Management in business refers to the coordinated effort of people, resources and procedures in order to attain the main purpose of a business. This essentially means that an organization’s objectives are accomplished by combining several factors. It is only through proper management of these factors that a business’s objectives can be met.
Basically there are two approaches to management, one is the use of traditional tactics and the other is the use of modern tactics. The traditional approach is no longer effective, as its main focus points are not enough to make a business competitive today. Therefore, using the modern approach is the current trend in the business world and other related circles.
A Look at the two Approaches
Traditional management tactics have more of a market-over-resources approach, with the most important resource, which is people, not being utilized to full potential. They focus on what the environment holds for the business as opposed to what the business holds for the environment. Focus will therefore be on solving a problem first through all necessary means. This includes direct supervision or monetary incentives to employees both of which emphasize on short term problem solving.
Modern management tactics however have changed all this and aim at developing the core of the business, the people. The approach makes them a part of the businesses vision for growth and long-term direction. This includes use of intrinsic rewarding mechanisms that instill a sense of accomplishment and fulfilment from the work that employees are doing through looking at tasks as opportunities and the prospect of a long term future.
In the management by direction strategy of the traditional approach, the manager is placed in charge of problem solving. He or she is tasked with setting up objectives for the business and deciding how the goals will be achieved. This involves organizing tasks among employees and maintaining supervisory communication channels with them. As tasks are being accomplished, the manager will have to come up with performance measures and evaluation of staff to improve performance of the whole organization.
On the other hand, in the management by guidance strategy of the modern approach, emphasis will be on developing individual responsibility in the organization. This involves developing, coaching and nurturing highly motivated staff that can deliver on expectations. There should be open communication channels for every person and everybody including the manager should have a responsibility to work on the tasks that he or she is competent in. This will establish effectiveness in all departments and in every employee ranging from staff to management, while providing motivation for greater achievement and potential.
Engineering Management
One modern approach that has come up is engineering management. It is basically the incorporation of engineering principles to business practices in the modern world. This is however in a more specific capacity towards technical projects. It is applied in the managing of technical personnel and projects through a systematic mechanism. Acquisition of this knowledge will therefore require training in business as well as engineering practices. Doing so will bring together organizational and administrative nature of a business with the problem solving driven approach of engineering, to come up with a fluid management procedure.
Management engineers are required to manage engineering personnel who are traditionally non-entrepreneurial thinkers. They should therefore have the right skill set to watch over, mentor, motivate and coach technical professionals. They have to accomplish that effectively, since the success of the business and projects they are in charge of will depend on their management skills. This calls for a high amount of training, as these tasks are not typical of other management fields.
About the Author: Joshua Turner is a writer who creates informative articles in relation to business. In this article, he describes effective management techniques and aims to encourage further study with a master of science in engineering management.
