Notes

Features of Management: Top 17 Features of Management
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Everything you need to know about the features and characteristics of management. To understand the nature of management, it is essential to know the features or characteristics of management.

As rightly explained by Peter Drucker, “Without Institution there is no management. But without Management there is no Institution,” it is clear that Management becomes the specific organ of performance and survival of the institutions.

Some of the features of management are:-

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1. Art as well as Science 2. Management is Goal Oriented 3. Management is a Continuous Process 4. Organised Activities 5. Management is a Factor of Production 6. Management as a System of Activity 7. Management is a Discipline 8. Management is a Purposeful Activity

9. Management is a Distinct Entity 10. Management Aims at Maximising Profit 11. Decision-Making 12. Management is a Profession 13. Universal Application 14. Management is Getting Thing Done 15. Management as a Class or a Team 16. Management as a Career 17. Dynamic and a Few Others.

Learn about the Features and Characteristics of Management
Features of Management – Art as well as Science, Management is an Activity, Management is a Continuous Process, Organised Activities, Decision-Making and a Few Others
Feature # 1. Art as well as Science:

Management is both an art and a science. It is an art in the sense of possessing of managing skill by a person. In another sense, management is the science because of developing certain principles or laws which are applicable in a place where a group of activities are co-ordinated.

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Feature # 2. Management is an Activity:

Management is the process of activity relating to the effective utilisation of available resources for production. The term ‘resources’ includes men, money, materials and machine in the organisation.

Feature # 3. Management is a Continuous Process:

The process of management mainly consists of planning, organising, directing and controlling the resources. The resources (men and money) of an organisation should be used to the best advantages of the organisation and the objectives to be achieved. The management function of any one alone cannot produce any results in the absence of any other basic functions of Management. So, management is a continuous process.

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Feature # 4. Management Achieving Pre-Determined Objectives:

The objectives of an organisation are clearly laid down. Every managerial activity results in the achievement of objectives fixed well in advance.

Feature # 5. Organised Activities:

Management is a group of organised activities. A group is formed not only in a public limited company but also in an ordinary club. All the organisations have their own objectives. These objectives will be achieved only by a group of persons. These persons’ activities should be organised in a systematic way to achieve the objectives. The objectives cannot be achieved without any organised activities.

Feature # 6. Management is a Factor of Production:

The factor of production includes land, labour, capital and entrepreneurs. Here, land refers to a place where production is carried on. Labour refers to the paid employees of the organisation who are working in different levels as – skilled, unskilled, semi-skilled, manager, supervisor and the like. Capital refers to the working capital as in the form of cash, raw materials and finished goods and fixed capital as in the form of plant facilities and production facilities. These land, labour and capital could not realise the organisation’s goals.

The organisation goals are achieved only when these are effectively co-ordinated by the entrepreneur. An individual can do such type of job as in the case of small businesses. In the case of big sized business units, co-ordination job is done by the management. So, management is also treated as one of the factors of production.

According to Peter F. Drucker, “Whatever rapid economic and social development took place after World War II, it occurred as a result of systematic and purposeful work of developing managers and management. Development is a matter of human energies rather than of economic wealth and the generation of human energies is the task of management. Management is the mover and development is a consequence”.

Feature # 7. Management as a System of Activity:

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A system may be defined as a set of component parts working as a whole. Authority may be defined as a right to command others for getting a particular course of organisational work done.

Individuals are the foundation stones of the management. An individual has some goals as a member of the organisation. There may be a conflict between his own goals and the management’s expectations from that individual. Such conflict is resolved by the management by ensuring balance between individual goals and organisational expectations.

Authority is vested with many persons to take decisions and influence the behaviour of the sub-ordinates. The very purpose of using the authority is to check and control the behaviour of the sub-ordinates. The sources of authority rest with superiors as given in the organisation chart and social norms. The utilisation of authority is based on the personality factors of the user and the behaviour of a person over whom it is used.

Feature # 8. Management is a Discipline:

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The boundaries of management are not exact as those of any other physical sciences. It may be increased by the continuous discovery of many more aspects of business enterprise. So, the management status as a discipline is also increased in the same manner.

Feature # 9. Management is a Purposeful Activity:

Management is concerned with achievement of objectives of an organisation. These objectives are achieved through the functions of planning, organising, staffing, directing, controlling and decision-making. The organisational objectives are clearly defined and explained to every employee.

Feature # 10. Management is a Distinct Entity:

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Management is distinct from its functional activities. The functions have the nature of “to do” but the management has the nature of “how to get things done”. A manager requires some amount of skill and knowledge to get work done.

Feature # 11. Management Aims at Maximising Profit:

The available resources are properly utilised to get desired results. The results should be the maximising profit or increasing profit by the economic function of a manager.

Feature # 12. Decision-Making:

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There are a number of decisions taken by the management every day. Decision making arises only when there is availability of alternative courses of action. If there is only one course of action, need for decision-making does not arise. The quality of decision taken by the manager determines the organisations’ performance. The success or failure of an organisation depends upon the degree of right decision taken by the manager.

Feature # 13. Management is a Profession:

Management is a profession because it possesses the qualities of a profession. A fund of knowledge is imparted and transferred in this profession and the same is followed by management. The established principles of management are applied in practice.

Feature # 14. Universal Application:

The principles and practices of management are applicable not to any particular industry alone but applicable to every type of industry. The practice of management is different from one organisation to another according to their nature.

Feature # 15. Management is Getting Thing Done:

A manager does not actually perform the work but he gets things done by others. According to Knootz and O’Donnel, “management is the art of getting things done through and with people in formally organised groups.”

Feature # 16. Management as a Class or a Team:

A class may be defined as a group of people having homogenous characteristics to achieve common objectives. Engineers and doctors are grouped as a class in a society. Each and every doctor has the same objectives in life. Just like engineers and doctors, the management people have got similar aspirations to achieve corporate objectives.

Feature # 17. Management as a Career:

Now-a-days, management is developed as a career focused on certain specialisation. Financial Management, Cash Management, Portfolio Management, Marketing Management, Personnel Management, Industrial Management and Business Management are some of the specialisations of management. Specialists are appointed in the key posts of top management.

Feature # 18. Direction and Control:

A manager can direct his sub-ordinates in the performance of a work and control them whenever necessary. If the available resources are not utilised properly by him, he fails to achieve the corporate objectives in the absence of direction and control. Generally, the direction and control deals with the activities of human effort.

Feature # 19. Dynamic:

The management is not static. In the fast developing business world, new techniques are developed and adopted by the management. Management is changed according to the social change. The social change is the result of the changing business world.

Feature # 20. Management is Needed at All Levels:

The functions of management are common to all levels of organisation. The top executives perform the functions of planning, organising, directing, controlling and decision making. The same functions are also performed by the lower level supervisor.

Feature # 21. Leadership Quality:

Leadership quality is developed in the persons who are working in the top level management. According to R.C. Davis, “Management is the function of executive leadership everywhere.”