The Hindu Business Line : Rationale of management

The 20th century triggered some of the most significant innovations, the kind of which the world had not seen before. Antibiotics and vaccines have more than doubled the human life span. Automobiles and airplanes have redefined the concept of distance. And, more recently, the tools of communication and information such as the mobile phone, television, computer, and network connectivity are propelling people into an altogether new way of life.

While all these conditions have transformed the style and substance of living, none has accomplished so much, and at such a speed, and in a broad spectrum, without the intervention of another major force — the discipline of management.

A new discipline

The human ability to manage and to organise purposefully, perhaps, is as old as the opposable thumb. But the discipline of management is new. Its roots can be traced to the mid-19th century. Its coming of age is an event of the current generation. Wherever demands exceed resources, people look forward to management intervention. Unlike other professions, say, Law or Medicine, no licence is required to practise management.

Society has always had "managers" — people in authority. In the same way, society has always had doctors. Nevertheless, until medicine became a codified discipline and a structured science that could be taught, and pupils trained to practise, doctors could not make much headway. In the same way, the discipline of management has made possible a modern world in which organisations are vital and integral to the fabric of society. Management makes organisations work. Good management makes them work well.

Switch to `executive'

However, a recent phenomenon has been that while the reputation of business continues to rise, the reputation of management has begun to decline. The word "management" smacks of control and bureaucracy. Indeed, one of the most popular aspects of the new economy is its promise to do away with management and pyramidal organisations altogether. At one point of time, thanks to the pressure from his peers, even Peter Drucker — the most celebrated and widely read writer on management — backed away from the label "manager" and switched over to "executive".

New economy apostles proclaim that technology will make management vanish from the scene. They say that self-management teams will dislodge managerial hierarchies. More and more people will work independently, as free agents, rather than as employees. There is enough reality in this scenario to make it seductive. Unfortunately, however, it is not only wishful thinking, but also flawed in theory and concept. Supervising people and breathing down their necks may disappear. But, then, management is far more than supervising people. Pyramids may begin to crumble. But, then, management is far more than a rung in the chain of command.

Intelligible order

The role of management is to build organisations that work. Organisations are changing dramatically, and they are taking new forms. But without management of some sort, nothing would get done. The goal of management is to turn complexity and specialisation into an intelligible order and performance. As the world economy becomes increasingly knowledge-based and global in magnitude, work will continue to become more complex and more specialised. Hence, management will play a larger, and not a lesser, role in the lives of people. Its importance will increase, and not decrease.

R. Devarajan