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DA1. The Definition of Management

Statement

The text defines management as “The art of getting things done through the efforts of other people” (Carpenter et. al., 2010, para 3). Put yourself in the shoes of a manager and explain what this definition means in the context of a company operation. You can use the example of any company (large or small) and any good or service.

Answer

In today’s world, where knowledge and skills are too complex to be held by a single individual, teamwork merged as a solution to the problem, where a group of individuals whose skills complement each other assembled in one abstract body to achieve a common goal. This is where management becomes more important than ever, to orchestrate the efforts among team members and among teams to keep the company operation running smoothly.

As companies’ structures evolved, so did the role of the manager; it transformed from a ruler or a supervisor to a leader where the support and empowerment of team members are at the heart of the role (Carpenter et. al., 2010). As the definition suggests, the role of the manager is to direct the efforts of others (team members) to achieve goals, as team efforts can go into the void without a proper function that aligns the outputs of each team member within the company’s goals.

The principles (or functions) of management mentioned by Carpenter et. al. (2010) are planning, organizing, leading, and controlling. These principles are the tools that a manager uses to manage; planning is the process of dividing company goals into smaller and achievable tasks within the team’s capacity; organizing is the process of allocating resources and team members to the tasks; leading is the process of cheering and keeping the team spirit high; and controlling is the process of monitoring the progress of the tasks and making sure the output is aligned with the company’s mission and vision.

As an example, let’s consider a small startup that builds a website to help professionals who are relocating to a new country; such a company will have at least two teams, one that is customer-facing and another that builds the required technology. The manager of this company needs to integrate the efforts of both teams to move forward; especially as the two teams require completely different skill sets. The manager also needs to understand customers’ needs and plan what is to be done; later he needs to assign tasks to the teams and communicate their vision; during the work, he needs to empower team members to be able to do the job; and as the market changes, he needs to calibrate the output and pivot if needed.

To conclude, the most important aspect of management is to understand the needs of the company, stakeholders, and customers; to know the details of the team dynamics so that a plan can be made, and then to delegate achieving the plan to the right team members, and to monitor the progress and adjust if needed.

Word Count: 435.

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