Management - Definition: Koontz and O’Donnell – Narayana Rao - Slides Content

Principles of Management Revision/Review Articles - List

Management Definition: Koontz and O’Donnell – Narayana Rao

1. Koontz and O’Donnell – Weihrich – 10th Edition

"Management is the process of designing and maintaining an environment in which individuals, working together in groups, effectively and  efficiently,  accomplish selected aims."

This definition implies:
1. As managers, people carry out the managerial functions of planning, organizing, staffing, leading, and controlling.
2. Management applies to any kind of organization.
3. It applies to managers at all organizational levels.
Management definition implies
4. The aim of all managers is the same: to create a surplus.
5. Managing is concerned with productivity; this implies effectiveness and efficiency.

2. Shortcomings of the definition – Koontz and O’Donnell - Weihrich

The process of management is being explained as an implication.
Redefining Management to include the process in the definition is possible.

3. Management Definition – Narayana Rao

Management of an organization is the process of establishing objectives and goals of the organization periodically, designing the work system and the human organization structure, and maintaining an environment in which individuals, working together in groups, accomplish their aims and objectives and goals of the organization effectively and efficiently. (3rd December 2008)

Implications of Definition of Narayana Rao’s  Management Definition

(i) Management is a process.
(ii) Management applies to every kind of organization, government, profit making, or nonprofit making.
(iii) It applies to managers at all levels in the organization.
Management - Effectiveness and Efficiency Implication
(iv) Management is concerned with effectiveness and efficiency.

v) Management has to organize the material resources and human resources required to attain the objectives and goals of the organization. Work system is the material resources organization. Organization structure is the human resource organization.

Effectiveness is producing the product or service the customer wants in business context with the required functional benefits and product attributes at the price he is willing to pay.

Efficiency is minimization of resources to produce the saleable output.

4. Management – Efficiency – Industrial Engineering

In the case of engineering companies, Industrial Engineering, a management discipline with engineering as the primary underlying subject takes care of efficiency dimension.

Efficiency is minimization of resources to produce the saleable output.

Industrial engineering has as its focus productivity of each resource (especially engineering resources) and thus total productivity of all resources used in producing and distributing (marketing, selling, delivering and servicing) the product.

Updated on 12 June 2019, 2 May 2019