1 Management: Concept, Process, Theories and Approaches

1.1 What is Management?

Management is the work of getting things done through other people. The classroom definition is widely associated with Mary Parker Follett — “the art of getting things done through people” — but the modern textbook treatment is more exact. Harold Koontz and Heinz Weihrich define management as “the process of designing and maintaining an environment in which individuals, working together in groups, efficiently accomplish selected aims” (koontz2010?). Stephen Robbins and Mary Coulter define it as “coordinating and overseeing the work activities of others so that their activities are completed efficiently and effectively” (robbins2018?).

Two ideas sit inside every working definition.

Efficiency and Effectiveness — the Twin Tests

Test	Question it answers	Cue
Efficiency	Are we doing things right? Output per unit of input.	“Means” — minimising waste of resources
Effectiveness	Are we doing the right things? Goal attainment.	“Ends” — achieving organisational objectives

Peter Drucker captured the contrast in a single line: “Efficiency is doing things right; effectiveness is doing the right things” (drucker1973?). Good management is high on both — but when the two pull apart, effectiveness comes first. A perfectly efficient operation that builds the wrong product is a costlier failure than an inefficient operation that builds the right one.

Influential Definitions of Management

Author	Working definition	What it foregrounds
Henri Fayol	“To manage is to forecast and plan, to organise, to command, to coordinate and to control”	Functions / process
F.W. Taylor	“Knowing exactly what you want men to do and then seeing that they do it in the best and cheapest way”	Efficiency and method
Mary Parker Follett	“The art of getting things done through people”	Human element
George R. Terry	“A distinct process consisting of planning, organising, actuating and controlling, performed to determine and accomplish stated objectives by the use of human beings and other resources”	Process
Peter Drucker	“A multipurpose organ that manages a business, manages managers, and manages workers and work”	Multidimensional role
Koontz & Weihrich	“The process of designing and maintaining an environment in which individuals working together accomplish selected aims efficiently”	Environment design

1.1.1 Characteristics of Management

Management is goal-oriented, pervasive, multidimensional, continuous, group activity, dynamic, intangible, and both science and art. It is goal-oriented because every managerial act is justified by some end. It is pervasive because it is needed in every organised effort — business, government, hospital, school, NGO. It is continuous — once a plan is executed, the next is already being shaped. It is intangible — its presence is felt through results, not seen directly.

1.2 Management — Science, Art, or Profession?

The question is older than the discipline itself, and NTA stems often hinge on which feature is being foregrounded.

Three Lenses on the Nature of Management

Lens	Defining trait	Why management qualifies	Why only partly
Science	Systematic body of knowledge, cause–effect, universally testable	Has principles (Fayol’s 14), tested theories, replicable findings	Human behaviour resists exact prediction; results vary by context
Art	Personalised application of knowledge for a desired result	Requires judgment, creativity, practice; same situation handled differently by two managers	Rests on a body of knowledge — not pure intuition
Profession	Specialised knowledge, formal training, code of ethics, service motive, restricted entry	Formal qualifications (MBA), institutes (AIMA), codes of conduct	Entry not legally restricted; many practising managers have no formal management qualification

The accepted compromise is that management is an inexact science and a practising art — and a developing profession whose status has risen but is not yet fully closed in the way medicine or law is.

1.3 Levels of Management

Authority is layered. Three levels are recognised in every textbook.

Three Levels of Management

Level	Typical titles	Time horizon	Dominant skill
Top (Strategic)	Board, CEO, MD, President	Long-range (3–10 years)	Conceptual
Middle (Tactical)	Departmental heads, Plant manager, Regional manager	Medium-range (1–3 years)	Human + Conceptual
Lower / Supervisory (Operational)	Foreman, Section officer, Team leader	Short-range (days–months)	Technical + Human

flowchart TB
  T[Top Management<br/>Strategy, Policy, Vision] --> M[Middle Management<br/>Translation, Coordination]
  M --> L[Lower Management<br/>Supervision, Execution]
  style T fill:#FCE4EC,stroke:#AD1457
  style M fill:#FFF8E1,stroke:#F9A825
  style L fill:#E8F5E9,stroke:#2E7D32

Robert Katz’s classification of managerial skills — technical, human, conceptual — maps neatly onto these levels: technical skill is most needed at the bottom, conceptual at the top, while human skill matters at every level (katz1974?).

1.4 Management as a Process

Treating management as a process means viewing it as a connected sequence of activities rather than a collection of one-off acts. Henri Fayol’s classic listing — plan, organise, command, coordinate, control — was tightened by Luther Gulick and Lyndall Urwick into the mnemonic POSDCORB: Planning, Organising, Staffing, Directing, Co-ordinating, Reporting, Budgeting (gulickurwick1937?). Modern textbooks (Koontz, Robbins) settle on five functions: planning, organising, staffing, leading/directing, controlling.

flowchart LR
  P[Planning<br/>Set objectives,<br/>choose course] --> O[Organising<br/>Group tasks,<br/>assign authority]
  O --> S[Staffing<br/>Recruit, train,<br/>develop people]
  S --> D[Directing<br/>Lead, motivate,<br/>communicate]
  D --> C[Controlling<br/>Measure, correct,<br/>feedback]
  C -. Feedback .-> P
  style P fill:#E3F2FD,stroke:#1565C0
  style C fill:#F1F8E9,stroke:#558B2F

Each function is detailed in the next chapter. The dotted line back to planning makes management a closed-loop activity — the output of control feeds the next round of planning.

1.5 Theories and Approaches: A Map

Management thought has evolved in three broad waves.

Three Waves of Management Thought

Wave	Period	Pre-occupation	Representative thinkers
Classical	1880s–1930s	Efficiency of work and structure	Taylor, the Gilbreths, Gantt, Fayol, Weber
Neo-classical / Behavioural	1930s–1950s	The human side of work	Mayo (Hawthorne), Maslow, McGregor, Herzberg, Likert
Modern	1950s–present	Wholeness, fit, and quantitative rigour	Bertalanffy, Lawrence & Lorsch, Fiedler, Simon, Drucker

1.5.1 Classical Approach

The classical school treated the organisation as a machine to be tuned for output. It split into three streams.

Three Streams of the Classical School

Stream	Originator	Core idea	Signature output
Scientific Management	F.W. Taylor (1911)	Find the one best way through time-and-motion study; pay by output	Principles of Scientific Management; differential piece-rate
Administrative Management	Henri Fayol (1916)	Universal principles for managing the whole organisation	14 principles; 5 functions
Bureaucratic Management	Max Weber (1922)	Rational-legal authority through rules, hierarchy, impersonality	The “ideal-type” bureaucracy

Taylor’s four principles. (i) develop a science for each element of work; (ii) scientifically select and train the worker; (iii) cooperate with workers to ensure the science is followed; (iv) divide work and responsibility almost equally between management and workers (taylor1911?). Frank and Lillian Gilbreth refined the method through therbligs — elementary motions catalogued for analysis. Henry Gantt added the visual scheduling tool that still bears his name.

Fayol’s 14 principles range from division of work and unity of command to esprit de corps and equity (fayol1949?). They are general guides, not laws.

Fayol’s 14 Principles — at a glance

#	Principle	One-line idea
1	Division of Work	Specialisation raises efficiency
2	Authority and Responsibility	Right to command + obligation to perform
3	Discipline	Obedience to agreements
4	Unity of Command	One subordinate, one boss
5	Unity of Direction	One head, one plan for one objective
6	Subordination of Individual Interest	Common good above private good
7	Remuneration	Fair pay to all
8	Centralisation	Right balance between centre and periphery
9	Scalar Chain	Clear line of authority top to bottom
10	Order	A place for everything; everything in its place
11	Equity	Kindliness and justice
12	Stability of Tenure	Reduce turnover; develop people
13	Initiative	Encourage employees to think and act
14	Esprit de Corps	Build harmony and unity

Weber’s bureaucracy rests on rules, hierarchy, division of labour, technical competence, written records and impersonality. The aim was to replace charismatic and traditional authority — both unstable — with rational-legal authority (weber1947?).

1.5.2 Neo-classical / Behavioural Approach

The Hawthorne studies (1924–32) at Western Electric, led eventually by Elton Mayo, found that worker productivity rose under almost any change in lighting, breaks or supervision. The interpretation — people respond to attention and to social belonging more than to physical conditions — opened the human relations movement (mayo1933?). Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, Douglas McGregor’s Theory X / Theory Y, Frederick Herzberg’s two-factor theory and Rensis Likert’s four systems of management followed and are taken up later in this chapter and in the OB chapter.

1.5.3 Modern Approaches

Three Modern Approaches

Approach	Core proposition	Signature insight
Systems	The organisation is an open system that takes inputs, transforms them, and exchanges outputs with its environment	Synergy; sub-systems interact; boundary management matters
Contingency	There is no one best way — the right structure / style depends on the situation	Lawrence & Lorsch’s differentiation–integration; Fiedler’s leadership contingency
Quantitative / Management Science	Use mathematical models, statistics and OR for decision problems	Linear programming, queueing theory, simulation, decision trees

Ludwig von Bertalanffy’s General Systems Theory (1968) supplied the language of inputs, throughputs, outputs and feedback. The contingency view — “it depends” — was a corrective to the universalism of Taylor and Fayol. The quantitative school grew out of the operations-research work of the Second World War.

flowchart LR
  C[Classical<br/>Efficiency<br/>Taylor · Fayol · Weber] --> N[Neo-classical<br/>Human side<br/>Mayo · Maslow · McGregor]
  N --> M[Modern<br/>Wholeness & fit<br/>Systems · Contingency · Quantitative]
  style C fill:#FFEBEE,stroke:#C62828
  style N fill:#FFF3E0,stroke:#EF6C00
  style M fill:#E8F5E9,stroke:#1B5E20

A useful frame for the exam is Harold Koontz’s “management theory jungle” — Koontz catalogued the many overlapping schools and warned that the discipline risked confusion unless integrated (koontz1961?). The contingency and systems views are read as steps toward that integration.

1.6 Practice Questions

Q 01 Definition Easy

Who defined management as "the art of getting things done through people"?

AHenri Fayol
BF.W. Taylor
CMary Parker Follett
DPeter Drucker

View solution

Correct Option: C

The phrase is the classroom shorthand most often attributed to Mary Parker Follett, who placed the human element at the heart of management.

Q 02 Schools of Thought Medium

Match the thinker with the contribution:

(i)	F.W. Taylor	(a)	14 principles of management
(ii)	Henri Fayol	(b)	Bureaucracy
(iii)	Max Weber	(c)	Scientific management
(iv)	Elton Mayo	(d)	Hawthorne studies

A(i)-(c), (ii)-(a), (iii)-(b), (iv)-(d)
B(i)-(a), (ii)-(c), (iii)-(d), (iv)-(b)
C(i)-(b), (ii)-(d), (iii)-(a), (iv)-(c)
D(i)-(d), (ii)-(b), (iii)-(c), (iv)-(a)

View solution

Correct Option: A

Taylor → Scientific management; Fayol → 14 principles; Weber → Bureaucracy; Mayo → Hawthorne studies.

Q 03 Drucker Easy

"Efficiency is doing things right; effectiveness is doing the right things." The contrast is associated with:

AHenri Fayol
BPeter Drucker
CMary Parker Follett
DMax Weber

View solution

Correct Option: B

Peter Drucker drew the distinction in The Effective Executive (1967) — efficiency is about means; effectiveness is about ends.

Q 04 Katz's Skills Easy

Which level of management requires the highest conceptual skill in Katz's classification?

ALower
BMiddle
CTop
DEqual at all levels

View solution

Correct Option: C

Katz's pyramid: technical skill peaks at the bottom, conceptual skill peaks at the top, and human skill matters at every level.

Q 05 POSDCORB Easy

The expansion of POSDCORB does not include:

AReporting
BBudgeting
CMarketing
DCo-ordinating

View solution

Correct Option: C

POSDCORB (Gulick & Urwick) = Planning, Organising, Staffing, Directing, CO-ordinating, Reporting, Budgeting. Marketing is not in the list.

Q 06 Hawthorne Easy

The Hawthorne experiments are most directly associated with the rise of:

AScientific management
BBureaucratic management
CHuman relations approach
DQuantitative approach

View solution

Correct Option: C

Mayo's interpretation of the 1924–32 Hawthorne studies — that attention and social belonging drive productivity — opened the human-relations movement.

Q 07 Fayol's 14 Principles Medium

Which of the following is not one of Fayol's 14 principles?

AUnity of Command
BEquity
CSpan of Control
DEsprit de Corps

View solution

Correct Option: C

Fayol's listing has Scalar Chain but not Span of Control by name. Span of control is a separate concept in administrative theory.

Q 08 Theory Jungle Medium

The "management theory jungle" was a phrase coined by:

AHarold Koontz
BHenry Mintzberg
CHerbert Simon
DPeter Drucker

View solution

Correct Option: A

Harold Koontz coined the phrase in his 1961 paper to describe the proliferation of overlapping schools of management thought.

Quick recall

Management is goal-directed coordination of work, judged on efficiency (means) and effectiveness (ends). Drucker’s line: doing things right vs doing the right things.
Three lenses: Science, Art, Profession. Settled view — inexact science, practising art, developing profession.
Three levels: Top–Middle–Lower. Katz: Technical skill at bottom, Conceptual at top, Human throughout.
Process functions (POSDCORB): Planning, Organising, Staffing, Directing, CO-ordinating, Reporting, Budgeting.
Three waves of theory: Classical (Taylor, Fayol, Weber) → Neo-classical (Mayo, Maslow, McGregor) → Modern (Systems, Contingency, Quantitative).
Fayol — 14 principles, 5 functions. Taylor — one best way. Weber — rational-legal authority.