如同其他人文领域一样，“管理”这个词是很难定义的。事实上，迄今为止，没有任何一个关于“管理”的定义被广泛接受。一个比较受欢迎的定义是玛丽 帕克 福利特作出的，她说，管理是“通过别人把任务完成的艺术”。这个定义强调的是，经理的职责是安排人手让他们从事必要手段去达成目标，而不是自己去做。

为了强调管理其他方面的要素，我们将会采用一个稍为详尽的定义来展开本章的讨论：管理就是为了达成既定的组织目标而对组织成员及其他组织资源所进行的计划、组织、领导和控制的过程。

读者们会注意到，我们在定义“管理”的时候，用了“过程”一词，而非“艺术”。如果说管理是一门艺术，那就意味着管理是一种个人的天赋或者技能；而从另一个角度说，“过程”仅仅是一种做事的系统方法。所有的经理，无论贤愚，都在从事一些既定的有内在联系的活动，以期达成他们的目标。

我们把这些管理活动叫做计划、组织、领导和控制（有些研究扩展了这些活动的种类，但为了方便起见，我们还是只用这四类活动）。计划，意味着经理们提前思考了他们的行动全过程。他们的行动往往是基于某些方法、计划或逻辑，而不是第六感。组织意味着经理们要协调组织内的人力资源和其他资源。一个组织的长处是在于它能够调动许多资源以达成目标。很显然，一个组织内的工作越是统一和协调，它就越有效率。达成这种协调状态，正正是经理的工作内容之一。

领导意味着经理们指挥及影响着下属。他们不是一个人在战斗，而是通过他人来执行最基本的任务。他们不仅仅是下达命令而已，通过建立合适的工作氛围，经理们帮助他们的下属做到最好。控制意味着经理们试图确认组织正在向着既定的目标前进。如果组织的某一部分运行出错，经理们会尽力找出来，并使其重回正轨。

我们的定义同时表明，经理们会使用组织所有的资源以达成目标：人、财、物以及信息。虽然人是所有组织最重要的资源，但如果经理们纠结于此而不去使用组织内的其他可用资源，那就太过局限了。比如说，如果一个经理想去提升销售额，他不但会激励销售团队，同时也会提升广告预算。

最后，我们的定义表明，管理涉及到实现组织的“既定目标”。这意味着所有的组织都会力图实现其特定的目的，不管这个组织是医院、大学，还是（美国）国内收入署，抑或是华盛顿红人队。当然了，这些目的会因不同的组织而异。医院的既定目标可能是为社区提供综合性的医疗服务；大学的既定目标可能是创造一个适宜的环境，为学生提供全方位的教育。无论一个特定组织的既定目标是什么，管理都是达成这个目标的过程。

Defining management

Like many areas of study that involve people, management is difficult to define. In fact, no definition of management has been universally accepted. One popular definition is by Mary Parker Follett. Management, she says, is "the art of getting things done through people". This definition calls attention to the fact that managers achieve their goals by arranging for others to perform whatever tasks may be necessary, not by performing the task themselves.

We will use a somewhat more elaborate definition to begin our discussion in this chapter, because we will want to call attention to other important aspects of managing:

Management is the process of planning, organizing, leading and controlling the efforts of organizational members and the use of other organizational resources in order to achieve stated organizational goals.

The readers will notice that we have used the word "process" rather than "art" in defining management. To say that management is an art implies that it is a personal aptitude or skill. A process, on the other hand, is nothing more than a systematic way of doing things. All managers, regardless of their particular aptitudes or skills, engage in certain interrelated activities in order to achieve their desired goals.

We have called these management activities planning, organizing, leading and controlling. (Others have expanded this list, but for the sake of convenience we will use just these four activities.) Planning means that managers think their actions through in advance. Their actions are usually based on some methods, plans, or logic, rather than on a hunch. Organizing means that managers coordinate the human and material resources of the organization. The strength of an organization lies in its ability to marshal many resources to attain a goal. Obviously, the more integrated and coordinated the work of an organization, the more effective it will be. Achieving this coordination is part of the manager's job.

Leading means that managers direct and influence subordinates. They do not act alone, but get others to perform essential tasks. Nor do they simply give orders. By establishing the proper atmosphere they help their subordinates do their best. Controlling means that managers attempt to assure that the organization is moving toward its goals. If some part of their organization is on the wrong track, managers try to find out it and set things right.

Our definition also indicates that managers use all the resources of the organization--its finances, equipment, and information as well as its people--in attaining their goals. While people are any organization's most important resource, managers would be limiting themselves if they did not also rely on the other organizational resources available to them. For example, a manager who wishes to increase sales might try not only to motivate the sales force but also to increase the advertising budget.

Finally our definition says that management involves achieving the organization's "state goals". This means that any organization--a hospital, a university, the Internal Revenue Service, or the Washington Redskins--try to attain specific ends. These ends will, of course, vary with each organization. The stated goal of a hospital might be to provide comprehensive medical care of a community. The stated goal of a university might be to give students a well-rounded education in a congenial environment. Whatever the stated goal of a particular organization, management is the process by which the goals are achieved.

英文出处：毛蕴诗老师《管理学原著选读》（第二版），东北财经大学出版社，2005.2。原书中另有译文，本译文为笔者所译。