Although there is no universal definition of leadership, or the traits that comprise it, all definitions can be summarized as the process of social influence in which one person can enlist the aid and support of others in the accomplishment of a common task. Basically, leadership concerns organizing a group of persons to realize a common objective and this involves inspiring them to adopt a teamwork strategy. There are four main concepts involved in leadership, i.e. the leader, the followers, communication, and situation. The leader must be honest in all his/her roles. It is vital to point out that it is the subjects who decide the success of a leader. Consequently, the leader must employ two-way communication and consider the situation before choosing a communication strategy. The importance of leadership in the field of management is given below: Helps in guiding and inspiring the employees: leader guides and inspires his subordinates towards Continue reading
Management Basics
Is Management is an Art or a Science?
Is management characterized as an art, as a science or both? In order to investigate the nature of Management, it would be useful firstly to define it. According to Drucker “Management is about human beings. Its task is to make people capable of joint performance, to make their strengths effective and their weaknesses irrelevant. This is what organization is all about, and this is the reason why management is the critical, determining factor”. Nowadays, practically everyone works for a managed institution, large or not, business or not. Our living actually depends on management. The ability we have to contribute to society, depends firstly on the way, the institute we work for, is managed and furthermore on our own abilities, devotion and effort. For years now, there has been a great debate on whether management can be characterized as a science or as an art. Management as an Art Art is Continue reading
Scientific Management Theory – Directions and Characteristics
Scientific management is a process of improving the labor organization based on scientific achievements and excellence. It is important to mention that an American engineer Frederick Winslow Taylor was the first scientific engineer, who used and formalized scientific management and highlighted its four principles. Scientific management is the labor organization based on modern scientific achievements and best practices, which were systematically introduced into the workplace. Scientific management allows combining technology and people in the labor process. In addition to the above-mentioned information, scientific management can be characterized as an approach within classical management theory that emphasizes the scientific study of work methods in order to improve worker efficiency. Scientific management’s implementation saves time and is an important growth factor productivity of living labor. The importance and value of scientific management is that it allows you to save hard work as a result of better use of the production’s material Continue reading
Matrix Organizational Structure – Definition, Types, Advantages, and Disadvantages
Organizational structure refers to a way in which an organization or a company arranges its employees and duties. It establishes hierarchy and line of authority. An organization should adopt a structure that is in agreement with its objectives and goals. Matrix organizational structure employs a multi-dimensional approach. It combines one or two of the other organizational structures. For example, it may combine bureaucratic organizational structure with functional organizational structure. This creates a dual reporting system in which people work together as a team while retaining a recognizable reporting system. Matrix structure creates teams of workers in an organization based on both the product and department or function. This enables the organization to maximize on the strengths of each employee while making up for their weaknesses. The teams work independently towards achieving a common goal. If a company produces two products for example, the practice is to departmentalize the production process of Continue reading
Difference Between Administration and Management
The use of two terms Management and Administration has been a controversial issue in the management literature. Some writers do not see any difference between the two terms, while others maintain that administration and management are two different functions. According to those who held management and administration distinct, management is a lower-level function and is concerned primarily with the execution of policies laid down by administration. Dalton E. McFarland states: “in government agencies administration is preferred over management, although in recent years the term management has become widely used in government agencies.” But some authors are of the opinion that management is a wider term including administration. This controversy of difference between administration and management is discussed as under in three heads: Administration is concerned with the determination of policies and management with the implementation of policies. Thus, administration is a higher level function. Management is a generic term and Continue reading
The Role and Responsibilities of a Line Manager
Business management and entrepreneurship are improving rapidly nowadays and one of the main roles is improving with it also, which is the line manager. The role of line manager became very important in the structure of the business entity, because it is the shortest way for executive or non-executive directors to communicate with their employees and line manager helps in this situation a lot. Line manager appeared from the business term “Line Management” and its aim was to administrate all activities which are hold in the company and try to maximize level of service providing and output of products. In the real life line manager normally in charge of activities and labor’s output or it is responsible for a specific product line, for example, tea production and he cannot make any alterations in production of coffee, because normally it will have its own line manager who is responsible for this Continue reading