and organize resources and efforts, to co-ordinate diverse activities and to regulate organizational events in an orderly manner.

NATURE, SCOPE AND CHARACTERISTICS OF MANAGEMENT

·           Management is goal-oriented. Management is goal oriented activity which means the efforts and activities should be directed towards the attainment of pre-determined objectives. These objectives are the ends towards which all the management activities are systematically directed. Without knowing and directing our efforts towards these goals there can’t be any management.

·           Management is social process:- management is a social process as it deals with people, it deals with how to integrate the human effort in achieving targets efficiently through coordination and cooperation. Organizations have to use the resources for the benefit of the society at large.

·           Management is a distinct and universal process. Management is a distinct process which means it can be defined in terms of certain steps or stages. We can define the process of management which consists of the functions of planning, organizing, staffing, directing and controlling. The process of management involves decision-making and putting them into action. These functions are performed by the managers at all levels of
organization and in all types of institutions. The management is universal process as its basic principles are universal in character which means can be applied at any level any area and in any situation, can be applied in different organizations and also in our day to day personal or professional life.

·                  Management is a continuous process. The management is a continuous process as long as we keep having targets to be achieved and an on-going process and a never-ending process, because every activity is done to achieve a target once the target is achieved we define new targets hence the process becomes cyclic in nature so becomes continuous.

·                  Management is an integrative process. The management integrates the available resources and directs them in to achievement of the desired outcome. The major objective is to achieve these goals in most efficient and effective manner. Of all resources, the human resources are the most precious and difficult to manage. And a good management is able to make synergies out of human and non human resources by integrating their efforts in the most suitable manner.

·    Management is intangible.  Management is intangible as it is not seen as a thing or a material it is experiential in nature which means we can feel its presence in the form of results such as efficient organizational structures, better and informed decisions, increased productivity, and heightened morale and motivation of employees. So management is intangible and can be felt by employee satisfaction, wealth creation etc.

·             Management is contingent. Management is contingent as there is no best way of doing things and each application or decision is based on the situation.  A manager must take into account the prevailing situation to solve a particular problem.

·             Management is multi-disciplinary. Management techniques, principles
and theories are drawn from other disciplines of knowledge like sociology, psychology, engineering, anthropology, statistics etc. management depends upon wide knowledge and practices derived from various disciplines. Management as a field of study has grown taking the inputs of so many other disciplines.

·             Management is a dynamic function. Management is a dynamic function
of any organization as it keeps on changing to meet the requirements of the organization and at the same time change the organization to the requirement of the business environment. Management sometimes has to work to alter the business environment also. So we can say that management is a dynamic function which makes it more capable to face the challenges brought about by economic, social, political, technological or international factors.

·      Management is system of authority:- management is distribution and use of authority in designating task allocating resources so as to achieve the targets, according to Drucker” management is a multipurpose organ that manages a business, manages managers and manages workers and work” managers at higher level have more authority than others.

·             Management is both a Science and an Art. Management has an organized body of knowledge "which contains certain universal truths". So it is called a science. Management refers to a distinct class of activities about which knowledge can be obtained and skill in its application acquired. As an art, management implies to the ability and skill of a manager in applying these principles of management and achieving the targets through a team of people and resources available to them.

·             Management is all pervasive. Management function is all pervasive which means we can apply the principles of management in all areas and levels of organization. Management is present in all the activities and department of the organization, and on a broader sense we can say that no function can be done without management.

·             Management is for economic resource management is a factor of production like the money, material, machine, manpower etc, as the success and productivity of any organization depends on the quality of management, this is the reason even when a smaller organization with lesser other resources are performing better than bigger lot as the management is more efficient and effective in the market place.

Introduction to concept of Management

DEFINITIONS OF MANAGEMENT

Definition of the management is given by so many authors depending on their own perception, analysis and ideology that giving one single definition will be an injustice so we are giving here some of the definition by different experts in management and will finally try to understand and define management with our own perspective.

"Management is that process by which managers create, direct, maintain, and
operate purposive organizations through systematic, coordinated, cooperative human
effort."                                                                          —Da/ton E. McFarland

"Management is a social and technical process which utilises resources, influences human action, and facilitates changes in order to accomplish organisation goals".

—Theo Haimann and William G. Scott

"Management is the process of planning, organizing, actuating, and controlling an organization’s operations in order to achieve coordination of the human and material resources essential in the effective and efficient attainment of objectives."

—Robert L Trewatha and M. Gene Newport

'To manage is to forecast and plan, to organize, to command, to coordinate and to
control."         -Henri Fayol

Management is distinct process consisting of Planning, Organizing actuating, and controlling performed to determine and accomplish objectives by the use of human beings and other resources        -George R Terry.

So based on our own analysis of so many definitions and based on our own observations and experience we can define “management as a continuous process of achieving predetermined targets by utilizing the scare available resources efficiently and effectively. The resources include the finance, time, human effort, technology, infrastructure, system, material, etc. the efficiency and effectiveness lies with the strategy formulated and implemented by a person or organization for achievement of the targets”                                                                                   - P Bali.

 So we can say that the management is

·         A continuous activity and not a one shot activity;

·         Management has no meaning until we do not have specific targets to be achieved;

·         We can use only resources available to us and they are limited;

·         The results of management are better if we maintain efficiency and effectiveness

Even if resources available are equitable or even less as compared to others a better management can bring better results in any situation.

Management can be applied in all the areas of organization like finance management, technology management, quality management, sales and marketing management etc and the principles are also applicable to our day to day life.

We can also consider management as a process to integrate human efforts with non-human resources like materials, machines, methods, money (capital), etc., by their concerted effects. Management is also regarded as a social process because the activities involved in the achievement of organizational goals are carried out when organizational participants interact with one another. The resources which are handled by the management are to be used in such a manner that the needs of the society are satisfied efficiently and effectively. Every manager is required to use various skills of human relations to achieve good relations with the various groups of stakeholders like shareholders, workers, consumers, government, suppliers, etc.

IS MANAGEMENT A GROUP / TEAM

 We can say that Management is a group/ team because in management there is a group of people who carry out various activities of management. So we can refer management as the group of people in an enterprise who are carrying out management functions. So all individuals occupying managerial positions are collectively known as management. But if we analyze we see that every individual in an organization is performing his part of the activity in the management functions so is it not right to say that every person is a manager.

A manager is a person who performs the managerial functions of planning, organizing, staffing, directing and controlling. And as a manager performs the managerial functions, he is a member of the management of the organization. But in a conventional sense management include the top management of the company including the Chairman, Managing Director or Chief Executive and Board of Directors.

So we can interpret three different understanding from the term management

• Technically, the term 'management' is used to indicate all the people who carry out managerial activities. Under this interpretation, all the managers from the chief executive to the first line supervisors are collectively addressed as management.
• Practically, the term 'management' is used to indicate only the top management of the organization (e.g., Board of Directors and Chief Executive of the company) It is the top management that has the authority for making important decisions like introduction of a new product, issue of shares or debentures, joint venture with a multinational corporation, etc.
• Finally every individual who is contributing towards the achievement of the goals by utilizing the available resources is a manager.

Also according to Harold Koontz management is the art of getting things done through and with people in formally organized groups, management gets results from the people by satisfying their needs and expectations, and providing them opportunity for their personal growth.

So we can say that yes management is group of people

Is Management an Art of Getting Things Done Through Other People?

According to Mary Parker Follett, "Management is the art of getting things done through others'  According to this definition managers achieve organizational objectives by directing others to perform whatever tasks may be necessary and not performing the tasks themselves. This traditional view of management emphasizes that management directs the workers for getting results from them and controls their performance. So employees are treated merely as a factor of production like materials, machines and capital.

Now let’s analyze this in light of following points:

·         If management is an art of getting things done from others then it means managers themselves don’t perform much of the activities.

·         Secondly employees are only treated as mere means to attain organizational goals. So they don’t have much of significant role.

·         The management tries to manipulate the behaviour of the workers to get things done.

·         The emphasis is only achieving organizational targets, needs and aspirations of the workers are not considered.

·         It also means there is division between who actually do the work and who get things done, but can we really have such distinction.

·         Finally the line separating owner and management of the company is also widening, which means managers are also employees who are doing things for the others ( the stakeholders) by getting things done by others ( employees)

So when an organization employs people for the efficient and effective utilization of resources to achieve its purpose the people so employed also have their needs which they seek to fulfill through their work-place. Hence It is essential to satisfy their needs to motivate them to contribute their efforts for the achievement of organizational goals. Even authors like Maslow, Herzberg and Vroom have clearly stated that the behavior of the people working in an organization is largely dependent upon the fulfillment of their needs.

The workers are human resources and so they should be treated as human beings who could be motivated by satisfying their economic and psychological needs. They are not simply a factor of production or merely a cog in the wheel as was considered traditionally. To-day's workers are knowledgeable and have higher aspirations which they want to be fulfilled at the workplace. Therefore, organization must provide opportunities for the growth and development of workers to motivate them for greater productivity.

 So we can’t say in clear sense that management is an art of getting things done by others.

Is Management a Discipline?

Management has a systematized body of knowledge and a separate field of study. Management comprises of an organized body of knowledge which can be learnt through formal instructions and training. Management can be understood by certain principles, practices, techniques and skills which help in achieving objectives. This discipline is taught widely in business schools and through the world. The knowledge acquired through research in the management can be accumulated to the existing knowledge and can be used by future managers. So we can say that management is a Discipline in itself.