Is Management an Art or Science? Essay

Management is a set of activities (including planning and decision making, organizing, leading, and controlling) directed at an organization’s resources (human, financial, physical, and information) with the aim of achieving organizational goals in an efficient and effective manner. A manager is someone whose primary responsibility is to carry out the management process within an organization. The effective practice of management requires a synthesis of science and art; that is, a blend of rational objectivity and intuitive insight. Good management is a mixture of art and science. Managing is working with and through other people to accomplish the objectives of both the organizations and its members. Management is both art and science. It is the art of making people more effective than they would have been without you. The science is in how you do that. There are four basic pillars, plan, organize, direct, and monitor. Most managers attain their skills and positions through a combination of education and experience. Management is science but whenever and wherever one is dealing with human beings one can not expect same behavior, reaction or same outcome in a given situation, therefore the science of management is to be applied and utilized in most artful manner to achieve best results. It can be said with fair amount of certainty that a good manager is the one, who is also a good public relation man and does apply the science of management in a fashion whereby giving human factor prime importance. It is proven that a manager’s job is naturally multifarious, a reasonable question relates to whether management is a science or an art. In fact, effective management is a blend of both science and art. And successful executives recognize the importance of combining both the science and the art of management as they practice their craft. Many management problems and issues can be approached in ways that are rational, logical, objective, and systematic. Managers can gather data, facts, and objective information. They can use quantitative models and decision-making techniques to arrive at correct decisions. And they need to take such a scientific approach to solving problems whenever possible,  especially when they are dealing with relative routine and straightforward issues. Technical and diagnostic skills are especially important when practicing the science of management. All said and done still science of management is not the kind of science where you mix two parts of Hydrogen and one part Oxygen and you get water, but it is the kind of science where you adapt and adjust management techniques according to circumstances and different scenarios. Even though managers may try to be scientific as much as possible, they must often make decisions and solve problems on the basis of intuition, experience, instinct, personal insights and on compassionate grounds. Relying heavily on conceptual and interpersonal skills for example, a manager may have to decide between multiple courses of action that look equally attractive. Solving unusual and non-routine problems almost certainly requires an element of intuition, emotions and personal insight. Although science of management provides valuable information on how to manage human resources effectively to get optimal results but still it is not possible to, or can be counter productive, if the management techniques are applied without giving due consideration to different situations and varied human behaviors. In short a successful manger is the one who uses science of management in an artful manner and get best possible results.