Interrelationship Between Management Functions

MANAGEMENT AS SCIENCE AND ART

Management, as a Science

Science is the systematized body of knowledge pertaining to a particular field of enquiry. It contains concepts, hypothesis, theories, and principles to explain cause and effect relationship between two or more factors. Any subject which is scientifically developed and consist of universally accepted principles is science. In order to be recognized as a science, a discipline should have the following characteristics:

1. Systematized Body of Knowledge. It should have a systematic body of knowledge including concepts, principles and theories.
2. Scientific Observation. It should have scientific methods of observation and enquiry. There should be no scope of personal likes and dislikes of the scientist.
3. Experimentation. Scientific principles are evolved through observation and tested by repeated experimentation to check their validity. They should produce the same cause and effect relationship every time.
4. Verifiable Principles. Once an observation is confirmed by repeated experimentation and testing, it takes the form of a scientific principle. Anybody can verify the principle by repeating the experiment. The results are the same every time. Thus, it can be said that application of a principle ensures predictable results.
5. Universal application. The scientific principles have universal validity and application. They give the same results everywhere if the prescribed conditions are satisfied.

It is a well-known fact that the management has systematized body of knowledge pertaining to its field. The researchers in management use scientific techniques to collect the analyse data about human cause and effect relationship. These have been developed which also established cause and effect relationship. These principle have also been verified by many researchers. More or less, these principles have universal application in different type of organisations in different countries. That is why, management is called a science.

However, management is not a perfect science like other physical Sciences such as astronomy, physics, chemistry, biology, etc. The main reasons for the inexactness of science of management are as follows:

• Many of the principles of management are not supported by research.
• In management, it is difficult to establish cause and effect relationship as in chemistry or biology.
• Application of management principles depends upon situation and factors.
• Management deals with people at work and it is very difficult to predict their behaviour accurately. Since it is a social process, It is also called a Social Science.

Management is a universal phenomenon, but its theories and principles may produce different results in different situations. Management principles and theories are situation bound because of which applicability does not necessarily lead to the same result every time. That is why, Ernest Dale called Management a Soft science.

Management as an Art or Practice

Art signifies the application of knowledge and personal skills to bring about desired results. 

It is based on scientific knowledge and principles. If science is learnt, an art practiced. Stated differently, science is to seek knowledge and art is to apply knowledge. An art has the following features.

1. Body of knowledge. Art is based on theoretical knowledge of concepts, principles and applications about a particular field such as music, painting, etc.
2. Personalized Application of Knowledge and Skills. Art implies personalized application of knowledge and skills about a particular field, say, music or painting. Every artist or practitioner develops his personal skills and style of producing concrete results.
3. Practice. Art is learnt and refined through continuous practice.
4. Creativity. Art is creative in nature. An artist uses his skills and style to create better results.

Management is considered an art because of the following reasons:

• The practice of management does not involve the use of knowledge of management concepts, principles and techniques.
• Every manager has to apply his personal skills to deal with various problems of the unit he is managing. At times, he may have to use personal judgement to take managerial decisions.
• Management is situational, meaning thereby that there is no best management. Every manager has to apply his knowledge and his skills to deal with various situations.
• The Art of management can be learnt and mastered through continuous practice.
• The process of management is directed towards the accomplishment of concrete results. Like any other art, management is creative in the sense that managing creates new situation needed for further improvement.

Every manager applies his knowledge of the management concepts, principles and techniques and also his skills while dealing with people to achieve the desired results. Moulding the attitudes and behaviour of people at work towards achievement of certain goals is an art of the highest order. As an art, management calls for a corpus of abilities and judgement and a continuous practice of management theories and principles. Management has been termed as an age-old art and thus getting work done through employees in Fine Arts like music and painting. The effectiveness of a manager is dependent upon his personal skills, types of people to be managed, and the types of situation faced. A musician can repeat his composition time and again, but a manager may not be able to repeat the same principles and techniques because of changes in the situation.

Dual Role of Management as a Science and an Art.

Management is both a science and an Art. It is considered a science because it has an organised body of knowledge which contains certain universal truths. It is called an art because managing requires application of certain skills which are the personal possession of the manager. Science provides knowledge about certain things and art deals with the application of knowledge and skills. A manager to be successful must acquire the knowledge of science of management and learn to apply this knowledge. A manager should be an applied scientist. He should possess not only specialized knowledge of management, but also the skills to put his knowledge into practice. Just as a doctor uses his knowledge to treat his patients, a manager should use his knowledge to solve the organisational problem.

Management is as old as the civilization. But its emergence as a scientific field of enquiry is comparatively new. It has been aptly remarked that management is the oldest of arts and the youngest of Sciences.