Stages of Management

Management is simply defined as the art of managing people or getting things done by people. In this world of globalization, innovation and liberalization, strategies and policies for business operations are constantly changing. The business dynamics needs to be in sync with the competitive world. The business strategies that were considered to be the lifeline of every business few years back is now redefining itself to bring a revolutionary turn in business.

Management, over the span of time, has gained utmost importance in the past few years. There is no specific evidence of how management evolved but it is definite that management has brought a revolution in the current business scenario. A combination of planning, organizing, delegating and supervising have gave a significant turn to the boardrooms of corporate houses. From these corporate houses and business firms, management has traveled a long way to realize its acceptance and significance.

Education is a prime requisite for learning effective management. Today, many colleges, institutes and universities are offering an informative course on MBA on various specific fields. These fields include finance, business, marketing, human resources, information technology and many more.

In every course of management, there are four stages of learning. These stages differentiate various aspects of educational needs depending on different stages of career. This is because at every stage of career, an individual requires a different management education in order to have smooth and successful operations. For example, a 22 year MBA graduate requires minimum management education than a 60 year old CEO of a multi billion firm.

The four integral stages of management education are as follows:

Functional competence: This is the first stage of management where the student learns and understands various different aspects of MBA like finance, accounting, marketing, economics, operations and human resources. At this stage of learning students get good education to increase their knowledge acquisition and personal skills.

Context and strategy: Understanding the context and strategy is the second stage of learning management. At this stage of management education, an individual attains a better understanding of business strategies. This stage also helps in learning how organizational operations occur within a context.

Critical Reasoning: The stage of critical reasoning is very essential because practical experience and reasoning helps in attaining a better understanding of operation management within context. This stage of learning management also helps in implementing the business strategies and understanding the human drivers. The ability to convince people and build confidence over them is also an integral part of learning.

Mastering Reflective Skills: This is the final stage of management education. This stage of learning helps in developing personal traits that further improves the management and interpersonal skills. After learning this stage of management, it becomes easier for an individual to prioritize work and put in genuine efforts for successful operations. This stage of learning is a great source of setting career goals and achieving these goals.