PRINCIPLES OF MANAGEMENT: Essentials You Always Wanted To Know:
Publisher: Vibrant Publishers, USA; Author: Name not given, Pp: 162, Price: Rs. 499/=, Language: English, First Edition: May 2018, ISBN-10: 1946383-93-7, ISBN-13: 978-1-946383-93-8,
Basically in this world, at all times, all of us have to complete some work or the other, either ourselves or through somebody else, who may be a person, a team or an organization. On the face of it, it looks very easy and simple, meaning that that you just tell the other party and the job will be done. But in practice, it is far from the real truth. Getting the job done is said to be the most difficult assignment. Sometimes the person In-charge gets so much fed up that he says to himself that it would have been better, if he would have done the work himself. However, since it is not possible for one person to complete all works by himself, the same have to be allocated or delegated. But it is very difficult for the common man to understand and appreciate this point of view, due to lack of awareness of the intricacies involved. Management guides and coordinates the activities of a group/team of people working in the organization for achieving the desired objectives efficiently, through optimal utilization of 5M’s, viz. men, machine, material, money and methods. Accordingly, Management has four basic functions viz. Planning, Organizing, Leading & Controlling. Managers need a large number of skills, which are essential to get the jobs done e.g. building a Team, guiding & monitoring the employees for obtaining the achievements, maintaining good relations with everybody in & outside the organization, dealing with Customer Complaints & feedback from employees etc. Each one is a special skill by itself.
After providing the initial information by the publishers, the book presents systematically organized Table of Contents, which is followed by A letter to the Reader, Books in Self-Learning Management Series (giving the titles and ISBN numbers of six books) and Preface. There are in all 17 Chapters in the book, which cover the following fundamental and important concepts/topics: Introduction to Management, Functions of Management, Planning & Decision Making, Leaders Vs. Managers, Organizational Charts & Structure, Budgeting, Problem Solving, Group Dynamics, Converting a group to a successful team, Conflict Resolution, Communication, Change, Organizational Culture, Total Quality Management, Operations, People Management, Customer Relationship Management. After a study of this book, one is expected to understand the functions of management at various levels in the organization, responsibilities of a manager, managing employees, team relationships, customer relationships and learn the tools such as decision making, conflict management, problem solving etc. to help in management.
This book presents a broad overview and deals with (a) Core elements of Management and (b) ways of supporting various activities of Management. Chapter 3 discusses the basic steps for decision making. Chapter 7 explains the basic steps and tools for solving a problem. Chapter 10 explains the types of Conflicts and the methods for resolving them. Chapter 11 covers the types of Communication, listening and managerial communication. Change being the law of nature, Chapter 12 explains the tools for managing Change in an Organization. Chapter 16, on People Management rightly has the maximum number of pages in the book. This is the largest role as a Manager, including all the stages for staff requirements, recruitment, selecting right employees, their orientation, reviews, performance reviews etc. Chapter 17 provides the features for Customer Relations Management, types of Customers, Customer Orientation and Satisfaction score.
In all there are 43 Figures/Charts/Tables in the book, which are spread over all the Chapters, except Chapter No. 1, 3, 4, 6 and 13. Number of pages in the Chapters, vary from 3 to 16. The Cover design is simple. The language is also easy to understand. The book provides accurate, authoritative and relevant information/explanation on the various subjects and the tools needed in practice. By and large, most of the essential topics have been included. For the prospective or upcoming managers, there is a lot to learn from the book to get better performance, without stress. In actual life, managers are directly recruited, as well as promoted from the employees from the line job. The latter is generally based on their performance in the line job and their overall assessment. But the skills required for the managers are very much different. When promoted, one should read books such as this one, for learning and understanding the essentials of management, preparing for new roles and getting a grip on the functions of a manager for long term career growth. This book is considered very useful for studies for the self-learners, trainees & newcomers seeking a career in management, trainers, working individuals, as well as the old timers of this profession.
------------Reviewer: vijaiksharma
