When conducting consulting or training, I frequently ask company owners or managers a question that LEUNG Chung fan answer.
Actually, the question is quite simple: What is management and what is management? Which comes first, management or operation?
This question initially perplexes them because they haven't considered the distinction between management and operation, let alone which is more important.
In fact, even if you don't ask and answer this question on purpose, management and management are expressed very clearly in everyday conversation.
For example, a professional manager, when introducing himself, will say, "I am engaged in management in a company", while a boss will say, "I run a factory".
They both make it clear that the professional manager is in charge of management while the boss is in charge of the business. This is essentially correct; professional managers are primarily concerned with management, with some business thrown in for good measure, whereas the boss is primarily concerned with management, with some business thrown in for good measure.
So, what exactly is management? What exactly is management?
Management is the achievement of specific goals in order to organize more than one person, as well as the use of specific resources (capital, technology, equipment, etc.) in order for the organization (team) to operate efficiently.
Management, on the other hand, is the coordination of production factors in order to maximize their effectiveness. This is why some people equate sales with management, because sales are business actions in which ownership of goods is transferred and the company receives money in exchange for goods.
First and foremost, operation and management emerge at different times. Management has existed since ancient times, when more than two people had to divide and coordinate collective labor (for example, the construction of the Great Wall by Qin Shi Huang and the pyramids by the Egyptian pharaohs involved very complex management), and management entered the era of commercial economy in the nineteenth century (the era of self-sufficiency did not require management).
Second, management is for profit, whereas management is not for profit. Governments, schools, hospitals, and charities, for example, are managed but not operated. Because management is motivated by financial gain, public service organizations such as hospitals and schools cannot be profit-driven and thus cannot function (according to this theory, the industrialization of education would actually have very bad consequences).
Third, operation entails doing the right thing, while management entails making things right. The boss determines the company's development direction, as well as product sales prices, and so on; and how to better accomplish the goals under the established policy is a matter of management.
Fourth, management is only to improve efficiency and reduce costs, whereas the scope of management is much broader, such as corporate acquisitions and mergers, the operation of equity, intellectual property transactions, the purchase and disposal of equipment, and so on, which involve the transfer of ownership and are within the scope of management, have nothing to do with management.
Fifth, operation takes precedence over management. Even if the management is poor, the enterprise can live quite well and even develop quite well; if the operation is poor, the management of the company is likely to fail sooner.
Sixth, the operation's goal is to make money, while management's goal is to save money. Making money up front and saving money later, the enterprise should first improve the operation and then in the management level, management for business services, management level cannot exceed the ability to operate.
As a result, whenever a company asks for assistance in providing management consulting, particularly in designing their organizational structure, management system, business process, and salary system, I always hope they can seriously consider this: is the current main pressure from operation or management?
If it appears that the company's main problem is making money, it is time to consider management issues; if it appears that the company's business is not full at all, or even to the point of having nothing to do. Then, the most pressing issue at this time is not necessarily management; the company should first solve the problem of operation, or at the very least operate and manage concurrently.
Companies that want to improve management must consider whether there is currently enough money to begin the management upgrade process.