Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administration respectively. It is the process of managing the resources of businesses, governments, and other organizations.
Larger organizations generally have three hierarchical levels of managers, organized in a pyramid structure:
Senior management roles include the board of directors and a chief executive officer (CEO) or a president of an organization. They set the organization's strategic goals and policies and make decisions about how the organization will operate. Senior managers are generally executive-level professionals who provide direction to middle management. Compare governance. Middle management roles include branch managers, regional managers, department managers, and section managers. They provide direction to front-line managers and communicate senior management's strategic goals and policies to them. Line management roles include supervisors and the frontline managers or team leaders who oversee the work of regular employees, or volunteers in some voluntary organizations, and provide direction on their work. Line managers often perform the managerial functions that are traditionally considered the core of management. Despite the name, they are usually considered part of the workforce rather than the organization's management class.
Management is taught — both as a theoretical subject and as a practical application — across different disciplines at colleges and universities. Prominent degree programs in management include Management, Business Administration, and Public Administration. Social scientists study management as an academic discipline, investigating areas such as social organization, organizational adaptation, and organizational leadership.Waring, S.P., 2016. Taylorism Transformed: Scientific management theory since 1945. UNC Press Books. In recent decades, there has been a movement for evidence-based management.
Etymology The English verb manage has its roots in the fifteenth-century French verb , which often referred in equestrian language "to hold in hand the reins of a horse". Also the Italian term (to handle, especially tools or a horse) is possible. In Spanish, can also mean to rule the horses. These three terms derive from the two Latin words (hand) and (to act).
The word management dates back to the 1590s, when it was first used to mean "the act of managing by direction or manipulation," formed from manage plus the suffix -ment. By the 1670s, it had also come to describe "the act of managing by physical manipulation." Later, in 1739, the word was increasingly used to refer to "a governing body" or "the directors of an undertaking collectively," a sense that originally applied to theaters.
Definitions
Views on the definition and scope of management include: Henri Fayol (1841–1925) stated: "To manage is to forecast and to plan, to organize, to command, to co-ordinate and to control". Fredmund Malik (born 1944) defines management as "the transformation of resources into utility". Ghislain Deslandes defines management as "a vulnerable force, under pressure to achieve results and endowed with the triple power of constraint, imitation, and imagination, operating on subjective, interpersonal, institutional and environmental levels".Deslandes G., (2014), "Management in Xenophon's Philosophy: a Retrospective Analysis", 38th Annual Research Conference, Philosophy of Management, 2014, July 14–16, Chicago Peter Drucker (1909–2005) saw the basic task of management as twofold: marketing and innovation. Theoretical scope Management involves identifying the mission, objective, procedures, rules and manipulationPrabbal Frank attempts to make a subtle distinction between management and manipulation: of the human capital of an enterprise to contribute to the success of the enterprise. Scholars have focused on the management of individual, organizational, and inter-organizational relationships. This implies effective communication: an enterprise environment (as opposed to a physical or mechanical mechanism) implies human motivation and implies some successful progress or system outcome. As such, management is not the manipulation of a mechanism (machine or automated program), not the herding of animals, and can occur either in a legal or in an illegal enterprise or environment. From an individual's perspective, management does not need to be seen solely from an enterprise point of view, because management is a function in improving one's life and relationships. Management is seen in various parts of society.Plans, measurements, motivational psychological tools, goals, and economic measures (profit, etc.) may or may not be necessary components for there to be management. At first, one views management functionally, such as measuring quantity, adjusting plans, and meeting goals, but this applies even when planning does not take place. From this perspective, Henri Fayol (1841–1925) Administration industrielle et générale – prévoyance organization – commandment, coordination – contrôle, Paris: Dunod, 1966 considers management to consist of five functions:
planning (forecasting) organizing commanding coordinating controlling
In another way of thinking, Mary Parker Follett (1868–1933), allegedly defined management as "the art of getting things done through people". She described management as a philosophy.Vocational Business: Training, Developing and Motivating People by Richard Barrett – Business & Economics – 2003. p. 51.
Some scholars, however, find this definition useful but far too narrow. The phrase "management is what managers do" occurs widely,Compare: suggesting the difficulty of defining management without circularity, the shifting nature of definitions and the connection of managerial practices with the existence of a managerial cadre or of a class.
One habit of thought regards management as equivalent to "business administration" and thus excludes management in places outside commerce, for example, in charities and in the public sector. More broadly, every organization must "manage" its work, people, processes, technology, and other resources to maximize effectiveness. Nonetheless, many people refer to university departments that teach management as "business schools". Some such institutions (such as the Harvard Business School) use that name, while others (such as the Yale School of Management) employ the broader term "management".
English-speakers may also use the term "management" or "the management" as a collective word describing the managers of an organization, for example, of a corporation – "Meaning 'governing body' (originally of a theater) is from 1739." : "6. A governing body of an organization or business, regarded collectively; the group of employees which administers and controls a business or industry, as opposed to the labour force." the managementariat."Tony Hall appointed new BBC director general - as it happened", 22 November 2012: "[...] another grey suit without charisma or talent, who has risen without trace in the goobledigook-speaking tribes of the MBA managementariat.
Historically, the use of the term "management" often contrasted with the term "labor" – referring to those whom management manages.See for examples
Levels
Top management
The board of directors is typically composed primarily of non-executive members who owe a fiduciary duty to shareholders and are not closely involved in the day-to-day activities of the organization. However, this can vary depending on the type (e.g., public versus private), size, and culture of the organization. These directors are theoretically liable for breaches of that duty and are typically insured under directors and officers liability insurance. Fortune 500 directors are estimated to spend 4.4 hours per week on board duties, and median compensation was $212,512 in 2010. The board sets corporate strategy, makes major decisions such as major acquisitions,Board of Directors: Duties & Liabilities . Stanford Graduate School of Business. and hires, evaluates, and fires the top-level manager (chief executive officer or CEO). The CEO typically hires other positions. However, board involvement in hiring for other positions, such as the chief financial officer (CFO), has increased.DeMars, L. (2006). Heavy Vetting: Boards of directors now want to talk to would-be CFOs — and vice versa. CFO Magazine. In 2013, a survey of over 160 CEOs and directors of public and private companies found that the top weaknesses of CEOs were "mentoring skills" and "board engagement", and 10% of companies never evaluated the CEO.2013 CEO Performance Evaluation Survey. Stanford Graduate School of Business. The board may also have certain employees (e.g., internal auditors) report to them or directly hire independent contractors; for example, the board (through the audit committee) typically selects the auditor.
Helpful skills for top management vary by organization type but typically include a broad understanding of competition, global economies, effective planning, and politics.Kleiman, Lawrence S. (2010), Management and Executive Development, Reference for Business: Encyclopedia of Business, accessed on 1 November 2024 In addition, the CEO is responsible for implementing and determining (within the board's framework) the broad policies of the organization. Executive management accomplishes the day-to-day details, including instructions for the preparation of department budgets, procedures, and schedules; appointment of middle-level executives such as department managers; coordination of departments; media and governmental relations; and shareholder communication.
Line management Line managers include supervisors, section leaders, forepersons, and team leaders. They focus on controlling and directing regular employees, either in direct service delivery or in back-office areas of work. They are usually responsible for assigning employees tasks, guiding and supervising employees on day-to-day activities, ensuring the quality and quantity of production and/or service, making recommendations and suggestions to employees on their work, and channeling employee concerns that they cannot resolve to mid-level managers or other administrators. Low-level, frontline or "front-line" managers also act as role models for their team members. Deficits in frontline management can critically impact service delivery and customer satisfaction.Shaw, D., Birmingham Prison: Government takes over from G4S, BBC News, published on 20 August 2018, accessed on 22 July 2025, quote: "ineffective frontline management and leadership were at the heart of the prison's problems".
Training and education
Colleges and universities worldwide offer bachelor's degrees, graduate programs, diplomas, and professional certificates in management. These programs are most commonly housed within colleges of business, business schools, or faculties of management. Still, they may also be offered in related departments such as economics, public policy, or the social sciences.
Scholars have argued that higher education played a central role in the so-called "managerial revolution" of the 20th century by formalizing managerial skills and expanding the professionalization of management as a discipline.
Undergraduate
At the undergraduate level, the most common business programs are the Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) and Bachelor of Commerce (B.Com.). These typically comprise a four-year program that provides students with an overview of managers' roles in planning and directing within an organization. Course topics include accounting, financial management, statistics, marketing, strategy, and other related areas.