Management

Management as an applied social science is concerned with the study of those factors, principles and methods which will lead an organisation to attain its objectives as a component of a wider system.

While the Department of Management at Rhodes University focuses primarily on business organisations, which as part of a wider economic system strive to attain their profit objectives, the factors, principles, and methods studied are held to be applicable to any organisation which is intent on achieving a set of objectives while operating under conditions of resource constraints. The total field of Management is divided into six main functional areas:

The general management function. This includes an examination of the management process as a whole: the planning that management has to do, the organisation that it has to establish to carry out its plans, the leadership that management has to assume, the motivation of people necessary to get things done, and the control that has to be exercised over the whole process. On the one hand it embraces the overall function through which top management formulates and implements strategies for the organisation as a whole (strategic management and organisational behaviour), and on the other it cuts through all the other functions because such activities as planning and control are not only carried out at the top level, but also in each functional area.

The marketing function is responsible for the marketing of the products or services of the enterprise. This includes the assessment of the market and the needs of consumers as well as the development of a strategy to satisfy those needs profitably.

The financial function includes the acquisition, use and control of the money the enterprise needs to finance its activities, to buy materials and equipment. Care must be taken not to endanger the liquidity or solvency of the business.

The production or operations management function includes that group of activities concerned with the physical production of products.

The purchasing function is responsible for the acquisition of all products and materials required by the business to function profitably, namely raw materials, components, tools, equipment and, in the case of a dealer, the inventory.

The personnel function, or human resources management, is responsible for the appointment, development and maintenance of the human resources of the organisation.

The above six functional areas of management are covered at various points in Management 1, 2 and 3. In delivering these courses, use is made of lectures, tutorials, case-study discussions, video case-studies, lectures by visiting business people and visits to business organisations in East London and Port Elizabeth. In addition, the Department uses a computer laboratory which enables it to integrate computer business simulations into the senior courses.

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Last Modified: Fri, 28 Jul 2017 11:41:15 SAST