T he Process Perspective

O ne of the oldest and most widely adopted definitions of management is the “art of getting things done through people”. Mary Parker Follett, a pioneer in the study of management, described it as an activity concerned with the orchestration of people, work, and systems in the pursuit of organizational goals. The way in which managers accomplish this is the basis for the process perspective. Here the process perspective is adopted to examine the roles, activities, and processes that managers engage in as they plan, organize, direct, and control their organization.

M anaging an organization from the process perspective is like conducting a symphony orchestra. An orchestra’s overall organizational goal is to play each piece of music flawlessly. The conductor is the orchestra’s manager, coaxing the best performance possible from symphony members and coordinating all of the various sections. The conductor’s management role is very different from the technical role of individual flutists, clarinetists, violinists, and other musicians. Without the musicians, there would be no orchestra, but without the conductor, the musicians could not coordinate their playing into a harmonious performance. It is the role of every manager to orchestrate organizational effectiveness through the management process.

I n 1916, French industrialist Henri Fayol described a “functional approach to management” and suggested that all managers perform similar activities. Whether they are top-level or low-level managers, whether their organization is as small as a hair stylist’s shop or as large as the U.S. government, whether they manage a manufacturing organization or health care institution, whether they are in accounting or marketing, all managers must execute a universal set of management processes. Fayol’s universal set of management functions included planning, organizing, commanding, coordinating, and controlling.

A fter Fayol, several theorists, such as Chester Barnard, Ralph C. Davis, and Lyndall Urwick, revised the idea of universal management functions (see Table 1.). The result is a useful process definition that is popular today. It modifies Fayol’s categories into four universal management functions: planning, organizing (which includes Fayol’s coordinating activities), directing (which includes Fayol’s commanding activities), and controlling.

T he planning function involves establishing organizational goals and defining the methods by which they are to be attained. The organizing function involves designing, structuring, and coordinating the components of an organization to meet organizational goals. The directing function involves managing interpersonal activities, leading and motivating employees so that they will effectively and efficiently accomplish the tasks necessary to realize organizational goals. The controlling function involves monitoring both the behavior of organization members and the effectiveness of the organization itself, determining whether plans are achieving organizational goals, and taking corrective actions as needed.

M anagers use all four functions when applying an organization’s resources to achieve its goals.

Table 1. The Range of Managerial Activities

Planning	Representing	Staffing
Organizing	Activating	Motivating
Commanding	Administering	Innovating
Coordinating	Investigating	Decision-making
Controlling	Communicating	Evaluating
Directing	Securing efforts
Leading	Formulating purposes

While-reading task (skimming reading)

1. Read the text quickly to get the main ideas.

2. Get the author’s overall message.

3. Develop your own ideas how the text is organized.

4. Work in groups. Discuss the True/False statements.

True or False Statements

Which are True? Which are False? Why?

1. This text deals with Marketing.

2. The gist of the text is Financial Management.

3. The term “Management” creates an image of individuals.

4. The term “Management” means the group of managers only.

5. The group of organization members consists of both managers and nonmanagers.

6. Controlling functions are done by nonmanagerial group.

7. Universal management functions are investigating, motivating and coordinating.

8. Managerial and nonmanagerial groups are only at one level.

9. It’s managers’ function to achieve organizational goals.

10. The performance of the specific technical tasks is both managerial and nonmanagerial responsibilities.

While-reading task (scanning reading)

1. Read the text more carefully to understand details.

2. Underline special terms and explain their meaning.

3. Work in groups. Suggest a suitable headline for your section (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6).

4. Tell the other sub-group members about three main points from your section.

5. Answer the comprehension questions.

Comprehension Questions

Answer the Questions:

1. How do you call organization members?

2. Why are these words “Sociological perspective” and “Management” used together?

3. What factors distinguish managers from nonmanagers?

4. Why is a manager’s activity compared with the one of an orchestra’s conductor?

5. What are the main management functions?

6. Look at the table and compare the range of managerial activities with the main universal management functions. Give your own idea.

Here are the answers, write down the questions

1. These are Managers and Nonmanagers.

2. Management means a certain group of individuals.

3. The second group consists of everybody else.

4. These people are called managers.

5. Managers’ responsibilities are to design, to pursue and to achieve organizational goals.