Definition of Management by Eminent Authors

Management is a word that is quite wide spread and cannot ever have a precise and concise definition. There have been lot of definitions to it in the past that have tried to define the meaning, objective and scope of management in our lives but none of them has been able to precisely and completely define the scope and meaning of management. Many eminent authors on the subject have defined the term “management”.  Some of the widely known definitions of management are as mentioned here.

According to Lawrence A Appley;

“Management is the development of people and not the direction of things”.

According to Joseph Massie;

“Management is defined as the process by which a cooperative group directs action towards common goals”.

In the words of George R Terry;

“Management is a distinct process consisting of planning,  organizing   actuating and controlling performed to determine and accomplish the objectives by the use of people and resources”.

According to James L Lundy;

“Management is principally the task of planning, coordinating, motivating and controlling the efforts of others towards a specific objective”.

In the words of Henry Fayol;

To manage is to forecast and to plan, to  organize, to command, to co-ordinate and to control”.

According to Peter F Drucker;

“Management is a multi-purpose organ that manages a business and manages managers and manages worker and work”.

In the words of J.N. Schulze;

“Management is the force which leads, guides and directs an organisation in the accomplishment of a pre-determined object”.

In the words of Koontz and O’Donnel;

“Management is defined as the creation and maintenance of an internal environment in an enterprise where individuals working together in groups can perform efficiently and effectively towards the attainment of group goals”.

According to Dalton E. Mc Farland:

“Management is the fundamental integrating and operating mechanism underlying organized efforts”.

According to Ordway Tead;

“Management is the process and agency which directs and guides the operations of an organisation in  realizing  of established aims”.

According To James A.E. Stone;

“Management is the process of planning, organizing, leading and controlling the efforts of organization members and using all other organizational resources to achieve stated organizational goals.”

According to Stanley Vance;

“Management is simply the process of decision-making and control over the actions of human beings for the express purpose of attaining predetermined goals”.

According to Wheeler;

“Business management is a human activity which directs and controls the organisation and operation of a business enterprise. Management is  centered  in the administrators of managers of the firm who integrate men, material and money into an effective operating limit”.

In the words of William Spriegel;

“Management is that function of an enterprise which concerns itself with the direction and control of the various activities to attain the business objectives”.

In the words of S. George;

“Management consists of getting things done through others. Manager is one who accomplishes the objectives by directing the efforts of others”.

In the words of Keith and Gubellini;

“Management is the force that integrates men and physical plant into an effective operating unit”.

According to Newman, Summer and Warren;

“The job of management is to make cooperative  endeavor  to function properly. A manager is one who gets things done by working with people and other resources”.

According to John F M;

“Management may be defined as the art of securing maximum results with a minimum of effort so as to secure maximum results with a minimum of effort so as to secure maximum prosperity and happiness for both employer and employee and give the public the best possible service”.

In the words of Kimball and Kimball;

“Management embraces all duties and functions that pertain to the initiation of an enterprise, its financing, the establishment of all major policies, the provision of all necessary equipment, the outlining of the general form of organisation under which the enterprise is to operate and the selection of the principal officers. The group of officials in primary control of an enterprise is referred to as management”.

In the words of E.F.L. Brech;

“Management is a social process entailing responsibility for the effective and economical planning and regulation of the operations of an enterprise, in  fulfillment  of a given purpose or task, such responsibility involving: (a) judgement and decision in determining plans and in using data to control performance, and progress against plans; and (b) the guidance, integration, motivation and supervision of the personnel composing the enterprise and carrying out its operations”.

According to E. Peterson and E.G Plowman;

“Management is a technique by means of which the purpose and objectives of a particular human group are determined, classified and effectuated”.

According to  Theo Haimann and William Scott;

“Management is a social and technical process which utilizes, resources, influences, human action and facilitates changes in order to accomplish organizational goals”.

According to Mary Cushing Niles;

“Good management or scientific management achieves a social objective with the best use of human and material energy and time and with satisfaction for the participants and the public”.

In the words of  Lee Iacocca;

“Management is nothing more than motivating other people”.

According to M.P. Follett;

“Management is the art of getting things done through people.”

Ross Moore states;

“Management means decision-making.”

According to Sir Charles Reynold;

“Management is the process of getting things done through the agency of a community. The functions of management are the handling of a community with a view to fulfilling the purposes for which it exists.”

In the words of Donald J. Clough;

“Management is the art and science of decision making and leadership.”

According to S. George;

“Management consists of getting things done through others. Manager is one who accomplishes the objectives by directing the efforts of others.”

In the words of James D. Mooney and Alan C. Reiley;

“Management is the art of directing and inspiring people.”

From the definitions quoted above, it is clear the “management” is a technique of extracting work from others in an integrated and co-ordinated manner for realizing the specific objectives through productive use of material resources. Mobilizing the physical, human and financial resources and planning their utilization for business operations in such a manner as to reach the defined goals can be referred to as “management”. If the views of the various authors are combined, management could be defined as

“a distinct ongoing process of allocating inputs of an organisation (human and economic resources) by typical managerial functions (planning, organizing, directing and controlling) for the purpose of achieving stated objectives namely — output of goods and services desired by its customers (environment). In the process, work is preformed with and through personnel of the organisation in an ever-changing business environment”.

12 thoughts on “Definition of Management by Eminent Authors

  1. The above collection of definition from different authors is really wonderful. But please add referencing at the end, then it could be much more useful.I am hopeful that you would consider my request.

  2. I just want to mention I am very new to blogs and absloutely liked you’re web site. Very likely I’m going to bookmark your blog . You absloutely have impressive article content. Many thanks for sharing your website page.

  3. A nice customized work from MBA Knowledge base website, touching on all aspects of Management studies and functions at introductory level.

    I have been using the information provided by your site as 2nd wiki and i am thankful to all your effort.

    One Suggestion:
    Could you add a section which may work like an brain work exercise on cognitively joining various aspects of management definition (category wise) to build a ‘suggestive idea’ at surface level only
    (i.e ‘minus any research backed base’)

    Researches may add firm base to such loose ‘suggestive ideas’ later on.

  4. i need citation dates and references so that i can use it for my master assignment to be submitted next week . i can have dates please so that this definition could be of academic or scholarly use. thanks

  5. Without the references, it is absolutely a worthless material and it becomes a raw data that is statistically and empirically useless.
    Therefore, act professionally in all you try to do.

  6. According to Aldrich, Betham, Field, and Lagden (1966), management is a social process entailing responsibility for the effective and economic planning and regulation of the operations of an enterprise, in fulfillment of a given purpose or task. Aldrich et al. (1966) posted that such task responsibility includes judgment and decision in determining plans and in using data to control performance and progress against plans; and the guidance, integration, motivation, and supervision of the organization personnel and its operations.
    This is to correct the definition alluded to Brech. Brech is the editor for Aldrich et al. (1966) book on Principles and Practice of Management. This implies that the recognition should be given to the rightful authors.

  7. Am greatful for these definitions by our fore fathers. Really they have helped me to understand more what management is. But in some definitions, there are no years. So if u can, try to specify when these definitions were put forward. Best wishes

  8. This compilation is worthwhile and very useful to many researchers in management and its related field. However, references/dates will enhance the quality of this effort.
    Thanks

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