This document is an essay that explores whether management is an art or a science. It begins by defining management and examining different management styles. It then analyzes major elements of management like planning, organizing and leading. It also looks at specific disciplines like strategic management and risk management to determine if they have artistic or scientific aspects. The essay concludes that management has elements of both an art and a science and is best defined as a mixture of the two. Further research is still needed to fully determine the nature of management.

1. Qurat Ul Ain HWU ID: H00206505 What is Management, is it an art or science?
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Herriot Watt University
Essay Title: What is Management, is it an art or science?
Name: Qurat Ul Ain
HWU ID: H00206505
Course enrolled: BBA (Hons)
Module: Management in a Global Context
Course Code: C17EB
Lecturer: Mr. Alastair W Watson
Tutor: Miss Safiya Salim
Submission Date: 19th
November 2015
Number of words: 2304 (excluding reference list)

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What is Management, is it an art or science?
Management is a very vast term, which is defined differently by different personalities,
depending on their work and firm. Henri Fayol, who was a French developer of theoretical
management, was one of the scholars to defined management (Barrington, 1956). According to
Lamond (2003, p.5) Fayol defined management as follows: “To manage is to forecast and plan,
to organize, to command, to co-ordinate and to control.” Also, Devane and Wilson (2009, p.32),
claim that, an early 20th century management scholar, Mary Parker Follet defined management
as, “the art of getting things done through people”.
So, management may be defined as, the ability to organize, manage, lead and control a particular
group of people, in order to reach the desired goal (Devane and Wilson, 2009; Lamond, 2003).
The importance of management, in most fields, cannot be downplayed. Whether it is a
small or large organization, profit or nonprofit firm or even, manufacturing or service industry,
management applies to all, and plays a major role in these firms (Olum, 2014).
A very famous question, which has been asked and explained various times, by scholars and
specialists is, whether management is an art or a science. Management is a very unique term
which makes a reader ponder about whether it is something which is acquired or is it a natural
gift. The definitions above also throw some light on the inference that, management in one way,
can be an art or a science.
Management is one of the prime forces behind every successful story. In any industry,
management plays a key role. In support of the statement, one of band members of the U2 band
stated that, the band always believed that, being good at music and bad at business was pathetic
(Daft, 2008). Therefore, it can be deduced that, management plays a very important role in every
field. Though, it might involve science, as well as innovation, which is an art.
Similar to management, science and art are also very vast terms. In the terminology of
management, science can be defined as, the methodical, experimental and technical, procedures,
tools and operations, involved to solve strategic and critical issues in management (Beasley,
2014). Art is something which invites tastes, interpretations, innovation and inventions. Art

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implies to something on which, knowledge and skills are applied in a proper way, in order to
bring out the desired results (Meisiek and Barry, 2014).
This paper aims to explore, whether management is an art or science. Management will
be explained through different perspectives. The first section of the essay explains some
management styles, followed by the major elements of management. The second part elucidates
management, in the light of some divisions of management, which includes Risk and Strategic
management. Finally, in the third section, management in general has been explored, to support
the assertions made regarding the nature of management, as an art or science.
Section 1:
Management Styles: - These are the modes and the principles which organizes and regulates the
workforce.
Types of Management styles:
There are many management styles. Many scholars have stated management varieties,
according to their related fields. According to Nwadukwe and Timinepere (2012), some of the
styles include, authoritarian, coercive, coaching, authoritative, democratic, affiliative, visionary,
permissive, indifferent, pacesetting, bureaucratic and defensive styles of management (Effere,
2005). Whereas Blandchard (1994) asserts that, management styles are directing, coaching,
delegating and supporting. Similarly, many other authors have noted many other types of
management styles (Harbison and Myers, 1969). These styles can be classified as art or science.
There are times, when an authoritative approach works, whereas, sometimes, a
consultative approach works. Nwadukwe and Timinepere (2012) assert that, according to
Pathack (2005), management has a very strong impact on the efficiency and output of an
organization. Supporting this, Luthans (2008) claims that, the employees of an organization feel
positive towards the firm, in which they are working, if the managers of that firm, makes the
employees realize that they are an important part of the organization.
Similar to this were the results of a survey, which was conducted by, Nwadukwe and
Timinepere (2012), in Nigeria. The results proved that, there was no singular and exclusive

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management style applicable in all the enterprises, in Eastern Nigeria. There were different types
of management styles practiced along with participative and paternalistic approaches of
management of private enterprises, in Anambra State. These findings lead to the claims made by
Tannenbaum and Schmidt (1973) that, the styles and types of management vary with
characteristics such as organization type, size, business purpose, operating environment,
corporate culture and heritage.
Hence, from these findings, it can be concluded that management is related to more than one
field, which can be an art or a science.
Major elements of Management: -
Traditionally, according to Daft (2008), Abbas (2012) and Olum (2004), management is
concerned with: Planning and Prioritizing; Organizing, Directing and Delegating; Coordinating,
Implementing, Controlling, Leading and Communicating, and finally, Motivating and Technical
skills.
Planning and Prioritizing: Planning and Prioritizing play a major role in management. The
careful step by step points designed to achieve an objective, is defined as planning. Prioritizing
means, finishing or doing that task first, which is more important than others (Daft, 2008; Abbas,
2012).
Organizing, Directing and Delegating: Organizing means to assign work, divide labor and set,
how the objective will be achieved. Parts of directing and delegating come under organizing. If
careful planning has been done but the organizing, directing and delegating is poor, then it can
have a very damaging effect of the company (Olum, 2004; Daft, 2008).
Coordinating, Implementing, Controlling, Leading and Communicating: Success can be achieved
through affective communicational and interactional skills. For productive and positive outcome,
proper leading and managing is essential. Leading involves motivating, encouraging, giving the
correct direction etc. Just like planning and managing, leading, if not directed properly can be
hazardous to the company, which may lead to a final death blow (Abbas, 2012, Daft, 2008).
Controlling means to regulate in a way. It involves regulation and monitoring. Methods adopted
to control, depends on the type of manager. This is also a part of implementing. Therefore,
overall, the role of controlling is of high value to a firm.
Technical skills and Motivating: Technical skills are required to avoid any technical errors in

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management. It involves dealing with strategies and techniques. Motivating on the other hand,
involves emotional contact with the workers. Motivation can be very helpful in boosting an
industry’s performance. Both of these elements are prominent areas in management (Olum,
2004; Daft, 2008).
These were some of the basics which are likely to be required, in order to be good at
management. From a critical approach, it can be comprehended that, there cannot be one way to
practice the types of management, as they involve various steps, all of which can be
implemented in different ways.
Section 2:
There are many disciplines of management, as management is further explored. One of the
branches is, Strategic management.
Strategic management: -
According to Cole (1994), strategic management is a process, of achieving a goal or an
aim, through proper step by step processes and planning, by the top line managers. The process
is directed by the head managers, by setting a strategy, which is the plan, after thorough analysis
and evaluation (Abbas, 2012).
The author affirms that management styles need to be democratic, in nature, which is related to
strategic management. By doing this, the people working for the firm are likely to have a positive
influence on themselves, thus helping them in practicing and adopting better decision making
strategies, which may ultimately lead to success. The findings further reveal that in future, the
persuasive and communicative approach, of strategic management will work best rather than the
authoritative and commanding approach, for organizations (Abbas, 2012).
Strategic Management in a particular industry:
Idris (2013), researched on how the AirAsia Airline, which is a budget airline of
Malaysia conducted managerial procedures, the findings of which are somehow different from
that of Abbas (2012). According to Idris (2013, p.148), Tony Fernandez, the CEO, pointed out in
an interview with Asian Wall Street Journal that, the culture of management (in Malaysia) is
very authoritative. There are rules set which the workers are supposed to follow. Creativity and

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freedom of speech is less. People implement more than they introduce. Even if something does
not seem to be correct in the firm, workers will not correct it. They do what they have been told
to do so.
By understanding the above mentioned statement, it can be perceived that there are corporations,
which practice a systematic approach. Henceforth, it can be inferred that management involves
mathematical, and more importantly, strategic approach, which can be termed as ‘science.’
In contrast to Idris (2013), Char Fei Ho, Hazlina Ahmad and Thurasamy (2013), who
researched on Small and Medium sized Enterprises (SME’s) in Malaysia, propose that,
‘familism’ has a very positive impact on organizational progression. The term familism is to a
great extent, related to art. Familism can be defined as, the overall interaction of members within
a group and how they maintain relationships (Zuanna, 2001; Park, 2004). Regarding familism, a
Theory Z was proposed by Ouchi (1981). According to this theory, if the management
emphasizes on interaction, participation and opinions from the employees, in that case,
employees are much more motivated than usual. This results in better performance, growth,
management, which in turn, ultimately leads to success.
The term ‘familism’ can thus, be connected to the stream of management. This can be
one approach for enterprises, other than an authoritative, commanding, or scientific approach. By
using the approach of familism, there are possibilities that, there are different styles to handle
and manage different areas, depending on the team of a firm. Hence, it can be concluded that,
adopting a different, an artistic approach, in management can be another way of managing. Thus,
considering familism, it can be perceived that, management has some elements of art.
Risk management: -
Another area, where management can be analyzed is, Risk management.
Risk management is the process of classifying and assembling types of risks, after
thoroughly analyzing and investigation. It is further discovered by research and algorithms that,
risk management involves a number of steps and proper methodology. For project management,
risk management, is in a way, mandatory, as project management is a very sensitive area.
Therefore, proper steps should be taken to plan for anticipated risks (Valitov and Sirazetdinova,
2014).

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Therefore, some areas of risk management can be used to explain, that a part of management is
scientific, which involves proper steps and methodology.
But here, it can be argued that, where there is scientific grouping of risk management,
there is also art involved. After grouping the risks in a scientific way, now, the particular type of
management mode has to be chosen for a particular group (Valitov and Sirazetdinova, 2014),
which is an art. Since it involves broader thinking, which may not be scientific, that is why it can
be said to have artistic elements in it.
Conceptually backing up the claim of Valitov and Sirazetdinova (2014), Harold
Schroeder (2014) holds that, if technicalities are more focused, then it means that the great
danger of risk is being over looked. Art also has to be involved in risk management, to
understand the entire process, for better planning and understanding of the risk. Hence, overall,
risk management has both, art and science.
Section 3:
Management in General: -
Moving on, other than the particular disciplines of management, management in general
has also been a popular debate topic, which has played a significant role in the determination of
the nature of management. Various authors argue about various areas in management. This can
be justified by Olum (2004) and Barrett (2012).
According to Olum (2004), management is the skill of doing things in the shade of
realities and thus, is clearly an art. But, management procedures require knowledge, and, that
knowledge comprises science. So, it cannot be explicitly stated that management is an art.
Practically, management is art and, the organized knowledge of management, is science.
Therefore, Olum (2014, p.2) concludes the explanation and opinion by stating that, ‘Management
is the art, or science, of achieving goals through people.’
Partially contradicting this, are some findings of Barrett (2012). According to Barrett
(2012, p.5), Frederick Winslow Taylor, who is characterized as the ‘’father of scientific
management’’, once applied a set of scientific principles on his office, since the management in

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his office was very poor. The results, after the application of rules were surprisingly positive.
The management became more efficient and, productivity increased. Seeing this, many industries
in the US applied those scientific principles, the results of which were also positive. Hence,
according to Taylor, management is more of science. Nevertheless, Barrett (2012) cites that
Taylor does admits that, there are drawbacks of scientific management too.
Conclusion:
The essay concluded the nature of management as, art or science. The description
included the importance of management, followed by the types of management styles.
Furthermore, it concluded the major elements in management, and how those elements are
related in determining the nature of management. Moreover, some disciplines of management
were focused, which included Strategic and Risk management. The branches showed how
management can have a different nature, in different circumstances. Lastly, management was
discussed in general. The point of views and opinions of some scholars of management were
conversed.
To conclude, management was seen through different outlooks. This leads to the final
conclusion that, management, overall, is neither completely an art, nor science, rather, it is a
mixture of both. Both art and science are necessary to complete the definition of management,
theoretically as well as practically. Nevertheless, further research needs to be conducted in the
area of management, to determine the nature, as art or science and, to reach to a concrete
solution.

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References:
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Series, 14(5/6), 6 November, 151 – 159.

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