Management: definition, concept and environment
Home management is planning, controlling and evaluating the use of family resources to reach family goals, inside a micro and macro environment.
What management means
Management is a goal-directed mental activity: thinking ahead, deciding and guiding action so that limited resources give the best results. Nickell and Dorsey describe home management as planning, controlling and evaluating the use of family resources to achieve family goals. Gross and Crandall see it as a series of decisions that make up the process of using family resources to reach family goals, moving from planning, to controlling the plan in action, to evaluating the results. In short, goals say where the family wants to go, resources are what it has, and management is the bridge between the two.
The concept: key features of management
- Goal-directed: every managerial activity aims at a family goal, such as a child's education or healthy meals.
- A mental process: it happens in the mind first (thinking, deciding) and then shows in action.
- Uses resources: time, money, energy, skills and materials are always limited, so they must be used wisely.
- Built on decisions: choosing among alternatives is part of every step.
- Continuous and dynamic: plans change as the family grows, moves house or meets new problems.
- Universal: needed in every home, rich or poor, and in every institution, from a hostel mess to a hospital kitchen.
- Shared: every family member takes part, not only the homemaker.
Micro and macro environment of the family
| Point | Micro environment | Macro environment |
|---|---|---|
| Meaning | The near environment the family lives in and directly shapes | The larger outside world the family cannot control but must adjust to |
| Includes | The house and its space, family members, relatives, neighbours, friends, household equipment | Natural (climate, water), economic (prices, jobs), social-cultural (customs, religion), political-legal (laws, schemes), technological (new appliances, digital payments) |
| Who controls it | The family can change it, e.g. rearrange the kitchen or share work | The family can only adapt, e.g. plan for a price rise or use a government scheme |
| Home example | A small flat makes the family plan storage carefully | A summer water shortage in Chennai makes the family plan water storage and use |
A dietitian works inside both environments. The micro environment is the patient's own home: who cooks, the kitchen and the family's food habits. The macro environment is food prices, the ration shop (PDS) and seasonal supply. A diet plan that ignores either one is rarely followed.
2 marks: “Define home management.” Home management is planning, controlling and evaluating the use of family resources to achieve family goals (Nickell and Dorsey).
5 marks: “Differentiate between the micro and macro environment of the family.” Define each, list what each includes, say who controls it and give one home example of each. A small table is ideal.
10 marks: “Explain the concept of management and the environment in which a family manages.” Give two definitions, the key features of management, then micro and macro environment with examples, and close with why a family must adapt to both.
Micro = 'my' surroundings (home, family, neighbours) that I can change. Macro = the 'massive' outside world (economy, laws, climate) that I adapt to.