Is Management an Art or a Science?

It is easy to see that there is both science and art in management. There is knowledge about management and it should be obtained and digested in order to achieve highest competency in management. Likewise there is skillful application of d knowledge of management and excellent accomplishment in this area.

In this era of great technological advances, it is easy to emphasize on d importance of science in management. So I believe that management is an art and also a science.

Management is efficiently and effectively mixture of both art and science. Management as science: is the wise application of theories and principles, while art is the active activity of managing.

Hi.

As we understand that management is a task of coordinating other peoples efforts in order to achieve stated objectives then, on my point of view management is both a science and an art because it involves both systematic body of knowledge and the practical body of knowledge which enables the organization to achieve its stated objectives.

But we can say that management is also a profession because management fulfills the criteria to be a profession such as:

A). Rapid development of business as an occupation.

B). The separation of ownership and management in the organization.

These two factors have contributed a lot to accept and develop management as a distinct profession.

Well, I'm really happy reading your comments.

As for me, before I go further to state management as an art or science or a combination of both, let's see the words 'SCIENCE' and 'ART'. A science can be referred to as knowledge about the structure and behaviour of the natural and physical world, based on facts that you can prove. This can be done through experiments. Hence, predictions can be made from such experiments. ART on the other hand can be seen as a skillful way of doing things.

Before trying to see management as an art or science, we must first of all consider it's functions which are planning, organising, controlling and leading.

Planning: This have to do with the setting of goals and objectives and how to achieve them. Therefore, it forces managers to decide in advance on what to achieve and how to achieve them (this also involve prediction which is science).

Leading: This involve influencing, inspiring, directing and motivating others to do their best to achieve goals (Art).

Organising: This have to do with the determination of work activities and roles, and grouping them into suitable divisions and departments with clear lines of authority and responsibility (Art).

Control: This is the measurement of corporate performance and the analysis and correction of deviations from the expected results (combination of art and science).

Management as an art deals with the application of skills in the process of getting things done through people and available resources. On the other hand, as a science it deals with making decisions and implementing them based on the gathering of past and present data, analysing them and the correlation of such data in order to predict future occurrence.

To buttress my point, in the modern world, the budgets of various countries and organisations are made through the use of existing data which is one of the duties attached to management. Hence, in budgeting, prediction are made from past and present information which can be attributed to science.

Also, all over the world, we have laboratories that are specially designed to study the behavior, attitudes and the way of life of people in order to suggest the best ways of leading, controlling and relating with them in order to achieve desired goals from them.

Not only that, future productions and sales are also forecasted which are all related to science. Certain decisions are made through the use of statistical tools like the chi-square, regression equations, partial correlation, Mann-Whitney test and so on which are also known all over the world as scientific tools.

Hence from the above, I believe it is clear that management is a two sided coin with both science and art.

Hi every one.

I think management is both an art or a science because, its considered as a science because it has an organized body of knowledge which certain universal truth. Its called an art because managing require certain skills which are personal possession of managers.

Guys its right management is both art and science. But the part of art is heavy because even if the person know the principles of management which is scientific part but he do not have the art to deal with such principles he can't manage a business. So art is very important.

Hi every one!

In my own opinion management could be referred to as both art, science and profession. Management can be referred to an art in the sense that many scholars defined management as an art of getting things done through people and other resources. The artistic process is generally seen as having three (3) vital aspects; craft, vision and communication. The process of management qualifies as an form in all instances. Managers must have the tools (craft) to accomplish their task. They must posses vision in order to implement innovative strategies, and they must be able to communicate effectively in their work environment and elsewhere.

On the other hand, science is looked upon as a systematic study that leads to a general body of knowledge about a subject. Management has been the target of systematic study for centuries and that general principles or concepts have been derived from this efforts. This is why many scholars classify management as a developing science.

Hi guys, in my own opinion Management is the process of coordinating all resources through the five major functions (planning, organizing, staffing, directing/leading and controlling to achieve organization goals.

Hi, in my opinion, the best response to the question is that it is both. Definition of art and science would be helpful in understanding this. Louis A. Allen defines an art as '' a skills exercised in terms the individual personality of the practitioner''. By this we can say that management has certain artistic components.