Unit 1: Management fundamentals & evolution of thought
Principles and Practices of Management notes · PTU syllabus (BBA 101-18)
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Unit summary
Management is the process of getting things done efficiently and effectively through and with people. This unit explains the meaning, nature and scope of management, the roles and skills of managers, forms of business organisation, and how management thought evolved from scientific management to the contingency approach.
After this unit you can
- Define management and explain its nature and scope
- Describe Mintzberg's managerial roles and Katz's managerial skills
- Compare sole proprietorship, partnership and joint stock company
- Trace the evolution of management thought from classical to contingency approaches
PTU syllabus topics
- Meaning
- definitions
- nature and scope of management
- managerial roles and skills
- forms of organization (sole proprietorship, partnership, joint stock company)
- evolution of management thought — classical and neoclassical systems
- contingency approaches
- scientific management
Scientific management
Taylor: one best way, time and motion study
Administrative theory
Fayol: 14 principles of management
Bureaucracy
Weber: rules, hierarchy, impersonality
Neoclassical
Hawthorne studies: human relations matter
Systems and contingency
It depends on the situation
Topic 1
Meaning, nature and scope of management
Management is the process of planning, organising, staffing, directing and controlling the efforts of people and the use of resources to achieve organisational goals efficiently (doing things right) and effectively (doing the right things).
- Koontz and O'Donnell: "Management is the art of getting things done through and with people in formally organised groups."
- Henri Fayol: "To manage is to forecast and plan, to organise, to command, to coordinate and to control."
Goal-oriented
Exists to achieve objectives
Universal
Needed in every organisation
Continuous process
Never-ending cycle of functions
Group activity
Works through people
Intangible
Seen in results, not directly
Both art and science
Systematic knowledge applied with skill
Scope: production, marketing, finance, human resource and office management.
Topic 2
Managerial roles and skills
Mintzberg's ten managerial roles fall into three groups:
| Group | Roles |
|---|---|
| Interpersonal | Figurehead, leader, liaison |
| Informational | Monitor, disseminator, spokesperson |
| Decisional | Entrepreneur, disturbance handler, resource allocator, negotiator |
Katz's three skills: technical (job-specific know-how — most needed by lower managers), human (working with people — needed at all levels) and conceptual (seeing the big picture — most needed by top managers).
Exam tip
Draw a pyramid showing that conceptual skills rise and technical skills fall as one moves up the management levels.
Topic 3
Forms of business organisation
Owners
One person
Many shareholders
Liability
Unlimited
Limited to shares held
Legal entity
Not separate from owner
Separate legal entity
Capital
Limited
Large
Continuity
Ends with the owner
Perpetual succession
A partnership (Indian Partnership Act, 1932) is an agreement between two or more persons to share the profits of a business carried on by all or any of them acting for all. Partners have unlimited liability (except in an LLP), and the minimum is two partners.
Topic 4
Evolution of management thought
- 1
Scientific management
F. W. Taylor, early 1900s
- 2
Administrative theory
Henri Fayol's 14 principles
- 3
Bureaucracy
Max Weber
- 4
Neoclassical (human relations)
Elton Mayo's Hawthorne studies
- 5
Systems approach
Organisation as an open system
- 6
Contingency approach
The best method depends on the situation
- Taylor's scientific management: science, not rule of thumb; time and motion study; differential piece-rate system; standardisation; functional foremanship; mental revolution between workers and management.
- Fayol's 14 principles: division of work, authority and responsibility, discipline, unity of command, unity of direction, subordination of individual interest, remuneration, centralisation, scalar chain, order, equity, stability of tenure, initiative, esprit de corps.
- Hawthorne studies (1924–32): productivity depends on social factors, attention and group norms, not only on physical conditions.
- Contingency approach: there is no one best way; the right practice depends on the environment, technology and people.
Key terms
- Management
- Getting work done efficiently and effectively through people
- Managerial roles
- Mintzberg's ten roles in three groups
- Conceptual skill
- The ability to see the organisation as a whole
- Scientific management
- Taylor's systematic study of work to raise efficiency
- Contingency approach
- The view that the best method depends on the situation
Quick revision
- Functions: planning, organising, staffing, directing, controlling.
- Mintzberg: interpersonal, informational, decisional roles.
- Katz: technical, human, conceptual skills.
- Taylor → Fayol → Weber → Mayo → systems → contingency.
Important exam questions
Practice questions written to the PTU exam pattern for this unit's syllabus: short answers (Section A style) and long answers (Sections B and C style).
Short-answer questions
- Q1.Define management. Is it an art or a science?
- Q2.Name Mintzberg's three groups of managerial roles.
- Q3.What are Katz's three managerial skills?
- Q4.State any four of Fayol's principles.
- Q5.What were the findings of the Hawthorne studies?
- Q6.What is the contingency approach?
Long-answer questions
- Q1.Explain the nature and scope of management.
- Q2.Discuss Mintzberg's managerial roles and Katz's managerial skills.
- Q3.Compare the forms of business organisation.
- Q4.Trace the evolution of management thought with the contributions of Taylor, Fayol and Mayo.
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