See also: Simple living
St. Francis of Assisi renounces his worldly goods in a painting attributed to Giotto di Bondone.
'Tis the gift to be simple, 'tis the gift to be free,
'tis the gift to come down where you ought to be, And when we find ourselves in the place just right, It will be in the valley of love and delight.
—Shaker song.[131]
Among some individuals, such as ascetics, poverty is considered a necessary or desirable condition, which must be embraced in order to reach certain spiritual, moral, or intellectual states. Poverty is often understood to be an essential element of renunciation in religions such as Buddhism and Jainism, whilst in Roman Catholicism it is one of the evangelical counsels. Certain religious orders also take a vow of extreme poverty. For example, the Franciscan orders have traditionally forgone all individual and corporate forms of ownership. While individual ownership of goods and wealth is forbidden for
Benedictines, following the Rule of St. Benedict, the monastery itself may possess both goods and money, and throughout history some monasteries have become very rich indeed.[citation needed]
In this context of religious vows, poverty may be understood as a means of self-denial in order to place oneself at the service of others; Pope Honorius III wrote in 1217 that the Dominicans "lived a life of voluntary poverty, exposing themselves to innumerable dangers and sufferings, for the salvation of others". Following Jesus' warning that riches can be like thorns that choke up the good seed of the word (Matthew 13:22), voluntary poverty is often understood by Christians as of benefit to the individual - a form of self-discipline by which one distances oneself from distractions from God.[citation needed]
[edit] See also
• List of countries by percentage of population living in poverty
• Countries by fertility rate
• List of countries by GDP
• Least Developed Countries
Sustainable development portal
• Deprivation index
• Economic inequality
• Feminization of poverty
• Food security
• Abahlali baseMjondolo - South African Shack dwellers' organisation
• Brooks World Poverty Institute
• Catholic Charities USA[132]
• Center for Global Development
• Child Poverty Action Group
• Compassion Canada
• Five Talents - Gives poverty stricken people another chance
• Free the Children
• Grameen Bank A micro lending bank for the poor.
• Micah Challenge halving golbal poverty by 2015.
• Microgiving Direct charitable giving
• Global Call to Action Against Poverty (GCAP)
• 17 October: UN International Day for the Eradication of Poverty (White Band Day 4)
• International Food Policy Research Institute
• International Fund for Agricultural Development
• Southern Poverty Law Center
• The Make Poverty History campaign
• Mississippi Teacher Corps
• United Nations Millennium Campaign [133][134]
• World Bank
• World Food Day
• The Red Letters Campaign [135]
• Global Poverty Minimization [136]
• Eurodad
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For other uses, see Management (disambiguation).
Management in business and human organization activity is simply the act of getting people together to accomplish desired goals. Management comprises planning, organizing, staffing, leading or directing, and controlling an organization (a group of one or more people or entities) or effort for the purpose of
accomplishing a goal. Resourcing encompasses the deployment and manipulation of human resources, financial resources, technological resources, and natural resources.
Management can also refer to the person or people who perform the act(s) of management.
Contents
[hide]
• 1 Etymology
• 2 Overview
o Theoretical scope2.1
o Nature of managerial work2.2
• 3 Historical development
o Early writing3.1
3.1.1 Sun Tzu's The Art of War
3.1.2 Niccolò Machiavelli's The Prince
3.1.3 Adam Smith's The Wealth of Nations
o 19th century3.2
o 20th century3.3
o 21st century3.4
• 4 Management topics
o Basic functions of management4.1
o Formation of the business policy4.2
4.2.1 How to implement policies and strategies
4.2.2 The development of policies and strategies
4.2.3 Where policies and strategies fit into the planning process
o Managerial levels and hierarchy4.3
• 5 Areas and categories and implementations of management
• 6 See also
• 7 References
• 8 External links
[edit] Etymology
The verb manage comes from the Italian maneggiare (to handle — especially a horse), which in turn derives from the Latin manus (hand). The French word mesnagement (later ménagement) influenced the development in meaning of the English word management in the 17th and 18th centuries.[1]
[edit] Overview
[edit] Theoretical scope
Mary Parker Follett (1868–1933), who wrote on the topic in the early twentieth century, defined management as "the art of getting things done through people".[2] One can also think of management functionally, as the action of measuring a quantity on a regular basis and of adjusting some initial plan; or
as the actions taken to reach one's intended goal. This applies even in situations where planning does not take place. From this perspective, Frenchman Henri Fayol[3] considers management to consist of seven functions:
1. planning 2. organizing 3. leading 4. co-ordinating 5. controlling 6. staffing 7. motivating
Some people, however, find this definition, while useful, far too narrow. The phrase "management is what managers do" occurs widely, suggesting the difficulty of defining management, the shifting nature of definitions, and the connection of managerial practices with the existence of a managerial cadre or class.
One habit of thought regards management as equivalent to "business administration" and thus excludes management in places outside commerce, as for example in charities and in the public sector. More realistically, however, every organization must manage its work, people, processes, technology, etc. in order to maximize its effectiveness. Nonetheless, many people refer to university departments which teach management as "business schools." Some institutions (such as the Harvard Business School) use that name while others (such as the Yale School of Management) employ the more inclusive term
"management."
English speakers may also use the term "management" or "the management" as a collective word
describing the managers of an organization, for example of a corporation. Historically this use of the term was often contrasted with the term "Labor" referring to those being managed.
[edit] Nature of managerial work
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In for-profit work, management has as its primary function the satisfaction of a range of stakeholders.
This typically involves making a profit (for the shareholders), creating valued products at a reasonable cost (for customers), and providing rewarding employment opportunities (for employees). In nonprofit management, add the importance of keeping the faith of donors. In most models of
management/governance, shareholders vote for the board of directors, and the board then hires senior management. Some organizations have experimented with other methods (such as employee-voting models) of selecting or reviewing managers; but this occurs only very rarely.
In the public sector of countries constituted as representative democracies, voters elect politicians to public office. Such politicians hire many managers and administrators, and in some countries like the United States political appointees lose their jobs on the election of a new president/governor/mayor.
Public, private, and voluntary sectors place different demands on managers, but all must retain the faith of those who select them (if they wish to retain their jobs), retain the faith of those people that fund the organization, and retain the faith of those who work for the organization. If they fail to convince employees of the advantages of staying rather than leaving, they may tip the organization into a downward spiral of hiring, training, firing, and recruiting. Management also has the task of innovating and of improving the functioning of organizations.