HCM 433 MANGEMENT AND ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR.pdf

(iii) The reference to management as a profession. This means that management is practiced as
a career with many person today making their living as mangers. Definitions however vary as to
what constitute a profession but given the basic characteristics of a true profession, it seems that
management is still not fully a profession.
(iv) The reference to management as a science or art. Management is often referred to an art
because it deals with the practical application of both knowledge and skill to achieve an objective.
And since it involves the use of certain management techniques, principles, theories, that are today
well developed and organized, it is also called a science. It has however been argued that the
science and art of management are not mutually exclusive, they are complimentary. As the science
of management improves so should the art of management. A balance between the two is needed.
Management will therefore always be a mixture of both art and science – Indeed a scientific – art.
(v) The reference to management as a process (or activity). Perhaps the most useful view of
management is that of management as process. A process is a systematic way of doing things.
Management is defined as a process because all managers, regardless of their particular aptitudes
or skills, engage in certain interrelated activities in order to achieve their desired goal. And as a
process, management has been widely conceptualized and, or defined. For example:
Peter Drucker (1973) sees management as the specific organ of the business enterprise.
This is just like saying that the heart is the specific organ of the body.
Mac Farlan, F. Warren (1978) defines management as the process by which mangers
create, maintains, and operate a purposeful organization through systematic coordinated
human efforts.
Koontz O’ Donnell and Weihrich (1993 P.4) defined management as a process as the
design or creation and maintenance of an internal environment in which people
working together in group can perform effectively and efficiently towards the
attainment of group goals. In other words, it is the undertaken of individuals to make
their best contributions to wards group objectives.
Rosemary Stewaart (1981) can be said to hav summarized management as a process
by saying “it is deciding what to do and getting others to do it”.
Indeed, management has often been defined as “the accomplishment of goals through others”.
This may be an oversimplified definition but it leads us to some points that need t made at the
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