Management is all pervasive

Management is All Pervasive

Management is not limited to any one type of organisation. It is universal — needed everywhere, from a small shop to a large government department.

What does "all pervasive" mean?

The word "pervasive" means spreading widely throughout an area. In management, it means that the activities of management are common to all organisations — whether they are:

• Economic (like a factory, a bank, or a petrol pump)
• Social (like a club, a charity, or a school)
• Political (like a government office or a political party)

Examples from the textbook

• A petrol pump needs to be managed just as much as a hospital or a school.
• The functions of management — planning, organising, staffing, directing, and controlling — are performed in every type of organisation.

Management is the same everywhere — but how it is done differs

• What managers do is the same across the world. A manager in India, the USA, Germany, or Japan all perform the same basic functions.
• How they do it may be quite different. This difference arises because of differences in:
  • Culture (shared values and beliefs)
  • Tradition (long-established customs)
  • History (past events that shape present practices)

Key takeaway …