What Management Is

Book Author - Joan Magretta and Nan Stone

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The Universal Discipline contd...

One does not require formal training to become a good manager. Many good managers have no formal qualifications in management. Conversely, a degree or diploma in management does not ensure that a person becomes a good manager. At a time when the field of management is being increasingly fragmented, this book aims to present a coherent view of the whole field, as Peter Drucker did in 1954 with his seminal book The Practice of Management. This book is meant not just for managers, but also for people whose lives are affected by management – and that means all of us.

The book is organized into two parts. The first part - Why do People Work Together and How - examines the "conceptual core" of management. The author discusses why an organization exists, how it plans to accomplish its purpose, and how its plans and systems differ from others.

The second part of the book explores the act of managing, that is, translating plans into action. According to Magretta, this is a lot harder than it looks, requiring both discipline and judgment.

While the author uses real life examples to discuss the principles of management, she maintains that management is the art of performance, and, "like all performing arts, done in real time without a net, enacted in a present that is constantly passing". Organizations and the contexts in which they operate change over time. So the lessons and concepts drawn from examples are not a " blanket endorsement of everything that an organization has done, and will do, for all time." In other words, today's champs may become tomorrow’s chumps.

Why People Work Together and How

Value creation is a much abused buzzword – but, according to the author, this should not detract from its importance. It is the critical core of modern management and denotes a shift in management focus from managing inputs to managing performance or results. "Management's mission, first and foremost,” says Magretta, “is value creation."

The value created by organizations does not consist merely of the products they make or the services they provide. It is much more than all this. Magretta uses the example of OnTimeAuditor.com to illustrate this concept. OnTimeAuditor.com provides tracking software which helps its customers keep tabs on delayed deliveries, for a fixed monthly fee. When deliveries are delayed, they can demand and obtain refunds from the shippers.

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