2 Concept of Management with Special Reference to Education I

Structure

1.0 Objectives

1.1 Introduction

1.2 Concept of Managemnt

1.3 Meaning of Management of Education

1.4 Development of concept of the management

1.5 Levels of Management

1.6 Summary

1.0 Objectives

After going through the content the learner will be able to

Explain the Management as a noun, process and discipline
Explain the development of concept of management
Explain the levels of Management

1.1 Introduction

Society establishes various institutions for welfare of the members of the society such as schools, hospitals etc. These institutions are expected to perform certain functions effectively. Institutions can perform effectively if they are managed properly. Hence understanding the concept of management is very essential for education manager.

1.2 Concept of management

Management word has three connotations. It is understood as a noun, as a process, and as a substantial body of knowledge or a discipline itself. Management as a noun means thinking of an individual who is holding some position hence the person is considered as a manager. When we consider management as a noun we think about principal and heads of the department or teacher in the classroom. When we understand it is noun we talk about manager who is a leader.

When we consider management as a process we think about different functions of management i.e. planning, organising, staffing, delegating and controlling. These functions of management are important part of organisation. Each process has certain steps to be followed. Each process has some merits as well as limitations. All these processes are interlinked. Therefore a problem in one process can influence the functioning of the system as a whole. Hence managers must understand the importance of these processes for functioning of the organisation as well as functioning of the individual in an organisation.

When we think management as discipline it is considered as substantive body of knowledge. When it is considered as a separate discipline, we are focussing on different theories, concepts, processes and procedures of management. For example, we talk about organisational development, which is the concept; there are theories such as motivation, leadership etc. These theories are associated with human beings in general and help managers to understand and modify the behaviour of persons working in organisation in specific.

1.3 Meaning of management of education

It is the process of planning, organising, directing and controlling the activities of an institution by utilizing human and material resources so as to effectively and efficiently accomplish functions of teaching, extension work and research.

In management of education, we consider management as a noun because in institution there are leaders who are appointed as principals or heads of department who are responsible for handling different activities of the institution. In the educational institution there are various activities planned and organised and therefore we can also consider management as a process. For effective and efficient functioning of the institution, managers need to have substantial knowledge of management and resources that is human, infrastructural and finance. Management of education not only focuses on teaching and learning but also extension work and researches. Teaching learning starts with planning and it goes till evaluation. Even research work requires all the management processes. Education institutions are expected to reach to community through extension work. The extension work leads to development of society. Societal feedback help the education system to bring about positive changes. Education and society are interdependent. Education influences society and society influences education. As per the demands of the society changes should be brought about in the society. Then the products of education system i.e. students are absorbed in the economy which is part of society. Therefore, in management of education we give importance to extension work along with teaching learning and researches.

1.4 Development of concept of the management

There are three views about administration and management. Fayol, Koontz and O’Donnell are of the view that administration and management are same. They mentioned that administration and management involves same functions, same principles and objectives. According to Newman administration is the guidance, leadership and control efforts of a group of individual towards some common goals.

According to Sheldon, Spriegel, Milward and Lansberg administration is above management because administration is related to forming policies or the guidelines while management is execution or implementation of the plan. As administration is responsible for planning the job of manager is to follow planning. Therefore administration is superior to management. Administration is related with policy formulation and decision, while management looks after the execution of these policies and decisions.

According to Brech , management is part of administration. Administration takes certain decisions but the management executes them. While managing things we come to know why it is difficult to implement certain plans. Management provides feedback to administration and accordingly changes can be brought in the administration. This view talks about responsibility of administration for planning and responsibility of management to organise resources in such a way that plan can be implemented successfully. This view has been accepted by many. Now people are considering management and administration as part of each other rather management is considered as part of administration. In other words it can be said that we cannot separate administration and management because no matter whatever the administrators are planning it has to be implemented by a body of people who are executives. So we have planners at the administration level and executives who are at the stage of management. Therefore administration and management are interdependent. Unless we get feedback from management about implementation of plans administration cannot make changes in the plan. Hence it is very necessary to understand that administration and management are interdependent. For example, Implementation of scheme like midday meal. This scheme was planned at the national level. This scheme has to be implemented by the states. State government is responsible for the implementation of midday meal scheme successfully. The main objective of this scheme is to enhance the enrolment of the students. In other words to reduce the dropout rate or wastage of school going children. The plan for this scheme has been prepared by central government. It is the responsibility of state government to collect the resources to implement the scheme. If government can identify the resources and execute the scheme as per plan then it can be a big success. It is observed that in some states this scheme has been successfully implanted whereas in some states it has not happened. This has happened because at the planning level the scheme is same but the implementer are different. How executors are considering the scheme, what are the resources they have and how they are utilizing these resources and organising these resources successfully decides the achievement of the goal of the scheme. From this it is clear that management and administration are part of each other.

According to Peter Drucker the manager’s performance can be measured in terms of efficiency and effectiveness. Same is applicable for the performance of organisation as well. According to Peter Drucker efficiency is doing right things. In other words efficiency is the ability to get things done correctly. The systems approach is applicable to management which talks about input-process and output.

Let us discuss this in terms of education system. It is expected that education system has to be effective and efficient. Efficiency is related to ratio of input – output. We want more number of students to be enrolled in school and complete their schooling. We expect the output in terms of the students who have acquired knowledge, skills, attitudes and value system. This output can be measured in terms of performance of the students i.e. knowledge, skills, attitudes and values. Efficiency can be measured in terms of number. When we say five lakhs students passed SSC examination this year it means more students could pass tenth standard examination. It means efficiency of the education system has been increased.

According to Drucker effectiveness is doing things right.When we talk about the effectiveness of education system we are interested in knowing about the quality of knowledge and skills acquired by students. When we say that students’ personality has been developed we are not looking at the number of students who have passed tenth standard but we look at the kind of knowledge gained by the students. Do they able to think critically? Can they take a stand on some issue? Are they aware about different views regarding particular subject? Do they have confidence etc. So when we are talking about effectiveness we are concerned about quality of knowledge.

It has been found that in our country engineers are not getting jobs. The reason given by experts is that these engineers do not have the skills which are required for industry. It means we may have been able to produce more number of engineers but system has failed in developing the skills required by industry. It can be concluded that engineering education system is efficient but not effective. If the goal of education system is to develop good human beings it is expected that each student coming out of education system should develop values which are wider in perspective which will help them to understand other human beings without any prejudices. Education is expected to develop democratic values in students. If we develop students who score good marks in academics may it be tenth, twelfth or degree examination, expert in the skills and have higher values then they will understand human beings and their focus will be mainly on societal development along with their own development.

1.5 Levels of Management

For making any organisation efficient and effective it is necessary to understand how management works at different level. There are three levels of management. We have top level, middle level and lower level management. We must understand that these terms are relative. They change as per the structure of organisation. For example, If we talk about the educational planning for the country then administrators working at the national level framing the policy will be top level management, middle level will be state government and lower level management will be school implementing the policies and curriculum. If we talk about educational organisation then top management will be management or trust, middle level management will be principal and lower level management will be all the teaching and non-teaching staff members. If we talk about classroom, then teacher is the manager, students will be part of the process and they will be executing the work given by teachers. There may not be third level of management in this case. For deciding the level of management we need to apply certain criteria.

Top level management is responsible for making decisions and formulations of the plan and policies. To formulate the plan or policy top management require information or data from executives then only they can make changes in policies or reform them or new policies can be formed.

Middle level management is also known as departmental or functional management. Functional mangers in the department are responsible for planning, organising different activities in their own departments for achieving objectives . Goal is given by top management. For achieving the goals middle management organise the activities in their respective departments. Middle level management is very important as it involves the processes of management.

In the lower level of management lot of supervision is involved. The goal is given by the top management and executed by the middle level management and supervision is required to find out whether goal is achieved. For example, Education policy is designed at national level i.e. top management. The state government becomes executing management or middle level management. School principals will be actually implementing policies in their respective school and report to state government becomes the third level i.e. lower level management.

If we talk about educational institution then goals are decided by management or trust which is the top management. The principal is responsible for planning and teachers are responsible for actual implantation. Teachers also will be reporting to principal what all activities are completed and problems encountered by them.

Administration is responsible for policy making and as we move to execution level, policy making decreases and implementation or actual action increases. Administration takes decisions at wider level. At middle level decision making comes to institutional level. When we further go to the classroom the decisions are taken at classroom level i.e. micro level. Moving from administration to management it can be seen that decision making becomes more and more specific.

At the national level planners have to think about nation and therefore they will plan according to the needs of the nation. When same plan comes to the state then the state thinks about the needs of the state. When it comes down to educational institutions will think about more specific goals and they will work accordingly. From administration to management the decision making becomes more and more specific and related to implementation of strategy that helps in achieving the goal.

In short, it can be said that management is the process of designing and maintaining an environment in which individuals working together in groups efficiently accomplish selected aims and objectives.

1.6 Summary

The word management has three different connotations. It is used as noun, as a process and as an academic discipline.

Management as a noun means thinking of an individual who is holding some position hence the person is considered as a manager. Eg: principal and heads of the department or teacher in the classroom. When we understand it is noun we talk about manager who is a leader.

Management of education is the process of planning, organizing, directly and controlling the activities of an institution by utilizing human and material resources so as to effectively and efficiently accomplish functions of teaching, extension work and resources.

Development of concept

There are different views about administration and management.

According to Henry Fayol, Koontz and O’Donnell management and administration are same.
According to Newman administration is the guidance, leadership and control efforts of a group of individual towards some common goals.
According to Brech , management is part of administration. Administration takes certain decisions but the management executes them.
According to Sheldon, Spriegel, Milward, Lansberg Administration and management involve two functions: Administration is related with policy formulation and decision making while management looks after the execution of these policies and decisions.
According to Drucker Managers performance can be measured in terms of Two concepts: Efficiency and Effectiveness. Efficiency is doing things right and effectiveness is doing the right things. Efficiency is the ability to get things done correctly is an input-output concept. Effectiveness is ability to choose appropriate objective.

Levels of Management

There are three levels of management: top level, middle level and lower level management.

Top management: responsible for policy formulation
Middle level: Departmental / Functional managers responsible for planning, organizing, directing and controllin
Lower management: responsible for supervision. Administrative functions are more at top which gradually decreases to bottom and managerial increases

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References

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Bernadin,(2012) Human Resource Management , 8th edition ,Delhi: Tata Mcgraw Hill.
Drucker, P.E. 1974. Management: Tasks, Responsibilities, Practices. New York: Harper and Row
Greene, C.N., Adam, E.A. Jr. & Ebert, R.J. 1985. Management for effective performance. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall
Mintzberg, H. (1973). The nature of managerial work. New York: Harper and Row
Sharma M.(1985), Systems Approach : Its Application in Education, Bombay : Himalaya Publishing House
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