12 Features/Characteristics of Management [Explained]

Features/Characteristics of Management

Management is a means to optimally guide men, machines, materials, money, and methods in a way that assures the accomplishment of desired goals. Management is a fundamental aspect of an organization and has various characteristics/features.

The significant characteristics of management are mentioned below:

Goal Focused

The first characteristic of management is that it is goal focused. Firms establish to attain specific goals – the goal may be short-term or long-term.

Management always aims at attaining the predetermined goals of an organization with the help of various functions like planning, decision-making, organizing, directing, and controlling. It utilizes multiple resources of an organization effectively and efficiently to achieve goals.

Universal Function

Whether the organization is small, medium, large, national, multinational, profit-oriented, non-profit, private, or government management is necessary and practiced in all types of organizations throughout the world.

The use of management may differ from organization to organization but its basic principle is the same. It is essential for all organizations. Thus, management is a universal function.

Dynamic Activity

Management is a dynamic activity. The management practice you apply today is best for today, but you can not always be sure that it work the same in the future. Due to changing environmental factors, it might not work.

Thus, it requires that the management practice should be dynamic/flexible with the changing environment. It should be changed based on the situation and time.

Continuous Activity

Management is a continuous process throughout the existence of your organization. You as a manager have to continuously implement management practices to improve the performance of the organization.

Social Concern

Another significant characteristic of management is that it is also a social activity. Management is concerned with people. Management manages people, work with people, and works for people.

While applying management practices you should not only focus on organizational goals achievement but also consider the needs of employees.

Group Activity

Organizational functions are carried out by different types of people. Management is irrelevant when there is only one person rather it represents a team, group, or section of people working together to accomplish common goals.

It is less concerned with individual effort and more concerned with a group effort to achieve organizational goals.

Work Through and With Other

Management always focuses on other people to attain organizational goals. It encourages group activity and teamwork.

Without other people, management has no work and no meaning. Managers become successful only when they can maintain a good combination of interpersonal and social relations, communication, coordination, and other basic elements of management functions.

Distinct Process

According to George R. Terry, “Management is a distinct process consisting of planning, organizing, actuating and controlling, performed to determine and accomplish the stated objective by the use of human beings and other resources”.

Effectiveness and Efficiency

In short, effectiveness is doing things right and efficiency is making things right. Organizational success depends on the matter of to what extent management attains efficiency and effectiveness.

Management always tries to maintain efficiency and effectiveness at the top level. By doing its basic functions effectively, management maintains higher efficiency and effectiveness and attains organizational goals.

Read Also: Management Skills

Intangible

Management has no physical appearance or setup. The functions of managers can not be seen or touched but can be felt or realized by the results or performance of the management functions. The effectiveness and efficiency of the management can be judged on the basis of organizational performance and goal achievement.

Science and Art

Management is both science and art. Since science is about fact and scientific applications & art is about skills and abilities.

Management is a science in a way that it has scientifically proven universally acceptable principles. And, managers need to have various skills and abilities to manage people and organizations.

Multidisciplinary

Last but not least, one of the characteristics of good management is that it is multidisciplinary in nature.

Management has various well-known principles generated through knowledge and concepts of different disciplines like economics, sociology, psychology, statistics, mathematics, etc. It integrates the concepts of these disciplines in planning, organizing, leading, and controlling.

Management must work with people having different perceptions, behavior, and attitude. For directing, controlling, communicating, and supervision management must borrow the concepts of various disciplines.

To analyze the ever-changing environment, management must understand various techniques governed by various disciplines. In this way, management becomes a multidisciplinary concept.

Read Next: Management Theories