Tag: Study

  • The Last Tape

    The Last Tape

    “The Last Tape” Story wrote By Nan Pinkston, Stone Mountain, Georgia.

    The bustle of the hospital was a welcome distraction as I opened my new patient’s chart and headed for her room. My son, Eric, had just brought home a disappointing report card, and my daughter, Shannon, and I had argued again about her getting a driver’s license. For the next eight hours, I wanted to throw myself into helping people who I knew had much more to worry about than I did.

    Rebekah was only 32, admitted for chemotherapy after breast cancer surgery. When I entered her room it took me a moment to spot her amid the bouncing forms of three giggling little girls.

    I told Rebekah I would be her nurse and she introduced her husband, Warren; six-year-old Ruthie; four-year-old Hannah; and two-year-old Molly. Warren coaxed the girls away from their mother with a promise of ice cream and assured Rebekah they would return the next day.

    As I rubbed alcohol on her arm to prepare it for the intravenous line, Rebekah laughed nervously. “I have to tell you I’m terrified of needles.”

    “It’ll be over before you know it,” I said. “I’ll give you a count of three.”

    Rebekah shut her eyes tightly and murmured a prayer until it was over. Then she smiled and squeezed my hand. “Before you go, could you get my Bible from the table?” I handed her the worn book. “Do you have a favorite Bible verse?” she asked.

    “‘Jesus wept.’ John 11:35.”

    “Such a sad one,” she said. “Why?”

    “It makes me feel closer to Jesus, knowing he also experienced human sorrow.”

    Rebekah nodded thoughtfully and started flipping through her Bible as I shut the door quietly behind me.

    During the following months, I watched Rebekah struggle with the ravages of chemotherapy. Her hospital stays became frequent and she worried about her children. Meanwhile, I continued to contend with raising my own kids. They always seemed either out or holed up in their rooms. I missed the days when they were as attached to me as Rebekah’s little girls were to her.

    For a time, it had seemed Rebekah’s chemotherapy was working. Then doctors discovered another malignant lump. Two months later, a chest X-ray revealed cancer had spread to her lungs. It was terminal. Help me to help her through this, I prayed.

    One day when I entered her room, I found her talking into a tape recorder. She picked up a yellow legal pad and held it out to me. “I’m making a tape for my daughters,” she said.

    I read the list on her pad: starting school, confirmation, turning 16, first date, graduation. While I worried how to help her deal with death, she was planning for her children’s future.

    She usually waited until the early hours of the morning to record the tapes so she could be free from interruptions. She filled them with family stories and advice trying to cram a lifetime of love into a few precious hours. Finally, every item in her notes had been checked off and she entrusted the tapes to her husband.

    I often wondered what I would say in her place. My kids joked that I was an FBI agent, with my constant questions about where they’d been and who they’d been with. Where, I thought, are my words of encouragement and love?

    It was three o’clock one afternoon when I got an urgent call from the hospital. Rebekah wanted me to come immediately with a blank tape. What topic has she forgotten? I wondered.

    She was flushed and breathing hard when I entered her room. I slipped the tape into the recorder and held the microphone to her lips. “Ruthie, Hannah, Molly this is the most important tape.” She held my hand and closed her eyes. “Someday your daddy will bring home a new mommy. Please make her feel special. Show her how to take care of you. Ruthie, honey, help her get your Brownie uniform ready each Tuesday. Hannah, tell her you don’t want meat sauce on your spaghetti. She won’t know you like it separate. Molly, don’t get mad if there’s no apple juice. Drink something else. It’s okay to be sad, sweeties. Jesus cried too. He knows about sadness and will help you to be happy again. Remember, I’ll always love you.”

    I shut off the recorder and Rebekah sighed deeply. “Thank you, Nan,” she said with a weak smile. “you’ll give this one to them, won’t you?” she murmured, sliding into sleep.

    A time would come when the tape would be played for her children, but right then, after I smoothed Rebekah’s blanket, I got in my car and hurried home. I thought of how my Shannon also liked her sauce on the side and suddenly that quirk, which had annoyed me so many times, seemed to make her so much more precious. That night the kids didn’t go out; they sat with me long after the spaghetti sauce had dried onto the dishes. And we talked without interrogations, without complaints late into the night.

  • Grandma and The Paper Girl

    Grandma and The Paper Girl

    “Grandma and The Paper Girl” Story wrote By Ella Duquette, Syracuse, New York.

    I squinted against the afternoon sunshine, looking out the window for the paperboy. Ever since a stroke had weakened my legs I hadn’t been able to get around so well. I depended on the paper to keep me up to date with the world from which I often felt disconnected. When the paper came late, I got edgy. Finally, I saw someone coming down the street. A girl, no more than 10 or 11 years old, hurled a rolled-up newspaper toward my screen door. It landed with a thud.

    “Just a minute,” I called out the window. “where’s the usual carrier?”

    “I’m the carrier now, lady,” she said, hands on her hips.

    “Well, the old one used to bring the paper into me.”

    “Oh, yeah? well, I can do that.” She came in and plopped the paper onto my lap. I got a better look at her. Frayed shorts and a cropped top and it wasn’t even summered yet. She tossed back her shoulder-length red hair and blew a huge pink bubble.

    “I hate bubble gum,” I said.

    “Tough beans,” she said.

    I gasped. This snippy little thing needed to be taught some manners.

    “The children around here call me Mrs. Lee, after my late husband.”

    “Well, you can call me Kristin,” she said with a sassy tilt of her head, then bounded down the steps.

    Just what I need, I thought. nothing was easy anymore. Simple tasks like dusting and doing laundry were an ordeal these days. And baking, which I used to love, was far too much trouble. My husband, Lee, and most of my friends had passed on. Lately, I had found myself wondering why the Lord had left me behind. It was clear to me, anyway, that if young people today all acted like that smart-alecky paper girl, I had been too long in this world.

    Kristin’s attitude didn’t much improve over the following weeks. Still, I had to admit she never missed a day or forgot to bring the paper inside to me. She even took to sharing some small talk when she stopped by. She came in from a wicked rainstorm once and pulled the paper out from under her coat.

    “H of a day, huh, Gram?” she said, handing me the paper.

    I could feel the muscles in my jaw tense. “Do you talk like that just to shock me?” I asked. “And I’m not your grandmother.”

    “I just talk to all my friends.”

    “Not in this house, you don’t,” I shot back. “In my day you’d have your mouth washed out with soap.”

    She laughed. “you’d have some fight on your hands if you tried it, Gram,” she said.

    I threw up my hands. Why do I even bother with you? I wondered as she strutted down the street.

    But she started coming by after her paper route and other times as well, chitchatting happily about school, her friends. Each time she left it was as if a radio had been turned off. One day a bundle of newspapers slipped from her hands onto the floor and she uttered a dirty word. Instantly she clapped a hand over her mouth and said, “Oops! Sorry, Gram.”

    Well, she’s learned something, I thought, smiling secretly.

    I dug out some of my old photographs and outfits, thinking she might like to see them. She never tired of my stories of growing up on a farm, how we had raised our own food and washed our clothes by hand. All this girl needs is some pushing, I thought. Why else would she keep coming back when I was always fussing at her over her clothes or talk? God, is that why you’re keeping me around for Kristin?

    She showed me her report card when I asked one afternoon.

    “This is awful,” I said.

    “I do better than lots of kids,” she snapped.

    “You’re not ‘lots of kids.’ Have a little pride in yourself.”

    “Oh, Gram, you make such a big deal out of things,” she said. But I kept after her about her grades.

    A short time later Kristin gave up her paper route and shifted her visits to after school. I didn’t ask why she kept coming to see me because—though I wouldn’t have been caught dead admitting it her visits had become the highlight of my days.

    Once she told me, giggling, about some of her friends who had been shoplifting.

    “That’s nothing to laugh about, young lady,” I said. “Shoplifting is stealing, plain and simple.”

    “Well, I didn’t do it.”

    “All the same, you could be guilty by association. Your reputation goes with you all your life, you know.”

    “Oh, Gram, stop preaching.”

    “If you don’t like it, there’s the door,” I declared. But she didn’t leave. In fact, we spent more time together. Still, we had our moments. Like when she baked a cake, then sank down on a chair without laying a finger to the mound of dishes.

    “Come back here and clean up after yourself,” I ordered.

    “No way. I’m not putting my hands in that sink. It’s gross.” She had just polished her nails a ghastly purple.

    “Tough beans!” I blurted. She laughed. Mercy, I thought. Now I’m starting to talk like her. But she did the dishes that day and many another. I taught her how to bake fresh bread and my famous apple pie. It was wonderful to smell those familiar smells coming from the kitchen again.

    One Sunday Kristin stopped by. “You didn’t go to church dressed like that, did you?” I asked. She glanced at her shorts and t-shirt. “All the kids dress like this.”

    “I’ve told you before, Kristin, you’re not ‘all the kids.’”

    “Well, I suppose you think I should wear one of your old outfits, complete with hat and long white gloves!” she flounced out the door, only to come back a moment later. “I’m sorry, Gram,” she said, giving me a quick hug. “Forgive me?”

    How could I not? Making up with her seemed as natural as making up with one of my own daughters after a fight. Gradually, Kristin started dusting and cleaning up around the house, without the slightest hint from me. She even did my laundry. It chafed at my pride to let her do things I had done for myself all my life—but she was insistent. And this was the same girl who just a short while earlier wouldn’t put her hands in a sink of dirty dishes!

    “How about I set your hair?” she asked one day. “My mom taught me.”

    This was too much. “I’m not so old and helpless that I can’t take care of myself.”

    “Oh, don’t be so stubborn. Come on, Gram,” she wheedled. For the first time, that nickname didn’t annoy me. I gave in, and she proceeded to work several different lathery formulas into my short locks, not letting me look in a mirror until she was done. I had visions of my hair dyed the same awful purple as her fingernails. I was amazed to find it soft, shiny, and still blond. “You’re good at this,” I said, and Kristin beamed.

    I was even more impressed when, shortly after graduating from eighth grade, Kristin brought me a scrapbook filled with certificates of academic achievement.

    “See, I told you-your wasn’t like everybody,” I said, hugging her. “You’re special.” It was wonderful to see she valued my approval. But the best part was seeing she was pleased with herself.

    I still didn’t think much of her study habits. She insisted on keeping the television on when she did homework. I couldn’t fathom how she could concentrate with all that racket.

    But then there was a lot I couldn’t fathom about Kristin’s world. “Gram, do you know there are eight girls pregnant in the freshman class?” she told me. I gasped. “And that’s nothing,” she continued. “In some schools, they have police guards and metal detectors and just about everybody smokes, drinks and takes drugs.”

    I shuddered. It’s so different nowadays, Lord. How can I help her deal with all these things I know nothing about? Then I thought of how far Kristin had already come, and I knew the best thing I could do was to keep being there for her, as she always was for me.

    One evening Kristin brought over a cake mix. “I’m going to bake us a super-duper double-chocolate cake, Gram,” she announced.

    “No way,” I said. “Shortcuts won’t make a cake as good as from scratch.”

    “Oh, come on, Gram. it’s easier this way.”

    “Don’t ‘oh, Gram’ me, young lady. Easier isn’t always better and in this house” She broke into laughter the laughter I had come to know so well and in a moment, I joined in.

    Kristin shook her head and took my hand. “I don’t know what it is, Gram,” she said. “We hardly ever agree on anything and you make me so mad sometimes. But I always come back. I guess I must love you.”

    Who would have known that when I looked out the window for the paper carrier that afternoon five years ago I would end up finding my best friend?

  • A House for Katherine Red Feather

    A House for Katherine Red Feather

    “A House for Katherine Red Feather” story wrote By Robert Young, Bozeman, Montana

    Ten years ago, if you told me I’d give up the business I spent my life putting together to go build houses on Indian reservations instead, I’d have said you were nuts. the Seattle-based loungewear company I started with a partner was cranking out a profit. At 33, I had just married my longtime sweetheart, Anita. I wanted to slow down, have a family, savor life and the rewards of success.

    Then I saw that headline.

    I was in New Mexico on business and picked up a local paper called Indian Country. There it was on the front page, like an epitaph: “Elders Freeze to Death.” How could such a thing happen here in America, the richest country in the world? I tore out the article and stuck it in my pocket.

    That night in my hotel room, meetings done, I read the story again. it seemed so tragic. Somebody the government, the tribal council would no doubt do something to make sure it did not happen again. Still, I tucked the clipping into my briefcase instead of throwing it away. Why I had no idea.

    Two weeks later, another business trip. Another headline staring at me from the local paper. “Taos Woman Starts Adopt-A-Grandparent Program for Aging Native Americans.” According to the article, on reservations across the country, thousands of elderly native Americans struggled not just to make ends meet but simply to stay alive. At the end of the piece, there was a number of people interested in volunteering to call. I didn’t stop to think. I just picked up the phone and dialed.

    Soon I was matched with a “grandparent” Katherine Red Feather, of South Dakota’s Pine Ridge Reservation. I dropped her a note introducing myself. “I am 78 years old,” Katherine wrote back, “and blessed with thirteen children and seven grandchildren. I am so happy to learn I now have another grandchild! Do you have a wife and children of your own? I hope so, as they are one of the most wonderful gifts the Great Spirit can give a person in this life.”

    I told her about Anita, and how she was indeed a godsend. Then I asked Katherine if there was anything I could send her. “Yes,” she wrote. “If it’s not too much trouble, I would very much appreciate a bottle of shampoo and some aspirin. Thank you for your generosity, Grandson.”

    Grandson … Katherine was really taking this program seriously. But shampoo? Aspirin? Why wouldn’t she have such basic items? I decided to visit the reservation after my next business trip and look in on Katherine.

    Pine Ridge Reservation encompasses the two poorest counties in the United States. So the letter from the Adopt-A-Grandparent program had informed me. But I was not prepared for the reality of that poverty. Rutted dirt roads, dilapidated shacks, rusted-out automobiles with entire families living in them…. The dwellings I passed wouldn’t keep a person warm on a chilly fall night like this. In the Dakota winter, temperatures sometimes plunged to 60 degrees below zero. How could people freeze to death on a reservation? The answer was right before my eyes.

    Katherine’s “house” was a small, busted-up trailer pushed against the body of an old school bus. The trailer door opened and a delicate-looking woman wearing slacks and a simple patterned sweater emerged.

    “Grandson! Come in out of the cold.”

    The trailer was dark and barely big enough to turn around in, but the three people sitting by the wood stove stood when Katherine led me inside. “This is Robert,” she announced. “My new grandson. Robert, these are my children. They are your family now too.”

    Katherine must have seen my confusion. “The Great Spirit has chosen you to be a part of my life,” she told me. “We are one family in his eyes.” We sat down to a simple meal of white bread and beans heated on a propane stove.

    There was no running water, so Katherine needed to carry it from a well out back. it was next to an outhouse with a black flag flying overhead. “To scare away the rattlesnakes,” she explained. “They think it’s a hawk.” Katherine took such pains to make me feel at home that it was only at the end of my visit two days later that I could bring myself to ask her, “Isn’t it hard for you to have to fetch wood and water every day?”

    Katherine took my hands in hers. “I know how my life must look to you, Grandson, but all of us here live this way. I’m no different than anyone else.”

    I couldn’t stop thinking about Katherine once I got home to Seattle. The days grew shorter and colder. I looked out the window of my cozy apartment and imagined my new grandmother in that tiny trailer, huddled over her smoky little stove.

    “She needs to be in a place that will keep her warm,” I told Anita one night. “A place where the wind doesn’t blow through the chinks in the walls. Katherine needs a real house.”

    A real house. The moment those words left my lips, I knew what I had to do. At the end of that summer, I took two weeks off and went back to Pine Ridge. Anita and a handful of friends came with me. We were going to build Katherine a house. None of us had built so much as a doghouse before, but I figured that with a simple floor plan and plenty of enthusiasm, we could get the job done.

    Word got around the reservation. Dozens of Katherine’s neighbors and family members pitched in. Toward the end we worked round the clock, my car headlights trained on the site. Finally, the last nail was driven. Katherine’s tribal chairman said a prayer of thanks, and there was a big celebration. It was the first time Katherine had all her relatives together since the Red Feather clan had been divided and made to live on two different reservations years back. She welcomed them all into her house, her eyes brimming with tears of joy.

    Anita squeezed my hand, and I knew what we had done here was bigger than anything I could ever hope to achieve with my business. At last, I understood what Katherine meant about all of us being one family.

    Back in Seattle, I tried to concentrate on my work. Katherine would be safe and warm this winter. But what about all the neighbors who’d pitched in to build Katherine’s house, only to go home to ramshackle trailers? America has about two million tribal members, and some 300,000 of them are without proper homes. What about all those people?

    Building frame houses like we had done for Katherine was impossible. Too expensive and labor-intensive. I had to come up with a design that was warm, inexpensive and easy to build. A little research and I came across straw bale houses. Built from blocks of straw covered with stucco, they’re ideal for reservations. The straw is plentiful on the Great Plains and provides extremely effective insulation.

    Getting straw bale houses built on a large scale, though, would take the organization. A huge investment of time and energy. Time and energy I wouldn’t have if I kept my day job. I sold my half of the business and started a new venture, the Red Feather Development Group, to help native Americans get decent housing. Eventually, Anita and I moved to Bozeman, Montana, in the vicinity of half a dozen reservations.

    To think, none of this would have happened if I hadn’t seen those headlines 10 years ago. Even then I’d known someone would look after elders like my grandmother Katherine. I just never expected that person to be me. But that is how the Great Spirit works.

  • "Helped" A Dog Named Cheeseburger

    “Helped” A Dog Named Cheeseburger

    An inspiring story about a homeless man, his dog named Cheeseburger and how they helped one woman on a hot August day. The Story Wrote By Marion Bond West, Watkinsville, Georgia.

    “I couldn’t put my finger on why, exactly, but I had been feeling far away from God lately like he wasn’t really hearing me. A case of the spiritual blues, I guess. The sweltering heat didn’t help August here in Georgia can get pretty unbearable. It was 100 degrees today, and really sticky. I turned up the air conditioner in my car full blast, ready to head home from my errands. That’s when I saw the dog.

    He lay on top of a lumpy Army-green duffel bag right on the walk outside Applebee’s restaurant. No shade. Sleeping, or at least I hoped he was. Why he could be dead in this heat! I pulled in and found a parking spot. Then I hurried over to the dog. I bent down. “Hi, fella. You thirsty?”

    I love dogs and they like me. But this one he was medium-sized, black, graying around the muzzle opened one eye, then shut it and turned his head away from me. Deliberately. His tail didn’t budge.

    He had a collar, and by the way, he was guarding the duffel bag, I figured he was waiting for his owner, who was no doubt sitting inside the restaurant in air-conditioned comfort!

    I stormed into Applebee’s, ready to do battle. Right away, I spotted the owner. He sat alone at the counter, a tall glass of iced tea in front of him. Longish wavy blond hair and a goatee. Thin, like he didn’t always get enough to eat. He was wearing jeans that had seen better days, but they were clean, though his hands had what could have been faint paint stains. He seemed to sense me coming and turned on the stool to face me.

    “That your dog?” I demanded.

    “Yes, ma’am, he is.”

    “He’s in the sun and has no water. I imagine he’s hungry too.” I must have raised my voice because some people stared at me. “Dogs like me, but he wouldn’t even open both eyes when I spoke to him.”

    The man broke into a slow, easy grin. he slid off the stool. “That’s because he hasn’t been properly introduced to you. Come on. I’ll do the honors.”

    Introduced? I followed him outside.

    He squatted down next to the dog, who sat up and fastened his eyes onto his owner. His tail came alive.

    “Ma’am, I don’t know your name.”

    “Marion.” I bent close to them.

    “Marion, I’d like you to meet Cheeseburger. Cheeseburger, this nice lady is Marion.” The dog looked right into my eyes and offered a paw.

    I took it. “Hi, Cheeseburger,” I said.

    He licked my hand and his tail shifted into high gear.

    “And I’m Johnny,” the man said.

    “Johnny, I’m afraid he’s thirsty.”

    “Oh, he’s okay,” he said. “this spot was shady when I left him here just a few minutes ago.” Johnny picked up his duffel bag. “We’ve been together for nine years. See, his collar has my cell phone number on it, and he’s been vaccinated.” Johnny moved his bag beneath a Japanese maple tree and Cheeseburger settled down there beside it, in the shade.

    “How far do you live from here?” I asked.

    “Not far,” he said. “Back in those woods across the street. We have a good tent.”

    “But couldn’t you go to a shelter?”

    “They won’t take Cheeseburger, and I don’t go anywhere without him,” he said. Each time he said Cheeseburger, the dog’s tail flopped back and forth joyfully.

    “Johnny, I’m not going to be able to drive off without getting Cheeseburger some food and water,” I said. “It’s not you. It’s just, well, I have this thing about dogs…”

    “Okeydoke, if it’ll make you happy,” he said. “I’m going back in now and finish up my drink. It was nice to meet you, Marion.”

    I zipped into Walgreen’s and came back with a bowl, a big bottle of cold water, a small sack of dog food and a bone. Then I went in and fetched Johnny from the restaurant. “I thought you should be with me when I give the food and water to Cheeseburger,” I told him.

    “Okeydoke,” he said. Cheeseburger stood as Johnny and I approached. I set the food down and he nibbled at it mostly to be polite, I think. He did lap up quite a lot of water.

    “I guess he was thirsty,” Johnny said. “Thanks. I’m not going to start giving him bottled water, but don’t worry, I take really good care of him.”

    “And who takes care of you?” The words flew out of my mouth before I could stop them, and I knew they sounded sharper than I intended.

    Johnny didn’t seem to mind. “Here’s the way it works,” he said gently. “Every morning me and Cheeseburger step out of our tent and look up at the sky. And I say, ‘Lord, we belong to you. We trust you. Take care of us another day. Thank you.’ And then at night when we lie down to sleep, I look out at the stars and say, ‘We still trust you, God.’” He smiled again—that slow, easy grin.

    I smiled back. there was just something about his eyes I liked. “Maybe I’ll see you and Cheeseburger again sometimes,” I said.

    “Okeydoke. I and Cheeseburger come here or head over to McDonald’s most mornings. Then we walk down toward the post office. I’m a painter by trade, hoping to find some work.”

    There was a genuine peace about Johnny, even in the face of my unkind accusations.

    I fished around in my purse and found a twenty. “Could I give you this?” I asked hesitantly, not certain how to go about it.

    He didn’t reach for the bill, just kept looking at me with that contented expression. “You don’t have to. We’re doing pretty good.”

    “I’d like to. Very much.”

    “Then I thank you, Marion. God bless you.”

    I got back in my car and turned on the air conditioner. At the red light, I leaned forward and gazed up into the blue cloudless sky. “Lord, I belong to you. I trust you. Take care of me today. Thank you.”

    The light changed. I pulled out onto the highway, feeling refreshed, not so much by the cool air but by an unmistakable peace, the same peace I had seen in Johnny’s eyes.”

  • What are Interpersonal Skills and Their Types?

    What are Interpersonal Skills and Their Types?

    This may be the understatement of the year: right now there is an incredible need for engineers. All skill sets and experience levels are in high demand from start-ups to giant corporations, but that doesn’t mean that every engineer will be employed or successful.

    Interpersonal Skills also called Human Relations Skills, Interpersonal skills are often called “People Skills” because they describe a person’s ability to interact with other people in a positive and cooperative manner. Unlike technical skills that people attend school for, interpersonal skills are considered soft skills that are typically developed over time through interactions.

    Having good interpersonal skills is desired in most careers. The best members of a team often have strong skills that help them communicate and problem solve with other people in an organization. There is a long list of interpersonal skills, but among the most important for working in a team or workplace are conflict resolution, communication, problem solving and patience.

    Interpersonal skills in the thriving STEM fields, interpersonal skills are becoming increasingly important in career advancement. They are just as important as the technical skills, as they help create personal branding and a well-rounded network of professionals, opening opportunities and creating relationships with peers. Following are the five key interpersonal skills that engineers and other STEM professionals should develop for career success:

    Interpersonal Skills and Their Types

    (I) Communication Skills: Communication skills are required equally at all three levels of management. A manager must be able to communicate the plans and policies to the workers. Similarly, he must listen and solve the problems of the workers. He must encourage a free-flow of communication in the organization.

    Engineers and other STEM professions place the higher value on technical skills than communication. However, effective communication is equally as important. In order to succeed and be innovative in their position, they must be able to communicate their ideas.

    (II) Creativity Skills: The technical skills to find and fix system issues is just as valuable as the creativity to find new ways to solve problems. People who continually push the envelope to find and develop new products, processes etc., get the recognition from peers and management.

    (III) Adaptability Skills: Like creativity, the ability to continually push and change is invaluable. Challenges arise daily and as an employee and job seeker, you must be able to adapt, be creative, and communicate the issues to work towards a solution.

    The world of work is changing at an ever increasing pace so employers actively seek out graduates who can adapt to changing circumstances and environments, and embrace new ideas, who are enterprising, resourceful and adaptable.

    (IV) Collaboration Skills: Product creation, service execution, and system innovation do not happen by one person. Steve Jobs may have been an incredible driving force behind Apple’s success, but there were countless engineers, developers, and other professionals working to create, market and sell their products.

    Collaborating in a team setting is not only necessary for a job seeker and employee, but is absolutely essential. Collaborative skills that we have identified as promoting the core concepts and supporting class norms are listed below. This list of collaborative skills has been used successfully by instructional teams to identify skills that address the ways students and teachers should interact to realize class norms. The list is not exhaustive and some classrooms may have to add skills to fully meet their needs.

    (V) Leadership Skills: Leadership skills is the ability to influence human behavior. A manager requires leadership skills to motivate the workers. These skills help the Manager to get the work done through the workers.

    We all know what a leader is, however becoming one takes thought. If you aspire to make a difference in your company/ city/ the world in any profession, leadership skills have to come into play. Developing these skills over time as you build relationships will help you achieve success beyond your career.

    Advanced Interpersonal Skills

    Interpersonal Skills
    Human Relations Skills or Interpersonal Skills

    Advanced Interpersonal Communication training sessions can be custom designed to suit your employees, address specific issues and industry. Pictures, questions, and material will all be modified to suit training requirements and objectives. Contact our staff for more details.

    This Advanced Interpersonal Skills Session is designed to help your team members, management, and all staff communicate effectively with respect, build rapport, interact professionally and control their emotions for better business relations.

    Objectives for the Advanced Interpersonal Skills

    Being in control of your emotion is a benefit to you and your workplace. Learn how to be able to change your mood, attitude, and perception at the drop of a hat.

    Questioning techniques will assist you in both control and information gathering. Learn how to quickly change a subject, motivate others and communicate more effectively using communication techniques.

    Rapport is about similarities and connections. We show participants how to connect with others more with simple and effective mirroring techniques.

    Reading body language will come in use throughout your life. We develop this area and discuss how participants can take advantage of this form of communication.

    A positive mindset will move mountains. Everything will seem easier and you will feel empowerment with a positive outlook. Learn how to create the mindset for optimum performance and feel great when you need.

    More behavioral tools for the participants here as we develop some techniques to improve on existing behavior.

    learn about the four social categories and how to improve on your social category if you feel you need. We also discuss personalities and provide insight into why you do many of the things you do. This section also teaches you about others and their needs around you in the workplace.

    Advanced Interpersonal Communications are a requirement today to work closely as teams and with other people. This session is designed to carefully address any areas of concern and help individuals increase their awareness of their interpersonal skills, including any unintended communications they may be making. This session provides a greater understanding of non-spoken communication and allows a much-improved level of interpersonal communications to be implemented in the company, improving management to staff and interdepartmental relationships, which also leads to greater productivity, happier staff, and a much higher standard of customer service provision.

  • What are Managerial Skills?

    What are Managerial Skills?

    Managerial Skills; A skill is an individual’s ability to translate knowledge into action. Hence, it is manifested in an individual’s performance. Skill is not necessarily inborn. It can be developed through practice and through relating learning to one’s own personal experience and background. In order to be able to successfully discharge his roles, a manager should possess three major skills. These are conceptual skill, human relations skill and technical skill. Conceptual skill deals with ideas, technical skill with things and human skill with people. While both conceptual and technical skills are needed for good decision-making, human skill in necessary for a good leader.

    The conceptual skill refers to the ability of a manager to take a broad and farsighted view of the organization and its future, his ability to think in abstract, his ability to analyze the forces working in a situation, his creative and innovative ability and his ability to assess the environment and the changes taking place in it. It short, it is his ability to conceptualize the environment, the organization, and his own job, so that he can set appropriate goals for his organization, for himself and for his team. This skill seems to increase in importance as manager moves up to higher positions of responsibility in the organization.

    The technical skill is the manager’s understanding of the nature of the job that people under him have to perform. It refers to a person’s knowledge and proficiency in any type of process or technique. In a production department, this would mean an understanding of the technicalities of the process of production. Whereas this type of skill and competence seems to be more important at the lower levels of management, its relative importance as a part of the managerial role diminishes as the manager moves to higher positions. In higher functional positions, such as the position of a marketing manager or production manager, the conceptual component, related to these functional areas becomes more important and the technical component becomes less important.

    Human relations skill is the ability to interact effectively with people at all levels. This skill develops in the manager sufficient ability (A) to recognize the feelings and sentiments of others; (B) to judge the possible actions to, and outcomes of various courses of action he may undertake; and (C) to examine his own concepts and values which may enable him to develop more useful attitudes about himself. This type of skill remains consistently important for managers at all levels.

    A table gives an idea about the required change in the skill-mix of a manager with the change in his level. At the top level, technical skill becomes least important. That is why people at the top shift with great ease from one industry to another without an apparent fall in their efficiency. Their human and conceptual skills seem to make up for their unfamiliarity with the new job’s technical aspects.

    A Table of Skill-Mix of different Management levels and Managerial Skills

    Different Management levels

    Explanation of Managerial Skills

    (I) Conceptual skills: Conceptual skills are skills that allow a person to think creatively while also understanding abstract ideas and complicated processes. A person who has conceptual skills will be able to solve problems, formulate processes and understand the relationship between ideas, concepts, patterns and symbols.

    Conceptual skills are used frequently in the business world where managers can use their ability to conceptualize to view and visualize the entire company that they work for in order to develop the best plans for the business’s success. Most companies consider conceptual skills to be a requirement for their management staff.

    Conceptual Skills
    Conceptual Skills

    Some people are born with conceptual skills and have an intuitive sense while others must acquire the skill through learning. Other common skills valued with conceptual thinking include critical thinking, implementation thinking, innovative thinking and intuitive thinking.

    For those individuals who are not born with an innate sense of these skills, there are ways to develop the skill set. In an individual’s personal life and professional life, these skills can be developed by first taking the time to look around. Observing the way that other people and other businesses implement strategies as well as reading related publications (in the individual’s field or hobby area) can help increase the range of possibilities a person sees. Then, an individual must be willing to change direction and to pursue new goals whenever an opportunity arises that makes sense. If a problem occurs, do not look for the simple and fast fix. Look for a lasting solution instead that is a best-case scenario.

    (II) Human Relations Skills: Human Relations Skills is Interpersonal skills, Interpersonal skills are often called “people skills” because they describe a person’s ability to interact with other people in a positive and cooperative manner. Unlike technical skills that people attend school for, interpersonal skills are considered soft skills that are typically developed over time through interactions.

    Interpersonal Skills
    Human Relations Skills or Interpersonal Skills

    Having good interpersonal skills is desired in most careers. The best members of a team often have strong skills that help them communicate and problem solve with other people in an organization. There is a long list of interpersonal skills, but among the most important for working in a team or workplace are conflict resolution, communication, problem solving and patience.

    (III) Technical Skills: Technical skills are a person’s abilities that contribute directly to the performance of a given job, such as the computer, engineering, language and electrical skills. Someone with excellent abilities in any of these technical areas has the potential to secure a career in a related field.

    Technical Skills
    Technical Skills

    A person with technical writing abilities may get a job creating instruction manuals for complex products and equipment. A data expert may get a specialized job in database management or data analysis. A person with crafting abilities may get a job assembling fabrics or other products. Someone with excellent skills in automobile mechanics may get a position in an automobile repair shop.

    Other Managerial Skills also Important

    Communication Skills: Communication skills are required equally at all three levels of management. A manager must be able to communicate the plans and policies to the workers. Similarly, he must listen and solve the problems of the workers. He must encourage a free-flow of communication in the organization.

    Administrative Skills: Administrative skills are required at the top-level management. The top-level managers should know how to make plans and policies. They should also know how to get the work done. They should be able to coordinate different activities of the organization. They should also be able to control the full organization.

    Leadership Skills: Leadership skill is the ability to influence human behavior. A manager requires leadership skills to motivate the workers. These skills help the Manager to get the work done through the workers.

    Problem Solving Skills: Problem-solving skills are also called as Design skills. A manager should know how to identify a problem. He should also possess an ability to find the best solution for solving any specific problem. This requires intelligence, experience and up-to-date knowledge of the latest developments.

    Decision Making Skills: Decision-making skills are required at all levels of management. However, it is required more at the top-level of management. A manager must be able to take quick and correct decisions. He must also be able to implement his decision wisely. The success or failure of a manager depends upon the correctness of his decisions.

  • What are Managerial Roles and His Job?

    What are Managerial Roles and His Job?

    Management performs the functions of planning, organizing, staffing, directing and controlling for the accomplishment of organizational goals. Any person who performs these functions is a manager. The first line manager or supervisor or foreman is also a manager because he performs these functions. The difference between the functions of top, middle and lowest level management is that of degree. For instance, top management concentrates more on long-range planning and organization, middle-level management concentrates more on coordination and control and lowest level management concentrates more on direction function to get the things done from the workers.

    Every manager is concerned with ideas, things, and people. Management is a creative process for integrating the use of resources to accomplish certain goals. In this process, ideas, things, and people are vital inputs which are to be transformed into output consistent with the goals.

    Management of ideas implies the use of conceptual skills. It has three connotations. First, it refers to the need for the practical philosophy of management to regard management as a distinct and scientific process. Second, management of ideas refers to the planning phase of the management process. Lastly, management of ideas refers to distinction and innovation. Creativity refers to a generation of new ideas, and innovation refers to transforming ideas into viable relations and utilities. A manager must be imaginative to plan ahead and to create new Ideas.

    Management of things (non-human resources) deal with the design of production system, and acquisition, allocation, and conversion of physical resources to achieve certain goals. Management of people is concerned with procurement, development, maintenance and integration of human resources in the organization. Every manager has to direct his subordinates to put the organizational plans into practice.

    The greater part of every manager’s time is spent in communicating and dealing with people. His efforts are directed towards obtaining information and evaluating progress towards objectives set by him and then taking corrective action. Thus, a manager’s job primarily consists of management of people. Though it is his duty to handle all the productive resources, but the human factor is more important. A manager cannot convert the raw materials into finished products himself; he has to take the help of others to do this. The greatest problem before any manager is how to manage the personnel to get the best possible results. The manager in the present age has to deal efficiently with the people who are to contribute to the achievement of organizational goals.

    Peter F. Drucker has advocated that the managerial approach to handling workers and work should be pragmatic and dynamic. Every job should be designed as an integrated set of operations. The workers should be given a sufficient measure of freedom to organize and control their work environment. It is the duty of every manager to educate, train and develop people below him so that they may use their potentialities and abilities to perform the work allotted to them. He has also to help them in satisfying their needs and working under him, he must provide them with the proper environment. A manager must create a climate which brings in and maintains satisfaction and discipline among the people. This will increase organizational effectiveness.

    Recently, it has been questioned whether planning, organizing, directing and controlling provides an adequate description of the management process. After an intensive observation of what five top executives actually did during the course of a few days at work, Henry Mintzberg concluded that these labels do not adequately capture the reality of what managers do. He suggested instead that the manager should be regarded as playing some ten different roles, in no particular order.

    Role Performed by Managers

    What is Role Performed by Managers? Mostly manager has used three types roles on company or business: 1) Interpersonal Roles as used by heart, 2) Informational Roles also used by talking, and 3) Decisional Roles is mostly used by the brain. Following roles are explained here;

    Managerial Roles
    Managerial Role is three types of company or business; 1) Interpersonal Roles as used by heart, 2) Informational Roles also used by talking, and 3) Decisional Roles is mostly used by the brain.

    1. Interpersonal Roles

    Figurehead: In this role, every manager has to perform some duties of a ceremonial nature, such as greeting the touring dignitaries, attending the wedding of an employee, taking an important customer to lunch and so on.

    Leader: As a leader, every manager must motivate and encourage his employees. He must also try to reconcile their individual needs with the goals of the organization.

    Liaison: In this role of liaison, every manager must cultivate contacts outside his vertical chain of command to collect information useful for his organization.

    1. Informational Roles

    Monitor: As the monitor, the manager has to perpetually scan his environment for information, interrogate his liaison contacts and his subordinates, and receive unsolicited information, much of it as result of the network of personal contacts he has developed.

    Disseminator: In the role of a disseminator, the manager passes some of his privileged information directly to his subordinates who would otherwise have no access to it.

    Spokesman: In this role, the manager informs and satisfies various groups and people who influence his organization. Thus, he advises shareholders about financial performance, assures consumer groups that the organization is fulfilling its social responsibilities and satisfies the government that the origination is abiding by the law.

    1. Decisional Roles

    Entrepreneur: In this role, the manager constantly looks out for new ideas and seeks to improve his unit by adapting it to changing conditions in the environment.

    Disturbance Handler: In this role, the manager has to work like a firefighter. He must seek solutions to various unanticipated problems – a strike may loom large a major customer may go bankrupt; a supplier may renege on his contract, and so on.

    Resource Allocator: In this role, the manager must divide work and delegate authority among his subordinates. He must decide who will get what.

    Negotiator: The manager has to spend considerable time in negotiations. Thus, the chairman of a company may negotiate with the union leaders a new strike issue, the foreman may negotiate with the workers a grievance problem, and so on.

    In addition, managers in any organization work with each other to establish the organization’s long-range goals and to plan how to achieve them. They also work together to provide one another with the accurate information needed to perform tasks. Thus, managers act as channels of communication with the organization.

  • What are Levels of Management?

    What are Levels of Management?

    An enterprise may have different levels of management. Levels of management refer to a line of demarcation between various managerial positions in an enterprise. The levels of management depend upon its size, technical facilities, and the range of production. We generally come across two broad levels of management, viz. (I) administrative management (i.e., the upper level of management) and (II) operating management (i.e., the lower level of management). Administrative management is concerned with “thinking” functions such as laying down policy, planning and setting up of standards. Operative management is concerned with the “doing” function such as an implementation of policies and directing the operations to attain the objectives of the enterprise.

    But in actual practice, it is difficult to draw any clear-cut demarcation between thinking function and doing function. Because the basic/fundamental managerial functions are performed by all managers irrespective of their levels or, ranks. For instance, wage and salary director of a company may assist in fixing wages and salary structure as a member of the Board of Directors, but as head of wages and salary department, his job is to see that the decisions are implemented.

    The real significance of levels is that they explain authority relationships in an organization.

    Considering the hierarchy of authority and responsibility, one can identify three levels of management namely

    (I) Top management of a company consists of owners/shareholders, Board of Directors, its Chairman, Managing Director, or the Chief Executive, or the General Manager or Executive Committee having key officers.

    (II) Middle management of a company consists of heads of functional departments viz. Purchase Manager, Production Manager, Marketing Manager, Financial controller, etc. and Divisional and Sectional Officers working under these Functional Heads.

    (III) Lower level or operative management of a company consists of Superintendents, Foremen, Supervisors, etc.

    1) Top management: Top management is the ultimate source of authority and it lays down goals, policies and plans for the enterprise. It devotes more time on planning and coordinating functions. It is accountable to the owners of the business of the overall management. It is also described as the policy making group responsible for the overall direction and success of all company activities.

    The important functions of top management include:

    (A) To establish the objectives or goals of the enterprise.

    (B) To make policies and frame plans to attain the objectives laid.

    (C) To set up an organizational framework to conduct the operations as per plans.

    (D) To assemble the resources of money, men, materials, machines and methods to put the plans into action.

    (E) To exercise effective control of the operations.

    (F) To provide overall leadership to the enterprise.

    2) Middle management: The job of middle management is to implement the policies and plans framed by the top management. It serves as an essential link between the top management and the lower level or operative management. They are responsible for the top management for the functioning of their departments. They devote more time on the organization and motivation functions of management. They provide the guidance and the structure for a purposeful enterprise. Without them, the top management’s plans and ambitious expectations will not be fruitfully realized.

    The following are the main functions of middle management:

    (A) To interpret the policies chalked out by top management.

    (B) To prepare the organizational set up in their own departments for fulfilling the objectives implied in various business policies.

    (C) To recruit and select suitable operative and supervisory staff.

    (D) To assign activities, duties, and responsibilities for timely implementation of the plans.

    (E) To compile all the instructions and issue them to supervisor under their control.

    (F) To motivate personnel to attain higher productivity and to reward them properly.

    (G) To cooperate with the other departments for ensuring a smooth functioning of the entire organization.

    (H) To collect reports and information on performance in their departments.

    (I) To report to top management.

    (J) To make suitable recommendations to the top management for the better execution of plans and policies.

    3) Lower or operative management: It is placed at the bottom of the hierarchy of management, and actual operations are the responsibility of this level of management. It consists of foreman, supervisors, sales officers, accounts officers and so on. They are in direct touch with the rank and file or workers. Their authority and responsibility are limited. They pass on the instructions of the middle management to workers.

    They interpret and divide the plans of the management into short-range operating plans. They are also involved in the process of decision-making. They have to get the work done through the workers. They a lot various jobs to the workers, evaluate their performance and report to the middle-level management. They are more concerned with direction and control functions of management. They devote more time in the supervision of the workers.

  • How to Compare Between Management and Administration?

    Compare Between Management and Administration

    How to Compare Between Management and Administration? The use of two terms management and administration has been a controversial issue in the management literature. Some writers do not see any difference between the two terms, while others maintain that administration and management are two different functions. Those who held management and administration distinct include Oliver Sheldon, Florence, and TEAD, Spriegel and Landsburg, etc. According to them, management is a lower-level function and is concerned primarily with the execution of policies laid down by the administration. But some English authors like Brech are of the opinion that management is a wider term including administration.

    This controversy is discussed as under in three heads:

    (I) The administration is concerned with the determination of policies and management with the implementation of policies. Thus, the administration is a higher level function.

    (II) Management is a generic term and includes administration.

    (III) There is no distinction between the terms management and administration and they are used interchangeably.

    (I) The administration is a Higher Level Function: Oliver Shelden subscribed to the first viewpoint. According to him, “Administration is concerned with the determination of corporate policy, the coordination of finance, production, and distribution, the settlement of the compass of the organization and the ultimate control of the executive. Management proper is concerned with the execution of policy within the limits set up by the administration and the employment of the organization in the particular objects before it… Administration determines the organization; management uses it. Administration defines the goals; management strives towards it.”

    Administration refers to policy-making whereas management refers to the execution of policies laid down by the administration. This view is held by TEAD, Spriegel, and Walter. The administration is the phase of business enterprise that concerns itself with the overall determination of institutional objectives and the policies unnecessary to be followed in achieving those objectives. The administration is a determinative function; on the other hand, management is an executive function which is primarily concerned with carrying out of the broad policies laid down by the administration. Thus, administration involves broad policy-making and management involves the execution of policies laid down by the administration as shown;

    A Table of Compare Between Management and Administration;

      Basis Administration Management
    1. Meaning The administration is concerned with the formulation of objectives, plans, and policies of the organization. Management means getting the work done through and with others.
    2. Nature of work Administration relates to the decision-making. It is a thinking function. Management refers to the execution of decisions. It is a doing function.
    3. Decision-Making Administration determines what is to be done and when it is to be done. Management decides who shall implement the administrative decisions.
    4. Status Administration refers to higher levels of management. Management is relevant at lower levels in the organization.

    (II) Management is a Generic Term: The second viewpoint regards management as a generic term including administration. According to Brech, “Management is a social process entailing responsibility for the effective and economical planning and regulation of the operation of an enterprise in fulfillment of a given purpose or task. The administration is that part of management which is concerned with the installation and carrying out of the procedures by which the program is laid down and communicated and the progress of activities is regulated and checked against plans.” Thus, Brech conceives administration as a part of management. Kimball and Kimball also subscribe to this view. According to them, the administration is a part of management. The administration is concerned with the actual work of executing or carrying out the objectives.

    (III) Management and Administration are Synonymous: The third viewpoint is that there is no distinction between the terms ‘management’ and ‘administration’. Usage also provides no distinction between these terms. The term management is used for higher executive functions like the determination of policies, planning, organizing, directing and controlling in the business circles, while the term administration is used for the same set of functions in the Government circles. So there is no difference between these two terms and they are often used interchangeably.

    It seems from the above concepts of administration and management that administration is the process of determination of objectives, laying down plans and policies, and ensuring that achievements are in conformity with the objectives. Management is the process of executing the plans and policies for the achievement of the objectives determined by an administration. This distinction seems to be too simplistic and superficial. If we regard chairmen, managing directors, and general managers as performing administrative functions, it cannot be said that they perform only planning functions of goal determination, planning, and policy formulation, and do not perform other functions such as staffing functions of selection and promotion, or directing functions of leadership, communication, and motivation. On the other hand, we cannot say that managers who are responsible for the execution of plans and formulation of plans and policies, etc. do not contribute to the administrative functions of goal determination, and formulation of plans and policies. In fact, all managers, whether the chief executive or the first line supervisor, are in some way or the other involved in the performance of all the managerial functions. It is, of course, true that those who occupy the higher echelons of organizational hierarchy are involved to a greater extent in goal determination, plans and policy formulation and organizing than those who are at the bottom of the ladder.

  • Nature of Management defined as Science, Art, and Profession

    Nature of Management defined as Science, Art, and Profession

    What is the nature of Management? Management has been conceptualized earlier in this lesson, as the social process by which managers of an enterprise integrate and coordinate its resources for the achievement of common, explicit goals. It has developed into a body of knowledge and a separately identifiable discipline during the past six decades. The practice of management as an art is, of course, as old as the organized human effort for the achievement of common goals.

    Here is the article that explains the Nature of Management defined as Science, Art, and Profession.

    Management has also acquired several characteristics of the profession during recent times. Large and medium-sized enterprises in India and elsewhere manage by professional managers; managers who have little or no share in the ownership of the enterprise and look upon management as a career. The nature of management as a science, as art and as a profession discuss below:

    Nature of Management defined as Science Art and Profession Image
    Nature of Management defined as Science, Art, and Profession; Image from Pixabay.

    Nature of Management as a Science:

    Development of management as a science is of recent origin, even though its practice is age-old. Fredrick W. Taylor was the first manager-theorist who made significant contributions to the development of management as a science. He used the scientific methods of analysis, observation, and experimentation in the management of production function. A perceptive manager, as he was, he distilled certain fundamental principles and propounded the theory and principles of scientific management.

    His work was followed by many others including Gantt, Emerson, Fayol, Barnard, etc. During the last few decades, great strides have been made in the development of management as a systematized body of knowledge that can learn, taught, and researched. It has also provided powerful tools for analysis, prediction, and control to practicing managers. The scientific character of management has been particularly strengthened by management scientists who have to develop mathematical models of decision making [Hindi].

    Other Words:

    Another characteristic of science in management is that it uses the scientific methods of observation, experimentation, and laboratory research. Management principles are firmly based on observed phenomena and systematic classification and analysis of data. These analyses and studies of observed phenomena use for inferring cause-effect relationships between two or more variables. Generalizations about these relationships result in hypotheses. The hypotheses when test and find to be true call principles.

    These principles, when applied to practical situations, help the practitioner in describing and analyzing problems, solving problems, and predicting the results. Even though management is science so far as to possess a systematized body of knowledge and uses scientific methods of research; it is not an exact science like natural sciences. This is simply because management is a social science, and deals with the behavior of people in the organization. The behavior of people is much more complex and variable than the behavior of inanimate things such as light or heat. This makes controlled experiments very difficult. As a result, management principles lack the rigor and exactitude; which find in physics and chemistry.

    Many natural sciences which deal with living phenomena such as botany and medicine are also not exact. Management is a social science like economics or psychology and has the same limitations which these and other social sciences have. But this does not in any way diminish the value of management as knowledge and discipline. It has provided powerful tools for analysis, prediction, and control to practicing managers and helped them in performing their material tasks more efficiently and effectively.

    Nature of Management as an Art:

    Just as an engineer uses the science of engineering while building a bridge, a manager uses the knowledge of management theory while performing his managerial functions. Engineering is a science; its application to the solution of practical problems is an art. Similarly, management as a body of knowledge and a discipline is a science; its application to the solution of organizational problems is an art.

    The practice of management, like the practice of medicine, is firmly ground in an identifiable body of concepts, theories, and principles. A medical practitioner, who does not base his diagnosis and prescription on the science of medicine, endangers the life of his patient. Similarly, a manager who manages without possessing the knowledge of management creates chaos and jeopardizes the well-being of his organization.

    Principles of management like the principles of medicine used by the practitioner not as rules of thumb but as guides in solving practical problems. It often says that managerial decision making involves a large element of judgment. This is true too. The raging controversy whether management is a science or an art is fruitless. It is a science as well as an art. Developments in the field of the knowledge of management help in the improvement of its practice; and improvements in the practice of management spur further research and study resulting in the further development of management science.

    Nature of Management as a Profession:

    We often hear of the professionalization of management in our country. By a professional manager, we generally mean a manager who undertakes management as a career and does not interest in acquiring ownership share in the enterprise which he manages. But, is management a profession in the true sense of the word? or, is management a profession like the professions of law and medicine?

    Characteristics:

    According to McFarland, a profession possesses the following characteristics:

    • A body of principles, techniques, skills, and specialized knowledge;
    • Formalized methods of acquiring training and experience;
    • The establishment of a representative organization with professionalization as its goal;
    • The formation of ethical codes for the guidance of conduct; and.
    • The charging fees based on the nature of services.

    Management is a profession to the extent it fulfills the above conditions. It is a profession in the sense that there a systematized body of management, and it is a distinct, identifiable discipline. It has also developed a vast number of tools and techniques. But unlike medicine or law, a management degree is not a prerequisite to becoming a manager. Most managers in India as elsewhere do not have a formal management education. It seems reasonable to assume that at no time shortly, the possession of a management degree will be a requirement for employment as a career manager.

    Management is also a profession in the sense that formalized methods of training are available to those who desire to be managers. We have several institutes of management and university departments of management that provide formal education in this field. Training facilities provide in most companies by their training divisions. Several organizations such as the Administrative Staff College of India, the Indian Institutes of Management, Management Development Institute, the All India Management Association, and the university departments of management offer a variety of short-term management training programs.

    More things:

    By the Nature of Management defined as a Profession is the third thing. Management partially fulfills the third characteristic of the profession. There are several representative organizations of management practitioners almost in all countries such as the All India Management Association in India, the American Management Association in the U.S.A., etc. However, none of them have professionalization of management as its goal.

    Management does not fulfill the last two requirements of a profession. There is no ethical code of conduct for managers as doctors and lawyers. Some individual business organizations, however, try to develop a code of conduct for their managers but there is no general and uniform code of conduct for all managers. Bribing public officials to gain favors, sabotaging trade unions, manipulating prices, and markets are by no means uncommon management practices. Furthermore, managers, in general, do not seem to adhere to the principle of “service above self”.

    However little regard pay to the elevation of service over the desire for monetary compensation evidence by switching jobs by managers. Indeed, such mobile managers regard as more progressive and modern than others. It may conclude from the above discussion that management is a science, art as well as a profession. As a social science, management is not as exact as natural sciences, and it is not as fully a profession like medicine and law.