Question

Management is considered to be both an art and science.
Explain. 

Answer 1

Management is considered to be both an art and science due to the following reasons:

MANAGEMENT AS ART:

• Existence of theoretical knowledge- all the form of art such as music and dance presupposes a defined body of knowledge and literature. Management also has a lot of literature for theoretical knowledge and learning. Many principles have been developed in the field of Management such as Taylor's scientific theory of Management and Fayol's principles of management.

• Personalized application: Art is the personalized application of existing knowledge. Each individual uses this basic knowledge in his own personal knowledge. For example, all the doctors have received the same medical knowledge but some of them may be able to save a patient from a critical condition but others not.

• Based on practice and creativity- Art is based on practice and innovation. Artist uses the existing literature according to his own creativity and innovation. A manager may apply the same theory and principle of management to different situations according to his own level of creativity.

Management as science.

• Systematic body of knowledge- science has a systematic body of knowledge based on cause and effect relationship. Similarly, management has also formulated its own policies over time.

• Theory-based on experimentation- in Science all the theories are based on experimentation. Similarly, in management, the principle of management have evolved based on repeated observations in the experiment. But in management the cause and effect relationship is absent. This is because management deals with human and human behavior. Human behavior is constantly changing to the result of these theories may be different from one situation to another.

• Universal validity - the concept and principle used in Science are valid universally. Similarly, the principles and theories of Management are valid to some extent but are not universal. The application of the theories and their results may vary from one situation to another situation but they act as a guideline for action in different situations.