Management as an Art, a Science and a Profession

A long-standing debate in management thought is whether management is an art, a science, or a profession — and in practice it carries features of all three.

Management as an art: an art is the practical application of theoretical knowledge to achieve a desired result, and requires personal skill and creativity beyond just knowing the theory. Management qualifies because it has (a) a systematic body of knowledge on which practice is based, (b) personalised application — every manager applies that knowledge in their own way, and (c) it is based on constant practice, since a manager becomes more skilled by managing over time, exactly like a painter improves by painting.

Management as a science: a science is a systematised body of knowledge based on general truths that can be observed and verified, usually established through experimentation. Management has a systematic body of principles developed over time (Taylor's and Fayol's work being the classic examples), and these principles are based on repeated observation, though — unlike physics or chemistry — they cannot be tested under fully controlled laboratory conditions because human behaviour is not perfectly predictable. Management is therefore best described as an inexact or social science, not an exact one. …