Management – A Science or Art

Management – A Science or Art:
Generally, a controversy arises whether the mgmt is a science of an art. It is said the mgmt is the oldest of art & the youngest of science. This explains the changing nature of mgmt. But to have an exact answer to the question it is necessary to understand the meaning of the terms ‘Science & art’.
Management as a science: before trying to examine whether the mgmt is a science or not, we have to understand the nature of science. Science may be a described as a systematized body of knowledge pertaining to an act of study & contains some general truths explaining past events or phenomena. It is systematized in the sense underlying principal discovered. Three important characteristics of science are; 1.it is a systematized body of knowledge & uses scientific methods for observation; 2. Its principles are evolved on the basis of continued observation & experiment; and 3. Its principles are exact & have universal applicability without any limitations further, science may be classified into two groups, a) positive science – which deals with ‘what ought to be’ aspect. Examples of scientific principles are that two atoms of hydrogen & one atom of oxygen form one molecule of water’ anything is thrown towards the sky, according to the law of gravitation, it will come down to the earth; if water is boiled, it turns into vapour & so on. Mgmt as an Art: Art refers to the ‘know-how to accomplish a desired result. The focus is one way of doing things as the saying goes ‘practice makes a man perfect’, constant practice of the theoretical concepts contributes for the formation of skills. The skills can be acquired through practice. In a way the attributes of science & art are the like require skills on the part of the practitioners & can only be acquired through practice. Mgmt is no exception. As an university gold medalist in surgery may not necessarily turn out to be a good surgeon, similarly a mgmt graduate from the best of the institute may not be very effective in practices. In both the case the application of knowledge acquired through formal education, required ingenuity, correct understanding of the variables in the situation, pragmatism & creativity in finding solutions to problems. Effective practice of any art requires a thorough understanding of the science underlying it. Thus science & art are not mutually exclusive, but are complementary. Executive who attempt to manage without the conceptual understanding of the mgmt principles & the necessary skill to use such knowledge, they have a better chance to succeed. Therefore, it may be concluded that mgmt is both a science & an art.