Unit-1

INTRODUCTION

The Definition of Management

1.The process of getting activities completed efficiently with and through other people;

2. The process of setting and achieving goals through the execution of five basic management
functions: planning, organizing, staffing, directing, and controlling; that utilize human, financial,
and material resources.

3.The process of planning, leading, organizing and controlling people within a group in order to
achieve goals; also used to mean the group of people who do this.

4.the process of achieving the objectives of the business organization by bringing together human,
physical, and financial resources in an optimum combination and making the best decision for the
organization while taking into consideration its operating environment.

Importance of Management

1. It helps in Achieving Group Goals - It arranges the factors of production, assembles and
organizes the resources, integrates the resources in effective manner to achieve goals. It
directs group efforts towards achievement of pre-determined goals. By defining objective of
organization clearly there would be no wastage of time, money and effort. Management
converts disorganized resources of men, machines, money etc. into useful enterprise. These
resources are coordinated, directed and controlled in such a manner that enterprise work
towards attainment of goals.

2. Optimum Utilization of Resources - Management utilizes all the physical & human
resources productively. This leads to efficacy in management. Management provides
maximum utilization of scarce resources by selecting its best possible alternate use in
industry from out of various uses. It makes use of experts, professional and these services
leads to use of their skills, knowledge, and proper utilization and avoids wastage. If
employees and machines are producing its maximum there is no under employment of any
resources.

3. Reduces Costs - It gets maximum results through minimum input by proper planning and
by using minimum input & getting maximum output. Management uses physical, human
 and financial resources in such a manner which results in best combination. This helps in
cost reduction.

4. Establishes Sound Organization - No overlapping of efforts (smooth and coordinated

functions). To establish sound organizational structure is one of the objective of
management which is in tune with objective of organization and for fulfillment of this, it
establishes effective authority & responsibility relationship i.e. who is accountable to
whom, who can give instructions to whom, who are superiors & who are subordinates.
Management fills up various positions with right persons, having right skills, training and
qualification. All jobs should be cleared to everyone.

5. Establishes Equilibrium - It enables the organization to survive in changing environment.

It keeps in touch with the changing environment. With the change is external environment,
the initial co-ordination of organization must be changed. So it adapts organization to
changing demand of market / changing needs of societies. It is responsible for growth and
survival of organization.

6. Essentials for Prosperity of Society - Efficient management leads to better economical

production which helps in turn to increase the welfare of people. Good management makes
a difficult task easier by avoiding wastage of scarce resource. It improves standard of living.
It increases the profit which is beneficial to business and society will get maximum output
at minimum cost by creating employment opportunities which generate income in hands.
Organization comes with new products and researches beneficial for society.

Management functions

Management has been described as a social process involving responsibility for economical and
effective planning & regulation of operation of an enterprise in the fulfillment of given purposes. It
is a dynamic process consisting of various elements and activities. These activities are different
from operative functions like marketing, finance, purchase etc. Rather these activities are common
to each and every manger irrespective of his level or status.

Different experts have classified functions of management. According to George & Jerry, “There
are four fundamental functions of management i.e. planning, organizing, actuating and controlling”.
According to Henry Fayol, “To manage is to forecast and plan, to organize, to command, & to
control”. Whereas Luther Gullick has given a keyword ’POSDCORB’ where P stands for Planning,
O for Organizing, S for Staffing, D for Directing, Co for Co-ordination, R for reporting & B for
Budgeting. But the most widely accepted are functions of management given by KOONTZ and
O’DONNEL i.e. Planning, Organizing, Staffing, Directing and Controlling.

For theoretical purposes, it may be convenient to separate the function of management but
practically these functions are overlapping in nature i.e. they are highly inseparable. Each function
blends into the other & each affects the performance of others.

Briefly, there are 5 core functions that constitute Scope of Management functions: Planning,
Organizing, Staffing, Leadership and Controlling.

1. Planning

The first management function in scope of management functions that managers must perform is
PLANNING. Within this function plan is created to accomplish the mission and vision of the
business entity. Under the mission is considered the reason for the establishment, while under the
vision is considered where is business entity aiming. The plan must define the time component and
to plan necessaryresources to fulfill the plan. Here can also be shaped goal / s that want s to be
achieved and strategy to be used at the same time. Accordingly plan of organization is developed
together with required personnel, method of leading people is defined and controlling instruments
for monitoring the realization of plans. The guiding idea in the making of mentioned items is the
realization of the objectives and fulfilling the mission and vision of the business entity.
As is evident from the previous paragraph, each organization should make a good first step, a good
plan, because without it the organization takes a great risk of mistakes and thus compromising their
business.

2. Organizing
Organizing is the second function manager, where he had previously prepared plan, establish an
appropriate organizational structure in business organization. In part, it determines the ranges of
management, type of organizational structure, authority in the organization, types and ways of
delegating and developing lines of communication. The organization and its subsystems are placed
under the plan, which was created as part of functions, ie planning. In performing construction and
organization in particular must pay attention to formal and informal lines of communication,
because if these lines are not adequately monitored the possibility of collision between them,
resulting in delays and / or even failure to achieve the goal.

3. Staffing
Staffing, as the next function of management, consists of a selection of appropriate staff for the
organization to reach a goal / goals easier and more efficient. According to today’s experience is
well known that it is difficult to financially evaluate, quality and efficient staff. Staff is one of the
more valuable, if not the most valuable resource in any successful organization. For this reason,
good planning of personnel policies, as a function of management, and corresponding execution of
that selection of high quality people is becoming increasingly important. The task of this
management function is to set rules related to employment and personnel policies. Within rules
following items are determined:
 policy of employment (whether the target organization’s development of own staff to
develop within the organization or the staff mostly taken from other organizations),
 required expertise and theoretical knowledge to perform certain tasks (identification of
necessary skills),
 the policy of promotion ,
 assessment of employees,
 training of staff,
 conflict resolution,
 And other settings of personnel policies.

4. Directing
 It is that part of managerial function which actuates the organizational methods to work
efficiently for achievement of organizational purposes. It is considered life-spark of the enterprise
which sets it in motion the action of people because planning, organizing and staffing are the mere
preparations for doing the work. Direction is that inert-personnel aspect of management which
deals directly with influencing, guiding, supervising, motivating sub-ordinate for the achievement
of organizational goals. Direction has following elements:
 Supervision
 Motivation
 Leadership
 Communication
 Supervision- implies overseeing the work of subordinates by their superiors. It is the act of
watching & directing work & workers.
 Motivation- means inspiring, stimulating or encouraging the sub-ordinates with zeal to
work. Positive, negative, monetary, non-monetary incentives may be used for this purpose.
 Leadership- may be defined as a process by which manager guides and influences the work
of subordinates in desired direction.
 Communications- is the process of passing information, experience, opinion etc from one
person to another. It is a bridge of understanding.

5. Controlling
 It implies measurement of accomplishment against the standards and correction of deviation
if any to ensure achievement of organizational goals. The purpose of controlling is to ensure
that everything occurs in conformities with the standards. An efficient system of control
helps to predict deviations before they actually occur. According to Theo Haimann,
“Controlling is the process of checking whether or not proper progress is being made
towards the objectives and goals and acting if necessary, to correct any deviation”.
According to Koontz & O’Donell “Controlling is the measurement & correction of
performance activities of subordinates in order to make sure that the enterprise objectives
and plans desired to obtain them as being accomplished”. Therefore controlling has
following steps:
 Establishment of standard performance.
 Measurement of actual performance.
 Comparison of actual performance with the standards and finding out deviation if any.
 Corrective action.

ENGINEERS AND ORGANIZATIONAL ENVIRONMENT

Responsibilities and How to Deal with Them

Co-ordination is the unification, integration, synchronization of the efforts of group
members so as to provide unity of action in the pursuit of common goals. It is a hidden force which
binds all the other functions of management. According to Mooney and Reelay, “Co-ordination is
orderly arrangement of group efforts to provide unity of action in the pursuit of common goals”.
According to Charles Worth, “Co-ordination is the integration of several parts into an orderly hole
to achieve the purpose of understanding”.

Management seeks to achieve co-ordination through its basic functions of planning,

organizing, staffing, directing and controlling. That is why, co-ordination is not a separate function
of management because achieving of harmony between individuals efforts towards achievement of
group goals is a key to success of management. Co-ordination is the essence of management and is
implicit and inherent in all functions of management.

A manager can be compared to an orchestra conductor since both of them have to create
rhythm and unity in the activities of group members. Co-ordination is an integral element or
ingredient of all the managerial functions as discussed below: -
Co-ordination through Planning - Planning facilitates co-ordination by integrating the
various plans through mutual discussion, exchange of ideas. e.g. - co-ordination between finance
budget and purchases budget.
Co-ordination through Organizing - Mooney considers co-ordination as the very essence of
organizing. In fact when a manager groups and assigns various activities to subordinates, and when
he creates department’s co-ordination uppermost in his mind.
Co-ordination through Staffing - A manager should bear in mind that the right no. of
personnel in various positions with right type of education and skills are taken which will ensure
right men on the right job.
Co-ordination through Directing - The purpose of giving orders, instructions & guidance to
the subordinates is served only when there is a harmony between superiors & subordinates.
Co-ordination through Controlling - Manager ensures that there should be co-ordination
between actual performance & standard performance to achieve organizational goals.
From above discussion, we can very much affirm that co-ordination is the very much
essence of management. It is required in each & every function and at each & every stage &
therefore it cannot be separated.
Responsibilities and how to deal with them

Engineers carry responsibilities. The creations of engineers can save or kill many people.
To make sure that engineers do the right thing, they need to be aware of their responsibilities and
handle them in ethically correct ways. In this chapter we will examine what kind of responsibilities
there are. Also, several types of ethical codes on how to deal with responsibilities are discussed.

Responsibilities of engineers

Whenever something goes wrong, people always start asking who is responsible. So, let’s
discuss responsibility. In fact, the main issue that we will discuss is moral responsibility. Moral
responsibility concerns the rightness/goodness of actions and their effects. In fact, we define
morality as all the views, decisions and actions that people use to express what they find
right/justifiable/good. It must be noted that different cultures/different groups of people adhere to
different kinds of morals.

Responsibility is often linked to the role a person has. (For example, the responsibilities of
an airplane pilot are different from the responsibilities of the passengers.) And, since a person often
has different roles in life, he has responsibilities to different individuals/instances. Sometimes these
responsibilities may be inconsistent.
Active and passive responsibility

We can distinguish two kinds of responsibility.

Active responsibility is responsibility before something has happened. A person that is

actively responsible is expected to act such that undesired consequences are avoided as much as
possible. The chance for positive consequences must be as big as possible. When discussing active
responsibility, the ideals of engineers are often important. Let’s take a look at the ideals which
some engineers might have.

Often, engineers have technological enthusiasm: they want to develop new technological
possibilities and take up technological challenges. Technological enthusiasm is not necessarily bad.
However, it can be dangerous when possible negative effects/consequences of technology are
overlooked.

Engineers tend to strive for effectiveness and efficiency. (Effectiveness is the extent to
which an established goal is achieved. Efficiency concerns the ratio between the goal achieved and
the effort required.) Again, striving for effectiveness and efficiency is not necessarily bad.But it
does need to be done in a morally acceptable way.

Finally, engineers often wish to contribute to human well-being. However, human well-
being depends on many factors, like safety, health, welfare and sustainability. And often a choice
needs to be made between these parameters: a moral optimum needs to be found. Finding this
optimum isn’t as easy as it may seem

Passive responsibility is applicable after something undesirable has happened. So, if you’re
passively responsible, you need to be able to justify your actions. To hold someone passively
responsible, four conditions usually need to apply.

Wrong-doing – The individual (or institution) has violated a norm or did something wrong.

Causal contribution – The individual must have made a causal contribution to the conse-
quences for which he is held responsible. Although often multiple causal contributions have to be
present: events rarely have only one cause.

Foreseeability – The individual must have been able to anticipate the consequences of his
actions. Although we do expect people to do as much as reasonably possible to know the
consequences of one’s actions. Important here is also the precautionary principle. (The pre-
cautionary principle states that if an action or policy has suspected risk of causing harm to the
public or to the environment, in the absence of a scientific consensus that harm would not ensue,
the burden of proof falls on those who would advocate taking the action.)

Freedom of action – The individual must have been given the opportunity to choose for
himself.
The role of engineers
Engineers are often salaried employees. They are thus hierarchically below managers. This
can lead to situations of conflict. On one hand, engineers have a responsibility to their
managers/their company. But on the other hand, they have a responsibility to society: the
technologies that are developed should not be harmful towards the society.
 A view that is often employed is the tripartite model. In this model, the responsibility of
engineers is only confined to the technical choices that they make. So, engineers only have
responsibilities towards their employers, customers and colleagues. All the decision making is done
by managers, who carry the responsibilities towards society. The engineers thus separate their
selves from the effects that their technologies might have on society. This is called separatism.
Sadly, managers don’t always know the effects of technology well enough. It is therefore
sometimes proposed to have engineers fulfill the role of managers. These technocrats use
technological insight to decide what is best for the company/for society. However, technocracy is
morally problematic, because it is paternalistic. (Paternalism exists when a group of people thinks
that it knows better what is good for others than those others themselves do.) In a way, it denies
people the right to shape their own lives.

A better way to deal with technology is to perform technology assessments. A technology

assessment (TA) is directed at assessing the effects of technology. A constructive technology
assessment (CTA) goes even a step further. It is directed at influencing and expanding the
technological design processes. This can be done by involving the people that are effected by the
technology into the design process.

Codes of ethics

Types of codes

Codes of conduct are codes in which organizations lay down guidelines for responsible
behaviour. They are intended as an addition to the requirements of the law. For engineers, two
types of codes of conduct are especially important. First, there are professional codes that are
formulated by professional associations of engineers. Second, there are corporate codes that are
formulated by (engineering) companies. We will go more into depth on these two types of code
later in this part.

We can also split up types of codes of conduct, according to their objective. An aspirational
code expresses the moral values of a profession/company. An advisory code advices
professionals/employees on how to exercise moral judgments. (Most of the codes for engineers are
advisory codes.) Finally, a disciplinary code tries to make sure that the behaviour of
professionals/employees meets certain values and norms.

Professional codes

Professional codes of conduct are guidelines made by a professional society. They instruct
on the exercising of a particular profession. The use of professional codes mainly started after
World War 2. During the war, the image of technology was tainted. By implementing professional
codes, societies of engineers hoped to restore the social image of science and technology.

Professional codes for engineers mainly express the responsibilities of engineers. This is
done in three domains. First of all, engineers need to conduct their profession with integrity and
honesty. Second, they have certain obligations towards employers and clients which need to be
fulfilled. And finally, engineers have responsibilities towards the public and the society.
Corporate codes

Corporate codes are voluntary commitments made by (groups of) corporations. These codes
of conduct set certain values, standards and principles for the conduct of the corporations.
Corporate codes often consist of several main elements.

• A mission statement concisely formulates the strategic objectives of the company. It answers the
question what the organization stands for.
• The stakeholder statutes state the responsibility of a company towards its stakeholders. Stake-
holders include consumers, employees, investors, society and the environment.
• The value statements contain the core values of a company: the qualities which the company finds
desirable. Often mentioned values include teamwork, responsibility, open communication and
creativity.
• The codes of conduct contain detailed rules and norms for the behaviour of individual employees.
These mainly consist of guidelines on how to act in specific situations. For example, it explains
how one should deal with fraud, theft, bribery, discrimation, etcetera Companies often draft a
corporate code to improve one’s image. However, if this is the only goal of the
code, then we are dealing with window-dressing. The danger of window-dressing is especially
present in aspirational codes.

Distribution of responsibility

The problem of many hands Previously, we have considered how individuals should act.
Now let’s look at a group of individuals. (For example, consider a group of people designing an
airplane.) Let’s suppose that something goes wrong, for which the group is responsible. (For
example, the airplane crashes.) Of course it is always difficult to determine in a large
group/organization who did what. Pointing out a single responsible person can thus very well be
nearly impossible.

But, it can also occur that every person in the group has acted in a morally justifiable way.
In other words, nobody is morally responsible. This is known as the problem of many hands: a
collective is morally responsible for some outcome, while none of the individuals can be held
responsible. The problem of many hands is often caused by an imperfect distribution of
information. For example, person A knows some piece of data, which person B does not know. If
person B would have known this data, the accident could have been prevented. But of course it is
impossible for everyone to know everything. So, person A could not be expected to know he had to
present the data to person B. As such, neither person A nor person B is responsible. But, an
accident still occurred.

To solve the problem of many hands, responsibility has to be distributed among the
members of the collective. An ideal distribution is both morally fair and effective. However,
meeting these two requirements simultaneously is difficult. For this reason, we will examine
several methods to distribute responsibility, and see how well they work.

Responsibility in organizations
There are several models to determine who is responsible in an organization. Let’s discuss
the three most important ones.
• In the hierarchical model, those highest in the organization’s hierarchy are held responsible. In
practice, it can be very difficult for the executives to get hold of the right information in time. Also
it can be hard to effectively steer the behaviour of lower organisational units. So, this model is not
always fair.
• In the collective model, every member of the organization is responsible for the actions of the
whole organization. People can thus be held responsible, whether they contributed to the actions
or not. This seems morally unfair. Collective responsibility is therefore only applicable in a number
of exceptional cases, like in very small groups.
• In the individual responsibility model, each individual is held responsible for his own actions.
Although this is a morally fair problem, it can lead to the problem of the many hands.
So, none of the models discussed is ideal in terms of moral fairness and effectiveness. Which
model to use mostly depends on how the organization in question is organized.
Next to laws and organizations, also technology can influence responsibilities. If a person is given a
task, the technology must be available such that this person can carry out this task. If not, he cannot
be held responsible. For example, if an autopilot prevents pilots from intervening during cruise
flight, the pilots can’t be held responsible if something goes wrong during the cruise phase.