Management, essentially is about optimum utilization of resources. Resources are the where-with-all that we have to accomplish a given task. So resources for a corporate manager would be things like Material, Finance, Humans,  technology, infrastructure etc. etc. but for a housewife, these would be the monthly budgeted kitchen money, domestic help,  grocery , provisions and spices/condiments etc. etc.

The central idea is to achieve the best (optimum) given a set of resources ! There is an old saying that : “If you only have a lemon… make a lemonade !

Now, what is best… given the circumstances…. this brings us to another significant concept of management…that is need assessment and Planning:

Managers in the corporate world assess the needs by resorting to market research, brain-storming or simply by analyzing data etc. etc.

A person in a non-corporate environment , too, has to assess the needs. For instance, if an artist…a painter of water colours…who sells his stuff to art galleries…needs to assess what his buyers prefer… do they want water colours or he would be better off doing oils/acrylics…

So everyone has to understand the need ! And then set few goals or targets . This is Planning !

A housewife, who is planning for a picnic, has to figure out the requirements of snacks, drinks, food, disposable plates, recreational options etc. etc.

A painter, similarly needs to plan what type and how many paintings he is going to make in a month/quarter/year to achieve his need of a decent survival !

But everyone has a constraint ! Corporate managers do have limitations like technology, human resources, finance etc. Similarly an artist has constraints ! He may not be in a position to make oil on canvas… or he would be a doing a part-time job…so he wont be able to make, say, three canvases in a month because of paucity of time…

So everyone has to PLAN to optimize the resource utilization…in order to achieve the goals…that, hopefully have been set sensibly !

But a plan is of no avail if one does not ORGANISE !

The housewife has planned an exotic picnic outing but has not given sufficient thought to the fact that the plan has to be implemented…she should have organized the affairs in such a manner that the things that needed to be bought from the market… would have been bought by her son who is in college…as she barely has time to go out and shop…she is extremely hard pressed for time you see! As a result some of the essentials like a Frisbee and processed cheese could not accompany them in their picnic! Nor did the paper plates !

This is what is generally called as mis- management…MBAs would call it ineffective organization !

Of course, this is an over-simplification, but the simplest of things are the most difficult to put in practice!

Once we have a plan, a budget and an organization, the we have to perform the role of DIRECTING !

We need others to assist us in achieving our goals… but they need to be told ! They need some direction ! Our artist, who needs certain pigments for the master-piece that he has conceived, needs to give clear instructions to his art material supplier ! And a corporate team leader needs to spell out his plan in all its nitty- gritties…only then his boys would perform according to his desired method ! So he has to effectively direct !

Well, well…there is a plan based on the need assessment…and the resources available…that would help us achieve our goal…and we have given precise instructions to everyone who is concerned with the implementation…. but even now the things can go wrong ! What we need to do is to exercise CONTROL  !

We need to control the implementation at each crucial stage ! What if the housewife had organized the purchases for the picnic by making a phone call to her neighborhood home-delivery store…and even given adequate instructions…what she failed to do was to check the stuff that was delivered…and lo ! on the very morning of the picnic , she discovered that she had ordered for salted peanuts but the packets contained “Pudina (mint) flavored extruded snacks !

What she did not end up doing was CONTROLLING effectively !

Management is a magical word these days ! Almost every one wishes to study for a management degree (MBA) and acquire an exalted station in ones career.

MBA is seen as a passport for success !

It is true that MBA is a suffix with ones name, that allows one to think of an annual  pay package that any earlier generation  would have dreamt of earning in a decade… or even in a life time of dignified pencil pushing !

Management is surely a magical word !

Though it is a different matter …that in this boom a lot of unscrupulous as well as also-ran institutes have opened up shop… and are enticing the gullible hoi-polloi !

But one thing is for sure : a management degree is, in all its essentiality, a potent weapon in ones armory ! Not only  can one earn … but the conceptual structuring of the course, not-withstanding the fly-by-night shops, is rather well conceived. it is a perfect fit with the contemporary ideology of life… which is commerce/’corporate centric !

MBA provides (hopefully !)  one with an ideal preparation to enter the real world !

And the course is a good and imaginative mix of almost total personality development !?

One thing is quite certain…. MBA’s think with a wider orientation …as compared to other professionals….as a rule. Exceptions would , of course, be there…and in plenty!

Having said this, we would also like to say that the essentials of what one learns in a business school, is possible to be acquired, through other imaginative initiatives as well…well, we are stating that at least  we can make an attempt…

And MAGIC (Management with grass root intelligence & creativity) is an attempt to bring the rudiments of management concepts for those who have not gone to a B school…although we don’t know why the Management Pundits chose this name !…doesn’t give a very A-classy feeling !

MAGIC can also be enjoyed by those who have been through the portals of management education…. as they also might like to add a certain POV in their repertory …. that was not overtly discussed in their B schools !

We do believe that the CONCEPTS of MANAGEMENT  are essential for everyone…yes everyone… if one has to survive with a certain degree of self-esteem in today’s world !

If you also believe this way, then please  wait for the next part of this post…..following soon…

MAGIC…..a word that arouses curiosity…….

MAGIC is intriguing….unworldly…..yet seems to be happening right in front of us…..

BUT HAVE YOU THOUGHT OF …another kind of MAGIC ! A MAGIC YOU CAN DO !!!

“MANAGEMENT WITH GRASSROOT INTELLIGENCE & CREATIVITY”

….and all of you can perform this MAGIC…..

Management education is not something that can only be obtained in B schools ! WHAT…ON EARTH IS MANAGEMENT ?

Let us try and get into the roots of this grassroot funda !

from the very dawn of civilization…people have been MANAGING….

Management…..very simply….is OPTIMISATION OF RESOURCES …AND ACHIEVING DESIRED GOALS….

…These are awe-inspiring words ! …but behind the veneer….the funda is simply ; to use ‘common sense’ and achieve ‘effective’ results…..

The basic concepts of MANAGEMENT EDUCATION would be:

PLANNING

ORGANISING

DIRECTING

BUDGETING

CONTROLLING

FEEDBACK

….etc. etc.

but fundamentally…..if we know the objectives….plan the resource utilisation ….organise efficiently and make periodic checks/modifications ….we can reach dry ground…..most of the times !

GOOD LUCK…..more of this ….soon….do post your comments