The Principles of Management

Management is a recent discipline in the history of human knowledge. We could say that modern management begins with logistical and military decisions that were configured in the napoleonic wars. For this reason, many indicate that Napoleon won his battles more than by military strategy, by having maintained permanent management of the resources for such a battle and for the invasion of territories.

One of the phrases attributed to Napoleon is to indicate that for a poorly placed horseshoe on a horse he could lose a battle.

From the days of Waterloo to our times, obviously much has changed. But what are the principles of this discipline we call management? That is what we are going to see in this article.

Perhaps the two most important traits of management are, the making decisions and having to manage resources. It is based on this that the work of this discipline in the administration of a company is clearly defined.

decision making

Refering to decision making, we must remember that human beings is not someone who decides easily or who likes to make definitive decisionsRather, in many cases he avoids them and, in others, he continually seeks to postpone what he must decide.

In this sense, some authors have pointed out that human beings are animals that are reluctant to make decisions; Therefore, to exercise management and to apply it in an organization it is very important know the mechanisms that involve making decisions with a team or with an advisory board. However, curiously, when studying careers related to administration and business little is studied about decision-making mechanisms or issues that complicate decisions in a company.

So, one of the pillars of management is understanding people's ways of making decisions; a manager will always be someone who makes the most correct decisions possible by consulting with your team.

 Resource management

The second important pillar is managing resources, having to point out that resources will always be scarce for any entrepreneur or manager. By scarce resources we are saying that time is a resource that not only cannot be expanded, but that we cannot retain, money will always be scarce and will cost us, raw materials will be something that we will have to take great care of for productions and, Finally, everything that is equipment and materials will always cost an organization, so we can say that Management is the art of managing scarce resources.

Nothing is free for a company and rather everything, or almost everything, is a cost, as Peter Drucker said; In that sense, the administration of scarce resources must be something that is present in management decisions.

Another important topic to configure good management?

Well he teamwork! In no organization is the manager or director advisor alone; They will always be interacting with people who have different interests, objectives and to whom they have been assigned various responsibilities resulting from the division of labor that must always exist in a company.

Therefore, it is very important that in any management the teamwork principles, because this way we will take care of resources and make the right decisions. These must always be implemented by a team and not just by a single person.

In summary, we can say that the principles and pillars of management are the making correct decisions, he smart use of resources always scarce and the teamwork. But you may wonder. Can a table stand on 3 legs? Of course it does, however, it would be better if it stood on 4 legs. What is the last? Well he leadership that you should exercise in your organization; but that will be the subject of another comment.