Summary |
This composite framework permits us to view management in terms of a system which, like all systems, is made up of inputs and outputs and the processes that connect them and permit feedback. Within this system, we define the overall management process as a social and technical one which utilize resources, influences human action, and facilitates change in order to accomplish organization goals. In a more specific formulation, the management system consists of not just one process but of several distinct, though interrelated, processes which the authors conceive of as the functions of management –planning, organizing, staffing, influencing, and controlling. In addition to these five basic functions, the linking processes of communications and quantitative decision-making are considered an essential part of the system. In general, it may be said that through the system concept the student is able to grasp the intricate relationships among the management functions and to see management as a dynamic integrated process.
Management in the Modern Organization retains clear-cut emphasis on the five basic management functions. These functions still reflect the essence of the management process- they describe what managers do. By weaving the functional approach into a systems framework, we are merely striving to make management more relevant to the student of the 1970’s both the placing it in an over-all environmental context and by giving it a human dimension which has all too often been neglected in our world of automation and rapid technological change. The combined approach also serves to structure management as a discipline and to reinforce its professional character.
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