Nature and Scope of Management

As a term management is very comprehensive. No organized effort can be successful without proper management. As a result. some form of management is inevitable in every type of human organization.

Encyclopaedia of the Social Sciences states that there are three dimensions of the nature of management : (i) Methods, through which some per-determined objectives can be reached, (ii) combined effect of human efforts and (iii) some total of all those managers and employees who are associated with these efforts. Joseph A. Lister has identified the mature of management as the co-ordination of (i) transformation, i.e., turning some factors and elements into products, (ii) social system. which satisfies employees' needs through motivation, communication and leadership. (iii) administrative system, through which the activities of the employees are controlled.

In short the nature of management can be stated as under :

 • Management as a system comprises of some functions-planning, organizing, staffing, leading and controlling.

•  Factors of production of an organization such as land, labor, capital, equipment  etc.  arc used efficiently and effectively through management for achieving organizational goals.

•  Management applies to any type of organization.

• It applies to managers engaged at all levels of organization.

• Management identifies a special group of people whose job is to direct the effort and activities of other people towards common objectives.

• It has to pay attention to fulfilling the objectives of the interested parties.

Management as a concept has broadened in scope with the introduction of new perspectives by different fields of study, such as economics, sociology, psychology and the like. The study of management has evolved into more than just the use of means to achieve ends: today it includes moral and ethical questions concerning the selection of the right ends towards which managers should strive.'