Management is the art and science of directing the operations of both individuals and organizations. Specifically, the overall function of management is often broken down into four general categories: planning, leading, organizing, and controlling. The overall effectiveness and efficiency of operations is generally credited to management. But in practical terms, what does this all mean?

Briefly, management is what allows people to work together cooperatively in an organization and to somehow leverage their talents. Management is about helping organization members understand why they are performing a certain task; i.e., what are they accomplishing which contributes to the whole? Management is about conceiving a purpose toward which the organization may focus its activities. Management is concerned with helping people gain some measure of satisfaction and pleasure from the tasks they perform. In short, it could be said that, as a discipline, management is what makes a business enterprise a real organization rather than simply a collection of people.