All organizations depend upon group efforts. Group action and joint efforts have become necessary in every walk of life. Management is required wherever two or more people work together to achieve com­mon objectives.

The success in group efforts depends upon mutual cooperation among the members of the group. Management creates teamwork and coordination among specialized efforts.

Management is indispensable in all organizations whether a business firm, a govern­ment, a hospital, a college, a club, etc. Management is a creative force which helps in the optimum utilization of resources.

Competent mana­gerial leadership alone can convert the disorganized resources of men, money, materials and machinery into a productive enterprise. In the absence of management, an organization is merely a collection of men, money, materials and machinery.

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According to Trucker, “management is the dynamic life-giving element in every business. Without it the resources of production remain resources and never become produc­tion”. Management is the catalyst without which no organization can survive and grow.

Management is required to plan, organize, direct and control group efforts. Management provides leadership and motivation to individuals. There is continuous need for management in an organization.

As an innovative force, management performs the same role in an organization which brain does in the human body. It is the fundamental coor­dinating mechanism that underlies organized endeavor.

The impor­tance of management has increased tremendously in recent years due to increase in the size and complexity of organizations, turbulent environ­ment and growing responsibilities of business.

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Sound management helps in maximizing output and minimizing costs. It maintains a dynamic equilibrium between an organization and its ever changing environment. Management is responsible for the crea­tion, survival and growth of organizations.

The significance of management in the modern business world has increased tremendously due to the following challenges.

(i) Growing size and complexity of business.

(ii) Increasing specialization of work,

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(iii) Cut throat competition in the market,

(iv) Growing unionization of labor.

(v) Sophisticated and capital intensive technology,

(vi)Increasing complexity of business decisions,

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(vii) Growing regulation of business by the Government,

(viii) Need for research and development,

(ix) Turbulent environment of business.

(x) Need for reconciling the interests of various groups, e.g., owners, workers, customers and the public,

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(xi) Need for optimum utilization of scarce resources.

Management is equally important at the national level. It is an agent of change and economic growth. The prosperity, power and prestige of a nation depend upon the competence and dedication of its managers and administrators.

President Roosevelt of U.S.A. once said: “a govern­ment without good management is a house built on sand.” Management makes a significant social contribution by supplying goods and services, employment, tax revenue, etc.

According to Ureic and Breach, “no ideology, no ‘ism’, no political theory can win a greater output with less effort from a given complex of human and material resources except sound management. And it is on such greater output that a higher standard of life, more leisure, more amenities for all must necessarily be founded.” Management is an important organ of an industrial society.

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In a developing country like India, the significance of management can hardly be over emphasized. Higher efficiency and higher produc­tivity is the only hope of the people, more than 60 per cent of whom are living below the poverty line.

A welfare state cannot realize its twin objectives of economic growth and social justice without a well-organized management system. The root cause of India’s backwardness lies in the underutilization and mystification of the country’s resources.

The most important reason for the poor performance of our development plans has been inadequate and inefficient administrative machinery. We have sunk cores of rupees in the public sector. In the absence of com­petent and devoted management the investment is not being utilized properly.

Poor management is the main cause of sickness in private sec­tor. We are underdeveloped because we are undermanaged and mis­managed. Dedicated and professional managers can convert the tre­mendous latent energy of people into wealth.

“The achievement of busi­ness management enables us today to promise the abolition of the grind­ing poverty that has been mankind’s lot through the ages”. Management is the key for unlocking the forces of economic growth. It is the crucial factor in economic and social development.

Managers are the cus­todians of the hopes and aspirations of the masses. In fact, “management is one and at the same time the determiner of our economic progress, the employer of our educated, the amasser of our resources, the guide for effective government, the strength of our national defense, and the molder of our society”.

Developed and underdeveloped countries are infect Veil managed’ and ‘poorly managed” countries. Management aims at the optimum utilization of available resources to secure produc­tive performance. “The managers of an organization are concerned with the maximization of output obtainable from a given amount of input or similarly the minimization of kaput for a given level of output.

Fulfillment of such a purpose is the only justification for the existence of a managerial function”. Managers are the true leaders of the economic machinery of a nation. They enrich the economic life of the country by purposeful administration of resources.

They also develop human talent. What we lack most is not skill or capital but management. There­fore, the development of managerial talent must receive top priority under our development plans. Without an adequate supply of talented general and specialized managers, economic development is retarded.

According to the late President John F. Kennedy, the role of manage­ment in our society is critical in human progress. It serves to improve standards of living of all people through effective utilization of human and material resources.

By designing job structures that provide oppor­tunities for self-expression, and initiative, management provides human satisfaction. Management makes all the difference in the quality of life between nations. Thus, management is an essential instrument of human progress and keystone of modern society.