Management Basics

Managerial Skills and Roles

Managerial Skills

Managers at every level in the management hierarchy must exercise three basic types of skills: technical, human, and conceptual. All managers must acquire these skills in varying proportions, although the importance of each category of skill changes at different management levels.

Technical skills:

  • Technical skills refer to the ability and knowledge in using the equipment, techniques and procedure involved in performing specific tasks.
  • These skills require specialized knowledge and proficiency in the mechanics of a particular.
  • Technical skills lose relative importance at higher levels of the management hierarchy, but most top executives started out as technical experts.

Human skills:

  • Human skills refer to the ability of a manager to work effectively with other people both as individual and as members of a group.
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Abey Francis

Management Levels in an Organization

The term level of management refers to a line of demarcation between various managerial positions. The number of levels of management depends upon the size, technology, degree, of diversity and nature of product. There are mainly three levels of management in most of the organization.

  1. Top level management
  2. Middle level management
  3. Lower level management

The extent to which managers perform the functions of management – planning, organizing, directing, and controlling – varies by level in the management hierarchy.

1. Top Level Management

Top level consists of the board of directors, general manager and other senior executives. They fix the objectives of the organization.… Read the rest

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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.… Read the rest

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Henri Fayol’s Principles of Management

Henri Fayol (1841-1925) who is known as the Father of Modern Management, was a French industrialist who developed a framework for studying management. He wrote “General and Industrial Management”. His five functions of managers were plan, organize, command, coordinate, and control.

Classification of Business Activities

According to Fayol, all activities could be classified into

  • Technical (manufacturing or production)
  • Commercial (buying, selling and exchange)
  • Financial (search for and optimum use of capital)
  • Security (protection of property and persons)
  • Accounting (including statistics) and
  • Managerial

Henri Fayol’s Principles of Management

His fourteen principles of management included division of work, authority and responsibility, discipline, unity of command, unity of direction, and subordination of individual interests to general interests, remuneration of personnel, centralization, scalar chain, order, equity, and stability of tenure of personnel, initiative, and esprit de corps (union is strength).… Read the rest

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Financial System – Meaning, Functions and Services

A financial system is a network of financial institutions, financial markets, financial instruments and financial services to facilitate the transfer of funds. The system consists of savers, intermediaries, instruments and the ultimate user of funds. The level of economic growth largely depends upon and is facilitated by the state of financial system prevailing in the economy. Efficient financial system and sustainable economic growth are corollary. The financial system mobilizes the savings and channelizes them into the productive activity and thus influences the pace of economic development. Economic growth is hampered for want of effective financial system. Broadly speaking, financial system deals with three inter-related and interdependent variables, i.e.,… Read the rest

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History of Management Practices

The history of management is a long-standing one, with human life comes the need to manage and control. Looking back through time, one can easily see from where the idea of management developed, grew, and turned into what people know as the modern form of management. In current time, managers are often thought of as sitting in a cushy office wearing a suit and tie, but little do most know that today’s managers have stemmed from ancient Egypt, China, and even back to the paleolithic times. Management has existed for as long as humanity and it will most likely only continue to further evolve, grow with the time, and fit into more modern aspects of managing.… Read the rest

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