Chapter 1: Nature and Significance of Management

Ans: Management refers to the process of managing people and tasks efficiently and effectively using the right techniques and methods. It is an integrated process which involves a series of functions like Planning, Organising, Staffing, Directing and Controlling.

Ans: The two characteristics of management are as follows:

• Management is a Goal-Oriented Process: Each and every organisation has a set of goals to be achieved in a certain period of time. Different organisations have different types of goals depending upon the reason for its existence.

• Management is a Dynamic Function: The world is changing at a very fast pace and has become very dynamic. Management has to adapt itself as per the changing environment. Various external factors like social, political, economic factors have to be taken into consideration in order to survive.

Ans: Coordination binds all the other functions of management. It is also considered as the essence of management. Coordination as a process begins from the first step of management i.e planning. This is the process through which all the activities are lined up and put to action.

Ans: The two indicators are:

• Increase in the sales volume of an organisation.

• Increase in number of employees over a period of time.

Ans: Social objectives of the management of Indian Railways have been achieved in the above case, as the organisation succeeded in saving diesel and costs, by making the trains environment friendly. 

Ans: Ritu works in the middle-level management, being the manager of the northern division of a large corporate house.

The basic functions of the middle level managers are:

• They interpret and explain the organisational plans and policies to line managers.

• They recruit and select the appropriate personnel.

• They are responsible for organising required resources for effective implementation of plans.

• They assign duties and responsibilities to first line managers.

• They motivate lower level management to achieve the best of their potential.

• They represent the complaints and problems of lower level management to top level management.

Ans: The basic features of management as a profession are:

• Well Defined Body of Knowledge: Manager is a professional who can acquire specialised knowledge through books for joining specific courses.

• Restricted entry: Professional degree is a must to become a professional but an individual with managerial skills can become a manager despite having no professional degree.

• Professional Association: Professionals need to be associated with respective professional bodies. They are professional bodies for management as well but it is not compulsory for managers to join.

• Ethical code of Conduct: Professionals are bound by the code of conduct laid bi associations they are associated with. Managers are expected to be ethical but there is no specifically laid down code of conduct for them.

• Service Motive: A professional and a manager both aim to provide dedicated and committed services towards the increase of their clients.

Ans: Management is considered to be a multi-dimensional concept because it involves:

• Management of Work: Each and every organisation has some work to perform. The management translates the work into goals to achieve and also the means used to achieve it. 

• Management of People: Human Resource is an organisation's greatest asset. The task of management involves making people work, dealing and communicating with them, strengthening their positive aspects, and working upon their weaknesses

• Management of Operations: Each and every organisation has some basic products to serve and some services to provide for survival. This requires a process through which the input materials are transformed into desired output. 

 Long Question and Answers 

Ans: The given situation of declining market share and profits is a clear indication of lack of coordination in the organisation. As each of the departments are blaming each other rather than taking the responsibility of acting in a better way. 

Coordination is a factor or the force that binds all other functions of the management. The coordination as a process has to be implemented in all the departments of the organisation like the production, sales, marketing, finance, etc to bring a good result. 

The steps that the management of the company should undertake to bring back the company on track are:

• Interdependency between the department needs to be maintained.

• The company has to recognise its weakness and improve upon the quality of the products.

• The goals of an individual needs to be matched with the needs of the organisation.

• Efforts should be made to settle the differences, and change the outlook of the different departments.

• All the departments must be motivated to work hand-in-hand in order to reach the common objective as well as achieve their departmental goals.

• Proper communication and guidance needs to be provided in order to avoid any scope of misunderstanding.

• A 360° analysis of the environment has to be done to recognise the potential threats in the market.

• The investment decision of the company has to be improved and the investments has to be done in an effective manner so that it can fetch maximum return on investment.

Ans: Yes, I agree. Coordination is a process that starts from the planning process itself. Each and every activity in an organisation must be coordinated well to reach a common objective. It links the activities of the organisation for the achievement of a common goal. 

The reasons why coordination is the essence of management are as follows:

• Coordination Ensures Unity of Action: Coordination acts as a binding force for all the departments. It makes all the departments realise the common objective to be reached.

• Coordination Integrates Group Efforts: It unites the diverse interests of all the departments to one common goal. 

• Coordination is a Continuous Process: The coordination of activities starts with planning in the organisation and continues till controlling. 

• Coordination is an All-Pervasive Function: It is required at all the levels of the management as all the activities are interdependent on each other.

• Coordination is a Responsibility of All The Managers: The managers at each and every level of the management where top, middle or bottom needs to ensure that the work is done as per the decided course of action.