Management
Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether they are a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administration respectively. It is the process of managing the resources of businesses, governments, and other organizations.
For other uses, see Management (disambiguation). "Manager" redirects here. For other uses, see Manager (disambiguation).
Larger organizations generally have three hierarchical levels of managers,[1] in a pyramid structure:
Management is taught across different disciplines at colleges and universities. Prominent major degree programs in management include Management, Business Administration and Public Administration. Social scientists study management as an academic discipline, investigating areas such as social organization, organizational adaptation, and organizational leadership.[2] In recent decades, there has been a movement for evidence-based management.[3]
Etymology[edit]
The English verb manage has its roots in the fifteenth-century French verb mesnager, which often referred in equestrian language "to hold in hand the reins of a horse".[4] Also the Italian term maneggiare (to handle, especially tools or a horse) is possible. In Spanish, manejar can also mean to rule the horses.[5] These three terms derive from the two Latin words manus (hand) and agere (to act).
The French word for housekeeping, ménagerie, derived from ménager ("to keep house"; compare ménage for "household"), also encompasses taking care of domestic animals. Ménagerie is the French translation of Xenophon's famous book Oeconomicus[6] (Greek: Οἰκονομικός) on household matters and husbandry. The French word mesnagement (or ménagement) influenced the semantic development of the English word management in the 17th and 18th centuries.[7]
Nature of work[edit]
In profitable organizations, management's primary function is the satisfaction of a range of stakeholders. This typically involves making a profit (for the shareholders), creating valued products at a reasonable cost (for customers), and providing great employment opportunities for employees. In case of nonprofit management, one of the main functions is, keeping the faith of donors. In most models of management and governance, shareholders vote for the board of directors, and the board then hires senior management. Some organizations have experimented with other methods (such as employee-voting models) of selecting or reviewing managers, but this is rare.
