Management has kept on redefining itself over the years. It has been on a continuously reinventing spree. There are not enough literatures available to throw light on evolution of management before 18th century. But it is assumed that, given the magnitude of earlier era’s construction and hugely spread kingdom, there must have been elements of planning, organizing and delegating authorities, all of which are essential elements of management. In fact, management from being a personalized solitary concept to the boardrooms of corporate houses has travelled long distance.
It all started with industrial revolution when businesses started growing in gargantuan proportions. Industrial revolution signaled the arrival of increased scale of operations, growing size and emergence of various elements within an organization. This also prompted recruitment of managers for day to day activities who can handle planning and controlling part on their own. With increasing global trade and requirements of efficient man power, management, which was merely an art of getting things done through people, started encompassing other aspects of business as well. Its functions were defined and new scientific aspects were added to management’s overall meaning. apart from existing factors like economies of scale, increased productivity and effective, efficient utilization of resources, technical aspects like quality control, cost accounting etc were also included in its broadening perspective. Later on eminent management thinkers like Henri Fayol, Elton Mayo, Chester Bernard, Peter Drucker added new elements of psychological and sociological approaches.
In the last century, the biggest contribution from management’s evolution point of view came from de facto humanization of management. From merely being a managing concept which was concerned with rationale side of mind, management started ingraining emotional intelligence as well. The concept of leadership gave itself a big push, working in collaboration with management. Human Resource which was just one of the production tools started being taken as the most important element of organization. More personalized relationships were started between the management and employees. In fact, with changing times, we can safely say that the evolution of management is still in process.
Management has kept on redefining itself over the years. If you want to know more about management and related resources, check our websites on MBA colleges, India MBA and homework help.